Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.
Once again a heads up, I wrote most of this chapter when I was sick. So it's probably not up to my usual standard (as bad as it already was).
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
"You know her, Miss Siesta?" Mein's head whipped around to look at Naofumi. The fact that he knows the name of the cat girl suggests a more intimate connection than merely passing each other in the hall. Moments like this makes the fugitive princess glad that they are still maintaining their fake identities after escape Graile.
"Yeah, she's one of the adventurers living here, helping out the monastery by hunting and foraging in the forest." Naofumi turns towards Mein, offering a hasty explanation. He turns to face the cat girl, who by this point had flipped down onto the ground from the branch she was hanging over. "How long have you been here?"
"This whole time. I was taking a nice, cozy nap up the tree till you guys started talking, and woke me up." The cat girl walks closer to them, leaning her arms on the shoulder of Oersted… and Naofumi while licking her lips. "How are you going to compensate me?"
"If you didn't want to be disturbed, maybe you should have picked somewhere else to nap. Like an actual bed." Mein's voice probably came out a bit more bitter than she meant to. But she would like to forgive herself for being cranky considering the ailment she is still suffering.
The cat girl slowly turns her face around to look at Mein, she smirks at the fugitive princess. "Getting a little anxious, over your sweetheart, perhaps? Not to worry, it'll be nothing but a short tumble in the hay pile for the two of us. I'm keeping myself available for the Shield Hero anyway."
Unsurprising, and that's exactly what Mein is afraid of. Naofumi turns his face away, and tries to hide his embarrassment and worry with a very fake sounding cough.
"You mentioned how Vicar Vittorio was denied entry to the capital, Miss Kate?" Thankfully, Uranus was more focused on the important part of the conversation. He interrupted the catty spat between Mein and Kate to press for clarification. "Are you sure that's accurate? I can imagine the capital is in turmoil with both his majesty King Aultcray and his eminence Pope Balmus down from the 3rd wave. But to deny entry for Vicar Vittorio of Romalia… whoever is currently in charge of Three Heroes Church would be facing a lot of risks."
"That's what I heard when I went to town to trade in our bounty from hunting and foraging, and buy back the supplies we needed here for the monastery. Everyone was talking about how Three Heroes Church must be out of their mind." Kate takes a step back, spins on her heels and shrugs at Uranus. "I wouldn't be surprised. Sounds about right for a large cult run by crusty old farts."
"Shouldn't you have gone foraging with Via, Kate?" The cat girl's body visibly tenses up as Lana approaches behind her. A small bowl in her hand, with a small vapor of steam slowly rising, emanating a bitter and sour taste that Mein has since become intimately familiar in the past few days.
Chapter 97: Dreams of the Morrow hath the Shattered Soul
Mein's mind feels slower than usual, probably due to her ailment. But by now, what Kate said has finally sunk into her mind. Vicar Vittorio of Four Heroes Church has already made his way to the capital, yet he's denied entry? This would mean he, and his retinue would be camping somewhere near the city, likely on the open plain like the gathered lords did during the little military parade organized by father.
If they wanted to reach the Four Heroes Church with any direct plead, this would no doubt be their best opportunity.
"Oh, that!" Kate jumps on her feet as Lana walks up to her from behind. Her body seems to seize up in an unnatural way, looking very nervous. "Well… Via had it covered. Because you know, she's a seasoned adventurer like all of us. Not like she's some wet behind the year greenhorn who needs me constantly hovering behind her."
"Really? Because I remember seeing her looking for you while I was picking up the herbs to make the brew for Miss Sophia. I thought she found you when she left the ground." Lana tilts her head to the side. Her brows are slightly raised, conveying a sense of skepticism. "Even if she doesn't need the help, you could have gone along to help her carry things."
Kate looks like she wants to give some further excuses, but the distant sound of filorial squawking and conversation catches everyone's attention. "Thanks for the help, Lieutenant Hewley. I don't know what I'd do, if you didn't show up back there."
"Think nothing of it, Miss Via. I'm just glad we were there to lend a hand." The foliage of the forest part ways, as three humanoid figures and two filorials emerge from the undergrowth. The female voice, who the fugitive princess assumes to be this 'Via' the sheep girl was talking about is a rabbit demi-human like Kyubey. Although unlike their late companion, she obviously has both functional arms, and wears a wooden longbow behind her back, slings a bag of arrows by her right side and an axe by her left.
