บท 54: You dropped something
"My Lady, we have to go back to the city now," Captain Morio was almost getting forceful with the princess despite her outranking him.
"No! We. Wait." Lady Maara intoned every word slowly, quelling any forcefulness in the captain and his people. She was on a horse, another one given to her by the captain.
As they watched, Lady Ellen came out of the forest into the clearing they were all at. Lady Maara rode the horse to her to receive her.
"You dropped something," she said.
Lady Ellen had been stressed beyond belief. While she was concerned for Barda, deep down she knew he would somehow pull through okay. It was her other people she was worried about. The news that she was receiving was not encouraging. So far, it was confirmed that Sten, along with most of her ranged division, had been lost.
She had also personally seen Nada fall. It had been heart-wrenching to watch someone like fall, but she had been thick in battle and couldn't pause to process it. With 2 commanders down, she also knew she had lost almost all her adventurer team members.
In such a state of mind, she couldn't process the princess' joke, much less respond to it. She just gave her a blank stare.
"Here," Seeing the state of mind the person she considered a friend was in, she gave her back something she had recovered from her fight with Sir Masked Twin Blades. When he had been fighting, he had used several weapons, not just the ordinary sword he had on.
At that time, he had used a sword that he was unfamiliar with. At that time, he tossed it away to draw his rapiers. Only then had he made his get-away. She had picked up the sword, and would you know it, it was the famous sword she had been jealous of. She then handed it back to its true owner.
That cleared up some of the fog in Lady Ellen's mind, but it only served to remind her of him. "Where is he, did he make it out?" She couldn't lose him, especially not him too.
"He'll be okay, come on, he's Barda, what can get him?" Batoo tried to assure the distraught commander. Against all odds, Batoo had survived the monster attack. Not by luck though, he had tried to follow Barda. That single act had saved him. Had he remained where he was, the dragons' attacks would have destroyed him.
"You dropped something," Lady Maara said as she turned to the new arrival. She handed him something that he had used to save her.
"My arrow, thank you, Your Majesty," The moment Barda spoke, everyone felt as though a god had descended on the battlefield.
"My Lady, now may we go," Captain Morio asked insistently. Having not been on the battlefield, he didn't know the feats Barda had accomplished. By now, Barda had reset his power levels back to levels he was used to. It was satisfying to know he had this hidden ability to go berserk at a critical moment. In gamer terms, it was nothing short of a molding ability, or a berserk skill.
"Let's go," She cooed warmly since she now had Barda by her side. She was now more like a doll princess, not the scary monster she had been a while back.
It was a hard ride back to the city. Captain Morio had updated the princess of the current on-going attack. He was not yet up to date with the latest development in the city. The one thing he was worried about was that the Gumina landing party might try and encircle the city. That way, cutting off the entry of her majesty and preventing her return, maybe even making a play at abducting her. For this reason, Captain Morio wanted them to hurry back home.
What they found confounded anything the captain expected. He knew Tristan would be close to being under siege, but a city that size could last a hundred years under siege without feeling anything. It was built to withstand siege warfare and was self-sufficient in terms of food and other basic needs. They would feel the pinch of losing trade, their main economic activity.
However, Tristan was not at war. There was no usual cacophony of war and destruction that ensued. Instead, Tristan was eerie silent, dead quiet. Unnaturally so. You get the point. They could see soldiers on the wall and the gates, but they were not fighting, something seemed to have changed.
The smoking houses and the 10 dragons flying overhead were hard to miss, indicating that whatever fight that had been there, it was not good news.
"My lady, I wouldn't recommend that," the good captain shouted as he noticed Lady Maara trying to go to the city. She ducked the hand he had raised to try and grab her.
"Don't you EVER lay your hands on me again!" Lady Maara barked and turned, heading towards the city.
"We can't," Barda said softly. Lady Maara glared at him for quite some time, but her trepidation seemed to collapse at the last minute. She sank back in pain and anger as she stared at her beloved city, tears rolling down her face. even bigger surprise.
Overlooking the sea, they saw the main flagship land and 10 dignitaries walked out. Looking at them, Custer got the feeling that this was the main enemy. The others might have been the soldiers, but they were the ones calling the shots. An eerie thought crossed Custer's mind, did we just... lose?
The prince of Gumina walked through the tunnel with his aides without any fear. He had conquered, why would he be afraid? With the dragons circling above them and him pulling the puppet king, he all but owned the city. I need to go claim my puppet king, he thought with a smile.
Sir Branton eyed the throne for a while before moving towards it. He had desired it all his life since he could crawl. However, he had always held on to the love and devotion for his city, a patriot. He couldn't help feeling he had gotten the seat unfairly, or the correct term would be undeserved. He knew he had not betrayed his people, but he couldn't help feeling as though he had.
"My Lord... Your Highness," One of the elders approached. They were in the throne room. Some elders, who were still alive, were present. There was also the prince of Reuze, Lord Otto and his aides as well. The elder who just spoke gestured at the throne, indicating that Sir... sorry, His Majesty the King of Tristan, Lord Branton, should take up his seat.
After the brief war, if it can be called that, the remaining elders had been gathered and informed of what had happened. Some resisted, but they quickly realized that this was not optional. They either fell in line or they lost their heads. And so it was that Lord Branton's rule was solidified in blood and fear.
However, there was some comfort. At least, they would be ruled by a Tristanite, someone they had watched as he grew and had him raised themselves. They still needed him to take his place, that way he could be the buffer to the prince's more excessive temper tantrums. They needed Lord Branton to take his place before the Gumina prince got there, hence the rushing him.
All around Tristan, people were in a state of confusion. An eerie state of peace ensued since no one knew what was happening. The soldiers had seen the enemies walk in as though they owned the place. Many didn't even know their King was dead, and that they had a new king in place. All they could do was cower at the face of the monsters circling above them.
Perhaps it was fate or good luck, but of the 2 narratives of what happened in the brief war hit the people around the same time.
The Tristanites did not know how to react to the news of their new king, and the alliance, as it was being called, between Tristan, Reuze, and Gumina. With the truth out, the people were free to interpret the actions of Lord Branton as they pleased, especially the military.
On that same day, the people heard that their princess had led her people against the enemy and came out with resounding success. She had even taken down 4 dragons to boot, and several legions of the enemy. Of course, the story was exaggerated, but it had its truths.
The one most hit by this was the man seated on the throne. He now knew he had no chance with the woman he had desired all his life. She would think of him as a traitor. Looking at all the trappings of leadership at his disposal, he saw it for what it was, fake, phony. He was no more a real king than he had been. He was just holding a place for the real king, who coincidentally stood over him.
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