Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it despite who crazy this year has been. Not much else to say here except I'm uploading two chapters today, so after this, go read Ch. 14.
I'm actually almost done writing the story, may be done before the New Year, so in terms of uploads... February should be the end of this one. In the meantime, I have kinda started on the War of Underworld too since I'm getting to that point, so I'm excited about that. I can finally continue watching it soon.
Also...screw Hersyrian.
Lockiss Rocks, Norlangarth
"House Orecyan… Have you ever heard of them?"
Medina shakes her head. "It doesn't pain me to say it, but the names of the realm's nobility lost much interest to me since they don't recognize my own family."
"As for me," Sortiliena continues, "I've heard little of them. If they're this close to the former castle, they may have once been close to the emperors. If the man we spoke to is correct, the family may not be there, but in Centoria."
I soak in that information and gaze up towards the extravagant estate. "Well, we are here, so pray we may be able to talk to someone if they're here."
"Halt," the guard at the estate's front commands us. "This is the historic Orecyan estate. Entry is prohibited!"
Of course. Now I could let Eydis use her status, or even try Sortiliena's, but there's a chance Orecyan is a first or second class noble and I don't want to drive a wedge into Alice and Eydis' relationship. I personally don't care how Alice sees me, but I do need her cooperation beyond mutual allies and common goals, so I decide to introduce myself with the basics. "I'm Jaymes, a soldier in the Anti-Cedar Task Force. We've come here regarding a certain incident."
"The master of this house has proclaimed that none shall enter."
Eydis grows frustrated. "Can we just talk to--"
"That won't be necessary. Now be on your way at once!"
I relent before Eydis goes any further. "Fine, we'll go." I lead us away from the guard before Eydis utilizes her authority against my request. It is frustrating dealing with nobility, and I'm sure the nobles of our group, Medina especially, have dealt with their...ways throughout their lives. As an upper-class boy myself, I know very well how these people think of themselves… Once we're out of sight, I face the gang. "So the hard way is out of the equation…"
"I don't think we should try sneaking in," Tiese says. "Might be impossible...and definitely against the Index."
"Well, if the carriage comes here, how about we wait until then?"
Ronie's idea may work. "You have a point...and if anything, they'll wait until nightfall. Okay, let's regroup at camp, then return before sunset."
Later
While Medina watches over the estate, Eydis and I sit nearby around a fire. I impatiently stare into the flames while looking at the moody Integrity Knight in my peripheral. Since the task calls for stealth, I only brought the two with me and Eydis came without her armor. We've been out for an hour and a half now, no carriage in sight, and I hope there's a meal waiting for me back at camp.
"What if a carriage doesn't pass through tonight," Eydis inquires. "We'd wasted a day searching for the kids. We could have used my authority back then."
"Alice did not want that. For someone who wants to see her desires fulfilled, I'm actually shocked you're against her."
"I'm not against her, it's...there's a difference between use and abuse of power. The nobles are clearly abusing it. Sentries leaving post, endangering the people they're supposed to be protecting, or remaining where they are and doing nothing to save some kids… That does not equate to us using our authority to find them! Is that so wrong?"
"You know I don't agree with Alice, this whole matter is complicated enough without it. But I stand by my words and her judgment. We will not use titles, especially yours, unless there's no other way. Of course, it would be easier if Orthinanos was a respected name and Serlut, Shtolienen, and Arabel were first or second ranks."
Eydis grumbles. "Well, I'll respect it for now. But that's not what angers me. What does she mean when she says she's 'not an integrity Knight'?"
"I think she doesn't mean it literally… I think it's more of a matter of purpose."
"Purpose?"
"Before… Before Kirito slayed the Pontifex," I carefully whisper before returning to normal volume, "your purpose was defending her authority and the realm. But now, you have no one controlling you. The puppets are free of the master, so what purpose do you serve now? Essentially, you're free to do as you please. But Alice is completely free. Unlike the rest of you, she's broke from the Pontifex's will. She's not just free from the Pontifex, but the rules of the world like I am. What do you do with freedom if you never experienced it before, or in her case, never knew what it was in the first place?"
"Jaymes, Eydis," Medina calls over. "A carriage!" Eydis and I snuff the fire and join Medina, kneeling in the brush and watch as a carriage departs from the Orecyan residence.
"Where could it be going?"
"Assuming our suspicions are right, they may lead us to the missing children. We'll follow it." Following Medina's lead, we grab our horses and quietly trail the carriage. Thanks to Eydis' use of the Umbral arts, we manage to hide our presence from the world under the veil of the night sky, but we keep our horses at a distance to prevent audible detection.
As time passes, we head farther and farther east, and eventually I catch my first sight of the castle Sortiliena spoke of earlier. You'd think I'd be used to seeing castles by now, having lived in one for two years, yet this has to be the most...human one I've seen. Not made of 100 floors, rubies, ice, underwater, or anything. Just a castle in the mountains.
