When it was evening time and the group split up to their rooms, Estrith snuck out. She opened her window and…decided discretion was the better part of valor after seeing how far the ground looked. So she snuck out into the hallway instead.
By rights, she should have informed the Queen of the Dobhar. But Estrith had no idea if this Imperial had told her the truth. If it was an ambush, and Estrith led the Queen of the Dobhar into it, she might be accused of disloyalty. And even if not, she would have put her charge in danger. Her King had appointed her Royal Guard to the Queen of the Dobhar, Estrith would not intentionally lead her into harm.
Now if the Queen of the Dobhar put herself into danger that Estrith couldn't save her from, then it couldn't be helped. But Estrith would not openly betray her, Her King's command demanded that much loyalty, at least.
So Estrith intended to meet with this Imperial alone, and so needed to head out unnoticed. Fortunately Estrith was an expert hunter…in the ocean. But, she knew that sound was much harder to hear in the thin air of the surface! So she should be even harder to detect than normal!
“Halt, who goes there?”
One of the villa’s guards approached her. She clutched her spear and hissed at him.
“Ah, Miss Edilddaughter was it? Carry on, then.”
Estrith paused for a moment, and then shrugged. So what if one of the Imperial dogs saw her? They would not follow her out of the villa, so it was fine. She carried on her way.
In her room, Ateia paused. She caught something abnormal with her Presence Detection skill, so peeked out the hallway to check. There she saw miss royal guard hissing at a guard before running off. Ateia rubbed her chin.
Did Seero send her off for something? Or did the Dobhar run off on her own?
Ateia…had a feeling Seero already knew, but thought she would check anyway. She got herself dressed and made her way down to Seero’s room.
“Seero, are you in there?”
“Affirmative.”
A moment later, Seero opened the door.
“Query: Does friendly Ateia have an update, query, or request for this unit?”
Ateia nodded.
“Did you notice miss royal guard…um…the Dobhar leave?”
“Affirmative.”
Ateia nodded.
“Um, did you send her off for something?”
“Negative.”
Ateia paused.
“Um, should we follow her then? Make sure she doesn’t get into trouble?”
“Affirmative. Statement: This unit was about to leave and follow at a safe distance to ensure friendly Estrith’s safety.”
Ateia smirked at that.
“Oh, so that’s her name. And I guess I should’ve known you’d be on it already. Well, I’m sure you can handle it, but can I come along? Maybe I can help somehow?”
“Acknowledged.”
“Got it, let’s go then.”
Estrith made her way to the appointed place. The Imperial from before…Estrith hoped, given she was still learning to distinguish humans...stepped out into the street. He grinned at her in a manner that made Estrith’s fur bristle.
“So you made it after all, good.”
Estrith narrowed her eyes at him.
“You said there was a Dobhar in trouble. Explain yourself, Imperial.”
He chuckled.
“Of course. You see, word is someone’s bringing one of the little ones in on a shipment tonight. I know where they are…but it’ll cost you.”
Estrith froze, standing completely still. She began to tremble.
They had taken a pup.
Estrith’s dream was to have a pup with Her King. That was why she trained herself relentlessly and became one of the Dobhar’s foremost warriors, so that she would be a worthy match for him and no other. So, of course, she had dreamed of what it would be like to have a pup, and had talked with the other mothers on that.
And she, over the course of her duties, had also spoken with those who had lost their pups.
So when she imagined a pup being taken by these Imperials and what its mother would have felt like…her entire body filled with fire and her vision went red.
She didn’t remember what happened. The next thing she knew, she was holding the dog by his neck, with the tip of her harpoon pressed against his cheek.
“Tell me where they are, now.”
The man suddenly started to flail, and sweat drenched his face.
“They’re coming in the main gate in the west! Please, don’t hurt me! I had nothing to do with it!”
Estrith threw the man on the ground. She spun her spear around and held it high.
“Estrith, wait!”
Estrith paused as she heard her name. She glanced behind her and saw Ateia running towards her.
“Do not interfere, Imperial. This does not concern you.”
Ateia shook her head.
“Look, I overheard what’s going on. I understand why you’re angry, but this guy probably isn’t involved. You shouldn’t just kill him!”
Estrith scowled, but she took a deep breath. The girl was right, she had lost control of herself. It was likely true this person wasn’t the actual kidnapper…though the fact that he knew implied he may be involved. Still, she was wasting time here, so she barked at the man.
“Leave!”
The man scrambled off into the night. Estrith turned and marched down the street.
“Go home, Imperial. I do not wish to be around you, right now.”The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Ateia shook her head, narrowing her eyes.
“Look, you’re going to need help. Do you even know where the main gate is?”
Estrith glared at her.
“Obviously, Imperial!”
