Chapter 11:

CHAPTER 7: MADELAINE ANN RUBINFORTH, FLOWER OF DAWSON VALLEY

The Human Saint is Bored, so I was Summoned to Another World Vol. 5


***On the outskirts of Gebrei***

A heap of broken carts could be seen to move, even as various corpses of the dead Imperials and coalition soldiers had covered that spot. A pair of undead nearby collapsed, as its legs were cut off by a fast swipe of the blade.

Emerging from the ruins was a man. He wore a broken Imperial armor, and his body and face covered with dust and soot. It was a fortunate thing that he kept himself safe by hiding under the broken supply carts of the Imperial baggage train, even as the panic and confusion spread unto the legionnaire column after they were attacked by the undead.

“…”

From afar, he could see and hear some of the desperate survivors trying to fight the undead swarming on them. But he never paid attention to those people. In his mind, only one thing remained: that was to survive.

“Yes, that’s what I plan to you as well, to survive.”

“!!!”

The man turned around to see a lady coming to him with a sword in her hand. Behind her was a group of undead, following her every movement.

“Seirna!” the man hissed, “What did you just do to these men?”

Hmm…I simply turned them into something more powerful,” she answered, “These legionnaires are pretty useless; being defeated repeatedly by a motley army of fools and bandits!”

“Even so, you killed these men.”

“And their deaths are with purpose,” Seirna countered Prince Umberto Benicci, “As well as you, that’s why you’re still alive, and not torn apart.”

“I won’t be working with a traitor like you!”

Oh really? Me, a traitor?” Seirna laughed, “I bow to no one, remember? And here I thought that your resolve to kill Lady Madelaine is that strong…turns out, you’re weak.”

“What do you know?” Prince Umberto almost attacked Seirna in his anger, if not for the undead blocking his way.

“Listen, former Prince and General, Umberto Benicci. Like these useless legionnaires, I’m also giving you the chance to become useful to me one last time,” Seirna then brought out a matchlock pistol and gave it to him, “You wanted to have your revenge on Madelaine Rubinforth, then I’m allowing you to do so.”

“…”

“Go to Huirot. Soon, the human saint and her black-haired lackey would mount an expedition to relieve its garrison, for their friend was trapped in there. You know these people, they couldn’t leave their loved ones behind.”

“And you want me to kill that friend of hers?”

“No, you silly idiot! You’re going to kill Madelaine,” the Saint of the Flame told him sarcastically, “Once they relieved Huirot, I’m going to create confusion among them, and during that chaos, you’re going to shoot Madelaine with that demon weapon.”

“But how can I do that? It’s pretty hard to come near that Saint, given that her Paladin Corps are always with her.”

“Disguise yourself and earn the trust of the commander of the Huirot garrison, Prince Simon Hugh Reed of Nerfes. I’ll tell you instructions on how to counter the undead; use that to influence him. And also, wear this leather cuirass I enchanted so that Madelaine wouldn’t able to read your thoughts.”

“Alright then,” Prince Umberto removed the broken Imperial armor from his body, and Seirna helped him don the leather cuirass she had taken from a dead coalition soldier.

“Well, I’m looking forward to your success, Umberto Benicci,” she tapped him in the back, “I hope you’ll be happy once you and your goddaughter meet again this time.”

Umberto never answered her, for he would make sure that it would be his final moment with Madelaine Rubinforth…

----------

**Kuro**

When I opened my eyes the next day, what greeted me was the familiar child servant.

Wha—Eris?”

“Good morning, Sir Kuro!”

Well, it certainly was different to hear her call me that way. If I remember, Eris used to say ‘Mister’ before my name. I couldn’t hide my surprised expression from her.

“What are you doing here? I thought you’re at the Holy Palatial Gardens.”

“Well, I am. It’s you who are back in the palatial gardens.”

“Oh…” Then it came back to me. Yesterday, I fought against Seirna and her hordes of undead, and Maddie rescued me. Then when we came back, I guess I was too tired to even stay awake and fell asleep.

“Yep, it’s pretty hard carrying you all over the way from the courtyard to this room,” Eris commented.

“What? You carried me?”

