Patrasche pulled the small wagon with an air of weary resignation. It had taken Subaru a great deal of coaxing for the proud riding dragon to suffer herself being hitched to a wagon again, and the look in her eye promised Subaru that there would be a dire reckoning for this liberty later.
By the time they 'd managed to acquire a wagon and get directions from the villagers, it was almost daylight. The villagers had wanted nothing to do with them, viewing them as a strange and unquantifiable threat.
The villagers had told them to just take the wagon and leave. Subaru had to work hard to convince the villagers to accept a few coins in exchange for the wagon before they finally left the village.
Subaru kept Patrasche heading south while Garfiel, Emilia, and Felt napped in the back of the wagon.
Subaru was exhausted, but he thought that he could at least keep Patrasche moving in the right direction for a few more hours. Then Patrasche would need to rest herself, and they could all sleep for a bit.
Subaru heard the sound of a riding dragon approaching them from behind. He looked back, and his eyes widened at a familiar sight.
"Lord Subaru!" Brador said with a grin. "Thank the heavens that you survived!"
"Brador?" Subaru asked incredulously. "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"
Brador rode up beside Subaru and checked his mount to a trot. Kya rode behind Brador, holding on tight.
Brador shrugged. "Well, once I returned to the camp and found it decimated, I realized that something must have happened. Assuming that you had survived, I realized that you'd probably keep heading south to Napoli so here I am."
Subaru frowned. Brador could be a liability now that I know we don 't want to meet with Vincent…I'm not sure how to handle this problem yet.
…And I should probably feel ashamed that the first solution that comes to mind is to simply kill him.
Crap. I guess murder really does become a habit …
No. I need to be better than this. For Emilia 's sake and my own as well. After everything I've been through, I don't want to become a monster.
I 'll figure out what to do about Brador later. He'll probably be useful in getting us into Napoli, at least. We can shake him off later and buy a berth on a boat once we reach the docks.
Subaru nodded. "I thought that you might not have made it out," He admitted.
"Yeah. Made it out of what?" Brador asked. "What exactly happened back there?"
"We were attacked by a draugr," Subaru explained.
Brador did a double take. " What ?! That 's impossible."
Subaru gave him a faint look of annoyance. "Well, the soldiers were the ones calling it a draugr, so don't blame me. All I know is that the creature was pretty damn close to invincible, and I never want to fight one again."
"You fought it?" Brador asked in astonishment.
Kya whispered something to Brador, and he nodded hurriedly.
"Well, I tried," Subaru admitted. "The thing shut down pretty much anything I did to it. It just kept pulling itself back together."
"Then how did you kill it?"
"I don't know if I did," He said. "We lured it onto a bridge, and then I collapsed the bridge while it was crossing. It fell a huge distance, and we didn't see it again after that. It's either dead, or at least it lost the trail."
Brador considered that. "That was… actually rather brilliant," He said. "I don't believe that anyone has ever successfully defeated a draugr, killing it or not. Even the Sword of Emperor could only fight one to a draw."
"The what?"
"Cecilus Segmunt," Brador explained. "The Emperor's Sword. He's the finest warrior in the Empire."
Subaru frowned. "Is he anything like Reinhard van Astrea?"
"I believe that they're considered comparable," Brador said after a moment's thought, "Although, to my knowledge, they have never actually fought one another."
Regardless, this gave Subaru a newfound appreciation for just how dangerous the draugr really were.
If even Reinhard wouldn 't be able to put one of these monsters down, then we're all lucky that we escaped with our lives.
"Lord Subaru," Brador continued. "Are you… certain that you fought a draugr?"
"No. I'm just basing this on what the soldiers said. I know that some of them survived. Why don't you ask them?"
"Last I heard, the local authorities were still searching for witnesses," Brador explained. "The surviving soldiers were pretty thoroughly scattered across the wilderness after the attack."
"Why is the idea that this thing was a draugr so unbelievable?"
"Because of where we were," Brador explained. "Draugr are never seen outside of the Jungle. Not in all of the years that we've kept records in the Empire. If the Horned Witch can send the draugr out of the Jungle then the Empire is in very serious danger. A single draugr is a match for a small army."
Subaru digested that. Alright. That jives with what Garf said. And if the draugr don 't usually come out of the jungle, then the odds that one just happened to stumble over the soldiers that we were traveling with definitely strains credulity. It must have been sent after us specifically. And the only possible candidates I know that could have done this are Sphinx and the Horned Witch. And those two might very well be the same person.
But that still raises some questions. If someone wanted the draugr to come after us, why did it attack the soldiers ' camp instead of the inn? I doubt that there's any way that Sphinx was confused about where we were sleeping that night.
Or was it deliberate? Maybe Sphinx wasn 't trying to kill us; she just wanted to send us a warning.
…But what does any of this have to do with Emilia? That draugr locked onto Emilia like a magnet. She was definitely its target.
Felt 's probably right that Sphinx knows kidnapping Emilia would make me do whatever she wanted. But it makes no sense that Sphinx would deliberately send a draugr to go after Emilia but then order it to attack the soldiers instead.
God. The fact that it attacked the soldiers first is probably the only reason that any of us are still alive. Imagine what would have happened if the draugr attacked the inn while we were still sleeping …
Subaru shook off the grim image.
Alright. So, something is funny here. Any way that I slice it, the draugr attack doesn 't seem to add up.
Wait a second … maybe it could. What if Sphinx doesn't have complete control of the draugr? Or maybe it's like me trying to talk to the spirits, and the draugr doesn't always understand her instructions. Sphinx might have sent it after us, but the draugr could have gotten confused about the specifics of its task.
Alright … That's all wild speculation, but so far, that's the only theory I can think of that makes its weird behavior make some sort of sense.
Or maybe it 's premature to assume that Sphinx really was behind this. I already got bit by making hasty conclusions about the Vollachian Civil War. I need to keep my eyes open and consider all the possibilities.
"Lord Subaru," Brador continued, snapping Subaru out of his reverie. "Many of those soldiers still live purely due to your heroism. His Majesty will be exceedingly grateful."
