Chapter 15: Militant Force (4)

"Kuchinashi, city of the South. Kuchinashi, city beleaguered in strife. Kuchinashi, city liberated by its people.

After more than a month of infighting, the people have ultimately taken matters into their own hands. Rallying under People's Representative Kai Chen, masses take to the streets and roof tops and begin clearing them of rogues and Grimm alike. Despite stiff resistance from both sides, help from the mercenaries in the form of combat training and limited armament supply has helped turn the tide in favour of what was thought to be the impossible.

However, things are not entirely looking bright just yet. As upon hearing the news, many of those in the Court of Mistral have taken Kuchinashi's situation as a risk to the stability of the Kingdom and are set to send a force to assess and, if need be, take necessary action on the situation. Furthermore, there has been no word from the two ruling Houses of Kuchinashi, who have since gone quiet ever since the riots that happened earlier this year.

What may come out of this meeting is anyone's guess. Yet, as always, we here at Sumika Station intend to keep our listeners updated on latest developmets."

It felt like an ordinary day when they arrived.

The city never had plenty of sunshine. Instead, it was always cloudy, and the people's mood always matched the clouds. It did make him wonder why a disaster such as the unrest didn't occur sooner than this.

Above the now repaired, but still uncleaned airport was a dozen or so airships of varying sizes. What took the most attention was the three at the forefront. Each was as massive as the one that arrived carrying soldiers from the capital a month ago. The smaller ships circled their larger brethren, keeping to the air and covering their descent.

Dock workers worked frantically to prepare for the final moments. He knew that most here had been working nonstop for days on end, and many among them had to be pulled out of other areas of the reconstruction to make way for the arrival of the visitors. He could only hope the recompensation he'd prepared would be enough.

Beside him were a dozen of the new People's Militia. Specifically, these were among the first men trained by the mercenaries and had the best battle experience out of the entire fighting force. Certainly not enough to fight against the Mistrali City Guard, and -Brothers forbid- a Huntsmen, but it was still better than nothing. In addition, at the advice of those same mercenaries, the destroyed market district connected to the ports had been rebuilt as a military district which meant help wasn't far off. In fact, on the way to the ports, he could that the militia had already prepared themselves for things to go awry.

Speaking of them, he'd preferred for the mercenaries to be here, but alas Amaris had shot the idea down himself, claiming that their physical presence would only serve as an excuse for these 'visitors' to take decisive, violent action. It made him truly wonder just who they were allowing to land on their homeport.

Anymore musing was cut short as crew from three large ships began to disembark. The moment they dropped onto the platform, they began manhandling the workers, much to their surprise. Crewmen from the ships themselves took their place in continuing the docking.

He could only watch as this happened. Sparing a glance, he could see his guards not faring any better. The white-knuckled grip they had on their rifles telling him just how much they wanted to interfere.

Eventually, a rather…. Extravagantly dressed individual came down from the ship. He had been informed in advanced and even seen himself how nobles in their city liked to follow 'courtly culture'. Yet, seeing the man whom those people tried imitating -a noble from the capital- before him made a near irrational feeling arise.

Anger.

He kept it down as best he could, even swallowing as he watched the man trot-walk towards him.

"Are you the one who leads this entourage?" asked the visitor in a high-pitched voice.

"I am the Chief Representative, Kai Chen. We here at Kuchinashi are please to meet you. If you follow-"

"Guards! Arrest him!"

Not even getting acknowledged the situation, one of his guards pulled him by the collar back. Said guard and four others barred the path of their counterparts from getting to him.

"You rabble! You're impersonators! Step aside! By order of the Court of Mistral, you are to lay down your arms and accept surrender to us! Do so without resistance, and we will make your sentence merciful!"

From behind them, Kai Chen spoke up, "This must be a misunderstanding, sir. Perhaps you haven't read the message we sent to the capital by both letter and radio, the people of Kuchinashi have no qualms with the capital. We simply did what we had just to survive. Our lords had taken things too far with their feud. Had we not taken arms, we'd be dead-"

"Silence, commoner! I will not be talked to by someone below my station. Step aside, and surrender. Else, call a person of noble birthright to represent you!"