The little maid shook her head, “Her Holiness and Lady Lily did. Lady Madelaine’s mana got depleted teleporting the survivors of your army back here that she could not cast a floating spell for a while.”

“Well…I guess I owe Maddie and Lily an apology, huh?” I got up to go to them but…

“…”

Uhm…Eris, I don’t remember changing my clothes yesterday.”

“…”

The little maid was blushing, and she was averting her gaze from me.

“Hey, don’t tell me…”

“L-L-Lady Madelaine was the one who s-s-s-s-stripped you!” Eris explained, “And she looked so happy while doing that, so I let her be!”

Well, I’m sorry you had to see such an unsightly thing, Eris.

“A-Anyway, Sir Kuro…Her Holiness Lady Madelaine wishes to see you as soon as you wake up.”

“Where’s she?”

“I guess she’s at the courtyard, taking her breakfast with Lady Lily.”

“Thanks!”

The little maid nodded. Then she suddenly curtsied before me and cleared her throat before speaking officially, “Also, this lady wishes to congratulate Sir Kuro for displaying his talents in commanding and leading men into battle.”

“Really? Thanks, Eris,” I feel a bit abashed when she said, “I just did my work, though. And please, stop with the ‘Sir’.”

“It’s fine. You’re Lady Madelaine’s knight,” Eris explained, “So, it’s irresponsible for me to call you ‘Mister’, when in fact, you’re already a ‘Sire’.”

I sat on the bed while fixing my clothes, and Eris was quick to help me.

“Thanks!”

“Welcome, Sir Kuro,” then she continued, “Would you want me to serve your breakfast here?”

Err…what?”

“Your breakfast?”

“Sorry, I’m not used to that luxury,” I admitted, “I’m more like, a ‘going-to-the-kitchen-and-eat-there’ person.”

“Oh!” the little maid chuckled, “You sure are the usual Kuro, I mean, Sir Kuro. But then again, get used to it starting now, for I’d always do that whenever you wake up.”

“Huh? You don’t have to.”

“Well, I should, now that I’m your personal maid.”

“Come again?”

“I’m your personal maid.”

“Says who?

“Says me, Lady Lily and Lady Madelaine…”

“What?”

“Well, I traded off 75% of the entire Braunhauer wealth just to have that privilege.”

“You sure you’re not overestimating my worth, Lady Eris?”

“I’m not…even more so when the coalition you’re leading needs financial support.”

“Maaaddddddiiiiieeee!!!”

“Yes, Kuro? Is there something you’re not satisfied with Lady Eris’ performance?”

“!!!”

I almost jumped from the bed when Maddie suddenly appeared beside me, tagging along with Lily. The head maid was wobbling; I guess she’s not that used to teleport as much as I do.

Anyway, I asked her, “What’s happening with Eris as my personal maid?”

“Well…about that…” Maddie’s voice trailed off to Lily, who took the turn to explain.

“Sorry for doing this to you, Kuro, but apparently, we need all the support we could get,” she told me, “And Lady Eris is one of the richest nobles currently alive in Chersea after she inherited her family’s wealth.”

“But isn’t her family’s property in Amaranth, which was now under the enemy’s control?”

“Well, it’s one of her family’s properties,” Lily added, “The Braunhauers owned properties all around Chersea, that’s why they could amass such influence in the Amaranthine king’s court.”

“Oh…”

Haha! Don’t you like it, Kuro?” it was Maddie, “Not only do you get three beautiful wives, you also got a cute girl as your personal servant! And you can also marry her when she grows up!”

“Why are you pushing yourselves to me? It’s not like I’m the only guy in the world, you know?”

“Indeed, you are not, but in our eyes, you’re the best one we knew!” Eris answered.

“Alright, alright! I guess that’s enough to talk about marriage and family stuff!” I had to divert the talk because it became too embarrassing for me to hear, “We still had an enemy to defeat.”

Lily and Maddie turned serious as well.

“Right…” Maddie said, “Now that we got the money, what we’ll need next are the men, for your army got severely depleted in Gebrei.”

----------

After the undead incident, Maddie erected a huge magical barrier enough to keep the undead hordes at bay from the region of Gebrei, stretching up to the desolate wastelands of the North. The Savoian capital of Jeveneria, because of its proximity to Gebrei, became a ‘focal point’ in our defense against the undead.

