A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Heart Kingdom]

[Pulchritudo]

[Banquet]

Gretel had not expected her day to end like this.

When she had first entered a Heart Kingdom city, she had known there was a certain amount of risk involved. She and Mikoto were wanted, after all. Their faces were known, their names carried enough severity to make the wrong encounter unpleasant, and simply walking through the city without being recognized had already been something of a gamble.

Still, she had not expected any of this.

They had come looking for information about two dragons—two creatures so powerful that, if they merely clashed, entire continents could be torn apart in the process. That alone had sounded absurd enough when one first heard of it.

Then they had met a mysterious woman who apparently possessed information about those dragons.

Information she refused to give freely.

Instead, she had demanded that they steal something for her.

And somehow, through one decision after another, that had led them directly to an influential Duke’s estate, through his banquet, into his private vault, and eventually to them stealing exactly what they had been asked to retrieve.

It should have been the end of it.

Instead, Gretel now found herself standing inside the very estate they had just infiltrated while her partner in crime, Mikoto, was somewhere outside fighting one of the Heart Kingdom’s Royal Guards.

She could feel the battle even from here.

The floor trembled beneath her feet every so often, strong enough to make the furniture around them shift. Somewhere beyond the walls came the distant sounds of stone breaking apart. Flashes of intense light periodically illuminated the windows, each one bright enough to cast shadows across the room.

Mikoto was fighting against a Royal Guard.

And somehow, despite knowing exactly how ridiculous that sounded, Gretel could not afford to think about it for long.

Because she had her own opponent.

Princess Iphigenia stood several paces away.

At first glance, it was difficult for Gretel to reconcile the person standing before her with the situation they were in.

The princess looked almost doll-like.

She was seemed too delicate for any kind of violence. Her pale complexion and refined features gave her a fragile appearance, while her slender fingers looked more suited to holding a wineglass than a weapon. Even the gown she wore seemed to reinforce the impression. Nothing about her appearance suggested someone who should be standing in the middle of a conflict.

Yet Gretel had already learned enough about the people surrounding the Heart Kingdom’s upper ranks to know that appearances were rarely reliable.

Paimon remained besides Iphigenia.

The red-hooded girl looked utterly lost.

Her eyes moved between Gretel and the princess, her expression caught somewhere between confusion and concern. She clearly did not know whether she should stand besides Gretel, remain with Iphigenia, or simply get out of the way before the situation became worse.

Gretel understood the feeling, but she kept her rapier raised.

Her grip remained firm despite the tension in her shoulders.

Then Iphigenia spoke.

"You’re quite the big fool, aren’t you?" Her voice was calm.

She did not even glance towards the windows when another distant impact shook the building. Her red eyes remained fixed on Gretel as though the battle outside were nothing more than an inconvenience occurring somewhere far away.

"You’re wanted in this kingdom, yet you stroll around as casually as though none of that matters. You even went so far as to steal from someone important enough to have an entire estate protected by layers of security. I could sense that artifact from your companion."

Her gaze briefly lowered towards Gretel’s rapier before returning to her face.

"Criminals are always like this, I suppose. They get away with something once, and suddenly they convince themselves that getting away with it means they were clever rather than merely fortunate."

Gretel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"So you know me as well." There was no surprise in her voice.

"You stole an artifact the Heart Kingdom was meant to gift to the Retorta Guild in order to strengthen relations between them," Iphigenia continued, her tone becoming colder as she recounted it. "Do you have any idea what you could have jeopardized by taking it? Those relations were not some meaningless gesture. There were political considerations behind that exchange, expectations on both sides, and consequences attached to its success or failure."

She paused for a moment.

"Or did you simply see something you wanted and decide that the consequences were somebody else’s problem?"

"I can’t say I care about what I cost the Heart Kingdom." Gretel’s answer came without hesitation; her silver eyes met Iphigenia’s directly. "I know what I did. I know who I stole from, and I know there were consequences attached to it. But whether the Heart Kingdom loses some political advantage or whether some Duke has his pride bruised because of today isn’t exactly something that keeps me awake at night."

Her sword remained steady.

"But my actions did have consequences. One’s a lot more dire than that." The words were firmer than before.

Iphigenia’s eyes narrowed.

"Ah." There was recognition in that single sound. "I’ve read the report." Her expression did not soften. "Two Mortifers took it upon themselves to retrieve the artifact. They apparently decided that recovering it justified whatever methods they deemed necessary."

Her red eyes remained on Gretel.

"Cleansing those who happened to be in their way."

A scowl immediately appeared on Gretel’s face.

"Cleansing?" The word came out with disgust. "Is that what it is to you?"

Her sword arm lowered by a fraction, though she did not relax.

"That’s the word they used in the report?" Gretel’s jaw tightened. "People were there. Ordinary people. People who had nothing to do with me stealing the damn artifact. People who didn’t choose to get involved, didn’t know what was happening, and didn’t have anything to do with whatever those Mortifers were trying to accomplish."

Her silver eyes hardened.

"Many of them could have died." She swallowed, her expression tightening. "And I know I was responsible for setting everything in motion. I’m not pretending otherwise. But don’t stand there and call it ’cleansing’ as though that somehow makes what happened cleaner."