He internally flinched at the grating voice. Alas, that'd been something that was warned by Amaris too. They'd needed someone to represent the local Houses if they'd wanted the talks to go peacefully. Sadly, the nobles' quarters were sealed off, and he'd been told that there was no entry at this time. When he'd went to the gates himself with the militia, there'd been an awful smell in the air, coming from beyond the gates.

They left immediately, but fortunately Amaris had come up for a solution to this too, in the form of a representative of their own he claimed would ease this situation.

Having stood at the back the entire time, the representative stepped forward. When they'd first met less than a day ago, he felt unnerved because for once one of the mercenaries actually looked native. Not in the sense he thought that none of the mercenaries were inhuman, rather, they always had that sort of… odd complexion that differentiated them from anyone else.

But this man amongst them was just that, a man. He was very tight lipped, but Kai Chen attributed that to just him being focused on the job. Not that he could blame him.

Dressed in the same black uniform as the mercs, his ankle high boots had an audible click to them. He motioned with a hand for the guards to part and make way for him.

"And who might you be? Speak!" snapped the visitor.

"I am Zhou Chen, scion of the House of Dawn. You will address me as befitting my station, lord."

It was like watching poison in real time. Kai Chen watched as the visiting lord went still, then slowly his eyes widened and his skin paled. Eventually, the man just flopped onto the ground and weakly pulled away.

"N-no," the visitor breathed. "Y-your supposed to be dead…. The acci-"

"The attempt on my life is something to be dealt with at a later date," waved off the representative. "Right now, I am expecting to repay a favour to the people of this city for saving me, so if you could save yourself the humiliation and stand, that would be great. Guards!"

Slow to respond, the visitor's own entourage didn't catch on at first what was happening, but the sounds of their charge trying to stand once more was what allowed them to connect the dots and take action. Clumsily, the noble stood, all the while in plain view of the many.

"Is this how dignitaries of Mistral carry themselves? Frankly, I'm left in absolute awe of you performance as of now. The Kingdoms', all of them, bow to your most mannerly demands."

"W-with respect, my liege, I w-was told that the people here had acted in revolt against their Lords. That they acted in a way that jeopardized stability and brought distress not just to the region, but the whole realm."

"The people? Just the people! You mean the people are to blame for the feud? You mean the people -who had no rights by law- were the ones to meddle and cause strife between the two Houses here? Those same people, who are also are a victim of rampant banditry and inaction, are the ones to be punished and not the House Lords who remained ignorant? Those people!"

Kai Chen wasn't sure just exactly was happening. At least, he wasn't sure of the full picture and why the visitor was shrivelling like he was about to die. Yet, he found himself feeling some form of elation from the whole thing. It helped that his own guards had somewhat relaxed whereas the visitor's had only stepped back more as the mercenaries' representative advance.

"Don't jest with me, sir. The Houses ruling this region have done nothing but humiliate themselves. They have not only turned a blind eye to the suffering of their people, but completely voided themselves of any responsibility! Their bickering and petty fights had no excuse and definitely no basis. They made their deathbed, and so shall you if you don't make yourself useful this instant!"

Something akin to an ugly snort-sniffle escaped the noble, who retreated behind his guards.

"Get out of there, Lord Sato! Where's the sly man who used to call himself my friend? Where's the man who claims to be my father's friend. Where's the man who saw me off to my death!"

Kai Chen began tuning off the whole drama. Eventually, the representative, Zhou Enlai, stopped his goading and motioned everyone to follow him. A long, drawn-out breath escaped the People's Representative as he followed along.

If this was what he could expect from being the leader of this city in the future, he'd have to try and get Zhou Enlai to open up more to him. He may also want to have a taste of whatever Amaris drank from that steel vessel he always carried.

"Peace. Unity. Brotherhood.

This is the rallying cry for the newly formed People's Government of Kuchinashi. A newly arisen vassal state of Mistral.

