Motoyasu was bitching about how late it was as he kept smacking his metal boot into the carpet, obviously trying to get it on right. Ren, meanwhile, was straightening his own cape, trying to get it just right, and forgoing one of his party members, the knight guy, from helping. I, meanwhile, was in my own silver ranger gear, with Lucia fussing over a strap or two, that had come undone in the walk to the castle as it had been hastily tied.
Luckily, we didn't have to wait long, as we were taken into the throne room, where the King, his eyes looking red. Anger in his gaze, but those were eyes that had wept for some reason…likely because of the loss of his daughter, as there was no telling what Naofumi had done, and soon enough, he showed us why they thought he'd kidnapped her, as the recording showed the princess and her retinue coming up from behind the Shield Hero's wagon.
There was no sound, but as he leapt out, the man seemed to look pissed off, and Raphtalia looked to have murder in her eyes, grinding her teeth a little, meanwhile Filo unhitched herself from the wagon, and for a brief moment, she was smiling, but then she changed, her expression going murderous as she turned to face Melty herself, like a switch had been flipped. The three then rushed her, her guards standing back as she motioned for them to.
The four figures met, the Princess looking at them, concerned, speaking emphatically and making me wish this thing had sound. Sadly, it didn't, but at the end of the day, it was easy enough to see that she either wasn't getting through to them, or that whatever she was saying was simply not what they wanted to hear. Strangely, the Princess herself had an expression that never really wavered, making it odd to me that the others looked so vicious.
Suddenly, Naofumi roared. Like, literally opened his mouth and let out a silent cry, placing himself between the Princess and her guards, as one rushed forward. If I had been alone, I might have asked them to take it back to see which came first, but as it was, I could only surmise Naofumi's cry had agitated them, and over the next minute, his party slaughtered her guards, literally tearing them apart, and showing what a difference even a dozen levels and stats made.
The Princess, looking panicked, pointed to one who was obvious the source of the recording, the thing pulling back and showing one of the troops holding a crystal ball, only to be smashed into the ground by Filo, the ball crushed under her steel talons, as they ended his life in a bloody mess, causing the images to fade away into nothing, and leaving us all standing there staring into the open air.
Immediately Motoyasu shouted about how he should have expected something like this, ranting about how he would give the slaver no quarter when they met next. Ren scoffed, saying that we'd only just started to give him the benefit of the doubt, and now he throws that away with reckless abandon. Myself? I was feeling mixed emotions, as there was something about the recording that felt off, but at the same time, it showed Naofumi in the worst light possible.
The King, shouted hoarse by the time he was speaking to us, ordered us to go after him, and said the recording would be duplicated and shown in every village from here to the border in all three directions, though given where he'd been going, it was suspected he was still heading southeast, towards Shieldfreeden. That made sense, given the history of the nation was one linked closely with the Shield…the name was a bit on the nose, but then I chose Bowman as my fake name so I wasn't one to cast stones.
Still, we began to get ready, the parties all gathering in the courtyard along with some knights. Luckily, we'd already been preparing to leave, so it wouldn't take too long for us to gather our things and set out. Unluckily, while Motoyasu revealed he could teleport us to a town out there, his ability would only bring a full party. I, however, pointed out that I could easily set down a destination point in the town, and come back to retrieve the rest of our group.
It was as we were prepping some mounts, filolials for most of us, though Motoyasu had a dragon, a two legged thing with long arms called a tyrella, that a figure came into the castle, a woman of the cloth. The same one who had shown us the images of our battle earlier in the day. She was breathless, her body heaving a little, as she cast a small spell to restore herself, and came up to my party and I.
"My Lord, please, a moment," she said, and I nodded towards her, handing the reins of my beasts to one of the knights nearby, the woman still breathing a bit heavily, as she walked closer.
"Lord Bowman, Pope Balmus believes there are details you need to know before you depart in pursuit of the Shield Hero. He says it has something to do with what you discussed today," she said, straightening herself up a bit, as she bowed towards me. Looking at her, I turned towards the others.
"Souka, the brothers, and Lucia shall prepare our mounts. I will accompany Lord Bowman to this meeting," said Ray, as the others did just that, the woman shaking her head.
"I believe His Holiness wishes a private word with the Hero of the Bow, words not to be spoken in other company," she said, not quite with an edge to her voice…but only just.
"I would assume the things to be discussed might fall under the purview of the Guild as well, and with myself there as a representative, decisions can be made faster," she explained, and the woman seemed surprised by those words, but then smiled brightly.
"I see. His Holiness spoke of such things. Let us be off then," with that, the three of us left the others to finish our preparations for leaving. We then wandered the city, which was, if I'm honest, creepy enough that I would have forgone the walk without Ray and the nun by my side, as every home was dark, and the lanterns that lined the streets sputtered low, making the place just that right shade of abandoned looking to appear like a horror game or something.
Luckily, the church, as it turned out, never slept, and in fact, there were people there, some of them civilians, others from the church, all praying, their voices mumbled, but just enough that I could hear the Princess' name on more than a few lips. They were praying for her safe return, which I found interesting, and wondered idly what she and her mother did to earn that kind of respect from the citizenry, but I was quickly shuffled into a side room, where the Pope waited, his smile gone, as he had a very dark expression on his face.
