The rest of the journey passed by without much trouble. With them heading further and further into Imperial lands, bandits were more or less gone. Sure, there were a couple of times when Shirou would see a group waiting to rob them, up until they saw the armored knights guarding the convoy.
That the Rose Order was content with leaving them alone left a bad taste in Shirou's mouth. So much so that, when they'd stopped to set up camp for the night, he had slipped out and doubled back to take care of them.
He had the sneaking suspicion that every single one of them knew what he had done, but just didn't comment on it. Likely, they believed it was just Celtic custom to fight, and that it would have been rude to point out that he technically shouldn't be leaving the convoy like that.
Regardless, it made the roads just a tad bit safer.
The biggest surprise was just how well received the convoy was. They'd passed through minor villages on their way to the capital, and every time, the Princess would be inundated with praise. Apparently, news traveled fast, and even these small villages had heard of the defense of Italica.
Even he himself wasn't spared from the embarrassing praise. More than a few women had 'subtly' implied that he could stay at their place for the night, and that he 'would be welcome to show them the skills of a Celt'.
It was flattering and embarrassing when they were women his age. It was utterly mortifying when they were women that could have been his grandmother. Thankfully, Tuka had chased them off, with some help from a laughing Hamilton.
Shirou made sure to make himself scarce after the first time it happened, but he still had to make appearances every now and then, if only because he had somehow taken over cooking for the convoy, and that meals were usually the time when more people would come around to ask the Rose Order something or the other.
All that said, nothing of real note happened. Not until they were closer to the capital.
…
They had once more set up for the night, the capital within eyesight. Technically, they could have made it had they continued, but with Piña being who she was, they needed to keep up appearances. Arriving in the dead of the night was unacceptable. They needed the capital to see that she was alright, to come back as the conquering hero.
At least, that's how Shirou understood it. They didn't explicitly state their intentions, though it was fairly obvious with how they had only set up the bare minimum for the night. Obviously, they intended to head out fairly early.
It was during this lull, when Shirou, Tuka and Lelei were resting within their tent, that it happened. Without any warning, Shirou felt the world shake. Being Japanese, he already knew what was going on. An earthquake, weak enough that he measured it to be at magnitude four or five.
It wouldn't do much damage in modern times, especially in an earthquake prone country like Japan. Here though, things could very much be worse. He had no frame of reference as to the building structures of the Empire, but he knew that older structures, especially those not built with earthquakes in mind, could be vulnerable.
With that in mind, he got up from his cot, the world still shaking around him. It was then that he noticed his two companions. Absolute terror would be the best way to describe how they looked. Lelei, her usually unflappable visage replaced by a paralyzed fear. Tuka, holding her head in her hands as small pinpricks of unshed tears in her eyes.
Shirou was beside them immediately, eyebrows furrowed and worry visible, "What's wrong? Did you two hurt yourselves?" The shaking continued even as he asked them. The both of them snapped their heads towards him, wild confusion still tinged with fear on both their faces.
"Lord Emiya?!" Tuka's shriek made him wince, "How are you so calm?!" Lelei joined her disbelief in her own way, nodding frantically.
Shirou had to look at them in confusion, "It's…just an earthquake? And a pretty middling one, if I'll be honest." He could understand Lelei's reaction. She was young enough that this could have been the first real earthquake she could have experienced. Tuka though, going by statistics alone, should have had more than enough time to experience more than a couple major ones.
"Wha- Lord Emiya, this is no laughing matter! The Gods are surely angered that they have decided to punish the whole world!"
Shirou frowned as he started to suspect that there was more to this than he knew, "Again, it's just an earthquake. It should be over, in say, a couple more seconds? Maybe a minute if we're unlucky."
Or immediately after he said that, in this case. Nodding to himself, he gently guided the two of them to their beds. They were shaking still, and held more than a bit of confusion as they stared around them in wonder, "Stay here for a while to get your bearings, alright? I'm going to check out if anyone needs help."
Shirou didn't give them a chance to reply as he headed out the tent. Specifically, he needed to check out if the prisoners had taken the chance to escape. The earthquake could have damaged the carriage they were in, and with enough effort, they could have easily gotten out.
