"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
Naofumi and the others marched towards the border, not under order of the queen, but to defend what they've gained in the months that preceded it. They kept Monti and the others in the village updated and touched base with them each day. They were no longer traveling with Godiva, as they split up after Naofumi told everyone about the sighting of Motoyasu. While Naofumi and the others moved eastward, they weren't the only ones marching that way.
Fitts had led many of his men eastward for the same reason, having Chloe stay behind so someone kept the rats from running wild. Fitts wasn't as hurt for allies as he was before, but a few prisoners were useful combatants and took orders well during the initial attack. So, he gave them a second chance to score more kills and lower their sentence even more. He had to take men to Idol's territory. The place still had no definitive leadership, which meant they probably got hit harder and were slow with external communication.
His orders came directly from the queen. He was to secure Idol's town, rally the men, and march them eastward. Idol's men didn't fight in the battle with the Three Heroes Church thanks to Naofumi and Raphtalia's attack, so they had more men than most regions of Melromarc and needed someone to tell them where to point their blades. This would take Fitts' initial party of 60 men and turn it into a warband of 800 or more. Meaning, he'd be bringing the largest host to the eastern border.
While the queen gave bold orders to Fitts, she did not deal with all problems with the same blunt instrument. She put Lord Eadwig in charge of logistics to ensure that all the towns and villages attacked by the familiars were being given the supplies needed to bolster their defenses and save any lives he could. Naofumi was cutting Eadwig a 90% off exchange on the medicine, which saved many lives. Naofumi also sent some of the craftsmen to other regions that were on loan from Eadwig, seeing as Monti could now do the heavy lifting as it came to construction moving forward.
This meant Eadwig could focus his efforts on bolstering the defenses of the larger towns and even send a team to make a makeshift fort at the eastern border gates to help house and supply the soldiers and knights that would be moved there moving forward. Eadwig wanted to earn back all the trust his father threw away and he was being given many chances to do so.
While Fitts and Eadwig were performing their duties well, neither could be compared with Liviccic. Liviccic sent some men to each of the nearby towns with a few skeletons. He had them completely covered so as to not alarm anyone. This gave the men some relief as the undead could stay in one spot and work as lookouts without rest. Meaning, the soldiers sent could focus on aiding the town and only engage if the watchers saw something. Liviccic also sent some officers he felt were leadership material to these towns to see how they performed as well.
Liviccic himself, along with Sophia, Silvius, a few other members of leadership, half the remaining knights, and all the corpses he could get his hands on went eastward. More than any other group, Liviccic's host cut through the enemy with ease. Liviccic could soften any target up by sending reanimated familiars and victims at the enemy. Doing so meant his living and special undead always engaged favorably. The knights of Briarhaven came to really appreciate how Liviccic threw his undead by the dozens to save a single living person. He saw undead as simply a resource meant to be the first to die for the good of the men he led.
Not to mention that his undead were not just shields. The special undead made from the late lords and the imposing Vasteel broke apart any gathering of yetis. Each with their own ways of dealing with the threats they faced. Liviccic's group was the strongest by far and they covered the most area despite not being the largest group. He even left a few men and skeletons in every town they touched moving east. One might think this meant the group shrank in size as they traveled, but no. Liviccic brought the familiars back to bolster his numbers and serve as first contact with the enemy.
The only issue he faced was that reanimated, the familiars were weaker. Even if you killed them with a curse and had the soul eater animate them first, they were still weaker. It could be because familiars worked differently, or maybe something to do with the ST, but it meant instead of snowballing into an unstoppable force, Liviccic could only guarantee his men lived.
The last of the lords to act was Mia, and for good reason.
…
Evergreen
…
While Mia was researching the familiars and her new discovery with Walter, they'd made only minor discoveries. Chiefly, the near exact weaknesses and resistances of the familiars, the main weaknesses being piercing weapons and curse spells. They also determined that they were strangely somewhat resistant to earth magic and very resistant to lightning damage. Which could give insight into the ST itself. She was just wrapping up those initial experiments and was writing a report to give the queen when she'd received the best news in her life.
Her family had arrived. The knights escorted Mia's father, mother, and little brother inside without even telling her of their arrival. Before the knight even spoke, Mia was falling apart at the sight of them.
"Mama? Papa? Matt?" Mia was blubbering as she nearly fell forward running to them.
"Is that really you, Mia?" Her parents could hardly recognize her with her aged up 5-6 years due to level.
