Life is No Fairy-Tale

One week after I successfully managed to be deployed to Fort Vinki, I received a letter from Nika.

"Dear Taiyo,

The same way your letter was able to find me void of any complication or delay, I hope the present will be able to reach you in that same fashion. I have come with both great and mortifying news. Starting with the worst, partly due to a lack of foresight on my part, we have lost Avery.

After I successfully managed to bring him to our side, that man has elected to shoulder the responsibility to take care of some of the nobles and clergymen found guilty of crimes. Those found depicted in the reports. Although, due to his readiness and lack of communication skills, he ended up incurring my brother's, Tokesa's wrath. Resulting in his passing.

The second piece of bad news comes from Court Mage Prakia. For he too, as lost his life.
The circumstances are still blurry at the moment but, upon investigating we found that the culprit was in fact his other disciple, Neil, the elf. Once again her motives remain unclear at the moment, but I am working carefully with the intent of exposing her reasons.

Lastly, in terms of good news, we have successfully managed to take my father, the king, into custody and are in the process of forming a siege back at the castle as we wait and pray for your success and safe return.

May god be on your side,

Nika."

"..."

"..."

What is going on ?... What do you mean Prakia and Avery are dead ? There's magic right ? Surely they'll be back up in no time right ?! I mean, come on, we are the ones out there on the battlefield, aren't we ? It's not even funny ! What the fuck is this ?! Did she even manage to reason with her brother in the end ? She is the one who wrote this, right ?!
At some point, and without me noticing, Xenia had come to stand behind me and was also bending over to read the content of the letter. Probably figuring it was from Nika.
After I fell silent and unmoving for a while, I came to as Xenia moved around the couch and silently took a seat beside me, pulling my head over to have it rest on her lap.
Soon after, I started laughing creepily without meaning to and Xenia looked the other way. She was gently stroking my hair and I could hear the sound of her fingers gripping the side of the couch where her left arm rested.

Get a grip ! She's just as saddened as you are ! It's the same comrades she has been fighting with for years.. they are not simple acquaintances or mentors to her.
Despite the questionnable method, I was actually trying to reason with as much clarity as I could muster to regain control over my emotions and force myself to move on.
I may not be used to it as a japanese person, earthling even, but it must be an everyday occurence for the people here. I mean look, Nika was able to properly formulate her letter and even spared some of her attention to worry about our expected success. I can't let her down !

Taking a deep breath to collect myself, I rested one of my hands on the one Xenia was using to pet my head to indicate I was back to normal.

"Thank you Master, I'm fine now." I told her, trying my best to sound relaxed.
With a quiet nod as show of understanding, she removed her hand and waited for me to get up.
Some Hero I am. I thought self deprecatingly.

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Now down two men, and of considerable value to boot, we could not afford to spoil any more of the ressources at our disposal. 

I hate how that sounds. 

"Ser, the enemy is already retreating, what is going on !? We didn't even launch our assault yet !"
 The messenger from Xenia's unit came asking.

"I bet." She assured as she turned to look at me. "Looks like that Nicholas has been caught huh ?"

Sure hope that's what happened. Because it could also be that he escaped after catching wind of our plan and has managed to alert the enemy's force. 
I was done taking things for granted. This might sound paranoid, but right now I didn't want to cast any of those doubts away. Worst case, I figured I would get Xenia to beat some sense into me if I ever went overboard or started panicking too much. So once the messenger retired, I let Xenia in on my worries.

"This sounds like overthinking to me." She started. "Especially considering we're talking about Richard. But I guess it doesn't hurt to exercise some caution at this point."
After she said that, she rushed out of the room after the messenger to give him the order to head to the front line, in the middle of the plains where Richard had taken over Tokesa's position.

I'm glad she is the one with me. I marveled, considering how had it been Richard in her place, I would have had to wait for a formal letter from the other front to either confirm or disapprove my doubts. That being said, it was now time for us to take a step forward. Passing the opportunity to gain terrain on the battlefield when the enemy was in a state of confusion would be foolish.


