This chapter serves as a sort of wrap-up to Reichnott's death in the previous one. I was originally going to have an omake at the end but that didn't quite feel right here.
Big thanks to Qinlongfei for beta reading this chapter and giving important feedback and critique.
With that said, let's get this chapter started!
Chapter 53: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Mein gently held Eclair in her arms as she cried into her shoulder over the death of Lord Reichnott. Her shoulder growing soggy again from having someone cry into it for a second time today, but Mein didn't particularly care much for it as she just allows Eclair to let out all her pent up emotions. Such open display of emotions are looked down upon as weakness in the court, as it was just another piece of leverage the rats in court could use against you somehow. But that was not a concern for either of them right now.
That thought alone made Mein briefly wonder why she's here to begin with, coming with Eclair to help rescue Lord Reichnott and now comforting Eclair in her arms with more gentleness than she ever thought possible out of herself. Her pragmatic side told her that this was the easiest way to get Eclair on her side politically, by being there when she is at her lowest, the Lady Seatto will always remember that and hold her in a better light than mother ever could and that will make recruiting her as one of her allies that much easier later.
Or maybe it was simply because Mein knows how Eclair feels on some level, the Lady Seatto's howl of pure anguish just now reminding her too much of her own screams that fateful day 10 years ago.
The day Thomas died and some part of her died with him.
The dark memories of that day when she watched him die at the hands of that damned Pope bring a feeling of sorrow and anger to Mein's own heart as she gently patted Eclair on the back. The sounds of her sobs resonate throughout the dead silence of the forest, which only further added to the somber atmosphere that had overtaken this would-be beautiful forest.
" Its alright Eclair, its alright...I'm here." Mein whispered as she gently rubbed the Lady Seatto's back, as she allowed Eclair to just cry.
Mein glanced up at the mutilated hanging bodies of Lord Reichnott and his men, a feeling of disgust settling in her stomach at the sight of it. They couldn't just leave them like this, but Mein was a little preoccupied with Eclair to cut them down herself. The princess turned heretic looked back at the Silver Hands who all seem to be staring at Eclair in a mixture of pity and shared sadness at the death of Lord Reichnott, none of them bothering to take the initiative to cut the bodies down. Porter seemed to be the only one looking for where each of the ropes were located to cut them down.
Mein couldn't help but feel a bit of indignation and anger at their looks, do they not have anything better to do than stare when their Lady is having a very emotional moment?
" What are you idiots standing around for!? Make yourselves useful and cut them down!" Mein gave all the Silver Hand's a death glare that quickly got them all moving after a moment of hesitation, instead of wasting their time staring at their commander grieve.
The princess turned heretic stayed with Eclair as she watched the Silver Hands and Porter get the bodies of Reichnott and his retinue down. Thankfully, they didn't just cut the rope keeping them suspended and let their corpses drop to the ground, Outsider knows that she would have yelled at them even more for that sort of disrespect and causing Eclair even more trauma than this whole event already has dealt. Instead the bodies were carefully lowered to the ground using the ropes and neatly arranged the bodies side by side.
Mein could hear Eclair's sobs die down a little as she slowly calmed down or perhaps tired herself out from all the crying. The agent of the Outsider didn't really feel comfortable leaving her alone in this state, but Mein needed to look over the bodies to figure out how to get them out of here and she sure as hell didn't want Eclair around getting an up-close look at how the bandits mutilated the body of someone she knew as family.
" Aslatiel, get over here now." Mein called over the mouse knight who seemed close enough with Eclair to take her spot, considering he was able to decipher her chaotic instructions earlier. The princess in disguise slowly rose to stand up with Eclair still holding on to her, as she spoke to the knight. " Get Eclair back to the filorial's, I'll work on getting the bodies out of here with the others."
The mouse knight looked annoyed for a moment for being commanded around by what he assumes to be just some hero's companion, but it was quickly replaced with worry for his Lady, as Mein gently handed Eclair off to him. The Lady Seatto letting out a few sniffles as she reached out to grab the mouse knight by his arm, Aslatiel escorting her away from the scene with a few other knights following along for protection. " Come now, my Lady let's go..."
Eclair didn't say anything as she was quietly led away by her second-in-command. Mein let out a sigh as she watched them disappear into the forest leading back to the filorial's, this entire ordeal was one big fucking disaster in more ways than one.
Mein walked to the remaining Silver Hand's and Porter who were looking over the bodies of Reichnott and his retinue with grim expressions on their faces. A few of the Silver Hand's seemed to be holding their hands together in prayer to the Chief God, in the hope's that the departed's souls would safely reach heaven without issue.
The princess turned heretic almost wanted to tell them to save their prayers, if the Chief God actually cared than maybe he wouldn't allow shit like this to happen.
Mein knelled down to get a better look at Reichnott's body and it was even worse than she thought. The fact that Reichnott had been completely stripped naked of his clothes and left on display somehow wasn't even the worst part. It was the clear signs of torture that Reichnott's body seemed to have endured, from the way there were countless bruises, cuts and stabs on his body. They had cut off his limbs which made him lose a lot of blood and upon closer inspection into his gaping mouth, Mein could see that they had also cut out his tongue.
" They tortured him before they hung him." Mein said simply to all of them. A few of the Silver Hand's expression ranged from disgusted, angered or even horrified by the cruelty of the bandits.
" Sick sons of whores." Porter cursed under his breath, it appears that even the most experienced ranger is disturbed by this cruelty.
They debased him, tortured him, broke him and left him naked on display as a final insult to us.
Mein understood that this wasn't just an insult, this was a message to them. One that she understood very well.
Thomas was a big fan of sending messages, and he could not have sent a clearer one than with the death of Lord and Lady Amelia.
