Many of the Crestfolk who protested across Agartha did so in the form of peaceful marches. They were bad-tempered people by nature, however. Nagi believed this would naturally lead to riots. That had to be avoided at any cost. They might have forgotten it after tasting victory, but nobles weren’t opponents they could normally win against.
Nagi’s forces only possessed a small amount of Halahala left over from the revolution. Even if they took up arms and resorted to battle, it wouldn’t be much of a fight. That was why Nagi took the path of reaching a compromise through negotiation while avoiding an armed conflict.
Things moved counter to Nagi’s intentions, though. News reached him that the Crestfolk village near Kelst had been attacked. Around the time they began gathering warriors to send help, the handful of vanishingly lucky informed them of the village’s utter annihilation. Nagi was taken aback, but the news didn’t stop there. Keele informed him that this was no isolated incident.
“The Purifiers?”
Keele stood in front of the key members of Garuga Village, including Nagi, Tess, and Bandore, in their assembly hall.
“That’s what they call themselves. The Tainted must be purified for the sake of the True Sovereign Saya, so they say.”
“Lernaean’s the one behind it all,” Nagi spat out bitterly.
Keele nodded. “I bet he is. Lernaean Edel Trouta lo Granapalt... That asshole’s tenacity for wantin’ all Crestfolk dead is abnormal. I mean, his house’s been thinkin’ of how to do this for centuries now.”
“Centuries?”
“His family’s the one who started the sterilizations. We finally figured it out from the docs Senak snuck outta the palace.”
“Is this what you said you were looking into before?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinkin’ ’bout it all this time... No matter how much I keep killin’ and killin’ these nobles, there’s no end to them. So, instead of offin’ a buncha nobodies, I thought maybe I should try killin’ the guy who started this whole sterilization bullshit and fucked me up. I kinda gave up on it for a bit. How was I supposed to figure that out? Pretty much the only place that’s got that kinda thing written down is palace archives.”
“So, that’s what Senak took?”
“Yup. After the revolution, the guys from Cobalt got to swagger ’round wherever they wanted. It was pretty hard to find this crap, considering Senak’s smarts, but he finally turned it up. The congressman who proposed sterilization as a policy was Norg Edel Trouta lo Granapalt. He’s long dead now, but that’s Lernaean’s pop.”
“Lernaean’s father started the sterilizations?”
“Lernaean himself was alive at the time. He definitely had a hand in it. We’ve really been some big ol’ dumbasses here. Even if we didn’t know at the time, we ended up helpin’ him seize power.”
“So, doesn’t this mean it isn’t actually Saya’s fault?” Tess asked, bringing things back on track.
Nagi shook his head. Tess had gotten angry at him before for only thinking about Saya. Now that Nagi had decided to fight, she was saying things to cover for her. It could’ve been for Nagi’s own sake. It was like she was speaking as a representative for Nagi’s abandoned emotions, allowing him to choose far colder words than he normally would have.
“It doesn’t make a difference. Even if she was told to say it, the Sovereign’s words are Saya’s words. Tess, she’s changed. She’s trying to kill us. We have to accept that.”
“So, what do we do? That lot should be on their way here pretty soon,” Bandore said. It seemed so far removed from reality.
“Who makes up the Purifiers?”
“Mostly commoners.”
“No nobles?”
“It’s a haughty name, but they picked it out for themselves. The Sovereign gave ’em free rein to start slaughterin’ us. It’s a gatherin’ of dumbasses.”
“Commoners we can fight. We’re not gonna lose,” Bandore said in a strong tone.
Nagi objected, however. “If it’s only commoners, yeah. But if we drive away the commoners, the knights are coming next. We’ll lose if that happens.”
“Then what should we do?!” Bandore yelled.
“We’ve got no choice but to make allies of the commoners.”
“They just attacked the Crestfolk, remember?”
“There’s all sorts of commoners out there. The ones attacking the Crestfolk should only be a small portion of them. The large majority of commoners should only be caught up in the fervor.”
“Aren’t those the nastiest bunch?”
Nagi shook his head. It wasn’t the time for that. “Our only enemies are the nobles. If we keep it that way, we’ll at least have the advantage of numbers. There’s no other way to do this. Just like during the revolution.”
He knew this was nothing but a naïve ideal, but no matter how much he thought about it, there really was no other way.
“How? That time, Saya... the Sovereign was on our side, That’s why commoners and nobles joined us,” Tess said, her words weighing heavily on Nagi’s heart.
“That was a mistake. That’s how Lernaean managed to hijack our revolution.”
“You’ve got it backwards, man. Lernaean planned the whole fuckin’ revolution to begin with. We were just dancin’ to his tune,” Keele said teasingly, making Nagi grab his older brother by the collar.
“Still! There was supposed to be significance in our fight!”
“There’s only significance if we survive. You’re the chief. Cool your head off. Nobody’s easier to kill than a guy who gets all emotional.”
Nagi glared at Keele. His brother’s eyes were perfectly calm. Seeing that, Nagi managed to regain his composure.
“Think it over. Who’s our enemy? Who really started all this shit?”
Nagi thought it over. The answer was clear.
“Lernaean.”
“So, our only choice is killin’ him.”
“That’ll be tough,” Bandore remarked. “We can’t even get close to him.”
“Fuck, that last time was our best chance. If I knew he was the mastermind behind the sterilizations back then, I would’ve killed him.”
“Besides, he’s stupid strong himself, isn’t he?”
Keele nodded. “He can use that blood caliber of his from a distance. That’s not supposed to be possible; fucker’s cheatin’.”
“Really?” Nagi asked.
“A blood caliber loses its shape if it leaves its wielder’s hands. That sword Jubilia uses can’t be thrown, for example. It’ll just turn back into blood. But Lernaean’s definitely worked from a distance. Nobody knows what it really is. He says it’s a whip, but that’s kinda fishy.”
Keele’s words tugged at something in Nagi’s mind.
“Huh? In that case...”
Keele looked at him curiously. “What’s up?”
Nagi shook his head. He second-guessed the thought the moment it took shape.
“No, it’s nothing. I don’t think I’m right.”
“Whatever, man. Just spout it out. What’d you think of?”
“I know of a blood caliber which works from a distance. It’s not technically a blood caliber, though.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you see it for yourself?”
Keele still didn’t seem to know what Nagi was getting at.
“The royal caliber. It was a bunch of butterflies made of blood. They weren’t attached to Saya’s body.”
“The royal caliber...? So, you’re saying Lernaean’s is also a royal caliber?”
“There’s no way I’d know.”
“So long as the royal caliber works from a distance, it means it isn’t weird for some blood calibers to do the same? Or maybe Lernaean’s got something special which is close to a royal caliber...?”
“I don’t know what exactly it is,” Tess cut in, “but how do we even fight someone who can attack from who knows how far away?”
“Before that, how do we even get close to him?” Bandore grumbled.