On that same night, the Fallen Goddess Mia made her way back to a campsite currently occupied by a small portion of the human army. The camp wasn't too far from Wolfwater, either, as it was about an hour by horseback to get there. The campsite was hidden rather well, as one would have to venture far into the forests away from the main road to find it. Mia approached the front gate of the campsite, quickly showing the guard at the entrance a gold medallion to show that she, too, was part of the human army. The gates opened, and Mia was let inside. Mia then headed to the general's tent to give her report of mostly good news, although she was rather worried about what the general might say to her bad news. Twiddling her thumbs in nervousness, she quietly entered the general's tent, and in the middle of the tent, she saw him: Southern General Alexander of the Human Army. He was a rather chiseled man, with blonde, wavy hair and blue eyes, a clean-shaven face, and an evil smile to go with his features. He had an air of superiority around him, and no one dared to challenge his authority because of it. General Alexander was sitting on his throne of bones, with rumors of it being bones of the enemies he slain. Next to him was a giant sword that only he had the honor to wield, and in his hand was a gold goblet, filled with the finest wine his men could provide him with after ransacking a village that was allied with the Freedom Legion.
General Alexander, after taking a sip from his golden goblet, noticed that Mia had entered the room. General Alexander smiled and said, "Ah! The Fallen Goddess Mia! Welcome back! I assume that your expedition has led us to some good results?" Mia then kneeled before General Alexander with her head bowed, saying, "Good results, for the most part, General. I was able to confirm that residing in Wolfwater is a well-known blacksmith who is forging items for the Freedom Legion. However, I was unable to stop the shipment from being sent as I normally do." General Alexander looked at Mia with curiosity, saying, "Hmm. I see." General Alexander got up from his bone throne with his golden goblet of wine in hand and picked up his greatsword in the other. He then slowly paced around Mia, asking, "Have you ever been stung by a bee, Mia?" Mia then nervously replied, "No, General." General Alexander paced behind Mia, then looked at Mia in a rather cold manner. Mia felt chills down her spine, and she shuddered, feeling the General's cold gaze on her back. General Alexander then paced around Mia some more, saying, "Well, if I had to describe being stung by a bee in one word, it would be 'annoying.' To some humans, it truly does hurt. To people like me, it's rather annoying to deal with. In a sense, you're a bee, Mia, and your bad news is like you using your stinger on me. I simply find it annoying." General Alexander soon stopped in front of Mia, took a sip of his golden goblet, then crouched down to Mia's level, slowly lifting her chin with the blade of the great sword. Mia's eyes went wide with fear, with her eyes staring at the great sword's blade touching her. General Alexander then said, "Do you know what happens when bees use their stinger, Mia?" Mia, now more nervous than ever, silently murmured, "N-No, General." General Alexander smiled coldly, as he said, "They die, Mia. A pitiful bee, who hoped to do something with its stinger, dies pitifully as the one it stung simply finds the bee's stinger annoying." General Alexander then took his blade off of Mia's chin, got back up, and headed back to his throne. General Alexander then took a seat in his bone throne, set down his greatsword off to the side, and took a sip from his golden goblet. General Alexander then said, "However, my little bee, you have two stingers, so you aren't dead yet. By a miracle bestowed by me, you're still alive. I sense that you have more to tell me, hmm?" Mia, frightened to her boots, said, "G-General, I found the one that calls himself 'the Armless Ghost,' Tokuda Tetsuo!" General Alexander smiled evilly, saying, "Well now, that's a rather interesting name I haven't heard for some time. So, 'the Armless Ghost' still haunts the earth to this day? Perhaps I'll turn him into a real ghost." General Alexander chuckled to himself, then said, "This news has spared you. For now. I trust that you won't use your stinger on me anymore?" Mia then quickly said, "Thank you for your mercy, General! I'll make you proud!" General Alexander smiled coldly and nodded, and Mia quickly left the tent.
