Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.
This chapter features one of the last thing my former co-writer Comrade Broseph talked with me extensively, before his mysterious disappearance (he did give some hint about why he disappeared, but I don't think it's in good faith to reveal it on internet). Press F to show him respect.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
The rest of their journey north towards the capital is slower than before. Not only because Mein still needs to rest more often due to her heart condition, but also because their group is forced to travel in the most difficult to navigate, but easy to hide terrain towards the power center of the Three Heroes' Church. The rogue faith is no doubt bringing their full might searching for both the Shield Hero, and the first princess of Melromarc after their appearance in Graile.
They avoid the main road like it's tainted by plague. They also sleep during the day, and travel at night to avoid detection. Although they did have one small, yet merciful development that made their travel easier. On the second day when they were camping in a mountain, they were attacked by a pack of raptors. Between Sir Oersted's sword and Uranus' miracles, the monsters were quickly dealt with, and their bodies devoured by Naofumi's pet balloons. And they gained the ability to mimic the raptors afterwards, making them acting like mounts when they travel at night and away from prying eyes. Despite riding their new raptor balloons without a saddle, it was surprisingly comfortable. Probably because their bodies are made of blubbery rubber.
"It's time to take your medicine again, Mein." Naofumi takes the small porcelain pot off the campfire. He pours the dark liquid through a filter to keep out the scraps of boiled herb into a bowl, and hands the newly finished herbal brew to the fugitive princess. Mein winces back in anticipation of torturing her taste buds again, but takes the medicine that supposedly helps bring her body back to health.
"We should be reaching the fertile Hybernia plain surrounding the capital tomorrow." Uranus and Sir Oersted stare at the Shield Hero working at the herbal pot like he's some kind of errand boy. They probably didn't expect how humble one of the four summoned heroes would act before meeting, and personally got to know Naofumi. "Do you have a plan on how to go about approaching Vicar Vittorio?"
"Yeah, I remember the open plain you were talking about. The two of us spend our first few days killing basic monsters there. It'll be very hard for us to hide ourselves." Naofumi frowns while Mein thinks back on the beginning of her journey with the Shield Hero.
Everything was so simple back then, when her biggest worry was getting used to the constricting feeling of her new leather armor pressing into her chest, and ruining her hair through incessant sweating. That was a lifetime ago in experience, if not in the actual time that has passed. And ironically, the easy to navigate area that only presented a beginner's challenge in terms of monster strength came back to haunt them as it provides a new kind of challenge.
Chapter 99: My friend, do you fly away now?
"I think we shouldn't head first towards the capital. Maybe swing around into Harvest Valley, and King's Forest at night." After drumming his finger on his chin for a short while, Naofumi began running his finger on the ground. "I'm no hunter or ranger, but It'll be easier to cover our tracks if we move through dense terrain. Plus Lute Village is there. My group spent a good few days before the Second Wave, helping get the village ready for their defense. Maybe we can get better info from villagers who live closer to the capital before we even think about approaching this Roman Vicar."
"Not Roman, whatever that is. Romalia, One of the strongest human nations from old time collectively known as 'The Seven Old Kingdoms'. Even if Romalia was technically a Theocracy, and not a Kingdom." Mein sets the now empty bowl down on the ground in front of her, and corrects Naofumi's mistake. "It was widely considered by historical scholars to be the original place where organized religion first started. Through the worship of Saint Brimir, the first Wand Hero and the Founder of the Wizardry school of magic. That's why the Vicar of Romalia carries more clout than any Vicar from other places. It was the original holy city, even if the deity worshiped at the time wasn't the Chief God and our current pantheon. Especially since the royal families of Albion, Tristan and Gallia, three of the other Seven Old Kingdoms, all claim to be descended from Saint Brimir."
"I suppose that makes sense. A hero with a powerful self-growing weapon, and the first guy who uses magic must look like a god to the people at the time." The Shield Hero nods his head along while he picks up the empty bowl, and returns it into the traveling pack. "If people used to worship Founder Brimir, how did that stop? Something tells me there's some pretty bloody history when this kind of thing happens."
"There was, and it starts out in Germania, like these things usually did." The fugitive princess lets out a sigh. It's probably bad form for her to bad mouth half of her Father's origin, but it's not like Father was ever proud of his royal Faubley heritage to begin with. If anything, Mein gets the impression that he's always ashamed of his Faubley heritage the few times he talks about his home nation. "While Germania was also one of The Seven Old Kingdoms, they were considered the land of the savage barbarians before the beastman invaded us from another world. Because unlike the other nations, Germania didn't have a steadfast royal dynasty. Different warlords, or magelords came and went, till King Gerald the First established the Avalon Dynasty. He descended from an old Albion noble house escaped to Germania after the fall of Albion that's distantly related to the Albion royal family, thus the name. So he technically wasn't even a native Germania lord to begin with."
