TYND 50

TL: Motokare

“Such insolence. Know your place, Zeynith Orudious.”

“I’d kindly remind you to remember His Grace’s warning from yesterday. Archduke Falsen’s plenty capable of starting a war with PLEIN.”

Harrié’s face darkened as Zey pushed back harder than expected. The mages reached for their wands as tension built. Zey and Xeon’s moved to their sword hilts. Several guards rushed off to fetch Theon and the guard captain while a pale head peered out from behind the towering Northerners. 

“Good morning… did you sleep well.”

“Lord Rothy, please don’t talk to him.”

“I feel like you keep fighting because of me. This isn’t good.”

“It’s not because of you, Lord Rothy. It’s because they won’t stop their scheming.”

“Scheming?! Your leader may speak to me that way, but you’ve no right!”

Harrié finally snapped, voice rising. But his outburst didn’t cow the knights. Just as the tension was about to snap—

Beeeeeeeeeeeep

The alarm blared.

“Your Grace! This way!”

“All crew, get to the shelters!”

“Draw your wands!”

The knights and mages turned their focus. Moving quickly, they escorted the crew to safety and spread out to their positions. 

“Lord Rothy, please excuse me.”

Zey scooped up Rothy first. As she headed for the door with him, Theon came down the stairs. Unlike the others’ panic, his face remained stern as usual.

“Your Grace, what’s happening?”

“Sirens. Deal with them.”

“Yes!”

Zey handed Rothy to Theon and ran out.

They’d hunted sirens before, but this was their first time being hunted. On their way back, no less. Theon carried Rothy to the deck. 

The battle had begun.

The sirens brought cracollaps. Against such numbers, the maritime guard alone might’ve fallen, but this ship had the Black Lion Knights and PLEIN. Magic fireballs picked off the sirens while knights jumped into the water, cutting off the cracollaps tentacles.

Kraaaaak!

Kaaak!

The fiends began to retreat as the battle turned against them. Watching from the deck with Rothy in his arms, Theon noticed something odd. 

“All units, cease your attacks!”

At his command, the knights stopped immediately, not questioning his order. The mages however, looked between Theon and Harrié in confusion. Harrié first looked as if questioning Theon’s sanity, but soon understood and raised his hand to stop the mages’ attacks.

“Why’re they going that way?”

The sirens were fleeing northeast. 

That wasn’t normal. Usually, they’d escape into the depths, but looking at the white waves trailing behind them, Harrié spoke.

“Your Grace, we should send a small group to purse. I’ll go myself, you stay and guard the ship.”

“No. You stay and guard the ship.”

After a brief back and forth, they quickly reached a decision—both of them would go. All other forces would remain on the ship to ensure its safety.

“Theon……”

As the crew hurriedly prepared a boat, Rothy clutched Theon’s collar anxiously. Theon responded by pulling him into a tighter embrace.

“Don’t worry. We’re going together.”

Theon had no intention of separating from Rothy for even a moment. He judged that taking him along to chase the fiends was less dangerous than leaving him behind alone.

Harrié watched from the corner of his eye as Rothy boarded the boat. For him, having the living magic stone aboard was actually welcome.

It’d be a chance to see his power firsthand.

The small boat, carrying Theon, Rothy, and Harrié, set off quickly. Powered by magical tools and Harrié’s wind magic, it soon caught up to the fleeing sirens. In the thick sea fog, Theon wrapped his cloak around Rothy. 

“Stay still.”

“Yeah.”

Rothy clutched the cloak and huddled down.

“Protect the boat.”

“Understood.”

Harrié cast a barrier over the vessel. Trusting Harrié at least in this, Theon leapt into the sea without looking back. The sirens and cracollaps tried to resist, but it was futile against an Aura Master. Blood and flesh flew with each swing of Theon’s treasured sword Starront. The fight ended in an instant. 

Theon returned to the boat by stepping on the floating tentacles of the dead cracollaps. The first thing he did was to check Rothy’s condition, but he showed no signs of disgust or fear. Keeping his sword drawn, he fixed his eyes on the thick fog beyond. 

