The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

98 - Into The Skies - Part 1

Before anything else, I want to declare that taking Peony off hunting was done in a tipsy and spiteful moment. I knowingly gave him an assignment he could never complete.

First of all, it won't be more than a month before we arrive, and he has to make friends with 99 people. This is a neigh impossible thing even without the time constraint, but this is Peony we are talking about.

Oh he certainly tried in the beginning, but Peony's actions up until now has consequences. Not everyone are ready to forgive him... no, perhaps that is the wrong way to say it.

Peony is someone that didn't care for them before. He had no interest in them, he didn't share or help if it didn't do him good... people remember that... and all of them heard about Peony's predicament. To them, he is only approaching them because there is a benefit in it for him, and many of them probably suspect he will forget about them the moment he gets what he wants.

Of course it is possible to overcome this, but not for this many people in this little time, and not for someone that makes his 'concern' sound like an insult.

Now, that aside, it has taken us nine days to pass through the Plymfell swamplands. We finally arrived at the foot of the Ice-Crowned Heights; The artificially built mountains that form a natural barrier at our south part of our eastern border. The south part of the border is the least prepared for defense exactly because of these artificial mountains, but also because of the Plymfell Swamplands.

"Aaaarghhh!"

A frustrated scream comes from Spence, who has a snake dangling with a hiss from his heavily padded gambeson.

"This is like the fortieth time!" Just to show that he isn't lying, he grabs the snake efficiently behind the head and forces its jaw open.

"Who has the snake bag?"

I'm not sure who started this... but they made a bag of all the small snakes that jump them... I am not sure why they don't just kill them... but I see no big harm in letting them do this. The bag is looking kind of heavy by now though.

Since we are finally on dry ground, people have started emptying their boots for water and wring their socks with... vague hope that it will dry before tomorrow. I decided that it was better to give them rest before we start climbing the mountains. Going up there wet will get us killed too. Our fire blessed knights are doing their best to roast people's boots every night, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Interestingly, it seems like Darius is slowly beginning to settle into using a sword and shield as his main weapons. Yes, I count the shield as a weapon too. After seeing men crush jaws with the top of a shield, bash them with both the flat side, but certainly also the bottom side, I am convinced it counts perfectly as a weapon. At least, that is apparently the general use of them in our armies, part offense, part defense. Darius has yet to properly get a hang of the offense part, but just working on his basics seems to help out with how everyone else views him.

As an example of the improvement, Darius gets little hints and tricks from the ones that specialize in sword and shield. This includes Asher, Mike and Rudder. Vitis is too busy trying to help Peony. If nothing else, I admire Vitis' determination to make Peony a part of the group, though, I doubt Peony will stick with this friend making task for long... no, more importantly... I wish I'd gotten to see Peony and the others fight the huge snake. I only heard what happened, but that doesn't give the full picture...

At least Peony doesn't seem to be the type to retreat when he feels overpowered, so that is good. If he was the type to neither attach himself to people nor fight if he felt overwhelmed, then we would have a catastrophe at hand.

Both of those things aren't things that can be fixed over a couple weeks. I'm not a social magician. Furthermore, it's not battle fatigue, or fear of losing someone. He has no reaction towards fights or sounds, and he cannot relate to someone that has these problems. I'm not sure where that leaves him...

...

Peony aside again, it won't take that long before the non-combatants reach the meeting point. They'll bring food and weapons to the Tepet army, but that is about all. Even worse, Helena is likely going to be a pain to deal with. She might actually get locked up in a tower if they have one.

Hopefully she won't get herself killed as she tries to find Jesmaine.

—-*—-

The next morning most of our things have dried, and we are ready to head off into the mountains. My unit takes the role as vanguard, with Vitis and Asher taking point so they can use their earth magic to make us a path into the mountains.

As one last thing as we are about to leave, the bag of snakes get brought out and opened before turned upside down to set all of the snakes free again...

"We leave the defense of this area to you!"

One of the knights tell the group of snakes.

"Don't let them take a step into the swamp without bitten thighs or ankles! For Ristaze!"

"For Ristaze!" A few more people join in, and the snakes just hiss at them before slithering back into the water... interestingly the snakes don't get angry with each other on the way.

...I decide to write the behavior of the knights off as young men having fun and head to the front. With a light shake of my head and a grin I can't subdue.

"Peony!" I call out to grab the pink haired man's attention. He looks both dissatisfied and a tad excited at the same time.

"Get up front right behind Asher and Vitis," I order him and glance to the rest of the knights. Most of them seem to dread the cold already, and I don't blame them. I'm not all that fond of mountains either. Peony's fire bird flies into the air curiously, and I feel Lumere taking an ice shape as he crawls into my gear instead of floating around.

Out of apparently nowhere a myriad of small animals joins us, and it's everything from hawks, squirrels and even a bear cub. The only thing they all have in common is that they have visible elemental traits. The low ranked faeries have come out, and it seems that their presence calms down a bit of unrest. I guess that makes sense. Who wouldn't feel a little intrigued watching a hawk not kill a squirrel.

"Everyone ready?" I call down the line patiently, and let each squad leader make sure their group is ready.

"Unit 10 ready!" Comes from the back.

"Unit 9 ready!" I like having them say it in this order since I have a somewhat grasp on the units closer to me. Once each of the ten squads have confirmed that they are ready to set off, we start the steep walk into the mountains.

"My Lady..." Asher says hesitantly as we start walking.

"Will we be in time?" Certainly this route is slower than going there directly.

"The Tepet army was designed to outlast and exhaust the enemy. No matter the numbers the enemy has, it will take time to get past them."

Believe me, I've seen what those specialized in defending walls can do. Those people could lose an arm, and they wouldn't die before they chop you into pieces. Much like our berserkers, but... just without going berserk.

The Tepet army will last until we get there, and we will kill as many Headal soldiers as possible before they figure us out.

But first, into the snow.

Go on Peony, show us what you are like in your prime element.