As the seemingly endless funeral wore on, Subaru stayed close to Priscilla, enduring the tedious speeches.
Subaru could tell that his emphatic declaration of support had rattled the attendees as had the announcement of their impending marriage.
It was clear that the aristocrats had heard of Subaru and all of his achievements. Subaru could hear whispering from all corners of the room as the aristocrats struggled to ascertain what Subaru 's position in the Empire actually portended.
At the end of the ceremony, each officer came before Priscilla in a receiving line.
There were no declarations of support. Each one commiserated with Priscilla about the 'ending of her line' or how cruel it was that 'she'd been thrust into a role she was so ill-prepared and ill-suited for.'
Every sympathetic comment seemed to have a barb buried inside of it, and as the ceremony proceeded, Subaru grew angrier and angrier.
These guys don 't have to like Priscilla, he thought indignantly, Hell, I 'm not even sure if I do!
But she just lost her brother, and she 's also the only person today that I've heard even mention rebels hiding in the jungle or how we need to do something about the expanding desert. These men are so busy trying to climb the ladder in the Empire that they don 't realize the rungs are burning out from beneath them.
Without really even being aware of it, Subaru folded his arms across his chest and proceeded to scowl at each aristocrat as they came up to Priscilla to give her their 'sympathies.'
Not a few of these officers blanched when they found themselves face to face with this stranger who had come out of nowhere to shake the very world with his footsteps, and many of their carefully prepared jibs and veiled insults went unvoiced.
Finally, when the procession was just over half complete, Subaru found that he couldn 't take it anymore.
"My Empress," Subaru said in a voice that filled the tent, "Might I humbly suggest that we withdraw? The sun is setting, and the sort of vermin that haunt army camps at night are starting to amass. It would not do for Her Majesty to be exposed to such vile parasites." He extended his hand to her with a differential bow.
The room was as silent as a tomb.
Priscilla looked both shocked and impressed, but a moment later, her face was smugly superior. "A splendid idea, Subaru Natsuki," She said, putting her hand into his.
Subaru kissed her hand and then stood up. Priscilla began her graceful exit from the tent, with Subaru following a respectful pace behind her.
The sea of gathered aristocrats melted out of their path as they left. Their faces were all caricatures of shock and outrage.
As soon as Subaru and Priscilla exited the pavilion, the silence ended, and a babble of indignant and furious conversation broke out in the tent behind them.
"Nicely done," Priscilla said admiringly after they left the pavilion. "I think that perhaps our continued association may be more enjoyable than I had previously hoped for."
"Happy to help," Subaru said dryly.
Just outside the pavilion, Subaru and Priscilla found Morin waiting for them. Standing beside Morin was a bare-chested, one-armed man wearing a visored helmet. He was laughing uproariously.
"Lord Subaru," Morin whisper in shock. "What did you do?"
"He just mortally insulted the entire Vollachian aristocracy!" The man in the helmet giggled. "And made himself any number of lifelong enemies!"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time, Sir Aldebaran," Subaru said.
"Ugh," Aldebaran groaned. "It's Al. Just Al. Please."
Priscilla sniffed. "Morin, send some soldiers to remove those fools from the pavilion. With pikes if necessary. Then, I want everything in the pavilion set up just the way it was again. Our center of operations is to be restored immediately. And fetch me a tub of water. After glad-handing those fools all day, I find myself in through need of a bath."
Morin babbled something incoherent, but Priscilla ignored him and turned toward Subaru. "I'll be departing for Morinth before dawn. Just as soon as I've cleaned off all the grime from dealing with the Vollachian aristocracy."
"Better schedule a week's delay then," He said blandly.
Priscilla actually chuckled. "Also, Subaru Natsuki," She said calmly, "I'm told that Brador and the wyvern will be prepared to depart on your mission within the hour."
"Brador?" Subaru said in surprise. "They're sending a Minister on this trip?"
Priscilla sniffed. "If he even is a Minister. "
Subaru frowned. "What are you saying?"
Priscilla stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. "Ministers proliferate around rulers like maggots in rotting meat," She whispered. "I have not yet had an opportunity to review the lists of all the Imperial ministers and confirm that Brador's name is there."
Subaru shook his head. "Don't worry. Your brother mentioned him to me by name. He's not an impostor."
Priscilla tittered. "You misunderstand me," She said in a patronizing voice. "I am not implying that he might be an impostor or a traitor. I am implying that he might not be who he claims to be. And with my brother's full collusion."
Subaru cocked his head, thinking that over. "I don't get it. What would be the point?"
"I would not send a Minister on such a mission under any circumstances," Priscilla remarked. "But after the Night of Bloody Knives, my brother did gain the loyalty of a few surviving members of the Arcani," She said meaningfully.
"That's the Vollachian Intelligence service, right?"
Priscilla sniffed. "They're much more than that. For centuries, they did all but rule the nation from the shadows. My brother finally broke their power base, and an entire generation of Vollachian children should bless him in their prayers every night as a consequence."
Subaru digested that. "Why are you telling me this?"
"To preserve my investment," Priscilla said meaningfully. "Be cautious around Brador. The Arcani have a reputation for accomplishing their missions at any cost, no matter who or what needs to be sacrificed. Watch him closely, and don't let him out of your sight."
Subaru nodded slowly. "Thanks for the warning."
Priscilla gave Subaru a small smile of approval and then walked away.
Morin looked at Subaru with dismay, and then he hobbled off after her.
"Huh," Al remarked. "Seems like you guys are getting friendlier."
