The Kitsune's Cursed Hero

Chapter 14

Y/n's POV

We had made it down the mountain and were making our way to somewhere else safe before the darkness of night was washed away by an orange color coming from behind us. We turned back seeing the mountain we had just descended set ablaze with orange and yellow flames moving across it in a wave of fire. "That's no ordinary forest fire, is it?" Big sis asked.

"Got that right. I bet Myne's the one behind it. I guess she thinks she can smoke us out." Big brother said.

"I can't believe she'd..." Melty started.

"That fire's going to make its way down the mountain fast. Let's move." Big brother said, walking past everyone. We all turned and followed him as we headed away from the mountain. In the morning, big brother and I headed into the town that was near that mountain. I had used my transformation magic to make me looking like a combination of big brother and big sis, so I was hidden. "Check point's been closed and there are emergency security forces all along the border. Gonna be tough to cross over to Siltvelt for a while, that's for sure. It seems to be the devil of the shield abducted by the little princess Melty and is holding up somewhere around here." The merchant said.

"This should be enough." I said, handing the merchant some money for the supplies. 

"Sure, let me get your change." The merchant said, turning away for a moment. Big brother grabbed the bag before pushing me away from the merchant. We walked away as I heard knights walking up behind us. The two of us headed down the path leading out of town, finding big sis, Filo and Melty waiting for us. They came jogging over to us as I undid my transformation spell. "How'd it go, you two?" Big sis asked. We headed into the woods before talking with everyone. "We should probably give up on going to Siltvelt for a while, anyway. Which means that... Is meeting with the queen our only option like the Shadow told us?" Big brother asked, pulling out a map to look at it.

"What do you intend to do, Naofumi?" Melty asked.

"I guess we're off to meet the queen." Big brother said. We started walking through the region, heading back the way we came, since that's where the queen was. We came up to a small town that had demihumans working in the fields plowing and planting seeds. "There're so many demihumans in this region." Big sis said, looking at all the demihumans. 

"Sure are." Big brother agreed.

"I wonder, oh right. Well, I know the nobleman in charge of this region. He's a good man. He might just be able to help us out." Melty explained.

"A nobleman?" Big brother questioned.

"These days humans treat demihumans like slaves, but in the past some nobility encouraged peaceful relations between the races. The leader of that group was a wonderful man. He was the lord of the domain of Seaetto, but after he died in the first wave, all the nobles who sided with him were banished by father's orders to the most remote regions of the kingdom." Melty explained. I balled my fists up as I clenched my teeth, pissed that the ones who wanted to help demihumans were banished for wanting to be peaceful with the demihumans. "What's the king's problem with demihumans?" Big brother asked. I felt someone rest their hands on my shoulders before I looked up seeing big sis looking sad. "Raphtalia? What's wrong?" Big brother asked. 

"The village my family's from... it was in the Seaetto district." Big sis answered.

"I heard that after the first wave, the Seaetto region was hit by rioters." Melty commented.

"I'm afraid it was. My village was attacked by a mob of Melromarc soldiers, who were totally out of control." Big sis said, as I rested my hands on her's.

"The more I hear about these scum, the more I'm disgusted." Big brother added.

"Me too." I agreed. 

"I'm so sorry." Melty apologized.