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Three days later

Shooting Range: BANG

Kiel: This is such bullshit.

Kiel: Having Crown Wardens constantly survey Warui when he already can’t train.

Kiel: I thought Commander Dirk made better decisions than that.

Sarah: He does command the Wardens.

Khyrie: He was always reasonable though.

River: You guys are just frustrated.

Chena: Fires her flintlock long rifle.

River: Chena, you’re pulling down on the trigger too hard.

Chena: [Flatly]. It was on accident.

Sarah: Hey, watch it. I had to pay Malia big time for that one.

Sarah: Squeezing it harder doesn’t improve accuracy either.

Chena: [Flatly]. I hit the center.

River: The children we checked in Avelorn were from here.

River: That puts the report under their jurisdiction.

Khyrie: We should’ve expected it.

River: What?

River: You knew before the operation?

Kiel: We’ve read the campaign reports.

Kiel: Tirian people have been slipping through Fort Avelorn since before we were here.

River: Do you think the commander knew that?

Khyrie: It’s not secret information.

River: Well, yeah…

River: But it’s not information that was made explicit either.

River: …Did the reports ever state why those people fled from Tiria?

Khyrie: They only ever mentioned personal reasons.

River: Really?

River: But that was over a hundred children.

Sarah: Then a hundred mothers had their own problems.

Kiel: Just shoot the last shot.

Sarah: Glances ahead of her quickly and fires her long rifle while holding it against her right hip with one hand as the bullet hits the center of the target and she looks back at the group.

Sarah: Look, on the bright side, Warui wasn’t taken away somewhere.

Chena: [Dry]. And the experiments are done.

Kiel: Chena, they weren’t that bad.

Chena: [Dry]. That doesn’t matter to me.

Kiel: Sarah won already.

Kiel: Let’s head to the memorial before we’re late.

Sarah: You’re getting closer, Chena.

Chena: Mm.

Twenty-five minutes pass

Warui: He walks with Commander Mercer.

Warui: Commander, I know they said your proposal was provisional, but this is taking things way too far, don’t you think?

Warui: He looks around at the roughly sixty Crown Wardens scattered throughout the area.

Commander Mercer: This is your first memorial, isn’t it, Warui?

Warui: Oh- uh… yeah.

Commander Mercer: Wardens maintain security even for Army memorial ceremonies.

Commander Mercer: The Wardens present aren’t just the ones supervising you.

Commander Mercer: However, they do make up a large portion of them.

Commander Mercer: I'm with you there.

Commander Mercer: I’m not quite sure how Dirk reviewed our talk with the Wardens and came to this conclusion.

Commander Mercer: At least there’s no need for us to bear arms as we honor our fallen comrades.

Warui: He holds his right forearm.

Memorial Site: Warui and Commander Mercer reach the site.

Crown Warden One: Raise your arms.

Crown Warden Two: The commander is fine.

Crown Warden One: What about the kid? He's a walking weapon.

Crown Warden Two: You're free to pass Commander Mercer.

Crown Warden Two: We won't check you for weapons.

Commander Mercer: We appreciate that.

Commander Mercer and Warui: Enter the memorial site.

Commander Mercer: Watches Warui's facial expression.

Commander Mercer: Join your peers.

Commander Mercer: Pay no mind to that warden's comment.

Warui: [Low]. I'll try.

Warui: He looks across the faces of crying families and distraught soldiers.

Warui: He reaches Chena and River.

Warui: [Low]. Hey.

River: Hey.

Chena: She nods while carefully watching Warui’s face.

Sarah: Warui’s here.

Khyrie: She looks across the crowd with Kiel and sees Warui.

Kiel: He looks across the crowd and sees Warui.

Sarah: We should go over there.

Khyrie: It’s going-

Khyrie: She sneezes and sniffles.

Khyrie: It’s going to start soon, Sarah.

Khyrie: Just stay put.

Kiel: He clears his throat.

Commander Mercer: He stands at the front of the crowd.

Memorial Crowd: Everyone turns their attention toward him.

Commander Mercer: Tomorrow, when we call their names, no one will answer.

Commander Mercer: And I don’t know how to make that hurt any less.

Commander Mercer: I could tell you they died as heroes.

Commander Mercer: But we knew them as our friends.

Commander Mercer: Tomorrow, we will have work to do.

Commander Mercer: People to protect.

Commander Mercer: Wounded friends who need someone beside them.