Subaru studied Brador for a moment. "Tell me something, Brador," He said slowly. "Where were you and Kya while all this stuff was going down?"
"We went out to meet with someone," He said at once. A moment later, he looked pained as if realizing that he shouldn't have shared this information.
"In the middle of the night?" Subaru asked skeptically.
"…That's what I was told to do," Brador sighed.
"Who was it?"
Brador looked uncomfortable, but he didn 't answer.
Subaru watched him and then turned his attention back to the road.
Subaru 's face grew thoughtful and he continued talking in a friendly tone, "Naturally, I'm sort of curious why you just happened to be gone when the monster attacked."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just awfully coincidental, is all," Subaru shrugged.
Brador frowned, not taking his meaning. Then his eyes opened wide. "Lord Subaru! Are you suggesting-"
"A monster attacked me and my friends," He cut him off. "And you were mysteriously missing at just the right time to avoid facing it. I can't think of any reason why the Emperor, or you personally, would want us dead, but on the other hand, I don't know any reason why you wouldn't want us dead, either. I'm keeping an open mind regarding the perpetrator, but I will figure out who is responsible for all this. I promise you that."
Brador 's face screwed up in concentration. "Maybe… whoever was behind this deliberately waited to attack until I was gone?" He suggested. "To make you more suspicious of me and His Majesty?"
Subaru raised an eyebrow at this theory, and Brador made a face, perhaps realizing himself that it was an enormous stretch.
Subaru ignored his question. "How much further to Napoli?" Subaru asked.
"Not much farther, really. We should arrive this morning, and His Majesty's ship awaits us. We should be underway before this evening with any luck."
Subaru thought about it. "Is Napoli a good-sized town?"
"It is. Why?"
"Because I want to get those slave collars off my friends' necks immediately," Subaru said sharply. "Can you arrange that for me?"
Brador thought about it and then shrugged. "I don't see why not. We should definitely be able to find a qualified mage in Napoli. I'll inquire at the Ministry's offices as soon as we arrive."
"Thank you, Brador," Subaru said.
At least that means that we 'll get something useful accomplished on this trip.
Brador cleared his throat. "Also, Lord Subaru, I received some new intelligence that His Majesty believes you would like to have. Sort of a show of good faith."
Subaru raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"We have reliable reports that your missing spirits have managed to escape from Torgon Tower," Brador said.
Subaru 's head snapped around. " What ?! Where are they? "
"We don't know that just yet," Brador said delicately. "But the good news is that our best intelligence suggests that the Kingdom doesn't know where they are either. Your spirits appear to have gone to ground quite successfully. His Majesty has made this matter a top priority for the remaining Arcani. I assure you, we will locate your spirits."
Subaru bit his lip. I don 't know how to feel about this. The fact that the spirits aren't in the kingdom's hands anymore would normally be terrific news, but for all I know, they're now in Roswaal's clutches or maybe somebody even worse.
And how the hell are we ever going to find the spirits? When we knew where they were, we thought we could just break into Torgon Tower and rescue them. The talisman would have made attacking the tower incredibly easy as long as we got out of there before word reached Reinhard.
But what now? Where are they, and where are they going?
It 's easy to say that they're going to come looking for us, but where will they go? If their magic is still sealed with those damn bracelets, as Felt said, then they have basically no way of using magic to figure out where we are. And I doubt that they managed to take them off because Julius told me how hard doing that was.
So, that means that the spirits are out there somewhere, alone and with no magic, and probably without the foggiest idea of where we are.
I never imagined that I 'd say this, but the spirits escaping from the tower has actually made things worse! Emilia and I could run around Lagunica searching for them for centuries without ever even coming close to wherever they're hiding. And if they're out in the open and moving around, then they'd be in even more danger from the kingdom or from any other predator who senses that they're vulnerable.
Subaru looked back into the wagon where Emilia and the others slept.
I need to tell Mili about this as soon as she wakes up. She 's not going to be happy…
Maybe I can still learn something useful during this trip, though.
"I know that attempting to find these spirits will be difficult," Brador continued. "You're a wanted fugitive in Lagunica, and you'll be attempting to hide while searching for other fugitives who also need to remain in hiding."
Subaru shot him a dirty look. "Thanks, Brador," He grumbled. "I really appreciate you clarifying the situation for me."
Brador shrugged. "I'm bringing this up for a reason. His Majesty wishes to tell you about an Imperial treasure known as the Phoenix Eye."
Subaru frowned. "Never heard of it," He muttered.
"The Eye is one of the Empire's great treasures," Brador explained. "A talisman of the Elder Days. With it, one can see the ley-lines in the earth and the connections that span between all natural creatures of this world."
Subaru cocked his head. "And… what good does that do me?" He asked bluntly.
"Because the contract forged between a spirit and their contractor is one such connection," Brador explained good-naturedly. "If you took the Eye and inspected someone who had made a contract with a spirit, then you could see the connection between them as clear as a strand of rope tying them together. You could even follow the strand across the miles from one contractor to another."
Subaru frowned. If he 's telling the truth, then that would let me find Beako.
I 'm not sure if it would let me find Puck. We don't actually have a contract, no matter what Puck thinks, but either way, Puck and Beako are bound to be traveling together.
Hell, if the Eye proved that Puck and I had never made a contract, that by itself might be enough to make him reconsider if Emilia was actually telling the truth!
Getting the eye might be worth it just for that chance.
But what would Vincent want in exchange? I doubt that this thing would come cheap. And making a deal with Vincent would also make me even more Sphinx 's enemy. Although, if she is the one who sent the draugr after Emilia, then I guess that ship has already sailed.
Honestly, I don 't want to get any more mixed up in the Vollachia civil war than I already am. But I have no idea how I could possibly locate the spirits. The Phoenix Eye might be my only chance.
Vincent and I could at least talk about it, I guess …
"What does the Emperor want from me?" Subaru asked.
"I don't know," Brador admitted. "He did not see fit to enlighten me on this point. He wishes you to come to Puella as quickly as possible and partake in direct negotiations with him."
Subaru made a face. "I'll think about it," He said shortly.
Brador just gave a calm shrug.
