Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
In front of everyone, the bald, clean shaved man in the armor of House De Gallia knight is consumed in a brilliant ball of crimson flame. Before everyone has a chance to react, or even show the sign of shock, his body blows up, sending ashes every direction.
"LOOK OUT!" Sir Oersted stepped in front of Mein, but Sir Antonio was quicker. He leaps towards the exploded Sir Dillon, blocking taking in all the dust of ashes before it can reach any of them. The older knight staggers on his feet, either because he's stunned by the impact of the force, or if the ash carries curse not found in the ash below their feet.
The two younger members of their Gallian escort both stare at the suit of armor that used to belong to Sir Dillon onto the ground. Oersted in abject horror, while Streibough's expression looks more like some combination of surprise with fascination.
"Streibough! Give Sir Antonio the booster!" Uranus immediately starts casting healing miracles over Sir Antonio's body. The wizard grabs another vial of liquid that has an opaque silver shine to it, pops it open. With one hand on Sir Antonio's shoulder, he feet it into the older knight's mouth. "Get a hold of yourself! There might be more cultists inside!"
"Right!" Oersted kicks the now half open door off its hinge, and barges inside with his sword drawn. If there's anything that might threaten them inside, the younger knight clearly intended to take them heads on so nobody else would be surprised.
"A booster created by Lady Sheffield, after the plague of the Wailing Death. It enhances the body's ability to fight off ailments, especially magical in origin." The elder priest looks over at Mein and Naofumi, pointing at the empty vial that used to contain the potion Streibough fed into Sir Antonio's mouth.
"I'm okay." Sir Antonio holds his hands up, his face looking slightly paler than before, but so are the other Gallians. Witnessing one of their own suddenly combust, and then explode in front of them probably shaken them. "Go check on Sir Oersted, he might be in danger."
"Look after Sir Antonio, Streibough." Uranus releases the older knight as he quickly follows the younger man inside the building. The princess feels her heart pounding again as she hears the sound of Oersted's metal boots clicking the floor inside. But the sound is much dimmer than she imagined, almost as if he's walking through something like a carpet, or a furred rag. Not too long after, she hears the sound of the elderly priest. "You guys can come in, there doesn't seem to be any threats left."
Chapter 88: Dark Tide Underneath
The commoner mage throws a glance at both Mein and Naofumi, letting her know that he's not given up on figuring out her identity. He walks into the stone building too, Sir Antonio brings up the rear behind Mein and Naofumi as they both step into the headquarters of the cultists.
Judging from the way the building was constructed, Mein expected the inside to look quite barren. Probably only with enough furniture for utility function, and whatever they use to worship, or conduct rituals for the outer god they no doubt worship. She's surprised to find how comfortable the inside looks, possibly even fit that of a low-ranking nobility.
The stone floors definitely have rags over them, making it much easier for her feet than most of the land she's been tracking through after she joined the Shield Hero's side. There are tables, chairs both for dining, and to simply sit around. Even banners hanging around the wall. While she's no stranger to luxurious lifestyle thanks to her heritage, it's still much better than most of the inns she's been to on her journey.
Speaking of the banners… She has a slight frown on her face as she looks at them. They are scarlet in color, with a silver border and an emblem in the middle. The emblem itself is clearly supposed to be the depiction of flame, judging by its jagged edges that's almost waving even as it quietly sits in the middle of the banner. But the way they are arranged almost look like petals of flowers. More importantly, like the flower emblem that would sit in the middle of her own family's banner. Coincidence, or intentional imitation, the knowledge of some heretic cult coming up with an emblem that resembles her own family's sent chill down her back.
"Be careful under your feet." Sir Antonio's warning makes Mein freeze her body, one leg still in the air. She looks up, and sees a large bundle of ash, with an empty cloak covering over most of the pile. No different than the armor they found in the forest.
Sir Antonio carefully picks the cloak up with the tip of his sword, and it looks just like the cloaks the cultists patrolling the outside wore. But a hole was torn up in the back, ripped by some kind of sharp objects. Such as Sir Antonio's sword, or more likely, Sir Dillon's sword. Before he succumbed to whatever cursed ailment, the Gallian knight killed the cultists still inside the building. That's likely what spooked those patrolling outside, giving Mein her chance to get them all at once with that oversized [Hydro Sphere].
The princess immediately turns her attention towards the pile of ash, expecting it to reconstruct back into the shape of a very pale looking human, or whatever abominable form the heretic would take for worshiping an outer god. Streibough also raises his magical staff, clearly expecting the same. But to both of their embarrassment, the pile stays on the floor, as a pile of ash. They hear the voice of Uranus calling from the next room. "Come and see this, Sir Antonio."
