Boyzilla: Yes Hakuno-chan is determined. That's why we love her, don't we?
Maledictus eris in civitate
(The Cursed City)
"Treaty or not, Westerland (1) remains an Imperial Province, even if it is a rebellious province. We will regain control of it when We decide even if We have other concerns at this time. We, therefore, advise Our Colleague from Bretonnia to forget his dreams of conquest and instead devote himself to his Knighthood tournaments."
Emperor Karl Franz to Bretonnia's ambassador.
The Vlœdmuur, the impressive Marienburg wall, seemed to slowly emerge from the Reik marshes. Even from a distance, one could discern the silhouettes of the soldiers walking on his walkway... and the clouds of crows hovering over the city. These scavenger birds were known to assemble at the killing sites. And as the sea wind carried the cries of the tortured imprisoned in the sinister fortress of the island of Rijker, the atmosphere was rather frightening.
Alvarez Carpio stopped on the road to turn to the two accompanying individuals. First, the little girl with the long chocolate hair, dressed in an outfit of an unknown brown fabric, her skirt was so short that it revealed a large part of her legs covered with black tights.
Next to her stood a shining knight wearing a silver plate armor decorated with a garland of roses engraved on the breastplate. His artistically blond hairy hair and green eyes had caught the attention of all the women who had crossed their paths. The imposing sword that he could materialize with one gesture had been the end of dozens of looters.
Over the past few days, Alvarez had had time to get to know his two companions.
Sir Gawain was exactly what he seemed to be: a gallant knight protector of the widow and orphan, courteous and skillful sword in hand... but also a haughty nobleman, persuaded that his aristocratic condition always gave him the last word. In his quiet arrogance, Gawain had more than once cut Alvarez off to contradict him... while the Estalian sailor talked about what he had seen and experienced! Each time, Alvarez Carpio tried to breathe slowly and calmly to control the anger that threatened to overwhelm him. There was no point in getting mad at that kind of self-righteous idiot. People like this Gawain listened only to themselves and never admitted to being wrong even when they talked about what they did not know.
Fortunately, Hakuno Kishinami was in command. The strange young girl had a name that seemed to come from the Empire of the Sun of Nippon, which was confirmed by her slanted eyes and slightly yellow skin. She spoke little and was unusually reserved.
Even after several days spent with her, Alvarez still did not understand her. Sir Gawain greeted her as if she was a queen but her behavior was nothing arrogant... quite the contrary. In fact, having frequented powerful ship-owners as well as beggars, the Estalian sailor could boast of having met the worst and best among humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Halfling. Yet he still did not understand Hakuno. Despite this, something in her reminded him of the priestesses of Myrmidia, the goddess of war and strategy revered in his native land.
The teen girl tilted her head:
"You want to say something?"
The sailor blushed and coughed in his fist, suddenly aware of watching her silently for several minutes.
"Uh... which means we're near Marienburg and it's time to decide how we're going to get into the city."
Hakuno blinked and seemed to consider it:
"You left town hiding on a canal boat. We could do the same thing."
The sailor approved of with a head movement:
"Yes, but I fled in an empty barge. To get in, you would have to board a ship with a load destined for Marienburg. But these are searched by the River Guard, the customs officers of Marienburg. Luckily, there aren't enough of them to search for every ship. It might work, or it might not..."
Kishinami meditated for a few moments:
"Is there another entrance?"
"Yes, the gates, of course... they are in charge of another guard regiment commonly called the Black Hats, because of their big black velvet berets. Each door is guarded by a contingent commanded by a sergeant. The Black Hats have a reputation for laziness and inefficiency that is matched only by their wickedness. Since they have the right to exercise low justice, they use it to tyrannize the poor people who cannot afford a lawyer to challenge their judgment. Of course, they pocket the fines directly. They are very unpopular."
Hakuno thought the River Guard was not large enough to search all the ships which docked on the docks of Marienburg. However, each door was guarded by the Black Hats.
"Let's try to hide in a canal boat."
Alvarez agrees that:
"All right, damsel Kishinami but..."
He turned to Gawain:
"We cannot hide with a knight in armor by our side!"
An amused smile appeared on Hakuno's lips:
"You've never met a Servant. Gawain?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Takes your astral form."
