Friedenshain Cleanup (pt 2)

Miho looked down the temple stairs at Karen who stood on the landing halfway. Karen had just suggested to her she’d get down to the city walls and help defend the city. But Miho didn’t want to.

I am done using Clarice’s magic for anything else than scrubbing someone's floor. I’ve caused all this chaos, but everyone is in danger.

She watched as the villagers of this otherwise peaceful town rushed up the stairs in a panic - elderly people clutching their canes, mothers shielding their little children. The goblins, possibly created as a side effect of Miho’s magic, now threaten their life.

This isn’t a video game… these are real people living in this parallel world with families, hopes and dreams. I shouldn’t be playing with their lives.

Miho stared at Karen and responded.

“I can’t help you, I wish I could but I can’t. Please hurry and use Chopzilla to save these people!” Miho responded.

The angry Karen shook her head and mumbled something incomprehensible, after which she continued her way down the stairs alone. Miho remained waiting outside the church, alongside a crowd of people for which there was no more place inside the packed building.

Aimlessly Miho paced around the little square where the festival stalls stood earlier that year. From this hill, looking between some of the taller houses she could just about make out one of the city gates in the distance. It was surrounded by guards and villagers trying to build reinforcements preventing the horde of goblins from breaking through the wooden gate. From the street a girl carrying a massive sword appeared.

“Karen,” Miho whispered. Next to her walked a figure she assumed was her brother Lorian.

Glad they found each other.

Miho continued watching and noticed the gate started shaking more and more. All guards walked up against the gate, using all their force to prevent it from opening. But it wouldn’t help… the gate started shaking harder and harder.

“Crap,” Miho whispered as she bit her lip. She put her hand before her eyes, not seeing what was coming next. Through her fingers she watched the gate snap, the horde of goblins storming in. The startled defenders, some knocked down by the force of the gate, scrambled to their feet and quickly assumed defensive stances. Individually, taking down a goblin wouldn’t be too difficult, but in this instance, their overwhelming numbers left the defenders struggling to hold them back. Miho could see Karen and Lorian slash their way through the herd, but like the others, they had to give away more and more terrain.

Even more worrying was the flood of new goblins joining their brethren from outside the gate, replenishing the herd. Even though the fighters did their utmost to protect the town from the goblins, they didn’t seem to make any progress. Miho could see the faraway Karen take a short break, wiping some from her face while her brother protected her from the goblins.

This is going to end badly for us, isn’t it? They needed a breakthrough, a magic user, an intervention from the goddess or - Miho heard people enthusiastically chanting around her. They were pointing at something in the distance. She leaned in to see what the commotion was about.

In the distance, a group of armored men on horses appeared. They carried a banner that looked familiar to Miho.

“Cedric..” she whispered, the other villagers seemed to have the same idea.

“Greatest Lifhild, thank you for sending these saviors,” a woman shouted with a grand gesture. A sense of relief spread over the sheltered villagers, as they anticipated the group of knights approaching the compromised gate from the outside. The group of goblins was now closed in from both sides. The horses slowed down and the knights pulled their swords out of their sheath located on their backs. From the safety of their saddle, the armored warriors started mowing down the pack of goblins.

This additional support seemed to have rejuvenated the defenders inside the town walls, holding a steady line, preventing the goblins from penetrating deeper. Soon the herd of goblins started diminishing in numbers, the knights blocking the new goblins from outside from joining the group.

Before the final goblins had even been defeated, the villagers at the temple started cheering already. A small group rushed out of the church to watch the impending victory with their own eyes.

“This day will go down in history!” a girl yelled. “I will tell my grandkids about the big goblin invasion one day!”

Miho watched the now mixed group of knights, guards, and adventurers chop down the remaining goblins. Their green bodies fell to the ground, crumbling into small piles of dirt. The intruders were dealt with - the city was safe - or so it seemed.

One of the guards on top of the watchtower started shouting, interrupting the brief moment of peace. He pointed at a section of the wall where Miho and her friends re-entered the town earlier. Some large buildings blocked the view from the temple, but it wasn’t too hard to guess what happened.

“The goblins have trembled the wall!” one of the villagers yelled.

"Huh?" But weren’t they just defeated?” a confused man asked.

“At the west gate, yes, but that is not everything!”

Miho's eyes gazed over the streets, passing the barricades and derelict streets until her eyes landed on something.

A herd of goblins… a gigantic herd of goblins!