Turns out, he didn't need to worry about that.
Immediately after he crossed the threshold though, the small Bounded Field he had set up for privacy stopped preventing sound from reaching his ears. Screams, born of utter fear. Chaos as people lay prone on the ground, hugging the dirt as if it were a lifeline.
And these weren't just the civilians that had come to see the Rose Order. These were those very same knights. Shanty and Hamilton were holding each other like lifelines, and even the stoic Grey had his sword stuck in the ground while kneeling on one knee.
The thoughts of checking on the prisoners would have to be put on the backburner. He needed to find out what the hell was going on. He scanned his surroundings as he approached Hamilton. He could see her in the same state as Tuka, shaking like a leaf and eyes wide, "Hamilton, what's going on?"
Honestly, he didn't expect to see the Rose Order like this. They were supposed to be knights, were they not? If a single earthquake was enough to shake them like this, then how did they expect to do anything?
"How-How the hell are you so calm?!" He lifted an eyebrow as the same question was yelled at him, "The Gods-" Hamilton clammed up as she caught herself, before suddenly starting to pray for mercy. Shandy, and many of those around her who had heard her shout, quickly did the same.
Baffled, Shirou had to scratch his head and headed to the only other person not praying. Grey, despite the ongoing chaos, had not left his post in front of Piña's tent. Regardless, even he looked more than a bit shaken by whatever the others thought had happened.
"Grey, can I meet with the Princess? I need to know what's going on." Surely the Princess would know. The others were way too invested in whatever they were doing to be of any help. Grey shook his head, and as if just hearing Shirou's words, shot up from his position and yelled into the tent.
"Princess Piña!" Barging into the tent, Grey had left Shirou without an answer. Frowning, he followed the other man inside, reminding himself to apologize to the Princess later on. That was quickly pushed to the side as he saw the woman in a similar state to her knights, only with Grey supporting her as she struggled to stand.
"Princess Piña, are you alright?" Shirou asked, stepping closer as Grey helped the Princess regain her balance. Her usually composed expression was twisted in fear, her lips trembling as she clutched at her chest, trying to steady her breathing.
"Chulainn. You felt it too, didn't you?" Piña managed to say, her voice shaking, "The earthshaking, the fury of the Gods…it's an omen. The Gods are displeased, and they're showing their wrath. Everyone knows this!"
Turning to look at her advisor, Piña tried to keep the panic from her voice. To her credit, she did, "Grey, I need you to have some of the men head to the capital temples as soon as possible. Collect offerings you can on the way, and if you must, assist them in whatever the flamines require."
"And you, Princess?" Grey held a frown as he leveled a suspicious glare at Shirou, "Will you be alright?"
"I just need a moment." She took a breath, "But I'll be heading to His Highness as soon as possible."
"I see. Then I'll gather up who I can as quickly as possible. If you require anything else, you need only call." Giving one last glance, worry hidden behind a determined facade, the older man left the tent, leaving the two of them alone.
The last part was clearly directed at the both of them. A warning that should Shirou try anything, Grey would come rushing in to defend the Princess. Thankfully, Shirou had no intention of doing anything untoward, only wanting answers.
Answers that he'd already gotten from that short interaction between the knight and the Princess.
He was no stranger to the idea that ancient civilizations worshiped Gods. Greece had the Olympians, Scandinavia had the Norse gods, and so on. More often than not, though a lot of the world had forgotten about it, these were rooted in some historical basis.
That being said, though Gods were real at some point, most natural disasters were not their doing. More often than not, they were purely natural phenomena that would have happened without a God. That didn't change the fact that truly devastating disasters were still attributed to the wrath of whatever pantheon the locals believed in.
In this case, it was obvious to him that everyone here, regardless of being Imperial or not, believed that the earthquake, earthshaking in Piña's words, was the product of a God's wrath. Whose, they didn't know yet.
He would need to burst that bubble quickly. From what he could see, the people here were more focused on praying for forgiveness than solving the problems the earthquake had caused.