They embraced, Mia nearly knocking the three of them down by how quickly she approached them. Walter was taken back by how much of a kid she sounded and acted like when she saw them. It was hard to imagine that Mia was a 10-year-old slave just a few months ago. He was obviously told, but 'seeing is believing' as they say.
The four hugged one another for a good minute. Mia continued to be grateful that they were all alive and well, the other three blown away on Mia's appearance and position.
"I can't believe you're our little Mia." The mother commented.
"Big sis is really big now" Her brother, Matt, added.
"We were worried to death." Her father told her.
It was rather touching. As the emotions lowered a bit, Mia realized how she was acting in front of Walter and the knights. She was supposed to be the boss, she needed to collect herself.
"I'll be busy with my family." Mia pointed at the knights. "You three, join the perimeter guard so people can take a break." She then turned to Walter. "Walter, I'm worried about Godiva. I know she can handle herself, but if one of these things touches her… I want you to take all the research results we're sending to the queen with you."
"So spread the information freely?" Walter said, checking his weapons.
"Yes. It'll also work as a field test for the reinforcement I added yesterday. Sorry to ask you this so soon after surgery. You're not as fast as a shadow, but it'll take a while to spread this information widely." Mia said, handing him a case containing a copy of the results.
Walter straightened up a bit. "You wound me. I can be as fast as a shadow with the right motivation." He told her.
"Do this and I'll let you continue your ballistic-based firearm research in sub-lab one." Mia told him, ushering her family to follow her inside.
"Hmm, not what I wanted, but it'll do. Be safe." His playful demeanor left as he warned her.
Mia's parents eyed Walter, while Mia nodded. "I will… Don't think that your not being here means I can't defend myself." She said, adjusting her glasses.
"Of course, of course. Just don't get too used to protecting yourself. It'll make it that much harder for me to show off if you do." Walter winked before leaving to prepare.
"So that's this 'Walter' that Lady Godiva warned us of? You better not fall for any of his tricks, Mia." Her father commented.
"Huh? Dad, don't be like that. Walter… may be drunk sometimes, but he's the most loyal person I have here." Mia couldn't help but honestly complain about Walter truthfully, even while trying to defend him.
"All the same, I don't want to see you dating guys so young." Her father patted her head.
Mia swatted his hand away. "Ehh!? Stop. Walter and I are not like that… And even if we were, I'm the Lady of Evergreen. If the queen deemed me competent enough to be a greater lord, then I'm competent enough to choose someone good when the time comes." Mia went from arguing against her and Walter being a couple to defending her new-found maturity.
Mia's mother stepped in to calm things down. "And we are so proud of you! We heard that your weapon killed lord Averill, and being given such a lofty position as a demi-human in Melromarc of all places. You're so much more amazing than we already thought we knew." Her mother pelted Mia with compliments.
"That's why we worry. Obviously you're a big deal, the biggest deal. After Princess Melty, you might have the longest line of suitors in the region soon." Her father added.
"I've reunited with you all for 5 minutes and you're already nagging me…" She went to complain, but, "Thanks… I've missed you all so much. I thought… I thought a few times that'd I'd never see you again. That'd I'd never get to explain how and why I left without you…" Mia stiffened a bit. "That I'd never get to tell you about Siggy, and Kurtis, and the other friends I lost up until now. I owe everything I have to so many people. So don't praise me too heavily. I need to remember that." Mia told them.
They saw that Mia was not just older, but truly more mature than before. They calmed down, sure that their amazing daughter would find a much better suiter than that Walter guy.
Walter retrieved a few fun things they made in the lab and departed. He wanted to speak with Mia again before he left, but saw the glow on her face as she spoke with her parents and held her little brother. He decided to instead do what he was told as best he could. He didn't want to be gone long.
Walter caught his opposing fist with his other hand in anticipation. "That'd have taken me to the ground before, now my shoulder is the strongest point in my body thanks to that experiment Mia did. I trusted Mia and she fixed something I thought would always be broken. I have to exceed her expectations and trust in equal measure… Meaning I might have to follow to Siltvelt… It's not the way I wanted to visit home, but-" Walter finished his thought aloud. "Can't leave Mia waiting too long."
Walter took a horse to save stamina while he took to the roads. He'd need to abandon it and go on foot once that wasn't an option. If only that friendly knight Markus wasn't so damned attached to his tyrella, Rams. Then he could ride her the whole way there.
