A Distant Reverie

Chapter 58

The air reeked of ferric musk. Ashen fume rose, blackening the grim skies in ominous plumes. Stunned silence hung over the ruins of Kalinga's lower district. Sporadic flames fizzled across the razed wreckage of the tightly cluttered buildings. Corpses slewed the street, mixed with the rubble and conflagrated remains of what used to be a bustling district.

This was the aftermath of Eden's rampage. The cultists had emerged from the forest. Like famished wolves, they pounced upon the civilians, tearing through the streets with merciless voracity. A massacre ensued.

Duke Calon stared at the carnage. His hands held a sword and shield, bathed in the bloodied dregs of the innumerable dead cultists sprawled before him. He gave his sword a light swing. A deluge of blood sprayed on the ground.

If he was disturbed by what he saw, his sharp, unwavering eyes betrayed no such signs.

"Duke! Reporting!" A soldier rushed across the ruins with a salute. He bore the insignia of an eagle on his chest—the coat of arms signifying his fealty to House Raden.

"Speak."

"All cultists have been subjugated, including the three ogres."

"Good. And what of the casualties?"

"The civilian numbers are being tallied at this moment. House Raden suffered forty deaths. And House Pavolia," the soldier paused for a moment. His face hardened as if the news was difficult to convey. "...they were nearly wiped out by the ogres."

"I see. A shame," Duke Calon frowned, "House Pavolia was by no means weak."

He glanced down at his blood-stained hands. The mere remembrance of those monsters invoked a visceral reaction out of him. It took a conscious effort to stop his hands from trembling in front of his men.

To think Eden's abominations would step foot into Kalinga. Luckily, the knowledge that Alice brought back was accurate. If anything, her description understated the terror of those monsters.

"You're dismissed," Duke Calon said to the soldier. He sheathed his sword and moved towards the makeshift camp that had been set up for the campaign. The subjugation was complete, but there was a mountain amount of work that remained to be done. On the top of the priority list was the treatment of injured civilians, providing relief supplies, and beginning the restoration efforts of the ruined district.

Although, if Eden is here, then what of Her Highness' expedition team?

Duke Calon opened his tent, still in deep thought. His eyes suddenly narrowed, noticing a faint footprint embedded on the ground. The size of it the mark was too small to be his.

"It's me."

The lamp inside his tent suddenly lit up. A young lady was sitting on the floor. Disheveled hair caked in grease dangled to her shoulders. Her body, covered in torn rags, was smeared in dried blood and dirt. It would have been easy to mistaken her as a resident of the slums, if it weren't for the pair of sharp emerald eyes peering intently beneath the dim light.

"Alice?" The young lady replied with a wry smirk upon being addressed. Duke Calon continued, "Why are you back?"

"An awfully cold reception, don't you think? Especially after I fought tooth and nail just to finally get back here." Her voice possessed her usual coquettishness, but it was unusually coarse and raspy.

"It's not exactly a paradise in Kalinga right now," Duke Calon said, narrowing his eyes. If she's here, then— "Did the expedition team fail?"

"Good question. I'm not sure. They made it to the base of Mount Iya before I was forced to split off."

"And why is that?"