Re:Zero - The King of Pride

Alpha shrugged. "As to that, we have no idea. Nor do we know what the machine is actually attempting to do, beyond gathering a vast amount of energy for some unspecified purpose. This is extremely concerning."

Subaru cocked his head. "Why is it concerning? What do you think this power is for?"

"As I've said, we have no idea what purpose this power is planned to satisfy," Alpha murmured. "We are simply concerned about what that power is doing now."

Subaru squinted at her. "I don't understand."

Alpha stood up and walked to a nearby door. She stood beside it and looked expectantly back at Subaru.

Subaru frowned. He and Emilia slowly stood up and followed Alpha. He glanced at Otto and Delta and saw that their expressions were unusually grave.

As Subaru and Emilia approached, Alpha opened the door and stepped back.

Subaru and Emilia looked into the dark room.

Emilia gasped.

There, lying piled up on the floor like discarded mannequins were white-robed Ryuzus. At least a dozen. They lay there unblinking, staring at nothing, showing no reaction to Subaru, Emilia, or even Alpha.

"Are they dead?" Subaru whispered in horror.

Alpha showed no reaction to the pile of bodies. "It is somewhat difficult to say," Alpha said calmly. "They are certainly nonfunctional. 'Burnt out,' in a sense. At least for the moment."

"Burnt out?!" Subaru echoed.

Alpha nodded. "As I said, the Mammon Machine feeds my sisters and myself with the energy that we need to survive. However, now that it has been reconfigured, the machine is supplying us with more power. Far too much power. By my best calculations, each homunculus is now being supplied with more than ten times their recommended power level. "

"Why?!" Subaru demanded.

"Again, it is unclear," Alpha said matter-of-factly. "We do not know who modified the machine and so we are unable to guess at their purpose. Perhaps this was a deliberate attack against my sisters and myself. Perhaps we are simply unintended victims of a larger conspiracy. We do not know."

Subaru took a deep breath. "Alpha, if this… continues, will you and the other Ryuzus-"

"My thinking sisters and myself will be able to survive the current situation for some time," Alpha said as casually as if she'd been asked for a weather report. "We have the ability to regulate our own mana flow and can burn off a substantial amount of mana by casting spells. Thus, the damage will accumulate slowly for us. Unfortunately, the other homunculi lack this ability and they will be severely damaged very quickly. But it is possible that the damage inflicted to these homunculi may not yet be irreparable," She said in a placid voice.

"Why don't you just shut the machine down?!" Subaru demanded. "Or… reprogram it?!"

Alpha left the doorway and walked back to her seat. "We lack this ability," Alpha said, her voice apathetic. "Our programming does not permit us to directly interact with the Great Machine. Even if we had the ability to interface with the machine, we lack the skills and the knowledge to reprogram it safely. Done improperly, the result could be catastrophic. "

"Catastrophic in what way?" Subaru asked.

"The possible effects are wide-ranging. For example, the machine might meltdown and take a not insubstantial portion of the continent with it."

Subaru swallowed hard as he reluctantly let the door swing shut, leaving the broken husks of Ryuzu lying there in the dark.

Subaru and Emilia returned to the living area.

"How long until the machine begins to affect you two?" Subaru asked.

"It already is," Alpha replied.

"It won't start to damage us for several more months," Delta elaborated, looking worried. "My sisters and I aren't very good mages but we can use basic magic and that lets us burn off the excess mana. For the homunculi, the situation is much worse because they lack any means of utilizing large amounts of mana. Even if we forced them to perform calisthenics from dawn until dusk, it wouldn't help much."

"Moreover, our magic is merely a stopgap," Alpha mused. "The energy gathered by the Machine is growing steadily. By year's end, my sisters and I will be forced to cast spells constantly without rest simply to keep pace with the energy being accumulated. A few months after that, the energy will begin to build up in our bodies in spite of any action that we could take."

Otto bit his lip and wrapped his arms around Delta. He held the nervous-looking little elf close.

Subaru 's face was grim. "I don't know anything about these kinds of machines," Subaru admitted. "But maybe I could take a look at it and come up with some ideas."

Alpha cocked her head curiously. "Otto has told me about your facility with machines. Do you believe that you could assist us with the Mammon Machine?"

"No idea," He admitted. "But I'd be willing to try."

"I would suggest that you be certain of your skills before attempting to reprogram it. Unless you would like to experience a cascading molecular chain reaction not entirely dissimilar to spontaneous combustion," She said matter-of-factly.

"Wait. You mean that the machine could make me explode?" Subaru asked in surprise.

"That is another way to put it," Alpha admitted.

Subaru made a face. "Well, that's not good," He answered.

Subaru hesitated. "Hey. Could… Gamma have reprogrammed the machine?"

Alpha didn 't answer right away. "No, Gamma could not have, " She emphasized. "She lacks the knowledge and skill."

Subaru picked up on the hint. "But if your creator was still alive, she could have reprogrammed the machine safely. "

"As easily as you or I would do a crossword puzzle," Alpha answered.

Subaru frowned. "The mana that's flooding you guys," He asked slowly. "Can you… use it?"

Alpha rocked her hand back and forth. "Only in simple ways. We are being flooded with enormous amounts of power but we lack the skills and the knowledge to use it effectively. We find it necessary to cast simple spells many times a day to burn off this excess energy."

Subaru frowned. "But let's say that one of you did have the skills and knowledge to use this kind of power, " Subaru continued. "Could it be used to enhance their spellcraft?"

Alpha was quiet for some time. "That… is a deeply concerning idea."

"I don't understand," Emilia murmured.

Subaru 's face was grim. "It occurred to me that if the witch really did come back from the dead," He muttered, "She's probably weak. She might even have lost her Authority and most of her power. So maybe she's looking for a way to enhance her abilities and to recover quicker."

Subaru paused. "Beatrice remembers her mother through rose-tinted glasses and Puck barely seems to remember her at all. What can you tell me about Echidna? What kind of powers did she have?"

Alpha thought about it for a moment. "The lady was considered one of the most wise and skilled among her peers," She answered. "She was initially dismissed as a weak witch and no one had any real expectations of her but her research and understanding allowed her to master her Authority. As well as to defeat foes far stronger than she."

Subaru digested that. "What kind of powers did she have? What exactly was she studying?"

"The true secrets," Alpha answered. "The important things."

Subaru glowered at her. "Could you possibly elaborate ? " He muttered.

"Seven words to make someone fall in love with you forever," Delta broke in. "Five words to say goodbye to a loved one without pain. How to be remembered, how to be forgotten. How to find the House with seven doors. The name of the maiden who wept for the Widow's son. How the Sun arose from Chaos and why did it recede again. How to speak so that your lies become truth. How to find dreams again when the world has stolen them away…"

Subaru looked back and forth between Delta and Alpha. "None of this… sounds much like what I've come to expect from magic on this world," he murmured.

"Very different," Alpha agreed. She thought for a moment. "Our lady was known as 'the Witch of Dreams,'" Alpha recalled. "Although weaker in raw power than most of her peers, her knowledge and insight meant that her ability to manipulate reality was second only to one other. Once, a nation begged for her help when a great flood threaten a vast city. Our lady invoked her power and she created a vast forest that would help absorb the water and prevent future flooding."

