The Start of the Riot
Lavia returned to the mansion late at night. As she was about to enter her room, a sound came from the next room and Paula appeared in her pajamas, sleepy and rubbing her eyes.
「Did you just return?」
「Yeah. Sorry for waking you up.」
「It"s okay! But will you be all right doing this every night?」
「I"m fine. I take naps anyway.」
Lavia stayed close to Paula during the day. The boredom while watching the healing sessions actually made her fall asleep. It might sound like nothing, but those hours of sleep were valuable to her for her nightly activities.
「Besides, the clans are gathering around, planning their revolt. If there"s ever a time to vigilant, it"s now.」
「You"re right. Can you manage?」
「It"ll be difficult. I really don"t have time to deal with them.」
Lavia already checked the insurgent clans. She wanted to prioritize finding the accomplice now, but that wouldn"t matter at all if a revolt broke out.
「I warned the king just in case, but he was already aware of it.」
「Don"t do anything reckless, okay? I"m worried about you and Hikaru-sama.」
「Thanks. How"s Drake doing?」
「Oh, right! He was talking in his sleep today. I think he"ll wake up soon!」
「What did he say?」
「I can"t eat any more…」Paula said in her best Drake impression.
The girls burst into laughter. Then four knocks came at the door.
「It"s the bodyguards.」
The men had decided on a knocking pattern to identify themselves. Sixteen people comprised the Flower Mask G.o.ddess" Bodyguards, a group of men that Paula healed, and their number was growing every day.
「What"s wrong?」Paula asked.
Lavia activated her Stealth as they might think it odd that she was wearing casual outdoor attire this late at night. Only Paula answered the door with her mask on. Galixon, a former soldier who vowed to devote his life to Paula, stood there.
「My lady, city, strange.」
Galixon couldn"t speak Paula"s language, but he"d been learning at an incredible pace ever since he formed the group.
「What"s wrong with the city?」
Galixon pointed outside. Paula stepped out and saw a dimly-lit night sky. A fire, she thought.
「What happened? Is there a fire? 」
「Soldiers, moving. Um…」
It"ll be difficult to understand each other.
『Galixon, it"s Star Face. I look awful right now, so you"ll have to excuse my hiding. Please tell us what"s happening, anything you know.』
『S-Star Face?! I thought you can"t speak our language!』
『I learned it.』
『Y-You did?!』
After Hikaru tweaked Lavia"s Soul Board, the effect was immediate. Her ability to learn words and infer meaning from context rapidly improved. Not only that, she found the endeavor fun, which overall contributed to how fast she learned.
『We don"t have enough info yet. We"re still trying to find out what exactly is going on. If it was a normal fire, the firefighting team would be dispatched, but the situation seemed critical, so I came here to inform you.』
『What about Grucel"s subordinates?』
『They"re keeping an eye out, but they also don"t know anything.』
『What about Duinkler—』
All of a sudden, a loud explosion occurred at Duinkler"s house located across the street. Flames and shouting filled the air.
A revolt, Lavia immediately realized. If it were a monster, it would"ve started from outside. It"s too soon. What could"ve caused this? Lavia was sure they still had a few more days. It had only been five days since the expedition squad left. The rebels" equipment shouldn"t be ready yet.
What Lavia didn"t know was deserters returned to the city today.
『Despite receiving orders from His Majesty, the squad is simply idling around.』the soldiers said in an agitated tone.『This is a clear act of treason.』
Hearing their words, the clans thought of only one thing.
Grucel betrayed us. The expedition force is waiting for the right timing to return and stop the coup.
They had to act quickly. If Grucel was a double agent, that meant the king knew about their betrayal. Should they make a move or sit around and wait for their death? Should they chose the former, they would have to act as soon as possible. And that was tonight.
『Sir Galixon, please head to Duinkler"s house to check if he"s all right!』
『But we"re the Flower Mask G.o.ddess"—』
『In the meantime, we"ll get ready to escape. Flower Face is a Healer. She can turn the tides of battle, so she"ll be targeted for sure.』
『Then all the more reason we can"t leave her side!』
『Duinkler is one of our few allies! His presence is important for the nation after the rebellion is quelled.』
『V-Very well. But please allow five men to remain here.』Galixon said before he started running.
More fire seemed to have broken out while they were talking. The usually-quiet city was bathed in scarlet light.
「I"m ready.」
「Let"s go.」
When they moved into their new house, Hikaru said they might need to escape at some point, so they made sure to carry their valuables with them right away in case of an emergency. Lavia carried luggage on her back, while Paula carried Drake. The white drakon seemed to be mumbling something in his sleep.
As they made it out of the grounds, the five bodyguards out on the street looked shocked.
『Are you really escaping?!』one of them said.『It"s dangerous outside!』
『If the enemy is firing from a distance, staying inside would only limit our movement. They"ll probably set us ablaze. The darkness of the night is our friend. We should try to bring the situation under control.』
『What?! What are you planning on doing?!』
『The early bird gets the worm.』
『Oh…』
The soldiers looked deeply impressed. Deep inside, however, Lavia was filled with frustration.
Hikaru would"ve known of the enemy"s movement sooner. After all that big talk of doing his job for him, I fell one step behind.
From the info that Hikaru left her, she only needed to keep an eye out on a few people. But she spent days trying to obtain evidence and got nothing.
Although, Hikaru himself didn"t expect this revolt either.
『What is… happening?』
Supported by a guard, a plump man came out of the burning house, coughing and bleeding from his forehead. He seemed to be in the middle of work as he was still wearing his casual clothes. Paula"s bodyguards surrounded them.
『Sir Duinkler.』
『Lady Star Face…』
「Flower Face, kindly heal him.」Lavia said.
Paula quickly cast her spell. In the meantime, Lavia explained the situation to Duinkler.
『The uprising has started. The ringleaders are…』
As she gave Duinkler the names, the man grimaced.
『I see. I never thought Ludend was on the enemy"s side… Where did you get that information? Never mind. Now"s not the time for that. Thank you for healing me, Flower Face.』
「Hmm?」
「Ah, yes, I forgot. I should"ve spoken in your language. Thank you once again.」Duinkler said.「Wait, you can speak our language, Lady Star Face?」
『Yes, I practiced.』
『I don"t think language is something you learn with just a bit of practice…』Duinkler muttered as his eyes narrowed.「Well, then. Let us go.」
「Go where?」
「Where else? King Doriachi"s place, of course.」Duinkler declared.「If we manage to protect His Majesty, we win. If by any chance he dies, it doesn"t matter if we annihilate the enemy, it"ll be our loss.」