Suikoden VI

Chapter Nine: Part Two

Note: I may or may not be getting surgery in the upcoming weeks, so I wanted to get this out on time in preparation.

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Part Two

Three days later...

Blood Fest proved to be a subdued affair in Nagarea. News had quickly spread of the ambush on the Liberation Army Headquarters and despite the fact that the Liberation Army were seen as evil incarnate in defiance of Nagar, many citizens were not pleased that the ambush occurred on the day of calm before Blood Fest. The general census was that the Theocracy should have waited until the day of Blood Fest to carry out this attack. And the failure of the attack seemed like divine retribution for defying Nagar.

The High Clerics and the Matron though, despite expecting a victory from the ambush, anticipated the negative response from the public and quickly found a scapegoat (a hapless cleric in the capital) to torture and execute as the sole responsible party for this mess. This worked to quell most of the population though, and many were satisfied to blame a singular person than the High Clerics who spoke to Nagar Himself.

Morale was low however amongst the loyalist population, as the Theocracy had lost their mightiest Sheikh to the Liberation Army. Morale within the Liberation Army, however, was at a record high.

"Is it safe for us to talk?" Bax asked.

"Oh sure," Sanji reassured him calmly. "We cut off the line of communication to...wherever that pipe led to."

"B-But aren't we sort of responsible for what happened? Since we announced our Army's plans like this?"

"How is it our fault?" Gertrude asked in a gravelly voice. "Lord Daunte doesn't blame us, and that's enough for me."

"Yes, we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful leader like Lord Daunte," Sanji said cheerfully.

"Yeah, except when everyone turned on him for sparing Sloan Faakhir!" Bax added obliviously.

"...Bax, you will never be popular here."

"Aw, how come?!"

Daunte rubbed at his forehead as he straightened and looked at his surroundings. The five platforms were filled with figurines, and around him children grabbing figurines and playing with them. "...Wow."

"Brother, you got so many!" Arin gushed, smiling as he held Riou in one hand and Miakis in the other. "How many more figurines do you need?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Daunte admitted aloud. "It looks like though I may complete the Gate Rune War first and possibly the Islands Federation War last."

"Ooh, I wonder what will happen when you complete a set!"

Probably nothing, Daunte thought but he kept it to himself. "I'm going to go check on Sloan and then go see Oboro. Would you like to come with me?"

"Oh, I—Kibbeh!" Arin shouted when the little dog jumped up onto the Dunan Unification War platform. He grabbed Shiro in his mouth and took off running. "Kibbeh, get back here!" Arin took off running after him.

Hopefully he brings it back in one piece, Daunte thought dryly.

"Hey Lord Daunte, could you tell Mooney to make a figurine of Isato?" Freyr asked him. He was holding his father's figurine in his hand. "Aunt Haswar sent Silvano a letter asking for one, but I overheard him telling Israfil that he never sees Isato in the shop."