Subaru digested that. "She used her magic to grow trees?"

Alpha shook her head. "She did not grow the trees, Lord Subaru. She invoked the power of her Authority to manipulate the Od Laguna 's dream and then the trees were simply there ; a giant forest that would have taken centuries to grow. But once the Od Laguna believed that there was a forest there, it was as if it had been there for ages. "

"No spell could do that!" Emilia scoffed.

"Miss Emilia," Alpha whispered. "Witchcraft is very different from the magic that you would be familiar with. Mages, no matter how powerful, are rigidly constrained by the laws of magic. Witches have no such check on their power."

"You've met the Archbishops," Delta broke in with an unusually serious look on her face, "And you've tasted their strength but in comparison to the old witches, the powers of the Archbishops are nothing but children's toys. They may hold Authorities but it's as if you gave a child a pet dragon but neglected to mention that it could do anything more than light candles. The true power of a witch is the power to transform reality. This power encroaches upon the province of the Gods and thus, it's the most dangerous of all magics. Immortal magics will corrupt and destroy a mortal. There is no escaping that truth."

Subaru frowned, trying to process that. "I don't understand," He whispered.

"The Od Laguna makes spirits. The spirits shape the world," Alpha explained. "These spirits are everywhere, in every drop of water or crumb of dirt. Tiny sparks of understanding and sensation, drifting free of the World Soul's dream. Little shards of what is or was or might be, floating up and away from the dream, like sparks rising from a great fire.

"Each spirit possesses its own nature and purpose, all in accordance with the Od Laguna's dream. There are spirits that make the rain fall, there are spirits that make the grass grow. There are spirits of every river and every field and those rivers flow and those fields grow green because these spirits make it so."

Subaru frowned, trying to understand.

Alpha continued, "The world is reshaped when a witch tells these spirits what they are so loudly that it 's all that the spirits can hear. It becomes all that they know. The spirits are blinded and deafened and then they must be what they are instructed to be. They were always as they were instructed to be. The magic changes the spirits, the spirits shape the Dream, and the world becomes as the Od Laguna dreams it. If a water spirit that manages the river is convinced that instead it grows grass then the river will fade away and a grassy field replaces it. In the end, this world is nothing more than the Od Laguna 's dream."

Subaru stared at Alpha in confusion, unable to process any of this.

"Mister Subaru," Otto broke in. "We're extremely relieved to see you safe and well but what brought you all the way down to Picoutatte? The last that I heard, the Lagunican army was tearing the kingdom apart looking for you."

Subaru sighed. "How much do you know about what's been happening since the Sanctuary?"

Otto looked pained. "Not very much, I'm afraid," Otto admitted. "We did have a brief conversation with Garf and Miss Felt when they passed through Arlem but they didn't linger for long. And… I was afraid to come too close," He admitted. "The last time that Garf caught me trying to romance my Delta, he, uh… Well, he tried to beat me up," Otto finished shamefaced.

Alpha cocked her head. "Otto," She reminded him. "He did beat you up . "

Otto winced.

"Alpha!" Delta hissed in protest, pulling Otto into a tight embrace.

"Did I say something wrong again?" Alpha asked curiously.

Delta sighed and shook her head in resignation.

Alpha studied Otto and Delta for a moment then appeared to dismiss them from mind and turned her attention back to Subaru.

"Young Garf is very protective of us," Alpha said. "He views us as his grandmothers. We are the only family that he has left since his mother and sister left the Sanctuary."

"Wait a minute," Emilia murmured. "How did they get out?"

"Reala was a pure human so she had no trouble escaping," Alpha replied. "She claimed that she would return someday but she never did. We do not know what happened to her."

"We're not entirely sure how Frederica escaped," Delta admitted. "We know that Roswaal was involved somehow."

"Frederica?" Subaru echoed, thinking back to the maid at Roswaal's manor who had sent him to the Sanctuary.

Alpha nodded. "Roswaal recruited her with an offer of employment. She claims that he offered her the chance to prepare for the residents of the Sanctuary to return to the wider world and needing to find a place for themselves. It appears that Roswaal somehow foresaw the fall of the Sanctuary."

Subaru snorted. "Not a very difficult task when you remember that he made it happen!"

"I'm uncertain," Alpha murmured.

Subaru frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Roswaal certainly did have a hand in bringing the Witch Cult to the Sanctuary but my heart tells me that they would have come regardless, sooner or later. In the past few months, the Archbishops have engaged in more open and hostile activity than has been observed from them in centuries. They appear to be spreading out all over the continent, attempting to reclaim relics of the Old World and to reoccupy the Witches' former seats of power.

"I am uncertain of their motives. I always expected them to emerge from the shadows eventually but not with this frantic intensity. The Cult's actions reek of desperation. I do not understand what is happening but my heart senses the haste and the fear that moves them to such frenzied activity. Something unforeseen has arisen to stir them."

"But you don't have any idea what that is," Subaru finished flatly.

Alpha shook her head.

Emilia frowned. "Wait. You said that you took care of Garf. Does Garf know about all of-"

"Of course," Alpha replied. "We practically raised him and his sister as well. It would have been impossible to keep our nature a secret from him. We swore him to secrecy and young Garf was always a good and obedient boy."

Subaru found himself grinning at the thought of how the towering, muscular, and extremely insecure Garfiel would have reacted to being called 'a good and obedient boy.'

"Uh. So, Mister Subaru," Otto broke in. "I'm still curious. What brought you all the way down to Picoutatte?"

Subaru sighed. "OK, here's the quick version." He pointed at Emilia. "This is Emilia. We're in love. She was in the Sanctuary with us-"

"No, she wasn't," Delta broke in.

Emilia turned her face away with a growl of frustration.

Subaru took a deep breath to control his own irritation. "You don't remember her, " Subaru grated. "Because her name has been stolen-"

"Ah," Alpha murmured, lifting her head in comprehension. "During your fight with Gluttony, no doubt. You have my sympathies."

Subaru blinked, completely thrown off step.

Subaru and Emilia stared at Alpha in shock. Otto and Delta seemed to be doing the same.

"Wait a second!" Subaru shouted. "You knew that the Archbishops could steal names this whole time?!"

Alpha showed no reaction to Subaru 's sudden outrage. "Lord Subaru," Alpha said with a touch of dry amusement. "I have experienced more than three hundred years of consciousness. Being unable to leave the Sanctuary has left me with a great deal of time for experimentation, study, and reading my Lady's enormous Archives. Her notes on the other Authorities were quite wide-ranging. She mentioned the power to eat another's name several times."

Subaru stared at her. "Are you fucking serious ?! " He demanded.

Alpha cocked her head, seemingly confused by his anger.

"If you knew about this, then why the hell didn't you tell Felt and Garfiel about it?!" Subaru roared. "They would have believed you! They would have stopped hunting for Emilia!"

Alpha looked faintly puzzled. "Why would I mention an obscure bit of witchcraft to them?" She asked.

"What?!" Subaru demanded incredulously.

