As I moved to different part of the city, I came across some beastfolks' heads on spikes with people cheering while other beastfolks were being attacked. It left me speechless and trembling. The scenery stuck fear unknown to me. I'm still not sure what the prophecy truly means and why this was happening.
A prophecy is a guidance or indication of what the future holds. The idea that beastfolks bring disaster to wherever they go is just a prejudice, right?
"You should've listened to us!"
"It's your fault we were forced to do this!"
"Should've stayed in your destroyed nation."
The humans were angry at the beastfolks but for what reason exactly? Why did Noah kill humans? What kind of revenge was he seeking?
Just one last dance...
Huh? I heard it again. A female voice. A dance? There are still things I can't put together but Kuaishwa must've known the truth to some degree, right?
Furrina must know something but I have to somehow learn the truth but first I need to know the truth. I somehow managed my way to the prison by asking around and showed them the badge of wind. It was a badge handed out directly by the grand order and I received one from Kuaishwa and it gives me some king of privileges a normal person doesn't have such as entrance in almost all buildings.
"Noah." I said to the warden and he took me to the cell where he was currently held in.
"Huh? W-who?" He looked up at me from a corner of the cell where he was all curled up. He looked frail. Almost as if a bit of force would break him in half.
"Kara. Outlander. I'm here in stead of grand order Moh. What happened?"
"I see... so you're here to help me? A faction was formed against the beastfolks and lady Furrina. They thought beastfolks were barbaric and uncivilized and deserved no place in human society. Then... recently a murder took place and upon investigation, it lead us to a group of suspects. All... beastfolks. It made too much sense but I wanted to confirm their guilt before making the information public. But someone leaked the information and the hostility increased. A group of elites decided on a coup d'état. Once we caught wind of it, we informed lady Furrina but she advised us to leave it be. She was worried about the prophecy and thought that dealing with it would resolve almost all issues in the society. But now it was too late. A friend of mine... Melsi... she was senselessly slaughtered in the Forest of sounds. It was a warning to beastfolks and that they would meet the same end. I can't... I couldn't hold it in. Lady Furrina... why did you forsake us...?" He ended up crying as he ended his side of the story.
He lost someone dear to him. I can't relate whatsoever and on top of that, I truly can't understand his thought process. But Furrina is, to a degree, responsible for this civil war.
"I see. I'll convey your emotions to Furrina." I said before turning back and leaving the prison. I should check up on Celine but once I reached the location we previously had met, I heard a loud blast. I quickly ran to the source and saw a crater in the ground with limbs and blood scattered all over the place.
W-what...?
"It... It's the judgement!!" A woman screamed and started running away but suddenly another blast occurred sending her body parts flying into the air.
I was trying to make sense of everything but Celine placed her hand on my shoulder.
"You should leave. Today is the judgement day as the prophecy said." She was calm and collected almost as if she had accepted her end.
"Can't! Furrina has to give me answer." This was now personal as I had seen the catastrophe first hand. I rushed back into the city going all the way to the palace and barged into her room.
"They all are dead!" I grabbed her by her collars. "What is the prophecy!?"
"I... can't stop it." She answered in a defeated tone.
"Can't!? You're a grand order for fuck's sake! YOU ARE A GOD!"
"The prophecy hasn't swung full force at us yet." A man walked into the room. He was roughly 30 years old to so with long untied blonde hair and eyes of same color. He seemed more like the person in-charge.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"This is a mere warning. Lady Furrina, I must ask you to tell us the truth." He continued.
"I don't know if I can tell you. If I do, my plan would be completely ruined. The prophecy will take place."
"I'm an outlander, right? My sheer presence is against the prophecy, so, just tell us."
"All I know for now that the prophecy will happen and there will be five major incidents which would be followed by the prophecy. And that there will five days gap between each incident. I just don't know what to do and how to stop it..." She fell into a chair as if her legs had completely given up.
A spontaneous blast and no magic circle to be seen. Should I remove the possibility of it being a magic altogether?
As I was thinking of the truth behind it all, I heard a commotion outside the palace. I peaked out of the door and saw knights charging towards the room.
"I mourn these turn of events." The man exited the room and raised his left and a wall of ice erupted from the floor blocking away the knights.
"Are they attacking Furrina?!" I asked. "Are they dumb to go after a grand order?!"
"Furrina... what exactly are you hiding? You have to take responsibility." He spoke again.
"This... Yes! This is divine! How divinity works simply can not be comprehended by mortals like you." She answered before closing the door on us.
"Something is off..."
"For now I will put up a seal to protect her but we have to find out the truth behind the prophecy." He said. "Oh... I apologize. Where are my manners." He chuckled. "I'm Durfort. One of the dukes of the dominion. I know of you. So, can you talk to Celine and assist her? Meanwhile I will find a way to make her talk."
"Sure." I answered before rushing away. She should be at one of the sites of blast. But it made me wonder. Why is she letting her people be senselessly slaughtered...? Something is definitely up.
...
As I got to a site, I saw Celine with her guards helping people escape when another blast occurred. She quickly mobilized more of her men.
"What's the death toll?" I asked.
"For beastfolks, it's 128 but we suspect a significantly higher number and for humans, it's 45 right now. But this is for only this nation. We haven't received any information from other five kingdoms."
"I talked to Furrina and it led to nowhere." I walked over the the site and noticed a shard of glass. I picked it up and saw a tiny filament. "is this...?" I walked over to another crater and noticed similar filament and shards of glass. This has to be an LED. But something like this shouldn't exist in this world at all.
I wonder if this is the case of cluster bombs and it's just so happened to surface right now when prophecy is supposed to take place. But then, if bombs exist in this world, then existence of an atomic bomb might not be as farfetched. Is that the prophecy? An atomic bomb does have the power to destroy entire population.
I conveyed everything to Celine in details and also explained how they connect back to my world to give her better context of everything.
"Why would... someone create something so disastrous?" She asked in utter disbelief.
"That is not important. But it might be presumptuous of me... I think beastfolks might be able to help." I went in details about dogs that are trained for the bomb detection.
"A sense of smell?" She noted. "I will get in touch with some beastfolks and see how we can deal with the issue. It might help them be integrated into the human society of dominion of pride."
"Right." I walked over the crater and dug around and saw a bomb and picked it up. This is definitely the culprit. "Who and what caused this...?"
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"They should've been buried under the ground long ago... they should've never become an issue. Was this place ever flooded?" I asked.
"Flood...? Yes. Dominion gets flooded quite often, so, it's not exactly out of the ordinary. Maybe the land got eroded and it just so happened to expose these bombs."
"Weirdly specific timing. But use this I guess. I need to find a place to stay." I said and then she suggested her estate.
"That's the least I can do. I will immediately mobilize all the knights and my own guards and get beastfolks involved."
"Thanks." I had no reason to refuse her offer. For now, I have to worry about Furrina and her secret. Did she know bombs exist? If yes, then why is she letting it happen? If no, then how incompetent is she?