Chapter 95

High Water Hells

“It was a lump of flesh the size of a fist, and it would churn under the moonlight, as though alive. We found little use for it, though suspect it came from an ancient beast and that it contains undying life force that we are simply incapable of utilizing.”

Strange Artefacts, Vol. III

It wasn’t long before one entourage after another came reeling toward the fort, procession after a procession making heroic stands and proclamations. It was like a swarm, Noah noted, of every family of importance sending one of their heirs to make a stand against the Fire… that was no longer there.

It was a deplorable sight, yet Noah remained muted. He knew this would happen from the moment he began shaping the plan of Olivia’s speech. Though he may not have been certain of the victory, he was certain of the hundreds arriving just a day or two, by sheer accident, of course, later to profess their undying desire to fight for the Kingdom. It was cheap, and anyone with intellect would see through it, yet it was enough. It would disperse Olivia’s glory considerably, and, if they were truly cruelty-bound, they would hone in on how many people under her had died, undermining her entire cause.

If there was one thing of comfort, it is that Ludwig died. Noah found his corpse just inside the fort, a massive dent in his chest and fire-scarred body like everyone else. His head had remained largely unchanged, which would make things easier.

Sighing, he closed the window and retreated back into the room where everyone had gathered; Row was nibbling away at some fruits with a dumb smile on his face, Sash was sitting next to a coffin, Olivia was still sleeping on top of the solitary bed in the room, Lo’kret was plastered on the desk, his eyes bloodshot, fingers bedeviled as they slashed the quill left and right to write down the words, and Asandra sitting next to Olivia’s bed, drinking something.

He walked over to Olivia and did a quick examination. Though he was no doctor by any means, he at least had the basic training. Her vitals were stable, and by all accounts, she should have woken up by now. The only thing he could attribute her current state to was her usage of Light; perhaps, she had overdrawn on the Light inside of her and received some sort of a backlash, though he was none the wiser if that were the case.

“I’ll go out in her place for now,” Noah said, turning toward Asandra. “Inform me the moment she wakes up.”

“… I should probably tag along,” she said. “I suspect not many will take you seriously.”

“… I’ll take Row with me,” Noah said, his eyes glistening coldly. “I need to start stacking the house immediately. Otherwise, they’ll have burned our lot by the time we return to Elucido.”

“I thought you wanted to be low-key,” she grinned at him, taking another sip of her drink. “What? Ambitions suddenly swelling inside of you?”

“Oh? Do you want to go, perhaps, and deal with them? If so, I’d be more than glad to stay here.”

“Hell no,” she retorted immediately. “I’ve a feeling I’d snap and set the whole place on fire within minutes.”

“… yeah, I had the same feeling.”

“… shouldn’t you at least pretend and offer a rebuttal?” she rolled her eyes at him and sighed.

“…” Noah merely grinned as he spun around. “Row, come with me.”

“Eh?” the giant looked sadly at the fruits in the bowl and glanced between them and Noah, causing the latter to look at him oddly.

“Just take the bowl with you and eat on the way…”

The giant nodded happily as he picked up the bowl of fruits and joined Noah as they left the room and the building itself, heading toward the Myrsells’ mansion where the grand meeting was to be held.

On the way over, he passed by the barely cleaned-up streets, their sides still studded with rubble, corpses still visible here and there, strong stench permeating the air. He’d taken Olivia’s identifying medallion with him, though still wasn’t entirely confident he would be allowed in. They’ll try to skin me alive, he sighed inwardly but didn't think too much of it. Today, he knew, he'd have to make some concessions, but the entire point of going to the meeting wasn't to spread Olivia's glory – these people, after all, didn't care. Her glory was not for them.

His desire was simply to identify the marks – who was allied with whom, which relationships could be broken, which could be mended, what was the oblique goal and what was the overt goal, and, most importantly, to try and identify whether anyone had any connection to the assassination attempts. He still suspected that the 'Queen' was not necessarily behind it, but that was his cynicism toward human nature at work more so than anything else.

Though he had managed to identify many newcomers, there were just as many that were entirely unfamiliar. He would be walking in the wolf's den and, contrary to how he usually did things, would be stepping into the limelight once again. He was uncomfortable with the sensation, but there was nobody else who could have stepped in for him. Even if Myrell was still alive she would never be able to withstand the pressure. Once again, he hated the fact that he wasn't given enough time to develop his subordinates, or at least find the best ones he could.

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By the time he’d arrived at the massive mansion, he saw dozens of carriages and hundreds of guards scattered about, each more lavishly decorated than the last. He was immediately the center of attention as hands swelled toward the blade handles. Even Row finally looked away from the bowl of fruits and warily looked around, sensing the tense atmosphere.

“Who are you?” one of the armored guards stepped forward and asked, his hand at the blade’s handle.

“Greetings,” Noah bowed slightly, his hands clasped in front of his chest. “This humble one is Her Highness Olivia’s Dacent, Noah. As Her Highness has been gravely injured during the battle, she had asked me to represent her.”

“… do you have any proof?” though the guard relaxed slightly, he still asked the question firmly.

“Yes,” Noah said, handing over her medallion. “This is Her Highness’ identity medallion.” The guard took it and carefully inspected it. However, when he saw the Royal Seal with Olivia’s stamp, he knew it was real as it was virtually impossible to falsify it. His guard dropped completely as his expression softened somewhat.

