Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
The battle ended as quickly as it started. For most of the fighters who came along with Fohl, they didn't even have a chance to fight the unknown enemies before they were turned into bloody mist and got slurped up by the creepy demi-human priest. Some of them begin to collect the weapons these monster wolf riders left, while others stand around like guards while giving the young raccoon man a suspicious look. For the most part, he simply smirks back at everyone rather than doing anything else.
Throwing Weapon Hero lets out a scream as Alice takes the bullet embedded in his shoulder out. Atla wraps her arms tighter around his neck, making his face turn blue from the lack of air while Alice quickly casts a heal spell over his shoulder to let his broken bones and open wound knitting themselves return to normal. She looks over her patient, and nods her head. "You should be okay now, Lord Throwing Weapon Hero. Don't put too much strain on your right shoulder for the next few days to make sure they heal properly. And Miss Atla, please release your master. You are going to suffocate him to death."
Atla gives Alice an annoyed look, but follows the healer's instructions. The slightly older woman didn't pay any attention to Fohl's little sister, but instead turned to look at the young raccoon healer with the same suspicion like everyone from her own group. Hayate moves closer to her, and asks with a muffled whisper. "He is from the same branch as you, isn't he? Miss Alice? Is this young man hiding anything from us? The magic, or miracle he used isn't normal."
"Yes. I remember Mr. Keyaru. I didn't know him personally since I had already finished my training when he was accepted. He's one of the few shrine servants who has a very good affinity for our lord's miracles. So he was trained by acolytes to act as the War Pig's healer." Alice looks up the young raccoon man up and down, spending more time on him than when she was examining Throwing Weapon Hero's wound. "I never realized his affinity for miracles is this powerful."
"Did you say his name is Keyaru?" Throwing Weapon Hero suddenly jumps up to his feet, nearly knocking Atla over with this sudden movement. He strides his way over to the creepy self-proclaimed healer with Atla following him like a baby bird. Sato stops a short distance in front of the strange young healer, looking him up and down like Alice did, and then turns to look at the direction Keyaru's eye has been fixed on. Fohl does the same, and realizes he was staring at the pink haired noble girl who is traveling with the Shield Hero's group.
Chapter 43: Sideline
"Yes? How may I help you?" The voice of the young raccoon man gives Sato a sudden shake to his body like he's suffering from a seizure. He nearly loses his foot and collides into Atla again before uprighting himself. Atla glares at Keyaru, while Sato simply looks at him thoughtfully. The self-proclaimed healer was courteous with his words, and one can't find any sign of disrespect from the tone of his voice either. Yet... Fohl can't help but feel something wrong with him. Perhaps it's due to how he says one thing and does the exact opposite. He calls himself a healer, even suggesting his healing ability is on the same level as a hero. Yet he didn't do anything to heal the Throwing Weapon Hero, or the wounded pirates he was traveling with (they were healed by that red feathered queen Filorial of all people). What he did do was use that very evil-looking spell to turn all the enemies they were fighting into bloody paste, and then sucked them all up. If he is a priest of anything, it's probably some evil, outer god.
The Throwing Weapon Hero slowly turns his face back towards Keyaru. Neither of them says anything for a while, only their sight meets in the middle of the space between them. There is clearly something clashing between the two of them, but Fohl can't tell what it was. After a while, Sato finally opens his mouth and speaks in a cold voice. "I'll be watching you."
With this final comment, Sato turns around and walks away from the healer. Atla quickly follows after him. Keyaru didn't say anything back to the Throwing Weapon Hero. If Sato wanted to intimidate him, Fohl doubted it worked. He's also about to walk away too when he feels someone grabbing him by the shoulder. He turns around, and sees a tall man with tanned skin, and dirty blonde hair. His skin is coarse, making him look older than his age. Or perhaps he is someone who looks younger than his actual age, Fohl can't tell which. But he can tell the former pirate captain probably has seen more things in his life than most people. Right now, there's a short flintlock in his hand. Dread pirate Roberts shakes it in front of Fohl's eyes. "Take this. We got a lot of them from those wolf riders. Should help you protect yourself, and your sister."
