Chapter 2: The Conflict

Chapter 2:
The Conflict

 

“AAAH…”

Ink opened her mouth wide while Eterna scooped up a spoonful of boiled beans and deposited them on the young girl’s tongue. She beamed as she chewed without a hint of embarrassment. After all, this was hardly an uncommon occurrence for them. What was different, though, was how Milkit was sitting there watching them, her own spoon held motionless in the air.

“What are you staring at, Milkit? Jealous?”

“Hm? Oh, no…it’s not that. I was just thinking about how fun that seemed.”

“I’m not doing this for fun, you know.”

“I know! I just…well, that’s how it looked, I guess.” Cheeks flushed, Milkit quickly returned to eating.

Fun? Flum had no idea what could be fun about that, but now the thought intrigued her. She reached over to grab a piece of bread and offer it up to Milkit. Her head tilted to the side in confusion, her bandages drooping with the movement. Flum held her gaze until, slowly but surely, Milkit registered what she was doing. The moment that it clicked was easy to spot by the furious blush that took over her cheeks.

Milkit locked eyes with Flum for an instant, her gaze seeming to confirm Flum’s wishes, though Flum made no movement to affirm or deny. Timidly, Milkit leaned forward and pressed her lips against the bread, nibbling away like a little bird.

“Hmm…I guess it is kind of fun.” Once the bread was gone, Flum nodded to herself.

“It’s a little embarrassing, though,” said Milkit.

She didn’t really intend it that way, but Flum got the sense that this was something best not done with others around. Eterna simply balked at the scene; Flum ignored her and pressed on, grabbing another piece of bread.

Ink’s voice broke the silence. “Flum, you’ve got mail.”

Her unnaturally sensitive ears picked up the rustle of paper outside.

“Thanks, Ink. I’ll check it once we’re done.”

A look of concern washed over Ink’s face. “There’s something weird about this one. Whoever dropped it off made a break for it right after.”

With the battle against the Necromancy group still fresh in their minds, they never really came down from high alert. Flum hurried out of the house and spied a white envelope sticking out of the simple, unadorned wooden box. It practically shone in the sunlight.

“What could that be?” Flum snagged it and took it back to her three companions waiting inside.

“Welcome back, Master. What did you find?”

“Looks like a normal letter to me.”

Flum unfolded the paper and set it on the table. Milkit and Eterna stared down at it in silence.

“What does it say?” The sense of unease was palpable in the blind girl’s voice.

Eterna was the first to respond. “‘Four days remain…’ That’s all it says.”

Three simple words written in red ink. Nothing more. Considering the enemies they’d made, they were in no position to write this off as a simple prank. The earlier peaceful atmosphere that had filled the dining room was replaced with a much darker mood.

“You think the church is planning something?” said Ink.

“Even if they were, why would they go out of their way to tell us?”

“Eterna’s right,” said Flum, “this doesn’t read like a threat. Why would they give us a countdown to something?”

“If they’re going to tell us how many days are left,” said Milkit, “it’d be nice if they’d at least say what we were counting down to.”

Without any further details or even a name to pin this back on, there was simply too little information to say anything for certain. All the letter served to do was ruin the atmosphere they’d worked to rebuild since their last struggle.

“Why don’t you let me look into it further? I’m kind of curious why we didn’t hear any footsteps earlier anyhow.”

“Thanks, Eterna. I already meant to stop by the guild today; I’ll talk to Gadhio while I’m there.” Flum stood up from her chair, leaving her lunch half-eaten, and began to get ready to leave.

“You had a pretty rough training session with Gadhio earlier, so please take it easy!”

Flum gently stroked Milkit’s hair. “Got it…don’t you worry.”

And with that, she was gone.

 

***

 

As she approached the guild, Flum caught the eye of a blond man sweeping the building’s entrance.

“Ah, nice to see you, Flum.”

The man’s name was Slowe Uradnehs, one of the guild’s employees and Y’lla’s coworker. Though he was timid at heart, he spoke with a degree of sophistication that made him seem out of place at the West District guild. Flum gave him a quick greeting and walked past, making her way straight to the reception desk.

“Hey, Y’lla, when did Slowe start working here anyway? I feel like he was already here when I first joined the guild.”

“A few months back, I think. He’s only eighteen, but apparently, he really wanted to work at this dump. Weird kid, but there’s something charming about him.” The usually harsh Y’lla spoke with a certain affection toward Slowe, even referring to him as a kid.

