“To reach the holy city, we have to go through this city.”
Said Chai as he pointed to a map on the table.
“Berelhelm?”
“That’s our next destination.”
It was a map of all the territories in the kingdom of Ludenberg, with the holy city of Ethnocentria in its center.
This world was composed of the large continent named Pagendoria, and an ocean so vast it was impossible to cross.
At the center of this world sat the holy city of Ethnocentria. It was the royal capital, and nicknamed the White Crystal City.
“This is where we are, Svartarvahei. If we keep heading east we’ll reach the trading city of Berelhelm.”
On the upper left side of the map, in the northwestern forest, the name Svartarvahei was written.
The place where Ameriko and Himeno appeared was at the edge of the map, and ‘the plain where the stars fell’ was written with small letters.
The city of Berelhelm was positioned between the village and the holy city.
“They wrote the name almost as big as the holy city’s.”
“It’s a big city. A lot of people and goods from surrounding villages and towns gathered there. It used to be a city thriving with commerce and manufacturing industry… It used to be.”
“Berelhelm was attacked by the sorcerer’s underlings and suffered horrible damage. I heard it was mostly destroyed. The army and wizards put up fierce resistance, but this probably just made them mad, and ramped up the destruction…”
Said Chai’s father with a heavy look on his face.
“So this village was not too damaged?”
Said Ameriko casually, but Chai responded by hitting his father in the flank.
“What do you mean damage!? Fight, idiot father!”
“Ouch… Stop it Chai.”
“If we put up more of a fight then… This wouldn’t have happened! When my brothers said they would be their hostages and asked us not to interfere…! We should’ve said no!”
Chai’s father quietly withstood Chai’s anger. He was forced to make a painful choice between resisting and being annihilated, and offering slaves.
“…I’m sorry. I was too weak.”
“That’s right! Waahhh…!”
Chai started crying out of frustration, and Himeno hugged him.
“It was very painful for your father.”
“It’s more painful for my brothers…”
Chai loved his brothers, who were taken by the slave sorcerers. They were either put to work as slaves in the holy city… Or something even worse.
“Unforgivable…! Especially since they are apparently very beautiful brothers. They may be exploiting them behind the scenes and milking them dry…!”
“Calm down Himeno!”
Himeno suddenly snapped, and even Chai was taken aback. She seemed emotionally unstable and said some weird things.
The day after the battle, Himeno was fully healed thanks to Chai’s magic, and Ameriko rejoiced at their victory and Himeno’s recovery.
The defeat of one of the slave sorcerers brought a lot of joy to the villagers as well.
This village ravaged by the storm of destruction and exploitation saw a ray of hope. Although their resources and food were limited, they held a banquet as a way to give a warm welcome to the two girls.
Just as the elder predicted, Chai found two heroes in the far west and brought them back… Bards sang about them along with people playing the village’s signature instruments.
They thought victory was beyond their reach. They thought their enemies were invincible, and yet, a slave sorcerer was crushed.
This shocking news was transmitted through magic and crystal balls, along with images that proved it to nearby villages and towns very quickly.
“Reports keep coming of towns and villages pledging to do anything they can in support.”
“From Berelhelm too. The surviving warriors and wizards are putting together an underground resistance group.”
The two sisters placed a lot of notes on the table. All messages of compliments and welcome, offers of support, and requests to fight together.
Among them were messages from a lot of surviving fighters expressing their intentions to join them in the battle against the sorcerers.
“This is great. We’re not fighting alone, Himeno.”
“It does feel reassuring to know there are others who will fight with us.”
Slave sorcerers were mad, and not the kind of opponent that could be reasoned with.
“Let’s all join forces and fight!”
“And kill all the sorcerers!”
“H-Himeno?”
Ameriko said nothing out of the ordinary for her, but as she looked sideways, she saw Himeno’s face burning with a quiet rage.
“There is no need for mercy. We will exterminate them.”
“…Y-yes.”
Himeno understood this battle.
Their opponents were not normal. The sorcerer she faced wanted to urinate on a downed opponent. Their minds were twisted, and they took great pleasure in killing.
After receiving the sorcerer’s fierce attacks, the wounds left on Himeno’s heart were bigger than the ones left on her body.
Somewhere in her heart, she saw her enemies as humans, and had the faint hope that she could talk to, or even come to an understanding by trading fists.
Himeno had the spirit of Japan as her core, and thought that even if someone stained their hands with evil, their hearts surely still had at least some good will remaining. She believed people were basically good.
