Things with Franklin were largely smoothed over, which brought me to the next major issue; Felicity. Or, more specifically, Claire. These past several days, Claire had, to my knowledge, not once relinquished control of their shared body. This despite her professed desire to not force herself on the girl. Though I was unsure on the specifics, Claire seemed to be under the impression that her more mature mind was what allowed her to be the dominant force when she wanted to, and she had sworn not to abuse that.

Hells, I even had to force her to swear an oath to me that she would take control if it was a matter of life and death, in order to protect Felicity. Now, she’s not only in control, but shows no signs of relinquishing it.

There wasn’t a way for me to really force her to stop, the situation being so far outside the realm of normalcy; I had no precedent to work with. Even if I had the desire to, there was no way that I was willing to go and experiment on my little sister like that. As such, it was a problem with no answer.

“And you really won’t even tell me why?” Which was why I was now trying to interview the involved party.

But Claire was being strangely obstinate about the whole thing, “No, I won’t. Or, more specifically; I can’t tell you. Please, stop asking.”

At least she’s giving me that much.

I wanted to help in what ways I could, in part to pay her back for my faux pas regarding messing with Felicity’s skills, but without being told what was going on, there was nothing I could do. Likewise, there was little in the way of time; once again, my official duties were interfering with my desire to help. And, once again, it was Felicity who was the recipient of that obstruction. After all, it was nearly time for the advance to start and without my presence, it would be a fruitless endeavor.

“Then, I will see you when this is finished. Hopefully, once Eris is gone, you can be more open; I want to help you, both of you.”

Claire did not answer me, nor did she go back into my shadow; seemingly her new favorite hiding place. In light of the coming fight, I had expressly forbidden her from hiding there. Giving Sasha a nod, I stood up and held my arms out so that I could be changed into my battle attire. It went without saying, but Franklin was not currently present.

Though, and against Lord Alriss’ wishes, Taya was, “You know how much I’m trusting you, right?”

I nodded affirmatively, but otherwise made no attempt to answer her. She was here, because once the misunderstanding about why my men were breaking camp was cleared up, both she and Franklin had been incredibly distraught. Taya’s case was understandable, but Franklin had surprised me. He had only known these people for a few weeks at most, but he was behaving as though they were good friends.

I had explained my reasoning and the threat posed by Eris, but it had fallen on largely deaf ears; it wasn’t until I swore that none would be harmed that Taya had begun to calm down. And it wasn’t until Franklin told her to trust me that she finally relented. But only on the condition that she be allowed to monitor my actions.

She probably has the delusion that, if I betray my word, she’ll be able to either defeat or kill me. No matter; I have nothing to hide, at least as far as the operation goes.

At this point, things had progressed to the point that, even if I had second thoughts, it would be very difficult to call off. Without results, explaining my actions to the Alliance at large would be all but impossible. To say nothing of Zesten itself. My declaration had been delivered; two dead bodies, cut open to expose the demonic parasite and the demand that Eris be turned over to me, or that I will be allowed to search the city for her. The first part of my demand was unfulfillable, leaving only the second.

Regardless, it wasn’t worth answering her; as long as she was only this rude, and no further, I could ignore it as a favor to Franklin. My extra maids, Beatrice and Peoni, finished their assigned tasks, and Frieda came up to affix a small tiara-like crown to my head. It was a replica of the one used for the coronation, and this would be the first time I actually wore such an ornament. There was a saying on earth, that the original purpose of a crown was for the monarch to feel the weight of his duties and ensure he never got too comfortable on the thrown. But if that was the case, I didn’t feel anything from this one; it was purely ornamental.

I gave Taya a look meant to remind her to mind her tongue, then moved to the carriage door where Jacqueline was waiting.

Well, let’s start this then.

Jacqueline opened the carriage door and I stepped out into the sunlight. The sudden change made me squint, and I shielded my eyes while checking the sun's position. It was just after noon and that great ball of fire had begun its decent into the horizon; we would arrive at the city gates just before the evening winds picked up. Franklin was standing with Lord Alriss, sporting a new armor set. Armor bearing the crest of Drakas.

Behind the two of them, all of those soldiers who had been dispatched under me stood in formation at parade rest. Seeing all of them assembled like this really put in perspective the scale of the power I weilded; twelve hundred soldiers and knights. By no means a large force, but it was significant when one accounted for the training and equipment. Ours was the greatest country on this continent, and that was reflected in the might of our military.

And if everything goes correctly, there will be no cause to demonstrate that fact.

“Thank you, all of you, for joining me on this divine mission. It may have been lucky to complete part of our objective so early, but I disagree.” This was the time for me to address the men before formally declaring hostilities. All of them knew what we were going to do next, but there was a certain order to things that required me to address them in this way.

