"…You didn't do the Water Specialization," Boyd exclaimed.
"I…didn't do the Water Specialization. No worries, I think she can figure it out on her own," Weiss answered, and then received a knuckle to the head.
"…Why am I with you idiots?" Flare sighed.
The three of them are walking on the road altogether, which doesn't obey the concepts of saving a prisoner at all. At first, Flare was quite scared to join in since she doesn't want to be a wanted criminal, but Weiss just debunked it by saying that she is already dead. Boyd then convinced Flare that she doesn't have to be afraid of anything because the three of them are not wanted people, but he advised Flare to wear her hood since the guards might recognize her. After packing their stuff, the three continued on their journey while at the same time using the most practical road that the guards transferring the prisoner, must pass on. While walking, Weiss lagged behind to talk to Flare.
"So, you said that you had trained before, right?" Weiss asked.
Flare nodded.
"Have you done the Water Specialization technique before?"
Again, she nodded. Immediately, Weiss smiled and raised his voice.
"See that, Uncle Boyd. She'd already done the test before, so we don't have to rush her to do it again," Weiss purposely tried to sarcastically smear on Boyd, but all he received is a chuckle.
"So, Your Highness, do you remember what was the result? It would be easier for us to coordinate with you if you remember?" Boyd asked.
Flare was then absorbed in thought, trying to remember.
"If I remember correctly, I remember that the water poured out," Flare tried to recall her experience before.
"Oh, so you are an Arcane user? Did you then test the water?" Boyd asked.
As Flare tried to recall her memory, she changed into another topic first.
"Boyd, if I may ask, how did you determine everything by that test?" Flare asked.
However, before Boyd could answer, Weiss intruded.
"That's easy. If the water is pouring out, you are an arcane user. If the bottle spins around, you are a Mental magic user. Lastly, if the bottle broke, you are an elemental magic user," he boasted.
"I was not asking you."
"Correct, Weiss. Well done."
"True, then when you have to categories yourself into one of the subcategories, the test will vary. If I recall, if you're an arcane user, you use a cup of water and channel your magical energy into that water," Boyd also tried to remind himself.
"What if the water changed color?" Flare asked.
"Then, you are an energy manipulator…" Boyd answered.
Again, Weiss just jumped up suddenly, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're an energy manipulator? Huh, good luck trying to harness arcane magic from this air," Weiss sarcastically remarks.
"…If true, then, you might have a hard time using your powers…" Boyd murmured.
"…Because of the difference in magical energy in the air?" Flare asked, and Boyd nodded.
The continued-on walking until suddenly, Boyd stops, raising his hand. He signaled the two of them to follow his lead and stop too.
"It seems that we have misjudged Whitefall, Weiss," Boyd exclaimed, and for some reason, his voice turned serious.
Flare was confused to know what is happening. Then, Weiss did the same. His face turned from the sarcastic, jerk-ish looking face on his, is now turned into a serious-looking evil character who just met an enemy. Weiss immediately left Flare behind and stood next to Boyd. Now, Flare is sure that both of them are looking at the same thing, so she approached and looked at the direction they are facing.
"What's…that?" she asked, trying to sharpen her eyesight by narrowing her eyes.
At first, she thought it was something serious, but to her relief, it was just a carriage. There were two horses, with a carriage behind them that the horses are pulling. After focusing her eyesight, she knew, without a doubt that it is a carriage carrying a prisoner, but something is REALLY wrong about it. Usually, as per prisoner transfer standards that she read about back home, there should be a minimum of 4 soldier guarding a prisoner in case a prisoner has to be transferred to Whitefall from neighboring towns and villages. However, the case in front of her is bizarre indeed. Only a carriage, two horses, one driver riding on a chariot, but no doubt there are at least 5 prisoners imprisoned inside the carriage tied to the chariot. Despite all this, the three of them reached a consensus that the driver himself is bizarre. Flare was the one who noticed it first, but for some reason, she felt the air around her slowly becoming really heavy, as if the presence of the chariot itself is pushing her lungs inwards.
