Chapter 85
Thrown Gauntlets
“They call us slaves of the Old Ways – but they are the chained ones in disrepair.”
Ancient Songs
Noah was currently sitting on top of a boulder, his expression lazy, his hands occasionally pulling a flagon of wine toward his parched lips. He wanted to strip naked so badly that he was nearly going insane, yet didn’t dare. By now, he’d realized that his physical constitution was too much of a shock; back on Earth, he was comparatively average as he never put much effort into chiseling or training his muscles, but due to the rigorous training regime that he’d designed for himself, they still outshone the men here. That was not to say that his muscles were in any way better, just that they were developed differently.
As he suspected, men's muscles here weren't nearly as well-defined but were far bulkier and usually hidden beneath a layer of fat. In a way, theirs were more natural, as Noah's were mostly built for nimbleness, while theirs were for pure strength. Still, seeing hundreds of them topless underneath the scorching sun filled him with envy. So much envy he never thought he'd experience anything like it.
A great deal of the strongest men in the army had crossed the river yesterday to begin the preparations. The first order of business was building ramparts and towers. The bad thing was that they had to build it out of wood as it was virtually impossible to carry over enough stone to build anything larger than a house, and excavating any here seemed improbable due to the flatland. Luckily, they had a massive river behind them, so they could frequently wet the wood; otherwise, Noah suspected that some fires might have already been sparked just due to the insane temperatures.
He'd also personally went through all the crafted objects that were sent over, hoping to see something that stuck out. Unfortunately, there was nothing like it; though the objects, anything from weapons to beds, weren't bad by any means, none stuck out as special which told Noah none of the people who crafted them would be of help to him. That truly left him helpless; he knew that these people, however brave they may appear at the moment, wouldn't hold out for even a second. If they didn't jump into the river upon the sight of the Kindled, that would already be a miracle.
Sighing, he took a few more mouthfuls when he saw a young man approaching him. It was none other than the bard himself, Lo’kret, who was glancing around at the topless men with a sense of apprehension in his eyes. He directly jumped on top of the boulder, sitting by Noah’s side.
"… dozens of sweaty men… sigh, I might have to do some uncouth things to wash away this sight…" the boy sighed as a strange glint flashed through his eyes.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to endure the heat.” Noah said.
“I’m not,” the boy said, pointing at his hair; Noah was shocked to realize it looked as though he’d just dumped it directly into the river. “The Princess sent me for you.”
“… and she sent you?” Noah looked at him oddly.
“Don’t look at me like that,” the young bard shrugged. “I’m the only one who hasn’t left the comfort of the shade ever since we came here. People were getting… uh… agitated.”
“Let’s go,” Noah jumped directly off the boulder, startling Lo’kret; though he respected the old Dacent’s intellect, he was fearful of the old geezer breaking his bones. However, he landed extremely softly, as though he’d just taken a step, surprising the bard who joined him on the ground.
“… you used to be a fighter?” the bard asked curiously, causing Noah to glance at him oddly.
“Aren’t we all fighters?” Noah said, grinning. “Day after day fighting our fate?”
“…” Lo’kret looked at him queerly for a moment, shaking his head. “Though the boulder wasn’t high, any other of those cretins we call Dacents would have snapped their spine and have their brain liquids flow out their assholes. I was just surprised, is all.”
“… how goes the song?” Noah asked, ignoring the oddly specific scenario.
“I’ve written a few drafts,” Lo’kret sighed. “But… I still feel like something is lacking.”
“… you’ll get your image,” Noah said. “When the light stands before the sea of fire.”
“…” Lo’kret shuddered all of a sudden, imagining the scene. “Will… the Princess really step forward?”
“…” Noah grinned as he glanced at the boy. “Lies are fine, but they need to be forged within the truth. Otherwise, something would always be lacking.”
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The two chatted some more as they climbed the boat and had them take it to the other side. Noah had long since learned that the young bard wasn’t necessarily a bad person, though he did have some misgivings about one specific part of the boy – he, really, was quite of a pervert. Halfway through the journey on the boat, he began boasting about the time he managed to sneak into the bathhouse of a minor Noble and actually saw over a dozen noble ladies bathing in their birthday suit. The look in his eyes… it caused even Noah to feel a chill.
Quickly leaving the boy behind, he raced toward Olivia’s temporary residence, wondering why she had called him. He’d already shared his whole plan with her, and as she knew he was somewhat busy she wouldn’t disturb him unless it was absolutely necessary.
When he returned, he quickly realized why – Asandra was standing in front of her residence, a massive hole blown into its side, three hooded figures lying beneath her in a pool of blood. They snuck in? Noah frowned. This was a problem. These clearly were no longer amateurs.
“… how is she?” he asked.
