“Hey if we could move Gwendal to a different body, can’t we do the same with them?”

  Asked Adele as we headed out of the experimentation room, she’s right, maybe there’s still a way to save the children!

  “We ck bodies even if we take ALL of the kids that are in tubes”

  “But we could save some! Adele, could you bring them here!?”

  “Of course!”

  They’re not fighting back like the piggy so it should be easier, I pced my hand gently on one of the kids and tried my best to do as I did moments before, I felt around and even other me helped but, no matter how much we walked on that empty void, we found no one to pull with us back this time...

  “It’s useless...”

  “Their souls already left us, there’s nothing we can do for them...”

  “If you knew this already why didn’t you tell me beforehand Celestial!”

  “Would you have stopped trying even if I told you”

  “*Sigh* No, I guess not”

  As I was thinking that Adele came marching with the other corpses, it’s slightly perturbing so I told her it was pointless, and if she could put them back.

  “Sorry...”

  “It’s ok! You did what you could Marisa, don’t worry about it!”

  And so we walked outside Adele, Celestial, the piggy and me dragging the priest up the stairs, he went around leaving a trail of blood but it’s not like I care, let him be bonked on every step of the way up, we got up and the chapel was a mess from our fight but everyone is missing, I’m guessing they headed outside? I can’t bme them, I wouldn’t want to be in this pce for a minute longer.

  Speaking of the piggy, he’s in quite the shock of the current situation. Let's give him a moment to collect his composure, that’s why neither of us is saying anything to him for now, there will be a time for all of that.

  We headed outside, into the gardens of the walled gothic church where everyone was regrouping and catching their bearings. I already knew they moved location from their presence but I see that not everyone is here, at least I feel like I’m missing people.

  For now let’s ask around at the first adult I could find, he told me that they left home, I have no clue on who did but, if they can manage to survive and carry on on their own, that might be the best possible outcome, not that many people is missing anyways, I still see a lot of kids, honestly I’m unaware of the quantity but it seems the orphanage people are all here.

  “EVERYONE, PLEASE GATHER UP, THERE’S SOMETHING I NEED TO TALK TO WITH ALL OF YOU!”

  I gave my command, to which everyone gathered around me, it never occurred to me that now everyone’s situation it’s even worse than before since they’re all homeless, for now I break down the terrible news to them.

  “What do we do now!?”

  “It’s ok guys, for now I’ll take you to the pace, we’ll think about what to do tomorrow, for now I think everyone deserves some rest”

  “WE DON’T NEED YOUR PITY ANYMORE!”

  Said one of the adults, proceeding to toss a stone at me, which turned into a small riot, some whoever were trying to calm them down, since this is only agitating the kids more, I need to give them peace of mind somehow, I know it’s impossible with the current situation but.

  “Please, I will make things right, so give me a chance!”

  I said, bowing down my head, it seemed to be enough since everyone went silent for a second, I sometimes forget my position. It's important or something, not that I care that much to be honest, as long as we can fix this mess, everything else it’s irrelevant.

  In the end, the adults all agreed, as for the pregnant woman and the other prisoners, they’ll come by as well, they’re all not doing too well, and, we’ll have to find them shelter as well.

  After the little speech and leaving everyone time to get ready for our departure, I looked at the one girl I’ve been avoiding eye contact with the whole time, mostly because I didn’t want to see her disappointed face about me...

  I went to see Lassie, she’s crying while holding her kids close to her, they’re all clumped together in a ball...

  “Lassie, I’m so sorry!”

  I then rushed to hug her as well, along with the rest of her kids, now that it’s a more private conversation with just us two and her kids, I could finally get this off my chest.

  “It’s all my fault! If only I were a bit faster! If only I did something yesterday! I’m so sorry!”

  I could see her crying silently, I understood her pain, even if a little, everyone here lost someone dear to them and it’s all my fault, for now Lassie accepted my hug as well, and we stood there in silent for a moment, I managed to hold down my own water works but my eyes feel ever so slightly moist, I’m not even gonna lie.

  ...

  ...

  “Adele, Celestial, can you take care of things here for a moment, I need to coordinate back at the pace”

  “O-of course!”

  “No problem, leave it to us”

  “Thanks!”

  And so I teleported back to the pace, only to find my room made a mess and what seems to be clearly signs of a fight.