She certainly had a way of laying on her feminine charm in the presence of a man she fancied. Slowe was definitely an attractive guy—he even looked to be Y’lla’s type—but the difference in age was a problem.

“Even during all that drama with Dein going on, he still hung in there,” said Flum. “He’s got some steel.”

“He’s just indecisive is all. He kept waffling back and forth about quitting, but having the guild master here finally convinced him to stay. Heh, he’s certainly made my job a lot easier at least.”

Up until recently, the adventurers’ guild in the West District had no master to oversee it, which had given Dein free rein and saddled Y’lla with all of the actual work.

“Oh, right, Linus came by this morning.”

“Linus??”

“I mean, wow, he’s even more impressive in person than the stories led me to believe. Anyway, he took off as soon as I mentioned you. A shame, really.” Y’lla smiled as she recalled Linus’s face.

“Huh. I guess the message got to him, then.”

Flum figured the moment would come eventually, but she’d never imagined it would be so soon. She was happy to hear that Linus had been worried enough to come all the way out here to look for her. Cyrill may also have heard about her whereabouts then.

“I wonder what’s going on with Cyrill.”

She wanted Cyrill to be saddened by the news. That was her dearest wish.

“Ya know, I never really asked before, but how did the legendary Flum Apricot end up with a slave mark? Did one of your cohorts really hate you that much?”

“Bingo. This guy named Jean.”

“Jean… You mean the renowned sage, Jean Inteige? I feel like I’ve gotten a peek behind the curtain of the hero party.”

“Pretty much. They’re all human, I guess. Anyway…” Flum quickly changed the subject. She’d mostly made peace with what happened, but she didn’t want to dwell on it. Sure, she wouldn’t have met Milkit otherwise, but she could still feel the awful pain of the mark being burned into her skin if she thought about it.

“Hey, is Gadhio here?”

“He’s out right now, but I figure he should be back soon. Why don’t you wait in reception?”

To be fair, she was still a bit early. Just as she was about to head to the reception, she heard a scream come from outside.

“Hngaaaaaaugh?!”

Y’lla stood up immediately. “Slowe?!”

Flum sensed that there were others outside with Slowe, and they didn’t seem friendly. She practically dove out the front door to go investigate.

“I’ve no particular business with you, but I don’t mind killing you if it’ll help us reach our goals!”

The figure was holding up a massive axe, the head alone nearly the size of a grown man. It was wielded by a young woman, no older than Flum, outfitted in gleaming silver armor.

“Not a chance!” Flum placed herself between Slowe and the girl before summoning forth the Souleater and holding her sword at the ready. Her opponent didn’t miss a beat and heaved the impressive axe in a skull-splitting arc.

THWUNG!

Flum felt the sheer force of the blow run through her body and down into the ground. She sank slightly as the paved road beneath her feet cracked and gave way.

Obviously, she wasn’t strong enough to take the full force of the blow single-handedly; she had to resort to summoning up her prana and channeling it into both of her arms. That, combined with the power of the blade and her gauntlet, left her just barely able to withstand the blow.

The young woman’s dark orange hair whipped about in the breeze. “Heh, good one, Flum Apricot!”

“Ng…that’s the armor of the church knights!”

“Correct. I’m Rischel Hyle, lieutenant commander of the church knights!”

“Then what’re you doing here at the guild?!”

“Would it make things easier if I said I was here to kill you?”

It was hardly a surprise that the church would come for her eventually after laying waste to the Necromancy project. But judging by what she just said and how Slowe was going to be her first victim, Flum sensed there was more afoot than just that.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. Let’s go! Justice A…!”

“You’re done.”

The tip of a black blade rested against Rischel’s neck.

“Oh, you’re back? And I was too absorbed in the battle to notice you getting in so close. Huh.”

Even with Gadhio’s overt threat to her life, Rischel didn’t seem concerned. She let the Epic-tier axe fade away before raising both of her hands in surrender. Gadhio narrowed his eyes at this, but he still lowered his sword.

With the immediate threat gone, Rischel bounded off of the ground and landed gracefully atop the roof of the guild. “I can’t believe it. All I did was get into a little spat and run away. The commander’s really gonna chew me out over this.”

“What do you want, anyway?!”

“I already told you that I’m here to kill you, Flum, but you don’t seem to like that answer. So I’m just going to leave it at that. I guess I’ll let you live for now. See you on the other side!”