Before that, she tried ‘exorcising’ the dead. It should’ve been an easy job for her; however, Seirna’s ‘dark’ power was interfering with her ‘light’ magic, and only little was achieved.

We don’t know for how long Maddie could maintain her barrier. The undead would often attack it, taking a toll on her mana reserves. As a result, she could now cast only a minimal amount of magic.

“…”

And we still have that problem about our allies in Huirot, which was near Gebrei. Time and time again, few survivors would come from that area—both Imperial and Savoian. They would tell us there were still people alive inside the town, but their situation was dire.

“Please hurry! My family is still there, and only a few men are left defending its walls!”

“Sir, I may be your former enemy, but I plead with you to accept me and my companions here. At least give me an honorable death, for I don’t want to be torn apart by those monsters!”

Those were the lines we hear often day by day. Across east Chersea, Nerfes was also accepting refugees from the ‘dark’ side of the continent, for there were numbers of states and kingdoms that were consumed by Seirna’s spell. Reports of entire city populations becoming zombies reached us, and those who arrived with injuries were put to death upon reaching the borders since the militias manning the front defenses were paranoid about those people were being infected by Seirna’s magic.

The situation, combined with the uncertainty of how long Maddie could keep up her magical barrier, brought the morale of our coalition to a new low. It’s been several weeks since the battle at Gebrei put a halt in our operations, and now, we don’t even know who we were fighting, and how to fight it.

----------

On the 26th of March, a war council was called.

“You damned devil, Kuro!” Griffyth greeted me when I came across them at the Holy Palatial Gardens courtyard, “I never thought I’d see you again!”

Tarasca, Gats, Kashca, Winters, Stephan, and Kevin, as well as the other mercenaries and members of the coalition, were happy to see me as well. I’m also glad to see them all alive.

“It would be a great loss if you died in Gebrei, lad!” the Prince of Stadtsberg told me, along with some slaps at my back.

“Your Highness! What are you doing here?” I asked, “I thought you’re defending Stadtsberg?”

“That’s pointless now, Sir Kuro,” the Count of Brooke told me, “We were attacked by a legion of the dead, and we’re forced to escape here with a few that we can bring along with us.”

Huh? But I thought Her Holiness put up a barrier in Gebrei region?”

“Well, she is, and we are thankful for her because of that,” it was the Duchess of Henristone, “However, her holy barrier could only cover the entire eastern half of Chersea. The western half had fallen into darkness…”

“And I left my family in Amarth!” the Count of Brooke lamented, “I wanted to rescue them, but as we are right now, we couldn’t do a thing!”

“Don’t worry, Your Excellency,” it was the Prince of Stadtsberg, “Our Saint would do everything to help us, that’s why she sent Sir Kuro here.”

“Praise be to the Saint…” the nobles uttered in desperation.

I guess they’re overestimating my worth as a human. Because of that, I don’t think I could fail them nor give them any reason to despair. Maddie’s reputation was at stake, and I intend to avenge Luisa’s death as well…

“Alright, before we go attacking these dead creatures, we should lay out some plans on doing it,” I told them, “We still haven’t relieved Huirot, and I’m afraid, we need to come to their aid soon.”

----------

The War Council this time was different compared to the last one that was held here. The most glaring difference was that Maddie was now with us, and she now led the discussion.

“Welcome, leaders of the Holy Coalition,” she greeted, “Please, have a seat.”

We all took our chairs. I had Griffyth come along with me, for he was acting as my second-in-command. Lily was also there, but she deferred to Maddie in leading the council. The other nobles were also with us, including the Duchess of Henristone.

“As you know, a grave threat has emerged after the outbreak of the war in Amaranth. From an Imperial invasion force, we now face an army of the undead, brought forth by the magic of the Saint of the Flame, Seirna. I put up a barrier to stop them, but alas, my powers are limited, for I am no god.”

“Your Holiness, so it is indeed true!” the Count of Brooke spoke, “Why would a saint do such a thing?”

“I don’t know myself, Your Excellency,” Maddie answered him, “For all I know, Lady Seirna had been against my policies from the start.”

Well, I guess I’ll have to talk to Maddie later about the reasons Seirna is doing that. It’s not bad to understand where your enemy is coming from, after all.