"All this stuff about dynasties, royal families or nobility sounds so confusing, like a bowl of ramen over cooked into a lump." Naofumi shakes his head with confusion. "But I think you got off topic there. How did this worship of this 'Chief God' begin?"
"Right, sorry about that, Master Naofumi." The fugitive princess slaps her own head for trailing her thoughts off into the more interesting… history of dynasty discussion, and tries to recall her knowledge about theocracy history. "Anyways, a group of people in Germania started worshiping the Chief God, because they met some missionaries from a trade ship that claim to come from the land of 'Flangey'. Supposedly a country from another continent that has been worshiping the Chief God all this time. And it slowly spread, till it became accepted by all the people that the Chief God was the true god, and all the heroes are his messengers. So worship of Brimir stopped, and he was re-established as one of the most important saints, and patron of all mages. Still a pretty illustrious figure in the hero faith to be honest, but obviously not considered divinity anymore."
"Flangey, huh? How come this is the first time I heard this name? You'd think with how much of a big deal the churches are, they'd talk about this more often either in sermons, or just regular conversation." Naofumi was clearly trying to make some light, casual comment to keep the conversation flowing. Yet his words have Mein exchange some quick glances with Uranus and even the now silent Sir Oersted. Neither of them want to answer his possibly rhetorical question. After a long, pregnant silence, the Shield Hero clearly sensed something wrong as he looked up, at Mein first, and then over to their two Gallian escorts. "Did I say something wrong?"
The fugitive princess tosses another look over at Uranus, wondering if the old priest wants to explain it a bit more in detail from the point of an actual theocrat, or if he is willing to let Mein give Naofumi the shorter version. After another few short moments, Uranus simply nods back at her, silently beckoning the fugitive princess to continue. "Master Naofumi… What you just asked is one of the most sore topics about our faith in the Chief God, and the heroes that people would know better to avoid than voice out loud. The land of Flangey does not exist. Throughout the millennia, there are countless exploration efforts to find the holy land that the faith in the Chief God supposedly came from. None of them were successful."
"Oh. Okay…" The Shield Hero springs his back straight. He looks around the forest they are camping in right now. Light filters through the foliage above, but the Shield Hero rubs his own arms as if he's freezing. "Spooky… If the land they claim to have come from doesn't exist, are those people ghosts?"
"No. They aren't spirits. They are normal humans like us." It might be the Shield Hero's paranoia, but Mein holds her traveling robe tight around her body, starting to feel the sense of chill herself. "Admittedly… It's hard to tell if their descendants still walk amongst us since they aren't of some prominent bloodline, but official historical records have written that the men from the land of Flangey had children with Germanian locals at the time."
"Okay… so they aren't ghosts, but the land they came from doesn't even exist. How does that even work?"
"Nobody has any definitive answer, and none of the theories raised are particularly comforting. Most of my fellow brothers and sisters simply choose to ignore this part of the faith. They hope people would not remember to ask questions if ancient history isn't brought up, and simply assume the faith in Chief God had always been here, rather than passed down to us by a group of foreign missionaries that came from a land that doesn't exist." Uranus finally speaks up, but his head bows low, clearly not proud of the answer he gives.
"Yeah. A bunch of religious guys who enjoy a lot of wealth and power from the common people don't want to have their faith questioned. So they simply don't answer the hard question, I can totally see it." The Shield Hero once again, cuts through the fancy words in the most blunt way possible. "Although I'm curious about what some of these theories are, and why the implication is bad. I mean… can we use them to weaken the control of the Three Heroes' Church?"
"You could, but you probably…" The fugitive princess can feel her entire face convulsing at Naofumi's suggestion. She honestly should have expected that Naofumi would suggest something like this, using every opportunity to weaken The Three Heroes' Church's grasp on glorious Melromarc. But unfortunately, he's also clearly not knowledgeable enough about the culture, and history of Medea to understand why this action would be a very, VERY bad idea. From her peripheral vision, both Uranus and Sir Oersted look like they are being forced to swallow something unclean. "...Shouldn't."