As Melromarc marched on, the first day became the second, and the second became the third. Most familiars in Melromarc were expunged and they were now all heading to the old battlefield that ended the Three Heroes Church's ambitions. Many of the opposing soldiers that survived were still there. Shadows and other officials had been weeding out the zealots from the ones that were simply following orders. Among them was one of the children of the greater lords that were assassinated at the early start of the coup. She had long curly hair, brown eyes, and wore custom armor that gave her legs more movement than normal. The queen would not give her their father's position yet. It felt insulting, given that they were older than Liviccic and Mia, and wasn't a traitor like Eadwig, yet wasn't yet deemed worthy. She took out that frustration and the pain of losing her father on the zealots she found amongst them.
By day five, most people converged on the fort being built at the border. It wasn't much, made mostly of wood, with stone only used to safeguard supplies and weapons.
"I'd have Monti build them a fort, but I doubt he could use it here." Naofumi commented as he pulled up on Filo.
He waited for Raphtalia and Teal riding on Leon to meet back up with him before approaching further. As he did so, he saw Godiva nearly reaching him when Walter seemed to appear out of nowhere. He looked and felt similar to a shadow.
"Delivery for-oh, the Shield lord is here too." Walter's attention shifted swiftly
"Y'know, you can just call me Naofumi. I got enough of that shit in Siltvelt." Naofumi complained.
"Yes, Lord Naofumi." Naofumi was annoyed. Walter continued. "Anyways, this is the results of Mia's diagnostic on the Spirit Tortoise Familiars. It was a breakdown of elemental effectiveness, as well as blunt, piercing, and slashing. Quick summary, piercing and curses are the go-to option. Avoid earth magic, and lightning magic is basically useless." Walter said, handing papers to both of them.
"These experiments were done on the bat types and the yeti types?" Teal asked.
"Yeah, and their weaknesses and resistances match up." Walter added.
"So we can assume the Spirit Tortoise and any other kind of familiars likely abide by this as well. Hmm." Naofumi concluded. Walter and Godiva grew quiet hearing Naofumi talk about other kinds of familiars and the main threat. They were addressing problems, but Naofumi saw the bigger picture and assumed the worst.
Soon enough, the others arrived. First Raphtalia and the kids showed up, then Liviccic, then Fitts, then Ren, everyone gathered. At the sight of the gathering, the late greater lord's daughter came over. She was well-dressed and held a sword, but the way she held it made it seem unnatural for her. One look at her beside Raphtalia could tell you that she wasn't a warrior.
They went to discuss a few things. Chiefly, who was going to guard the border and even if they were going to mount a force beyond the border.
"Ren, you got a free save?" Naofumi suddenly asked.
"A location save? Yeah. I guess you want me to get the queen and bring her here?" Ren asked.
"We both go. I get us there, you get us back, no waiting on cooldown." Naofumi suggested.
And that's just what they did. Naofumi and Ren teleported to the Castletown hourglass, then they went to the castle to meet with the queen.
"I see. I received permission to take the army through the country to the east, but not yet beyond that." The queen answered, turning to Aultcray to speak.
"We best stagger out our forces. Some staying at our eastern border, some staying at our neighbor's eastern border. If we receive word to travel further, that group will also be staggered. We can't push so brazenly beyond our borders." Aultcray explained.
"Do we really have time for that?" Ren asked doubtfully.
"What would a hostile country do if they saw the bulk of our military away? By staggering out the army, we can have some fighting force wherever we need it with regular reinforcements. It's the best option for any one location." Aultcray countered.
"Would someone really try something when their own country is being attacked by these familiars?" Ren couldn't see that happening.
"You've both experienced a fool in charge making rash decisions, only focused on a narrow result… terrible leadership is a common tragedy." Aultcray said, clearly speaking about himself.
"...Sounds good then. Ready?" Naofumi concluded and asked the queen.
"Yes. We are." The queen motioned Aultcray to approach. "We will both be there."
Naofumi paused for a moment. "I'm not following any orders he gives me, nor is my family." Naofumi protested.
"Understandable. You can do what you think is best… That said, as my advisor, he may give you suggestions." Mirellia conceded.
Naofumi said nothing, but also conceded. Ren then teleported all four of them to the eastern border. Everyone was there to greet them, along with two shadows, one exhausted and frustrated, the other seeming eager to report. Mirellia eyed them to do so.
"There has been a massive development. The Spirit Tortoise's main body…, it was taken down."