  Are you fucking kidding me, can’t I catch a break!? I still feel Heather, Rushka, and Ellie’s presence in the pace so I immediately went to where they were, only to find Ellie and Heather sitting on the infirmary while Rushka was on the bed.

  “What happened!? Is everyone ok!?”

  “Marisa!”

  Heather hugged me as soon as she saw me, I could feel Rushka’s relief as soon as she saw me as well.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No, we’re all fine Marisa, Rushka has a broken rib but outside of that, we’re all ok!”

  “Oh, I’m so gd!”

  For now I went to Rushka and used healing magic on her torso, all the while Heather quickly briefed me on the situation, it seems they got attacked by assassins but Heather managed to take them all down, Rushka and Ellie helped.

  “And you? What happened to the fires?”

  “They’re all under control, I came to organize as well, and the pace knights?”

  “Organize? The knights must be carrying out your orders, no?”

  Ah right, I did told them to help in any way they could, for now I expined the situation to them, I omitted the grim details since Ellie is here, but it seems both of them got the gist of it from my tone of voice and grimace, I don’t want to leave them alone anymore however, what if they suffer another attack and-

  “Go”

  “Eh!?”

  “I can see it in your face dear, we’ll be fine on our own, there’s other people that need you right?”

  “Heather, Rushka...”

  “We’ll be ok, I’ll protect everyone if needed!”

  “Un! And take care honey, we will make do here somehow!”

  “Un, me three sister Mari!”

  “You girls, Ellie, if someone suspicious comes, punch them real hard, can you do that for me?”

  “Un!”

  “Marisa!”

  “Ellie is growing up and is probably physically stronger than you now Heather, let her help as well”

  I trust her, she’s a good kid and have a pure heart, I’m sure if they worked together as sisters no one would stand a chance, for now I said my farewells quickly, and tried to look for Doe in town, tracking people is easier when the town doesn’t smell of smoke or it’s overpowered by a strong smell of blood.

  By that I mean it didn’t take long for him to appear, which means he didn’t got very far or so I thought, I asked him for a report and he quite skillfully gave me an overview of the operation, the groups he sent around the city and what seems to be the basic reaction of town, it seems to be all in order, which is the silver lining of this whole mess!

  “Thank you so much for your hard work Doe, but I need the help of the knights”

  “Of course Midy! We’re here to serve!”

  “Thanks, the short story is, I found the orphans, they were kidnapped by the church and we need to escort them to the pace, can you help me with that?”

  I would teleport them but there’s too many people for me to do it without Rushka’s wood ptform, and maybe Celestial could do it but, if she can’t for some reason, we’re stuck a bit.

  “Of course! I will send the knights to the town’s church! The western one Right?”

  “Yeah! and send a couple of them back to the pace to tell the maids and butlers to prepare, we’re gonna receive a lot of people after all, and there was also an attack at the pace as well, so we can’t leave it completely empty”

  “An attack! Is Heather ok!?”

  “Yeah, she managed to sort things out and come out unscathed, just tired, and Rushka got a broken rib but it seems to be fine, still, you get the situation I hope”

  “Of course! I will gather all the knights and march after dispatching a couple generals to the pace!”

  “Correct, thanks Doe, I have to go back to the church, see you there!”

  And so I headed back to the church, jumping through the top of the houses in town, only to find the angel girl on top of the roof, looking up at the moon, she only turned to look at me once she realized my presence!

  “YOU!”

  She simply stared at me, her eyes completely void of light, and crying without stopping.

  “Demon...”

  “What are you pnning?”

  “I... didn’t know any of this... I simply entered the chapel and! AND THEN EVERYONE WAS! EVERYONE!!”

  She literally broke down, it’s quite the sight seeing how she was always so haughty, now reduced to a quivering crying mess, she’s leaving feathers all on top of the church roof, she’s simply holding her face with her hands as she wept.

  “Lack of knowledge doesn’t exempt you of your involvement, you’re an accomplice, whether you like it or not”

  “I KNOW! I... I’m ready to face my punishment, whatever it might be...”

  And then she simply handed me her hands, like if she was trying to make me handcuff her.

  I really don’t get her, but it looks like she’s really sorry about what she did seeing how she’s completely demoralized, at least she didn’t seem to be lying, so for now I gestured her to get down, I don’t have anything to apprehend her so if she can come along willingly, then that’s fine by me.

