Too bad that we haven't found anyone from my party, but Lvo has convinced me to head back to the village, despite the feeling I have in my head. It's like Kenta's heart and mine are now connected, I can point in the direction he's in.
Yet he told me to stay in a safe place and while Lvo could have helped me in the swamps and the spirits that are lurking there, the alfr also thought it would be easier just to stay there. Wouldn't it be fine just to get closer to Kenta instead? Well, both are smarter than I so I may miss a point or two.
Rassha, the husband of the matriarch, finally accepts my gift. “Remember, Kati, zhat an ss'rak that issn't self-suffishient ish one wizhout honor.” I can't understand it, isn't declining a gift also dishonoring to the guest? I have to remember what mother said: Each culture has their own morals.
“There are many people coming here.” I have the feeling that within the last two minutes, the numbers of villagers at the square has doubled. The fields have almost no one left. It's like they're waiting for something despite the rain.
“Zhey wait for zhe Voice of Muaotef.”
“Ah, the prophet, right?”
“Yess.”
“I don't like him.”
“Me too.”
“Why are you waiting for him then?”
“He bringsh zhe words of Muaotef, zhe Great One. I want to lishten what he saysh.”
“So it's a sermon?”
“Wordsh off woar.”
“?” I cock my head as I don't know what that exactly means.
Zhesha, Rassha's daughter, joins us, though she looks at me with narrowed eyes. Maybe she can't recognize me as easily, as I wear my rain-coat? I wave at her, but she doesn't make eye contact, that's sad.
Ah, there is Jarlhu, the matriarch, she talks with another ss'rak, a seemingly old, big one. “Is that the patriarch?”
“Zhat ish the former patriarch. Now Juras ish the patriarch.” He points at another ss'rak, who looks younger and stronger. He's in the midst of a group of ss'rak. “Be carrful, he ish shtrong and hate-filled.”
“How can he be a leader then?”
“...for humanz it ish maybe eassier to understand it thiz way: The patriarch ish the power of the tribe, the matriarch ish itz wissdom.”
“So a military leader and a governmental one?”
“I don't know what that miins. It'z also more to it than being strong or wise.” I can't expect to understand everything about them right away, I think he really brought it down on the most basic level. It's like saying that my father, who is a king, rules. That's what he does, but ruling a country is much more complicated than just giving orders.
“But is Juras a good leader?”
“He is the patriarch.” This isn't the answer I'm looking for, but maybe it's the best answer I can get.
“Tash!” Zhesha nudges her father and points at a large ss'rak. It's the prophet. Some other ss'rak surrounds him. Now that I can see them, I recognize that they somehow look different from the others. I'm sure that Kenta would point out every difference, but for me, I just notice that both, the villagers and the camp-ss'rak, belong to different tribes.
One of the people accompanying the prophet is Lvo'tjos, who waves at me. I still don't know exactly where he fits in, and I haven't asked him yet. I should have done that during the hunt, but somehow I forgot about it, maybe because I was too happy with feeling where Kenta is. Well, I can ask him later, right? First, I need to wave him back though.
The prophet stands in the middle of the square so that everyone can see him. Then his voice pierces through the rain, much louder than screaming would do, but not in an unpleasant way. Most heralds would be envious of this voice. “Ss'rak off zhe shwammpsh! Shinn lash taimm-” Sadly, I don't understand anything. Somehow this loud voice makes their dialect that much worse, which causes me to not being able to understand the prophet at all.
How can the ss'rak understand it? He's speaking way too fast. Whenever I try to decipher out a word, he's already three sentences ahead.
Still, I think it's a hate-speech. It certainly sounds like one, I can sometimes hear a word, which reminds me of 'Feuerberg', something about 'honor' and 'claiming their hereditary place.' I need to ask Jarlhu and Rassha about that later. Or maybe Lvo as well, though I still can't understand why he's even standing there.
I really don't like it. I grind my teeth to stop myself from interrupting this nonsense, as the matriarch and the patriarch are allowing this. Why would Jarlhu do it? I don't know about Juras, but this- Ah, I want to scream!
“Knuu it!” Who was saying that? Ah, it's Zhesha. The girl points at me: “Yuu arr shanshing colorz!” What is she talking about? Ah, I think I'm red with rage.
Why am I holding back in the first place? “HEY!” It may be impolite, but if someone is feeding the crowd with nothing but hate and lies, it's time to step in... well, I don't know if what he told are lies, as I couldn't understand much, but I'm sure he did.
“Zssh...” Rassha is hissing at me, but this is what I need to do. I step forward, right into the space that was made for the camp-ss'rak.