“So, for now, I’m asking you once again, you who have defied the odds and fought under my banner!” Maddie pleaded, “Will you please fight for me once again?”

The nobles never wavered at their determination in fighting for their beloved Saint. However, what they wanted now were directions.

“Your Holiness, if I may ask…” the Duchess of Henristone stood up, “How do we fight this undead? My men told me they tried to behead these monsters, but they keep on coming at them!”

At that moment, I knew Maddie had no answer to her question. She tried to exorcise them, but Seirna’s magic prevented her from succeeding. I decided to enter the conversation.

“You simply can’t,” I said, “It’s impossible to defeat an enemy who’s not afraid to die and with a saint spawning those.”

“What made you say that Sir Kuro?” the Count of Brooke, who was getting emotional, asked me, “Please don’t lie to us! My family’s safety is at stake here!”

“I…” I was about to admit that I came from another world. But I hesitated and turned to Maddie. She just gave me a nod. With her permission now granted, I revealed to them, “You may not believe this…but I am a person from another world.”

“Huh?”

“This is getting complicated.”

The Prince of Stadtsberg only whistled.

“It’s true,” Maddie backed me up, “I summoned Sir Kuro here.”

“So, Sir Kuro is a hero?” the Count of Tillie suddenly became excited, “Like the legendary Cassandra David?”

“No, I’m not,” I corrected him, “For one, Her Holiness summoned me by accident. And second, I have no supernatural powers to save you. I’m just an ordinary human.”

An air of defeatist sentiments floated in the War Room. I could tell that their hopes were dashed when I told them about my limitations.

Well, sorry I got your expectations up.

But then again, I won’t allow to leave something unfinished, “Your Excellencies, please listen to me! Even though I’m an ordinary person from another world, isn’t that I could lead our armies to victories against the formidable legionnaires of the Empire?”

“Of course, we won’t forget that fact,” the Duke of Greene spoke, “So, what do you want to say here, Sir Kuro?”

“I’ll give you another victory once again.”

Hmm…such brave words, Sire,” the Duchess of Henristone commented.

“No, it’s not just brave words, Your Excellency,” I countered, “I told you I’m from another world, and coincidentally, that world knows how to defeat these beings.”

“Oooh…” I could tell everyone’s ears were on me once they heard my statement.

“First, that undead is called a ‘zombie’ in my world. It may seem weak in few numbers, but in hordes, it can be deadly. I don’t know how Seirna did it, but based on my observations back in Gebrei, it transfers her undead magic by its bite. And most of you have seen how those creatures don’t care for their lives.”

“They’re undead, Kuro,” Griffyth reminded me.

“Right…” there was an awkward silence, but then I continued, “Second, it mostly moves following the direction of the sounds.”

“And? What about it?”

“So we can turn those to our advantage.”

“How?” it was Maddie who asked.

“Well, we have options on how to defeat those monsters,” I explained, “One way is to incinerate them.”

Hmm…I haven’t thought of that until now,” Maddie quipped.

“Of course. No one wanted to turn into ashes those people whom we considered friends once. But please remember that those aren’t your family and loved ones anymore. The quicker we ‘kill’ them, the better for their souls.”

“Yes!”

“Second, we could use traps to immobilize those creatures. Aside from their bites, they could also run, so we should remove its mobility.”

“We could use the wind magic to slice at their feet!” the Earl of Yares suggested.

“Or deploy earth spikes,” the Duchess of Henristone added.

“Another way, of course, is to use warriors,” I turned to Lily, “Your Highness, this is where your skill ‘Bloodbath’ will be put into full use. All you need to do is to crush its head so that it can’t do anything to you. Then you may beat it to a bloody pulp.”

“But you said before that they can transfer their curse through bites,” Lily raised that point.

“Yep, and that could simply be countered by armor, especially to your limbs and shoulders. Those parts were the most susceptible to bites,” I couldn’t help but get amused at those movies that always portrayed a zombie apocalypse as something unsolvable. A simple set of armor and flamethrowers in capable hands could end that kind of tragedy.

“So, what should we do then, Sir Kuro?”

