Chapter 185 |
The rest of the day was deceptively peaceful after the big train kerfuffle. By the time the Chimera got turned into paste and everyone let out a sigh of relief, future-me had already left the Chasm of Desolation. Ollie was happy to see him again, even if only for a while, but as for me, I was just happy he was gone. Because he was a dick. And no, I wasn't going to reflect on the implications of that.
Anyhow, we ate our usual frozen dinner, and then I played with the kid for a bit. Of course, that didn't mean I wasn't keeping tabs on the gang, but nothing special was going on over there, so the evening was mainly filled with Mareo Karting and listening to Ollie's cute ramblings about his LAGO pirate robots.
Maybe because of that, he petered out much earlier than usual and obediently let me tuck him in before the clock even hit nine. I said my goodnights and returned to my cell, and once I was comfortably on my bed (this time without Cal), I decided to cast my net a little wider.
Of course, since it was almost night, there wasn't too much to see, but I still caught a few revealing snippets. For example, it seemed like Lord Grandpa and his gaggle of arch-mages finally figured out that Ammy was no longer on the island, but they were still far from realising the true ramifications of that fact. On the other hand, Roland was as busy as I'd ever seen him, and while he never said it outright, the way he was actively organising the Ordo Draconis and was in direct and active correspondence with both the Praetorian Guard, the Seraphic Safeguard, and the head of the Celestial military, he was clearly preparing for war.
In fact, he was moving with such clear-cut reassurance and purpose that it felt like he didn't just suspect what was going on, but was outright aware of the plan. Did I miss the moment when Tajana told him? To be fair, I wasn't paying much attention to them when their marks were together, because most of the time they were either quarrelling, cuddling, or bumping uglies. Sometimes all three at the same time. Not in a relationship, my ass.
The point was that there wasn't much of immediate importance happening upstairs, so to speak, so I focused on my marks in the Abyss. The Matron wasn't doing anything special, the people at the salon were up to their usual games and gossip, and so once I got all the secondary players down, I finally focused on the target I was most expecting to do something interesting. My timing was roughly on spot, because Crowy just arrived at Castle Ninhursag.
It was dark outside, and the coup (or maybe Elly's penchant for throwing utility poles) must've knocked down at least part of the grid, because most of the town was wrapped in darkness. Since they were expecting him, the Ninurtas managed to cobble together a landing strip inside the spacious courtyard of the castle, using what looked like a mixture of ceremonial braziers and magic light balls conjured and maintained by dedicated personnel.
Crowy's wing apparently hadn't recovered enough for a trans-country trip, because he arrived on a much smaller local version of the palanquin we used in the Elysium during our beach trip. On the other hand, it must've healed enough to at least function, because the fancy flying carriage supported by a dozen Abyssals didn't land. It stopped over the landing spot, then Crowy got out of it and floated down, in his Abyssal form, complete with the baggy pants and the crown of flames over his horns.
I imagined it was all for show, though for whom he was putting it out, I had no idea. Maybe it was his way of asserting dominance over the Ninurtas? In any case, he soon landed with a small squad of (presumably) elite bodyguards in tow, and they quickly spread out to secure the perimeter. Meanwhile, the prick was warmly welcomed by… no, actually. I take that back. There was nothing warm about his welcome.
Now that I could take a better look at him, he was a lean man with long blonde hair, though it was currently singed in a few places. He was wearing a fancy red coat and pants with lots of black and gold embroidery and bone buttons, but the careful observer could see the white of bandages peeking out from under them. His otherwise handsome face was bruised, and his forehead had a cut mostly hidden under a cotton swab and some adhesive tape.
"Lord Ninurta." Crowy's tone was as dry as his host's, and he looked around the castle grounds. "I understand that you just gained custody of this castle and its people, but I still expected a more… traditional welcome."
He was likely implying that not getting a full fanfare and adoring masses throwing themselves at his feet hurt his poor, sensitive ego, but the other man had none of it and only let out a scoff.
"You have to graciously forgive me, Lord Herald, but I lost three of my sons today…"
"Ambitions often have to be paid in blood," Crowy responded off-handedly, as if none of that was his business, but then the Ninurta patriarch continued without even acknowledging the interruption.
"… as well as two train engines, a Chimera, and more. Festivities are the furthest from my mind right now."
It was at this point that Crowy finally stopped being all hoity-toity and focused his attention on the man.
"Train engines? And… a Chimera? What exactly happened here?"
"Walk with me, and I'll explain on the way."
"Walk with you where, exactly?"
"To the Mana Well Chamber," he responded dourly and gestured for Crowy to follow. "Otherwise, you will not in a million years believe what I'm about to tell you."
My disembodied point of view followed them all the way through the castle. They ambled slowly, as if taking a pleasure tour around the ruined interior, all the while the magic-lightball-conjurers tried their best to match their pace, so the corridors and halls appeared at least decently lit around them.
It was only when they reached the Mana Well Chamber that Crowy came to a halt and his eyes opened wide. It wasn't because of the torn-off metal doors or the circular hole in the wall at the back of the room, but because it was also dark. There was none of the characteristic blue glow associated with the stupid magical Rubik's cubes, with only a few small lamps giving off light in the hands of the Abyssals already present in the room, investigating the place. Which, of course, made sense considering…
"… Where is the Mana Well?" he blurted out with poorly disguised alarm as he made his way inside, and the Ninurta noble behind him let out a groan.
"Gone, as you can see. I told you that you wouldn't believe me if I didn't show you in person."
"Who took it!?"
Crowy's outburst took the man by surprise, but he managed to keep his cool and respond with a pithy, "We don't know for sure."
"How can you not know?"
"As you can see…" The Ninurta patriarch made a sweeping gesture at the still chamber. "Without the Mana Well in place, all the wards and arrays are inert, including the surveillance charms. Until we figure out a way to power them again, I'm afraid we can't—"
Before he could finish the sentence, Crowy marched up to the empty pedestal and slammed his hand on top of it. His whole body burst into the familiar purple aura I'd seen on him when we last fought, and as it seeped into the stone, the room around them slowly lit up as everything came 'online', so to speak.
"Get on with it! Now!" Crowy bellowed, the flame over his head becoming so tall it could almost reach the high ceiling.
The Ninurta patriarch hesitated for a moment, but then he gestured at one of the Abyssal investigators, and the middle-aged woman hastily ran over to the other end of the Mana Well Chamber and put her hand on an otherwise unassuming part of the wall. It lit up with three concentric purple circles, tinted by Crowy's aura, and then her other hand started to move in the air. It kind of looked like she was typing on an invisible floating keypad while also playing the castanets at the same time, and after about a solid minute of frantic finger movements, she glanced over her shoulder.
