Posts from Lafrenia Auto-translated

“Damn bastards, they swarmed like ants…” Tao muttered, peering out the window. Seeing the Aeolians among the guards – the very ones they were supposed to liberate – the warrior was stunned with surprise and anger. While the other members of the squad were piling up their newly upgraded equipment and exchanging sad words, Tao also took off his heavy armor, his brand-new cloak, and his uncomfortable hat. Then, Tao found a dark corner in the room, knelt down, and clasped his hands in prayer. “How could this be, Goddess…?” the warrior murmured regretfully. “First, the Aeolians who turned to banditry disgraced Tao. Now, the Aeolians who serve as loyal dogs for foreign officials are humiliating Tao. Is this what Tao was supposed to fight for? Tao and his comrades were supposed to be greeted as liberators with flowers and bread and salt…” Drawing his trusty blade, Tao slashed himself across the chest. A fresh stream of blood gushed onto the floor of the apartment. Feeling the poisonous venom spreading through his veins, Tao shook his head in a righteous rhythm. “Eight years have passed since Tao promised not to fall into the web of lies. But Tao betrayed himself, Tao betrayed the Goddess. Tao betrayed his friend. Tao can humiliate himself many times, but Tao will still not achieve his goal. Aeolia is not worthy of Tao’s salvation, as long as the people of Aeolia are so weak and insignificant.” Another strike. “Tao thought he had to avenge his fallen village and save Aeolia. But now Tao understands. Tao’s village and Aeolia were weak. And if that’s the case, then they have no rights. That means strong countries have the right to conquer and humiliate them. And their people will only bow and fawn over the invaders. They do not deserve salvation.” With difficulty, Tao got up from the floor and found that he was completely alone in the house. Or perhaps it was just an illusion caused by the exhaustion that was closing in. Perhaps he hadn’t even gotten up from the floor and was still lying there. Be that as it may, whether it was a dream or reality, Tao’s fate was now no longer connected to his comrades in the unfortunate squad. “…But now Tao understands everything, yes…,” the warrior croaked with difficulty, dragging his leaden legs in an unknown direction. “You were right, my friend. Our village, our dream…” Bright sunlight painfully struck the warrior’s pale face. In one hand, he tightly gripped the hilt of a dagger, and in the other, the last medallion of his long-forgotten village. “Tao Kug is no longer with your squad! Tao Kug is no longer with your country! Tao Kug will not be deceived and humiliated anymore! Tao’s ancestors are smiling as they look at him. And you… you are not even worthy of knowing your ancestors.” With fury, Tao struck himself in his disfigured chest and, in desperate rage, rushed forward. For a moment, the solar halo disappeared behind a rain of arrows. And then Tao saw nothing. “Where are you, my friend?” Tao asked in vain, but all he saw was his own reflection on the water’s surface

The blood-red haze before his eyes gradually dissipated. Ashur gasped and coughed, blood trickling down his chin. From the adjacent room came the frantic screams of Tao Kug, but not a single word could be made out – his ears were ringing, and his head felt like it was filled with lead. He struggled to his feet, but slipped in a pool of blood and fell to his knees. A hand, desperately seeking support, grabbed onto something, and a piece of fabric flew away. Glass crunched under his fingers, cutting them. Ashur looked at the crushed glasses clenched in his hand, and then at the lifeless face of Nikolai. Blood-soaked shards fell into his eyes, scattering into the open mouth in a silent, posthumous scream. He remembered the bright flash and the roar, and realized that the Pendulum was right – although his body, burning from the close-range shot, screamed that he should have lied.

From the entrance came a loud, alarming clang, as if someone was ringing a tocsin. Staggering, Ashur took a few steps on unsteady legs, but was overcome by another coughing fit and collapsed in the doorway. From here, he could see his comrades killing people in the armor of the city guard. He didn't understand what was happening – after all, they were the ones who were attacked by a spy, how did it happen that they were considered the criminals? There was no time to figure it out, and Ashur watched helplessly as the guards fell one after another in shapeless heaps in the passage.

