"Oh, thank you Mr. Argent! It's rare to see such a chivalrous vigilante in this day and age!"
"... Do not thank me. I'm merely doing what I'm born to do."
"Say, would you like to have dinner with us? Our village would like to give you a tribute for saving my daughter."
"Please, I'm fine. Besides... I have a condition that prevents me from going out in the sun. And I would rather keep my anonymity regardless."
"Oh, right, the 'world government' is on your track, yeah? Well, guess we can respect your wishes then, Mr. Argent. Like I said: you've done so much for our village - my daughter is pride and joy of it and it is her power that keeps monsters at bay."
"Please keep those trinkets, alright? Those should ward off any Daemons coming through."
"Of course. By the way, the symbol on them is oddly familiar? Maybe it's of old faith? I should look into it..."
"..."
I leave the village, the priest and his daughter waving me goodbye.
How long has it been since I roamed the earth? It feels... All so static now.
Perhaps it's due to my power do I feel this odd sense of inadequacy. I am quite strong after all.
And that sigil...
It will always serve as a reminder of who I was and who I'll ever be.
---
Mmph...
"Check at 6-5! I've won!"
"Hey, not fair! You cheated!"
Too noisy...
"What? Gonna be a sore loser, Émile? Beeeh, Émile sucks at cities!"
Grrr... Shut up...
"Hey! Unlike you, I have far less experience playing this stupid game! Besides, if you're so good at this game, it means that you've wasted ti---"
"PIPE DOWN, YOU TWATS!!!"
"Aaahh!"
I wake up with a start and the crew stares at me blankly.
"Ah... Apologies, Fortune. These kids needed some roughhousing; I didn't mean to wake you up."
Roughhousing...?
"Now, shut yer gawky mouths! You know we're only attracting attention to our carriage. If you want to play, play in silence!"
""Y-Yes, Virgilia...""
"You may go back to sleep, Fortune. That way Aden and Émile won't bother you. I apologise for their boisterous behaviour."
"N-No, it's okay. I think I started to wake up naturally as they played. You don't have to be concerned for me, Miss Virgilia."
"Please, just Virgilia. Then I'll tune off, be good."
"Okay."
Virgilia falls back asleep. At first she seemed like a very intimidating and no-nonsense woman...
But it seems those two bring out her weaknesses.
Émile and Aden continue playing in silence and I get curious. Usually we played with toys and figurines, but this seems like... A board game?...
"What's that?" I ask, whispering and it seems at that moment they realised that that can just whisper.
"Ah, it's a "Cities" board game!" Aden explains "It's actually quite obscure, but I used to play it a lot. Wanna try?"
...
"Hah! You're a natural learner, Fortune! Émile could learn a thing or two from you."
"Hey!"
"... Not gonna lie; this was...
extremely boring."
""Eeeeeh?!?!""
"H-How can you say that, Fortune?! You're like a natural! Sure victories might come way easier now, but like isn't winning awesome?!"
"C-Come on, it encourages your noggin or something like that! H-How can ya say that?!"
"It's boring! My sister used to create way better games than this!"
"Create? What are you - poor?"
"Yes."
""...""
They look at me with a stunned silence and eventually Aden speaks, with a whisper to not get on Virgilia's bad side.
"... Sorry. Still, you're missing out!"
"Whatever, I'll go stare at the ceiling now."
"... Are you good, mate?"
I stare at the ceiling and think about everything that has happened this far.
I was basically dragged into this mess against my will. Sure it was Carolyn's request, but I doubt she would've proceeded if she knew what the hell she was signing me up for.
Just the existence of those... Things inside me would've probably caused her to go on a frenzy.
And people I'm travelling with feel like a lousy lot.
If only I could turn back time...
"AMBUSH!!! Some neighbouring carriage started to assault us!!!"
I snap back to reality and Virgilia immediately wakes up. I see a carriage that is quite different from the ones following us, as it was of black colour with purple lines and they're battling it out.
"Scheiße... Leonid, steady the cart! Aden, prepare to strike!"