"My Lords… I'm afraid we don't have visuals, only voice recordings of the scene. Do you want me to play the surveillance records of the pedestal area?"
"Yes! Now!" Crowy bellowed, making the woman flinch and redouble her castanet-typing efforts.
Another minute passed, and then there was a distorted voice, seemingly coming directly from where the bastard was standing. The first few words were hard to make out, but then…
">Ah… This isn't good.<>
"That voice…" Crowy probably wanted to say it sounded familiar, but then he fell silent when he was interrupted by the next snippet.
">What?
">We have a problem. One Mana Well isn't enough,
">… enough'!?<>
">Confirmation:The output of one terminal is insufficient to perform the requested ooo—<>
The recording became impossible to understand for a few seconds, followed by Josh's voice yelling, ">… are we supposed to get our hands on two Mana Wells at the same time?! Can't you just do it remotely, or something?<>
">Response: Due to a lack of regular systems maintenance, restoring remote communications between terminals would require six days, three hours, and seventeen minutes. Alternative Response: Making manual contact with two terminals at once i—<>
Another bout of static, then Grimmy's impassionate voice stating, ">Confirmation: Request received. Engaging standby protocols in five… Four…<>
">Wait, what?<>
Then the recording cut off with a pop, and the woman in the back turned around with her hands behind her back.
"My apologies, my Lords. That was the best I could do under the circumstances. The arrays weren't designed for replaying surveillance directly, but I believe if we could extract the—"
She abruptly fell silent when Crowy removed his hand from the pedestal, and the whole chamber plunged into relative darkness again.
"I'm leaving."
"Lord Inanna, calm down," the Ninurta patriarch tried to stop him, but he was brushed off. "I'm certain that with time, we can discover the identities of these people and track them down to…"
"No. I know exactly who they are," Crowy hissed, and while he sounded furious, the corners of his lips were being stretched wide by an almost deranged grin. "And they have the key I've been looking for all this time!"
Oh. That's probably not good.
I figured it was best that I updated Judy about this development, so I shifted my point of view, and… nope, she didn't have her party glasses. Well, darn.
Since I was here already, I figured I might as well Far Glance around. Even though it was already dark outside, the train kept trucking down the rails, drawing a long moonlight shadow onto the surrounding fields. Its speed was considerably less breakneck than before, meaning Ammy must've found the speed controls. In fact, even at this moment, she was in the train engine's cab and discussing the control mechanisms with some of the sailors from the steam ship. She was pretty focused, so… maybe she really was into trains?
I made a mental note about that (so that I could tell Mike to get her a train-related gift and such), then moved on. The princess and Judy were mingling with the Abyssals and collecting information. As in, Elly was mingling, my lovely assistant was taking notes, as usual. The two large passenger cars attached to the steam engine weren't like the efficiently designed high-speed commuter trains of Critias. Since these were mainly for the elites of Abyssal society, they were closer to something like the Orient Express, just without the sleeping spaces. Each car had a mixture of seating cabins and communal areas, and the middle portion of the first one looked closer to a small salon than anything else. The Abyssals on board certainly treated it as such, so it was like my girlfriends were in the middle of a social gathering.
The other one was a diner car, though the scuffle with the Chimera left it in a tattered condition. It was probably why they were moving at a rather conservative pace, now that I thought about it. More importantly, this was where all the Fauns gathered, likely because they were less bothered by the holes in the ceiling and the missing windows, but so were Penny and Angie.
Even though the trains were pulled out of commission due to the civil war, there was a surprising abundance of food on board, and even the perishables were in perfectly good condition, meaning… Wait. Did the Abyss also have invisible ninja maids that restocked everything while nobody was watching?
Jokes aside, those two were busy raiding the proverbial pantry, while Josh and Snowy were…
"Where is he?" an unfamiliar voice yelled out as soon as I Far Glanced over, and I found Josh face-to-face with an equally unfamiliar girl.
She looked to be about Snowy's age, with shoulder-length pink-ish hair and an otherwise pretty face currently set into an ugly glare. The three of them were in a cabin near the junction of the two cars, with leather couches on both sides and a wide window giving a scenic view of the night outside. Josh was sitting, while the unknown girl and Snowy were standing by the door.
"I have no idea why you're asking me that. It's not like I even know him that well," Josh excused himself, but the girl didn't relent.
"He came this way! I'm sure of it!"
"Lady Ninhursag, please calm down," Snowy chided her with a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's somewhere else."
"But…" The pink-haired girl tried to protest, but then she soon gave up and stomped her feet. "Fine! Come, Lady Inanna-Dunning! Let's look elsewhere!"
With that, the two left, though not before my sister sent a knowing look Josh's way. They decided to check out the other car, and as soon as the coast was clear, there were some odd sounds coming from the spot where Josh was seated. He let out a groan and got up, and the seat of the couch he was sitting on popped open, revealing a spacious storage compartment, as well as the person hiding inside.
"Ah, thanks, boss! You're a lifesaver!" Harend Ninurta beamed at Josh and clumsily crawled out of the storage space.
"You're just delaying the inevitable. This train isn't big enough to hide forever," my friend pointed out, but the young noble shrugged it off.
"Maybe, but I know my dear cousin," he responded glibly as he turned his head in a circle, then sat down. "Once she tires herself out, she's going to be much less likely to strangle me. Anyhow, I owe you one, boss."
"Sure, you do," Josh muttered a tad morosely, then he sat down as well, and for a while they both stared out the window without a word. I was just about to move on, but then my friend suddenly asked an unexpected question. "What exactly is your deal, anyway?"
"Pardon?"
Hareng looked completely stumped by the question, but Josh didn't relent.
"Don't play dumb. None of what you did today made a lick of sense." He crossed his arms and stared down the guy for a few seconds, and continued in a low, even voice. "You switched sides immediately after we captured you, tagged along like we've been friends for ages, and then you stuck around even when you had multiple opportunities to run away. Heck, we even ran into your father twice, and you didn't even try to escape!" He paused for a dramatic beat, then echoed his first question in a much sterner voice. "So? What is your deal?"
Hareng remained silent for a while, then asked, "Why do you want to know?"
Now it was Josh's turn to think for a moment.
