“You’ve turned into a mad-man since you went into that expedition on the Danger Zone…”
“If I wouldn’t have been there to see for myself just what kind of monsters are there, maybe the two of us would’ve been on the front row of a fifty thousand strong-man army, going after new land to conquer.”
“Look into my eyes and tell me yourself!”
David roared furiously and Baziad remained stiff after making eye-contact with David. What Baziad observed in his eyes was indeed fear and urgency. But not for death as David never feared death. The kind of fear his eyes shone was for his own people. The terror and deadly feeling of having your own people end up dead in front of your own eyes because of a superior enemy that you can’t even touch. This kind of fear David had because of Antara and Baziad was completely baffled to see his old rival show such kind of long-forgotten emotions.
As a general, David, Baziad, and any other general be them from Urius, Victoria, or any other kingdom, would need to learn from their first missions as commanders that no matter how good you are, how strong, how smart, you will always end up losing your people in battle. The soldiers you fought for so long with, your brothers in arms, some of them will, at one point in time, end up killed on the battlefield, caused by a command given by the commander, no matter if that order was good or wrong.
However, as a general, to observe thousands of your men die and fall while not even able to take a proper stance, under the barrage of hundreds of cannon-balls and by the hand of a few mere dozens foreign warriors, all of this caused by overestimating oneself and underestimating the enemy as a general. The moment when the sky thundered and it rained with iron was the moment when David’s nightmares started to wake him up from sleep and keeping him from getting back his peace of mind.
“Back then I was also thinking like you are now: In Urius territory we are invincible. Our soldiers are the strongest while our mages can down any and all war-machines. Our authority is infallible and not even the emperor would dare send his troops here without an elaborate plan at hand. But, who would have thought that this useless pride of mine would prove to be the end of half my troops? Half of my own brothers! Dying like dogs!”
David’s sharp eyes reddened as his veins bulged and his breath started to rush. Baziad also felt wrathful and shouted back at him,
“If they caused you so much pain, why are you not fighting back-“
“You fool!”
David cut him short with a loud roar and continued just as vehemently,
“Don’t you understand? There is no way my revenge would bring anyone peace!”
“…”
Baziad remained mute as David continued with a calmer tone, his almost white clenched fists still trembling,
“I also thought that, if I ever get out from their dungeon, I’ll be sure to revenge my people. Murder as many of them as possible, to turn them into meat paste just like they turned my soldiers! …But then their king and founder came at me together and showed me around, only for me to observe just what kind of monsters they are hiding. We must understand that no matter how many we’ll bring, our losses will be humongous while the prizes will cover not even half the costs.”
The two generals locked gazes then Baziad sighed lightly, turning around to take his seat back,
“David. We live in an era of wars. Everyone knows that anyone can die at any given moment. If you are so sentimental with our soldiers, then you are not made to be a general.”
David said nothing, simply shaking his head, disappointed in his rival as well for not being able to understand just how a war with Antara would be nothing but loss on both parts.
“…”
Many of the higher nobles observed this confrontation with judging eyes, trying to understand as much of the gravity of the situation as possible. From everyone present, there were even 3 princes, sitting on the first-front rows of chairs toward the throne, now all of them turned back and still looking at the two generals how they parted.
“So is like this… The reason why general David asked for agreeing with peace against Antara was that he classified Antara as being closely on par with Victoria… If we get such an enemy at such troubled times when the events from Eihwaz are still a mystery, then our kingdom will truly be under great dangers.”
One of the three princes commented with a frown, his fiery-red hair falling down to his shoulders in undulations. His body structure was rather frail, but under his modest clothes of a prince only few knew how much he endured, gaining now fit muscles covered in scars and bruises, seeming as if the prince is under physical contact with a hammer on a daily basis.
“Pfft. And who asked you anything? Mathias. The peasants must keep quiet when the royals are speaking.”
A tall and strong-looking prince commented from right beside him. His brows exhumed confidence while his burning gaze with black eyes showed no weakness. His wild black hair looked like the mantle of a black lion while the thick skin on his palms showed just how though his training must be and how heavy a weapon must he have.
“Demetrius. This is not the time to make a ruckus. And Mathias, you are not to speak your mind so casually. The royal matters have nothing to do with you.”
A slimmer but more domineering young prince commented, his aura showing that from the three, he must be the strongest of them all. Possible even the generals would have a hard time going against him in combat.