Following intense negotiations that threatened violence, representatives from both Mistral and Kuchinashi were able to come to a reasonable deal and understanding of the events that transpired throughout the year along with how to move forward.

Evidence brought forth from documentation, letters and even bodies suggest that both House Summer Turmeric and House Autumn Jade had employed a mixture of House Guards and brigands to assault each other's holdings within the region. Initially relegated to mere skirmishes and small ownership disputes, the situation spiralled out of control until the Houses began fighting in the streets of the city they governed. When called forth to face trial, it was found that both Houses had committed mass suicide, a morbid scene only discovered after the noble's district was finally broken in, at the consent of Mistral's representative.

Following this, the people of the city have collectively voted to push expel any and all people connected to nobility, citing that the depravity and acts of inhumanity committed by the upper class to be unbecoming of their society. The representative of the Court of Mistral openly apologised to the masses and vows to take information on the tragedies back to Mistral for further investigation.

In the meantime, People's Representative Kai Chen has also given an address to the public, explaining that Kuchinashi must move forward as one, and that now it is up to their own strength to steer the city to a better future. To start, he is arranging for a new contract for the mercenaries, one he hopes will better integrate them into the city, or at the very least allows them to aid in building a more reliable defence force.

When asked about the introduction of Huntsmen to help in Grimm eradication, the leader of the people made a surprising statement that he would refuse any offer and does not recognise their aid. He states that, the Huntsmen who initially arrived with the late Captain Huo Fang had not been seen anywhere when the city was lost to rioters, and cited a complaint from the mercenaries when it was reveal that the Huntsmen had interfered and even attacked the former, jeopardising the city's safety in the process.

Upon hearing this, the Headmaster of Mistral's Huntsmen Academy openly denied that any of his students and graduates would resort or be quick to violence. He has yet to follow up on an appropriate response as of this time.

Somewhere else, a man sat alone in his office within a high rise. Much of said office was still in construction, but enough was there that he could sit and perform daily task with relative ease.

His full attention had been turned to the radio beside him. It was a rather wondrous tool that Man has developed, and it reminded him of the kind of capacity that they all once shared in a time long ago.

He took a sip of his coffee. Ironically, from a Mistralian brand.

The gears in the space around him weren't alive yet, but those in his mind were functioning splendidly as they did forever, and they grinded hard to process the recent developments in the East. Part of him wondered if it was Her doing. Yet, the news he'd heard from the communications device certainly didn't add up. In all their ages of fighting, not once did she ever went this far for humanity. At best, alliances barely lasted a lifetime, and many were just selfish conveniences at best.

Was this an isolated occurrence? Possible. It wouldn't be a first time that a rebellion happened under his watch. There were many, and none lasted long, especially once She found a chink to exploit.

He would've gone there himself and seen to it. Alas, the recent happenings have left him with little choice. The battle in Vacuo had certainly costed both of them a great deal of strength they'd held in reserve. Even now, he occasionally limped just thinking back on it.

A click in his mind. Yes, there was at least a few things he could do.

First, was obviously investigate the case of these rogue Huntsmen. Those were inevitable, and he'd already placed safeguards long in advance. However, the events in Kuchinashi were bound to cause worry elsewhere.

Second, he'd have to see that the successor to the current Headmaster of Mistral was still on track and in good standing. Lionheart was a tad younger than he liked, and possibly less receptive to the truth, but he could manage with that.

Third, and the one he didn't like one bit, was to begin finding pieces to move about. That would certainly attract Her attention, and the great game may have to start when both players were still sluggish.

There is, of course, the nature of these mercenaries themselves. He, reasonably, assumed that they were Hers, but, at the same time, they could be an isolated phenomenon that emerged by themselves. The attention they've drawn, however, would keep them immobilised on the entire spectrum and not even She would risk it when there could be better candidates for her court.

A/N:

It's done…. Ow.

PLEASe, comment or something… I dunno… Too tired….

See you all after my final year project…