Valkyrie's Shadow

The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom, Part III: Act 5, Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Are you sure this is alright? Saye asked.

“It’s the best way,” Commander Lobo replied.

“But it’s like you’re pirates…”

“Hmph, you’re just being naive again, girl. Well, I won’t blame you for that. You were brought up like Lanca, living by the Nobles’ rules. We won’t be able to bring justice to the Holy Kingdom by playing a rigged game.”

For some reason, Saye insisted on acting her age around Commander Lobo, which Neia supposed was an odd thing to wonder about. The Bard had become innocent and impressionable, asking questions constantly. Additionally she was very vocal about things she felt strongly about. Men’s tolerance when it came to that sort of behaviour seemed dependent on how they felt about who was speaking. Saye was really pretty, so most were happy to entertain her. Commander Lobo, however, would have none of it.

Strangely enough, everyone who knew her from before went along with her act. The ranchers thought it was funny. Neia only marvelled at how easily Saye could become the exact thing that Commander Lobo saw her as without twitching an eyelid. It was a mysterious superpower.

Loose rigging dangled in the wind above them as they stood on the deck of De Silva, one of the galleons captured the night they took Lloyds. The ship’s sails were crooked and torn and her deck was littered with debris. Commander Lobo’s troops had even damaged the railings and snapped off the top of the mainmast.

“Did we need to do so much damage to the ship?” Neia asked, “We already have a shortage of them as it is.”

“The more believable we make our situation seem,” the Commander said, “the better. Our campaign’s success relies on the success of this operation. Think of it as an investment.”

The Corps had strong soldiers, but very few were experienced mariners. As such, their prospects of chasing down royalist ships and capturing them were dubious, at best. Therefore, Commander Lobo decided that it would be better to have the royalists come to them.

They sailed the De Silva, which was in the poorest condition out of their newly captured ships, to the other side of North Point; out of sight of Lloyds. There, they anchored slightly off the cape, making it look like they had lost their sails and were trying to avoid being dashed into the rocks by the crashing waves.

The Holy Kingdom’s ships were obliged to aid vessels in distress. More than a law, it was a maritime custom shared by every seafaring culture Neia could think of. Every ship that came their way would try to help. When they did, they would be boarded instead.

Even pirates wouldn’t do this. Wait, does that make us worse than pirates?

According to Commander Lobo, they were using the rules to their advantage. It was something that the Nobles always did to everyone else, so they deserved everything that was coming to them.

A soldier clambered down from partway up the broken mast. He saluted before reporting to the Commander.

“We’ve got company, sir.”

“Are they alone?”

“They just appeared over the horizon, so it’s too early to tell. They should notice us soon if they haven’t already.”

Commander Lobo nodded.

“Time to carry out the plan,” he said. “Let’s give them a good show.”

Orders were passed along quietly throughout the ship. Soldiers went to their positions, dressed in uniforms taken from their captives in Lloyds. ‘Injured’ men arranged themselves in rows over the deck while women moved around, ‘tending’ to them. Towels and clothing caked in royalist blood were used as props for the performance. Other soldiers moved around the deck, making a show of trying to clean up the debris or making repairs.

Surely enough, the incoming vessel changed course as it drew close. Commander Lobo let out a satisfied grunt.

“They’ve taken the bait,” he said. “Miss Baraja, go and hide in the captain’s cabin.”

Neia and Saye did as the Commander instructed. Sort of. They went to the captain’s cabin, but peeked through a crack in the door to see how things would play out.

“Do you think it’ll work?” Saye asked.

“As long as we can get on their ship,” Neia answered. “Chances are that they’re either moving reactivated reservists or cargo.”

“What if one of the reactivated reservists is really strong?”

“Uh…that probably can’t happen,” Neia said. “People like that either become career soldiers or the Nobles recruit them for their retinues.”

“…you know, one of these days, we’re going to run into those super strong retainers that you say the Nobles recruit.”

Saye was probably right, but it wouldn’t happen yet. Lords tended to keep their strongest followers close and only deployed them as a last resort.

Neia yawned and stretched as they waited for their target to reach them. A half-hour later, a galleon slightly larger than theirs threw lines over to secure the two ships together.

“What happened to you?” An unfamiliar voice called out over the wind.

“Squall came out of nowhere,” Commander Lobo replied. “I’m Lobo.”

“Ferdinand, quartermaster of the Sea Sprite. Transporting troops from Canta to the wall.”

“Any chance you could help us move our injured to Lloyds?”

