SCENE: NAOFUMI, RAPHTALIA and CONSTANCE are riding on FILO down a dark road, their way lit only by a globe of light above RAPHTALIA’s head and the glint of starlight. MELTY and FULANA JEN are riding alongside on their own filofials. FILO is also carrying a thick bundle of rifles.
MELTY is frowning, clearly not focused on the road. Suddenly, she curses, and drives closer to FILO, squinting angrily at RAPHTALIA.
MELTY: Damn my blindness. That slave trader who died in a fire - that was no coincidence. You did it.
RAPHTALIA raises an eyebrow.
RAPHTALIA: Are you asking us if we did crimes?
MELTY: Oh come on! You might as well admit it. What are the chances that the one slave trader who sold you to Naofumi dies in a fire within two months of the sale without your involvement?
RAPHTALIA: Am I a keeper of slave traders? I am sure I don’t know how often their houses burn down.
MELTY: You already admitted you help slaves escape! You had the means and the motive!
RAPHTALIA: What of it? So would any other slave he ever sold. Setting fires is not a complex skill.
MELTY pulls at her ponytails in frustration.
MELTY: Gah, you and Naofumi, two peas in a bloody pod. One needs special pliers to pull admissions out of you.
NAOFUMI: You know, back in my world, there was this concept of “karma”: good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. Perhaps if slave traders stopped trading slaves they would mysteriously stop dying as often.
MELTY: I don’t even care that you did it! Most of the slave trade is controlled by the northerners - arguably, undermining it is doing me a favor.
NAOFUMI glances at MELTY curiously.
NAOFUMI: You don’t care about your subjects being murdered? Not that it’s unexpected for a monarch, mind, but it sure is unusual to hear you state it so openly.
MELTY crosses her arms. Her filofial seems to follow FILO instinctively, without being controlled.
MELTY: Cute framing. You understood me perfectly well. You obviously did it.
CONSTANCE: If it’s so obvious, your royal highness, why didn’t you suspect us earlier?
MELTY purses her lips and stays quiet for a while.
MELTY: Because the fire started at the same time when I was being assassinated, and you were right next to me.
RAPHTALIA snorts.
RAPHTALIA: Well then, unless you think we can be in two places at once, it seems like we are in the clear.
MELTY: Bah. There are a dozen ways to start a fire on a delay.
RAPHTALIA: Uh huh. Tell that to the courts.
MELTY exclaims with her hands.
MELTY: I am the court! Highest court in the realm - that’s me!
NAOFUMI: Ah, and that’s yet another reason why monarchy is unjustifiable, Melty. See, when the highest judge is the same person as the highest lawmaker, then arbitrary whims of that person cannot be controlled by anyone whatsoever. Why, they might even judge clearly innocent people who - as you admit - have an ironclad alibi as guilty because it is “obvious” that they are.
MELTY squints at NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA.
MELTY: Very clever. Are Raphtalia’s parents even still enslaved?
RAPHTALIA: If you must know, my parents are dead.
MELTY exclaims with her hands again.
MELTY: God damn you. Were you just jerking me around when you asked me to free them?
RAPHTALIA folds her hands.
RAPHTALIA: I asked you about family - it’s more than just parents.
MELTY: Yeah, and then you will tell me the other half of it is imaginary.
MELTY rides in silence for a while, fuming. Slowly, she calms down, and sighs.
MELTY: Okay, let’s look at this reasonably. Killing the slave trader - which you did, don’t even try to deny it - happened before you even sounded me out on slavery. After it happened, you would have had no reason to tell me about it, so let’s put it aside. But why would you tell me the bullshit about Raphtalia’s family? To get me to back off when I asked for closer involvement, because you were hiding slaves? I suppose I couldn’t entirely fault you for that decision…
NAOFUMI raises an eye at MELTY.
NAOFUMI: Hm. You seem awfully calm about traveling with alleged murderers.
MELTY: Alleged? I’ve seen you kill people during my assassination.
