Chapter 41: The Rescue
Sunlight snuck through the openings between the tree leaves, painting the forest ground with a bright shade of honey color. A perfect weather for a picnic trip, if anyone asked.
However, no one among the group of people had the heart to enjoy it. Their minds were still wandering around aimlessly in panic; the Sword Hero had left for Ivyred Territory alone for reconnaissance for half a day already, and he still hadn't returned. They all knew that the Shirou-san wasn't the kind of person who would get caught that easily, but their minds still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going horribly, horribly wrong. What if…?
Finally, after the sun had set at the horizon, the familiar figure of the Sword Hero appeared at the camp. His face was bearing a grim expression.
"Sensei!" Tersia bolted up from the log she was sitting on.
"Thank goodness…" Farrie let out the breath she was holding in relief.
"What took you so long, Shirou-san?" Naofumi looked at his fellow Hero. "Did something happen there?"
"Yeah," EMIYA nodded grimly while sitting down on a log nearby. "And it's not something you're gonna like."
"Halt! Where do you think you're going?"
The hooded adventurer waved his hand frantically. "Ah, no, I'm just… I've just arrived here and I need a place to…"
The soldier at the gate didn't let him finish his sentence. He snarled while pushing the tip of his spear at the adventurer. "We don't care! Pull your hood down and show us your face!"
The adventurer sighed. He pulled his hood off his head, revealing a mop of blonde, spiky hair and a pair of blue eyes, which emphasized his fair skin. "Here. Happy now?" he said with a hint of annoyance on his face.
The soldiers hesitated. One of them pulled out a parchment from his belt and opened it. "That's not him," he said. "The Sword has white hair and gray eyes, and his skin is dark."
"What about the others?"
The other soldiers shook their heads. "Not the Spear or the Shield, either. And not any of their companions."
The captain of the group still didn't look convinced. He walked around the adventurer, and with a sudden movement, his hand lashed out and pulled at the other man's hair.
"Ow!" the adventurer cried out in surprise. "What the hell, man?!"
"Not a wig, hm," said the paranoid captain. "Very well, what's your name, traveler?"
"Cloud," the adventurer said. "Mercenary for hire, on a quest for the Adventurer's Guild right now." He pulled out a small plate made of bronze from his back pocket and showed it to the soldiers. "I'm just passing by to stock up on supplies, and I'll leave right away. Not gonna bother this place for long."
The soldiers looked at each other. Then finally, the captain glanced at one of his subordinates. "Take him to Camp #2."
The town was… in a worse state than he had thought. Even though he had heard from Akari that it was still recovering from the oppression of the neighboring town, he didn't expect it to be so quiet, so… gloomy. Most shops and vendors he met on the way were closed, and the rare people he saw on the street didn't even meet each other's eyes as they hastily walked by. It felt like they were afraid of something… or someone. This feeling was just like which he usually felt in a concentration camp.
The two men walked into the town square. The place was littered with military tents, and at the center, the adventurer noticed with disgust that people were gathered up, bound and gagged on the ground. It was obvious that they were they people who dared to go against the will of whoever in charge of this town.
The soldier led the adventurer into the smallest tent at the far side of the square. "In there," he pointed his spear at the entrance.
The adventurer parted the cloth entrance and entered the tent. Waiting for him inside was a clerk sitting in a desk, seemingly bored out of his mind. Seeing the blonde man entering, the clerk let out a snort.
"Traveler, huh. What do you want?"
"I'm just passing by," the traveler answered. "I'm on my way to the northern mountain in a quest for the Guild, and I need to stock up. Killing some monsters, you know," he repeated what he told the soldiers while placing his nameplate on the table. The clerk picked it up and glanced at the information on it.
"B-rank, huh. Don't you think it's kinda risky for you to take such a quest alone?"
The traveler just shrugged. "Have to say I'm a little bit strong for a B-rank."
The clerk eyed the man in front of him with a suspicious look. Then, he shook his head and gave the plate back to the traveler with a sigh.
"Whatever. Anyway, I suggest you leave as soon as you finish what you must do. It's not wise to stay here for long… especially with what is happening here now."
The adventurer blinked. "How so?"
"The Church is hunting down heretics," the clerk sighed again. "And by heretics, they mean not only people who support the Heroes, but also the people who go against their indoctrination. Lord Ivyred and his whole family were already arrested because their eldest daughter is following the Bow Hero. You seem to be a nice guy, so I don't want you to throw away your life staying here for long."
The adventurer chuckled. He pulled at his collar, revealing a pendant with the shape of the Three Heroes symbol dangling around his neck. "No need to worry about that. Have always been a devout follower, there's no way they're going after me."
The clerk chuckled dryly. "Say that to Lord Ivyred and his family. The poor guy… just because of his daughter…"
It's hard not to notice the disdain in the man's eyes when he said those words.
He pulled out a bangle from under his desk. "You must wear this until you leave the town. That's the rule."
The traveler looked at the object with suspicion in his eyes. "What is this for?"
