"Subaru! We're all going to die!"
Subaru calmly glanced over to Felt. She stood beside him, ashen-faced and trembling. She pointed a shaking hand out at the horizon.
"What's the matter?" Subaru asked calmly.
"What's the matter?!" Felt gasped. "Are you fucking kidding me?! We're all about to drown!"
Subaru shaded his eyes and peered off into the distance. Sure enough, a colossal wave of water the size of a mountain was bearing down on them, racing across the flat plains.
"Vincent warned us about this!" Garfiel whimpered. "He told us not to come out here. But you said that you could stop it!"
"I can stop it," Subaru said, completely unperturbed.
"Then this would be a great time to do it!" Felt screamed.
Subaru studied the approaching wall of water that threatened to drown not only him but hundreds of miles of farmland and all of the people who lived upon them.
"Follow me," Subaru said, casually strolling toward the advancing wall of water.
"Where are you going?!" Felt asked shrilly.
"We need to find the right spot," Subaru said thoughtfully. "It's a little difficult to locate these things from a distance, and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of my lack of precision." He reached down and felt the grassy earth as if looking for something.
"What are you doing?!" Garfiel demanded.
Subaru continued to probe the ground in no great hurry. "Ah. Here is the spot that I was looking for, " He said with satisfaction.
"Subaru!" Felt screamed as the water raced toward them like an avalanche. It would engulf them in moments.
Subaru gave the wave the faintest look of annoyance. He raised one finger toward the encroaching wall of water. "Stay," He said firmly.
His voice was soft, but the wave heard him, and it obeyed. The mountainous wave of water stopped in its tracks, surging higher and higher. The wave frothed and churned into white foam as the water 's natural impulse to flow and to crash was stymied by the undeniable power of Subaru's word.
Subaru prodded the ground with a thoughtful expression. He extended his hand over what seemed to be a completely normal patch of ground. "Rise up," He instructed.
The earth heaved violently. Felt and Garfiel were tossed off their feet as the violently trembling land spasmed. Subaru weathered the earthquake as calmly as a sailor at sea handles a rocking deck, his attention and focus unshaken.
The earthquake intensified. The terrible shaking continued for a full minute and then two. The birds nesting in nearby trees cried out in panic as they flew away. The ground seemed to growl beneath their feet, a low sound of grinding rock coming from deep within the earth.
Subaru extended his hand and then made a fist. Not a hundred feet in front of him, the earth split. An enormous fissure that stretched from horizon to horizon opened in the ground.
Subaru slowly lifted his hand, and the land beyond the fissure fell away. The ground that Subaru and the others stood on heaved endlessly upward, lifting them high up into the sky until even the mountainous wave of water fell out of view.
Higher and higher, the earth they stood on rose, and then the terrible earthquake began to calm.
Finally, the convulsing earth grew still again.
Subaru calmly walked to the edge of the newly formed cliff and gazed at the horizon with a satisfied smile.
Felt and Garfiel looked at each other in disbelief and quickly hurried after him. Unwilling to trust their legs after the cataclysmic earthquake, they crawled to the edge on all fours.
"Holy shit," Garfiel whispered as he peered over the edge.
Subaru had made an escarpment, a thousand-foot cliff jutting incongruously up out of the plains, cut as straight as a sword blade. The cliff stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions, an immovable bulwark of solid stone that separated the land from the ever-hungry sea.
Subaru scratched his chin and looked down at the frothing wave that stood frozen in place just beyond the cliff. With one hand, he made a beckoning gesture to the wave.
As if this signal had released all constraints on the mountain of water, the water surged forward, crashing into the cliff wall with a sound like thunder.
The water surged up the enormous cliff, driven by the force of the impact, and then it slowly began to fall. The wave 's momentum, having been arrested by the massive collision, the hungry sea began to recede from the cliff.
Garfiel was panting for breath. "The farmers," He muttered in disbelief. "Captain, you saved their lives. You saved their land. You're a hero."
Subaru carefully hid a smile. "True, but I'm not sure that I'm satisfied with this 'wall,'" He said dolorously, gesturing toward the massive stone edifice they stood on. "What do you two think?"
"What?" Felt asked in disbelief.
"I need a critical eye," Subaru admitted. "Would you two mind reviewing my work? Please, speak frankly. I promise that I won't be offended by your criticism. If you find flaws in what I've created, I will correct them," He vowed.
Felt and Garfiel stared at each other in stunned disbelief. They seemed to be struggling to figure out how to respond to this bizarre request.
"It's… a great wall, Subaru. Really," Felt said in a faint voice.
"Yeah. It's an awesome wall, Captain," Garfiel murmured.
Subaru gave them a slight smile. "It's an adequate wall," He said deprecatingly. "But we needed to move fast, and I didn't have a chance to shape and mold it the way that I would have preferred."
Subaru glanced back at the gathered horde of farmers who now stared at Subaru in awe.
Subaru gave the farmers a look of annoyance. "I would appreciate, however, if, in the future, you would give me more notice when you require the reshaping of this world, " He said critically. "Work done in haste is always shoddy, and I'd prefer to have put a more finished look onto something that will bear my name for the next million years."
"A million years?" Felt asked in shock. "Will the wall last that long?"
"Of course," Subaru said as if it was obvious. "These stones will stand here practically forever. As wind and rain gradually tear down the escarpment I built, it will break down into a mountain range."
Felt shook her head in disbelief. "Subaru!" She suddenly yelled in his ear.
Subaru jolted upright in the ornate, padded carriage. He looked around in confusion.
Felt sat next to him. Subaru realized that she had bellowed directly into his ear in an effort to wake him up. Her expression was frustrated, and Garfiel looked like he was fighting not to laugh. Emilia had pulled the window curtains aside, and she was staring out of the carriage with a worried look on her face.
"Were you going to sleep all day?" Felt demanded. She returned to her seat beside Garfiel, folding her arms across her chest in annoyance.
Subaru rubbed his aching ear. "No, I wasn't planning to sleep all day! And I don't think that that was necessary! " He snapped, trying to shake off the ringing in his ears. "Why did you do that anyway? What 's going on?" He asked.
"We're still on our way to the Crystal Palace," Emilia murmured, staring out the window.
Subaru gave Felt a cold look. "So… there's no emergency? We're not about to be killed?" He asked pointedly. "What exactly necessitated that particular type of wake-up call? "
"We just heard from Captain Tob," Felt said tartly. "He says that we're about to reach Ivida. That's apparently where we're going to spend the night. The local mayor is throwing a celebratory dinner for us."
"Dinner?" Subaru asked in surprise.