“We’re going to combine the magicians, traps, and warriors in the attack,” I asked Lily for a pen and paper and began drawing, “We’ll attract those zombies using the marching sounds of the men. We’ll advance slowly, as the magicians incinerate the zombies from afar, building a literal flame wall. As this undead is running, it might go past the flame barriers and attack the defenseless magicians. For this, we deploy the traps, shield-bearers, and warriors, in that order. They will take care of the zombies that would go past the flames.”

“How about magic barriers?”

“Well, if we could afford extra magicians to cast that, it will be a nice addition to our army’s defense. Otherwise, we need to concentrate on our attacks, since the undead would be relentless in their assault. Remember, those creatures don’t care about its ‘lives’ anymore, so it’d literally throw itself against our defenses.”

“Sounds plausible,” the Count of Tillie commented, “However, I think we’ll need an army of magicians for this strategy to work.”

Uhh…we lost a lot of magicians in the Battle of Gebrei and the undead attack after that,” Griffyth revealed, “Notwithstanding, we lost another substantial number in Dawson Valley, during our feigned retreat.”

“We’ll need the support of the other surviving kingdoms if we’re to defeat this threat, and fast,” the Duke of Greene calculated.

“As for the financial problem, I got this taken care of, courtesy of the generous support from the Duchess of Braunhauer,” Maddie said.

“The Duchess of Braunhauer?” the Duke of Greene exclaimed, “W-Well, that would take care of a lot.”

“However, the other kingdoms are refusing to lend their men to us,” the Duchess of Henristone revealed, “They claim they needed them to defend their land.”

Ugh…they always do that,” Lily could only scratch her head in disgust, “And when everything’s back to normal, these kings would be the ones to claim the credit.”

“Whether for their glory, our concern should be the welfare of the people,” Maddie reiterated, “We should send emissaries to the kings to ask for their support; tell them we’ll buy those if we must. Let’s see how would they respond if it’s their Saint who asked them.”

“Okay, then Your Holiness,” Lily took down her orders, “We shall send envoys right away.”

----------

The emissaries immediately set out for the kingdoms still untouched by Seirna’s curse: Nerfes, Colveente, Calabria, Galad, Hareth, and Shent. Savoy and Nerfes had already sent in a few of their militias they could spare from their cities, and the Holy Palatial Gardens had the Paladin Corps and several levies from its villages to augment the remnant of the coalition forces.

We also considered a truce with the Empire, so we sent an ambassador as well. However, we’re not that hopeful for their favorable reply.

Until the first replies had come back, we had no other choice but to wait.

“…”

It was one of the rare moments where we had an empty time, and of course, we took the chance to take a rest from all the stressful events that happened to us lately.

The nobles who evacuated from Stadtsberg were invited by the Duchess of Henristone to her residence in Colveente. I think most of them took up the invitation; only the Prince of Stadtsberg, who would rather stay with his men, and the Count of Brooke, who was not inclined to any joyful occasions because of his family being trapped in Amarth, remained.

Lily remained with Maddie, of course, doing her usual duties as the Head Maid, and I, since I was not a noble, did not go as well.

“But you’re invited too, Kuro,” Maddie reminded me.

Hmm…I’m just not used in the company of nobility,” I told her, “A few weeks ago, I was just a commoner. It just didn’t sink to me yet, and I’m afraid it never will.”

“Well, it’s all fine to me,” Maddie laughed, “After all, Lady Sylvia Henristone is very interested in you.”

“Don’t worry…she just wanted me to be her knight.”

“I wonder if that’s really the case. For now, it must be that.”

“If you’re worried that I might marry her, again, it’s not in my culture to have several wives,” I was amused at her display of jealousy, “Besides, you know yourself that you’re the one in my heart.”

“O-Of course!”

We laughed together, as we shared a personal moment of peace over a cup of tea…and cookies, too. She was busy painting something while I just read a book. I looked at Maddie; she was too beautiful to behold. But then again, I realized, she’s so young and yet, she’s burdened by the weight of the entire world on her shoulders.

Maddie’s fortitude is something I admire…

Makes me wonder why Seirna was so hell-bent on making her fail on her dreams for humanity.

Hm…if you’re wondering about that, Kuro, then you’ll have to understand, I love Cassandra David even when I was a little child.”