"I have a good friend." As he spoke, he gradually relaxed his posture and eventually put his hands on his thighs. "He's a bit odd at times, but he has saved my skin more times than I can count, and whenever something crazy happens, he would be the one to sit everyone down and get us to talk to each other, so that there would be no stupid misunderstandings." He paused again and looked the young noble in the eye. "But maybe more importantly, you remind me of him."
"I do?"/"He does?"
Hareng and I blurted that out at the same time, and Josh nodded like it was obvious.
"Not how he is right now, but how he used to be when I first met him. Easy-going. Affable. Always trying to be funny."
"That does sound like me!" Hareng declared with a grin that quickly withered when Josh continued.
"Except now I know that it was just a front. What is the word? Right, a façade. Lots of things happened since then, but as I understand, he used to act like that because he had secrets. Dangerous ones, and if he didn't lose his… I mean, the particulars are not important, but the point is that if he didn't change, things could've turned out really dangerous. For everyone."
"Are you telling me that I'm putting up a front?" Hareng asked back, his voice cracking just a bit. "And that I'm dangerous?"
"Could be. That's why I want to know what your deal is."
The other guy's expression turned solemn, and after a long beat, he quietly asked, "Why do you think I would tell you?"
"Because you owe me one." Josh patted the couch he was sitting on, causing Hareng's eyes to shake and eventually settle into an annoyed squint.
"I don't think we're close enough for me to spill out my whole life story, but…" He looked out the window, his expression turning darker by the second. "How about I tell you a tale?"
"Is this gonna be a fairy tale, or one of those 'thinly veiled allegory' kinda tales?"
"… Shut up and listen," Hareng growled, and this time he was the one who crossed his arms. "Our tale begins with a child. No, a prince. The youngest prince, even. Fairy-tale enough for you?" When Josh didn't respond, he let out a grunt and continued. "He lived in a big, big castle with his family, but it was a cold place. The little prince could make everyone like him, but because others knew this, they were always suspicious of him. Always hated him. So, one day, the brothers of the little prince tricked him into going on a hunting trip to make his father proud. But unbeknownst to them, the little prince knew that it was a trap, that the servants following him were meant to carve out his heart and present it as proof, so… the little prince laid a trap of his own instead. And then he killed them all. The end."
The whiplash was palpable, and Josh blurted out a stunned, "Whoa. The allegory broke down real quick at the end, didn't it?"
"What did you expect? I don't owe you enough to tell you every nitty-gritty detail," the other guy huffed, but Josh wasn't giving up yet.
"Okay, so let me see if I get this straight. You had like, a succession battle kinda thing with your brothers? Like in the dramas? And then they tried to set you up, but you figured out what's going to happen, so you had the Ninhursags' Fauns ambush you to get rid of the assassins, but then, while running away, you kinda bumped into us by accident, and then decided to change plans. Then I guess you followed us to… kill your brothers and pin the murder on us?"
"Well, aren't you the sharpest cookie in the cookie-drawer," Hareng responded, but before Josh could point out it was a mixed-up idiom (or at least I hoped he realised), he continued with a dismissive, "To be fair, considering how ridiculously huge of a mess you guys have made, I don't think a few dead assholes even register on the scale."
"But… they were your family, weren't they?"
"Were, being the operating word," the young noble responded in a chipper yet ominous voice. "And good riddance, I say. They had it coming."
"Then what? You got discovered in the act, and so you're just… sticking with us to avoid the consequences?"
"Hey, don't act like it's a bad plan." Hareng shrugged and leaned back on his chair. "It worked out perfectly so far. I'm alive, my asshole brothers are dead, and I'm on my way to the other end of the Abyss."
"And what makes you think we won't just throw you off the train?"
"If you wanted to, you would've done that already," Harend noted with feigned disinterest. "Here. You've uncovered all my dangerous secrets? Are you happy now?"
"Happy? Nah." Josh shook his head and sat straighter. "But now I know we're all on the same boat. That means I no longer have to watch my back when you're around."
The other guy let out a derisive huff, followed by an equally acidic, "Was that supposed to be a vote of confidence?"
"Sure." Josh's response took the young noble aback, but then his expression turned sour again when he added, "Also, for the record, you definitely were the worst hostage ever."
"Oh, give me a break you—" Before he could finish, the door of the cabin suddenly sprang open and he let out a startled, "Eeek!"
"I knew it!" the voice of the pink-haired girl called out, but she was pushed aside by Snowy entering the cabin in a hurry.
"Josh, come quick. Something powerful is coming out way, and Angie… I-I mean, Deus wants everyone on alert."
"Aw, crap…"
Josh got up and dashed out, only to be replaced by the Ninhursag girl, who immediately put the other guy into some kind of choke hold, once again looking as hapless as if the previous discussion was an illusion. More importantly, Josh and Snowy opened the door to the junction between the cars and jumped before spreading their wings.
In just a couple of short seconds, they landed on the top of the battered dining car, with Angie/Deus already there, bow at the ready.
"We have incoming from the sinistral side!" she called out, followed by a slightly more flustered, "The left! She means the left!"
Ignoring the spatial terminology disagreement between the two, Josh and my sister formed up next to her, and he asked, "Where are the others?"
"I… asked Penny to tell Eleanor, but…" Snowy started, but then she fell silent and pointed at the rapidly approaching light source from the left of the train tracks. "I don't think they'll get here on time."
"The train can't take much more punishment. We should intercept them mid-air, and then—"
"Josh! Angie! Wait!" the princess's voice interrupted him, but instead of joining them, she was leaning out of a nearby window and waving her arms to get their attention. "False alarm! It's friendly!"
"Someone friendly? Down here?" Deus muttered, but then as the light in the sky came closer, she finally put her bow down and mumbled, "Now that you mention it, that glow does look familiar…"
In less than a minute, the reddish-orange streak in the sky caught up with the train, and after making a circle in the air, it beelined towards the trio on the rooftop. There was no impact as it landed, only a sudden gust of black mist, and as the light in its center died down, out stepped a familiar figure.
"Children? Are you all right?"
"Yes, mostly," Josh stepped up first with a weary smile. "You're a sight for sore eyes, Miss Fidèle…"
And then he got kicked in the back of his leg by his girlfriend for that, but that was a completely different issue altogether.
The fright of what promised to be yet another battle was over before you knew it, and soon there was something like an unofficial meeting afoot inside one of the passenger cabins. The salon car would've been more comfortable, but they didn't want to discuss official matters in front of the rest of the Ninhursag refugees, so the major players picked the biggest cabin of the train and crammed themselves in it.
The group naturally included Josh, since he was our protagonist and whatnot, and it would've been weird to leave him out. Oddly enough, that did not apply to Angie, as she decided to sit this one out. Penny and Elly also excused themselves, leaving only the class rep, Snowy, and Judy present from our group. On the other side, we had the Shamash matriarch, naturally, as well as the head of House Ninhursag and his wife. So far, it was all very sensible, but the last spot was filled out by someone rather unexpected.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Josh asked, more out of politeness than actual care, and Hareng Ninurta flashed a toothy grin.
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm used to it."
He was apparently nearly choked out by the pink-haired Ninhursag girl from before. He called her 'cousin', so was she the daughter of the couple here, or was she otherwise related? In any case, once everyone had settled down, Fidèle opened the discussion by lightly clearing her throat.
"I believe I owe you an apology, children. You must've gone through a lot due to our miscalculation."
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Snowy cut in with a near panicked, "Ah, please don't lower your head, Lady Shamash!" and repeatedly shook her head. "What happened wasn't your fault. No one could've predicted the tunnel would collapse so suddenly."
Before she could respond, the Ninhursag patriarch let out a soft huff and said, "I've heard the gist of what happened, but to think your presence in our lands was due to sheer coincidence…"
"We all got lucky, didn't we?" Hareng chimed in on the side, but nobody paid him much attention, as usual.
"In any case, it was my oversight that led you to a dangerous situation," Fidèle insisted, but then she glanced at the portly man, now looking a bit more presentable after cleaning up a bit, and a soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "But as Lord Ninhursag just said, if not for our miscalculation, the situation at Digirmah could've developed into a considerably more dire one, both for House Ninhursag and the Noble Alliance as a whole."
"Veeery lucky," Hareng echoed himself, still to nobody's care.
"With all due respect, Lady Shamash, things are dire back home," the Ninhursag wife noted with a mixture of outward politeness and restrained annoyance, but Josh of all people came to the rescue.
"I mean, yes, but you're all alive and well. Isn't that better than being captured, or worse?"
"The young man makes a wise point," Fidèle backed him up, followed by a shallow sigh. "I only wish that I could've come to your aid sooner, but my abilities are greatly restricted by daylight, even here in the Abyss."
"Ah, because of the vamp thing, right?" Josh noted absently, and suddenly the air in the cabin froze over. He quickly realised he had committed a faux pas, and he hurriedly asked, "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Josh!" Snowy hissed while unsubtly prodding him with her elbow, which was pretty out of character. In other words, she was clearly freaking out a bit. "That word is considered very, very impolite here!"
"Is it?" the guy muttered, and while it was clear that he didn't quite understand, he looked at the Shamash matriarch and backpedalled all the same. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to offend."
She responded with a dignified, "Don't worry, child. No offence was taken." She paused, on purpose, then changed her tone to be slightly more casual, and she admitted, "But yes, you are essentially right. Due to my nature as an Abyssal vampire, my powers wax and wane with sunlight. During the daytime, I couldn't even sense the tracking spell on my token. I set out as soon as I did, but by then, you had already accomplished much."
Josh was taken aback by the sudden praise and scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish, "We did, didn't we?"
"Quite," she asserted, and gestured towards the Ninhursag couple. "You have not only rescued the Lord of a House from a rebellion, but you also extracted the core of the Faun Ninhursag, as well as the heart of the administrative apparatus. Without them, it will take precious time for the traitors to solidify their rule over the territory, meaning their options to mobilize and strike the Noble Alliance in the back are limited."
"I also made sure to destroy the hard drives in my office before we were forced to retreat," the patriarch noted with a pained tinge in his voice. "It was a sacrifice, but it's better than letting my secrets… I mean, our secrets, exposed to those cursed traitors!"
Seemingly not even hearing the second sentence, the class rep blurted out a shocked, "Hard drives?" and drew everyone's attention to her. "Sorry, I was just… I didn't know you had computers here. In the Abyss."
"You must jest, my fair maiden!" Hareng chimed in with his usual chipper tone and flashed a toothy grin. "Of course we do! Our family made its fortune by importing goods from the great outside. If you need something specific delivered, be it luxury goods, hardware, or entertainment, the Ninurtas will get it for you, for the right price! It's a lucrative business, and it was only natural that the main House would be the first in line when acquiring such things."
"And then your father used all that wealth and influence to bleed us dry and turned on us," the Ninhursag woman hissed at him, and Hareng hurriedly showed his palms.
"Hold on, my dear madam! I'm not denying any of that, I'm just explaining the facts to the fair maiden." He paused meaningfully, but seeing that she was still glaring at him, the young Ninurta noble also added, "Also, need I remind you that the reason why our family rose to such wealth and prominence was because the great-grandfather of Lord Ninhursag himself declared that bartering with the commoners of the outside world was a demeaning task the Main House should not undertake? My family was delegated to the task by decree, while the main house continued to reap its benefits to this day. Certainly, the recent events were a true tragedy, but you have to admit that they were all avoidable if you only—"
"Enough," the patriarch cut in, sounding more tired than anything. "The decisions of my forebears were theirs to make, and the consequences are ours to bear. I will not deny that, and neither should you excuse the actions of your own blood."
"Oh, I wasn't. I was just stating the facts, for the benefit of the people not in the know."
After saying that, Hareng flashed another smile in Ammy's direction, followed by a playful wink, but she was naturally non-receptive.
"Let us try to avoid such tangents," the Shamash matriarch interjected again and lightly tapped her feet against the floor to show her impatience.
"I agree," Judy concurred while taking notes, but then turned to the patriarch and asked, "Once the meeting is over, may I further inquire about the imports and economics of the Abyss?"
He was taken aback, but after some hesitation, he firmly nodded.
"Certainly. I would also like to hear more about you and the… Peacemaker in return." Oddly enough, he wasn't looking at Judy, but Fidèle when he said that, and when she didn't show any reaction, he relaxed a bit. "For now, we should discuss what to do next."
"The train is currently heading towards Samsatu, and we should arrive before the break of dawn," the Shamash matriarch noted, as if waiting for just this question. "While the railway is connected to my capital, there is not a single soul managing the switches at the moment. I recommend that we settle down there for the time being. The people of Ninhursag require rest and rations, so I'll call my people and set up a base of operations in the town."
"Um… excuse me? Lady Shamash?" Snowy interjected, and once she gave her the go, she continued with, "It's important that we reach New Larsa as soon as possible. Are you sure we need to stop there?"