"I don't need it. I'm a fist fighter. My body is my weapon." Fohl pushes the pirate captain's hand back, and balls up his other hand into a fist. He doesn't like the idea of owing favors from someone. This is how he and Atla got saddled with a half-insane Throwing Weapon Hero after all. Him curing the ailment Atla was born with... and making the two of them owe him a life debt they can only repay with a life's worth of loyalty and servitude. Being given a flintlock is comparatively much less of a favor. But Fohl doesn't like the thought of himself unable to protect his sister, or owing favors to a former pirate who probably dabbled in slavery.
Fohl turns around and begins to walk away, till Roberts' next words make his own feet glued to the ground. "I know you can protect yourself, boy. But you can protect yourself, and your family better if you have a ranged weapon. Your sister was saved by that creepy raccoon kid, because those wolf riders were going to shoot her to death, and you were too far away to do anything. What if something like this happens again? Don't let your own pride leave you with regret in life."
The white tiger boy slowly turns around to give Roberts a long stare. He doesn't say anything back to the enslaved pirate, not sure if he could trust a scum like him. After a while... he finally walks back and takes the small firearm into his own hand, and then shoves it tightly inside of his belt. He'll have someone look the contraption over before using it in battle. "I'll pay you back."
"I'm sure of it." The former pirate captain nods back to Fohl, and then he goes back to looting the equipment left over by the wolf riders. The corner of Fohl's mouth twitched in disgust at the act. Once a pirating scum, always a pirating scum. They are like dirty scavengers, trying to pick the bones clean of any rotten spoil even when they come at a leftover carcass. But he doesn't have a reason to criticize them. Not everyone was lucky enough like him to be born into a well-off family, and Fohl remembers seeing other demi-human children like him wearing filthy rags, scavenging, and stealing on the street. He didn't think much about them when he was young, but everything changed when his mother passed away...
Fohl shakes his head, and decides to chase the unhappy thoughts away from his mind. His mother is gone now, so is his father. That means as the oldest, it's his responsibility to take care of Atla. And this sudden battle shows he still has a long time to go when Atla got into danger multiple times, and he didn't respond immediately to help her. Walking away from the enslaved pirates, he quickly runs towards where Throwing Weapon Hero and Atla are standing around. His sister turns to look at him, and sticks her tongue out for her. "You are too slow, brother!"
"I'll be faster next time." Fohl didn't put much thought into his reply. He looks at the people standing around him besides the Throwing Weapon Hero and his sister. The darkly dressed man from Faubley is with them, so is the Shield Hero's protector. And right now, all of them are listening to Alice explaining about the evil looking magic he used to kill the wolf riders.
"He was indeed using healing magic, or more specifically, life magic. But his control of this branch is phenomenal, which is how he achieved completely different results compared to most normal healers like myself." Everyone around Alice gives her a puzzled look, making the priestess let out a small sigh. Fohl looks at the gathered people again, and realizes none of them are fully trained magic users. "Okay. Guess I have to start at the beginning. What do you think 'magic' is?"
"You cast a spell with mana, and make things go woosh! Or BOOM!" Atla has an impatient look on her face, and answers with a snort. Fohl reaches his hand over, and ruffles her hair. She slaps his hand away. He knew this answer was not the one Alice was looking for. But he is more worried about Atla's increasingly shortened patience than whatever talk about magic.
"Technically correct, but that is the effect of magic. Not the core of the principle. Plus when you say 'mana', your definition becomes strictly connected with Saint Brimir's Wizardry school of magic. I was talking about magic under the broadest umbrella, be it spirit empowered Sorcery, or willpower motivated Miracles..." Once again, everyone gives her a bamboozled look. Seeing this Alice quickly stops her rambling. "Sorry. Old habit when I helped out as an instructor in the church. The easiest way to describe magic is when you want something to happen, and the world agrees with you. Obviously, there are still rules you need to follow. Like how when you are doing numbers, two times two equals four. And these specific rules form different schools, and branches of magic. And just like doing numbers, simpler rules are easier to remember and get right. Two times two equals four, but what does one thousand, three hundred twenty second times to nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty five equals?"
"What you are saying is when you get your calculation wrong, the world would not agree with your will. So the spell you are trying to cast fizzles out?" Fohl asks with uncertainty in his voice. A step away from him, Atla is busy counting her own fingers.
