Chapter 20: The Raid
“Your Majesty, you must contain yourself,” said Claus.
“You’re telling me what I already know,” Jade said, restlessly pacing around the office. He had been doing that for several minutes; he wasn’t able to sit still with Ruri missing.
“We’ve extended the search from the castle interior to the royal capital as we speak. It seems Lord Kotaro and Lady Rin have also gone out in search, so it will be no time before she is found,” Claus said in a gentle tone, hoping to instill relief. But Claus was actually just as concerned—he just kept his composure better than Jade.
“The fires, the poisoning, and now Ruri’s disappearance,” Claus summarized. “With all of this happening in the span of a day, none of it seems purely coincidental.”
“Indeed.”
“Also, normally it would be inconceivable for the spirits to lose sight of Ruri. I can’t imagine what kind of methods they used...”
As he listened to Claus speak, Jade felt stricken with regret. He’d carelessly thought that the spirits’ protection would be enough and had lessened Ruri’s security detail. The fact that the many spirits present had let Ruri disappear under their noses might be proof that the situation would have been the same regardless of how many dragonkin he added. Nevertheless, Jade lamented his choice, pondering over the what-ifs.
“...I’m going to search for her, too,” Jade murmured, unable to simply wait for news to arrive.
Claus looked at Jade with a worrying expression. “As much as I understand how you must feel, I cannot agree to that course of action when we have no idea what will happen next.”
“Even so...”
Jade walked toward the door. Claus rushed over to stop him. However, that was when they heard a large booooom and felt a fierce tremor.
“What was that?!”
They rushed out of the door to see the soldiers standing all about, just as confused as they were.
Jade turned to a nearby soldier and asked, “What happened?!”
“I have no clue, Sire. There was a sudden explosion. I think it was close to either sector two or three, though...”
“Investigate the cause at once!”
“Yes, Sire!” the soldier replied, running off to fulfill his king’s order.
“I swear, if it’s not one thing, it’s another...” Jade spat to himself with a click of his tongue. He was getting perturbed at things going awry despite his desire to go search for Ruri.
“Your Majesty, shouldn’t we evacuate the Cerulandian Beloved in sector two?” asked Claus.
“Yes, let’s do that,” Jade said, stopping a nearby soldier and ordering him to bring Azelda up.
Allowing Beloveds of outside nations to see one another was against the rules, but since they’d already seen each other several times by now and Azelda had lost her Beloved powers, Jade decided it wouldn’t be an issue.
“Claus, go to Arman’s quarters and inform him to heighten Celestine’s security.”
“Understood.”
As Jade walked around dispensing orders, a soldier ran up to him.
“Your Majesty, the explosion was reported in sector three. We discovered a timer-based magical device, the same that was used in the series of fires, at the site of the explosion. We suspect the culprit is one and the same.”
“What is security doing?! How are you letting people just waltz in?!”
Moving between sectors required a clearance pass. And ever since Asahi made her escape with someone else’s pass, the checks were now even more strict. While it was possible someone could scale the mountain and infiltrate from the outside, the sides of the mountain were steep and rocky. And there were also soldiers on watch. Scaling the mountain all the way up to sector three would be near impossible. An aerial approach was even more impossible. There was a barrier in place to keep out any incoming flying magic beasts, and it would be apparent if any were to break through.
Their entry route was a mystery.
Just as Jade started to suspect that it was some sort of inside job, another explosion went off—this time much closer. And then right after his attention was temporarily drawn toward the commotion, he heard Azelda scream from the opposite end of the hallway.
“Eeeek!”
Jade made a dash for the source of the cry. There a person dressed in all black pointed a dagger at Azelda.
Jade stared in shock. The soldiers around her seemed to be clueless as to what happened.
“What are you all doing?!” Jade yelled, rebuking his soldiers. They stood by as the enemy held the person they were supposed to protect at their mercy.
In spite of the several guards posted around Azelda, she had been snatched from under their noses. The soldiers that Jade reproached, and everyone else, couldn’t contain their confusion.
“They just a-appeared, Sire. We were distracted by the explosion for just a second and they showed up out of nowhere.”
“What do you mean ‘just appeared’?” They were standing in a perfectly clear, unobstructed hallway. Anyone coming would be spotted right away.
In a shaky voice, Azelda squeezed out, “Y-You. You’re wearing the same clothes as that raider...”
Jade furrowed his brow. They had assumed that the Church of God’s Light attacked Azelda. In which case, Jade was left to wonder if the person standing before his eyes was a member of that very organization.