Based on what I remembered from my sister's notes, New Larsa was the capital of the Shamash territory, meaning it housed their castle, as well as their Mana Well.
"There's no need to rush," Fidèle insisted. "With two Lords of the Abyss by your side, never mind your own considerable abilities, the Lord of Inanna and his lackeys would not dare to strike carelessly."
"Certainly, but to achieve our goal, we need access to the Mana Well of House Shamash. The sooner, the better," my sister insisted in a polite yet unyielding tone, yet Fidèle didn't relent.
"If it is imperative, we'll make haste, but securely transporting this many people will require time and organization. I can promise you I'll personally let you witness the majesty of our Mana Well, but in time."
"Yes, but…"
Before Snowy could further insist, Josh raised a hand to stall her and glanced at the class rep.
"Ammy? Please show it to her."
"Ah… just a moment…" After fidgeting for a bit, she opened the hiking backpack she had sitting by her side all this time and gingerly pulled out a familiar item. "H-Here…"
The silence in the room was palpable, though not literal, as the rhythmic clattering of the train wheels under them was quite loud. At last, Fidèle gingerly reached out towards the inert blue cube, only to pull her hand back well before she made contact, looking as if she had just touched a hot stove with her finger.
"Is that…?"
"Our Mana Well, yes," the Ninhursag Patriarch declared, much to her further shock. "I know not how they did it, but I saw the moment with my own eyes, so I can guarantee its authenticity." He paused and then glanced at Judy. "Remember our deal."
"I don't need to. We made a contract."
My dear assistant's reply was a bit sassier than usual, and it drew the attention of the Shamash matriarch to her.
"Contract?"
"We made an agreement," Josh answered her at once and gestured at the cube in Ammy's hands. "We need this thing right now, so we made a deal. In return for saving the family, we got… what was the term Elly used?"
Judy supplied, "Temporary custody," to him, and Josh clicked his tongue.
"Yes, that. We promised to keep it safe and return it before we go back home, but until then, we can use it for our plans."
"And that plan is?" Hareng tried to prompt them, but Josh shook his head.
"Can't tell yet. Apparently, the less people know about it, the more likely it is to succeed."
"Is that true?"
Ammy responded to the young Ninurta's question with a world-weary, "Destiny works in mysterious and thoroughly confusing ways," and then she put away the inert Mana Well again.
Meanwhile, the Shamash matriarch looked reasonably troubled by this development, and she eventually stated, "We will limit our stay in Samsatu to a single day. We'll gather rations and necessities, and set out in the evening." She turned to the other high noble in the cabin next. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask Lord Ninhursag and his retinue to stay there until my people can arrange for long-term hospitality."
"We understand, Lady Shamash. We also have much to do. We have to send correspondence and try to warn our loyal subjects." He let out a troubled sigh and stroked his beard. "If only Blaireau were with us. He could've taken care of all of it overnight."
"Who?"
Josh's idle question was answered by another sigh and a curt, "My spymaster. He was travelling under cover during the coup and hasn't returned to the castle yet. I just hope he hears the news in time and manages to escape our territory before the accursed Ninurtas find him."
It was at this point that his wife, clearly incensed by the mere mention of said spymaster, spoke up with a suspicious, "Now that you mention him, are you sure he isn't one of the traitors?"
"What? Wife! What sort of madness makes you say that?"
She squinted at him, but when he met her scrutiny head-on, she explained, "Blaireau has been traveling a lot without telling anyone about it, and when I asked him, he told me he was conducting a census in our territory. When I pointed out that it's not his job, he deflected the issue and has avoided me ever since. I didn't think much of it at the time, and I imagined he was just involved with yet another ploy concerning the Elder Council, but seeing how he disappeared just before the Ninurtas staged their rebellion, I'm now certain he had to be involved in some way."
"No, wife, he was just…" He glanced around with a guilty glint in his eyes, but he quickly reined in his panic and put on a poker face. "Blaireau was simply… working on a secret assignment I personally entrusted to him."
"One that even I didn't know about?"
"Yes. It was… very clandestine."
While their argument was going on, Josh decided to take the reins of the conversation and said, "So the short-term plan is that we spend the day in this town, gather what we need, and then set out towards the other town at dusk on…" He paused and glanced at the Shamash woman. "… train?"
"No. It makes our path naturally predictable. I'll secure a different means of transportation while we're in Samsatu, while the train…"
She paused and glanced at the bickering Ninhursag couple, but didn't interrupt them. Seeing that, Hareng used the opportunity to interject.
"Why don't we have the railway staff fix up our ride and prepare new carriages? It might throw the spies of the Emperor off the scent, and even if it doesn't, at least everyone here could use it to get to New Larsa in comfort. Two birds with one stone!"
"There is merit in what you say," Fidèle agreed, if tentatively, but her eyes remained glued to the patriarch, and especially his odd reaction to the mere mention of Bel of the Abyss. "We'll consider this further once we reach the train station, but before that, there's one more thing we must discuss."
Seeing that her attention was focused on him, the Ninhursag Lord lightly cleared his throat and turned to face her.
"Yes, Lady Shamash?"
"Can I presume that, in light of the recent events, House Ninhursag is no longer neutral in the civil war?"
"You… are unfortunately not wrong in your assessment."
"Are you ready to negotiate joining the Noble Alliance now?"
The portly man looked conflicted, but then his wife leaned over to whisper something into his ear, and after a few seconds of intense eyebrow-wriggling, he visibly deflated.
"I'm not sure how much value your Alliance will find in a Lord without a land or Mana Well, but if you're willing to take us, we'll provide whatever support we can."
"Don't put yourself down too much. You still control the Faun Ninhursag, and as for the Mana Well, the Ninurtas don't have it either, now do they?" Fidèle glanced at Ammy's bag, with a borderline amused smirk on the edge of her lips, but she reined it in and gestured at them. "You did well, children. Rest up, and let us adults do the tedious political negotiations on our own."
"Do you need contract paper?" Judy chimed in, dead serious. "We have some more if you need it. We can also help with the writing and the signing."
Snowy added, "Eleonore says it's good practice," in lieu of an explanation, though I wasn't sure Fidèle even remembered the princess, considering they only met once.
"Maybe tomorrow." She flashed a smile and gestured towards the door of the cabin. "Make sure you get at least a few hours of sleep. We'll all be busy tomorrow."
Nobody argued, and as soon as they were out, they met the rest of the group eagerly waiting nearby.
"So? How did it go?" Penny asked before anyone else could get a word in, looking expectantly at Josh.