"Exactly! That's why all the magic casters start with the most simple spell, and slowly work their way up to the top. Hopefully stop before they touch forbidden magic. They are taboo for a good reason because they are destructive to the target and the caster..." Alice suddenly covers her mouth with her hands, seemingly realizing she's about to ramble once again. "I might be biased because I am a healer myself. But I think healing magic, be it Wizardry, Sorcery, or Miracle school, is the most complex kind of magic. Because the human body needs to reach a very fragile equilibrium for one to stay alive. And that's why most healing magic works by simulating and boosting a body's natural healing ability. But what Brother Keyaru did..."
Alice grows silent as she casts a look at the young raccoon man. Her eyes look accusatory. "Brother Keyaru... he overcharged every cell of his target with life energy. Accelerating their growth, which is why all of his targets massively bulked up. And then... they self-destruct because they all reached the end of their lives. It is technically healing, but I can't say I like how he's applying healing magic in this sense."
"It doesn't matter. So long as he's here to help Naofumi-sama, I'll leave him alone. But if he dares to hurt Naofumi-sama in any way. I'll make sure he doesn't have the chance to." Sato balls up his right hand into a fist, and punches into his left palm. A dangerous light glitters in his eyes, making Fohl shiver once again.
Fohl is grateful for the Throwing Weapon Hero finding a dose of highly rare and precious Yggdrasil Potion, and using it to cure his little sister's ailment she was born with. But deep down, he doesn't respect his master. The young man is around Fohl's own age, but he lacks maturity in all senses. He easily gets angry, or shaken everyday (although to be fair, they do live in a very bad time where world shattering crisis seems to be the norm, not exception) and loses his cool. And he isn't someone who learns quickly from his own mistakes and gets better, to the point that his own idol the Shield Hero has to constantly thresh him up to make the point across.
This sense of uneasy doesn't change with the bloodlust the Throwing Weapon Hero is displaying at the moment. Rather, it only amplifies Fohl's worry. Years of forced sheltered life Atla lived due to her born ailment already give her a highly skewed view on life, and people around her. And the Throwing Weapon Hero's own zealousness is NOT a good influence on her. Not to mention his repeated offense of trying to murder the Shield Hero's companion... right in front of his face. He doesn't seem to be aware that his own action has already indirectly pushed his little sister to the opposite side of his own idol. All in all, Tairou Sato is not the kind of person Fohl could feel safe leaving his younger sister to, regardless of what she wants. He might be more well meaning than a badly raised scion from a noble family. But at the core, he is very similar to them. All of them have very little empathy towards the lives of people they don't care for.
"You say the magic is healing. Does this mean it can be learnt by anyone who can do healing magic regardless of the school they use?" Lady Flare suddenly pokes her head out from behind Yatsuhashi's back. She turns to look at the direction north. They can no longer see the moving mountain carried on the great turtle's back, but Fohl doubts it has been successfully killed by the heroes. He can't tell why he feels it, but it's like some kind of strong intuition. "Can we use it against the Spirit Tortoise? It's supposed to have the strongest self-regeneration after the Ho-oh. If that raccoon slave's healing magic kills things, and the Spirit Tortoise is hard to kill because it can heal itself...what if we reverse its effect so that it kills itself instead?"
"I have to reprimand you, Lady Flare. Brother Keyaru is no longer an indentured slave. He is now an honored cleric knight of the 'Sons of Biscas' order. Not to mention he had personally never done any sinful act to become an indentured slave in the first place, in spite of his admittedly unconventional use of healing magic. He has no control of his sirer being a rapist invader, just like you had no control of your parents being nobility." Alice narrows her eyes to glare at Lady Flare, making her displeasure known to the noble girl. Fohl looks down, and sees Alice's hand is brushing on the handle of a sword on her waist. So, the priestess isn't only a miracle caster, but likely a templar as well. Flare whimpers, and disappears behind Yatsuhashi's back once again.
"A waste of time, and a clear mistake. The queen has lost her mind just like the king." A gruff voice that sounds like a leaking bellows can be heard behind Alice. The a pause, and turns her body half way back. Looking at a warrior whose head is hidden in a full metal helmet. His thick leather armor looks and smells old, with dried up blood clumped over sewed over tears and cuts. At the moment, he's picking apart the spoil left behind by the wolf riders just like the Shield Hero's pirate slaves. Although instead of their equipment, he seems to be more interested in the corpses that got left behind as he pokes, and cuts them with his sword. "Hmm... doesn't look too different from other humans and animals."