With that, she bounded from rooftop to rooftop like a rabbit before disappearing into the distance. Flum tried to take off after her, but Gadhio put a hand on her shoulder.

“Let her go for now. Fighting the Children and church knights at the same time isn’t a wise move.”

“The Children? You mean you’ve found something out??”

“Let’s talk inside. Slowe, you too. I’d hate to see you get attacked again.”

“I, uh…of…of course.” Slowe’s face was completely drained of blood as he hurried into the guild, followed shortly thereafter by Flum and Gadhio.

Y’lla hurried over from where she was waiting near the entrance and took Slowe’s hand. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt??”

“Y-yes, I’m fine.”

Flum rolled her eyes at this sugary-sweet Y’lla and walked to her seat in the reception room. Gadhio sat down across from her, a grave expression on his face.

“I heard from an adventurer that they’ve turned up something ominous down in the sewers,” he said. “There were a few details that matched up with the documents I took from Sheol, so I decided to check it out.”

“This is all recent, I’m guessing. Did you really find something so soon?”

“If the lab were in use, I doubt it would have ended so peacefully. But the place was abandoned long ago. Fortunately, that gave me an opportunity to pick over the documents and equipment left behind. All in all, I think it was a fruitful search.”

“Do you think that was…?”

“Right, I suspect it was the Children team’s facility until recently. Judging by the condition I found it in, they were attacked and had to abandon ship.”

“But…why? You mean someone other than us is fighting the church?”

“That’s certainly a positive take on the situation. Listen, things are changing fast here in the capital. I’m not sure I’d quite describe it as a coup d’état at this point, but we’re close.”

The news that the royal army was folded into the church knights had already spread throughout the capital. The sheer folly of the king’s de facto transfer of power threw the capital into chaos.

“Does this all have something to do with that Rischel girl?”

“Even the soldiers who patrolled the streets have been replaced with church knights. They have the run of the town now and treat the citizens however they please.”

Flum bit her lip. The girl she’d encountered earlier was incredibly strong. She may have left of her own volition this time, but it would be a brutal fight if they ever came to blows again.

“The top brass of the church knights all use something known as the Justice Arts, a sword technique similar in nature to the Cavalier and Genocide Arts. If you do wind up getting attacked in town, you should be sure to check who you’re up against. Many of their techniques are far more powerful than our own.”

“Justice Arts… Seems out of place for someone purportedly fighting for justice to attack common citizens.”

Gadhio’s voice took on a sarcastic tone. “Their only concept of justice is the one that maintains the values of the church of Origin.”

“So I get that there’s been a shake-up in the church. I guess given everything that’s happened to the other groups, the Chimera team’s the only one left standing.”

“If they’ve decided to go with the Chimera team, then there’s no need for what’s left of the others.”

“So they were the ones who attacked the Children team??”

“By my reckoning, it was either the church knights or a Chimera.”

Flum clenched her fists as she felt a wave of sadness wash over her. “And I’d finally had a chance to get through to Nekt, too! I can’t believe they’d just wipe them out like that!”

“What’s more worrisome to me is what happened to the Children after they escaped. Who knows what they’ll do with their backs up against the wall.”

“I know Nekt would talk to us at least.”

“I agree. But the bigger problem is…”

“…Mother.”

Flum had only met the man known as Mother once before, but he struck her as a strange man with a peculiar outlook on life.

“Hey, Gadhio…this letter showed up at my house earlier today.” She handed the paper over.

Gadhio’s eyebrows narrowed and his face constricted into a scowl as his eyes scanned the page. “Four days remain? What does that even mean?”

“Beats me. But between this, the lab, and that church knight, I’d say something big is going on.”

“Looks like we won’t have any time to cool our heels. Flum, I think you and I should spend more time training.”

“Let’s put that aside for now until things calm down a bit. I don’t want to be caught on the back foot.”

“Then I guess looking for Nekt is probably our first plan of action. Hopefully, she’s still in the capital, at least.”

Just as Gadhio began to stand up, Flum clapped her hands together as she suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, Y’lla mentioned that Linus had stopped by looking for you earlier this morning.”

“Linus? Ah… I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Linus was an excellent tracker. It would be a whole lot easier if they could get him on board with finding Nekt. The two left the guild and split up to begin their search.

 

***

 

“Oh, shucks, you missed!”

“Gya! Connection!!” Nekt teleported out of the way, narrowly escaping Rischel’s axe.

GWAFWOOM!

A loud crash erupted throughout the darkened streets of the West District as her axe blade smashed into the street.