"No need to tell me twice!"
Aden grabs a nail and outstretches his left arm, his index rests on his thumb. Then, he takes a deep breath...
"Forbidden Act: Iron Brand..."
And in a moment a flash of fire quickly appears and looking at the carriage, he hits a wheel.
"Wow... That was so cool..."
"We'll see if those bastards get out of their carriage or choose to go down with it. Quick! Hide!"
I lower myself to be obscured by the wagon bed and I see flashes of light reach inside the carrier.
"Guess I gotta take those bastards seriously..."
=SOLE ACT: SPITFIRE=
"Locked and Loaded. Carpet the Area Immediately."
Aden's hair began to flare up and he began rapid firing. This seemingly lax and unassuming guy looked so focused as he shot fire. Émile then throws up and within the vomit there was something crystalline; which they throw towards a carriage.
And in a moment that crystalline thing hit the wheel it damaged another wheel, causing the carriage to fall.
"Alright! I'll keep the watch; Leonid, speed up the carriage." Aden calls out and we stay down.
"Who... Who are those people?..."
"Bandits perhaps." Aden answered "It didn't seem they had governed insignia. Otherwise we would've had no choice but to fight."
"Why? Is it because we have no license?"
"Uhhh... How do I explain this buddy...
We're all criminals on the run."
"Huh???"
"Look, the gist of it is that we're being pursued by the witch hunters and all sorts of headhunters. That's why we can't stay at one place for too long." Aden explains, not breaking away from the view.
...
I swear this situation becomes worse and worse by each passing minute. I wanna go home.
"... It doesn't seem they're pursuing us: still, stay put."
"Why?"
"I'm the only ranger here. Émile is completely useless at the distance; Virgilia's spores are volatile and are affected by the wind; and Leonid is our driver. Fighting at range gives you a natural advantage, especially during pursuits."
"Uhhh..."
"Well, that's what Virgilia says." Aden then shrugs and I look towards her. She is rather tense and in her hand she holds her staff near her.
"..."
"Are you alright, Virgilia?..." I ask and she blinks several times, steadying her breathing, before answering
"I'm... Fine. Just on high alert."
"Émile?..."
"Welp, there goes my lunch..." They sigh and then I remember that they just vomited
"Wait, what the hell was even that? You threw up and there was like a huge crystal amidst those fluids or something.
"Ehh... If I eat something, I can turn whatever I ate into bombs. That's why Aden called me useless, that stupid jerk."
"This is... So bizarre. I don't understand. Why does everything have to be so bizarre? I want to go back! I didn't ask for this! Why are you all so weird and awful?! I hate this--!"
"Listen up." Just as I was about to snap, Virgilia grips me and looks me dead in the eyes "First of all, you can't go back. Second of all, I don't care if you didn't ask for it or not. And third of all: this is only just a beginning - so suck it up."
"Um... Virgilia, it seems we're not being pursued period; the rest of the fleet is giving me thumbs up. Can I look away now?"
"... Sure."
Then Aden immediately turns to me and grabs my shoulders firmly
"I don't know you. We just met. So I have no idea what kind of life you led before we met. If I assume that you never had magical encounters before; such things ARE normal. Trust me, I hated being rescued by Virgilia as well and thought that I was dragged into a life I didn't ask, but... I'm very indebted to Virgilia. Trust me, out of any magicians we'll encounter - she's the nicest one by far, just very harsh. Oh, and don't call us weird - that's rude; only I get to call Émile weird."
"Heeeeey--!"
"But seriously, don't you dare. Émile especially will crush your skull if you do that and I'll just watch."
"... Okay... Sorry..."
"Well, you're just overwhelmed, so I'll let it slide, bud. And you're lucky Émile was probably dozing off, otherwise they would go for the throat much quicker than Virgilia did"
"Heeeeeeeeeey---! I have no hard feelings towards Fortie-Tortie; I was just a little hurt when she added the "awful" part."
"...
I will adhere to your requests if you won't call me that."