General Alexander sipped from his golden goblet, thinking about Tokuda. A scary man indeed, but he should know better than to join the dirty demi-humans in their pointless struggle. Perhaps I'll correct his thinking and maybe have him join us, just like old times, thought General Alexander. General Alexander then got up from his throne, exited his tent, and told one of the guards outside his tent, "Round up the men. I need to discuss a plan of attack tomorrow on Wolfwater." The guard nodded and began rounding up the soldiers in the camp. General Alexander looked down at his goblet of wine and poured it out, saying, "I've had enough of this wine for now. I desire some wine from Wolfwater, perhaps something more on the sweeter side this time."
The next morning, Rina woke up rather early, remembering her promise to Bear about the date with Suko today. Although she absolutely didn't want to go on a date with Suko, she wasn't the kind of woman to break a promise. She got out of bed, got dressed, and got a quick breakfast at a nearby bakery, although she easily would've preferred the pancakes that Ezekiel makes. Rina then went to the bathhouse behind The Crimson Tankard Inn with the soap that Ezekiel gave her in hand and began her morning bathing routine. To her surprise, no one else was in there, but she had heard from Kairi that Suko might be at the bathhouse during this time, peeping on unsuspecting women from the men's side of the bath. She quickly bathed herself due to her fear of possibly being spotted by Suko in the baths and got out in record time. She was relieved when she finally got out and dried herself off, although she felt a small bit guilty by actually believing the story that Kairi had told her. Perhaps Suko isn't as bad of a person as Kairi describes him to be, thought Rina, although she was trying to view Suko in a positive light to ease her own mind. Rina, after her bath, found herself practicing archery, although she felt she didn't really need to, as elves were naturally good at it. Using a tree as a target, she hit the middle of it, then shot an arrow that split her arrow in half, landing in the middle of the tree once again. Rina then used enhancement magic to practice hitting targets in different ways and continued her training.
Soon, Rina felt exhausted from using too much mana and the amount of stamina she burned through while training herself. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, and by looking at the sun, she determined that it was almost time for her to meet up with Suko, although she wasn't very excited about it. She then quickly hurried over to the front of The Crimson Tankard Inn, and standing in front of it was Suko, waiting patiently for Rina. Suko then noticed Rina, and he began to get a little nervous. This is your chance, Suko! You're even sober today for her! Don't fuck it up with her, thought Suko. Rina struggled to smile for real, so she quickly put on a fake smile and said, "You ready, Suko?" Suko then nervously said, "Y-Yeah. You look great!" Rina then forced herself to smile and say, "So, where's this place you mentioned?" Suko shook himself out of his nervousness a bit and said, "Oh! Yes! Follow me!" So, Rina followed Suko to the sweets place that he had mentioned yesterday.
Suko tried to make small talk with Rina on the way to the sweets place, but most of it was so cringe, it's not even worth noting in this story. Suko realized that his small talk was going nowhere, so he tried to think of something else to talk about. However, his thoughts were cut short once he realized that they reached the sweets shop. Suko and Rina entered the shop and saw just how busy the shop was. Almost all of the tables were full, and Suko had second thoughts about this place. However, they were quickly greeted by a waiter, who seated them at a nearby table. The waiter then handed both of them a small menu, and both Suko and Rina ordered drinks. Rina felt uncomfortable, although she at least wanted to show some effort on this date for the sake of keeping Bear's promise. Rina then said, "I-I assume you've been here before, correct, Suko?" Suko nodded, then said, "Oh yeah, plenty of times. I'd personally recommend their ice cream, which is something Ezekiel actually invented and showed to this place." Rina had actually never had ice cream before, but she was interested in the fact that Ezekiel had made it, so she asked, "What is this 'ice cream' like?" Suko grinned, saying, "It's a really soft, really cold, and really sweet dessert. It's also rather creamy, but it's to die for in my own opinion." Rina, trusting Suko's evaluation of ice cream, decided to order it once the waiter came back with their drinks. Suko also ordered ice cream, knowing how good it was. After about 10 minutes, both orders of ice cream were brought to their table in a small bowl. Rina studied the ice cream, unsure of what to think of it. Suko started digging into his ice cream right away, eating it with a satisfied smile on his face. Rina saw Suko's face and decided to give the ice cream a try. She used her spoon to take off a small portion of the ice cream and put it in her mouth, and her eyes widened in delight. To her, it was cold but creamy, and it melted in her mouth. Rina's doubt turned into joy as she ate the ice cream while feeling pure bliss. Suko noticed her happiness and said, "This is also another thing that Ezekiel says is 'the result of science' or something like that. Who knew things like this could be made?" Rina nodded, busy digging into her ice cream.
