Chapter 81: Riot

The villagers had most likely gathered while Izaya had been talking to Leo. His room had been too far off to notice anything but now he did.

"What's going on?" he asked one of the fellow believers that had streamed to the entrance, but his words failed him as Monica's voice hallowed across the scene.

"Leave at once!"

Angry faces, scrunched in both fear as well as madness depicted on the masses in front of the church as the sister in charge stepped forth with strides of confidence.

She was obviously trying to call the villagers back to their senses by presenting herself like this, but her actions proved little worth as a stone raced through the air instead.

"The hell we will!" One after the other, paired with dirt, were tossed at the woman who barely flinched. Her eyes were narrowed. Her lips shut to a tight line.

Izaya knew she was trying to deescalate the situation by serving as the only scapegoat, but with a riot of this size they would hardly stop after throwing a bit of rubble at a sister.

It were the elders Izaya had been talking to, who seemed to reach that conclusion first, as they moved to her side.

"Sister Monica, are you okay?" Laron was the first to arrive and with old shaking legs he moved in front of the woman.

"Don't you feel shame attacking those who can't defend themselves?!" Kestor bellowed at the same time only aggravating the villagers further-

"Shut up, demon!" one man at the front, probably in his late twenties, yelled and suddenly it was there.

Fire.

They had been carrying a couple torches, but only one had been lit. Sinking the tip of his own wooden stick covered in oily fabrics he now multiplied the flame with hard eyes.

Kestor was by no means a weak character, but even Izaya could tell that being set aflame inflicted a different kind of fear in his eyes.

It was Crawl who stepped forth instead and his body moved in ways that only seemed to confirm Izaya's earlier suspicions.

"I call you to stop this nonsense." His words hallowed strongly, and somehow despite their lack of tales, they held a certain weight only someone of experience would own.

They knew him.

The villagers.

Izaya could tell by the brief hesitation flickering in their eyes.

The guy holding the torch straightened his body, but didn't back down.

"Step aside, Crawl."

He even used his name. Age wise they weren't too far apart if Izaya had to guess and his eyes flickered to Crawl. Disappointment reflected on his expression and he clicked his tongue at the villagers.

"I defended your lives years ago, is this how you show gratitude?"

Ah. So Izaya had been right after all. He had once been a knight or mercenary of some sort.

"So step aside," the villager hissed, but awfully lacked conviction as he undoubtedly remembered the debt he was still owning the man. "We see no harm in you but in the dark magic the priest is using!"

But Crawl was intimidated by his approach at all.

"And I tell you he is not!" he declared loudly and the villagers faltered.

Izaya had no idea what was going on, but it appeared Crawl was better at handling the mob than sister Monica was.

At least regarding the older generations. Because a young man, barely an adult at all, was quick to move forwards as their speaker's actions ceased.

"Why are you even talking when we should be getting done and over with this?!" he yelled- and suddenly it was there. The torch.

Snatched away and in his own hands.

Fear reflected in the believers streaming from the monastery as the horror of the previous night seemed to be about to repeat itself.

"Hey, wait-" Crawl spoke, but the young boy had no obligation or false sense of gratitude to follow as he approached with the promise of burning scars.

No matter what it was that Crawl had been before in his life, being set aflame was no fate he seemed to enjoy as his old body faltered and he took a step backwards.

A winning smile spread across the young man's face- but not too long.

Because suddenly he was there.

Izaya hadn't noticed Shizuo moving, nor had he paid any attention to him, but now he was there, stepping in front of Crawl with anger in his eyes.

"Put it down."

His words were no request but an order. Strong, unshakable and for a fraction of a second the young man hesitated.

"Who is that?" Soft whispers resounded behind Izaya's back as most people of the church had barely caught a glimpse of their group if they had noticed them at all so far and Izaya's eyes narrowed.

This was bad.

They were calling too much attention to themselves.

