The Wrong Hero

Chapter 39 - Consequences

"Is this everyone?"

Dante looked around at everyone his party was able to find in Reichnott's lands. There was a scattering of the dead lord's knights and a few dozen citizens. One detail that didn't escape Dante's sight was the races of those who remained. All of the knights were human, as Reichnott never had any demi-human knights. Fiadia was the only warrior under him that was a demi-human. There were other humans that lived on his lands, but they were all dead.

Fiadia had told them what happened before they arrived. Recently, the lords neighboring Reichnott had settled down their disputes over Idol's former lands. That was only because Aultcray had appointed someone there, one of Idol's distant relatives, which also got Idol's former knights to stop their banditry. Involvement from the crown was enough to get everyone to back off. One, it seemed, was dissatisfied to not gain anything.

The knights that attacked were from that lord's—or, rather, baroness's—lands. There were carriages near the edge of the village that were being filled with the demi-humans living here. It didn't look like they were trying to take everyone, though. Anyone who fought back, or were too much of a hassle to capture, were simply killed. The humans were easy enough to be labeled as demi-human sympathizers and executed, it seemed.

Kaethe, Rokkar and his son, Imiya...all dead.

All the people Dante had led here, aside from Tolly, were dead. All the people that were first held in Ronota were now killed because of him. He knew he wasn't directly responsible, but that didn't remove the sting. He did set into motion what led to this. Killing Idol was one of the best things they had done, and it was once again proving to have caused more problems than it solved.

"Alright...Alright. Let's figure out what to do next." Dante needed to keep such thoughts out of his mind. For now, at least. That baroness needed to be dealt with, now.

"We need to get these people somewhere safe." Sadeena swept her arm toward the survivors. "I don't detect any, but more knights might come."

"That'll be difficult." Dante said, remembering the situation. Night had already come. Escorting the entire group somewhere was doable, though it invited trouble. "Actually..."

Dante viewed his portal locations. He had seven saved at the moment, due to him powering up the skill with the Staff and Claw. For most of the people here, only two locations could be called safe: Othil and Siltvelt. Zeltoble was possible, but the current location was where the wave just happened. It was also filled with adventurers who took part in a wave to gain riches. Dante could see more than a few trying to sell these villagers into slavery. Faubrey was also a possibility, since he got the spot from Lloyd.

He explained his idea to the survivors. Dante would be able to send them off while remaining here, letting him repeat the transportation more quickly. The knights were offered this too, since their lord was dead. Most accepted.

"Fiadia?" Dante asked the rabbit woman. She had kept close to Reichnott's body, which Dante had pulled from the manor before it burned down.

"Yes, Sir Shield Hero?" She eventually responded, keeping her eyes on her dead lord.

"A few of the people want to go to Siltvelt. I'd like you to go with them." He would be sending Fohl back with the first group to explain what happened to Eclair. Hopefully, she'd be able to work something out without drawing too much ire from the nobles about what happened. While these lands weren't specifically designated for demi-humans, its destruction wouldn't be taken lightly. Dante could try to smooth things over once he returned.

"...What about the woman responsible for this?" She turned to look at him.

"She won't see the next sunrise." Dante promised her.