"Why not? Shouldn't we do everything we can to stop the Three Heroes' Church, if their actions are threatening this entire country, let alone the whole world?" The Shield Hero looks bamboozled, as he defends his suggestion using logic that only makes simple, perfect sense from someone who is missing the context of how the world actually works.
"You are a hero accused of committing heresy and have connection with an invading outer god by this nation's most influential faith, Master Naofumi. Picking a fight with them over theological debates really isn't in your favor. And the Three Heroes' Church could use this action to further paint you as a heretic." The fugitive princess closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Not to mention, you as a hero are connected to the Chief God, as His messenger. Trying to weaken him would weaken your own influence."
"More importantly, you wouldn't only undermine the control of Three Heroes' Church on the land even if you succeed, Master Shield Hero. You would be unraveling the entire belief system of our world, because you would be calling into question the legitimacy of believing in the Chief God. Head of our pantheon." Uranus lets out a sigh, his back seemingly hunching more than usual. "When the belief of the Chief God and Founder Brimir clashed, it caused a religious war that spanned through multiple centuries. Such action would result in worldwide unrest at the most peaceful and prosperous age. During the time a Wave of Catastrophe is active, it would be an even bigger disaster than allowing the Three Heroes' Church to continuously run amok."
"Ri, right... Religious war is bad… especially during a world ending threat." The Shield Hero hangs his mouth wide. He's clearly shocked at what he was suggesting. At least he's willing to take back what he suggested once he understands the severity of his own ignorance, rather than continue arguing for a bruised ego. "Do you guys want to fully explain this whole thing to me? Just so I don't end up suggesting something monumentally stupid again, in the future?"
"Of course, I'm always willing to spread the truth regarding our faith. Be it good, or bad." The old priest of Four Heroes Church nods his head. He shifts his body around their little camp, making himself more comfortable. "As we already established, the churches, and the more pious lords had been sending out expeditions to find the land of Flangey where the first missionaries of the Chief God came from. And so far, nobody has managed to discover the supposed holy land, which gives raise to a few theories. The first obvious one, that the missionaries were lying about this mystical land where people worshiped the Chief God. It doesn't exist, and they were a group of charlatans and everything they taught about the Chief God was a lie. Ironically, that was an argument the original Brimirian church used to discredit them. Which is now considered heresy, and speaking it out loud makes me feel like I'm committing a sin myself."
"Oh, yeah, I can see why that explanation can cause problems. It's probably not good to go tell someone in the face that 'the god you believed in isn't real'." Naofumi furiously nods his head along. "Heck, I won't be surprised if Motoyasu can understand why that's bad."
"Who is that? One of your fellow heroes?" Uranus pauses for a brief moment before asking Naofumi the question. With how most people they dealt with had met most of the other heroes, it's easy to forget that neither Uranus nor Sir Oersted were close to the central power, therefore not having met the other heroes.
"Yeah. Motoyasu is the Spear Hero. He's… a bit slow on the uptake. And he can hold a bit of a grudge if he thinks you are a bad guy. But he's a pretty chill and friendly guy once you get to know him, and he gets to know you." The Shield Hero drums on his forehead as he recounts his fellow hero. He suddenly takes his hand off his head and asks the priest back. "But enough about my fellow heroes. How do we know this Chief God is real, if he isn't a real person like Brimir? Has he actually appeared in front of anyone, like Lautrec's Goddess just did back in the Wave?"
"While there isn't a definitive record of the Chief God himself physically manifesting in front of anyone, there have been records of saints, or prophet meeting him in their dreams, or seeing our lord in a vision." Once again, the old priest is looking at Naofumi with a look that gives the impression of someone looking at someone dim of wits, but trying their best to not come off too offensively condescending. "And the Miracles we priests use came from the Chief God, so we know he is real."
"Right, stupid question… I was taught how to use miracles by the people of, well… The Three Heroes' Church. Kind of a shame there weren't more of those good, rational people around." The Shield Hero looks away, a faint blush on his embarrassed face. "So if you guys know those Flangey missionaries aren't lying, there's got to be another explanation, right?"
"The most accepted answer we give to the general public, is that we haven't discovered the Holy Land of Flangey yet. Either because we collectively aren't being pious enough to the Chief God, or perhaps that Holy Land of Flangey has closed itself away from the rest of the world due to the persistent threat of the Wave of Catastrophe. But with more and more expeditions launched throughout the eras, with progressively advanced understanding of magic and technology, this explanation is looking less and less likely." Uranus looks down at his feet once again. "Behind closed doors, there is another theory. That perhaps, the people of Flangey came from another world. Much like the summoned heroes. Since the heroes are supposed to be messengers of the Chief God, it does make some sense that the first missionaries who carry our Lord's word came from their world as well."
