Chapter 9: The Missing Piece

Chapter 9:
The Missing Piece

 

AFTER THE INITIAL LESSON, Eterna lectured Flum on magic use for a few hours more. By the time she left, the sun was hanging low in the sky, illuminating the hallway with a deep orange glow. Flum took another brief trip out of the house to look for Sara but once again came back empty-handed. It was getting dark by the time she came home for dinner.

She left again once dinner was finished, in spite of Eterna’s warnings. She couldn’t keep sitting around the house doing nothing.

This trip, too, proved fruitless, and Flum returned home to find everyone asleep except Milkit. As had become tradition, Milkit met her master with a bright smile right at the entryway. Flum felt bad for not being able to give her the attention she deserved, but her heart was in turmoil at this point over her lack of leads on Sara.

She took a quick bath and headed upstairs, only to notice Ink sticking her head out of the door to her room. She must have heard Flum’s footsteps. She was wearing a pair of Flum’s old pink pajamas. They suited Ink quite well, even if they hung loosely off her tiny frame.

It always pained Flum to look at her sewn-shut eyes, though through her easy smile and cheerful demeanor, her dismay had worn off greatly since the first time they met.

“’Night, Flum!” Apparently, that was the whole reason she’d popped out.

“Good night, Ink.”

Flum reached out and rubbed the young girl’s head. She’d been doing that with Ink a lot lately; it had kind of become a force of habit. Ink didn’t seem to mind. She smiled brightly at the gesture.

With that done, Ink and Flum both returned to their respective rooms.

Milkit was sitting at the desk in their shared room with a pen in her hand, a serious expression on her face. It looked like she was practicing her reading and writing. She had already changed from her usual maid attire into light green pajamas that matched with a pair Flum owned. Flum inched closer and closer from behind, though the other girl was too focused on her task to take notice.

She leaned in close over Milkit’s shoulder until their faces were right next to each other—still no reaction. Usually Milkit was all smiles around Flum. It was rare to see her looking so serious. Yet her eyes were still as beautiful as ever, and the soft cheeks that peeked out through the bandages…

Flum could no longer resist the urge. She slid her fingers under the bandages to rest against Milkit’s soft cheek.

“Eep!” Milkit let out an adorable cry and hopped up in her chair at the sudden contact, causing Flum to break out into a laugh.

“How ya doing?”

“M-master, please tell me when you come in.”

“I mean, you didn’t even notice me when I got so close. Who could resist the chance to tease you a little bit?”

“Even so…”

Milkit pouted at Flum. Her repertoire of expressions had grown exponentially in the time they’d spent together. Not only that, but thanks to actually being able to eat food meant for people now, her scrawny, unhealthy frame had filled out a lot. Knowing she’d helped grow the girl’s spirit and body through her hard work brought Flum great joy.

She looked over the results of Milkit’s practice session. Bit by bit, Milkit had gained more and more skills, and with them, more possibilities for the future. Flum was immensely proud of her companion and felt each achievement as if it were her own. This was the kind of happiness she’d never experienced back home, even before she was sent off on the great journey. She wanted to share it, to protect it.

She wanted it so badly.

“…Master?” Milkit’s voice drew her back to reality.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just kinda lost in thought for a second there. Anyway, shall we get to it?”

Flum dropped heavily on the bed and waved Milkit over to sit next to her. A moment later they sat shoulder to shoulder.

Flum reached behind Milkit’s head and started to undo the knot holding her bandages together. They came loose with a faint rustle, revealing Milkit’s soft, pale cheeks. This was something of a ritual for them now. Milkit was shy about it at first, but as time went by, they got it down to a well-rehearsed procedure.

Her skin, under the bandages, was nearly unblemished by the sun. It stood in contrast with Flum’s, which was weathered from her years of adventure. While she was jealous on one level, she was secretly excited that she had such a beautiful face all to herself. This was what Milkit wanted, too: for her beauty and innocence to be seen by Flum and Flum alone.

On some level, Flum knew it was unfair. She wanted to open up as many doors to Milkit as possible. On the other hand, Milkit was important enough to her that she could easily brush off such concerns. Night after night, Flum found herself gasping at the sheer beauty exposed to her.