Lvo is stepping forward a bit. I can see that he's ready to jump in any direction. However, I won't let it get to me: “I don't understand the words, but I know what the prophet is saying, I-” Someone throws a mudball at me, but I step aside and let it pass me. “-want you to stop listening to him! Hate is never a proper motivation!” It's not like I believe that wars are avoidable altogether, but there needs to be good reasons! I may not be smart enough to tell what kind of reasons are good, but as Feuerberg is at war with the demons, they must exist!
“Yuu zhee? Ewenn tekkinn yuuar rrightz too lissden.” What is he talking about? I think he's taunting me.
“Everyone, Feuerberg isn't your enemy! We want to save people! Demons are a danger to everyone. Why wage war with my country? What have they done to you!?” It's really hard to speak that loud, the prophet is really, really good at this.
“Zhe doeshn't undashtand honor. Zhe doeshn't undashtand behing a ss'rak!” I can't win against that volume, but that hatred makes me angry!
“Human!” There comes a big ss'rak, it's Juras, the patriarch, who enters the ring. “Your turn to shpeak hashn't come!”
“But he's feeding you hate and lies!” I believe.
“Jarlhu! You're reshponsible for that intruder.”
Oh no, now Jarlhu is here as well. “Zhe's my guest.”
“I shee.” Why is he smirking like that!? Is he also a bad guy? “Jarlhu, she ish acting with no honor.” What? I- I'm honorable! I think... I mean, why shouldn't I? What-
“She ish a human, don't treat her the same as us.” Huh? Of course I'm a human, but why should I be treated differently?
I don't know what to do! Wait, the evil guy is the prophet, so I just need to beat him up, right? But somehow this feels wrong, though it's the obvious thing to do. You beat up bad guys and then everything is right. Right?
Ah, I don't know anymore. Because of me, Jarlhu and Jura are fighting! “You!” The patriarch points at me: “Shtand down.”
I'm supposed to stand down? Even though the villain is right before me? “I can't!” I don't know what to do, but I know what I can't do!
Suddenly, the eyes of the prophet flare up, until now he just stood there like he was pondering something. The rainy air begins to shimmer around him, even some steam rises from his scales. «Behold Muaotef, the Great One, Bringer of Decay.» That burning voice, it's the deity! Though it lacks the volume of the previous voice, it still scorches through the air like no other sound has the right to be here. «Ss'rak, listen to Our words. The human you see is Katarine von Stolzherz, former crown-princess of Feuerberg.»
“What is 'former' supposed to mean!” I'm the crown-princess of Feuerberg!
«Your ignorance is only surpassed by your audacity. It amuses Us.»
I want to move, I want to hit this prophet and deity right into the face, but my body isn't moving again. “You swine!”
«Your insults are only the crying of an inferior being. Behold her, ss'rak, in all her patheticness.»
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“Hey, don't insult me after dissing me!”
«This is what a human is. Mark Our words. Ss'rak of the Spirit Swamps, We grow tired of your indecisiveness. We expect an answer within a week.» The prophet's body waves up once, then the fire in his eyes disappears, while he falls on his knees while panting.
Silence. No one says a word, only the rain and the heavy breathing of the prophet is audible. I feel how I can move my body again. It's like whenever the voice of the deity is speaking, I’m frozen. How can it be?
“Guardzz...” The prophet says while he comes back to his feet. “Seiss zhe giarl!”
Jarlhu steps in front of me, Rassha is there as well: “She ish our guest.” The matriarch proclaims.
Juras faces Jarlhu: “This ish not the matriarch's decision.” Ah, they're staring each other down! I have no idea what to do!
The guards of the prophet come in, they try to circumvent Rassha and Jarlhu, but both of them are blocking them, so they hiss: “Zhis ish for Great One!”
“Yuur Great One doeshn't have a shay here yet!”
The guard swings his tail at Rassha, who cries out. Suddenly, an ss'rak from the crowd jumps the one who hit Rassha, then more join in, it's like a battlefield! Now several ss'rak engage in battle with each other, crying a lot of things I can't understand. It feels like water that's boiling over.
I draw Friedensbote, my sword. I can fight now, right? I aim for a guard, first a thrust in the shoulder, then fist into the face, finally kick on the bone that connects the tail. This one is down! “Rassha, Jarlhu, step away. You still have a daughter! Keep her and non-combatants out of here.” Both of them aren't fighters, so they better step aside while I'll concentrate on beheading the prophet.
I take off my raincoat, I need mobility, I can handle the rain! With some swift strikes I open up a way. I dash towards him. This is it! The prophet looks at me in surprise, my blade is about to reach his head.