"Well, I don't know any land, or country named 'Flangey' from my world. Maybe another version of earth. I should probably ask the other guys once… if I see them again." Naofumi suddenly becomes aware of the intense stare Uranus and Sir Oersted is shooting his way. "Is there something wrong?"
"Master Shield Hero… are you saying that you and your fellow heroes all came from a different world?" The elderly priest carefully asks, but he isn't completely successful at hiding the tremble of emotions in his usually slow, but steadfast voice.
"Yeah. We discovered it on the first night we were summoned together. We got around to talking before sleeping, and we started to notice some of the details we gave to each other didn't match. So we sat down together and talked about something that should be common knowledge, which once again doesn't match. So we concluded that we all came from a different version of Japan. That's the name of the country we came from." The Shield Hero blinks his eyes, his brows slowly descend towards his eyes into a frown. "Guess it's not common knowledge for you guys even with how many times the heroes are summoned, huh?"
"Well… there are some theories by scholars, and the more maligned clerics proposing that not all summoned heroes came from one world of heroes. But they are the less popular opinion. It is generally believed that there is a world of heroes where they are summoned from." The frown on Uranus' face matches the Shield Hero. "This raises even more unpleasant questions about the theory that the men of Flangey came from another world."
"Why? What changed?" Naofumi turns his head sideways, a look of confusion clearly present on his face. The fugitive princess can be related to his befuddlement. She is someone who was born, raised, and had the best education of glorious Melromarc (even if she was never particularly pious), and even she barely understands what the retired Gallia battle priest is getting at.
"Some of my more open-minded colleagues throughout the age. Those who fully embraced the possibility that the men of Flangey came from another world, the world of the heroes, have proposed a theory. That the summoned Legendary Heroes reside on an intermediary plane of existence between the mundane realm we reside in, and the divine realm of the gods. And at the top, our Chief God reigns supreme." Uranus' brown becomes further twisted together. Besides him, Sir Oersted's body suddenly gives a violent twitch. "But if what you said is true, that the heroes are not summoned from some higher plane of existence closer to the divine realms, but different mundane worlds… it would suggest that the Chief God we were worshiping was an Outer God who successfully invaded our world in the past. Because otherwise, it should have been one of us native to Medea who first received his words."
Mein can't fight back her own body from twitching at Uranus' revelation, she feels like her entire body has been thrown into a rigid river of ice water. She has a very personal experience of what it feels like to be hunted by an invading Outer God(dess). The idea that the entire pantheon everyone has been praying to, either piously or unthinkingly are made of uncaring Outer Gods who managed to invade their world terrifies her to the core. Now that she thinks about it, the myth of the Chief God did have a part about him chasing away an Old God. Could there be some actual sliver of truth behind it? That perhaps the forgotten Old One people speaking in hushed whispers at dead of night were the real god of their world, and the one everyone is currently praying to was an uncaring invader?
"And here I thought the religious conflict from my own world was a mess…" The Shield Hero gives a muffled mumble under his breath, he holds up his chin with both of his hands underneath and looks up at everyone. "I think we are officially going too far. But yeah, I know why I shouldn't touch this topic, even if I don't want to get killed by the Three Heroes' Church. It's not worth it, if I end up causing a religious war that'll get everyone killed in the end. But let's put a stop to this talk of religious theories, and think about how we'll approach that Vicar guy."
"As you wish, Master Shield Hero." Uranus nods his head and raises his head. The old man of faith looks more than relieved to be able to change the rather uncomfortable topic. "Although now that I think about it, is it such a good idea for you to go straight towards Melromarc Castle, where the Three Heroes' Church has the strongest control? Being able to get word to Vicar Vittorio could change everything, but that's assuming you can get to him and explain what happened before Three Heroes' Church starts making their move. We would be gambling everything on the foolishness of the organization that's been prosecuting you since the Third Wave."
"It's a huge risk, I admit." The frown returns to Naofumi's face, "But we have to do something about the Three Heroes' Church. It's not just about them trying to harm me and those around me anymore. They are taking over cities, and enslaving people to fight and die for them. They need to be stopped, and if someone could stop them right in front of me… I have to take a chance and do something."