This was the Hound Lord's message to them: This is what awaits every single last one of you bastards.
She ignored that unsettled feeling in her gut for now, as she focused on the task at hand. " Does anybody have some cloth we could use to cover them up?" Mein asked the group of Silver Hand knights. There was no way in hell they were bringing back Reichnott's mutilated and naked corpse back to Eclair.
Lucatiel stepped up, taking a cloth out of her pack." Yeah, we have a few but...not enough for all of them. There's no way we can get them all out of here. We don't have enough steeds, we need a cart for this many bodies." Lucatiel said and Mein already knew the truth behind her words. She had already done a quick count of the bodies and knew they couldn't carry them all on their filorials.
" We have some carts back at the mine that we can use." Porter pipped up with a suggestion." We can take a few of bodies now and hide the rest to bring them back later."
Mein nodded in agreement, that works just as well. She was about to agree, when the mouse knight spoke up again. " Where do we even take bodies to? We need to notify Lord Reichnott's daughter as soon as possible about what has happened."
The princess turned heretic wanted to slap her own face at the reminder that Reichnott wasn't the sole leader of his house, he had a daughter named Cute. Mein felt her heart skip a beat as she came to an even more horrifying conclusion.
Oh shit, Reichnott has a daughter. One that was still very young if memory serves and is now currently without a father.
" I agree, but we can't transport this many bodies back to Lord Reichnott's home when we still have wounded back at the mine to take care of." Porter chimed in as he looked over the dozens of bodies, before looking up at the sky. " And its getting dark soon and I'm not sure you want to be travelling these roads at night. Not with the bandits still out there."
Mein looked up at the sky and could see that it was getting darker as the sun went down, she cursed under her breath at the poor timing. Porter was right though, they couldn't possibly transport this amount of bodies without some serious preparation, there was also the fact that there were several of their injured back at camp that they needed to sort out, before they can even think about making the journey to Reichnott's home to alert Cute about what has happened. And the fact that it is dangerous to travel at night in bandit territory does not help.
The princess took a long look at the dead bodies, Reichnott's disfigured face and the loss of limbs made her flinch at the idea of bringing these back to Cute. It wasn't just Reichnott's body that was in horrendous condition, several of his retinue had grievous wounds with some of them looking like they had been hit by spells. The idea of having a respectful funeral for any of the deceased sounded laughable.
Which meant there was only one other solution to this problem.
" We'll take the few that we can carry back to the Schnee Mine than get the carts to bring the rest back." Mein gave her idea to the rest of the group." We'll burn the bodies in a funeral pyre at the mine and collect the ashes to deliver back to Reichnott county tomorrow. "
" Sounds reasonable." Porter nodded in agreement.
None of the Silver Hand's rose up to disagree with her, all of them quietly nodding in agreement and understand that a funeral pyre is more respectful at this point. Mein figures they must all be used to this kind of thing by now, if they are accustomed to dealing with raiding parties from Siltvelt.
" Come on, let's get them wrapped up and ready to move. We're not leaving any of them here." Mein let out a sigh as she turned back to the bodies.
" You heard the lady, wrap up Lord Reichnott's body and some of the others and let's get them out of here!" Porter shouted as he helped Lucatiel and the Silver Hands in covering some of the bodies up in cloth. Lord Reichnott especially considering just how mutilated his corpse was compared to the others.
The next few minutes passed by rather quickly with the Silver Hands, Porter and Mein working together to sort out the lightest bodies that they could carry with them back to the mine which wasn't that hard to do on account their body sizes. Within a short span of time, they had managed to wrap Lord Reichnott's body in a white cloth to preserve what little dignity he had left and some of the more badly injured bodies. Porter used some of his knowledge of the environment to hide the bodies that they couldn't take with them to the best of his ability, by rubbing some herbs on the corpses to throw off their scent to any nearby predators in the area. The last thing they needed was coming back to find the bodies they left behind being chewed on by wild animals.
" And that should do it for now. Now let's just hope a pack of wolves doesn't come by and chew on their legs." Porter said with a sigh as he covered the left behind bodies with bushes, before grabbing two dead bodies that were wrapped in cloth out of the forest.
The Silver Hands looked a little green in the face at the prospect of dragging dead bodies across a forest back to their steeds, though a few seem to grit their teeth and get to work by picking up a few of the lifeless bodies. Though Mein noticed that nobody made a move to pick up the deceased Reichnott, in fact a lot of them seemed to be actively ignoring it. Whether it was the discomfort of not wanting to carry a literal torso across the forest or perhaps they feel it would be disrespectful to touch him, Mein doesn't know but nobody wanted to be the one to touch the corpse of dead northern lord.
Mein let out a sigh as she knew she had to step up.
" I'll take Reichnott's body, let's just get back to the steeds and get the hell out of here." The princess in disguise said as she gently picked up what was literally just a torso wrapped in cloth, pushing down any discomfort she may have felt down.
None of the Silver Hands present disagreed with her action, a few of them like Lucatiel almost looked a bit embarrassed by not being able to step up to the task. Mein didn't blame them, this was rather grim work even by the most veteran soldiers.
She's seen worse than this when she was just a kid.
Reichnott was on Thomas's hit list on all those years ago. Feels strangely fitting that she should be the one carrying his corpse, even if it wasn't her that did the deed.
The walk back to the steeds was dead quiet, with nobody saying so much as a word along the way, the only noticeable sound was them dragging the bodies of Reichnott's retinue back to the road. Mein honestly preferred the silence as she doubted there was much anyone could say at the moment to make this less depressing. She carried the...torso of Reichnott with care and gentleness, doing her best to avoid thinking about the fact that she recognized the tactics used back there.
