"Repeat what you just said about Jeanne D Arc." I demanded.
He took an unconscious step back and I didn't even realize I was nearly in his face. "The Dragon Witch. After she was burned at the stake, they say she was raised from the fires of purgatory itself, wielding the cursed flas as her own. The ones responsible for her death, and even the King himself were all burned in her unholy wrath!"
".....ridiculous." I muttered after understanding his words. "Jeanne D'Arc going on a murder spree?" Just saying it out loud was absurd.
"I'm just telling you what I heard." The man grunted. "And then the flying beasts appeared. And ya just have to look up to the sky to see that sothing is wrong."
Right, from his perspective, I supposed they would believe such a rumor just from the fact that Wyverns appeared that coincided with that stupid rumor. Not to ntion the Ring of Light is noticeable to everyone so that's not helping matters.
Absolutely no way this was Jeanne. The Jeanne I knew was....beyond reproach. Those Angels I t at the Peace conference were less in my eyes in comparison to her.
I was confident that she would erge from the Corrupted Grail's Mud of Rin's Grail War untainted if she were exposed.
But, it wouldn't do any good for to get upset over this. There was obviously sothing wrong, beyond the obvious of this place being a singularity. I would just have to figure out the details myself.
"Shouldn't there have been a treaty signed between the French and English at this point?" I started pacing back and forth, thinking aloud.
At this point in history, I can't say it has overtly significant. It's obviously important enough that a singularity ford a distortion, but compared to other events in the past, it's not very substantial in weight. The only notable occurrence that had ramifications beyond the borders is the ending of the Hundred Year war through an agreent signed by both the English and French Kings.
"The English King bastard died as well." The man spit out. "Good riddance I say. Only good thing the Witch did was scare off them English armies from the lands. If she didn't start burning down cities too then everything woulda been fine."
"....right." I took a mont to process that bit of information as well.
Just going by the process of events, History is entirely fucked up due to this sequence. The English Armies would return, the next heir would swear vengeance and I wouldn't be surprised if the Church joined in due to their people being burned in revenge.
That's not even considering the fact that there are god damn Wyverns flying around in mass enough that people are calling her 'The Dragon Witch'. How long before the Clock Tower of this ti period would get involved?
No wonder this was a point of Singularity in the Tiline.
What a damn ss.
At least everything wasn't literally on fire like Fuyuki.
"You said this Witch was burning down Cities. Can you tell about that?"
He grunted with a nod. "Heard Orleans was burned down by the Witch and she raised a Castle on the ashes. Lyon too, got a couple youngins from over there and they said that the city was mostly destroyed and burned by the witch. And sothing about a Knight protecting them or sothing." He said gruffly. "Nonsense if you ask . Maybe other places too, but we didn't stay to wait. As soon as those monsters appeared, we packed up and ran."
I looked back towards the remainder of the caravan. Probably a dozen or so carts pulled with horses, oxes or donkeys. A lot of them looked held together only by prayers at rely a glance.
"Where are you all going then? If France is suffering at the hands of this Witch with...Dragons that can fly across the land faster than people can flee. Where will you go to escape her?"
He leaned on his spear. "North." He said simply. "Lots O' people saying that the Witch won't go up North, Eastwards that is. They say that the Duchy of Lorraine is safe from her, that for so reason she can't step foot on the land. We are headed for Nancy, the capital city of the Duchy."
"Why did she leave it untouched?" I furrowed my brow. "If she was burning down most of France, from what you said." It didn't make sense. What was there that would keep this supposed Jeanne D Arc at bay? The Holy Roman Empire? Did they set up there and are pushing back against the 'Dragon Witch' and using so of the Church's secret weapons?
They have plenty of weapons stored away that even I would be fearful of.
"Ah don't know myself." He shrugged, not giving it too much thought it seems. "You're welco to co along. I'd be a shit man if I didn't offer our saviors a ride. "Side's, I wouldn't turn down the extra help if you wantin to co along. We be almost to the borders of what's safe. Once we get to the nearby Village, we'll gather so more supplies to make the Journey further North. But don't worry, they say the Wyverns don't dare to co close."
[Master?] Raikou's voice entered my head through our Servant link. [Do you wish to follow? It seems we have an imdiate destination if you want to find the source of the conflict here. However, there is sothing unsettling going on.]
[Let's....get our bearings first. After what happened before, the last thing I want to do is rush into anything at the mont.] I sent back through our link.