"You felt it, don't you?" Weiss uttered, as the girl is trying her best to take a normal breath as the air felt like it is being sucked from her.
"Do not panic, Your Highness. What you are experiencing now is the most basic form of fear if you were going to face an enemy that is deadlier than you, no matter magic or not," Boyd responds.
The two of them stand normally while the princess herself is struggling to breathe. Boyd assisted her in calming her down, but as the chariot slowly approached them, Flare felt the air getting heavier.
"It's what I call Magic Pressure. It happens to anyone who is facing an enemy a lot stronger than them in terms of magic," Boyd explained, patting Flare at the back, trying to calm her breath.
"So…their presence itself can kill a person?" Flare breathed.
"…If they wanted to…" Boyd uttered.
As Weiss slowly pull out his sword, the horses then stopped a few meters in front of them, with the driver riding the chariot just looking at them. The prisoners inside the carriage are unconscious, and gradually, the air became heavier. Soon, Flare noticed that the area is slowly being covered by some sort of mist, leaving only the three of them and the chariot. The driver then pulls a small book out of his pocket and quickly examines it, flipping from page to page. Each time a page is flipped, he looks at the faces of the three people in front of him.
"No…" he hums, as he flips into the next page.
Then, a sudden realization sparks Flare's mind.
"There's no doubt about it…" Flare gasped, getting Weiss's attention.
"What?"
"That's the Executioner, I've seen that armor before every time during an execution. Without a doubt, that's him!" Flare notified the two of them.
"…It doesn't make sense. Why would Whitefall send an executioner to transfer a prisoner?" Weiss asks.
"…That's no ordinary executioner…" Boyd murmured.
After a while, the executioner stopped onto a page and looked at their faces. He faced Flare, then Boyd, and then Weiss. When looked at Weiss, Flare could feel the change in atmosphere, as if the executioner has looked at something, or someone.
"Found…you…" the executioner groans.
The two horses are neighing, and for some reason, their skin slowly turns black from their hooves. Their dark chocolate skin is replaced with black, and the black eyes are now glowing in orange, and fire began to shoot out of its eyes. The transformation itself was eerie, but the three of them stood their ground as the mist was getting thicker. It continued like this until they couldn't even see anything one meter in front of them. All they could hear was the sound of metal clanking on the ground and the horses neighing.
"…What is this?" Flare uttered as she reversed backwards, trying to find the others.
Her back then bumped onto something, and she quickly leaped away from it, only to find out that it is Weiss, already with a sword in hand.
"I trust you take this as your practical studies, Captain, because it will test what you have learned until now!" Weiss exclaimed, watching his front.
The horses are still neighing, but he could not pinpoint where they are.
"I didn't even try to use my circuits yet, and now you are telling me to use magic! Are you joking?" Flare yelled.
"Well, I don't know about the details, but your life now depends on it. Do you really think that creepy looking chariot is going to keep us getting out of here alive?" Weiss responds.
He is right. She doesn't know what triggered the Executioner into attacking them, but she knows that now is not the right time to fight. Both watch each other's back, with only the sound of neighing horses and galloping hooves. It is getting closer, but where?
"…No doubt about it, that's some kind of necromancer," Weiss uttered.
Suddenly, they began hearing the galloping hooves becoming louder and louder. They are still unable to determine where it is coming from until suddenly, the two horses just appear on their left and rammed them at full speed. The impact was sure to hurt if they'd not notice it. Luckily, both managed to dodge. However, the Executioner who was standing on the chariot managed to whip his thorny whip and injured Weiss. Flare immediately rushed to him as the sound began to fade away, but no doubt that it would come back. Weiss's back was torn open by the thorny whip, and his back is bleeding.
"Don't worry, this is still nothing…" Weiss grunts, standing back up.
"No, no, you should be sent to an infirmary or a healing station…" Flare panicked, but Weiss immediately replied.
"…Not going to happen, we are far at the edge of nowhere, next to a steep cliff with only one road back and…"
For some reason, he stopped talking.
"What's what?" Flare asked.