The other two male figures are more… interesting. The one walking side by side with Via is a man with long, pale blonde hair and delicate facial features, who has a build that one could kindly describe as athletic. Yet he has a giant, metal sail-like sword hanging on his back like the lord commander of the Four Heroes church's Astral Knights. An imitator of the enhanced knight in question? Trying to compensate for something? Or simply coincidence? For all Mein knows, the super large, nearly unwieldy sword could be a style more favored by the fighters from southern Melromarc just to compensate for all the northerners' jokes about them being soft and pampered. He wears a form of long sleeved, long collared style of overcoat that was first popularized by the Faubley army post their military reform. Which is now affectionately referred to by men of the army as 'military jacket'. Specifically, one that fits the rank of middle command.
His companion on the other hand is a giant of a man, both in height and size. Bulging muscles are practically visible even underneath his thick military overcoat. A military cap indicating his rank as a commander to the legion hides most of his upper face in shadow, showing tanned skin around his square jaw and strong chin. A rapier with a silver shine that looks almost a bit too small hangs by his waist, reminding Mein of Captain Polnariff's epee.
Unable to recognize them with their physical features or names, a pair of military men of humble birth, that has since climbed the rank to mid, and high command of a Gallia legion is Mein's best guess. The Noble Born leaders tend to favor unique, well decorated… and very expansive made armors that proudly display their family's heraldry. While the common born who make it into the higher command structure of an army tend to wear these more ordinarily weaved jackets provided by the army to show the ranks that they achieved through their personal valor.
"I'm sure Gen feels the same." The pale, lanky man nudges his much larger companion with his own elbow. A low, possibly annoyed grumble is Hewley's only answer. He chuckles and turns back to smile at Via. "Yeah, he agrees."
"Well, I know I'd be in big trouble if you two didn't show up. I can't take on the big boy, and his pack by myself, and I'd have to run." Via skips her feet over between Hewley and Gen, and starts to pat her hand on a large bundle of black fur slung over Gen's left shoulder.
Mein squinted her eyes, and managed to perceive some white, almost stone like bone plating on the lump of fur. She realizes that it's the dead body of a Mountain Bone Dog, the advanced form of a Bone Dog monster. Named for their size that's large enough to be ridden by a fully grown man. Obviously, they are worth much more caught alive than dead, since they can then be tamed, or at least subjugated by a monster seal and then be trained as a guard hound or even a mount. But their fur is equally sought after by nobles as a fine carpet, or decorative display in their sitting room or bedroom.
This makes her realize that there are more bodies of dead monsters, the more regular bone dogs in this case, hanging over the backs of the filorials brought along by the two military men.
"KATE!" The cat girl's attempt to tip-toe her way out of the garden fails, as the bunny archer spots her. To be honest, it's pretty hard for someone like her who spots fire red hair, and yellow, black striped tail and ears to look stealthy. "You were hiding, and napping again, didn't you?! You lazy bum! I had to go on my forage run by myself!"
"EEP! Got to go!" The cat girl leaves one last response as she runs towards the back of the monastery like a gust of wind. The bunny archer quickly blew past everyone, while shooting arrows at Kate's retreating form with clearly… NOT blunted arrows. The fugitive princess idly wonders if these two are familiar with each other so much, Via knows that she can't hit the escaping cat girl with her arrows, or if that's just the inherent savagery of demi-human.
Probably just their nature.
Lana passes the bowl of herbal brew to Naofumi, letting him attend to Mein as she herself walks over to the two male newcomers. While the fugitive princess bends her neck up to take her medicine, she notices Aerith leaving her flower patches and enters the monastery from the periphery. The sheep girl walks over to the two army men and bows her head. "We welcome you to our humble monastery, Commander Rhapsodos, Lieutenant Commander Hewley."
Rhapsodos and Hewley? Those are the names of Gallia noble houses. Could it be a simple coincidence, or if her assumption had been totally wrong. These two newcomers are actually noble of birth? If that's the case, their chosen attire being their army coats rather than armor gives some interesting implications.
"How are you holding up, little Lana?" Hewley smiles, as he reaches a hand over and ruffles Lana's wooly hair, making her release a giggle. The much larger Commander Rhapsodos simply nods back at the demi-human girl to acknowledge her greetings. "We need to see Lady Silvia for some urgent business. Can you be a dear and find her for us?"