True to my word, the next morning we departed. Our scouts from Avery's unit had checked the area beforehand so we were now safely and steadily claiming ground. We need to make it to Viret before nightfall, otherwise it will be difficult to prepare the siege. I thought
Viret was a small village tucked between a large mountain range and a dense forest. It had been absorbed by Glursem during the campaign they conducted to assimilate surrounding towns and villages with richer soil and fields, and it was conveniently close to Fort Vinki. Making it a prime candidate for sieging.

"Sir, a single woman on horseback is speeding our way at ten o'clock, what do we do ?"

"What does she look like ?" I asked the soldier.

"She is on the smaller side compared to the general, with muddy golden hair and a large sword on her back." 

Sounds like Seri alright, that's good. Though I hope she brings good news this time.

Giving the solider instructions to stand down, I left the carriage and strayed away from the pathway we were using to meet her before she got into earshot of the infantry. This girl might end up shouting her information and reveal our plans to the soldiers if I'm not careful...
Seri had in fact the habit of talking quite loudly. So since we could not be absolutely certain there were no spies within our own ranks, I elected to meet her as far away from the troops as possible for the time being.

"I'm on my way back from Glursem." She started. "This is chaos over there, bordering on riot even. Apparently their soldiers deployed on the plains came back in a hurry to inform their leader we had captured one of their informant." She asserted. "So then judging it'd work in our favor, I had my party spread the information at taverns and at the marketplace, and now everyone's scurrying about like ants whose nest received a good kick." Gahaha, she roared triumphantly.

Please don't tell me this is infectuous.. I had to ask. "Okay great. Just, before you go back to Ispron, quick unrelated question."

"What now ?"

"Were you perhaps instructed by Richard at some point ?"

"You can tell ? That's surprising. Well, I guess I did train you after all. And you've faced Richard once as well so I shouldn't be surprised. Why you ask ?"

Dammit, so it is infectuous after all. Now I gotta be careful not to hang around him too much. 

"Not for anything in particular, just checking." I answered, unimpressed.

"Then don't waste my time !" She retorted with a click of her tongue.

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Feeling a tinsy bit more confident thanks to Seri's report, I ordered Avery's former untis, now officially under my leadership, to forge onward towards Viret.
At this rate we'll even be able to be there before sunset by the looks of it. That's optimal.


As expected, and after less than six hours of marching, dealing with monsters and hunting wild beasts on our way, we safely reached the village's wooden gates as the sun was only starting to decline.

"Did they evacuate ?" I asked Xenia, squinting my eyes to look at the opposite end of the village.

"Looks like it."

There were no lookouts on the twin watchtowers by the front gate, and thanks to the gates being left wide open, we could see as far as the fences surrounding the opposite side of the small village. Needless to say, there wasn't a single soul wandering about. That must be why the soldiers we were facing retreated early. Was my conclusion.

Between Seri's report and the movements we had witnessed prior to her arrival this morning, there was little doubts in our mind. The forces they had sent to Fort Vinki had gone back to sound the alarm and help evacuate the village before we made our way there.

"Well that works out nicely for us, wouldn't you say ?" Xenia said. "Rejoince guys, tonight we will be able to sleep on actual beds !" 
At her shout, everyone celebrated. But she wasn't finished. "That said I don't want to catch any of you stealing or rampaging through the houses. Got it ? These people are different from the ones we fight on the daily, they do not deserve our hatred."

What an example... I marveled.

Once we were done emptying the carts and laying down the tents for the ones who would take turns surveying the gates, the first group of soldiers allowed to use the houses to rest made their way there. But then...
With a loud thud, the bodies of the first soldiers who tried to open each house suddenly fell backwards almost in unison. Unmoving.

"What happened ?! Hey !" Barked Xenia. 

"I-it's the enemy ! They were hiding in the hou–" Before the soldier could finish her sentence, she was skewered by a spear protruding from a hole on the wall of the house she stood next to.

"Enemy ambush !" Another one screamed. It had begun. The moment we let our guard down and released our focus, is when they decided to strike.