“Is the sight of my face that exciting for you, Master?” Milkit looked down, fidgeting under Flum’s gaze. Flum didn’t hesitate before replying.

“Yep. I look forward to it all day.”

This only embarrassed Milkit all the more. This wasn’t the first time they’d had this exchange, either—though with time, Milkit slowly came to doubt her Master less and less, even if she sometimes still rationalized it away as her Master having a strange fetish with which her face just happened to align. It was difficult for her to admit she was pretty.

“You’re absolutely stunning today, Milkit…as always.” Flum reached out and traced her thumb gently over the slave mark on Milkit’s cheek, as if to put an end to the conversation.

She wanted to take her to a place that even words could never reach. She wanted to build up a sense of love and affection so deeply ingrained in Milkit that it could never be taken away.

Even Milkit’s fear of loss slowly lessened, day by day. The deep-seated belief that she would one day be discarded was being replaced with a sense that things would probably be okay. In time, this feeling would be replaced with a steely conviction.

She will never leave my side or abandon me.

As they went through their nightly ritual, their bond grew stronger and stronger, and Milkit became ever more confident in their relationship. Once the bandages were off, the two would chitchat, break out into smiles when their eyes happened to meet, tease each other, and otherwise waste the evening away enjoying each other’s company.

Flum propped herself up on the bed and glanced out the window. Milkit followed her gaze, seeing nothing but boundless darkness beyond the glass. But Flum had caught sight of something lurking out there. In an instant, she stood up and crept to the window before opening it for a better look.

“Ow!” She placed her hand on the sill to lean outside before jerking it back.

“Did something poke you?”

“It looks like a knife… There’s a letter wrapped around it.”

As best she could tell, someone who’d been watching them through the window had thrown the knife. Flum unraveled the letter to find a simple message in sloppy handwriting. All it said was: “stay inside.”

“What is this, some kind of threat? Bit late for that.”

“But why would they attach it to a knife, I wonder? And that handwriting is pretty awful, too…”

“Guess they couldn’t use the mail slot. As for the writing, it looks like they were in a hurry.” Flum racked her brain for who could have written such a message, but no one came to mind. “Maybe it’s just a stupid prank by one of Dein’s goons.”

No matter what she did to them, those guys never seemed to learn.

“Ah well, I guess it’s about time to go to bed.”

“You’re right. Another day awaits tomorrow.”

After extinguishing the light, the two returned to their respective beds.

Even as Milkit’s breathing slowed and she began to snore lightly, sleep still wouldn’t come to Flum. Her anxiety was just too great to let herself relax.

Krakka…krakka…

Every little rattle of the window seemed to keep her right at the cusp of sleep and consciousness until finally, mercifully, whatever was making the noise outside moved far enough away that she could no longer hear it, and she fell into a proper slumber.

By the time she woke up, she forgot all about it.

 

***

 

The next morning, Milkit saw Flum off at the door as she headed to the West District church to see if she could trace Sara’s steps. She didn’t come across anything strange along the way—in fact, it was almost too serene and quiet, in her opinion. It may have just been because people thought it wiser to stay indoors after the discovery of the bodies out in the slums.

Once she arrived near the church grounds, Flum decided to hang back a bit and keep watch for a while. Compared to the compound out in the Central District, the church here was quite a bit older, smaller, and more austere. She noted that there were two church knights she’d never seen before standing guard where Ed and Jonny used to be.

Their expressions looked dark. They had, after all, just lost two of their coworkers and friends. Perhaps even heard rumor of the real reason behind their sudden transfer.

“Hi there.” Flum finally approached the men and offered up a cheerful greeting. The men froze for a moment at the sight of a slave mark on her cheek—the church forbid the practice of slavery—before smiling and offering up a greeting in return.

They didn’t seem to recognize her, so she offered up a quick introduction before getting down to business. “So I understand there used to be two knights here named Ed and Jonny.”

The knights visibly tensed up at this.

“They really did a ton to help me out, y’know. I guess they’re not on duty today, but do you know if I could talk to them tomorrow?”

“They’re, uh, they’re not here anymore. They’ve been reassigned to another village.”

“Oh yeah? That was pretty sudden.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Flum took a step closer. “So what really happened?”

The church knights hesitated.

“So they were taken care of, huh?”