Ateia crossed her arms.
“Really? Then why are you going the wrong way?”
Estrith froze. She grit her teeth and refused to turn and look at Ateia. Ateia sighed.
“Look, you have every right to be angry. But we’re here to help you, you know?”
Estrith paused again.
“We?”
She glanced around and her eyes widened. She had been so focused on Ateia that she didn’t notice the Queen of the Dobhar approach as well.
“Affirmative Response: If a friendly unit has been taken captive, this unit’s protocols require all reasonable efforts be exerted to retrieve them.”
Estrith frowned, and furrowed her brow. There was a part of her that wanted to refuse, to take care of the Dobhar’s business on her own. But she quickly silenced that. This strange human might be the usurper who humiliated Her King…but she was the rightful Queen of the Dobhar, and with that came the responsibility to protect her people. If this was not an ambush, then there were no further reasons for Estrith to keep the Queen of the Dobhar out of it.
And most of all…Estrith knew that the Queen of the Dobhar was mighty indeed. If she lent assistance, then the pup would almost certainly be saved. And Estrith would let nothing prevent that, least of all her own pride.
So she grit her teeth and bowed her head.
“Queen of the Dobhar…please protect your people.”
“Affirmative.”
The trio made their way towards the main gate. It was nearly time for the gate to close, but there were still a few pedestrians and wagons making their way inside, including a small merchant convoy that had made their way inside already. NSLICE-00P scanned the pedestrians and wagons as they passed her by.
And then…she found something. A small thermal signature consistent with a Dobhar, laying inside one of the wagons of the merchant caravan.
“Status Report: This unit has located a potential match. Investigating.”
NSLICE-00P began to approach the caravan. Estrith clutched her spear. But Ateia stepped in front of them both.
“Hold on you two. Before we get violent, how about I try talking to them?”
Estrith growled but NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered. If a Dobhar had been kidnapped after the Battle of Castra Turannia, NSLICE-00P would consider it a hostile act. But if the kidnapping had occurred prior to the agreement between NSLICE-00P, the Dobhar, and the Empire, then NSLICE-00P would classify it as part of the prior hostilities between the Empire and the Dobhar. In that case, the culprits would not have entered into hostility with her and would not be subject to termination protocols. However, as slavery and kidnapping were illegal in the Empire, the targets would have no right to keep the pup in their custody, so NSLICE-00P would simply retrieve the pup and warn the culprits against any further hostile behavior.
This being the case, allowing Ateia to attempt a diplomatic solution was a reasonable course of action. Her updated self-defense protocols indicated attempting to utilize her and the friendlies’ status within the Empire was preferable to force as long as a favorable outcome was achieved.
“Acknowledged. Statement: This unit will defer forcible extraction while friendly Ateia attempts a diplomatic solution.”
Estrith scowled…but the Queen of the Dobhar had spoken. She would wait…for now. But if the Imperial girl betrayed them…she would do what was necessary.
Ateia nodded and stepped towards the group.
“You merchants there, hold on a moment!”
The merchants paused to look at them. The lead man raised an eyebrow.
“Can I help you, miss? I’m sorry, but we are on important business.”
Ateia frowned.
“As are we. We’ve been a told a kidnapped Dobhar has been brought into the city on this convoy. You don’t happen to know anything about that, do you?”
The man scoffed.
“Take your games elsewhere, girl. Let’s get a move on.”
Ateia reached into her pocked and pulled out the symbol of an Inquisitor, channeling mana through it.
“By order of an Imperial Inquisitor, I demand you cooperate with the investigation.”
The man suddenly frowned, and held his hands up.
“I see. Still, Inquisitor, trafficking intelligent species is a grave accusation, and I can assure you we have nothing to do with it.”
Ateia crossed her arms.
“So you wouldn’t mind if we search your goods, then?”
The man heaved a sigh.
“We would really like to make our delivery, but if you insist.”
Ateia turned and nodded to NSLICE-00P. NSLICE-00P’s Dungeon Field Generator had already confirmed the pup and the location, so she immediately walked towards one of the wagons with Estrith in tow. She moved to one of the barrels that was filled with fruit, but that had a secret compartment on the bottom. She pried open the bottom.
The Dobhar pup was curled up there, trembling. Estrith immediately moved, grabbing the pup. The pup flinched at first until he realized Estrith was also a Dobhar, then whimpered and curled up into her embrace. Estrith held him close, then her face contorted and she grabbed her spear with her spare hand.
“You monsters. You will all die for this!”
The lead merchant paled and held up his hands.
“We had nothing to do with this, honest! I had no idea, you must believe me!”
Estrith was about to strike him down when NSLICE-00P held a hand in front of her.
