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“Is everyone here? Good, then let’s start the meeting.”
Scarlet looked at each person around the table in the war room. Everyone there was someone she could trust to have her back, their bonds forged through trials and tribulations. The Resistance operated cautiously underground; if they were found out, the Nohrian army would be sure to come and crush them.
“First order of business–”
“What’s he doing here?” She was interrupted by a gruff man across the table from her. He pointed towards a man standing in the corner of the room with his arms crossed.
It had only been a few days since their newest recruit joined. He seemed capable enough, but there was an air of mystery about him. Scarlet didn’t blame her comrade for being cautious.
She sighed, “Well, Ryoma asked to be part of the strategy meetings, so… I invited him.”
“Really now…” The gruff man narrowed his eyes. His name was Roderick; he was one of the founding members of the Resistance, and Scarlet respected him and his opinions.
“Yes, well, I did let him join, so…”
To be perfectly honest, Scarlet didn’t know why Ryoma wanted to be part of the strategy meetings. Only the inner circle of the Resistance–mostly the founding members and people who have proved themselves–were privy to these conversations. It did seem suspicious to say the least. But when he had asked her, she couldn’t find a reason to refuse either. He genuinely seemed interested.
“Ahem,” she cleared her throat, dodging the question, and the glare Roderick, and perhaps some others, were giving her. “We don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get started.”
She unfurled a map of the area on the table for everyone to see. “Our next mission is to escort a supply delivery from here… to here.” Everyone’s eyes followed her finger as she traced the route, and listened attentively as she explained the plan in detail.
“If everything goes well, we should be there and back in about five days.” Scarlet looked at the people around the table, and they solemnly nodded.
“May I make a suggestion?” Ryoma raised a hand. He had been silently observing the meeting up until now.
Scarlet looked at him and narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t sure if she wanted suggestions from an outsider, but it couldn’t hurt to hear him out, so she nodded.
He walked over to the map on the table, and simply pointed to a spot off the path. “If we take a shortcut through here, it would be faster, no?”
The room was quiet for a moment, and then some of them started whispering. They clammed up when Scarlet gave them a look.
She looked Ryoma in the eye and sighed. “I guess you wouldn’t know, but that area is infested with Faceless. We can’t go that way.”
He looked contemplative for a moment. “What if someone were to clear them out?”
She looked at him as if he were mad. She had been known to take risks in the past, but she wasn’t reckless, especially not when it comes to endangering others.
“Oh yeah? Who would be dumb enough to do that?”
“I will go,” he stated simply.
Scarlet stared at him, unsure if he was serious. But the clear look in his eyes gave her all the answers she needed; he was dead serious.
She palmed her face. “You seem like a strong fighter, but that’s–”
“If I were to clear out the Faceless, would you and the others be able to make it through?” he asked again.
She groaned and looked at the map again. “I suppose…” she admitted reluctantly. If they did take that shortcut, it would save them a day or two…But if he failed to dispatch the Faceless, the consequences would be catastrophic.
“Then let me do it.”
She looked at him again, just to make sure he wasn’t crazy. His face was emotionless, but his eyes looked confident. Why was he so confident? Did he even know how to fight against these things?
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
“No, let me clarify that,” she slammed her hands down on the map and stared into his eyes. “I need you to be 100% confident that you can do it. I can’t stake the lives of my people on a ‘maybe’.”
He was unfazed by her intense glare. He nodded solemnly. “You can count on me.”
She carefully studied him. Could she really trust this guy? Even though he had proved himself in the duel with her the other day, and she had seen him around the training grounds in mock battles with others, she had never seen him in battle before. Aside from the question of whether he could defeat the Faceless, what evidence did she have that he wouldn’t just stab them in the back?
Although…maybe too late for that. She already let him in their group. If he wanted to betray them, maybe he would have done so already
Scarlet had always prided herself as a pretty good judge of character. She didn’t really have a process; it had mostly been based on vibes, a sort of sixth sense.
And, at least for now, she decided to trust his words.
“Alright, but I’m coming with you,” she stated, waving off some protests from her men. “Christof, Roderick, you guys are in charge of guarding the carriage.”
So they formed a plan. At Christof’s suggestion, Scarlet decided to take a few other men with her to help Ryoma. He didn’t have to say it, but Scarlet saw the look in the eyes of her second-in-command and knew why he didn’t want her to go alone: in case the new guy betrays us.
“Phew!” Scarlet huffed as she wiped the sweat from her brows. Her intel wasn’t joking when they said the area was swarming with Faceless. There seemed to be no end to them!