Medina suddenly halts. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"You didn't hear that roar? I'm certain there was one--"
"Beasts attacking the wagon!" Eydis rides one ahead in a hurry, launching off her horse and landing in the middle of the three lynx-like predators. As she gains their attention, Medina and I catch up. I quickly summon a line of burning arrows and launch them towards the beasts, drawing two away from Eydis. The one that lingers gets its head sliced by the Integrity Knight. Medina is approached by one that split earlier, but it lunges itself upon her before she can act. I dispatch the third one with my sword then throw the weapon into the side of the lynx on Medina and force crystals to grow from within the beast's body.
As Medina pushes the beast off her, I help her to her feet and grab my sword. "Is that all of them?"
Eydis nods. "I think so."
"Let's check the carriage. You see the coachman?"
Eydis looks around the front side of the carriage. "Well...he won't be answering any questions."
Well, shit. "Well, let's check inside." I break the lock and swing open the carriage door. As Medina generates light from Luminous, we both gasp as to what we see inside, ten or so small, scared faces. "You're…"
"They're the missing children, there's no other opinion."
I nod. "Everyone, we're going to return you to the village. Stay calm." I close the door and face Eydis and Medina. "Let's bring them home. We can discuss our next move at camp."
"Thank you," one of the lost children's parents says to the three of us. "Thought I'd never see my children again! How can I ever repay you?"
Eydis waves it off. "We came across the kids accidently. There's no need to do so in any case, we're happy enough with the outcome."
"But...why would nobles be taking children?"
Medina scowls. "We'll like to answer that ourselves."
"What's with all the commotion? You?" The sentry we met earlier today shows himself, disturbed by the gathering. As he looks around, he seems to understand the source of the commotion. "Hm? Those kids… Are those the kids who got lost?"
"They weren't lost," a villager shouts, "they were kidnapped by nobles!"
"Nobles? What would nobles want with commoners? Hmph, well, you found them at least. The Church orders me to protect them from beasts, but the rest is the parents' job. Don't waste our time with trivial matters again."
As the sentry leaves, Eydis tightens her fists as a conduit of her anger. "He is as unpleasant as always!"
I nod. "I feel you on that. Good thing not all nobles are like that. Just the majority we come across."
Eydis sighs and releases her tension. "I know."
A villager approaches us quite uneasily. "E-Excuse me. Are these all the children you found in the carriage?"
I nod. "Yeah, that should be everyone."
"There were more missing. There should be more!"
Eydis faces me, her face showing annoyance. "Then let's head back to the Orecyan estate. This time, we're getting inside."
"There doesn't seem to be anyone here," Eydis observes as we approach the spot we met the guard. It's unusual for a guard to abandon their post (despite recent events), even more so on a noble's estate. "Are we too late?"
"They may have been expecting us and left the estate."
"I don't know, Medina. Would they really give up their estate and move so easily?"
"Good point. But what would compel them to kidnap children? That makes no sense. That's literally breaking the Taboo Index."
"Not necessarily so," Eydis explains. "if they were ordered by someone above them to do it. There must be a good justification or some situation in which there's no offense to the Index."
"Nobles are known to find a loophole somewhere." Medina sighs and stands up. "If there's no one here, should we assume they're back on route where we found the last carriage?"
"Worth a shot," I say. We return to our horses and ride as fast as we can back in the direction the first carriage traveled, towards the old palace. It doesn't take us long to catch up with the carriage, so we resume trailing it and watching for beasts, eventually coming to a definite destination: the castle
To our surprise, we're stopped by a pair of guards at the bridge leading to the castle grounds. "Halt! Who goes there?"
I hold Eydis off and answer the guard. "We have business at the castle."
"Business? This is the former home of the empress of Norlangarth."
Eydis frowns. "The northern empress lives in the capital. So who is using the castle now? Who is in there?"
"I'm not obliged to answer that."
"A carriage from House Orecyan went inside. Do you know anything about that?"
"My job is to guard the castle. I was instructed by my master to let none enter. What goes on inside is not my concern."
I sigh. "In other words, you have no idea what's inside… Fine, we'll go." We turn away from the castle and get back on our horses, making our way back to camp. "Eydis, getting us through forcibly may complicate things unnecessarily with royalty."
"Possibly. We don't want to make a mess with royalty, now that… At least, it wouldn't work. There may be an alternate means of getting us inside."
"Is it really so bad to wield your authority as an Integrity Knight," Medina asks.
Eydis shakes her head. "No, I don't think that way. It wouldn't work right now, seeing as I'm not in my armor. I don't exactly look like an Integrity Knight, do I?"
"Neither does the commander, if we're being honest."
