Emil

  It took an entire day before the four of them were finally able to convene with the Lionheart who was supposed to lead them on this mission. Despite Emil’s incessant prodding, Rohan refused to divulge their identity, insisting that it remained a surprise.

  “Hello, talented freshmen of the Academy!” A breezy voice greeted them as they entered another office within the makeshift Lionheart command center.

  …I knew it.

  Emil’s heart sank. The urge to grimace was powerful and unyielding, but he held off with sheer force of will to hide any chance of his friends noticing his overly familiar reaction.

  “You may call me Van. I’m a senior branch member of House Lionheart and I’ll be the one leading this team as part of the mission to subjugate Vigil.”

  They quickly ran through a round of introductions to get their new leader acquainted with their names. Not that Van needed the information given that he was a Steiger agent currently undercover. If he did his job properly, then he most certainly had intimate details of everyone’s backgrounds committed to memory. Emil was grateful that Rohan hadn’t forced him to do the same.

  He was still allowed to be their friend.

  “Sir Van—”

  “Nope! Just Van please. Or Leader Van, if you insist on giving me a title!”

  Anna’s eyes widened briefly as though slightly taken aback by their new leader’s eccentric response. The corners of Emil’s mouth curled up. For once, he wasn’t the sole recipient of Van’s flippant attitude. Lionhearts were supposed to be sullen and serious, and Van was anything but. The confusion on his friend’s faces was deeply amusing.

  “…Well then, Leader Van, do you know where we will be going?” she asked.

  Van scratched the back of his head as though he wasn’t expecting this basic of a question. “Did Rohan seriously not explain anything? I suppose it would be like him to throw this work onto me.” He winked as he moved a finger over his lips. “Don’t let him know I said that, alright? This’ll be a secret between you and I.”

  Emil wanted to cover his face out of embarrassment.

  “Now as for your question, here’s a bit of context. After Isarelle’s destruction, Vigil’s main members appeared to have split off into two parties. Two of them are headed in the general direction of Azure City and Nordica. The remaining one went to Gharia. It’s the latter that we’ve been assigned to. We’ll be investigating the whereabouts of the Vigil member named Karni.”

  The mention of Gharia drew a stir within the room. Anna and Liesel wore a difficult look on their faces while Kai tried to appear undisturbed. The southwestern province of Ardair was composed of a vast desert named the Saar that was also the former homeland of the native Gharians. Prior to their violent annexation by the Ardairan royal family, the region was inhabited by various nomadic tribes who lived off of the arid land. After taking over the area and making it into its third province, the royal family attempted to introduce a slew of reforms and changes to “modernize” the Gharian’s way of life—only to have most of them end in crushing failure. The cause was attributed to the myriad cultural and ethic difference between the two races, but those with a keen eye found different reasons for the failures.

  Despite the reforms, Ardair never fully attempted to integrate Gharians into its kingdom, instead preferring to use the native population for low-paying, labor-intensive tasks. The royal family’s reforms also included very little investment in education, resulting in scarce opportunities for Gharians to ascend the social ladder. There was also an element of racial superiority felt by the Ardairan upper class who viewed their dark-skinned neighbors with contempt and disgust.

  With this oppressive treatment and the lingering vengeance from the war, it was no surprise that most Gharians didn’t think too fondly of their new rulers.

  Needless to say, Gharia wasn’t exactly a place where they can just stroll in and expect cooperation. The Saar was a massive region, and finding Karni would be no different than searching for a needle in a haystack. And Emil hadn’t even accounted for the fact that the locals might be hostile to their presence and investigations.

  Steiger better have a hefty reward prepared for me.

  “How reliable is this intel?” Liesel asked, the apprehension obvious on her face.

  “The details came from Melody Lain under the influence of the Songstress’s Gift. We can at least trust that one of Vigil’s members believes this to be the truth.”

  “What’s House Ulster’s involvement in this mission? And how much do we know about Karni’s background?” Emil asked.

  “Naturally as the rulers of Gharia, House Ulster is expected to cooperate with the investigation. We will be making a stop at their estate to share intel and make preparations. As for your other question—” Van let out an exaggerated sigh. “It pains me to admit it, but we don’t know much about her at all. When it comes to her background and her standing amongst the Gharians, she’s a complete enigma. Not even Melody had any concrete answers for us. What we do know is that she’s an Exalted with a Gift that has been named Rat King. If you’ve seen giant monstrous rats stomping around Isarelle, that would have been her doing.”

  “How fun,” Anna murmured dryly.

  So we literally know nothing about our target besides that she’s a Gharian with a powerful Gift.