Subaru made a face. Brador 's nonchalance at that statement tells me he already figured out, or at least that Vincent had already figured out, that I 'd given up on meeting with him, and I just wanted to get as far away from this mess as possible. The Phoenix Eye is just bait to make sure that I still go to Puella and talk to Vincent. I don't even know for sure if the damn thing exists!
Subaru decided to change the subject. "Brador, after everything that I've done in the past few days, what's the current state of the rebellion?"
"It will be utterly crushed any day now."
Subaru rested his chin in his hand and stared at Brador patiently.
"My lord?"
"We're all alone out here, Brador. Nobody is verifying if you're repeating the right formula phrases to make the Emperor look good. You may dispense with the honey," Subaru said dryly.
Brador chuckled. "I can tell that you're not a Vollachian, my lord. A hundred Arcani could be hiding in the tall grass nearby, recording our every word, and we would never know."
"I thought that the Arcani were all dead?"
"Not all of them, my lord. There were survivors. The Emperor has recruited many of them, and now they serve His Majesty directly. Unfortunately, quite a few have joined the rebellion under Octavian as well."
"Speaking of, what's going on with the rebellion? And what is Sphinx's role in it?"
Brador looked at Subaru sharply at the mention of this name.
Subaru held his face in a mask of bland curiosity.
Brador swallowed uncomfortably. "I'm not… entirely sure," He admitted. "I rarely get summoned to meetings on that level of classification. I admit that I've heard the name several times. His Majesty's government appears to be similarly confused about the situation."
"In what way?"
"Who's in charge?" Brador asked. "Is it Octavian's rebellion or the Senators' or Sphinx's? Is Sphinx masquerading as the Horned Witch, or does the witch really exist, and they're acting as partners? Who is in control of the rebellion? Someone must be giving orders, but we don't know who is leading and who is following. The few meetings I've attended featured a great deal of arguing and the analysis of trivial details in an effort to puzzle out this riddle."
"Does it actually matter who's in charge right now?"
"The Minister believes that it matters a great deal," Brador said at once. "If we know who is giving orders, then we may be able to discern his goals and priorities, which would give us a clue to their strategies."
"I suppose that makes sense," Subaru admitted. "What does the Empire say was the flashpoint of this whole mess?"
I 've heard some other versions of this story but I'm curious what the Empire's 'official' stance on the rebellion is.
Brador thought for a moment. "You've seen the state of the Westfold? Or at least before you purified a large part of it?"
Subaru nodded.
"The desert creeps a little further into the Westfold every year. It's obliterating thousands of acres of farmland annually."
Subaru frowned. "Yeah, I saw that. Those people are desperate. It's not surprising that they rebelled."
Brador nodded. "His Majesty foresaw this as well. The expanding desert is displacing whole villages and generating widespread unrest. The Emperor called an emergency meeting of the Senate. He suggested that, given the seriousness of the situation, they should all reduce the land grants to senior officers in favor of creating new land grants for the displaced refugees. He even promised to throw his own vast estates into the pot to be downsized."
Subaru gave a low whistle. "The Emperor thought that they'd go for that?" He asked skeptically.
Brador shrugged. "The Emperor's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness."
"…And that would be?"
"The Emperor is a genius. A foresighted man," Brador said without hesitation. "He assumes that if a problem is clearly visible to him, it is equally visible to all. He was apparently quite taken aback at the thought that the entire Senate would slide into denial and refuse to even admit that the desert is spreading or that such a critical problem actually exists."
Brador either has a seriously high opinion of Vincent, or he wasn 't kidding when he said that we still might be being watched…
"It's a common mistake," Subaru admitted. "To men like the Senators, this must have looked like a plot directed against them. A power play to reduce their influence. So, when the Emperor threatened to reduce their land-"
"Much of the Senate began to aid Octavian openly. And when the Senate publicly refused to help the suffering Westfold, many of its residents forswore their allegiance to the throne and joined Octavian simply to survive," Brador finished. "The rebellion surged to life."
"How does that make sense? Why are the Westfold people joining forces against the Emperor when the Emperor at least tried to help them? In fact, they're joining forces with the Senators who refused to help them!"
"You know, I actually had a similar thought," Brador remarked. "I brought it up in a Ministry conference once."
"What did folks say?"
"They reminded me that if I ever dared to speak my mind in front of my betters again, they would cut out my tongue," Brador remarked calmly.
Subaru stared at him. "Sounds like you work for some really nice guys. "
"True. But the only way I can circle this square is that it may be a sign that even though the Senators are supporting Octavian, they may not wield a great deal of influence over the rebellion."
Subaru cupped his chin. "But if all these people are joining forces against Vincent, it sounds like he must be pretty desperate at this point."
Brador pursed his lips and didn 't answer.
Mid-morning, Subaru and his friends reached Napoli, a sprawling city with a large port. Brador led them to the harbor where Brador needed to make a report at the Ministry office, a huge building next to the sea. The group climbed out of the wagon, and Subaru unhitched a very relieved Patrasche.
Brador looked tired. "Let me just make my report. Also, I'll locate a mage to assist your friends with those collars," He murmured to Subaru in an aside.
Subaru nodded and watched Brador toward the Ministry building with the ever-present and ever-silent Kya following him.
Subaru turned his attention back to his friends, who stared at the calm ocean water.
"It's amazing," Emilia whispered to no one.
Subaru frowned. "What is?"
"The ocean," She breathed. "I've never seen it before."
Subaru realized that all three of his companions were staring out at the water with awe.
"It looks like it goes on forever," Garfiel said in rapture.
At first, Felt looked as overwhelmed as anyone, but then she suddenly remembered herself. She folded her arms across her chest and snorted. "It's water , " She said dismissively. "It's just a lot of water. It's like a big bathtub."
Subaru carefully hid a smile.
A few minutes later, Brador returned. "Good news!" Brador said cheerfully, walking over with Kya trailing behind. "Our arrival was timely! The tide will turn within a few hours, and then we'll depart."
"Do we have time to get food?" Garfiel asked at once.
"We have a few hours," Brador agreed. "There's actually a wonderful restaurant not too far from here."
"Will you two be joining us?" Subaru asked.