"True. Besides, we're doing this Alice's way, aren't we? No titles. So, Mr. Mage Knight, what is our plan?"
"I don't really have much of an idea, if I'm honest. But…" I think back to our first trip to the village, when we were asking about the children. There was an old man there who had a fancy necklace for someone of common status. When I asked him about it, he told me he used to be in service to Norlangarth's emperor. It was him who identified House Orecyan as the owner of the carriage that another villager noticed was a recent visitor. If anyone knows a way in the castle besides the front, it is him.
The next morning
Back in Flaggid Village, Medina and I walk up to the residence of the old man. He's already outside, tending to his yard when I enter on his property. "Oh, it's you. Allow me to thank you for saving the children."
"Not all of them, some are still missing...and I know where. I need your help in doing that."
"My help? Whatever could I do?"
"We're hoping you can tell us how to get inside the empress' castle," Medina explains. "We found out that the missing children are being kept there, but can't go through the guards."
"Meaning the one who kidnapped them was...the empress? Why would she… I'm sorry, but I can't so easily take your words at face value."
"So you won't help us?"
The old man sighs. "Even if what you say is true, I cannot betray the imperial family." He turns around and returns tending to his garden. Seeing no reason to stick around, Medina and I exit the gate and prepare to walk away from the man's house when he speaks up again. "Why would the imperial family kidnap children? I can't believe it. But I don't think they would lie."
Medina leans into me. "He realizes we're still hear, within earshot, right?"
"Mhm."
"You say you need a way in. As a servant, I can't give you that information. But I'm just talking to myself. The castle has a number of hidden passages for use in emergencies. With the aging of the castle, many are blocked. However, the passage looking out on the lake should still be usable."
I smile to myself and look back to the man gardening. "Thanks, old man. Medina, let's…" I was going to tell Medina that we should head back, but out the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something move just on the other side of the property. Believing it to be a trick of my eyes, I continue my sentence. "...head back and inform the others."
"Looks like we won't have to." Medina points forward to the three knights approaching us in quite the hurry. Deusolbert himself looks ready to pass out as he spot himself from falling over us.
"Wh-What's wrong, you three?"
"I can't find Linel and Fizel anywhere. They never showed up to practice."
"That's not… Oh no."
"Do you have any ideas," Alice asks as she judges my tone correctly.
"Yeah. I bet they were sneaking around while Medina and I gained the information to find a way into the castle. They were at last night's briefing and knew we were coming. I'm sorry for not noticing, Deusolbert."
"You're not at fault. It is my responsibility as their teacher."
"Liena and the girls are on the way, Jaymes," Eydis informs me. "We can meet them and ride as fast as we can towards the castle. Hopefully we catch up to them."
Unfortunately, we had to split from Deusolbert and handle a beast problem. It was a tough fight, but me and the six girls managed to come out alive and well...is what I wish I could report. Yet, as we arrive at the area, we don't find a single beast alive. Disappointed to be diverted from the main objective and not even being able to partake in such, I scan the area for the source of this mess. "What the hell happened?"
"You!" Alice's sharp tongue gains my attention and leads me to a lone man in a long white coat. As he turns to us, revealing his face uncovered by his grey hairs, he chuckles as he approaches. "Well, well, well. This is rather unfortunate."
Sensing a weird vibe about this guy, I tentatively hold my sheathed sword. "What's unfortunate?"
In response, the man momentarily eyes me with a high amount of scrutiny. "That I could not show you my glorious bloodbath, of course! Alas, it's too early for blss or despair. The show has yet to end!"
"The...show?"
"Did you kill these beasts," Alice asks. "Judging from those clothes, you're no guard." The man places a hand on his hip and laughs at Alice's question, which confuses her. "Did I say something funny?"
"You know the answer to that. You're not very smart for an Integrity Knight."
Eydis growls. "You take that back!"
"...No matter. I have no business with you anyway."
"What are you," Medina asks angrily.
At this, the man faces her and speaks to her with an odd tone of respect. "We finally meet. My savior." Savior? No… As varied as the wayfarers have come, none of them has been dressed like a nobleman. But even so, I look to the Orthinanos by my side, who catches my silent question.
"No, I've never seen him before. He's not a wayfarer either."
"Good answer. I'd expect no less from my savior."
"Just...what are you?"
"Allow me to introduce myself." He steps up to Medina, in which I partially draw Falchion. He takes notice, but to our collective surprise, he kneels in front of Medina. "I am Hersyrian, Senate Representative."
"What?"
"Representative?"
"I am most honored to meet you. Medina Orthinanos… The savior of House Orthinanos."
"You...know of my house?"
"Indeed. I know everything about House Orthinanos. By the order of the Pontifex, I served House Orthinanos for many years. Come, savior! Let us return Her Excellence to life!"