"Wait." They are about to move over when the older knight holds his arm up again. "Let me go by myself first, we don't know if it's a trap."
The princess feels Naofumi clenching the fabric of her shoulder as she squeezes down on the Star Wand. They watch the blue haired knight putting his large brimmed hat on, and slowly move over to the door frame connecting to the next room. He stays still for a moment, before gesturing to them to follow him. Mein doesn't relax her hand, as she walks over side by side with the commoner mage who caused her no shortage of headaches.
The room Uranus called them from is clearly some kind of ritual room. It has no rag on the floor, and a large ritual circle drawn in the smooth stoned floor. More piles of robes cover piles of ashes lie around the room, clearly more cultist slain by Sir Dillon. At the middle of the spell array lies a pile of shattered crystals. Probably a crystal ball that served as the core of the ritual before it was smashed by Dillon. It's likely what made the piles of ashes reform into those unkillable ash creatures.
Sir Antonio walks around the room a bit, taking in the sight as both the elderly priest, and the younger knight step away from him, giving him a better look of the room. The apprentice of Lady Sheffield kneels in front of the ritual circle, examining its construction. After a short inspection, the slightly older knight leans his back against the wall and asks. "Master Uranus, Streibough. Do any of you recognize the ritual, or what cult these heretics are?"
"I'm fairly sure they aren't any branch of the ancient dragon worshiping cults. The fire of their emblem might connect them to Salamander, the Lord of Infernal Flame. But if that's the case, some kind of draconic imagery would be used. And displayed more prominently than the image of fire. Connections to the Seven False Heroes are also unlikely, considering none of them have affinity with fire." The priest of the Four Heroes' Church starts to list the two most well known heretic cults, likely from records of the church. He slowly looks down at the mage. "I do not remember any other, smaller cults sharing similar traits with these heretics. Streibough?"
"The ritual circle also has a strong connection to fire. That aside, I do not recognize any specific connection with any occultist record in Gallia's secret archive. It looks almost as if they are a bunch of restless, rich, noble scions who didn't know what they were doing and stumbled randomly upon an outer god." Another frown appears on the young mage's face. "But the way they constructed their magical array suggests they are magical scholars that are highly trained in a systematic way. That's the scary thought. It reminds me of the rise of the Seven False Heroes."
Streibough's words make Mein join his frown. Because of the dark history behind it. After the first hero summoning, where the Four Cardinal Heroes, the Seven Vassal Heroes, and the Twelve Divine Crusaders stopped both the dragon cults, the beastman horde and the Wave of Catastrophe, many people expected the world would enter a new golden age led by them. Yes, the Shield Hero's betrayal in siding with the beastman horde prevented the Seven Old Kingdoms from achieving a perfect victory, and allowed the beastman to eventually recover and continue to torment the human nations. But at the time, it was still considered a minor setback that would be quickly resolved.
But the sudden appearance of the Seven False Heroes fighting for the beastman's side quickly changed things. Kzinssie the Scythe, Dantarg the Carriage, Bokhohn the Book, Subier the Harpoon, Noel the Katana, Rocbouquet the Mirror, and their leader, Lord Wagnas the Warship. After the passing of the first Shield Hero and Siltvelt King, these seven beastman 'heroes' each wielding a profaned artifact that somehow has the same growth ability as the seven Star Weapons took over the helm of beastmen.
The annexation of Midgard into Siltvelt. The fall of Albion. The Seven False Heroes had a direct hand in ending two of the Seven Old Kingdoms, and they continued to terrorize Tristan and Germania for generations to come, till they were finally defeated by the last Tristan Queen Saint Henrietta, and the Germania King Gerald II, resulting in both countries combining into Faubley.
The ancient dragon cultists are remembered because of their worship of one of the primordial beings of Medea. The Seven False Heroes are remembered because of the paranoia they instilled in the heroes for toppling, or changing multiple well prestigious dynasties. For Streibough to compare these cultists to them… Mein can't help but feel cold from her head to her toes.
Granted, the young man could be making a laughable over estimation of these cultists that got taken down from the inside by a single Gallian knight in their captive. The protege of Lady Sheffield or not, he is still a mudblood commoner who doesn't know anything about the world aside from the dirt he and his family plow through to earn a living.
But perhaps it's the emphasis of fire, both in their emblem and their ritual circle construction that remind her of that vision she saw when she touched Eclair's family artifact. "...The Burning Legion…"
Naofumi's eye moves over to her. There is a sense of confusion, but also a kind of surprise and recognition. Almost as if he has heard of the name before. Could it be… the name of the legion itself was important enough to be recorded in the text from his own world?
