My busiest work week of the year is over. I have more time to write again. Happy Trails and Happy Reading!
*
"Magic is all hocus-pocus if you ask me, but its skill in manipulating the spirit veins that rest beneath our land is second to none. There really is nothing like it.", Renne mused. "And there you have it, Musse. Since you know the existence of Magic, will you accept it? Or will you shrug it away? Fie and I have both come to accept it, even if we don't really have an aptitude. We're more along for the ride. Emma will be carrying the bulk of the weight at the destined time."
"I feel like I just made a big decision...", Musse uttered. "This is quite a lot to take in."
"Eh, you'll get used to it over time. Or you'll end up like Fie here and just go with the flow.", Renne replied, doing a motion of her hand like she didn't care. "Emma, care to cast that incantation?"
"Of course. One light-bending incantation coming right up.", Emma said. Activating her Mana, Musse saw a bluish glow wrap around her body, shocking Musse thrice now. Renne and Fie were already used to Emma casting Incantations, so they didn't show much of a reaction. But now, Musse was added into the mix. She heard a language she hadn't heard before utter from Emma's mouth.
Shortly after, a white glow began to surround them. Then, nothing happened. A rather simple Incantation, but quite an effective one. Renne was quick to take notice of the change. It was very similar to how the Ramda, Calvard's equivalent to the Arcus Combat Tactical Orbment, triggers its cloaking mechanism, which allows for easier covert operations.
"Heehee, this works like a charm as always. Thanks, Emma.", Renne replied, and giggled. "And who knows, perhaps your path will get entwined with His Royal Highness one day, as many others presently are. It will all depend on your efforts from here on out. I am not lying when I said we will be changing our location to a different hunting grounds."
"Then where will we head next to reach that place?", Musse asked, taking a moment to calm down. For the time being, she'll be with these girls, so she can just make do for now, wondering where they will head next.
"It's not too far from here. There's a large alcove just short of the second section of this highway.", Renne explained.
After Renne said that, they began to approach their new destination at a steady pace. Musse was surprised once again seeing how effortlessly Renne, Emma and Fie dodged all the Monsters that were roaming around. In West Ostia Highway, one can encounter Monsters like the Elder Burdon, Metal Monsilo, or the Grass Hydra. Parts of the highway even have active Spirit Veins scattered beneath the land, and it is known to spawn a Cryptid every now and then, to which become much more frequent when the Great Twilight stirs such activity around the capital. Right now though, there don't appear to be any Cryptids lurking around for the girls to challenge.
So Renne made the decision that they didn't need to waste time fighting the Monsters around these parts. They weren't presently in a Party with Naoto, so they couldn't see the Levels either. But if one were to assign a Level, these Monsters would be around LV50. A decent challenge, but Naoto has already fought Monsters at a much higher level around these parts. It would be interesting to see if that was the case, or if they are actually higher level. Only time will tell for that. To the girls, they currently didn't seem to pose much of a threat.
Because of that, they quickly arrived at what appeared to be a large opening that was quite far from the main highway. From there, they entered the center area of this large opening. As they walked in, Musse's present expression turned weird. She saw...absolutely nothing? She couldn't help but turn toward Renne and speak.
"You aren't playing tricks on me now, are you, Renne?", Musse asked, taking a moment to observe her new surroundings. It was just a large opening, surrounded by trees. Nothing special about it. "I don't see anyone here. Is the contact who we are going to meet late?"
"Not exactly.", Renne replied with a playful smile. It was then Emma realized what Renne was going to do.
"You're going to call out to him, aren't you, Renne?", Emma asked. Her eyes turned serious.
"You know me so well already, Emma. That is why I like you, heehee.", Renne said, and giggled. All Musse saw was Renne raise her hand upward. "It's time to come out and play. To me, Pater-Mater!"
"Pater-Mater?", Fie asked, showing a mixture of confusion and interest.
Yet Renne ignored the three around her. It took a moment, but the ground began to rumble. It wasn't a powerful quake, but it was enough to shake it. After that, a gigantic shadow soon entered the sky. The shadow grew larger and larger, causing Musse to look up with a frown on her face. At the same time, there was a loud, mechanical whirring noise reaching her ears. Once the shadow became clear, it revealed a large and humanoid purple doll, spanning tens of feet in stature. It did not take long for it to touch down onto the grass before Renne.
"Oh dear Aidios, what is that!?", Musse cried out.
Musse's usual calm demeanor was completely wiped away at this point. Her expression turned blank as she observed a huge doll-like machine now standing before them. As Musse reacted that way, Pater-Pater lowered one of his hands, allowing Renne to easily jump on it. She then brandished her scythe. A deadly look appeared in her eyes, causing shivers to run down Musse's spine.