*clong*
Something has blocked it... what is that? A piece of wood? No, a branch... rather, a whip? I follow that branch-like piece of wood and see Lvo at the other end. He holds a wooden weapon. It almost looks like a sword, but it's like the blade has grown to deflect my strike. “Sorry Kati, but on the bright side, I'm not supposed to kill you. Well, bright side for you, for me it's quite a predicament.”
“Lvo, why are you doing this!?”
“Well, it's 3% orders, 60% confidence, 13% boredom, 15% chance, 8% curiosity, and 1% friendship.”
I don't even know what that means, but this is most likely because he's such good friends with the prophet. Though I can't see why. “So be it!” I change my target to Lvo, whose weapon is shrinking. It's indeed a wooden sword, but it's one of the living ones the alfar use and therefore they can apply their magic on it. He's about to parry it, but: “[Crescent Moon]!” If I use it so close, I'll-
“[Crescent Moon]!” He also uses that skill? Two wind-blades hit each other the same moment the swords clash, canceling each other out. “This is strange,” Lvo says: “Mine was bigger than yours.”
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I kick at him while our swords are in a deadlock. He moves his blade and tries to cut my foot instead, so I pull it back to use the momentum for an elbow strike, which he blocks with his open hand, while he draws a small blade from a pocket under his arm, throwing it at point-blank, but I use my crossguard to deflect it.
Where is he!? Danger from behind, my sword tip is already on its way to meet it but misses. I look at where that opponent is. It's actually Lvo again, who just jumped back some steps. “How... why... For a moment even I thought I'll die. How did you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, it was like, when that blade hits me, I'm dead. Well, time to break your blade: [Steel Slicer]!” He swings his sword, which becomes whip-like.
I dodge it, but it accidentally hit another ss'rak, who is cut into two... “...”
“...” Both Lvo and I look perplexedly at the poor victim. “Why did you dodge?”
“Because it looked dangerous.”
“But because of you... is that one of yours or mine?”
“I... don't know.”
Not only we are aghast, but the ones around us are also looking at both of us in shock. Then they take some distance before resuming their respective fights.
Wait, where is the prophet?
―○●○―
I prick my ears, hoping to hear another high-pitched out-cry. After some questioning, I heard many worthwhile details while I was getting a general direction from the ss'rak-hero. I heard about a village of ss'rak, about the Voice of Muaotef, and about an alfr hero. That last bit is very interesting and I'm dying to know what is behind this. This may also be my hope of finally seeing someone from my hero-generation again, as it's been about twenty years since I heard from them.
I hear a voice. Oh, it's a screaming Momo, the way she breathes between her screams tells me that monsters are hunting her. Yes, now I also hear the monsters, sounds like these strange swamp skaters I've seen just now. I guess she needs some help. Why is she calling for her mama, I wonder?
The rain makes it hard to see in the distance, so I just need to guess it by ear. I begin with my [Tidal Wave]-chant, making small adjustments to the surroundings with every syllable to prepare for the actual spell. “[Tidal Wave]!” The sound of water bursting is echoing, also a surprised outcry of Momo who I barely missed.
Now it's time to audaciously walk towards here. There is Momo, I believe. She's wearing a raincoat, but her spirit is the same. “I can't let you alone for a-” I don't finish the sentence, as she grabs me by my ears: “I know what you're about to do and I want to convince you not to do it, but I don't know the words sufficient to convince you, that's why I would be very inclined if you could just tell them to me before I even encourage you to twist my ears.”
After a moment of silence, Momo lets go of my ears, just to draw me into a hug which may be even more strange: “Araaaaaakooooooo!” Is she crying? “You idiot!”
Well, she has the right to complain, as it is me who is to be held responsible for our separation in the first place. “I apologize.”
“Just don't leave me alone here again. Also, did you see that traitorous rat?”
“Oh, poor Kenta-kun. Being treated like a rodent. Has he savaged you?”
“$#&!!!” After making an unidentifiable noise, her hands slowly crawl back to my ears. “Last chance.”
“I don't know what you are talking about.”
“Mama Orana gave me a rat to guide me. When the monster came, it ran away.”
“Guide you to where?”
“To you, of course! With Ken having a radar, I wanted to get us all together as fast as possible.”
“I think waiting for him would have been the better choice.”
“Shut up!”
“I suppose that the rat returned to the so-called Mama, as you have found me.”
“...yes...”
“Also, you're heavy.”
“A-ra-ko!”
“Have you ever considered that I'm just a frail girl?”
“Why does it sound like you consider me fat!”
“Because you're self-ce- I mean, because you are- I'm not sure what to say when your fingers are stroking my ears.”
“...how about... you're healthy and beautiful?”
“Ah, being healthy as a synonym for 'being sexually active' and beautiful for 'being worthy of sex-'aaaah!” Why is she doing it!?