"Record what we found… and then destroy this accursed place the best you could, Streibough. Lady Sheffield will have to look through what information we managed to gather, but we can't risk leaving anything for their possible accomplices, or anyone who is interested in occult knowledge." Sir Antonio closes his eyes, and begins to cough slightly.
"Are you alright, Sir Antonio?" Oersted whips his head over to look at the older knight, he quickly runs over to Antonio and tries to swing the older knight's arm over his shoulder. But he's pushed away by the blue haired chevalier.
"I'm still fine. We need to wrap up quickly, and move to the next outpost as soon as possible." Mein looks over at the older knight. Unlike the rest of the Gallians, his pale complexion isn't recovering. Whatever ailment or curse Sir Dillon carried has clearly been passed over. He is doing his best to stay upright, at least till they reach temporary safety. But nobody knows how long he'll hang on by this point.
Everyone quickly gets to work. Mein and Naofumi help Sir Oersted collect evidence to send back into a large bag, while Uranus and Streibough write down things into a notebook. After they are done and exit the building, Streibough starts a fire to burn everything down, not leaving anything behind for future prospecting heretics and cultists to find.
They make their way back to their tied filorials and continue their journey. Thankfully, there are outposts manned by Gallian men on the road despite the condition of the road itself. By the time they reach the next one, Sir Antonio can barely stay upright on the steed, and he hasn't fallen off thanks to Uranus holding him up. The guards around the wooden outpost quickly swarm them, and help the chevalier down and carry him into the barrack, where he may rest.
"Send a courier to Gallia city for this bag of evidence and our notes, another one to the capital to bring back my master Lady Sheffield." The disciple of Gallia's royal battle mage hands the captain of the outpost the bag, and the notebooks. "This evidence needs to be kept safe, and examined by her as soon as possible. We might be having an occultist group undermining our effort to fight the Wave."
"As you wish." The captain quickly begins to bark orders to his subordinate, while the guards scramble to have two of their filorials saddled for couriers. Meanwhile, a single room in the barrack is prepared, and Sir Antonio is settled in.
"Is Sir Chevalier going to survive?" Oersted looks back at Streibough from where he's kneeling by the older knight's bed.
"We have done all we can for him. I'm afraid Sir Antonio's survival now is up to how hard he'll fight against the ailment himself… and in the hand of our gods." Uranus also takes a step and kneels down by the blue-haired knight. His face is now even more pale than the skin of the ash creatures they faced earlier.
"A shame… I can't be part… of Miss Sophia's pilgrimage. But… you three have to… continue without me…" The chevalier slowly reaches his hand over to grab Oersted's hand, almost like he's giving both his well wishes and the last of his strength to the younger knight. "...stay strong."
With the last of his words said, he closes his eyes. Only his slowly rising, and falling chest indicate he is still alive. The elder priest slowly parts Sir Antonio and Sir Oersted's hands, and returns the arm of the sleeping knight back to his chest. "Let him rest, we'll have to continue without Sir Antonio."
"Or we could turn back, all of us." Streibough glares at Mein from the corner of his one visible eye. "This fool's errand was trouble to start with. And now one of us is already lost at the start of this quest, thanks to these two."
The little shit's aggression aside, Mein was ready to agree with him when Oersted rejected Streibough's suggestion. He's clearly trying to keep his voice low to not disturb Sir Antonio's rest, a feat he only marginally succeeds in. "NO. This has nothing to do with Miss Sophia or Miss Siesta. Sir Antonio went down because Miss Sophia allowed us to investigate Sir Dillon's disappearance. Something I asked for, so if it's anyone's fault, it's mine. If you want to quit, turn back. I'm not going to abandon her in her time of need."
"You'd rather risk your life for a doomed quest for some nobody pilgrim, simply on the words of an possibly insane knight working for the Four Heroes' Church, than return home safely to your lover?" The mage crosses his arm in front of his chest and glares daggers at the knight standing across him. "To think Princess Athelea chose YOU, when you don't care about her at all."
Mein narrows her eyes at the scene. Something tells her that the little shit didn't bring the princess back because he was trying to save Oersted's relationship with her. No, she can clearly smell the scent of jealousy. She hates to admit it, but despite her being born a princess, and Streibough being born a commoner, they are the same kind of people. They both crave things out of their own reach.
"I care about Princess Athelea, I'd take a sword for her." Oersted didn't shrink back from Streibough's words. He glares right back at the mage. "But I also swore my oath as a knight, and I intend to have my duty completed, or die trying. And right now, my oath is protecting Miss Sophia with my life, till she stands alongside the four Cardinal Heroes."
"One of which is already accused of being an outer god worshiping heretics." Streibough looks like he's going to continue fighting Oersted if only for the sake of disagreeing with his rival. But the elderly priest quickly steps between the two of them to break their fight.