Iphigenia watched her.

"That is simply the way the world works." There was a sour emotion beneath the princess’s otherwise controlled voice. "Fools die because of the mistakes of one. Innocent people become involved in conflicts they never asked for. Someone makes one decision, and someone else pays for it." Her eyes shifted for the briefest moment. "I know that very well."

The statement seemed to carry more than she allowed into her expression.

But whatever memory accompanied it, Iphigenia pushed it aside.

"It doesn’t matter." Her attention returned fully to Gretel. "The report also disclosed your Null Schema. Mere blood manipulation." She spoke the words with dismissal. "Paltry and worthless."

Gretel’s expression changed; the scowl remained, but something else entered her eyes.

"You know what they say about counting your chickens before they hatch?"

She lowered her sword arm.

The tip of her rapier dipped towards the floor, then her free hand rose.

Her fingers opened slowly.

"It’s silly."

The room remained tense for only another heartbeat.

Then an odd sound cut through it.

A thin, unpleasant noise, almost like something scraping against the air. It did not sound like metal, nor stone, nor anything physical that they could immediately identify. It was simply a strange friction that seemed to pass through the room without coming from any particular direction.

Iphigenia’s eyes shifted.

She had barely begun to react when the space between them seemed to shift.

Gretel’s raised hand moved, and something seized Iphigenia and violently pulled her forward.

The princess’s feet left the floor.

Her gown shifted sharply around her legs as her body was dragged towards Gretel with enough force that the distance between them disappeared almost instantly.

Iphigenia’s red eyes widened slightly; her surprise lasted for barely a fraction of a second.

Gretel was already moving.

Her rapier came forward in a direct thrust, the blade aimed towards the princess’s centerline. Gretel had used the invisible pull to deny Iphigenia the distance she had been relying upon, dragging her directly into range before immediately following with the strike.

The princess reacted, her body twisted sideways with startling agility. One slender leg snapped upward, the pale stocking stretched over her leg as her foot struck the underside of Gretel’s rapier.

The impact changed the sword’s trajectory.

Gretel’s grip did not break.

Instead, the blade was redirected sharply upward, passing harmlessly away from Iphigenia’s body as the princess’s kick completed its motion.

Gretel’s eyes followed the blade, then immediately returned to Iphigenia.

The princess landed lightly.

Her posture recovered almost at once, but her thoughts had already begun racing.

("No mana.") That was what bothered her; she had felt nothing.

The force that had dragged her forward had simply appeared.

Iphigenia’s eyes narrowed.

("Her Null Schema.")

That conclusion came naturally; there was no other obvious explanation. But the report she had read had described Gretel’s ability as blood manipulation. And that attack had not involved blood, not even remotely.

There had been no blood present to manipulate, no visible alteration of her own body, and there was no projectile ether. Gretel had simply reached out and pulled her forward with an invisible force.

Iphigenia’s mind briefly returned to the report as her eyes settled on Gretel again.

("So the report was incomplete.")

That realization lasted only a moment before she discarded it; she refused to give the ability more significance than it deserved.

("Trickery.")

That was all, a clever trick. Something designed to create an opening, nothing more.

Iphigenia’s expression settled back into its usual composure.

Gretel saw the change; the princess had been surprised, but she had recovered. And now she was preparing to retaliate.

Iphigenia raised one pale hand.

Mana gathered, but this time Gretel could see it, a circular glyph formed directly before the princess’s palm.

Its structure was unusual.

The outer ring rotated slowly while sharp geometric patterns appeared across its surface, intersecting into an arrangement that looked like the framework of something. The glyph’s color deepened as heat spread through the room.

Gretel’s eyes widened, and Iphigenia did not hesitate.

The glyph flashed, and an enormous wave of fire erupted from it.

It was a broad, violently expanding mass of flame that swallowed the space between them. The floor beneath it broke immediately, stone cracked apart under the pressure and heat, and pieces of masonry were ripped upward before disappearing into the flames.

The wave continued forward as it tore through another wall; the impact was deafening. The thick structure fractured almost instantly, then gave way as the fire blasted through it. Stone blocks were thrown outward, furniture was overturned and shattered, and fragments of the wall scattered through the adjoining space.

Heat rolled across the room hard enough to make the air feel heavy.

Paimon stood nearby, staring.

Her expression was caught between alarm and complete uncertainty.

"What am I supposed to do...?"

Her hand came up instinctively, but she immediately hesitated. She looked towards Iphigenia. Then towards where Gretel was. Then towards the enormous wave of fire tearing through the room.

She had no idea which side she was supposed to help.

She had barely understood what had happened in the first place.

Gretel, however, had already moved.

The instant she saw the glyph form, she had understood that standing still was no longer an option. She stepped back, then jumped; her body rose above the advancing flames just as the wave reached her position.

The heat struck her from below, her clothes snapped in the rising current, and her hair lifted as the force of the fire passed beneath her. The flames roared below, consuming the floor and pouring through the opening created in the wall.

Gretel tucked her legs beneath herself as she cleared the attack; she did not look down.

Her silver eyes remained fixed on Iphigenia; the princess was already watching her.

Their eyes met across the destruction.

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