Chapter 46: 48. The Festival Approaches Part 2

Several days pass as Ajax and Shaula continue meeting with Angelidis and her friends. They talk about the war and how things are going with Angelidis’ brothers. The more they learn, the more it seems that war is virtually unknown in the Federation.

In the first place, war on the battlefield is not something done by the commoner class. War is carried out by the Federation’s heroic nobles against the demonic dragon knights. Those are the two players within every conflict between the two nations. Both are led by their respective deities.

The demon ‘civilians’ don’t get involved and neither do the Federation’s commoners.

This is how things have been for the past ten thousand years. Shaula guesses why eventually. She discusses this with Ajax at their inn.

“I think… the heroic nobles and the demonic dragon knights maintain, like, a… detente.”

“What do you mean?”

“The battles between the Federation’s nobles and the Empire’s dragon knights… The scale is absurd. Apparently, their battles can redraw geography. When either side loses enough nobles or dragon knights, they retreat. It’s suspicious how equal their battles have been in the past. Basically, if either side were to gain a decisive victory, they’d be able to totally exterminate the enemy nation… It’s like each side throws a volley of nuclear bombs until they both run out. But, if one side runs out before the other side does, the leftover bombs can be launched at populated areas. If they were to fight to the last person standing and a single noble is left over… or a cluster of dragon knights, at least a city would be wiped out. But, in the past, that’s never happened even once.”

“Huh…”

“And, not only that, but their battles always take place on the demon continent. It’s not like the history books say that the Federation starts these wars in all cases. But, the battlefield is always the Empire’s continent… Except this last one. This was the only one where Semjaza attacked Osva here on his home turf.”

“So, Shaula… basically, the commoners never see the wars happen, and this last war was completely different from all the ones before it.”

“Yeah, as far as I can tell, Ajax. Even the war 400 years ago was instigated by the church on the Empire’s territory as well. The only thing I don’t get is why there’s no guerilla warfare. Couldn’t a noble commando sneak into the Empire’s territory and start massacring people? No terrorism takes place, no civilian casualties, no war crimes? What’s stopping the dragon knights from doing the same to the Federation’s cities? Especially over the scale of ten thousand years? Actually, wait…”

Shaula flips through one of the history books on her bed to a specific page.

“Ah, ok, there is this one historian who claims that the Empire has a magical barrier that prevents nobles from infiltrating. But… why am I not seeing this claim in the other books? Fuck, some of these history books contradict each other or omits too much information. It’s really frustrating…”

“You know, that’s another thing, Shaula. I don’t think we’re even learning the real history from these books. I tried to look for other history books in the bookstores in the area, even in other neighborhoods. I checked as many stores as I could find, even in wealthier areas. I’ve noticed that all the currently available history books… are written by people from the church. Even the antique books… Archbishop so and so wrote this, Cardinal X wrote that, whatever. In some cases, a noble writes it, sometimes even a holy knight commander… Someone within the Federation ‘apparatus’ always has their hand in writing this history. I haven’t found one independent historian.”

“Shit… You know what, Ajax, maybe this is none of our business. After all, we’re only gaining knowledge so we can blend with the people here, right? As long as we know enough of the ‘fake’ history, we’ll get by here. Let’s stop focusing on ‘history’ for now.”

“Yeah, I’m fine with that. But… I think we should still go to the bar to help Jelli out. She’s still dealing with her brothers.”

“*Sigh*. Well, it’s not like it’s a waste of time, I always learn something new.”

“Be nice, Shaula, they’re good people.”

“Yeah, I know, I know… I’m not gonna give them nothing. They’ve shared a lot of valuable context. I’d like to think I can pay off my debts.”

So, Ajax and Shaula visit the Astrid bar around 4am every other day to meet Angelidis and try helping her out. Recently they’ve been telling stories from their world. Shaula is the history buff so she talks about WWI and WWII. There are a lot of stories that she can use to describe the horror of war to her group.

After all, none of them can fully comprehend the savagery of a true war. It’s not like none of them have blood on their hands. From what they’ve heard when they first met Angelidis, she has killed people before. But a full scale war is a different beast. It is more like a kind of insanity that infects entire groups of people.

Ajax meanwhile goes through the war movies he remembers. Even stories from anime. A full ten days after Angelidis told the group about her brother’s problems, Ajax talks about the…

“Cycle of hatred? What’s that have to do with war?” asks Angelidis.

“Well, there’s… a play that I once saw about a village, well, more like a city, of warriors, that once tried to fight another warrior city through the land of a third ‘civilian’ city. Both sides completely destroyed that third city and created a humanitarian catastrophe. Their sides remained unharmed mostly. That third city though became a horror show. That third city, though it was powerless at first, it never lost its desire to get revenge. It regained its power under a new ruler. That strong ruler then decided to take revenge against the invaders. He killed many people who were involved in the destruction of his homeland and many who were not. He succeeded in destroying that one of the two cities while perpetuating his hatred to his victims. But, he left survivors, including a teenager who had a powerful demon spirit held within him. This survivor then went on to–”

Ajax told the table the summary of an arc in a popular shonen anime he had seen. He assumed that a story about war even from a fantasy genre could entertain the people at this table. Maybe it could offer some insight as well, hopefully lightening the mood as well.