“I’ll go and get the captain.”

The man went out of sight and returned shortly after with two others. A pair of sailors laid out a gangway between the two ships.

“I’m Alvarez,” the man in the centre said, “captain of the Sea Sprite. Commander Luis here is in charge of the troops we’re carrying.”

“Our captain’s recovering in his quarters,” Commander Lugo nodded. “This way.”

Neia retreated from the crack in the door, looking for a place to hide. Saye had already disappeared somewhere.

“You didn’t ask the village nearby for help?” Captain Alvarez asked.

“The storm from the other day washed in a whole damn colony of Giant Crabs. We sent a boat to Lloyds, as well, but they haven’t returned yet.”

“You picked a damn inconvenient spot to get stranded.”

“Tell me about it. A few minutes more and we would’ve been in sight of Lloyds’ fishing fleet.”

Three knocks sounded at the door.

“Captain? Captain! A ship’s come by. The Sea Sprite out of Canta.”

Am I supposed to answer?

According to their plan, they were supposed to neutralise any officers that they could before attempting to take the target vessel. With things as they were, improvisation was necessary. Commander Lobo had managed to isolate three important people, but Neia was at a loss as to how to capture them.

“Sorry about the delay,” Commander Lobo said. “The captain took a splinter from the mast.”

“Shouldn’t the ship’s Cleric have taken care of that?”

“The mast fell on the Cleric. Just a moment.”

The door of the cabin opened and Commander Lobo made his way in. He waited for a few minutes before going back to address their visitors.

“He’ll see you now. Watch your step.”

Neia tensed as the thump of boots over the floorboards came closer. She gripped her sidearm, uncertainty clouding her mind. Was she supposed to attack? No, the Commander said to wait for his signal.

“In here,” Commander Lobo said.

Several more steps followed. Then, the sound of stumbling feet filled her ears.

“What the–”

“Get ‘em!”

Dozens of men flooded through the entrance of the cabin. Neia winced as a booming voice shook the air.

“It’s a trap!”

Steel rang as swords were loosed from their scabbards. Coarse shouts and the sound of shattering furniture accompanied the clash of weapons. Something was casting flickering shadows over the cabin walls.

“This is bad.”

Neia jumped with a startled shout as Saye spoke from beside her.

“You were in here with me?”

“Where else would I be?” The Bard replied, “This is the only unused compartment in the cabin.”

“What should we do?”

A tremendous roar filled the air, followed by the sound of splintering wood. Light flooded in from the broken door. A tall man with a bloody longsword wreathed in amber flame strode out onto the deck.

“Pirates!” He shouted, “Soldiers, defend yourselves!”

The man cut down three Corps members who ran forward to confront him.

“Castille,” the man bellowed, “secure the Sea Sprite! We’ll hold here while you organise a counterattack. Warriors of Roble, show these sand fleas what it means to challenge the Holy Kingdom in its waters!”

A series of sharp affirmatives came over from the Sea Sprite. The sounds of battle escalated outside, but Neia only stared at the towering figure in the doorway, who laid all of his challengers low with disturbing ease.

He’s too strong!

The man advanced, sweeping two Corps members overboard with a single strike before running another through. He was significantly stronger than the Holy Order’s elite Paladins.

Suddenly, Saye darted out and stabbed him in the back of the knee. The man roared and spun to face her, raising his flaming longsword high.

“You’ll have to do more than that to defeat a Knight of Roble!”

Neia ran out to help Saye, her arming sword drawn and raised in an attempt to parry the blow. What should have been a devastating strike didn’t come, however. Three more Corps members tackled the Knight from behind, driving him to the deck.

“Off, you…”

The tall man struggled for a moment before turning a venomous look on Saye.

“You bitch! What foul–”

A boot came in, snapping the Knight’s head to the side. Commander Lobo walked up to examine the carnage surrounding the unconscious man.

“Damn monster,” he spat. “It doesn’t look like anyone else is that strong, though.”

On their port side, the Corps was slowly driving De Silva’s defenders back. Neia ran forward, shouting desperately while waving her arms over her head.

“Stop! Stop, we’re not pirates!”

Of course, no one paid her any attention. She wasn’t sure whether it was because they were busy fighting for their lives or wouldn’t believe the words of a ‘pirate’. It was probably both.

“Over there,” Saye pointed, “you need to take down that guy standing on the aftcastle.”

