Chapter 4: The Obliviousness of the Gods
“AS long as ye can move as ye wish, the Dragon Emperor’ll keep watchin’ until the last minute,” Rolf said. “And Kratos can’t move either. The queen’s still snoozin’ away, and the Sacred Spear is no help. They can’t be reckless.”
“Right…” Jill said as she nodded back.
“Both sides are probably confined in a room in the manor by the Arks. I reckon the goal is to provoke both sides into instigatin’ a fight. No doubt they’re currently talkin’ things out and decidin’ what exactly’ll signal the start of a war. If I were a bettin’ man, the safest choice is to declare war when the empress candidate crosses the border and clashes with the Cervels.”
An owl hooted from above. The dense foliage of the mountains made it an ideal hiding place, but when the sun set, only their lanterns and the moonlight could be used as light sources. This was an unpaved path, away from the main trail, and it was imperative to be careful when traversing the area. Everyone was quiet, likely due to nerves and the need to focus on where they stepped.
“The goal of the Arks is to convince Kratos that the Rave Empire’s tryin’ to attack,” Rolf went on. “And if so, a nighttime raid won’t be as effective. They don’t have the skills to fight in the night anyway—they’re total amateurs when it comes to fightin’. In other words, at the soonest, they won’t head out until dawn breaks. We’ve got some time until then, lass.”
“Rolf, could you first tell me where we’re headed?” Jill asked. “And why are you here anyway?”
Rolf frowned as he led the way with a lantern. “No need to explain myself, is there?”
“There’s a huge need! We’re with the students who remained in the city, and the entire place is blockaded, right? Where are we headed, abandoning the city and His Majesty?!”
Jill had taken the remainder of her students and rode a carriage for a few hours from the Arks’ base. When they began to see the city walls, it was already evening. They found an old warehouse by the tracks and decided to stay there to think of a plan when the floor tile opened, and the students who were in the city peeked out. They were overjoyed to see her. The students had mentioned that they met an odd old man who told them about the underground escape route, and Jill’s hunch was soon proven correct when she spotted Rolf waiting for her as her guide. She was immediately told to climb a mountain under the night sky.
“When did you become acquainted with those kids anyway?” Jill asked.
“I spotted ’em around the duke’s manor, discussin’ how to save the Dragon Emperor, so I thought I’d step in and tell ’em not to do anything unnecessary,” Rolf replied. “I didn’t know what these young’uns would do after returning the queen…”
“We were also surprised to see you jump out of the brush…” a student replied.
“The underground routes of Lehrsatz form a massive labyrinth,” another chimed in. “This grandpa memorized all the routes, apparently.”
“Miss Jill, you should’ve told us that the third Knight of the Dragon Consort was an old man,” a third said. “We almost mistook him for an enemy.”
While Jill had no idea what the students had learned during their journey to the warehouse, most of them viewed Rolf favorably. Jill sighed, relieved that they were all safe and sound.
“Then did everyone escape using the underground route?” she asked.
“Long ago, that place used to have a ruin, or so I’ve heard,” Rolf said. “Lehrsatz was built atop it, ye see. A part of it became an underground waterway and the rest has also been reused somehow, ensurin’ that the citizens could flee underground and outside if necessary.”
“I had no idea,” Jill replied.
In the past, Jill had once been on the side attacking Lehrsatz. Duke Igor Lehrsatz had holed himself up in his manor before he ultimately chose to explode and destroy the entire city. Was that used as a diversion to allow his citizens to flee? Jill wondered.
“I had no idea either, Grandpa Rolf,” Roger grumbled as he protected the rear. “Isn’t it a bit of a problem that not even the Rave imperial family is informed of this?”
Rolf huffed angrily. “It’s the largest defense for Lehrsatz. If youse guys were told of it all willy-nilly, it wouldn’t serve its purpose, would it? Even in the city, only the elderly know of it from word of mouth, along with a small fraction of people who manage the underground waterways. I’m probably the only one who precisely knows the way, too. Used to always give my rowdy pursuers the slip when I was a kid.”
The trials of an adult having to chase after a cackling child like Rolf easily came to mind.
“In any case, ye don’t need to worry about the citizens bein’ evacuated,” Rolf said.
He continued walking ahead, twirling a stick with a large leaf he picked up along the way.
“The station was bombed today,” Rolf said firmly. “The city’s been blockaded to find the culprit. For safety, the manor of Duke Lehrsatz is cloaked in a barrier. The citizens’ll nod their heads up to this point. But then they see unfamiliar people proudly walkin’ around instead of the Lehrsatz Dragon Knights. Coupled with that black spear above the manor, there’re too many questionable things goin’ on. Above all, the black spear resembles the Sacred Spear, an omen of misfortune.”
When Jill glanced to her side, she could spot the lights of Lehrsatz’s city in the distance, between the dense foliage. Even during the night, the magic circle in the sky and the black spear that served as the core glowed brightly.
“What’s more, there was a diplomatic meetin’, wasn’t there?” Rolf continued. “And now the new empress candidate is tryin’ to attack Kratos. It’s not the Dragon Emperor or Duke Lehrsatz, but the orders of a young lass. The Lehrsatz citizens aren’t so stupid as to obediently follow her orders and place their faith in her.”
“You don’t mean… They’re not going to fight, are they?” Jill asked.
“Yeah, I don’t mean that. Serves ’em no purpose. They’re probably just idly sittin’ back and buyin’ some time as they prepare to flee. They’re waitin’ on Neutrahl. Usually, only Neutrahl or Lehrsatz can attack Kratos, meanin’ they’ve got ways to communicate during emergencies.”
Jill recalled a time when the Kratos forces stayed in the Lehrsatz duchy, leading Duke Neutrahl to sense that and make needless assumptions. That was an unfortunate use of their close communication, but in truth, it was meant to be utilized during times like these, when enemies had infiltrated.
“The Three Dukes are awesome!” Jill cried. “House Cervel didn’t have anything like that.”
“Well, that’s ’cause no one can match the mobility and fightin’ prowess of House Cervel,” Rolf replied. “In any case, the city can wait until later. The Arks won’t stay in the city for long. Once the empress candidate crosses the border, their goal will have been reached, and they’ll retreat before the other dukes and the imperial army arrive. But we can’t let the lass cross that border.”
Rolf tossed a map to Jill. It was a small copy that detailed the roads and trails of Lehrsatz all the way to the edge of the border. A few X’s marked the map, but she had no idea what they represented.
“We’re headed to the X closest to Lehrsatz,” Rolf said. “Our enemies will depart from there.”
“They aren’t running from the city?” Jill asked.