Chapter 49: Chapter 44 – Assault Within the Capital

I should’ve known it’d be like this. That we’d be the “honored guests” of the new regime. Hostages, more like. Or prisoners. And they keep making appointments of… varying importance that they want us to attend.

And, right now, there’s going to be another one of those.  And I’d already decided I’m not going.  But Avilia…

For someone who doesn’t care about humans too much, once she’s set in a path Avilia has a bit too strong a sense of duty!

“Are you sure you do not want to go? She is not going to be happy!”

I can hear the disappointment in her voice. I understand that she doesn’t want to meet Karine alone again, but I’ve had it with people treating me like some sort of a cult leader, too. I can’t wait to leave this place and be treated like a nobody once more. I’m not really made for this revered summoned hero business.

And as long as she doesn’t really need-need me for something, I’d rather stay away from any centers of power, thank you very much!

I nod. “I still have plenty of writing to do. Better do it while the ordeal’s still fresh in memory, right?”

That’s a bit of a white lie on my part and Avilia knows it. Thanks to all the software in my brain, my memories stay pretty fresh as long as I need them to. But the truth is, I’d rather write all this down sooner rather than later. Who knows if I’ll have another chance like this?

Actually, I guess I could force myself to forget things, too… I wonder if I’ve ever done that?

“Alright,” she sighs, “I will tell her you are otherwise engaged. Again.”

“Thank you.” I embrace her, and we kiss. She blushes. Just a little bit!

“All the things I do for you,” she mutters under her breath.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Another sigh. “But I must go now.  I will see you soon.”

I kiss her on the forehead. “See you soon.”

And with that, Avilia leaves me alone in the room.

It's… A bit lonely.

Maybe I should stop being such a hikikomori and go with her to these pointless-seeming meetings? Even if I’d rather not, especially since it feels like everyone’s drunk the Kool-Aid at this point and think I’m touched by the gods and so on and so forth.

I stretch as I walk back to the table and take my seat again. A neat arrangement of flowers is in the center of the table.

Flowers. I can’t remember seeing real, organic flowers in such abundance all my life before I came here. And now it just feels natural. Why wouldn’t there be flowers everywhere? To think I ‘ve adapted to life in this place this quickly.

Avilia’s helped a lot with that, for sure. And the others, of course. While Karine really screwed us over, she’s also been helpful. You can trust opportunists to take opportunities as they come, even if it’s to the detriment of others. Not really the sort of person you should tell too much.

She kind of reminds me of people back home. Her selfish motives are easy to understand. I don’t agree with her methods, and I don’t think I can ever really trust her, but… I can trust her to act in ways that advance herself.

All of our things have been brought here from the inn at the village.

My diary’s still there, wide open.

Time to continue!

First it was just a couple of people.

Then a dozen.

Then several dozen.

Then a hundred.

It was as if there was no end to them. More and more rebel soldiers were being transported straight into the besieged capital. They would come in, step off the pedestal and march out of the transporter hall. Some wielding those magical muskets of theirs, others swords, halberds and the like, others being mages with flowing robes and staves. They would nod at us as they’d pass, and speak among themselves just quietly enough for the noise coming from the outside to cover whatever it was they were saying. All of them seemed to be in high spirits.

It would be quite the surprise for the defenders. The enemy was already inside their walls!

“How large is our army, anyway?”

Karine turned to me. “Not very, why? We needed to do all we could to keep their armies away from the capital for a reason. It’s a lot easier to hold it with a smaller force against a large force than the other way around.”

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She looked at the people walking past us.

“There’s, of course, such a thing as too small a force to hold it with. The people we’re fighting right now are city guard, not a cohesive army. They’re more used to dealing with thugs and bandits than sieges and war.”

That was yet another assumption on her part. Sure, it was likely to be true, but it required the nobles, and by extension, the royals to be so confident in their power that no one would dare to attack them directly like we had done.

“You must’ve done your homework if you can assume this much with the nobles,” I said.

Karine smiled. “Yes, I have. I’ve had years to observe them. Did I ever tell you I went to the royal college?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think you did. Pretty sure I’d remember that. I thought you went to a magic school?”

“Those two aren’t mutually exclusive, my dear. A lot of young people with aspirations go there. Mages, knights, nobles… Although I guess I went there because my best friend went there. Someone had to look after her, after all. Who’d know what kind of trouble she’d get into!”

Ah yes, her “best friend,” also known as Flore, her current girlfriend. History will remember them as the best roommates ever, no doubt.

“It wasn’t easy to get in the same dormitory. She was a noble, I was a commoner magic student… Yes. Lots of difficulties.”

She coughed.

“Anyway,” she murmured, “I’ve seen a lot, and I know their mentality. They think they’re above us all, that we could never do anything to defy them. Not really. Just struggle a little. That’s part of the reason why they were so quick to believe the uprising was over, you know.”

The flow of people had turned more into a trickle, and the sounds outside had started to change from sounds of a riot to that of a battle. You might think there isn’t much of a difference between the two, and you’d be dead wrong.

The shouting and sounds of not-so-lethal fighting was replaced by blood curling shrieks, sounds of metal against metal and… An unnerving silence that came after it.

“That’s the last of them. We should get moving.”

The next phase of the plan was already underway. The building housing the transporter was located within the merchant district, but it was separated from the noble and royal districts by just a wall and a gate.

The wall was tall and sturdy. Not something that could be easily overtaken without siege weapons. The force that had been transported in had none.

But the gate was wide open.

And why wouldn’t it have been? If it came down to it and the outer walls of the capital were broken through, it would have just made retreat deeper into the fortress-like city harder for the defenders. But now, it meant that the fresh rebel force could easily take that pivotal bottleneck. And thanks to the rioting, even less guards were defending it than otherwise would’ve been.

By the time we reached the gate, it had already fallen and was flying the rebel flag. Sounds of combat could be heard both ahead of us as well as behind us. But for us, there was only one direction.

Forward.

-*-*-*-*-*-

I sigh as I put down the pen. That’s enough for now. I’ve always been more of a reader than a writer, so this is… Kind of new, I guess? Not that keeping a diary is really “writing.” And I’m just doing this to get used to writing in a new language, too.

I close the diary and stand up. I wonder how much longer it’ll take for Avilia to come back? Shouldn’t be that long anymore.

I… probably should find something more to think about than just her and my diary. Another hobby, maybe?

I walk to the window and close it. It’s getting a bit late and the air’s getting a little bit chillier than I like.

But I already do have a hobby. I just haven’t gotten to indulge in it for a bit now.

Trashy novels! I’m sure a place like this is full of them! Even if I can’t go to the city itself to look for them, surely the… former royal library or something has a selection? Maybe even read-worthy romance novels instead of the awful stuff I had the misfortune of reading earlier?

Wow, this is actually exciting!

Suddenly, the door opens. It’s Avilia!

“I am back!”

“Welcome back!”

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