"No need, I'm already here." Mother Sylvie pushes open the front door of the monastery, and walks out with Aerith trailing behind her. It might be Mein's imagination, but there is something different about the way she carries herself. Her demeanor is more steadfast, rather than playful. And the way she stride forward seems to serve more of a purpose.
"Lady Edda." Both Commander Rhapsodos, and Lieutenant Commander Hewley stand straight and bow down fully at the green haired leader of the forest hidden monastery. The fugitive princess is glad that she has already swallowed her herbal brew down, otherwise she would either be choking on it, or blow it back out like a geyser.
All this time, this cheerful woman with a slight Spear Hero like childish demeanor, too unorthodox to be a proper revered mother. Who she thought was probably some peasant, or towns woman who took over a remote, possibly abandoned monastery happens to be the wife of the late Duke Claud Edda?
"You knew about her?" Naofumi whispers his question into Mein's ears. Her reaction was clearly enough to be noticed by the Shield Hero.
"Well… yes. A lot of people knew Lady Silvia, because she was an exotic dancer who managed to marry the Vicar of Romalia branch of the Four Heroes' Church, who also happened to be the duke of Bragi bloodline. You can't get any more… unconventional match than one of the most highborn duke marrying someone who is just a step above a common harlot. People tend to remember." The fugitive princess mumbles out of her stunned reply. She sees Naofumi's eyes narrow near the end, almost as if judging her. Did she make a slip with her comment? It's difficult to keep her thoughts straight when she still hasn't recovered from her earlier ordeal, and metaphorically gets hit in the head with such an unexpected revelation.
"But not the two army men?"
"No. I don't know all the legions founded by the state, or the local lord's private armies. I doubt any scribe working in the royal archive knows them all, since the more ambitious lords don't formally announce all of them." The Shield Hero stays silent, unresponsive for her answer for a few more moments, before nodding his head along.
"None of this sordid 'Lady' Edda affair. I already passed down the Bragi lordship to my son. He can manage it just fine." Silvia mumbles underneath her breath. She gives the impression that she wants to bite someone's head off with her teeth. "I just want to live the rest of my life free of my 'noble's responsibilities'. Bragi bannermen won't let me dance in front of a crowd again, but at least I can try and live more like my poor, late husband. May the Chief God cherish his kind soul. Come."
Silvia beckons the two army commanders to follow her. She herself walks over to the patch of grass not far from Uranus, sits down with her legs crossed in front of her while pointing at the ground in front of her. Clearly indicating the two commanders to sit in front of her. Commander Rhapsodos, and Lieutenant Commander Hewley walks in front of Silvia, but doesn't sit down like she ordered. The larger of the two looked over at Mein's group, his intention made clear without words.
"We can make way for you, Sylvie." "Yeah, I'll take Miss Sophia back for her rest." Uranus stands up and Naofumi puts his arm underneath Mein's shoulder, but Silvia holds her hand up to stop everyone.
"No, stay. Gods know I don't always think things through and I need someone to tell me if I'm being a dumbass." Silvia begins to run her mouth off. And she doesn't stop there. The wife of Duke Edda, and the last Romalia Four Heroes Church Vicar before Vittorio begins to speak about her past mistake as if she's in a confession. "Chief God damn it. If it wasn't for Claud's apprentice Vittorio stopping me, I would have taken my children and ran after Claud passed away."
Mein can't help but feel like she's intruding on a very personal moment for the Duchess. Commander Rapsodos and Lieutenant Commander Hewley clearly have similar thoughts. As they both turn away from looking at Lady Silvia, while she continues to pour her hearts out at the elderly Four Heroes Church priest acting as her unofficial confessor. Sephiroth rushes his way over across the garden, clearly hearing the sound of Silvia under distress. He freezes on the spot just as quickly, not knowing what to do. Aerith wraps her arms around the Duchess' shoulder, providing some warmth, and support in her moment of distress.
It… must feel therapeutic for Silvia to be honest about her past mistakes. "Because I didn't know the first thing about being a noble lady, and it scared the stuff out of me. And how would Coirpre and Lene turn out then? I know I can't support the three of us with my dancing. Not with the state this nation was in after The Great War. I'd be forced to leave them in some orphanage, or worse…"
The former duchess' breath grows labored by the end of her emotional outpour. Uranus takes a few steps forward and begins to rub her back. "I understand, Sylvie. Things didn't magically become better for anyone after The Great War ended. Even if we drove Siltvelt away. It left scars for everyone. That's why it was important for people to help each other in trying times, and I think we are facing another test with this current Wave of Catastrophe."