“Forgive my attitude, Dear Dacent,” the guard said, handing him the medallion back. “We need to be careful, though.”

“Completely understandable,” Noah nodded with a smile. “Thank you for your hard work.”

"Luo," the guard suddenly called toward someone, whereupon a young-looking man stepped forth awkwardly. "Escort Dear Dacent to the main hall and wait for him there.”

“Yes, Captain!” the young man called Luo saluted as the Captain stepped aside.

Noah took in a deep breath and followed after Luo, Row right by his side. By now, the tense atmosphere relaxed somewhat and the giant returned to his bowl of fruits that was almost halfway done. The young man didn't say much on their way in, occasionally glancing at Row with curiosity, though mostly remaining silent. Noah himself wasn't in the mood for any conversation as the gears of his mind spun once again. He was going through each and every possible variable and front of attack they'd take against him, something he'd spent the entire day and night on, just to ensure they didn't incur overt losses.

Naturally, however, he had no way of knowing every single possible way, so he only prepared himself for the most obvious and dangerous ones. For the rest, he’d have to work against them on the spot, which he found somewhat frustrating as that wasn’t exactly his strongest forte.

Their walk was a short one, barely ten minutes long. Noah still remembered sneaking inside and spending hours to not get discovered, causing him to sigh inwardly. The mansion was also damaged by the attack, but only by the fringe ends; the central building still remained standing tall and decorated. As tasked, Luo escorted him right to the doors of the main hall where a new dozen guards sprung, one of which stepped forward and checked his medallion once again before letting him in.

Taking a deep breath, Noah dissipated the stray thoughts and entered; immediately, it felt like thousands of eyes bore toward him, but he merely glanced across the room before heading over to the high seats of honor where Royalty stood. He didn’t sit, however, simply stood by the chair; he knew that if he sat, he would probably not leave this room alive. He recognized several familiar faces right off the bat: Ymmir, the last officially surviving heir of Myrsell House, several minor nobles that he had seen in Elucido, and even Lymena Fyrost whose eyes quickly landed on him, scrutinizing him for a moment.

The hall was wide and tall, the central point a massive, rectangular table of stone, surrounded by chairs on three ends; at sides, nobility and other important figures sat, while the royalty was seated in a row where Noah was, two figures present: Sigmund, the Second Prince alongside a couple of guards and Prestol, the Fourth Prince. The two merely glanced dismissively at him before closing their eyes and ignoring him.

The silence reigned, and Noah had no intention of interrupting it; it appeared that they were still waiting for someone, and his suspicions were confirmed just a moment later when the doors to the hall were flung open once again, four figures streaking in which caused Noah’s heart to freeze immediately. It’s her! The winged woman that he saw in the sky led the charge, flanked by two men and another woman. Almost immediately after, everyone, regardless of their status – including the Princes – shot to their feet and bowed deeply.

“Greetings, Light Mother!” Noah quickly followed suit, forcing Row to bow as well.

Unlike the rest, the group of four did not sit on any of the chairs but, instead, heaved up into the air on the opposite side of Noah, 'sitting' so to say mid-air, their legs crossed. A faint sheen of gold covered them as they stared down, lofty expressions of indifference present on their faces.

“At ease,” the woman said in a low tone that seemed to seep into the hearts of everyone. Noah’s Dark revolved instinctively and secretly to dispel it, causing cold sweat to break out through his back. “I don’t see young Olivia anywhere. What happened?” Noah clutched his fingers into a fist for a moment before bowing once again toward the woman.

“Light Mother, this humble one is here in her stead,” he said in a subservient tone. “As Her Highness was gravely injured during the battle.”

“How?” the woman asked while the rest of the hall remained silent.

"She participated in the opening clash," Noah chose to say the truth, not necessarily because of the pressure, but because he hoped to instigate further discussions to feel out the people inside the room. "However, due to her inexperience, Her Highness had overdrawn on her Light in order to try and save as many people as she could, resulting in a backlash that still has her bedridden.”

“… she used Purify?” the woman asked after a brief moment of silence, prompting silent gasps to fill the room.

“Indeed she has,” Noah replied. “Light Mother.”

“… foolish child,” the woman sighed, shaking her head momentarily. “Were you there?”

“I am afraid not,” Noah smiled bitterly, putting on the best act of his life as he knew that a single slip-up might cost him his position, and even his life. “This old one is woefully unsuited for battle, I am afraid. Though she refused to discuss what had happened in the brief moments of lucidity, one of the children she had rescued had reported everything to me.”

“…” silence befell the room once again as Noah remained bowed. Luckily, it seemed, she did not recognize him. By now, he would have been a complete moron if he hadn’t figured out who the woman was – the ever-elusive Lightbringer, the strongest wielder of Light next to the King himself in the entirety of Lumina Kingdom, and possibly even outside of it. “I’ll see her after the meeting and heal her.”

“Thank you, Light Mother.” Noah exclaimed emotionally, sighing inwardly.

“Very well,” she said. “The Kindled have been defeated, and all of you here are heroic contributors. Let us discuss how to proceed.” Aii, right from the start? Looks like she too has some other plans that don't involve Olivia… a lazy, uninvolved woman my ass. Fuck, all those reports should burn to all fucking hell…