The prince called Demetrius scratched his head embarrassed for being scolded by his bigger brother, but Mathias, on the other hand, commented back without even looking at the older prince, his voice heavy,
“Prince Francisc. You say it has nothing to do with me when this kingdom might soon confront a heavy retribution caused by our wrong choices. As part of the royal family, it is my job to worry and search for a solution so our people won’t meet their ends prematurely-“
“Don’t you dare call yourself a royalty! You peasant!”
“Both of you, quiet.”
The prince named Francisc immediately pressured both the violent Demetrius and the impudent Mathias, placing more pressure on the latter as his gaze turned sharp,
“Also, you are not allowed to talk back to me either. If not for father’s pity, you would’ve still have been just a beggar in the slums.”
“…”
Mathias stood straight on his chair while slight strings of sweat fell down his face, resisting the pressure with quite some difficulty.
.
Back inside the waiting room, both lieutenants, Daniel and Denisse, looked at the piece of armor and their faces only spelled worry and disbelief. On the piece of armour, one word was written with quite some haste,
[LEAVE]
“If General David was so desperate as to make a hole through that door to send this message to us, then something terrible must’ve happened. I suppose my time to leave has come early.”
After hearing the explanation from the guard that came here in a hurry with this piece of metal, Lilia was more than able to understand that her stay in Urius was no-longer welcomed.
“Yes. We must make haste, now.”
“We must get Miss Lilia out fast. Let’s get some mounts.”
The three of them hastily rushed outside the room, rushing towards the nearest exit.
“Halt! In the name of our King, we order you to chase your steps!”
From the right corner in front, a group of royal knights showed their aggressivity the moment they saw them, hardly stepping towards them with their hands on their weapons.
“T-the royal knights? Why are they after us!?”
Denisse was shaken by this turn of events but Daniel hastily took the two of them by the hand and quickly rushed through the opposite direction.
“D-Daniel?!”
“Lieutenant Daniel…?”
Both girls asked surprised but Daniel only quickened his steps, letting them go to run on their own.
“If the king is after us, then General David must be in deep trouble. His message to us, or rather, to Lilia, was to leave, or better said, to escape from this kingdom and rush back inside Antara.”
From such a comment, both of them almost started to slow down from the shock, but they quickly recovered the distance between themselves and Daniel.
“You! Stop right there!”
“We’re taking a shortcut. Miss Lilia, please follow!”
“Huh?!”
“Alright.”
Just as another group cut their front, Daniel quickly jumped through the window, grabbing Denisse by the hand and landing with her in his arms while right beside him, Lilia landed like a feather.
“Daniel! You-“
“I’m sorry Denisse but we both know just how slow you react outside combat.”
“To where now, Sir Daniel?”
Observing the spacious courtyard, Daniel quickly thought while letting Denisse down, taking a quick judgment and rushing to the left, dragging Denisse by the hand,
“Quick, this way.”
“that’s… the servant’s rooms?!”
“Exactly.”
“…Great idea.”
While Denisse couldn’t understand why they would run inside the servant’s rooms, Lilia quickly caught up with Daniel’s train of thoughts and a small smile appeared on her face. The next moment, two servants pushing a cart rushed outside, quickly going toward the ranches, looking as if they were ready to feed the mounts.
“Why the Hell we have to dress like servants…?! I can’t believe I have to suffer such humiliation…”
“Stop whining. If we don’t wish to be caught and successfully take Miss Lilia outside of the palace, we must use any means possible… Damn, you royals are all the same: your useless pride taking half the brain’s processing power.”
“W-what did you say?!”
“Hey you!”
Just as Denisse burst out from anger, wishing to retaliate with a slap, a squad of knights just rushed from behind two great doors, shouting out for the two of them. Observing Denisse’s weird position while she wanted to slap, the guards thought that they simply scared her stiff, trying to talk more with Daniel that seemed calmer and composed,
“You! Have you seen a group of 2 human knights and one blue demoness? Speak with haste!”
David calmly bowed his head while Denisse remained frozen in the same position, not knowing how to react,
“My lord, me and my companion just left the servant’s room to feed the Draconic Horses at the back. My poor self has seen or heard nothing that could describe what sire is looking for.”
The guards, and even Denisse, remained momentarily baffled by how respectful and well-mannered he was being, the knight raising an eyebrow and commenting surprised,
“You’re quite cultured for a servant… and also have a familiar face.”
“I’ve been told to learn how to converse with the royalty. Maybe your greatness observed my insignificant self while conversing with another servant.”
Yeah… probably…”
The knight looked once more at Daniel then rushed his knights to search the perimeter. Daniel and Denisse also quickly rushed toward the ranches, Daniel’s forehead now sweating profoundly and Denisse being unable but to comment his role-play,
“What the Hell was that? What kind of servant keeps their cool so well in front of a Core Warrior?!”
“Yes, yes, I know! What can I do? Showing submissiveness to weaklings isn’t my forte.”
After rushing past more squads of knights and groups of servants, the two finally arrived at the ranch, only to see two servants already feeding the beasts.
“Now what’s the plan?”
Denisse asked unsurely and Daniel quickly rushed at the two servants, knocking them out and placing them inside the cart the next second.
“No plan. Improvisation.”
With a bright smile, Daniel placed the cart to one side while preparing three Draconic Horses. Denisse looked at him baffled, not expecting for him to strike at his own people, but then she simply shook her head and finally got up on the Draconic Horse, not before helping Lilia outside the cart. Because Lilia didn’t know how to ride a horse, she had to sit down behind Denisse. Just like their names, the horses had many traits of a dragon, the similarities being their long tails filled with scales, two long horns on their heads, dragon-like eyes, and the involuntary fiery breathe they would let out while running. After mounting,
“Quick! We must hurry toward the Eastern gate!”
“Won’t there be troops waiting for us?”
“For sure there will be! That’s why we must rush faster! Right now we’re racing against time.”
After they took their knightly cloaks from inside the charts, they quickly rushed forward. The two then swung the reins even harder, making the two Draconic Horses to raise the speed, going fast enough to almost feel like even a falling feather could already cut the skin of a normal person’s face. Easily getting outside the palace’s courtyard, they now had to worry about the bustling streets.
“Hiah! Make way!”
Daniel immediately rushed through the crowd, raising a commotion audible to a few streets away. Seeing this, Denisse and even Lilia couldn’t help but whiten in the face.
“Y-you idiot! What are you raising such an alarm when we’re trying to get away from here?!”
“Just trust me and shout out as well. HEY! MOVE IT!”
Not knowing what in the world he was thinking, Denisse had no other option but to also start shouting, making the pedestals and the ones around to shout in shock and fear, trying to get away only to curse out loud the next moment. They then rushed on a more desolate part of the city, passing by a rather poor area. Not long after, more knights, be them on foot or mounted, all of them rushed toward the poorer neighborhood, spotting three hooded people in Draconic Horses.
“They’re here! Hurry!”
“In the name of the king, we order you to stop!”
The knights then hastily went after them as they quickly rushed through more houses and walls. The knights got closer to the urgent trio. They saw how one of them were waving their arms urgently, feeling how desperate they were.
“hah! Already starting panicking?! There is no turning back now!”
More than 10 minutes passed until the knights finally surrounded the wild horses.
“Now! Get down and-“
“Mblaaargh!”
“…”
Completely unexpectedly, the three mounted got down and started barfing, one of them even falling on their fours.
“W-what in the-…?”
“Hold on a second…”
The knights were left completely baffled at such a sight. Everyone knew that the ones wanted by the king were Lieutenants Denisse and Daniel. They didn’t know much about Lilia, but sure enough, everyone knew just how great characters the two were to be under General David. For them to lose their cool atop a Draconic Horse was something simply too hard to believe. At that moment the commander of the knightly troops walked over and observed how the familiar traits of the three suddenly changed into someone he didn’t recognize anymore. One of them became fatter, the other one shorter, and the one who was playing Lilia’s role had her skin turn into a white human’s skin-color with no demonic signs. Shocked by these changes, the commander pulled down the hood from one of them and saw a completely normal bystander, clothed in a hurry with unfitting servants’ clothes and a knightly cloak on.
“T-thank gods you finally stopped this wild horse! I thought my life was ending there and then!”
The fat man tried his best to remain standing, his body trembling from the strong shock he had just now.
“What in the world happened?!”
“W-we don’t know, sire! We were on our way home when suddenly two mad, uhm… servant-knights? stripped the three of us then forced us to change into their weird clothes. We have no idea what happened there, sire!”
“Was there no demonic woman?”
“D-demonic woman? I have no idea, my king!”
“… Then you’re no longer useful to me.”
“What?”
-WOSH!-
One strong wind and the heads of the three pedestals fell with a strong thud, making for a blood-fountain to color the commander’s white clothes.
“Sir, we got another message. It seems they left to North.”
“Alright. After them.”
Completely unfazed, every soldier left to North as three corpses of micemen were now dying the ground red, having for the other two soldiers take the three heads and burn the corpses.
.
Underground inside the sewers, Daniel and Denisse were rushing from one corner to the other, waiting for some guards to pass then rush in another direction. With sweat falling down her forehead, Denisse couldn’t help but still feel some worry.
“Are you sure this is going to work?”