But this was nothing more than a naive illusion. Her heart was broken, dirtied, and stomped.
The sorcerers were pure evil. Evil and horrible lust condensed into the shape of a human.
There was no need to feel mercy or attempt to reason with them. All they could do was annihilate them.
Himeno believed in self-control. Being cautious, and trying to be understanding and tolerant. But now the pendulum of her heart swung in the opposite direction.
“Well, our destination is clear. We need to go to the next city and meet with our allies. And then we’ll defeat the sorcerers squatting in the holy city.”
“We need not show mercy to these savages. Let us kill them all.”
Said Himeno while grinding her teeth and clenching her fists.
“That’s very unlike Himeno.”
“Yes…”
Chai and Ameriko looked at each other with concern in their eyes.
The objective was still to save Chai’s brothers, but it was also a battle to liberate as many slaves and oppressed people as possible.
Ameriko and Himeno were ready to fight. They wanted to defeat the sorcerers and end their oppression. It was a just cause, for human dignity and freedom.
“By the way, Ameriko and Himeno.
“There’s something we want to give you.”
Said Mewkria and Lukira, with their brother Chai in the middle.”
“Ah? What is it?”
“The food and songs were enough.”
The half elf sisters gave them shin guards, and covers for the back of their hands. Simple defensive equipment that matched their gloves.
“This is lovely! The embroidery is so cute!”
“This is great! We have very little defensive power… In fact, we have no armor at all.”
Ameriko and Himeno gladly accepted this gift.
They tried them on right away, and they fit perfectly.
It was hard leather, so it offered protection for specific parts of their bodies. Hitting the ground with bare skin would hurt, so having light but strong defensive equipment helped a lot.
“Ah… I can feel your magic energy.”
Chai noticed something.
“Of course you can little brother.”
“It’s our magic.”
“Uu…”
Chai’s sisters each placed an arm around his shoulders. They seem very affectionate towards him.
“What do you mean?”
“Does this have some sort of magic mechanism?”
Mewkria’s eyes started shining.
“Yes. Do you want to try it? We have to adjust it after all.”
Ameriko and Himeno left the building in the center of the village and headed towards a square.
“The defensive equipment we gave you actually carries the divine protection of spirits of the wind.”
“We worked hard last night. It was hastily made, but…”
Lukria and Mewkria looked at each other with some embarrassment on their faces.
“Divine protection…?”
“Ameriko, try stepping forward and jumping. As you step forward, say ‘wind, grant me the spirit’s blessing’!”
“Yes, okay. Like this!?”
Ameriko took a big step forward and jumped, and what appeared to be a small tornado appeared, making her body float.
“Wind, grant me the spirit’s blessing… Oh, no!?”
“You’re flying aren’t you!?”
A small jump propelled Ameriko forward five meters, thanks to the wind pushing her forward.
Ameriko’s body drew a big parabola.
“Try kicking with your left leg!”
Shouted Mewkria, and Ameriko stuck out the leg opposite to the one she used to kick the ground.
She felt the resistance of the wind, and the pattern on her shin guard started glowing. Wind then gathered around her legs, which softened the impact as she landed.
“Toah!? I landed!”
Ameriko just barely stuck the landing, with her blonde hair pushed upwards and her arms wide open.
The villagers who were watching and Chai and his sisters gave her a round of applause.
“My god, that was incredible! I was flying!”
Ameriko’s blue eyes shined.
“The divine protection from the spirits only lasts for a moment. It will triple your jumps, but you’ll be able to fly more when you get used to it.”
Himeno listened to Lukria’s explanation, and decided to try it as well.
“I see. Let me try.”
The girl in the white shrine maiden’s attire ran forward with small steps while asking the spirits for their blessing, and as her black hair fluttered in the wind.
She kicked the wall of a nearby building with one leg, and then kicked the air with the other one.
“Nice!”
“I see. You can use it to double jump!”
Himeno made a sharp turn midair and landed on a roof.
“Marvelous!”
Many people were impressed to see Himeno run all the way to the thatched roof of a house.
“It takes at least one minute to recharge the spirits of the wind!”
Himeno waited a minute before jumping off the roof. Usually, it would be high enough to hurt one’s legs.
“Blessing of the wind…!”
Wind generated near both legs, and Himeno zigzagged all the way down, looking as though she was descending on an invisible platform.
“You look like a deer coming down a cliff!”
“And… There. This is fun!”
“It’s hard to keep your balance.”
“Yes. It is as though I am standing on an invisible balance board…”
“Yes! It’s like that! It feels all springy and bouncy!”
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