Suddenly, outside of the sweets shop, the Southern human army began pouring onto the streets where they were. General Alexander was in front of all the troops, sitting on horseback, dressed in iron combat armor with his great sword sheathed at his side. Once people took notice of him, they quickly cleared out of the streets, locked their doors, and closed their windows, and the streets were practically devoid of life. Those unlucky enough to still be outside were quickly rounded up by the soldiers. General Alexander then said in a loud voice, "Citizens of Wolfwater, we suspect that there are some people among you working for the Freedom Legion. Hand them over now and we'll leave immediately, or else we'll have to conduct our own investigation. Perhaps I'll start with this man here that we have." One of the soldiers threw a man that was tied up down onto the ground at General Alexander's feet. General Alexander then asked the man, "Do you know where the rats are?" The man pleaded with General Alexander, saying, "I don't know! I don't know! Please, let me go!" General Alexander sighed, saying, "What a shame. Perhaps someone else will know." Then, General Alexander's horse brought its hoof down on man's head, crushing it like a watermelon. Some of the people screamed in horror, watching the terrible sight unfold before them. General Alexander simply said, "We can do this all day. I want those two, NOW!"
Suko, after hearing the screams of the people, noticed what was going on, but Rina was still engrossed in eating her ice cream. After about 30 seconds of silence, General Alexander then shouted, "No one is willing to give us the rats that betrayed us? I see." General Alexander then turned towards his troops and said, "Men! Do a thorough sweep of the city! Round up all the citizens and line them up for questioning. Those who don't know where they are are to be beheaded immediately. Find the ones called Murdan and Tokuda Tetsuo!" The soldiers then quickly went on a rampage through the city, breaking into homes and shops, interrogating the citizens, and taking what they wanted. General Alexander then said, "You brought this on yourselves! Now, we won't leave until the rats have been caught! It would be in your best interests to comply with us!" Suddenly, two of the soldiers barged inside of the sweets shop and began interrogating the citizens. One of the soldiers even got a little violent with a man, punching the man in the face, demanding to know where Murdan and Tokuda Tetsuo were When the man said he didn't know where they were, the soldier instantly stabbed the man through the head. The people around him shrieked in horror, watching as the man's lifeless corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud. The other soldier then spotted Rina from across the room and whistled. The soldier then walked over to where Rina was sitting, asking, "Well, well, miss. Aren't you a fine-looking woman!" Rina turned her head to look at the soldier, and the soldier smiled, noticing her ears and said, "And an elf to boot! What a rare find, too! I guess an elf's beauty wasn't just a myth, after all!" The soldier grabbed Rina's hand and said, "I'll show you a fun time that's much better than with this guy!" Suko then grabbed the soldier, angrily saying, "Listen, man, I think you're interrupting our date. Would you please kindly take your hand off of her?" The soldier laughed, saying, "Oh, you think you're a tough guy now, don't you? Sure, I'll take my hand off her for you!" The soldier then took his hand off of Rina's hand and threw a punch at Suko, but Suko dodged and countered with a punch of his own, hitting the soldier square in the jaw. A loud crack was heard, and the soldier was sent flying backwards, crashing into a nearby table. The other soldier that was interrogating the people in the shop suddenly came to help and drew his sword, but Suko hardened his arm and deflected the bladed strike that the soldier used. The soldier was knocked off balance, and Suko punched the soldier hard in the stomach. The punch was so hard that it punched right through the iron armor covering the soldier's stomach, and the soldier collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. Suko then said, "Fucking assholes, ruining our date like that." Rina was a little surprised, but she had a slightly better opinion of Suko now. Suko then said, "We need to find the others. Seems like they're after Tokuda and Murdan." Rina nodded, and without hesitation, the two of them went out the back way of the sweets shop, lurking in the shadows of the alleyways to avoid being seen by the human army.
