The Royal Guard’s headquarters in the capital was adorned with a banner flapping in the wind; it bore an emblem displaying a sword and shield protecting the sun, which symbolized the king. Inside the building there was a restricted floor requiring special access privileges. The purely functional, inorganic space stripped of all decoration was reserved for the Special Ops division, which handled missions that were to be kept confidential even within the Royal Guard itself.
In one of the innermost rooms, Captain Seagall sat in his chair, stroking his bearded chin. Standing rigidly before him was a young female Royal Guard officer with blonde hair and blue eyes.
“You called, Sir Seagall?” she said.
“Pardon the sudden summons, Vice Commander Krishna,” he replied, leaning forward slightly. “And my apologies for putting you under house arrest after the last mission.”
“Did you call me here to apologize?”
“I’m more mindful than I look.” Seagall casually reached into one of his desk’s drawers and pulled out a document. “But while you’re here, there was something I wanted to ask about the person you recently escorted to be dropped down the well.”
“What about it?” Krishna asked, her expression unchanging. She had once been called Lady Iron Rose for being notoriously difficult to read.
Seagall glanced at the document and said, “A poor female, elven, unknown age, no registered address. Her picture is also quite blurry. This seems sloppy by your standards. Was there a reason you rushed the paperwork?”
“With all due respect, sir, your temporary appointment as the acting commander ended with the last special mission. I am no longer your direct subordinate and am under no obligation to explain myself to you.”
“Oh, that’s harsh. Come now, humor me a little. For old times’ sake.”
Krishna sighed. “The document was created based on the criminal’s self-reported data. I cannot deny that it is indeed lacking, but the poor have no family registry, so verifying the information independently would be impossible. The requester, House Baycladd of the seven great noble houses, has checked and approved the paperwork. If you have any concerns, you may inquire with them directly.”
“Ah, yes. I know that House Baycladd requested this, of course. It’s simply rare to see two people sent down the well in such quick succession.”
“If all you have for me is small talk, I have actual work to get back to.”
“Of course. Apologies for taking up your time,” Seagall said, raising his left hand slightly.
Krishna saluted and turned on her heel.
“Oh, I nearly forgot. One more thing,” he called out.
She paused at the door and turned with a puzzled look. “What else?”
“The teleportation magic circle used for dropping prisoners down the well is impressive, is it not? Did you get the chance to look at it?”
“I did, of course, when the last prisoner was sent down.”
“Seeing it activated in person is quite the experience. Apparently, it’s a replica of a design found in ancient records, re-created over several decades by hundreds of mages.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Because of how complex it is, maintenance and adjustments by a dedicated technician are required once a week. However, for some inexplicable reason, there is no maintenance log for this week.”
Krishna did not respond.
“I checked with the technician, and they reported that they were told maintenance wasn’t necessary this week—on your orders, Vice Commander.”
Krishna turned fully to face him, and Seagall slowly raised his right hand from beneath his desk. In it, he held a magical gun.
“I told you I’m a mindful man. I bet you didn’t think the head of the Special Ops division would bother checking teleportation maintenance records, did you?”
Footsteps echoed from the corridor toward the office, and a group of Seagall’s men stormed in. Clearly having been instructed in advance, they moved to block the exits, surrounding Krishna.
Still holding the gun, Seagall pushed himself to his feet. “I’ve had my eye on you since you spoke in support of the poor. You asked Lord Fennel’s daughter to arrange a meeting with the criminal Zenos, sent an unknown elf down the well, delayed maintenance for the teleportation circle... So, what are you planning, exactly? Don’t tell me you’re trying to help that man.”
Krishna didn’t flinch despite the gun aimed at her. “Sir Seagall, a crisis is approaching this kingdom. One we cannot face alone.”
“A crisis? What are you going on about?” he demanded. “Actually, never mind. We will commence maintenance on the circle, effective immediat—”
Seagall’s eyes widened at the realization that Krishna had, at some point, drawn her own magical gun and fired before he had the chance to react. A blazing fire round grazed his face and shattered the window behind him. The sharp crack of breaking glass echoed through the room as the glowing bullet disappeared into the sky.
“Seize her!” he commanded.
The knights lunged at Krishna, forcing her against the wall. Seagall pressed the gun to her forehead.
“Have you lost your mind? I’m disappointed in you. You used to revere the powerful and take pride in purging unruly vermin. And now you let yourself be swayed by one of them?”
“This kingdom needs him,” Krishna replied.