Emilia gave him a patient look. "You really did sleep all day, Subaru, " She said reprovingly.
Subaru made a face. "Well… I didn't sleep all that well last night. I had a lot on my mind," He admitted.
"Really? What were you thinking about?" Emilia asked, still staring out the window.
Subaru flushed. "Oh… a bunch of stuff," He said awkwardly. "Nothing interesting."
Emilia gave him a quizzical look.
"So what does Vollachia look like?" Subaru changed the subject.
Emilia looked out the window again. "Well, we've left the desert behind. And I think we've been following the Tigracy River southeast so far. It all looked refreshingly lush and green, especially after Girali. It looks like we've just entered a city. I'm guessing that this is where we're going to spend the night."
Subaru flushed. I can 't believe I slept all day. If anything had happened to us, I would have been out cold. If we 'd been ambushed, I would have been useless.
Subaru cleared his throat. "Do we know anything about the people that we're meeting tonight?"
"Nothing," Felt said at once. "We never even got their names. Tob just peaked through the window to tell us that we'd be stopping in a few minutes, and then he rode off again."
Subaru made a face. "Somebody should tell the good Captain that he really sucks as a tour guide."
Subaru climbed out of the carriage. It was a warm sunny day, and they were inside a brownstone city. Captain Tob and the several dozen soldiers who made up their armed escort stood at attention nearby. The Vollachian soldiers all wore identical heavy armor and strange helmets with horsehair crests. They held long spears in their hands.
While Emilia and the others emerged from the carriage, Subaru studied the city. The buildings were all made of the same brown stone, and the design and architecture of the buildings didn 't vary as much as they would have in Lagunica. Almost all of the buildings looked exactly the same.
The carriage was parked in a stone cul-de-sac in front of a large mansion built at the city 's edge. Crowds of people walked by the cul-de-sac entrance on their way through the city. The people looked curiously at Subaru and his friends, but no one approached them. Most of the passersby wore plain brown clothing, but every once in a while, someone walked by wearing richer clothing and brighter colors. Regardless of the quality, all of the clothing had sharp and severe cuts, most of it reminiscent of Gilded Age European officers' uniforms. Women's clothing appeared less restrained, and low-cut and revealing dresses were common, but Subaru also noticed a few women wearing heavy robes; their faces were veiled, and nothing could be seen but their eyes.
This city has a surprisingly regular structure. The buildings and houses all look identical. You don 't usually find that degree of city planning in this world. In fact, these buildings follow a more regular pattern than most cities back home.
I 've heard that Vollachia is heavily militaristic, but I wasn't expecting quite this degree of uniformity.
Before Subaru did anything else, he checked on Patrasche, who had been tethered at the back of the carriage. The riding dragon looked sullen after being forced to follow the carriage all day but she seemed otherwise fine.
Subaru looked at the mansion. A small crowd of people waited for them on the stairs. The man standing in front was in his sixties and balding. Next to him was a younger man who greatly resembled him. There was also a brown-skinned demi-human with ram 's horns coming out of his hair. All three men were dressed identically, wearing clothing that reminded Subaru of Europe in the 19th century: tailcoats and cravats under a scarlet overcoat.
Behind the men stood three women in their early twenties who were dressed in low-cut gowns. Behind the women were a crowd of men in plain brown uniforms.
None of the people smiled or looked the least bit welcoming. They all stood at attention.
"Hm," Subaru muttered to the others. "I guess these guys are our hosts for the evening?"
"Gee. They look friendly," Felt muttered.
"Yeah," Subaru agreed. "But, let's at least try to put our best foot forward. Come on."
Subaru and the others slowly marched up the stairs.
Subaru felt uncertain about how to behave. Normally, he would have at least tried to smile in such a formal situation, but the stern appearance of their hosts left Subaru uncertain as to what the proper decorum in Vollachia was.
"Lord Subaru," The old man said respectfully as Subaru and his party reached the top of the steps. "I am Colonel Teague, Mayor of Ivida." He placed his fist over his heart as if in salute and bowed his head.
Subaru hesitated and then copied the gesture. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Colonel," He said. "This is my wife Emilia, our chief adviser Felt, and our… bodyguard Garfiel, " Subaru said, coming up with a position for him on the spot.
Teague nodded respectfully at Garfiel, although he seemed slightly mystified by Felt. "Allow me to introduce my household. This is my older son, Major Gaius, and my younger son, Captain Lucius."
The human and the demi-human pressed their fist against their heart and bowed their heads in unison.
Subaru 's eyes widened. A demi-human is his son?! And he 's presenting that publicly?!
Huh. I 'd heard that Vollachia was better about racial justice than Lagunica, but I didn't realize that mixed families would be so accepted down here.
Or is this just intended to cozen me? The world doesn 't remember Emilia giving speeches about raising the standard of living for demi-humans. They think that I did that. They might be putting on this show just to try and impress me.
Subaru studied the brown-clothed men and the women in gowns who stood further up the stairs, trying to see if they had made any reaction to this admission, but they paid Lucius and Garfiel no attention. They seemed much more curious about Emilia and Felt.
Meanwhile, Teague continued his introductions, "These are my wives, Flavia, Cornelia, and Julia-"
The women bowed their heads and gave deep curtsies.
His wives ? Plural? I didn 't know that was acceptable in Vollachia. Now that I look more closely, it seems that Julia is also a demi-human. She has horns similar to Lucius but it looks like she clips them short. I guess she's his mother.
Maybe this sort of family is common in Vollachia?
Teague continued, "-And this is my seneschal, Sergeant Hadrian, my chief-of-staff, Sergeant Tiberius, and my head butler, Sergeant Agrippa."
The men in brown uniforms pressed their fists against their hearts, and Subaru duplicated the gesture.
All of the servants in his household are soldiers? That seems strange.
"We've prepared a wonderful banquet for you, Lord Subaru," Teague continued. "Most of the local Patricians will be in attendance and they are most anxious to meet you. But I thought that perhaps you and your friends would appreciate the chance to freshen up first."
Subaru graciously inclined his head. "That's most generous of you, Colonel Teague. We accept with pleasure."
Teague nodded. "Agrippa, bring our guests to their rooms."
Agrippa, a very old bald man with a white mustache, gave them a deep bow. "If you'll all follow me," He said in a rusty voice.
Agrippa brought Subaru and his friends upstairs to what looked less like a guest room and more like an entire apartment. Inside, there was a large room with an enormous bed. It also had several couches arranged in front of a huge fireplace as if the bedroom was also the sitting room. There was a luxurious bathroom and another chamber with several smaller beds inside.
"Are your quarters acceptable?" Agrippa asked respectfully.