"Of course, this is just one road, and if we remember correctly, there's not enough space for a chariot to turn around, which means he will appear from only our left or our right since there's not enough space," Weiss deduced.
"…And if you noticed, it was only the horses and the chariot there, but not the carriage…"
"Which means that the Executioner might have left it somewhere behind…" Flare uttered.
"Exactly, Captain."
The sounds of galloping are closing in, so they stopped talking for a while, but at the same time, since they just dodged the attack, both have lost their sense of direction. They couldn't tell which direction is in front or back, which side is facing the cliff and which side is where they will fall to their doom. Again, the horses reappeared from the mist, and this time, Flare didn't have enough time to dodge it, and the right horse manage to ram her arm, breaking it into two.
"AAHHHH!!!" Flare screamed in pain and was thrown to the side.
The executioner then whipped his thorny whip again, this time in Flare's direction. Its sharp thorns are closing in on Flare, and the sound of the whip is enough to scare anyone off. For a moment there, Flare had already imagined her death until suddenly, she could hear a sword, slashing the long whip. She opened her eyes, and saw the whip cut into two, Weiss sword and blood.
"Wake up, Captain Flare!" Weiss shouts and snaps Flare out of confusion.
A part of the whip is cut off, but the other part managed to injure Weiss's right arm since he tried to block that part with his arm, protecting Flare. However, the Executioner didn't care about it and galloped away from sight.
"…Get a hold of yourself! Use your magic powers!" Weiss yelled at her.
Flare remained silent. Her hands are shaking.
"If you have time to imagine your death, how about you give up on that and imagine how to live instead?!" Weiss yelled.
"…How? How do I use it?" Flare asked with her shaky hands.
For some reason, at that time, she was expecting Weiss to yell at her once again, for being so useless and powerless during that situation. However, that didn't happen. Instead, Weiss handed over a dagger to her. Flare was puzzled and confused by this. She never used a weapon before, although she tried to defend herself from Weiss once. Now, the stranger who kidnapped her from her tower is giving her a weapon. She couldn't think what to do of it. Slowly, she reached her hand out and grabbed the dagger. At the same time when she took the dagger from Weiss, Weiss grabbed her gripping hand and pulled her up.
"…Breath in, and don't panic. Try to get yourself in a position where you could focus on this chaotic situation, and image it in your mind. Anything. You're an energy manipulator, you can imagine anything an elemental magic user can do. Think of one element, any element. Maybe the one that you fear the most, or maybe the one where you find piece," Weiss advised her about using her circuit.
"Try to imagine anything, your mind is your power. Use it, Captain Flare," Weiss added.
For a moment there, Flare couldn't think of anything, but when she was pulled up, she felt a bit…free. Her body felt lighter…until suddenly she realized that Weiss is…holding her hand. Once she noticed this, her whole body suddenly became hotter, and her face turned bright red.
"Idiot!" she squeaked, smacking Weiss's head with the dagger's hilt.
"Argh!" Weiss shouted in pain, holding the lump on his head.
"What are you doing you idiot?!" Weiss yelled.
"Don't touch a girl's hand without permission, you pervert!" Flare yelled.
Weiss face immediately turned, with a face that's saying, 'That's what you are thinking?'
"Where Boyd anyway…" Flare asked, until suddenly, she sees a figure sitting behind Weiss.
Weiss immediately turned around and approached it, along with Flare behind him. Slowly as their vision returns to them, they began to clearly see what it is. However, before they could do anything, they could hear galloping hooves once again. This time, they know where the horses come from, so they are prepared. Once the horses appeared, they immediately dodged the ramming by rolling to the side. Suddenly, an arrow suddenly pierced onto the ground, slightly missing Weiss's head before the chariot disappears again.
"Looks like this time he is using a bow instead of a whip," Weiss uttered as he stood up.
"…That'll be a bit tough," Flare exclaimed.
She tried to reach for solid ground in front of her, trying to push herself up, but when she did, there was nothing there. There is no solid ground in front of her, and she nearly fell off the cliff! She squeaked in terror before she managed to use her other hand to herself up, quickly getting her balance back.
"What's wrong?" Weiss asked.