“Observation: Body language and physiological analysis indicate a 99.61% chance he is telling the truth. Please deactivate termination protocols, target is unlikely to be hostile. Further investigation is required prior to termination.”
Estrith scowled and was about to argue when the group heard footsteps approach.
“What’s going on here?”
Just then a group of guards walked down the street, approaching the convoy. However, they stopped, and blinked at the scene before them. One of the guards leaned in towards the decanus and whispered.
“Um, sir? Wasn’t the otter thing supposed to be alone? And wasn’t she supposed to be killing people?”
The decanus rubbed his chin.
“Um…this is…unexpected. Let’s see…if there's more of them…and they aren't fighting...then...um…ah forget it, just arrest them. We’ll figure out the charges later!”
But then, something moved from a nearby alleyway, and the tip of a lance appeared in front of the decanus’s face.
“Well well well, what do we have here? Did you hear that, centurion?”
Another group of guards, this one led by a centurion with a red cloak, walked out of the nearby alleyways. The decanus and his men turned pale.
“I did indeed. Your information was correct after all, Miss Agedia.”
Agedia scoffed.
“Of course it was. It was vetted by the Magister Exploratores, you know?”
The centurion glanced around and frowned he motioned to the first group of guards.
“Traitors in my very century, unbelievable. Take this scum out of my sight.”
The centurion’s troops saluted and began removing the first group’s weapons. The centurion then turned to the merchants and frowned.
“Under the circumstances, we will need to ask you some questions and conduct a full investigation of your cargo. Come with me.”
The lead merchant’s shoulders slumped.
“I understand.”
The centurion then turned to NSLICE-00P.
“We apologize for this, Queen of the Dobhar. May we rely on you to care for the victim?”
“Affirmative.”
“Thank you. We’ll sort out this situation if you don’t mind.”
“Acknowledged.”
The centurion then led the troops and merchants away. Meanwhile Agedia slithered over to the group, putting her lance back on her back.
“Well that settles that. Good work not immediately killing everyone, shiny girl.”
NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered.
“Query: Were any of the involved individuals hostiles requiring termination?”
Agedia shook her head.
“The merchants weren’t involved. We've already apprehended and 'interviewed' the kidnappers. Seems they hide their victims in the cargo of unrelated convoys so someone else takes the fall if the victim is discovered. As for the dirty guards…well they’re more useful alive, for now. We want to target the real culprit, after all.”
“Acknowledgement: This unit agrees that termination of primary culprit is the most efficient course of action. Please specify target.”
Agedia grinned.
“Oh, don’t worry. He’s already being taken care of.”
“Unhand me! I am a member of the Imperial Senate, you cannot treat me like this!”
Senator Balbus yelled as legionnaires dragged him from his villa. The Senator scowled as he saw someone waiting outside.
“Magister Appius, I should have known a snake like you would be involved. What is the meaning of this?”
Magister Appius grinned, and took out a scroll. He slowly unraveled it and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, Senator Balbus, you have been found engaging in the trafficking of intelligent species, a grave violation of a statute of the Empire set in place by Velus himself. Moreover, you have been found bribing the limitanei, and scheming to provoke the subject of an Amiciti Populi Elteni. You will be stripped of your rank and titles and imprisoned to await judgment for your crimes.”
Balbus’s face scrunched up.
“Lies, all of it!”
Magister Appius continued grinning.
“Come now, Balbus, you don’t believe I would be here if my case wasn’t rock solid, do you? I know you hate me but please don’t insult me.”
Balbus scowled.
“You can’t do this! I appeal to the Emperor, and demand that justice be done!”
Magister Appius shrugged.
“I mean, sure, that’s your right if you want. But you should know, the Emperor ordered this after I presented him the evidence, so I don’t imagine submitting the case to his judgment is going to help much.”
Balbus sneered at him.
“It will if he knows what’s good for him! Consul Noxisius will speak with him on my behalf!”
Magister Appius grinned again.
“Oh, what’s this? Can you identify this seal for me, Balbus?”
Magister Appius held out the scroll for Balbus to see. Balbus’s face paled as he saw Consul Noxisius's seal at the bottom.
“That’s impossible! He wouldn’t do that!”
Magister Appius chuckled.
“He did. You’ve been abandoned, Balbus. Even the Consul is unable or perhaps unwilling to pull you out of this one.”
Magister Appius narrowed his eyes and leaned in towards Balbus.
“And I have to admit…it will please me to see this. Take him away.”
Magister Appius took a deep breath with a smile as the soldiers dragged the screeching former Senator away. The magister then looked up into the night sky.
“Well…I don’t think you’ll ever forgive me, but I hope this helps, Agedia. I truly was an idiot back then.”
Then he slithered off into the night, to personally place Balbus behind bars.