One of the men scowled in annoyance. “What’re you going on about? I don’t know who the hell you are, little girl, but watch your mouth.”

“No worries, I didn’t hear anything. Anyway, I’ll be back another time, so I guess I’ll see ya, then.” Flum bowed politely to the men before making her exit.

So, even the knights were talking about it, though it didn’t look like any of them knew exactly what was going on for sure. It lined up with what she learned from talking to Elune.

Flum turned onto a parallel street and walked until she spotted a gap in the surrounding fence where she could peek through the church’s windows. What she saw was a priest, looking preoccupied as he delivered a sermon before a crowd of men who looked like they had absolutely no business in a place of worship.

Dein was sitting right in the front row.

One of the men with him glanced around, eyes stopping to look in Flum’s direction.

“Oh, shoot!” Flum dropped out of sight and slunk off to make her way to the orphanage right next door.

There she found a group of children running around in the church yard, playing games. Far more than four children, to be exact. Once she was done constructing a mental map of the church grounds, she started off in the direction she figured Sara was most likely to have taken to the slums.

The streets grew filthier as she got farther from the church. The crowds grew rougher: tough-looking men with tattoos and piercings covering their faces and bodies, eyes sunken deep into their skulls from prolonged drug use, some clearly on the look for their next mark. Even Dein’s men were a step up from what she encountered out here.

It seemed unlikely she would encounter any of the eyes that chased Sara with so many people around, so she decided to take a different route.

“I can only imagine how scared Sara must’ve been running down these narrow, dark alleyways…” It pained Flum just to think about it.

After coming up empty-handed once again, she took to the slums to check out the place where the bodies were found. Though she should have fit right in as a slave, Flum’s nice, clean clothes instantly made her draw more than her fair share of attention. Some looked at her in jealousy, while others eyed her as a potential mark. The children running past were just interested in the coins they could hear jangling in her pockets.

Despite being cleaned up, nobody wanted to linger near the site of so many grisly deaths. Even the lean-tos built up against the wall seemed deserted.

“Hey, you.” A middle-aged man dressed in ragged clothes called out to Flum. “You lookin’ fer that girl that came through here when this all went down?”

“You know something about that?” Flum’s expression was neutral, her posture conveying confidence. She knew he was going to ask for something, probably money, in exchange for information. If he had something noteworthy to offer, she’d be happy to pay.

“That I do, that I do.”

“Mind telling me what you know, then? If it’s money you’re after, I have some I could spare.”

The man let out a raspy laugh.

“You’re a smart ’un. I guess I’ll tell you what I know, then. So that blonde kid, yeah? She was being chased by a whole swarm of these beady fucking eyeballs. As soon as she got what the things were doin’ to us, she took off down those side streets.”

Flum pointed to make sure. “That way?”

The man nodded.

“Got it, thanks.” She dropped a few coins in the man’s hand. It wasn’t much, but it was more than she had to work with before.

“Thank you kindly.”

He smiled a broad, toothless smile and went back into his shanty. Flum, a little surprised at how cheaply he’d been bought off, turned in the direction he’d pointed and made her way down the side streets. She could probably have stumbled across this route herself, but this saved her some time.

…Or so she thought, until she realized just how convoluted the maze of side streets was. “This is going to take a while.”

She’d have to scour every corner of this area to make sure she didn’t miss anything.

As she made her way back and forth through the twisting alleys, Flum finally arrived at a dead end. The walls were marked with countless gashes made by some kind of sharpened blade.

“Looks like a battle took place here.” In fact, even the ground itself was marred with deep cuts. Flum ran her finger along one of the grooves in an attempt to figure out what could have left them behind. “Huh, the depth and length vary a lot, so it clearly wasn’t all done with the same weapon. Magic?”

She couldn’t tell which affinity had been used, but it was apparent that whoever cast the spell was powerful.

“Sara couldn’t do this with her mace. But then, who did?”

After exploring a few more routes and expanding her search, Flum was no closer to learning anything about Sara’s whereabouts. Feeling dejected, she made her way toward the North District next. She just wanted to head back home at this point, but there was one last thing she wanted to follow up on, and it was at the castle.

Ottilie was conducting her own investigation into the church. Flum had to see if she’d learned anything about Sara.

