The Truth

The hairs on the back of Yusato’s neck stood up. Suddenly the lava room felt a heck of a lot colder. “King Aster is planning to exterminate the Sirhix?”

Azalea nodded. “Yes. He’s been planning this for a while now.”

Saria gasped and held onto her neck. “What do we do?”

Looking across the room, Azalea squinted. “We need to get to the ninth floor first. I’ll explain everything once we’re in the city.”

Mira wiped her tears away and cleared her throat. “But what do we have to go do get past this floor? Does anyone know?”

“Raidos said the scent lava was getting thinner in that direction.” Yusato pointed in the direction that Raidos had been walking previously.

“What do we do about this one?” Leo asked, staring down at Tomoki with a studious look.

“I’ll take care of him,” Mahina said. She draped Tomoki’s arm over her shoulders and smiled wryly. “He is my big brother after all.” She frowned at the patches on his skin and fixed his collar. “See ya.”

As Mahina started walking off, Azumi stared at them, her first hanging neatly below her chin. “You going with them?” Azalea asked her.

Azumi just shook her head however. “I’d rather not.”

“Well, if you’re going to stay with us, don’t forget that we’re still watching you.” Saria pointed two fingers at his eyes and then pointed them at Azumi’s face to accentuate her point.

“Anyway,” Azalea said. “Let’s get out of here. Yusato lead the way.”

“Right,” Yusato said with a nod. He took the lead and led everyone to the end of the path. Soon enough they reached another rock pillar with a door in the center.

A Sirhix extermination. Yusato couldn’t stop thinking about what Azalea had said. King Aster was planning to kill all the Sirhix. That would definitely include Saria. He had to make sure to protect her. Though of course, that meant he’d have to go against the kingdom itself, didn’t it?

And to think, he started off as one of the Four Heroes. It was all painfully ironic.

Yusato opened the door and the group set foot in the city of the ninth floor. Lamps and street lights lit up the city along with floating lanterns. Squirrels ran amok, chewing and nibbling on acorns. Roses, lilies, and sunflowers bloomed in the nearby gardens.

The warm sun shone brightly overhead the city. Yusato noticed there was far less people in this city than the other two. Most of them seemed to wear fancy expensive clothes and looked to be upper-class. Probably the kingdom’s nobles.

The rest of the people in the city were adventurers stopping to take a break. Though some of them were mingling with the nobles.

“Here we are.” Azalea kept her eyes focused on the ground. “Glorida City.”

“Azalea?” Mira peeked up at her through her bangs. “Is everything okay?”

“Let’s go find an inn.” Azalea walked off without answering Mira’s question.

The group rented out a room and all gathered in it to hear what Azalea had to say about the Sirhix extermination.

“Alright, listen up.” Azalea leaned against the room’s desk, rattling the lamp sitting atop it. “King Aster has had this plan in the works for a while now. He wants to purge not just the Sirhix, but anyone at risk of turning into one.”

She ran her hand over her wrist as she closed her eyes. “That means not just Saria. But Mira and Leo as well. Even people with less magic than that aren’t safe. He doesn’t want anyone with more magic than him to live.”

Leo folded his arms and nodded along. “I always suspected as much. Ever since he banished me to the slums.”

“Why?” Yusato asked, his fingernails digging into his pants. “Why does King Aster want to do that?”

“He truly despises the Sirhix. And it’s true that having too much magic pollutes our mana stream.” Azalea’s eyelashes fluttered as she opened her eyes. “And he thinks the only way to stop it…is to kill them all.”

Azalea pushed herself off the desk and stood up straight. She held the pendant around in her neck in between her fingers and sighed. “He’s been building up the necessary power to do so. And he intends start here, on the ninth floor. A lot of Sirhix hide on the outskirts of this city. But he’ll continue on to other places after that.”

“I’m sure you’re all wondering how I know all this.” Everyone nodded in response to that. “The reason is because I’m King Aster’s daughter, Princess Amelia.”

The room was silent for several seconds as everyone gathered their thoughts. “You’re the princess who went missing?” Saria asked.

“Exactly.” Azalea let her pendant fall from her fingers back down onto her neck. She crossed her arms and stared up at the ceiling. “I left my home after I learned about my father’s plan and joined the Black Moon. I told them how I wanted to stop the corruption in the kingdom and they said they could help me.”

She lowered her head. “I only realize now how foolish I was. They took jobs from anyone and only told me what I wanted to hear. But that was why I worked for them. Nix knew my identity, but made me keep it a secret. And so, I took on the name Azalea.”

“I was bound by their code of secrecy, so I couldn’t tell all of you this before.” She fiddled with the hood of her cloak as she went on. “But that’s over now. The Black Moon is gone. And even if it wasn’t, I no longer have any interest in being a member. Right now…all I care about is stopping my father’s plans. And saving the Sirhix.”

Tapping his fingers against his knees, Yusato smiled. “Wow, Azalea. I have to admit.” He stood up from the bed and winked at her. “You’re a much better person than I thought.”

She crossed her arms and huffed. “Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?”

Yusato chuckled at her. “Take it however you want.”

Leo leaned against the wall and nodded. “Well, it’s clear then. We’ll have to prepare for the worst. And oppose King Aster.” A small smile framed his face. “I’ve been waiting for this day.”

“Do we know when they’re going to attack?”

“From what I’ve heard. It should be sometime tonight,” Azalea said.

The floor of the inn shook. And then, a loud thunderous boom could be heard from outside. Everyone gasped and screamed as Azalea ran to the window. “I was wrong. They’ve already started!”