Still, it wasn’t as bad as she had feared. They weren’t exactly easy to take down, but Scarlet almost preferred fighting the Faceless than Garon’s men. At least with the Faceless, she wouldn’t have to worry about their thoughts and feelings…
She quickly shook that thought out of her head. This was war, and she was a knight. There was no time or place to think about things like that!
She looked around her surroundings. The few men she brought with her seemed to be managing as well. She had to admit, it was mostly because of him.
She spotted Ryoma slicing through a crowd of enemies, barely breaking a sweat. He looked so graceful and calm. Judging from the way he handled them, hitting their weaknesses, avoiding their poisonous claws, it was as if he fought them countless times before.
Is he a famous mercenary back in Hoshido?
Scarlet checked the sun; it seemed like they might even be ahead of schedule. It looked like it might go according to Ryoma’s plan after all!
“Ah!” she was startled out of her thoughts by the sudden movement of her wyvern. What had startled–
She turned and narrowly dodged the fist coming her way. She gasped as two more Faceless lunged toward her. I thought I got them all?!
Her wyvern, panicked by the sudden appearance of the enemy, reared up. And Scarlet, who wasn’t paying attention, didn’t quite grab the reins in time…
Her world spun as she tumbled to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Luckily, they weren’t flying too high up.
This wasn’t the first time she was thrown off, but never in the middle of the battle. She grabbed her axe and tried to stand. A sharp pain shot up her leg. She quickly checked herself over. Ugh, that’s gonna leave a bruise. But luckily nothing else seemed to be broken… or at least nothing she could notice over the rush of adrenaline.
And she didn’t have time to rest either, as the two Faceless shambled toward her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This wasn’t the first time she was in a dire situation, and she learned that the best thing to do was not panic. She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the axe.
Time seemed to have slowed down; the Faceless’s movement felt sluggish, as she moved almost by instinct, swinging her axe to hit its weak points and dodging its attacks. To an outside observer, it was as if she took it down in one hit.
“Hah..hah…” she gasped for air. Her heart was pounding. But she didn’t have time to celebrate; there was another Faceless coming for her. She instinctively raised her axe to block and braced herself…
…But the fist she was expecting to hit her axe never came.
She lowered her weapon just in time to see a white blur knock the fist away.
“Are you alright, Miss Scarlet?” The figure asked without turning around; the Faceless wasn’t quite dead yet.
Before she could answer, he swiftly moved and dispatched the foe in a single hit. Her jaw dropped; he made it look so easy!
“Y-yeah, I’m fine…” she sank to the ground and leaned back against a tree. Her face grew red as he walked closer, more from embarrassment than anything else. She wished he hadn’t seen her struggle like this. To be honest, she had used up most of her energy and could barely move.
Ryoma sheathed his sword and tossed her a concoction, which she gracefully accepted.
“Thanks,” she smiled sheepishly and took the concoction, feeling the numbness in her limbs subside and her energy returning.
He sat down beside her. She looked away, “I… I’m not normally this careless…” she mumbled.
“Hmm? What do you mean?” he asked, “I’m impressed you took down that thing so quickly.”
“Oh!” she sighed in relief. It seemed that he didn’t see the part where she made a fool of herself and fell off her mount. “I uh… I guess I have a knack for focusing when my life is in danger,” she laughed weakly.
He looked at her, as if not sure whether to laugh with her. She cleared her throat awkwardly. “A-Anyway, you were pretty cool too, um… the way you effortlessly took down that guy.”
He smiled, “I’ve been told I get stronger when I’m protecting someone else.”
“..!” Scarlet’s face grew redder, she wanted the ground to swallow her.
Luckily, it seemed that he didn’t notice. Or if he did, he didn’t call attention to it. He stood up and offered her a hand. “I think we got them all. We should probably get going.”
“R-Right!” She took his hand and let him pull her up.
“Say, you look pretty comfortable fighting these things. Have you fought them before?”
He looked solemn all of a sudden. “Many times. Despite Queen Mikoto’s barrier, the Faceless would often find their way into Hoshido, ravaging villages and destroying homes.” His eyes flashed in anger. “My siblings and I have been fighting them for years.”
“Oh…” Scarlet suddenly felt ashamed for ever doubting him back in the meeting room. She gripped her arm. “I.. I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize Hoshidans knew about them…much less them being a problem.”
“Hmm? Why are you apologizing? Garon is to blame for all of this,” said Ryoma, narrowing his eyes.
Scarlet could tell that his anger was real, and that he had no ulterior motives. She smiled and slapped him on the back, startling him. “I’m so glad you’re on our side!”
Her instinct was right; she could trust him to have her back, and she vowed that day to have his back as well.