It didn't take them long to reach the road, as they exited the forest Mein could see that Aslatiel and the few other knights that had gone with him had gotten Eclair back to the steeds without any trouble. They looked like they were getting ready to depart and upon noticing their arrival, Aslatiel approached them with a neutral expression on his but there was a hint of sadness behind his eyes.
" How did it go?" Aslatiel asked Lucatiel calmly, who had a somber expression.
" We uh...we need to make another round to collect the rest of the bodies." Lucatiel explained simply, turning her head to Mein." But we did manage to collect Lord Reichnott's body."
A few heads turned to the princess to watch her as she gently loaded the body of Lord Reichnott onto the back of the filorial. She ignored their stares as she just wanted to get this over with, but she couldn't resist giving a glance to Eclair who was already on her filorial.
Mein briefly locked eyes with the Lady Seatto and she could see the deep sadness on her face, as she turned her gaze away with a quiet sob. Mein also turned away with a feeling of guilt in her heart, she wasn't sure why really. This wasn't her fault...was it?
It couldn't have been Thomas's fault, there no way he could've know any of this was going to happen. Hell, there was still no guarantee that it was even the same group!
That's what Mein told herself to provide comfort, but a small dark part of her mind broke through the denial.
Does it really matter though? Whether he intended to or not, he was the one who taught those slaves the tricks of his trade and look what atrocities its led them to commit?
Mein ruthlessly drowned that voice down, it was wrong...it had to be. It couldn't be the same, it couldn't be...
The ride back to the Schnee mine was much longer than Mein remembered it to be. She did her best to ignore Eclair's quiet sobbing on the way back.
Naofumi's POV
" Zweit Burn Heal!" Naofumi cast another healing spell on another of the wounded that was caught in the radius of a fire spell. The golden light of the magic he cast, changing the blackened burnt skin back to its normal form.
" Got another one over here!"
" I'm on it!" Naofumi took a deep breath before he rushed over to heal the next injured person.
Naofumi will admit that he didn't completely appreciate it when he found out that his magical affinities were healing and support magic. Despite his low ATK stat, he was hoping that he could learn some magic to help at least defend himself and others better. He had hoped for something like lightning, ice, water or whatever, so he was a little disappointed when he found out that he got two of the only non-offensive magical affinities there were. He won't lie when he said that he felt a little offended when the King gave him a grimoire on offensive spells as one gigantic middle finger to him.
But he moved past that after a while and decided it was better to focus on defense than trying to grasp at any offensive option. It wasn't until he was right in thick of the aftermath of a battle that he understood just how much his healing affinity was a godsend in situations like this.
The bandits had hit them even harder than any of them could have anticipated, leaving multiple wounded before the battle was over and they fled. It wasn't even just the Schnee guards or Eclair's knights that got badly injured, it was also dozens of Porter's people that weren't fighters and the workers of the mine that got caught in the crossfire when the bandits attacked. Weiss apparently tried to get them all into the mine for better cover, but that was a little difficult to do in the middle of an ambush. So that meant a lot more people for him to heal.
Naofumi should count himself lucky he has a healing affinity, otherwise he would have just been forced to watch these people suffer without being able to do anything about it.
" Zweit Heal!" The Shield Hero cast the healing spell over a wounded Silver Hand knight that had received a bad cut to the chest, closing up the wound entirely. He felt a bead of sweat come down the side of his face, as he felt himself slowly growing exhausted for some reason. Naofumi glanced at his HUD to see his mana almost depleted from all healing spells he had used recently. He should be good for a couple more low-level heals, but before he could search for his next patient, he felt a hand touch his shoulder. The Shield Hero looked up to see that black haired teen that shared Ren's name.
" Don't strain yourself too much Shield Hero, you're no good to us if you exhaust yourself with Overcasting." Ren said in a blank tone, but there was a hint of concern to it." I think you've already healed the most grievously injured, we should be able to handle the rest."
Naofumi let out a sigh as he allowed his body to relax a little, Ren had a point he was genuinely exhausted from all the spells he had cast. It seemed that using all that mana took a toll on his body, considering he was casting them with little hang-time in between. But as he glanced over at the half-destroyed Schnee mining camp, he couldn't help but grimace at the sight of all the dead bodies.
He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to seeing sights like this, dead bodies everywhere, the destruction of battle and much more gruesome sights. Naofumi's not sure if he ever wanted to get used to them, he will never get how Mein can be so unphased dealing with dead bodies.
The Shield Hero glanced over at Raphtalia who was sitting on a few crates a fair distance away with Ake keeping an eye on her. Like Mein, he was surprised too when she followed them along. But looking at their destroyed carriage that was blown up by a fireball, he's just happy that Raphtalia wasn't badly hurt or worse maimed again because they couldn't protect her. That didn't mean Raphtalia was immune by all the carnage that had taken place here, Naofumi had caught a glance at the somber look on her face that told him that she was disturbed by what she had seen here.
He was about to go over to try and comfort her, when he heard the sounds of rumbling on the ground. The Shield Hero turned his gaze to see a large group of filorial's make their way into the mining camp and he instantly recognized the riders.
Mein and Eclair are back from their rescue of Reichnott!
Naofumi didn't waste any time before he immediately went over to greet them and ask what had happened. He was followed by Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Ren and even Nora to see what had happened during the rescue attempt.
" Mein, you're back! How did it...go...?" Naofumi trailed off as he saw the somber expression on Mein and every one of the Silver Hand knights had. His eyes widened as he saw what looked like dead bodies wrapped in cloth laying on the backs of some of the filorial's the knights rode in on. And he noticed a particular wrapped up cloth on the back of Mein's own filorial, but it was far too small for it to be a human body.
" W-What happened out there?" Weiss asked with a bit of fear in her tone.