At around the same time, Ezekiel was working at The Crimson Tankard Inn and Bear was eating a Lad Steak when five soldiers suddenly entered the place. Bear noticed them but stayed calm, still eating his Lad Steak. One of the soldiers then asked, "Is there a 'Murdan' or 'Tokuda Tetsuo' in here? If they don't come forward immediately, we have authority to search the place!" Whiskey, who was also in the kitchen, quietly said, "Dammit, it's those fuckers." Whiskey grabbed a kitchen knife, then turned towards Ezekiel, saying, "Prepare for battle, lad. They don't give a single damn about the lives of any of us." Meanwhile, maids like Zoey were hiding in the kitchen in the very back, as none of them could fight and knew the soldiers might take advantage of them. One of the customers who was being interrogated by a soldier said, "T-That big man over there! H-He would know where they are! He's also a demi-human!" The customer then pointed at Bear, and two soldiers approached Bear. One soldier asked, "Is this true?" Bear then smiled softly, saying, "I have no idea what you're talking about, my friends! But while you're here, what can I do for you?" The other soldier got pissed at Bear's snarky remark and punched Bear in the face, and his beanie fell off, revealing his bear ears. Ezekiel, watching the scene unfold and silently said to himself, "If there's one thing I've learned, is that you never piss a bear off. Especially those considered Russian bears like Bear." Bear then looked at the soldiers, rubbed his face, stood up from the table, and was now towering over the soldiers. Bear then smiled with a hint of anger in his eyes, saying, "So that's your answer, huh?" Bear then grabbed the heads of both the soldiers, picking them up off the ground, and squeezed their heads, crushing and cracking their helmets a little bit. The other soldiers then drew their swords, saying, "Put them down, you damn animal!" Bear chuckled and said, "If you say so." Bear then slammed both their heads into the ground of The Crimson Tankard Inn, destroying the floorboards in that area. Bear then whipped out his axe from behind his back and slashed the closest soldier that was charging at him in his chest, completely cutting through his iron chest plate. The soldier fell to the ground, blood spewing out from the gash, and Bear then used his momentum to pummel another soldier, ramming the soldier with his shoulder. The heavy impact broke a few bones on the soldier with the sound of many bones snapping, and it knocked the soldier to the ground. The one remaining soldier swung at Bear, but Bear easily deflected the sword and proceeded to chop down the soldier in one solid swing. The soldier that took an axe hit to the chest slowly stood back up and attempted to stab Bear from behind. Bear noticed the attack from behind but realized he couldn't deflect it in time, but then someone shouted, "WATER BULLET," and the soldier was then blasted in the face by high-velocity water. Bear looked in the direction that the bullet came from, and Ezekiel was standing there, grinning as he said, "I got your back, Bear. Don't worry!" Bear then chucked, saying, "That's my little bro!" Ezekiel then hurried over to Bear, saying, "They're after Murdan and Tokuda. We gotta go find them and help them out." Bear then scowled, saying, "I'll help Murdan, but do we REALLY have to help Tokuda? I think it'd be a blessing if he magically ended up dead right about now." Ezekiel then angrily punched Bear, saying, "Of course we have to help him! Don't be such a petty ass about it! He's part of the nation of science, and we need him, just as much as we need you!" Bear, who didn't really seem hurt from Ezekiel's punch, sighed and said, "Fine. Let's go look for them, then maybe I can kill Tokuda myself." With that, Bear and Ezekiel quickly headed outside of The Crimson Tankard Inn and began looking for Murdan and Tokuda.