"Don't stand there doing nothing Taiyo ! I know this'll be your first time, but you can't shy away from it !" She admonished. "Or do you want to let your troops and myself fall to their trap ?!"

She's right, It's kill or get killed. These people do not care about our goal or reasons, they were taught to slaughter their enemies and it just happens to be us this time.

God dammit. Slashing at a poor villager with a broom in place of an actual weapon, I cursed under my breath. This was not time to show compassion. The grown up man who had just surrendered his life to gamble a hit on me from behind had sported an expression full of contempt. Given the chance, I was certain he would be ready to claw back from hell if it meant giving him the chance to land even a scratch on my face.

"You freaking monsters !" Another villager shouted before I dodged his strike and cut his wrist off.
Oh right, I could always stop at wounding them enough so they cannot fight anymore. There is no need to kill them. I reasoned. Catching my intent however, the villager in question threw away the scythe he had gripped with his remaining hand and glared at me furiously.

"Don't you even think about making me your dog." He seethed. "I'd rather fucking die than live a life deprived of my freedom !" He shrieked. "Kill me ! Now !"

I looked for Xenia with my eyes. What do we do ? I asked her, motioning with my chin when our eyes met. She responded with a simple shake of her head. I see, that's unfortunate. I thought.
Taking my clue, I proceeded to fulfill the old man's wish and finished him off. Separating his head from his torso as symbol of his stupidity.

I don't understand...

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A couple hours after nightfall, the whole village had regained its initial stillness. However, the stench of blood thick with iron mixed with the smell of inards and the muddy ground, made staying around unbearable.

"Carry the wounded to the carts and prepare for cleanup." Instructed Xenia, her tone firm but not commanding.

In our misfortune we had nevertheless managed to come out on top. The guerilla had only been conducted by two-thirds of the soldiers Glursem had deployed to Fort Vinki. The rest were simple villagers who must have decided to stay behind to protect their homes.
As a result, the casualties on our side were on the down low. Out of the combined four hundred soldiers from both Xenia's and Avery's units, we only lost fifty of them. Or rather, we still lost fifty of them, I should say.

"We'll prepare a quick makeshift graveyard for everyone. Taiyo you come with me." She ordered.

I still can't believe I've done it. With my hands still shaking and my mind unable to process anything anymore, I mindlessly followed after Xenia and began digging the one hundred and seventy-ish holes we needed to bury everyone. Friends and foes alike.


Once we were done, it was well past midnight. I had left the carrying of the corpses to my underlings and was now washing my costume by hand in a corner of the village, using the faucet by the tavern.

"I won't say 'you'll get used to it in time'", she started, "...because nobody should have to truthfully. But I still want you to try to move on if you can. Sacrifices would inevitably happen at some point. We all knew that. That's just goes to show what people are. Ideals and reality, or common sense rather, do not mesh well after all."

She must be right. People choosing to sink with their businesses instead of trying to prepare ways to bounce back ahead of time, people refusing to leave their houses under the threat of a fire or an earthquake simply because their families have lived in it for generations, lovers refusing to let go of their exes believing they would never be able to surmount the loss or find any better; the examples are seemingly endless when I think about it. Even from back home. So it's only natural that the people here, devoid of the various means of communication and of the same access to information as the people from earth, would sink into despair at the drop of a hat too.

"What I believe and you should consider, is that this time our goal will serve to stop this needless struggle. We are aiming to put an end to this nonsensical war that has gone on for too long. And once we achieve it, it'll be the grown-ups' role to educate the future generations in order for them to never choose war as a means to an end in turn. You could call it–"

"A necessary evil." I finished her sentence. "I get it. It's going to be tough to shoulder for a while but I'll work on overcoming this momentary guilt, thanks Xenia."

After looking dubfounded for a moment, she simply patted my back once and returned to the carts, meaning to check on the injured's condition.

The night will be long..

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On the morrow, we departed early. The night had'nt even allowed us to rest our legs, sore from days of walking and fighting, but we had a mission to fulfill.