“Idolizing a rat as a hero,” Seagall spat. “Such dangerous thinking. The class system has kept our kingdom prosperous for ages. Have you forgotten that your duty as a member of the Royal Guard is to protect the order of the capital?”
Krishna’s blue eyes stared straight back at Seagall. “Our true duty is not to the hierarchy. It is to the people living within it,” she said.
“Spare me the nonsense! You can preach from a cell. Anyone not occupied—come with me. We’re going to inspect the teleportation circle.”
Seagall ordered that Krishna be restrained and rushed out into the corridor, his mind racing. Why had she attempted to delay maintenance? It was hard to believe that Krishna, skilled though she was, could manipulate such a complex system when even senior mages struggled with it. Besides, no one had ever returned alive from being dropped down the well. Whatever her plot, it was likely doomed—but Seagall had always been the type to eliminate even the smallest odds of a disturbance. That was what had kept him at the top of the Special Ops division for so long.
But when Seagall and his men reached the second floor on their way to the underground teleportation chamber, they stopped.
“What’s going on?”
A strange commotion was coming from below.
“What happened?!” Seagall barked.
A guard heard him and ran over. “Sir, it’s an attack! The demi-humans from the slums have launched a coordinated assault!”
“What?!”
Seagall practically tumbled down to the first floor, where shouting and the sounds of fighting could be heard. To his shock, the hallways were overrun by demi-humans locked in a melee with the Royal Guard.
“Who the hell are these people?! Where did they come from?!”
“We don’t know, sir! We suspect they snuck in separately and attacked on cue!”
The Royal Guard headquarters was located in the administrative ward of the nobles’ special district, protected by multiple checkpoints. It would be difficult for a large group to infiltrate unnoticed. The only possibility was that the attackers had arrived in small groups via alternate routes, then converged after being given a signal of some sort.
Upon closer inspection, Seagall could see that the demi-humans were blocking the passage leading to the underground teleportation chamber. The image of Krishna firing her gun flashed through his mind—the sudden shot, the flaming bullet flying out the window.
“So that was a signal to the demi-humans! Krishnaaaaaaa!” he bellowed.
“Aw, don’t lose heart now,” mocked a lizardwoman.
“Time to show you what the werewolves are made of,” said a female werewolf.
“Bah ha ha! A strategy fit for an orc!” declared a female orc.
Leading the more than three hundred rampaging demi-humans at the headquarters were the chieftains of the three major demi-human tribes.
“Carmilla sure has some crazy plans, though,” the lizardwoman said.
Apparently, there was a high probability that the king of fell dragons would return soon, so they needed to hurry and rescue Zenos. And thus, Carmilla had devised a plan: She would tamper with the circle at the Royal Guard’s headquarters so it could serve as an exit point, and then Lily would be dropped down the well wearing a bracelet containing the wraith. Carmilla would then work on reversing the teleportation circle on that side. Meanwhile, everyone left behind had to protect the modified circle at the headquarters.
The plan had been for Krishna to delay the routine inspection and maintenance of the circle until Zenos and the others made their escape. But if it looked like that was going to fail, the demi-humans had been instructed to swoop in and physically block the passage leading downstairs. The signal for that had been the fire bullet launched into the sky earlier.
“Are you all insane?!” Seagall demanded, standing angrily at the ready with his magical gun. “This is the headquarters of the Royal Guard, guardians of order in the capital! Don’t think for a second any of you will make it out alive!”
“Hmph,” Zophia scoffed. “You attacked our turf first.”
“You strike, I strike back,” Lynga declared.
“Did you really think the orcs would just sit on their hands and cry?” Loewe asked.
Seagall, visibly agitated, glared back at the three. “Demi-human scum! Why are you trying to keep us from getting to the circle? Did you tamper with it?!”
“Might have, might have not,” Zophia replied.
“Are you trying to get that man we sent down the well? Who the hell is he? What is he trying to do?!”
Though Seagall likely hadn’t quite thought of the absurd possibility that they intended to reverse a one-way teleportation mechanism, he still couldn’t be allowed to reach the circle—if he did, Carmilla’s earlier tampering would be discovered and corrected sooner or later.
The three demi-humans took on a battle-ready stance.
“The doc’s always protected our home,” Zophia said.
“It’s time we repay him,” Lynga added.
“You’ll get through over my dead body,” Loewe declared.
Seagall raised his magical gun and shouted, “Kill them all!”
Zophia licked her lips and grinned boldly. “Try us. We’re stronger than you think.”