"Unfortunately, no," Brador explained. "I need to attend a meeting before we depart."
Subaru 's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "What about Kya? She could join us." He asked calmly.
Brador smiled. "That's very gracious of you, Lord Subaru, but I'd prefer to keep her close to me."
"Of course," Subaru nodded.
"Also, I did manage to locate a highly qualified mage to assist you in removing those collars. I've already sent a page to arrange an appointment. He'll find you at the restaurant when all is arranged. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy your meal. The restaurant I referred to is right over there," He pointed at a small brick building next to the harbor. "I do hope you enjoy their cuisine. I've always found it delightful."
Then Brador turned and walked away, Kya following along submissively in his wake.
Felt waited until Brador and Kya were out of earshot. "Well. That was pretty interesting, " She grumbled, folding her arms and looking thoughtful.
"What was?" Garfiel asked.
"Agreed," Subaru said darkly. "I think that Brador may have just tipped his hand."
"What are you two talking about?" Emilia asked in confusion.
Felt made a face. "According to Brador, Kya is the Vollachian equivalent of a whore," She said. "He said that even being seen publicly with her is scandalous. But now, he 's bringing her with him to an important government meeting where he'll be reporting to his peers? Maybe even his bosses ? "
"Yeah. And after we even gave him an out," Subaru added. "We told him that he could have kept her safely out of the way by leaving her with us, but he still refused."
Emilia frowned, mulling that over. "But what does that tell us?" Emilia asked.
Subaru made a face. "I don't know yet. But Brador definitely isn't telling us everything about his friend."
The group ate what seemed to them to be a rather odd meal: noodles mixed with seafood and red sauce. A young man around Felt 's age arrived at the restaurant just as they finished eating and announced that he had scheduled an appointment for them with a man named Hastur, who was considered the most skilled mage in the region.
They drove the wagon to Hastur 's shop. While the others were having their collars removed, Subaru dozed in the wagon, trying to catch up on all the sleep he'd missed driving the wagon to Napoli.
Subaru was just nodding off for real when he felt someone jump into the wagon, startling him awake.
"Alright!" Garfiel cheered. "It feels so good to get that damn thing off my neck! I feel fabulous!"
Subaru looked up at Garfiel and smiled at his bare neck.
Felt climbed into the wagon beside him. Her collar was also gone. "Hey, fleabag!" Felt snapped, grabbing Garfiel by the arm. "Learn some tact, OK?"
Subaru frowned. "What's wrong?" He asked. He looked around for Emilia and found her standing outside the shop, looking crestfallen. The collar was still around her neck.
"What the hell?" Subaru asked nobody in particular.
"Hastur said that he couldn't remove my collar safely," Emilia said in a small voice. "It's a lot more complicated than the others, and Hastur was worried that he wasn't good enough to defuse it without triggering the bomb. He suggested that we talk to his friend Karnac, who works in Rupgana near the Crystal Palace. He specializes in these kinds of collars."
Subaru let out a long, slow breath. "Of course. I should have known this was too easy," He grated. "Just once , I 'd like someone to go smoothly for us. No hiccups or misunderstandings, no setbacks or false starts. Just 'let's do this' and then 'boom, it's done.'"
Felt poked Subaru. She gave him a meaningful look and then gestured toward Emilia, who stood there with misery stamped all across her face.
Subaru sighed and climbed out of the wagon to hug her. "Mili, I'm sorry."
Emilia sighed. "It's alright, Subaru," She made an obvious effort to smile. "We got the collars off of Felt and Garfiel, at least. They've worn them the longest. It's only fair that I wear mine for a little longer."
"Not sure that I really grasp that concept of fairness, Frosty," Garfiel remarked.
"Shut up, fleabag," Felt grumbled.
Subaru rubbed her back. "Don't worry. We'll go talk to this Karnac guy, and then we'll get your collar off. You'll be casting spells again before you know it."
Emilia smiled at him. "It sounds so strange to say that I'm looking forward to that."
The group rode the wagon down to the dock and were quickly given directions to the ship that would bear them to the Emperor.
The massive ship dominated the harbor. It had three masts and was broad and wide, clearly designed to haul freight rather than travel swiftly.
"Um. How do we get on?" Garfiel muttered, looking at the ship with a daunted expression.
"There will be a boarding plank from the dock to the deck. We just need to find it," Subaru replied.
The group walked along the dock, and they found a long ramp leading up to the ship. Sailors darted up and down the ramp while others used a rope and pulley system to haul large crates up onto the deck.
Subaru studied the sailors. "That one will be the captain," Subaru said, unhitching Patrasche from the wagon. The dragon stretched with obvious relief.
"How can you tell?" Emilia asked, looking at the man who was dressed no differently than the others.
Felt snickered. "Because he's the only one standing there, not working," She finished with a grumble.
Subaru walked up to the man, leading Patrasche by the reins. "Captain," He said with a nod.
The captain gave him a dour look. "Yes?"
"I'm Subaru Natsuki. My companions and I are traveling with Minister Brador to Puella. We have a wagon and a riding dragon to load onto the ship."
"I don't take livestock," The captain said at once.
Subaru frowned. "Minister Brador assured me-"
"I don't care what he told you," The captain said. "I don't carry livestock. Especially earth dragons. They always make a mess below deck, and it takes weeks to get rid of the smell."
Subaru felt the reins nearly jerk out of his hands. He glanced up and saw that Patrasche 's reptilian face was mortally offended.
Subaru felt his temper starting to slip. "Captain," He said calmly. "I can assure you that Patrasche is incredibly clean and well-behaved. We need-"
The captain whirled on Subaru. "I don't like people arguing with my orders! On my ship, you're not passengers. You're cargo . And cargo doesn 't talk back. If it starts talking, I might just have a mind to chuck it over the side somewhere between here and the Great Waterfall."
That did it. Subaru 's patience, already fraying after spending all day worrying about Beatrice and Puck, finally snapped.
Subaru got right up into the captain 's face. "Put the dragon on the ship, Captain," Subaru said softly.