Subaru shrugged. "I guess so. We are engaged now. But there is a limit to how 'friendly' we can get," He said meaningfully.
"Yeah, Priscilla mentioned that you seemed pretty invested in that elf," Al said conversationally. "I'd keep a close eye on her if I were you. Priscilla's obstacles do have a funny way of being removed."
Subaru 's heart stopped, and the blood drained out of his face. "Are you saying that Priscilla-"
"Nah," Al said easily. "Priscilla would never stoop to ordering the assassination of a rival for a man's heart. It'd be too humiliating. I just meant that her luck tends to make things work out to her benefit. It might behoove you to establish that Priscilla can still get what she wants even if your woman stays in the picture. Otherwise, accidents have a funny way of occurring to her opponents."
Subaru stared at Al for a long moment, honestly not sure how to respond to this. "I'll… keep that in mind," He murmured.
Al shrugged. "It was just a thought. By the way, I've been following your exploits closely. You've become quite the mover and shaker, haven't you?"
Subaru frowned. "Um. I guess so. Why?"
"Well," Al said. "I have a little problem that I was hoping you'd be able to help me with."
"Um. OK, I'll try. What is it?"
"Oh, you can't help me now," Al laughed. "But if you keep growing like this, then someday, you might be able to! And if you can, I'd sure appreciate it. I'd owe you big time."
Subaru just stared at Al, feeling like this conversation was getting more and more confusing. "Um. Sure," He said awkwardly. "I mean, feel free to ask at least and we can discuss it."
"That's all I wanted to hear," Al said cheerfully, clapping Subaru on the back. "Hey, I need to run off and keep an eye on Priscilla. She has a funny way of getting into trouble without me. Take care of yourself, kid."
Al walked away without a word.
Subaru watched him depart in complete bafflement.
Dinner that night was absolutely miserable. Despite not eating a crumb in two days, Emilia didn 't want to eat a bite of food.
The wives all sat down at dinner as usual. The only blessing was that Regulus didn 't bother to attend. Even 128 was elsewhere, tending to the mad Archbishop. This meant that dinner would be less stressful, but it also meant that all the delicious food the wives had spent all day preparing for him went straight into the garbage.
Meanwhile, all of the wives silently sat down at the table. A server quickly came out and poured the same slop as last night into precisely four bowls: Emilia 's, Sylvie's, 42's, and 117's.
Emilia didn 't think she could bring herself to eat even a spoonful.
Sylvie and 117 started eating, but 42 just folded her arms across her chest and glared daggers at Emilia. 42 's face was streaked with tears, but her expression was seething. She glared unblinkingly at Emilia, every flicker of expression conveying waves of contempt and hatred on a scale that Emilia wasn't sure she'd ever encountered before.
Emilia bowed her head in shame. She glanced at the other wives and realized they were also staring at her stonily.
Maybe I was just being selfish in trying to save Sylvie over Marie. I got everyone in trouble and what good did I really accomplish?
Sylvie sighed. "Please try to eat," She murmured to Emilia and 42. "Going hungry does no one any good. It just makes you weaker. And we all need as much strength as possible to try to endure this… place for another day. "
"Except for 14," 42 hissed at Emilia. "She doesn't have to endure it any longer! Thanks to you!"
Emilia winced.
"No matter what she did or didn't do," Sylvie murmured in a terribly tired voice. "We would be setting one fewer place for dinner tonight. There was nothing else to be done. Each of us has had to make… hard choices at times."
"She's only been here a few days," the blond from earlier muttered. "And she's already had to make a lot of 'hard choices' for all of us. When does she get to suffer for her choices?"
"She doesn't have to," The brown-haired mousy girl spat. "She's his new favorite."
Emilia flinched and bowed her head.
Sylvie sighed. "Were none of you there this morning when the monster almost killed her?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah. And then he panicked," 42 said with disdain. "He'd have never been worried about any of us bleeding out. He would have dropped us on the floor and walked off, yelling at 128 to keep the blood from staining the carpets. But this one is special, so he takes care of her."
Emilia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
I know that I need to eat something, and I 'll need my strength to try to escape. I know where I can find a ladder, and Marie… poor Marie… showed me where to find the laundry room. I can tie towels and blankets together to make a rope. With those, I can reach the skylight and maybe even get down onto the grounds. I just need an opportunity to try.
But I also need to keep my strength up. With no mana, it 's not going to be easy carrying a ladder around or lowering my own body to the ground on a rope.
I have to try to eat this slop.
Less than an hour after the funeral ended, Brador, Felt, and Subaru were airborne, riding on a wyvern. The driver in front of them held the reins but hadn 't said a word the entire trip.
Felt looked both excited and terrified. "Wow!" She shouted, "I never imagined that I'd get a chance to fly!"
Subaru snorted. "Don't say that I never take you anywhere!" He turned to Brador. "So what's the plan? Are we landing near this vault thing?"
"No," Brador shouted back. "We're not landing."
Subaru stared at him. " Excuse me?! "
"If we land the wyvern, anyone watching will know exactly where to search for us. The plan is to jump when we pass over the swamp near the heart of the jungle. The water will cushion our fall."
"Are you kidding me?!" Felt freaked out. "We're forty feet in the air! And I can't swim!"
"And the swamp is full of mabeasts!" Subaru added.
Brador shrugged. "It's our only chance! Unless you wanted to try to go into the Jungle on foot, of course."
Subaru swore under his breath. He turned to the terrified Felt. "Just stay close to me, Felt. I'll get you to shore," He promised.
Felt bit her lip as she looked at Subaru with huge, frightened eyes.