The knight bowed with one hand over his heart:
"Whatever you say, Master."
Immediately it seemed to be diluted in a shimmer of blue particles. As Alvarez Carpio looked at the scene with bulging eyes, Hakuno hastened to explain the nature of the Servants. But many of the terms she used (Familiar, Ghost Liner) made no sense to the Estalian sailor. He shook his head:
"Is that some kind of ghost?"
Hakuno shook her head:
"A hero of the past who received a new physical form through a ritual," she contradicts.
"And where did he go?"
"He's right over there."
The Master pointed to an empty spot that Alvarez looked at with a somewhat frightening look.
"A Servant is a spirit. Gawain has just returned to his spiritual form. He can materialize in an instant."
Alvarez Carpio looked at the young Master with respect. She must have been a great magician to control such a powerful familiar.
Things went much better than Alvarez had feared. Accompanied by the teenager, he went to one of the taverns where the boatmen came to drink a few pints of beer before arriving in Marienburg. With his swag, the sailor had little trouble sympathizing with these simple people. Finally, they welcomed them on board and even went so far as to hide them.
At night, they slipped onto the quays of the Suiddock.
Even at night the streets of the mighty merchant city were crowded and noisy. Hakuno did not have enough eyes to look at everything. A veritable river of individuals poured into the streets, on the quays, and crossed the bridges.
There were sailors from ten nations speaking twenty dialects. The people of the southern kingdoms, the Tilea and the Estalia, were identified by their sunkissed skin. They mingled with Arabs in baboosh and turbans, inhabitants of the icy Kislev dressed in long shirts, and even traders of Norsca... these worshippers of chaos deity yet rarely seen outside the corrupt lands of the North.
Most of the people she saw were humans. But from time to time, Hakuno would stop and ask Alvarez to talk about the non-humans.
Annoyed and amused, the Estalian sailor gave whispering answered to her many questions. Thus, Hakuno learned that the little men with broad stomachs and hairy barefoot that she saw smoking long pipes at the entrance of the taverns were Halflings.
The tall humanoids with pointed ears and long blond hair tight by gold circles were Asur, more commonly known as High Elves, the inhabitant of Ulthuan. Dressed in long embroidered white robes, they walked in the middle of the street as if it belonged to them, an air of disdain and boredom literally painted on their faces.
Sometimes they encountered humanoids slightly larger than the Halflings, but smaller than humans. Powerfully built with braided beards adorned with metal rings, they often wore metal armors or outfits of canvas and leather with many pockets. The Dwarves - since it is about them - were often laughing and feasting in the inns. However, it was enough that their eyes cross the eyes of the Elves for anger to replace the joy and that they began to spit on the ground or to spout insults.
Yet, by the "magic" of the lure of gain, all these normally enemy peoples mingled together in relative good intelligence.
Although he was busy answering Hakuno's questions, the sailor was glaring around him.
"Something happened while I was gone," Alvarez whispered.
"What do you mean?"
The sailor showed the cracks that damaged homes. The street itself seemed to have risen and the buildings lined up on both sides were no longer at the same height, some even leaned forward!
"There was an earthquake."
"Is it bad for us?"
"In any case, that does not change the fact that we will have to quickly find a hiding place. It is not good to sleep under the stars in Marienburg. One can never wake up!"
Hakuno looked at the sailor with interest:
"Where are we going?"
He grimaced, a bit uneasy:
" The only idea that comes to mind is my house in the Doodkanal."
Hakuno frowned, the name of this neighborhood meant "dead channel". It didn't look very engaging.
"The Doodkanal?"
Alvarez Carpio answered with honesty:
"The worst part of the city. The canal is full of garbage and sometimes even corpses. Only the poorest and the criminals live here. The advantage is that even Black Hats don't dare patrol the streets. However, you can be murdered by a beggar who covets your shoes and no one will stop him."
Hakuno and Alvarez had arrived at Marienburg by disembarking on the Suiddock quay, the only channel wide enough and deep enough to accommodate deep-sea vessels. The sailor was now reversing the course of his flight. Descending the Luydenhoerk, he led the young Master to the Beulplaats (Hanging Men Place). All the avenue and the square were now decorated with gallows supporting iron cages. Skeletons stripped of their flesh by the crows swayed in the squeaking of the chains, a reminder of the pogrom organized by the Directorate. One hand on her mouth to escape the smell of putrefaction, Hakuno hurried eyes full of tears.