He was right. This time, Angelidis, Meixi, Olah, Sudirja and Dzantermir were present to hear his retelling of a famous war arc. They were interested in it enough that he went into detail about the characters, the events that transpired, the intrigue of it all.

Halfway through his retelling, about an hour had passed that day. Shaula was the one who had to interrupt him to leave. He returned with Shaula the next day and this time, Sigvor and Malia showed up to listen to his story as well. He started from the very beginning.

He thoroughly explained the history of the characters, the fantasy elements and worldbuilding. He spent three hours telling the entire story to the group.

By the end of it, the group was extremely impressed by his ability to weave a tale like that one. Shaula would never say it out loud, but she became a bit jealous of how they valued him as a storyteller.

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So, the next day, Shaula decides to tell a story about a different kind of war. A story about a victim of ethnic cleansing whose family is killed by a soldier while she escapes. How she eventually gains revenge on her enemies by locking them into a theater and setting it on fire.

“So… at the end, the guy who killed the girl’s family gets set free?” asks Olah.

“Yes. In a war of that scale, to get victory, you might have to keep your end of the bargain to the traitors of your adversaries. Or so the logic of war goes. I personally think his punishment should have been worse, but I didn’t write the story.”

“He does get punished then?” Malia asks, caught up in the suspense of Shaula’s story telling.

“Well, before he was let go, his friend was suddenly killed by the commander of the guerilla unit. The traitor becomes indignant that the end of the bargain isn’t being kept to keep that man, his friend and attendant I think, alive. But, the guerilla unit commander decides that the evil traitor needs to be branded, like how they had branded people in the past…”

“Ohh, well, then, even if he gets away, he’ll still be marked long after the war ends.”

“Exactly, Sudirja.”

Shaula’s ability to tell a tale was no less intriguing and entertaining than Ajax’s. Even he sat with her in enjoyment at the retelling of one of his favorite movies.

Through the time they spend together though, it isn’t all seriousness or stories. Ajax and Shaula both get more involved in their lives.

Ajax asks about their days, their families, their past, without any hangups. He finds it easier to not be depressed when he spends time with people. Especially when he still misses his family. He becomes friends with them easily.

Shaula meanwhile becomes more slowly endeared to the group. Ajax notices this and feels happier that she’s not holding herself back completely. He knows that Shaula is more of a lone wolf than even he is. He doesn’t exactly know why, but she still remains mostly hesitant to get closer to them.

When he hears her ask them about their days, he feels like she’s making progress. Even when the two of them get home, Shaula shows concern for her ‘acquaintances’ (her term for her new friends). She was particularly sad to hear about how Angelidis’ father had died.

Sometimes when Shaula is walking down the street, she sees fathers and their children. She thinks of Angelidis’ father who sacrificed his health to make sure that she and her family lived well. She remembers her own family.

I don’t even remember his face… Dad… What if you were there for me? What if you hadn’t been killed in that… 

But, she just isn’t ready to examine those feelings yet.

***

“Jelli, how are your brothers doing? Have you been able to convince them not to enlist?”

“I’ve been trying, Shaula. I’m not the best when talking to my brothers, but they seem to be convinced by what I’m saying… but…”

“What’s wrong?” Shaula asks.

“Well… the recruiters keep coming to their school. The start of the Final Crusade is getting closer, you know? They’re giving a lot of perks to enlistees as well. Even some of their friends at school are signing up. They’re offering steady money and free higher education… They haven’t fallen to the pressure yet, but… I’m worried it’s only going to be a matter of time. They should know that some things aren’t worth the cost but no matter what I tell them… they just don’t know anything about what war is really like. Those fucking holy knights aren’t helping either.”

Angelidis stops her ranting to get some food. The group settles in and talks amongst themselves while she eats. But, Shaula has been wanting to know something that she couldn’t find any information about at all.

“You know, I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something else.”

“What is it?” asks Sudirja. Right now, everyone is sitting at the table, Angelidis, the trio, the pickpockets and Malia.

“Does… anyone know how advanced the demons are?”

“Huh?” Olah responds curiously.

“Like, what kind of development is their society at? What technology do they have access to?” Shaula asks carefully.

“Shaula, we know nothing about them, you should know that by now, right?” Angelidis replies with a slightly exasperated voice. She has been made aware how little anyone in their entire damn country knows about the Empire’s continent. Shaula continues.

“Well, that’s the thing then. The Empire seems to always fight a defensive war and they’ve never lost, not in ten thousand years. So… what other tricks could they have come up with over ten thousand years? It’s possible that they put all their effort into training the demonic dragon knights, right? But… defending can be a lot easier than attacking. The way the government is talking about the war… It feels like it could be a trap. Even if the nobles participate, who knows if they can truly destroy that continent? From everything I’ve learned about their power, I’m guessing they should be able to, but…”

“It could be a massacre for the Federation. Let’s say that their remnant army is defeated by the nobles… What’s to stop the people from poisoning the land they leave behind? What’s to stop them from preemptively destroying their own cities so that we cannot get them? Terrorist attacks, suicide squads, it’s all on the table.” Ajax posits. Shaula finishes his thought.

“Basically, what’s to stop them from fighting to the last man, woman and child? Angelidis, you should tell your brothers that that’s what they’re walking into. Their lives could end just as easily as the Empire falls. You’ll only know when the fighting starts.”

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