Chapter 12: Stopping civil war
Duncan stood firm with his fellow revolutionaries in front of the gate as they stared down at the kingdom forces; the armored men standing in uniform lines making for quite the intimidating sight.
He knew full well why they had come here in full force; the king must have decided to properly answer their declaration of war.
"And on the day the Bow Hero was about to return…"
If he was to be perfectly honest, he had never intended for the whole rebellion to go this far; he had only wanted to take revenge on that evil lord that took all that was his away.
He could still remember how his wife's bloodied body turned cold in his arms, of how light his son had been as he took his last breath; it was those memories that propelled him to do what he had done.
He had never expected how it would spark a full on uprising within his town, which spread to the other nearby regions suffering under the same corruption as them and ended up conjoining into the revolutionary army and declaring war on the kingdom.
'The Bow Hero was right; this isn't justice, it's just vengeance at this point.'
While he wanted to take down the corrupt bastards that tormented his fellow man, he knew how badly outmatched they were in comparison to the kingdom army's well-trained knights; not with their low levels and lack of proper equipment.
The mercenary Grif had given them somewhat of a crash course on organised warfare, but he highly doubted it would be enough to take on an army.
"Revolutionaries! This is your last chance to surrender!" The leader of the kingdom forces shouted, "Give up on this fruitless rebellion, and turn yourselves to the royal court! If you do, no blood will be split today!"
"Give up!? That bastard wants us to give up!?"
"After all we've been through, all the shit we had endured under their tyranny, they had the gall to ask us to stop!?"
"More than enough blood had already been split! By you noble bastards!"
"Fuck that! I don't care if I die here! I'm going to stick it to those bastards!"
One by one, his fellow revolutionaries around him all voiced out their disagreement to surrender, Duncan sharing their sentiments; if they surrender to them now, they would go back to the days of them being oppressed by the nobles.
There was no way he would allow that to happen, not without a fight; though he had very little hope of them succeeding in repelling the knights.
"What do we do, Duncan?" Rosiette asked him, "Without Grif, we're…"
"…Tell everyone to prepare for a siege." He told her, "Evacuate all the women, children and elderly to the town hall."
"On it!"
It was the only thing he could think of; stall them until Grif returned with the Bow Hero. It was the only chance they had for them to survive this.
As Rosiette ran back to town, he raised his spear and addressed his fellow revolutionaries, "All men, to defensive formations! We will show these bastards that we truly meant business!"
"RAAHHH!"
"…so be it!" The commander drew his sword and raised it to the air as he commanded, "Archers! To positions!"
"Damn it, to think the kingdom would launch a pre-emptive attack…" Grif growled.
"Why is the kingdom's army here!?" Eclair asked, "Didn't the king say he didn't want to start a war!?"
"It might not be under his orders." Trish noted, "Maybe someone else decided to take matters into their own hands."
"Whatever the reason, it doesn't look good for the revolutionary army." I pointed out.
But I've got to hand it to them, they had the guts to stand their ground instead of just raising the white flag; not sure if that's necessarily a good thing…
"We need to put a stop to this before a full-on war breaks out!" Itsuki cried out, "Grif, get us down there!"
"Already planning to do so!"
Without another word, we quickly descended down towards the two forces; just as the army's archers unloaded their arrows at the revolutionary army.
"Zwite Dark Wall!"
Trish pulled up a wall of inky darkness in front of the revolutionary army, letting the projectiles hit and sink into it like mud.
"W-What is…!?"
"Cease this at once!"
Itsuki's voice loudly echoed across the battlefield, gaining the attention of both sides as they lowered their weapons in awe and confusion; there's relief on Duncan's face when he looked up at us.
The revolutionary army with their mishmash forces armed with spears and pitchforks, and the knights with their organised troops of pikemen and archers; comparing the two forces, it was very clear which side had the advantage over the other.
If we didn't put a stop to this, it would be a full-on massacre.
"Sir Bow Hero! Grif!" Duncan cried out, "Thank goodness you have returned!"
"What's going on, Duncan?" Grif asked, "Why are you fighting the army!?"
"They just showed up and demanded our surrender! When we refused, they…"
"You must be the Bow Hero my father had sent to take care of the revolutionaries."
The leader of the army approached us accompanied by a couple of knights; he took off his helm to reveal his dark mane and matching eyes as he introduced himself to us, "I am Frenca's crown prince; Palco von Frenca. It is a great honor to meet one of the Holy Heroes."
"The crown prince!?"
The one who was leading this attack was the heir to the kingdom's throne!?