None of the knights answered right away, Eclair had a distant look in her eye that made Naofumi wonder if she was actually paying attention to what Weiss had said. Though the Shield Hero noticed tear streaks down Eclair's face that made him guess that she had been crying just now.
It wasn't until, Mein stepped up to answer Weiss's question." Lord Reichnott is dead. The bandits killed him."
A wave of silence washed over them, as many of them were in shock at the news that Reichnott was dead. Granted, Naofumi didn't know the guy that well, except that he was one of the few lords besides Eclair's father that was a sympathizers to demi-humans. And he had also learned from Nora and Ren that he hadn't been doing the best job ruling over his people, considering the two teens had lost their home thanks to his bad decision making. Naofumi still would have really liked to meet the man in person to maybe get him on his side to help change things in this country.
But now any hope of that has been turned to ash.
Weiss was in shock at hearing the news, shaking her head in disbelief. " L-Lord Reichnott's dead? That can't be, how can you be-"
" We got his body right here. We confirmed it just now." Mein shot down any possible deniability about his dead, by gesturing to the body wrapped up in cloth on her filorial. Naofumi was unnerved by the fact that Reichnott's body was far too small...and where were his legs?
A brief moment of silence was given as they all took a moment to take in the fact that the bandits had actually managed to kill a noble. Naofumi glanced over at the others and could see Weiss, Ruby and Yang were in shock at hearing the news, while Ren crossed his arms and looked away.
" Good riddance."
A voice broke the respectful silence and all eyes turned to Nora, who had a bitter and angry look on her face. Not looking the least bit saddened at hearing the fact that a man had just died.
" What did you say?" Lucatiel clenched her fist in anger, as if daring Nora to repeat what she had said.
" I said good riddance! The bastard had it coming as far as I'm concerned, he's the reason me and Ren lost our parents because he sucked so bad at ruling his own people! He's the reason we lost our home because he made a bad deal with the fucking Schnees of all people!" Nora shouted at the top her lungs, not caring about how disrespectful she's being at the moment. " Hell, at least now he knows what it feels to be helpless while you watch everybody you love die around you and lose everything!"
" Nora that is enough! This is not the time to speak like that!" The usually quiet Ren, shouted at his friend to quiet down but it was clear that it didn't reach her.
" Fuck that Ren! I'm not going to stand here quietly, while everybody stands around here pretending Reichnott was some fucking angel who didn't screw over his own people because he was an idiot!" Nora continued to spew hate towards the dead lord. Naofumi was quickly growing concerned that somebody was going to get punched or stabbed. He could see a lot of Eclair's knights seem to be getting angrier by the minute.
As for Eclair herself, she didn't seem to be reacting much at all, except for a flinch as she turned away from Nora.
" Its amazing how those bandits finally did something right for this fucking count-" Nora was cut off when Mein walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Somehow that made Naofumi even more concerned than a punch ever would.
" Nora...for your own sake, please shut the hell up." Mein voice was perfectly calm and levelled, not even shouting really. But Naofumi could feel a chill go down his spine as he saw the rage that swirled behind her eyes that promised that she would hurt Nora very badly if she kept talking.
Nora looked genuinely unnerved for a moment at the thinly veiled threat, before turning her gaze away reluctantly in the face of someone like Mein. Naofumi couldn't blame her, Mein could be terrifying when she wanted to be.
" Good girl." Mein said blankly before turning to Weiss." We need to borrow some of your carts to bring the rest of the bodies back here. We'll be burning the bodies in a funeral pyre."
" Yes, of cours-Wait, a funeral pyre? Shouldn't you be bringing Lord Reichnott's body back to his land for a proper burial?" Weiss asked in a surprised tone." Noble etiquette dictates that a dignified funeral is customary for a lord of Reichnott's standing. Also shouldn't the choice of burial be up to Lady Cute?"
" I think we're long past the point of etiquette here, Weiss." Mein's tone was calm and almost flat, like she already expected this to happen. But there was a layer of seriousness to it." And I think if you saw the body, you would know we are long past the point of giving Reichnott a respectful and dignified funeral."
" But-" Weiss started but was cut off by Mein.
" Weiss, for Eclair's sake as well as Cute's, please just let us do this and don't look too deep into it." Mein's voice wasn't threatening like she was to Nora, but there was an almost tired exasperation to it.
" A-Alright, fine." Weiss agreed, after a moment of hesitation.
Mein gave a nod to Porter, who didn't waste any time as he got to work coordinating with the rest of the Silver Hand's on getting the remaining bodies back here to the mine. Naofumi looked at his red haired companion in a slight bit of worry, as he saw the hard look on Mein's face. It was obvious that something was bothering her, but he couldn't quite rustle up the courage to ask after everything that has happened today.
He felt like he should have said something, but he couldn't as Mein walked off to talk with Raphtalia.
Naofumi let out a sigh, as he decided to saddle that topic for now. His mana reserve was still depleted and he was too tired for that conversation.
While they all waited for Porter and the Silver Hand's to return with the remaining of the bodies, the rest of them got to work gathering branches and wood from nearby forest to build a funeral pyre. Naofumi helped where he could in that area as he carried a large bundle of sticks from the forest and dropped into the pile they had, where some workers were already building it. Everybody helped out so it didn't take exceptionally long, even Ren and Nora helped though Naofumi saw it was reluctantly in the latter's case as she had a grumpy expression the whole time.
Naofumi couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted as he glanced over the bodies of Reichnott and his retinue that had been taken off the filorial's and set up neatly on the ground, the only saving grace being that they were covered up in a cloth. He still wasn't used to seeing dead bodies even after going through a Wave battle and been through several bandit attacks up to this point.
" Goddamnit, what the hell is taking Porter so long? The bodies are going to rot at this rate and its getting dark." Aslatiel said in frustration. It had been at least an hour since he left with some men to collect the rest of the bodies and Naofumi could smell the bodies from where he was standing which made him recoil in disgust.
" I can use some of my ice magic to freeze the bodies." Weiss suggested to them all. " It would slow down the rot a bit before the funeral pyre."
" That would be most appreciated, thank you." Aslatiel nodded to Weiss.
" Ruby, Yang, come on help me get the bodies ready." Weiss called over her two friends who followed her to where the bodies were assembled.
The two girls stuck close to Weiss as she knelled down before the bodies and Naofumi observed the small group as Weiss seemed to undo the cloth that covered Reichnott's body...before immediately recoiling in shock suddenly.
" Oh my-!" Weiss shouted, covering her mouth as she backed away and it wasn't just her. Both Ruby and Yang recoiled in shock at what they saw, turning away from the bodies, their expressions a mixture of horror and disgust by what they saw.
" Urghk!" Naofumi watched as Ruby puked their guts out all over the ground, while Weiss seemed to cover her mouth to try and keep it in but couldn't as she threw up the bile in her throat a few seconds after Ruby. Yang managed to keep it in for the most part but still had a white face from what she saw. As she gently patted both Ruby and Weiss on the back in comfort. Weiss's butler Klein ran over with some water to help the two girls.
Naofumi was surprised by this sudden action, it made him terrified to wonder what the bandits could have done so horrifically that it made the two girls throw up. The Shield Hero was a good distance away so he couldn't quite see the body, but just as he was about to walk over to check on them he was stopped when he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned his head to come face to face with his redhead companion who was looking at him with a dead serious expression.
" Naofumi...you really do not want to see that body." Mein's voice was calm but there was a layer of certainty.
Naofumi knew at that moment that he really shouldn't see it, if Mein of all people is telling him its too gruesome for him to see than it is. He's already seen more than enough gore than he should in this world.
Weiss seemed to have given up on freezing the bodies as she walked away to clean up herself after she threw up. Thankfully, Porter returned with the rest of the bodies after maybe another 10 minutes and that allowed them to finally get to work setting up the funeral pyre. Mein and Ake helping out the Silver Hands and mine workers put all of the wood together in a pile and setting the bodies on top of it.
After almost another hour of waiting, the funeral pyre was prepared and the sun had officially went down just in time for them to begin.
Nobody said a word when the flames were lit by an extra hot fire spell by Mein and the bodies were consumed by the flames. The funeral was a very solemn affair, the only noticeable sounds that could be heard was the almost quiet sobbing that seemed to be coming from the Silver Hand's and Eclair, along with some of Porter's people at what they just lost today. Naofumi hadn't attended many funerals back in his world and even to the ones he went to, it was mostly distant aunts or grandparents that he barely knew so he can't say he's ever been to a sad funeral. Yet he felt a wave of sadness over the group as they all watched the bodies burn.
He felt like he should have said something as the sole hero here, give some kind of awe inspiring speech that would convince them all to press forward, yet he couldn't find a single word to say. What can he say at this point?
Maybe it was more respectful to just keep quiet, that felt like the only good thing he could do at a time like this.
After the flames died down and there was nothing left but ashes that were collected into a few clay pots by one of the Silver Hand's that was given to them by Weiss. It was just about the only thing they had to carry Reichnott's ashes as they didn't have a proper funeral urn at the moment.
The trip back to Silver Keep took much longer than expected or maybe it just felt long because of the night. Naofumi was initially worried about what they were going to do without a carriage, thankfully Weiss had given them one of her spare carriages that was used for transporting ores around. It was a bit bigger than their last one and made out of some nicer materials, but more or less the same. After making sure Weiss and the others would be okay, they head back to Silver Keep after receiving a bunch of thank you's from Ruby.
Naofumi was sitting alone at the front of the carriage as everybody else elected to sit in the back this time around. Their carriage was at the front as Eclair and the rest of the knights were riding at the back. It was a quiet affair and the Shield Hero couldn't help but feel uncomfortable by the silence.
He briefly took his eyes off the road for a moment to look in the back and he could see Mein gently stroking Raphtalia's hair as she slept quietly in the back. It made him smile a little at the reminder that Mein could also be gentle when she wanted to be.
By the time, they got back to the Keep it was already dark and Naofumi could hear Raphtalia's snoring from the front. Naofumi parked their new carriage in its usual spot before heading inside with the others with Mein carrying a sleeping Raphtalia in her arms, letting the knights take care of handling their Lady.
But before he took so much as two steps inside the Keep, he spotted a familiar face wielding a bow on his back run over to him.
" Naofumi! I heard there was a bandit attack and you guys went out. What the hell happened out there?" Itsuki questioned as he stepped inside the Keep.
" Its...its a long story Itsuki. Let's talk inside." Naofumi let out a breath as he walked into the Keep with Itsuki at his side.
It had been a long day.
Mein's POV
To say the mood in the Silver Keep was somber would be the biggest understatement Mein had ever heard in her life. News of Lord Reichnott's death hit the whole Keep hard, with several of the knights looking more solemn than ever before.
At the moment, she was in the mess hall with Naofumi and Ake as the Shield Hero gave the Bow Hero, Slayer and Titan Storm the story about what had happened out there. The rest of Itsuki's party had already turned in for the night, so it was only him, Slayer and Alice's group present. The Bow Hero's party and Titan Storm had apparently returned to the Silver Keep just a few hours after they had set out for the Schnee mine, because of course the fates would not be so kind as to let one thing go right today by having the other half of their main fighting strength return literally an hour late.