"To be fair, this is the Three Heroes' Church we are talking about. The one that openly killed clerics of your faith in Graile, and then tried to enslave the entire fortress city's poor population." The fugitive princess crosses her arms in front of her chest, and recounts some of the Three Heroes' Church's less than wise actions that they witnessed. "It's almost like whoever is in charge… Cromwell, if Monro can be believed, is actually trying to push Three Heroes' Church over the edge by making an enemy out of everyone."
"True. If Cromwell continues on his current path, a civil war can be expected… and it might be the least of everyone's worries. We still have the Wave of Catastrophe to deal with, and the talk of a crusade against our nation." Uranus' reply makes Sir Oersted whipping his head back and forth between the elderly priest, and the Shield Hero. "But even with that in mind, prudence should be taken when approaching the issue. You said that you had a cordial relationship with the Spear Hero, Master Shield Hero?"
"Yeah, not just Motoyasu though. I like to think I'm cool with Ren and Itsuki too. The four of us did train together for the Third Wave. Not that it did us any good against Lautrec's goddess…" The Shield Hero shakes his head, not realizing the surprised look on the two Gallians.
"All four cardinal heroes working together before even the Third Wave? Incredible…" Uranus' quiet, yet sincere exclamation makes Naofumi raise his head against the retired battle priest.
"What's so strange about that? I mean… we did have our frictions at the start when we didn't know each other much. But weren't we summoned to deal with the Wave of Catastrophe? A world ending threat? Surely, it makes more sense for the four of us to work together than tripping over each other?" The Shield Hero's logic is once again, simple and sound. But he clearly didn't take into consideration how politics between different competing nations regarding resources, prestige, authority… and sometimes simple ego would get in the way even during supposed world ending threats.
"Yes, true. But historically, Cardinal Heroes are summoned by different nations with conflict of interest between them. And when they do meet each other, usually a good few Waves in… they are already deeply influenced by the nations that summoned them, or deeply in the pocket of their backers to properly trust in each other. This might be the first time since the very first hero summon, that all four Cardinal Heroes are willing to cooperate with each other and work together." Uranus' hopeful tone is accompanied by Sir Oersted's furiously eager nods. But his voice soon trails off, and the young knight's face becomes more solemne. "A shame it's marred by the Three Heroes' Church's shortsighted actions."
"That's one way to describe Cromwell's stupidity." Mein crosses over her arms and leans back against a tree trunk, trying to make herself a bit more comfortable despite the squalor state of their makeshift camp. "More like him sitting on the biggest chair in a house that's burning down all around him."
"A fitting analogy." Uranus gives a light nod to Mein before turning back to look at Naofumi again. "If you are in a good relationship with your fellow heroes, perhaps the safer option is for you to rejoin their company, instead of running head first to Vicar Vittorio and hoping for the best? The four cardinal heroes together with their companions could rival a small army. And all of you can present a united front to both Vicar Vittorio, and apply pressure to the Three Heroes' Church."
"That's true. But all of them got knocked out by Lautrec's goddess back in the Third Wave when I was forced to flee from the Three Heroes' Church. I don't know where they could be now, and I doubt they are still in that grand canyon. We are trying to avoid everyone while we travel north, so it's not like we can ask where the heroes are." Naofumi's tired reply is filled with the feeling of resignation. It makes Mein looks down at her own feet as well. If only she thought about this, and asked the people in the monastery. "At least we know where that Roman Vicar guy is. We could always just give a quick look, and then continue our way north to escape from the Three Heroes' Church."
"Yes, I suppose there is no point crying over water under the bridge. Let's take a rest now, before we resume our travel tonight" Uranus pauses for a moment, and seems to accept Naofumi's conclusion. Everyone, except Sir Oersted who acts as the first sentry goes to their designated resting place, and tries to get some shut eye despite the sun in the sky. They will have another perilous journey at night as they creep ever closer to the capital… and the power center of the Three Heroes' Church.
They had to take the long way around to Lute Village, in order to avoid the capital city. In the distance atop of their balloons mimicking raptors, they can see small wisps above the horizon, likely the torches and brazier atop the wall of Melromarc Castle. A little bit lower, and further away. They can see another collection of twitching light situated much lower on the plain. Some of the sources of light on the ground are slightly larger, and more intense than the ones Wavering atop the wall. Large bonfires, most likely. If Mein would take a most educated guess, that's the camp of Vicar Vittorio and his retinue, their sentry, and likely whatever patrol the Three Heroes' Church has around them.