“Sorry, Arako.” She lets my ears go. “I'm just in a bad mood. So please do me the favor of not provoking me to hurt you anymore.”
This is a prime example of twisted logic. As it’s not my intention to provoke her, I don’t know how to avoid it without her telling me. Also, as she’s the one who actively hurts me, she could just reign in her bad mood and not do it anymore. Yet, arguing seems pointless at this moment. “Could you please let me go?”
“Yes...” This event reminds me of Momo when she was bothering Kenta-kun just this morning. Her moody side during her menstruation is something not to be trifled with.
After being freed from the dangerous embrace, I need to assess the current situation while only inquiring the most essential part of her past: “Is it right to assume that you haven't attacked a ss'rak settlement?”
“Ss'rak? Why are you talking about them?”
“A simple 'yes' would have been sufficient. As Kenta is in this direction while the calls came from that direction, I think I know where Katarine-san is. While I’d like to go into the details, I need absolute silence. The rain is already downing the sounds enough.” While my ears are better than Kenta-kun's, I don't have [Pitch] to hear through the environmental noises.
'SHAAAAAKAAAA, REEETUUUUUUURRRN!' Ah, there it is. Shaka is the ss'rak-heroes' name, that's why this message, which surely comes from a [Sound]-spell, comes this way. Of course Momo can't hear it, as she's unable to hear the frequency in which the message is traveling. It will most likely become an audible frequency for the ss'rak-hero when it arrives at him.
Not that he's capable of hearing anything right now. His companions will look after him though.
“I have just heard it,” I explain to the audio-impaired Momo. “This way.” Following the direction the emergency call came from, I start to hear more and more things, hissing, movement of objects, and the like.
There it is. Lightly obscured by the mist, a camp emerges with several ss'rak within. They also notice us and lift hooked poles in our direction. I think this is a weapon to restrain opponents. A large specimen is turning our way and he looks important: ““You!!!”” The ss'rak and Momo exclaim at the same time.
“I have done nothing?” I quickly explain, as while it's more probable that they mean each other, maybe they're referring to me.
“YUU!” This time the ss'rak certainly means me.
“Do you know us? I think I haven't seen you before, but maybe when you were smaller? On the other hand, you shouldn't be even capable of remembering it.” Ss'rak have such a bad memory, after all.
“Arako,” Momo's voice certainly sounds like she's agitated: “It's the Voice of Muaotef!”
“So he is the voice. Does Muaotef also have arms?”
“CAPSHURE SHEM!” That's very impolite. I was just asking.
“YOU RAT!” Why is Momo screaming now, again about rats: “YOU OWE ME YOUR LIFE!” It causes the ss'rak warriors to stop for a brief moment. Some of them suddenly sit down, this is strange. “Yes, if I hadn't interfered, you would be dead!” I think I remember. Momo told me about that final encounter in Heißquellen when Kenta-kun was about to kill the voice and Momo stopped him. Kenta-kun also begrudgingly confirmed that statement.
Now, this has connected some memories. The ss'rak warriors that are still standing look at the Voice, who calmly explains: “Zhe ish right. Zhough zhe's an enemy of zhe Great One. I will fazze herr myzelf.” The big ss'rak is stepping forward.
“...” Momo doesn't look good. Well, I believe she looks beautiful by human standards, at least that's what my observations of the humans around her made me think, but she looks a bit pale, she is sweaty and I believe that a duel to the death isn't what she's looking for.
“...I will do it.” This fight will be a hassle, the Voice isn't even a hero, but I'm still pride-hurt about the whole separation-situation.
“Arako, you don't need to do it.”
“I will do it, Momo.” Making some cheap amends is the best way to restore that pride of mine, and the Voice is someone who lost against Kenta-kun before he even had his class-up, therefore: Easy prey!
“Arako... thank you.”
“You don't need to thank me. Hey Voicy, I'll be her substitute.”
“Voichii... Yuu impuudent-”
“I'm positive that I'm not impotent... most likely. I've never tried having any children.”
“...SHEEEEEEEEE!” A soundwave! It hurts!
“[Fountain Gun]!” Time for payback! The voice is pushed back by my spell and my hearing returns to normal... wait, I hear fighting noises, metal on wood. What a speed, this... “Momo, go this way, I think-”
“Zhe cann't go. Shubshtitute yuu may be, butt shee shtill challanged.”
The other ss'rak warriors start moving to block the way. I look at the Voice. “This is bad for you.”
“Why?”
“Because this means that I don't have time.” For style, I take off my raincoat. “I'm Ara'ainn, the hero-sage! I have a century worth of experience being a hero. Go down on your knees and begin to pray, as the only mercy you can expect right now comes from the gods.”
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