“Your Grace, do you see something?”

“There’s an unmarked island.”

“Perhaps… a labyrinth?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Theon’s eyes could make out a small island wrapped in the sea fog—it wasn’t on the map. That wasn’t unusual in Araxys. New landforms appearing without warning, containing thousands to tens of thousands of eggs would appear. 

These places were called labyrinths, undoubtedly created by Maton. It was precisely things like this that made Theon think Seará no longer watched over Araxys. While Maton endlessly planted seeds of fiends by creating labyrinths, Seará merely watched.

“It’s closer than I thought. One and a half kilometres.”

That was practically within reach. 

Since no other fiends besides the sirens and cracollaps were detected, it was assured that the seeds planted in that labyrinth hadn’t hatched yet. Finding it early was a stroke of luck. 

“The sirens and cracollaps were trying to escape to Maton’s protected labyrinth. We should send people to investigate. I’ll turn the ship around for now.”

Theon nodded. They’d no intention of entering the labyrinth themselves. It wasn’t because they couldn’t clear it, but because they lacked the tools to extract what was inside. Labyrinths often contained minerals known as magic stones that were ideal for crafting weapons. Theon’s own sword, Starront, had been crafted from a labyrinth’s magic stone. Since labyrinths disappeared once conquered, they needed to enter with skilled miners. They turned the boat to return to the main vessel.

Theon wrapped Rothy in the cloak and pulled him tightly into his arms. The seeds mightn’t have hatched, but he didn’t lower his guard. Rothy settled quietly in his arms, but Chi-chi, seemingly crushed against Theon’s broad chest, squeaked and wriggled free, shaking itself off.

“Wait… There’s something floating on the water.”

Harrié stopped the boat briefly and picked up something drifting towards them in the current.

“A bone…?”

Harrié peered at it just as Theon recognised the object and cursed. He quickly pulled Rothy close and drew his sword.

Whoosh!

The scenery changed instantly. 

What Harrié had pulled from the water was a trap sent by the labyrinth. Labyrinths often sent strange and mysterious things floating nearby—bones, gold, magic stones, jewels—and the moment someone touched them out of curiosity or greed, they were transported inside.

Harrié had made this mistake because they hadn’t encountered labyrinths for a while, being at war. They now stood in cave passages as complex as a maze. Theon took the front, Rothy stayed in the middle, and Harrié followed at the rear with his yellow shield enveloping them. The shield had to stay up since fiends could appear from anywhere at any time.

“No magic stones in sight. If they’d been any, I would’ve been frustrated, but this is actually a good thing.”

“You dare to talk about this being a good thing after falling for a trap.”

“I admit my mistake. But if all the seeds were about to hatch, gathering people and returning later might’ve been too late. This mistake could actually be a good—”

“Quiet.”

Harrié shut his mouth. 

Theon sprang forward and drove his sword into a snake-like fiend hiding behind a stalactite. 

Kyaak! 

Other hidden fiends revealed themselves with threatening cries, realising they’d been discovered. While Theon dealt with the fiends, Harrié pulled Rothy close.

“……!”

When Rothy panicked and tried to pull away, Harrié whispered quietly.

“The shield works better with less area to cover. Stay still.”

“Let go……”

“Rothy, even I wouldn’t harm you in this situation. Trust me and follow my instructions to stay safe. The archduke can fight without worry once you’re secure. So stay still.”

Rothy hesitated for a moment then stopped struggling. Chi-chi poked its head out from Rothy clothes, hissing at Harrié. Rothy stroked the weasel, holding it close. 

“Keep your head down. Lower.”

Rothy curled up tighter at his instruction. Harrié shielded Rothy with his body, wand in hand.

He’s so tiny.

Harrié wasn’t a particularly large man himself, but Rothy was so small that his whole body was able to hide behind him. He’d known Rothy was small for his age, but this made it even clearer.