Soon, others will come. Something had to be done. Something had to be figured out. He was an entrepreneur! He should have solutions, clever and unexpected, that would lead to a way out of the most hopeless situation! Ashur gathered his will and, with a desperate, sharp movement, got to his feet... only to be knocked back down immediately. An invisible being rushed past, brushing against him; he only managed to see the fleeting, distorted face of Lyfa and hear footsteps fading into the depths of her ravaged home, littered with corpses.

Madness hung in the air, the smell of blood and death permeated everything. His comrades had completely lost their minds, searching the bodies and scouring the house for his unfortunate mistress. Ashur clenched his fists and winced in pain, blood flowing down his arm as if a razor had been driven into it – he had already forgotten that he was still holding the broken glasses of Nikolai in his hand. Dropped on the floor, they clinked sadly, and this sound seemed to herald the inglorious end of the warriors of Celestia. If that man hadn't fired in a fit of inexplicably aggressive confusion, everything would have turned out differently. He looked at the Pendulum, which had blinded the one hiding in the shadows – and realized that this thing should not fall into the hands of the enemy. Summoning his strength, Ashur tore the talisman from his neck and threw it far out the window. Let a good person find it.

A voice came from the street, calling on them to surrender. Calling them criminals. But their goal was the good of Eolia! Not as Dithlind and Refitea see it, but as Queen Celestia wanted. But it seems that the queen really went into the past and was now nothing more than a prisoner, and the people were already starting to cope without her. Their struggle is futile and doomed. As is Ashur's mission. The people of Eolia do not want the expulsion of the invaders and the restoration of sovereignty – they just want to survive. It's a pity that this thought didn't occur to the queen.

Before going outside with his hands raised, Ashur encouragingly placed his blood-soaked hand on the shoulder of Pyzhma. This girl meant more to him than all the other comrades. He almost saw her as a daughter, which he never had. He understood that her future was extremely bleak and that he could do nothing about it. But still, he wanted her to feel a little paternal warmth at the last moment.

When Ashur left the house, surrendering, the sun shone in his eyes, but the fresh air dispelled the anxiety and the suffocating stench of madness that hung in Lyfa's house. He was ready to accept his fate. As he walked behind the clouds, the sun allowed him to see the branches of the trees nearby more clearly, swaying slightly in the wind. On the top of the nearest tree, a strange creature huddled in fear, clinging tightly to the trunk and looking down at the gathered crowd. Ramon had picked up a sun-shaped talisman and was wearing it around his neck. Seeing it, a smile crossed Ashur's frozen face. Now he knew for sure that his last will would be fulfilled.

/But why, Tao, why?!/

At least now they didn't do anything dangerous, which is good. It wasn't possible to fight with fellow countrymen without a good reason; Dante would definitely not forgive such betrayal. It seems they failed the mission... And it looks like Naoh will have to do without books for at least a few years...
It's all sad. While the guards carefully approached the disarmed adventurers, Naoh nervously smiled.
-- Ashur, at least tell me now, where did the invisible creature come from in the house.

/We quickly turn the patrols into dummies and demonstrate to the boss that, look, everyone is alive and well?/

Once again, I needed an Abellian...

A few hours later, after the arrested individuals were escorted to the guardhouse and isolated from each other, each of them was summoned to the captain one by one. “So, let’s see… what was your name again…” Lidon Korr addressed the first of the “Warriors of Celestia,” an organization whose existence he was unaware of. Despite the convenience of magic bestowed upon humans by Rishe, as well as the mystical talents of the rare followers of Abelia, telepathy and contact with those who had passed from this world were not so common skills, especially among the city guard. Be that as it may, the identity of the first interrogated individual was not so important, as the captain was to convey the same information, word for word, to all the others. He himself gave the impression of a cowardly but greedy man, and it seemed that in another situation, if he were not pursuing justice as required by his rank, he could at least be motivated by financial compensation or an equivalent in some other values. However, this time, the blood of three guardsmen had been spilled, and it was if not impossible, then at least so difficult and potentially dangerous to justify or even acquit the arrested individuals that the captain had no choice but to approach the matter impartially, with his usual laziness. “If your testimony helps to establish the sequence of events and identify the culprits, your punishment, if any, will be mitigated, so please answer a few questions… For your information, this information will be used during the sentencing. First, I would like to know what brought you to Medivil and what your purpose was in being on the territory of Lyfa Tit’s residence. What connects you to the other participants in the incident? And most importantly, describe the sequence of events on the day of the incident.