NAOFUMI: Killing in self defense isn’t usually seen as murder.
MELTY: I am sure you’d claim killing slavers is “self-defense” too. Let’s not get into the weeds of moral subjectivity.
CONSTANCE sighs.
CONSTANCE: Personally, I am more surprised how calmly you are treating Naofumi outright admitting to treason.
MELTY: Treason? How so?
CONSTANCE: Incitement against the crown, when he directly told you, to your face, that your rule is unjustifiable? This is several leagues beyond what would put a normal man on the gallows.
MELTY opens her mouth, closes it, and then opens it again.
MELTY: Okay, admittedly, Mother or Myne would probably kill you for this.
CONSTANCE sighs loudly. FULANA JEN looks between CONSTANCE and MELTY.
MELTY: …but that’s because they wouldn’t listen to you long enough to understand what you are saying! I mean, Naofumi’s standards are patently ridiculous. Getting every person in the country to vote? You might as well ask for the stars. The only ones you could “incite” with that would be complete lunatics.
CONSTANCE: You should have already realized that even a milder form of the same sentiment would be a deadly poison to your rule. Even if the only ones to vote would be the dukes, it would already cut your influence by more than half. And of course if one were to expand the franchise to at least all of nobility, then you would be all but entirely declawed.
NAOFUMI glances curiously at CONSTANCE.
NAOFUMI: Should you be telling her this?
CONSTANCE: Oh please, she would think of it eventually. Best we get this over with now.
MELTY folds her hands again.
MELTY: I am still here, you know.
CONSTANCE: Then perhaps you can explain to me how, precisely, you want this crazy cooperation to look long-term.
MELTY: What is there to explain?
CONSTANCE sighs again.
CONSTANCE: You are the ruler of Melromarc, and you do not want to pursue radical reforms, yet you do want to very closely coordinate with probably the single most radical political actor in the entire country, whose explicit preference is removing you from power. I do not understand this. It, in fact, seems to go contrary to every rational conception of politics - and while I am quite used to Naofumi defying logic, you don’t have the excuse of coming from another world.
NAOFUMI crosses his arms.
NAOFUMI: Are you mad about me not holding my tongue back again?
CONSTANCE: For once I can’t entirely blame you. This conflict was inevitable, though I didn’t expect Melty to pose us an ultimatum quite so soon.
MELTY glances around them, her lips pursed.
MELTY: And you waited until we were on the road to pressure me on this?
CONSTANCE: I would be lying if I said the thought did not cross my mind.
MELTY: Was Raphtalia’s family also your idea? No wonder you think this cooperation is impossible, if these are the tactics you use.
CONSTANCE rolls her eyes.
CONSTANCE: One potential outcome of this conflict is you ordering our executions. I will not apologize for thinking about the safety of myself and my companions.
MELTY scoffs.
MELTY: Oh please, what could I even do to you? To Filo?
FILO proudly raises her beak up in the air. CONSTANCE shakes her head.
CONSTANCE: I have no interest in trying our luck against whatever you could pull up from your family’s deep stocks. Besides, while our party is hard to take on, we have allies - regular people of Melromarc. It would be quite easy for you to retaliate against them.
MELTY: Hmpf.
MELTY stabs her razor sharp stare at CONSTANCE.
MELTY: And what, precisely, prevents me from simply lying?
CONSTANCE calmly holds her ground.
CONSTANCE: Nothing, really. Your control over your face is impeccable, I won’t be able to tell.
MELTY: But you will act accordingly anyways.
CONSTANCE smiles, but doesn’t respond. MELTY narrows her eyes again.
MELTY: Very well. There is a second part to it.
CONSTANCE: Oh?
MELTY: Suppose that this idea of “universal franchise” is not as ridiculous as it seems on the surface. To achieve it, you would need to somehow set up an institution to administer and count the votes, correct?
CONSTANCE: Sure.
