The Marching Embers

Once again, I had another dream, but unlike before, I could barely remember it.

All I could recall was that I was ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ from the ▓▓▓, helpless to do anything. I couldn’t run, cou▓dn’t shout, ▓ouldn’t scream… I’d j▓st ▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓, ▓l▓e ▓▓▓ and ▓▓▓▓.

And I kept ▓▓ll▓n▓ for a long, l▓ng t▓me, unt▓▓ I fe▓t no▓h▓ng but despa▓r. ▓nd ▓hat’▓ on▓y ▓ ▓ra▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓… ▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓ ▓▓▓▓ ▓▓, ▓’▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓…

⮽⮽⮽

“Wow, they weren’t kidding,” said a new yet oddly familiar voice, breaking the silence. “What a weird ability.”

“Mmm… hurgh?” I croaked. My eyes fluttered open and met someone’s gaze.

“Heh, rise and shine, kid,” said a tall, middle-aged woman with a brilliant red ponytail and wearing an armored, short kirtle and leggings. 

“...Huh?” I rubbed my eyes. “You’re… Ashrenne…?”

She grinned, her dark blue eyes glinting in the sunlight. “The one and only. You’re the new recruit, right? Did ya sleep well out here?”

“Whuh?” I looked around, groggily registering the vast sky above us and the stone tiles underneath me. “Oh, huh…” I blinked a few more times. “Wait, how did I get on the rooftop?!”

“Ahahaha! Good morning to you too.” She offered a hand. “Let’s head back inside and have a proper meeting with everyone, yeah?”

“Ah, yeah,” I said, accepting her hand. She effortlessly hoisted me, and I briefly stumbled around before I regained my balance and followed her back inside the base.

“Oh, good morning, Haruma!” said Lora, waving. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.”

“Goooooooood mooorning!” shouted Dahlian, his mouth full of boar meat and his eyes glowing with reinvigorated fire. “Today’s going to be a real bloody day! I can taste it!”

Ah, there he was. The real, lively, and hella rowdy Dahlian with a full stomach. I chuckled and said, “Good morning to you too, Dahlian.”

As I looked around the base now full of life, I gradually smiled. Being able to see them not in pixelated sprites, but in real life, made my heart flutter with excitement. I pretty much fought back the urge to squeal like a fanboy at the fact that I could talk to them with my own words.

My eyes naturally drifted to the fourth person curled up in the darkest corner of the room, one with long, dark purple hair strands tucked over his eyes and wearing ragged, black robes and leather.

“Hey, Sloane!” Ashrenne called out. “We have a new ally!”

The young man ever so slightly opened his eyes, revealing his green irises.

I waved and said, “I’m Haruma Kurimoto. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh…” Sloane softly smiled and nodded. “Nice to meet you too, Haruma.”

…Aaaand he proceeded to go back to sleep. Good talk.

Ashrenne sighed. “Not even a new recruit can keep him awake, huh?”

“He’s always been a night person,” said Lora. “Maybe he just can’t stay awake in the daytime.”

“Isn’t he always sleeping, though?” asked Dahlian.

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ve said my greetings. That’s more than enough for me.”

“Ew, Haruma, you’re too nice. We already have Lora.”

Lora blinked at him. “What’s wrong with being nice?”

“It’s boring if everyone’s nice! We need some balancing here! Haruma, I should teach you how to be sassier!”

“Uh, why me?”

“Because Sloane is Sloane, Lora is Lora, and Ashrenne is kind of an idiot. That just leaves you.”

“What kind of reasoning is that?”

“A very logical one!”

“Why’d you also single me out?!” cried Ashrenne. “Wait, no! I meant to say focus, guys! You can do whatever you want after we save the city!”

“Yeah, speaking of that,” said Lora. “You said you know about the queen’s plans, right, Haruma?”

Again, no one in this city should know her plans so early in the prologue, but who was going to stop me? The game writers? They could kiss my ass for all I cared.

This was a real city full of real people with real lives. If I couldn’t follow the hero route and prevent The Falling Ash Calamity myself, I might as well do things my way.

“Yeah,” I said, claiming a seat and intertwining my fingers. “I had… three different visions, and on all of them, I’ve witnessed the queen performing some ancient ritual on the next full moon, sacrificing everyone’s souls in this city so that she can ascend to godhood.”