Interrogation of Coriel Naoh.
Contrary to her usual behavior, the girl mustered her strength and began to give her testimony verbally. She wasn't sure if she could trust the guard who was interrogating them; what if they forged her handwriting and added something of their own? It wasn't worth the risk.
She speaks quietly and calmly, but it's clear that she's quite nervous.
-- Coriel Naoh. I am personally acquainted with the other detainees, and we worked together as mercenaries. Lyfa provided us with accommodation because we all came from different cities. You can ask around at the Temple of Avaritia, but in general, we responded to quite a few job postings, trying to help people in any way we could... I can list all the places where I participated: these include the owner of the "Gray Wind" shop, Animayeva Milorada; the owner of "Magograd," Lolenko Misha Milovna; the owner of "Azure Sails," Laurin Evgeny Stanislavovich; and the owner of "Boreas," Chinh Thi Zung. We did ordinary jobs: guarding, eliminating a dangerous monster-treant in the forest, participating in cultural events, and even providing a cooking recipe... I won't say that we always did everything perfectly, but we tried our best.
-- On that day, we gathered at Lyfa's house because our craftsman, Ashur, was upgrading our equipment. When he finished, some time passed, and then Ashur turned around and greeted someone invisible. We had encountered an invisible person before, during a guarding assignment in the forest. Back then, we were attacked by bandits, and I thought the invisible person was one of them. Apparently, I was wrong, and the invisible person had been following Ashur all along? That was strange in itself, but even stranger was that the invisible person immediately attacked Ashur with a pistol, inflicting a fatal wound on our craftsman and the merchant. It was as if they had been waiting for an opportunity...
-- We had to defend ourselves, which we did successfully. Then, I used healing magic on Ashur – unfortunately, it was impossible to save the criminal; he had already given his soul to Abelia. Taking care of the injured took some time and a significant amount of concentration, so I didn't immediately notice that something was happening at the entrance again.
-- When I went out of the room to check, I saw people in uniform who had been talking to my friends for some time. The atmosphere was extremely tense, but I didn't understand the reason. Although, I can assume – considering what happened earlier, everyone was nervous because of the murderer. Perhaps, from the guards' point of view, it looked like aggression... I... I'm really sorry that this happened, Inspector, but I understand...

Time passed. Perhaps the inspector was silent because he didn't know how to respond to this completely non-unexpected monologue (he was the one who asked the question, after all), or perhaps he fell asleep under the influence of the quiet and insidious voice explaining the situation as thoroughly as possible... Nao didn't want to look up and check the reason for the silence in the interrogation room, so she wearily and silently rested her forehead on the tabletop.
-- My father, Dante, I wish I had stayed home and read books. Wasn't there something in my life that I couldn't find in texts? -- even though it was said just as quietly as the interrogation questions, voicing such thoughts aloud could only be described as a piercing cry of the soul.

— So, you're saying you were invisible... But who was fighting, and who killed whom? You seem like a decent girl; did you really bash people into a bloody mess with your staff?

— So, "invisible" means... clear... But who was fighting, and who killed whom? You seem like a nice girl, but did you really beat people to a bloody pulp with your staff?