Otto, who had been regarding Emilia with curiosity, shook off his reverie and jumped in. "Mister Subaru! Please be nice to Alpha!" He begged. "Remember, we were only able to speak to Miss Felt and Garf for a very short time. They only told us that a witch had deceived you and that you had been enchanted to think you were in love with her. Miss Felt never even mentioned the fight with Roy or the idea of memories being modified at all! We didn't have any reason to bring up Gluttony! "

Subaru gave Alpha an annoyed look which she met blankly but then he sighed and let the matter pass.

Emilia gave Otto a foul look before turning her attention back to Alpha. "Did the witch say anything else about this condition?" She asked.

"Not in any great detail," Alpha said after a moment of thought. "I always got the impression that she disliked it. She frequently referred to this power of Gluttony as an 'aberration' of some kind."

Subaru frowned. "An aberration? What kind of aberration?"

"I'm afraid that I do not know," Alpha replied. "I only have a part of my Lady's writings and many of her studies and conclusions are largely incomplete as a result. Lady Beatrice has another set of our Lady's tomes and many more were stored in the Lady's private library."

Emilia cocked her head. "Why did the witch have three separate libraries?" She asked.

"Security," Alpha answered. "Each library had a different set of information and was expected to cater to a different audience. Lady Beatrice's library was intended to be open to the public as this would help facilitate Lady Beatrice's own task and thus her library contains less dangerous knowledge and works that the Lady believed the people of this world would find useful in solving their own problems. The Sanctuary was open only to the servants of the Lady so the information contained inside was more dangerous. And the Lady's private library was kept under her own watchful gaze and contained information that she did not want any other being in the world to possess without her express permission."

"A private library," Subaru said slowly. "Any chance that it would be located on a flying island somewhere?"

Alpha and Delta both stared at him.

Alpha frowned. "Yes, as a matter of fact," She said slowly. "But how did you know that?"

"So, the upshot is, I need to restore everyone's memory of Emilia so that people will stop thinking of her as the witch that brainwashed me."

Alpha shook her head. "I am very sorry, Lord Subaru," Alpha said. "But I have never heard of a cure for this malady."

Subaru made a face. "Well, Korë told us that she did know one. She told us to find the Book of Wisdom. "

Delta gasped. Otto looked at her in confusion.

"The Book of Wisdom?" Delta breathed in rapture. "Our Lady's greatest treasure…"

Alpha stared at Subaru for a moment. "I am afraid that I do not know where the Book is located, Lord Subaru. Or even if it still exists. I only know that it was not in the Sanctuary when our Lady died."

"Korë claims that the Book can be found on an island in the sky," Emilia murmured. "So that's what we're looking for. We read a Witch's Gospel that told us that the quest for the Book would begin in Picoutatte so we came here to look for clues."

Alpha shook her head. "Lord Subaru," Alpha said. "I am very sorry but we have no idea where the Lady's original mansion could be. Or even if it survives."

Otto raised his hand like a schoolboy waiting for the teacher to call on him.

Alpha glanced at him. "Yes, Otto?" Alpha murmured.

"Mister Subaru," Otto said excitedly. "I did hear stories about a flying island once!"

"Where?" Subaru said sharply.

"In Kararagi! A bunch of traders out west were talking about a flying island that they saw."

"Where was it?" Subaru demanded.

Otto 's face twisted in guilt. "I'm… not sure. The traders were all staying in a town called Girali to the south of Kyo, right in the middle of the Crumbly Desert. I went there to sell some goods a few years ago and I heard lots of people talking about a flying island. I've never heard anyone discussing it anywhere else so… I assume that it's near there?" Otto shrugged helplessly.

Subaru nodded. "Well, it's a lead at least," He said slowly. "That's more than we had before. We could head out that way and ask people if they've ever seen the island. Any advice for us before we head out that way?"

Otto looked awkward. "Um. Well honestly, my best advice to you would be… don't."

Subaru frowned. "What are you talking about?" Subaru asked.

Otto bowed his head. "Mister Subaru, Girali is a bad place, " He said solemnly. "Slavery is allowed in most parts of Kararagi but Girali has to be the worst. They use slave labor to gather pyroxene crystals that the Jimuna Volcano spits up all over the Crimson Hills."

Subaru frowned. "OK. That's bad, no argument but why would that make us avoid the area?"

Otto looked sick. "Oh, it's bad alright. You can 't even imagine how bad," Otto said fervently. "They're mining valuable crystals out of the earth but those raw crystals are really unstable. They 're toxic to the touch and sometimes they just… explode for no reason! Those crystals are deadly. The rulers of Girali decided a long time ago that there were no precautions that would lower the mortality rate for their workers so they just… stopped worrying about it. The crystals are gathered by the cheapest slaves that they can find on the market since their expected lifespan mining the Hills is only about two years anyway.

"I was only there for about a week but rarely did a day go by without an explosion coming from the fields. Girali is a small town with a huge population of slaves and that means that the authorities come down hard on any sign of dissent. The last time I went there, I saw public floggings, hangings, and corpses rotting in gibbets, even people burned alive! The place was absolutely awful. It seemed like a suburb of hell! I made an awful lot of money from trading there but I swore that I would never go back there again!"

Otto seemed ready to burst into tears as he remembered the place and Delta quickly guided his head to her chest and cradled him.

Subaru and Emilia gave each other a hesitant look.

Finally, Subaru sighed. "Well… we still need to find the Book. So if that's where we have to go then… that's where we'll go."

Emilia nodded although her face looked ill.

Otto took a deep breath and sat up straight. "You need to be very careful on the journey there. The Crumbly desert and the Crimson Hills are just alive with Iotuns."

"Alive with what?" Subaru asked.

"Mabeasts but they're mabeasts that look like humans," Otto replied.

"Like humans?" Subaru asked in surprise.

Otto nodded. "Sort of. They're about thirty feet tall and they weigh about fifteen tons."

Emilia 's jaw dropped.

"I assume that they're aggressive?" Subaru asked grimly.

"Oh, yes!" Otto nodded quickly. "The Iotuns are gluttons whose primary goal seems to be finding more food. They're clever. At least for mabeasts. They can make clubs and crude axes. Iotuns famously raid caravans that stray too close to their territory and they eat the people, the animals, and anything else that they can find in the caravan that won't break their teeth."

Subaru looked grim. "Is there any way to avoid them?"

"Daylight," Otto said simply. "The Iotuns are afraid of the sun and if they're caught out in the sunlight, their bodies swell up like an overinflated bladder until they burst! So you need to plan your crossing of the Crumbly Desert carefully. The last settlement before you get into the Crumbly Desert is Azamiki which is almost a full day's travel from Girali. You need to set out from Azamiki as soon as the sun rises, no later, or you won't reach Girali until after the sun sets. And you really don't want to be out in the waste when the Iotuns come out."

"How dangerous is the crossing itself?" Subaru asked. "We'll be riding an earth dragon there."

"Oh!" Otto blinked. "Then you shouldn't have any trouble at all. If you're not pulling a wagon behind you, you should be able to cover the distance in plenty of time. I'd still make sure that I leave Azamiki nice and early though. You never know what can go wrong and you want to be behind sturdy walls before the sun sets."