"That's enough. We should not disturb Sir Chevalier's rest while he is fighting for his life." Uranus reaches out his hand, dragging the two younger men that look half of his age with their age combined out of the room. "Sir Oersted didn't stop you from leaving Streibough. If you think this quest is doomed from the start, you are welcome to leave. We'll continue the journey, unless Miss Sophia decides to return."
"There is really no need for it, Master Uranus." Mein quickly exits the bedroom too, with Naofumi following behind her. He shuts the door after he crosses the threshold. "I didn't mean to start a fight with my pilgrimage. I can make my journey with Siesta just fine."
"Under normal circumstances, I'm sure you are able to take care of yourself, Miss Sophia. But we are living through a tough time. Wave of Catastrophe, talk of a crusade against us, unrest between the different sects of churches and noble houses… I doubt you'll have a safe journey within the border of Melromarc herself, let alone the land beyond. You need a group of proper escorts."
"Very well. Thank you, for your faithfulness." She can feel the eyes of Naofumi on her back again, clearly wondering where she's going with her recent actions. But once again, she can't exactly explain her decisions to him without risking their 'escort' overhearing their conversation. If revealing their real identity was dangerous before, it's truly suicidal now with one of them hurt. She looks outside, and sees the sun begin to dip under the treelines once again. "I suppose we'll have warm beds to stay in tonight."
"Yes, indeed. It's better to let the birds, and ourselves rest within the safe wall of this outpost." Uranus also looks outside, seeing some of the guards changing their post on the mounted crossbows. "Tonight is likely going to decide Sir Antonio's survival. But regardless, he'll not be able to recover through a single night. I'll see if we can find more help in the next town. I have passed over my former duties to my younger apprentices, but I still have some influence within the church."
"It's appreciated, Master Uranus. Although not necessary." They begin to make their way out of the barrack, towards the wooden building in the distance where a trail of smoke raises up from the chimney, likely the kitchen and mess hall of this Gallian outpost. But before she follows the rest of their group in, she feels someone grabbing her shoulder and swings her back into the wall. She closes her eyes for a little and reopens them to clear her vision. Not surprising, it's the blasted disciple of Gallia's royal battle mage.
"You better not think I forgot the stunt you pulled out there." The commoner turned disciple of one of Melromarc's greatest mages stares her down, clearly trying to intimidate her into giving out her secret. "Those other fools might have let it pass, but I wouldn't."
"You really should have learnt to let a secret lie." Mein smirks back at Streibough as she looks around, nobody is around them to interrupt this conversation… or to overhear it. Too bad for the self-important commoner. He thought he had her cornered, but this is the next situation she wanted to be in. "Are you the only student of Lady Sheffield?"
"WHAT?!" Streibough's voice breaks at her simple question, and the princess turned fugitive knows her gamble paid off. "Are you saying you are another one of Lady Sheffield's apprentices? How do I know if that's true?"
"You have already seen my magical prowess. Do I look like some common rabble trained by the guild? Plus, this should convince you." Mein holds her left hand up, conjuring both a small sphere of fire, and water above her hands. She then wills both to merge together, turning them into a rotating sphere of contained steam. "Opposing elements. A feat even you didn't display. Who else would have taught me this if not for the royal battle mage of Gallia, Lady Sheffield? Master Aldrecht, the royal battle mage of the crown?"
The single visible eye of Streibough seems to twinkle in conflict between believing and rejecting her claim. He probably doesn't want to accept that he might not have been his master's favorite apprentice.
"I'd keep quiet, if I were you. Lady Sheffield would be most displeased to know what you did here. You impatient dirtbag." Mein slaps Streibough's hand away from her collars. Now, it's her turn to act arrogant in front of this self-important little shit. "Come inside quickly, we don't want anyone to get suspicious."
Lady Sheffield, the royal battle mage of House De Gallia. She was of humble birth, someone who can't even imagine reaching this position if not for her being born as a rare Mind of God. Someone who is born with all magical affinity. But even before that, she was the faithful servant of Prince Joseph of House De Gallia, second to his name.
Before he was known as the Mad Tempest for holding Siltvelt invasion army back during The Great War, he was simply known as the mad, spare second-in-line son for Gallia throne. He became the head of House De Gallia, when his elder brother was killed in The Great War by Siltvelt. There are rumors of course. Some say he intentionally misdirected Gallian army to let his elder brother die, others say he murdered his elder brother either through an assassin, magical curse, or good old fashioned poison.
Regardless, he was well known for his ambition to conspire for something even greater than the title of prince: reclaiming the supreme throne for this land that is now known as Melromarc, and bring back the glory of the old De Gallia kingdom back. And regardless of his rumor of insanity, or murder of his elder brother, he gained enough prestige in The Great War to ascend to the position of King if not for Pope Balmus and Father's support of Mother.