A collection of gasps and questions erupted, the queen motioned them to be silent. "Continue."
"The report says that a few people approached the Spirit Tortoise's main body and was decimated by streams of light. They say that it fell and hasn't moved in three days. There are no signs of life." The shadow eagerly reported.
Everyone's spirits were raised at that. With the main body gone, only the familiars remained, and even those were no longer within their borders. A moment of ease was felt.
Aultcray wasn't paying one bit of attention. He was staring at Liviccic's undead at his side. He eyed the bodies of his former comrades, at least one of them a true friend. All of them now commanded by the person currently wielding the staff that he once held. Aultcray understood that he no longer deserved it. He understood that his former comrades were traitors. He understood that Liviccic was just using their bodies in a way that still benefited Melromarc…, but it still hurt him so much to see this.
The queen held Aultcray's hand to drag his attention back to the conversation. She addressed the other shadow. "And you?"
"I was sent… to watch over Walter… I lost him unfortunately, and arrived late." They admitted.
Normally that'd raise Mirellia's suspension and it still might when given a free moment, but Mirellia wanted to grab this second wind everyone was experiencing at the news and galvanize it.
The queen opened her fan and began narrating her thoughts. "We find out the Spirit Tortoise is real, released, and slain in one message. How auspicious. This only means that clearly all the familiars that remain are even more of a focus. We should-"
Another shadow arrived, this one was as exhausted as the one that was chasing Walter, but also bleeding. "Your majesty, it got back up! The Spirit Tortoise has begun to march again!" The shadow warned.
Everyone froze. The Spirit Tortoise was real, and still alive. That was worrying on its own, but a greater worry came from that.
"Streams of light… Motoyasu… Don't tell me you died. If you did, I'm next." Naofumi thought.
They all understood that only a hero could have defeated the Spirit Tortoise. So this implied that a hero lost.
"The creature has been described as the largest living creature that could ever exist. Each foot is wide enough to encircle a large town. It also has a few mountains on its back. It's not just about stats, the size and logistics of that behemoth cannot be understated." The shadow added.
Just as the worry began to set in, Filo tugged on Naofumi's cape. "Fitoria sent a message. She said none of the heroes are dead." Filo assured her father.
"I don't know about the source of that information, but we can consult the stained glass of Faubrey." Aultcray suggested. A motion of the queen's hand sent the shadow that wasn't tired to check that very thing.
"Stained glass?" Ren was confused about its relevance.
Seeing the confusion on Ren's face, as well as the faces of Naofumi and a few others, Aultcray explained. "In Faubrey, there exists a stained glass made long ago with magic we don't exactly understand today. It has the image of four holy weapons, as well as the image of each of the 7 star weapons within it. It can be used to tell if a hero of that weapon is walking this world or not via the manner in which the light shines through it. So we can know if a hero is killed or summoned within a day." He revealed.
Naofumi thought about the situation, then asked Ren something. "Itsuki, Motoyasu, and you all had accurate knowledge of this world, and you were right about the Spirit Tortoise… So how did you have to beat it in your game?"
"Multi-stage raid boss. Outside body was a roaming world boss once spawned. Once you beat the outside, it turned into a dungeon, leading to a more traditional excursion and boss elimination within." Ren answered promptly and concisely.
"Which part was harder?" Naofumi asked.
"Hmm, they're both hard in different ways. The outer body is stronger, but you could have hundreds of players fighting it. Inside, you were far more limited. Inversely, you have to deal with the main body right away, but once beaten, the dungeon portion could be done without worrying about time." Ren explained.
Everyone present started thinking over this information added to the previous information.
"A lot of that special knowledge has been so accurate… Hmm. Power-wise, how strong is it versus us?" Raphtalia asked.
This was a slippery slope. They were now relying on game knowledge more and more. With so little else to go off of though, what else could they do?
"To be honest, I could take it alone." Ren said confidently.
"If your information is accurate." Wyndia reminded him.
"Yeah." Ren replied deflated.
After some discussion, Naofumi had an idea and wanted to broach the subject.
"I get staggering everyone like this, but we're going to need a lot of people to fight off the familiars while we take out the main body, right?" Naofumi pointed out.
Mirellia thought she knew where he was getting at. "I've already made contact with several countries and we are working together. We can rally a force to take out the source with time." She told Naofumi.
"Time is a problem. We need a lot of men, and quickly." Naofumi responded.