More accustomed to this kind of spectacle, Alvarez turned one hand on the handle of his rapier when he heard a bell ring. He discovered a wagon coming out of a side street. Its driver sounded the instrument, shouting: "Bring out your dead, bring out your dead!"
Further, a silhouette went from house to house. With his black dress and the white mask with a long beak full of fragrant herbs that hid his face, the sailor found no difficulty in recognizing a plague doctor. An epidemic had broken out during his absence. His forehead was beaded with perspiration. The plague occurred at the worst possible time.
The signs of this catastrophe were everywhere. The streets were no longer maintained and the garbage was accumulating. The population of the lower neighborhoods wandered with a blank, dazed gaze, as after a cataclysm.
As for the Black Hats, they roamed the streets but hunting foreigners and forbidden cults no longer seemed to be their primary concern. Although the population remained amorphous, at least for the time being, their attitude showed that they had to fear an uprising. Of course, public criers and posters proclaimed that the earthquake and plague had been caused by the Bretonnians and their foreign allies. This channeled the anger of the crowd against the designated enemy, but for how much longer? The masters of the city were probably right to be wary of the reactions of the crowd.
In the chaos that had spread over Marienburg, Alvarez had no trouble guiding Hakuno to the hovel he occupied in the Doodkanal.
Pillaged, abandoned and devastated, his house was not empty. Muffled noises came up from the cellar. Cautiously, the sailor approached the hatch and struck the panel.
Hearing frightened rumors Alvarez had to introduce himself and argue at length before being opened.
Three families of the survivors of the purges were hiding in the cellar of the hovel. They told Alvarez what had happened during his absence. The Black Hats, aided by mercenaries, had begun a systematic round-up of all foreigners living in Marienburg. Assembled on the Beulplaats, they had been put to death without further trial.
Lucky people had escaped this net by hiding in the underground under the city (2). Unfortunately, the Directorate rewarded the denunciations and the extrajudicial executions had continued since without a time-out.
Invisible beside his Master, Sir Gawain contacted her mentally:
[Damsel Kishinami, I fear that this succession of disasters has nothing natural. I sense here the actions of some evil creature. ]
Hakuno replied in the same way:
[What can we do?]
[This kind of creature always leaves traces of its action. It must be used to track the monster. Then the Sacred Sword of the Sun that I bear will banish the darkness of evil out of this world. You showed a very sure instinct in wanting to see the city with your own eyes, Master. This allows us to work hard to counter the manipulations of this monster. By my oath of Knight of the Round, I swear that I will have no rest until I have put an end to the torments of the innocent and punished the guilty. ]
Hakuno had a slight smile as Gawain complimented her. During the Moon Cell Holy Grail War, the Knight of the Sun showed cold politeness to her, repeatedly seeking to keep Leo away from her. He had changed his mind about her only during their last fight.
Listening with a distracted ear to Alvarez Carpio arguing with the refugees deprived of everything going and who only wanted to hide in the cellar, Hakuno thought about an action plan.
In the morning, Alvarez again guided Hakuno through the streets of the city-state. Knowing the least of the alleys and being known by all the gangs of the city, the sailor had no trouble leading her from one hiding place to another, in search of the survivors of the persecutions.
As Gawain had suspected "something" was at work in the city. In recent weeks, several hundred people had disappeared without a trace, abducted in their sleep.
Unfortunately, Hakuno's investigation as discreet as she might have wished. As she inquired about the disappearance of workers from the Kruiersmuur district, a patrol of Black Hats appeared at the end of the street.
Alvarez's quick thinking saved the moment. Taking Kishinami by the arm, he dragged her into a building destroyed by the earthquake. Unfortunately, the sailor's reaction was not fast enough. One of the guards saw them:
"They've gone that way. Let's the dogs go, they'll eventually flush out those scumbags."
