…Yeah.

It's just four years since my last update. I won't bore you with too many excuses, but in addition to stuff happening in my personal life (in addition to my health), I had lost important data I had created for this series. Thankfully I still had my Tablet of Stars, but I lost my outlines, character data sheets, investigations, the endings, etc…it was a hard loss. I'm still rebuilding the database I created, but I'm at a point where I feel I can at least pick up where I left off. Silver lining from this is that I'm doing a LOT better health-wise, and redoing my outlines from memory made me realize that I didn't like what I had planned for both Chapters Ten and Eleven, so I'm currently redoing both chapters entirely. My current goal is to update every Sunday. I will try to stick with this schedule as hopefully I can piece together Chapters Ten and Eleven to be better than what I had planned. Ultimately this series will be 12-13 chapters long with roughly eight parts for each chapter. I'll know roughly how many chapters this story will have once I finish redoing Chapters Ten and Eleven.

Just as a heads up, the Yuber poll will be closing before I post the final part of Chapter Six. If I keep the regular Sunday schedule the polls results will be posted October 3rd, so there's still plenty of time to participate in the poll. If you're unable to vote in the poll, please feel free to post your vote in a review.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this part.

Part Seven

Muse was a massive city, easily rivaling Gregminster in size. Klaus and the Dunan soldiers led the escort through the city, past the eager and curious citizens who were pointing and talking loudly. Daunte gripped Arin's hand and kept his little brother close, even as the boy looked around himself in wonderment.

"This city was laid to waste during the Dunan Unification War," Caesar told Daunte.

Daunte looked at him. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed it!"

Caesar smiled. "It's taken a long time for the surviving residents to recover. But the war was eighteen years ago, and the people are obviously better off now than they were then. Make note of everything and listen carefully. When we win our war, we're due for a long recovery time as well."

Daunte never thought of it that way, but he knew Caesar had a point. Things would not magically get better once they were able to topple the Nether Gate assassins who took over the Theocracy. Cities and lives would need to be rebuilt. Then there was the not-so simple matter of choosing the right government for Nagarea.

But that's why I'm here. To learn about different forms of government, and to choose the right one for Nagarea.

Daunte saw the government building overlooking Muse all the way at the back of the city, resting on a large hill. The guards opened the doors for them, and Daunte idly brushed his hands against the door. The Rune of Restoration flickered on his hand, and he stopped dead in his tracks and sucked in a sharp breaths as screams of horror filled his ears. Screams…and delightful sadistic laughter.

No! Please not now! He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Brother?" Arin's voice was full of fear and the Liberation Army was on alert at seeing their Lord in distress. "A-Are you okay?"

The screams and laughter faded as Daunte willed the memory away. He cautiously opened his eyes and was relieved to still find himself in the present. He let out the breath he was holding in. Something awful happened here. It wasn't just a matter of the city being laid to waste. Death…it permeates these walls. The memory of what had happened almost came to me, but I managed to suppress it without seeing it.

"Please accept my apologies," Klaus said softly, turning around to face them. "I should have taken you to your accommodations to relax before meeting President Teresa. You have traveled a great distance, after all. You must be weary."

"N-No," Daunte interjected. He coughed to steady his voice. "I'm okay. I'm ready to meet your President."

"If it will please my Lord," Caesar said, his tone casual. "We will stay for greetings and then retire. We can speak at greater length tomorrow, if the President will be available."

"She will be available in the morning," Klaus confirmed with a smile. He motioned towards the stairs. "If you are ready…"

Klaus took them to a heavily guarded office, but the guards saluted and stepped aside. As they approached the door, Klaus suddenly turned around. "Before you meet our President, I must ask that you surrender your weapons for security's sake."

"Of course," Daunte said, sliding his tekko off and handing to one of the guards. The others also surrendered their weapons without fuss and Klaus nodded his approval. "Then, let's go."

The office was opened to them, and a woman in her mid-forties stood up from the desk and moved to greet them. "Delegates from Nagarea. Welcome to Muse." Her tone was soft and lyrical, and Daunte felt at ease seeing her humble smile.

"How nice to see a beauty running this country," Gunther said quietly.

"This is President Teresa Wisemail," Klaus introduced them, moving to stand by Teresa's side. "A key figure from the Dunan Unification War."

"Oh, the success was not entirely mine," Teresa said, accepting Daunte's handshake. "We were successful because of Lord Riou."

"Lord Riou?" Arin said aloud. His face lit up and he looked at Daunte. "Then he—!" He quickly rummaged through his bag and pulled out Riou's figurine. "This is him, isn't it?"

