Part 48:
The Lady Knight Strengthens Her Resolve to Become a Hero
ALAN, LITHISIA, AND CATRIA STOOD in the grassy field as the cool breeze blew by them.
They were ready to commence Operation NFZ: Never Forgive Zeleburg. Needless to say, Lithisia had come up with the name. At present, she stood stiffly in place with tears in her eyes, and Alan couldn’t help but be impressed by her raw emotion. She truly was the princess of a great nation. Her love for her country had to be on a completely different level.
Alan didn’t realize that she was simply furious that her shofession (“sho”vel con“fession”) had been interrupted.
Now, the three looked upon the seven orbs placed at their feet. The original mission objective had been to use the orbs in order to wish for Zeleburg’s defeat. However, there was a slight snag.
“The orbs aren’t activating?” asked Alan.
“Correct…” Lithisia sadly nodded. She frowned at the orbs, looking puzzled. “No matter how hard I wish for Zeleburg’s defeat, they shine weakly, and only for a moment.”
Lithisia had tried this multiple times with no luck.
“And you’re sure this is how they’re supposed to be activated?”
“A person who bears the blood of the Rostir royal family has only to wish it and they will activate.”
“A person who bears the blood of the royal family… A person…?”
Alan and Catria turned their gaze upon Lithisia.
A person.
“Um, what’s the shovmatter?”
Well, in that case, it was no wonder that the orbs wound up being a dead end.
“Does Lithisia have any siblings?” asked Alan.
“No, she’s an only child,” said Catria.
And so the person-based (i.e., human, not shovel) bloodline of the Rostir royal family came to an end.
“Well, it is what it is. I guess we’ll just have to beat Zeleburg the regular way,” said Alan, and he grasped his shovel.
“Then what was the point of our orb-collecting quest?”
The party felt like they could hear Alice’s question from all the way at the World Tree Castle, where she had elected to stay, but they chose to ignore it. Plus, the vibes they were getting from the princess suggested she wasn’t particularly hung up on using the orbs. She just wanted to crush Zeleburg no matter how they did it.
“How should we start, Lithisia?” Alan asked. As this was a battle to regain Lithisia’s nation, he planned to follow her directions.
“First, could you please eliminate the capital city with your Wave Motion Shovel Blast?”
“Understood.”
“EXCUSE ME?!” Catria stepped in to stop Alan as he casually lifted his shovel.
Lithisia seemed baffled by her knight’s response and frowned at her. “Catria, this is the fastest way to end the conflict with the least amount of sacrifices. Next-Generation Shovel Warfare.”
“Don’t call the population of the entire capital city a sacrifice! Alan, what are you thinking, saying yes to that?!”
“Don’t worry. The beam would only bury the humans. I could just dig them back up.”
Catria’s words caught in her throat. Then that makes this okay? Like hell it does!
“Wait, then what happens to the buildings? People’s clothes?”
“They all get blown away.”
“Are you trying to return us to the Stone Age?!”
“If Lithisia so desires it.”
Rostir was Catria’s home. Her beloved home, even. She couldn’t let it be corrupted by the shovel. “E-either way, rethink this, okay?! Rostir is a beautiful nation!”
“Hrm, if you say so…”
“Shovel!”
As a result of this back and forth, the party decided to scope out the city first.
Rostir’s capital city was said to be the most exquisite on the continent. From upon the grassy hills where the wind blew, one could see the shining white palace in the distance, surrounded by the gorgeous city.
If I show its beauty to Alan, even he’ll change his mind! He has to! Catria held desperately to this thought as she climbed the hill. However, upon reaching the summit—
DA-DOOOOOOOOM!
She beheld a demonic castle. Cascades of lightning struck all over its walls and turrets. Rostir’s pearlescent palace was no more; it had been replaced with this vile structure, a hideous castle that pierced the very heavens. Loathsome gargoyles flew around this black stone monument, crying out into the sky.
The Dark Palace. Rostir’s palace had transformed into the grim castle of legends. At the top of this castle rose an unsettling triangular tower.
What the hell?
“Zeleburg’s doing, no doubt.” Alan hefted his shovel.
Catria couldn’t stop him this time. How could she claim that this—this city, was her home?
We should just blow it away and be done with it… Wait, is it just me, or are my thoughts being corrupted by the shovel? Aren’t I just siding with Alan because he cleaned my ears and it kinda sorta felt a little good?
As Catria held this internal debate with herself, it was, for some reason, Lithisia who took action.
“Pl-please wait, Sir Miner. Um, c-could you leave one building intact?”
“Hrm… Firing my shovel with that kind of accuracy will take time.”
“You just need time?!” Catria wailed.
“I see… Aw…” Lithisia fidgeted, occasionally glancing at the castle with indecision.
Catria couldn’t help but be impressed. Even though Rostir had been taken over by Zeleburg, seeing her homeland even in this state had reminded the princess of her devotion to her country.
“Um, but, if you could, Sir Miner…”
“It’s a no on the Wave Motion Shovel Blast, yeah?”
“I’m sho, sho shorry. I just…” Lithisia pointed at the Dark Palace, specifically the triangular tower. Her eyes sparkled. “I just really want to modify that into the Sholace (shovel palace)!”
A powerfully sharp headache instantly overtook Catria.
“We can paint it over in gray, and if we chisel the sides a little bit, it’ll look like a shovel from far away. Our nation’s symbol!” Lithisia’s eyes glistened. She was already thinking about what they would do after taking back her country. “That’s why, um, I’d like you to leave the castle as-is. Let’s just storm the front door with your shovel.”
“Roger that.”
Catria sighed deeply. She felt like an idiot for even thinking this would go differently. At the end of the day, the princess thought only of shovels.