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Gazing through the window at the shining purple moon, Ferdinand wondered how the ruelle gathering was progressing. It would most likely be completed before long. Upon thinking about it, he felt a strange twinge of unease, and regret that he had been unable to accompany them. However, he had had no choice. Missing this meeting would have been extremely inconvenient. Harvesting ruelle for one’s own use did grant them extra potency, but even those gathered by Justus would surely be useful, given the magical properties of this particular night. Dwelling on it would gain him nothing. With some effort, he refocused his attention on the words of the archnoble seated on the opposite side of the desk.
To his shock, Ferdinand realized that his preoccupation had caused him to entirely miss the last few minutes of the conversation. Fortunately, he had not been called upon for input. Redoubling his focus, Ferdinand managed to largely piece together what he had missed as the discussion continued. It was not long, however, before he felt his mind begin to wander again.
The unease refused to subside. In fact, if anything, it grew. Why was it bothering him so much? Surely it wasn’t just regret at missing the opportunity to gather ruelle on the Night of Schutzaria. It felt as if he was missing something, something important. Something...dangerous.
Dangerous? What danger was involved in harvesting ruelle fruits? He had done it several times, himself. But then again, never under the purple light of Schutzaria’s full moon. Perhaps the magic would have some effect on the process, something unexpected that they had not prepared for.
What if something happens to Myne?
As the thought sprang to his mind, it immediately became clear where the source of his unease lay. She was so unpredictable. With her unusual amount of mana and extraordinary past, Rozemyne was no ordinary girl. She was a wellspring of chaos far greater than ought to come from such a small, sickly child. Although Ferdinand did admittedly enjoy her company, as his responsibility, she was also an endless headache. It seemed that trouble always found her the moment he let his guard down. Eckhart, Brigitte, Damuel, and even Justus were all loyal and capable. But could he really trust them with such an unpredictable situation? He knew he should. He couldn’t always be there just in case something unexpected occurred. Yet, he was unable to quell the steadily growing anxiety. Something could go wrong, and there would be nothing he could do about it. If Myne was killed, he knew he would never forgive himself.
Killed? Realizing how far his imagination had gone, Ferdinand was brought back to reality. He had blown the situation far out of proportion. Even on the off chance that something did go wrong, the knights shouldn’t have any difficulty protecting her. This level of anxiety was ridiculous. Something was impairing his judgement. Ferdinand found that realization extremely unsettling. Hiding his emotions and making purely logical decisions was a skill that he had been forced to learn at a very young age, and he relied upon it heavily.
Just then, a bird passed through the window he’d been staring at. An ordonnanz? Ferdinand stood, far more abruptly than he had intended, as the bird flew straight towards him. Glancing at the archnoble, he realized that they were, unsurprisingly, staring at him.
“My apologies. Please excuse me,” Ferdinand said, gesturing towards the door. The noble nodded, and Ferdinand strode quickly from the room. It wasn’t uncommon to briefly remove oneself from a social situation in order to receive an ordonnanz. He tapped the bird, which had settled on his raised forearm, and it began to speak in Justus’ voice.
“Lord Ferdinand, a zantze has eaten the ruelle filled with Lady Rozemyne’s mana and evolved into a goltze. It needs to be exterminated post haste. I request immediate assistance from the Knight’s Order.” Before the first sentence was complete, Ferdinand was striding down the hallway, away from the meeting room. The moment he heard the frantic haste in Justus’ voice, he knew something had gone very wrong. A Goltze? Of all things...but how? Clearly the Night of Schutzaria had, in fact, had unexpected effects. If Justus was calling for his help, it meant the situation was dire.
Most likely, Eckhart hadn’t been able to defeat the goltze. Such a powerful creature could do serious damage to surrounding villages, let alone the danger to Myne and her guards. Justus had asked for the Knight’s Order, but waiting until the Order was assembled would allow the goltze to rampage unchecked for far too long. Reaching a decision as he neared the door, Ferdinand turned to face his attendants, who had been taken by surprise when he had exited the meeting so suddenly, and were now jogging to keep up with his long strides.
“Zahm, inform the meeting that an urgent matter has arisen which requires my immediate assistance. Kampfer, tell Lord Karstedt to assemble the Knight’s Order. I will send an ordonnanz to inform him of the details. Time is of the essence.” The attendants quickly sped off in their respective directions. Ferdinand strode through the door and pulled a feystone from his belt. The white stone quickly expanded into a winged lion as he poured mana into it. Once he had leapt onto its back in a single fluid motion, the highbeast spread its wings and soared into the air.
He was heading in the general direction of Dorvan, the small city near which he had planned for the ruelle gathering to take place, but Ferdinand realized that he did not know their precise location. Of course, once he was near, he doubted the goltze would be difficult to find, but knowing their position to begin with would save valuable time.
The second issue was that of restraining the goltze until he arrived. Allowing the goltze to rampage unchecked was out of the question. There was only one possible course of action, yet he hesitated. Ferdinand realized that once again, his judgment was being impaired by emotion. Frustrated at himself, he prepared to send a message to Justus.
Ferdinand reactivated the ordonnanz with a tap from his schtappe, and spoke quickly. “I am heading there at once. Raise a rott. We need to deal with the goltze before it causes any collateral damage. First, Eckhart should attack the beast. Should that not be enough to kill it, Rozemyne will need to make a reverse shield of Wind, forming a cage that the feybeast cannot escape from. Rozemyne, out of all those present, only you are capable of containing a feybeast that has consumed your mana.”
After sending a second ordonnanz to Karstedt, explaining the situation, Ferdinand was left with little to do besides focus on flying as quickly as possible. He should have foreseen this. What if Rozemyne was injured, or one of her guards? He should not have overlooked the unknown factor of the Night of Schutzaria, and he should have been there in case anything went awry. And was telling Myne to trap the creature the right decision? If she couldn’t hold out until he arrived, she’d be directly in harm’s way. The thought of her tiny body clamped between the jaws of a ravenous goltze filled his heart with dread. Gritting his teeth, he forced more mana into the lion, flying faster than he’d thought possible. But would it be fast enough?