"The road to Glursem should take us less than two days, so hang on for a few more hours and you'll be able to properly rest !" Shouted Xenia. Not earning a single word in response.

Since the ambush we suffered the day before, everyone grew silent. That being said, that also meant there were no complaints or annoying scuffles between the two units. I hope this was enough to vaccinate them completely though. 
The thing was, Avery's unit was mostly comprised of women. After asking Xenia about it at the beginning of our joint demployment, she'd taught me a thing or two about her now former colleague. 

Beyond his unshakable ideals of justice, that man was actually quite the softie. He had bought off a former prostitute and married her, had built a school free of charge for orphans around the kingdom, and had even managed to take over the brothel his wife had belonged to.

Now, another thing that was important to note was that he absolutely abhorred the company of men. On the flip side however, he loved spending time with the ladies.

"Oh but he's no womanizer either for that matter." She'd assured me. "In fact he's quite courteous instead and makes a point of always making it clear he doesn't intend to flirt or anything, when he spends time with one or multiple single women." "That's what makes it so easy to appreciate him." She'd concluded.

In short, he was but a man who enjoyed tea rather than booze and preferred calm and levelheaded discussions over the boisterous antics of fellow men.
Plus he was already taken, so visiting the brothels or hitting on street performers and waitresses at the tavern were none of his business.

Although, now that the news of his passing had reached the ears of his former underlings, the atmosphere was obviously quite livid. Which had driven the young and inconsiderate male soldiers to relentlessly pester the women, aiming to take advantage of their lowered defenses and overall bad mood. Turning the whole trip from Fort Vinki to our first stop before Viret into quite a headache. Which is why I was now praying that the overall atmosphere that was currently including the men too, would linger on for a while longer.

"Taiyo !" 

"What ?"

"Letter from Glursem."

"On my way !"

Kicking my horse, –the one I actually ended up receiving as reward for my first deployment–
I made my way to the front of the pack to recover the letter from Xenia. And sure enough, I caught sight of the messenger galloping away on his own steed while I did so.

"It's from Seri's party." I prefaced. "They say a certain 'Nick Virtue' is preparing a 'welcome party' for us to partake in and that he has expressed his wish to talk things out."

"Tsk. That means we let one of them get away yesterday most likely." She answered clearly displeased. "And that name by the way, is the name of the ruler of Glursem. Of the leader of the formerly largest mercenary troop in the continent."

That's clearly a better prospect than that of another bloodbath but... "What do we do then ?"
I asked her. "This might be another trap."

"If that's the case then so be it." She responded offhandedly "We'll have Richard joining us in no time anyway. So if they want to play at surprising us, we'll simply let them taste a surprise of our own."

Makes sense. The only thing that matters in the end is that we manage to put an end to this farce.
I thought, feeling totally ready to give up my life for the cause.

Being as exhausted both mentally and physically as I was, my instinct of self preservation had completely and utterly dulled by that point. I was in such a state that, given the order I would probably have thrown my life away without a second thought if only it could've meant dragging me out of this misery sooner.

"Your eyes are dying. Go take a nap in the carriage if you don't feel so good." She suggested, sensing my distress.

Yeah I might do just that. I concluded without effort, as I retreated to the aforementioned vehicle.

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Two days later, we finally reached Glursem.

The weather was nice and sunny and everyone's spirits was now back to a more stable state. Allowing Xenia and I to relax at the prospect of a worst case scenario. As paradoxical as it sounded.

"Welcome to Glursem's capital city." A tall, burly, and scarred man greeted us at the wooden gates. "The name's Nick Virtue, son of Vicker Virtue. And current leader of the fiefdom."

"My name is Xenia, and this is Taiyo, the Hero summoned to our lands." She responded, introducing me at the same time.

Giving me a quick once-over, the former mercenary quickly switched gears and got right down to business.

"Its a pleasure." He started. "Now.. I heard you decimated Viret on your way here." He pressured with an easygoing smile.

"Yes, that would be correct. What of it ?" Responded Xenia, lifting her arm when she sensed I was about to object.