Knowing such a dark, sordid history between Prince Joseph and Mother, the next question would naturally be if he'll reel back and control his ambition and settle as the Prince De Gallia. And now Mein has the answer. No, he most definitely wouldn't settle. Of course, his most loyal supporter and top advisor, Lady Sheffield would be secretly taking apprentices, and have them act as her agents to conspire and scheme against Mother.
And now, she has managed to both misdirect one of her students, and gained some evidence on Prince Joseph's ambition. It wouldn't hold up in a court, but it'll certainly be interesting leverage to use against the mother in future. At the very least, she should be able to use this information to cultivate some favors.
"Was there something wrong?" Oersted's voice brings Mein back to the present. She looks up, and sees the young knight stand up from the long wooden bench he's currently sitting on. Priest Uranus sits beside him, while Naofumi is nowhere to be seen. Judging from the smell of food cooking in the back, he has likely volunteered to help the kitchen staff. "I was about to come and find you two. What took you so long?"
"I was worried for Sir Antonio, and I asked Master Streibough here if he'll recover." Mein takes half a step back on her backfoot, to look back at the commoner mage. To better observe his reaction, and determine how much do Oersted and Uranus know of Prince Joseph and Sheffield's scheme.
"Yes, Miss Sophia felt bad for Sir Antonio sacrificing himself for us… especially for her and her friend." Streibough peeps his eyes from the corner, likely judging Mein's reaction to his answer. "I assured her that yes, we have done everything we can for Sir Antonio."
Streibough's reply confirmed Mein's suspicion. The rest of their group likely weren't aware of Sheffield, and by extension Prince Joseph's scheme. It's expected for the old priest who works for the Four Heroes' Church, since the leaders of different branches of the hero church tend to be allies to the noble lords, but not so close as to plan a coup together. As for the younger knight who is obviously the lover of Prince Joseph's daughter, he's not part of the mad prince's inner circle either for Streibough to cover her lies.
Which likely means that Princess Alethea either isn't aware of her father's scheme, or her relationship with Sir Oersted isn't as set in stone as they acted during their departure.
"I'm sorry you have to share our burden, Miss Sophia. You shouldn't have been anywhere near those heretics. You didn't have to if I didn't bring it up." Oersted looks down at the empty table, looking ashamed despite not having done anything wrong.
"They were conspiring against the nation, the world I'm living in. It's part of my duty to stop them too." The fugitive princess quietly replies, as they once again fall into silence. Only the noise of the kitchen staff fills their ears. Not too long after, a bunch of servants in rough clothes come out of the kitchen carrying breads, and bowls of stew for the soldiers, with Naofumi amongst them, bringing food to their table. They quietly eat their dinner, and get ready to turn in for the night. Mein and Naofumi were given another separate room for them to rest in, on account of them being young women in a barrack full of men.
"What was that all about?" Almost as soon as she closed their door, Naofumi whispers to her with a muffled voice. "I can understand why you let those armed people 'escort' us. They thought you'll be some kind of important prophet, or fighter in the future. But why did you start running head first into danger, like those cultists? I thought we were trying to avoid them and escape to Zeltoble? And that long-haired mage guy, he's already suspicious of us."
"I was hoping to shake these Gallians off our backs. Either have them die to the cultists, or have us fake our death to not raise suspicions. Obviously, I miscalculated. But don't worry about that commoner Streibough. I took care of him." Mein places a hand on Naofumi's shoulder, and gently guides him over to the bed where they both sit down. "As for escaping to Zeltoble. There might be a bit of change to our plan. We'll try to make a stop wet in Defiant Bay before we leave Melromarc."
"What do you mean? I thought that's where we'll try to regroup if we get hunted down and separated? How will Yatsuhashi, or Eclair find us?" Naofumi's head instantly whips around to stare at Mein in her eyes. "I mean, I understand we are being guided to Faubley right now. But I thought we'll immediately run to Zeltoble if we shake off our escort?"
"That is true, but when Sir Oersted and Sir Antonio started talking about that revolt in Defiant Bay with the supposed god incarnate, do you remember what she called the new born first princess?"
"'The Witch'... you think it's connected to the goddess summoned by Lautrec?" The Shield Hero instantly makes the connection as he blinks his eyes at the mention. "Aren't you trying to grasp at the straws here? It's probably just a coincidence that bitch goddess called you the same as that rebel called the first princess of this country's manipulative queen."
