The doll, now in unrecognizable pieces, crashed brutally into the wall.
“Wow. Impressive.”
Rhyno was standing there, some odd contraption strapped to his arm. It was a white gauntlet of sorts, but much too big and unwieldy. It looked big even on a man as large as Rhyno.
Xylo let out a frosty breath as he relaxed his fist, letting his arm hang limply at his side.
“Where’d you find a scary new toy like that?” he asked.
“I borrowed it from that carriage over there. It seems like a brand-new weapon for artillerymen. You can fire a shell using only the gauntlet.” He spoke in a monotone as he removed the white gauntlet, revealing his scorched, smoking arm. “I’m guessing it is still in the prototype phase and can only fire a single round. It’s still relatively weak, and as you can see, it scalded my arm. No sane person would dare use it.”
“You did, though, I see.”
“Ha-ha!” Rhyno laughed brightly at this, but there was something hollow about the sound. “Just once, though. It hurts far too much to try again.”
Xylo remained silent. Maybe he’d determined that words were pointless with a guy like Rhyno. Then, taking a deep breath of cold air, he glanced down at the shattered remnants of the doll. A few metal pieces were still twitching spasmodically, like the severed limbs of a dying insect.
“Looks like it’s still alive.” Xylo’s stared at the shards, watching their pulse-like movements. “It’s hard to believe, but I think that thing was probably a faerie. Seeing that it’s humanoid and made of scrap metal, it’s probably a knocker—or maybe not. It looks like the metal itself turned into a faerie. Is this a new type? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“H-hey, uh… Did you say ‘faerie’?” Dotta choked out. His arm was still throbbing. “What would a faerie be doing here? We’re in the capital, right? How is that even possible?!”
“Everything about these guys is impossible.”
Xylo’s eyes were drawn to the fiery sword clenched in Dotta’s fist, its blade adorned with a sacred seal and an enigmatic, wedge-shaped symbol.
“Dammit!” Brushing the snow from his hair, Xylo turned to face Dotta. “What were you doing out here?”
As always, it was difficult for Dotta to discern whether Xylo was angry. He suspected he was both angry at Dotta and frustrated over their current predicament.
“Actually, don’t bother explaining. The moment you teamed up with Rhy—I mean, that idiot—I knew you’d be up to no good.”
“R-really…?”
At any rate, the battle was over, and the aftermath was grim. A few corpses were scattered in the snow, their lifeless forms marked by stark crimson stains.
I’m tired. I just wanna go home.
Exhaling a white puff of air, Dotta sank to the ground, completely exhausted. He’d gotten way more exercise than he’d expected that day. And to make matters worse, his left arm hurt so much that he couldn’t even move it.
Great… It’s definitely broken. Could this get any worse?
This was exactly why he hated fighting—it was painful and exhausting—in fact, there wasn’t a single good thing about it. He needed to patch himself up, and fast.
“Come on, let’s head back,” Xylo suggested. It was as if he could read Dotta’s mind. “The Sword Offering is tomorrow. I’ll wait until it’s over to talk some sense into you.”
“Hmm? Oh, my apologies, but we still haven’t finished what we set out to do tonight,” said Rhyno, picking up his sword. “We still need to take out the other competitors before tomorrow’s competition, and we’re now behind schedule.”
He still wants to go through with this? Dotta was stunned. Even he couldn’t imagine moving forward with a sneak attack after all that. Could you even call it a sneak attack at this point?
Xylo was staring at them, aghast. “What is wrong with you? I’m almost impressed. You’ve got nerves of steel—no, lead.”
“Is that a compliment, Comrade Xylo? Why, thank you! You always impress me, and I respect you very much as well.”
Rhyno was going on and on, without a care in the world. Dotta and Xylo were speechless.
“Rhy—! You…!”
“Seriously?!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong? Are you injured, Comrade Xylo? It appears Comrade Dotta has a few broken bones. We need to tend to his wounds—”
“N-no! Uh…! That’s not the problem. Why are you blurting out our names for all the world to hear?”
“Yeah! What are you thinking?! Why would you reveal our—?”
“…You’re Dotta?”
A third voice, distinct from both Xylo’s and Rhyno’s, cut through the air. It was Yubaet Ludmischen. He stood firm despite his wounds, his sword gripped tightly in his hand.
“Well, uh… To tell the truth…” Dotta attempted to formulate an excuse, but he just didn’t have what it took to spin a story out of nothing like Venetim always did. “We, uh… You know? The funny thing is…like…”
“Thank you very much for saving me.”
As Dotta fumbled his words, the knight before him bowed.
“I messed up. I was working undercover as part of a military intelligence operation… I’d infiltrated the coexisters, but their surveillance was far stricter than I’d anticipated. As you can see, they even brought a faerie with them to dispose of me.”
The sounds coming out of Yubaet’s mouth were gibberish to Dotta, but he continued to listen as the man retrieved something from the ground—Dotta’s hat, which he hadn’t even noticed was missing. When Yubaet handed it back, face slightly pale, it became clear that he’d completely misunderstood the situation. But Dotta kept his mouth shut. There was no way he’d admit he’d come here to cheat.
“My name is Yubaet Ludmischen, and I am a member of the Twelfth Order of the Holy Knights. I promise to pay you all back for what you’ve done for me today. Dotta Luzulas… Rhyno… And Xylo Forbartz… The penal hero unit is even more unpredictable than the rumors suggest.”
“Wait, what?” asked Xylo, as if he’d just seen a ghost. “Holy Knights? Twelfth Order?”
Dotta turned to look at him. The reaction was totally unlike Xylo.
Yubaet smirked. “Yes, our members are spread out all over the place. And I must ask that you keep this matter to yourselves.”
“I have no clue what’s going on,” grumbled Xylo, his expression sullen. “Talk to me. Who are you? Why did you have prototypes for new weapons in your carriage?”
“It’s late. I will arrange for a meeting to explain it all later.”
“Great. Is that what your boss wants? What about this ambush? You guys didn’t set this whole thing up to trick us, did you?”
“Please relax. Everything that happened tonight came as a complete surprise, especially my rescue at your hands. And that is exactly why we need to talk. Though I’d appreciate if you could bring your goddess next time.”
As Dotta listened to Xylo and Yubaet, there was only one thing on his mind.
I don’t care. I don’t care about any of this. I just wanna go home.