"Well, this sounds like it's going to be a fun trip," Subaru sighed.

"Alpha," Delta said intently. "The Mammon Machine. Would there be any books about it in the Lady's private library?"

Alpha shrugged. "For certain."

"That's it then!" Delta sighed excitedly. "Mister Subaru, if you can reach the island, you'd be able to find the Lady's writings on the great machine and my sisters! We could find out how to reprogram the machine and keep my sisters from burning out, maybe even fix the ones that the machine already damaged!"

Subaru thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Sure, Delta. We've got to go up there anyway. We'll be happy to look around the library for anything useful."

"Speaking of which, Lord Subaru," Alpha murmured. "How do you plan to reach an island in the sky?"

Subaru scratched his chin. "Well, I actually have some thoughts on that. I've been thinking about a machine that could lift us up there-"

Otto 's face lit up. " Really ?! " Otto said excitedly. "Did you come here to give us our first contract?"

Subaru blinked. "Huh?"

"Remember how we talked about your inventions and I offered to be your general contractor? We talked about how I could help find manufacturers for the part and workers for putting them together?" Otto prodded. "We talked about it right before I broke the barrier in the Sanctuary!"

Delta wrapped her arms around him. "My hero!" She murmured to him in rapture. "You saved all of us!"

Emilia visibly flinched.

Subaru gave Emilia a sympathetic look.

He considered trying to explain the Sanctuary trials and the twisted memories to Otto then sighed and gave it up as a waste of time.

"Alright," Subaru said slowly. "The machine is called a 'hot-air balloon.' It's a device that we used back in my world but I'm not sure if I can build it here without help from the spirits."

Alpha nodded. "You discussed a business partnership with Otto several times," She said matter-of-factly. "This seems like a fine time to begin. Show us the blueprints and we'll attempt to analyze how to build this machine."

Subaru raised an eyebrow at Alpha attempting to help Otto 's business but he agreeably pulled Beatrice's notebook out of his satchel and opened it to where he had been doodling a design.

He placed the notebook on the table. Otto, Alpha, and Delta bent over it intently while Emilia hung back, her head bowed and her face unhappy.

"So it's basically a big bag full of hot air that goes up," Subaru explained.

"What makes it go up?" Delta asked in confusion.

Subaru frowned. Um. How do I even go about explaining this? Heat rises? Air displacement? I can 't think of a single analogy to use!

"So," Subaru began awkwardly. "You know how fire kind of makes its own wind? Like a campfire will send tiny bits of soot and ash straight up into the air?"

Alpha nodded. Emilia drifted over to look at the design.

"So, this kind of works the same way," Subaru said awkwardly. "If we can make a big bag that's airtight and then heat up the air inside, it will float up. If we hang a basket from the bottom and build a fire there to keep heating up the air, it should float up really high."

"How high?" Emilia murmured.

Subaru shrugged. "I don't know how to do the math but I'm pretty sure we could hit ten thousand feet."

Emilia gasped. " Ten thousand feet ?! In the air?! "

Subaru nodded and then frowned. "Um. Otto?"

Otto seemed to be doing some math in his head while he stared at the design.

"Otto?" Subaru repeated.

Otto started. "Oh! Yes, Mister Subaru?" Otto said.

"Did anyone ever tell you how high that island actually was?"

Otto blinked. "Um. How high? High."

Subaru closed his eyes for a moment. "Thank you, Otto," He muttered. "That was very helpful."

"Mister Subaru!" Delta protested as Otto's face fell. "What were you expecting? Did you think that Otto would have a measurement ready for you? How? Did you expect him to walk up to the island with a really big ruler?!"

Subaru 's face burned. "Sorry, Otto," He apologized.

Otto gave him a rueful smile like a child more concerned with the feelings of the person who had bullied him than his own feelings.

"Lord Subaru," Alpha murmured, studying the design. "What would we make this… thing out of?"

"Silk would be a good material if we can find enough," Subaru replied. "It's a good insulator if you can weave it tightly enough but I'm not sure if I can afford that much silk."

"That should not be a problem," Alpha replied. "No sooner did Otto and Delta return to Picoutatte with a wagon full of silk this very morning than we found out that the bottom had fallen out of the market."

Otto rubbed his temple with a pained expression. "It's always like this! " He mourned. "No matter how carefully I plan or how much research I do, all of my business ventures end in disaster! If I invest heavily in a product, the next thing you know there's a bumper crop of it and the price heads for the cellar. If I find a new route that lets me avoid tariffs and tolls on the way to market, you can be sure that a bandit gang has just set up shop there and all of my profits end up going toward bribes to the gang just to get me safe passage out of that mess.

"Once I tried bringing a shipment of pepper from Vollachia to Gusteko, a safe, stable investment. All I was looking for was just a reasonable profit! And as soon as I made it to Sanshi, I found out that new tariffs had been issued that inflated the price of spices so high that nobody wanted to buy them! I had to dump the pepper with a restaurant for less than the wholesale price! No matter what I try to do, everything goes wrong and I end up lucky if I just break even. I can't believe my luck!" He ended, looking miserable.

"Frankly, I find it difficult to believe your luck as well," Alpha said, her face and voice impassive. "Honestly, it defies mathematical sense that things go wrong for you as often as they do."

Otto gave a plaintive moan.

Delta reached up and rubbed his head soothingly. " Alpha ! " Delta hissed in reproach.

Alpha cocked her head. "Did I say something wrong again?" She asked without so much as a change in expression.

"So, Otto," Subaru said slowly. "Are you… still interested in being my contractor?"

Otto perked up. "Really, Mister Subaru?"

"Yeah. I mean… if you're sure you can handle it," Subaru said slowly.

Otto smiled. "My family can handle anything ! " He said proudly.

Delta looked thrilled while Alpha made no response at all. All the Ryzuzus in white just stared blankly at Subaru, their eyes and expressions as vibrant as those of plastic dolls.

"OK," Subaru said. "So, do you think you can get me a price estimate on this?"

Otto began to look excited. "How much silk would we need, Mister Subaru?"

Subaru glanced away and triggered Reason and Judgment for a moment, pulling up a memory from years ago. "The balloons that I've seen were about eighty feet tall by about fifty feet wide at its widest point," Subaru said, making a few calculations. "So that means…" Subaru used Reason and Judgment to pluck a formula for surface area out of a long-ago math class. "About 1800 sq. yards of silk and it would need to be very tightly woven to be airtight. "

Delta whistled. "That's a lot of silk and it could be very expensive," She warned. "Even if the market did collapse. "

"I know," Subaru admitted. "I'm not sure if I can afford it."

Alpha looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "Given the current price of silk per yard. I would suspect that this amount of silk would cost about twenty gold coins. The basket and cables your blueprint describes will probably cost another five so logically I would expect that we could build your machine for twenty-five to thirty gold pieces."

Subaru saw Otto wince.

"That's fine," Subaru shrugged.

"Alpha," Otto said in a quick whisper. "We need to bill for more than that."