Of course, the Shield Hero doesn't see the possible connection because he doesn't realize she and the first princess of Melromarc are the same person. Something he hopefully won't ever learn after what the Three Heroes' Church did to his companions, no matter how unlikely that will be. "We won't be the only ones grasping at the straws here, Master Naofumi. Remember what the representatives from Four Heroes' Church told you after that parade? The Four Heroes' Church is trying to get you on their good side. If we get some evidence on the possible connection between that so-called incarnate from two decades ago, the Four Heroes' Church will do your job for you, and convince the court of your innocence. We'll have the entirety of the Three Heroes' Church, or at the very least, that confessor and his cronies pay for what they did to everyone after the Third Wave."
The Shield Hero stays quiet, as he processes what Mein told him. While he is doing this, the princess leaves the bed and takes a blanket out of the traveling bag she 'inherited' from the dead, nameless pilgrim. It isn't much, but hopefully it'll make the straw bed a bit more comfortable. While she is trying her best to drip the blanket over their too narrow stray bed they are going to share, Naofumi's voice drifts into her ear. "You think it's worth the extra risk?"
"There's no point not to try, If we manage to get away from our 'escort'." The princess pulls her back straight as she looks at the Shield Hero. "Unless we somehow get the three of them killed, we won't be able to use our current alias. We might as well try and see if we can find something that'll help prove our innocence if we are going to recreate our identities again."
"What?! We can't just go around looking for trouble and get them killed! These guys took a risk protecting us, because they thought we were defenseless. How are we different than those Three Heroes' Church assholes who killed Kyubei and Farkas, if we repay them with murder!" She should have thought about her words better. As predictably, the Shield Hero immediately gets agitated when she talks about second hand murder.
"Be quiet, Master Naofumi! You don't want to get anyone asking us questions!" Mein quickly covers Naofumi's mouth, while turning around to look at the door to their small, private bedroom. Thankfully, nobody barged in, or even knocked on their door. The fugitive princess turns around and looks at the Shield Hero. "Look, I should have thought over my words a bit better. The plan isn't to get our Gallian escorts killed, but for us to fake our own deaths. It's cleaner this way, less chance for people to snoop around asking for questions if they return home telling everyone we are dead, than if none of us returned. But they obviously face the risk of death, since we are putting ourselves in actual dangerous situations to make our fake death look convincing."
The Shield Hero slowly stops struggling in Mein's arms, and she releases him. He stands up from the edge of the bed. But unlike Mein, he starts to walk in circles in their small private room. He stops, just as Mein is about to quietly ask him to join her in bed before he starts attracting attention. "I… I suppose I don't have any better ideas. Very well, as long as we aren't going around. Let's see where this way takes us. But how are we going to get away from our escort first?"
"There'll no doubt be a lot of monster, or bandit encounters in our current journey. It didn't work out with the cultists, but we'll be able to find a chance to fake our death. I did have King Aultcray's Star Wand with me." Mein pushes her right hand out of her long sleeve, and shows Naofumi the wand in her hand. "It's broken, but still has a lot of forms unlocked, with special abilities I can use similar to your shield. Plus, as I told you. I made the mage, Streibough, think I'm an agent working for his mentor. If we disappear, he'll think I left for a mission from his master. He'll cover for us."
The Shield Hero once again falls silent, as he simply stares at her. After a while, he moves over and sits down on the edge of the bed. "In that case, I hope your plan works out."
On the next day, they resume their journey. The Gallians went to visit Sir Antonio one last time, and the blue-haired chevalier is still alive. In fact, his face seems to have recovered some of his original color, and he's sleeping peacefully rather than someone who looks to be on his deathbed. Oersted reassures her that Sir Antonio is definitely on the road of recovery, wrongfully assuming that she actually cared about his well being.
The next stop of their journey is Graile, a Gallian town north east to Gallia city that serves both as a rest stop for travelers and traders, and a fortress before an invasion army.
"You have nothing to worry about, Miss Sophia. Our presence in Graile isn't as strong as it used to be. But we should still be able to request aid for your pilgrimage." Uranus reassures Mein, not realizing what he's saying is exactly what she is worried about. Her guards have finally been reduced by one, and now they might start to multiply."
"Shouldn't they have requested aid before we left Gallia?" Naofumi's quiet rhetorical question unknowingly pointed out the flaw of Uranus' logic to Mein. Sure enough, no matter how strong the presence of the Four Heroes' Church in Graile is, it shouldn't be able to compare to the city of Gallia. Not only is it the seat of power for House De Gallia and the country's ancient capital, it also houses one of the five cathedrals originally dedicated to Saint Brimir. The presence of the Four Heroes' Church in Gallia city should be the second strongest in Melromarc after Romelia city itself.