“I am sure that you have heard the rumors; that Franklin is the chosen Champion of Summer, ordained by Dorian, Andre, and Bellyes. Let me now be the one to tell you; he is that man. That means that our crusade has already located the second of the four champions. Both Autumn and Summer now stand before you.” At his cue, Franklin stepped forward to stand next to me, “Was that luck? Or was it divine intervention?”

A hush would have fallen over the crowd were it made up of civilians, but these were disciplined, loyal men; they were already silent and listening intently. Still, I paused a moment for effect, even going so far as to close my eyes and look down whilst taking a deep breath; a show of gathering my resolve.

“I believe it to be the latter. I believe, that Franklin was placed in our path by the gods, so that we might avert a crisis before it begins. There is a demon in Zesten. A foul creature, in direct service to Leviathan, the Queen of Envy. Yes, that means exactly what it sounds like; we are dealing with a higher demon, an Original Sin.” Now there was a murmur running its way through the assembled force. The men here were all more or less aware of how dangerous that type was.

“Franklin and I will deal with the demon; we will ensure she does not escape, and we will not suffer her to harm any more of the civilian population… Both directly, and indirectly. That is why, I must ask something of all of you. Something perilous and risky, but something neccessary all the same; do not draw your blades. Should you come under fire, fall back and shield yourself. Should someone come at you, deflect them. Do everything you can to protect yourselves, short of taking lives. If it comes down to it, I am asking you to die.”

The lingering disquiet from the mention of the Original Sin vanished; everyone was now listening incredibly intently. Lord Alriss in particular, was staring at me with naked incredulity. Which was understandable, as at this point I had gone off script. My original intent had been to take things only as far as Zesten did; if they fought back, then we would roll them over until the stopped. We would push as far as them, and no further. That was the plan in so far as Lord Alriss understood it and was the plan I had cited to Franklin and Taya. Now, I had changed my mind. I wasn’t against killing, but at the last moment, I had decided to seize a moral victory of sorts. Literally the last moment; I had gone off script as I was talking.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

With Eris’ stated goal being to sow discord, my best bet would be to go out of my way to avoid causing any distress of my own. Escalating would only make everything worse.

Especially with Franklin siding with me so fully as to don the armor of my country. The only reason for that was due to our past relationship, which was a fairly flimsy reason.

Then again, it has only been so long for me and Claire. I do need to remember that for him, only a few days have passed.

Essentially, I was making a massive gamble. A gamble, that after my display, Zesten would quickly come around to my demands. If they called my bluff… Well, then I would have to go from there.

“Every single one of you was given the option to remain in Drakas and protect our country in the coming war, or to come with me and form the vanguard. Those that would defend the people from the demons, cannot themselves do war with those same people. There is a time for force, but it is not now, not here. Now, we ride.”

There was silence as I concluded the impromptu portion of my speech. Then, Franklin did something. Stamping his right foot down twice such that it produced a carrying sound, he slammed his right fist into his breastplate. He then repeated this same action to a rhythm only he could hear. A moment later, the phenomenon began to spread throughout the assembled soldiers. It took me a moment, but I eventually realized he was performing the intro to a certain rock piece from Earth, Considering the name of that group, it was all I could do to avoid turning pink as I stared daggers at the back of his head.

The worst part, was that I couldn’t tell if he was doing it to tease me, to mock me, or if he was being genuine. And there was no way in hell that I was going to ask him which it was.

“Lord Alriss, the men, and myself, are at your command.” So, I would just ignore it and if asked, I would claim it was some curiosity from his homeland.

With the order given, Lord Alriss now officially outranked me, at least when it came to direct military matters. Personally, I was a lot of things. Some people might even call me a bit bullshit, but at the end of the day while I could be a scalpel, or a hammer, or any other manner of tool, I was not suited for the role of commander. Much like with the goblins back in Ris, it was far better for me to relinquish that role to someone else, and apply my own talents where they would best serve.

“...As you command. Sound the march.” Lord Alriss in turn, accepted the transfer, and then ordered a runner to pass along the order to depart.

A few moments later, the order had propagated the entire force, and as one the rhythm stopped. The columns then turned, and began to march the road toward Zesten. I myself returned to my carriage, then made my way up to its roof. Personally, I would have preferred to ride, but Lord Alriss’ plan had put me here instead. It made sense; the crux of our plan was for my spell to scare Zesten into compliance. For that, I needed to be highly visible while casting it, and the size of my carriage would draw attention. There was also the possibility that he simply wanted me somewhere contained as a safety precaution; no matter where I was when casting the spell, I would draw the required attention.

There was another reason for this though, and that reason was sitting on the roof of my carriage, in broad sunlight, despite being a vampire.

“Lord Strauf, I have been waiting for you.” I performed a small curtsy, while Lord Alriss swore something under his breath, and released his grip on his sword hilt.

Palde Strauff was, in a word, unamused. Though, it was difficult to tell given his withered appearance.

“Stahlia, what are your intentions with this move?” He was straight and to the point. If only all Drakan nobility could behave like this ancient example, things would be so much simpler.