Sloane’s pointy ears twitched, and everyone else turned pale and fell speechless.

“S-seriously?” asked Ashrenne, gawking at me. “Are you some kind of time looper?!”

“Uh, no, I wouldn’t say that,” I said.

“Still, that’s freaking insane! She’s going to kill everyone?!”

“Yeah, everyone.”

“Well, that’s not fair!” said Dahlian. “I did not go on a cattle diet so that the queen can kill all the humans here!”

“That includes other races like you and Sloane too, Dahlian,” I mentioned.

“Oh. But still!”

Sloane twitched his ears again, this time briefly opening an eye.

Lora rubbed her chin, her face white as a sheet. “To pull off such a big ritual… It does explain why the queen didn’t do anything these past weeks,” she muttered. “If that’s the case, that means…”

I nodded. “She’s already finished preparations and is waiting for the opportunity.”

“Oh geez, we’re so screwed,” said Ashrenne, ruffling her hair.

“Haha, totally,” said Dahlian.

“A-are you sure that’s true, Haruma?” Lora asked nervously. “That’s what you really saw in your visions?”

I gripped my fists.

“I don’t know where you learned that information, but you clearly don’t know a single thing.”

From just Entrophys's words alone, I started having second thoughts. It didn’t help that I’d also never known about Lora’s condition either.

Even so, the queen definitely planned to destroy her kingdom… right? On all three routes in the RPG, she succeeded in starting her ritual, and each claimed a certain number of lives.

“I… I know it’s hard to believe, and I don’t have any proof, but I wanted to share it anyway because that’s what I saw,” I said.

“I see,” said Lora. “Do you know what the ritual is called?”

“...No, unfortunately.” I blame the writers for censoring the name. “Sorry…”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. You’ve told us plenty of useful information.”

“Yep! We’ve got a solid deadline on stopping the queen now!” said Dahlian. “We’ve only got… uh, how much time’s left until the full moon?”

“A week,” said Sloane.

“Oh, yeah!”

“That’s way too damn soon!” cried Ashrenne, slamming her desk. “We’re not strong enough to beat a demon general, let alone the whole squad!”

“It’s fine. We don’t have to confront the queen and her ambassadors,” I said.

“What?” The three of them turned to me.

I glanced at the wall with the map of Cindespoir. “It’s not easy, but we can still stop the ritual by destroying their sigils hidden around the city. We can save everyone without fighting at all!”

“Ooh? Really? Your visions told you that too?” asked Ashrenne.

“I guess you can say that.”

“Haha, seriously?” asked Dahlian. “We could’ve saved so much time investigating if you'd joined us sooner!”

“My visions came to me barely yesterday, though.”

“Oh, right. Better late than never, I guess.”

Ashrenne took a deep breath before slowly exhaling, her face switching to a grim expression. “I’ll be honest, I still can’t believe the queen would do something so horrible, but I’d much rather we be safe than sorry, especially if everyone’s lives are at stake.” She stepped away from her desk and approached me, narrowing her gaze. “If you really do know us from your visions, I assume you know plenty of things that most people don’t, yeah?”

I nodded. “I'm not sure how much you want me to share out loud, but for starters, you’re the former captain of the royal knights who established The Marching Embers just to provide a safe space for outcasts like us in Cindespoir City. Dahlian is a demon and has amnesia, Lora defected from worshipping Florathea, and Sloane is an elf who used to work for The Assassin's Guild. You all aren’t trying to be vigilantes, but if no one’s saving this city, then who else but you guys, right?”

Dahlian and Lora dropped their jaws in astonishment while Sloane twitched his ears.

“Well damn, okay, I believe you now," said Ashrenne. She folded her arms and glanced at the elf. "There's one last thing to check, though. How's he looking, Sloane?"

The sleepyhead yawned and stretched his arms. "I don't sense any malice inside him. He's fine."

"Alright!" She grinned and offered me a hand. “Before we get started, let’s make it official: do you wanna join us, Haruma?”

I blinked. “Wait, just like that? No background checks or swearing any oaths?”

“Naahh, if Sloane gives you a pass, then that's more than enough for us!”

“...I see.” I timidly returned the smile and shook her hand. “If… you’re okay with having me, I’ll be in your care then. It’s nice meeting you all.”

“Likewise, kid! Welcome to The Marching Embers!”