"More than acceptable," Subaru said at once. "Please convey our deepest thanks to the Colonel."
Agrippa nodded. "Supper will begin in an hour. I will return to fetch you," He said, closing the door behind him as he left.
Felt studied the room. "This is a pretty weird place," She murmured. "Is that where the children sleep?" She asked, pointing at the room full of plain beds.
Garfiel made a face. "No. I think that's the women's quarters," He muttered, stepping into the smaller room and looking around.
"The what?" Subaru asked.
"As you probably noticed, Vollachians are polygamous," Garfiel said matter-of-factly.
Felt sighed. "Do you really have to use those big words, fleabag? Couldn 't you just say, 'Vollachians form harems,' like a normal person would?"
"Hey. Some of us actually know how to read, shrimp," Garfiel said tartly.
"Why would they do something like that?" Emilia sounded baffled.
Garfiel shrugged. "Vollachians have a serious gender imbalance in their culture. The Empire is a very violent place, and duels of honor or settling political questions on the battlefield are common. All the middle and upper-class men are required to serve in the army from fifteen to thirty. As a result, a lot of men never live to see their thirtieth birthday."
"Are women required to serve?" Felt asked.
"No. Vollachia women are expected to just be pretty and produce lots of kids," Garfiel said, rolling his eyes.
Felt made a face. "Wow. I think I may have developed the slightest degree of sympathy for Priscilla."
"I did notice during the introductions that everybody had a military rank," Subaru remembered. "Even the servants."
Garfiel nodded. "Military rank is very important in the Empire. It's basically subsumed the aristocratic ranks that we know in Lagunica. In the Empire, your military rank determines what jobs and positions are open to you."
Subaru frowned, digesting that.
"I couldn't believe that the Colonel publicly acknowledged his demi-human son," Emilia said in something close to wonder. "That would never happen in Lagunica."
"The Empire is much more demi-human friendly than the Dragon Kingdom," Garfiel explained. "For the most part, at least. The prejudices down here are a little different."
"Different, how?" Subaru asked.
"Power means everything in the Empire," Garfiel replied. "If you're strong, everybody loves you, whether you're human or demi-human. If you're weak, you're an embarrassment to the family, and you can expect them to try to hide you. Vollachians don't hide their demi-humans. They hide their cripples and their weaklings."
Felt snorted. "Well, I won 't do well here, but they're going to absolutely love you three! "
"Not right now, they won't, shrimp," Garfiel sighed, plucking at the collar around his neck that sealed away his mana.
Subaru nodded. "Yeah. Getting those collars off of you guys is priority number one. Maybe we can get the Colonel to tell us where we could find a mage that does it."
"You think there's someone in Vollachia who knows how to do that?" Emilia asked.
"There must be! Vollachia allows slavery, so I have to assume that somebody down here uses slave collars," Subaru answered.
"Captain, should we come up with a plan for the Emperor now?" Garfiel asked.
"We… What?" Subaru asked in confusion.
Garfiel shrugged. "We don't really have a plan for how we're going to handle the Emperor, and he'll probably want to talk to us at the banquet-"
"Fleabag," Felt sighed. "The Emperor is nowhere near here."
"How do you know that?" Garfiel challenged.
"Because no Emperor is going to approach us by surprise," Felt said firmly. "It would be a sign of weakness. When the Emperor is ready to meet with us, he'll want to build it up big time. He'll want to make sure that we've been sufficiently intimidated by the wealth and power of Vollachia before he starts to negotiate with us. And, Subaru, I utterly hate the fact that you've pulled me deep enough into the stinking world of aristocrats that I know shit like this!"
Subaru chuckled.
Felt frowned. "Although, now that I think about it," She murmured to herself. "We really should come up with a plan for how we 're going to deal with the Emperor. We definitely won't meet him tonight, but we can at least start laying down the groundwork for our strategy and make sure that we all respond to any inquiries in ways that establish that we're a tight team so that the Emperor can't expect to turn us against each other. Assuming that the Emperor isn't a complete fool, he 'll be getting reports on everything we say and do from all of the guests we meet tonight and he'll be trying to learn everything he can about us. We want to be prepared."
Subaru hid a smile. One of these days, someone is going to be dumb enough to tell Felt that she 's an authentic political genius, and Felt is going to publicly murder that person.
Subaru glanced at Garfiel and saw that the demi-human was also struggling to keep a smile off his face.
"Hey! Pay attention!" Felt snapped her fingers. "Subaru! What's the plan?"
Subaru blinked and quickly pulled his mind back to the current situation. "Good question…"
Emilia turned to Subaru. "So what is our plan? "
Subaru made a face. "I… don't know," He admitted. "Truthfully, I never had great expectations that we would actually get something out of meeting with Vincent. But I thought that if we could get the Girali slaves safe passage to Lagunica by going to the meeting, then that would be an easy win. The slaves will be safer away from us anyway. And later, it might give us a chance to sneak across the border and back into Lagunica, hopefully somewhere that the Kingdom isn 't watching as closely."
"Is that the plan?" Garfiel asked. "We're going to head back to Lagunica?"
Subaru nodded. "Our first priority is to get to Torgon Tower and to save the spirits," He said firmly.
"Then… why are we meeting with the Emperor at all?" Emilia asked with a frown.
Subaru shrugged. "Like I said, agreeing to do it got the slaves safe passage out of the Empire. Fighting our way across Vollachia with several hundred frightened slaves at our backs was definitely not a workable solution, " Subaru snorted. "Also, if Vincent wasn't lying, he knows a way for us to find the Od Laguna. That by itself is enough to get my undivided attention."
"You think that he might have been lying about that?" Felt asked.
"No idea," Subaru shrugged. "But after everything that we've been through lately, I wouldn't be too surprised."
"Well, let's try to keep the Emperor happy with us while we're here," Felt muttered. "Or at least non-hostile."
Garfiel cocked his head. "Why?" He asked. "What do we care if the Emperor doesn't like us? We want to leave Vollachia after the meeting anyway."
Felt gave him an incredulous look. "Um. Fleabag, need I remind you that the two of us are now wanted fugitives in half the world? You do remember that two countries already have a death sentence on us, right? Not to mention the fact that Subaru and … Emilia … have now gone for three out of four. Vollachia is literally the only country left in the world that doesn 't want their heads. "
"Wait a second," Garfiel said in confusion. "Why does Kararagi want us dead?"
Felt stared at him. "Garfiel," She said as if speaking to a child. "You do remember how we were captured in Girali and then ran away along with most of the city 's population?"
"We were freeing slaves!" Garfiel protested as if that was all that needed to be said.