"Why are you attacking them?" Itsuki asked, "The king had already requested me to take care of this."
"Yes, I've heard about the request from my father." The prince stated, "But when we received word that you were spotted at the border, we had assumed that you have given up on it."
"Ah…"
Come to think of it, we never told the king about our deal with the revolutionary army; no wonder they freaked out.
"Seeing that you protected them, may I assume that you had joined forces with the revolutionary army instead?"
"N-No! That's not it!" Itsuki quickly denied that claim, "I had only returned to Melromarc to pick up something to help with that request!"
"Is that so?" The prince noted, "If that's the case, please step aside."
"…Will you continue attacking them if I do?"
"Yes, I will."
"Then I cannot." Itsuki stood firmly as he raised his bow, "I can't let you attack these people."
"Sir Bow Hero…" Grif looked at him in surprise, no doubt shocked at his decision to go against the kingdom.
But considering the kid's personality, he would never let such a one-sided slaughter to happen in front of him.
"So, you will be standing against us, then?"
"If it meant preventing a slaughter, then I will."
"Then so be it." The prince drew his sword and raised it to the air, "Men! Battle formations!"
The soldiers all raised their weapons in preparation for combat; we did the same with the only exception being Eclair and Trish.
"Your highness, wait!" She cried out, "Your father had expressed his desire to settle this peacefully and not let it erupt into war! This goes against his very wishes!"
"I'm aware; and I share my father's wish to end this without bloodshed."
"Then why—!?"
"But there are times where blood needs to be shed in order to maintain order!" The prince declared, "With the famine and the Waves, we can't afford to waste time on an ideal solution!"
"So you would rather slaughter all of them in cold blood!?"
"They were the one that declared war on the kingdom to begin with. And if it would prevent my kingdom from falling in on itself, it would gladly bear the stigma of being a tyrant."
"It wouldn't be just these people you will be slaughtering!" Trish shouted at him, "If you do this, you would have only proved them right, and it will inspire more to take up their cause and challenge the crown again! It would spark a civil war!"
"No, it won't! It would show that the might of our army isn't to be trifled with! It would deter any more of those revolutionaries from daring to rise up against the kingdom!"
It was no use; the prince was stubbornly set on his decision. There was no one harder to persuade than someone who wholeheartedly believed that they were doing the right thing.
"Even if that may be the case, there is no need for any blood to be shed!" Itsuki shouted at the prince, "I have already made a deal with them to stop if I solve the kingdom's famine!"
"I've already told you; we can't afford to waste time on to search for such an ideal solution!" He cried out, "I don't care if you are one of the Four Cardinal Heroes; if you stand in my way, I will not–"
"Not when I have the solution here with me right here and now!?"
While confusion painted the prince's face, Itsuki took out one of the miracle seeds from the crate and planted it in front of them; it sprouted into a vine-like tree in an instant with the unique fruit sprouting out from its 'branches' moments later.
"W-What in the…!?"
"These are special seeds that could grow in even the most barren of soils." He explained as he plucked one of the fruits and handed it to the prince, "I have gathered plenty of seeds to grow a small forest of them. While not the most perfect of solutions, it should solve the food shortage issue."
The prince looked at the red fruit, looking bewildered at the strange fruit in his hand; it's not like any fruit anyone had ever encountered before, after all.
"W-Wait a moment!" One of the knights spoke up, "How do we know this fruit isn't poisonous!?"
On que, I plucked one out and stared them in the eyes as I took a big bite in front of them; I even exaggerated my chewing before swallowing.
"Aaaand nothing happened. Satisfied?"
"Uh…"
Looks like my point was taken across as I carried on eating the rest of the fruit.
The prince looked down at the fruit, before taking a bite out of it; his eyes widen in surprise at the unique flavour that came out of it.
"T-This is delicious! And they grow that quickly!?"
"Indeed."
"That's amazing!" Rosiette cried out, "This would definitely solve all our food issues!"
"Then, will you do as you had agreed upon?" Itsuki turned to Duncan and asked, "Will the revolutionary army stop and surrender?"
"That's…"
The revolutionaries were all looking rather conflicted about the idea.
It was only natural; they had done what was essentially treason against the crown. Surrendering would mean being given the death sentence, or at least a lifetime of imprisonment. It was not something they could decide so easily.
"Very well, I gave my word." Wordlessly, Duncan walked up to the prince, dropped his spear in front of him before kneeling and showing the royal his wrists, "…If we surrender, please put all the charges on my head."
"D-Duncan!? What are you saying!?"