"Basically a tracking device," the clerk answered. "It's for the soldiers here to keep track of what you're doing until you leave. Not gonna harm you… unless you try anything out of line, anyway."
The adventurer took the bangle from the clerk's hand. He looked at it for a few seconds while muttering something incomprehensible in his mouth, then shrugged and put it on his wrist. "That's all I need, huh?"
The clerk nodded. "Yes. And please return it to the guards at the entrance when you leave the town."
The town market might be the most bustling place that he had seen since he set foot in this town, even though it's not that much better. Stores and vendors were open with customers, indeed, but places like restaurants and taverns, which were usually filled with people, barely had any customers. Most people he could see only walked on the street in silence; they didn't even dare meeting each other in the eye. And most of the stores and vendors only sold basic supplies such as normal food or low-quality household products.
That bangle the clerk gave him wasn't only a tracking device, but also a magic suppressing tool, just like the ones they used in the Grand Tournament in Zeltoble. However, this one looked like it was mass-produced in a very short time; the mechanic inside it was so crude and simple a small Reinforcement spell could completely overload it and break it from the inside. Seriously, a magic-suppression device getting broken by magic is just pathetic.
He entered a grocery store on the main street. The owner, an old lady, greeted him with an unenthusiastic face.
"Welcome. Please feel free to pick whatever you want. We don't have that much to offer, though."
A store owner saying those words about her own goods was not something he usually saw. However, it's not hard to see she was telling the truth. The only thing that could be considered abundant in the store's stock was a type of fruit that looked and tasted similar to potato, which he usually saw eaten by farmers and lower-income workers. The other goods he could see, such as vegetables or meat, were all low in quantity and quality.
He picked up a basket and filled it with the potato-like fruit. "I'll take these. This is more than enough for me already."
The lady looked at him. "Adventurer, huh."
The blonde man rolled his eyes. "What gives it away?"
"Only adventurers would come here and buy a sack of krimelo fruit without anything else," the old lady snorted. She put the fruit on a scale and nodded. "Twenty-seven silver pieces, please."
The adventurer put the silver coins on the counter and took the sack of fruit from the woman's hand. Then he asked innocently.
"What happened in this town, anyway? The last time I heard, it was still on the way of recovering, but I didn't think it would be this bad."
The woman looked at him with a frown. Then, she pointed at something behind him. The traveler looked back, and his face also turned into a frown.
Six demi-humans were being dragged across the street outside of the store. They were chained up by their wrists and ankles, and their bodies were riddled with injuries. Standing above them were a group of soldiers, each of whom was bearing a smug expression on their face.
"We… didn't do… anything… to you…! Why are you… doing this… to us…?" a prisoner gasped out in pain. He glared at the soldier above him with eyes full of anger. But what he received back from the soldier was just a kick to the face. He fell to the ground painfully with a scream.
"The fact that the likes of you exist in this world is already a good enough reason!" The soldier who had just delivered the kick sneered at the fallen demi-human. "But now that the Church is the one in power, you're going to be put down like the animals that you really are! And that animal-loving, imposter-worshipping lord of yours is going to be the start! His execution tomorrow is going to be the first lesson to those of your kind in this land! Hahahaha!"
"Stop that!" one of his fellow soldiers snapped at him in obvious annoyance. "If you keep doing that, they're gonna die!"
The haughty soldier glared at his teammate. "So what? Who is going to miss one or two animals? Or maybe… are you showing sympathy for them, eh?"
The other soldier gritted his teeth. It was obvious he didn't know how to answer that question. Luckily for him, another soldier, seemingly the leader of the group, jumped in.
"He isn't wrong. We're here to do our duty, not to indulge in your thirst for murder. Our duty is to bring them to the prison. If you continue to behave like that, I'll have to report you to the captain."
The haughty soldier clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Tch. Spoilsport."
Then the group left, pulling their prisoners behind them.
"How long has it been like that?" the adventurer asked the shopkeeper after the soldiers had disappeared completely. The old lady shook her head.
"Since after those Hero imposters ran away from this country. No one wanted to go out anymore. Hell, no one even wanted to look at each other in the eye anymore. They're afraid, you know. That a random someone they meet on the street might accuse them of being heretic."
Then she lowered her voice. "Of course those soldiers could be bribed, but how in the world could we even find money to bribe them anyway? We're hungry. We're tired. We don't even have enough money for our daily life. We're scraping up the last coins just to survive. If this continues…"
"But the Heroes…"
The shopkeeper snorted. "If they truly were Heroes, they would have been here to do something about this. They would have done something to prove themselves innocent. But what did they do? They ran away. No one even knows where they are now. Even the Bow Hero who supposedly "saved" this land hadn't shown up. Why should we even believe in them now?"
She put the money on the counter in the drawer below. Then she looked at the adventurer. "You seem to be a nice guy, so I think I'll give you an advice. Don't hang around this place for too long. Do whatever you need to do quickly and get out of here. Get out of this country, to Zeltoble, Schildfrieden or anywhere, as long as it's not this country."
The adventurer turned around and walked out of the shop, but not before giving the lady a nod. "Yeah, thank you. Appreciate it."
Naofumi's hands curled up into fists. "Those bastards…!"
"And none of the people there even thought of striking back?" snarled Fohl angrily. Sadeena shook her head.
"You're still too naïve, Fohl-kun. It's not because they can't, but rather because they know there won't be anything good waiting for them if they do that. They don't have any leader, and sporadic uprisings won't do anything to the Church who is holding all the power in this land. Would you rather keep your life and your family or throw your life away, abandoning everything you love for a fight that you know you won't have any chance to win?"
"The Church was one step ahead of us," Eclair bit her lip. "If Lord Ivyred is executed, all hope for the demi-humans of this town is gone."
EMIYA looked at the female knight. "Is he a good man?"
Eclair nodded. "He's one of my father's friends when he was still alive. I haven't met him a lot before, but my father told me that he was a fair man, just a bit indecisive and tend to overthink things. I think that was a part of the reason why this town had fallen into financial problems earlier…"
"Can't hope to have him as a leader against the Church, then," Naofumi clicked his tongue. "Still, we can't let him die like that. We need to think of a way to save him before they execute him tomorrow."
"The only way we can do that is to attack the execution ground," said Motoyasu, "and probably kill a lot of the Church's soldiers in the process. Maybe all of them," he ended his sentence with rather chilling words.
"We can't do that!" Farrie exclaimed in horror. "You said even among the soldiers there were sympathetic people, didn't you, sensei? We can't just go in there and murder everyone!"
EMIYA turned toward the priestess with a grim face. "I know, Farrie, but Motoyasu might be right this time. Sometimes there's no other choice. This is going to become a battlefield, and if they're against us, they're our enemies. And on the battlefield, we cannot afford to hold back against enemies, lest they kill us first. I've told you many times, haven't I?"
"But… still…"
The atmosphere was covered in a choking silence. It was obvious that no one wanted something like that to happen. Even Motoyasu, the one who had just given that proposal, was staring on the ground with a grim look on his face.
"If only Her Majesty were here…" said Eclair bitterly, but no one could give her an answer. They all knew that the Queen being here would lift a lot of burden from their shoulders; after all, she was the most powerful person in the country, both in terms of authority and sheer power. But there had been no news from her yet; they had been waiting for a day already, and the meeting time was getting closer and closer, but there was still no sign of her returning.
Finally, EMIYA broke the silence. "We need to find a way to distinguish those fanatical members of the Church from the sympathetic ones."
Naofumi shook his head. "We would need DAYS of infiltrating in their ranks if we wanted to do that. And we're just going to have a few minutes at best if we're planning to attack the execution ground and rescue the lord. There's no way we could do something like that in such a short time."
"Actually, there is a way."
Everyone's heads turned toward the direction of the voice. And to their surprise, the words came from none other than Elena Haven.
Motoyasu looked at his teammate curiously.
"You got a plan, Elena-chan?"
The girl nodded. "Yep. If everything goes according to this plan, we will be able to not only single out the trustworthy people from the fanatics but also regain the trust of the country's citizens in the Heroes and sway them from the Church's grasp at the same time. That is, if it works, obviously. There is only one chance; if we fail, there's no do over."
Everyone didn't understand a word the orange-haired girl had just said. Except for EMIYA. His eyes narrowed.
"You mean…"
Elena nodded. "Yes. But I'm gonna need to borrow some of your clothes, Farrie," she said as she turned toward the priestess of Team EMIYA.
Then she glanced at Naofumi. "And it also depends on how good Sir Shield Hero is at acting, though."
Naofumi blinked. "Me?"
Itsuki observed the situation from the top of the highest tree he could find in the town.
It seemed the information he had gathered was correct, after all. The Church was planning to execute Lord Bernard Ivyred, Rishia's father, together with his whole family today.
Itsuki might be naïve, but he wasn't a fool. Young as he was, he still understood a little about politics from the novels he had read. And he knew that the Church was just using this to show off their power, and to scare the citizens of this country into submitting to them.
And Rishia is his companion. He's going to prove that he's a true Hero by saving and protecting her family.
The Church soldiers were bringing someone to the gallows. And considering the body shape and the white hair on his head, he could figure out it was Lord Ivyred himself.
He readied an arrow on the Legendary Bow. When they hang the old man, he's going to shoot the rope and save his life, then jump out and slay all of those evil soldiers. He's confident that he can take on all of them. That would be the perfect heroic entrance, just like in the film about a rogue hero he had seen on TV.
He pulled the bowstring and aimed at the gallows where they were pushing Lord Ivyred to. This was easy; he had done a lot of shots even more difficult than this…
Suddenly a noise rose behind him. A series of loud thumping noises, as if a herd of elephants were rampaging toward the town.
What the hell…?