“What a pity—you almost found them, too! But I guess it’s lucky for me that you didn’t!”

Rischel’s encounter with Nekt was a complete accident. Nekt was sticking to the shadows and hanging out near the guild to see what was going on when they happened to cross paths.

“Shut up, lady! I wasn’t even there to meet with Flum anyway!”

Nekt clenched her fist and focused her power. Within moments, the exterior walls of the houses on either side of Rischel began to cave in on her, though she batted the debris away with ease as she swung her immense axe through the air at unbelievable speeds.

“You’re a stubborn one, aren’t ya? But I think that makes you charming!”

The dull silver axe head came swinging down toward Nekt once again.

Just as Nekt began to prepare for her next attack…

“Wait, this isn’t where I meant to teleport! What’s going on here??”

Nekt found herself blocked by a wall she hadn’t seen before that cut her escape short.

Looking closer, it wasn’t so much a wall but a giant of a man, holding a shield.

“Justice Arts, Iron Maiden!”

“Not bad for a new lieutenant commander, old man!”

“That’s Bart Calon to you! And I’m no old man either, so why don’t you try treating your superiors with a little more respect?”

“So what, you can create barriers with the power of an Origin core? You soldiers are really getting on my nerves!”

With Nekt unable to teleport away, Rischel’s next attack would be fatal.

“Sorry, sweetie, but we don’t need naughty little kids like you anymore. The commander ordered me to send you on to the next life.”

“Nng… Connection!!” Nekt sent all the rubble filling the street flying toward Rischel.

“Now you’re just wasting my time!” Rischel held out her axe and performed a pirouette, showering Nekt with chunks of stone and wood as she smashed through the hurtling debris.

“You’re doooone!”

Nekt clenched her eyes shut, prepared for the inevitable end. But the axe blade stopped short, only grazing the top of her head.

“Nnngg…ouch! What the hell are you doing? I was just getting to the exciting part!”

The Genocide Arts technique Blood Anguis had found its mark in Rischel’s arm, stopping her attack dead in its tracks.

“There’s no better time to intervene than when things are just about to get exciting, no?”

Ottilie readjusted her military uniform before hopping down from the roof to land at Nekt’s side.

“Why would a member of the royal army help me?”

“Don’t worry about that. Now’s your chance to escape.”

“Connection!” Nekt quickly teleported her and Ottilie away, leaving Rischel standing alone in the open street.

“Gah…” She stuck out her lower lip in annoyance as Bart stomped over toward her, shield in hand. Each heavy footfall caused the young girl’s body to tremble slightly.

“I guess we’ll have to report our failure to Commander Huyghe. You don’t think he’ll kill us, do you?”

“No prob, no prob. We just happened to run across her anyway, and besides, the commander is good about distinguishing between these types of things.”

“So, no punishment?”

“We still need you, old man. If anything, some of your subordinates might take the rap instead. You’ve nothing to worry about.” Rischel cackled as she watched Bart go pale.

 

***

 

Nekt and Ottilie teleported several times until they ended up alone in a storehouse. The young girl cut straight to the chase.

“So why did you help me?”

Ottilie was equally frank in her response. “My boss ordered me to pick you up.”

“Don’t you think a couple of days is a little quick for you to go from military officer to mercenary?”

“Big talk for someone who agreed to join forces with Flum just a few days ago.”

Nekt scowled like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “Hmph, you got me there. So who’s your boss then?”

“Satuhkie.”

Nekt perked up instantly.

“Wait, wait…you mean Satuhkie, like from-the-church Satuhkie?? There’s no way I can go visit a cardinal like this! I’m sorry, lady, but hard pass.”

“Just hold on, okay? He’s an informant trying to destroy the organization from the inside out.”

“Anyone who makes it to the cardinal class has to be baptized by our Father. There’s no way any normal person could withstand that! Satuhkie is one of Origin’s puppets, like all the others!

“And what if I told you there was a way to overcome the baptism?”

“There’s no way that…”

Ottilie pulled a white jewel out of her pocket. The moment Nekt saw it, she could instantly tell that it was imbued with Origin’s power.

“A…reversed Origin core? No, not quite. That jewel has a reversed affinity.”

Ottilie smirked.

“It’s a reversion core—a jewel with anti-spiral attributes. Courtesy of Doctor Chatani, who made it and entrusted it to me.”

Nekt could feel a cold sweat form on the back of her neck as she let out a soft sigh in amazement.