— In my current situation, it's pointless to deny my involvement in the fight with the guard. I can mention that I was in a state of emotional distress, but I doubt that will change anything significantly. By the way, a staff is a ranged weapon.
— But I think not everyone participated in the events mentioned. Coriel Ilk, as far as I remember, just hid, and Mala... Miroliuba also doesn't seem to have done anything reprehensible, otherwise there would have been shots. Ashura wasn't among the fighters at the time... Well, his situation is obvious; I barely brought him back from the brink, he wasn't in a state to do anything. If he had been in a normal state, he might have been able to resolve the conflict. I suppose someone else might have been uninvolved, but remembering the general chaos that happened is very difficult, and I probably can't answer any more precisely.

— Uh-huh, I see... Okay, I understand, call the next one.

Added 14 minutes later
When she came to explain herself after being detained.

- Z-zdrastitya...

— What? Oh, hello, hello. You must be Mira, right? Well, Mira, listen to me. Tell me, please, what happened that day. And how did you end up in Medieval, get mixed up with those thugs, and find yourself in Lyfa Tit’s house that day?

- This... well... this... We... uh... - Miroluba fidgeted nervously in her chair, trying not to meet the guard's gaze. - We... well, I woke up, then I got ready, you know, washed my face, brushed my hair... then... I don't remember what we had for breakfast... Wait... I'll remember, just a moment... this... this... Ah... it's probably not important to you... sorry... - she said guiltily, lowering her gaze and clasping her trembling hands.
- So, basically, we... wanted to give our things to the one... Ashur. He said he could mend them, or reforge them, or something like that, I'm not sure. So we went. We and the others were doing various jobs together, you know... just... various things. The things that are hanging on the board in the Temple. We also brought bark from a tree. And... this... we walked a girl to her father. And then we came back. That's it...
- So, basically, we... well, we went into the house, where all this was happening. Lyfa - well, I don't know her personally, I didn't have time to get to know her... She's someone... a friend of a friend of a friend, or something like that... Anyway, we were sitting with her, waiting. I was in a room with Lance. Then I heard some noise... He ran out to see what it was, and I stood there, waiting... Then I went out too... I saw our Ashur lying on the workbench, and another one lying next to him... some guy, I don't know... or am I not supposed to swear? Sorry... - she dabbed her eyes.
- There was blood everywhere, and they were shouting... That one was doing something to our... the one called Nao. And then those guys showed up... soldiers. Or rather, guards... Well, there were three of them. They asked something. It was something about the "noise," I think. Our guys started explaining, and that hairy guy started shouting something... I didn't really understand, he had a strange accent. Then... then... ah. Then he took off his helmet and started hitting him with it. And then... - a deathly pallor spread across her tanned skin. - I couldn't see very well... It wasn't very bright, and I was standing behind, so I couldn't see because of the people in front... Anyway, a fight broke out. Well... and then it was over, I guess... And then we left... - she mumbled the last sentence, lowering her head. - Sorry...

“Now, now, calm down,” the captain of the guard said, finding Mira’s behavior endearing. “Uncle Lidon won’t hurt you. So, how old are you, and who are you hanging out with? What would your parents say if they knew about your escapades?” The guard thoughtfully rubbed his broad chin. “You really can’t remember what happened? It’s a serious incident, and I’d like to find the culprit. And, frankly, I wouldn’t want such a sweet girl, especially a human one, to spend her life in jail with all sorts of societal outcasts. Maybe if you try a little harder, you can remember a couple of names?”

- I didn't kill anyone, I swear! I didn't even have time to realize what happened! - her voice trembled and broke. - And Ilk too - he wouldn't have done it, and Ashur, he was standing nearby. The others... Well, it was a mess, but it seemed like everyone... was fighting... or trying to... I don't know who hit them or who delivered the final blow - I can't remember right now...
- But it's all clear what happened to them! - she looked at the interrogator with pleading and despair. - One had his head chopped off, the other was... smashed...
She caught a lump in her throat, remembering the pieces of bodies scattered around the hall, and stopped, not wanting to elaborate. Then she hugged her arms and shivered, as if she were cold.