"Anyway, as I was saying before The Slayer decided to give us his opinion..." Fohl steals another glance over at the helmeted, and armored figure. Many adventurers give themselves a nickname of 'something something slayer', but at least in Melromarc, there is only one who is called 'The Slayer'. The Beast Slayer. A survivor of Siltvelt's brutal occupation who grew into a veteran adventurer and with a burning hatred for anything related to beastman, or demi-human. And would only do requests to clean up beastman and demi-human bandit groups. He needs to remind Atla (and himself) to stay away from this guy. "...aside from your unneeded opinion towards our demi-human brethren, I suppose it's worth it to test your suggestion on if we can somehow overcharge a Guardian Beast's self-healing to the point they self-destruct instead. Do you think you are up for the task, Brother Keyaru?"
"I know I am. It doesn't matter if my target is some giant beast, a god, or the world itself. Everything needs a little healing. And if they need healing, there's room for me to play around." Keyaru takes his eyes off Lady Flare and replies with a smirk.
"Don't act so sure of yourself if you haven't done what you claimed to do." A cold voice cuts itself through the air, making the temperature around Fohl feel like they are dropping. He turns around, and sees the darkly dressed man who has been riding with them walks over. His demeanor reminds Fohl of the Sword Hero, but comes off as more intentionally inhospitable around everyone unlike the Sword Hero who tries to avoid interacting with others because of his awkwardness. "You may think you are powerful, maybe even invincible. Until you meet someone much stronger than you, or ensnare you into a trap. If you want to test what your mouth has promised, try it by yourself first. At least you won't needlessly get others involved."
"Speaking from experience, do you? Or you simply don't like someone stepping onto a podium?" The muscles from Keyaru's corner of mouth stretches. Fohl can't tell if he's snorting at the cold young man from Faubley, or if he is scoffing because someone is talking down at him. The man in the dark cloak holds his arm up to stop the four strangely dressed (or a certain underdressed and body painted pair) from stomping their way up to Keyaru. Wordlessly, he turns around and walks away, the four women giving the raccoon priest one last glare before following him. Keyaru simply smirks back at their backs. Although was Fohl mistaken, or is he staring at the... exposed behind of the two women who painted themselves red and blue? "Whine of a loser dog. Thinking others can't achieve something because they can't do the same."
"There's no need to start a fight with Lord Kirigaya. He is a little... reserved. But he means well. I know you are using hyperbole to emphasize your immense control of healing magic, Brother Keyaru. But making grandiose boasting about gods and worlds is easy to make people think you are an arrogant braggart. Humility and temperance should always be a virtue to pursue for us servants of the Chief God." To merely call the young man in black traveling cloak reserved is such a massive understatement, it's practically a lie. But Fohl could understand why Alice is trying to downplay the short clash between Lord Kirigaya and Keyaru. Picking a fight with a family directly descended from a Cardinal Hero never ends well, especially not when said hero was summoned merely sixty years ago, had a very eventful life and was all but turned into a martyr by one of the most powerful lords in Faubley.
Keyaru's sight briefly peels off from Lord Kirigaya's female companions, and looks at the young man when he hears the name 'Lord Kirigaya'. His shoulder almost moves slightly. Fohl likes to think he's good at reading people's body language because he's been training as a fist fighter since youth to protect his mother and younger sister. And that's a case even when the one he's trying to read didn't fully commit to the movement. The twitch of every single muscle can tell a story. Right now, he gets the impression that the young raccoon man wanted to shrug his shoulders. But in the end, he merely gives a flippant 'very well' before going back to stealing glances at Lady Flare.
"I'm guessing you guys couldn't keep up with Lady Eclair's forced march, and have to rest like a lot of other people we saw on the way?" Hayate walks over to them, his expression looks puzzled as he rubs his chin with one hand. "How did you get ambushed by this group of wolf riders? I looked around the forest, and I saw no sign of them anywhere. No trampled foliage, or scratched tree trunks. A decent sized band like the one we say shouldn't be able to leave no trace behind, especially when they have monster steeds. Or did they run you over on the road, and somehow miss Duchess Eclair's much bigger warband?"