Aultcray already took that into account. "Yes, but as I said, we don't have the manpower to-"
"Then we can head to Siltvelt." Naofumi proposed. Walter's ears twitched at that.
Fitts, Liviccic, and Godiva all looked confused. Teal and Walter began to think. Raphtalia and Filo waited to hear Naofumi's reasoning.
The queen was the first to respond. "When you say 'we', you mean your family?" Mirellia inquired.
"At least Ren, you two and me. If Siltvelt is being attacked by these things too, then they understand the threat and likely have the same issue as us. Not having enough men to attack and defend. That means now is the time to cooperate." Naofumi answered.
Aultcray had been behaving himself, but he grit his teeth and scoffed at that. "Hah… You expect us to walk into that den of lions? Those beasts will show steel at the mere sight of us." Aultcray sounded more like the trash king that Naofumi was familiar with.
Naofumi didn't like his tone. "I got them under control now. They caved and accepted Raphtalia and the kids. They understand now that they aren't going to get their way."
Aultcray was far from convinced. "That's it? You expect me and Mirellia to walk into the heart of a country that kills my family joyfully and-!"
"Listen. To. Me." Naofumi said in a very serious tone. "Just you two, Ren, and me. We wait until our teleportation is off cooldown, both of ours. I use mine to get there, Ren uses his to get us back. We don't leave each other's side until we either make a deal or they try something. The literal second they do, we leave, back here, instantly." Naofumi told Aultcray and Ren.
"So you consider it low risk… It also gives me a chance to discuss things with them directly…" Mirellia seemed to like the idea, as she motioned for a shadow to hand her supplies to begin writing something down onto the paper.
Aultcray was mad, as mad as he ever had been. He didn't want to deal with this, deal with them. He went to speak, but Raphtalia beat him to it. "Naofumi would never risk the chance of having to tell Melty that something happened to her parents because of him. You know that, right?" She asked.
Invoking Melty's name was a dirty move, but it worked. Aultcray knew that the only reason he was still alive was because Naofumi took Melty's feelings into account. He ultimately relented.
"To Siltvelt…" Aultcray quietly mentally prepared.
"How long will we be gone?" Wyndia asked, stepping next to Ren.
"We? No, you are staying here." Naofumi told her.
"But-" Wyndia went to protest, but Leon took to her side, arm over her shoulder.
"We can catch up until they're back. It's like dad said, they know better than to try something at this point." Leon assured her.
"At the very least, we ought to take a full party." Aultcray requested.
Naofumi looked at everyone present, eyeing his options.
"Leon would be best left here handling Wyndia, plus he is often disruptive with all the praise of Siltvelt. Godiva needs to remain to watch over her men, Naofumi didn't want bad actors with so many people here. Demi-humans are preferred, obviously…" Naofumi thought.
"Raphtalia. Walter. You two come." Naofumi suddenly said.
"Understood." Raphtalia replied.
"I… must decline, Lord Naofumi. I assume you chose me because I'm a demi-human because you want to cause less issues. All I can say is that me going along would cause the very opposite of that." Walter answered.
"At least he's telling me that now and not later." Naofumi thought.
"...Fitts, you come along." Naofumi told him after some pause.
"Understood." Fitts answered.
A new voice spoke up. "Ridiculous. I should go. I am well versed in politics and can act accordingly." The other noble woman argued. This was the one noble Mirellia hadn't deemed to promote to replace their father yet. She wasn't a greater lord yet, but was raised and educated to be one someday. It'd make sense to assume she'd be a better choice.
"A better choice? I am well versed in politics myself, Serena." The queen said coldly.
Under the queen's scrutiny, Serena began to buckle. "I-Um… It's just that-"
"Just that you feel you should go instead of Lord Fitts?" The queen wouldn't let her escape now. She proposed what she believed Serena meant.
Serena tried being honest. "Yes, of course. I'm a proper lord and he's just-"
The queen got agitated. "You're a lord now? Did Melty have some fun behind my back? Because only I or her acting in my name could have made you a lord." The queen corrected Serena harshly in front of everyone.
Serena tried relenting. "I-I just meant that I am more suited to-"
The queen didn't want to stop her, she wanted to educate her. "I agree with Lord Iwatani and his reasoning." Mirellia told Serena directly.
"But… He hasn't given his reasoning." Serena was feeling there was clear favoritism.