"Judging from the amount of torches and bonfires for that camp. That's the warcamp of a group of over a thousand men. Fighting men." The fugitive princess turns her head around to look at Uranus. She didn't expect an old priest to make such a comment. But thinking over it, she probably should have. Considering him being the retired head of Gallia battle priest, he is someone who is expected to march together with the army, and need to have some knowledge, possibly first hand experience on how they operate.
"Should we try to get into the city through the sewer? Like that time? Maybe try to gather some information?" Naofumi's question reminded Mein of the particular misadventure they had with the pair of low rank Siltvelt spies pretending to be the Siltvelt Ravens. It was before they even had Raphtalia with them. To think, they end up having a much more perilous encounter with one of the four Raven Lords much later in their adventure. Both in their past now, and they have returned to the place where they met originally, without any of their previous companions.
"It'll be too risky. There's a good chance that the Thief's Guild would sell us out to the Three Heroes' Church. Siding with the side with more power. We'd be giving ourselves right to the Three Heroes' Church and letting them capture us." The fugitive princess shakes her head, denying the Shield Hero's suggestion. Judging from how he nodded his agreement, Naofumi didn't favor his own idea to begin with. Perhaps he's only raising it to see others' reaction, or to judge if he missed something. "Our best bet is still the smaller village around the capital. Let's head towards Harvest Valley."
With that, they changed direction and headed straight into the sprawling forest surrounding the harvest valley. They haven't revisited this place longer than a month, but the valley itself didn't change much. Same can't be said about the Shield Hero and Mein however, since she wasn't a fugitive the last time she visited the Harvest Valley, and she most definitely didn't live with a heart ailment. Monsters dwelling in the forest are weak and low leveled, thanks to Father's army routinely cleaning it out to both train the accustom his troops for battle, and to ensure the lack of high-level monsters to harm his family, or the traders and supply caravans coming and going into the capital.
They get off Naofumi's mimic balloons and allow them to change into his belt once again. They are in the middle of land directly controlled by the Three Heroes' Church now, and it's best for them to proceed with the utmost caution. Not to mention going through a dense forest on mount usually isn't the best idea unless the rider in question is extremely skilled.
As they make their way towards the direction of Lute village, the sound of bugs, cricket, and birds occasionally letting out a chirp accompany their steps in the forest. The occasional sound of branches snapping under their feet drums
Sir Oersted, who is walking at the front suddenly holds his hand up, and then furiously waving and gesturing with his hand towards the side with thick bushes. He clearly noticed something, and told them to hide, so Mein quickly yanks Naofumi on his foot and they duck behind bushes. On the other side, Sir Oersted and Uranus do the same.
Shortly after, the sound of something, or someone else coming from the opposite direction can be heard. At first, it's a distant voice that one can't make out exactly what the speaker is talking about. It almost makes the voice sound ethereal, like some kind of language spoken by spirits. But then, more clear and mundane noise like the swishing of blades, and the snapping of wooden branches begin to come from the direction. And then, a more clear voice can be heard.
"I didn't sign up for this!" The angry voice belongs to a young man. It almost sounds familiar to Mein, but she can't put her finger to it. She pushes the thought deeper into her mind. Perhaps she is simply making some unfounded connection due to the nostalgia of revisiting Harvest Valley. "Consevatie promised us that we'll help the common people if we overthrow those heroes! Why are we oppressing them?!"
"Bah! You don't know how the world works, do you? You think this is going to be some kind of glorious uprising against a tyrant from one of those story books? Overthrow the false heroes, while protecting our nation against a Wave of Catastrophe and a possible crusade is hard and dirty. Everyone has to make sacrifices." This second, gruff voice belongs to someone much older, and also somehow sounds familiar to Mein. "We risk our lives fighting for these ungrateful commoners. The least they could do is work their hands raw, making equipment and supplies for us. And need I remind you, we aren't dealing with good, loyal citizens. These are Shield Demon sympathizers."
Against her better judgment, Mein slowly and carefully pushes the branches away from her eyes, parting away from the thick leaves of the bush she's hiding behind to get a better look at who is walking through the dirt path. To her surprise, she sees the same old knight she encountered back in Father's listening room on the first night when she was spying on the conversation the heroes had in their bedroom. And the much younger man, wearing the tabard of the red triangle of the knight templars, is none other than one of Consevatie's lackey who ran away outside of Silver Keep. What was his name again, Jack? Jason?
