Chapter 33
Shiro felt a little conflicted about how the girl had gotten the information, but hey, they got it. The ducal princess, still dragged along with them, had led them toward wherever she'd claimed Vanya was being kept, under threat of hell if she'd lied.
On their way to the undercroft, they crossed paths with a knight, one they identified as belonging to the ducal family from how he reacted to the sight of the girl and how she reacted in turn to the sight of him. "Silvie!"
"Big brother! Help!"
Without hesitation, the knight rushed up the stairs toward them, only to be welcomed by shots from both Chaska and Anya, two women who'd already confirmed themselves quick on the trigger.
Eight shots hit him, and he was still standing, still charging the two girls, forcing Shiro to step in.
Unlike the girls' bullets, which his armor had absorbed easily, a single shot from either the Vanguard or the Crucible, the name the kobold had given his shotgun, would have finished him instantly.
But Shiro just smacked him with the Crucible instead and shoved his limp body down the stairs.
"Bertrand, noooo!" the girl wailed.
"Shut it. Why are you crying over him now, after spending forever plotting against him and your other brother?
Don't act like you actually care," Anya scolded, dragging her along.
They ran into a few more obstacles along the way, none of them hero-level, so a smack here, a kick there was enough to clear the path to the undercroft, where Anya opened fire the instant she spotted the man guarding the entrance.
The poor bastard didn't even get the chance to properly draw his blade.
"Whyyyy?" the girl bawled, apparently recognizing the man Anya had just executed.
"Did you know him?" Chaska asked. "That was one of them, I recognized him instantly, one of the guys who tried to lowball me into oblivion."
"Hm. I see," Chaska nodded, then turned suddenly, ears twitching, clearly catching something. "Did you hear that?"
"Anya? Is that you?" they heard from behind the door the knight guarded.
Letting go of the girl, Anya rushed to the door. The moment she unlocked it, a taller catgirl who looked just like her stepped out, and they embraced.
"I heard a commot— I thought it might—" the taller sister said, pushing Anya back to arm's length, inspecting her as if unable to believe she was real. "How?"
"I stormed the ducal palace. That's how," Anya said, pulling her back into the hug.
"Sorry, Anya," Vanya sobbed. "Sorry."
"Sorry for what? I'm the one who's sorry. I never should've sent you here in the first place." She pulled back to check her sister over. "Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?"
Vanya shook her head, seemingly to reassure her, then, almost paradoxically, boasted, "They tried to get your location out of me. Got nothing."
"You shouldn't have risked that," Anya scolded, though she softened it with an admiring pat on the head. "It's over now," she declared, exchanging a glance with Chaska and Shiro.
"So what's the plan now?" Chaska asked.
"Get out of this castle. Lord Vasseur's cavalry and the mob should make that easy enough. After that, I'd say we leave the city. The lockdown's lifted, so we can just walk right out whenever we want, but I think the sooner we're away from all this, the better."
Shiro nodded. Sounded fine, maybe even perfect, given he might actually have the ideal exit plan already, courtesy of something he'd gotten from Nazim.
He was reaching into his pocket for a key when Anya suddenly closed the distance, said, "just one last thing," and raised her gun at the girl, who would have been executed on the spot if Shiro's reflexes hadn't yanked her out of the way in time.
"What are you doing?" Shiro asked, holding up the girl whose knees had just given out, finally grasping how close that had been.
"Tying up a loose end," Anya declared, as if that were the most natural thing in the world. "And making her pay for everything she's put people through."
"By executing her?"
Shiro turned to Chaska for support, only to find her giving him an odd look, as if he were the unreasonable one here.
"You're not killing her," Shiro declared.
"Why not?" Chaska asked. "Because you think she's pretty?"
"Pretty?" Shiro glanced at the girl, whose face was such a mess it took effort to see it, but the prettiness was there. "I won't lie and say I don't think she’s prettyish, but—"
"Cooooome on!"
"Master Shiro, I knew you had flaws, but this is just…"
"That's not it. Don't twist this into something it's not."
"If it's not that, then explain why I never once heard you complain about me shooting men, and now suddenly you're playing the chivalrous type."
"That's... okay, I get how it sounds, but here's the thing," Shiro started, only to be cut off as the rhythmic thudding they'd been hearing finally stopped, replaced by the sound of screaming. The mob had made it inside.
"Fine, let's just let her go," Anya declared. "I won't touch her. Let's move."
Shiro watched the girl let out a sigh of utter relief, clearly not understanding that her fate hadn't actually changed.
"She's going to get killed anyway, isn't she?"
Anya didn't deny it. She just shrugged. "Let's go, Master Shiro. She's earned whatever's coming to her. And even if she hasn't entirely, what responsibility do we have to change that?"
Shiro looked at Chaska, found her nodding along, before her expression shifted to something more concerned, likely guessing exactly what he was already thinking. "Shiro? Don't."
???
"This is a stupid idea," Chaska scolded, walking beside him.
"Seconded," Anya agreed, walking on his other side.
"When did you two get so buddy-buddy? Not long ago you could barely—"
"Don't change the subject."
"I wasn't trying to. Wow, look, it’s people. Quick, stop talking to me, smile, make it look like we're just part of the chaos," Shiro said. They were making their way toward the castle exit, navigating a lively crowd busy with all sorts of activities.
One group kept watch over surrendered guards stripping off their armor, under the watchful eyes of men with pitchforks, shovels, and clearly confiscated swords, most of them holding the blades like they were itching for an excuse to swing. Several recognized Shiro.
"White-haired sir!" they pointed.
"Good work out there, gentlemen," he said, moving along giving the men a military salute, they awkwardly returned.