Both Teresa and Klaus leaned in close to see the figurine. After a moment Teresa gasped and pressed a hand to her mouth. "T…That is Lord Riou! That figurine looks exactly like him!"

"That is quite uncanny," Klaus praised softly, straightening. "The posture is even correct. Where did you find this?"

"One of the members of our Army whittles," Caesar said. "He makes figurines representing five different wars in world history. From my understanding, the Dunan Unification War is his most popular set."

"Mooney did say that," Daunte agreed. "But I believe he said his most popular requests are for—uh, Flik and Victor." He floundered on the names.

"Oh that doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Klaus said, shaking his head. "They are heroes of three wars after all. It—" his brow lifted as his voice briefly broke off. "Oh…Viki?"

"A-Ah, yes," Viki said, nodding enthusiastically.

"It is you," Teresa said, her eyes widening slightly. "W…We haven't seen you since the—" she waved a dismissive hand and returned to her desk. "Never mind. You have come here to learn, haven't you Lord Daunte?"

"Indeed," Caesar said, clapping Daunte on the shoulder. "The government of Nagarea is a theocracy, but Lord Daunte wants to experience other forms of government to determine what is the best one."

"I see," Teresa said thoughtly. "Well, we are the Dunan Republic. Previously this single country was two nations—Highland, which was a Kingdom ruled by a monarchy, and the City-States of Jowston, which was a federal aristocracy."

"Federal aristocracy?" Daunte asked.

"That is when a country is governed under shared rule of a privileged class," Caesar told him.

"Highland and the City-States were in a constant state of war," Teresa said solemnly. "When Luca Blight started seizing power in Highland, he seemed to make it his life's mission to completely wipe out the City-States. I was the acting mayor of the State of Greenhill during the war."

"My family belonged to Highland," Klaus chimed in. "But my father and I swore fealty to King Agares Blight. After…Luca Blight assassinated him."—his tone dipped slightly in sorrow—"My father and I defected to the City-States, as we could not make an oath of loyalty to him."

"He killed his own father?" Arin asked quietly. He squeezed Daunte's hand distressfully. "W-Why would he do that?"

Daunte wanted to know more, but he didn't think it was appropriate to continue talking about this in front of Arin. He silently debated if he should ask Teresa and Klaus to continue or to ask them to stop for Arin's sake. Ultimately he gently squeezed his brother's hand back and shook his head. "I believe we should leave this discussion for another time."

"I agree," Teresa said. "You have all traveled so far and I know your time is limited here. I will say, however, that our victory in the war was all due to Lord Riou. Had things been different then he would have become our first President. However…" her voice trailed off.

Daunte's brow lifted slightly. So…Riou was instrumental in ending a war and uniting two countries as one, but he didn't want power after the war? That's exactly like Tir…

"H-Have you seen Lord Riou recently?" Viki suddenly asked. "Will he be visiting while we are here?"

Daunte was hopeful, but Teresa shook her head. "I haven't seen Lord Riou in over a decade. There are numerous rumors of sightings of him, but the most recent rumor said he was in the Grasslands traveling with friends."

"That's a shame," Caesar said, shrugging slightly. He suddenly smiled his usual lazy smile. "Hey, you guys still have a library here don't you?"

"A library?!" Arin exclaimed eagerly. He tugged on Daunte's hand. "Brother, can we go and see the library?!"

"Yes, it's right across the hall from this room," Klaus offered. "Feel free to stop in there before retiring to the inn."

Daunte nodded and looked to his group. "I wouldn't mind, would you?"

Gunther shrugged. "I'm not big on reading, but why not?"

"Sure," Viki said.

"You may find something useful to you there," Caesar added.

"Oh yes, help yourself," Teresa said. "And you're each welcome to take a book with you before you leave."

"That's very kind of you, thank you," Daunte said, bowing slightly.

"You…remind me so much of him," Teresa said at length.

Daunte looked up. "Him?"

"Lord Riou."

Daunte quickly straightened, but Teresa continued before he could respond. "I look forward to working with you, Lord Daunte."

The library in the government building was indeed a nice one. Arin quickly found a book that was to his liking and showed it to both Daunte and Caesar. "This says "Dunan" doesn't it?"

"The Dun. Unification War," Daunte read aloud, smiling. He's getting better with reading.

"Huh," Caesar said, taking the book from Arin. He flipped it open a few pages. "This looks exactly an old book that was at headquarters during the Second Fire Bringer War."