"I'll gladly take you up on your offer." I held out my hand and he happily shook it. It seems like he really appreciated the extra help after dealing with those Wyverns. "What's the na of the place we're stopping?" Maybe I could inquire about so things there if they got a bunch of other people traveling through like them.
"Err, what was the na?" He scratched his head. "Damn kids said they got so family there and suggested we stop to refill supplies. D-dum, do...."
I stiffened in realization. "Domrémy?" I offered.
"Ah, that's the one!" He smiled happily.
[Master, why did you react that way after hearing that? Does the na an sothing to you?] Raikou asked.
I supposed most people wouldn't know, especially the peasants of this era as it only got popularized long after her death.
[It's the place of Jeanne's birth...and where her family should still be living.]
"Well, I wouldn't want to keep everyone." I looked up to the sky. There were a few figures miles away in the distance, by the size this far away, I could guess they were more Wyverns, but they didn't seem to be coming our way. "Let's not wait for more of those monsters to co along."
"I'll make sure the others are ready and we will get goin. Should make it there before nightfall." He nodded in appreciation. "You two can get on my cart, I'll take ya there myself." He walked over, patting a nearby cart full of random items tied to it and a horse that looked rather tired.
I climbed into the back without argunt and Raikou soon followed.
Raikou probably sensed my annoyance and discomfort because she pulled down to lean on her shoulder while she took my hand affectionately.
By the sounds of it either Chaldea was keeping a low profile, or they hadn't arrived in the Singularity yet. I would check out this village and see the situation for myself before planning our next move.
[***]
Thankfully, we didn't have to deal with any more problems for the evening. The several hour ride was long and rough, but we finally arrived at what looked like the village.
It was very different seeing it in this era compared to when I took Jeanne to visit her hotown. They called it a village, but perhaps a town might be appropriate.
Atleast, it was bustling enough that it could be mistaken for one. But there also appeared to be a noticeable amount of refugees and travelers camped up in the area.
Not only that, but there was a large wooden wall erected around the periter. The wood itself looked like it had just been cut apart from the nearby forestry. And there were plenty of people being denied entry by so ard guards.
"Shoulda known sothing like this would've happened." The old man driving the cart let out an annoyed grunt. "Unlikely we getting any help here."
"You should be good from this point regardless, right?" I asked.
"Mmm, without those monsters overhead, we should be fine." He nodded. "We can figure out it from here if you're settling down here."
"Thanks for the ride." I nodded towards him in thanks, stepping off the cart. I held out my hand, helping Raikou off a mont later.
"I should be thanking you, lad." He gave a good natured smile. "We'll hunker down for the night at the least. If ya change your mind, I'd be happy to have ya."
I thanked him again, but this was enough.
Besides, the people with him were keeping a wary distance from us the entire ti. Was pretty obvious that they didn't trust us even after saving them.
Oh well, not much you can do. People in this era were very superstitious and ignorant about a lot of things. No fault of their own, but simply the way things were.
Before the crowd could stare, and I was more than aware that we stood out, especially Raikou, I weaved an illusion around us.
"Let us in!"
"You can't keep us out here!"
"I just wanna buy so food, we're starving out here!"
Raikou and I snuck up on the people crowding around the imdiate entrance to the Village where there were ard guards holding their weapons tightly, staring at the aggravated people.
"The village is full, we can't take anyone else in." One of them declared.
"Lies!" Soone from the crowd shouted and they started all throwing insults and threats towards the Guards, but no one was brave enough to start anything.
We just sidestepped the ones standing up front and walked into the Village.
It was about the sa as we could see from the outside. After walking a few minutes, it was as that Guard said, pretty damn cramd full of people. Plenty of which were just sitting around setting up camp for the foreseeable future. Camping up against the side of buildings, pitching make-shift tents to hide from the elents. Children covered in dirt and gri while their parents are just happy that they're all alive.
Refugees.
Made it really sink in how bad things were around here.
Damn my bleeding heart....
They couldn't see , but I didn't care to deal with the slew of thanks or gratitude. I began taking out items from within my Ring, foodstuffs that I had extras of, and placed them next to families with children or those looking like they were in need.
This was Jeanne's ho, the least I could do was honor her mory by doing sothing like this.
Raikou didn't say anything, rely smiling and mimicking my actions, going around to place food and water near people who were truly in need right now.
There were way too many people here, we barely helped even a fraction that we rely saw right in front of us, but once the majority of the families in our imdiate vicinity had sothing to fill their bellies, it was enough.
"Let's go Raikou." I whispered towards my Servant.