"They appeared almost right on top of us through some kind of magic mirror. I don't know if it's a spell, or some other thing. But they remind me when my lord uses his shield abilities." Yatsuhashi's words make multiple people in their group tense up. In particular, Alice and the mage woman with her, Hayate, and the darkly dressed man that reminds Fohl of the Sword Hero.
"Are you saying... that this group of unknown enemies teleported right to you? That- that shouldn't be powerful! Our world's dimension is fortified by our pantheon, and that's why the only ones who can use teleportation abilities are their champion, our Heroes. And why trying to achieve a similar result with magic is next to impossible." Alice's voice is trembling, while her mage friend looks thoughtful as she bobs her head and the fingers of her hands brush against each other. "And even our heroes can only teleport themselves, and five other allies. For someone who can teleport a small army, this must mean-"
"They are false heroes from another world. This Shield Hero's henchman said they came from a mirror. Rocbouquet's false hero weapon was a mirror." The dark dressed man slightly raises his head up, pointing at Yatsuhashi with his chin and giving everyone the impression he's looking at the much larger man from the bottom of his nose.
"It must have been a one-way portal too. Or else whoever commanded these wolf riders could recall and preserve their troops once we entered the battle and the tide began to turn against them." Hayate's expressions become more and more grime, making his previously soft looking features look much more rigid. "The alternative is their master doesn't care about their lives. Maybe because continuing monitoring them after they stepped through the portal would expand too much energy. But that raises a question. How many troops does our enemy have? And how many mirror portals can they open up. Is your group the only one that's under attack?"
Once again, Fohl can feel the air around him grow together as most people's expressions change at Hayate's question. Robert, the former dread pirate captain, seems to be listening in to them as well, as he jogs over to them. "Shouldn't we inform this to the knightly little miss? If she hasn't been attacked herself, she might continue to keep the death march her group away. And all of the stragglers will be vulnerable."
"You are right! Lori, running back and looking for those who got left behind before us. Start gathering them up into bigger groups so they can keep themselves safe. Rial, run at your top speed to Lady Eclair, and tell her to stop her forced full speed march immediately. Make sure no other people get left behind!" The Shield Hero's bodyguards immediately turn towards the two Filorial monarchs in their groups. They nod their heads, and break apart from their group. One running towards north, the other charging towards south. Fohl wonders if it's a good idea for the two birds to leave by themselves, but considering how they instantly disappeared from his sight and only leaving a massive trail of smokes behind, they could probably out run any danger.
"What about Naofumi-sama?! He went to fight the Spirit Tortoise with the idiot squad! If you guys are being attacked by whoever this new enemy is, they must not have killed the Spirit Tortoise! Naofumi-Sama could be in danger!" Sato begins to stomp his feet on the ground while he runs in a circle. "This world is doomed if something happens to Naofumi-sama!"
"Aren't you supposed to be some kind of all knowing prophet? Why ask us what's going to happen to the Shield Hero." Lady Flare crosses her arms, and gives an impatient snort before turning to the Shield Hero's protector. "We aren't safe here in the open. Is there some big city we can go to?"
"If our enemy could send their army through teleportation, a city isn't safe either. A city has a lot of people inside, most of them civilians who can't fight. When our enemy has the ability to bypass its walls and the fighters manning the wall, It's very easy for them to go after the civilians and start an absolute chaos. All civilians know is to run around like headless birds if they are facing danger." Hayate's eyes wander to the side, his finger continues to brush against his chin. Everyone grows silent, all of them looking thoughtful at how to find a secure place to rest.
"Didn't the Shield Hero subjugate a bunch of bandits, and is trying to start his own little village with them? If they are bandits already, they can all fight if they are robbing other people right? Or are land lovers different from us sea dogs?" The former pirate captain's suggestion made Yatsuhashi's eyes light up.
"That's it! They were actually a group of displaced refugees forced into banditry to survive. But they are tough. And they are living near a tower with a pair of necromancers. They have a lot of undead creatures who can act as sentry and fighters without rest. We'll be safe there!" Yatsuhashi turns his head to look at everyone around him. "Let's camp and have a short rest, wait for Rial and Lori to return. And then we'll move towards the new settlement my Thane is building south of Trumpet City."