"You did well with me, and Seph too, Mother Sylvie." Aerith whispers to the emotionally distraught Lady Silvia. "I don't remember too much when we were small… but I still remember Seph and I holding our hands out to the people in the street, trying to catch breadcrumbs out of their mouths. We might not have survived if not for you taking us in, Mother Sylvie. And I'm sure your children loved you as much as we do."
"Yes. Lord Coirpre and Lady Lene adore you. Lady Sylvie." Sephiroth continues to be a young man of few words. He kneels before the Duchess, and slowly takes a box from inside of his cloth. "Lord Coirpre and Lady Lene told me to hold onto this… and give it to you if you become homesick."
The white tiger (possible) demi-human passes the box over, and opens it in front of Lady Silvia's eyes. Inside is a fairly plain looking pendant connected to a necklace, crafted in an intricate shape that doesn't resemble most designs of necklace, or amulet. "A pendant, with the shape of 'The Staff of Return'. My sweet children… they took after their kind father more than myself."
"Sorry we caused you distress. Lady Silvia." Lieutenant Commander Hewley tips his head down in a show of shame. He nudges his much larger companion, who is also his superior with the edge of his elbow. Possibly trying to prompt his companion to also apologize to the Duchess. The lanky man's effort is promptly ignored. "We should have known better than to disturb your peace. But with what happened recently after the 3rd wave. We were worried about you."
"Are those tight assed harlequins from the madhouse they call 'Three Heroes Church' yapping about how a former exotic dancer like me shouldn't be allowed to marry a duke, and a Vicar of their brother faith again? What can they do? Kill me? I will welcome the chance to see my late husband again!" Lady Silvia scoffs at the Lieutenant Commander's warning. Not realizing how bad the situation outside of her little hidden monastery.
"Commander Rhapsodos, Lieutenant Hewley. You two are here to talk about the more recent treachery of the Three Heroes Church. Correct?" Thankfully, Uranus is much more up to date with the recent news than the Bragi Duchess. Considering he was part of the recent news, with the uprising of Graile they lived through together.
"It seems like you are familiar with what's going on. I suppose there's no need to be indirect about it then." The large man in the commander's jacket replies with his booming voice. His body barely moves, but Mein gets the impression that he is scanning through everyone with his eyes that's hiding under the shadow cast over by his military cap.
"Hey, Gen." His lieutenant once again elbows him on the side. This time with more force to make the much larger commander flinch. He glanced over at Lady Silvia with the corner of his eyes. "Should we just cut straight into the topic like this after… you know?"
"I'm not that delicate." Lady Silvia snorts out with her pouting face, in a very distinct 'non-noble lady' manner. The fugitive princess can definitely still see glimpse of the freedom loving, exotic dancer she was before marrying Vicar Claud. "You go on ahead, Genesis."
"That's Genesis? Genesis Rhapsodos?" For some reason, Naofumi's head whips over to look at the giant, muscular commander. Is the name supposed to mean something? Maybe something he read in his world's book once again? Someone of significance for their current era, perhaps? The fugitive princess puts the name in her mind, to possibly recall if she manages to survive the betrayal of Three Heroes Church.
"The Three Heroes Church has gone crazy, Lady Silvia. They took over multiple cities, forcing people into slavery to serve them. Against the current ongoing Wave of Catastrophe… and the possible crusade against us. One of such cities include Graile to the south." Commander Rhapsodos slightly adjusted the angle of his head. "It's dangerously close to your monastery. What's worse, there's a riot a few days later, by someone claiming to be Princess Malty, and the Shield Hero. They supposedly had some remnants of Q'ten Lo among them. It was a total mess, a lot of garrison troops, and the people of the church, and even the reinforcements sent by Lord El Bridgit got killed. And now the city is in total chaos and anarchy."
Mein has to carefully look away from the Gallia commander as he recounts some events. It'll… probably not end well if she reveals that she's the one who caused it.
"So that's why we suddenly got a flood of demi-human patients to our monastery the last few days! They know our monastery is the only place that'll welcome them with open arms." Aerith lets go of Lady Silvia, and claps her hands together in a show of recognition.
"Shouldn't your legion be dispatched to bring Graile back to order then?" Sephiroth turns his head to look at the stoic army commander.