The driver said something to Brador, who nodded. "OK, guys!" Brador yelled. "Here it comes! Be ready!"
Subaru took a firm grip on Felt 's hand.
"Three… two… one. Off we go!" Brador shouted as he leaped off the wyvern's back, followed by Subaru and Felt.
Subaru saw a mucky river below them but he had no idea how deep it was or what might live inside of it.
They crashed down hard in the river, the impact driving them to the river bottom, ten feet down.
Subaru instantly shoved Felt toward the surface and then swam up after her.
Subaru thrust his head out of the water, gasping for breath. Felt was thrashing and splashing beside him.
Subaru quickly threw an arm around her and started dragging her toward shore. "I've got you! Stop struggling! We don't want to attract mabeasts!"
Felt immediately stopped flailing and Subaru quickly got them both to shore.
The pair hauled up on the sandy beach, absolutely soaked. Brador quickly walked over to them.
Felt rubbed her forehead. "Subaru, promise me that the next time we make a deal with some Emperor, you'll ask more questions about the details."
"I'll try to remember that," He sighed.
Subaru glanced at Brador. "Now what?"
Brador pointed toward the heart of the jungle where the ruins of a great stone city lay. Rising up out of the center like a mountain was a great stone pyramid.
After dinner, the wives tidied up. The kitchen was much quieter than usual. 42 and several other wives were openly crying as they worked.
Sylvie seemed to be one of the most upset. The elven woman simply stared out the window as the other wives tidied up the kitchen.
None of the wives seemed willing to even acknowledge Emilia 's presence or answer any of her questions about where various utensils and crockery went.
As a result, Emilia 's attempts to help only hindered the work, and she could tell that the wives blamed her for this as well.
Eventually, Emilia gave up on helping to clean up the kitchen. Instead, she went over to Sylvie, hoping to soothe her misery. "Are you alright?" Emilia dared to ask Sylvie.
Sylvie shook her head. "I don't understand… why am I still here? I've survived here for more than forty years. Is it just luck or…"
"I'm glad that you're still with us," Emilia whispered simply.
Sylvie gave her a weak smile.
Emilia noticed 42 staring into a dirty pot in the sink, crying.
Emilia took a breath and approached the tiny bunny girl.
"42," She said hesitantly. "I… I didn't mean… I never wanted her to die. I just didn't know what-"
42 slammed her tiny fist down into the soapy water, knocking the tower of dirty pans over in the sink. "You didn't know? You didn't know what? You chose her! You picked her, you pointed her out, and you handed her over to the monster! Don 't stand there and pretend that you care."
Emilia flinched. "I… I had no choice. Regulus-"
"Sure, you had a choice," 42 spat. "And you made it! 14 was the one who had no choice! You got to pick what you thought would be easier for you to live with. You picked that elf: your elf! You saved her, and 14 died! You're just like him, deciding who lives and who dies."
Emilia stood there, frozen in shame. 42 's words hit her like a physical blow. She wanted to defend herself, but she couldn't find the words.
Maybe she 's right…
42 turned away in disgust: "Don't bother speaking to me again. We're not friends. You made your choice. Now, just go and live with it. You had no problem making me live with it... "
Emilia bowed her head. "…I'm so sorry…" She whispered, turning away.
Subaru, Felt, and Brador fought through the underbrush, making their way toward the ruins and the great stone pyramid.
Subaru broke through the thick brush and found himself at the top of a small cliff over a dry riverbed.
His face paled. "Oh shit!" He whispered, dropping down into the brush.
Felt instantly copied him, dropping down without a sound. She didn 't know what was happening, but she knew that look on Subaru's face meant trouble.
"Do we have to walk through every patch of thorn bushes you see?" Brador complained, stomping up behind them. "Would it be too much to ask that-"
Brador choked off as Subaru jumped up, clapped a hand over his mouth, and yanked him down into the brush.
Brador fought to pull Subaru 's hand off his mouth. "What are you doing?!" Brador protested.
Subaru shushed him with a threatening expression. Then he pointed down into the dried-up river bed below them.
In the dried-up riverbed were a dozen draugr, just like the one that Subaru had fought before. Some stood motionless, but others lurched back and forth, wandering pointlessly in small circles around the area. Each draugr was covered in what had to be centuries of mud and dirt.
"Oh, dear," Brador whispered.
"Yup, that about sums it up," Subaru growled. "So we want to be very quiet right now. If those things figure out that we're here…"
"Yes. Yes, I understand," Brador gulped. "Might I suggest that we get out of here as quickly as possible?"
Subaru didn 't answer. He looked down at the horde of stumbling draugr.
Holy shit, Subaru thought grimly. I barely survived fighting one of these things. Now, there are a dozen of them.
"Lord Subaru," Brador whispered. "We need to get out of here!"
"We can probably slip around them if we're quiet," Felt suggested. "They don't seem to be keeping a very good watch."
Subaru nodded. "Good plan. We'll just sneak up the riverbed a few hundred yards until we're out of sight. Then we can keep heading toward the pyramid," He whispered.
The trio started to make their way slowly along the cliff, hiding deep in the underbrush.
These creatures are tough, but they seem dumb. I doubt they 're keeping an effective watch.
Subaru stumbled as the ground suddenly gave way under Subaru 's foot. He landed hard on the sandy ground, and a few rocks slid down the embankment into the dry river bed.
As landslides went, it was pathetic. Barely a square foot of dirt and rock were moved.
But now every draugr in the river bed was staring right at them.