"But what about Naofumi-sama himself?! We don't even know if he's safe right now! His safety is the most important thing. If I have my teleportation-" The Throwing Weapon Hero continues to stomp his feet on the ground, but his eyes suddenly grow larger, as if he remembered something. And he begins to slash his hand across the space in front of him, eyes scanning left and right. "Wait! My level is high enough to use porting skills now! I can go first with five people!"
"There is you, me, my sister, and Hayate. We have room for two more. If we are going to look for the Shield Hero, we could bring two filorial birds with us. They have no problem having two riders when they are used to pulling carts and wagons behind them." Fohl turns his attention over to the Shield Hero's group. "Alternatively, maybe someone here who fought those wolf riders should come with us to explain everything to the Shield Hero. They saw the whole thing from start to finish. They could describe the incident much better than us."
"My Thane made plans if things didn't go right and they had to retreat from any situation. Stormwind is clearly not safe with the Spirit Tortoise going north from Griffin's Spine. Balafon would be the next rally point. As long as my Thane is still alive, he should already be at Balafon, or going towards the village right now." Yatsuhashi seems to have calmed down his nerves somewhat, his eyes no longer jumping all over the place. "If you are taking someone, take Lady Flare. She's under a lot of pressure during our travels, and she can rest better at Balafon. She is a mage, and is probably best at explaining the encounter we went through. And she can round out your group best as your spell caster in case you get into a fight with someone."
"Then the sixth member of your teleportation group should be a healer, Master Throwing Weapon Hero. Your own group is made of four fighters, and Lady Flare would give you a mage. A healer, and miracle user could help protect your group, heal your members in case any of you are injured, and boost your group with enhancement spells, I think Brother Keyaru would be a good pick here." Alice turns her head to look at Sato again. "What's your decision, Master Throwing Weapon Hero? Will you take two of the filorial birds? Or will you bring two more fighting members to Balafon?"
Sato's face hangs downward, his eyes looking at his own feet. He actually seems to be putting some thoughts into his decision, rather than jumping into some sudden conclusion like he usually does. After a while, he looks up and stares at the direction of Lady Flare, and the creepy raccoon man. "I... will take these two with me. Things are already different from the two stories- the two timelines I know of. If Naofumi-sama is safe at Balafon, he'll need people with better information to help come up with a plan. And if he hasn't returned to Balafon yet, I can still borrow the birds in Balafon. I know there's a lot of monarch variance raised by the Spear... Hero in Balafon. People who are more valuable than two normal variance filorial in this case."
"If we are taking a healer with me, I think we should take Miss Alice." Fohl suddenly opens his mouth, drawing everyone's attention to him. He doesn't like to speak to other people without prompt, or being talked to. Not because he's afraid, too awkward, or too shy to interact with other people. Fohl simply doesn't find the need for it. All he wants is to have a secure, uneventful life with his family (which only consists of himself and his younger sister now), and he doesn't feel the need to socialize with anyone else aside from obtaining necessities. So he really should have kept his mouth shut. But he doesn't like the raccoon priest who calls himself a healing hero. Even discounting his unusual, evil looking use of 'healing' magic, the man comes off suspicious with how he has his attention almost freakishly focused on Lady Flare. Even if he doesn't mind taking this Keyaru alongside his little sister, he would not have brought him along with the one he seems to covet for. "Unless the city of Balafon is already destroyed or taken over by our unknown enemy, all of you will be much greater than us. That's why a 'healer' like Mr. Keyaru who can single handedly wipe out a small battle group would do much here with the group who'll travel to Balafon normally. Plus, Mister Keyaru was traveling with the heroes this whole time as their retinue member, while Miss Alice isn't. So she might bring a more alternative perspective if there's discussion to be had."
"I'm not sure what more things I can tell the revered heroes that Brother Keyaru couldn't. The Sons of Biscas is now a separate organization from the Three Heroes' Church. But we are all raised in the church... What are all of you looking at me for? Rufus? Clarissa? Nina? Stop smiling like you are conspiring together! We are having a very serious problem right now!" Fohl has no idea who specifically is Alice calling out by names alone, but it's easy for him to guess. Right now, one swordsman, one wizard girl and one female fist fighter, all around Alice's own age, are smiling at her like a pet cat who managed to steal a fish from the kitchen.