Shirou took a deep breath, knowing he had to tread carefully. The belief in divine wrath was deeply ingrained in these people, and dismissing it outright could do more harm than good. But if they continued to believe the earthquake was a sign of the Gods' anger, they might miss critical opportunities to prevent or mitigate any damage.
"Princess Piña," Shirou began gently, "I understand why this earthqu-earthshaking might seem like a sign from the Gods. But in my homeland, earthshaking happens often, and we've learned that they're nothing more than natural events."
Giving a rueful chuckle, the Princess smiled tiredly at him, "I pity, then, your people. Truly, you must be cursed by the wrath of the Gods to have experienced this repeatedly."
Shaking his head in mild frustration, "Princess, I think you're missing the point here. The earthshaking is no divine intervention. It's merely…" Shirou paused as he realized that whatever explanation he could give, he would not be able to convince her otherwise. How does one even explain the concept of tectonic plates to someone who had no frame of reference?
He could likely explain this to Tuka and Lelei, who knew of his world's technology to some degree, but to someone who only thought of him as a Celt? There was no way she would believe him.
"Nevermind. My point is, the people need help, and they need it now. You and Grey leaving would only damage their morale, and do more harm than good." He can't convince them that this was purely a natural disaster, that was certain. Instead, he'd just have to convince them to help the locals as best as he could.
He was under no illusion as to what would happen without the knights here. From what little he had seen, the wooden houses that had been standing were near collapse. They certainly weren't built with earthquakes in mind. One of them was the local food storage, and while he was sure that some of the food would be alright, there was no telling how much of it would be there once the inevitable looting began.
"I'm sorry, Chulainn, but the needs of the Empire outweigh the needs of the few." Biting her lip as her hands balled up in anger, she continued, "Should we ignore the temples, then there's no appeasing their wrath."
The lives of the few for the many. Shirou bitterly knew what she meant. Piña believed that by appeasing the nonexistent wrath of the Gods, she would be helping the rest of the population to survive. Without a way to convince her otherwise, the locals would be completely left to their own devices. Even the lower echelons of the capital would be treated the same, he guessed.
She believed she was helping. In reality, all she was going to do was abandon her own people. Worse yet, he couldn't do anything to refute it, not when literally everyone else believed the same.
"...Then go. The faster you finish what you need to do, the faster you can return. I'll stay here to provide aid, and if need be, head into the capital to help there as well."
"You will?" The haunted look on her face faded as she looked at him in surprise. He nodded, a tight frown on his face still, "I see. Thank you, truly. I will make sure that the temples make an offering in your name."
Shirou stared at her for one last time before he left the tent. There was much to be done.
The first, of course, was to assuage both Tuka and Lelei's fears.
...
A/N: I would just like to say that this story has reached a total of 330k views, nearly 2k favorites, and over 2k follows over on FFnet. Thank you to all of you who've stuck by to read, even after the atrocious wait between the first few chapters.
I do want to address something that I feel has been brought up consistently: the length of the chapters. In the past, I had chapters, and one shots, that went above the usual 2k that you see nowadays. Back then, I had a lot more free time than I do now. The only factor that contributed to a lack of chapters was my general laziness and a lack of confidence to post what had been written. I was so damn focused on making sure that what I wrote pleased other people that I forgot that I wanted to enjoy what I had written myself.
Nowadays, what I write is as much for my own enjoyment as it is for others'. The chapters you see here are significantly shorter than some other stories you might see. To others, that's an issue. To me, I prefer it. I don't just have less time to write, you know. I also don't have much time to read. So much so that most stories above a certain word-to-chapter ratio I can't read, as I just don't have the capability of reading through a chapter without having to do something else, resulting in me losing the story in the process.
In short, I understand if you feel frustrated that the chapters are short, but unless I find more time for myself, this is what you're getting. In the future, who knows, maybe we'll get back to at minimum of 6k.
Once more, thank you all for the support. Know that I appreciate each and every one of you.
If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
Thanks to my newest patrons: Luc and Toast.
And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.