"Shit!" Subaru hissed. "Move!" He shouted, lurching to his feet and pushing Brador into a sprint. Felt raced off at full speed, easily outdistancing them both.
The draugr gave a hollow roaring sound that sounded more pained than furious. In unison, they set off in pursuit, moving quickly despite their lurching ungainly strides.
"Keep running!" Subaru shouted.
"I am!" Brador yelled back, maintaining an impressive speed for a paper pusher.
"Away from the riverbed!" Subaru ordered. "I don't think these things can climb too well, but we don't want to lead them to a gentle slope downstream!"
As instructed, Felt and Brador dashed away from the riverbed, and Subaru followed them.
From behind him, he heard the sounds of crumbling dirt and falling rocks as the draugr fought their way up the small ridge.
Subaru risked a glance backward, and his eyes widened in shock.
The draugr were already up on top of the ridge. The monsters had formed a living ladder, and they had scaled each other to reach the top. Now they set off after Subaru and Brador, their stride slow and limping but steady and tireless.
There 's no way that we can outrun them! They may be slow, but they never stop. We're already panting for breath.
"Look for a place to hide!" Subaru snapped.
"Like where?!" Brador demanded.
"Anywhere! A crevasse! A dense bush! Hell, look for a tree that we can climb! These things aren't smart. Let's just get out of sight!"
As most of the wives trudged upstairs toward bed, Emilia thought about what to do now.
Emilia was near the back of the line, but 42 walked behind her. Emilia wasn 't sure if the furious bunny girl simply wanted to glower at her or if she was hoping for an opportunity to attack Emilia while her back was turned.
Emilia didn 't know if she could blame her.
When they reached the fourth floor, Emilia stopped. "78, 117," She whispered.
Sylvie and the cat-girl looked back at her. Their expressions were curious but also deeply tired.
Emilia sighed. "I was wondering if we should have a memorial service for 14," She whispered.
Sylvie shook her head. "We can't. Remember, 14 died in disgrace. 128 would be furious if she caught us mourning her."
"What about using my room?" Emilia offered. "We could have some privacy in there. At least enough to have a little memorial before 128 catches us."
42 trudged past Emilia. "Huh," She snorted. "Now you're trying to soothe your own guilt?"
Sylvie gave 42 a sharp look. "A memorial for 14 would be honoring a lost friend," She said calmly. "Honoring our dead is about respect. It has nothing to do with forgiving or not forgiving 64. "
Emilia winced at her new title.
42 looked mutinous, but she mulled it over. "Alright. When are we going to do this?" She asked impatiently. "Now? 128 is still downstairs with the monster, but who knows how long that will last."
"We can do it now," Emilia agreed gently.
42 folded her skinny arms across her chest. "Well… then hurry up, and let's do it…"
Emilia silently led the trio to her room and closed the door behind them. The bed was much too small for even two of them to comfortably sit on, so they all sat on the floor.
42 pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her knees. "So… what do we do now?" She grumbled. Despite her sullen attitude, Emilia could see the tears streaming down her face.
Emilia sighed. "I suppose… we try to remember the good times with 14."
"All those precious memories that you made with her in two days?" 42 asked sarcastically.
117 sighed. "42, she knows that you hate her. You don't need to keep reminding her of that fact. This should be about 14. Not about 64."
42 was silent.
Emilia swallowed hard. "I… I first spoke with 14 only this morning. I wanted to apologize to her for getting her in trouble last night. She… she forgave me without a moment's hesitation. She told me how to avoid drawing attention during the morning prayers and warned me about the faithful wives. I thought… maybe we could become friends. I even asked her for her name."
"You did what?!" 42 hissed.
"That is forbidden here," 117 agreed sharply.
Sylvie was silent. Her wise old eyes revealed that she 'd already guessed what Emilia was about to say.
Emilia bowed her head. "I don't know how," She admitted. "But Regulus knew that we'd exchanged names. And that's why he wanted to punish us."
117 and 42 both looked at Sylvie in shock. "Oh, 78, not you too," 117 said in dismay.
Sylvie nodded. "It was very unwise of me," She admitted. "I hadn't seen another elf in so many years. I thought…" She trailed off.
"Misfortune follows you around like a pestilence," 42 grated at Emilia. "I just don't understand why you're never the one who has to suffer for it!"
Emilia bowed her. "To tell you the truth, I've been asking myself that question my whole life," She whispered.
42 frowned.
Emilia took a deep breath. "Does anyone have a favorite memory of 14 to share?"
Sylvie started to smile. "When she first came to this horrible place, she was just a slip of a girl. We didn't have any dresses in her size. Until we could get some new ones, she was running around the mansion in that pink and blue dress. It drove 128 crazy that she wasn't dressed like the rest of us. 128 had to keep her hidden so as not to upset the monster until the new dresses arrived."
117 chuckled. "I'd forgotten about that!"
"I still have that dress," 42 said abruptly.
117 's eyes widened. "You do ? "
42 nodded. "I hid it when 128 told me to get rid of it. It… reminded me of something that my little sister used to wear," She said in a dead voice. "14 was so much like her. Always cheerful, always wanting to help. Never thinking that she had an enemy in the world. "
"Nobody could have hated 14," Sylvie agreed.
42 gave Emilia a harsh glare. "Sometimes the cruelest wounds are the ones inflicted by indifference."
Emilia cringed and bowed her head in shame.
"Do you remember when you tried to teach 14 to bake a pie?" 117 asked 42 with a smile.
42 sighed. "Boy, that went badly. I had to run off and take care of a few things. When I came back, 14 had reduced the pie to a cracker. Because we were in such a hurry to cook that day, she decided to turn up the oven to try and make everything cook faster."