And to his surprise and horror, the three other Heroes were charging into the town, on the back of three fluffy creatures that looked like some kind of mutated filolials. They were rushing straight toward the gallows; soldiers were sent flying like ragdolls wherever those giant fluffy filolials set foot on. Screams of panic filled the air. The Sword Hero jumped off his ride, and in a blink of an eye, he appeared on the stand and cut down the executioners with just two swings of his blade before they could finish tying the nook around the old man's neck.
Everything happened so fast no one could react. The Bow and arrow hung loose uselessly in Itsuki's hands as his mouth hung agape in shock.
In the Bow Hero's head, there was only one thought right now.
Why the hell do they need to be here now!?
"It's the Sword!"
"Go! Don't let him get away!"
The heroes' intervention was very sudden, indeed. However, it seemed the Church army had already prepared for it. From the sides, soldiers rushed out, all armed with bows and arrows, and they started firing at the gallows at the same time. It seemed they planned to kill the Sword Hero together with everyone there.
But the arrows never had a chance to touch anyone.
"Cover!"
The command came out of the Shield Hero's mouth as his body got pulled by a mysterious force toward the gallows. He appeared in front of everyone and planted the Shield of the Round Table on the wooden floor as soon as the arrows arrived, and the projectile weapons only bounced off the surface of the cross-shaped shield harmlessly. At the same time, the Spear Hero, still on the back of his strange green filolial… thing, charged into the rank of soldiers and knocked a few of them into the air, opening a straight route to the gallows before reuniting with his fellow Heroes. The three Heroes stood firm in front of the prisoners, shielding them from the attacks of the soldiers who were closing rank below them.
Naofumi, the one standing in the middle of the three, said in a cold voice. "As long as we are here, you're not going to lay a hand on these people."
The soldiers closed ranks again in front of the gallows. Arrows, spears, and staves were all pointed at the three Heroes, ready to attack. A rather fat man, seemingly the leader of the soldiers, walked out of the rank and said in a haughty voice. "So you decided to show up to repent for your sins, imposters!"
Naofumi shouted back; somehow, his voice boomed around the square as if it were passing through a megaphone. "We don't have anything to repent for! The only ones who should repent for their sins are you, bastards! You're trying to kill an innocent family for absolutely no reason at all, in front of this whole crowd! And you dare open your mouth and call us sinners and criminals?!"
Then he turned toward the citizens of the town, who were staring at the scene before them with terrified eyes. "Your Lord has done a lot of things for you. He gave you a place to live. He created jobs for you. He took all of you in, treated you as if you were his family. And now you're leaving him to die, under the hand of these bastards, for a crime that you all know he didn't have anything to do with, without even trying to do anything! Don't you feel ashamed? DON'T YOU?"
Those harsh words of Naofumi seemed to hit the town citizens hard. They looked at each other guiltily, then glanced at the soldiers who were pointing their spears at them with clear fear in their eyes. It was obvious none of them wanted this to happen, and they were just doing this because they were scared of what the Church could, and would do, to them and their families if they didn't obey.
"Isn't that your fault?" Finally, a farmer raised his voice loudly. "If it weren't for you, things like this wouldn't have happened!"
"You…!" Motoyasu started angrily, but Naofumi raised his hand to stop his fellow Hero. He looked straight at the farmer, who flinched at the glare the Shield Hero shot at him.
"No one among us asked to be summoned to this place," he said in a small, but cold voice. "It's the Church themselves who pulled us here, and now when they found out that they couldn't put us under their control, they resorted to doing something like this. They tried to overthrow the Queen and take over the whole country. Do you really think that things like this wouldn't happen if no one, or anyone else were summoned instead of us? THINK AGAIN!"
The farmer took a step back in fear, and murmurs started rising from the crowd. But Naofumi's voice rose again, and the whispers died down immediately. The Shield Hero jumped down from the stand and stood firm in front of the soldiers, facing the weapons and pointing at him with his firm and determined eyes.
"But if blaming everything on my head is what satisfies you, then so be it! I'm going to take everything you're going to throw at me! Come at me and kill me, if that is what it takes for you to stop hurting these innocent people!"
Those words once again sent the crowd into a wave of whispers.
"No way… The Shield Devil… is trying to protect us…?"
"That's… that's not something a Devil would say… isn't it?"
The soldiers looked at each other awkwardly. It seemed they didn't know what to do anymore.
"Naofumi, be careful with what you're saying," EMIYA said with a strained voice. "Think carefully about what you're trying to do…"
"Sorry, Shirou-san, but this is what I need to do. If I don't do this, things are just going to continue. I'm going to finish this here, by myself. Don't interfere."
Silence filled the air for a while. Then, a soldier, the one EMIYA recognized to be the haughty bastard he had seen during his reconnaissance, shouted gleefully.
"Well, you asked for it, Devil!"
He brandished his sword and was on the way to slash at Naofumi before his captain raised his hand to stop him.
"What gives?!"