MELTY: I see three ways you could achieve that. You could try to expand it top down, from the dukes, to the marques, then to the counts, and so on. This would require Naofumi to closely cooperate with nobility, which sounds outright impossible. The other option would be to go bottom up: for example, turn barons into elected officials, as opposed to the current mess of inheritance and appointments, then proceed to the counts, and so on.
CONSTANCE shoots an incredulous look at MELTY. MELTY shrugs.
MELTY: I am just outlining all options, bear with me. This would be easier because individual baronies are small, but you are correct that this does not seem possible either: you would need to somehow convince all the higher levels of the pyramid to go along with this plan, even though such a course of reforms will, inevitably, remove them from power. Then you would need to set up these systems all over the country: if you were to do this in person, it would take you your entire life. This leaves the third option.
NAOFUMI: Which is?
MELTY: You could repurpose an already existing country-wide institution for the purpose of voting - for example, the army, or the tax office. If you were to make Melromarc more centralized, like Faubrey is… then I could maybe see you managing to pull it off - though the scale of the undertaking would be much larger than anything Faubrey has managed. But of course, if you were to do that, then that would grant the crown more power, not less, at least in the short term. This means that the only even somewhat realistic path forwards you have would actually play into my hands. Why shouldn’t I cooperate with you in this case?
NAOFUMI: So you are saying we should strengthen the crown in order to destroy the crown?
MELTY shrugs.
MELTY: Why not? You know I do not care for it.
FULANA JEN’s mouth twitches, and she puts her FILOFIAL in between FILO and MELTY.
FULANA JEN: Your royal highness, if I may have your ear for a moment?
FULANA JEN and MELTY move away from FILO. FULANA JEN starts talking with MELTY in hushed tones. CONSTANCE looks at them carefully, and speaks quietly to NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA.
CONSTANCE: I have to hand it to Melty, I’ve never before seen a rationalization that was this robustly built.
NAOFUMI: You think she is rationalizing?
CONSTANCE: I don’t think so, I know it. There is nothing wrong with what she said per se, but it deliberately avoids the key question: why us? Sure, maybe from our perspective strengthening central power could be one of the paths forwards, but from Melty’s perspective she doesn’t need Naofumi to push for this. If a Queen wanted to strengthen her own power, she could simply do so directly, and avoid this uncomfortable question of legitimacy and franchise entirely.
CONSTANCE glances at NAOFUMI.
CONSTANCE: As long as this rationalization holds in her mind, I think we could work with her, but the question is - how long will it hold? The Queen wouldn’t fall for this.
RAPHTALIA: That’s probably why Fulana pulled her aside.
CONSTANCE nods.
CONSTANCE: Shadows aren’t supposed to give advice to the ruler, but these are unique times. The question is wherever her training will stifle her tongue sufficiently that Melty will rationalize it away. This is why I pushed for Fulana to come with us on this trip - I didn’t want to give her a chance to send a message to the Queen before we could decide how to deal with it. We were quite lucky there was nobody else around for that discussion.
As the group is discussing things, they round a corner on the road. Forest closely surrounds the road on both sides, overgrown with thick, green vines. FILO comes to a stop.
FILO: Do those vines look strange to you?
CONSTANCE: I haven’t seen them before either.
NAOFUMI: Do you think it’s dangerous?
They wait in tense silence for a minute, but the forest is silent.
FILO: I guess not. Let’s keep moving.
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SCENE: As the group is traveling further down the road, the vines grow denser, peppered with occasional fat, large, iridescent flowers. The PARTY is tense, but moving at a steady pace.
SYSTEM MESSAGE: Entering "Creeping Rafflesia" area raid!
NAOFUMI: Fuck!
RAPHTALIA: What happened?
NAOFUMI: Another raid zone. Filo, turn back, quick!
FILO pivots on the spot, and runs back down the road. The other two FILOFIALS follow her, ignoring commands from MELTY and FULANA JEN.
MELTY: Hey wait, stop! Explain what happened!
NAOFUMI ignores her, instead focusing on his shield. He swears.
NAOFUMI: Teleportation is blocked.
CONSTANCE: What’s the name of the raid?
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NAOFUMI: Creeping Rafflesia. Any ideas?
CONSTANCE and RAPHTALIA shake their heads. Suddenly, giant vines burrow out of the ground in front of FILO, trying to catch her. FILO dodges, but MELTY’s FILOFIAL is not so lucky, and is dragged away. MELTY is thrown off it with a scream.
FULANA JEN: Your royal highness!
FILO waves her wing, and a gust of wind catches MELTY in mid air, bringing her over to FILO. MELTY’s FILOFIAL is crushed by the vines. The vines stretch high in the air, blocking the road back. NAOFUMI looks at them grimly.
NAOFUMI: Can you fly over, Filo?
FILO: Not while carrying five people.
NAOFUMI: God fucking damn it, this is exactly the shit I was afraid would happen.
FULANA JEN brings her FILOFIAL closer, and MELTY hops over to it. NAOFUMI throws an accusatory glance at unrepentant MELTY. MELTY channels a spell, and slices through the vines with ease, but more vines grow to replace them. FILO tries to go around the plants, but they grow in front of her, seemingly tracing out the contour of the zone.
RAPHTALIA: They don’t seem to be surrounding us.
NAOFUMI: Because they want us to go deeper into the zone. Where another raid boss is waiting for us.
CONSTANCE: I am willing to bet it’s a plant.
MELTY: If there is no path back, then I suppose the only path is forwards?
NAOFUMI sighs.
NAOFUMI: Sure. Keep your eyes peeled.
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SCENE: The forest around the road opens up, and they come out on the shore of a river, continuing alongside one of its banks.
In the distance there is a town, split in half by the river. The half of the town on the opposite side of the river is completely overgrown with vines, streets and buildings barely visible beneath the lush carpet of greenery. Here and there, the vines are peppered with colorful flowers. Three enormous flower stalks tower over the town like sunflowers over grass, more than a hundred meters in height.
The other half of the town is built over a hill that slopes down towards the river. Faint orange glow flickers in the air around the top of the hill, forming something of a dome over the buildings. At the very top of the hill is a small castle, and the buildings next to it seem entirely undamaged.The further away from the top of the hill, the worse the buildings look: at the very bottom they are in ruins, piles of stone and charred wood, giving way to a blackened strip of earth a hundred meters wide that encircles the hill where the vines have been exterminated with fire.
CONSTANCE: Sweet mercy, there were thousands of people here.
NAOFUMI: They could have evacuated.
MELTY stands up in her reins and points towards the hill.
MELTY: I think there must be. See that glow? That’s a magic formation. My sister has to be there.
NAOFUMI: That’s probably why buildings over there still seem intact.
NAOFUMI reaches into his pouch, and passes a set of potions around.
NAOFUMI: Energy potions - drink up, we’ve been traveling through the night.
MELTY throws a smug glance at NAOFUMI as she drinks her potion.
MELTY: It seems that I was right about my sister being involved.
NAOFUMI: Yes, yes. Wait until we get out of this alive, then you can celebrate.
MELTY throws a meaningful glance at NAOFUMI and hums.
MELTY: Hm. You said this was “another” raid zone - I take it you dealt with this somewhere already?
NAOFUMI turns to respond, but MELTY waves him off.
MELTY: Oh save your breath. How bad will this be?
NAOFUMI frowns.
NAOFUMI: I don’t know. At a guess, extremely.
MELTY: Let’s hope your guess is wrong once more.
Their group moves towards the town at a trot. As they approach the outskirts, they hear screams ahead. NAOFUMI purses his lips. FILO waves her wing, and a pair of rifles rises into the air from her back, held aloft by currents of wind. RAPHTALIA takes out her crossbow. MELTY summons a ball of water and holds it in between her hands.