"Lord El Brigit had taken personal command of the situation after words of his vanguard commanded by his daughter got wiped out in the riot. The RedCoats are ordered to hold our position in the meantime, in case there's another riot elsewhere." Mein can't make much sense out of Commander Rapsodos' reply, considering she's not an expert on Gallia's military structure. Satellizer's father taking more men to get Graile under control makes sense, if he thought his very daughter was lost in the rioting city. As for The RedCoats, which he is probably the commander of. It sounds like a military legion that's directly under the command of Prince Joseph, the 'king' of Gallia.
"Are The RedCoats still all stationed in the northern Gallia, Crownland border?" The commander gives a nod of confirmation to Sephiroth's question. The brows of the white haired boy twist together at the answer. "That doesn't sound like an attempt at deterring local rebellion. More like you guys are preparing for trouble from the north. But would it be to the church that's been subjugating local lords… or the lords who will resist the church's power grab?"
"Are you sure we can't convince you to enlist, Sephiroth?" Lieutenant Commander Hewley looks at the (possible) white tiger demi-human with a fond smile. "I know our reputation isn't the best. But Gen and I will look out after you. Make sure you don't get pushed around by the more human centric officers. Plus, it would make pup happy."
"Thanks for the offer, Lieutenant Commander Hewley. But I can't leave my friends." Sephiroth's eyes turn over to Aerith, and Lady Silvia. "I'm the strongest here. I have to stay and protect everyone."
"Stop trying to recruit the kid, Hewley. You know he would never accept the role from a common military rank." The sound of the commander is the same as before, yet Mein detects a sense of envy. "He'd be singing a very different tone if Lord Commander Cloud offered him to join Adeptus Astartes."
Ah… so that's where the sore spot came from. Thinking back, it makes sense. 'Glorious Melromarc' is one nation under her mother the queen. But the land is vast enough to encompass many different lands, with varied cultures, and classes of people. Mein observed the kind of tension within the Four Heroes Church herself back during father's little military parade. Roger of Ajax, the Romalia Four Heroes Church's blessed battle master, openly voiced his disdain towards the Adeptus Astartes. How much competitiveness, if not flat out resentment, would exist between people from two different cultures, and from completely different military branches?
"Lord Cloud survived The Great War, he is a hero. And he's now training a new generation of Adeptus Astartes for the Four Heroes Church. So they'll be prepared this time if they go into war again." Sephiroth frowns at the army commander, before he looks down. "I don't think he would offer me a position anyway. I'm not someone special."
"The 'sole survivor of the original Adeptus Astartes'... right. Did you know all of Lord Cloud's exploits during The Great War only came into rumor after the war concluded? It sounds like the Four Heroes Church made him right after the war, and made up some stories about him to cover up for their failed project." The giant RedCoats commander crosses his arms in front of his chest, clearly annoyed by Sephiroth's praising of the church knight. His words become more bitingly vindictive, despite his lieutenant's attempt at furiously jabbing his side with elbow strikes. Sephiroth doesn't say anything back, even if Mein notices his finger seems to dig deeper into his palm. "In fact, isn't there a rumor that he's actually Vicar Claud being 'enhanced' after The Great War, so Vittorio could assume the position for himself-"
"SHUT IT, GENESIS! You have no right to say that about my late husband, and his disciple to besmirch their good names!" Lady Silvia suddenly stands up from her spot. She points her finger, practically jamming it right into the nose of the commander. "I have met Lord Commander Cloud myself, and I know he is in fact, NOT my husband! Even if he looks like Claud's long lost brother! He meant well, but he's too detached at everything to be my compassionate CLAUD!"
Even with the former exotic dancer, turned Duchess, turned head priestess of a hidden monastery standing on her full height, Commander Rapsodos still easily meets her at eye level. Yet, the giant golem like army man with his bulging muscles bends his head down at Silvia's wrath. "Apologies, Lady Silvia. I had no right to say what I did, especially to your face."
"As long as we get that cleared up, and you don't do it again." Lady Silvia brushes away a strain of green hair away from her eyes and sits back down.
"We are getting off track here. Commander Rapsodos. You said something about Lady Silvia being in danger, because of the Three Heroes Church?"
"Yes. The Three Heroes Church is growing bolder every day in their tomfuckery." Lieutenant Commander Hewley throws up his arms as he leans a bit back on his back. It's hard to tell if he's stretching, or if he is doing it out of exasperation. "We aren't exactly running Prince Joseph's spy network, but Gen and I have our sources. We have it on good source that the Three Heroes Church burnt down Graile's Four Heroes Church chapel, and killed most of the faithful inside. Because Father Gordon refused to aid them in taking the city's poor population into their penal legion."