"I told you, I-"
Subaru triggered Indomitable and drove his fist into a massive crate the size of a wagon that lay discarded on the dock like an emptied oyster shell. The crate shattered, flying into the air and falling on the dock as a shower of splinters.
Subaru turned back to the now pasty-faced and trembling captain. "Did I say it too fast for you?" Subaru hissed. "Put. The dragon. On. The ship. If you don't, I'll nail you to the prow in place of the figurehead."
The captain swallowed hard. "I'm a captain in the Imperial Navy! You have no authority over me!" He said, sounding more desperate than defiant.
Subaru held up his fist directly in front of the captain 's nose. "This gives me all kinds of authority, friend," Subaru growled. The captain stared at Subaru's fist as if it were a live bomb. "I could turn you into pudding with no effort at all. And then I'll go to Puella where I'm going to meet directly with the Emperor…"
The captain 's face turned even more ashen at that. "I-"
"I may need to apologize to Vincent for killing you when all's said and done," Subaru said pleasantly. "But you'll still be lying in pieces all across the dock."
The captain swallowed hard. "We'll… we'll load the dragon, Lord Subaru," The captain said falteringly. "It would be a pleasure to accommodate one of the Emperor's guests in any way that we can."
"Thank you, Captain," Subaru smiled. He reached out and touched the Captain's shoulder in a friendly gesture. The captain flinched violently, but he didn't dare object. "I'll be sure to mention to Vincent how helpful you've been to my friends and me."
The captain nodded weakly. "My cabin is yours," He whimpered.
Subaru nodded and walked back to his friends as the captain gathered his awestruck sailors and began to issue orders regarding Patrasche and the wagon.
Emilia gave Subaru a steady look. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?" She criticized.
"Damn straight," Subaru chuckled.
"You know, you didn't really have to go that far," A voice said.
Subaru and his friends all jumped. They turned and saw Brador leaning against a nearby crate. He regarded Subaru speculatively.
"Brador!" Subaru shouted. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," The minister shrugged, walking over to Subaru. "As I said, you really didn't need to threaten to kill the man. Just the mention that you were meeting with the Emperor would have been more than sufficient to put him in his place."
"Yeah? Well, I'm a stranger in the Empire, so a lot of this stuff is new to me," Subaru grumbled.
"Fair enough," Brador shrugged. "Why don't we board the ship and try to get comfortable? We'll be departing pretty soon."
Subaru shrugged. "Lead the way," He said as he watched the sailors gingerly lead Patrasche into a large net dangling from a crane that would hoist the dragon up and into the hold. Patrasche didn't seem too thrilled about the situation, but she cooperated.
Brador led the group up the gangplank. Brador 's companion, Kya, was already on deck. She learned over the side of the rail, swaying back and forth. Even shrouded as she was, you could tell that she was feeling ill just from standing on the ship while it was moored in the harbor.
"Kya," Brador said sympathetically, holding out a small pouch. "I have that thorn-apple extract that you asked for."
Kya perked up at once and hurried over to Brador. Her face looked green even behind the veil. She took the pouch from Brador and then bolted below decks.
"Thorn-apple?" Subaru asked.
"Sea sickness cure," Brador said. "My darling Kya suffers from motion sickness," He said fondly.
Seasick? Picking up medicine would actually have been a good idea. Nobody here has ever been on a boat before. I wonder if Brador brought enough for the whole class.
"Anyway," Brador continued. "Let me show you to your cabins."
Brador let them below decks. "Lord Subaru, you and your wife are in the first cabin. Your companions are in the second."
"You and me, shrimp," Garfiel said cheerfully.
Felt sighed as she opened the door. "What did I ever do to deserve this?" The pair vanished into the cabin.
Emilia gingerly opened the cabin door and then stepped inside to explore it.
"Lord Subaru?" Brador asked as Subaru was about to follow Emilia.
Subaru paused and looked back at Brador.
Brador looked concerned. "Lord Subaru, did something go wrong with the collars?"
"Hastur was good enough to remove them from Felt and Garfiel but not from Emilia," He sighed. "He recommended we contact a man named Karnac in Rupgana."
Brador 's eyes widened. "I see. Your wife's collar must be of exceptional quality. Karnac is the personal sorcerer to His Majesty. He rarely accepts new clients, but I'm sure His Majesty could arrange for him to assist you."
Subaru gave Brador a stony look.
Alright. Now, I 'm suspicious. It's funny how this situation worked out, so the Empire did something nice for me without fixing the underlying issue. And Brador was already prepared with a comment to remind me that making a deal with Vincent could solve all my problems. This makes me wonder if Hastur was really unable to remove Emilia 's collar or if he was just instructed to say that he was.
I have no proof that Brador was in any way responsible for this or that he was manipulating the situation for Vincent 's benefit. But I am suspicious.
"Thank you," Subaru said, struggling to keep the growl out of his throat. "We'll keep that in mind."
Brador gave him a friendly nod and then walked down the corridor. He found the cabin that he shared with Kya and went inside.
Subaru waited until Brador had left the corridor, then knocked on the door that Felt and Garfiel shared. The door opened, and Felt 's and Garfiel's heads immediately popped out.
"Come on, we need to talk," Subaru said shortly.
Subaru stepped inside the cabin that he shared with Emilia. Felt, and Garfiel followed him.
The cabin was cramped and tiny. It was barely the size of a bathroom. The cabin had a single narrow bunk that could only reasonably hold one person and a small porthole in the wall that peered out over the dock.
With the four of them crowded into the cabin, there was barely room to stand. Subaru closed the door with difficulty.
Garfiel, as the largest person, struggled to squeeze into the tight and over-packed room. "Captain, can't we talk up on deck or something?" Garfiel complained.
"We're talking in here because we don't want to be overheard," Subaru said patiently.
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense," Garfiel nodded. "Doesn't make it any more comfortable, though."
"What's up, Subaru?" Felt asked at once.
Subaru took a deep breath. "OK. So earlier today, Brador told me something very important and I've been waiting until we had some privacy to discuss it."
"This can't be good," Felt sighed.
Subaru made a face. "According to Brador, the spirits aren't at Torgon Tower anymore. They managed to escape."
Everyone stared at Subaru, needing a second to process this information.