Neia’s eyes followed the Bard’s gesture to another tall man in a Captain’s tabard shouting orders over the battle. She went back into the captain’s cabin to retrieve her bow and quiver. Her target wasn’t fully armoured and no one was around to interrupt her, so Neia drew the fletchings of her arrow to her cheek, focusing on her attack.

The man staggered as Neia’s arrow plunged into his gut. To her dismay, however, he kept issuing orders, albeit weakly.

Just give up!

She drew another arrow, sending it to join the first. The Sea Sprite’s defenders visibly faltered as her target fell to the deck. Neia lowered her bow, heaving a sigh of relief.

Alright, now we can–

Another man, this one in Priest’s vestments, ran up to Sea Sprite’s aftcastle to kneel over the fallen man. Not a dozen seconds later, the Captain was back on his feet, issuing orders to his troops.

“I guess you have to get him, too,” Saye said.

“But…but that’s a Priest! I can’t attack a Priest!”

Neia put another arrow in the Captain. The Priest yanked it out and healed him again. She sent three more arrows his way before noticing Saye’s look.

“What?”

“Torture will keep him from issuing orders, but you’re trying to stop this fight, right?”

On the deck of the Sea Sprite, the Royal Army’s soldiers surged forward.

“Take that evil wench down!” A man in a Sergeant’s tabard shouted, “Before she gets it in her head to attack the Priest!”

“That’s not fair!” Neia cried.

Neia ducked and retreated into the captain’s cabin as arrows and quarrels started flying in her direction. She was trying to avoid turning the Sea Sprite against her by not attacking her Priest, but they turned against Neia anyway.

“Commander Lobo,” Neia called out across the deck, “stop attacking!”

“Hah?”

“Withdraw to the De Silva! Just don’t let Sea Sprite free itself.”

The Corps started withdrawing to their ship as Commander Lobo barked out his commands. A few soldiers worked to secure the other galleon to theirs with additional grapples. As the fighting calmed and the respective lines reformed, Neia realised why the Sea Sprite was so resilient against the Corps’ forces.

Each soldier was in Lanca leather armour, wielded a cutlass, and bore a round shield. Those shields were now overlapping one another, forming a wall along the railing of the Sea Sprite.

“That ship is filled with superior troops,” Neia said.

“Superior troops?” Saye frowned.

“That’s what everyone in the Royal Army calls them, anyway. They’re the best light infantry units fielded by the Holy Kingdom.”

“What does that mean for us?”

It meant a few things, including the idea that they might have been killing some of their strongest future allies. Fortunately, the difficulties that came with ship-to-ship combat mitigated the damage somewhat. Neia stuck her bow and quiver back in the captain’s cabin before coming back out to address the crew and passengers of the Sea Sprite.

“We’re not your enemies,” she said.

“Like hell you aren’t! Who else would do that to poor Captain Castille?”

I was trying to shut him up.

He was an obstacle.

Actually, that guy in particular is an enemy, but, trust me, the rest of you aren’t.

Her choices weren’t very convincing, if at all, so she decided to skip the explanation.

“My name is Neia Baraja,” she told them. “My people and I are fighting to free the northern Holy Kingdom from the injustices forced upon it by the royalists. If you’ve been living in any city or town east of Hoburns, you should know what I’m talking about.”

“Preposterous,” Captain Castille’s snort came from somewhere behind the shield wall. “No injustices have been committed in the places of which you speak. In fact, the north has never been more productive in its entire history!”

“A trip to Rimun will prove your claim to be a blatant lie,” Neia said. “We can even take anyone that doubts my words there if they wish. Never mind Rimun, all of the lands west of Lloyds will show you that the ‘hard recovery’ ahead of the Holy Kingdom wasn’t hard at all! The citizens of the east have been kept ignorant through an illusion that the Nobles have convinced them to believe. We have come to shatter that illusion and bring true justice to our country!”

On the Sea Sprite, soldiers turned questioning looks at one another. The vast majority of the Holy Kingdom’s population lived in its rural regions, so it was possible that no one had experienced the trials of urban life in the past few months.

“It’s true!”

A man jostled his way through the ranks aboard the Sea Sprite.

“What she says is true!” He clambered over a gangplank, “I came from a town east of Canta. We can barely afford to eat! The Nobles told us that some hardship was to be expected with the war and all, but things only got worse! They take everything that they can away from us, saying that it’s for the good of the Holy Kingdom while we watch our children starve. All the places we sailed by in the west didn’t look like that.”

“Quiet, you!” Captain Castille said, “You’re just trying to get out of service! For the third time, might I add…”

“I’m not! I swear it’s true!”

“Do you know what else is true?” Neia told them, “The south paid coin to get out of this round of conscription entirely! Everyone going to the wall to fight the gods know what are people taken from the north!”

The defenders on the deck of the Sea Sprite rippled in collective shock.

“Castille!” A Sergeant turned and shouted, “Explain yourself!”

“It’s simple,” the Captain said. “The Crown couldn’t afford to field a new army, so the south offered to finance it. In exchange, the crown waived conscription for the south. Without our coin, there would be no army at all!”

“Coin that you stole from the north!” Neia fumed, “It must be easy for you royalists to set any price you like when you’ve made sure you control nearly everything! You make it sound like some reasonable compromise, but you’re simply masking your theft!”

A hole opened in the shield wall. Captain Castille was ejected from the Sea Sprite, falling into the ocean with a splash. Neia looked over the railing. They were supposed to capture any southerners they came across.

“Wow,” Saye said, “that was super effective.”

Hopelessly outnumbered by their passengers, the crew of the Sea Sprite and the remaining southern officers surrendered with little fuss. Neia sailed back to Lloyds on their newly acquired galleon, leaving Commander Lobo behind to prepare for the next ship. The damage and blood made for an even more convincing scene than before.

The crowd that formed as they approached the harbour cheered when Neia signalled their success.

“I wonder how many more boats we’ll end up with,” Neia said.

“I wonder how many more brutes those boats will have,” Saye replied.

Neia shuddered at the memory of the Knight laying waste to groups of men that should have been at least as strong as Silver-rank Adventurers. If she were to guess, he was probably close to or somewhere near Difficulty Rating Seventy. In other words, the equivalent of the average Orthrous.

“How did we take him down, anyway?”

“It’s because I super mega stabbed him,” Saye told her.

She stared silently at the Bard, who smiled in response.

“Just kidding. We sent a lot of men after him, so he probably got worn out. I know people seem to think that strong Humans are pretty much monsters, but Humans don’t have all the special stuff that monsters have. They’re just Humans in the end.”

Saye had a point. Neia had strong parents that most people would consider borderline monstrous, but they still bled if they accidentally cut themselves while chopping up ingredients for dinner. Her mother would never let her father plan out their dates because she hated the mosquitos that would leave her itchy for days, plus his ‘romantic wilderness hikes’ would make her tired. Three dozen Corps members were likely enough to take down a Knight of that strength.

“Whoops.”

“Whoops?” Neia frowned.

“We’re mooring at Lloyds,” the Bard gestured with her chin.

Two Paladins stood with their arms crossed at the pier. Were they always so obstinate?

Neia and Saye left the harbour in a rowboat, working their respective oars. It was more than a bit embarrassing, but at least it gave them time alone to chat. Her life had become filled with meeting after meeting and she missed the strange, but generally enjoyable discussions that they always had.

“I need to come up with a better way of getting people to join our side,” Neia said, “that capture operation was almost a disaster.”

“Are strong people that common in the Holy Kingdom?” Saye asked, “I haven’t seen many at all.”

“Hmm…I’m not sure if this is the right way to put it, but there are enough that it matters. According to the Adventurer Guild back in the day, roughly a fifth of their members were Platinum-rank or above. During the war, the Sorcerer King Rescue Corps’ members showed remarkable improvement by training to become stronger, so I’m inclined to believe that this percentage is actually normal for the entire Holy Kingdom. We just never had the Sorcerer King’s wisdom before.”

Going by that, roughly a million and a half of the Holy Kingdom’s citizens had the potential to become the equivalent of a Platinum-ranked Adventurer. When she had first come to that conclusion during the war, it had both shocked and saddened her. They always had the potential to hold their own against the Demihumans of the Abelion Hills, even without the Great Wall. The problem was that their entire society had embraced the sin that was weakness.

“But the southerners don’t follow the Sorcerer King’s wisdom, right?” Saye said, “That means they’re weak like everyone else I’ve seen.”

“Unfortunately,” Neia nodded. “I mean, it’s unfortunate that they’re sinners, but fortunate for us that they are–no, wait…”

“I get what you mean,” the Bard smirked. “You want everyone to understand the greatness of His Majesty the Sorcerer King and embrace his wisdom, right?”

“Exactly! I don’t like that we have to fight because people are blind to the truth.”

“Well, it was everyone’s first time carrying out that plan. Tension was high and everyone went into it thinking it was do or die. That’s probably something you can work on.”

“What do you mean?” Neia asked.