"Sounds like something that I would do," Emilia admitted.
42 shook her head. "That girl was a lousy chef," She said, her voice breaking in misery. "…I so miss cooking. Real cooking. I used to live in Ivo with my parents and my sister. "
"42," 117 whispered in warning.
42 pressed on. "I worked in our bakery. I loved to cook and to see people smile when they ate my food. But nobody is allowed to eat anything that I cook in this madhouse! The monster just takes a bite and throws the rest away. "
"Why does he do that?" Emilia murmured. "Doesn't he get hungry?"
"No," Sylvie whispered. "The monster never gets hungry or tired. His magic seals him away from such frailties. In fact, his magic seals him away from the entire world."
"What do you mean?"
Sylvie debated with herself, then shrugged, "The monster's invincibility makes him miserable."
Emilia frowned. "I don't understand."
Sylvie 's eyes were scornful. "The monster admitted it once. He can turn off his invincibility whenever he wants, but he can't bring himself to do it."
"But why would he want to?" 117 asked.
Sylvie sighed. "One night, long before any of you came to this horrible place, the monster threw an enormous tantrum and started complaining to us about how difficult his life is. The magic that makes him invincible also completely separates him from this world. He can't taste food or drink. He can't feel the wind on his face or smell flowers. He can't feel the touch of our hands or even go to sleep. The magic that makes him invulnerable also locks him in a prison of misery where he's denied any form of sensation."
"Good," 42 whispered with satisfaction.
Emilia looked confused. "That sounds… awful! Why would anyone do that? Couldn't he just… turn off his invincibility to enjoy himself and only turn it back on when he's in danger?"
Sylvie laughed bitterly. "One of the other wives suggested it that night. The monster killed her on the spot."
"What?! Why?!" Emilia gasped.
Sylvie shook her head. "He accused her of trying to kill him, either directly or by hoping for an accident. And then he went on a tirade, complaining about all the ways that he could be killed if not for his magic constantly protecting him. He mentioned being stabbed, poisoned, smothered in his sleep, even tripping and falling down the stairs. He went on and on about all the random threats that were just waiting in the shadows to kill him if he wasn't constantly protected. He spent the whole night raving about how unfair it was that he was important enough to need to protect himself this way. He said it was incredibly unfair that immortality had such a price."
"Nobody forced him to be immortal," 42 grumbled. "We'd all be much happier if he wasn't."
Sylvie shrugged. "The monster sees threats everywhere he looks. One of the threats that he mentioned was simply being laughed at."
"Laughed at?" 117 asked incredulously.
Sylvie nodded. "Laughing at the monster is an automatic death sentence in this house. I warned you about this when you first arrived, but I'm not surprised you've forgotten. Laughter doesn't happen very often in this house for obvious reasons. And even rarer is anyone moved to laugh at the monster. But on those rare occasions where someone does dare to laugh at him, he destroys everyone in sight," She said grimly.
"It sounds like something my two-year-old brother would have done if he could," 117 observed.
Sylvie shook her head. "It's even more pathetic than you think. While he was ranting that night, I discovered that the monster remembers each and every person who has ever laughed at him. He can recite an itemized list of every single situation where he was ever made to feel inferior. That night, he went over each one individually . We had to commiserate with him about how 'horrible and unfair' all those experiences were. We were forced to spend hours reassuring him of how important and special he was. "
"I've never seen the monster act like that," 42 muttered.
"He doesn't do it very often anymore," Sylvie admitted. "When 128 became his head wife, he became much more steady. He needed someone to manage the chaos in his life or he'd get frustrated and start looking for targets he could take out his rage on. But that night is when I finally understood what the monster really is. He's afraid of everything! He's terrified of the whole world, and he uses his magic to protect himself from it. He needs to be in control of everything at all times, or he feels vulnerable."
Emilia mulled that over. "Is there any way that we could tempt him into removing his invincibility?"
Sylvie shook her head. "No. And if he realized that we even knew about all this, he'd certainly kill us on the spot."
117 looked startled. "Why? It's not like we could force him to remove it."
"He'd kill us because he feels like us knowing his secret gives us power over him," Sylvie said bluntly. "And that's the one thing that he can't handle. All of these rituals, all of these stupid games, are a way to constantly reassure himself that he's in complete control of everything and everyone. He can't tolerate anything less."
"Can we stop talking about the monster, please?" 42 grumbled.
"Yes," 117 nodded. "This night is about 14. Who has another story?"
"Do they see us?" Brador whispered from up in the branches of a tall tree.
"Not so far," Subaru sighed, peering through the leaves to study a grassy field full of pacing draugr.
"Of course, all they have to do is look up," Felt grumbled.
Subaru shook his head in frustration.
These monsters are smarter than I gave them credit for. Or at least they 're better trackers. I thought that all we had to do was duck behind some bushes or something, and the monsters would just keep running past us. But they're following our 'tracks' or something like that.
I know that we aren 't leaving any literal tracks in the soft grass, but they're following something.
They almost grabbed us twice before I realized that they were tracking us. I had to lead Felt and Brador to a flowing river and then double back and climb a tree before we shook them off. Unfortunately, even though they lost the scent, they haven 't given up the chase. They're just milling around down there.
I 'm not even sure if they're still actively looking for us. Maybe they've already forgotten all about us, but they just don't have any reason to go back to that riverbed.
It doesn 't make much difference, though. Whether they've forgotten about us or not, if we try to climb down, they'll spot us instantly, and we'll be right back where we started.