Meanwhile, Aqua and Margaret were holed up inside of Margaret's magic shop, refusing to let anyone inside. The soldiers were banging on the door, demanding that whoever was inside the shop to let them in to conduct a search. The doorway was blocked, the windows were covered, and the items inside of the shop were magically moved off the shelves into a place where only Margaret had access to. Margaret had also booby-trapped the store with magic in various ways to prevent the soldiers from quickly overtaking the shop if they broke into it somehow. Aqua felt a little frightened with the situation occurring so suddenly, but Margaret put her hand on her shoulder, saying, "It's okay Aqua. Believe in yourself and the training you've done up until now! Besides, you've got your teacher helping out as well!" Aqua, upon hearing those words, smiled to herself and felt a little reassured. However, the soldiers who were still banging on the door didn't help in bringing her reassurance up anymore. The screams of the citizens of Wolfwater being slain outside on the street also didn't bring any reassurance to her. I hope that everyone is okay, thought Aqua.
Kairi was roaming around the city when she spotted a few Southern human army soldiers patrolling the streets. Two of the soldiers then broke off from the group and started coming down Kairi's street. Kairi quickly ducked in between buildings and hid in the shadows. As the soldiers passed, Kairi heard an idle conversation between them. The first soldier said, "We're really turning this town upside down looking for those two guys." The second soldier then replied, "Yep. Are Murdan and Tokuda that important?" Kairi felt surprised upon hearing Tokuda's name and decided to listen to the conversation more, interested in what was going on currently. The first soldier said, "Well, Murdan is supposedly a legendary blacksmith, but he's supplying the Freedom Legion with forged items. We can't have that, of course. Then there's Tokuda Tetsuo. You know, 'the Armless Ghost?' The war hero of the Humanity War?" The second soldier then said, "I can understand Murdan, but why Tokuda if he's such an important figure to us humans?" The first soldier said, "Not anymore. Tokuda betrayed his own race to fight for those dirty animals. Only scum would betray their own race, especially a race as great as the humans." Kairi felt angered by this and wanted to fight the soldiers, but the soldiers had already passed her, and she got the information she needed. I need to find those two to make sure they're okay, thought Kairi. Kairi then fully disappeared into the shadows in the alleyway.
Tokuda and Murdan were in the blacksmith camp, unaware of the situation that was happening outside. Murdan was busy hammering away at another sword, and Tokuda was inspecting the katana that he received from Ezekiel. Murdan and Tokuda had an awkward air between them, as none of them said anything to each other, although they knew of each other's presence. Murdan sighed, put down his hammer, then said, "Why don't ya just tell him the truth, youngin'?" Tokuda's face was full of sorrow, saying, "I don't think he's willing to listen to me. Plus, who the hell would believe that's that actual truth?" Murdan then chuckled and said, "Ya might be right. He was always a stubborn youngin' when I was lookin' after him." Murdan then turned and faced towards Tokuda, saying, "Listen, youngin'. Things will only get worse between ya two if this goes on, and ya won't be able to keep yer promise to the Red Bear." Tokuda looked surprised upon hearing this, but Murdan said, "You were rather close to him, almost as close as I was, if not more. I might be old, but I haven't gone senile yet, so I do remember yer promise to him." Murdan then walked over to where Tokuda was sitting, sat down next to Tokuda, and put his hand on Tokuda's shoulder. Murdan then said, "Youngin', repair yer relationship with Bear. Fulfill the promise ya made with the Red Bear, before it's too late." Tokuda silently looked at his katana for a while until he finally said, "I'll try my best, Murdan." Suddenly, a dwarf ran inside of the tent and frantically said, "The Southern Human Army is here!" Murdan instantly got up, saying, "Shit! Youngin', we gotta go!" Tokuda, however, sat still. Tokuda looked up at the dwarf and asked, "Is Southern General Alexander out there?" The dwarf then said, "Y-Yes! He's approaching the blacksmith camp as we speak with a good amount of soldiers!" Tokuda grinned, then grabbed the katana's hilt with his mouth and said, "Good. I've got some unfinished business with that asshole."120Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXQVUjANrw
