“Well…fuck.”

“Fuck,” Alana echoes. Then she dashes off.

I don’t know what she thinks she’s going to accomplish. Ethor and his team are quite obviously dead. So is Sebas. No coming back from your brains leaking out of your skull. Besides, she’s not going to heal anyone with the light affinity.

And it would seem she’s not the only one with the coveted power of the sun. My already substantial shock seeing Sebas die was by far overwhelmed by my shock seeing a dome of darkness engulf the two teams. When people think of the light affinity, they think of a more elegant fire affinity. More heat and more precision with less cost.

They don’t tend to think of someone swallowing the light. There is something incredibly disturbing about a place with color and detail being washed away by a darkness deeper than the darkest night. It’s almost as if a part of the world was simply erased.

I have to learn how to do that.

In the meantime, I race after Alana. I slow down as I catch up to her. She initially heads for Sebas but once she’s close enough to see the damage, she turns for the other team. It doesn’t take long for her to conclude they’re dead. She lingers on the thin metal cocoon I can logically assume Ethor is in. Using the same logic, I doubt Orphelia left him alive.

As she conducts her examination, Orphelia’s team wakes up with a chorus of groans. The injured Cecile remains on the ground, whimpering as a hand hovers over her injured leg. Lanston is woozy, pausing on his hands and knees as he sucks down deep breaths.

Mr. Talented manages to get his feet under him, though he wobbles. He blinks rapidly, blank gaze slowly gaining focus. He zeroes in on Orphelia. More specifically, the blood on her robe. “Orphie!” His first step is shaky but he quickly regains his strength, hurrying over to her. His hands grab her shoulders as he looks her over, a sigh relaxing his tense shoulders when he doesn’t discover any obvious injuries. “Are you alright?”

She glares at him, long enough for him to become uncomfortable. He drops his hands and clears his throat awkwardly. Her glare transforms into a sneer.

“I’m perfectly fine, no thanks to you. I told you to drop him. Why didn’t you do anything?”

“…that would have been an escalation. As the disciple of a knight, he is a future comrade. Throwing a spell with my full power behind it could have killed him.”

“I didn’t think something so simple needed to be explained but here goes. When casters, no, when anything fights another being, one party is likely be injured. They may be killed. Your goal is to not be the injured party, the same as your opponent. It is exceedingly rare that no one is injured in a fight. That is why you don’t hesitate, Bobby. Because if you refuse to hurt them, they will certainly hurt you.”

She raises a hand and turns his cheek. At first, he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be seeing, brows furrowing in confusion. Then he looks down and freezes.

She leaves him staring at Sebas’ corpse and moves toward Lanston, who is also staring at the fallen royal. “Up.” She grabs him under the arm when he doesn’t respond. Her urging gets him to his feet and she shoves him in Cecile’s direction before walking over to me.

Alana hurries over, standing beside me with her hand on her blade. Orphelia glances at her and scoffs before returning her attention to me. I feel my lips twitch to follow hers as she flashes a perfectly crafted smile that doesn’t reach her cold eyes. Saints, there is something wrong with this woman.

“I apologize if any of that made you uncomfortable, Lou.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m worried for you. One of your teammates was just murdered.” Under very suspicious circumstances. I heard Ethor’s shouted denials the moment before the dome of darkness swallowed him. His panic sounded real. Not to mention the fortuitous fainting of everyone besides Sebas. It all felt…staged.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Yes, that’s a problem. To think assassins would disguise themselves as initiates.”

My gaze narrows. If Ethor was an assassin, he was a saints blessed genius. I didn’t feel a lick of aggression when he declared his intention to rob them. Not a hint of bloodlust. His heart rate didn’t spike, he didn’t smell of anxiety. He seemed genuinely annoyed, just like an apprentice sent on an errand by his master. “Daring assassins.”

“Truly. What is the kingdom coming to?”

“Enough!” We both turn to Alana who is watching Orphelia with grit teeth. “You just murdered five people.”

“For good reason. They assassinated a member of the royal family. If you were not aware, the punishment for treason is death.”

“You didn’t know that. One caster delivered the fatal blow. The others weren’t even involved in the fight.”

