[Complete] Ch 13.1 Is it Wrong for a Sword to Remain Sheathed Against Injustice? (Patreon)

Is it Wrong for a Sword to Remain 

Sheathed Against Injustice?

Story Starts

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Chapter 13.1

Of Acts of Evil and 

Reclamations

Crack.

Ardee's eyes opened.

'This isn't my bed.'

That was her first thought.

No smell of spices drifting through the door. No cinnamon. No cardamom. None of the turmeric Ilta Farna used when making breakfast.

And this wasn't the "I AM GANESHA" complex either—the dumb name their god had given the Familia mansion. He had already submitted a renovation plan to Lord Goibniu, one the whole Familia had been dreading: a total rebuild, the entire mansion converted into the likeness of their god.

She dreaded the entrance most of all.

Goibniu had only laughed at the design. With Shakti and the vice-captain standing green-faced beside their god, he'd said that he and his best would begin construction when time permitted.

Evilus had rearranged those priorities since.

All she could see was cloth. Canvas, maybe. A tent, then.

'Did we have a mission outside Orario?'

Her mind was a haze.

She could vaguely remember red. A sting in her eyes. Heat against her skin. Something wet and warm running down her face.

The thought bled away as she turned to her right.

Ardee smiled. Ryuu sat slumped in a chair beside the bed, head resting on her crossed arms atop the mattress. Her blonde hair spilled across the sheets. Her breathing came slow and even, her face slack with exhaustion.

Ardee reached over to stroke her head.

"..."

"..."

"...!"

She couldn't—

Ardee pushed herself upright and tipped over to her right. She had braced with both hands.

Only one had found the mattress.

Her face went blank as she registered the bandaged stump where her right arm ended, above where the elbow should have been.

"A-Ardee?" Ryuu's voice came raspy from sleep.

Ryuu sat up, rubbing at her eyes. Then she stiffened as they opened.

"ARDEE!"

Ardee managed to sit up properly this time. Ryuu's arms wrapped around her immediately, pulling her close. Ardee returned the embrace.

The stump rested against Ryuu's back. There were no fingers to hold her with. It stayed in her vision even with her chin over Ryuu's shoulder.

So did the sheets beside her left leg. They fell flat too early, where her right shin should have been.

Ryuu separated and stood, righting an overturned cup on the small table. She poured water from a pitcher and held it out.

Out of habit, Ardee reached with her right arm.

Ryuu's smile turned awkward. She brought the cup to Ardee's lips instead, steadying it while Ardee's left hand fumbled to take hold.

The water wasn't refreshing.

"The Dea Saint—she'll be making prosthetics for you," Ryuu said. The words came out in a rush, as if she'd practised them. "They'll work as if they were real. She's already begun the designs. Asfi has agreed to help with the construction. You'll be able to hold a sword again. You'll be able to walk. You'll be able to—"

Ardee managed a smile.

It didn't reach her eyes.

She watched Ryuu register that. The words trailed off. The elf's hands tightened around each other in her lap.

Ardee let it pass her by. Her eyes strayed back to the space where her leg was supposed to be. The sheets made a slope down to nothing.

"RYUU! We need you for—oh. Ardee is awake."

Both turned towards the entrance. Kaguya stood there, one hand on the tent flap. Surprise crossed her face, then relief. Then, for a breath, guilt—though Ardee could not think why—before it all smoothed over into careful neutrality.

"Good. That's good." Kaguya stepped back outside.

Ardee looked to her right. The tent stretched long, filled with rows of beds. Adventurers lay in them, wrapped in bandages. Some had wounds like hers. Some worse. A dwarf two beds down was missing both legs. A human woman across the aisle had bandages over her eyes and wouldn't stop shaking.

She could still feel Ryuu's stare on the side of her face.

She hated it.

Kaguya returned with Airmid behind her. The healer's white hair was dishevelled, her eyes ringed with dark circles. Blood stained her white robes.

"Ryuu, we need you for the next shift."

Kaguya turned to Ardee. "It's good that you're awake. Luckily Emiya was able to block most of the explosion—"

She didn't feel lucky at all.

"Sorry, but I have to borrow Ryuu here." Kaguya's voice remained level. Professional. "We'll tell your sister that you're awake."

"I'll find time to visit you soon." Ryuu stood but didn't move towards the exit. "Do you need anything?"

Ardee shook her head. She didn't trust her voice.

Crack.

The sound came from outside, sharp and distant. Like a whip snapping. Or wood breaking.

Kaguya and Ryuu winced.

"Ignore that sound," Kaguya said. "That's just Emiya. He's been helping with the defence of Central Plaza since last night." She paused. "Someone should probably relieve him of that duty."