Alpha cocked her head. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, we need to cover labor costs, possible shifts in the market, the opportunity cost of not working on other transactions, and especially making a reasonable profit," Otto explained. A moment later he blinked and looked at Subaru sheepishly, as if wishing that he had said that last part more quietly.

Subaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Would fifty gold coins sound reasonable to everyone? " He muttered, shaking his head. "But let's make that include a delivery surcharge since I don't have a wagon to ship the equipment out to Kararagi."

Otto perked up. "That would be perfect, Mister Subaru!"

Guessing I could probably have gotten him to do it for forty but he does have an awful lot of mouths to feed right now …

"How quickly can you guys get started on this?" Subaru asked. "I'd like to get the Book as quick as we can."

Otto frowned. "Well, we have one more task to take care of before we get started. Unfortunately, it's a delivery that's going to take a lot of time," He admitted.

Otto 's eyes brightened. "Wait! I have an idea! Mister Subaru, would you be willing to do me a favor?"

Subaru shrugged. "Asking is free."

"Would you be willing to make a delivery to Kyo for me? I know that it's a good distance out of your way but you could move a lot faster than us and that way, we could start working on the balloon first thing tomorrow!"

"I don't have a wagon," Subaru said at once.

"You don't need one," Otto said, bustling off to a shelf on the wall. He returned moments later with a metal case no larger than a cigar box. "I just need to have this delivered to my source in Kyo."

Subaru mulled it over. "I guess we could do that," Subaru said with a glance at Emilia.

Emilia rolled her eyes and made an expression that Subaru translated as Do whatever the hell you want, just get us out of here!

"Sure," Subaru said, taking the box and putting it in his satchel. "We'll deliver this to Kyo on the way to Girali."

Delta cleaned her sunglasses. "Hey, it's getting late. Should I go and start making dinner? Mister Subaru, would you and Emilia like to spend the night?"

Subaru glanced at Emilia who silently stood there with an awkward expression on her face.

"I don't know," He hedged. "You seem like you don't have much space here already."

"Actually, we do have a guest room, Mister Subaru," Otto said promptly. "It's upstairs. Originally, I wanted Alpha and Beta to share it but they much prefer to stay down here with the clones. Please stay," Otto urged. "I still need to repay you for being Delta's and my matchmaker. Besides, you even helped me save the Ryuzus and the Sanctuary!"

Subaru felt someone step on his foot.

He glanced at Emilia 's unhappy face.

Subaru sighed. "Actually, Otto, I'm thinking that we should try to get out of here tonight while it's dark. The guards are still looking for us, after all. I can't risk bringing trouble down on your family."

"Oh!" Otto looked startled as though this possibility hadn't even crossed his mind. "You… may have a point there," He admitted in a worried tone.

"How do you plan to get out of the city?" Delta asked.

Subaru shrugged. "We'll wait until the area seems quiet and then we'll make our way across the river. We'll pick up our dragon at the stable outside the island and then we'll just keep heading west."

Subaru turned to Emilia. "Are you feeling recovered from this afternoon?"

Emilia nodded. "I can't freeze the entire river but I can certainly make us an ice raft that we can use to float across it."

Subaru nodded. "Good enough." He turned to Otto. "How far is the river from here?"

Otto shook his head. "Not far. You can get there in just a few minutes. We can show you the way."

Subaru shook his head. "Thanks, Otto, but if you can just point us the right way, that will be enough. I don't want to risk getting you guys in trouble."

And poor Emilia is absolutely desperate to get away from you right now …

Otto nodded with an unhappy expression on his face. "I feel like I'm being a horrible host," He admitted.

Subaru chuckled. "You've been a wonderful host, Otto," He said, clapping him on the back. "It's the people running your city who need to work on their hospitality."

Otto nodded. "If you're making a side trip to Kyo, we'll probably get to Girali just a day or two behind you," Otto reasoned. "We'll start working on the balloon first thing tomorrow."

"Just a day or two?" Subaru asked skeptically.

That balloon is the only thing stopping us from hitting the ground at a couple of hundred miles an hour. I really don 't want Otto to cut corners here.

Otto smiled. "We'll need to gather up materials for the balloon but the Ryuzus can get a staggering amount of work done quickly when they're all working together."

"My sisters are exceptionally good at coordinated effort," Alpha murmured. She looked at Subaru as if she had guessed his thoughts. "Please don't worry. We'll ensure that your invention meets your needs."

Subaru mulled it over and shrugged. "A few days after us would be fine. That will give us a chance to do a little preparation out there."

"Preparation?" Delta asked.

Subaru shrugged. "It's not quite as simple as just setting up the balloon out there and reaching the island."

"It's not?" Emilia asked with some trepidation.

Subaru looked amused. "No. First and foremost, we need to actually find the island. Kor ë told me that it moves around, drifting on the winds. So we'll need to find somebody that's seen it recently. Secondly, we need to pick out a launch site. We can't control what direction we'll go in once we take off so we'll need to figure out the prevailing winds in western Kararagi and try to pick the spot that gives us the best odds of reaching the island."

Delta scratched her head. "Won't the balloon just… you know, carry you there?" She asked.

"It's not… that simple," Subaru explained. "We can control how high the balloon goes but not in what direction. So the plan is to try and figure out what direction the winds are generally blowing at that height and then launch from significantly upwind of the island so that the currents bring us over it. Then we can land."

"How will you do all that?" Alpha asked.

Subaru made a face. "I'm guessing that a lot of luck will likely be involved. It wouldn't surprise me if we spend at least a few days trying to reach the island. We can try to predict what direction the wind is blowing in by looking at the clouds but there's a lot of different layers in the sky and the air at the altitude we're interested in could be blowing in any number of directions."

Subaru thought for a moment. "Mili, do you know any wind magic? Maybe we could use magic to just blow ourselves onto the island."

Emilia flushed. "No, not really. Puck mostly trained me in fire magic."

Subaru blinked. " Fire magic? The spells that I 've seen you cast always involve ice."

"Of course," Emilia said as if this were self-evident. "I drain the heat from water particles in the air to make my ice crystals."

Subaru frowned. "So… your icicles aren't… well, water magic?" Subaru asked awkwardly.

Subaru realized uncomfortably that Emilia, Otto, and Delta were all giving him the sort of look one reserves for a person who has just said something truly idiotic.

"Subaru," She said slowly. "You can use water magic to move water like I did tonight but you can't use water magic to freeze it. I think that you and I need to have a long talk about elemental magic."

Subaru nodded. "Fine by me. It'd be nice to understand some of this stuff for a change."

He turned back to Otto. "Anyway, Mili and I will head out to Kyo and then Girali tonight and start checking out places to launch from. How long is the trip?"

Otto frowned. "Well…" He said slowly. "The shortest path would be for you to head north and go across the bridge over the Theodosian Narrows, that's a big canyon gouged by the Tigracy River that sits in between Priestella and Ivada. Then you can follow the South Caravan Route all the way to Girali. You're on a dragon that isn't pulling a wagon, so could probably make the journey from the bridge to Girali in a day or two if you push it. The trip to Kyo though is probably a day or two in the other direction, along the North Caravan Route, so maybe four to six days total?"