"Brador," Subaru whispered. "What do you know about these freaks?"
"Not much, just myths and legends," Brador admitted.
"Any stories about weaknesses?"
"No. They're supposed to already be dead. What else can you do to them?"
Subaru shot him an annoyed look.
Brador noticed Subaru 's irritation and elaborated. "There's not even a record of these things ever being destroyed in the Archives," He elaborated. "When rumors emerged first surfaced that the rebels had found some way to command the draugr, His Majesty ordered the Sword of the Emperor to attack one in the jungle as a test, but that proved to be just a holding action. He was unable to destroy it, and he was forced to retreat."
"The Sword of the Emperor?" Felt asked.
"Cecilus Segmunt," Brador explained. "The greatest warrior in the Empire."
Subaru made a face. "He's the one who's supposed to be equal to Reinhard."
Felt gaped at Subaru, her expression greatly offended.
"Do you have a plan?" Brador whispered desperately.
Subaru glared at him. "As it happens, no . I guess the invincible undead warriors have kind of taken me by surprise, " He said sarcastically.
Grasping at straws, Subaru started to climb higher in the tree.
"Where are you going?" Felt whispered.
"Up. It's pretty much the only direction that we can go right now," Subaru grumbled.
Subaru reached the top of the tree, and he scanned the area.
Looking to the west, he thought he saw several other parties of the draugr scattered throughout the region, waiting in place or pacing in small circular patrols.
"See anything?" Brador whispered.
"A lot of draugr. They're probably all standing guard for Sphinx," Subaru grumbled. He peered off to the east. "Also some ruins… Those big ruins in the swamp don't look like they're too far away. And it looks like there's an old stone bridge that leads into them."
"Are you thinking the same plan as last time?" Felt asked.
Subaru shrugged. "Well… it worked before."
"Would someone care to enlighten me?" Brador asked plaintively.
"We got rid of the last draugr by luring it out onto a bridge," Felt replied before Subaru could answer. "Then Subaru smashed the bridge, and the draugr fell into the ravine."
Brador frowned and then nodded. "Yes, I remember you telling me now. Very creative, " He complimented.
"Mostly luck and desperation," Subaru said deprecatingly. "But it might work. If we could get a bit of a head start, we can run toward that old bridge, and I can smash it once we get off. Then the draugr will fall into the riverbed. It won't kill them, but they'll probably lose our trail and need to find another way around."
"Yeah, but to make it work, we'll need to outrun the draugr all the way to the bridge," Felt reminded him.
"They're not all that fast," Subaru shrugged.
"There's a bigger issue," Brador whispered. "The draugr are amazing at throwing things."
"Throwing things?" Subaru asked.
"Boulders, trees, rocks, things like that. If they decide that they can't reach their target, they'll just start throwing whatever ammo they can find at it. The draugr have taken down wyverns flying at full speed that way!"
Subaru shook his head. "Maybe they're good at throwing things but I bet they're not so good at hitting things in this dense brush. They're more likely to hit trees than us."
"So, we're gambling our lives on probability here, Subaru?" Felt protested.
Subaru pondered that for a moment and then shrugged. "Look. If anyone has a better idea, I'm all ears," He said simply.
Brador looked sick. He took a deep breath. "Alright. How do we do this?"
Subaru looked down at the horde of draugr. Many were standing still, just staring off into the distance, but luckily, these were all facing away from the tree where they hid.
A few of the draugr wandered around in small circles, patrolling the clearing like poorly programmed video game characters.
"That one," Subaru whispered, pointing at a draugr. "He's the only one that's ever really looking toward us, but it's also walking a patrol."
"So we wait until it looks away, and then we run like hell?" Felt finished.
"I like simple plans," Subaru said with grim humor. "They're easy to remember."
"When did this become my life?" Felt whimpered.
"OK," Brador said in a sick voice. "He's about to turn around."
"Alright. On three, we slide down and bolt toward the bridge."
"And that would be which way?" Felt asked pointedly.
Subaru checked a sigh and pointed northward.
Felt nodded.
"Alright. One, two, three," Subaru said and slid down the trunk.
The trio hit the ground and took off running. Subaru could already hear the sound of crumbling earth as the mud-covered figures slowly turned to investigate the noise.
In seconds, the draugr were already moving in pursuit.
At first, the plan went well, and they rapidly outpaced the draugr, but then Subaru discovered that to reach the bridge, they first needed to climb a large sandy hill covered in large stones.
The trio had to fight their way through the tough terrain, and the draugr began to close in.
For all his complaining, Brador sure can move fast when he 's motivated, Subaru thought, his lungs burning.
Subaru pushed himself harder as he heard the heavy footfalls of the draugr not far behind. While they could have easily outpaced the draugr on flat ground, this rough terrain was built for the draugr which simply crashed through any obstacle in their way.
Subaru saw Brador 's foot roll over a small rock, and he fell to the ground.
Without thinking, Subaru slid down to help him get back up. Felt skidded to a halt a dozen yards beyond, hesitating between fleeing and returning to help.
The three draugr closed in with the rest just a few yards behind them. Subaru pushed Brador back to his feet and gave him a shove. He prepared to trigger Indomitable .
If I can hold them off for a second, then maybe-
There was a strange flicker in the air, and the draugr … just fell apart. The enormous creatures crumbled into fragments and fell into neat piles.
Subaru stared utterly dumbfounded at the remains of the draugr.