"Yes, Master!" Raikou grabbed my arm as we made our way further through the streets which was partly laid with stones, partly muddy from a recent rainfall.
I vaguely recalled the direction her house was in from being there before. It was a bit up the hill that the Village was situated along.
"Can you astralize for ?" I whispered again.
"Yes, Master." Raikou followed my orders, disappearing into her Spiritual state.
I dropped my own Illusion after turning onto a street so that people could see my approach. I wanted to gauge my surroundings and possibly interact with so people. Simply appearing in front of them would be a formula for disaster when there's a supposed Witch running around.
I glanced around and the further I went, the more things turned...weird.
People did not hold back their stares and watched intently. I knew it was sort of getting dark out with the sun setting, but the way they were watching made think sothing else was going on. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a few whispering to others and they glanced at before a few of their number scurried off down between a few houses and disappeared.
More and more seed to be there, watching , peeking out of the nearby hos, and just staring blatantly.
And they were not normal peasants. I could see the scars, the calluses on their hands, and the overall deanor of trained soldiers. Not to ntion the barely hidden weapons under their shirts.
I continued walking up the hill and I sensed the people from before slowly following In a group, just out of my peripheral view. I ignored it, pretending that I hadn't noticed their presence as the building in question ca into view.
It was nearly identical to every other ho nearby, and I wouldn't have been able to pick it out had I not been here in the future.
There was the sa tree out front, the sa stone decorations that weathered the ages looking much more clean and well kept in comparison to my ti, but it was nearly identical.
I walked up and knocked on the door. Barely once or twice and the door was pulled open with a fury and there was a man there, looking right pissed and practically ready for a fight. "What do you want?" He demanded. I could see the faint outline of a dagger under his shirt as well.
"I'm looking for a family that lives here. The father's na should be Jacques, and the mother should be Isabella –"
"Never heard of them." He interrupted . "Who are you?" His eyes narrowed.
".....I'm friends with their daughter." I ignored his obvious provocation and continued as I was. "I'm hoping that I can et –"
"He said they don't live here!" Another voice sounded from behind him and a couple more n walked forward behind the one who answered the door. Their faces were hardened from years of fighting, along with noticeable wounds. One was missing a leg, another an arm. The one who originally answered, well, his pupil was a pale white with a scar running along the length of his head.
"Right then." I took a deep breath. "If I don't receive an answer in the next few breaths, I'm going to assu the worst. Which is not sothing you want. So please answer my question." I would not hold back if I found out that these people were.... bandits and did sothing to Jeanne's family.
She may be a Saint, but I sure as hell was not. She could choose to forgive them or not after their last monts on this earth were as excruciating as possible.
"Didn't you hear what I said, boy?" He reached under his shirt, pulling his knife out.
"If that's your answer." I smiled politely then lashed out with my leg, sending him flying into the house from the threshold.
The other two reacted pretty well for mundane humans. However, they were severely outmatched. Before they could draw their blades, I already pushed them back, letting them slide across the ground, joining their friend.
I grabbed one of the knives that were discarded in the heat of the mont and held it to the neck of the closest man. "Let be clear, If I found out you did anything to the family that lives here, you will beg for the hell you're dood to."
"Please stop." I paused, hearing a gentle and warm voice to the side. A woman stood there, in a green and white dress with a brown veil keeping her hair back. "There's been a misunderstanding."
However, those were secondary to her actual looks.
".....you look just like her." I said softly.
"Mada!" One of the n climbed to his feat, looking ready to attack . I side eyed him, but my focus was still on the woman.
"Philippe, please stop as well." She looked at the man. "He doesn't an any harm." Her words seed to reach them as they looked hesitant, but didn't imdiately jump at again.
[Master!] Raikou called out in alarm.
[I noticed, Raikou. Just....try to find them and keep watch if you can.] I replied, also noticing the fact that what was most likely a Servant appeared nearby.
"You must be Mada Roe." I ignored the death glares from them and continued to focus on the woman. "Jeanne spoke about you. It's an honor to et her mother."
"You knew my Jeannette?" She smiled bitterly. "I apologize, I did not catch your na."
"How rude of ." I took a step forward and gently took her hand, placing my lips against the back of it in a gesture of respect. "Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, at your service, Mada."
She seed amused by my action. "Isabelle is fine. Co, I have tea brewing, you can tell why you ca all the way here and how you know my daughter."
"Mada, are you sure – "
"If he wished to harm , he would have done so already." Jeanne's mom interrupted one of the n about to speak.
"....Just to double check, they're here as guests?" I eyed the suspicious n.