And the tension of the situation refused to fade as well as the young boy clicked his tongue. Madness and fear of what it was that the priest had called upon inside his church exploded in a stupid action as he yelled-

"Who cares?!" and his arm moved- Struck forward with the ignited torch at hand-

But Shizuo didn't budge. Didn't even flinch as he caught the damned thing mid air and ripped it out of his hand.

Tossing it aside, as if it were worth nothing and had never been a threat at all, he reached for the young man's collar instead and picked him up by force.

Gasps and surprised murmurs replaced the earlier stages of gossip and Izaya cursed under his breath.

"Fuck off-" Shizuo snarled and pushed the guy backwards onto his feet, too fast for the young man to catch himself as he met the ground with his ass first.

Not many in this age had the guts to do as they please. And certainly not in the manner Shizuo did.

The young man was shitting his pants before a guy that didn't even flinch at the prospect of sustaining a third degree burn and the following infections most likely leading to his death.

"Hey, let's go…" another villager slowly whispered and snapped the young man out of his stupor.

"Do you know who you are partnering up with, knight?! The demon! You will all be cursed and die!" he rambled, awfully rushed and spiked with adrenaline and respect. Shizuo had long won this game of authority and he was well aware.

"I only see you trying to harm unarmed people." Shizuo snarled, "Besides, what's it to you if we die?" His eyes narrowed, and the angry tone in his voice only inflicted more fear as he slowed his words. "Aren't you just scared we won't?"

It was just a single step that he took into the direction of the villagers, but it was enough for them to fade like dirt on the surface of soapy water.

The implied threat appeared worse than his actions and without any further complaints they moved and turned-

Glances were cast, shoulders nudged and before long the torches were extinguished and the riot subsided as they returned to the road they had come from.

Awful silence rendered everyone present speechless and quite astonished at the show of confidence and strength- and Shizuo didn't even realize how lucky he was being.

Quickly, before anyone else was starting to move, Izaya rushed to Shizuo's side. His eyes were set on the hand Shizuo had used to catch the torch with. Blisters, painful redness and torn skin presented itself as he had simply grabbed the object by its searing end without even batting an eyelid. But he also saw the way his skin moved. The way it slowly started to repair itself and Izaya cursed as he hid its sight from the people gathered behind.

"You managed to grab the lower end at that speed?" he announced extra loud and a sharp glare searched for Shizuo's eyes.

He was healing. He was healing way too quickly. No injury in this world would heal as quick as that and seeing as the priest was already on the verge of being executed for a simple rumor he didn't exactly want to find out what would happen once these people saw an actual miracle take place in front of them.

A moment of stupor rendered Shizuo speechless as he had obvious troubles following Izaya's weird statement- but the glare was enough to set him straight and so his lips moved at the same time as the realization started to sink in.

"Ah. Yes. He was swinging so slow I might as well have taken it for a walk," he spoke slowly, awfully stiff and obviously insecure when it came to his acting skills.

But luckily enough his behavior only came across as humble to most strangers and only a few seconds later the hand was back to its initial state.

"I thank you. You stepped in for me when I couldn't."

It was Crawl who spoke those words, now approaching from the side, and with a last glance cast towards Shizuo's palm, Izaya sighed with relief before backing away.

"Aren't you too old to step in at all?" Shizuo pointed out and his words were sharper than any arrow he could have shot at the poor guy as his expression churned a little.

"Ouch, my pride, you take no worth in false flattery I see," Crawl chuckled, but nodded. "I used to be a knight in the king's service."

So Izaya had been right about his profession.

Considering his sense of righteousness and the way he stepped in before he had felt his theory confirmed even before he spoke.

"Who are you serving?" Crawl suddenly asked and Izaya realized with a small amount of initial dread, that Shizuo's healing hand was not the only hurdle they had to cross.

"I thought you said you were simple brothers traversing the land," sister Monica suddenly joined the conversation as well. Her eyes had narrowed and her stance tensed even worse compared to the night before.

She was doubting not only their profession, Izaya could tell by her glance. He had to act this out well or else they would be the next people being chased by torches.

