level_main_13-15_beg

Since our scrap with Ulšulah, they've tightened defenses around that cave. W and her bombs helped us get out once, but that may not work a second time.

We haven't been able to get close again. But I'm sure the 'drifting bones' haven't returned yet.

That is, I was sure until we all had the same dream.

The ash-bleached city engulfed in flames, the shattered walls, the charred corpses piled in every corner.

The city did not leave with the dream until we opened our eyes.

The flames trampled every settlement, every clan.

The place we called Kazdel no longer exists, only fire and ruin remain.

The despairing giant knelt down and wept.

(In ancient Sarkaz) The King of Sarkaz is dead.

(In ancient Sarkaz) The King killed the King.

(In ancient Sarkaz) Why? This should not be...

(In ancient Sarkaz) Our city, Kazdel...

(In ancient Sarkaz) This would be a curse! A curse engraved upon the crown...

(In ancient Sarkaz) This would be... the beginning of the end of all...

That Feranmut has returned.

Tomorrow morning, the attack begins.

Siege and her Exemplars will be responsible for the perimeter. Us, the Rhodes rabbit and the Banshee have to get deep into that waystation.

Where's that old bitch Kal'tsit? She's sending us off on this suicide mission without making so much as a cameo appearance?

Her injuries have not yet healed. Ascalon will look after her and the Doctor. They will stay behind.

Rhodes Island recently came under Confessarius attack, they were trying to take the bunny's crown.

Hmph, the crown.

Hoederer... you didn't tell the Victorians the truth.

If your plan works, and we go back to Kazdel, what are you gonna do?

Even your new Victorian friends are probably not gonna be okay with you bundling 'war criminals' in with 'Sarkaz caught up in the war'.

Don't tell me you vowed to bring the Sarkaz home but never thought through this little problem?

Like, are you gonna head off to teach a class on 'historical reflections' to this bunch of grunts dragged off the battlefield? In that Kazdel basement university?

No.

Maybe I'll start a literacy class there. Make sure future Sarkaz have fewer illiterates like W here.

Huh?

Do my ears deceive me? Did Hoederer actually make a joke out of Ines's words? On such a serious topic?

What happened? Did sucking up to General Manfred teach you a little emotional intelligence?

Hmph...

'War's over, back to Kazdel.' Real funny, we're actually fantasizing about this stuff here.

We're mercs, and that's all we're ever gonna be.

You're such a lovely Caprinae, Ines, maybe you could run off to Leithanien and become a governess for some hoity toity nobles in a big, tall tower.

You could teach... Let me think... how to keep your hair nice and silky in a war zone? How's that sound?

Not interested.

What are you daydreaming about? The battle's about to start.

No, I just...

Ines's gaze shifts down to my feet ever so slightly.

She's looking at my shadow again. What is it showing?

I don't know myself. I'm rarely so... calm before an op.

Calm gives me a chance to think about all sorts of things.

A few trivial things.

I remember you said you wanted to open a shop in Kazdel.

Because I didn't have a place to fence stolen goods at the time.

...Oh yeah.

How about we use the first round of tuition from my literacy class for your startup capital?

I doubt that class is gonna earn you much.

On the other hand, kidnapping a Leithanian governess could fetch a decent ransom. Gotta be at least as much as ten merc heads.

Let's talk about it when we make it home for real.

Yeah.

Your mental state has me worrying if you can really handle this mission.

Did those illusions or the Arts Circles drive you mad?

Maybe they did.

In this moment of extreme calm, some tendrils of unease irritate my heart, causing hesitation.

Amidst my own surprising thoughts, I find the reason for my anxiety.

I'm worried they won't accept me. Because of my...

Some of my ideas.

But I have to speak. The arrow is nocked.

Pay no attention to this mopey idiot.

Time waits for no man. Once we stake the Vampire and behead Theresis, then you two can head on back to Kazdel and talk over all the interior decorating plans for your love nest.

...Theresis.

I've been thinking about this for a while, W. You may not like what I'm about to say, but I still have to say it.

Hah, throwing cold water on me before the fight?

Pretty much.

We can't kill Theresis, at least not right here or now, it can't be the Sarkaz executing him.

Ines was right, those illusions did scramble your brains.

Killing him means no Kazdel.

Whether now or for a good long while after the war, he has to be recorded as the Regent... and even be praised by some.

Are you out of your mind?

I really don't feel like joking about this.

We still need to stop the war, and I haven't changed my mind.

But Theresis has taken his place as a cornerstone of the Sarkaz future.

Kazdel won't survive another split, and this war... it can't end with another Sarkaz betrayal, with another Sarkaz civil war.

Remember the plan I was talking about before? We need the Sarkaz here to pull out of Victoria before everyone hears about his death.

Once everyone knows the Sarkaz have failed, and the threat of Theresis is gone, what happens then?

The dukes will slaughter every last Sarkaz in Victoria without mercy. The revenge killings will spread to other countries in centrum, and all civilization will have a justifiable excuse... to exterminate the Sarkaz.

They'll put together a coalition, just and reasonable, swift and decisive... to divide up all of Theresa's and Theresis's legacies.

Can't you picture that?

To be honest, I don't give a shit about any consequences of Theresis dying. All I'm here for is the part where he dies.

Coalitions? Slaughtering Sarkaz? Weren't they doing that already?

Does Theresis dying mean all the devils are just gonna lose their will to fight back?

Hah, no way. I don't buy that.

He sent the assassins to kill Theresa, declared himself king, and dragged all of us into the mess we're in today.

We don't need to sacrifice ourselves for his Kazdel, for his—

Don't think you can keep yourself out of it, W.