Others were engaged in less respectable activity, looting mostly, and worse than that, vandalism, ruining large paintings.
Knights, part of the cavalry that had fought alongside them, watched with expressions that made their disapproval obvious, though they mostly held back, only intervening for the truly reckless, like a man trying to set fire to an elaborate curtain.
Plenty of them also recognized Shiro. "Look, it's him," they said.
"That's them. Cannon-lady, warpaint girl and White-haired sir," they waved.
"Hello again, fellow common man," Shiro greeted, waving back, then stopping when he stumbled upon a group that once again recognized him, though he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen this particular group before. "What are you carrying there?"
"This?" the man said, glancing down at the massive painting he and three others had just lowered from the upper floor. "A giant painting."
"I can see that."
"What's the plan with it?"
At that, the man's face lit up. "Melt it."
"Melt it?"
"Don't get distracted by the fancy painting Sir, look at the border! Look at the heft of it! That's got to be at least four hundred pounds of silver. Hehehe, I'll be a rich man once I get this to Theodore’s forge."
"Me too," another man chimed in.
"Me too," said a third, helping carry it.
"Gonna build myself a farm, raise ramblers with my share."
"Yeah, but first, lift properly, it feels like I'm the only one carrying this side," the first man complained.
"Hope your dream comes together with that frame, friend. Though, if I can offer some advice, it might be easier to lift without the actual painting still attached. Doesn't look like it, but I bet it's putting real weight on you four."
"Really," they said, setting it down to check.
"Yeah," Shiro confirmed, catching a nudge from Chaska.
"What are you doing," she whispered.
Shiro ignored her, turning back to the men. "I actually kind of like the painting itself. Mind if I carve it out and take it home as a souvenir?"
The three men looked at the piece, then at each other, then nodded together. "Sure," they said, cutting the canvas free and rolling it up, which Shiro promptly had them hand off to Chaska.
"Thanks, guys, you were awesome," he said, taking his leave.
"You too, man."
Once they were safely out of earshot, Chaska asked, exasperated, "Why?"
"Look around, everyone's carrying souvenirs.
It'd look weird if we weren't. Blending in is key.
Vanya, can you lean on Anya, make it look like you've been through the wringer?
" The two girls caught his intent quickly enough, and with a wide grin, Shiro approached the exit, guarded by Lord Vasseur's knights, the man himself standing among them, watching the ongoing sack of the palace with visible dissatisfaction but knowing better than to intervene too directly.
"I see you've safely recovered your sister, Mistress Anya."
"Yes," Anya said.
"It's a shame you had to endure such barbarity from my fellow nobles, who ought to know better. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive the nobility as a whole," he said to Vanya. "Not all of us carry greed and pride in our hearts. Many of us genuinely wish for the good of our people."
"I don't doubt that, Lord Vasseur," Anya said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, my sister needs rest."
"Understandable. May I ask where you'll be resting?"
"By resting, I mostly meant getting away from all this. I was thinking of leaving the city, actually, since we've been stuck here so long."
"Oh."
"That wouldn't be a problem, would it?" she asked.
He spared a brief, shy glance at Chaska, then lingered a moment longer on Shiro, taking in the guns strapped to his back and waist, and the hard-to-miss massive rolled carpet balanced on his shoulder.
"Liked the tapestry. Saw people taking things, figured I'd grab one too. Hope you don't mind," Shiro said.
"Not at all. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't take more, given your contribution today. In fact, if you'd like—"
"Sorry to interrupt, Lord Vasseur, but we're in a bit of a hurry. Another time, perhaps?"
"Of course," the noble said, masking his disappointment at being cut off fairly well. "Another time."
"Sure," Shiro said, falling in behind Anya, who led the way. The moment they were out of sight of the noble and his guard, Chaska tossed the rolled painting off to the side. "Phew. See? Told you it'd work."
Both girls responded with pure scorn. "All that sweat for a megalomaniac bitch," Chaska cursed, earning a nod from Anya. "I was impressed earlier. Now I'm disappointed in you," she said.
"Same here," Anya agreed.
Vanya said nothing, but she too clearly disapproved of the whole plan, having spent the last stretch wrapped inside a rug and carried out like an ordinary carpet with nothing inside it.
"Hope you're satisfied now."
"Since I've apparently already been voted the villain here," Shiro said, "the answer's no. Not satisfied yet. Now follow me for our last adventure of the night."
Shiro's next two stops weren't ones he didn’t dare to take the two feisty women to entirely on foot, which was why his first order of business after announcing that was finding a carriage.
He eventually found a driver willing to accept the strange offer of dropping them off just outside the city's eastern wall, and once close enough, had them let out there, which earned him another round of complaints, including from the girl who’d been so far silent, most likely understanding Shiro was on her side compared to the rest of the crew.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"Shut it."
"Don't make me shoot you."
"Ladies, calm down. It's right here," he said, gesturing ahead. It was night, so it took some effort to make out the silhouette, well hidden under its cover, one he took particular pleasure in pulling off. "Ta-daaam."
"What is that?"
"That, dear Anya, is without a doubt my greatest, and easily most stressful, purchase to date."
"Nazim," Chaska immediately guessed.
"This thing cost me three of my precious crimson gems, for context it’s a lot, but Nazim had promised it'd be worth every penny," he said, opening the door of the car.
Apparently, the kobold had delivered it as part of some existing but rarely used service for transporting things too large to simply pull from the back of the shop.
Getting the girls into the Juggernaut, Nazim's name for what Shiro's mind recognized as a Humvee, proved to be no small task. Nobody wanted to sit next to the captured girl, so eventually they compromised and all three squeezed into the back together.
As Shiro turned the key and the engine roared to life, he asked, "So, ladies, where to next?"