He responded with a flat, "We're still on track, no pun intended," and then a quick summary of the discussion.
"So we're supposed to sleep?" Elly mused with a finger on her chin. "How exactly? And where? Everything's so crowded, we can't even put down our sleeping bags!"
Just when they were starting to grumble over that, Ammy proposed, "There's a padded bunk in the back of the crew compartments." When the others looked at her expectantly, she clarified, "It's for the conductors, so it's small, but I think two people can fit on it. I don't think it's going to be very comfortable, though."
Josh dismissed her concern with a flippant, "No big deal," and then he hummed a short tune. His whole body lit up with colourless magic, though only the class rep could see that. "We have recovery arias. So long as we can get an hour of sleep, it'll make up the difference."
"We sure do!" Angie declared with a grin and then grabbed Josh with one hand and raised the other over her head. "Since we're going to refresh everyone else, I'm calling dibs on the first round!"
Nobody objected, and so the class rep led the group to the train cab and everyone called it a day. It was certainly a long and eventful one, and they deserved some rest without any interruptions. Well, except for that one time when Hareng argued that, as the odd ones out, he should sleep with Ammy, so he got thrown back into the passenger car. Other than that, no interruptions whatsoever.
The ripples of the big incident in the Ninhursag capital reached far and wide, but after a day or two, they became part of the background noise as the Abyssal Civil War continued to trudge along. So did the gang, though in a more literal sense.
They spent the day in the small town on the outskirts of the lands of House Shamash, and it was unexpectedly uneventful. They got a small stipend from Fidèle, and they used it to prepare for the next leg of the journey. My girlfriends were in charge of supplies and spent most of the day shopping. They stuck out of the crowd due to their clothes, which was true for everyone, but thanks to a couple of Faun guards on loan from House Ninhursag following them everywhere, nobody questioned them.
In contrast, the childhood friend couple declared that resting was also very important, and spent their free time trying out the local cuisine. They didn't have a particularly high opinion of the taste profile (as I mentioned before, the spice situation in the Abyss was spotty at best), but the novelty apparently made up for the lack of gastronomic intensity.
In the meantime, my sisters used their Concealment Sigils to sneak all over the place and try to collect unfiltered news around the train station and the nearby marketplace. The Faun guards assigned to them were rather perplexed by this at first, but eventually gave up and just played along, acting as decoys for the girls while they skulked around. To my eyes, they looked like a pair of rambunctious kids playing secret spies, and they didn't gather much intel, but it was cute, so I approved.
While all of this was going on, Ammy was mostly following Judy and Elly around, seemingly endlessly fascinated by the ingenious touches of magical engineering the Abyssals used to bridge the gaps between the various imported human technologies they reverse-engineered over the decades. I didn't quite share her enthusiasm (maybe I was just spoiled on the magitech front by Fred and my stay in the Elysium), but she seemed to have fun, so who was I to judge?
Oh, and Hareng was there too. For some reason.
Anyhow, the day passed rather uneventfully. Josh and Angie had a fun little romantic escapade at one point, involving learning about the local marriage customs and a scenic sunset and such, but it was a private matter. I had way too many things to pay attention to, so I didn't linger long enough to see how it turned out. It was probably wholesome. Or awkward, if Deus got involved. Or maybe both.
In any case, it wasn't until the sky grew dark that everyone gathered once again at the hotel near the train station. It wasn't a particularly upscale establishment, and despite checking in, they didn't plan to stay there. As soon as things grew quiet, the whole group sneaked out the back door to a pair of old-timey cars waiting for them, yet apparently even that was too conspicuous, because said vehicles were ditched as soon as they reached the edge of town.
The Shamash matriarch had declared, "We'll continue on foot from here until we reach Buduhudug, then we'll go through the Sippar valley, and we should arrive at the outskirts of New Larsa within three days. From there, we can continue in the air."
Translation: They trekked through the woods at night until they reached a village, camped outside until the next evening, then they continued on through a shallow river valley. It was a hassle, and by no means a very efficient way to get to their destination, but there wasn't much of a choice. During our daily ten-minute chat, I managed to warn Judy about Crowy's intentions, so Fidèle decided to be extra-clandestine when putting together their travel plan.
It made some sense. I mean, they already established that the railways were a no-go, because they were both extremely visible and predictable, and flying was out of the question as well, since Angie's and Josh's Celestial wings were waaay too conspicuous. I personally thought that a car ride would've been safe enough, but the Shamash matriarch was adamant about making everything as sneaky as possible, and considering how few cars were on the roads, she didn't want to risk being spotted.
In retrospect, she was probably less worried about Crowy than Bel, and she was paying extra attention to the class rep (or rather, the inert Mana Well in her backpack), probably thinking that it would be his prime target.
As such, this part of the gang's journey turned into an ad-hoc hiking trip, complete with camping, outdoor cooking, and all the related tropes. It did a number on the group's less athletic members (read: Judy and Ammy), and the lack of hair-care made Elly's trademark ringlets disappear by the second day, but they didn't seem to hate the experience.
"The sun's rising," Josh said as he pointed at the horizon turning a lighter shade of red. "Should we set up camp?"
"Yes, let's settle down," Fidèle responded firmly and used her parasol to point in the distance. "Once we pass that hill, my city should be visible in the distance. If we continue at this pace, we should reach the outskirts before the next dawn."
While the gang definitely looked out of place in town, among the gothic architecture and the fancy Victorian-style outfits, she looked just as strange in the middle of the forest while wearing her usual black dress and carrying her fancy lace-trimmed parasol. She was even wearing high-heeled shoes! They weren't quite stilettos, but they definitely weren't mountaineering footwear, that's for sure. Though again, she kept up with the rest just fine, so maybe Abyssal vampires had magical hiking powers, or something. I mean, would that surprise anyone at this point?
"If we're that close, couldn't we just fly the rest of the distance?" Angie asked, and after a long beat, Fidèle put her parasol down and shook her head.
"We could, but it's best not to get complacent. Let us rest for now, and if there's no sign of the Emperor of his lackeys by the time New Larsa is within sight, we'll take to the air for the last stretch."
"Sounds good to me…" the class rep muttered before sitting down onto a fallen tree trunk. "My feet are killing me."
Penny chimed in with a hopeful, "I can't wait to sleep in a proper bed again," and put down her backpack.
"It would be nice," my other sister agreed as she followed her lead, and it was at this point that the group's third (or in this case, ninth) wheel spoke up.