Their rowboat went around the city wall, exposing the Corps’ camp. Saye looked pointedly at the neat rows of beige tents.

“Managing expectations,” Saye answered. “It’s the same whether you’re performing as a Bard, working as a Noble, or lining up for cake. There’s a lot of anger right now, and everyone who joins us will probably be angry as well. You’ve called the people to action, but the only action that they can think of is fighting because that’s the only thing you’ve done since you started.”

“Hmm…I think I understand what you’re saying, but how do I manage the expectations of all those people?”

“Weren’t you sort of already doing it before? Before we started all the stabbing, I mean.”

“I was?”

“Uh…yeah? Well, I guess you weren’t thinking of things in those terms back then. People who are dissatisfied with their situation tend to want to do something about it. They want to take action in ways that will fix what they think is wrong. The sort of anger you see now is what happens when people believe they have no choice but to fight. If you want to keep things from spinning out of control, you need to give all those people something to do.”

“Do you mean the discipleship programs that we were discussing with Mister Moro?”

“Yeah. Did all that get cancelled because we’re fighting now? Will fighting bring justice to the Holy Kingdom?”

Neia stopped rowing, staring at the slope filled with tents as their boat bobbed on the waves. Saye was right. Because fighting had broken out, she had pushed everything else to the back of her mind. But they were only fighting to stop the injustices that the royalists were visiting upon the north. What would bring true justice to the Holy Kingdom was the wisdom of the Sorcerer King.

“Thanks,” Neia smiled and resumed rowing. “I think I get swept up in the flow of things more often than I’d like to admit.”

“Well, you are only fifteen.”

“And you’re eleven.”

Their laughter floated over the waves. How long had it been since she had laughed like that?

A group of Corps members working on the beach helped them pull their boat ashore. Neia strolled casually between the rows of tents on the way to the administrative centre of the camp, occasionally stopping to speak to the people who greeted her along the way. Before she arrived at her destination, Carlos jogged in the opposite direction toward her.

“Miss Baraja,” he nodded. “We’ve got more incomin’.”

“More…ships? Don’t tell me it’s an army…”

“An army,” the rancher said.

“Ugh…”

“Uh, they’re on our side,” Carlos clarified. “A rider came ahead to let us know that a column is comin’ through Mister Lousa’s land. Mister Moro’s with ‘em.”

She had been wondering where he had disappeared to. Granted, it was only about a week since he had left, but she expected him to return by ship within a few days.

“I guess we should make room for the new people,” Neia said. “Er, which way are they going?”

“The rider came from Bast,” Carlos replied. “Should I send some folks to redirect ‘em?”

“No, we have plenty of space to use in Bast,” Neia said. “It’s not far and we have some ships to move people around, too. I do need to speak with Mister Moro, though. We’ll ride out to meet him.”

After reporting Commander Lobo’s success to the officers in the camp, Neia and Saye went southwest to head off their new reinforcements. The roads were still damp from the rain, so they couldn’t rely on the telltale cloud of dust that an army column created to guide them. They ended up zigzagging for a day or so before finally coming across Mister Moro at the edge of Lord Aston’s jurisdiction. He seemed surprised that they had come out to meet him.

“Miss Baraja,” he nodded.

“Baraja!”

“Baraja!!”

“Barajaaaa!!!”

The entire column decided to greet her too. She smiled and waved as she brought her horse in alongside Mister Moro’s.

“Men from Los Ganaderos say that fighting has broken out,” Mister Moro said, “is this true?”

“It is, unfortunately,” Neia replied. “A whole lot of things came together to create an unhappy coincidence. We did learn a lot, however…plus we captured six galleons and thousands of people have joined us.”

“…so much for riding to the rescue. You seem to have improved our capability to wage war considerably while I was away, Miss Baraja.”

“N-No, this is still great! We need as many people as we can get because we’ve started capturing royalist territories. The new people who joined were all army conscripts, but only a few dozen were part of the Corps. Why did you come this way, anyway? It would have been faster to come by ship.”

“Not for us, Miss Baraja,” one of the officers at the head of the column said. “Mister Moro came by picking up all the folks on the eastern side of the conservative territories. It takes us nearly as long to ride to Rimun as it does to Lloyds cutting across the ranchland.”

“I see. Well, I’m grateful to everyone that’s come to help. We have a lot of work ahead of us – I can’t overstate it enough.”

“We’re marching straight to war, then?”

Neia shook her head and smiled. She would have done exactly that if it hadn’t been for Saye.

“No,” she told them. “We have something far more important to do, first.”