"They weren't fighting back or anything! There was no need for Father Caleb to…" The pair quickly walks away from them, voices become too distant to properly listen to once again. But it sounds like the young templar is continuing his argument with the older, more seasoned knight. Regardless of the objection from Consevatie's former lackey, they managed to paint a fairly clear picture. Lute village has been taken over by the Three Heroes' Church. And they are helped by some of her Father's men, who likely owe their loyalty more to the church than the royal family they are sworn to protect.
Cromwell didn't take over the power of glorious Melromarc out of a flight of fancy, or even seizing an opportunity where most of the important people around the center of Melromarc's power are incapacitated by an unexpected invading outer god. No, it was clear that a slow and progressing takeover has been slowly seeping through Father's court by one of his most trusted allies.
"That was the Three Heroes' Church." Naofumi steps out of the bush after the pair of patrolmen has long gone, and points out the obvious. He tries to keep his voice low, but strong emotions still bubble over him. "We can't go to Lute anymore, they must have taken over the village. DAMN IT! Is anyone safe from them? They took over a village of innocent people just because I stayed there for a week!"
"In hindsight, we should have expected this." Mein's eyes are trained to the direction Consevatie's lackey, and the older knight disappeared to. "They took over Graile just because they could. And Lute would have been known as a village full of Shield Hero sympathizers after what happened with that inquisitor from Faubley."
"The dawn will be breaking soon. We might be discovered by more patrols if we try to run." Uranus and Oersted walk out of the bush from the opposite side of the dirt trail. The elderly priest looks up at the moon. "Is there somewhere else close we can regroup?"
"There's an abandoned sawmill… and an abandoned mine not too far from us. I think." The Shield Hero looks around him, before waving his finger towards two general directions. "I stayed here and helped the village organize their militia before the Second Wave. But I haven't been back for a month now."
"We'll go to the mine. If it's been abandoned, it's likely to have run out of ore and other valuable things for the church to reopen it. But a sawmill can be reopened if they need lumber for arrow shafts, siege engines, or armor pieces." Once again, Uranus shows his experience in the military as he makes a quick decision. His reasoning sounds logical to Mein, and Naofumi must have agreed as he nods along.
The four of them quickly duck under, and hopefully disappear into the undergrowth of the forest, not even daring to take a dirt trail that's been stomped out by the foot of men or beast of burden. They might run head first into another patrol of the Three Heroes' Church. And this time, they might not get a heads up, thanks to the incessant complaint of a young, inexperienced and dissent templar.
Thankfully, they didn't encounter any more members of the Three Heroes' Church, or anyone working for the rogue cult. It's still dark when they reached the abandoned Lute mine. The mouth of the cave looks almost like the gaping maw of the Wave hound under ominous darkness and pale moonlight. Flashes of pain stings the back of Mein's face, making her breath grow shallow and rapid.
Naofumi clearly noticed the condition Mein is under. He quickly reaches out and gives her hand a firm squeeze. "Don't worry. The Wave monsters are gone. And I'll be sure not to leave your side this time. I won't let any harm come to you."
"Yes. I'm fine, Master Naofumi." The fugitive princess tries to reassure the Shield Hero with a nod and a smile. Judging from his worried face, she didn't look as nonchalant as she hoped. It's pathetic how she is the one carrying a legendary weapon (despite it being damaged) and definitely being stronger than Naofumi at the moment. Yet the now shieldless Shield Hero is still the one who promises to protect her.
"We can't light a torch, or a lantern. Else we'll bring any patrol right to us." Uranus reaches over, and stops Sir Oersted from heading towards the equally abandoned foreman's office. "Stay close and be on guard. We don't know what might be in the cave. There could be monsters, bandits, or men left behind by the Three Heroes' Church."
"You think there could be an ambush in there waiting for us?" The Shield Hero looks over at the entrance, he sounds a bit skeptical. "Wouldn't it be too specific that they leave a trap in there for me?"
"It might not be meant for you, Master Shield Hero. I have been with the church long enough to know all of us hide dark secrets behind a humble and compassionate facade." Uranus' reply makes Sir Oersted whips his head over. Under the dim light, his young features look utterly shocked. "This place is close enough to the capital… and the main cathedral fortress of my Three Heroes' worshiping brother faith. With them tearing away all pretenses and trying to take over our nation… it's an ideal place to hide things that they wouldn't want the general public to find out to become disillusioned with the faith."
"So, we could be serving ourselves to the Three Heroes' Church on a silver platter, if we walk straight into one of their black sites…" The fugitive princess can almost hear the sound of Naofumi's teeth bumping into each other. "Is it too late to turn back?"