Hoh? The summoned hero?”

“Yes,” Maddie smiled as if she remembered something, “You know, Cassandra David believed all races were created equal, and so she endeavored to harmonize the relationship between the races, especially the Humans and Demons.”

“So Seirna wanted you to fail because her god believes that humans are superior?”

“Well, that’s what she thinks of Lord Gaius’ vision. As far as I know, our god wanted what’s best for humans. That’s what the previous Saint told me before.”

“She might’ve misinterpreted it then.”

“Possibly. Lady Seirna’s a mystery to me.”

“You saints are a mystery to me as well…”

Maddie laughed, “I didn’t expect that from you, Kuro. Well, I guess you’re right, I’m still a mystery to you. I’m Madelaine Ann, Duchess of Rubinforth and a former general under Princess Lilyhaven Tamriel von Leese, the Iron Princess.”

“Well, don’t you have a moniker like her?”

“I did. I’m the Flower of Dawson Valley.”

“Flower, huh?” I suddenly remembered that back in the last human war before this one, she led an army into the Dawson Valley, where she fought against Eris’ father to a stalemate. I think she did something embarrassing there as well?

Tch. Of all the things you would recall, it’s that event!” Maddie pouted, “Of course, I’m afraid of getting killed during that time that I wet myself.”

“So maybe that’s where your moniker came from!” I jested, “You caused some flowers to bloom in that valley after urinating—OW!

A branch of a nearby tree broke off and hit me in the head. It’s been a while since I got that punishment from her, huh?

“It’s for my bravery in the Dawson Valley campaign, you idiot!” she jokingly got mad.

“Well, I agree with that part. You’re one brave lady, Madelaine,” I was not just praising her, I was telling her the truth. I mean, come on. Looking at her, I’d say she’s still in her teenage years and yet, she could bend the stubborn human kings to her will…though not as often as one would think, considering her title of Saint.

“Or is it?” Maddie put up that rhetorical question, “Isn’t the title of ‘Cruel’ befitting of me? I committed a lot of sin during my days as a commander. I killed multitudes of people, destroyed families, extinguished bright futures…all in the name of glory.”

“You know we have our times when we are full of immaturity. That you’re aware of those things is proof that it’s not in your nature to do those.”

“Maybe…but the sins are still there. That’s why I understand why Lady Eris betrayed me.”

Ah…we could do nothing about that anymore. Like what I’ve learned in the past, we humans could only move forward, and repent for everything we have done wrong.”

“Hopefully. But there’s one thing that has kept me from moving forward so far, Kuro…”

“And that is?”

“The former Prince of Amaranth, Umberto Benicci. You know, that ‘Traveler’ guy you and Lily fought in Hagena. I saw him in your memories.”

“That’s him?”

“Yes…he’s originally a royalty of Amaranth…” Maddie had a nostalgic look in her eyes, “…and a friend to my mother, as well as my godfather. Yet, I betrayed him and killed his family.”

I could feel the air of sadness in Maddie, that’s why I stopped reading and came to sit beside her.

“Maybe it’s because of that reason he’s now fighting for the Empire,” Maddie sighed, “I think Prince Umberto’s trying to destroy everything I had built so far.”

Well, that makes sense. If I were her enemy, I’d do the same, too.

“Kuro…because of my foolishness, I caused his house’s downfall. Seeking for glory, I sought to overthrow his father, who was king of Amaranth before the von Alberts,” she explained, “I didn’t intend to destroy his entire family, but the events came and I couldn’t do a single thing to stop it. The blood of his wives and children are in my hands…”

Well, that’s certainly heavy. When someone close to you betrayed you, it’s the ultimate pain one could inflict on you. But, it’s war, and like all everyone else, humans had foolish ambitions that led them to stupid acts. Not everyone was exempt from that fact.

“I don’t think I could ever be forgiven, maybe that’s one of my reasons I took up the mantle of sainthood,” Maddie sighed, “But at least, I wanted to try asking him…”

Hmm…now that connects the dots. So that’s why Maddie was so serious in her duties as the Saint, doing her best to promote her ‘peace’ among the Chersean nations. She sees her sainthood as something as an atonement for everything she had done before…

Well, while it is nice, it didn’t have to stay that way…

“Want to do it?” I asked.