"Sorry, you are right, Alice. We are in serious danger. But you don't want to go with the Throwing Weapon Hero, because you don't want to leave the Slayer out of your sight, aren't you?" The swordsman's eyes quickly jump from Alice to The Slayer, and then back.
"And to think, you were both the one who got the angriest at Slayer for killing those bandits' children, and the one who decided to stay around with him." The eyes of the wizard woman also begin to jump between Alice and The Slayer. "Something has to have happened between the two of you. If you want to be honest and reveal the truth yourself, we'll take it easy when we punish you in our next gathering."
"Stop this, guys! I know cracking jokes is how you guys calm yourselves down when the situation gets bad, but we really need to get serious and get going! The world might actually end this time if we don't stop the released Guardian Beasts!" Alice swats both the young swordsman and the wizard girl away, she quickly walks over to the Throwing Weapon Hero. Fohl gets the impression that she agreed to his suggestion not because she's convinced by his reasoning, but because she wants to get away from her friends. "Okay, I am ready. Master Throwing Weapon Hero. Let's go!"
Fohl feels a ray of coldness pierce through his back. He knew it's his instinct picking up someone's malice filled gaze focusing on him, rather than an actual attack. He also knows the prime suspect who would look at him. This further affirmed him that he did the right thing to not take that self-proclaimed 'healing hero' with Lady Flare. He didn't have much time to ponder on it when he's suddenly submerged in blinding purple light. When his eyes could see again, the forest around him disappeared, and he realized he's standing in the middle of a village that's mostly made of wood and hay. The silos in the distance reveal this being a farming community, but the street is empty, and there are barely any signs of life around them. No cooking smoke coming from the shacks, no sound of people or their pets inside the building, and definitely no people walking on the street.
"Didn't the queen give the bioplant village to Melty? Where are all the people? Where is Naofumi-sama?! Are we too late?!" The Throwing Weapon Hero spins on his heels to look all around him, looking like he lost his mother.
"Be calm, Lord Throwing Weapon Hero. There's no sign of recent destruction around us." By contrast, Alice the priestess is fully in control of herself. She places a hand on Sato's shoulder to comfort him, while her eyes look left and right, examining the environment around them. "These shacks all look very new, there's no sign of struggle on the ground, or dried up blood. There's also no sign of a hasty escape like items left on the road. Since the Spirit Tortoise only appeared two days ago, this means the people of this village, and Princess Melty herself have made an organized retreat."
"Yeah... it's nice to know the people of this village and Melty were fine. But it still doesn't tell us where Naofumi-sama is!" The Throwing Weapon Hero isn't comforted by Alice's words. His face looks down, feet fixed on the spot for a short while. And suddenly, he begins to look around the place, till his sight is fixed in a direction. Fohl turns around to look at the same place, and sees a much larger wooden building. Sato immediately bolts for the building. "The longhouse! That's the building they made for the village lord and Melty! Maybe we can find something inside!"
"Wait for us, Master Tairou! We don't know if it's safe!" Atla quickly follows after the Throwing Weapon Hero. Fohl chases after his sister, but he notices Hayate running towards a different building in the village square. It's the tallest house around the village square, with a second floor, and a bell tower in the middle that's even higher than the second floor. The valet of House Malfoy was clearly trying to take over the high point. Fohl understands his reasoning, but he's more interested in protecting his sister. Before they even reach the lord's longhouse, Fohl's nose suddenly picks up a very strange stench. It smells differently from rotting bodies, or feces. Almost has a spicy smell, like very strong paint. He sees the Throwing Weapon Hero losing his feet, and hears his sister's concerned scream. "WATCH OUT! Master Tairou!"