 

***

 

With a little bit of work, she was able to make it to the North District without getting recognized. She crossed paths with clergy on a few occasions, but other than a scowl or offhanded remark about a slave being in these parts, no one took much notice of her.

That was the easy part.

Getting up to the barracks next to the castle wasn’t in and of itself an impressive feat—until you considered the fact that armed guards stood watch over the entrance. Flum spent a moment gauging the odds they’d just let her in if she said she was here to speak with Ottilie. If she could convince them that she was the hero Flum Apricot, she might stand a chance, but so far no one had even given her a second glance.

“Well, I’ll never know if I don’t try.” Deciding to stay positive and give it a go, she stepped in front of the guards.

The mark on her cheek instantly drew derisive looks from the soldiers standing watch. “State your purpose, slave.”

“My name is Flum Apricot. I’m here to see Lieutenant General Ottilie.”

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh, kid. You think a slave can just drop the name of a hero and gain access so easily? Next time, come up with a more believable lie!”

That had gone about as well as she predicted, though she didn’t plan on giving up just yet. Just as Flum was about to bring up some fact about the journey that only she would know, a man stepped out of the barracks. He was so burly that the guards had to move aside for him to pass, and she had to crane her neck just to look up at his face. He was even buffer than Gadhio.

“Herrmann Zavenyu…?”

Together with Ottilie, he was one of the royal military’s three lieutenant generals. Unlike Ottilie, Flum had never actually met him in person, though she doubted she’d forget his massive figure anytime soon.

Zavenyu was currently in his civvies. His signature warhammer was nowhere to be seen, but even without it, he struck an imposing figure. He walked up in silence until he stood immediately in front of the guard. “Let her in.”

His voice was so low and deep that you could feel it thrum deep in your rib cage. The soldier swallowed hard. “B-but, she’s a sl-slave, and…”

“She speaks the truth.”

“That miserable little slave is the Flum Apricot?! But how?”

“Miserable?” The look on Herrmann’s face said more than words could. “Watch your mouth.”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“She’s the real deal. Now let her pass.”

“Yessir. P-please come in, Miss Flum.”

Flum wasn’t sure how to feel about this, but she happily followed Herrmann’s massive form back into the barracks all the same. “Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.”

Herrmann continued through the halls in silence, Flum following behind him. They walked for a few minutes before he stopped suddenly.

“Waugh!” Flum only barely managed to stop herself before crashing into his back.

“Who are you here for?”

“Oh? Um, I wanted to see Ottilie…”

“Ottilie, hm.” A deep crease formed in Herrmann’s brow, causing Flum’s face to cloud over in uncertainty. Everything about Herrmann, from his voice to his face, seemed designed to inspire nightmares in children. She knew he couldn’t be all bad, based on their earlier situation with the guards, but still… “That’s a problem.”

It seemed no matter what he was talking about, he always spoke in a monotone. Though that was probably fine—suitable even—for a lieutenant general.

Herrmann put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment before he began walking again. Flum hurried after him without saying another word. The two eventually found themselves in front of an ornately decorated door on the third floor of the barracks.

Herrmann raised a massive fist and rapped on the door. “I have a guest.”

He didn’t bother to introduce himself, though the person on the other side of the door didn’t seem to take notice.

“Aah, Herrmann. Come in, come in.”

The door opened, revealing not Ottilie, but the head of the entire royal army, General Henriette Bachsenheim.

“H-Henriette??!”

Flum couldn’t contain her surprise.

“Well, if it isn’t Flum Apricot, in the flesh. Judging by the look on your face, I’d venture a guess that you’re not here to see me. Why did you bring her here, Herrmann?”

“She came for Ottilie.”

“Ottilie? Ahh, I suppose that makes sense. Thank you, Lieutenant General Herrmann. Now, why don’t you have a seat, Flum Apricot?” Henriette stood from her exquisite chair and motioned Flum toward a sofa. Flum hesitated for a moment before she sat down where indicated.

Herrmann bowed his head and left the room, leaving Flum alone with the General—a woman she’d never even met before. She was a bundle of nerves at this point.

“Thank you for having me, General Henriette!”

“No need to be so polite. You can call me by my first name, as you do with my sister. Besides, I, too, am in the presence of a hero.”