The people from the hidden monastery all close their eyes and utter a prayer for the lost souls of Graile's Four Heroes Church chapel. Although Mein notices Lana, the sheep girl drawing a circle in front of her chest with her finger, rather than the cross of Four Heroes. Well… a Shield Hero cultist hiding amongst the more open minded Four Heroes Church members. It's honestly not a surprise to the fugitive princess, since Lana is a demi-human. But given the context that neither Commander Rapsodos and Lieutenant Commander Hewley show any sign of aggression or even surprise, the reason for their warning is clear. This hidden sanctuary will no doubt be purged by Cromwell's lackey, if they find it.
"Gordon was a good man. He helped us settle down here. He will be dearly missed, and I hope our Lord cherishes his soul as much as my late husband." Lady Silvia opens her eyes, and utters an impromptu eulogy for the head priest of Graile's chapel.
"And if the Three Heroes Church was bold enough to do that to their 'sibling faith', they would throw all sense of clemency, or grace out when it comes to you, Lady Silvia. You may never see yourself as a religious man, or a noble. But you are still the widow of the previous Romalia Four Heroes Church Vicar, and the lady mother of the current Duke of Edda." Commander Rapsodos slowly raises his head once again to look at Lady Silvia. "Your name… and life alone has enough pull to ensure a lot of people, powerful people, staying on Three Heroes Church's good side. And it wouldn't be hard for them to hold you hostage, using the people of this monastery as a leverage."
"So, that's what those church harlequins are planning for! Holding me hostage to make sure my family, and Vittorio stay put." Lady Silvia narrows her eyes. "I'm not going to leave the people seeking my help and save my own skin. Do you have some wagons I can borrow, Genesis? I'm taking my patients with me if I'm moving back south."
"Is it smart to take us with you south, Lady Sylvie? We'd likely go across Graile if we traveled south towards Bragi land. Commander Rapsodos already mentioned that Lord El Bridgit is taking his army to Graile. He is a staunch supporter of Three Heroes Church." Sephiroth immediately looks up to Lady Silvia, and questions her decisions. "It's easy for a few men to sneak past the fortress city. Not as easy for a team of wagons with patients on it. There's nothing we can do if he tries to detain everyone… forcing us into indentured service for his Three Heroes Church masters."
"What are you suggesting, Seph?" Aerith asks her friend.
"A few of us take Lady Silvia back to Bragi land as her escort, while we move the majority of our patients to another direction where they can be safe." Sephiroth looks down, and starts to draw lines with his fingers. "We don't have that many patients with us, and most of them aren't exactly in the best health. There's not much incentive to press them into a penal legion if the Three Heroes Church has to spare resources to heal them first. So their most value is to be taken hostage and used as leverage against Lady Sylvie. If she's not with the patients… whoever catches up to the team of wagons might simply give up. Especially if the wagon has the family heraldry of Command Rapsodos and Lieutenant Commander Hewley on there. Why risk the slight honor, and gain the ire of two Gallia noble families if they aren't even going to achieve their main objective to begin with?"
"You'd be surprised how many military operations get detailed simply due to the commanding officer's bruised ego, or petty vindictiveness." Commando Rapsodos' voice is stoic as always, but there is a sense of distaste he gained through personal experience. "But I see your argument. It would at least disincentive Three Heroes Church for doing something stupid. Especially if one of us is there with the team of wagons."
"But where will it be safe for us to take our demi-human patients to? Being thrown onto the street and slowly dying from illness or starvation isn't any better than being pressed into a slave army." Lana frantically looked left and right for an answer. "Most of the nobles hate my kind. Even those who don't wouldn't go out of their way to help a group of sick refugees, and be strong enough to protect us. I knew House Seatto to the north used to be able to… but they got wiped out."
"Even if they didn't, moving a caravan full of demi-human north through Crown Land, the power center of Three Heroes Church isn't a smart idea." Sephiroth continues to have his head bowed down at the ground, almost as if the young (possible) white tiger demi-human is visualizing a map.
"East… YES! We'll have to move our sick refugees eastward through Gallia, into the Thracia Peninsula." Silvia picks up a branch from the ground, and starts to roughly draw lines on the ground to resemble the land of Gallia, and the Thracia Peninsula. "I don't get in touch with the rest of my 'crusader block' families. But I know Quan and Ethlyn's boys. They have beastman and demi-human as their bannerman, to reward them defending Thracia during The Great War. Surely they'll help."