Commander Mercer: That is how we’ll honor them.

Commander Mercer: He pauses for a moment as he finds words.

Memorial Crowd: A sneeze is heard.

River: His attention shifts slightly.

River: He turns his head and sees Khyrie covering her nose with her sleeve.

Khyrie: She lightly waves at River.

River: He waves back with a light, restrained smile.

River: He catches two men lifting their arms in the corner of his eye and redirects his eyes to them.

Two Men: Small, clear dagger-like objects emerge from their wrists and into their hands.

Memorial Crowd: A few women scream as people scramble away from the two men.

Two Men: They throw the dagger-like objects.

River: He runs, bumps into Chena, and tackles Warui.

Warui: He falls to the ground with River and avoids the projectiles as Warui looks in the direction of the men.

Two Men: Throw two more dagger-like objects.

Warui: He puts his hand out instinctively and shuts his eyes.

Dark Red Object: Suddenly appears in Warui's hand and he closes his grip on the handle-like end as the dagger-like objects deflect off the end that resembles a blade and land on the ground.

Two Men: They turn and begin running away.

Zay: He starts moving after them.

Commander Mercer: Zay, they’re too far.

Zay: He stops.

Commander Mercer: The Wardens will pursue.

Malia: Commander, the- the weapon.

Chena: She crouches over Warui and River and stares at the weapon.

Chena: St- stay... stay down.

Warui: What the hell happened?

Warui: Looks at the dark red object and widens his eyes in shock.

River: There were two men that threw weapons at you.

Warui: Wha- what?

Sarah, Khyrie, and Kiel: Run over and shield Warui and River with their bodies as Khyrie and Kiel gaze at the weapon.

Sarah: Warui, you- you did the sword thing

River: He moves around, gets up, and looks at where the dagger-like objects landed.

Ground: The dagger-like objects are gone. A small puddle of clear liquid remains where they landed.

River: [Under his breath]. H- how are they gone?

River: He stares at the puddle as it evaporates rapidly.

River: Commander!

Four hours later

Commander Dirk’s Office Door: Bursts open.

Commander Mercer: He barges into Commander Dirk’s office.

Commander Mercer: Dirk, did your men catch them?

Commander Dirk: He stares Mercer in the eye for a moment.

Commander Dirk: They didn’t.

Commander Mercer: How could the Crown Warden let assassins through any of the checkpoints here in Tiria?

Commander Dirk: I don’t know how those assassins entered the country.

Commander Mercer: Over sixty percent of your force is stationed in Valeria City just to keep your eyes on one soldier that the Army already accompanies every day.

Commander Mercer: It doesn’t surprise me at all.

Commander Mercer: Seria City was likely their point of entry.

Commander Dirk: Supervising Warui wasn’t entirely my decision.

Commander Mercer: I did have reason to believe you were ordered.

Commander Mercer: That doesn’t change the fact that you followed through on it.

Commander Dirk: The government officials requested it.

Commander Dirk: I wasn’t ordered.

Commander Dirk: But it made sense to me at the time.

Commander Dirk: Now the government is asking me to move him to the capital.

Commander Dirk: The Army isn’t allowed to accompany him.

Commander Mercer: The government? What’s their reason?

Commander Dirk: The assassination attempt during the memorial means he must be under much heavier protection.

Commander Dirk: He was also able to manifest the weapon for the first time since Fort Avelorn and managed to wield it.

Commander Mercer: There’s no way in hell I’m cooperating with that.

Commander Dirk: Your soldier’s life is at risk as we speak.

Commander Mercer: Do you agree with the order?

Commander Dirk: I-

Commander Dirk: I do.

Commander Dirk: Protecting him is in our branch’s best interest.

Commander Dirk: Having him out and about puts civilians at risk.

Commander Dirk: But I just can’t help but think.

Commander Dirk: Why was I asked to have Wardens supervise him before the attack?

Commander Mercer: He stands.

Commander Mercer: Then I’ll have a word with the officials.

Commander Dirk: Mercer, you can’t be serious.

Commander Dirk: What would you even say?

Commander Mercer: Whatever comes to mind when I’m there.

Commander Mercer: He walks out of the office.

Commander Dirk: He chases after Mercer.

Commander Dirk: Wait.

Commander Dirk: He falls into step beside Mercer.

Commander Dirk: I’ll arrange a carriage.

Commander Mercer: Nods.