"Really?" Daunte asked him. "How did it get here then?"

"I do not know." Caesar quickly closed the book and handed it back to Arin. "Go and show this to Chancellor Klaus before we leave. Even though we were given permission to take one book, it would still be polite to ask."

Gunther loitered near the door with Klaus and Viki wandered the room aimlessly as Daunte browsed the shelves with Caesar. He kept his right hand close to his body as he did not want to risk trigger his Rune even a little. "Caesar?" He asked softly.

"What is it?"

"You said Muse was laid to waste during the Unification War."

"Yes, it was." Caesar quickly looked at their surroundings before leaning in close. "The Rune of Restoration. Did you see a memory earlier?"

"I heard but I did not see. I heard screaming, and…" he shuddered slightly. "This—hideous laughter. The screaming was awful but that laugh, it…it sounded joyful."

"…Ah," Caesar said carefully. "That must have been Luca Blight."

"I…was not expecting this. The Sheikhs have a reputation for taking care of their soldiers, but this is…this is Luca Blight levels of wrong, here."

"You compared Sloan Faakhir to him," Daunte said. "And he was so bad that Chancellor Klaus and his father betrayed their own country because of him. He—did something bad here, didn't he?"

"It's…best not to talk about this here," Caesar said discreetly. "We can speak more about this later. The book that Arin has also talks about Luca Blight's atrocities. Oh hey, what's this?" Caesar suddenly reached onto the shelf and pulled a book out. Daunte's eyes widened as he quickly saw that this was not a book, but another play. "Neclord's End, Second Edition," Caesar read. He quickly passed it to Daunte. "This was written by Marlowe Cody. We may not have another opportunity to have possession of this, so make sure to take it."

"Neclord. Wasn't—Yuber and Sierra mentioned him before."

"Yes, he was an atrocious vampire who saw humans at his playthings. He took advantage of the chaos of the Dunan Unification War to have his—fun." Caesar waved a dismissive hand. "This play is more historically accurate than Imperial Love, but since this is a Second Edition copy it is probably different than the play I saw before."

"…I find it very odd how I've found scripts for plays in random locations," Daunte mused aloud, following Caesar back to the doors. "The Three Little Pigs, Beauty and the Beast, Imperial Love, and now Neclord's End…when would our Army find time to put on plays? And what sort of person would join our party that could put on these plays?"

"I know of at least one person," Caesar said dryly.

Only Daunte and Arin took items from the library and Klaus gave his approval of them. With their preliminary business done they were escorted out of the government building and back into the city proper. Mindful of what Caesar had told him earlier, Daunte continued to keep his right hand close to his body as to not trigger any memories.

As they were being escorted to the inn, Daunte saw an item shop and requested to stop there. While the group did not need to replenish their supplies, Daunte knew that the item shops had rare items that he would not be able to find anywhere else. Sure enough, the clerk quickly showed off his rare wares when Daunte asked and it was two items. One was a magical training scroll, and the other was a hammer.

"This is an Iron Hammer," the clerk told him. "It can raise your weapon level to Level 9."

Daunte picked up the hammer in his hands. It was heavy, but he felt the power in it. He looked at the clerk. "How much for it?"

"5,000 Potch."

Daunte winced—he didn't have enough money. He was about to put it back when a bag was tossed onto the counter. "5,000 Potch? Here you are, sir."

"Thank you, my good sir," the clerk said and Daunte gaped at Caesar. His strategist smiled back at him. "Does that satisfy you, my Lord?"

"I…" Daunte looked at the hammer and then at Caesar. "Yes. Thank you, Caesar. I promise to repay—"

"Nonsense, there's no need." Caesar waved a dismissive hand. "Besides, you're going to need to give that to our castle blacksmith once we recruit one. They'll make very good use of the hammer."

Daunte remembered back to Peak's Edge—the blacksmith Winger whose hammer had broken. Baldemar was his name, right? His hammer broke because I wanted to raise the level of my weapon. It would be right for me to give him this hammer, but…maybe I can try to recruit him for the Army with this? Gosh, that sounds so calculating and manipulative. The Wingers made it clear that they don't want to involve themselves in our war. But the Army does need a blacksmith…what should I do?

Daunte used his own money to purchase the magical training scroll and then they headed for Muse's inn. It was a crowded inn full of people. The stairs leading upstairs were directly across from the front door, but as the group made their way towards the stairs something caught Daunte's eye to the left. He saw a black-haired woman in her late forties behind the counter, talking to a younger woman sitting with her head hanging low at the counter. Daunte had to guess that the younger woman had to be in her late teens or early twenties; her hair was cocoa brown and while it was short it was tied in two pig-tails at the base of her head. Her outfit was very unique, however. It looked skin tight and it was black and violet. Daunte noted that she had dueling kama's on her belt when Caesar suddenly grabbed his arm. "W-What is it?" Daunte asked.