Bringing a quick smile to his face Izaya raised his hand to his chest and bowed in what he believed to be royal etiquette.

"You got us. You are right, we are both knights hired by our lady."

Low whispers traversed the people present all through the elders Izaya had been sitting with.

Only sister Monica seemed only half impressed by his statement as she frowned.

"The reason for feignance?" she asked with her arms crossed.

But it was just the question Izaya had hoped for. "No knight would willingly admit having been stripped off their belongings, would they?" Izaya smiled, and the woman stilled.

Their story. He had to stick to it for the most part. If he started crafting a new one off the bat with too many obscurities there was no saying how she would react to having been lied to from the get go.

No.

A minor detail being left out was much likelier to be believed than a whole new story.

And considering Shizuo's act just now their old version of them having simply run away from robbers seemed a bit too meek to serve as a believable excuse.

Careful eyes grazed Izaya as well as Shizuo and for a second Izaya feared she was going to throw them out, but then she sighed.

"You cast your pride aside in order to protect a young woman and her three servants. If anything, that only makes you more respectable in my eyes," she replied with a voice much gentler than Izaya had expected.

He had hit the mark with that one it seemed.

"Mine too," Crawl suddenly agreed and Izaya smiled.

Perfect.

He had managed to avoid their immediate crisis and improved their leverage on their surroundings at the same time.

"Why are they even attacking you? I thought the priest isn't here?" Shizuo suddenly asked and for once Izaya truly loved the way he simply spoke what was on his mind.

"He isn't. But the children are. And as far as the villagers are concerned every second they live supports the devil and his schemes." Sister Monica sighed, and for a second hesitation marked her expression as she looked at the guy that had just saved her church from being set aflame again. A bow was the last Izaya had expected, but there she was, lowering her head to Shizuo. "I thank you. For stepping in for our sake."

… heh.

Funny. She seemed to be on both sides yet awfully concerned about the kids. Was she worried about them or not? This woman was hard to make sense of.

"As you correctly stated we have to guard our lady. As long as she is here we will continue to extend this duty to the entirety of your church." Izaya announced quickly, grasping the momentum of this conversation and sister Monica's expression turned to one of a hidden smile.

Perfect. He had won her over.

Quickly hiding what appeared to be a weakness, she quickly assumed her strict glare before signing towards the church.

"Very well. I have prepared lunch with the children. Your servants have been a great help. Feel free to stay here as long as you see fit."

Ah.

So that's where they had been.

Izaya had wondered before why Mairu and Kururi were nowhere to be seen amongst the people gathering.

They were trying to get close to the kids.

Made sense.

After all they were the only ones who would know what really happened during that night with priest Marcius and as long as he was gone they served the greatest source of information.

"Now let's get back inside. It is cold and most of you aren't dressed for the weather." She quickly announced to the rest of the people and turned towards the open door.

What had appeared to be broken seemed to have been merely unhinged and with the help of a few it took only a few seconds to move the leaves back where they belonged.

It was then that Izaya spotted a familiar face.

Balthasar. The royal judge that was trying to persecute the priest and looking for possible witnesses of his so-called magic.

Leaning against the wall he had not done much to prevent the riot but instead watched from the sidelines like a referee at a match.

A few coughs wrecked his body just as Izaya met his gaze and before he knew it his legs had moved and Izaya closed in on the most dangerous guy in this era with a perfect smile.

"I think we haven't been introduced yet."

to be continued~

I'm finnnaalllyyyy not sick anymoreeee~ Hopefully I'm not jinxing it xDDDD Cuz my fiance is sick with throatache right now- the one thing I have not had yet x'DDD

But hey, for now, I can write again so let's enjoy while it lasts xDDD

I just hope the quality didn't drop haha I felt like a rusty old machine trying to do something it used to do a millenia ago after this long break xDDD

But I guess next week I should be able to get back into my gears hahahaha

With that being said, see you again on friday everyone~! C: