An Englishman in Castle Aincrad

Floor 4 - Chapter 3 - One Day to War

About an hour later...

''I see... So Tuoli saw her mission through to the very end. You did well to bring word of this to me.'' - Kizmel looked down in sadness, at the loss of her pupil.

''We got the Lapis Key back too... and this weird note from the Fallen Elves. You reckon we could use that to stop a full scale confrontation?''

''About that... it would appear that someone has tipped off the general of the Forest Elves about our preparations for battle.''

''Ah. Bugger.'' - Jet summarised their situation in only two words.

''In anticipation, they launched an attack on our forward camp, and... wiped it out. We are expecting them to have been emboldened by this victory, and to push towards here next... Our own general has decided to take a strike team, and attack before they do. I'm afraid it would appear that there is no way to avoid all out war now...''

''You're kidding...''

''(sighs) Just brilliant, that is.'' - Jet held back on his original thought, which was just a stream of profanities...

''The Forest Elves claim we faked taking the Lapis Key, in order to justify an assault on them...''

''And now, you've got the key, so they'll come and fight to get it back, huh.''

''It would seem so, yes. Jet, Koharu, who is this you travel with now?''

''Kizmel, Yuuki. Yuuki, Kizmel. She came to our aid during the battle with the Fallen Elves.''

''She's really something else...''

''Any friend of yours is welcome, you two. Alas, we are in no position to offer any form of hospitality to you.'' - Kizmel became crestfallen, as she understood something - ''Young Tuoli gave her life for this... and yet, we cannot do anything. I am quite ashamed...''

''Kizmel, I was there in Tuoli's final moments. She truly had faith in you, right until the end. I think she found peace of mind, believing you'd know how to set all of this straight.''

''Did she now?...''

''I... maybe it isn't completely hopeless. Not yet, anyway.'' - Jet interjected, having just had the eureka moment they needed.

''It isn't?''

''Maybe there's one last hope. We show the generals the note...'' -

''The general is certainly most understanding. I don't believe that he'd willingly take part in any Fallen Elf plot... but who is the other general?''

''The general of the Forest Elves...''

''Okay then, so we'll let you talk to your general, Kizmel, and we'll go talk to the Forest Elves ourselves! They won't wanna fight in spite of the truth, right?'' - Jet fought back an urge to point out how naïve Yuuki was in that regards. There were always people who didn't care about the truth, and used it as a convenient smokescreen for a good old rumble...

''Hm... No. It is far too risky.''

''If we don't take risks, we'll never stop this war!''

''Kizmel, we know what we're getting ourselves into. Trust us on this one.''

''You speak with such determination... I must say, I find myself ever astounded at your actions, all three of you. But... yes, I cannot let the faith Tuoli put in me be unfounded. We shall try your plan, Jet...

Just over an hour later, Kizmel had returned from her attempt to convince the General to avoid a preemptive strike, with... mixed success. They'd have one day to prevent an all out war...