"Go and recruit her," Caesar hissed to him. "Now, before she leaves!"

"Yeah, definitely go and recruit her," Gunther said eagerly.

"What's so special about her?" Arin asked.

"That woman is a ninja, Arin," Caesar explained, keeping his tone low. "She is most likely from Rokkaku, the hidden ninja village here in Dunan."

"Wow, a real ninja?" Arin exclaimed.

"Wait a minute," Gunther said, sobering up. "I don't know much about ninjas, but the odds probably aren't in our favor of her joining us! She'd probably kill us for asking!"

"I wouldn't say so," Caesar said, looking to Daunte. "A ninja out in public like this so far away from Rokkaku—and without any allies nearby—is not a common occurrence. And she does not look very happy. Why don't you try talking to her, Lord Daunte?"

Daunte was curious about why the ninja looked so sad—and why she was out in public in her full ninja attire—and nodded. "I'll go speak to her."

He approached the ninja carefully, though he didn't want to risk startling her and taking a kama to the throat. The bartender the counter was speaking to her, and Daunte caught their conversation as he got closer. "—be so hard on yourself, Umeko! I'm sure they'll take you back!"

"…not fair," the ninja mumbled. "This is not fair…not fair…"

"Excuse me," Daunte said carefully. The bartender flinched from his arrival, but thankfully Umeko did not physically respond. "Are you all right, Miss?"

"Oh, don't worry about her," the bartender said, smiling at Daunte. "She'll feel better once she gets some alcohol in her system. What can I get for you, young man? My name is Leona, and I can serve you. I'm afraid I can't offer you alcohol, but I have plenty of milk."

"I-I'm fine, thank you," Daunte said, glancing at Leona briefly before looking back at Umeko. "A-Ah…I'm sorry to bother you, but you—"

"It's NOT FAIR!" Umeko shouted, standing up from her stool. "It's not fair at all!"

"W-What's not fair, Miss Umeko?"

"Rokkaku! Those cheapskate bastards!" Leona put a glass of liquor in front of her. Umeko snatched it up and gulped the drink down in one swallow. Daunte gaped as Umeko sloppily wiped at her mouth before looking at Daunte. Her dark eyes were bloodshot from excessive crying. "The ninja village—they banished me!"

"Why did they banish you?" Daunte asked.

"Because they said I was the worst ninja in the history of Rokkaku! They said there was no worse ninja than me—that I brought them shame and besmirched the name of the village! Those callous, narrow-minded bastards!"

"Here, just keep drinking until you calm down," Leona said, pouring another shot for Umeko. "I'll add it to your tab."

Daunte glanced at Caesar warily. Did he want to recruit a castaway ninja? How lousy were her skills that she was banished from her own village?

"And! And to think it's all because they say I have a big mouth! They say I'm a horrible gossip, who is unworthy of being a ninja!" Umeko cried into her cup. "What am I supposed to do with myself now?!"

"Sweetheart, maybe you should try having some tact and not gossip," Leona gently told her.

"I don't gossip! I haven't told anyone about how our clan leader farts while meditating! Or the fact that the Sparrows of Sparrow Manor sneak cups of saké from the basement! Or even about how you're an old maid at forty-nine, Leona!"

"Okay, you're cut off," Leona said, twitching violently as she snatched Umeko's cup away.

"Why?! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"U-Um…" Daunte rubbed at his forehead awkwardly. So…this was Umeko's issue. Not that she lacked combat skills but that she had no brain-to-mouth filter. Since he was fairly certain that the entire point of being a ninja was being covert and secretive, it was no wonder she was deemed a failure as a ninja. Should I still recruit her then, if she is a castaway ninja?

He looked at his party again, but knew that the decision was his. Daunte nodded to himself with conviction and turned back to Umeko. "How about you join me?"

"Eh?" Umeko looked back at him. She was still crying but her expression was joyful. "Join you?"

Daunte quickly explained everything to her and she suddenly looked hopeful. "Y—You think I could be useful to your Army? Truly?"

"Sure, why not?" Daunte said, shrugging. "I imagine those weapons on your belt aren't for show. You would be the very first ninja in my Army."

Umeko's eyes lit up and she grabbed Daunte's hand in hers. "I—I would be the first ninja? You have no other ninjas in your Army?"

"That is correct," Caesar said. "So by default, you would be the best ninja in our Army."

"The best…I would be the best ninja?"

"Definitely the best looking ninja," Gunther muttered.

"Oh, thank you!" Umeko threw her arms around Daunte. "My Lord—thank you so much! I-I won't let you down, I swear it!"

"I-I'm glad to hear that," Daunte said, awkwardly patting her on the back. "We'll be staying here for a few days so you can go on ahead of us and meet us in Toran. Lukiae Ende Towayo."

"Lukiae Ende Towayo—got it!" Umeko squeezed his hands again and nodded vigorously. "Thank you again!" She took off running for the door.

"Yay, we have a ninja!" Arin cheered.

"That was nice of you to help her," Leona said cheerfully. "But now you must be responsible for her."

"Responsible?" Gunther asked in confusion.

Leona slapped a note onto the counter. "Her unpaid tab."

Later they were all settling into their rooms, and Daunte's head was still spinning with how much money they spent on Umeko's tab. 10,000 Potch? On alcohol alone? Was this all at once, or gradual? Why did Leona allow her to build up such a debt?! We all had to pool our money together to pay that off!

Caesar however was nonplussed about the situation ("We can reclaim that money easily by fighting battles. And she can repay us with her work.") and they all settled in. "So they mentioned this Lord Riou is in the Grasslands," Gunther said. "Where is that?"

"That's a country to the west of here," Caesar told them. "That's where the bulk of the Second Fire Bringer War took place."

"I-I remember that place," Viki said. She smiled slightly. "I wonder what that curious child is up to?"

Daunte stared at her in confusion but Arin asked, "A-Are we going to the Grasslands next?"

"Unfortunately we will not have time for that," Caesar said. "After we're done here we have to get back to Toran. Hero and James should be done with he repairs to the skyship by then, and then we have to get back to Nagarea."

"This has been an interesting experience," Gunther said. "I'm certain President Teresa will give you information tomorrow about the type of Republic this country is, but you may as well ask her about kingdoms and federal aristocracies as well. You may as well keep an open mind as to what the best government would be for our country, Lord Daunte."

Daunte nodded in agreement. "I intend to ask her many questions. I…" he looked at Caesar. "Regarding the Grasslands. Can we…?"

"Of course, my Lord," Caesar said. "I'll send correspondences not only to the nations of the Grasslands, but also to the Zexan Confederacy. I'm well acquainted with both countries."

"Thank you, Caesar."

"So you'll be traveling to the Grasslands and—Zexan at a later time?" Gunther asked. He raised his hands slightly. "I'll have to ask that you not take me next time. Granted this trip has been fun and I've seen some beautiful women, but I don't trust that pilot as far as I can throw him. He almost got us killed."

"He was reckless," Daunte agreed reluctantly. "But his ship got us to the Northern Continent in less than a day. I know of no other means of transportation that could have gotten us here that quickly."

Gunther shrugged. "After that flight, I prefer to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground thank you."

"Can I go next time too?" Arin asked eagerly. "I don't mind the flight!"

Daunte smiled. "Hopefully it will be a trip as worthwhile as this one…"

Daunte and his group only spent two days in Muse, but he spent hours speaking with Teresa and Klaus. From his talks he learned that the government system in Dunan was very similar to the government system in Toran, so he did not learn much new information about Republics from these talks. However both did provide insight into the former governments of Highland and Jowston. The way Klaus described the monarchy to Daunte reminded him of the monarchy in Falena, though as a Kingdom and not a Queendom the male heirs would inherit the throne and not the female heirs. The City-States however sounded moderately unique; with small independent states run by a mayor who would then represent them in government. However, Teresa also had used a negative tone to describe Jowston, so that made him feel less than encouraged to use this form of government.

Though I suppose it depends on the people who would have power, and their ability to compromise and work together.

He also came to learn a lot about Luca Blight and his…"campaign" against the City-States. Daunte was glad to receive this information though in Arin's absence, because the story that both Teresa and Klaus told him was horrifying. How a mad prince laid waste to an entire country, murdering innocent people and sacrificing innocent people to a devilish Rune. How his strength and madness had been so great that it had taken arrows, hand-to-hand combat with eighteen warriors, and then finally one-on-one combat with Lord Riou himself for the man to finally fall dead and for his reign of terror to end.

His throat was paralyzed in horror, and he only had the strength to say a single word. "…Why?"

"The City-State was not completely faultless," Caesar said grimly. "Or rather, Muse was not completely faultless. Decades ago Muse hired ruffians to attack the Blight royal family while they were traveling. King Agares Blight escaped unscathed, but Luca and—his mother did not."

"No, they did not," Klaus said. "They were held hostage for an entire week before they were finally rescued. Unspeakable acts of…violence were committed against the Queen. Luca Blight bore witness to this violence. King Agares deeply regretted what happened until the day he died."

Daunte closed his eyes and shuddered. "So—that's why he killed his father? Because of what happened to his mother?"

"What happened to Queen Sara was horrible," Teresa agreed. "But he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people who had nothing to do with what happened to her. He tried to destroy an entire country for the heinous acts of a small group of selfish people."

"We can learn though from Luca Blight's example," Caesar said. "He only cared about "avenging" his mother, but bothenemy and ally suffered greatly because of him." He looked towards Teresa. "So heinous were his atrocities that Highland and the City-States briefly joined forces to stop him, did they not?"

Teresa nodded. "Highland set up the ambush, and our Army executed the action."

Daunte saw why Caesar compared Sloan to Luca. Both men seemed to delight in bringing pain to the people around them. Daunte knew that he had to stop Sloan as Luca himself was stopped. He hurt his family and he's killed innocent people. He must pay for what he has done.

A flicker of a thought whispered over the back of his mind. …Luca Blight was driven mad from what happened to his mother. Then…what happened to Sloan to make him the way he is now? But he shook his head to dispel the thought.

But the talks were not all grim. The day after their arrival, Daunte was sitting in Teresa's office with Caesar when a new voice floated from the door. "It's been a long time, Caesar."

Daunte looked over his shoulder and saw a black haired man in his forties entering the room. He was dressed immaculately, and Caesar quickly stood from his chair. "Shu," he greeted. Daunte noticed his change of tone as he hurried over to the other man. It was no longer a lazy drawl but something akin to awe. "It has been a long time!"

"Apple mentioned you had joined a new cause," Shu said. His dark eyes drifted to Daunte as he rose from his seat. "Is this your new Lord?"

"Yes, it is." Caesar motioned to Daunte to come over. "Daunte, this is Shu. He was the chief strategist during the Dunan Unification War. He's one of the greatest strategists around."

"It's very nice to meet you," Daunte greeted him, hoping his tone was not intimidated.

Shu laughed softly. "I am a great strategist, but I am also a calculative man seeking my own ambition."

Daunte stared at him blankly before bursting into laughter. He immediately felt embarrassed by laughing, but to his surprise Teresa, Caesar, and even Shu joined in. Klaus remained composed but he was smiling.

No one seems offended then.

"I have no doubt you will be successful," Shu said once they had all calmed down. "Apple spoke highly of your work during the Second Fire Bringer War, and I know your skills are only getting better with time. It will not be too long before you surpass Albert."

"Really?" Caesar asked, brightening a little.

Shu smiled. "When a man serves to only better himself and not to better others, there is only so far he can go or achieve."

But didn't Shu say that HE seeks his own ambition? Daunte wondered. But everyone was in positive spirits so he did not ask the question aloud.

The group enjoyed Muse during their short stay but Daunte did not want to take up too much of Teresa's time and he was eager to return home and get back to work with his own Army. He took as many notes as he could though and kept them carefully with the notes he had taken while in Toran. He wished he could see more of Dunan but it wasn't practical to stay for a long period of time.

I will definitely be back though.

On the day that they left, their escort was waiting for them at the gates of Muse. Their pockets were much lighter thanks to Umeko, but Daunte forced a smile at Leona as they left the inn. "Viki, would you be able to teleport us to Lukiae Ende Towayo when we return to Toran?" Daunte asked her.

Viki nodded in confirmation. "O-Once we are within the country's border I can teleport us there."

"Oh, thank Nagar for that," Gunther sighed as the group traveled down an alleyway underneath breezeways. "That will be much more convenient for us."

"I—"

"You."

Daunte paused in his tracks at hearing this low but cold voice. He glanced over his shoulder and saw someone emerge from the shadows. It was a man in his mid-twenties—his hair was lavender and braided in rows up to a ponytail at the base of his head. His amber eyes were glaring and his expression was hard, his complexion was smooth espresso. He wore a tan cloak that covered his whole body, and Daunte saw a…metallic object peeking out from the bottom—

"My Lord!" Daunte was startled when Gunther and even Caesar threw themselves in front of him. Gunther unsheathed his sword, and Daunte took the hint and shoved Arin behind him.