"Think for a moment, why Lord Fitts? Because he has dealt with everyone with any amount of power trying to slide the knife in his back for months and surviving with wit alone. He's well suited to watching out for danger, correct?" Mirellia turned to Naofumi who nodded in agreement.
"I see. I apologize." She didn't consider that. She nodded in agreement.
But the queen wasn't done. "Another thing you might want to consider is that you are not more suited to be a lord than any of my new greater lords." She said sternly.
This upset Serena all over again. "I understand Lord Blackcrown, but I'm absolutely more qualified than-"
"You are acting as the lord in your father's place, are you not?" The queen interrupted Serena with a question.
"Yes, but-'" She answered, but wasn't given time to do more.
"And that means you can do everything a lord can as long as it doesn't require my approval?" The queen asked.
"Yes." Serena simply answered, wanting to see her point.
"What have you accomplished since then?" The queen asked plainly.
"...I don't understand." Serena was dumbstruck.
"Clearly. Lord Fitts has begun forming a new decentralized order of knights to act as a stop-gap for our inability to deal with backdoor dealings and other more sophisticated crimes, as well as gathering meaningful evidence for such large claims. Lady Mia has developed a weapon that allowed her knights to fight so well against the familiars that there were no casualties. She also just sent this 'Walter' to hand deliver strategic data on our enemy in the field. Lastly, Lady Godiva has begun to reform the western front. Were any of you promised land and status?" The queen asked Godiva's men.
"Yes, my queen. She offered us large portions of land and authority according to our abilities." One of them answered
"See? That fixes Averill's terrible managing system of being in charge of an entire region without town lords. She's fixing all forms of delegation and forming fixed authority based hierarchies that the region formerly lacked… And they did this with the same basic acting authority that you currently have. I did not tell them to do this. All I told them was that they now had authority." The queen said harshly.
Serena's head fell as she understood that she was coming up short despite her head start via her education. She wasn't doing anything to distinguish herself from others.
"You haven't done anything to prove you deserve your late father's title. Your mindset is completely wrong. I do not grant power to make people useful, I grant power to those who were already useful." The queen turned back to Fitts, now actively ignoring Serena.
The queen noticed something. "...Where is that shadow of yours, Lord Fitts?"
Fitts reacted to that. "I told her to stay in Crowood and act in my stead while this was happening. I know you sent us each an advisor who theoretically could have done the job, but I've yet to trust them. They seem to have their own opinions, which is fine, but when that affects their ability to do as I say, I must stop delegating tasks to them."
"I see. He must not like some of the decisions you've made. I'll send a replacement as soon as I can." The queen accepted his word as fact.
The conversation moved like this for some time. Another meeting of the lords as it were, with Walter doing his best to speak upon anything pertaining to Mia and Evergreen as best he could. He made sure to differentiate between what was his personal take, and what were the facts as he understood them. He also freely admitted when he didn't know the answer or gave an answer he thought Mia would give, even if he disagreed. The queen took note of that.
She also took note of how Naofumi always had Filo at his side while talking to people. She knew he'd been using her instinctive ability to detect lies quite often. It made her wonder why he didn't elect to take Filo with him as well.
During all the talking, Aultcray asked the only other question on his mind. "Who all is guarding Melty?"
Naofumi didn't like speaking to the man, but a father had a right to worry for his daughter. "Eclair was one town away and may still be, but she will aid if need be. Keel is over level 70 and has benefited from the whip power up method. She is easily as strong as a level 80. And of course Monti, our oldest, is by Melty's side at all times. He's as strong as… I don't even know at this point. Either way, he can handle anything any non-hero could and then some."
Filo pouted at that. "It's not fair, Monti's been spending more and more time with Melty. We don't get to play nearly as much." She complained.
Aultcray should have been happy about that answer, but instead, he seemed upset in an entirely different manner.
Finally the time came and with it, the six of them left in a flash of light.
.
[Author's Notes]
Several things happened. Melromarc is supposedly clear of Familiars in the short term, with the military building on the east. Soon they will march on the Spirit Tortoise.
Speaking of, the Spirit Tortoise lost? It won? It got better? Where's Itsuki? Hell, where's Motoyasu?
Naofumi makes a big decision in taking Mirellia and Aultcray to Siltvelt, to much protest. If they can manage, having Siltvelt help against the Spirit Tortoise would be a huge advantage they didn't have in canon.
Of course, I don't plan on things being 'canon but smoother'. Just wait for the counter-balancing of bad luck to even things out.
As always, please leave a review!