The Fighting Temeraire

Our carriage gleamed in the dual-colored sunlight. Hues of blue and yellow traded places like a kaleidoscope as we bumped and trotted our way down the suburbs of Gallai.

It wasn’t a particularly interesting carriage. Large logos were plastered on either side of the white canvas blocking the suns. The floor clattered with every bump; suspension systems weren't a thing yet, apparently. Other than the giant barrel of water attached to the seat, it was no different than a carriage back on earth.

Here, the only resemblance to the city were the green tinted metal pipes running from house to house. Some ran through flowerpots, others soared high in the sky.

People casually watched as our carriage passed by. Children pointed to the giant Unit E logo plastered on the white canvas while the adults waved us by. It gave me flashbacks to biking down rural Japan with Lilly. The same breeze, familiar cheers. If not for the blue sun blazing down on my skin, I would barely be able to tell the difference.

Though I couldn’t look away from how skinny the children looked, or the slightly hollow cheeks of half the people. “What kind of area is this, Aila?”

“Around here?” Aila looked back from the end of the carriage, where she had leaned out, yellow ears perked up as she waved to the kids. “Just the average side street,” She took another look towards the people, “Well—in times past.”

“I see,” I let my voice trail off.

I’d associated river water to electricity, but being here for a few days made me change my perspective a bit. It wasn’t electricity, but their oil.

Bellon sat at the reins while Aila and I stayed all the way back. The entire trip the man hadn’t said a word, not bothering to even look at us. His armor shone like a giant diamond whenever one of the suns hit it in the right way. Yet if there was any sign that the hot summer's day bothered him in that getup, he didn’t show it.

“Screw it,” I tossed aside my cloak, letting my arms free and my plain gray shirt out. Bellon may suffer in his armor, I was under no pretense to do the same thing. “I’m assuming Unit E isn’t too big on uniforms?”

“Don’t let Richard see you,” Aila grinned, taking off her cloak. “It’s the hottest day of the year; this girl isn't getting burned alive in uniform. Bellon?”

We both turned to the man, who ignored our calls.

“Sounds like approval to me,” I said. “Is there any magic that cools the air?

“To the gods I wish there was,” Aila leaned back out the back of the carriage, letting the wind blow through her blonde hair.

I leaned out beside her. Wind trained the carriage's path, letting a somewhat cool breeze flow behind the bumbling cart. Compared to the rampant humidity of Tokyo this might as well have been a cold winter day.

There was a tranquility to the scene. After getting thrown into this world, joining Unit E, getting yelled at by Urial, this was my first real chance to just relax.

Not that I could stay here forever. I needed to stay on guard, on the hunt for any sigh of Lilly I could find. My patience could only last so long.

“Carriage man!” My trance was broken as a group of children ran up to the cart, trying their best on their little legs to keep up. “Where are you going?”

“Us?” Ballon let out a small laugh. “We’re going to the east to take care of some small weak bandits. As long as the knights of Gallai are here you have nothing to worry about!”

“Bellon?” It took me a second to realize he spoke. “You can talk?”

“Who gave you permission to address me? No rescorge with a dirty crest will address me like that!” He snapped, staring daggers at my shoulder.

I quickly covered up my Senn, taking a few steps back. “So you’re one of those people then?”

My face may have stayed steady, but internally, it took everything I had to recover from the shock. Aila mentioned these kinds of people existed. I assumed they wouldn’t ever bother me, much less be driving the very carriage I was currently riding in.

Seeing discrimination on the TV was one thing, actually feeling it in real life was a wholely different experience. It didn't feel great.

“Rescorge!” The children scattered like sheep at the word, their parents backing away in horror from our carriage.

“This what you meant earlier, Aila?” I shrank back in the carriage out of the civilian's view. “I thought you meant like minor disagreements.”

Maybe I was blind. Maybe it was my bias from Japan, but part of my brain hadn’t comprehended the growing mass of villagers shouting at our carriage. I could handle some shouting and mean comments, who cared, but the fact it took a whole three days to run into was what made it so jarring to me.

Those light novels at the bookstore weren't very far off.

“Better get used to it; at least you can hide that thing and avoid most of the trouble.”

“Yeah,” I noticed Aila unconsciously wrap her tail around her legs. Maybe Gallai’s problems ran far deeper than I had initially assumed. “Nice going, Bellon! Feel strong now? Feel big and tough behind that armor?”

I had expected the man to charge at us on the spot, but shockingly, he just turned back and gave the horses a nudge. “Richard sent me to analyze your dirty Sen,n and I intend to do just that. Don’t push me.”

“Push you? You’re the one who started this,” I scowled. What I would have given to sock the man in the jaw. I knew his type, they just knew how to talk, the kind of man who would start a fight then immediately scurry off once the action heated up. If it were just me, I wouldn’t have given it a thought.

But Aila, eyes pointed toward the ground with any sign of her normal demeanor gone, convinced me otherwise. Clearly, this was shocking for her too.

“Fine.” I leaned back against the wooden walls, glancing outside. Any sign of the lively streets had long since hidden indoors. “Aila, did you get a chance to look at those papers?”

“Huh y-yeah,” she said, clearly happy to have any excuse to change the topic. “Scouting reports say the bandits haven't progressed very far, though the reason is unknown. Every village ransacked was taken down in just a few hours. The strange part comes from the fleeing survivors. Apparently, they’ve barely killed anyone.”

“I’m assuming bandits here don’t exactly have much sanctity for human life?”

“Sanctity?” Aila tilted her head, confused.

“They don’t value human life.”

“Bandits seem to love it, though recently most of our arrests haven’t consisted of those kinds of bandits, not outside of the west.”

“Hence why this is so strange,” I said, glancing down at the reports again. “I may not have my Senn figured out, but if it’s just this, you don’t need to worry about me.”

If anything, I was itching for a flight. Forget feeling bad for me. It was the bandits who should have been running from the approaching disaster that awaited them.