"You are the travelers from Nagarea, correct?" the man asked in a monotone voice. "I need to speak with you. Now."

"You're concealing the weapon in the presence of my Lord!" Gunther said, holding his sword high as he took a protective stance in front of Daunte. "Who are you and who sent you?!"

"That's a gun underneath his cloak," Caesar said, holding his hands up cautiously. "This man is from the Howling Voice Guild."

"Howling Voice Guild?" Daunte asked, looking at Caesar. "And what's a gun?"

"I am from the Howling Voice Guild," the man confirmed. He whipped back his cloak, and the group closed ranks tighter around Daunte in response. The man raised a tubular metallic object up with ease. It looked like a miniature cannon. "This is Rotkappchen, and I am Barō. I won't ask you again—are you from the Nagarea?"

"Why is a member of the Howling Voice Guild after us?" Caesar demanded. "Were you sent to kill us?"

"That is not your concern," Barō said darkly. He looked to Daunte. "You seem to be of the greatest importance to this party, so I will speak to you and you alone. I've asked you my question twice, and as I said I will notask it again. Give me your response."

"You will not threaten my Lord!" Gunther thundered, moving towards Barō.

"Gunther, wait!" Daunte shouted, his eyes on Barō. The weapon he wielded frightened Daunte, and though it was as long as his own height he did not strain under the weight of it. Daunte raised his hand. "Gunther, come back here!"

Gunther snapped his teeth, but did as he was told and withdrew back to the group. He still maintained his position in front of Daunte. "To answer your question," Daunte said cautiously. "Yes. We are from Nagarea."

Barō slowly lowered his gun until it rested at his side. "I'm looking for a man who is believed to have fled to Nagarea. He left the Guild with Talgrund, one of our prized guns, over fifteen years ago and I have been commissioned to retrieve the weapon at any cost." Barō took a single step towards then and the group pushed back away from him. "Do you know him?"

Daunte swallowed thickly before he spoke. "W…What is his name?"

"Zaj Quilous."

Daunte saw Caesar flinch ever so slightly, but pretended not to notice. He shook his head. "I don't know anyone by that name. What does he look like?"

One of Barō's lavender eyebrows twitched. "I don't know."

"EH?!" Gunther shouted, gaping at him. "You don't know?!"

"We only have a physical description of what he looked like over fifteen years ago, and it was that he had black hair and glasses," Barō said harshly. "As you can imagine, these features are not extraordinary."

"And since he's on the run from the Guild for the last fifteen years, he most likely changed his physical appearance," Caesar said thoughtfully. "So the only lead you have is that he has a gun, and he supposedly fled to Nagarea?"

"I cannot return to the Guild without Talgrund," Barō said. "If I do so, I will surely be stripped of my own weapon."

"And that's the best case scenario," Caesar muttered.

"When are you returning to Nagarea?" Barō demanded.

"We're actually leaving Muse now," Daunte said.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"EH?!" the group shouted.

"Are you incapable of listening the first time?" Barō asked. "I'm going to accompany you to Nagarea, and I'm going to hunt down Zaj Quilous and get the gun back that he stole from the Howling Voice Guild."

"Do you know the situation in Nagarea?" Caesar asked him. "The country is currently in the middle of a civil war. We're trying to overthrow the government. Perhaps now isn't the best time for you to be traveling to Nagarea?"

Barō shrugged. "I don't care about what's going on in Nagarea. All that matters to me is getting Talgrund back. I'm going no matter what."

"Hang on a moment, please," Daunte said, raising his hand. He hesitated but briefly before continuing. "I'm only allowing you to come with us if you join my Army."

"What?!" Gunther exclaimed, looking at Daunte.

"I'm not swearing an oath of loyalty to you," Barō responded. "My loyalty belongs to my Guild."

"You're fearless, and you're able to handle that weapon without strain," Daunte said. "I think you would be a good asset for my Army."

"I'm not—"

"Look, I have no obligation to take you anywhere," Daunte said forcefully. "We have the means to getting to Nagarea as quickly as possible. You could kill me, sure, but you'd be no better off afterwards. If we give you a ride to Nagarea, you would be the one owing us a favor. Thus far you've been demanding and condescending to us and I don't appreciate you speaking to my group like that. But!" Daunte continued. "Your presence is impressive, and I believe you're a capable warrior who can take care of himself. Caesar, how formidable are the warriors of the Howling Voice Guild?"