"I nearly fell," Flare replied, and received a laugh.
"That's what you get from being an idiot!" Weiss laughed.
Flare just groaned with a face that says, "I hate you!"
Both quickly got back on their feet and approached the figure that they had just seen. When they did, both just stopped on their feet. At the side of the road under the cliff that is above them, a person is sitting there, mumbling at himself. It was a man in a complete set of armor, sitting there with his arms crossed to each other. Flare and Weiss just stood there, confused.
"…Hmm…"
"Mmm…Mmm…"
It was Boyd, sitting there himself.
"Hmm…hmm…"
"Ah…oh!" Boyd noticed their presence.
"Now you two, don't disappear like that again! You had me downright worried!" Boyd scolded them, ignoring the fact that they are now being attacked by a powerful enemy that just broke Flare's left arm and injured Weiss.
"…But thanks to you guys, an epiphany struck me while the horses are galloping around the road."
Weiss face was confused and angry at the same time, and the same as in Flare.
"I've unraveled the mystery on how to beat that inscrutable chariot, and I've already set the trap. Ahahaha…ahahahaha….!" Boyd laughed.
"Now, I'm going to get up on the ridge above, the two of you should prepare here," Boyd stood up and disappeared into the miss, alone.
Weiss and Flare couldn't figure out what is happening, and they just stood there.
"…He just left…" Flare murmured.
"Yeah…he always does this…" Weiss uttered.
Again, they heard galloping hooves again, so they prepared themselves. The galloping is gradually getting louder and louder. Both are prepared for the worst, but there is no way to tell is the Executioner is going to shoot his arrow for ram them first. They couldn't see anything in the mist, so they only have to follow their instincts.
"…HEAVE…!" a voice boomed the surrounding, which surprised both Flare and Weiss.
Not only them, but it also surprises the Executioner.
"HO! WATCH YOUR HEADS!" the voice yelled, followed by the sound of something heavy crashing and rolling down from the cliff above them.
It took a while until the two of them realized that it was the sound of boulders, and quickly sprinted away.
"Uncle Boyd, YOU IDIOT! YOU SHOULD TOLD US SOONER!" Weiss yelled.
"DO YOU WANT US TO DIE TOO?" Flare joined.
However, Boyd is standing proud above them with both arms crossed, as if he is posing for a painting.
"…If you want to win a battle, you have to know what the enemy is thinking!" Boyd smirked.
"SO, YOU WERE TRYING TO KILL US?!" Flare yelled.
The huge boulders crashed on the road in front of them, creating more dust inside the mist. They could hear the horses neighed in terror due to the loud sound, and they could hear the horses trying to scrape the ground with their hooves, trying to avoid colliding with the rock. The sudden brake, combined with the momentum from the speed, created inertia, and the boulders successfully throw off the Executioner from his chariot, and then through the boulders. The man crashed on the road at the side where Flare and Weiss are at, while the other side is where the horses are.
"That idiotic man, but luckily…" Weiss uttered and looked at the Executioner.
"We have the big fish now."
Flare's legs are shaking since she'd never been in a fight before. The crashing boulders were all too sudden for her, but she managed to get through it. However, now comes the tough part. The Executioner slowly stands back up. Away from his chariot, now, Weiss managed to get a close look on him. At first, it looks like the man is wearing rags. Upon closer inspection, the Executioner is wearing black shoulder pads, covered with black fur. There's only a piece of cloth covering his front body and back. His gauntlets and leggings are also black. There's a crossbow strapped to his shoulders and a blade tied to his waist. However, as the man is standing up and facing them, he is saying nothing, not even a word.
"Why are you attacking us?" Flare asked, only to be greeted with silence.
"Uuhh…" the man moans, lifelessly.
For some reason, Weiss eyes immediately opened back to life once he heard that, while Flare is still in the dark.
"I see…you're a Husk," Weiss exclaimed, which caught Flare's attention.
"A Husk?" Flare asked.
Hearing Flare reacted like that just popped out Weiss eyes, as if he was surprised that someone didn't know about it.
