Chapter 178: Azure Fire Burning the Moon, bl**d Stained Royal City (Part 12)
Sarah felt pretty unlucky.
To be fair, her three-day break wasn’t all that fun.
She had a grand plan! She intended to invite her roommates over for a good time, show them the beautiful sights of the Royal City, and treat them to the famous delicacies… Especially Peilo and Daisy. It was their first time in the Royal City, and they must have been feeling pretty lonely.
Daisy was already on the shy and delicate side, and Peilo was young and stunningly pretty… like a doll! Sarah really liked them and didn’t want them to feel lonely. As a future knight-in-training who grew up in the Royal City, she felt an obligation to bring everyone together and make them happy. She wanted to ace this mission!
As for Sophia… well, she might as well invite her too.
Even though Sarah wasn’t a big fan of her aristocratic airs… she figured since they’d be living together for a while, it wouldn’t hurt to deepen their acquaintance. Sarah wanted to get to know everyone better and build good relationships—just a little bit of her own selfishness showing there.
So, she eagerly awaited the first day of her break and invited everyone… only for Daisy to be the only one who accepted.
Sophia said something about family matters—apparently, her father was dragging her off to meet some people… probably more boring noble social obligations. Fine, whatever… So long as she couldn’t go, even Peilo said she had something that came up as well… which really bummed Sarah out because Peilo was precisely the one she wanted to invite the most!
That little girl, all petite and adorable… Sarah just dreamed of the day they could be close enough for casual hugs. Once they reached that level, she would definitely hug her like a stuffed animal… oh wait, I mean, spoil her rotten!
Just thinking about it warmed her heart!
Peilo was practically a princess from a fairy tale… heh heh…
But she claimed to be busy.
In the end, Sarah pulled out the big guns. Knowing Peilo had a sweet tooth, she said, “My mom’s venison pies are to d*e for!”
In that instant, she saw Peilo’s eyes light up.
Sarah could still vividly remember Peilo’s cute, innocent face. Her little nose twitched, and she gulped as if she were a hungry kitten.
Oh, she wanted those pies, but maybe… just maybe, she genuinely had something to do. In the end, she rushed off without accepting the invitation.
Yet, as she left, she shouted for Sarah to bring her some.
This put Sarah in a bit of a pickle.
Because, truth be told… her mom’s venison pies weren’t that great. She had only said that to lure Peilo over!
But now she had spilled the beans.
So during those three days, besides eating and hanging out with Daisy, Sarah was also fretting about how to satisfy Peilo’s little cravings… Sure, it was a shame she couldn’t come to her house, but Sarah still wanted to make her happy.
She loved seeing Peilo’s joyful expressions, especially when she got to eat something delicious—it was just too cute!
But cooking herself… well, she had some pocket money, and buying a few pounds of venison from the local shops was doable, but the spices…
To make a tasty venison pie, pepper was essential, yet that stuff was expensive… like, crazily expensive! Sarah couldn’t afford it.
And that’s why her mom’s pies never turned out great. Even though her father was the Captain of Knights in the Holy Church and made twenty Cankira Gold coins each month… the only income in the house was from him.
Grandpa was old, Grandma and Mom were unemployed, and the two younger brothers were still quite little, plus her tuition at the Royal Academy was sky-high… Pepper, the kind that costs as much as gold, hadn’t graced their kitchen in ages.
So, what now…
After some serious thinking, Sarah decided to go buy some ready-made pies.
Luckily, she knew a shop renowned for its delicious offerings, where nobles often lined up to purchase them. Sure, it was pricey, but a few would still be within her budget. Though it felt a bit insincere… What else could she do?
As long as Peilo thought they were delicious and she didn’t have to spill the secret about them being store-bought… it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
So on the last day of her break, Sarah went out with Daisy in the afternoon to stand in line… She roped Daisy in as an accomplice, thinking it might help ease her guilty conscience.
Also, Daisy was nice and quiet, so she’d definitely keep her mouth shut.
After buying them and heading back to the Academy, Sarah eagerly awaited Peilo’s arrival… Classes started the next day, so she figured Peilo should arrive at the dorm before nightfall.
But Peilo didn’t show.
The meat pies in her hands cooled down… and cold pies are definitely not appetizing.
She hadn’t even gotten to eat many… What on earth was Peilo doing? Planning to ditch class tomorrow?
The sky was dark now, and even Daisy was getting ready for bed.
Suddenly, an alarming thought struck Sarah. What if… what if Peilo was being bullied by Alex and his friends?
The more she pondered, the more worried she became, and she couldn’t sit still anymore. She wanted to grab Daisy and Sophia to go look for Peilo… but on second thought, that was just her wild imagination running rampant, and if it were true… it was best not to drag others into it.
She could handle it herself.
So, off she went.
First, she sought out Alex’s friends, mustering the courage to ask about Alex’s whereabouts… The whole process left Sarah feeling furious—it was beyond frustrating!
They claimed they didn’t know where Alex was… Sarah felt they were clearly lying.
Her fear intensified, and without thinking, she dashed out of the Academy, not even sure where to head next. She wandered the streets aimlessly, hoping to stumble across that beautiful figure with black hair and eyes.
If only she had thought to ask where she lived…
Just then, everything changed.
Sarah heard a distant, ominous “buzz” overhead. At first, she brushed it off, but as the people around her began to panic, looking up toward the sky, she realized… the “Boswell” that had existed since before her birth had vanished.
Fear gripped Sarah… everyone was terrified.
Many on the street dropped to their knees, praying to the Deity, and Sarah followed suit.
She prayed earnestly for everyone’s safety.
But fate had other plans.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted on the farthest street.
It seemed like divine retribution as the ground quaked violently, making it hard to stand. Black smoke billowed, flames casting a bloody hue over the entire Royal City.
Before long, terrifying monsters appeared.
Sarah swore she’d never encountered anything like this… let alone fathomed it.
She didn’t understand what was happening. She was so scared her heart felt like it might explode out of her chest. Unsure of what to do, she simply followed the crowd and ran. Farther and farther away… anything to feel a semblance of safety.
Screams and cries filled the air.
What on earth was happening…
Were those monsters from the Abyss…?
Were we… going to d*e?
Exhausted, Sarah eventually ran until her legs threatened to give out beneath her.
She spotted several members of the Arbitration Department nearby, armed with swords… but they looked just as confused and scared as everyone else.
Yet somehow, being with them felt a little safer.
So, following the crowd, Sarah found herself huddled with everyone in a corner of a narrow alley… everyone was tired and wanted to take a breather for a moment.
After a while, Sarah noticed the monsters were airborne… someone was battling it up in the sky… Two people…
She couldn’t see clearly who they were.
But she recognized the monster was coming toward them.
What now… keep running?
Or stay hidden and pray it won’t notice them?
Suddenly, there was a commotion among the people around her. Sarah looked up just in time to see someone plummet from the sky.
He appeared injured… falling straight down from mid-air with a loud crash. “Thud!” A few feet away, and Sarah winced in pain… she couldn’t even begin to imagine how many bones might be broken.
Yet the monster seemed undeterred. Explosions rumbled in the skies as the remaining people fought valiantly against it in an intense struggle… Sarah understood that those engaging the beast were surely the heroes of the Royal City.
She felt paralyzed by fear… her legs were turning to jelly.
But she still wanted to know who that was.
So, squinting, Sarah pushed through the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure that had just fallen.
Silently, she prayed for that hero’s safety.
And her hopes were answered.
In the darkness, that figure struggled to rise.
Small and appearing quite fragile.
Sarah quickly noticed the singed white cloak draped over their back.
She knew right away that it symbolized the Pope Knight.
“That’s… the Pope Knight!”
“And Her Majesty the Queen… they’re battling the monster!”
“Will we survive…?”
Right, the Queen’s order of winds was formidable; she could fly… surely that figure in the sky was the Queen… but who was that other person who fell?
The terrified murmurs from the crowd seemed to echo her thoughts, and suddenly, Sarah saw the girl turn towards them… it was a girl.
A very small girl.
She wore a black dress that had become tattered and filthy in the heat of battle, with mud and bl**d splattered everywhere—it was quite a tragic sight… she must have fought hard.
How could it be… such a little girl?
The streetlights had been extinguished by the earlier explosions, cloaking everything in shadow, making it hard for Sarah to see her face.
But the girl spotted their direction.
She seemed urgently distressed, raising her voice to scream, “Get out! Quickly!”
Sarah thought her voice sounded lovely, almost like a little bird singing.
Besides that, she felt a strange familiarity in that voice… so reminiscent from somewhere… where was it from?
Right, it was similar to Peilo’s soft voice, but there was something different… this shout carried an undertone of authority.
That’s something Sarah could never find in Peilo; it was the mark of a hero.
“Quickly! Run this way—!”
The Arbitration members began directing everyone to flee, and Sarah followed the crowd, sticking close to the walls as they dashed away.
Boom—!!!
A massive sound erupted behind her, and Sarah couldn’t help but glance back one last time.
In her line of sight, that dirty, tiny figure buckled under the wounds, launching from a huge ice pillar that rose from the ground like a courageous eagle, soaring into the fiery spectacle that seemed to ignite the very Moon.