"OF COURSE!" Lieutenant Commander Hewley jumps up after giving his own leg a slap. "Three of General David's four elite commanders are beastmen, Torgal the Four Armed Panther used to be a Siltvelt officer before he defected to our side! He'll help out of honor."
"Then I shall pen letters to Marquis Leif, and General David immediately. Lieutenant Commander Angeal Hewley. As your commanding officer and your lord, I hereby grant you leave for your duty. Get a group of your men you can trust, or call your family's sworn swords. I want you to take Lady Silvia's monastery into protection as soon as possible, and to personally oversee the caravan of the refugees in her care to arrive safely in Thracia." Commander Rapsodos also stands up, and turns around to look at his lieutenant.
"And that is Angeal, of course… why would anyone…" Once again, Naofumi begins to whisper something too quiet for her to fully register.
"We need to talk about our own moves, Master Naofumi." Not wanting the Shield Hero to get distracted by things that's… probably important to himself, but trivia for their immediate wellbeing, Mein pulls at Naofumi's sleeves, and nudges her chin at the elderly priest in their little group. The Shield Hero manages to snap his attention back to the present, and immediately returns her gesture with a nod.
They move forward together, Naofumi supporting Mein from the side while Oersted pushing himself off the tree trunk and follows them like their shadow. Not too far from them, Uranus is currently talking with Lady Silvia. "You handled yourself well and didn't need me at all, Sylvie. You need to have more faith in yourself. Claud wasn't lying, when he said you were a fine lady in your own right."
Naofumi is ready to reach out for Uranus, but the conversation Lady Silvia is having with the elderly priest seems to still his hand. "Thank you for your support, Uranus. But I was never a leader. Honestly, I… for a long time I thought Lene and Coirpre would have an easier time without me. A mother of humble birth and upbringing dragging them down. But I guess it's time I go back to my children now in this trying time."
Mein has to give the Shield Hero a nudge. They really shouldn't be worrying too much about being rude, and interrupt someone's conversation now. The Shield Hero gives her another nod, and reluctantly reaches over to tap Uranus on the shoulder. "Master Uranus, I think you should look over Miss Sophia again. Just to make sure she isn't getting worse."
"Ah, yes. Of course. Sorry my selfishness kept you from attending your apprentices." Lady Silvia quickly pulls back from Uranus, and goes over to talk with the two army commanders. From what Mein manages to overhear, they are now debating about details of transporting the demi-human patients, and refugees currently residing in the hidden monastery.
The fugitive princess feels a tug alongside her shoulder, as Naofumi leads their small group away from other people. This time, they sit in the middle of an open flower field, so there's no chance that someone is hiding on top of a tree who can overhear them. "Are we going to this Thracia Peninsula place with the rest of these people? I mean, Mein still needs more rest to get better, right?"
"We can't." The fugitive princess knows that Naofumi is just talking alongside the obvious suggestion without supporting the idea, but her immediate response is still rejecting it immediately. Probably more forceful than she should have, judging from how Naofumi flinches back. "I mean, we can. But we really shouldn't. Thracia is like the name suggested, a peninsula. If we try to hide there and the Three Heroes Church catches the words. All they have to do is to take Melgen to block our only way to escape through land, and slowly comb through the rest of the land to tie the noose around our neck."
"Yeah, the Three Heroes Church will be looking for us. Especially after what happened with Graile." Naofumi nods his head along, as he drums at his chin with his finger. "What about escaping by sea? I mean, a Peninsula is surrounded by water, not boiling lava, right?"
The fugitive princess has to sit back for a few moments, wondering where did Naofumi get the morbid mental image of a 'sea' with baby insect monsters boiling alive from. Looking over at Oersted, the knight's face looks like he's holding back the need to vomit. Then she remembers that's the word Faubley used to describe Dragon Blood. The fiery red liquid that occasionally spews out of the earth itself and catches everything in its path on fire.
"If our sibling faith had enough resources to take over multiple cities, they would have surely taken control, or posted their agents for all the docks that have ships big enough for long range sea travel." Uranus shakes his head, clearly more familiar with the term to be able to respond to Naofumi's question. "We might as well turn ourselves in to save the trouble. If we want to escape through the sea, we need to escape the Three Heroes Church's sphere of influence first."