Felt sighed. "Yes, Garf. But slavery is legal in Kararagi. Which means that we are now considered runaway slaves and rebels as far as the Kararagi Assembly of Cities is concerned."
"That's bullshit!" Garfiel shouted.
"Yes. It is," Felt muttered. "But it's bullshit that I really don't want to try to explain in front of a Kararagi magistrate. Lagunica and Kararagi both want our heads right now."
Subaru frowned. "You're right, Felt," He muttered, folding his arms across his chest. "We have a serious problem."
Felt looked at him in disbelief. "Did you really just now realize that? " She asked.
Subaru ignored her. "I've actually been wondering what Vincent could possibly want from us."
Garfield snorted. "I'm amazed that he was willing to let you guys into the Empire at all! Given all of the chaos that you two have been stirring up all across the continent, you'd think that he'd just want you out of Vollachia as soon as possible. "
Subaru gave him a sour look. "Thanks, Garf. I needed that," He muttered. "My point is that Vincent may be reaching out to us because he thinks that making a bargain with us right now would be a good deal for him."
"What do you mean?" Emilia asked.
Felt sighed. "We don't have anywhere else to run to," She grumbled. "If we refuse Vincent's offer, all he has to do is put a price on our heads just like the rest of the world has, and we are utterly screwed. "
Subaru made a face. "Felt is right. Vollachia is our only safe haven at the moment. And if we can't reach an accommodation with Vincent, then we'll have no hiding places left. Vincent might be asking us to meet with him because he thinks he has us trapped. Either we do whatever he says, or we have suddenly managed to unite the entire world in a shared desire to kill us. "
"Yay," Garfiel cheered sarcastically. "We've brought all four nations together."
Felt ignored him. "Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing, boss," She said to Subaru. "That's what worries me too. Right now, the Empire is our only refuge, and the Emperor has got to be smart enough to figure that out. "
Subaru gave a bitter chuckle. "Well, even ignoring Vincent, I'm not entirely sure how 'safe' it actually is around here for us," He added. "I don't know anything at all about the Empire. How about you guys?" He looked around.
Emilia shook her head.
"I know plenty of stories that I heard on the street or in Gramps's bar," Felt said after a moment's thought. "But I don't know which ones are true and which ones are just stories. Lagunican gossip isn't the most objective critic of the Vollachian Empire."
"I've read a few books about the Empire," Garfiel offered.
"Awesome," Subaru replied. "What do you remember?"
Garfiel turned to Felt, and he waited a moment. "What? No comments?" He said in amusement. "No 'Garfiel is dumb' jokes?"
Felt gave him a bright smile. "Don't worry, fleabag. I'm just saving them up for the next time you say something stupid, " She said sweetly. "Can we get on with this?"
Garfiel laughed. "Hey! I think that I'm entitled here, shrimp!" He said, clearly enjoying himself. "Ever since we left the Sanctuary, every other sentence out of your mouth has been, 'Garf is so dumb.' Now, it's my turn cause I actually studied history and geography, and you didn't!"
"Garf," Subaru said patiently. "I know that you're really enjoying this, but we do sort of have a timetable here."
Garfiel chuckled. "Alright. So, I did hear some interesting stories about the Empire while we were coming across the Kararagi prairie. "
Felt blinked. "Where was I when this was happening?"
"Sleeping."
"And what? Priscilla just decided to chat with you?"
"It wasn't Priscilla who told me about this stuff," Garfiel said patiently. "It was Koh."
Felt rolled her eyes. "Oh! There's a reliable source of information! What did he tell you? The average bra size of Vollachian women?"
"He said that it was thirty-eight DD," Garfiel said seriously.
Felt 's face fell into her hands.
Garfiel didn 't notice. "Apparently, Koh spent several years researching this in his free time," He said, staring out into the distance thoughtfully. "He's created charts for all four nations' breast sizes. He said that, on average, Vollachian women have the largest breasts, and women in Gusteko have the smallest ones."
"Garf," Subaru said with a pained sigh. "Does all of this tell us anything useful about Vollachia society or culture?"
Garfiel scratched his chin. "Well… Koh said that Vollachia women know that they're busty and apparently that they're quite proud of that fact," He said seriously. "As a result of this, Koh said that they tend to favor low-cut tops and-"
Felt jerked her head out of her hands. "Garfiel!" She yelled in a long-suffering tone.
Garfiel flinched, looking momentarily taken aback by her shouting at him. He hesitated a moment, and then his eyes widened with understanding. "Your breasts are very nice too, Felt," He assured her.
Subaru and Emilia face-palmed in almost perfect sync.
Garfiel continued, "Some men actually like them small. And yours are very well-shaped-"
"Garf," Felt said in a deadly whisper. "I will smother you in your sleep."
Garfiel flinched. He gave Felt a hurt look, clearly at a loss for what he 'd done wrong. "Felt, I-"
"She'll do it, Garf," Subaru warned him.
Garfiel looked at him incredulously. "Captain, what-"
"Seriously, Garf," Subaru sighed. "Just quit while you're ahead."
"Trust me, Subaru," Emilia murmured. "He's already quite a ways behind."
Subaru shook his head. "Garfiel, did Koh tell you anything useful ? " He asked in exasperation.
Garfiel thought about it. "Well, he wouldn't give me many details about what he'd learned during his last mission in the south, and I knew better than to ask. But he said that Vollachia was on the brink of a civil war and that it could start at any time," Garfiel said.
"Fighting over what?"
"Over a lot of things," Garfiel shrugged. "War is almost a recreational sport in Vollachia. But this one could be worse because he said the western lands are going through a terrible drought, and the Senate doesn't seem to have any idea of how to fix the problem. He also told me a crazy story about an army of the living dead!"
There was a beat. " What ? " Subaru asked skeptically.
"Yeah, seriously, Captain," Garfiel said. "Koh got really evasive about it, and I didn't want to ask him too many questions about his work as a spy, but he told me that he'd been in Vollachia, and everyone was talking about armies of the walking dead coming out of the jungle."
"That's… that's a lot to buy, Garf," Subaru said skeptically.
"Hey, Captain, he said it, not me," Garfiel shrugged.
"Magic can't do that," Subaru said uncertainly, "Right?" He asked Emilia for confirmation.
Emilia shook her head. "No."
"Yes, it can," Felt muttered.
The trio stared at her.
"Felt," Subaru said in confusion. "Since when do you know anything about magic?"