"I hope I don't come off as ungrateful, Master Uranus. But shouldn't the Cathedral of Earth spare more men if the Four Heroes' Church wanted to ensure my safety? Surely, your brothers and sisters wouldn't leave you along to look after me. As much as I am grateful for your miracles, you are getting on in your years, and you shouldn't be on such a long pilgrimage. Not without some younger attendant to cater to you." The princess asks the elderly priest, hoping to not catch a [Force] miracle right in her face with her question.
"You shouldn't look down on someone based on your age alone, young lady. I'll have you know that I can easily knock out men half my age with a single punch." The balding priest fakes his indignation as he chuckles at Mein. But the mirth quickly drains from his face. "As for your question… I'm afraid things aren't as easy as they used to be for my faith. After our failure to render aid to the lords during The Great War, donations to my church started to dry out after the war. Especially when the lords themselves have to put their coins to rebuild their own land. We weren't able to replenish our numbers as easily as the Three Heroes' Church, who had much greater success than us at fighting back Siltvelt invaders. That's why I decided to volunteer myself as your escort. Our younger brothers and sisters are needed elsewhere…"
Mein narrows her eyes after listening to Uranus' explanation of the Gallia branch of the Four Heroes' Church's plight. Interesting… She thought Prince Joseph would have put money into them regardless of their performance against the Siltvelt animals back during The Great War. To have them compete, and push back the influence of the Three Heroes' Church in his land. Since Three Heroes' Church was one of Mother's closest allies.
Yet, the mad prince didn't. It could have simply been his insanity, or perhaps he was not able to manage his stately affairs well considering the sorry state of Gallia City was in twenty years after the war. But thinking over Streibough's reaction when Sheffield was mentioned… what if this wasn't an error, or mistake on Prince Joseph's part?
Could the Three Heroes' Church be playing multiple sides? What if Prince Joseph has been secretly backing the Three Heroes' Church too? If it's not from Pope Balmus, then one of the other major players within the Three Heroes' Church? Someone… such as Cromwell? If the Mad Tempest of Gallia had his back, it would certainly explain why he was willing to launch his coup to arrest his political rivals within the Three Heroes' Church, and tried to murder both the Shield Hero and herself.
"Are you okay, Mein? You are tensing up." Naofumi's quiet whisper shakes her out of her panic. She reaches one hand back and gives his hand a firm squeeze, telling him that she's fine. Even if she feels the back of her clothes drenched with her cold sweat once again.
Thankfully, their journey wasn't stopped in the middle by someone like bandits, or monsters. After passing through another two outposts, when the sun reaches closer to the middle of the sky, the wall of Graile can be seen on the distant plain.
Without the tipped roof of a great cathedral and a mountain-like castle, the northern fortress of Gallia city doesn't look as impressive as the ancient capital from a distance. But the tall, thick wall would still give pause to any invader without a large army that's enough to cover the whole northern Gallian plain.
Thanks to their Gallian escort, they managed to enter Graile without any question, even easier than she entered Gallia city. The birds under them begin to slowly trot, rather than running at a full gallop, giving them a much better look at the city street itself.
Perhaps it's due to the fact that there wasn't a Wave of Catastrophe happening right beside the fortress city itself. Despite the heavy army presence on the street, there are actual peddlers and stalls selling wares to the soldiers themselves, performers and minstrels playing for coins. The city actually looks even more livelier than Gallia city itself despite the lack of rich history and artistry.
Behind her, Naofumi started to sniff the air and then looked in a certain direction. Mein turns her head towards what he's looking at, and realizes it's a small market stall where a pair of teen boys and girls are making food. Some kind of noodle?
What likely attracted Naofumi's attention is the smell of what they are cooking. It smells like some kind of stew, rather than clean water boiling the floured goodness. Cooking noodles together with some kind of stew? Interesting, definitely not the kind of Gallian cuisine she's aware of. The Shield Hero quietly whispers to himself. "Ramen."
Mein gives the pair of teens a closer look, and realizes they are demi-humans. The girl has a pair of perky, gray dog ears, while the boy's ears are round raccoon ears, not unlike Raphtalia, actually. Refugees from Port Harp? She wonders if Raphtalia would have recognized them, if she is still with them.
One of the soldiers around the stall suddenly reaches his hand over, towards the girl's chest. Judging by his more ornamented armor, he's probably a captain rather than a common foot soldier. But not a knight, or someone of noble origin considering the lack of a shield with some kind of family emblem on his back or arm.
For a brief moment, Mein wonders if he's going to force himself on the demi-human girl under everyone's gaze. But instead of ripping her clothes off, he rips a necklace from the girl's neck. The pendant itself is a piece of stone that has a creamy color and is opaque in texture. Some kind of moonstone? The girl predictably gets startled. "My pendant!"
