Geofu.
The light of the teleportation circle slowly faded, and I found myself surrounded by a closed field in the very same hall with a round table where my last meeting with Celestine and her Shields had taken place. The interior and decor hadn't changed at all, unlike the mood that reigned here, which was getting more and more intense with every passing second.
This time there were fewer of them. Apart from Celestine herself, there was only Claudia, a teenage girl with pink hair, and a dubious-looking Japanese priestess. That meant almost half of them were missing, even Alicia, whom I had practically defeated in battle. Apparently, even that wasn't enough for her to hold the fort. Heh.
In any case, those present were silent, their postures practically screaming of their nervousness and anxiety. The only sounds that echoed through the hall were breathing and heartbeats.
Claudia, exuding indignation, resentment, and helplessness, sat with her teeth clenched and her hands clenched into fists so tightly that they shook. A teenage girl with her head down leaned her hands on her legs and cried quietly. The priestess, however, maintained her dignity with her straight posture and impenetrable gaze. Although, all this could not hide her tension.
Celestine, of course, stood out from the rest. She displayed the firmness of a leader and intently studied the map of Eostia with its many sheets of paper lying on the table in front of her. Both her hands were pressed against the tabletop, and her tense eyes with black circles under them darted from side to side, creating a rather unexpected picture for me. However...
I watched for a few more seconds, but of course, I couldn't stay any longer. I wanted to know what had happened to the others, and most importantly, I was incredibly bored.
- "Wow, did someone die? If so, I would have brought flowers. For the grave, you know?" I chuckled, completely ignoring the mood and drawing all their attention to myself, then sat down on a free chair next to the teenage girl. And, of course, the first reaction to me was wide-open eyes, and then it began... Well, it should have begun. Heh.
- "You..." Claudia began, stunned, but the reborn goddess continued for her, until the priestess showed no reaction other than a suspicious squint, and hope appeared in the teenage girl's eyes.
- "Lord Romani?.." Celestine whispered, as if not believing her eyes. "Is it really you? If you've appeared here, then..."
- "I want to help you?" I smiled, interrupting her. "Well, you could say that, but not for free. Heh."
- "Thank..." Celestine smiled, but she was rudely interrupted again.
- "Lady Celestine, please don't jump to conclusions. We are not in a position to trust just anyone," the priestess interjected, giving me a cold look. "I cannot understand why you believe in this... god, but he may be the cause of our misfortunes, and..."
- "Kaguya, be quiet!" Celestine rebuked her sternly, even with a hint of divinity, causing everyone to gasp in shock. Then she took a deep breath and forced a faint smile back onto her face. "I understand that you, like all of us, have been through a lot. We encountered disaster and were not prepared for it, which cost us many lives, too many to count, but..."
She paused and looked at me with a faith and hope that even Lancelot would envy in Arthur. I raised an eyebrow, completely unable to understand where all this was coming from.
- "But Lord Romani is not evil. He is, rather, neutral, and he has the power to save us," Celestine continued. "And he is not the cause of the misfortunes that have befallen us. I can swear to that with my life and my name, Kaguya."
The priestess stared at me and Celestine for a long time, but in the end, she said nothing, her whole demeanor showing that she still did not trust me, while listening to the words of the goddess. Unlike her, Claudia and the teenage girl took what they heard quite seriously, showing emotions similar to those of their goddess. As for me...
- "Damn, it's hard to understand where you get such faith in me, but whatever. I'm too lazy to pay attention to that too," I said, rubbing my temples. "Now, tell me what happened to the others first..."
-0-
After a rather long and informative story, the rhythmic tapping of my finger on the table echoed around the room, and my eyebrow twitched uncontrollably at the stupidity I had just heard, mixed with the ravings of a moron.
Even considering the information I had given her and our bet, Celestine did practically nothing. That is, no martial law, no sending of even relatively loyal people.
I mean, she didn't even bother to check the upper echelons of power to confirm their non-involvement in what was happening and rule out attacks from within. Celestine got away with a fucking appeal to the citizens, a promise of hope, the signing of a couple of papers, and that was it. Basically, that's it. Supposedly, so as not to cause panic among the population and all that.
