Preparing for a Direct Confrontation

“Woohoo!” Entrophys whipped out a party popper and fired away, releasing colorful confetti and making it rain. “Congratulations on passing the preliminary exam! Well? How does it feel taking your first big step?”

“I feel like shit,” I mumbled.

“That’s great to hear, buddy! So proud of you!”

I twitched a brow.

“Hehe, I like that look on your face. You’re just full of questions, aren’t you? Alright, I’ll make it fair and answer yours too! Ask away!”

“Since when did you figure it out?” I promptly asked.

“Wowee, straight to business, I see. Hehe, I figured it out ever since her patients started acting funny after getting her treatment. That’s why I got her arrested in the first place.”

I gripped my fists. “So that charge of ‘abuse of divinity’ you said that night…”

“Yep! She abused her divinity by cursing the lower class!”

I clutched my head. “This is unbelievable… So then, does Lora know what she’s doing?”

“Hmm, would you believe me if I said no? Not that I’m certain about it, honestly.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I’m just assuming based on observations. If you want a real answer, you’re better off asking her herself.”

“Fine. Another thing, weren’t we both healed by her? Why didn’t we get cursed?”

“Yeah, I don’t know about your case, but it definitely didn’t work on me because I’m just that cool and strong, hehe. I’ve earned my position as a demon general for a reason, y’know.”

“Since you keep phasing through all my attempts to embrace you, all my plans for you are now in tatters.”

Did this mean Florathea couldn’t curse me because of my glitches? Even my own soul could phase through spells, like how my body could phase through objects? Should I be relieved that it saved my life or be worried about its implications?

As much as I wanted to delve deeply into these thoughts, now wasn’t the right time, so I tabled them for later.

“Why did it hurt like hell when Lora tried to heal me?” I asked. “Was that your doing?”

“Nope, it wasn’t me, I swear! I’m pretty sure that’s just a you problem.”

I scowled.

“Hahahaha! Oh, your face is hilarious!”

Entrophys didn’t seem to lie, but if even he didn’t know, then I’d have to find those answers elsewhere. I moved on and said, “Whatever. Why’d you go so far as to pretend you’re a victim?”

“I dunno, I just felt like scaring you kids a little, hehe.”

“What about the stabber? Was she fake?”

“Oh, no, she’s real, and she definitely stabbed that homeless guy, but don’t worry, both of them are now behind bars, hehe.”

“Right…” I thought about asking why he’d bother to waste time coming up with this ridiculous pre-exam instead of explaining everything, but this was Entrophys. This was his style of playing with me.

I’d rather not spend any more unnecessary time alone with him, so I decided to wrap things up and asked, “Then, what are you going to do with Lora?”

“What do you think? We’re very close to the full moon now, and we just happened to catch our primary suspect, who could very well be responsible for those visions of yours and has the strongest ties to the goddess.”

“You’re not going to execute her, are you?!”

“Goodness heavens, no! We’re not monsters! Not as long as we’re in this city at least!”

“Then what are you planning?”

“We’re following the law and commence a trial on her, duh!”

“L-Lora will be tried? When? Where?”

“In about two days, right before the full moon at Grovendale’s Hall of Justice. She’ll be tried for treason. It’s going to be a crazy one, hehe.”

Wymond did mention that those were her charges, but… “I… don’t believe she’s doing this intentionally,” I muttered. “I refuse to accept that someone so kind would tear down Grovendale!”

“Is that a statement of legal representation?” asked Entrophys, tilting his head. “If you’re going to defend her, you'd better have plenty of evidence to back up those words.”

“I’ll do it if I have to! I am not turning my back on anyone ever again!”

“Oh, such noble words!” said Entrophys, clapping his claws. “How touching! It sounds so cool that I am now overwhelmed with the urge to sabotage your efforts.”

I scrunched my face. “You’re not actually serious, are you?”

“Hehe, normally, I’d be laughing my ass off if you were just some random loser, but you’ve clearly proven yourself to be remarkable. I just can’t help but challenge you as a sign of respect!” He shrugged. “But sadly, yes, I’m not actually serious this time.”

“Eh? What? Really?”

He pulled out a sealed envelope and tossed it over to me. “It appears Her Majesty acknowledged your accomplishments yesterday, so she’ll allow you and your buddies to join us at the trial tomorrow.”

I caught the envelope and inspected its fancy design. “Is Lora’s trial not open to the public?”

“Nope! We’re only allowing a select few to attend it! Lucky you, huh? You don’t have to join if you don’t want to, of course.”

With no more questions left, I turned around and walked away. “We’ll be there.”

“Hehe, I knew you’d say that.” He waved farewell before his body exploded into confetti. “See you at the trial, Harvie! Kyahaha!”

Echoes of his laughter lingered in the alleyways and in my mind as I trudged back to the base, my shoulders slumped and my gaze downcast throughout the whole trip.

⮽⮽⮽

The following day, Sloane, Dahlian, and I spent the whole morning sharing our discoveries, including the contents of the queen’s letter, with Ashrenne, who also explained her side of the story.

Just like we’d heard from Wymond, the ambassadors had been closely monitoring the sigils during our time at the rift instance. It was then Entrophys confirmed that Lora’s free healing treatments had been corrupting innocent people, thus leading to her arrest warrant.

Ever since the arrest warrant, the queen started shifting her focus from protecting the sigils to further investigating Lora’s background under the suspicion that she might be directly involved with Florathea’s revival, and with the newfound hope of actually preventing her revival on the horizon, her priorities on the ritual started wavering.

It wasn’t until her meeting with Ashrenne that she finally decided to postpone the ritual, not only to redirect her full efforts on stopping the goddess, but to respect her old friend’s requests. Not to mention, thanks to my warnings, she’d already considered coming up with a different plan in case the rituals were somehow messed up again anyway, which she shared with Ashrenne and in her letter for us.

The news of her cancelling the ritual swept over me like an ocean wave, powerful but warm and thrilling.

To think, in this reality of mine, the queen actually decided to stop the ritual. I almost jumped with joy until I remembered our new predicament with Lora. “So we’ve managed to solve one issue, only to dig up another,” I mumbled.

“I swear, with each passing day, we learn something crazier than the last,” Ashrenne muttered, rubbing her temple. “Do you think this could be the truth behind Grovendale’s downfall in your visions, Haruma?”

I looked down at the queen’s letter resting on the table and balled my fists. “I hate to say this, but this explains all of the unanswered questions from my visions. I think… this is really it. The truth of it all.”

“Damn…” Dahlian ruffled his hair. “So what do we do now? Prepare for the trial?”

“It seems that’s all we can do for now,” said Sloane. “No one else besides us and the queen’s forces will be allowed to attend the trial, and I also believe this is our best course of action.”

“Wow, even you think so? This is a big deal then.”

“As if anyone can relax knowing what’s coming down tomorrow,” Ashrenne muttered, massaging her wrists. “I feel like I need to beat up some dragons to calm myself down.”

“Your comfort hobby is beating up dragons?!” asked Dahlian.

“Yeah,” she casually said, like it was the most normal hobby in the world. “Too bad there aren’t any nearby besides The Velvet Commander’s companion, but pets are off-limits. What a shame.”

I looked down at my hands. “Then, can you help me test out these gloves? I’ve been meaning to try them out ever since I got them.”

“Oh? Do they help control your curse?”

“If I remember correctly, they should be able to, but I’m not too sure. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Hmm…” Ashrenne rubbed her chin. “You know what? Sure, let’s test them then. You two wanna tag along?”

“Of course!” said Dahlian.

Sloane yawned and nodded.

And thus, we all left the base together, hoping to ease our anxieties for tomorrow.