  We’ll deal with her ter, for now I ordered her to sit next to the asshole priest. He's passed out probably from shock and blood loss, but he's still alive, for now that is. All we can do is wait for the knights, I expined this to everyone and they agreed to wait for a while.

  Eventually they arrived followed by quite a few carriages, which is perfect for transportation, we started to load people in, mostly kids and people that couldn’t travel on foot, they’re the priority, and everyone agreed with me, it’s obvious we can’t all go in the carriages so the rest of us continued our way back to the pace walking.

  We finally left this nightmarish church, not before the pace knights pced both the angel dy and the priest under arrest, one of them took them back to the pace dungeons on horseback, I asked Celestial to accompany them just in case.

  She teleported them instead, I need to have a very serious talk with her once this settles down, wasn’t the piggy on her watch? Why is it that she’s always missing when things happen, I cannot keep chalking it up to her personal affairs, this is clearly affecting more and more people, that’s-

  “Marisa”

  “Adele, what’s up?”

  I was interrupted mid thoughts, it seems Adele wants to talk to me, she took her staff and did a spell, but I can’t tell what she’s doing right now.

  “This spell?”

  “It’s for privacy, this way no one but us two can hear what we say!”

  “Convenient, I might need to learn this ter”

  “I can teach you the spell no problem”

  “That can wait, what’s on your mind?”

  “I know you’re hurt about what happened but... do you believe people can be brought back to life?”

  “I... don’t know, maybe? magic exists, surely there has to be a way right?”

  Was she reading my thoughts? I hadn’t given up on those kids of the church, still, prioritizing the living ones is still the number one concern.

  “Well, truth be told I... I’ve never told this to anyone but, throughout my whole life, I’ve been researching for this exact same reason!”

  “I see, have you managed to achieve resurrection?”

  I already know the answer, if she could, she would have already done so back at the church, she simply looked at the ground and confirmed what I already guessed.

  “B-but I won’t be discouraged, plus we now have a BIG lead that it might be possible!”

  She said, pointing at the little girl that used to be the piggy, I didn’t let him get in with the rest of the kids, he will walk back, whether he likes it or not.

  “It’s a bit different, no? Piggy was technically still alive”

  “But it proves that as long as there’s a suitable body, then it should be doable!”

  “A bit of an unhinged thought, but that could work. We would still be deciding someone’s life is more important than someone else’s, it’s a slippery slope!”

  “I know, no one should know about this, that’s why I’m asking you directly”

  “What is your pn Adele?”

  “Would you let me keep Gwendal to study? Maybe I can find something out with the first example I’ve found of such a phenomenon!”

  “Sure, but not right now, Celestial still needs him for information and other things, once she’s done with him, he’s all yours”

  “O-ok! Thank you Marisa!”

  “It’s not free, I want the results of your research”

  “I know, I will inform you of anything I can find!”

  “Thanks, let’s make it official then, you’re in charge of the magic department research”

  “I didn’t know that existed!”

  “It didn’t, I just created it”

  That way I can keep tabs on Adele since she just informed me of something really disturbing that she does, it would expin all the corpses and bones she uses in most of her spells, she’s an undead I can’t bme her for it, but it’s better to let this things be supervised than shun them and risk cndestinity, let me warn her though.

  “This is a secret between us two, not a single word to anyone else, understood?”

  “Clear as water!”

  Well that’s that, and speaking of the piggy, it seems he was curious since we pointed at him. The moment I finished talking with Adele, he approached me with a concerned face.

  “What happened, exactly?”

  “You saw the disaster in that basement as well right?”

  “Yeah...”

  “The orphans were kidnapped and used as sacrifice”

  “I... I had no clue the church was doing such an outrageous deed”

  “You lied, but not entirely, you knew of the church and their little monsters, you used one as well”

  “Yes, but I had no idea they were using orphaned kids of all people for them!”

  That second part was not a lie, it seems he was just partly aware of their monstrosities.

  “That doesn’t exempt you either, I want you to look closely at everyone here”

  The adults walking with us, their gaze fixated to nothingness, the kids turned into an uncontrolble sea of tears, they all walked defeated and without any hope for the future.

  “Every single one of them it’s a victim of your negligence, a lot of innocent people died, their blood is on OUR hands”

  I emphasized that word, I am not bmeless in this either.