Hearing a suffocated sob behind them, Alvarez drew his rapier but immediately lowered his blade. Curled up in the ruins, a pregnant woman opened wide terrified eyes. The dark tint of her skin left no doubt about her condition as a stranger...
Of course, Hakuno could run away with Alvarez. But with her big belly, the woman could never escape the Black Hats... Given their reputation, these bullies in uniform would certainly not pity a pregnant woman.
"Gawain!"
The Knight of the Round materialized at the call of his name. He bowed towards Hakuno, and then smiled at the pregnant woman terrified by his apparition:
"Master, I thank you for taking on this mission. My oath as a knight would have left me no respite if I had left a damsel in distress and a mother carrying her child to be the victim of ruthless bullies."
Going out into the street, he stood before the guards with his hands crossed on the knob of Galatine planted between two cobblestones:
"Would you seek me, sires? In that case, I am here... You will have no trouble but to come and seize me."
The Black Hats wore the big velvet beret which had given them their name as well as a corselet of plates, puffy breeches, and a halberd. There were about ten of them, and four had a foaming hound on their leash. Yet the knight's assurance and the great sword on which he was leaning on intimidated them. They hesitated, not daring to advance towards the lonely adversary facing them.
Their behavior did not escape the knight, and Gawain had a thin smile without humor:
"I see... all your courage comes down to terrorizing helpless wretches and pregnant women."
He raised a finger, pointing to the winter sun which appeared through the clouds:
"But indeed you're right not to come to me. It is noon and I am at the peak of my strength. As is my duty as a knight, allow me to introduce myself: I am Sir Gawain, of the Order of the Round Table. And if you don't want to come to this knight, then this knight will come to you."
Brandishing his sword, the Knight of the Sun rushed forward. In an instant, the blade described several flaming circles. Two guards had already fallen before their companions could even sketch a gesture of defense. On an order from their sergeant, the other counterattacked, seeking to encircle Gawain and pierce him with their halberds. As much as they wanted to catch a will-o'-the-wisp, the knight dodged and blocked each blow with vivacity. On fire, Galatine burned the garments of the guards, smashed their armors, melting ordinary steel as if it was only wax.
Within moments, half the guards had been massacred. The dogs, terrified by the burning sword, had fled as soon as they were released. The surviving Black Hats began to cry out for help and broke free, prey to the vilest panic.
While the knight avenged the innocent victims of these bullies, Hakuno and Alvarez had used the diversion to distance themselves, each supporting the pregnant woman with one arm.
Later in the afternoon, continuing her investigation, Hakuno noticed the terrible consequences of the earthquake. A house suddenly collapsed into a swirl of dust. As the disaster was not preceded by any signs, the occupants could not escape and were buried alive. The ruins then sunk into the ground, while the fool water from the canals infiltrated the crater and drowned the rubble... The foundations of the city, shaken by the earthquake, began to engulf in the marshes.
However, the Directorate had not announced any measures to support the shaky foundations of the houses or to fill with tons of rock the engulfed neighborhoods as was usual in such cases. The public criers who called the crowds on the squares spoke only of the "vile aggression" of a troop of Black Hats by a "Bretonnian Knight". The posters they had put up showed a fairly realistic portrait of Sir Gawain. The misadventure of the municipal guards routed by a single knight had already made the turn of the city unleashing laughter all the inhabitants. Nevertheless, the sum of 30 Gulden (3) promised for "all information leading to the capture of the Bretonnian agent" made drool the very peoples who had applauded Gawain's intervention.
After a brief conversation with Alvarez,- initially quite reluctant to go to the government's neighborhood- Hakuno Kishinami obtained that he showed her the Paleisbuurt, arguing that it was the only place where information could be obtained about the Directorate's actions.
This district was the exact opposite of the slums in which the survivors of the pogrom were forced to hide. There were only magnificent houses serving as embassies to all the great nations of the Old World, the palace of the government - a kind of wedding cake covered with whipped cream- and buildings serving the various "democratic" assemblies of the city.
At the end of the afternoon, their wait was rewarded by the release of a procession of Black Hats escorting a litter carried by men.
While the guards were brandishing their halberds to force the few individuals present to push cheers... not really spontaneous and even less enthusiastic, a hand with puffy fingers spread a silk curtain to expose the adipose face of an individual nonchalantly laid on cousins, next to a beautiful young woman with very little clothes on. After a brief wave of hands for the "good citizens of Marienburg", the curtain fell.