Subaru nodded. "Alright, that's manageable."

"After you cross the Narrows," Otto continued, "You'll be in Ivada. It'll be easy to pick up the North Caravan Route to Kyo and it's an easy trip. Unfortunately, the Southern Caravan Route to Girali is much more unpleasant."

"What makes this trip so bad?" Subaru asked.

"Southern Kararagi is a vast, dry prairie that in some areas borders on being a desert. It's one of the worst trips I've taken."

"Any more cities on the route where we can resupply if we need to?" Subaru asked.

Otto rocked his hand back and forth. "A few but they're pretty far out of your way."

Subaru sighed. "Of course, they are."

"We'll hopefully be in Girali just a day or two after you arrive," Otto continued. "You'll have time to look around and try to find launch sites but you hopefully won't have time to get bored."

Subaru chuckled. "Otto. I'd love to be bored for a while. "

Emilia nodded with an almost dreamy look on her face.

"Why don't we meet at Miss Rose's?" Otto suggested. "It's an inn just inside the border of Girali. And believe me, you do not want to spend any more time in Girali than you need to," He shuddered. "It seemed like a nice inn. I stayed there once before."

Subaru nodded. "OK. Sounds like a plan." He shrugged. "Alright. I guess we'll head out then?" He glanced at Emilia for confirmation.

Emilia nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm really sorry to have to say goodbye so soon, Mister Subaru," Otto said sincerely, shaking his hand. "My house is always open to you! First thing tomorrow morning, the balloon will get our undivided attention. Oh! And should I bring your engine with me just in case?"

Subaru blinked. "My engine ?! " He asked in confusion.

"Yes," Otto replied calmly. "We picked it up while we were in Arlem just like you asked me to. You told me that you weren't crazy about keeping it somewhere Roswaal could use it. I was thinking that I'd bring it to Kararagi on one of my trips and start trying to arouse interest in the machine for future sales. This seems like as good a time as any."

Subaru took a moment to digest that. "Sure… That sounds like a good idea. Just remember, for right now, the balloon is the priority. We need to break the curse on Emilia."

Otto nodded fervently. "You can count on me, Mister Subaru!"

Otto turned to Emilia. "Miss Emilia, I'm… I'm just so sorry that you're trapped in this terrible situation," He said earnestly to her. "I'll do everything in my power to help you get your life back. And remember, you have Mister Subaru on your side! We'll get this mess sorted out soon!"

Each of Otto 's kindly words seemed to make Emilia shrivel up a little more. "Thank you," She said in a barely audible voice.

Otto looked sympathetically at Emilia, never guessing that it was he himself that was making her feel so miserable.

Subaru sighed. "Alright. Well one more piece of business," He said, reaching into his pouch and handing Otto fifty gold coins.

Otto 's eyes widened. "Mister Subaru, you aren't going to insist on payment on delivery?"

"It's fine, Otto. I trust you," Subaru drawled. "Besides, I know where you live."

Late that night, Subaru and Emilia crept out of Otto's house. The city was quiet.

Emilia tapped his shoulder. "It doesn't look like anyone's out here," She whispered.

Subaru nodded. Yeah. And that's suspicious. It's pretty late but normally a city the size of Picoutatte would be active until much later. So something is keeping everyone home right now.

I don't hear anyone searching right now. But I'm not dumb enough to think that means that the city has lifted the alert.

Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that the guard captain earlier figured out who we are. If we don't get out of here soon, we'll have a whole army tearing the city apart, looking for us…

The pair sneaked down the street in the direction that Otto had pointed them. It wasn't long before they reached a dock that was clearly lit by torches.

"Guards," Emilia breathed.

Subaru nodded. The dock had several dozen boats moored against it and at least three guards to every boat.

"That's a lot of guards to fight," Emilia murmured. "I know that we fought more this evening but now we're tired."

Subaru chuckled. "Why bother fighting them? We don't even want to steal a boat. We're going to make our own raft. Let's just find a dark spot along the river to freeze some water and then we'll just slip across that way."

Emilia grinned.

"Ugh!" Subaru groaned. "I did not think this plan through!"

The pair lay on their stomachs on a small slab of ice as they paddled their way across the river. At first, they had tried to sit on top of the ice slab but they discovered that it just wasn't stable enough. After they'd each tried to mount it three times and been dumped in the river each time, the pair had bowed to reality and paddled their way across the river with most of their bodies still in the water.

"What's wrong?" Emilia asked urgently.

"It's ice! I'm cold!" Subaru grumbled through chattering teeth.

Emilia looked annoyed. "This was your idea, you know," She reminded him.

"Yeah. Not my 'hottest' idea though."

Emilia grumbled something under her breath.

Subaru had a lot on his mind right now although he was trying to hide it.

Emilia has gotten so strong since the Sanctuary…

All those guards attacking us? If we'd been forced to rely on me alone to get us out of that mess, we both would have died.

Emilia handled the whole fight without any help from me…

When did this happen? I thought… I always thought that Emilia needed me…

Why is she so strong all of a sudden? I'm the one with the Authority! I'm the one that's supposed to be strong!

And Emilia is supposed to depend on me…

Hey! Come on! This isn't just about my ego. I mean… if Emilia doesn't need me anymore then she might… why wouldn't she just… what if she… left…

Subaru shuddered and tried to shake off the treacherous thoughts. 

Emilia does still need me! I'm her only chance to restore everyone's memories of her! And I'm her only hope for breaking the curse on the forest! She does need me. She's not going anywhere…

But after all of that is fixed…

No. I'm stronger than her. Or at least I know that I have the potential to be. 

An Authority is the ultimate power in the world, everyone keeps telling me that and I believe it. All I need to do is unlock its secrets and once again Emilia will be dependent… I mean, Emilia will once again realize that I'm worthy of being her husband. She'll stop looking around for other options.

But how do I do that? I've been trying to understand the Authority almost since we left the Sanctuary and honestly, I don't know any more about it than I did when I first got to this world! It seems to just take charge whenever it feels like it.

Sometimes that's helpful like when it destroyed the Black Water. Other times, it's just getting us into more and more trouble. Like the time that it slaughtered the slavers or the Gusteko Princes.

A cool voice in his mind whispered to him. Oh. 'It' did these things, did it? 

How convenient for you. After all, it's not like you objected to those deaths at the moment. You even desired them. You wanted all of those people to suffer so that you could slake your wrath. You desired their deaths and your Authority obliged you. You've never once observed the Authority to do something that you did not desire. But you certainly find it a convenient scapegoat to blame these things on.

You're like a drunk blaming his bad decisions on the bottle. 'The liquor made me do it.' But alcohol never makes you do anything that you don't sincerely want to do. It just makes you forget that there will be consequences…

Subaru shook off the dark thoughts. 

Forget that! I need… I need to master the Authority… 

How? Maybe Korë could help me?

Subaru made a face. Well, maybe she could. But I'm sure that her help would come with a price tag attached and even ignoring that, I don't know if I can trust her very far. 

Besides, she won't help me until we find the Book, anyway.

How did all the other Witches master their powers? At one point, they must have been just as weak and helpless as me but then they slowly became such a threat that they dominated the whole world and even threatened to destroy it.