"How did they escape?" Emilia asked in disbelief.
Subaru shook his head. "If Brador knows that, he didn't tell me."
Garfiel chuckled. "I'm not surprised that the little Bit figured out a way to break loose," He said fondly.
"Yeah. But our lives might have been a lot easier if she hadn't," Felt said darkly. "Now we have no idea where they are!"
"Or where they're going," Subaru said with a sigh. "They could be headed literally anywhere!"
"We know where they're going," Emilia disagreed. "They'll be coming to us… to… to you, Subaru," She amended with a sigh.
"But they don't know where we are, Mili," He reminded her. "All they'll have to go by is rumors. Hell, we've been all around the world in the past two months! The spirits are now wanted fugitives. They can't just wander into a bar somewhere and start asking questions. And even if they did, who knows what sort of information they'd get? They might hear rumors that we're still in Gusteko or on our way to Kararagi. They might even discover that we're in the Empire and come here looking for us just as we head north to try and find them!"
"Well… it's likely that most people don't know that you were in Kararagi yet," Felt muttered, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "We didn't even know that you were there. We had to get that information from Sphinx."
"Actually, that's a good point," Garfiel said thoughtfully. "Before we left the capital, you were everywhere, Captain."
"What do you mean?" Subaru asked.
"The people were saying that they'd seen you everywhere," Garfiel said absently. "You were in a hundred different places, doing a hundred different impossible things, gathering your forces and preparing your big push to crush the nobility."
Subaru shifted uncomfortably.
Garfiel thought hard. "So, it's safe to assume that's still the case in Lagunican and that the public is still spreading wild rumors about you," Garfiel murmured, deep in thought. "Even if the Kingdom officially admitted that we were in the Empire-"
"Which they probably will as soon as they find out," Felt interjected. "They're grasping at any straw they can find to paint you as a traitor."
Garfiel waved the point aside. "Well, like I said, even if they did admit to that, I don 't think that most people would believe them," Garfiel continued. "The Sages' Council and the Royal Assembly have told so many lies lately that I don't think anyone believes what they say anymore. And that means that the little Bit is going to be hearing a hundred different contradictory stories about where you are and what you're doing, no matter who she goes. "
Subaru looked at Garfiel patiently. "OK. That's all really interesting, Garf," he sighed. "But what does that have to do with finding Puck and Beako?"
"No! He's right!" Felt said excitedly. "Think about it, Subaru! If you're trying to figure out where someone is and you hear a hundred different answers on the street, what do you do? Do you pick one at random and follow up on it? Especially if that means trying to leave the country on foot?"
Subaru frowned and thought for a moment. His face clouded. "I'd… No, I wouldn't want to just jump on the first idea that came to me. That would be stupid, " He said bitterly. He leaned against the wall, folded his arms across his chest, and bowed his head. "When your resources are limited, you can't afford to just keep thrashing around and trying a dozen different things…." He shook his head with a scowl on his face.
Garfiel cocked his head. "Captain? You alright?"
Subaru didn 't answer at once. "I'm just… remembering all those stupid decisions I made after we left the Sanctuary," He muttered. "I made us run around in circles all over northern Lagunica… If I'd had half a clue, I would have just made a mad dash for Gusteko. We'd have been across the border before anyone was organized enough to stop us. And Re…. And No one would have ever captured the spirits. "
Emilia immediately wrapped her arms around Subaru, catching him in a tight hug. She whispered something soothing to him and rubbed his shoulders.
A dozen different emotions flickered over Felt 's face. "It wouldn't have worked, Subaru," She said finally. "Everybody expected you to go north. Crusch's scouts were tearing up the whole region looking for you, and so was… Red. The only reason that they didn't catch you at once was because you kept doing things that they didn't expect. You actually drove Crusch crazy," She said, her face breaking into a grin. "She thought you must be some kind of strategic genius the way you kept luring her scouts out of position only for you to sneak through the areas they abandoned."
Subaru sighed and slipped out of Emilia 's tight embrace in favor of wrapping an arm around her waist. "Crusch Karnstein," He said in a melancholy voice. "The more that I impress her, the more that she seems to hate me . "
"Yeah," Felt chuckled. "Trust me, boss, I wouldn't waste too much time trying to make friends with her at this point. Look, ignoring all that, what Garf is trying to say is that the spirits won't be able to just dash off in any direction. They're going to want to be sure that they know where you are before they head out after you. That means that after they get frustrated, listening to all the wild stories that they'll hear on the street, they'll go looking for somebody that they can trust to give them the whole story."
Subaru sighed. "Yeah, that makes sense, but the problem is that right now, there are so few people left that they'll feel like they can trust. Roswaal is out for obvious reasons. Reinhard just arrested them, so they won't be quick to trust him again."
"What about Grams?" Garfiel suggested.
Subaru hesitated. "It's… possible , " He admitted. "But I'm not sure how far they trust the Ryuzus. Besides, they'd need to know where they are. As far as the spirits know, the Sanctuary was completely destroyed. There'd be no point in going back there to look for help…" Subaru hesitated. "Wait a second… Garf, do you know if Beako ever knew about the… err, the secret places in the Sanctuary? "
Garfiel flushed. "Secret places?" He said most unconvincingly. "What kind of places would those be? Why would I-"
"I saw them during my 'vision quest' on the island," Subaru cut him off. "Future-Delta showed me where they were. Do you know if Beako was aware of them? Maybe she'd go there looking for help, expecting the Ryuzus to still be around."
"Did Beatrice and Daddy even know that there was more than one Ryuzu?" Emilia asked.
"I don't know," Subaru admitted. "Beako never said anything about it. But I have to assume that she knew a lot of her mother's secrets and that she wouldn't betray her mother's confidence unless she absolutely had to. Even to me."
"Sorry, Captain," Garfiel answered. "I have no idea what the little Bit knew. Grams never said anything about her."
Subaru thought hard. "I suppose they might try to head back to Arlem," He mused.
Garfiel hissed. "And right into that clown's clutches," He growled.
Felt shook her head. "No. They absolutely know better than to trust Roswaal. They'd try to find a friendly face. Someone that they know that they can trust," She muttered. Her face lit up. "Subaru, what about Red?"