The mess hall of Silver Keep was somewhat empty with only a few other souls getting some chow at this hour, Naofumi had gotten permission from the cooks to make some food for them to eat while they talked. Mein had tucked Raphtalia into bed earlier as the poor girl was tired from the emotional whirlwind of a day she has just had with Keel and everything else going on in a single day. The girl needed as much as rest as she could get after what happened today.
The princess turned heretic could practically feel the burden that came with that knowledge that Keel was alive AND a bandit that was working against them. Two of the worst combinations that could be imagined for a reunion. She was not looking forward to having to break that particular news to Naofumi, but knew she had to do it soon if they want to come up with a plan of action to deal with it.
"-And then we headed back here, and you know the rest of the story." Naofumi finished his explanation on what had happened to the rest of them. Itsuki's eyebrows furrowed in frustration about the fact the bandits managed to score this victory against them, Slayer was unreadable as usual with his helmet on. The rest of Titan Storm looked reasonably shocked by the news.
" Damn...so Reichnott's really gone, huh?" Rufus said, almost in disbelief but knew it to be true.
" Yeah, hard to believe he's really gone. He was one of the few nobles that cared about demi-humans in this country." Nina added.
" Lana spoke highly of Reichnott and Seatto, with them being some of the few demi-humans sympathizers in Melromarc with both of them gone, relations between humans and demi-humans are going to get much worse." Alice spoke in a tone of worry, perhaps over her demi-human friend." This isn't going to go unpunished."
Alice's words made Mein think: She was right, Reichnott's death was going to have serious ramifications. Both politically and for the rest of the north.
Van Reichnott was one of mother's most loyal supporters that she had in the north, alongside Uncle Uther though the difference being that Reichnott was far more agreeable compared to old man Seatto. A dark part of her realizes that his death should weaken mother's power base in Melromarc and considering the fact that Reichnott's only legitimate heir is still far too young to take over his role, that means one less noble house in support of her mother's rule. A very dark way to look on the bright side but that ignores the other consequence that Alice brought which was the fact that Reichnott was one of the few open demi-human sympathizers in the north.
After the Great War, the relations between humans and demi-humans in the country were tense to say the absolute least. Which meant that any demi-humans sympathizers among the nobility were seen as outcasts and vastly unpopular by nature, hell the number of demi-human sympathizers could probably be counted on one hand.
Reichnott was not exactly the most loved among the nobility, but it would be inaccurate to say they were the most disliked in court, that title belonged to House Seatto for their openness towards demi-humans and beastmen. House Reichnott was somewhere in the middle in terms of general popularity among the nobility. Their good relations with the royal family and being one of the most prominent bannerman under House Seatto made them stable enough in court, as one of the few lords who wanted to give demi-humans an equal chance.
That all went up in smoke with his death.
Alice was right, there was going to be major consequences for his death. The bandits had just murdered one of the few dove lords in the north that was willing to give demi-humans a chance to live a somewhat good life. The rest of the northern lords are going to be up in arms after a literal bandit group murdered one of them, there's going to be a witch hunt among the local demi-human populations and increased conflict. Chief God knows, that there are plenty of noble houses with a grudge against demi-humans. Reichnott's death has given them the perfect excuse to exert that hatred onto any demi's or beastman that were caught in the middle.
" She's right. The rest of the northern lords aren't going to take this lying down." Mein agreed with Alice's assessment, as she twirled her mug around a bit." Until now the Hound Lord has probably been presented to them all as a particularly troublesome nuisance. But after today, the Hound Lord has officially raised the stakes. We can expect relations between demi's and humans to worsen soon."
That gave them all grim looks with the exception of Slayer at least, at the prospect of conflict between demi's and humans. It honestly made Mein worry about Raphtalia too, this was the sort of thing that had consequences years down the line.
" But Eclair is a noble right? She cares about demi-humans, so maybe it won't be too bad?" Rufus tried to look on the bright side.
" Maybe." Ake answered simply, which did not inspire confidence at all and for good reasons.
Uncle Uther was unpopular due to him being one of the lords who were openly sympathetic to demi-humans after the Great War and that made him quite a few enemies in court. But he was also a war hero and one of father's closest friends at the time along with the fact that House Seatto was an ally to the royal family, the rest of the balloons in court were forced to tolerate him. Eclair for the most part is in a weak position politically speaking, considering she doesn't have Uncle Uther's reputation as a war hero backing her up and her House is currently in disorder with a good chunk of its fighting force dead.
The position of House Seatto in the north is in a delicate situation to say the least and how Eclair handles it going forward with the other northern lords. Who will likely be calling for a joint action against the Hound Lord after this.
" What I don't get is why the bandits even targeted Reichnott in the first place?" Clarissa posed the question to them all." I've been thinking about it and I can't find an angle. These guys clearly aren't stupid so why would they even think about attacking, much less killing a lord? This just paints a target on all of their backs."
" Maybe they weren't trying to kill him, but instead capture and ransom him? Maybe his death was just an accident during the ambush?" Rufus theorized.
" No way Reichnott's death was an accident. I saw the body, there were signs he had been tortured before his death." Mein instantly shot that idea down, it was definitely not a mistake with how they brutalized Reichnott's corpse. " If it was just a kidnapping gone wrong than they would have just left his body as is. They wouldn't have bothered to go the extra mile of hanging his body in a spectacle for us to find."
" They tortured and hanged him? Goddamn..." Naofumi muttered in shock, his face a bit white at the vague description Mein gave. The princess in disguise almost forgets sometimes that Naofumi isn't as used to this work as she is.