  An onslaught of headaches began pounding the side of his skull. How were they expected to find someone when they literally had no leads to go off of? They were walking into this completely blind. It was hard not to think that they were being set up to fail an impossible mission.

  Emil sighed. When it came to information, Gharia had always been one of Steiger’s blind spots. Hortensia was constantly limited by resources and personnel, and monitoring a region as desolate and large as the Saar was a monumental task that required both. With all the elites plotting and vying for authority over the rest of Ardair, Gharia was simply not viewed as a priority. The only notable power in the region was House Ulster and they had a solid standing with the royal family up until Liesel decided to break off her marriage with Prince Rory.

  Simply put, Steiger’s lack of presence in Gharia was a calculated decision—one that just so happened to bite them in the arse at the most inconvenient of times.

  Van offered them a light shrug. “Well, it’s not all bad. House Ulster should be able to provide some leads given that they’re the rulers of the region. If nothing else, they can point us to the right spots where we can find information. Gharians might not be the friendliest to us, but there’s nothing that can’t be solved with enough coins.”

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  If that was Van’s attempt to raise moral, then he failed spectacularly. The mood of the room remained bleak. Whatever excitement his friends might have had about this mission was assuredly snuffed out by now.

  “Last chance to back out if you’re getting cold feet. Although if I know Rohan well enough, he likely promised you all rewards that you can’t afford turn down,” he said with an ear-grating giggle, “Such is life in Ardair. After all, exceptional rewards require exceptional results.”

  ***

  Despite their apprehensions, none of his friends backed out by the end of the meeting. Just like Van said, Rohan’s rewards were impossible to step away from. Once their debriefing had concluded, Emil found a way to sneak back into the room while his friends departed to make their preparations.

  “Emil! I’ve missed youuu!” Van squealed like a love-stricken girl as he opened his arms wide for an embrace.Emil shivered as a horrible chill shuddered down spine. Before he had a chance to decide how to respond to this disturbing sight, his hands had already moved on instinct. His knuckles, clenched tightly into a fist, met the bony ridges of Van’s jaws as he flung backwards like a rag doll.

  “Ow!”

  The man laid on the ground frivolously with his bottom pointed at the sky. Emil was almost certain that this wasn’t a natural position that someone would find themselves in after getting blasted in the face. But who knows? Anything went with Van. It was meaningless to apply common sense to someone who was clearly not a human.

  “I see you’re as unserious as ever,” he said dispassionately, making no effort to hide his disgust.

  “Oh, come on. This city is sooo gloomy. What’s wrong with a little comedy on the side?” Van said while still in his bizarre pose on the floor.

  Not in the mood to humor his senior, Emil went on his tirade. “What the hell are Hortensia and Rohan thinking? Did the witch finally go insane? They were unreasonable to begin with, but surely, they aren’t expecting us to succeed with this little to work with?”

  “I can assure you that they’re of sound mind.”

  I have my doubts about that.

  Van finally pulled himself up. The side of his chin was already beginning to swell, the flesh glistening slightly with a hint of purple. Emil didn’t realize he had struck him that hard. He almost felt bad for the man. Almost.

  “But you can probably guess that they’re a bit desperate. The Crown Prince apparently gave them a mandate to resolve this Vigil situation within two months. As for why…” Van shrugged with a knowing glance.

  It’s probably because of His Majesty. The King’s illness was an open secret amongst Steiger. Crown Prince Aidan’s involvement in the royal family’s affairs has increased significantly over the past year, likely to prepare him for his inevitable ascension to the throne. His Majesty was probably not long for this world.

  What an inconvenient time to die, Emil thought. Just as Ardair was facing multiple threats to its peace, the throne was also going to change hands. Bit by bit, it felt as though all the pieces of the current status quo were crumbling apart.

  “Judging by your face, you probably guessed correctly. So! To summarize, Hortensia and Rohan were given an impossible task by the Crown Prince. And then they promptly tossed that task onto us—the two most accomplished pair amongst the Steiger Cleaners! Does it make sense now how we ended with this mess?”

  “Yeah, they’re expecting us to produce a miracle.” Emil massaged his temples out of frustration. “Is anyone else participating in the investigation?”

  “Hortensia is trying to free up other resources. Aside from House Ulster, we’ll be the first ones to move.”

  In other words, we’re on our own for the foreseeable future.

  He sighed, lamenting what was to come. Van continued to regard him with his mouth curled into an annoying grin as though this impossible scenario was not his problem to deal with. Suddenly, Emil’s fists were itching again.

  ***

  Emil leaned back against the cushioned seat of the carriage. He stared outside the window, mindlessly taking in the rolling scenery.