"It is due to me that this entire mess even started to begin with; it is only fair that I take full responsibility for it."
"That's not true!" Rosiette cried out, "The responsibility is on us too! We were the ones that pushed for it! Let us share the burdens with you!"
"No, it's fine." The revolutionary leader turned to his compatriots, "Unlike the rest of you, I have nothing left to return to; no one to fight for. My life is the only thing I have left, and I would rather use it to give everyone that do have something a better tomorrow."
"Duncan…"
"Is this okay with you, your highness?"
The prince pondered for a moment before telling him, "…I can't overlook their involvement in all of this; but I can make sure they wouldn't get sentenced to death or sent to prison. That's all I can promise you."
"That's plenty; I thank you for your mercy, Prince Palco. At this point, the revolutionary army surrender to the kingdom of Frenca!"
Once the words left his mouth, revolutionaries laid down their arms; some where beginning to remove their armor.
It was settled; the rebellion had officially came to an end.
"P-Please wait, your highness!" The same knight suddenly spoke up, "If we let them go like that, it would only spread rumors of how weak our army was against a bunch of peasants! It would damage the integrity of the knights!"
"We can always regain our integrity in the future; our priority now is where to plant these seeds and how to distribute these fruits to the people."
"B-But sir…!"
"My decision is final, Viscount Marley."
"Marley!?"
Grif's and Duncan's expressions made a surprise turn for the worse; pure rage seemed to have surfaced on the revolutionary leader's face. Without a word, the mercenary swung his halberd at the knight, knocking his helm off his head and exposing his face.
"I knew I recognised that voice from somewhere." He raised his halberd up against said knight's exposed neck, "So, this was your big revenge plan, brat?"
"Grgk!"
"What is the meaning of this!?" The prince shouted.
"Grif, what's going on?" I asked the mercenary; who was this Marley that got him all riled up?
"The corrupt noble that once oppressed this town went by the name of Losik Marley." Grif explained as he glared at the knight, "The fat bastard did all he could to suck the town dry of its money and food, hoarding it all for himself."
Ah, no wonder the name triggered Duncan so much; it was the family name of the bastard that made his life a nightmare.
"Wait, didn't he get stoned to death?" Eclair noted, "Then who's this guy?"
"He is Losik's son; Godrik Marley." The prince told us, "He was the lone survivor of house Marley when the revolution started. He is a loyal noble and the one that informed us of his father's many sins."
"Did he include his own!?" Duncan growled, "This guy is way worse than his father!"
"T-That's not true!" The knight cried out, "Don't listen to them, your highness! Th-They're just trying frame me of my father's crimes!"
"Don't you dare push it on your fucking dead father, you damned bastard! I would never forget what you did; of how you killed my wife right in front of me!"
This guy killed his wife!? No wonder Duncan hated him so much; any man would!
"H-He's lying, your highness! I had never done such a thing!"
"You're the one that's lying!"
"That's right! You're the one that took my daughter from me!"
"He killed my neighbour just for bumping into him!"
"My house was burned to the ground by his orders!"
"He ruined my field just because it looked bad!"
One by one, many accusations started piled up against him; the knight looking to be less and less innocent of anything.
"To think there exists such a bastard…" Itsuki drew his bow and aimed it at the definitely corrupt knight, "Such an evil and foul person cannot be allowed to escape judgement!"
"You are done, brat." Grif told the knight, "It's over."
"Grr… Damn you!"
Definitely out of frustration, he shoved Grif aside as he made a run for it.
"You will not run from justice!"
Itsuki fired an arrow at him in immediate response and the projectile imbedded itself into the knight's thigh, getting a cry of pain out of him as he stumbled on his feet.
I then took this chance to throw my special blinding powder pellet at his face; he let out a shriek as tears and snot poured down his face while he swung about wildly before getting tripped on Duncan's out stretched foot.
Seizing the opportunity, the mercenary then grabbed him by the arm before pinning him to the ground hard, slamming his face into the dirt hard for additional good measure.
"Grr… damn you all…!" He cried out, "It shouldn't have gone like this…!"
"I see… so that's why he…" The prince turned to Duncan, "I apologised for my unjust attack against your town; it looked like I had been fooled by his sweet words."
Going by his words, it was that bastard that convinced the prince to attack the revolutionary army in the first place; no doubt in revenge for overthrowing his and his father.
"Do not apologise to that peasant, your highness!" The knight shouted out, "He and the rest of his little group are nothing but criminals that dare to go against the kingdom's nobilities! They–"
"Silence, Marley." The prince glared at him, "You have a lot to answer for when we return."