Subaru shook his head. "After everything that they've been through lately, I'm not so sure that they'd trust Red at this point."
"He'd never let them get hurt!" Felt swore. "And they know that his loyalty to you is ironclad!"
"Yeah. But they also know that he's a knight of the kingdom," Subaru reminded her. "And that means that he's under the Sages' Council's authority. If they ordered him to turn the spirits over and I wasn't there to countermand the instruction, he might think that he had no other choice as a knight but to obey."
Felt looked conflicted but she didn 't argue.
"If only Puck and Beatrice had gotten those bracelets off," Emilia murmured. "They'd be able to sense where we are and come right to us."
"Maybe they did," Garfiel offered. "Maybe that's how they broke out."
"Not likely," Felt sighed. "Red told me how hard those bracelets are to remove, and the spirits were almost entirely depowered when they were taken away. They'd never have been able to get them off on their own."
Felt 's face screwed up in concentration. "What about friends?" She asked. "Didn't we ever try to introduce Beako to any other girls her own age while we were roaming around the kingdom?"
"Her own age?" Subaru asked incredulously. "It's really hard to find girls in the four to five-hundred-year-old range, Felt." He thought for a moment. "I remember that I tried to get Beako to play with a little cat girl who hung around with Anastasia," He remembered with a rueful expression on his face. "That… really did not go well."
"What happened?" Emilia asked.
Subaru made a face. "It would take way too long to explain. The point is that if those two ever meet up again, there would probably be a lot of explosions, " He said with a chuckle.
Emilia studied Subaru for a moment, and then she moved on. "Beatrice would look for a friend, " She mused. "What about Petra? She and Beatrice always seemed to get on well."
Subaru made a face. "Maybe," He allowed. "I think that she'd trust Petra, but Petra wouldn 't be that useful a source of information. She's just a peasant girl who lives in Arlem, which is a tiny village out in the middle of nowhere. Asking Petra for information probably isn't all that much more reliable than asking random guys in a bar."
Garfiel stiffened. "Wait. That's it. Arlem , " He whispered.
"I just said-"
"No, no," Garfiel cut him off, "Forget about Petra, forget about that evil clown Roswaal. Arlem. The people there are all super loyal to you. I keep expecting them to erect an altar to you any day now."
"Garf!" Subaru complained.
Garfiel waved it off. "The little Bit knows that the Arlem residents are all loyal to you before anyone else, and the residents all know the little Bit. If she showed up there trying to find you, everybody would fall all over themselves to help her, and I doubt that they'd even consider turning her in to the kingdom. "
"Gramps is in Arlem too!" Felt added excitedly. "He'd keep them safe!"
Subaru blinked. "He is ? What the hell is Rom doing all the way out there? "
"Long story," Felt said dismissively. "But the spirits always seemed to like Gramps, and they know that they can trust him! Gramps is old, but he still has all kinds of connections in the criminal underworld, not to mention in the Alliance! He'd be the perfect person to find out where we are and to figure out how he could get the spirits to us undetected!"
Subaru digested that. "Maybe," He admitted.
"It makes sense, Subaru," Emilia agreed. "After all that they've been through, Beatrice and Daddy must be desperate to see a friendly face, and the best place to find one would definitely be in Arlem."
Subaru mulled it over, and he slowly started to nod. "Alright," He said slowly. "So maybe they 're on their way back to Arlem. But we can't say that for sure. We're just guessing. And it's going to be pretty risky for us to just run around the kingdom, checking all of our hunches."
"You can be a real downer sometimes, Captain," Garfiel complained.
Subaru shrugged with a half smile. "Anyway. Brador did tell me something else. Apparently, Vincent wants me to know about a Vollachian treasure. It's called 'the Phoenix Eye.' Anybody ever heard of it?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Subaru made a face. "Alright. Well, assuming that Brador and Vincent aren't just making up stories to string us along, the Phoenix Eye can apparently reveal connections between contractors. If we had it, we could follow the connection between me and Beatrice."
"So it would lead us to the little Bit like a bloodhound!" Garfiel exclaimed.
"That's the theory anyway," Subaru cautioned.
"You think that Vincent might be lying?" Emilia asked.
Subaru made a face. "The possibility has crossed my mind. "
Felt snorted. "The fact that he has an artifact that so perfectly fits our needs is either very lucky or very suspicious. "
"What does he want in exchange for it?" Emilia asked in a guarded voice.
"I don't know that either. Brador either doesn't know, or he won't say." Subaru thought for a moment. "I did learn some useful information on the ride here, though. After talking with Brador, it sounds suspiciously like Vincent's back is to the wall. That might help us in the negotiations."
"It might also mean that he thinks he's a man with nothing left to lose," Felt warned him.
Garfiel sighed. "Look, we have all night to chew this mess over if we want, but for now, can we please get out of here? I really need to stretch ! "
Subaru nodded. "Good plan. Let's get up on deck and enjoy all the fresh air we can before they cast off and send us back down here."
The quartet squeezed out of the tiny cabin.
Dris was a small community near the Vollachian-Lagunican border. It was less a town and more a series of inns and taverns that had grown like a tumor around a major trading post. The only people who lived here full-time were members of the hospitality industry. The other residents came here because they had nowhere else to go, and they 'd learned that teamsters and wagoners tended to be generous after getting paid for their latest odyssey.
Thus, the road near the local inns was lined with beggars of all sorts, holding out their hands or cups for donations. Because Lagunica was a largely illiterate society, few of these beggars wrote signs to elaborate on their sad, miserable lives. Some men with missing limbs wore the tattered remains of a soldier 's uniform to make it clear to any passersby how they had suffered their injuries. A few others wore ragged robes and preached the stories of the Gods to anyone willing to listen in exchange for a few small donations. Not a few, both men and women, wore extremely revealing clothing and adopted an ingratiating manner to encourage travelers to approach them and ask about their rates.
That said, a few beggars did try to write messages. It was often a shrewd business venture. In a world where few people were literate, displaying a sign, either written on paper or scratched into the sand at your feet, immediately caught the eye of the similarly literate and elevated the literate beggar above the rest of the rabble.