"Something like this is too good for an animal like you! Be grateful I didn't smash your stall in pieces!" The soldier arrogantly pushes away the boy who tried to fight him and sneers down at the demi-human teens.
Mein can feel Naofumi's hands clench around her body. She once again gives his hand a squeeze, letting the Shield Hero know that they aren't in any position to help someone else. The Shield Hero's breath growth hitched, but he didn't do anything to stop their group as they slowly rode away from the scene of injustice.
Their group stops at a chapel on the main street. It's nowhere near the size of either the Cathedral of the Three Heroes in Melromarc Castle, or the Cathedral of Earth dedicated to Saint Brimir in Gallia city. And judging from the way some of the ornaments and carving are cracked, it didn't receive much more donation than the main church in Gallia city.
Naofumi stops and looks up at the bell tower before he follows their Gallian escort through the outer wall into the garden. His face is carefully neutral, but there are still signs of trepidation in his eyes. His paranoia is understandable, considering how one of the hero worshiping churches killed two of his companions.
The fugitive princess quickly whispers to him. "We'll be okay following one of their own. Come quickly. We'll be in more danger staying in the open like this."
The Shield Hero didn't respond verbally to her advice. But from the way he followed their Gallian guards, it's clear he agrees with her assessment.
"Master Uranus! It's good to see you again." Inside the chapel, the priest who greeted Uranus was a middle aged man, looking slightly on the younger side considering his clean shaved, and handsome face. His dirty blonde hair smoothed back, the priestly robe on his body clean and well taken care of, but faded in its coloration. "If I knew you were coming, I'd have prepared beforehand."
"Gordon! The last time I saw you, you were still a wee lad! Now look at you, the head of Graile Chapel!" Uranus and the head priest of Graile share a warm embrace with each other. The two of them step away from each other, and the older priest changes to a more serious expression. "I hate to visit you only when I have a request, Gordon. But we are currently escorting a pilgrim who is trying to visit all the cathedrals dedicated to Saint Brimir. If you can spare some men-"
"Father Gordon!" One of the younger clerics with short, scruffy brown hair suddenly runs into the chapel before Uranus has his chance to finish his request. "Emissaries from the Three Heroes' Church have arrived from Melromarc Castle."
"Get a hold of yourself, Brother Demetrius. A visit from our brother sect is no reason for concern." The head priest of Graile takes a step forward and places a hand on the young man's shoulder. Probably in an effort to calm him down.
"They brought an army, Father Gordon! A hundred men in armor, maybe more." Father Gordon and Uranus quickly exchange a look. An emissary from church clearly needs their own guards to keep bandits, monsters, and whatever other undesirables at bay. But a small army of over a hundred fighting men is definitely on the excessive side.
"Perhaps you and your guests should stay in the back, Master Uranus. I'll see what the emissary wants with us." The elder priest seems to agree with Father Gordon, as he quickly ushers their little group to the back, led by the young acolyte Demetrius.
Mein kneels down, and peeks out into the hall from the keyhole of the door she is hiding behind. A priestess comes into the room, flanked by two fully armored knight templars on each side. She focuses on the face of the Three Heroes' Church, and her breath becomes more rapid. It might be a bit of a pain to see things clearly, but she's sure the one who brought Father Gordon his message is none other than Sister Amelia. One of the cronies of Consevatie the young.
They begin to talk, it's hard for her to hear what they are talking about. But she's clearly trying to give Father Gordon some kind of demand, and it's being rejected judging from Sister Amelia's arrogant expression, and the way she slowly gets more agitated. Not too long after, she suddenly pulls out a dagger, and stabs Father Gordon on his stomach.
End Note:
Well, needless to say that Malty just can't catch a break in this story. Not that different from what happened to her in canon, actually.
On the serious note, other than Cromwell and Consevatie the young's big betrayal moment, I definitely intended for the presence of 3HC as a faction to start escalate from Act I and II. Where Act I, they are mostly talked about as a back ground threat, and we start to actually have 3HC interact with Naofumi's party in Act II as a threat, but also as a tentative and situational ally. Now, they are actually starting to directly threat the hero of the story with their actions. Of course, to build up the big fight at the end with the Pope.
And yes, I did turn the Seven Heroes from Romancing SaGa 2 into the vassal heroes from Glass' world, where they are known as The Seven False Heroes in Medea (the 'main' world). Also, Final Emperor (Gerald II) and Final Empress (Saint Henrietta) of the last generation both exist in this story where they are mutually exclusive in the game. Here, one is the emperor of Germania, the other the empress of Tristan. And they married each other and combined their country together after they defeated The Seven (False) Heroes and formed Faubley.
It's totally NOT incest since they aren't related (other than the usual royal families marrying into each other) in this story.
:P