Lilia is my most trusted Sparrow when
it comes to keeping an eye on the Blighted. Her skills in stealth allow her to
get into places that I’m not usually allowed. If the task calls her to be more
formal, then her status with me gives her access to places most can’t go to. I’m
on my way to meet with her right now. She’s on a mission that she said needed
my help with. I’m not exactly sure what I can do especially since I don’t use
my time traveling blessing at all, but I go anyway.
When I meet up with her, she tells
me, “I’m so grateful that you came.”
“So, what’s the mission?”
“Reconnaissance. I’m watching a target
that could be a lot of trouble for us. I want you by my side in case anything
major happens.”
“Alright, I’ll be here.”
“Good because I can’t do this without
you.”
“Why is that?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You know that we have more capable
spies and fighters like Stella and Corso who can help you on missions like
these. Why do you need me?”
“I just want you with me. We’re friends
but we never spend any time with each other.”
“This couldn’t wait for later when
you weren’t on a mission?”
“I couldn’t think of anything else
that you would respond to. If I said anything else, you might’ve just said that
you were busy.”
“When have I ever said that if you
really wanted to spend time with me?”
“You say it to your family all the
time. You always tell them that you’re doing your hero business and give them
things to try to make up for it. The only person that gets to be close to you
is Donna and that’s because that woman attaches herself to you so that you’re
never apart for long.”
“…”
“I’m sorry I said that.”
“No, I understand. I wish I could prioritize
things better. It’s just that I don’t know what will come back to bother us
later and what I can ignore.”
“Benedetto…”
“It’s fine. Let’s just worry about
the mission first and then the two of us can go somewhere peaceful. Thanks for
reminding me to think about my own when I need to.”
“I-it’s no problem.”
Her face is turning all red. Even if
she does want to hang out for other reasons, I think it would be a good change
of pace so I can calm my mind, but for the time being, it’s time to work. Lilia
leads me to a small hill that overlooks a campsite with four people gathered
around a campfire. They appear to be Blighted judging by their armor though they
could be from any culture since Blighted dragon armor is sold across the world
nowadays. One of them starts putting ingredients into the pot over the fire. After
putting in several ingredients, Lilia jumps up and uses the crossbows that are in
the bracers of her arms to pin the bag of ingredients to a tree then takes out
the four people with shots to the leg. She then quickly runs over and points
her crossbows at them while telling them to stay down.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“These people were about to conduct
a ritual which would have created a giant made of the earth beneath us.”
“Good thinking on your feet.”
“Thanks-ah!”
One of the people tries to stab
themselves with a syringe, but I stop two before they can. Lilia handles the
other two and we tie them up.
“Now, what was that about?”
“They were going to drink the blood
of demons so that they couldn’t make them stronger by inhabiting their bodies.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“It's because of the intel I gathered. A
lot of things are going off at once, which is one of the reasons why I wanted
you to be here.”
“This isn’t going to help with my
want to keep working to root out things like this.”
“It’s going to be fine. You shouldn’t
have to worry about much more.”
We take the four to the Blighted authorities
so they can await their trial. While in town, Lilia is told something by one of
the guards.
“We have to go back out,” she tells
me.
“What is it now?”
“Some guards that I have set in
ambush at a nearby bridge has intercepted a carriage that I didn’t think would
pass through today. We have to help them.”
“Let’s get going then.”
We come to the scene just in time
it seems as the people we are after are trying to open their urns. Lilia and I stop
them before they are able to open them. The guards thank us for our assistance,
arrest the criminals, and carefully collect the urns with warrior priests
taking care of them.
“What’s contained in these urns
that they need warrior priests to carry them?” I ask.
“They supposedly contain powerful
demons that the criminals were going to use to infect the bodies of powerful
people in politics.”
“It’s a good thing we stopped them before
they opened the urns then. Politics is already demonic as is.”
Before we can rest, the guards
inform us of another happening in the area. There’s a coup happening in a
nearby town where the poor are taking up arms against those who have more than
them. I could’ve sworn that I expanded an organization that helps the poor and
jobless as long as they help in the community. When I arrive in the town, I get
into the action, which silences everyone and calms the fighting for a minute
before they begin attacking me. The guards that are with me aid me in my
defense until all of my attackers are rounded up and put in chains.
One of the prisoners says, “First,
you made us work and now you’re putting us in jail? Is this how you treat the
poor at the end of the world?”
“No, this is how I treat the lazy.
You’re supposed to do your part however small it is to help. At least you’ll be
doing community service while in jail,” I say.
Before I even exhale, I hear an
explosion and the sounds of dragons roaring.
“What now?” I ask not expecting a
good answer.
“It can’t be…” Lilia says in
disbelief.
“Just say it and we’ll take care of
it.”
“I didn’t think people were mad
enough to try to make demons possess the bodies of dragons, but it looks like
they have. We’ll have to call reinforcements for this.”
We call our forces through a communication
spell and get them to teleport to our location. Once our forces are all
together, we clash with the demon-possessed dragons. Fortunately, we get to the
battle just in time so that we stop the other dragons in the area from being
possessed. The other dragons help as fight as well, so the battle isn’t too
difficult. We do have Sparrows injured as a result of the battle, but at least
we don’t suffer any casualties. After the battle, I sit near a tree and wait for
more bad news to come my way before getting up.
“Benedetto!” Lilia says as I shoot
up ready for another fight.
“What is it now? Tell me where we
need to go next.”
“There’s nothing else that we need
to do. I was just seeing if you were okay.”
“Oh, I’m alright but are we done
for today?”
“We should be.”
“Good, let’s go into town and relax.”
“Okay, where do you want to go?”
“Anyplace quiet. You wanted to be
with me for a while, right? Let’s just spend the rest of the day like that.”
“O-okay!”
Lilia and I go into town and find a
nice place to rest. There’s a restaurant in a park that we sit and eat dinner
in while talking and enjoying each other’s company. It’s been so long since I
was last able to do this. I’ve forgotten how nice it was just to be with a
friend and enjoy being with them in public like this.
After a little while, a Sparrow
comes up to me and says, “Benedetto, sir, your wife Donna is on her way. She
was told where you were and what you were doing.”
“What?”
“She should be here soo-”
I see Donna behind us through a
teleporting spell. She looks really mad. I can’t get a break, can I?
“Benedetto!” she screams out.
“It’s not what you’re thinking I swear!”
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