"Worry not, my fair maidens! The goal is in sight, and our spirits are still strong!" Hareng declared with a toothy grin, and he looked almost as incongruous in the woods as the Shamash matriarch, with his bright blue swashbuckler pants and his unbuttoned tailcoat. "Leave the breakfast to me!"
He proceeded to take out a pot and made a bunch of delicate hand movements to create a ball of water, which he promptly guided into it with a soft splash.
"My fair maiden? May I ask for a flame?"
Ammy responded with a robotic, "Sure," and summoned a fist-sized fireball, the same kind she used to heat the firebox of the train before, and the young noble didn't waste any time setting up a tripod around it and then placing the pot on top.
Despite initial resistance, he somehow managed to wedge himself into the group yet again, and he just demonstrated the reason why Josh let him stick around. Being able to make water out of thin air meant they didn't have to bring fluids with them, which cut down on the weight and let them move ever so slightly faster.
Now, knowing how magic operated, I wasn't entirely sure if it was safe to drink that, but there were no issues so far, and I had a working theory about it. Snowy's icicles couldn't be melted because they were conjured. They were effectively magical constructs, and once the world recognised them as anomalous, they would sublimate out of existence. In contrast, Hareng condensed the water, probably out of moisture in the air, so it was considered to be 'natural' by the world, and thus safe for consumption.
If Ambrose heard that, he would probably spend half an hour explaining how one was Aetheric magic and the other was Material, meaning the second type was inherently superior and whatnot, but let's not get into that right now.
On a different note, his ability also made me wonder about the specialisations of the various Abyssals I'd met and seen so far. Snowy was all about ice and frost, while the Ninhursag patriarch would throw around lightning like it was his hammer and the whole universe was made of nails. Crowy's weirdly solid, inky shadow magic was a bit harder to classify, but it was still relatively consistent, so… were Abyssal powers based on elements? In the fantasy sense of the term, I mean?
But then again, Snowy also had her Sigils and could set up wards, and Crowy could apparently 'burn' mana, however the heck that worked, so it wasn't so clear cut, meaning… maybe their elemental preferences were related to their ancestry? Of course, by today it was probably more of a 'recessive gene lottery' than anything else, but if I presumed that the Abyssals had other bloodlines mixed in their lineage besides Celestials and dragons, it made a bit more sense. Maybe one of Hareng's distant ancestors was like a mythical sea-serpent or a leviathan.
Which, of course, made the fact that he nearly drowned when he was knocked out by Josh and sent overboard all the weirder, but I digress.
While he was busy setting up the makeshift camp stove, the others also settled down and started laying down their bags while chatting. For example, Elly was staring intently at the Abyssal preparing the broth, and then turned to Judy with a glint in her eyes.
"I'm serious! This is a sure-fire business opportunity!"
"And I heard you the first time you explained it, but I still think we shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch."
"But that's how commerce works! You have to hit the iron while it's hot and be the first on the market, before anyone else could get a foothold," she insisted and pointed at Hareng. "We can establish a brand-new trade route here! We can be the new Venice!"
By the sound of it, my princess also noticed the less-than-satisfactory spice-situation in the Abyss, and she was more than happy to remedy it her own way. My other girlfriend didn't exactly share her enthusiasm, though it might've been just the exhaustion speaking.
"Yes, I also read the history textbook, but we should discuss starting a trade monopoly after we rescue the Chief and make sure the world won't end."
It was at this point that Angie chimed in from behind with an upbeat, "Oh, come on, Judy! The world isn't going to end! Don't be silly!" and wagged her finger at them before diving back into her backpack again, looking for something.
My dear assistant looked over her shoulder and sent her a disapproving glance that said, 'No, you're silly! This is the finale of the narrative, so there has to be a world-ending threat. It's only logical!' but she didn't say that out loud and just shrugged her shoulders.
I kind of understood where she was coming from. I mean, the end-game plots of shounen stories, be they the battle, the harem, or the battle-harem varieties, had a bad habit of falling into one of three distinct tracks: it was either 'becoming the master', aka reaching the highest accolade in whatever gimmick the world revolved around, stopping a world-ending threat, or killing god. We had no gods, and Josh wasn't trying to become the next pirate king or whatever, so by process of elimination, that meant there would be a world-ending threat.
It was indeed logical, except for the part where we've yet to see a single indication of such a thing. No rumours about sealed demon kings (and no, Bel didn't count), no ancient conspiracies trying to mind-control the world with the moon, and definitely no giant mallets in space. Yet, as much as I wanted to dismiss her, my inner cynic said that she was probably going to be right one way or the other. I didn't worry too much, because the Simulacrum was a 'legacy setting' and the Emergents wouldn't let it blow up, but still, the possibility was there.
Meanwhile, Penny and Fidèle circled the campsite as a safety measure, while Snowy joined Hareng's cooking efforts. Seeing that Angie was still busy with her bag, Ammy was practically dozing off, and my girlfriends were still locked in a discussion about the spice trade, Josh grudgingly walked over to the camp stove.
"Ah, my fair maiden? Can I be so bold as to ask you to get the dried meat?"
"Not at all. I'm happy to help, Sir Ninurta."
True to her words, my Abyssal sister seemed to be having fun fussing around the fire, so Josh didn't bother her and addressed the other guy instead.
"What were we talking about before we hit camp?" he asked, and Hareng froze mid-motion while stirring the pot. "Ah, right. I asked why you're here, didn't I?"
"Come on, boss. Why must you wound my poor feelings?"
Hareng pouted his lips and tried to look deeply hurt, but Josh just rolled his eyes at him and insisted all the same.
"No, seriously. I'm not saying you're not useful, especially for stuff like this, but I still can't figure out why you decided to stick with us. Didn't you want to find a safe place away from your home?"
"Well, yes. I did." He flashed a grin and used the wooden spoon in his hand to gesture at the group. "This is the safest spot on this whole island, don't you agree?"
It was at this point that Snowy returned, and she was obviously listening in, because she told him, "Um… I think I understand your point, but we are heading towards danger."
"No, you're not," he argued back and made a vague motion towards the Shamash matriarch. "You're heading towards the Lady Shamash's castle, the headquarters of the Noble Alliance, which is the second safest place on the island, I believe."
"Uuu… M-Maybe, but I still think you would've been safer if you stayed with Lord Ninhursag and his family in Samsatu."
"Ah! To decide between the safety of the shackles of family and the safety of the company of the fairest maidens of the land! It was not a difficult choice at all!" he swooned, but then he shook his head and added, "Also, just between you and me, being in my cousin's presence is anything but safe," in a considerably less theatrical manner.