What is she saying ? After she went out of her way to order against stealing and destroying the villagers' properties. Does she intend to upset this guy ?
The meaning of her manoeuvre lost on me, I elected to remain quiet as instructed, hoping to receive an explanation later on.

"Just making sure. Our scout was so overwhelmed by his emotions when he gave his report that I thought I would confirm his version of the facts with the perpetrators directly, that's all."

After a short silence, Xenia changed the subject. "A scout of our own reported back that you had declared your intent to try and see if we could settle this dispute with a discussion. How about that?"

Snickering, Nick Virtue motioned for one his grunts to bring back something. 
"When you say scout, you mean scouts, am I wrong ?"
As he said that, his men came back with a group of people tied in ropes and bandages. Half naked.

For a moment I felt my vision go red. They were the party members of Seri. But upon closer inspection I remarked that none of them seemed to have received any sort of external injury. For now at least. Although, as I started reaching for my sword, Xenia put her hands over mine meaning to pacify me. What more do you need ? I seethed under my breath.

"They are not part of our army or were hired to act as if, to my knowledge at least." She responded, feigning composure, and placating me all the while.

"I see, then we'll have to continue the interrogations later I guess." He conceeded, gesturing for his men to take the hostages away. 
"Anyway, let's not stand here all day long, come on in. I've prepared a banquet in reception room back at the palace after all."

Following his lead as we remained tightly packed together, we wearily walked along.

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"I take it the details of our contract with your king has finally come to light." He stated.

The banquet proceeding smoothly, Nick decided it was time to move on to the negotiations.

"That's right, and needless to say that it is our dissatisfaction that brought us all the way here." Responded Xenia, now sounding a lot more threatening.
"What do you use such an elaborated scheme for exactly ? Surely there wasn't any need to go this far to settle on an interesting compromise for both parties." 

Leaning back on his seat, Nick took a bite off the sausage he had skewered with his fork and, after taking his time to chew and swallow it, he answered.

"You might be right, yeah.. but in this manner we are able regulate the population of our nations. With all the benefits that comes with it." He admitted. "Which is way more efficient than raising taxes incessantly to get rid of the surplus and those who like to conceive too many children at once."

"Xenia, I think I'm gonna lose it." I murmured to her, ready to jump to my feet at any moment.

"What about extanding the boudaries of your city and building villages ?" She questioned, her temple twitching.

"Too much of a hassle. Especially in this region where monsters run rampant." He delievered without hesitation. "And we don't want more mouths to feed either to be quite frank. We are already barely managing to keep our people's ire at bay as it is."

Considering the state Viret was in, with its muddy and unkempt ground and its houses made of simple wood, probably oak, it was no wonder the people were dissatisfied.

And here they are living in luxury and overabundance inside their over-elevated palace made of marble and something akin to cement.
As I eyed the man with contempt, he noticed my look and gave me a playful wink in return.
Oh, I'm not gonna leave until I've had your head brother. I swore to myself.

"I see." Xenia finally said. "Then there is no need to play pretend with these negotiations anymore
I would imagine." She concluded with a sigh, as she got up from her seat.

"Are you sure ?" Taunted Nick. 

Eyeing him suspiciously, Xenia suddenly crouched at the sound of a small explosion. No way !
I thought with a start. So they did discover gunpowder after all ! 

This went beyond the scope of a worst case scenario. They had guns. Or rather what looked more like musketeers of sort. Which amounted to the same threat anyway, considering we were only armed with swords and shield.

"Get them !" Shouted Nick, as he dove under the table and fled towards his allies.

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Rather than negotiations, the discussion with the leader or Glursem had felt more like hearing the confessions of a terrorist publicly sharing the worst atrocities he had ever conducted, knowing full well the authorities would never be able to put him down. And now, the reception hall had turned into a slug fest involving firearms. So more like a one-sided massacre really.

"Taiyo get down !" Xenia screamed at me as I beheaded one of the mercenaries.

"Thanks !" 