Soon they come across a barricade that has been erected across the street. It has been smashed in: the ground behind it is splattered with blood, and various weapons lie abandoned. There are no corpses in sight.
RAPHTALIA: Where is everyone? This blood is fresh.
MELTY: Perhaps they had time to retreat and take the wounded with them?
RAPHTALIA: Time to take their wounded, but not to start repairing the barricade?
As they rush down the street they soon find the source of the screams.
A dozen giant MANEATER PITCHERS are pursuing a massive, panicked MOB of humans and demihumans. Their bodies are similar to fly pitchers, but several meters tall, and covered in vines. Thick vines at the bottom of the PITCHERS support them and make them move around, while thinner, quicker vines surround their bodies, snaking through the crowd looking for victims. Purple smoke hangs above the MOB.
The MOB is trying to get away, but is stopped by a second barricade that has been erected across the street, with a large wooden gate built into the middle of it. The MOB of humans and demihumans is trying to push through the gate. Several GUARDS can be seen at the front of the MOB, likewise trying to escape. At the top of the barricade, a dozen GUARDS are trying to shoot crossbows at the PITCHERS with little success. A GUARD IN FANCY HELMET is stuttering as he is ordering them around.
GUARD 1: Where’s the Spear Hero?
GUARD 2: Oh God, we are all going to die!
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET: S-shut up and keep shooting! What are you, a bunch of demis? Where’s your warrior spirit?
One of the PITCHERS at the back of the crowd catches a CIVILIAN with a vine and pitches it into the open top. CIVILIAN falls inside with a scream. The scream suddenly shuts off, and a puff of purple smoke raises out of the open top of the pitcher.
RAPHTALIA, CONSTANCE and NAOFUMI hop off FILO, and rush forwards.
NAOFUMI: Focus on keeping them away from the crowd! I’ll keep you safe if you get grabbed.
CONSTANCE: How do we even fight this?
RAPHTALIA: Hack them to pieces, then see how it goes.
FILO flies at one of the PITCHERS, and slices across its body with a claw, hopping away before the PITCHER can catch it. Streams of purple liquid streams out of the wound. Where the liquid touches the ground, purple smoke rises into the air. In the back, MELTY channels a spell, and a line of pressurized water pierces through another PITCHER, slowly cutting a long gash through its body.
PITCHERS seem to notice the new threat as three of them immediately head towards the party. NAOFUMI focuses on keeping the PITCHERS off MELTY and RAPHTALIA, while FILO tries to keep the other PITCHERS away from the MOB. She throws the rifles hovering in the air above her like spears, pinning PITCHER legs to the ground with bayonets.
A pair of the PITCHERS break through FILO’s containment and ignore the MOB, rushing towards the barricade, trampling the people in their wake. THE GUARD IN FANCY HELMET sees this and goes white in the face.
THE GUARD IN FANCY HELMET: Fuck it. Close the gate!
The gate begins to close. MOB grows even more panicked.
RAPHTALIA: What the fuck are they doing?
RAPHTALIA scowls, and quickly runs to FILO.
RAPHTALIA: Filo, throw me to the top of that barricade!
FILO casually waves her wing and RAPHTALIA soars into the air. Her feet slam into the top of the barricade, and she skillfully arrests her momentum, hopping over the edge. Several GUARDS on top of the barricade backpedal and fall over in a panic from seeing her, and she comes face to face with the GUARD IN FANCY HELMET. All GUARDS are wearing leather armor, and have small stitched insignias with the letters "H" and "F" on the left of their chest.
RAPHTALIA: Keep the fucking gate open!
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET’s face is panicked, but he manages to sneer in RAPHTALIA’s face.
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET: Who are you, demi, to give us orders?
RAPHTALIA kicks GUARD IN FANCY HELMET in the balls, and pitches him over the barricade with one hand. He lands somewhere in the MOB below.
RAPHTALIA: Someone who could have stabbed you through your fucking throat. Gate, open, now!