Atla manages to grab Sato's flailing right arm, and pulls him backwards rather than having him fall forward. The two of them fall on each other over the grass in front of the lord's longhouse. Fohl carefully moves towards the door, trying to get a look at what nearly made Tairou fall head first onto the ground, and the stench in the air grows stronger as he approaches. He carefully pushes the door open with his outstretched hand, and sees a puddle of thick, dark liquid on the floor in front of the door. Or perhaps it's inaccurate to call it liquid, since it looks more like thick mud. The young white tiger slowly moves his sight deeper into the room, and sees a similar puddle near the wooden throne of the lord. He looks up, and sees a hole in the hay ceiling. Someone or something either fell through the roof, or more likely broke through the roof and tried to attack the one sitting on the throne. Either the princess, or this village's lord.
"I see someone outside the village! They are out on the field!" Hayate's voice draws everyone's attention. Fohl turns around, and he sees the Throwing Weapon Hero running north with Atla following close behind him. Letting out an exhausted sigh, Fohl quickly turns around to give chase. He wonders when he can finally stop worrying for his younger sister.
"How many people are on the field, Mr..." As Hayate flips down from the bell tower and rejoins them, Alice asks the young raccoon man. Fohl notices she has a frown on her face.
"Hayate, valet, and butler in training of the most ancient and noble House Malfoy." The young valet responds to Alice's question for his identity first. "There look to be a few hundred men scattered on the field. A lot of them seem to be training their formation, and I saw a few of them sparring."
"That's unusual... it doesn't make any sense. Why would they be camping in the open field? This village's palisade isn't going to do much against a proper army, but it would still be safer to post sentries and patrols inside the fortification than staying out in the open. Could they have already been attacked by our enemies who could ignore fortification and send an army with those mirrors? But there's no sign of fighting or struggle inside this village..." Alice seems to once again become completely absorbed in her own thoughts. Fohl decided to ignore her, and focused on running after his sister. Atla and the Throwing Weapon Hero didn't have that much greater a head start compared to him, but both of them had their chi veins enlarged by granny, so they have already built a much greater reserve of chi that can be used to fortify their own bodies.
It didn't take them much time to run out of the abandoned Balafon village and out onto the field. Just like Hayate said, there's a group of a few hundred people in armor and weapons, swinging their weapons while running on the empty field. Clearly practicing fighting as a single group to ensure they don't get into each other's way in actual battle. Fohl recognized some of them as the retinue members of the Cardinal Heroes. Further away, groups of older looking warriors stand a short distance away from them, seemingly acting as their guards. Fohl doesn't know these people, but he assumes them to be professional Melromarc soldiers who went with the heroes to fight the Spirit Tortoise.
"Naofumi-sama-" "MASTER MALTY!" Throwing Weapon Hero's voice is suddenly interrupted by Lady Flare. The pampered noble woman somehow overtakes Sato, and runs ahead of the chi practicing hero towards a red headed woman sitting on the other side of the road opposite of the heroes' retinue members. The red head turns around, and sure enough. It was the former first princess of this country, and the companion of the Shield Hero. Slowly, she stands up from the ground, and Lady Flare runs head first into her. "It's so good to see you unharmed! I was really worried about you, My teacher!"
"We are fine, Lady Flare. There are people watching..." Princess Malty's words make Lady Flare suddenly aware of her surroundings. She makes a noise that reminds Fohl of a cat that got its tail stepped on, as she jumps away from the former princess.
"Ri-right! Sorry for my lack of tact, my master. I was simply worried for you. The guardian beast has been released. There's supposedly a false hero from another world invading our world, and they have the ability to send raiding parties through some foul, mirror magic. We nearly got overrun by a group of raiders. Me, Lord Shield Hero's bodyguards, and your two filorial children..." Lady Flare's eyes wander all around the area, and she begins to ramble. But she does manage to get the main point across.
"...WHAT?"
End Note:
So, first chapter where there's no POV for one of the main cast and they only appeared shortly at the end. I have considered maybe making this an interlude chapter, but the point of starting a new story rather than continue [Ambition of the Red Princess] has always been giving more focus on other, none-main cast characters to write a political/war drama. So my thought is that it would still be a main chapter instead of an interlude chapter as long as it still follows the main, ongoing plot even if the main cast don't get a POV.
Not sure how well Fohl would act as the sole POV character of this chapter, since he has always been one of the more bland character in canon even among a cast of one-dimensional none-characters. But I feel like him being more rational minded and objective in his opinion (other than trying to keep his younger sister safe) would be better here to not distract anything with his personal emotions.