"Okay, so we'll have to go our separate way then." Naofumi quickly nods his head along. "Do we continue going northeast to Faubley, or somewhere else?"
"Zeltbole is still the best chance for you to hide. For a free city known for its sellswords and bloodsports, they don't have a fully established spy network like Faubley's Unspeakable." Mein holds her hand up, and lightly pokes Naofumi in the stomach. "If we try to hide in Faubley, you might be identified."
"How bad can it be? I mean, I don't have the… you know what. Surely they'll just leave me alone once they realize that I can't 'unlock people's maximum potential'." Naofumi gently taps on his empty arm. He's probably trying to lighten up the mood, but his naive optimism makes Mein want to cover her own face.
"That's… even worse for you. Even if you have no legendary weapon, your 'bloodline' would still be seen as valuable because you'll be able to give strong heirs. It's like a chance to elevate the status of their family, with no consequences attached." Naofumi suddenly looks very nervous at what Mein suggested. He crosses his arms in front of his body, but rather than a show of cockiness, it looks more like he's trying to cover himself due to fear. Like a maid trying to futilely protect her own virtue from a predatory lord. "I wouldn't be surprised that every noble lady from age 12 to 60, well… the fertile ones, would be swooshing at you immediately once they realize who you really are."
"Yeah… swooshing is bad…" The Shield Hero weakly crooks out. "So we go west, to Stormwind and get a ship to Zeltbole like we planned?"
"Regardless which way, we'll have to travel north. Towards the territory of Three Heroes Church. It would not be an easy journey, even without taking account of Miss Sophia's conditions." Uranus slowly turns his head, thinking over their options. "Although if the rumor spoken by the young miss demi-human is true, we might be able to get assistance, and protection from Vicar Vittorio."
"You think we can trust him?" Mein looks over at the old priest. Considering she wasn't a pious practitioner of their hero faith, she only engaged the worship on the most basic level. She only knew Pope Balmus as well as she did because he was a personal friend of her father. A connection her family doesn't share with the Romalian Vicar of Four Heroes Church.
"The descendant of Bragi the high priest, Vicar Claud personally trained Vicar Vittorio as his successor. They are both good men." Uranus looks down at the grass underneath his feet. It's hard to tell if he believes what he is saying, or simply speaking it outloud for the reputation of his faith.
"Pope Balmus was also a good man. He's the one who advocated for taking the children of the Siltvelt occupation army's rape victims be taken into the service of Three Heroes Church, rather than have them all put to death." The fugitive princess can see the head of the Shield Hero whipping towards her, and feel his hand she's holding grow cold with sweat. "But he didn't take any action to intentionally curb the influence and power of his faith. And now they are out of control."
The retired head of Gallia battle priest for Four Heroes Church didn't have anything to say back to her.
End Note:
As I was saying... while this is technically a 'normal' chapter told from Malty's POV, it ended up functioning more like an interlude where the characters driving this chapter's plot aren't Malty or Naofumi, and they stays spectator for most of the chapter.
So... knock off Genesis and knock off Angeal who inherited their original's name, but look very different. This version came about when I was reading 'The Fifth Act' by Sinnatious on this site. Since at the time I didn't have too much knowledge about what the characters from the more extended FF7 canon is supposed to look like, this is how they looked in my mind. I thought since neither Cloud and Sephiroth look, or act like they are supposed to, I might bring out my own abridged version of Genesis and Angeal that only existed in my mind at this point.
At least Aerith and Zack (he'll appear next chapter) are mostly from canon.
XD
Guest review time.
To Halo:
I'm glad SIOC works for you.
Well... obviously neither whip boy nor chicken grease (a bit of in-joke in China, the pronounciation of 'Kyo' sounds like chicken grease) can be as meta as I made SIOC since RotSH isn't a fanfiction of itself. I mean... technically Alenko could have done it if they wanted to by creating a second 'official' timeline that's more self-aware of the original one in a spin-off story. But I don't think they actually wanted to be that meta.
The thing about most SIOC (especially the douchy, smug type) is their jerkass action only comes off as 'justified' because they made everyone else in canon even more smug and stupid than their OC, so there's a sense of satisifaction to reader to see someone being nasty to them back. While here, I am specifically making fun of the SIOC fanfiction tropes, so the 'canon' cast aren't made nasty to justify their existence... and said SIOC allegory just comes off as... well, smug and stupid.
But I doubt most writers of hack variety who write this kind of story is even self-aware what kind of dipshit they made their own SIOC look in the first place.