She cracked a smile, giggling softly. "They are worried that soone was going to harm . They are all forr comrades of my daughter who retired and ca to settle down here."
Oh...that's awkward.
"I apologize for my actions; I assud the worst." I bowed my head towards them in acknowledgent for my assumption.
They glanced between themselves and there was a noticeable amount of tension that eased up.
"Alright, I guess you have a point about everything." The one nad Philippe scratched the back of his head. "You two go out and scatter everyone else, Tell them the Mada is fine."
The other two grumbled and hobbled out the door. I glanced around the corner and noticed just how large the crowd forming outside had beco.
I was broken from my musing as the man slapped on the back. "Apology accepted, boy. Now get over there, the Mada offered you tea and you're not going to spit on her hospitality."
"Philippe, be nice to our guest."
He grumbled but nearly dragged to the table where she was set up, a warm cup already set out for .
"Thank you for the tea." I politely expressed my gratitude while taking a sip. Fairly watered down and lacking much of the taste that I'm used to, but there was a certain warmness to it as well. "....if you don't mind asking, what's going on with...." I glanced at the man hovering nearby, leaning against the wall, staring at .
"They all seem to think an old woman like is in need of protection." Isabella chuckled. "Truthfully, I don't think I'm worth all this trouble."
"Mada, any of the n outside would gladly lay down their lives to protect yours. None of us believe those rumors about this Dragon Witch. We all owe your daughter too much to allow even the chance of you getting hard because of it." Phillipe responded.
"You all are forr soldiers that served with Jeanne, weren't you?" I summarized.
He nodded proudly. "After hearin what happened in Orleans, we all gathered her to protect her family. It was the least we could do." He sighed, slumping his shoulders. "Suppose I should give an apology for the treatnt too. We've had a cloaked stranger appear the other day, and they nearly slipped inside the Madam's ho under our noses. We've been keeping a closer eye on the place for outsiders ever since. Assud you were involved."
"It was understandable." I waved it off. But hearing about a 'stranger' and knowing there's a Servant nearby, well, two and two wasn't hard to put together. "Mada Isabelle, I apologize if my question cos off crass but....where is everyone else?"
"My husband took our children to his Great Aunt's ho further north." She looked down at her tea sadly. "After hearing that Jeannette died then everything that ca after.... we couldn't simply leave under the hope that our daughter wasn't truly gone. We decided that he would take the children to safety and then he would co back and we would wait to see if our daughter ca ho."
Phillipe looked away, obviously not believing she would.
And I knew the truth as well.
And the look on her face, well, she knew she was holding out for a miracle.
"I'm sorry for your loss." I said quietly. "She was an amazing young woman. She called a friend once, and that's a mory I'll always cherish."
"Thank you, your words were very kind." She smiled warmly, despite the sorrowful topic. "I was always worried that Jeannette was having troubles while fighting, but to hear she had friends makes very happy."
I don't know how she's holding herself together so well. I've barely been a dad for months at this point, and I would be an uncontrollable ss if I found out that Kunou passed away.
[Master, I found the Servant.] Raikou called out.
[Can you see them? Do you recognize them at all?] I asked back.
[They are covered with a hood over their head, master.] Raikou stated.
I stood up from my seat. "I barged in and brought up so bad mories. Please allow to offer up sothing as recompose. You said there was soone suspicious poking around? I'll go grab them right now."
At the very least, I wanted Jeanne's mom to not have to live like this.
I didn't wait for them to answer as I was already flying out the door. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I moved with a burst of Shunpo hopping along the nearby rooftops until I could catch up to Raikou who was on the move.
Apparently, this other Servant noticed sothing was wrong and was running away. Why they didn't Astralize, I didn't know, but I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
It didn't take long for to catch up, I could see the figure that Raikou was trailing as they weaved between houses.
They weren't fast, relatively speaking. As far as Servant paraters go, I felt like they were near the lowest end as I was easily gaining on them without pushing too hard.
I eventually jumped off a building and summoned up Mirage, halfheartedly swinging it downwards at them. I rely wanted to disrupt their attempt at fleeing rather than go for a kill. They swung their body around and materialized a weapon into their hand.]
My eyes widened because I recognized it.
A long pole with a point at the end, but it wasn't a spear. It was still furled, but the coloring of it was sothing I wouldn't forget.
A Banner.
I could get sowhat of a look at her face now, covered by the shroud and hidden under the moonlight.
Blonde hair peeked out from under the hood, and a familiar pair of blue eyes stared back at .
"Jeanne?"
[***]
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