Thankfully, their weapons were not optimized. It seemed they needed to cool down for a while after two consecutive uses. Leaving some time for the most experienced warriors on our side to rush the marksmen and cut them down.
That being said, some of them were even stationed in small balconies that were part of the floor one level above us, which forced us to look in literally all directions while we fought.

Mowing my way through the throngs of mercenaries and armored soldiers with the help of my trump card, the weapon enhancing chant, I tried to reach Nick who was deftly moving around the battlefield aiming at finishing off any soldier that paid too much attention to the one opponent standing before them.
This bastard looks like he belongs in a museum but he's actually freaking quick on his feet, what's up with him ? After looking over my target intently, I realized the seasoned mercenary was actually employing a wind spell to propel himself forward. And on top of that..

Got him ! 

"Oh hi ! Hey that's a dangerous weapon you got there son." Blocking my backstab with only one of his twin blades, Nick taunted me.
"What, did you think you were the only one able to use weapon enhancement magic ?"

He had indeed pulled off his own form of weapon enhancement. His blades were black and they easily brushed off the heat from my own magic. What's this element, is it dark ? I worried.

Probably catching on to my bewilderment, Nick answered my unspoken inquiry.
"It's an earth spell." He revealed. "I pictured the surface of a volcano and manifested a coating of its making for my blades in order to absorb the heat. Neat huh ?" He added with a prideful laugh.

As we crossed blades, I quickly realised I was one step behind. The man before me boasted of decades of experience in killing people after all. So I wondered, what could I do ?

"Freeze !" 

I tried to use the dark spell murmur the one working by emplifying the power of suggestion emanating from my words, however...

"Gah !" 

"Oof !"

I quickly realised my mistake.

"Nice try. Although I feel like this was more detrimental to your allies than your enemies." Hahaha, he mocked.

"Don't use this spell again Taiyo !" Barked Xenia.

Shit, I'm so stupid ! This spell had an area of effect. Every single person in a ten meter diameter around me would be affected by its usage. Which meant that I ended up disturbing my soldiers' senses as much as I did to the enemies.

Now what ? Blind will never work on this guy, and fireball or any same kind of basic magic will surely result in the same lack of effectiveness !
I was at a loss for what to do. The guy before me had simply too much experience and way better judgement than me. My only saving grace is that the shooters will not target me as long as I'm exchanging blows with their leader. Which also meant however, that I couldn't even hope to try and have a stray bullet fly in his direction. Wait–

Having found an idea, I started moving sideways in order to lead him to mimic my movements.
Come on, get in their shooting range with me.. But he didn't move. Worse, he shrugged and sprinted the other way, slashing at one of our soldiers and completely ignoring me.
What exactly did I expect would happen ?!  I cursed myself.
Stuck in my imagination, I'd thought he would conveniently follow my every movement as if I had managed to aggro him, as in, like I'd do with a simple NPC in a game. 

Recovering from a moment of self-loathing, I started rushing after him again to keep him occupied. When suddenly the doors to the venue bursted open.

"Heh, looks like the festivities have already started." It was Richard, along with his men.

"Richard !" I called at the top of my lungs. "This guys is their leader, please take over for me!"

"Oh Taiyo ! Good job holding out, you can leave him to me!" He roared with confidence.

Great, now I should be able to focus on dealing with the gun users.

Leaving the biggest fish to our strongest warrior, I reactivated my weapon enhancement, albeit with a more subdued intensity so as not to risk reaching a mana depleted state, as I dashed towards the nearest enemy.

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"You can't keep on tanking their bullets Richard, they'll penetrate the skin easily if they burst through your armor !" I barked to the man in question.

"Oh so that's why I feel tickles in my legs huh." 

Looking down at his legs upon hearing the delirious statement, I took count of the damage he had suffered. How does he even manages to keep standing up ?! 
The platings and protections formerly covering his calves were missing entirely, and bullets were embedded into his skin making him bleed profusely.

"Switch with me, I'll handle him until Xenia can give me a hand !" I suggested.