The defenders at the gate looked confused,trying to make sense of what was happening. They packed their stuff and got themselves toward the part of town where the goblins broke in. Miho could see Karen and Lorian running past the entrance of the temple, the fear and exhaustion dripping from their faces. The knights carefully maneuvered their horses past the wooden barriers and through the narrow streets.

But they weren’t there fast enough, since the first goblins had already reached the central square. With the enemies now in the heart of Friedenshain, the only remaining safe place was the temple where Miho and the other villagers had taken refuge. More and more people came rushing up the stairs, filling the hill almost entirely. Through the dense crowd, Miho watched the defenders struggle to get to the marketplace in time. They needed a better strategy… and Miho had an idea.

I am not an adventurer… so it will be of no use.

Miho clutched Clarice feeling sparks of its magical energy contact her skin.

The goddess assured me I could be a cleaner right?

“There is no use for a cleaner who is dead.”

She shook her head.

I am not going to do it, my magic is too unpredictable - I can’t allow this to escalate any further.

The square swarmed with goblins, the defenders desperately struggling to hold their ground. Miho spotted Karen’s distinctive sword chopping down some goblins. Next to her was Lorian swinging his sword… and falling. A goblin had landed a hit on him, she saw him reaching for his leg. Karen threw her beloved sword on the ground and jumped before her brother, protecting him from further attack with her heavy armor. She carried him from the ground, behind the line of remaining defenders where she started tending his wounds. A healer rushed toward him and started using his healing magic.

“Miss Miho! Miss Miho!” a familiar voice suddenly called. Miho turned around and saw Hanna standing in the crowd outside, searching for her. She waved and managed to catch the girl’s attention. She waved herself between the people and hugged Miho.

“H… Hanna, you shouldn’t have left the church! It’s very dangerous out here.” she stuttered. But the girl didn’t seem to mind, she had other priorities.

“I beg you Miho, I beg you! Go down there and use Clarice’s magic to stop these goblins like you did in the forest. It is the only way… they will just get reborn and reborn and we will all die!”

“But Hanna, what if I would make it worse? Even if I succeeded in this situation, I would certainly cause something else to get wrong. I am not an adventurer, just a lowly cleaner… I can’t continue this cycle.”

Hanna wasn’t having it, she bawled her fist and yelled a line Miho heard spook through her head earlier.

“There is no use for a cleaner who is dead. Please save these people and try whatever you can!”

A group of villagers standing in a circle around the two girls started yelling her name.

“Miho! Miho!”

“You can do this!”

“Please save our little town!”

Miho sighed, staring at the heavens.

I am not going to avoid some heroic deed today, am I?

She transformed Clarice into its broom form and chanted.

“Let’s clean up this mess!”

The crowd moved to the side, forming a path between Miho and the start of the stairs. Miho started sprinting down the stairs, leaving the cheering crowd behind her. With the additional pressure of the villagers now weighing on her shoulders, she had better come up with a good way to convey her plan to the defenders. If they even wanted to listen to her, that was.

Down at ground level, Miho continued her way past the guards, the barriers, and the wounded soldiers getting treatment. She made a turn and entered the town square. The sounds of iron clashing and loud screams of some of the warriors deafened Miho.

I am standing in the middle of a battlefield with nothing but a magical broom to protect me.

There was no time to lose, Miho had mere minutes to convey her plans to the struggling defenders. She inspected the legion of struggling men and women trying to find their leader. There he was, sitting on his horse, struggling to command his troops while simultaneously cutting down goblins with swift, practiced strikes.

“Lord Cedric,” Miho whispered, she started to run toward the castle lord. Getting as close as she safely could, she started yelling in order to grab his attention.

“My lord!" Can I have your attention?” she yelled. But Cedric didn’t seem to hear it.

“Cedric, please!” Miho continued but to no avail.

I need to do something to catch his attention.

Miho noticed Cedric’s horse and saddle had gotten covered by dirt and goop from the collapsing goblins. She turned Clarice and pointed it at the lord of his horse, after which it started glowing and morphed into an ancient-looking hair blower. She felt the broom's energy rush through her veins, its magic filling her redetermined heart.

She touched the crystal and activated the cleaning tool. A gush of magical wind started blowing, the horse’s hairs visibility moving, the dirt turning into colorful particles which floated into the air before disappearing in the aether.

The shocked lord looked over his shoulder, his sword at the ready.

He must fear a magic attack coming from behind.

“Don’t worry, it’s me, Miho!” she proclaimed in an attempt to calm Cedric down.

A sense of relief washed over his face as he recognized the girl standing behind him.

“I will use my cleaning magic to stop this attack, please listen to my plan!”