“We are literally inside the enemy-lines, in the very middle. If this plan fails, then nothing could get Lilia out.”
“W-what do you mean enemy? Urius is our kingdom!”
“Basic knowledge for a general: The mission decides who is enemy or ally, not our judgment. Our mission is to take Miss Lilia out from our hostile kingdom. If we have no other choice, are you telling me you would sit to be taken as a prisoner? Or fight till the end?”
“I…”
Seeing her troubled expression, Daniel sighed out and calmed down his tense shoulders, patting her shoulder once.
“Don’t worry. Nobody said anything about killing. Just run, defend yourself, and try not to get caught.”
“… Yes!”
With reignited spirit, the two of them rushed as they continued to stealthy dodge and evade the king’s troops.
After a while, Denisse asked as she was keeping this question for a while now,
“Daniel. Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because everything looks the same down here and the awful smell it’s making my head dizzy… As a wildcat, aren’t you disturbed by this?”
Hearing her question, Daniel smiled then rebuked her back annoyed,
“When General David told us to walk around in and outside the capital to learn the structures and roads for future guerrilla fights, just where were you?”
“I-I uhm… I… couldn’t… really… come…”
“You were just lazy.”
“No~! It was because of the smell! Seriously, it just makes me sick, this smell inside the sewers…”
Daniel looked back plainly and answered with an obvious expression,
“And that’s the reason why he told us to walk in and outside the city.”
“Anyway that! Let’s focus on our mission!”
Already embarrassed, Denisse walked faster and went in front of Daniel, making him sigh hopelessly. After they finally arrived at a more secluded district, they walked outside from bellow a bridge, the entire place being filled with filth and trash.
“Seriously. Wasn’t this supposed to be the capital? Why does it looks like this?”
“What do you mean? Every city has their own slumps, just like every light has near it some shadows.”
“…Talking all poetical now, are we?”
“Something you brutes of dragoon will never be able to do.”
“Why you-!”
Suddenly noises of horses galloping on the stone-road resounded from a distance, making them return right back and hurriedly hide their auras. Although they now looked like some normal pedestals in the clothes they stole from the three, at this moment anyone would seem suspicious if they suddenly got out from under a bridge.
After looking around for a bit, the knights left to continue their searching. Bellow the bridge, Denisse and Daniel were now in quite the complicated position, with Denisse above Daniel as he was covering her mouth with a clean piece cloth atop his palm, him laying on his back on the ground while her sitting down on his stomach, shock written in her eyes.
After hearing how the horses were already far away, Daniel’s cat-like ears twitched then he slowly released her mouth, his sharp eyes still telling her to stay quiet.
“They left to another area, but we better still keep it down.”
“…”
Back when the horses were closing in, Daniel was the first to hear them, quickly grabbing Denisse by the hand and pulling her back under the bridge. Because she was still on uneven ground, she unexpectedly tripped, never expecting even Daniel to not be aware of her falling, such both tripping and having her fall atop of him. Right before she could shout in surprise, Daniel quickly grabbed a handkerchief and used it to cover his palm so he could then shut her mouth without touching it with his dirty hands. After he let her go, Denisse understood his actions and couldn’t help feeling quite embarrassed by their posture. Even so, Daniel still asked with a neutral look,
“Can you please move? You have a great behind and having it atop my stomach makes me hard to breathe.”
“… You’re considerate in the weirdest moments, then a complete prick in the rest.”
She quietly got up with a calm but somewhat disappointed expression, having Daniel look at her quite surprised for suddenly getting so upset. Brushing off the dirt and filth, the two of them continued to the North, wishing to reach the Northern gate so they could go from there to East, reaching Sava Kingdom.
As they continued forward without bumping on any group of knights, Daniel suddenly had a bad premonition. He halted his steps right beside a tavern, having Denisse stop as well. Rather than be confused, Denisse also understood why he was like this, softly whispering beside his ear,
“The gate… why are there only 5 squads of knights here? And they’re still permitting for trade?”
Daniel also thought it was weird, walking toward the tavern and wishing to enter.
“Let’s go inside. For now we are safe as they don’t know our location while our appearance is not known by everyone. Let’s book a room inside this inn and stay for the night. They would never think that their prey would be right under their nose.”
“… Alright.”
Denisse followed and after putting on their hoods, the two went inside without attracting any attention and walked toward the counter where a young man welcomed them with a wide smile. After using some [Cleansing] magic beforehand, Daniel was able to get rid of some filth and smell from both of them, enough to not disturb anyone around.
“Welcome~. How may I help you?”
Then Daniel stepped closer and placed one silver on the table.
“One room with two beds.”
“Oh~? With two beds? Newlyweds I suppose?”
“She’s… a friend.”
At the innkeeper’s innocent question, Daniel appeared to be unable to give a direct answer, lying that they were brother and sister being out of question as their racial features were nothing alike.
“I see~. Alright. One room with two beds then~!”
The young man gave a meaningful smile then he walked them to their room on the third floor. Daniel then followed with a tired face while Denisse also couldn’t help sighing helplessly. After they arrived and closed the door behind them, they each sat down on their own bed and Denisse shook her head irritated,
“Of course he would look at us with such eyes. If we really were friends we would have just taken two different rooms. Why did you take one?”
“So in case of anything we could help each other in a timely manner. Sigh~… Well, whatever. That youngster can believe whatever he wishes.”
Denisse then sighed out tired then walked closer to a wooden bucket filled with warm water and a piece of cloth for washing the body. Observing her, Daniel asked confused while he already knew the answer,
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think? I’m washing myself. Even that kid brought us this bucket with warm water without us actually asking for it. It is clear as day that we still smell like sewers, and I also dislike this smell.”
Hearing her tone, Daniel couldn’t help asking unsure,
“Denisse, are you mad?”
“What do you expect?!”
She roared back, making for his tail to bush up for a moment, looking at her with wide-open eyes in shock, her complains then continuing,
“We ran around the entire capital the entire day when we barely arrived home. We ran through the sewers, had to wear an old man’s clothes then get chased around by my own people. What do you think?!”
“… Well, you are quite big, so… That fat mice-man’s clothes were the only ones that would fit your physique-“
“Well sorry for being fat!”
“Not fat, just big… In many ways.”
Looking again at how the white shirt was barely holding in the great chest of hers while her pants were completely mulled on her enchanting thighs made Daniel not know where to look.
No wonder that brat thought we’re up to no good… With how she looks, anyone would say the same.
Troubled and turning around not to look while she was washing her top, Daniel sighed and commented back,
“It can’t be helped. General David sent us that message with the wish for us to leave and help Miss Lilia to escape… Now I seriously wish she’s already outside the city’s walls and on her way to Antara.”
“… You really care about her, don’t you?”
“You don’t?”
“I do, but…”
With complicated feelings, Denisse didn’t even know what to say as she interrupted her sentence, thinking that she’s already ridiculous. However, Daniel sighed and said shortly,
“However, from the two, you are many times more important to me.”
“Huh?”
Denisse’s eyes widened in surprise and wished to turn around, only to feel a presence behind her back. Her face suddenly brightened up and quickly covered her chest.
“D-Daniel! I’m still washing myself.”
“I know. Let me help with your back. Afterward, I want you to do the same.”
“W-what?!”
“Give me that cloth.”
“…”
Too embarrassed to turn around, and seeing how he simply wouldn’t do as she wanted, she simply offered him the piece of clothing and Daniel gently started brushing her tanned back, her blonde hair falling down her shoulders and letting her nacked back for him to wash.
“…”
Trying to remain calm, Daniel calmly brushed her back with the piece of cloth. Even though he was able to see a few little scars on her back, for some reasons this only added more charm that worked wonders on Daniel.
“…Hey Daniel… is this truly the only way…?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Hearing her quiet tone, Daniel twitched his ears and stopped from brushing, asking confused,
“Us turning against the king… Is it the only way?”
“… There is no other option at the moment. To follow David’s orders, we must turn our backs to the king. Because-“
“Our enemies are defined by our mission, right?”
“Yes…”
Daniel sighed disheartened. He already knew that Denisse’s father was one of the king’s greatest helpers. Now turning against the king was something that Daniel never expected out of her, making for him to feel incredible respect for her courage.
“For you to actually take such a long step… I’m truly impressed.”
“…”
Daniel smiled once again and patted her head proudly, making her lower her head as if in shame. She then turned around and faced Daniel, this action only making him quickly turn his face in another direction,
“You fool! Watch your top! Are you not aware that I can see your chest clearly?!”
Unable to look, Daniel heard how she walked toward her clothes, thinking that maybe she was preparing to dress her shirt back. Momentarily confused, Daniel asked,
“Wait. You don’t need to get dressed in those dirty clothes. There are the bed’s sheet’s-“
Wait. Why is she so silent now?
Suddenly a bad premonition made the fur on his back to raise, hastily turning toward Denisse only to see a sharp blade quickly reaching to his chest.
“You-!”
He hastily made a back-step, but this didn’t mean a thing as the blade’s pointy tip suddenly released a sharp aura, penetrating through his protective aura and chi, making him spill blood.