The fat captain looked at Naofumi with a nasty smirk. "I know what he's trying to do. Devil or not, he still holds the power of that Shield. Normal weaponry is not going to work against him. If we go in like this, it's just going to make him look good in front of these mongrels."
For a fatass like him, this bastard is pretty sharp.
The smirk on the captain's face spread wider. "But I already prepared for that! Today you're going to give up your life here, Shield Devil!"
As he finished his sentence, the group of priests and priestesses standing at the back of the soldier formation started chanting. Magical energy rushed upward, forming a big sphere of light in the sky. Naofumi's eyes narrowed when he realized what that was. It was that same magic spell that he had to block with Lord Camelot a few days ago. The ultimate-class ceremonial magic, Last Judgment.
"This is not good!" Motoyasu exclaimed. "Naofumi-!"
"So what are you going to do now, Shield?" the fatass cackled like a maniac. "Want to run away now? If you run away, this spell will crush the town and the mongrels in it, too!"
Those words sent a wave of panic into the crowd. The town citizens freaked out and started running away, but there was no way they could escape in time; if the Shield Hero chickened out… Even some of the soldiers also glared at their captains in shock.
The captain didn't even pay attention to them. He yelled gleefully. "Die, Shield Devil!"
The concentrated ball of energy shot down from the sky and struck the Shield Hero. It exploded with a vengeance, engulfing the young man in a ball of light. The town citizens screamed out in fright as a shockwave of energy swept through the square; the Church soldiers were shielded behind a magical barrier, but there was nothing protecting them. Cursing loudly, EMIYA dashed in front of them and hastily put up a myriad of Shield Barricades in front of the crowd. The shockwave swept across, destroying the wall of swords, but it managed to shield the crowd from the worst of the attack.
"Naofumi!" he yelled, but no answer came. The fat bastard screeched with utter glee on his face.
"The Shield Devil fell under my hand! I shall be known in history as the one who got rid of the Devil! The Devil Vanquisher! A legend! I shall…!"
"Excuse me, who got rid of who?"
The words of the captain choked in his throat when the voice rose from inside the explosion. The light faded away, and he gasped in shock.
"No way…!"
Naofumi was still standing. And even worse, he was completely unharmed. There were some small burn marks on the Barbarian's Armor he was wearing, but there wasn't even a scratch on the Shield Hero's body. He didn't even lose a single strand of hair.
"But that is Last Judgment… the ultimate magic God granted us to vanquish all evils in the world… It should be able to destroy everything with evil in it! How could someone known as the Shield Devil withstand it just like that?!"
Everyone turned toward the direction of the voice, at the far end of the crowd. The person who had just let out that exclamation was an orange-haired girl wearing a nun habit. She was holding her face in her hands, seemingly very surprised and shocked.
"Could it be… he wasn't an evil demon like the Church said he was?"
This time, the voice came from the other side, from a young man wearing glasses. Murmurs started rising from the crowd.
"Hey, they're not wrong…"
"Yeah, the Shield Hero didn't look that evil… right?"
"The Heroes have just saved our lives… How can they be that evil like the Church said?"
The captain immediately realized that things were getting out of hand. He yelled at the crowd. "You heathens! How dare you open your mouths and say such blasphemous things! I'm going to execute all of you for that!"
Then he turned back to the priests and priestesses of his squad. "What are you waiting for?! Cast it again!"
"We… we can't, Captain!" a priest stammered. "That last attempt took everything from us; it's going to take at least a day of rest for us to cast it again!"
"You useless trash!"
Naofumi's voice boomed around the square. "Citizens of Ivyred Territory! You've seen what has just happened. I don't mind dying if my death could save the lives of innocent people. However, those people from the Church, the ones who claim to be righteous and holy, didn't even hesitate to murder a whole town full of innocent people just to get rid of someone they wanted to kill. Do you think that is something good people would do?!"
Somehow, the Shield Hero looked like he was glowing with a bright light when he said those words. The whispers among the crowd became louder and louder.
"Shut your trap, Devil!" The fat captain yelled desperately. "This is just a fluke! There must be a reason why-!"
But the words choked inside his throat when something wondrous happened.
"Look!" An old lady pointed to the sky with clear shock and awe on her face.
A silhouette of a person was coming down from the sky. It was a young woman with long, blonde hair and a pair of wings made of pure light on her back, which was glowing brightly like the moon. She was holding a scepter with a red jewel near its tip and wearing a long, white dress that glittered brilliantly in the sunlight, as if thousands of tiny diamonds ornamented it.
Slowly, the girl descended to the ground, in front of Naofumi. Then, without a word, she kneeled in front of him with her head bowed.
The whole square suddenly fell into a choking silence. No one could say anything for exactly thirty seconds. Then at the thirty-first, the voice of a man shattered the silence.
"It's an angel! An angel from heaven!"
Then more and more voices boomed from the crowd.
"She kneeled in front of the Shield Hero!"
"God has answered us! He gave his blessing to the Shield Hero!"
"The Shield Hero is a Saint! Everyone, kneel before the Saint!"
"How dare you open your mouth to say those blasphemous words, you goddamned heretics!" the captain roared. He unsheathed his sword and waved it around while yelling at his soldiers. "What the hell are you waiting for?! Kill these heretics!"
The soldiers glanced at each other. Then, before the captain could say anything else, a soldier brandished his spear and stood facing not the citizens of the town but the captain himself. Then another one. Then another one. Soon, at least three quarters of the squadron were now standing, all of them with their backs to the townsfolk, all of them looking toward the captain and five or six soldiers who were still loyal to him and were the most bloodthirsty ones among them.
In just a few minutes, the situation was turned completely upside down.
"You…! How dare you…!" the fat captain looked like someone had just lodged something really big into his throat. He stammered in fear and shock as he looked at the glare coming at him from the soldiers who were pointing their weapons at him and his lackeys. "The Church is not going to forgive you! His Excellency is never going to forgive you! We're going to brand all of you heretics, and you are going to be killed, all of you and your-!"
"I believe that is enough."
Everyone's heads snapped toward the direction of the new voice. And they hastily kneeled onto the ground at the same time.
Mirellia Q. Melromarc was standing at the entrance gate. Her face didn't show any clear expression, but everyone could feel the coldness and pressure coming out of her body just by looking at her. Her elegant purple robe glimmered in the sunlight, which made her look like she was covered in a rather malicious aura. Behind her, hundreds of soldiers, fully equipped could be seen; among them, the Heroes could see many familiar faces, the faces of people who they had fought side-by-side with during the Wave. The commander of the Royal Knights, the new one who had helped them a lot in the most recent Wave, was standing right next to her.
"She surely chose the right moment to show up, huh…" EMIYA chuckled.
The Queen and her army marched into the town. The crowd parted way, leaving the road for their Queen to pass through. The Church captain looked like he was on the verge of pissing his pants, but somehow, he still managed to gather enough courage to scream.
"This-this is not over! His Excellency is going to crush you! When he hears about this-?!"
The Queen didn't even bother looking at him. She simply pointed at the fat man with her left index finger, and immediately, the bastard found himself trapped inside a freezing-cold iceberg. He could only stare through the clear ice in horror for a few seconds before death claimed his life.
Mirellia walked to where the three Heroes were standing. When she reached them, she suddenly did something no one expected her to do. She kneeled on the ground in front of them with her head bowed.
"As the Queen of Melromarc, the representative of Melromarc herself, I humbly apologize to you, Sirs Heroes, for being late to assist you, and for everything our kingdom had done to you until now. I swear to you in the name of the Queen of Melromarc that I will do everything within my power to compensate for everything, and to repay you for your help."
It was obvious that none of the Heroes had expected this to happen. Naofumi hastily kneeled down and pulled the royal woman up. "No, please, just stand up… You don't need to do this…"
The Queen accepted Naofumi's hand and stood up. Then, she turned toward the townsfolks, who were still kneeling on the ground behind her with bewildered eyes.
"Citizens of Ivyred Territory! During my absence, the Church of the Three Heroes had colluded with the King to wreak havoc on the country. The Heroes were summoned, but they were all mistreated horribly by the Church, and now, those filthy fanatics have taken over the country. You already saw what they did, even to the people who were summoned here to protect this world, and even to the innocent people who didn't have anything to do with them. They do not care about the people. They do not care about what is going to happen to this country. The only thing that they and that evil person who calls himself the Pope of the Church want is power and the pleasure of oppressing people, innocent people like you all."
She stopped for a moment, then continued with a louder voice. "But now that I'm back, things like this are not going to continue. The country is going to be returned to its rightful owners, which are you, the citizens of this land! And I will do anything I can to take it back from the hand of the Church! But I cannot do it alone. I need your help! We all need to stand up and unite our power under the banner of the Saint of the Shield! And we will take back our land!"
Those words served as the trigger. From the crowd, cheers started rising, and soon, they exploded into a chorused wave of sounds that shook the whole town.
"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"
"LONG LIVE THE HEROES!"
"LONG LIVE THE SAINT OF THE SHIELD!"
"Once again, I'm really sorry for being late, Sirs Heroes. Things happened that hindered me on my way back, but it's lucky of me that they didn't manage to do anything too bad."
The Queen and the Heroes, together with all of their companions, were sitting in the audience chamber of the town hall. They had decided to use this as a temporary accommodation; even though there was no way it could compare to any room in the royal palace, the Queen didn't seem to mind it at all. It seemed she had been used to things like this.
"What happened?" Naofumi asked curiously while looking at the Queen. The royal woman just smiled.
"Some people in Siltvelt aren't very thrilled about the idea of me returning to Melromarc to lead the resistance against the Church. They tried… things to force me to stay there until they could officially declare war against this country, but it was unfortunate for them that I'm a little bit more than what they could handle."
"I can see why," noted EMIYA. "After all, you even managed to gather quite a big army so quickly under all that pressure, didn't you?"