Henriette’s frankness helped smooth over at least some of Flum’s nervousness. “I’m just a normal person.”

“And I’m the head of a fallen military. They may call me General, but I have no real power.” A tinge of sadness entered Henriette’s voice. Her face softened as she changed the subject. “So what brings you here to see Ottilie?”

“Right. I was hoping to talk to her about an incident in the West District I was involved in a few days ago. Perhaps you’d be willing to listen?”

“Of course. The incident in question was quite a black mark against us. The royal family and the cardinals gave us a piece of their mind; it hasn’t done much to improve our status. I suppose we brought it upon ourselves.”

“That sounds pretty tough.”

“I’m sure things were far more difficult for you. On that note, I must thank you for exposing the corruption in the West District. Is that when you met Ottilie?”

“That’s correct. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be standing before you right now.”

“I’d love to be proud of that, but considering that my forces were the cause of the problem to begin with, that’s not exactly appropriate. Anyway, I’ve already heard from Ottilie about how you were dismissed from the party and became a slave.” Come to think of it, neither Henriette nor Herrmann seemed surprised by the mark on her face. “I see Jean hasn’t changed at all.”

Flum laughed darkly. “I guess you could say that.”

“If you run into any difficulties at all here in the capital, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the military. I know Ottilie has offered her help, but Herrmann and I will also do whatever we can to support you.”

“That’s not actually why I’m here today.”

“Oh? Then what brings you here?”

“The last time I met with Ottilie, she mentioned she was investigating the church.”

“Ottilie? Now why would she go and do something like that…”

“She said it was for her sister. Are you two not in agreement on this?”

“Ah, yes. Ottilie and I have been close all our lives. She’s also quite stubborn.” An understatement as far as Flum was concerned. “She was never a gifted fencer, but she worked herself to the bone to follow my example. She certainly serves under me in the chain of command, but she also works for me on a personal level. So you came to speak with her about the church?”

“That’s correct. One of my friends, Sara Anvilen, was recently excommunicated.”

“Ah, yes, her. I recall hearing that she was following in the footsteps of Maria Affenjenz herself. I also hear that two church knights were reassigned at the same time.”

“Then you must know about what happened in the slums?”

“Of course. I suspected the church might be involved, so I had the corpses collected.”

Huh. Henriette was on the ball. Flum was impressed, though she was speaking to a general, after all. Maybe this was par for the course.

“I think my friend is wrapped up in all of this,” she said. “so now I’m looking for her. I was hoping to see if Ottilie knew anything about it.”

“I’m sure you’ve already guessed this by now, but Ottilie isn’t here.”

“She’s missing?”

Henriette nodded gravely.

Ottilie and Sara had been chasing the same prey. Flum took a deep breath and brought her hands to her face. She felt light-headed.

Why would the church go this far? Doing away with one of your own was one thing, but a powerful member of the royal military—a lieutenant general, even? She felt like she was up against a wall so high that she could no longer see the top. Her opponent was just too powerful for her to face alone like this.

“But why isn’t there more commotion over the disappearance of a lieutenant general?” Flum barely managed to force the words out.

Henriette bit her lip momentarily before she let her annoyance show on her face. “Because some idiot told me to keep it under wraps.”

“Who is this idiot?”

“Why, King Dian Carole, of course.”

Flum swallowed hard, left at a complete loss for words by the fact that a member of the royal army—the kingdom’s shield—would call her liege an “idiot.”

“The army lost the King’s trust ages ago,” Henriette said. “The church has its hooks in him, and he affords them every convenience. Apparently, that includes disappearing a lieutenant general!”

“I can’t believe this…”

“Ottilie is honorable. Always has been. I imagine she went off on her own to do what she thought was in my best interest. Had I known, I would have put a stop to her activities—and she must have known that I would have stopped her. It’s really quite frustrating. I suspect she felt compelled to do everything she could to help me.”

A slight smile graced Henriette’s face. Though they spoke of their relationship in a different manner, it was clear the bond between the sisters was mutual.

“Forgive my sentimentality. As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, we don’t have the information you seek. In fact, I, too would like to know where Ottilie is.”

“I understand.”

She was at a dead end. Her investigation proving fruitless, Flum decided to leave the barracks and continue on.