  “I-it’s not my fault”

  “You did nothing to stop the church, even though you knew they were creating monsters and they might be sacrificing people for them, you can’t say that your bmeless, as a ruler, doing nothing it’s the same as allowing it to happen”

  “...”

  “Even you were a victim, you died, right now you’re no different than all of the people you see here, you’re just an orphan girl, like the rest of them”

  Maybe if the piggy understands the situation he’ll be able to at least reflect on his actions, I hope that’s the case since he’s just staring at the ground once again.

  It took a while but we all reached the entrance of the pace, Adele intercepted me before entering.

  “Marisa, I have to, you know, will you be fine without me for a bit?”

  “Adele, I get it, thank you so much for your help, I will make do”

  “It’s nothing! We’re friends right! I couldn’t sit down and ignore the situation either”

  “Thanks! I mean it, from the bottom of my heart”

  I hugged Adele, only for her to hug me back.

  “It was nothing, really”

  “Still, feel free to stay over at the pace as well if you want to move in, or visit whenever you want, you’re always welcome”

  “I... I’m gonna be honest, I feel like I used almost all of my mana and as undead I will just scare the kids further probably, I’d like to help you more but I feel like I’ll just be a burden right now”

  “You’re never a burden! Still, feel free to go back to rest as well, thank you for everything Adele”

  “I’ll take your word, I’ll come back tomorrow to help though! Just, it’s been a long night”

  “Yes, thank you once again, good night Adele”

  “Good night Marisa”

  And like that, Adele disappeared back into the darkness of the night.

  For now, finally we’re at the pace, I went around and checked on the kids. Every guest room it’s jam packed, there’s kids sleeping in whatever bnkets and pillows we could find just id on the floor, the exhaustion must have been too much for them, the ones that could even sleep that is, there’s still a lot of people too traumatized to do so.

  Even though dawn will break in a couple of hours, even if just now, please rest easy everyone.

  ...

  ...

  “And the piggy?”

  “Celestial? He’s asleep with the rest of the orphans”

  He fell asleep with the rest of the children, it’s obvious this was a taxing experience, even for him, so I let him rest for a moment.

  “Wake her up, we have to interrogate her”

  “Right, I’ll go get him, and try not to wake the other kids up”

  He’s in the body of a kid, but unlike the rest of them, he doesn’t deserve any peace of mind.

  “Hey”

  “Wha!? Marisa!!”

  “Shh... there’s kids sleeping, now come”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “To a private room, now come”

  I then took him to the dungeons, which it’s the only pce where there aren't any kids or visitors.

  “I knew it! You’ll just torture me again!”

  “Chill, I would’ve taken you to a living room, but there’s too many people in the pace right now”

  “What do you want?”

  “Nothing from me right now but-”

  “Speak up, what’s your deal with those two hooded people!”

  “What!? Again with that! Oh wait, I can tell you now right?”

  “Yes, now speak”

  “HA! I won’t say, unless you listen to my conditions”

  “Fair enough”

  Celestial then pced her hand on top of the piggy, and then used a magic spell that I have no idea what it does, but the piggy started screaming in pain, I’m guessing it is simir to the brain scramble she did with me the day we met?

  “Phew, that’s all? Well it helped a bit”

  “What did you do?”

  “Simply put, I used magic to read his memories, I couldn’t do it before since the curse would kill him if I access his memory, but now I could do it without restraint”

  “That so? What did you find”

  “Nothing particurly useful, just his deals with the other two guys, surprisingly he didn’t knew too much either, but I did find out a base of operations, where he did met with them, it’s a pce to start our investigation”

  “Oh! Well it’s a good enough start”

  “Yes, now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go there right now, can I leave you alone for a bit”

  “Hmm, not for long, I need to have a talk with you”

  “Can it wait? I don’t want to give them time to realize their hideout has been compromised and let them leave”

  “Right, ok then, do you need my help?”

  “Thanks, but I’m fine alone, I’ll be more at ease that way”

  And like that, she left, not before looking at the piggy and telling him ‘disgusting’, I wonder what she saw in his memories.

  “Ouch! Ouch! My head!”

  “You should’ve listen to celestial, she’s way scarier than me you know”

  “You’re both monsters...”

  “Well then, it seems celestial it’s done with you”

  “Can I finally go?”

  “Where?”

  “I uh... hmm...”