Then Subaru 's eyes widened. The tiny crumbs were moving . Even having been reduced to tiny scraps, the pieces of draugr still fought to join together and rebuild the whole. The tiny pieces moved at a glacial pace, but each time they found an appropriate partner, they both liquefied and then merged together. The pieces of broken draugr steadily got larger and the draugr very slowly began to rise again from their own broken forms.
Subaru shook his head and sprinted after Felt and Brador. "I'll figure this out later!" He shouted to no one.
"We need to get back," Sylvie said, standing up. "We've already been here too long. If 128 notices we're missing, we'll be in serious trouble."
"Maybe we could tell her you were all helping me practice my prayers," Emilia joked.
Sylvie and 117 both laughed. "Well. She'd buy that, " 117 admitted.
The two women stood up and made their way out of the room. 42 followed behind, her head hung down. Before she closed the door, 42 looked back at Emilia. Her expression was hard and bitter, but maybe with the smallest tinge of respect mixed in.
42 shut the door behind her.
That night, Brador, Felt, and Subaru hid in the underbrush near Sphinx 's compound. An enormous wooden wall surrounded the compound, and three demi-human sentries stood guard outside the only gate.
"This is bad," Subaru muttered. "I wasn't expecting to have to fight our way through a fortified camp!"
"It's probably worse than that," Felt remarked. "I'd bet good money that more draugr are in there too."
Subaru made a face. "Yeah. I still have no idea why the draugr chasing after us just… collapsed like that, but it was lucky for us they did. If I 'd had to destroy the bridge like we originally planned, the whole camp would have heard it, and they'd be on high alert by now."
"I think they already look alert enough to cause us problems," Felt muttered.
"I didn't expect this," Brador admitted. "The intelligence reports told me that Sphinx and Octavian were probably near God's Grave, but I didn't expect them to have built a whole wall around it."
"How much effort do you think that took?" Felt muttered. "That wall is freaking huge."
Subaru snorted. "I really don't care how much effort it took right now. Let's try to think of a way to get inside."
Subaru thought about it. "I wish we'd thought to bring a rope. We might have been able to scale the wall."
"I brought a couple of bombs," Brador mentioned. "I thought we might need to lay down cover while we retreated. But I don't know if they'd help us break in."
Subaru shook his head. "They won't. Bombs going off would just rouse the entire camp and convince them they were under attack," Subaru muttered.
Felt was rubbing her forehead. "Subaru. What in the world would you do without me?"
"Huh?"
Felt ignored him. "Brador, do you think Octavian recruited any members of… um, what do you call the Vollachian Spies?"
"The Arcani," Brador said at once. "And yes, I'm sure that he has."
"Brador," Felt muttered, "Do you still have that weird lantern thing that you brought?"
Brador looked puzzled as he pulled the lantern out of his pack. It glowed an eerie blue. "I do, but what about it? You're not saying that we should abort the mission, are you?"
"Of course not," Felt snorted, taking the lantern. "Subaru, tie him up."
"What?!" Brador protested.
"Felt, what are you thinking?" Subaru asked.
"We pretend to be the Arcani bringing a prisoner to Sphinx," Felt muttered a little uncertainly.
Subaru stared at her. " What ?! "
"That's a terrible plan!" Brador protested. "You think that the sentries will just believe that we're Arcani? With no documents? No proof at all?"
"The Arcani are spies," Felt said pointedly. "It's not like they'd carry around business cards! Besides, we don't need them to believe us. We just need to get close enough for Subaru to pulverize them before they can sound the alarm."
Brador frowned, mulling the idea over.
Subaru shook his head. "Maybe," He admitted. "But this still strikes me as one hell of a long shot."
Felt snorted and said mockingly, "Look, if anyone has any better ideas, then I 'm all…," her voice trailed off.
Subaru glanced at her. "Ears?" He prompted.
Felt 's face was dumbfounded as she stared at the gate. "Subaru," She whispered, "Do you believe that the Gods love us?"
Subaru blinked at this bizarrely pious question from Felt of all people. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Look!" Felt hissed.
Subaru followed her gaze, and his jaw dropped. At the gate, the guard was changing. Three new demi-humans came on watch.
One of them was Garfiel. He wore the Demi-Human Alliance uniform, and he carried a long spear in his hands, similar to a Vollachian legionnaire.
Subaru shook his head. "No way," He whispered. "This has got to be a trap. "
"This is actually too crazy to be a trap," Felt said incredulously. "Sphinx would never put out this kind of bait. No one in their right mind would. It's so obvious that no one would ever go for it!"
Subaru squinted at Felt. "So… your argument is that this is such an obvious trap that it actually can 't be a trap?" He asked as if just for confirmation.
"Right," She said seriously.
"Felt," Subaru complained. "I think that logic just broke something in my brain!"
"If it gives us a chance, then I say we go for it," Brador interjected. "We don't have any better ideas."
"Yeah, but we still need a plan," Felt grumbled. "We need to find a way to get Garfiel's attention without alerting the other two!"
Subaru frowned and picked up a tiny pebble off the ground. He triggered Reason and Judgment and took careful aim. He ended Reason and Judgment and triggered Indomitable , shooting the tiny stone like a marble. The pebble zipped like a guided missile over a hundred yards, and then it just barely grazed Garfiel 's arm before slamming into a small pile of stones with a grinding crash.
"Ow!" Garfiel exclaimed, grabbing his arm.
"What was that?" The other guards said sharply, looking in the direction of the crashing sound.
The two guards nodded at each other, and they walked around the gate toward the small pile of rocks that Subaru had disturbed.
Garfiel carefully inspected his arm and saw that something had grazed him, leaving a very tiny but straight cut on his arm. He looked up, tracing the object 's trajectory.