Mirellia didn't even flinch before the rather snide remark of the ex-Counter Guardian. She only smiled back at him.
"It was mostly thanks to the work of my Shadows, Sir Sword Hero. Even among the Royal Knights, there are still some who don't approve of what the Church is doing, but cannot say or do anything. And Commander Leonhart here is one of those people," she glanced at the general who was standing behind her. "I've let my Shadows observe him for a while, and when they deemed him trustworthy enough, I contacted him, and he immediately left his position and came to my side with five hundred of his most trusted soldiers. It was a surprise to me that he managed to gather so many, to be honest."
"Glad to know that there are still people who are against the Church in this country," said Naofumi. The Queen nodded.
"Have to say it's partly thanks to my eldest daughter Malty. As someone in the royal family, she still doesn't understand that being cruel and heartless to the people below her is the best way to turn them against you."
It's hard not to notice the darkness in the woman's eyes when she said those words. Motoyasu opened his mouth, obviously wanting to say something, but in the end, he just closed his mouth again and looked away with a bitter and guilty look on his face.
Then the Queen changed the topic. "I have to admit though, I was very surprised about that theatrical act you've done back then, Sirs Heroes. Not only did you manage to save Lord Bernard Ivyred and his family from their unfair execution, but you also cleared your names and turned Sir Shield Hero here from a criminal, a devil into a saint in people's eyes at the same time. That is something even I don't think I can pull off."
"Actually, everything was her idea, Your Majesty," EMIYA pointed at Elena, who had already gotten out of the nun habit and returned to her usual clothes. Mirellia looked at the orange-haired girl and nodded with a smile.
"You are the first daughter of Sir Augustus Haven, aren't you? You are brilliant for such a young woman. How did you come up with such a genius scheme?"
The girl of Team Motoyasu curtsied. "It's just what I learned in business lessons, Your Majesty. When conducting a business, a major thing to consider is how to manipulate the mind of customers to make them think what you want them to think."
The Queen nodded. "I see. Right now I'm in no position of giving you anything big, but after everything ends, I promise in the name of the Queen that you, as well as House Haven, will receive proper reward for your brilliance. Oh, and everyone else, too; I haven't forgotten about you all," she added as her eyes swept across the other people in the room.
"I don't know about this," Naofumi raised his voice. He looked rather uncomfortable. "I'm kinda used to people looking at me like a criminal now. Suddenly, everyone looks at me as if I'm some kind of god-blessed saint…"
"Isn't that what you look forward to all the time?" EMIYA pointed out. "You know, people not looking at you as if you were a monster, a criminal?"
Naofumi hesitated. "Well, yeah… but… no, to be honest. I'd prefer people looking at me as a normal person, as Iwatani Naofumi, rather than, you know…"
Raphtalia grabbed his hand with a smile. "You don't need to be so humble, Naofumi-sama. For everything you've done, you more than deserved to be called a saint. To me, you have always been one, you know."
Even though Naofumi still didn't look very thrilled, he took Raphtalia's hand with a smile of his own.
"Yeah, you'd better suck it up and deal with it, Sir Shield Hero," Wyndia said. She had removed the spell that hid her tail and dog ears and turned her hair blonde, and was now staring at Naofumi with deadpanned eyes which, amusingly, reminded everyone of the Sword Hero himself. "I didn't put on all these disguises for you to turn down the result, you know."
EMIYA looked at the Queen. "So, I guess we're using this town as our base of operation for now."
Mirellia nodded. "This should be a good start. This place lies at the center of a plain, with an abundance of food and supply, and it is five days of walking away from Castle Town, with access to the two main trading routes of the country. Also, this place is close to the territories of one of my most loyal vassals, Sir Van Reichnott of the Reichnott Territory. We need to contact him as soon as possible to establish a connection with them."
Naofumi raised his hand. "I can do that. I've done some work at that territory before, and I guess I've managed to gain the trust of people over there. I believe I'll be able to help more than just sitting here."
"I'm really glad to hear it, Sir Shield Hero," Mirellia smiled at Naofumi. "How many soldiers do you need with you?"
The Shield Hero shook his head. "The main force needs to stay here to guard this base and you. I only need my companions and a few soldiers if possible. Maybe someone with the ability to scout would be the best."
Mirellia nodded. "Very well. Then I'll assign two of my most skilled Shadows I have here with you. Magnus, Wilheim, you two will escort Sir Shield Hero and his companions to Reichnott Territory. Until the mission finishes, you're going to be under Sir Shield Hero's command. Do whatever you can to assist him and his companions, do you understand?"
Two Shadows appeared and kneeled before the Queen and Naofumi. "Understood, Your Majesty."
"While you leave on your mission, we need to find ways to put your new status as the Saint of the Shield to use," the Queen continued. "We need to get rid of the people's faith in the Church of the Three Heroes, or at least, turn Sir Shield Hero into something at least equal to the Church themselves."