"This is who I truly am, Musse. I welcome you, as well as Emma and Fie. You may call me Renne, Enforcer No. XV, the Angel of Slaughter. A pleasure, I assure you.", Renne said, formally introducing herself to the bunch. She did a curtsy of her skirt like she usually does. "And well, this one here is Pater-Mater. He is as much family to me as Naoto and the others back at Grancel are now. Our destination is upward. Liberl, to be exact. But I cannot reveal the location until we are there. Now tell me Musse, what will you do?"
As Renne said that, she pointed her scythe outward without hesitation. She pointed it right at Musse, making the sense of dread even more powerful.
"W-Who are you...?", Musse uttered, trying to keep her voice in check. She gulped a big breath of air down her throat.
"I told you. I am Enforcer No. XV. We operate from the shadows. And right now, some of us have aligned with Naoto's goals. In due time, if you proceed with us, he will tell you his big plan. I am not the one to do so. Are you still wanting to go with us now that both Emma and I have formally introduced ourselves to you?"
Hearing that, Musse remained silent for a long moment. Then, her eyes turned crystal clear. Not a shred of doubt remained any longer. Once the initial sense of dread passed, Musse regained her composure, and looked directly at Renne.
"Thank you, Renne. My path is clear. I no longer have any doubts of how I should walk from here on out. If His Royal Highness is currently stirring an undercurrent, then I will flow with it.", Musse declared. "This way is much better than whatever plan that idiotic uncle of mine is attempting to do."
Once Musse gave her answer, Renne's grin turned into a wide smile.
"You have made the right decision, Musse. Fie, be a dear and bring Musse up here, will you? Once we arrive at our new hunting ground, I will personally test Musse's combat aptitude and see how she can help us in battle.", Renne requested.
"On it.", Fie said. She didn't wait around for Musse to do something before Musse suddenly found herself up in the air, being carried by Fie. And so easily at that. In but a mere moment, the two were now on one of Pater-Mater's hand. Fie then let Musse down.
Now, it was just Emma. Well, Celine and Tamamo were beside her, and Celine couldn't help but glance at Emma.
"You really are fine doing this, Emma? If something happens, can't say I didn't warn you.", Celine asked.
"I am. I am Naoto's guide, after all. I need enough strength to back him up if he is ever in a pinch, and this is a great way to do so.", Emma said, and smiled at Celine. "I just did not think we would be going back to Liberl of all places..."
"I wonder where!", Tamamo exclaimed, also wondering where they were about to head to. "At least, Master will be busy with the rest of the group so we can hunt Monsters as we like."
"And that is what we will do for now. Come along now.", Emma said, and bent her knees. She then effortlessly jumped upward, landing on the hand where Renne stood. Celine simply sighed but followed suit, while Tamamo's eyes showed excitement.
"Let's go. You have the destination, Pater-Mater.", Renne said. In response to that, Pater-Mater's eyes glowed bright red, acting as if he had actually responded there. Shortly after, its thrusters ignited, and from there, the girls found themselves soaring into the sky...
At the same time, Renne's gaze couldn't help but wander off toward a particular area of the alcove they were just at. It soon revealed an icy, blue-haired woman with a couple RMP Officers following suit. Renne simply waved the woman goodbye with one of her hands. She couldn't even do anything before Pater-Mater vanished from sight.
Only until Pater-Mater was completely out of sight did the woman emerge out of the trees nearby. Of course, she was Claire. Chancellor Osborne tasked Claire to make sure no harm came to Naoto's group during his stay in Heimdallr, but with them gone like these, Claire didn't know whether she should laugh or cry. Above all else, she wasn't expecting to encounter such a gigantic humanoid doll out of the blue!
"...I'm not sure what to do here.", Claire murmured to herself, and sighed. "Is this even worth reporting? How can I make sure to save them from death's door if they just up and vanish like that!?"
"..."
"..."
The couple of RMP Officers who were assigned at Claire's post couldn't find a single word to say at that comment. Seeing them do this, Claire did a dry cough.
"Ehem.", Claire continued and cleared her throat. "What you just saw is to be treated with the highest security level. You are not to report it by any means necessary. Understood?"
""Loud and clear, Captain!""
"Good.", Claire said, and nodded. She then turned quiet, and went into her thoughts. 'Enforcer No. XV...Just what are Enforcers, exactly? I feel this is above my pay grade here...'
Still, all Claire could do was shrug that off for now and signal her Officers to retreat back into the capital for the time being. From there, she would decide whether or not she should expand her scope to try and locate them. At the same time, she suddenly received a weird sense of dejavu...