"Erk…"
And it looked like the prince had lost all trust in him; his sinful deeds had caught up to him and bit him hard. Though the sight of tears and snot running down his face like a river kind of made him look kind of pathetic.
"What was in that powder that cause such a bad reaction?" Trish asked me.
"Mostly pepper, ash, dried moth wings…"
"Dried WHAT!?"
"Moth wings; the wings of the Green Stripped Moth, to be exact."
The scales from the wings of said moth were a common ingredient used for antiseptics, though it had the effect of irritating the eyes and nose badly if accidentally inhaled; I had a pretty bad experience with it when I was first learning the ropes.
That's why it was the perfect ingredient to be used in a blinding smoke bomb, though it may be have worked too well.
"You two, tie up Marley and the revolutionary army leader."
"Understood, your highness."
As the two knights escort Marley and Duncan away, the prince turned to the rest of the now disbanded revolutionary army.
"On behalf of the crown, I apologise for our lack of oversight over House Marley's many crimes. Rest assured that Godrik Marley would not escape justice; he will be severely punished for all the atrocities he had done on you."
"The crown prince is… apologising to us…?"
"This is the royalty we have been fighting against…?"
"Man, we must look dumb to have gone this far…"
They were shocked at the sight of their kingdom's royalty apologising to them; they must have never imagined such a thing ever happening to them.
From the look of things, their perspective on the crown and nobility was changing for the better; I highly doubt there would be any more uprisings after this.
Grif walked up to us and told Itsuki, "Thank you, Sir Bow Hero. You have my gratitude for protecting Rimgrave."
"There's no need for thanks; I'm only doing my duty as the Bow Hero." He stated.
"With that being said, there's something I wish to ask of you, Sir Bow Hero."
"What is it?"
"May I have the honor of fighting alongside you?"
The sudden proposal caught us by surprise, Itsuki being the most shocked about it, "Really? You wish to fight with me?"
"Yes, Sir Bow Hero." The mercenary nodded, "I wish to join your party and fight alongside you against the Waves of Calamity."
"This… this is so sudden…"
"You can decline if you think–"
"I accept!" Itsuki stated happily, "I would be happy to have you as part of our party."
While I was annoyed that he didn't bother to ask for any of our opinions on the matter, there's little reason to decline him either.
Having Grif in our party would be a great boon; with how he fought the plant monsters yesterday, he was definitely someone of great skill. Not to mention that the inclusion of his griffin mount would give us a big edge against the monsters in the Wave; it's like getting two additional members at once!
And despite being a mercenary, he was someone who wouldn't just abandon someone just because they weren't advantageous to him; him staying and helping the revolutionary army was a good example of it. You would be hard pressed to find such a guy in any form of career.
If anything else, he was the kind of person that Itsuki would definitely like to become; maybe that's why he accepted him.
"I thank you, Sir Bow Hero. This Grif will not let you down."
"There's no need to be so polite with me, Grif. You can just call me Itsuki."
"…very well, Sir Itsuki."
With that, the griffin riding mercenary joined our party.
After we returned to the capital, and returned the carriage we had borrowed, we were immediately brought to the king with the crown prince to explain the whole situation to him.
"I see…" The king pondered on what we had just told him, "So Palco had did that… allow me to apologise for my son's actions against you, Sir Bow Hero."
"No, it's fine. He only did what he thought was best for his kingdom." Itsuki told him, "Rather, it is my fault for not informing you of my plans ahead of time."
"To think that Godrik Markey was one of the corrupt nobles…" The minister sighed, "It appears that the corruption in the kingdom runs deeper than we had thought, your majesty."
"I am deeply ashamed to have not seen through his facade." The prince stated sadly, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have been so easily convinced by his sweet lies."
"Do not fret, Palco; he had us all fooled."
"What are you going to do with him?" Grif asked, "And with Duncan?"
"You are the mercenary that had assisted the revolutionary army, yes?"
"I am, your majesty."
"Is that so…? Well, Godrik Marley will be trialled and charged for all his crimes; he will not be weaselling his way out of this." The king told him, "As for the leader of the revolutionaries… I'll consider his reasons before deciding on his sentence."
"I see… I thank you for your mercy, your majesty."
"Putting that aside…" The king turned to his son, "Is the seeds Sir Bow Hero brought really that miraculous, Palco?"
"It is, your majesty; I've seen it grow into a fully matured fruit tree in mere moments after being planted in the harsh soil."
"Amazing! And the Bow Hero had brought a crate full of them?"