" So Reichnott's death wasn't an accident. They were purposefully targeting him." Slayer said as he seemed to think about what this means." But the motive remains unclear. It just doesn't make any sense why the Hound Lord would waste the resources and manpower just to take out one lord, and waste time torturing Reichnott from the sideline when his distraction group could suffer more losses. It just doesn't fit what we know about them."
" Slayer's right, the Hound Lord's actions just don't make sense." Alice agreed with her former mentor.
The princess turned heretic easily spotted the flaw in Slayer's reasoning, it was because he was looking at things from a purely tactical perspective and not a personal view. He was right that it didn't make any sense why the Hound Lord would waste his manpower and time just to torture one lord. But that was thinking that the Hound Lord was just some regular bandit. He very much wasn't, if Mein's guess was correct.
Mein couldn't help but let out a humorless chuckle as she came to that realization, making all eyes turned to her." Isn't it obvious? This is their way of declaring war on us."
" What do you mean?" Slayer asked blankly, but there was some underlying curiosity to it.
" Reichnott's death wasn't about profit, strategy, pillage or anything...it was about sending a message of fear to the rest of the nobility of Melromarc. What better way to do that than torturing and stringing up the body of a lord?" Mein asked rhetorically." This is a declaration that the Hound Lord is making on all of Melromarc, that he isn't just some bandit lord. That he is coming after all of them. "
Thomas had taught her several of his fear tactics...he had taught them all well. And she loathed the fact that she could understand exactly why the Hound Lord's group acted the way it did with Reichnott.
" Well then, let's make sure they very much regret making that declaration shall we?" Clarissa said in a determined voice.
" Here, here!" Rufus said in agreement.
" If the Hound Lord has raised the stakes, than I'd say we should be ready to meet him." Itsuki said seriously.
" The northern lords are probably going to call for a meeting soon to discuss the Hound Lord problem." Ake added with a shrug as he took a swig of his drink.
" You think Eclair's up for it? She seemed pretty broken up earlier over what happened with Reichnott." Naofumi questioned and that made Mein think.
Eclair was not in a good place right now, considering she just saw her family friend's mutilated corpse and tomorrow they need to go inform Reichnott's daughter that he is dead. Perhaps she could spare an hour or two to check up on Eclair. It was clear that she was in a dark place right now and Mein knew a thing or two about dark places.
" I'm going to head to bed first, don't stay up too late Naofumi." Mein said as she stood up from the table
" Goodnight Mein." Naofumi wished her with a smile as she left the mess hall to go find Eclair.
It didn't take her long to find out that Eclair had returned to her room almost immediately after returning to the Keep. Like Raphtalia, Eclair was exhausted both physically and emotionally after a day like this. The princess turned heretic was a bit disappointed she couldn't use Ake like last time to have a private chat with Eclair, since she would likely need a distraction for the guards stationed outside Eclair's room, but she decided she would figure it out herself.
But when Mein peeked her head out the corner to get a good look at the front Eclair's room, she was surprised to find the door to the bedroom unguarded without a knight in sight.
The princess was quite surprised by this, even in the safety of a castle or fortress there would still be guards stationed outside the door of the most important people such as the commander or lord. For no guards to be present led Mein to believe that either they were lacking in manpower to afford the extra protection or Eclair deliberately dismissed them to further isolate herself from the rest of the fort after the day she had.
Either way, that just makes her job that much easier.
After doing a quick check with Dark Vision to make sure there weren't any approaching patrols, Mein made her way to the door that led to Eclair's bedroom and heard the distinct sound of crying in there.
It was definitely the latter. I wouldn't want any of the knights back at the castle to hear me cry.
Mein took a deep breath before she gave the door a few knocks and she could hear the sobbing quiet down a little, as Eclair's voice called out from behind the door. " W-Who is it?"
" Its me, Eclair. I wanted to see you." Mein responded in a calm tone, feeling a bit too exposed out here in the middle of the hallway. The last thing she needed was a knight spotting her talking to Eclair.
Mein didn't get a response right away, there was about a minute of waiting that made Mein worried Eclair didn't want to speak with her. But then she heard the sounds of footsteps approach the door and to be greeted by the distraught Lady Seatto who's eyes were red from all the crying she had done earlier. Eclair quietly stepped aside to let Mein into her room and after looking down both ends of the hallway to make sure nobody saw her, she entered.
Eclair's room was comparatively larger than Mein's own at the Keep. There was a larger bed, dresser, a wooden desk with the usual assortment of parchment and quill, and even a bookcase in place. Along with banners hanging from the wall depicting House Seatto's crest, but what caught her attention the most were the fine twin silver swords hanging from the wall with a shield at the center. Mein had never said it when Uncle Uther was still alive but he had some damn good taste in design.
" Y-Your Majesty, good evening to you, I apologize I'm a little...disorganized at the moment." Eclair went for a bow, but Mein stopped her halfway by holding up her hand.
" Its alright Eclair, I think we can drop the pretentious etiquette for one night." Mein said in an attempt to lighten the mood. She's not sure it worked but Eclair relaxed a bit.
" What did you want to talk to me about?"
" I just came to check up on you." Mein gave an honest answer." You were pretty distraught earlier after...Reichnott."
Eclair rubbed her arm in response, refusing to meet her gaze." I'm...I'm fine. Look, I appreciate the check-up but its-"
" No." Mein calmly refuted the swordswoman. " You're not fine Eclair. Your family friend just died in horrific fashion and are broken up inside about it."
Eclair was silent for a moment, before Mein saw the tears fall again and she instinctively put her hand on the strawberry haired noble in response.
"H-How could they something so cruel to Uncle Reichnott? He wasn't a fighter, he wasn't a soldier, he was just a...just a man trying to help his people." Eclair asked, maybe not to her directly. But to whatever god is listening on why something like this happened." Uncle Reichnott wasn't some greedy backstabbing noble, he cared for all his people and those bandits they..." More tears fell as Eclair struggle to wipe them all away, Mein took this chance to comfort her.