In the end, they lost four fortresses, mostly because of traitors from within, of course, and two more were currently under siege. Those were the ones belonging to the child and the priestess. Well, the rest of the Shields who were not here were captured by the corpse and his minions. And yes, the borders of Eostia were also blocked by them.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.
- "How can you be so stupid? Not naive, deaf, or blind, but STUPID?" I said, making my face as irritated as possible and rolling my eyes. "This is a fucking coup d'état, and that's all you've got to say?"
- "Well, I..." Celestine lowered her eyes.
- "And you? You just swallowed it without defending your interests, if you even had any in the first place?" I continued, shifting my gaze to the priestess, the teenage girl, and Claudia. "Anyway, whatever. I don't care. It'll mean less work for me."
- "What do you mean, Lord Romani?" Claudia asked.
- "The condition of my help will be complete obedience to me until the end of the conflict, is that clear?" I declared, to which Celestine nodded calmly, the teenage girl and Claudia did the same, but with a slight pause, while the priestess frowned and said nothing. "Strange. When is the attack on Geofu planned? I'm sure you must have heard something when you were betrayed."
Claudia flinched at this, but calmed down and answered first.
- "Vult wants to capture Geofu when the other fortresses fall, but... What about the ones we've already lost and are under siege? Are we just going to abandon them?"
- "We can't let that happen!" exclaimed the teenage girl, then returned to her crouched position. "My sister is being held captive, and... She must be rescued! Can't we do something?"
- "Like Maya, and Luu Luu later," said the priestess.
- "What should we do, Lord Romani?"
- "For God's sake, you guys are so annoying," I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time and, finding them with my third magic, decided to move them here. A few meters above the ground, my magic circle immediately lit up, and the remaining three Shields fell out.
The blonde looked bad due to her lack of clothing and a certain liquid, but there were no wounds or bruises on her body. The redhead was in a similar condition, but her tear-filled eyes, full of betrayal, added to her distress. The child looked quite decent, except for her fatigue and dark circles under her eyes.
- "Sister!"
The teenage girl jumped up and rushed to check on Alicia.
- "Wh-what? P-prim?" the blonde didn't understand. "Where am I...?"
- "Geofu. Everything is fine now, you are safe," said the teenage girl and hugged her, and Alicia hugged her back.
- "How are you, Maya?" Claudia asked, approaching the redhead, but received no answer. The latter was apparently still in a state of denial and did not realize the sudden change in her surroundings.
- "Huh? How did I get here?" the child turned her head. "Wasn't I...
- "Lord Romani brought you here, Luu Luu," said Celestine.
- "But why?! I should be at the Council! Without me, the fortress will fall!" The child waved her arms and pointed at me. "Hey! Take me back! My people need my help!"
- "Why should I?" I raised an eyebrow. "The fortress would fall anyway, so be quiet like an obedient child."
- "What did you call me?" Luu Luu was indignant.
- "Lord Romani?" Alicia froze and raised her head. "You..."
- "Yes," I interrupted her and sat down on the chair I had just created, then snapped my fingers, and in the next second, the Shields arrived, clean and clothed. "Now, let's get down to business."
- "Business? What business could we possibly have with you?" the child asked, still indignant.
- "You see, I could deal with every Black Dog in all of Eostia in a matter of seconds without even leaving this room, but then I wouldn't be able to achieve my goal. Therefore, the conflict will drag on for as long as necessary."
- "But why?!" exclaimed Luu Luu.
- "Lord Romani!" Celestine couldn't believe it.
- "So you are an evil god after all," said the priestess.
- "It was foolish to expect anything else from someone like you," Alicia sneered.
- "That's..." The teenage girl didn't know what to say.
- "That's inhumane!" added Claudia, while the redhead was still in shock.
- "And now, all of you, except for Celestine, will go to your rooms and do NOTHING.
Is that clear?" I continued, ignoring their cries, which showed no sign of stopping. "However, I will help you."
And then magical circles appeared beneath them, throwing them into random parts of Celestine's castle, leaving only the two of us behind.
- "Why?" Celestine asked quietly.
- "I'm not going to solve all your problems. It's boring, tiring, stupid, and pointless," I shrugged and, creating a cup of coffee, took a sip. "How would you feel about creating a TRULY united and prosperous state, hmm?"
- "What?"
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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