"You'll find no better sharpshooters than them," Caesar said. His tone was careful, but Daunte saw the smile in his eyes that he otherwise did not show on his face. "Their guns are faster—and deadlier—than arrows."

"So that's the deal," Daunte said. He moved towards Barō, though it made the group tense. "I'll give you a ride to Nagarea, and an opportunity to complete your job. In return you'll become a soldier in my Army. Do we have a deal?" he offered his hand to Barō.

Barō glared down at his hand for several minutes in silence. Daunte kept his eyes on him, holding himself steady and not faltering. Finally, Barō quickly reached out and grabbed his hand. His hand was rough and his grip was so tight that Daunte thought Barō might crush his hand. "I must find Zaj Quilous and I must find Talgrund by any means necessary, as ordered by my Guild. If joining your Army is the only way that I can get to Nagarea without trouble and accomplish my task, then that's what I shall do."

Daunte nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Barō snapped. "I'm only swearing an oath to join your Army as a means to an end. I don't care about what's going on in your country, or what your goals are. Just don't get in my way."

"Well…thank you for your honesty at least."

"We have a ship in Torah at Lukiae Ende Towayo," Caesar told Barō. "Go on ahead and meet us there."

"That is what I shall do." Barō took two steps backwards into the shadows. Daunte blinked briefly, and realized he was gone.

"Well, he was unpleasant," Gunther muttered, slamming his sword back into his sheath. He looked at Daunte. "Perhaps we ought to be more careful about who we accept as allies?"

"He won't betray us so that's good," Daunte said.

"So that's three new people we've recruited so far for our Army," Caesar mused, smiling at Daunte. "Well done, my Lord."

They met the escort at the gates of Muse and with no fanfare they left the left to head south back to the Dunan-Toran border. Along the way they fought various monsters and a handful of bandits, and though they earned money from these battle encounters Daunte was displeased that it was nowhere near the amount they needed to replenish their wallets from "helping" Umeko.

I'm glad we helped her at least.

The trip back to the border however proved to be anything but uneventful. Their escort traveled ahead of them, but suddenly the ground gave way and the Dunan soldiers fell into the earth screaming in shock. Daunte and his group raced towards them and found the soldiers lying in a deep pit on top of each other. All of them were injured.

"Howl!" Daunte shouted, healing them. He quickly looked at Caesar. "Is—This is a trap!"

"Yes, it is," Caesar said grimly. Daunte was grabbed from behind, and he turned to see Gunther pulling him behind him as he unsheathed his sword. "Get ready!" Gunther shouted.

Daunte's eyes widened as the terrain around them suddenly came to life. Dirty angry faces in similar clothes surrounded them, at least thirty men and woman all armed and pointing weapons at them. Daunte readied his tekko and pushed Arin behind him as Caesar and Viki quickly closed rank to protect them. "…Maybe I shouldn't have sent our new allies ahead of us?" He wondered out loud.

"There's no use worrying about it now," Gunther told him. Behind them, the Dunan soldiers were struggling to get out of the hole. "For now we must—"

"Twinkling Blade!"

Daunte's eyes widened as a reddish black energy enveloped all of the bandits in an explosion of light. The bandits screamed and Daunte and the group raised their hands to shield their faces. Daunte lifted his head to see three shapes rapidly moving around them, engaging the bandits and defeating them. Rune spells firing off around them. A woman was screaming various battle cries. Daunte pushed Arin towards Caesar and raced forward to join them, as did Gunther. The Rune spell did a significant amount of damage to the bandit group, and dispatching the lot of them proved to be quite easy. All of them were handled even before the dust settled.

Daunte turned back to Caesar, Arin, and Viki and he saw the Dunan soldiers were out of the hole and looking better, but all of them were kneeling on the ground in full kow-tow. He gaped at them in confusion as Gunther hurried to his side. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Daunte said, still looking at the soldiers. "But are—"

"You attracted quite a few bandits. You all must be pretty important."

This new voice startled Daunte and turned around to see a brown-haired woman in her mid-thirties casually swinging a tri-nunchaku. Gunther hummed in approval, no doubt happy about seeing yet another beautiful woman, but then Daunte noticed movement behind her. Two young men stood on either side of the woman, but it was the man to her left that drew Daunte's attention. Holding his dark gaze, his mouth hung open in shock as he gaped at him. Is it—Is it really…?

It was Caesar who vocalized the thoughts in Daunte's head.

"Hello, Lord Riou."

EDIT: I misremembered who had written Neclord's End. I originally wrote that Klaus wrote the play when in fact it was Marlowe. I made the change to the story to reflect that.