"I'm afraid so. We definitely don't have time to turn around, and make enough distance away from any possible Three Heroes' Church patrol by the time sunrises."
With great trepidation, the four of them slowly and carefully make their way inside the cave. They don't plan to get too far in this time, since they aren't trying to explore the abandoned mine, only taking shelter in it through the daylight. Rest to get themselves refreshed, and make their escape the next night when darkness falls again. The sound of their traveling boots shuffle on the rocky surface being the only thing that accompanies them, as what little light from the outside begins to fade.
And then with a sudden swoosh, something falls towards Sir Oersted who is walking at the front. Mein can barely make out anything in the total darkness, only a rough silhouette that seems long and heavy. Some kind of a two-handed sword perhaps?
Unfortunately, Uranus has been right. They really did walk right into an ambush!
The young knight's training kicks in at such a precarious time. His sword, already out of its sheath, immediately moves up, right against the weapon that's descending down on his head. Ideally, he should probably try to dodge the swing rather than meeting it heads on in an attempt to deflect it away. His assailant is using a much heavier weapon, and in the darkness there's no telling of its quality. It could have simply cut through his short sword, and then continued to split his head. But with the four of them walking tightly in order to not get separated in the cave, Oersted would simply have bumped into them and turned them into a pile of entangled bodies.
The young Gallian knight managed to beat back his enemy's weapon with a loud clunk. A small mercy, but it seems like that his opponent is weaker than him, and their weapon of choice isn't higher quality than his steel arming sword. But there is something strange about the encounter. The sound created when their weapons met… It doesn't sound like metal to metal.
Mein didn't have more time to ponder on the peculiarity, with a quick gust of wind, half a dozen spears suddenly came out of the darkness and lungs right at her.
"NO!" Naofumi takes a step forward and crosses his arms, trying to use his body to shield Mein. Something suddenly enlarges from his waist, blowing up into the shape of a shield in front of him. The sound of the weapons impacting Naofumi sounds like something sharp trying, and failing to penetrate a leather cushioned with air.
"Stop it, guys! Light the lantern!" A voice is suddenly raised not far from Sir Oersted. Once again, it sounds familiar to Mein. "I think it's the Shield Hero!"
The sudden flash of light makes Mein raise her arms to shield her eyes. After a short moment, she slowly moves her arm down to look at who attacked them. A group of boys, around the same age, maybe a few years older than Raphtalia, is standing before her group. Their clothes are dirty and tattered, their faces thin from malnutrition. And they hold improvised weapons, like wooden staffs with sharpened ends for a spear.
At their head was the Lute boy Raki, who was rather infatuated with Raphtalia. His face is definitely narrower than she remembered, and heavy bags hang under his eyes. But he looks excited to see the Shield Hero standing before him. "It really is you, Shield Hero! Are you here to save everyone again?"
End Note:
So, the story finally looped back to where it all begin. The plain outside of the capital. Unfortunately for Naofumi, there is certainly no heroic homecoming for him.
About the thing Comrade Broseph talked with me (about my story, not his disappearance). Yeah, it's this whole 'people from Flangey' story. 'Flangey' is based on a broken Chinese sound translation of 'Portuguese' (the original was spelled Fu-Lang-Ji) during the time of Ming Dynasty. So the people Malty talked about here were actually Portuguese sailors/missionaries.
This backstory was a half joke, half serious suggestion made by Comrade Broseph back in the day. That at one point the barrier between Medea and Earth(s) where much weaker to the point where things could randomly crossover. And some of earth's mythology actually comes from creatures that crossed over from Medea. With a bit of discussion with him, we hammered out this backstory that the whole hero (and Chief God in my story) worshipping were shaped by a group of Christian missionaries (most likely Catholic, based on what Lord Martiya told me from how I described the event) aboarding a trade ship sailing towards India, and got dimensionally displaced to Medea instead.
I'm now officially making some of Comrade Broseph's last input 'canon' to my own story. So the whole 'Chief God' and hero worshipping in Medea started out as native Medea's broken understanding of Christianity, that's slowly cannibalized by Medea's native culture/faith. This was inspired by Fallout New Vegas' second DLC Honest Heart, where the Sorrows tribe misunderstood Mormon's teaching of Christianity and absorbed some of Christian belief into their own native belief.
It is also how I explain why some of the Medea church, especially four heroes church's holy symbol being the cross, have Christianity iconography.