How? Did they have an apprenticeship or something? Or did they master their powers by sheer trial and error?

Or did they have spellbooks…

Yeah… What about that? 

Alpha said that the Witch of Greed's private library was on that island. She said that it held secrets that the Witch didn't want anyone else to know. That's got to be the secrets of her witchcraft! 

While we're up there, I'll just browse around and grab any books on witchcraft that she had. Then I can learn how to connect to and use my Authority deliberately. 

Once I master it, that will correct the power in-balance between me and Emilia.

Imagine being able to trigger the Authority at will! Subaru thought with a wild, exultant grin. Lagunica could send whole armies against me and I'd knock them down one and all. I still don't understand quite what I did to the Black Water or to the Princes. They were both… melted or exposed to great heat somehow. I've got no idea what I did to them, much less how I did it but it's clear that the Authority has the kind of power that could level whole cities when properly applied.

I might not even need to be afraid of Reinhard or Regulus at that point…

A surge of exhilaration swept over Subaru. He'd been running and afraid for so long that the thought of not needing to be afraid anymore was almost overwhelming and he quickly choked it off to focus on swimming.

See? That's all I have to do. Just find the witch's books and use them to master the Authority. 

Use the Book of Wisdom to cure Emilia. 

Then find and rescue the spirits.

After that, it should be simple to convince Mili to vanish into the forest with me. After all, figuring out how to use my power to cure the elves will take time: Time that we'd need to spend all alone, deep in the forest…

That will ensure that Emilia doesn't… become tempted by any other potential romantic partners…

Yeah. This sounds like a solid plan to me.

Emilia noticed Subaru's wild grin. "Subaru, what are you thinking about?" She asked.

Subaru started. "Oh! Nothing. Just… making some plans," He said lamely.

Emilia squinted up at the sky. "Subaru, it looks like we're going to make landfall pretty far from the stable where we left Patrasche. We probably won't get there until dawn. Maybe we should lay down and rest for a while when we get out of the water and then go to the stable later this morning. It's been a long day for all of us."

Subaru shook his head as the riverside reeds grew almost close enough to touch. "No. I'm sure that the stable will be watched and guarded tomorrow. Maybe it's even already being watched and guarded. We need to get Patrasche and get out of here while we still can. We can head west a few miles and find a place to make camp. Then we can sleep for a few hours before continuing the trip."

Emilia thought that over and then nodded.

Subaru kept paddling until he felt his toe bump against a stone in the riverbed. "Alright," He said, standing up and letting go of the ice. "All ashore, that's going ashore."

Emilia stood up as well. Her hand brushed his and she looked startled. "Subaru, you're freezing!" She squeezed Subaru's hands between her own, rubbing and warning them with a rueful expression on her face. 

Subaru chuckled. "Oh, you noticed that, did you?" He snorted.

Despite spending close to an hour on the ice, Emilia's hands felt as warm and soft as always. 

Emilia sighed. "Subaru, you really need to learn how to use your mana to keep you warm," She murmured.

"Sounds good if you can think of a way to teach me. But for right now, let's hurry up and get walking so that I have a chance to warm up!"

Subaru and Emilia arrived at the stable just before sunrise.

They hid in a grove of trees while Subaru scanned the area. "I don't see anyone. Do you?"

Emilia looked around and then shook her head. "No. I don't hear anyone either."

"OK, sounds like the best chance that we're going to get. Let's go!" He said.

The pair sped to the locked stable door and Subaru smashed the lock with Indomitable.

Patrasche woke up as soon as they entered and she appeared very excited to see them.

"Subaru," Emilia whispered as Subaru grabbed some food from the stable stores and poured it into a bowl for the appreciative dragon. "Geoffrey and Celene's dragon isn't here."

Subaru glanced around. "No. You're right," He said.

"Do you think that this means that Geoffrey and Celene were captured?" Emilia worried.

Subaru thought about it for a moment and then he shook his head. "I don't… think so," He said slowly. "If they had been captured, I doubt that seizing their dragon would have been high up on the guards' TO-DO list. And if the guards had found him, they would probably have taken Patrasche too. I'm going to take the dragon being gone as a sign that they somehow got out of the city and that they're headed south across the border again."

"Let's hope so," Emilia murmured.

Patrasche wolfed down her food and water while Subaru watched.

After debating with himself for a moment, Subaru grabbed Patrasche's saddlebags and stuffed them with dragon food from the stables' stores.

"Subaru," Emilia folded her arms across her chest and looked at him dourly.

"What?!" Subaru said defensively. "We're headed to the desert, Mili. We're not going to have a lot of chances to stock up!"

"What about the stable owner who's just trying to put food on the table for his children?" She demanded.

Subaru sighed and rolled his eyes. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a few silver coins and left them on a bench.

That should more than pay for the food we stole and the lock we broke.

Subaru looked at Emilia and gave a mock bow as if awaiting adulation or criticism. 

Emilia looked slightly mollified and nodded.

Subaru led Patrasche out of the stable and saddled her.

He mounted and then extended a hand toward Emilia to help her up.

Emilia smirked at him and then she effortlessly leaped up into the saddle behind him without needing any help at all.

For some reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on, Subaru found this to be seriously annoying.

Emilia wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Now where to? I'm exhausted."

Subaru nodded. "Yeah, me too. We'll ride northwest for an hour or two and then we'll make camp someplace hidden and we can sleep for a few hours. Then we'll ride until dusk."

Emilia nodded. "That makes sense."

Subaru lightly kicked Patrasche and the dragon thundered off down the road. They crested the hill just as the morning sun peaked over the horizon.

Crusch bowed her head over her desk in the military wing of the palace. Like most flag officers in the Lagunican army, Crusch maintained a small office inside of the palace where she could easily access classified information and make any plans that Lagunica's strategic position warranted.

This was where important military decisions would normally be made but tonight, Crusch's thoughts were very much elsewhere. Her head rested in her hands.

Another interrogation by Montefort. This time he pulled in Lord Vatu and questioned him as well. 

Vatu has long been one of Montefort's most trusted allies but by the end of that star-chamber proceeding, he was furious. 

Montefort is slowly tearing his own faction apart. Unfortunately, with all the sons and younger brothers currently being held in prison as hostages on Montefort's orders, that may not ultimately end up mattering.

"Lady Crusch," A voice called.

Crusch immediately sat bolt upright, trying to mask the lines of fatigue and frustration on her face. 

She saw Sir Reinhard standing differentially in the doorway.

"I would speak with you, Lady Crusch if it is not too inconvenient," Reinhard said politely.

"Of course, Sir Reinhard," Crusch said immediately. "Please come in and sit down. May I offer you refreshment?"

"Thank you but I have already eaten, Lady Crusch," Reinhard said, sitting down. "I hope that this evening finds you well."

"Tolerably," Crusch replied with the expected formula phrase even as reciting it made her want to scream with frustration. "And yourself?"

Reinhard hesitated for a moment then looked at Crusch with somber eyes. "I admit that my heart is… troubled, Lady Crusch. The past few weeks have provided nothing but disaster after disaster. I find myself uncertain of the right course to set myself to."