“I don’t even know if he’s still alive…”

I could vaguely remember that guy. While it’s true that there’s a chance that he could already be dead by now, if ever I came across him—or possibly his tombstone, I’d tell him about Maddie’s sentiments.

“Don’t worry Maddie…I’ll do something about it,” I reassured her.

----------

By the 5th of April, the first of the emissaries arrived carrying back some news.

“Your Holiness, the King of Galad refused to send men to our cause, claiming that he wanted them in defending his territories.”

“The King of Calabria has stated that he maintains his neutrality over this conflict, Your Holiness.”

“My liege, the King of Colveente wishes to express his support for our cause. However, he also said that his men are now stretched too thin in defending his kingdom, and so he can spare no one aside from those he had already sent before.”

Maddie and Lily were both massaging their heads in the War Room, for it sure was a stressful situation. Our allies in Huirot needed help as soon as possible, but our men lacked the numbers to mount a successful relief operation. And with the kings refusing to cooperate, the undead problem was threatening to get even worse, as Maddie’s barrier was barely holding up.

“These fools don’t even know that I’m at my limit,” Maddie muttered, “I’m afraid that, eventually, I’ll have to lift that barrier I put in place.”

“James’ forces were also stretched thin in Nerfes,” Lily told us, “He has a long border to watch after all.”

“What do you say, Kuro? Should I punish these kings for not cooperating?”

“By sending them plagues?”

Maddie nodded jokingly. Perhaps she was just physically tired that she was saying such things, however, her words were proof that she was getting mentally exhausted with those capricious royals. I don’t know, but if pushed to the limit, Maddie might’ve made true of her jest.

“Well, I have a solution,” Lily then suggested, “How about we appeal personally to these kings?”

“What’s the difference between that and the emissaries?” Maddie asked, “They won’t cooperate now, so we only waste our time by appearing to them personally.”

Hmm…I don’t discount the possibility of appealing in person, though.”

“See?” Lily triumphantly teased Maddie, “Even Kuro had seen that my suggestion is plausible!”

Maddie, who was a sore loser, pouted.

“But, we won’t talk to those stubborn kings!” I got a paper and began listing down some names.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m writing the names of those people we knew personally. If talking to their kings won’t work, maybe we could appeal to these individuals to send men instead!”

Ooh! That’s a great idea!” Lily exclaimed, “I’ll prepare my list as well!”

“But if they sent men, they might go against the orders of their monarchs,” Maddie raised a valid point. Indeed, while medieval authority depended on the cooperation of the nobles to their king, the king could also punish an erring noble by confiscating his lands and other properties, provided that the royal was popular with the other officials and nobles within his realm.

And with time running out for Huirot, we can’t afford the effort to know who’s king is popular or not.

“I guess this is where you would come in Maddie,” Lily suggested, “You could force the kings not to punish their subjects for helping us.”

Hmm…that could work,” she agreed, “Alright, I’ll prepare some letters as well.”

“So am I!” I told them, “I got a few noble friends of my own.”

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***The Royal Palace of the King of Calabria, in the city of Sekhtem, April 8 in the first year of the Saint…***

“Chancellor! There’s a letter for you.”

The chancellor of Calabria, Sir Dane Bellingstein rose from his chair to receive the letter that was brought to him by the royal messenger. There were disturbing reports of the dead rising in the western kingdoms of Chersea, as well as the light in the sky darkening, and so he sent a few spies to Savoy to check on the truth about these rumors.

However, instead of seeing the Calabrian royal seal on the paper, what he saw was a strange, yet familiar seal of Her Holiness, the Human Saint of Chersea.

Sir Dane wasted no time. He carefully opened the paper and read its contents.

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***The Mahan School of Swordsmanship, Hagena village, of the same date…***

Mariya Trevor was excited to receive a letter with the seal of the Holy Palatial Gardens on it. She knew it came from her friend, the princess Lilyhaven Tamriel von Leese, and so she opened it to read its contents.

‘To Anton Jean Trevor, Headmaster of the Mahan School of Swordsmanship…’

“What?” Mariya exclaimed, “I thought it’s for me! Anton!”

