A sigh escaped Mari's lips as soon as she was done observing the last of the destroyed Phantasma's remnants in the area where the battle happened. Thankfully, none of the villagers in the area were injured as a human girl managed to warn them of the impending danger. And so they were able to escape in time.
"It seems that they have started causing more havoc near the capital, Knight Mari."
She turned to the source of that voice. She smiled upon seeing a young girl with long wavy brown hair and green eyes just a few meters behind her. The girl was smiling meekly as she approached her.
"Alice... What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your father right now?"
"He gave me permission to see you, Knight Mari. Not to mention, I've already healed the soldiers who were injured before you came to save us."
Mari couldn't help smiling at Alice as she crouched down in front of the young girl and held her hand. "Thank you for warning the villagers about the danger. You've made it easier for us Beast Knights to deal with the enemy when there were no innocent people around."
"My Beast Spirit sensed it for me. And the soldiers guarding around the village were able to give us a heads up about the monsters' arrival."
Yes, Alice wasn't joking. This human girl was also someone chosen by a Beast Spirit. But she wasn't a Beast Knight like Mari and the others. This phenomenon among chosen humans and Mazoku wasn't recorded anywhere, and Mari was aware of it. Only the Esovian Mazoku were aware of this.
"Then thank your Beast Spirit for me, for helping you save your village." After that, Mari stood up and faced the village. "You should go back. I have to continue investigating here while I still have the chance. I do need to report to the Maoh about the situation, after all."
Thankfully, Alice complied and said her goodbye to the Wind Tiger Knight before leaving. The smile on Mari's face never disappeared as she watched the girl run towards the refugee camp that the soldiers created for now while fixing the damage in the village.
She was thankful that the soldiers were able to prepare for the villagers' safety even before the Phantasma started attacking. But at the same time, she was now aware of how grave the situation was starting to become. If she and her friends hadn't arrived here and stopped the Phantasma from attacking, there could have been victims.
After watching little Alice leave and return to the refugee camp, Mari sighed and looked around the area. But to her surprise and confusion, she could see Conrad riding his horse and approaching the area.
Wait. What was he doing here? Was he the one who decided to help her with the investigation?
She approached the soldier when he halted his horse to stop and dismounted it.
"Lord Weller... What are you doing here?" she still asked even though she could feel that the answer she thought of could very well may be the answer he would say.
"If you're worried about Yuri, I asked my others to guard him for me. I have come to assist you in your investigation. That is, if you'd allow me."
Why was he speaking as if he still needed permission to be assisting her? It wasn't like she needed that. Then again, perhaps their position was the reason for him to ask that to her. She couldn't help chuckling as inconspicuous as she could and faced Conrad.
"I don't mind. And thank you... for doing this."
With a nod, both of them headed to the areas where the groups of Phantasma attacked the Beast Knights earlier. Even though Mari was able to check them one spot at a time earlier before Conrad came, she couldn't help feeling that she might have missed something.
One of them was the way the enemies disintegrated after they delivered their special attacks. It was common to see the Phantasma turned to dust after they were killed. But she never thought she would actually see some of them turned to liquid and some would burst into flames before turning to ashes.
She knew one thing about this, though. There were strong sages responsible for the revival of these Phantasmas in this world. Someone who wanted to revive the ultimate evil that nearly destroyed Esovia more than 20 years ago.
"Are you alright, Knight Mari?"
She turned to the source of that voice, only to see the worried look on Conrad's face. She sighed before nodding. "I'm fine. Just doing some thinking because of my observations earlier. It's our first day here in this kingdom and this happened. All the more reason why we should be prepared for any danger that might escalate."
Though Conrad didn't say anything as a response, she knew he understood what she meant. With that, both of them continued surveying the area of the attack and taking notes of any observation that could be used as clues to the mystery about the reason for the Phantasma's revival.
xxxxxx
Back in the Blood Pledge Castle, Yuri and the others finally arrived and Gunter, as expected, was the one who welcomed them at the entrance of the castle. The others could only shake their heads at the sudden outburst of "affection" that Gunter was giving to Yuri as soon as he stepped out of the carriage. The two female Beast Knights could only look at the scene in confusion and amusement.
"I guess we didn't have to worry about Yuri at all if he's being greeted like this all the time," Chie commented and faced Shori. "But I have a feeling that you're getting a little jealous there."
"Chie..." Shori only said as a warning. It made the Fire Lion Knight smile and continued watching the scene between Gunter and Yuri.
"You should be happy, though. Not many members of the royal court, regardless of the country and the law system, have the same loyalty and reverence towards their leader. And I can tell you, they care for your brother geniunely." After that, she tapped Shori's shoulder before dismounting her horse.