Crusch nodded. "I fear that we're all extremely confused at the moment. Have you received any word from Lord Subaru?" She said with a slight edge in her voice.

Reinhard shook his head. "None, my lady," He admitted. "It is hard to imagine a greater failure of a knight than myself. My liege lord is missing and believed to be under the spell of a wicked witch and not only was I unable to rescue him but I remain completely ignorant of his location. My father was right to chastise me."

Crusch took a deep breath. "Sir Reinhard, please. The past few weeks have been most onerous for us all. So much that we previously took for granted as unalterable fact has proved to be far more malleable than we ever dreamed. I assure you, you have weathered this storm far better than I if that gives you any comfort."

Reinhard gave her a small smile. "Please, do not denigrate yourself for my benefit, Lady Crusch. It is unseemly for such a valiant woman as yourself."

This managed to coax a small smile from Crusch's lips.

"Is Felix about?" Reinhard asked. "I have not seen him of late."

Crusch's smile immediately vanished. 

"No," She said in a hollow voice. "I'm afraid that Felix… has gone missing."

Reinhard gasped. "Missing?! Do you suspect the witch?!"

Crusch gave a ponderous sigh. "Believe me, Sir Reinhard, I would be as joyous as anyone to point you at the witch and tell you to do justice upon them-"

Both of them.

"But in this case, I am quite confident that Felix did not run afoul of the witch. I fear that it was a much more common form of evil."

"Milady! You may consider me at your command in the matter of locating and rescuing our mutual friend!" Reinhard swore.

Then go bring me the head of Montefort! Crusch wanted to scream.

No. Even if I could persuade Reinhard to kill Montefort, and Zyst and Pickett for that matter, Felix would still be murdered. There's no way that Reinhard could dig out all the conspirators under Montefort's sway.

The unquestioned most powerful man in the kingdom stands before me, offering me his full and unquestioning assistance in this matter and yet it's no more helpful to me than if my chambermaid had made the same offer.

The madness of these days…

"Thank you, Sir Reinhard," Crusch said in a quiet voice. "I am most grateful. And as soon as I discover where Felix is, I will most decidedly have need of you."

Reinhard nodded solemnly.

Crusch frowned in thought. "Tell me, Sir Reinhard, have you heard from Miss Felt recently?"

Reinhard turned bright red. "I…" He trailed off. "I have not… seen her or spoken to her… since I lost sight of her… in the desert!" He said at last.

Crusch stared at him. This man might just be the worst liar in Lagunican history. I'm absolutely confident that every single thing that he said to me was true and yet also entirely cherry-picked so that he did not have to tell any falsehoods.

Although, I suppose that it doesn't really matter. He hasn't seen Felt recently.

Crusch took a deep breath. "Forgive me for rambling, Sir Reinhard. You certainly did not come here to listen to me complain."

"Not at all, Lady Crusch," Sir Reinhard protested. "Nothing would please me more than to offer solace to you in whatever small way that I may."

The two went back and forth three more times with Crusch repeatedly suggesting that Reinhard tell her why he had come to see her and him politely declining, saying he would happily sit here and listen to her vent her woes until the sky fell down around them.

They went back and forth until Crusch managed to assure him that nothing would give her greater pleasure than to assist him and Reinhard reluctantly gave way.

Only four times, Crusch thought with bemusement. Normally, common courtesy in the court would require us to play this pointless game for five rounds minimum. Whatever Reinhard wishes to discuss must be actually urgent.

"I fear that southern Lagunica is in danger, Lady Crusch," Reinhard said soberly. "A few nights ago, Vollachia soldiers dared to cross the border."

Crusch bolted upright. "What?!" She demanded. "Why wasn't I informed?! What happened?"

Reinhard sighed. "A few nights ago, my father was investigating rumors of disturbances near Abiate. He'd been informed of a group of Vollachian renegades in the area."

"Why didn't he inform the rest of us?!" Crusch demanded, her face beet red.

"My father thought that these rumors were most unlikely but he decided to investigate regardless. He managed to find the-"

"Where?!" Crusch snapped at once. She leaped up and with a red push-pin in hand, Crusch walked over to the huge map of Lagunica that hung on the wall. The map completely covered the wall and was festooned with push-pins of all colors showing the last known location of the forces of all factions.

Reinhard followed her to the map. "My father claims he was exploring the lands southwest of Abiate, venturing toward the Barielle lands," Reinhard reported.

Crusch studied the map. "So he was near Agante?" She said in distaste. "That's lawless country, full of gambling houses, thieves, and whores. A good place to get into trouble."

"Indeed," Reinhard admitted. "Although, I would remind you that Father was not there seeking to engage in such debauchery. My father was attempting to flush out renegades in the service of the kingdom," He said in a tone of mild rebuke.

"Without bothering to tell anyone!" Crusch snapped. "He might have gotten himself killed and recovered no useful intelligence at all!" 

She then took a deep breath and regained her temper. "What happened?"

"Father reported that he and his personal guard were beset by Vollachian renegades."

"How many?"

"Nearly a hundred," Reinhard reported. "Father says that it appeared to be a reinforced platoon. The mercenaries that he had hired to assist him in this endeavor fought valiantly but they suffered heavy casualties. Father alone survived," Reinhard bowed his head sadly.

Crusch scratched her chin, a hundred different scenarios playing out in her mind. 

"What made him so sure that they were Vollachian?" She asked.

"Apparently, they admitted to it," Reinhard replied. 

Crusch made a face. "It could be a false flag operation," She mused.

"My lady?"

Crusch shook her head. "It just seems… unlikely. According to our latest intelligence, Vollachia is going through significant internal turmoil right now. Not to mention the geopolitical problems in Girali. Why would Emperor Vincent send troops into Lagunica now of all times and why in such small numbers? A hundred men? It makes no sense!"

"Perhaps scouts?" Reinhard suggested.

Crusch snorted. "No one scouts with a hundred men in one place! Did these men say anything else?"

"Father reports that they declared themselves members of the Garklan Liberation Front," Reinhard said.

Crusch's eyes sharpened. "What did you say?"

"The Garklan Liberation Front," Reinhard repeated. "Are you familiar with it?"

"No," Crusch said, thinking fast. "I've never heard of it. But if that's true then we're not dealing with the Imperial Army. This is some radical group of separatists! If they're roaming around in forces this large then Vollachia must be in even more disarray than our spies reported. Perhaps we can find a way to take advantage of this…"

"I'm afraid that I do not follow you, Lady Crusch," Reinhard admitted.

Crusch shook her head. "I need to think. Sir Reinhard, please go and find Councilor McMahon immediately. I need to convene an emergency session of the Sages' Council to discuss this. Tell your father and the Minister of Intelligence as well. We'll need to speak to both of them."

Reinhard made a formal bow. "As you command, Lady Crusch," He said as he left out of the room.

Crusch turned her attention back to the map. 

She pondered the idea of a group of radicals infiltrating southern Lagunica. A simple strategic development that could be analyzed, countered, and possibly even exploited for Lagunica's benefit.

For Crusch, it was a welcome distraction.