“Shaken.” Asandra replied with a shrug, leading him inside. Olivia was currently sitting inside her room, cradled on her bed, her face as pale as snow. There was an obvious trace of terror in her eyes, and she nearly jumped when she heard the two of them walk in. Seeing it was just them, though, she completely relaxed, looking as though she was just about to go asleep.
“We’ll stay here,” Noah said, noticing. “Rest for a while, and then we’ll talk.”
“Thank you…” Olivia said, quickly dropping into a lying position, causing Noah to sigh. He and Asandra moved to the other side of the room, into a corner, sitting on a pair of chairs.
"What happened?" he asked with a heavy expression. He truly hadn't expected this. He'd immediately anticipated their journey over wouldn't be easy, but not that they would also dare attack within the camp.
“They were genuine users of Light,” Asandra explained with a hardened expression. Clearly, she was also quite shaken. "As a matter of fact, they were Masters of Light."
“…” Noah’s eyes shone in a dangerous glint for a moment. Master of Light was a title assigned to someone who’d reached the so-called peak of the first tier. Everyone who only possesses Light is called Illuminated; then, once they start learning how to use it, they enter the first stage that consists of three titles – Initiate of Light, Advent of Light, and Master of Light. Though Noah wasn’t quite certain what were the distinctions between the three, just knowing that the Master of Light was on the top was more than enough.
“One of them was a Subvert,” she explained. “And coated the three of them in an illusion that allowed them to get so close without being noticed. I wasn’t even supposed to be here, but because I was bored, I figured I’d find Lo’kret and torture him a bit. I was just about to enter the building when I felt something. My body moved on instinct and I drew out my sword, slashing to my side. I immediately managed to kill one, and before the two could recover from the shock of being discovered, I managed to kill them as well.”
“… nobody else knows they could use Light?” Noah asked.
“No.” Asandra shook her head. “Except the Princess.”
“… so that’s why she’s so shaken.”
“Hm,” Asandra nodded. “Though I managed to kill them quickly, I guess fluctuations of Light were still sensed by her. She quickly came down and when she saw the scene, she immediately realized what happened. She’s been like that ever since. This is bad, Noah.”
“… I know,” Noah sighed, rubbing his temples. His plans were getting further and further from being ideally executed, and it was beginning to frustrate him a great deal. “Looks like the gauntlets have been thrown.”
“… would they really step out so quickly? This isn’t even a deciding blow.” Asandra replied with a shock.
“I’ve underestimated their determination,” Noah replied, rapping his finger against the table. “They must have sensed the surge, or otherwise learned of something else entirely that changed their plans. In effect, you could say that the Holy War had already begun.”
“… even in the face of the Kindled?” Asandra’s anger grew more, much like the fire itself, causing Noah to glance at her helplessly.
“What are you getting angry and surprised for?” Noah shrugged. “Aren’t we doing something remarkably dangerous in the face of the Kindled as well? How is that any different than what they are attempting?”
“…” she wanted to retort, but was unable, leaving her with a bitter frustration to swell inside her heart.
“You decided to trust me because you despise the hypocrisy of Dacent’s Order,” Noah said. “Don’t go turning into one of them.”
"…" That seemed to strike a nerve as she glared at him dangerously. "Compare me to them one more time, and I'll slice off your head."
“… leaving the question of whether you could aside,” Noah merely smiled, continuing. “I’m not comparing you to them. I’m merely pointing out that we have no moral ground to stand on. Besides, I was never quite comfortable with flaunting moral superiority. I’d much rather be perceived as a hypocrite, yet be very much alive.”
“… what are you planning?” taking a deep breath, she managed to calm down somewhat before asking.
"Drastic measures," Noah said, feeling helpless. "I'd already thrown all my eggs into her basket," he added, glancing at the sleeping Olivia. "If anything happens to her, my life here is effectively over. This was, definitely, a declaration of war on their part; if we took it sitting down, it will just give them a signal that we are too weak to retaliate."
“… but we are too weak to retaliate,” Asandra said. “However much she had crawled into the hearts of those commoners outside, just a single Legion of soldiers would be enough to trample through them without leaving a soul behind. The only chip that we have is the fervor, and it’s a chip so small it’s barely worth mentioning.”
“… wars like these are never won with an army,” Noah shook his head. “I’ve done my research, and armies of the Kingdom are loyal to the Crown and Crown alone. As for whoever holds the Crown, it doesn’t matter. They might fight for the Princes and Princesses, and even the Nobles, but even if all of them combined ordered them to start slaughtering innocent, the likelier scenario is that they would just rebel. Jovyer’s warning has been too overt," he sighed, taking a moment before continuing. "Rather than just causing them to be wary of Olivia and me, it had struck them with fear. And fear… fear makes people irrational. Chances are that by the time we return to Elucido… that place will have become a hellhole. One even worse than what is about to transpire here…”