"Are you really this stupid, Captain?" Weiss asks.
Flare just groans in irritation.
"It has been around ever since the civil war, but it hasn't reached the capital, Whitefall, yet. So far, I only know few cases of it," Weiss briefly explained the situation.
However, Flare was still oblivious to it.
"How about I explain it after…" Weiss stopped half-way.
He turned his head to the Executioner, who was still moaning.
"I means, I can kill you," Weiss stated and readies his blade.
"Captain, I advise you, if you do not want any part of this fight, I suggest you step back and rescue the prisoners," Weiss suggests with his eyes focused on the enemy.
"What about you?" Flare asked.
"Have faith in me, Captain. This is your first knight after becoming captain."
In a split second, Weiss turned his head to face Flare.
"Trust me."
In an instant after Weiss turned his head and faced the Executioner, both lunged towards at each other with the full intent to kill the other. They parried each other mid-air and began slashing each other. The executioner's sword is slightly bigger than Weiss's broadsword, but it didn't even faze Weiss. Once both swords crash on the ground, Weiss kicked the executioner's leg, trying to topple the large figure downwards. However, the Executioner managed to prevent it by stabbing his sword into the ground. It left a huge opening to his abdomen, which is the prime area where Weiss is targeting. Weiss immediately tried to slash his stomach, but the Executioner quickly uses his other hand to use his already loaded crossbow. His crossbow is unique. It has an iron-made plating which serves as a shield when firing crossbow bolts. The Executioner pulled the trigger mechanism and fired a single bolt while aiming at Weiss's head amidst trying to stabilize himself. Weiss had to dodge downward to avoid the bolt, and that is when the Executioner kicked him away using his knee directly at Weiss's face.
Weiss was thrown off backwards, but he immediately rolled and got back his balance. The Executioner pulled his sword from the ground and attacked Weiss, swinging his sword from multiple directions. Luckily, Weiss managed to parry them all. The Executioner tried to slash downward, but it missed - leaving an opening for Weiss. Weiss immediately stepped on the Executioner's sword and slashed his abdomen. The Executioner screamed in pain and smashed the iron-plate crossbow directly into Weiss's stomach.
"Is there anything that I could do?" Flare asked herself, gripping her fists and feeling powerless.
"…Focus, and imagine…" suddenly she remembered Weiss's advice, so she decided to use it.
Slowly, she tried to find serenity during the chaotic moment and recalled back her previous training. Indeed, Weiss has already activated her circuits, but it doesn't mean that she is able to control her power just yet. As she tries to focus during the battle, she delves back into her past, during the time where her father was teaching her magic.
…..
"…Flare, you can't do it like that…" Flare remembered the soft voice coming from her father when she was studying arcane projection.
"…How would you do it, Daddy?" she replied, confused.
"Hmm…I would imagine that magical energy is like a fuel, and your mind is like fire. A novice like you will be able to do that," King Edwen teased her.
Flare pouted her cheeks.
"…You meanie! I've studied a lot on how to use it!" Flare replies, but her dad just laughed.
"Even if you study all the knowledge in this world, there is no use of learning it if you don't know how to apply the knowledge in real life, sweet pea," King Edwen told her, at the same time teasing her.
"…Don't call me sweet pea anymore! I'm a teen now, now a kid!" she responds, and again, the king laughs.
"So, just try to imagine it. Oil and fire. Once you grab the basics, I am sure you can do even more complicated spells soon enough," King Edwen pats her daughter's head.
…..
_____________________________________________
--Image--
https://ibb.co/rfhZXzz - Flare Shooting Her First Magic Attack
_____________________________________________
Weiss coughed out blood from his mouth and spit the rest of it out, while the Executioner just stood there, ignoring the blood that is pouring out of his guts. It seems the man himself can't feel pain, he is just a walking dead man, and a skilled-walking dead man at that. Using the crossbow iron plate as a shield to block Weiss's attacks was unique, and the Executioner's fighting style of using a sword in one hand and crossbow in one hand is quite unpredictable. However, Weiss himself is also a good swordsman. He managed to injure the Executioner who was rumored to be ruthless in battle.
"There's no end to this," Weiss said to himself.
"No doubt, he is stronger than me, but I am faster. However, I do feel pain, but he doesn't. That's what Husks are. Mindless people who know how to use weapons," he added.
"Weiss!"
Suddenly, he heard a girl shouting his name. He immediately turned around and saw something very unexpected. Something is glowing bright in gold, nearly blinding his eyes. Once his vision adjusted to it, to his surprise, it was Flare's activated magic circuit. There are these lines made from the circuit that glows on her skin, indicating that her magic powers are currently at maximum power.
"Impossible, even I had to train for months to activate my circuit at full power," Weiss said to himself.
A gold-like light emanating from her right hand, where the entire 'circuit' is.
"If what they say are true, I know I can use magic without any chant, but I am not that skilled yet," Flare said to herself.
"I'm quite surprised myself."
"…I wish you can see this, Daddy…," Flare said in her heart.
Immediately, she pointed her hand at the Executioner.
"Crimson Crystals, Lightning Sprites, gather and fire!" Flare chanted.
Immediately after that, a bolt of lightning just shot out from her right hand and zaps the Executioner at full power. Flare shouts, as if she is shouting her own war cry as she fires her first spell. The lightning damaged the Executioner greatly, as the man didn't move from his spot for a few seconds after spell is finished. This gives the opening that Weiss needed.
"Flare! Give me my dagger!" Weiss shouts.
Flare immediately reacted and tossed the dagger; Weiss caught it mid-air and positioned himself in front of the Executioner. With bloodshot eyes and swift movements, Weiss attacks using his sword and dagger, slashing, and carving the Executioner's skin on his front body, gravely injuring the warrior. Flare couldn't believe her eyes to what she is seeing, such brutality and gruesomeness coming from her knight. Weiss kept on slashing around, not giving a single chance for the Executioner to stand up. He slashed the back of his knees, preventing the Executioner from standing, and then his joints, preventing him from swinging a sword. He stabs the dagger directly at the man heart, carves it to the side and pulls his dagger back out. This was no longer a fight, it's a slaughter.
"Weiss!" Flare shouted his name, stopping the boy from wounding the man anymore.
"…Stop, please…" she begged.
Weiss made a peculiar face, as if he knew that this would happen. Indeed, he stopped, but as he approached his captain, there's still a bit of animosity on his face.
"Finish him, captain," Weiss suggests.
Flare was shocked to hear this, and she was shocked to see the change in Weiss's face. The face a sarcastic, happy person is gone, and now turned into a face of a serious killer.
"No…" Flare said.
"Do it," Weiss pushed her.
Although she doesn't realize it, tears begin to water her eyes, as if she is begging for it to be stopped.
"NO!" she yelled.
Weiss face just changed, and clearly he was irritated by her answer.
"This man in front of you is no longer human! HE IS JUST A WALKING DEAD MAN AT THIS POINT!" her first knight yelled at her.
"HE IS NO LONGER HUMAN!"
"DRAW THE LINE, PRINCESS FLARE!" he yells.
Flare's body is shaking, and slowly, her magic circuit fades back, turning her skin back to normal.
"Just stop, please…" Flare begs Weiss.
Flare even bows to Weiss with tears dropping on the floor.
"…Please, just…stop, I can't take this…" Flare begs.
However, Weiss isn't taking it lightly, but his hands are shaking. There is doubt in his eyes, but he knew that the Executioner must be finished. For some reason, he couldn't finish him because of the scene in front of him. He is irritated, yes, but he couldn't do it. Suddenly, the Executioner pulls out the iron-plated crossbow and shoots at Flare's direction.
"Shit! I forgot to disable his left arm!" Weiss realized his mistake and moves his hand, trying to pull Flare away from the bolt.
"Can I make it?!" Weiss asks himself.
"No, no, no, I can't!"
"SHE MUST LIVE!" Weiss yells on the top of his lungs, but the words didn't come out from his mouth.
…..
Blood is dripping onto the road, wetting the soil with red liquid. Flare opened her eyes and saw a hand…gripping the bolt which the Executioner fired. Blood is pouring out of the palm, probably a scratch mark, but the leather bottom protected most of the palm. Flare then noticed that the hand is plated with armor and the man who grabbed the bolt is Boyd. His body is facing the Executioner, and still, Flare couldn't figure out his expression because of the helmet.
"I see…" Boyd uttered.
"Both of you should rest first. I suggest you meet up with the freed prisoners and accept their thanks. They are grateful to you," Boyd suggests.
Weiss didn't say anything and walked away, covering his wound with his hands.
"Pardon me, Your Highness, for my lateness. I was absorbed in thought as I was freeing the prisoners," Boyd apologized to Flare.
"You should go follow your knight, Captain Flare, and accept those prisoners' thanks. I'll treat your wounds later," Boyd assures her to walk away.
In all honesty, Flare was confused as to what she should do now, but in the end she just follows Boyd's orders.
"Your Highness, may I offer you a bit of advice?" Boyd asks.
Flare just nodded, possibly still in shock.
"Your moral code is understandable, Your Highness, but there will come a time where you have to choose either that, or your life…"
Flare remained silent.
"Gallantry entails great risks, Your Highness," Boyd finished his advice.
Flare didn't say anything and walked away, leaving Boyd to deal with the Executioner how he sees fit. Though there are some questions in her mind, but in the meantime, she'll have to wait. Once she approaches the carriage, all the prisoners inside thanked the both before running away, except one. There's one prisoner who is sitting inside the carriage with his eyes looking at Flare and Weiss, as if he is inspecting them.
"You're no jailer…and judging by what I've that gold light…" the prisoner said.
Immediately, he kneeled in front of Flare while inside the carriage.
"It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness."
Flare just smiled, tired, and hurt.
"…If you guys are traveling further north, I have a favor to ask of you," the prisoner pleads.
"Listen, old man. We don't have time…" Weiss tried to reject it, but Flare immediately raised her hand, signaling Weiss to keep quiet.
"Go on…" Flare said.
"There's…an old, musty town, just at the other side of Mighty Creek. I-if you are heading to the port, I am sure you can…please, take a detour to the left. A woman, lives there, named Petra," the prisoner explains, pulling something out of his pocket, which turned to be a pretty, silver necklace.
"P-Please, can you give her this necklace?" he asks.
"…I-I-In fact, I am not asking for charity. I-If you do this to me…I'll be sure to repay in kind. I-I-I may be a petty thief, but I am shrewder than most nobles inside the Whitefall palace…"
The prisoner stopped halfway, and looked quite worried that he might insult the princess in a way, but she didn't and just smiled.
"W-Well, what do you say?" he asks.
Weiss is clearly uneasy about this, and signals Flare to just refuse it since it is not their job. However, after going through much shock which questions her moral code, the princess felt like she had to do some good in order to prevent herself from breaking. After a while, she smiled and nodded. The prisoner knew that she was in shock, so he didn't question away.
"…Very well, I humbly place my faith in you, Your Highness. My name is Slag of the Crayton Settlement, and I will promise to assist you…Do your part and…I'll do mine, eyh?" Slag responds with a bit of joy by the tone in his voice.
"I-I-There's a small cottage, just outside the Crayton Settlement. H-Here's the key," Slag handed the key to Flare.
She took it and held it in her hand.
"…There's food and a set of armor in there. Take it, it's the least I could do," Slag told her the contents of the house.
The silence which follows afterwards killed the moment as the petty thief runs away to a different direction from the Crayton Settlement.
"…Captain, permission to speak," Weiss asks.
"Granted…" Flare answered half-heartedly.
"It would be wise to train yourself on using a sword or any other weapon besides magic, and…"
Weiss stopped halfway.
"And?" Flare asks him to finish his sentence.
"If you step foot in that settlement…you might not be yourself when you get out," Weiss answered.
"…And why is that?" she asks.
"The line…the line between humans and Husks is blurry there."
"Crayton Settlement, the largest infestation of Husks in the human continent…" Weiss answered.