Глава 13

Who will tell them where to go?

I do not answer, not yet.

...He's here.

A creature with golden mane walks amongst the crowd. He looks at me.

I wanted to see the answer in his eyes, hear a word of advice in these fleeting moments.

But he gives no answers. All he does is look at me, waiting for me to find the answer.

Yes. Perhaps he is not even there.

Lend me your ears.

If any among you still have faith in the proud dukes that are the faces of our Victoria, you should go with that woman now.

No one would fault your decision.

The crowd rustles, but no one leaves.

None among you?

Is it not our instinct to seek protection from the powerful? It's nothing to be ashamed of.

I would very much like to. Oh how I wish that this sorry sword I carry had the power to protect my friends, such that none among them would die.

She would very much like to. How many times has she cried when no one was watching? Wishing that someone could have saved her mother's life.

You would very much like to. Don't look away, I know you would. The Sarkaz wouldn't have butchered your brother so badly you couldn't even identify his corpse, if the troops that were supposed to escort you didn't flee.

But none among you have left.

You know that those nobles don't care about you in the slightest.

But do you really need to seek the strength and protection of another?

It's always been like that for us. We keep worshipping people and things that never really gave us anything, become their willing slaves.

Massacre, infection, besiegement. We survived all that, on our own strength!

We all want to go home. We all want this rotten war to end. But we can't win by hiding.

The fastest way is to give those warmongering bastards hiding in Londinium the old one-two in the face!

If the dukes won't do it, we will!

If no one will take us home, we'll walk home ourselves!

A gift fell into our laps, a unit ID that the dukes left behind in Gaul.

It was called the Exemplars. They were elites, the will of the nation, with a long list of accolades.

But now, they are nothing more than this little box in my hands.

It has no special powers. But we can take it back to Londinium—

Punch those warmongering bastards in the face, throw this in the faces of the dukes, and tell them—

This bloody land is OUR land!

I want to go home, to the gym where my friends were.

They want to go home, to the lives they once had.

We cannot rely on others anymore. We cannot expect justice to be served on its own.

I smash my hammer into the earth with all the strength I can muster.

I do not know why I did it. All I know is that I can no longer hold back my anger.

Bam!

The hammer silences all other sounds.

'The Exemplars!'

It's the Glasgow Gang that first breaks the silence.

'The Exemplars!'

Then, they are joined by Delphine.

'The Exemplars!'

Until everyone joins in.

'The Exemplars!' 'The Exemplars!' 'The Exemplars!'

Say, I had a strange dream—

I dreamed that a golden beast was taking a walk through our camp.

Good omen, perhaps?

Let's hope it all goes smoothly.

Wonder if the Self-Salvation Corps arrived at Brentwood before us...

We'll have even more hands once we join up with them.

Who would have thought, a few days ago, that we would have our own army?

I kind of like the name the Exemplars.

Are you sure about this though, Vina? Are we bringing all of them back to Londinium?

Very few of them are ready to fight the Royal Court head-on.

Perhaps...

There will be more sacrifices along the way.

I'll protect them.

Or maybe there will come a day when they don't need anyone's protection anymore.