  Lush verdant groves and wide sprawling rivers filled his view. The rush of waters and distant bestial cries accompanied the chorus of carriage’s wheels. Large hooved animals grazed along the grassy fields. There was a charm to the tranquil sight and he found himself enamored with the idea of peacefully retreating to the corners of the wilderness. Somewhere far away from civilization. A place where he would not be bothered by the affairs of the world around him. After facing the fall of Isarelle, he just wanted to live and exist.

  It would be nice, wouldn’t it? To be blissfully ignorant and shielded from everything terrible in this kingdom.

  He knew it was a na?ve and unrealistic dream, but he took comfort indulging in the fantasy. It distracted him from more agonizing worries, like how they were going to find leads to Karni once they reached Gharia. Out of all the missions he had been assigned from Steiger, this one was probably the most egregious. There were too many unknowns. They were entering a province filled with hostile locals. And worst, their team was composed of three students who had no field experience.

  Anna, Kai, and Liesel were undoubtedly skilled for their age. Emil had no qualms about their combat prowess. But their skills weren’t what he was concerned about. Steiger missions had a tendency to get messy and violent. Things rarely went according to plan. If he was being honest, plans going awry was about the only constant in all of his missions. How would his friends react in those high-pressure moments? Would they hesitate? Would they panic? Could they remain composed and think on their feet even as everything was falling apart around them?

  Emil wasn’t so sure. Not did they have to find Karni somewhere within the vast Saar, but he also had to keep his friends alive.

  At least this carriage is comfortable.

  He mused, surprised at how stable the inside of the vehicle was despite their speed and the uneven terrain. The scenery outside was gradually turning more mountainous. If his mental map of Ardair was correct, then he had a couple of hours left before it was time to work.

  “What do y’all think about our leader?” Kai suddenly asked, cutting through the silence. The inside of the vehicle was shared by the four of them while Van rode in the driver seat. Despite the sound of the carriage, Emil was sure that Van could hear them speak.

  “Frivolous,” Anna replied immediately.

  “An interesting man for sure,” Liesel added.

  “Tacky.”

  “Not exactly what I expected from a Lionheart.”

  “Seems to love the sound of his own voice,” Anna continued without holding back.

  Emil grinned. It was oddly refreshing hearing others criticize Van’s obnoxious character. Not that he would be affected by a few scathing comments, mind you. In fact, Emil knew that the man was probably smirking to himself as he listened in on their conversation.

  “Wow. Harsh.”

  “Do you disagree?” Anna retorted.

  “Nope. Not at all,” Kai said, turning to Emil, “Any thoughts from the man who took down three Thanatos inmates by himself?”

  It was more than three, thank you very much. And I was also the one who caught Melody. But those details were concealed from the public. Outside of Steiger, only Aoife and Rory knew about the full scope of his feats since they were the ones who found him after the brutal fight in the Canticle.

  “I just hope he knows what he’s doing,” he said, keenly aware that Van could hear his every word, “Frankly, I don’t like our odds of success.”

  “No leads and four Ardairans strolling into territory that we conquered from the Gharians? Yeah, that’ll do it. I’m sure we’ll be welcomed with open arms,” Anna said with an air of annoyance, “Kai, have you been to Gharia before?”

  “No. I’ve lived my entire life in Ardair.”

  “And add in one Gharian who’s never been to the motherland before.”

  “Anything else about Gharian culture that you can tell us, Kai?” Liesel joined in. Kai had spent the first half of this journey teaching them the various customs and cultural differences between Ardair and Gharia. If they were going to step into a territory filled with locals from another race, the least they could do was make an attempt to assimilate.

  “I think I’ve told you everything. Mind you, my knowledge might be dated. My mother was the one who taught me all of these things, and she hasn’t been in Gharia since before I was born. So who knows? Maybe everything I’ve said was just nonsense.”

  “Never found the urge to visit her homeland?” Emil asked out of curiosity.

  Kai had a distant look on his face. “Not particularly. Never really thought about it. My mother left the Saar when she was young and she never once thought about returning despite the hardships that she faced as a single parent. She wasn’t the prideful type either. So, whatever reason she had to not go back must have unpleasant.” His gaze hardened. “And so, I never considered it.”

  The carriage threatened to fall silent at Kai’s unexpectedly tense answer. Thankfully, Anna was not one to be deterred when annoyed.

  “Well, let’s hope our frivolous leader is insanely competent then. Surely, he was chosen for this mission for a reason, right?”

  Emil almost winced. The reality of their situation was grimmer than Anna realized.

  He was only selected because of his track record with me. And I’m the one usually pulling most of the weight.

  Ignorance was truly bliss.