"Nah I'm fine. More importantly, you go actually, and help that girl instead."

Searching Xenia among the crowd, I ultimately found her. She was breathing heavily and swinging her large two handed sword around, careful not to hit one of her comrades despite the chaos.

What was most worrying however, was that her opponents had recognized her intent and were deliberatly moving in a way that often forced her to cancel one of her swings before she flattened one of her allies. Leaving openings her opponents exploited by slashing at her torso and arms.

Dammit, I guess I have no choice. Convinced by the sight, I retreated from Richard's side to go lend a hand to my master.

"Hang in there Richard !" I screamed reluctantly.

"Gahahaha" Came his trademark laughter in place of an answer.


At least three or four hours had passed since the beginning of the fighting. And while it seemed we had the upper hand thanks to our equipment, mainly our soldier's armors, more and more of the enemies kept on breaking into the venue from who-knows-where.
That being said, it seemed that at some point Richard had managed to land a critical blow to Nick, as the latter was starting to evade his strikes rather than fighting back. And soon enough...

"Retreat !" The mercenary leader ordered. Leaving us bewildered as to how he planned to make his escape. 

But after he barked his order, he and all of his men put on thick glasses, the likes you would have found aviators wearing back in the day, as the people on the balcony threw large straw bags over the fences.

With a dull yet loud thump, the bags released a thick black powder, forming quite literally a smokescreen, allowing some of their men to deal a heavy blow to our units before running away.

Fuck we can't let them get away now. I panicked in between coughs, but the next moment, I heard a bang and fell over. Aargh, what the– Despite the thick mist, It seemed they had managed to shoot me in the leg during their escape.

"T-that voice, don't tell me.. sir Hero ?" A frightened voice called.

Ahh even better, looks like one of our allies tried to shoot blindly with an unfamiliar weapon in the direction he heard the most noise and hit me on accident...

"I'm fine, more importantly.. drop this weapon and try to open all the doors you can find, it'll help dissipate the smoke.." I managed to convey, trying to bear the pain.

"R-right aw– !"

Before he could finish however, we suddenly heard an earth-shaking growl and a huge crash coming from a few rooms ahead.

It came from the direction they used to flee. I immediately recognized.

"Somebody carry me, we gotta give chase right away !" They might have suffered injuries with that loud crash, this might be our chance to catch them. I thought

Grabbing me by the waist and holding me between his arms on the side of his chest, Richard carried me and started running without a word. This guy is not human...

                                                                      _____________

Arriving at the scene not too long after we heard the tremendous impact, we found ourselves face to face with.. a dragon.

What is going on here...?  The one reason that kept us from running away as fast as we could upon witnessing the two stories tall creature, was that we recognized the person riding on its back.

"Oh sir Hero, and Richard too. Good to see you well." The rider delivered, his face expressionless yet with an intense look in his eyes.

"T-Tokesa ?" Finally coming to terms with what I was seeing, I managed to utter his name.

"Sorry for being late, there was quite the commotion back at the castle after you guys departed, you see. So I was too busy to be able to come lend a hand right away." He apologised. "By the way, is that the actual Nick Virtue ?" He asked, motioning to the man his dragon was presently holding under his claw.

"Y-yeah.." Was the only thing I managed to respond.

"Good, then I guess it should be over now. Right ?" He asked the remaining mercenaries. Who nodded readily, dropping their weapons and falling onto their backsides.

"Then I'll handle the clean-up with my units, they are on their way, you guys can regroup and prepare to return to Ispron. Nika and Seri must be worried sick by now."

Now able to leave the rest to our supreme commander, we obediently left without a word. Richard still carrying me around like a rolled-up blanket or something.

My mind too preoccupied with organizing the sheer quantity of information it had had to absorb in a single day, I completely forgot about the pain from the bullet that had lodged itself in my calf. 
Oh wait, we need to rescue Seri's companions.
Relaying the though that just came back to me to Xenia and Richard, we took a little detour before definitively leaving Glursem's territory. Walking menacingly down the street on our way out to avoid any more complication.