GUARD IN LESS FANCY HELMET: We- we can’t open the gate! Those monsters will burst through, and kill us all! Besides, there are mostly only those demihumans left, we can’t risk -
RAPHTALIA pitches GUARD IN LESS FANCY HELMET over the wall too.
RAPHTALIA: Any other morons with something to say?
THE GUARDS acquiesce to RAPHTALIA’s recommendations and open the gate again. The MOB streams through. Soon enough NAOFUMI, FILO and MELTY manage to get the remaining PITCHERS under control. RAPHTALIA and CONSTANCE start going through the hurt members of the MOB, administering first aid. GUARD IN FANCY HELMET limps his way over to RAPHTALIA, his face red with embarrassment, followed by a pair of other GUARDS. GUARD IN FANCY HELMET points to RAPHTALIA.
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET: You there! How dare you raise your hand on a human?
RAPHTALIA glances at him and goes back to administering first aid.
RAPHTALIA: Not much daring involved, against a coward like you.
GUARD’s face gets even redder. He motions to his followers.
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET: Drag this demi to the castle! And take that weapon away from her.
Two GUARDS step forwards. RAPHTALIA stands up and unsheathes her sword in one smooth motion, and takes a threatening stance, keeping her sword low.
RAPHTALIA: Seems that you didn’t learn your fucking lesson the first time. Don’t worry, I live to educate.
GUARDS unsheathe their weapons too. Various DEMIHUMANS from the crowd glance at them. MELTY and FULANA JEN approach the brewing confrontation together on their FILOFIAL. MELTY whistles to get the attention of the GUARD IN FANCY HELMET.
MELTY: You there! Are you tired of living? Who gave you the right to threaten a member of my honor guard?
Confidence in MELTY’s eyes gives GUARD IN FANCY HELMET some pause.
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET: Honor guard? Who are you?
FULANA JEN hops off the FILOFIAL, and makes a presenting bow in the direction of MELTY.
FULANA JEN: All hail Melty Q. Melromarc, crown princess and first heir to the throne, daughter and sworn delegate of Mirellia Q. Melromarc!
GUARD IN FANCY HELMET’s face goes from red to white. Other GUARDS uncomfortably shuffle away from him. RAPHTALIA clicks her tongue, seeing the tension diffuse.
MELTY: I believe my sister is here. Take me to her, or, failing that, to your lord. There is much to discuss.
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SCENE: The party is led by the GUARD IN FANCY HELMET towards the castle. On the way, they pass through more barricades. The town is severely overcrowded with refugees, and impromptu sleeping areas have been set up all over the place. GUARDS can be seen training in hand to hand combat, exercising with pieces of wood, and so on in various areas of the town.
As they walk, CONSTANCE approaches MELTY.
CONSTANCE: May I inquire what your plan is when it comes to your sister?
MELTY: Plan? She is my sister, I don’t need a plan.
MELTY glances at CONSTANCE, then sighs.
MELTY: Look, I told you, it couldn’t be her - but if you insist on your suspicions, then I’ll give you free reign, within reason.
CONSTANCE and RAPHTALIA share a look.
As they approach the castle, they come across MYNE hurrying in the opposite direction, followed by a PARTY of assorted followers and a gaggle of GUARDS. MYNE stops dead in her tracks as she sees them, with a shocked look on her face. Despite her otherwise perfect appearance, exhaustion seeps through her eyes.
MYNE: Melty?! What are you doing here?
MELTY waves at MYNE with a friendly gesture. CONSTANCE watches MYNE like a hawk.
MELTY: I’ve come to help you out, of course. Still need your older sister’s hand to get to places on time?
MELTY smiles slightly. MYNE returns the smile, then ruffles her hair. Her eyes sweep over NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA, and the corners of her mouth turn downwards.
MYNE: And what are these two doing with you?
MELTY: They are my honor guard.
MYNE raises one eyebrow.
MYNE: Your honor guard?
MYNE turns back to her followers.