"That's really difficult, if not outright impossible, Your Majesty," Eclair said with doubt in her voice. EMIYA shook his head.
"It's hard, but not impossible. Based on how easily the citizens in this territory were swayed toward us today, it's clear that the faith of this country in the Church has been shaken up quite a lot. Now what we need is to continue shaking things up, and finally, a big push for it to collapse."
"But we need to do it quickly before they realize what we're planning to do," Elena butted in. "If they find out about it and counteract, there's no way we're going to get such a good opportunity again."
Mirellia looked at her. "Then, can I trust you with this, Miss Haven? You're going to think of the fastest and most effective way we can use to utilize Sir Shield Hero's popularity against the Church. After all, you're the one who came up with this scheme in the first place."
Elena curtsied. "It would be my honor, Your Majesty."
Mirellia stood up from her seat. "Then at the same time, we're going to bolster the defense of this town, as well as preparing our force for a long battle. Establish more connections to the local leaders, and gather more weapons and supply enough for an army. Reinforce the walls and gates of the town, and improve security. We need to be ready for any attack coming from the Church. Sir Sword Hero and Spear Hero, can I ask for your assistance in this?"
EMIYA nodded. "Naturally. We came here for that reason, after all. And if possible, I want to enlist the help of Sadeena and Larsazusa here, too. Their abilities would be very helpful in this task. Will you two help us?"
"Anything for you, Shi-kun," Larsazusa answered with a wink, earning herself a deadpanned look from the Sword Hero. Sadeena, however, looked at the Queen with a hint of hostility in her eyes. She said in a calm and firm voice.
"I apologize in advance if I'm being insolent here, Your Majesty, but I'm also a demi-human of Lurolona Village. I know how my kins have been treated by your country, your royal family and the Church. I want you to make a promise. If you promise to give the people who mistreated my kins a punishment they deserve to receive after this, I'm going to help you. If not… I'm sorry I have to disappoint you, Your Majesty."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense. Everyone glanced at the Queen nervously in anticipation, but instead of getting angry, the royal woman just smiled.
"I've expected something much, much harder for me to do, but that's everything you want from me? Very well. In the name of the official ruler of the Kingdom of Melromarc, I swear to you with all my honor that the people who mistreated the demi-humans in Lurolona Village, as well as demi-humans in general, are going to receive the punishment that they deserve, as soon as we take back the Kingdom from the hand of the Church."
Sadeena's eyes narrowed. "Even if that person is someone that you love?"
Everyone's heads snapped toward Sadeena in horror. Saying something like that to a Queen is equal to lese-majesty, and would surely receive nothing less than a death by beheading. But the Queen didn't even show any hint of anger. She calmly received the glare of the killer-whale woman with her own eyes.
"Especially if that person is someone that I love."
She said those words without even a blink of an eye.
For a few seconds, there was no sound that could be heard in the room. The two women just stood there, glaring into each other's eyes while the others stared at both of them in shock and horror. Then, Sadeena smiled and kneeled on the ground.
"Then from now on, my harpoon is yours to command, Your Majesty."
Everyone let go of the breaths they were holding in relief. The Queen snapped the fan in her hand close and pointed it forward.
"Then let's get to work, everyone! We cannot waste a moment here!"
The smile returned to everyone's faces, and they spread out of the room, each of them going back to what they needed to do. Naofumi's group went to gather supply for their trip to Reichnott Territory, Elena and Motoyasu returned to their room to think of a plan to expand the Queen and the Shield Hero's influence, and Team EMIYA as well as Sadeena and Larsazusa, together with the Queen herself, went to the town to assist with the construction of the town's defense.
They didn't have a lot of time, but at least they knew what they should do now. For the first time in a while, they could have the smile of hope on their faces.
EMIYA was the last one leaving the room. The Queen walked past him to follow the group out of the room, and for a very slight moment, the eyes of the royal woman and the ex-Counter Guardian met each other. And he could see a strange, very faint emotion in the Queen's eyes. It was an emotion that EMIYA was too familiar with. The emotion of pain, despair and desperation. But that moment passed as quickly as it came, and the Queen's back disappeared at the end of the corridor outside the room.
At that moment, EMIYA understood that the woman named Mirellia Q. Melromarc was much, much stronger than he had thought of her.
EMIYA was walking alone on the street leading to the western wall of the town.
Not only because there were works that needed his supervision there, no. He also needed a space empty enough to confront the stalker who had been following him since he left the town hall.
The person who was stalking him obviously wasn't an assassin, because his attempt to follow him was sloppy and clumsy as hell. It was just like that time the boy Ake and his friends stalked him before the Wave. This person might be a lot stronger than them, but it didn't mean that he was any better in subterfuge.
He turned at a corner and walked into a yard. This seemed to be a playground for children of this town, because he could see a sandbox, a construct that looked like a seesaw and some toys on the ground. There was no one here.
"Don't move."
He didn't need to turn around to know who was standing behind him, with an arrow nocked into a bow, which was aiming at his back.
"Seriously?"