"I'll bring you something later." Ryuu's hand hovered near Ardee's shoulder without quite landing. "Just rest. You're in good hands."

She hesitated at the tent flap. Looked back once. Then left with Kaguya.

The canvas fell closed behind them.

Ardee's eyes found Airmid's. The healer stood at the foot of the bed, a clipboard in her hands. No pity in her face. No false cheer. Just exhaustion, and too many patients behind it.

"I need to check your dressings," Airmid said. "And you need to eat something. After that, you should sleep."

Ardee opened her mouth. Closed it.

Crack.

Another one. Distant. Steady. The same sound at the same interval, as though whoever made it had not stopped all night.

Ardee curled the fingers of her right hand.

What's difficult to swallow is that she could still feel every one of them.

-=&<o>&=-

The noise hit Ryuu the moment she stepped out of the tent.

Hammer against anvil, muted but persistent, rang from somewhere inside Babel. The Goibniu and Hephaestus Familias—escorted to safety by their own children and the Dionysus Familia—kept small forges in the tower, normally used for repairs and minor commissions. Now they worked without pause, producing weapons, armour, whatever the defence required.

Crack.

That sound again. Distant. From high above.

Ryuu looked up. Countless swords bristled from Babel's upper reaches, lodged in the stonework like a crown of thorns. Somewhere among them, Emiya kept his perch.

Around Babel's base, tents spread across the plaza in uneven rows. Hundreds of them. Thousands of citizens crammed into a space never meant to hold so many. The overflow had forced the Guild to open Babel's lower floors as well, filling corridors and storerooms with families huddled together.

Even that wasn't enough.

Orario was vast. Central Plaza could not hold everyone. Plans were already being drawn to reclaim the surrounding districts—secure the buildings closest to the plaza first, then push outward block by block.

But that would take time they might not have.

"Three fights already this morning," Kaguya said, walking beside her. "Noin broke up one near the south fountain. Two civilians went at each other over a blanket."

Ryuu nodded. Tensions wound tighter with each passing hour. Fear did that to people. Fear and grief and too many bodies pressed too close together.

"How can you call yourselves protectors of Orario?"

Both of them turned towards the Guild steps.

A crowd had gathered at the base of the wide staircase. At the top stood Royman Mardeel, his corpulent frame rigid. Several Guild staff flanked him—Sophie among them, her usual cheer worn down to nothing. To their left stood Goddess Astraea and Alise, with Lord Ganesha and Shakti on the opposite side.

The crowd below them had grown ugly.

"Back when Zeus and Hera were here, this never happened!" A man near the front shook his fist at the assembled leaders. "They kept us safe! You lot can't even—"

"My husband was killed by that archer without any proof!" A woman's voice cut through, shrill with grief. "He shot him down like a dog in the street!"

"How dare they ask me to strip in front of everyone!" Another voice, thick with indignation. "Do you know who my father is?!"

Ryuu's jaw tightened.

The stripping protocol had been implemented last night. Anyone seeking shelter in Central Plaza had to remove their clothing down to their underwear and turn each garment inside out, proving they carried no blaze rock against their skin. Humiliating. Degrading. Necessary.

Because last night, before anyone could stop him, an Evilus member had rushed the checkpoint and detonated himself in the middle of a crowd. Forty-three dead. Seventeen more wounded.

Emiya could not cover everything. One man, two eyes, atop one tower. The streets fed into the plaza from a dozen directions, and the crowds never stopped moving. Some slipped through.

And people died.

"Yes! How can you judge my mother?" A younger voice joined the chorus. "She was shot by that archer too!"

"Hey!" Someone pushed forward through the crowd. "I was there when your husband was killed! The Astraea girl showed everyone the blaze rock strapped to his chest!"

The crowd rippled. Heads turned.

"Wait—your husband was with Evilus?" The accusation came from a man near the back. "Shouldn't you be detained?"

"My husband was not with Evilus!" The woman's voice cracked. "He was probably blackmailed! They took people's families hostage, everyone knows that!"

"That's what someone hiding something would say!"

"We have someone connected to Evilus right here! Get her!"

The crowd surged.

Ryuu and Kaguya were already moving.

Shakti's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding. "Ganesha Familia—detain anyone engaged in violence! Separate the instigators!"

Ryuu pushed through bodies, her smaller frame weaving where others had to shove. She spotted a man with his fist wrapped in a woman's hair, yanking her head back while she clutched a wailing infant to her chest.

Ryuu's hand closed around his wrist. She squeezed.

Bones ground together. The man yelped and released his grip.

"Why are you defending her?" He rounded on Ryuu, face twisted. "I lost my family to Evilus! This bitch admitted her husband was a member—she could be one of them too!"

"She is holding a child."