The messages they wrote tended to be short and to the point. 'Hungry, please help,' one old man wrote on the sandy ground at his feet. 'Wounded in battle protecting the Kingdom,' wrote one despondent young soldier with a missing leg. And 'I can touch my feet to the back of my head,' was written by a waifish girl in a low-cut blouse whose smile was more nervous than enticing.
Strangest of all, and gathering no small amount of confusion from passersby, was a small cat girl standing by the road wearing a broad smile and holding up a strange paper sign that said: "Will accept head-pats for coins." Sitting nearby was a girl in a pink gothic lolita dress whose expression clearly showed that she wished she was anywhere else.
"Are we almost done, in fact?" The girl whispered with a moan.
"Betty, this is how people make money here," the cat girl assured her. "Everybody is doing it."
Beatrice sighed, absently caressing the small gray cat in her lap. "Betty would never have wasted her small amount of magic conjuring you that paper if she knew that this was what you had planned. Betty 's magic is nearly exhausted! And until we find Betty's Subaru or return to Betty's library, Betty has no easy way to absorb more!"
"I don't really understand what we're doing here," Puck admitted.
"Betty, Mimi, and Bubby need money to travel," Mimi said primly. "So, Mimi is making money. Back in Kararagi, before Mimi and her brothers met Ms. Anastasia, they used to make money like this."
"Mimi is not making very much money doing this, in fact," Beatrice muttered.
"It worked better when Mimi and her brothers were together," Mimi admitted. "Three adorable cat children was a sight that attracted attention."
Mimi looked at Beatrice and Puck thoughtfully. "Bubby, can you come over here and help Mimi?"
Beatrice looked aghast and held Puck closer to her.
"Um," Puck said uncertainly. "I can try, I guess."
Beatrice gave Puck a look of utter shock.
Mimi pranced over and lifted the tiny spirit cat out of Beatrice 's reluctant arms. Mimi returned to the roadside, leaving Beatrice sitting there and pouting with a sullen expression on her face.
Mimi scanned the road for a likely target, and her face lit up when she saw an older woman wearing several large jeweled rings. Mimi sped right over to the woman.
"Please help, nice lady!" Mimi begged, her voice sounding on the verge of tears. "Mimi is all alone and very hungry! She just wants to get home and find her brothers. She can't even feed her kitty!" Mimi held out Puck for the woman's inspection.
Puck looked distinctly uncomfortable, dangling from Mimi 's arms like that, but he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Um…Meow?" He said gamely.
The woman squinted at Puck. Puck hadn 't meowed like a cat. He sounded more like a person trying to imitate a meow.
The woman looked puzzled, but she reached into her purse and pulled out a pair of copper coins. She handed them to Mimi and then swept away without a backward glance.
"Yes!" Mimi cheered, rushing back to Beatrice. "See? Mimi knew we'd make money doing this."
Beatrice looked disgruntled. "It was probably all due to Bubby's cuteness," She sniffed.
"Yes," Mimi said without a hint of rancor. "Bubby is very cute." She turned back to Puck. "But you don't meow very well," She criticized.
"I've never had to do it before!" Puck protested.
"It's like this," Mimi explained. "Meow." The tiny cat demi-human did an incredibly realistic cat sound.
Puck cleared his throat. "Meow?" He said uncertainly.
"Close," Mimi nodded. "But you need to let it resonate. Let it hang in your throat after you're done. Meow."
Puck 's face was screwed up in concentration. "Meow," Puck said.
"Almost. Meow."
"Meow?"
"What are we doing, in fact?!" Beatrice howled.
Beatrice flushed to realize that the entire street had all turned to look at Beatrice. She swallowed hard, and a few moments later, foot traffic resumed, and everyone went back to ignoring them.
"Betty," Mimi said gently. "You should try not to attract so much attention."
"…Betty knows that," Beatrice grumbled. "But what are we doing here? Why are you wasting time teaching Betty's Bubby to meow, and how does this get us back to Betty's Subaru?"
"We need to buy a ride, Betty," Mimi said patiently. "Mimi has discovered that you and Bubby don't move very fast."
Beatrice flushed. "Betty can move very fast, in fact! Betty just… can't fly right now," She trailed off with an embarrassed mumble.
Puck sighed. "Don't get me started. I really miss being able to fly. Lately, I 'm just being carried around like a stuffed toy."
"Anyway," Mimi interjected. "We should try to buy a ride. There are lots of merchants coming and going, and merchants will always sell extra space, so we should be able to find a ride. Which way is Subaru now?"
"That way," Beatrice said with authority, pointing directly south.
Mimi looked over Beatrice 's shoulder and frowned. "Betty… Mimi thinks those men are looking at us with great interest," She worried.
Beatrice looked behind her and saw a large group of armed men in nondescript brown clothing walking purposefully toward them. Their gaze was locked onto Beatrice. Some of the beggars saw the men coming, and they recoiled, turning their faces away as the men marched past.
Beatrice swallowed hard. "Run!" She squealed, and Mimi took off like a shot, Beatrice floundering behind.
Beatrice heard the men behind her break into a sprint, crushing any hope that Beatrice had misread the situation.
Mimi bolted ahead, Puck held safely in her arms.
Beatrice struggled to keep up with Mimi as the little cat-girl made a mad dash for the nearby forest where they might be able to lose their pursuit.
Another group of men in the same brown clothing darted out in front of Mimi, cutting them off.
Beatrice took a deep breath and pointed her hand at the men.
A jet of purple dust struck the strange men in the face, causing them to recoil. They all stood there, desperately wiping their eyes.
That was all the magic that Betty had left! She thought desperately.
The girls raced around the staggering men and made a beeline for the safety of the trees while they heard the pursers behind them steadily closing in.
"Hurry, Betty!" Mimi shouted.
Beatrice 's heart stopped as three more men, armed with crossbows, emerged from the forest. They stood there, their arrows locked onto Mimi, who skidded to a stop.
Beatrice caught up to Mimi, standing over her protectively as their pursuers closed in and surrounded them.
They were trapped.