  “Whatever, go back to sleep for now, I’m sure you’re tired, but tomorrow morning you’re gonna help around”

  And be Adele’s guinea pig whenever she comes back.

  For now I headed to the roof balcony, to find a moment of reflection, fortunately there was no one here, or so I thought.

  “Is everything ok Marisa?”

  “Heather, Rushka, yeah, I’m fine...”

  “You don’t sound fine”

  “I can’t hide anything from you two huh?”

  “Well, we are your wives you know”

  “Yeah... it’s just, I feel like I screwed up, big times”

  “Marisa...”

  “It wasn’t your fault, you did what you could”

  “Still, it wasn’t enough, maybe if I pushed the church on the first visit a bit more, I would’ve been able to save everyone...”

  “You cannot change the past Marisa, all we can do it’s to ensure that it doesn’t happen again”

  “...”

  “And hey, if you ever need us, we’ll be standing next to you, and support you in what we can!”

  “Thanks... maybe you’re right”

  “Cmon, cheer up! This isn’t the same you as always! The Marisa I know wouldn’t let this get to her head!”

  “Heather... right...”

  I simply gave a deep breath, here in the balcony with Heather and Rushka, and thumped my chest with my fist.

  “Right! There’s a lot to do! For one we have to rebuild the orphanages, find a pce to live for all the refugees, oh! And go back to pick the corpses, let’s give them a proper burial and send off!”

  The two of them just smiled at me.

  “Right away”

  It’s gonna be a busy few days! But I will make things right again!

  —————————————————————————————————————————

  ***Gwendal’s POV***

  What does that bitch think of me! Doing as she pleases and ordering me around, I’ll get my revenge one day! I swear on my name! You’ll rue the day you messed with the great Gwendal!

  Sigh... still, I do feel really tired just from walking across town, this new body it’s very pathetic, I’m sure they turned me like this just to mock me!

  “Oh! Alfred!”

  “Eh?”

  “Good to see you! For now-“

  “Excuse me girl, I don’t have the time to py, now if you’ll excuse me”

  “Hey! Wait!”

  “What is it? Shouldn’t you be asleep? Go with the other kids!”

  “No! You-”

  “Seriously, that wench of Marisa doing what she wants, still, I do feel bad for the orphans, fine, I’ll take you to the room at least”

  “Listen to me! I-“

  “Yeah yeah, off you go little girl”

  “I’m telling you!”

  “I don’t have time for this, leave me alone! Where is your caretaker!?”

  “Would you just listen!? I’m-”

  “Yeah, yeah, I get it, I swear to god!”

  ...

  ...

  That stupid alfred! You’re my retainer for fucks sake! At least listen to me!

  What’s his deal! He literally gave me a coin and told me to fuck off I-

  “Baby, are you ok?”

  “Eh?”

  “I don’t recognize you, from which orphanage were you from?”

  “Orphanage?”

  “Hmm... oh! You must’ve been from under the church... why are you up, can’t sleep?”

  What’s this guy talking about, no one makes any sense! Just let me-

  “It’s ok baby, everything’s ok, you’re safe now”

  Now this guy I don’t even know it’s hugging me for some reason, do they not know who I am! I can end you guys! I’m lord Gwendal! The son... of...

  ...

  I can’t stop thinking of what that stupid Marisa said, about me being just an orphaned girl right now...

  I...

  I hate to admit it but she’s right! What am I gonna do now!? Is there even something I can do!? Even if I fled to the neighboring towns, would they believe me if I gave my identity?

  Who can I even trust? Not even Alfred listened to me...

  Is it normal to feel this hopeless!? Is there anyone...

  Anyone that would help me...

  “It’s fine, everything’s fine, I’m here for you, we all are”

  I didn’t realize it but a tear fell down from my cheek, I... These past weeks have been nothing but horror, first the interrogations by that haughty dragon, and now this! It’s so frustrating!

  The way this guy rubs my head it’s infuriating as well! I’m not a kid! I’m not...

  but... but thanks anyways...

  In the end, the guy just id me down with a bunch of other girls...

  “Try to get some sleep, you need it”

  I looked around, seeing all these kids, many of them still crying in their sleep...

  I couldn’t help but feel bad for them, now knowing the hopelessness they must feel...

  The bed sucks too! Sleeping on a bnket on the floor!

  Sigh... it’s at least better than the dungeons...

  Joanne_carper