"My Lord Bowman, Lady Ray of the Guild, I would say it is a pleasure to see you both, but as time is short, let me skip right to the part you are here to listen to," he said, nodding to towards the nun, who nodded back and then exited the room, sealing the door with a spell as she did so, ensuring, according to my (Sense) skill that we would not be overheard.
"The Shield Hero is innocent of the crimes to which he has been accused," he said the very instant the spell was done, and that blunt statement caught both myself and Ray off guard.
"Um…this is in regards to the recording, I take it," I said at last, and the Pope actually chuckled, as if I'd said something funny.
"To be fair, he is innocent of most of the crimes the Princess has accused him of, but in this meeting, yes, he did not kill the guards who were with the Second Princess. They, in fact, attacked him," he explained, and Ray nodded.
"So, the rumors that the church can fake images are true. The Guild suspected as much," she said, and Balmus shook his head.
"We can alter them, at great cost. Five of my people, all of which had passed the first milestone and taken on more advanced classes, are required for such. And even then, the alterations have to be…in keeping with the images as they are. We cannot insert someone who was not present, for instance," he explained.
"Do you still have the original? Showing that could diffuse a lot of the stuff going on," I suggested, and he sighed while shaking his head.
"Sadly not. The original is the ONLY one that can be so altered. Copies are…less stable if it is attempted," he explained, and I stroked my chin a little, before shrugging.
"I suppose that explains why you haven't invented television yet," I say, more thinking aloud than speaking to them, but it causes the other two to look towards me.
"Tel-a-vision, my Lord?" asked Balmus, and I waved him off.
"Too long to explain now. Let's focus on this for the moment," I say, closing down that discussion point for the moment, though making a mental note to bring it up again later.
"You can confirm, to us, that this is altered. Will you be willing to say that in front of the King and his other daughter, assure them that Melty is safe?" I ask, and he chuckles, as if I had said a funny joke.
"The King, I have little doubt, is unaware of his daughter's true circumstances, but Princess Malty was the one to request the alteration to the recording," he said, which while it didn't shock either of us, it was still a very bad thing to happen.
"And you did those alterations?" Ray asked, with the Pope sighing.
"In truth, I would have denied her that request. We no longer have need of her…connections within the sphere of nobility, now that the Bow Hero has agreed to be the Patron for the church. However, I was doing other things involved with that when she came to us, and the Cardinal that heard her request did not know of our conversation this afternoon. By the time I learned of it, the recording had already been altered, and taken to the castle," he said, sounding genuinely disappointed.
"Very well then, we should get those guards and confront her with them. That should at least put a hole in her story," I suggested, and the Pope sighed, again.
"That, my Hero, is why I would have said no to this plan, had she brought it to me beforehand. Those men, loyal members of the Royal Guard, who served the faithful as well, found their lives cut short when I broached that very subject with her," he said, sounding angry…whether because of the murder, or simply because it was a waste to kill loyal soldiers it was hard to tell, but either way it worked for me.
"How did she have them killed? If they were poisoned without a wound on their body, that would prove her version of events fake, wouldn't it?" I asked, and both Ray and Balmus shook their heads.
"I don't doubt she used her magic on them," said Ray, and Balmus nodded to her.
"She is right, Lord Bowman. You should know your levels and stats, and those of your party members, already put them far and away outside most normal men. Strong as those guards were, standing with her in this very church, they were nothing to her power, and she burned them to ash with a single cast of her flames," he explained, sounding even angrier…probably because murdering them on site like that, just because, made it even worse in his eyes.
"So, we have no proof that she's lying directly, and I'm going to guess that very few people know recordings like that CAN be altered, given Ray said it was a rumor," I said, less questioning it, and more laying it out.
"To be fair, it's a very well known rumor amongst the Guild that the church…not just this one but all of them, seem to always be able to produce those in ways that benefit them most. Still, it isn't confirmed, and she'll deny it, and her father will agree with her," admitted Ray, and Balmus nodded in agreement.
"Then our best bet is to get Princess Melty to come home and expose her sister. I saw how the King acted, he loves them both, and finding out one tried to kill the other would be the sort of thing he'd put his foot down over," I said, and the two agreed with me, the three of us soon laying out a plan of action. It hinged, sadly, on us being the first to find Naofumi, but even without that, we should be able to talk the other Heroes down if it came to it…hopefully. Motoyasu seemed ready to run the guy through if his tirade about him in the throne room was any indication.
"My part in this is done, I'm afraid, as I can be little aid in gaining the King's favor. Still, I will continue my search through our archives. I hope to have that gift I spoke of ready on your return, Lord Bowman. For now though, I can only wish you good fortune, and the blessing of the Weapons behind you, that you might undo this foul plot," he declared, bowing his head to myself…and to Ren too after a moment's hesitation, before we proceeded out of the room, and then back to the keep, not running, but certainly moving with purpose.