“Are you from The Church of God’s Light?” Jade asked, but his question fell on deaf ears.
“Death to Beloveds,” said the assailant in black, their voice muffled by the cloth wrapped around their mouth—a slightly high-pitched voice at that. They brought the dagger down on Azelda, but before it could hit its mark, Jade hurled a chop toward the assailant’s hand. They dodged just in the nick of time, but they weren’t able to fully avoid the blow and ended up with a bruised hand.
Jade’s eyes were burning with rage. “Don’t tell me you’re involved with Ruri’s disappearance as well! If you know where Ruri is, then tell me!”
“...Dead.”
Jade felt the world shake for a split second, and his hands started to tremble.
“Death to all Beloveds,” said the person in black as they sprinted toward Azelda. Azelda was so stricken with fear that she simply cowered, unable to run.
Jade quickly grabbed a sword from a nearby soldier and stepped in front of Azelda, deflecting the assailant’s blow. Once the assailant took their distance, Jade flung Azelda toward the soldiers. He heard Azelda scream, but he had no time to be concerned about that.
Jade proceeded to cross swords with the mystery assailant. Clanging metal rang loudly through the hallway. Their swords locked, and the physically smaller assailant started to slowly move back as Jade put more force into his grip. Then, when the assailant slipped and broke their posture for a split second, Jade delivered a ferocious kick from the side. His mighty dragonkin leg hit his opponent straight on and sent them careening toward the wall. Jade felt that he wasn’t facing a very seasoned warrior, but that was of little concern to him right now.
“Grk...” the person groaned as they stood up. Then they pulled something out of their breast pocket and chucked it toward Jade at full force.
Jade went to swat it aside without an ounce of hesitation. However, before it came in contact with his hand, the item triggered a large explosion.
“Khh...” The unavoidable blast came at Jade, and he shut his eyes to brace for the shock.
“Your Majesty!” cried the soldiers in panic, watching the fight from afar. They were concerned for Jade after taking that explosion head-on.
The assailant confirmed that Jade was incapacitated and turned their sights toward Azelda. The soldiers around her assumed fighting stances. However, a mysterious light started to wrap around Jade’s body. It beamed through the white smoke and blew away the person clad in black. They hit the wall with an even bigger impact than before, this time sustaining enough damage to keep them grounded.
When the smoke cleared, Jade stood unscathed, a light still wrapped around him. He looked confused, and in truth he had no idea what happened either. Realizing that the area around his chest was shining blue, he rummaged in his inside pocket and pulled out the lapis-colored glass beads that Ruri had given him. As if the glass beads had served their purpose, the light started to fade and the charm reverted to an ordinary trinket.
“So, this protected me?” Jade questioned. Ruri had told him it was a good-luck charm, but he never expected it would physically protect him from harm, so he was extremely surprised. Not only that, but it also seemingly counterattacked his foe, rendering them incapacitated. It made Jade think about Ruri, thinking she would have been better off keeping something this valuable instead—a thought that pained Jade.
There was no point in pondering the what-ifs now, however. Jade collected himself and returned the glass beads to his pocket. He then went over to the black-clad attacker slumped motionless against the wall. He grabbed them by the lapels, forced them to their feet, and pulled away the cloth covering their mouth, revealing their true face.
“You’re...” Jade started, his face showing astonishment. However, he went right back to glaring at the attacker with a razor sharp look. In a deep and threatening voice, he said, “I’ll ask one more time. Where’s Ruri?”
Jade was emitting such a strong and intimidating aura that the attacker started to show fear due to being in such proximity to it. Jade’s grip on them got tighter and tighter, causing the mystery person to wince in pain.
“That Beloved is dead. Their corpse should be lying somewhere in the capital.”
The intensity of Jade’s glare increased. Still holding onto their lapels, Jade slammed them across the wall.
A soldier scrambled over to Jade. “Your Majesty, you shouldn’t apply any more force, or else it’ll endanger their life. We still need to interrogate this individual.”
Jade took a deep breath to quell his turbulent heart and proceeded to unhand the person, allowing the soldier to take over.
“They still might have cohorts about. This time, be certain to remain vigilant. Investigate this one’s background while you’re at it.”
“Yes, Sire!”
Jade went straight over to Euclase, who was also there. “I’m going to go search for Ruri. Handle the rest.” The king leaving his castle now of all times wasn’t a very commendable action. However, Jade didn’t have the confidence to calmly handle the situation right now either way.
“Yes, please, leave it to me,” Euclase agreed without saying anything more.
There was no way that Ruri was dead—those were the words Jade kept telling himself as he headed into town.
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