"I don't know anything about magic," Felt replied. "But I do know Gramps's war stories. He told me that towards the end of the Demi-Human War, an assassin killed Libre Fermi, the political leader of the Alliance. Without her, the Alliance was on the verge of collapse. Everyone wanted to surrender, but the mages in the Alliance developed a terrifying new trick. Gramps and the others were ordered to start bringing the corpses of their enemies back to base with them. The sorcerers would work on them for a day or two and then…" She trailed off.
Subaru stared at her. "They brought them back to life ?! " He asked incredulously.
"No," Felt said firmly. "They could walk. They could fight. But they were still corpses. Gramps says that these Dead Soldiers were what let the Alliance hang on at the end of the war. The Dead Soldiers would take on any suicide mission without hesitation, and they could keep fighting even after most of their limbs had been chopped off. They weren't smart, but they could follow simple orders as long as one of their creators was nearby. Gramps said that the Dead Soldiers horrified the Lagunican armies, and they kept falling back even before the battle started."
Garfiel snorted. "Yeah. Go figure!"
Subaru digested Felt 's story. "What happened to all the undead soldiers?"
"Destroyed," Felt said shortly. "Or so I assume. The Dead Soldiers held the Lagunican Army back for a while, but it couldn't last. It took too long to perform whatever rituals were needed to reanimate new corpses. So, the Alliance ran out of soldiers to man the front line. The Lagunican army crushed them, and Gramps escaped and went into hiding. I'd assume that all the sorcerers working on the Dead Soldiers were either captured or killed."
"Maybe some of them fled down here," Garfiel suggested.
"This is still pretty hard for me to believe," Subaru admitted. "If magic could bring the dead back to life, you'd think we'd be hearing about that fact more often." He frowned. "Wait. What about the Witch Cult?"
Felt blinked. "What about them?"
"Maybe the Cult was behind resurrecting the dead for the Alliance?" Subaru said thoughtfully. "And maybe they're the ones doing it in the jungle now, too. The Archbishops seem to have access to magic that the rest of us don't understand, and that probably means they possess some sort of forgotten knowledge as well. I'd have a much easier time believing that someone like Capella could bring the dead back to life instead of some random mage who just happened to figure it out."
Garfiel looked pained. "I… don't know, Captain. I'd have a hard time believing that the Alliance would take help from the Witch Cult."
"But maybe if they were desperate enough," Subaru argued. "Remember, the Alliance didn't start using necromancy until the last days of the war. Maybe when their backs were to the wall, they were willing to make a deal with the devil."
Garfiel 's face twisted uncertainly. "I don't know, Captain," He complained. "I really don 't want to believe that."
"Hey, can I point out the obvious here?" Felt asked in a bored voice.
"Go for it," Subaru shrugged.
"Why are we even debating all this? Our only reason for even wondering if there could be an undead army comes from a single comment made by a drug-abusing, skirt-chasing moron!" She snorted.
"Hey! I like Koh!" Garfiel protested.
Felt gave him a sour look. "Yeah, I know. You so rarely encounter an intellectual peer," She said sarcastically.
"Hey!" Garfiel whined.
"Felt," Subaru sighed.
Garfiel frowned in thought. "Wait a second. We do have a good candidate who could be doing all this. Someone that we 've been told has connections with both the Alliance and the Witch Cult. "
Subaru blinked. "Who?"
Felt 's eyes narrowed as she looked at Garfiel. "Sphinx?" She asked.
Garfiel nodded. "She seemed to know an awful lot about witchcraft, " He said meaningfully.
Subaru considered that. "You might be onto something there," He said. "Sphinx apparently does know a lot about the witches. Alpha said that she has some sort of connection to the Ryuzus as well. And we know that the Ryuzus have access to some of the witches' secrets."
Garfiel looked thoughtful. "I'm not so sure that I buy that it's Sphinx doing this, though. What the hell would she want in the Empire?" He asked. "This isn't exactly prime territory for the Demi-Human Alliance."
"What do you mean?" Emilia asked.
Garfiel shrugged. "Vollachia has tons of social problems, but race doesn 't appear to be one of them."
Subaru nodded. "At least not from the little we've seen so far. They seem to treat humans and demi-humans roughly equivalently."
Garfiel nodded. "Most of the oppression in the empire is based on class and physical strength, and that's not really something that the Demi-Human Alliance uses to appeal to new recruits. I mean, what the hell would the Alliance even be doing down here?"
"Looking for more corpses to reanimate?" Emilia asked with distaste.
"Corpses aren't exactly a scare resource, Mili," Subaru snickered. "You don't need to come to Vollachia to find them. Hell, Sphinx could just follow us around for a couple of days, and she'd have all the corpses that she'd ever need."
"Subaru, that's gross!" Emilia complained.
"But not inaccurate," Felt admitted.
"I still don't know if I buy it," Garfiel murmured. "It just… it just doesn't make sense for the Alliance to be here in force."
"Maybe it's just the safest territory they have left," Felt shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Garfiel asked.
"Lagunica is obviously on the alert to prevent the Alliance from reviving," Felt said matter-of-factly. "So being in Lagunica is dangerous for them. Kararagi wouldn't be a good place to gather their forces because the laws there are progressive, and demi-humans don't feel oppressed. Gusteko is out because it's so virulently racist that most of the demi-humans have already migrated south. So, if you want a safe staging ground to gather your forces, what's left?"
Subaru mulled that over for a moment. "That's actually a very good insight," He complimented her, "You might have figured it out."
"Just to get us back on track here," Felt sighed, "All this talk about the undead is really secondary. We still need to figure out what we want to do about the Emperor and what our policy toward Vollachia is going to be."
Subaru made a face. "Alright. Here's how I see it: From the little we've seen so far, I think that we could stay in Vollachia for a while. Maybe we wouldn 't be happy, but I think that we could survive here. The problem is that we still need a backup plan. As it stands right now, Vincent probably thinks that he has us over a barrel-"
"What does that mean?" Felt interrupted.
Garfiel shrugged. "It's an expression, shrimp. It means that he thinks we have no choice but to agree to whatever deal he offers," He explained.
Felt made a face. "I don't think I get the expression, but I agree with the premise. We'll be nothing but the Emperor's slaves if we can't refuse even his most outrageous demands."
Subaru nodded. "Right. So let's think about places where we could run off and hide if we end up leaving Vollachia on bad terms with Vincent," He said.
"But what's left?" Felt asked. "Garf and I might be able to hide in Gusteko, ignoring all the hostile territory we'd need to cross to get there, but you guys are wanted criminals in the northern kingdom. Lagunica wants to execute you for witchcraft, Gusteko has charged you with regicide, and Kararagi will want you dead for inciting a slave rebellion!"
Subaru made a face. "Thank you for that excellent summary, Felt," He sighed.
Subaru thought for a moment. "You know something? I think there might still be some room to negotiate with Kararagi."
Felt squinted at him. "Err… Why?" She asked. "What makes you think they'd be willing to change their minds?"
"Kararagi is a confederation," Subaru said patiently. "The individual cities have a lot of independence, and they don't all allow slavery. Getting one city to agree to offer us asylum doesn't seem to be out of the realm of possibility as long as I promise to sit there quietly, keep inventing money-making machines, and keep my nose out of local politics."
Felt mulled that over. "It's… not a bad idea, " She admitted. "I'd definitely feel a lot better if we had another place to hide out if things go south with the Emperor. But arranging that kind of deal with Kararagi would take time. We couldn't just show up on their doorstep and ask for sanctuary. We'd need to negotiate the whole thing in advance."
Garfiel 's eyes lit up. "Hey! What about the Sanctuary? " Garfiel exclaimed. "That's a place where we could hide!"
Subaru mulled it over, and then he nodded. "It's an idea," He said slowly. "The Sanctuary is pretty well isolated, and the Ryuzus are good at hiding things. They've been hiding secrets from their neighbors for almost four hundred years."
"Yeah, but most of the Sanctuary was destroyed," Felt pointed out. "There's basically nobody left there. What would we do there? Set up camp in the woods and hide out for a few years? We're going to run out of food pretty fast."
"Subaru," Emilia said suddenly. "What about the forest?"
Garfiel cocked his head. "Which forest?"
'The Elior Forest," Subaru answered in a thoughtful voice.
Garfiel looked confused. "Wait. Why would we go to the Elior Forest? What's there for us except for a whole lot of ice?"
Emilia hesitated, seeming to debate telling him the whole story, but then she just pressed on. "There's plenty of space in the forest for us to hide," Emilia continued. "The houses in the village are all still sound. And there are other communities just outside the forest where we could buy and trade for supplies."
Subaru mulled it over. "It's got… possibilities," He said slowly. "But Anri knows where the village is, and that makes me a little nervous."
"Anri would never betray us," Emilia said, sounding very offended.
"I agree with Frosty, Captain," Garfiel said. "When we talked to Anri, she wasn't mad at you guys. She missed you. In fact, she felt awful about what happened to you."
Subaru sighed. "Look, I'm not suggesting that Anri would betray us, " He said patiently. "I'm saying that somebody she knows might. Radu is the regent right now, and he knows that we came from the forest because we discussed it with him. I don 't doubt that Radu would sell us out in a heartbeat if he thought it would spare Siros from another war. And honestly, I'm not sure that I could blame him," He admitted. "What's even worse, the forest is still in Lagunica. And that means Reinhard is free to go looking for us as soon as he hears any rumors of our presence."
Felt stiffened at the mention of Reinhard 's name but Subaru pretended not to notice.
Felt cleared her throat. "Hey," She said briskly. "Aren't we making life a little necessarily complicated here?"
"Probably. It's pretty much what I do," Subaru sighed. "Why, Felt? What blazingly obvious factor am I overlooking this time?"
"We are sitting on a lot of gold right now," Felt reminded him. "You gave both Garf and me three hundred gold coins from Sonas's vault and you two have got more than a thousand."
"So? What are you suggesting? We go back to Lagunica and just buy a pardon?" Subaru chuckled.
"No. What if we just bought a house somewhere?"
Subaru digested that, "I don't get it."
"What if we just bought a house?" Felt repeated. "Let's say that we buy a big house… I don't know, twenty miles outside of Costuul. We settle in there, and we just stay quiet. We can have goods delivered from Costuul every few days and we just stay away from people. We could hide in plain sight. Nobody would expect us to buy a homestead somewhere and just set up shop. We could hide out there until everyone stops looking for us. Or at least until we figure out what we want to do next. "
Subaru thought it over, and then he slowly nodded. "That's… actually pretty brilliant," He admitted.
"Of course it is. That's why you keep me around," Felt smirked.
Subaru chuckled.
"Uh," Garfiel said awkwardly. "Wait a minute, Captain. Is that really what we're thinking? Hiding out?"
"What do you mean?" Felt asked.
"Well… what about fixing everything?" Garfiel asked. "Improving the lives of the peasants and the demi-humans? I know that first, we need to save Puck and the little Bit and to fix…you know, Frosty's memory curse and all that stuff. I get that. But after we take care of that stuff, shouldn't we be bringing the fight to these Lagunican noble fuckers?"
"We're just a little bit outnumbered here, fleabag," Felt reminded him.
"Not for long!" Garfiel protested. "We do have allies."
"Who? Sphinx? You think we should get mixed up with her?" Felt snorted.
Garfiel gave her a patient look. "Oh yeah, shrimp. That 's exactly what I 'm saying. She seemed so trustworthy, " He said flatly.
Garfiel turned to Subaru. "I'm talking about all the peasants and the demi-humans! You should have seen how they all gathered to support you in the capitol when the Sages' Council tried to give you a drumhead trial. They were ready to march anywhere you led them and to take back what they deserved. Captain, if you get up in front of them and blow the trumpet, the next thing you know, you'll have a whole army: ready, willing, and able to fight!"
Felt 's eyes widened. Memories of Subaru's actions in Girali flew through her mind. She turned to Subaru, worry written all over her face, but to her relief, she saw that he seemed more uncomfortable than excited at the prospect of having his own army.
"Garf," Subaru said slowly. "It's not that simple."
"Why not?" Garfiel asked.
Subaru shifted uncomfortably. "Garf, this… this isn't just a raid. Or a fight. This is a war. A big war. We 're talking about completely changing the way that the whole country functions: politically, socially, and economically."
"Yeah! Because the way it functions right now sucks!"
"Yeah, it does," Subaru agreed. "But the people on top are really happy with the way things are right now. If we try to change it, they'll fight back. There'll be a war, and it'll be a long, bloody one."
"But we'll have all the advantages!" Garfiel argued. "Wouldn't they just… I don't know, back down when they realize they can't win?"
Felt gave Garfiel a faintly pitying look.
Subaru shook his head. "I don't know what advantages you're so certain we have," He began. "An untrained and unequipped mob of people is a poor excuse for an army. And folks will keep fighting just for a one-in-a-million chance of success. Especially if the ones choosing to keep fighting aren 't the ones who need to do the bleeding.
"Look, Garf, I'm not saying that this is a bad idea. I'm just saying that we need to think it over carefully. This would be a very long, very bloody business. Lots of people on both sides will get killed, and the other nations might even get involved, too. We could start a revolution, win the war, and still find ourselves wondering if we'd actually done the right thing while we're counting up all the dead bodies."
Garfiel looked slightly sullen, but he didn 't argue the point.
Subaru sighed. "Alright. Well, the important thing for right now is that I think we do have options. We can decide later specifically where we 'd hide out while we're rescuing the spirits and searching for the Od Laguna, but at least this gives us some kind of fall back plan so that if Vincent proves to be unreasonable, we can just take off and get out of here, no worse for wear."
"Assuming that he lets us," Felt reminded him. "We're smack in the heart of the Empire, and I've heard that Kings and Emperors tend to grow very testy when they're thwarted."
Subaru smirked. "I'm not too worried. If he's heard about what happened in Girali, I doubt he'll be willing to push me too far. I've got real power now. And Vincent crosses me at his own peril. "
Felt bit her lip, looking uncomfortable, but she didn 't say anything.
Subaru sighed. "Alright. So, for right now, our plan is to keep our options open. If anyone asks at the party, we'll tell them that we're looking forward to meeting the Emperor and discussing how we can be of mutual benefit to each other. If we get a chance, we'll also mention that we're buying a homestead outside Ivo in Kararagi. Word of that should get back to Vincent, and that should alert him that we at least have a Plan B. He shouldn 't be willing to press us too hard once he realizes that we do have other options. Can anyone think of anything else?"
No one said anything.
"Actually, Subaru," Felt said. "Do you two have anything to wear to a fancy party?"
Subaru shrugged. "Just my regular clothes. We've been on the run for a while now."
Felt made a face. "I have my court dress," She said, folding her arms across her chest as her face twisted in thought. "And Garfiel picked up some decent clothes in Abiate-"
"Oh no," Garfiel said in a sinking voice.
Felt ignored him. "But you guys don't have anything to wear. It's weird that nobody in town thought to attend to that."
"Maybe they just assumed that we all had good clothing," Garfiel shrugged.
Felt shook her head. "They know we've been living on the run. It's an obvious thing to overlook. I wonder if they're deliberately trying to leave us under-dressed for the party…"
"I doubt it," Subaru said. "Regardless of what Vincent wants from me, publicly humiliating me seems like a very poor way to start our relationship."
"Then what do you think he's doing?" Felt asked.
Subaru shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe Vincent really does want to humiliate me in the eyes of Ivida but I can 't imagine what he thinks that might gain him."
Felt thought about it. "Maybe he wants you to remember that you're running low on resources, so you'll be more amendable at the negotiating table," She suggested.
Subaru digested that. "Possibly," He admitted. "But it's also possible that they just didn't think of this. Teague and his family were dressed well, but they were also dressed much plainer than what I would have expected from nobility back in Lagunica. This might be a cultural blind spot. Maybe the Vollachians didn't even realize that we might want to wear nicer clothes to the party."
Felt looked unconvinced. "Alright," She said finally. "If that's what we're thinking, then is there any point in me and the fleabag playing dress up?"
"Probably not," Subaru admitted. "Congratulations, Felt. You guys don't need to dress up."
Garfiel gave an audible sigh of relief.
An hour or so later, Agrippa returned to lead them to the banquet. The butler made no reaction to their clothing, which made Subaru feel slightly more confident that he wasn 't completely misinterpreting the situation and that he was not about to make a fool of himself.
The party took place in the vast and elaborate gardens outside the manor. The gardens abutted the edge of the town and pressed against the edge of a large forest. The party was on a raised platform overlooking the gardens and the surrounding grounds. Dozens of round tables had been set up for the guests, and meek servants dressed in simple white tunics placed food on long buffet tables.
The garden was alive with wealthy guests, some sitting at tables and munching on appetizers while others wandered the garden with a glass of wine in hand, deep in conversation. The sun was setting, and the garden was dyed gold in the light.
Agrippa turned toward Subaru and his friends as they entered the gardens. "Forgive me, I'm unfamiliar with Lagunican customs, Lord Subaru," He said in his rusty voice. "Can I presume that you would prefer to sit with your women?"
Subaru blinked in surprise. He hesitated a moment, debating the wisdom of correcting Agrippa on the term 'his women,' but then abandoned the idea as a waste of time.
"Yes. We'd all like to sit together," Subaru said finally.
Agrippa nodded and led the group toward the high table.
Subaru heard Felt mutter something under her breath, and he carefully hid a smile.
Colonel Teague and his sons were already seated at the central table, but his wives were not present.
Now that I 'm looking for it, these tables do seem heavily segregated , Subaru thought, noticing that Teague 's wives were seated some distance off at a woman-only table. He also saw more of the heavily shrouded women who had covered up everything but their eyes. These women stood together in a corner of the garden, silent and unobtrusive.
When they reached the table, Subaru gave Emilia a small smile and pulled out her chair for her.
Emilia smiled as she sat down.
This almost reminds me of all those interminable parties back in the capital, and I 'm sure Emilia is thinking the same thing.
Those parties were annoying as hell. I never could have imagined that there would actually come a day when I 'd miss them.
Before we went to the Sanctuary, everything seemed to be going fine. We were on top of the world. Everybody we cared about was together and safe. It 's hard to believe that it's only been a few months since then.
Subaru sat down beside Emilia as Garfiel and Felt joined them.
"Welcome, Lord Subaru," Teague said at once. "You honor us by your presence."
Subaru managed not to roll his eyes at the flowery formula phrases. "The honor is ours," He replied as seriously as he could manage.
A servant came to the table, pouring wine for the guests. The servant was a young man with brown hair who wore only a short white tunic and sandals.
Teague chuckled. "Oh no, my lord. Word has reached us in the south of you and your friends' amazing accomplishments. Rescuing Princess Kairei from an entire army, liberating Girali from Lagunican mercenaries, defeating hordes of giant mabeasts, these are all truly legendary achievements, and they are worthy of both respect and admiration."
Subaru sipped his wine. Well. I can see this guy has done his homework.
I noticed that he didn 't mention me killing the Gusteko princes. Good call there. There's no way to make that little misadventure sound good.
I was wondering how the people in the Empire would try to represent my actions in Girali. Vollachia wouldn 't normally be supportive of freeing slaves. But they'd certainly be supportive of making Lagunica look bad, so apparently, they took that angle: I wasn't freeing slaves; I was rescuing innocent Kararagi civilians from brutal Lagunican mercenaries.
It 's actually a good bit of spin. I wonder if he came up with it himself or if this is part of Vincent's plan.
Come to think of it, maybe I can learn a bit more about what 's going on in the Empire.
"Please extend my thanks to the Emperor for his generosity," Subaru said calmly. "His hospitality is magnificent."
Teague smiled. "His Majesty ordered us to do everything possible and even the impossible to ensure that your journey to the Crystal Palace was safe and pleasant. "
Subaru smiled. "Not that I'm not grateful, but I am confused as to what drew His Majesty's eye to me," He said mildly, studying his wine glass. "He's going through an awful lot of trouble to welcome an itinerant exile."
Teague 's smile tightened minutely. "I wouldn't know," He apologized. "But I am aware that his Majesty has a reputation for great generosity to his allies."
How subtle.
The servants returned, putting a dish of saut éed mushrooms in front of each guest. Teague quickly moved the conversation along, telling Subaru about Vollachian cuisine.
Guess I 'm not going to learn much about Vincent's plans this way. Oh well, it was an idea.
Maybe I could try a different angle.
"So, what is happening in Vollachia these days?" Subaru asked. "Up north, we don't get much reliable information about the Empire."
Teague took a slow, careful bite of his food before responding. "Thus far, the upsets afflicting the north do not appear to be impacting the Empire."
Subaru kept his face blank. I am definitely skeptical of Koh 's story about an undead army, but I have no trouble believing that Vollachia is suffering from some internal issues right now. If even a quarter of the rumors about the Empire that I heard back in Lagunica are accurate, then Vollachia is bluntly tyrannical toward the lower classes. The thought that all the other nations are on fire, but Vollachia is serenely escaping the blaze strains credulity.
…Or is Vollachia fine just because Emilia and I haven't come through here yet… That's a happy thought…
Subaru cleared his throat. "Incidentally, Colonel, I was hoping that you might be able to help me with a problem."
"Of course, Lord Subaru," Teague said enthusiastically. "You need only ask!"
"As you may or may not have noticed, my friends are wearing slave-collars," Subaru said deprecatingly. "I want to find someone who can remove them as soon as possible. Do you know a mage who might be qualified to do so safely?"
Teague frowned. "…Personally, I do not know such a mage, no. Gaius?"
Teague 's son studied the collars closely. "I'm not sure," The young man said finally, "Ordinarily, I'd say finding a mage specializing in slave collars would be no problem, even out here in the Westfold. But those collars look much more… sophisticated than any I've ever seen before. Especially that one," He pointed at Emilia.
"They also explode if you try to remove them," Felt said flatly.
Gaius 's eyes widened. "I… We'll want to do some research then. We shouldn't take any chances on devices like that."
Teague broke in. "But I'm certain that we can find someone. Ivida is a major trading city. We get all manner of-"
Teague was cut off by a shrill scream.
Subaru turned at the sound, and his jaw dropped. A woman was scrambling away from the garden edge. A broken and rotting cadaver was slowly climbing over the wall and into the garden.
The corpse 's body was nothing but bone, with a few shreds of rotten flesh clinging to it. It wore badly broken and rusted armor, and through its helmet, Subaru could see death's rictus grin. It carried a rusty sword in one hand.
Holy shit! Subaru thought.
The cadaver moved like a windup toy. Its every movement was slow and halting as it clambered over the wall.
A loud bell began to toll, sounding the alarm as everyone scrambled for safety. More cadavers appeared below the wall, falteringly climbing up into the garden.
I need to keep them away from Emilia and the others! They don 't have any mana, and who knows what these things can do!
"Get out of here!" Subaru said to the others. "I'll hold them off! You guys get inside and bar the door!"
"But what about you?!" Emilia protested, but Subaru ignored her and raced off.
The wall around the mansion is our best defense, Subaru thought quickly. The wall is hard to climb over for these clumsy things, so keeping them all on the other side of the wall would be my best move.
Subaru charged toward the staggering undead that had already climbed into the garden.
Subaru triggered Indomitable and punched the cadaver in its armor chest. The creature flew out past the garden wall. It crashed into the ground and shattered into bits. Before Indomitable timed out, Subaru punched and kicked at the other cadavers that were attempting to climb up into the garden. With each blow, the monsters disintegrated, Indomitable, breaking their brittle bones like kindling.
Everything was quiet now. And Subaru took a deep breath.
Subaru stared off into the twilight to see if there were any more of them.
Subaru 's blood ran cold. In the fields between the garden and the forest were dozens of slowly marching cadavers, maybe hundreds. They all moved slowly and deliberately toward the garden.
"Alright! Let's get out of here!" Felt shouted, getting up from the table.
"We can't just leave the Captain like this!" Garfiel protested.
"We can't fight with these damn things around our necks! Not against these monsters!" Felt said dismissively. "We'll just get in his way. Now, come on!"
Felt and Garfiel hurried off, and Emilia followed.
Emilia cursed . I hate this! I hate this wretched collar! I 'm helpless without my magic! I can't stand by Subaru's side like this. I can just hold him back!
"Help!"
A scream brought Emilia skidding to a halt.
Her eyes opened wide. One of the tunic-wearing women and two similarly dressed children were being menaced by a lumbering cadaver with an axe held in its rotting fist. He slowly backed the trio against the mansion wall, the woman desperately trying to shield her children from the monster.
Emilia looked for Felt and Garfiel, but they had already reached the mansion and hadn 't yet noticed that they had left Emilia behind.
What do I do?!
"Help!" The woman screamed again.
Emilia looked desperately around for any sort of weapon. Her eyes lit up when she saw a fondue fork.
The metal shaft was slender, but it was as long as her forearm and ended in two sharp points.
Emilia grabbed the fondue fork and bolted toward the cadaver.
It 's hard for me to move! Without my mana, my body feels slow and heavy! It doesn't even feel like my body anymore!
Emilia sprinted up behind the cadaver which showed no sign of noticing her. She raised the fondue fork and thrust it at the cadaver 's unarmored neck as hard as she could.
One of the fork 's tines deflected off the monster's spine, but the other one struck true, and Emilia drove it into the monster's neck bones with a sicking crunch.
The monster paused and slowly turned around, its movement yanking the fork out of Emilia 's hand, disarming her.
The monster started to advance on Emilia.
"Get out of here!" She shouted at the mother and her children.
The woman was in tears. She looked at the mansion doors, but she seemed too terrified to move to save her own life or even her children 's.
"Move!" Emilia screamed.
The woman 's eyes widened as this scream somehow penetrated her terrified mind. She bolted away, pulling her children behind her.
The cadaver marched toward Emilia. It moved slowly, but Emilia suddenly realized that the cadaver had managed to pin her into a corner of the garden. There was no way out of this corner and nothing between her and the wall except for a dinner table.
The cadaver raised its axe and slowly closed in on the now-trapped Emilia.