Rina did the same and to her surprise, Gwendal took the rope from her when she was about to ask someone about her horse.
"I'll take it from here. You should follow Gunter to lead you to the guest rooms prepared for you."
Though surprised at the sudden approach of the said man, Rina managed to smile and nod to him. "Thank you. I'll do just that... as soon as I read the documents about the Phantasma attacks. I have a feeling that Mari would ask us about it as soon as she arrives from her investigation."
"Then let me-" The offer was cut off when a female voice resonated from inside the castle. It was presumed to be near the entrance.
To Rina's confusion, however, she noticed Gwendal from her side winced as soon as the voice echoed, followed by the appearance of a red-haired woman calling Gwendal.
"Are you alright?" Rina asked in a whisper.
He didn't say anything, though, and turned to bring the horse back to the stable. Before he could take a few more steps...
"Ah! There you are, Gwendal. It's about time you arrived," the woman said as she approached him.
"Anissina, we have guests right now so I can't attend to whatever it is that you have invented right now."
"But this invention needs to be tested as a preparation for our intensifying battle with the creatures attacking Shin Makoku. You think this isn't important?"
The others could only watch the charade as it went on while Rina couldn't stop the amused smile on her face from showing up. She eventually chuckled when she realized something based on Gwendal's actions towards the woman he called Anissina.
"Forgive me for intruding in your comversation, my lady. But is it possible that you can spare him from assisting you in your new invention for now? We need Lord von Voltaire's assistance with regards to the investigation that we're about to do about the attack. And I don't think my friend Mari isn't going to sleep better tonight without even forming any conclusion about the case right now," Rina explained and even bowed to Anissina.
It looked like that was the first time Anissina finally noticed the guests' presence.
"It can't be... That must mean you're... one of the Beast Knight?"
Rina nodded with a gentle smile. "The Water Swordfish Knight, Harusaki Rina. I'm also a friend of Shori and the mentor of Murata Ken back on Earth. Nice to meet you." She bowed once again and raised her head afterwards.
"Likewise. I'm Anissina von Karbelnikoff. And do forgive my sudden appearance and outburst. I didn't realize that they haven't bring the guests yet to the castle."
"Something happened along the way, that's why Mari stayed behind in the meantime to conduct an initial investigation there. My job and also that of my other friend Chie is to know more about the attacks that occured before that. That way, we could have a clue on how intense the preparation should be when something like this happened again. And... we would need Lord von Voltaire's help at the moment for that. I hope you don't mind."
The people around hadn't spoken a word after Rina said that. Even Gwendal was left speechless as he looked at the brown-haired Beast Knight. But Rina remained looking at Anissina straight in the eyes.
The inventor soon smiled and nodded. "I understand. Then use him to assist you and your friend as much as you need. And with that..." Soon after, she faced Gunter who was still busy hugging Yuri and Wolfram tried his hardest to separate the two. "I think I know who should assist me in the meantime."
With that, Anissina left Rina and Gwendal and approached Gunter. They didn't know what happened, but they soon saw Anissina pulling Gunter away from Yuri and dragging him inside the castle to wherever they would go.
Rina sighed after that and faced Gwendal. "I hope that helps you a little."
"Thank you... for doing that."
Though surprised at the sudden gratitude he expressed, she knew that he was sincere. She couldn't help smiling at him and nodded once. "I'm glad I could help. But there is some truth about what I said to her, you know. We do need you to explain to us the situation and assist us in any ways possible so that we can solve this mystery sooner."
"I'll do what I can to help."
xxxxxx
It took a while for both Rina and Chie to settle down in their new rooms at the Blood Pledge Castle since they did have a meeting with the people who knew about the case that the Beast Knights were trying to solve. Before they knew it, it was night time and dinner was served. However, they decided to eat in the meeting room instead as they couldn't leave the place while the discussion was ongoing.
Shori reprimanded them for being too focused on the issue, but still reminded them to not push themselves too much.
"Don't worry about us, Shori. We're not going to end up exhausted while researching and trying to come up with strategies to deal with the situation. But we do need to be prepared for anything that the Phantasma could do not just to us, but to the people, as well," Chie explained as she continued eating her share of food.
"Not to mention, Mari would surely want to know more about how the case progressed here to the point that it was starting to move towards the capital. I don't think Yuri and the other Mazoku would like that. The earlier we deal with the situation, the better," Rina added and smiled at her friend. Soon after, the smile disappeared from her face. "By the way, has Mari and Lord Weller arrived already?"
Before Shori could answer, they heard noises from people outside the room running about. They frowned as they faced each other, as if they could learn the answer that way.
"I'll go see what it is," Shori offered. Not long after, he left the room.
No comments:
Post a Comment