The big little brother of hers then showed up at her room, all dressed up ready to train their students for that time. Mariya was pouting, yet she had no other choice but to give to him the letter from her friend Lily.

“It’s yours, bro!”

Anton silently read the letter, as he always did. And then, upon reaching the end, he headed back to his school, dragging his little big sister with him.

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***The town of Fen, Duchy of Rubinforth. April 10, in the first year of the Saint…***

The old Duke of Rubinforth had just awakened from his sleep, tired of yesterday’s work in supervising the training of his levies. Word had come from the royal palace that there might come a time when the nobles of Nerfes might be called upon to war by their king, and so the Duke brought upon himself to prepare his subjects.

“Your Excellency! A letter for you has been delivered from the Holy Palatial Gardens,” an orderly of his brought upon a folded paper with the Saint’s seal on it.

Without further hesitation, he read its contents.

‘Dear Papa…As much as I wanted to never disturb you, I feel inclined to do so, especially when our realm is under threat. My letter would be direct and brief, so please consider my proposal carefully…’

Oh, come on, Maddie! You just said it would be direct and brief!” the Duke complained about reading her letter for two long paragraphs, explaining how important her request was. But yes, there’s the shortcut at the end that says…

‘If you wish to jump immediately to my request, please proceed to the third paragraph.’

Which the Duke did.

‘Papa, may I ask you to send soldiers and magicians to the Holy Palatial Gardens? We plan to strike back at these undead hordes as soon as possible. Love, Maddie.’

“What? That’s it?” the Duke turned around the paper looking for more words, but it was in vain, “All those two long paragraphs for one simple request in the end?”

The orderly was just dumbfounded, looking at him.

Ha! That’s my daughter for you!” He then turned to his orderly, “Jans, tell the men to prepare themselves. We set out tomorrow for the Holy Palatial Gardens!”

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***Meanwhile, in the town of Arles, 12th of April…***

The town militia had been called to serve for some time now. They were on full duty, after the declaration of war by the Empire against Savoy, for allowing the Holy Coalition forces to operate in its territory. As a result, there were only a few men to tend to their fields, and most of them were getting impatient already.

Sir Osmond, a captain of the town militia, had been assigned to watch the discipline of his men, and he was doing his usual rounds to prevent an outbreak of riots when something happened.

“…”

A few distances away from the town proper, he saw a group of men approaching. They were on foot, but one could tell that they have someone who was injured to his feet.

“Luke, can you make out what we are seeing?” he asked the lookout.

“Sir, five men are walking in our direction, and the one in the middle looks like he’s got an injury on his right foot.”

“What about their armor?”

“I think it’s one of ours, captain. But wait, someone is also wearing armor from Stadtsberg, and another still a lamellar armor of the elves. Many of those are ill fitting and mixed up as well.”

“Prepare some horses…” Sir Osmond didn’t like the report of his lookout.

The mixed-up and ill-fitting armors were signs that those were looted from the battlefield which the Savoians consider as sacred. But never mind that for now. What he wanted to do was to meet the group and confirm their identities; after all, there were those instances that these might be refugees that brave the undead hordes to come to the relative safety of east Chersea.

Sir Osmond would want to make sure that none of them were infected.

----------

Once the cavalry scouts led by Sir Osmond came into full view of the men, they left their injured companion and dashed away from the Arles militia. Sir Osmond ordered his soldiers to pursue those who ran, while he captured the one that remained.

“Identify yourself,” he ordered the man, who fell on his knee trying to support himself, “Depending on your answer, I might spare your life.”

“It’s fine by me if you kill me, boy!” the injured man spoke, “Just don’t let me get back at that undead!”

“Do you have your identification papers with you?” Sir Osmond asked.

“I-I lost it while we ran from the undead,” the uninjured man told him, “I swear we’re not a threat to you!”

“Then why did your other companions run away from us? Who are you?”

The refugee stared at Sir Osmond with a tired expression and sighed, “Alright boy, I give up. Take me prisoner, or kill me, it’s your choice. I am the emperor of Chersea, Jean Durres III. I surrender to you,” he removed his Savoian armor to reveal the Imperial robes he was wearing underneath.

At that moment, Sir Osmond and his companions were all dumbfounded upon confirming the identity of their prisoner.