“I would think you’d know that distance is not enough to hamper a competent caster. Besides, they tried to help the perpetrator flee. I believe that made their guilt clear.”

“They were afraid! As they clearly had every right to be.” Her grip on her sword tightens. “The king’s laws still exist even when there is no one around to enforce them. Criminals are to be apprehended, judged, and sentenced. Not summarily executed.”

“Are you calling me a criminal, Alana James? Are you going to apprehend me?”

“I have a mind to.”

They stare at each other, Orphelia’s smile fading. “I wonder how you would have done as me.”

“What?”

“Don’t pretend. With the speed you arrived, you were watching the battle. You saw my second affinity.”

“…light.”

“Yes, the coveted light affinity. The magic of the first saint and many saints that followed. The blessed affinity. But inseparable from the light is darkness. Something the kingdom has far more use for.” Alana holds her gaze as Orphelia leans forward. “You may hate your father but you should be thankful you were born a James daughter. They have no need for blades in the dark in their pointless war and the king wouldn’t dare lay his hands on Fort Victory.”

“Are you saying…you are employed by the kingdom?”

“Let’s say I am not concerned about being detained and tried. Now.” She turns back to me. “I would like to keep moving but that will be difficult with my team’s injuries. Could I trouble your thrall for some healing?”

“…sure thing.” Geneva walks off with a swing of her tail. “Hey, is anyone else going to try and kill you?”

“I would say no but today has been full of surprises.”

Fair. “Stick close to us and let’s get out of here.” I may not care about them but they look pitiful. Especially Mr. Talented. At some point, he wandered closer to his friend and is staring at the corpse with an empty gaze. Cecile and Lanston have just been healed but they are clearly exhausted. I doubt they could put up a fight if someone attacked them now.

Well, I guess it depends on how much mana Orphelia has. Seeing as she’s not even sweating, they could be just fine.

But Orphelia isn’t going to pass on the escort. “How kind~ You have my thanks, Lou. Let me grab my team. Ah, could I also trouble you for one of your blankets? I’m afraid we’ll have to take the corpse with us.”

“Ah.” I look over my shoulder, to where I left the rest of my team. Arthur may be a disgusting dog of a man but he can follow orders. His job is to protect William and Marthe. He might have been able to keep up with Alana and I as we dashed off but knowing they couldn’t, he stuck behind to do his job, protecting them and our points.

“Coo!”

I look down at Bell. “Grab one of them for me.” The imp dashes off, soon to return with a rolled-up blanket held in her tail. I pass it to Orphelia.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t trust her,” Alana says as Orphelia walks toward the dead royal. She claps Robert on the shoulder, silently telling him to move. When that doesn’t work, she shoves him. He stumbles and falls, but it’s still not enough to snap him out of his fugue, his eyes never leaving Sebas, even as he’s covered with a blanket.

“It’s pretty clear she’s not trustworthy,” I remark with a hint of amusement as the woman rolls up the body without a hint of disgust.

“If I ask for your help detaining her, will you?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I will.” If for no other reason than to protect you. Orphelia has far more practice with her light affinity, a gap Alana’s sword may not be able to bridge. Never mind her second affinity. “But I would really rather we not get involved.”

“I understand that you are close to her—”

“Hold on.” I step in front of her, forcing her to focus on me as I glower at her. “That has nothing to do with this. Not wanting to draw the crown’s attention after someone’s killed a member of the royal family is common sense. Despite that, I said I would help you. I’m telling you not to get involved for your sake. It’s not your job to right every wrong.”

“And what if I want to?” she snaps. “I can’t pretend I don’t care. People died, Lou. That’s not something you ignore.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh heavily. Damn future saint. “We escort them to the gate. We make sure they stay there until someone with some authority comes. We do nothing else.” I can indulge her but I refuse to let her ride through the kingdom hunting for rebels and conspiracies.

Alana’s shoulders relax. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, got to spoil the wife. Even when she’s dragging me into a crazy mess.”

The serious atmosphere is destroyed as her face flushes pink. “Who’s your—you—wait, what do you mean crazy mess? Lou!”

I ignore her as I walk over to Orphelia.