"That's correct."
"Remarkable! Truly remarkable! Not only have you prevented a civil war, you have solved our food shortage issue as well! You have our utmost gratitude, Sir Bow Hero!"
"You are too kind with your words, your majesty."
The sight of Itsuki trying very hard not to break into a smug grin made me roll my eyes; he sure loved getting praised, regardless of who was praising him.
"Such great deeds most definitely deserved to be rewarded greatly; Glenn."
"Right away, your majesty."
The minister handed Itsuki a small bag on a silver tray; the sounds of metal clanking from within made it clear what was inside.
"As reward for completing my selfish request and saving our starving kingdom, I reward the Bow Hero with 900 silvers; I apologise if it isn't much, but it is all we can afford to give out."
"No, it's already mighty generous enough, your majesty." Itsuki assured him, "Just being able to help is reward enough for me."
"Such a heroic soul you are, Sir Bow Hero!"
Honestly at this point, I was quite used to the Bow Hero spouting such cheesy lines with a straight and serious face; though it was incredibly easy to spot the ever so slight tilt in his mouth whenever he said so.
How badly did he want to be a Hero of Justice!?
"The Bow Hero sure is something to be able to say that kind of thing with a straight face." Grif noted.
"I know, right…?" I groaned, "You better get used to him saying such things, because he will always find a chance to say them if he could."
"I see…"
After a few more words of praise from the king and a failed attempt of rewarding, we left the palace; the sun had started set as we exited out the main gate.
"…Say, Grif?" Trish turned to our newest member, "Why did you suddenly want to join our party?"
The sudden question got all of us to looked at the armored mercenary, curious of what his answer would be.
"Huh? Why do you ask?" He asked back.
"This isn't just some party of warriors, you know. This is the party of one of the Cardinal Heroes; what we are fighting is a world ending disaster. It's not something you would choose to join without a good reason."
Trish got a point; despite what Grif said, most mercenaries wouldn't put themselves in needless danger without being paid the proper amount. Some adventurers were the same in that regard.
"…I understand what you meant." Grif noted, "Yeah, normally I wouldn't have even considered joining you all; the risk outweighs any reward I may get out of it. And I wasn't much of a follower of the Church of the Four Cardinal Heroes either."
"What made you change your mind?" Eclair asked.
"It's mostly my gratitude for stopping the revolutionary army, and Sir Itsuki's many acts of chivalry."
"…I'm sorry, acts of chivalry?"
I wouldn't call Itsuki's actions chivalrous in any sense of the word, even if he often strived to do the morally right thing. If anything, he was more of a glory hound than a chivalrous soul.
"I've worked with and under plenty of people in my whole career; noble lords, other mercenary bands, and so forth. Most of them are self-serving bastards who would bail the moment things didn't go their way. It's why I worked alone as a freelancer."
Guess even mercenaries had it rough with colleagues and clients like those.
"So, when I saw how far Sir Itsuki went to get the miracle seed to prevent the war and even stood his ground against the kingdom's army despite all the disadvantages against him, I knew that he was a chivalrous person of great integrity and virtue; someone I would gladly lend my blade to."
"…I see, so that's your reason."
His reasons were simpler than I originally thought; at least compared to mine or Eclair. Such a guy would definitely make it big if he was in a knight order instead of being a mercenary.
"Haha, glad that you think that highly of me…!" Itsuki chuckled as his lips formed a face splitting grin, "I will make sure to live up to it!"
"I know that you will, Sir Itsuki."
The scene almost resembles how Mald praised Itsuki so easily and frequently, only this time the praise was genuine and with no ulterior motives behind it.
Kicking that guy and his goons out of the party was the best decision Itsuki could have ever made as party leader.
"So, what's the plan, Sir Itsuki?" I asked.
"Let's rest up for the night. Tomorrow, we head back to Melromarc and begin raising our levels."
"Okay!"
With our agenda settled, we headed to the nearest inn. As we did so, I looked upon our party's current members; comparing to the parasites we had when I first joined, the ones we have now were definitely much more reliable.
Before, I was worried whether or not this party would be enough to deal with the Waves; but with now?
I was confident that we would be able to take on whatever the next Wave would throw at us.
…
To be continued…
Man, this chapter took quite a while to finish. Like, damn; hopefully the conclusion to this arc was good enough, because I don't have anything else.
With that, I thank you all for reading this!
*Sup! So, this is the rewrite of my rewrite of my Shield Hero OC fic. This time, I'm going to make a few changes so that it would be more than just a Canon rehash.