MYNE: Ellin is in charge. Make sure our perimeter is secure. I need to talk to my sister.
MYNE’s party nods and trots away. MYNE turns back to MELTY.
MYNE: Come, we clearly have a lot to talk about.
MYNE motions to MELTY & CO, and they head towards the castle.
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SCENE: MYNE, MELTY & CO enter a dining hall, modest by the standards of nobility. FULANA JEN quickly sweeps the room before MELTY enters, staying close to her. A SERVANT enters through one of the doors, and MYNE orders them to bring wine. MYNE sits down at the table with a sigh. MELTY looks around the room, and raises an eyebrow, before sitting down directly across from MYNE. CONSTANCE leans against a wall near the doors. NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA sit down next to MELTY.
MELTY: Don’t you think we should go somewhere more private?
MYNE’s lips curl as she throws a glance at RAPHTALIA.
MYNE: I am not letting that demi drag her feet all over the castle. I mean, seriously Melty? That’s who you pick for your guard? Did you run out of Shadows?
MELTY purses her lips. RAPHTALIA frowns slightly.
MELTY: They saved me from an assassination attempt.
MYNE’s mouth opens in shock. CONSTANCE is looking at her closely.
MYNE: What?!
MELTY: There’d been a bomb attack while I was in a discussion with Naofumi. Without their help, I would have been dead.
MYNE narrows her eyes at NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA. RAPHTALIA winks at her.
MYNE: While they were present? Convenient.
MELTY rolls her eyes at MYNE.
MELTY: What, do you think they did it to get in my good graces, as some kind of false flag attack?
MYNE crosses her arms and squints at NAOFUMI.
MYNE: Obviously. He is literally the Devil of the Shield.
MELTY laughs. RAPHTALIA leans on the table, supporting her head with one arm.
RAPHTALIA: You really think we did it?
MYNE ignores RAPHTALIA.
MELTY: No, Myne, they didn’t do it. It was an obvious frame-up of Naofumi.
MYNE sighs and leans back.
MYNE: Come on Melty, listen to me. He probably hid the assassins in his shield and smuggled them past the Shadows, or something. Who else would even have a motive to assassinate you?
NAOFUMI: Shadows were the assassins.
RAPHTALIA leans forwards.
RAPHTALIA: Why did you try to kill your sister?
MYNE’s gaze snaps to RAPHTALIA’s face.
MYNE: What?!
RAPHTALIA: Only way for you to get to the throne, right? Hands itching for fratricide?
MYNE leaps up, her face going red, the chair toppling to the ground behind her.
MYNE: Shut your mouth, you overgrown squirrel!
RAPHTALIA smirks.
RAPHTALIA: Says a kinslayer. Who else could get the Shadows to do this?
MYNE: I will turn you into boots!
RAPHTALIA: Oh please, I’ve been itching to get my hands on you ever since you poisoned me. Shall we go outside?
MYNE tries to grab RAPHTALIA over the table. MELTY gets in between them.
MELTY: Raphtalia! Myne! Stop this!
With some effort, MELTY manages to break up the brewing fight. RAPHTALIA and NAOFUMI move a distance away and MELTY goes to whisper with them, while CONSTANCE sits down next to where MELTY was sitting. A SERVANT brings wine, and MYNE manages to calm down somewhat. CONSTANCE leans back with a glass of wine.
CONSTANCE: For what it’s worth, I don’t think you did it.
MYNE stares at CONSTANCE, her voice full of poison.
MYNE: Why thank you, how sweet of you.
CONSTANCE: Melty was convinced you were innocent, and your reactions right now seem genuine. It seems that whoever did it tried to frame you just as much as they did Naofumi. Any idea who that might be?
MYNE scoffs.
MYNE: Any of a dozen people. Do you think we don’t have enemies?
CONSTANCE: Hm, still, they would have had to get the Shadows on board somehow.