"… Are you that afraid of her?" Josh asked with an edge of skepticism, and the other guy's hand once again stopped stirring the pot. "What's your deal with her, anyway?"
"What do you mean, boss?"
Josh squinted and uttered a flat, "Don't play dumb. It's not normal to get your head locked in a choke hold as soon as you meet."
"We used to do that sometimes!" Angie chimed in from the back, causing Josh to exhale an exasperated breath.
"Yes, but you didn't actually try to choke me out."
The Celestial girl responded with a half-hearted, "Fair," followed by, "By the by? Have you seen my emergency gummy bears?"
"Inside the side pocket."
"Gotcha! Thanks!"
While his girlfriend was busy with that, Josh's attention returned to the Abyssal guy, and he squinted again. Seeing that he wasn't going to relent, Hareng gave up and lightly tapped his wooden spoon on the rim of the pot, as if to punctuate what he was about to say.
"If you really want to know, let's just say that we used to play a lot when we were kids, and I might've accidentally imprinted on her. Are you happy now?"
"You accidentally what?"
"Ah…" Unlike Josh, Snowy seemed to immediately understand, and she explained, "It's an unconscious thing that can happen for Seducers, especially when we're young or under a lot of stress."
"Yes. That." Hareng concurred and exhaled a long sigh. "I just wanted to test my abilities on someone my age, and she didn't seem to mind. It was all so innocent and harmless and wholesome… how was I supposed to know it would stick!?"
Josh interjected with a hand raised, "Hold on, let me digest this… Are you saying you seduced her… by accident?"
"Um… I-It can happen…" Snowy insisted, looking extra awkward.
"But she's your cousin, isn't she?"
"Yes, and that's the problem!" Hareng agreed, but just as Josh was about to relax, he threw a different curveball. "I just turned ten back then, and yet the Elder Council immediately started pushing for an engagement! My father thought I did it on purpose, to gain leverage on the main family! It was the only time he ever praised me, but I'm too young and handsome to be fettered down with the first girl who falls for me like that! Whether she's a good match or not, I want to at least have the opportunity to see the world and widen my horizons and my options, you know? Arranged marriages are so last century, don't you agree?"
"Oh? Are you two betrothed?" my sister asked, looking surprisingly delighted.
"Well, we were. Before the coup," Hareng grumbled as he threw some dried vegetables into the pot. "I thought that was the end of it, but then we got stuck on that train together, and I had to get away before she convinced the Lord Ninhursag otherwise."
"But… she is your cousin!" Josh blurted out, and the other guy looked at him like he was slow.
"Yes, second cousin once removed. I believe we already made that abundantly clear. Didn't we, my fair maiden?"
Suddenly put on the spot, Snowy sputtered, "I-I believe Sir Ninurta is right," completely missing the core of Josh's objection.
By the sound of it, the Abyssal noble houses were doing some Ptolemaic family engineering, which… wasn't that unexpected, to be honest. I mean, they were aristocrats, and with only seven main Houses on the island consisting of just a couple hundred people, I wouldn't have been surprised if their family tree resembled the roots of a mangrove forest.
All in all, it was a rather uneventful morning, with the group chatting, then eating breakfast consisting of the soup and some travel bread (aka re-branded hardtack), plus some snacks. The Shamash matriarch didn't have any of that, which made me wonder: what did Abyssal vampires eat, anyway? That question never got answered, but I felt fairly confident in saying that she probably wasn't going to drink anyone's blood. Maybe she was a new-age emotional vampire who fed on people's aura, or something.
Once the sun rose above the horizon, Snowy set down some more concealment Sigils, everyone took out their sleeping bags, and they got ready to turn in for the day. It was almost a routine at this point; travel under the shroud of night, sleep during the day, avoid trouble. Under normal circumstances, that would've been the end of my observations, ready to move on to greener pastures, but just as I was about to return to my body and see if Ollie was up yet, my knightly sister's alarmed voice pulled me back.
"Erm… Lady Shamash?"
"Yes, child?" the matriarch asked with a motherly smile, but her visage quickly hardened when she saw the troubled expression on Penny's face. "Is there a problem?"
"Maybe…" she responded weakly, her hand on Snowy's shoulder, who was just about to settle down. Once she got her attention, she pointed at the clear sky visible between the trees and asked, "That's the direction of the city, right? Where we're heading?"
"Hm? Yes?" my Abyssal sister nodded while straining her eyes.
"You are correct," Fidèle confirmed as she stepped up to the two and also gazed in the same direction. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary."
"N-No, I'm not saying there is, but…" Penny stammered and pointed slightly to the left. "… but if the city is in that direction, what's that way?"
By this point, the rest of the group got up as well and joined them. Angie, in particular, put a hand over her brows and rose to her tiptoes, as if that would somehow magically let her see through the foliage any better.
"Is that smoke?"
Or maybe it did, because until she said so, I didn't notice the wisps of black smoke sneaking through the air.
"A forest fire?" Ammy proposed, but the matriarch shot the idea down right away.
"No. There are only pastures and farmlands in that direction. There's no cover. It's why we're taking this route through the hinterlands."
The next one to speak up was Judy, though it was more of a prompt than anything.
"Meaning the only flammable thing there should be…"
"There are a few small villages that way," Fidèle confirmed, and then they all twitched when Hareng let out a loud 'A-ha!' and hammered his palm with his fist.
"I get it!" he declared proudly and pointed in the direction of the smoke. "The Inannas must be losing their patience, so they're setting fire to innocent hamlets to draw us out! That's exactly what I would do if I were an Emperor, or a Herald!" He paused and simultaneously crossed his arms. "Actually, no. I wouldn't. It's a puerile plan. There's no way we're blowing our cover for something this insignificant when we're just a day's walk away from our destination, right?" When he didn't get immediate agreement, he stressed again, "Right?"
There was another beat of silence, then Josh looked at the Shamash matriarch.
"We should take a detour and take a closer look."
"It's foolhardy, but if they are indiscriminately attacking the people of my land, I'm obliged to put an end to it."
Josh let out a hum in approval and turned to the rest.
"Sorry, guys, naptime's postponed."
Reactions ranged from a 'No biggie!' from my princess to a disappointed 'Aw…' from the class rep, but most importantly, Hareng continued to eye the gang with shock clearly written on his face, eventually culminating in a dejected, "Oh, bother. Maybe I should've stayed with my cousin, after all…"