“Leviathan challenged me personally and insinuated that I should ally the demons while betraying my comrades. I am making a point; that is my sole intention.”

“...And you believe this is the best way to do that? The war officially begins in four months, we do not have time for humans to be fighting humans.”

I pursed my lips; the notion that ‘the war will begin’ was getting tiresome, “With all due respect, the war has already begun. I grow exceedingly tired of everyone involved saying that it has not. What Leviathan and Eris are doing amounts to an attack on Zesten, an act of war. What Satan and Sitri did in Drakas, another act of war. The war has begun; simply nobody acknowledges that. Well, I’ll do it myself, starting by cleansing Zesten of their influence.”

It was probably a culmination of the past few days' events, but Palde’s question had triggered a deep-seated, visceral reaction. Palde fell silent and did not immediately respond to my tirade. When he did speak, it was with some degree of disdain.

“That is… A unique perspective. I suppose that is why you were offered the position of Rulebreaker. There is an order to these things, Stahlia, one that has persisted for many years, and will continue to persist; you simply lack the experience to see it.”

“Enough.” I cut him off, “Despite your position as both my elder and one of our allies, I will not suffer you to lecture me. At the end of the day, I will act as I see fit. Will you obstruct me?”

There followed a tense moment, during which I readied my mana for a potential altercation. But Palde stood down, “No, I will not. I have been instructed to simply observe; it matters not to Aaron if you fail; he will simply wait for another opportunity.”

I nodded, “Then, you are welcome to do that.”

I turned my attention away from him, and out towards the direction of our travel. We would be arriving on time, assuming no interruptions. Then, I would have a few minutes with which to cast the spell. Anywhere from ten minutes to a full hour.

“Here, my lady.” Sasha passed me a small vile, which I regarded with revulsion before taking and quickly drinking.

It was foul but also wholly necessary. To my credit, the flavor was improved over the standard version.

“A single one of those would have cost nearly a million Alliance Marks. And I saw ten in that case.” Taya’s observation was a bit surprising, both in that she spoke, and that she even recognized what the vile vial was.

“Is that so? The ingredients were not quite so expensive.”

She’s probably talking because she’s anxious, and the mana concentrate was as good an icebreaker as anything.

“I will need to drink all of them by the time we arrive, so I cannot speak much; I must focus on controlling the mana.”

“You’re serious then? You actually intend to wrap the entire force in a spell?” She asked, ignoring my own request to not speak.

I nodded. Then, it was Franklin to ask another question, “But, is that even possible? Forgive my ignorance, but if such spells were so convenient, wouldn’t Zesten have been invaded by now? The wind being their primary defense and all…”

“Because the spell does not exist, and there is only one caster capable of performing it.” I wanted to keep things short and simple, but such an answer would not be sufficient to sate the two’s curiosity. Though they could be ignored, my goal was to earn their trust.

Well, I’ll try and keep it short…

With even just the first potion, I was already feeling a bit sick as I channeled the mana into my crystal, so I really couldn’t afford to have things get complicated.

“Spell incantations are overly long and overly complex. If you know which parts are necessary, you can omit them. With a Talent, you omit the entire chant. I trust you are familiar, Taya?” She nodded, and I continued, “What I am doing is taking parts from dozens of different chants and incanting them as a new spell. It is complicated and dangerous, and the odds are I am the only one who can do it. Therefore, the cost of the spell must be paid by me alone. At the very least, I will not teach this spell to any others; thus, the mana concentrate.”

Taya’s eyes widened, “You plan to drink all of that? Won’t it kill you?”

And she hadn’t realized that until just now…?

“Yes, I do. No, it will not. But controlling that much mana makes everything else, including talking, much more difficult. Please, let me focus, and I will answer your questions when I am able.” The carriage fell silent as Taya and Franklin digested my words, and I turned my attention back to the road and to the manipulation of my mana.

Of course, I only need this much since I’m faking it. If it was for real…

I would need a lot more mana. My spell would actually be two spells. One of them would be invisible and would be described in detail; this would erect a barrier around our camp, protecting us from the wind. The second would be more abstract, and would only describe a visual effect. That one would produce an illusion. Layered together, it should look like I pulled off something impressive while being far cheaper for me, to the point of being actually possible.

An I can only cross my fingers that they fall for my bluff sooner rather than later. Casting this repeatedly is going to take a toll…

My upper limit was seven days. After that, I would be utterly exhausted, and in serious danger of the heightened mana levels doing serious damage. Not unlike when I had disconnected from the system. I shut my eyes, and focused on Franklin’s conversation with Taya. He was telling her stories about his past life, and I found it calming.

Really, the fact that he doesn’t see the hearts in her eyes… She’s got all of the bad luck to compensate for his good.

Anyone looking in on us, probably wouldn’t have even the faintest clue of what we were traveling to. The calm before the storm.