Alvarez joked:
"This is the Staadtholder van Ræmerswjk for you. The directors think it is the ideal Staadtholder. All he cares about are balls and parades, leaving the Directorate to monopolize the reality of power."
Hakuno Kishinami shook her head, disgusted by what she had just seen. She understood the state of the city better in the light of its "leader". Van Ræmerswjk was only a puppet in the hands of the ten richest people in the city. The directors had only one policy: selfishness. They spent as much time competing for a larger share of the pie as they did agree against those who might hinder trade at Marienburg. The result had divided the city-state between a minority of fabulously rich and powerful people, and an increasingly poor majority... with explosive consequences for the social climate.
Rather than solve the root of the problem and create a more just society, the Directorate had chosen to accuse the Bretonnians (the hereditary enemy) the foreigners who came inhabited in the city (and who stole the work of the "real" Marienburgers) or the exotic religions (which corrupted the youth). The history of earthly humanity, as Hakuno had learned in the Seraph, was full of such behavior. In the end, governments that resorted to xenophobia always ended up succumbing to wars or bloody uprisings.
By the time they got back to the dark cellar of the Doodkanal, the sun was already setting. Hakuno installed some old blankets to make herself a kind of bench just under the window overlooking the street. It was uncomfortable and the wet cellar was absolutely not a luxury accommodation. Nevertheless, the Sovereign had become accustomed to sleeping on school tables...
Nevertheless, the night was not very quiet. While she was sleeping, a hand shook her sharply:
"Master, wake up."
Shaking her eyes, Hakuno straightened herself up. The brightness of the moons lighted the foul canal. In this light, the Sovereign of the Moon Cell recognized Gawain. The knight held his sword in his hand and seemed worried.
Suddenly completely awakened, Hakuno Kishinami rose to join her Servant:
"What is going on?"
For answer, the Heroic Spirit poured a part of his Od into his sword. Galatine caught fire. Brandishing the blade like a torch, Sir Gawain lit the back wall.
In a reflex of disgust, Hakuno stepped back. A long tentacle of a sort of translucent pink jelly, thick as a tree trunk, twisted on the ground. The member came out of a hole in the wall too small for it and its end as thin as a whip groped on the ground as in search of something...
"Master, give me your orders!"
"Saber, destroy this thing."
The knight rushed forward. Excalibur Galatine described a succession of swirling fire arcs and a terrible burning smell spread through the cellar. Nevertheless, the wounds caused by the sacred sword closed almost instantaneously. Disturbed by this unexpected resistance, the thick tentacle retreated, however, leaving behind slimy streaks.
An instant later, it had disappeared by a sigh.
"What was it?" whispered Hakuno, uncomfortable.
"A Daemon of Slaanesh," responded the Knight.
The Master was thrilling... it explained a lot of things. The Slaanesh daemons were known to exacerbate human's most violent desires. If such a monster had appeared in the underground under Marienburg, it was not surprising that the city was sinking into madness.
The second day spent in the merchants' city was a gigantic game of hide-and-seek for Hakuno. In search of a new home, unable to stay in a place haunted by a daemon, the Victor of the Moon had to escape dozens of patrols searching the streets and canals. Gawain's feat the day before had put the Black Hats on edge.
It was only after noon that Alvarez installed her in a half-ruined house whose cellar was already home to a family of fugitives.
(1) Not given to the imperial Province including Marienburg before its independence.
(2) Marienburg gradually sinks into the mud of the marshes. The houses are regularly abandoned and filled to serve as a foundation for a new building floor. However, many old homes are still accessible. Some serve as cellars for the dwellings on the surface... others are evil dens for the chaotic sects, the smugglers, or the various factions that compete for power in Marienburg.
(3) Gold coin minted in Marieburg, bearing on one side the siren which serves as the coat of arms of the city and on the other the profile of the Staadtholder in exercise. Its name "Gulden" simply means "gold" in the variant of the Westerner spoken at Marienburg (and which is in fact Dutch). 30 Gulden is easily a year's salary for a harbor worker.