I thought I was gonna really let her have it, really tear into W, this... sad woman.

Do you think of yourself as nothing more than a merc?

How many people have you brought? From Reunion to where we stand now, how many Sarkaz have you gathered?

You're carrying their lives on your shoulders.

I don't fucking care!

But W is wavering.

I know her too well. It's not like she hasn't thought about it, she isn't an uncaring leader at all.

Looking at it objectively, a whole lot of mercs have stepped up to follow this madwoman.

You have to care.

You think you can just keep on killing people, keep on burying bombs in the dirt?

You're leading those Sarkaz now. You have to think about how to deal with their hopes and dreams.

You have to think through what their lives mean to you.

But I—

It's not just Theresis—

Don't forget, there's Theresa too.

So, from all perspectives we're... all we can be is their successors, the inheritors of their ideals.

The two of them, they're the reason the Sarkaz could come together in the first place.

That's not the real Theresa.

That's a fake Theresis has cooked up. He can't fool me.

W.

Look at yourself.

Who do you think you are—

You couldn't accept Theresa's death, you're stuck in the shadow of Babel.

Like...

Shut up.

You think Amiya's walking ahead of you. You think she's Theresa's handpicked successor, that the King of Sarkaz should be thinking about this stuff.

You look at her and see another Theresa, you think all you need to do is follow the King.

Shut up! Are you trying to gross me out?!

You think you don't deserve to inherit anything.

What kind of joke is this? You think you get me? You're my mentor now, you're gonna raise me, teach me, huh Hoederer?

You're just a merc, not much higher on the ladder than me. But you're so deluded you can stand up and call yourself a successor or whatever of whatever?

Ugh, it's so gross! The little bunny? I'm gonna follow her?

She was in the right place at the right time to be chosen—

—Chosen by Theresa, to become the leader of Rhodes Island who stopped Reunion and Talulah, who broke her way into Londinium today.

So what about you, W?

What exactly does Theresa mean to you?

Some distant ethereal symbol who once gave you a place to stay, one specific flesh-and-blood royal, or—the path she stood for?

...I...

'For this land to... fall into peaceful slumber.'

...Ugh.

So... that's why I say she's a fake.

Ines... how have you managed to hold back from killing him this long?

Because I'm not deluding myself, most of the time.

Ugh. Spare me.

Whatever, Hoederer.

I know what I have to do. And I'm not going to kill you to shake up morale this time, you should be kissing my feet.

Polish that sword of yours good, we've got a war tomorrow.

Sigh... she ran off again.

Do you really think she could be a decent leader?

She's organized a whole lot of mercs.

Heh, are they really 'mercs' though?

How much money does W have to hire them? And how much does she earn for them with the things she does?

Alright then, why are they following her?

No matter what she says, whether it's revenge for Theresa, hunting down the assassins, or just randomly bombing her way across the land—

She's definitely... walked her path.

The ones who follow her really are sad.

But people forget how young she is. She's got lots of... room for improvement.

We can hope.

Also, the startup capital for your shop, not a joke.

...I know.

The Exemplars is fully equipped.

Some of the Londinium Self-Salvation Corps volunteered to join our team.

Yes, tallying up the remnants of the various ducal forces we've gathered, refugees who want to join the fight, and these militiamen from the Self-Salvation Corps, we have the strength of roughly six or seven platoons.

Siege, we'd best formally establish the military structure of the Exemplars. Appointing officers such that our chain of command can...

Lieutenant Shearer, this team is not a true military unit. It is not the Victorian Army.

True, we have some soldiers...

But aside from you and the remnants of Duke Windermere's forces led by Delphine, the rest are ordinary folk who want to fight. Workers, farmers, merchants, and of course, street ruffians.

Should we forcibly incorporate them into one or two combat units, arm them, and subordinate them to officers, then what is the difference between us and the dukes?

The Exemplars is a fine name, but I believe it should bring the people nothing but hope.

Or to speak less grandly, it should bring the people something intangible, the likes of which the dukes' high-speed battleships can't bring.

Which is to say...

The Exemplars should not be a heroic force captained by the heir to the throne wielding the Realmblade. I'm rather repulsed by such titles.

But then, how are we to organize our combat operations?

Speaking of combat operations, a considerable portion of our team has not undergone any regular military training.

When in Londinium, do as the Londiniers do, eh?

Just as we did in Chetleigh, just as the Self-Salvation Corps did in Londinium.

We're killing the Sarkaz in our familiar way, with our familiar friends.

...No offense, Sarkaz.

None taken. No harm done.

The ritual has been terminated, but the blessing bestowed on the Sarkaz blood has not completely gone with it.

Over Londinium way... ancient witchcraft stirs.

Our mortal enemy operates with unknown purpose, but the urgency they reveal presents an opportunity for a breakthrough.

We will be extra cautious.

Then...

Let's snatch that bone back.

The plan was a success. The Victorian attack did distract a portion of the forces here.

We're in, and it's here.

You, are you the Sarkaz from last time? How did you—

Is this a joint attack with the Victorians?

Sorry.

Kill the traitors! Kill these Sarkaz traitors!

Ulšulah isn't here to welcome us.

Logos guessed right. Looks like she's too busy.

Hah—You didn't let me come in last time. This sucker's huge!

Can I blow it into two halves?

No, stay with the team.

Get onto its spine and seize its operator.

Amiya.

Yes, I feel it.

He's here.

I follow the Banshee's gaze to the shadow cast on the rock.

A hint of blood invades my nostrils.

Does this skeleton... have veins?