MYNE: So what? Shadows may be supposed to be loyal to the crown, but plenty of them have their own loyalties. Most come from noble families in the first place. With Melty coming out of nowhere, and with the associations she keeps, I can see how some of them might be persuaded.
CONSTANCE takes a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfurls it. On it is the symbol of the church of the three heroes with an eye in the middle.
CONSTANCE: Perhaps you could recognise this symbol?
MYNE’s eyes narrow for a moment, barely perceptible. There is a glint in CONSTANCE’s eyes.
MYNE: No. Never seen it before.
MYNE presses her glass of wine against her forehead to cool it. MELTY comes back to join them.
MYNE: God, I have enough of a headache dealing with Motoyasu here. I do not need this squirrel-fucker and his pet spitting in my face on top of that.
RAPHTALIA rolls her eyes.
RAPHTALIA: I am a raccoon, you moron.
MELTY: Raphtalia!
MELTY throws a glance at RAPHTALIA. RAPHTALIA shrugs unapologetically.
RAPHTALIA: What? If she wants to insult us she should at least be accurate.
MELTY stares RAPHTALIA down, and RAPHTALIA raises her hands in an apologetic gesture. MYNE scoffs again. MELTY glances between them, and finally sighs, seeing that a new fight isn’t going to develop.
MELTY: Look, Myne, you are my sister, and I know that you have a history with Naofumi and Raphtalia, but you have to stop insulting my people. They saved my life, the least you can do is be polite.
MYNE sighs and rubs her forehead.
MYNE: Fine, sure. I shouldn’t let it get to me, but after last week...
MELTY: Thank you. Things looked pretty bad out there, and I hope you will at least agree Naofumi is a good fighter? You will need to cooperate with us to end this.
MYNE rubs her face more.
MYNE: God, I hate it when you are right.
MELTY: I am always right.
MYNE: Feh, in your dreams.
MYNE turns her seat away from NAOFUMI and RAPHTALIA and leans on the table.
MYNE: So the situation is like this. Motoyasu says that we’ll need to destroy the three giant stalks I am sure you’ve seen over the other half of the town. The problem is, plants grow back quickly - we can’t do it quickly enough. If we had more men we would have managed, but the count refuses to put the entire town under arms, and I can’t convince him otherwise. I would have gone to get more people from the outside, but Motoyasu refuses to leave, and we can’t break out without him. I don’t know where he grew a spine, but this is the worst time for it.
MYNE shrugs helplessly, looking into her glass.
MYNE: Tell me if you see something I don’t.
MELTY ponders it in silence. MYNE sighs and gets up.
MYNE: I need to get some sleep. I’ll send someone to show you around town.
MELTY: Thank you. Maybe the count will listen to me.
MELTY follows MYNE to the doors. They hug.
MELTY: It’s good to know that you are safe.
MYNE snorts.
MYNE: I’ll be fine. Worry about yourself, bookworm.
They separate and MYNE leaves the room. MELTY turns back to the others.
MELTY: Alright, let’s see more of this town. I want to be prepared to argue with the count.
MELTY leads the group in the opposite direction from MYNE, leaving the room. NAOFUMI slows down to whisper with CONSTANCE in the back.
NAOFUMI: So, what do you think?
CONSTANCE taps her cheek.
CONSTANCE: I don’t think she sent the assassins, but she is hiding something. Be on your guard.
The group exits the dining room.
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
NAOFUMI IWATANI, THE SHIELD HERO. One of the socialists. Protagonist.
PRINCESS MELTY Q. MELROMAC. First heir to the throne of Melromarc. Rational or rationalizing?
PRINCESS MYNE Q. MELROMARC. Second heir to the throne of Melromarc. Allegedly not a kinslayer.
RAPHTALIA. One of the socialists. Radical anti-racist.
CONSTANCE VON MARUKIEVICH / FREDALIA. Secretly demihuman. Political animal.
FILO. Back in her element.
FULANA JEN, SHADOW. Head of MELTY’s SHADOWs. Secret service.