" Its okay Eclair, let it all out." Mein encouraged Eclair not to hold in her emotions as she gently directed them to sit on the bed.
Mein was respectfully silent as she gently rubbed Eclair's back as she cried, giving her the time to grieve properly.
" Just...why did this have to happen Mein?" Eclair asked again after wiping away her tears and Mein already knew the answer.
" Bandits are cruel, petty and sadistic scoundrels Eclair. It doesn't matter who the victim is, good or bad, it just matters how much they can get out of them before the end." Mein answered honestly which may not have been the best choice of words, but honesty was preferred with someone like Eclair. " We will avenge him."
" It won't bring him back."
" No, it won't. But at least we can prevent more victims and orphans being created." Mein refuted.
" You are right, we need to make sure no children are made orphans...Oh Chief God above, Cute!" Eclair suddenly exclaimed as she remembered Reichnott's daughter." How am I supposed to tell her tomorrow that Uncle Reichnott is dead, that her father is dead?"
There never is an easy way Eclair.
The princess knows from experience that loss hits hard and that there is never an easy to break it to somebody that their loved one is dead. She can already imagine that Cute isn't going to take the news very well and she was still so young to lose her father like this. Mein felt sympathy for the young noble for how she will likely react to news of her father's death. Outsider knows, that she did not take Thomas's death that well.
Mein let out a sigh as she spoke." There is no easy to break the news to her Eclair, the best you can do is just get it over with and hope its as painless as possible."
" How can I hope that its painless when I don't even have a body to present to her tomorrow?" Eclair's voice sounded both frustrated and sad at the fact that she has to deliver an urn full of ashes. " How can I even think of showing myself to Cute after this failure, with just an urn of his ashes?" Eclair asked as she grabbed the sides of her head in quiet internal conflict.
Mein could see the frustration, sadness and worry in Eclair's eyes. She's terrified at facing Cute with news of her father's death and worse, the possibility of being blamed for Reichnott's death.
"...Then I'll go with you." Mein suddenly said that made Eclair's eyes turn to her." I'm the First Princess of this nation, even if I'm not here in an official capacity. This is my duty to bear just as much as it is yours."
Eclair looked at Mein for a moment, her eyes showing a whirlwind of emotions that she's feeling right now. The Lady Seatto almost looks like she's about to cry again, but she turns head away at the last minute. " No, I'm sorry but I don't think I would be comfortable with that."
Mein couldn't help but be shocked by the answer, and couldn't help but press the issue." What? But why? I understand your pain-" Mein tried to reach out to touch Eclair's shoulder, but the lady knight jerked away and stood up from the bed in response.
Eclair and Mein just stared at each other for a moment both in shock by what just happened. Mein herself still holding her hand up after trying to touch Eclair.
" I-I'm sorry your majesty, I appreciate the offer to come with, I do but I just...I need to do this by myself." Eclair confessed, looking down at the floor." Reichnott was like family to me, Cute is the little sister I never had, this is something I need to do on my own."
" I would just...like some time alone to prepare for tomorrow. Please." Eclair grabbed her arms as she turned away from the princess.
Mein felt a few daggers stab her heart at those words, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at what she had just done. She had come here to try and comfort Eclair, but maybe she had just made things worse than it already was by digging these feelings up.
" I...I understand. I'm sorry." Mein said sincerely as she got up and left the room without a word.
Mein stood in front of Eclair's door for a moment, before she walked away to get back to her room just thinking about what had happened.
She overstepped again, didn't she?
Mein felt like she understood Eclair's pain of having lost someone close to her, she had experienced it years ago with Thomas when he died. She thought that maybe she could provide Eclair the comfort she never did have at the time, but she had pushed too damn much. What right did she have to step into Eclair's private life when she had no idea what kind of relationship she had with Reichnott? With his daughter too. How can she even think of reaching out and stepping into Eclair's life like she was some long time friend who had known her for years?
It made her feel disgusted with herself at the thought of what she just did.
That was always the problem with her past relationships with Jaune and Keith, wasn't it? She pushed their boundaries too much thinking she was doing it for their sake, and they both ended up leaving her because of it. Will the same happen with her dear Naofumi?
Mein felt her legs grow tired and weak all of a sudden, as she leaned up against the wall for support. She ended up pressing her back against the wooden wall and slid down to sit for a moment as she thought.
She thinks about the last words Keith had said to her before he broke off their engagement.
You are a monster Malty.
He was right, of course.
But it still hurt.
That is the wrap up for Reichnott's death since last chapter, it was definitely an emotional haymaker for everybody involved. I will once again say that Reichnott's death was by no means planned ahead in this story, but I fully intend to roll with the consequences that his death will bring. Like Qin said to me in the critique, Reichnott's death is going to send all the northern lords in a big mess because the demi-humans have just killed one of the few(and only) lords in Melromarc who are willing to give demi-humans and beastmen a chance.
Hope you all didn't find Reichnott's funeral too brief and quick, but to be completely honest here, he isn't that big of a character to have his funeral be made a big deal. Plus the emotional sucker punch isn't meant to be his funeral anyway, but Eclair being the one to tell Cute that her father is dead.
And of course, the ending of this chapter with Malty trying to reach out to Eclair but end up rejected. Because while she is legitimately trying to be empathetic here cause she knows how Eclair feels, she is also overstepping her boundaries in Eclair's personal life when the two are barely acquaintances. And of course, I couldn't resist the chance to bring up Malty's insecurities and self-esteem issues regarding relationships because of how her relationship ended with Keith.
With all that said, I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.