Felt shook the branch of the shrub that they hid under exactly once.
Garfiel 's eyes immediately zeroed in on the location of the sound and motion. His jaw dropped, and his spear fell from nerveless fingers, hitting the ground with a clatter.
"Hey, newbie. Did you seriously just drop your spear because of a bug bite?" One of the demi-humans chuckled. The two guards returned, having apparently concluded that there was nothing to worry about.
Garfiel shook off his shock. "Hey, man! …I'm still not used to this swamp! The bugs around here are the size of sparrows!" He said awkwardly.
The guards both laughed.
"Yeah. Well, I'd say that you'll get used to it, but that would be a lie," The first guard said.
"Be careful with that spear, though," The other guard warned him. "You'll dull it if you drop it like that, and then the sergeant will make you spend the whole damn day sharpening it to his satisfaction."
Garfiel snorted. "In my experience, the folks who worry excessively about minutiae do it because their minds can't handle anything of substance."
The guards both laughed.
"Garf, you're way too young to be talking like such an old soldier," The second guard quipped.
"Yeah? Well, I think this job is aging me real fast," Garfiel muttered. "Hey, do you guys mind holding down the fort for a minute? I need to answer the call of nature."
The guards shrugged.
"Go for it," The first guard said.
Garfiel nodded and started to walk out into the jungle.
"What the hell are you doing?" The second guard asked in shock.
Garfiel snorted. "I think that I'd rather do my business without an audience," He snickered.
"Why don't you go use the latrine?" The first guard gestured toward the camp. "There's mabeasts out there!"
"I don't want to walk that far!" Garfiel whined.
The two guards looked at each other helplessly.
"Fine," The first guard shrugged. "But you're the first man I ever met who was willing to face a snapjaw out of sheer laziness."
Garfiel snorted. "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, tell the Sergeant I hate him."
"Yeah, I won't be doing that," The first guard said, and they both laughed.
Garfiel approached the bushes where the group hid, and he quickly vanished into the foliage.
"Captain! Shrimp!" Garfiel struggled to keep his voice down as Felt threw her arms around him. "What are you doing here?"
"We're saving you, you big blockhead!" Felt said at once.
Subaru shook Garfiel 's hand with a grin. "She's right," Subaru cautioned. "But we have another problem. Garf, Regulus has kidnapped Emilia."
Garfiel 's face paled. " No ! "
"Yes," Subaru muttered. "We made a deal with Vincent for a weapon that can kill Regulus. It's apparently hidden inside that pyramid. We have to get in there."
Garfiel frowned, his face screwing up in concentration. "Captain, that won't be easy," He warned him. "The draugr are guarding it."
"Well, first thing's first," Felt cut them off, "We need to get inside."
Garfiel nodded slowly. "I might have a plan for that. Look, I'm on watch for another three hours, but-"
"You're on watch for three hours?" Brador asked incredulously. "You just got on. Why is your watch so short?"
Garfiel shook his head. "It's Sphinx's idea. She wants all of us to be on short shifts two or three times a day," He grumbled. "She claims it'll improve readiness by getting us accustomed to sleeping less. I don't know if it's working or not, but I can tell you that all of us lowly soldiers are getting real tired of this plan real fast. "
"Focus!" Felt snapped.
Garfiel blinked and then nodded. "Oh, right. OK. The compound is mostly deserted this time of night. There aren't many sentries that might spot you, but the problem is that most of the human soldiers are gone. They all marched out of the jungle this morning. So you guys will attract a lot of attention just by being human. I'm staying in building D-17. Isabel won't be home before morning, so you guys should be safe in there. Stay there and stay out of sight until I get off shift. "
Subaru started to ask who Isabel was but realized that this would take time, which they didn 't have. "But how do we get inside the compound?"
"I'll get you an opening," Garfiel said, moving out of the brush. "Watch for it."
Garfiel casually returned to his post.
"That took a while," The first guard snickered. "Run into a snapmaw?"
Garfiel shrugged as he recovered his spear. "I don't know. I did hear something creeping up behind me while I dropped trow. I think that it was about to eat me, but maybe it wound up with a mouthful of something it didn 't like."
The guards both laughed.
Garfiel scratched his chin. "Hey. You guys hungry?"
The first guard snorted. "Hell, yeah!"
"Hendrickson should bring us some food soon," The second guard said.
"Yeah. Whenever he wakes up from his coma!" Garfiel snorted. "Hendrickson is not acclimating well to Sphinx's new sleep schedule."
"Which of us is?" The second guard asked philosophically.
"Look, all I'm saying is that if we wait for Hendrickson to bring us food, we're going to get really hungry. And the cafeteria will close any time now. Why don't we just grab it ourselves? Nobody will complain if one of us steps away for a few minutes as long as we don't leave the gate unguarded."
The guards exchanged a considering glance.
"You want to go get food?" The first guard asked.
"I can't carry enough food for three people!" Garfiel said as if this should be obvious. "How about you two go? I'll keep watch. Don't worry, if we come under attack, I promise I'll scream real loud before they kill me," He finished dryly.
The guards both laughed. It was clear that no one was seriously concerned about the possibility of intruders.
The pair conferred with one another then shrugged and walked into the compound.
"Wow," Felt whispered. "Way to go, Garf!"
"Wait for his signal," Subaru cautioned. "Let the guards get out of sight first."
A few seconds later, Garfiel gestured frantically, and the trio ran up to him.
"Go that way!" Garfiel pointed into the compound. "D-17! Get there, stay there, keep out of sight!"