The two wagons dispatched from the Adventurers’ Guild passed through Dima, the largest town in the border area, and climbed farther north through the Krystale Plains. The plains were the farthest northern point within Storydia, and were once known for producing light crystals and other giant crystal ore.
The mining of such crystals, which sparkled like the light of the moon, was once one of Torisval’s main industries, but during the time of the former Empire, overmining resulted in a severe drop in production. The area became so bereft of ore that eventually their mining endeavors resulted in little more than dust, and the mountain in which the miners worked became a husk of its former self—it sank and sank until it became little more than hilly plains.
The mining operations were thus closed, and people lost any reason to visit the area. Over the many long years that followed, new life was born where the mountain once stood, resulting in a beauty very different to that which had once existed during the mining age. Following the battle for territorial reclamation and the construction of the fort that divided the plains, the location became one of Torisval’s most well-known scenic locations. Now, however, it was also home to the refugee camp that housed Imperials who had fled from the uprising in their former home.
The knights had set up their forces about an hour northwest of the refugee camp. Baltasar Gate was the only way into the former Empire from Torisval, and as for the refugee camp, it took up the greater part of the area. Shiori looked at it from the wagon as they passed through, and her brow furrowed with her troubled thoughts.
It was still only four in the morning, and while almost everybody should have been asleep, Shiori spotted refugees awake and standing around the temporary huts that lined the camp grounds. She shouldn’t have been surprised. The area around the camp was dotted with magical beast corpses that had yet to be cleared, and knights rushed around busily with adventurers who looked to be of Imperial descent. Then, of course, there was the roar they’d heard earlier. Sleep would not come easily to anyone here.
In the faces of the refugees, Shiori saw worry, confusion, and despair. In yet others, there was only emptiness. It felt like looking into a mirror at the person she’d once been, upon her arrival to this world, and her breath caught in her throat.
It had been about one year since the uprising. For a time, many of the tens of thousands of refugees had returned home as the situation settled. A portion of them, however, had remained in Storydia. These were people who wanted to wash their hands of their former home, but had not the strength to immigrate to another country. They had been driven from their lands by their lords and left wandering from place to place, and now they wanted to live the rest of their days in Storydia.
However, just when a location had been chosen for them upon the remains of a once-abandoned mining village, disaster had struck. Their settlement was postponed, and the safe home that had been dangled in front of their very eyes was ripped from their grasp. Their despair ran incredibly deep.
Shiori knew all too well the pain of suffering over and over, only to have your wishes denied. She had been through that very experience during her first years in Storydia, and it was easy for her to empathize with the refugees’ hopelessness. She did not realize that she had her arms wrapped around herself until Alec pulled her in closer. He patted her arm gently, the way a parent might soothe a child, and Shiori felt her swirling emotions settle.
“The refugees are much calmer than I expected,” said Alec.
His decision to bring up this topic instead of asking Shiori what worried her was a kindness on his part.
“Yeah, but apparently it was pretty rowdy for a while there,” said Zack. “They made quite the commotion, worried that we’d either abandon them or use them as bait. It’s a crying shame.”
The problem was that the camp refugees had been abandoned. Back in the days of the Empire, they’d been little more than tools for the purpose of producing resources, and then, in the final stages of the uprising, they’d been forced to act as shields for the retreating Imperial army. An unknown dragon was a terrifying thought—of this there was no doubt—but it was not nearly as terrifying as the treatment they’d endured to this point.
“How horrible,” muttered Clemens.
Alec’s eyes dropped to his feet.
“But I’ve heard that the refugees have found themselves a leader of sorts,” said Zack. “He did his utmost to talk them all down when they were panicked, and he kept chaos from breaking out.”
Once a noble, the refugee in question had spent much of his life as a commoner, which made it easy for him to relate to people. He had drifted into the camp some six months ago, and it was not long before he’d become well-liked and highly regarded. He was now a central figure in life at the camp. He had gathered able individuals to form a self-governing body that did not need the kingdom’s help for such things as security, food procurement, and repairs to their temporary housing. The camp had quickly come together under the man’s leadership, and he was careful to make sure that it did not devolve into lawlessness.
The same man had made the decision not to work with the knights to handle the small-scale stampedes, but to instead trust them and focus on the camp’s defenses; in this way he was careful to show that he understood the power dynamics at play. One of the knights in the carriage with Shiori explained that the relative calm in the camp was likely due to these efforts.
“I see,” said Clemens. “I don’t know who he is, but he’s proof that the Empire is still home to a few genuine nobles.”
“True indeed. Unfortunately, that’s caused problems of a different nature,” said the knight. “With all this dragon business going on, we wanted to have the refugees take shelter on the other side, but... And look, this is just between us, but the state of things at the Imperial camp and the Storydia camp are night and day. None of the refugees here want to move, especially the women and children.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Yep. When that monster roar rocked the lands earlier, a few groups decided to make the move, but as you can see, a whole lot chose to stay put. You have to imagine things were pretty gosh-darn horrible if they’d choose to face a dragon over returning to their former home...”
The knight then dropped into silence, and while he continued to wear an expression of calm, he could not hide the exhaustion that weighed upon his features.
An unknown dragon. Magical beast stampedes. Refugees at breaking point.
In just one day, several problems were converging. The knights were a well-trained organization, but the pressure of controlling all of these situations at once meant for near-unbelievable mental and physical strain. Reinforcements had been confirmed from nearby regions, and even from the royal knights’ main division, but it would nonetheless take days for backup to arrive. And while the dragon still had yet to move from the frozen lake, there was no guarantee that it would remain there indefinitely.
The dragon might head elsewhere while the knights are waiting for their reinforcements. It might attack a town. That could mean bigger stampedes, and more of them. If that were to happen...
Shiori thought back to the terrible sight that had met them at Brovito Village. The countless snow wolves filling the village square; the sections of wall that had crumbled, and the broken glass scattered along the ground; the blood-soaked, unmoving bodies of the villagers; and a knight who had fought on even as he’d sacrificed his own arm.
If things were left for too long, northern Storydia might meet with tragedy on a scale far beyond that of Brovito. Having been brought up in the peace of modern Japan, Shiori understood that they could not afford to let the situation continue. And it was for this very reason that the margrave had decided not to wait on reinforcements, and had immediately decided to call upon the Adventurers’ Guild, which had experience dealing with such magical beasts. He was not concerned with foolish notions of pride and the honor of the knight corps—his main priority was the protection of the land’s citizens.