"So what? Evilus used children! You think I care?"

Ryuu's grip tightened. The man's knees buckled.

"You will step back," she said. "Now."

Around her, the plaza had come apart. A ring of people closed around an elderly couple, shouting accusations. Near the fountain, two men traded blows while a Ganesha Familia member struggled to pull them apart. A woman screamed that her neighbour had always been suspicious, always kept odd hours, and now she knew why.

Fear had curdled into a hunt for someone to blame.

"My brother joined them because they threatened our mother!" someone wailed. "That doesn't make us traitors!"

"That's not an excuse. How many has your brother killed? Your mother should have sacrificed herself."

"Anyone who helped Evilus deserves to burn!"

"They're going to kill us all! They're going to—"

"ENOUGH."

The voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.

Goddess Astraea descended the steps. The word travelled outward through the crowd faster than sound should carry. Heads turned. Fists lowered. The screaming faded to murmurs, then to silence.

Ryuu had seen her goddess do this before. No arte, no Arcanum. People simply remembered themselves in front of her, and were ashamed.

Astraea stopped at the base of the steps. Her eyes moved across the crowd, meeting gazes one by one.

"You are afraid," she said. "You have lost people you love. You have seen horrors that will haunt you for the rest of your lives. And now you stand here, surrounded by strangers, and you wonder which of them might be hiding a weapon meant to kill you."

No one spoke.

"I cannot promise you safety. I cannot bring back those who have died. I cannot undo what Evilus has done to this city." Astraea's voice remained steady. "But I can tell you this: the person standing beside you is not your enemy. They are frightened, just as you are. They have lost people, just as you have. And if we turn on each other now, Evilus will have won without lifting another finger."

The woman with the infant had sunk to her knees, sobbing quietly. The man Ryuu still held had stopped struggling.

"We will find those responsible," Astraea continued. "We will hold them accountable. But we will do so with justice—not mob violence. Not fear. Not accusations hurled at grieving widows because their husbands made terrible choices."

She let the words settle. Her hands came together, clasped against her breast.

"And do not turn your anger on the archer. He has stood watch over this city since last night without rest. Every arrow he has loosed has been to keep you alive."

"Return to your families. Care for your children. Let us handle the rest."

The crowd began to disperse. Slowly. Reluctantly. But they moved.

Ryuu released the man's wrist. He stumbled away without looking at her, cradling his hand against his chest.

It took another twenty minutes to restore order. Those who had started the violence—seven in total—were detained and escorted to a holding area near Babel's eastern entrance. They would be released once they calmed down.

Assuming they calmed down.

When the plaza finally settled back into its tense quiet, Ryuu found Shakti near the Guild steps. The Ganesha captain stood with her arms crossed, surveying the crowd with hard eyes.

"Captain Shakti."

Shakti turned. "Lion. Report."

"The medical tent is stable. Supplies are adequate for now." Ryuu paused. "Your sister is awake."

Shakti's arms came uncrossed. For a moment the hard line of her jaw softened, and her eyes closed.

Then her teeth clenched, and the moment passed.

"Good," Shakti said. The word came out rough. "That's... good."

Her hands had tightened into fists at her sides. She did not look towards the medical tents.

"I'll visit her later." Her voice had gone flat. Controlled. "First there's a meeting. We need to plan how to reclaim the surrounding districts. Every hour we stay pinned here is another hour Evilus has to regroup."

Ryuu nodded. She understood. She didn't agree, but she understood.

"The meeting begins in ten minutes," Shakti continued. "The Guild's conference room. Finn Deimne is already there with his people. So is Ottar." She finally met Ryuu's eyes. "You should attend as well. Your captain will want someone from Astraea Familia present."

"Alise—"

Shakti jerked her chin towards the steps, where Alise stood arguing with Royman about something. "She'll join when she can. Until then, you and Kaguya represent your Familia."

-=&<o>&=-

Crack.

The sound had become background noise.

The Evilus attacks had thinned. They had learnt not to show themselves within Babel's line of sight—but there was still the occasional crazed individual rushing the plaza, trying to take as many with them as they could.

It still worked, sometimes. Two had got through last night. One more this morning. The only mercy was that each time, fewer were caught in the blast.

Finn moved through the crowded plaza, stepping around clusters of refugees and supply crates. The air smelt of smoke and sweat. Somewhere to his left, a child was crying. Somewhere to his right, an argument.

Crack.

Another projectile from Babel's heights. Another bomber stopped short of the plaza's edge.

Finn sighed as he approached their Familia's camp.

Loki sat atop one of the crates they'd extracted from the manor—standard expedition supplies, the kind they packed for deep Dungeon dives. She had a wine bottle tipped back, drinking deeply, whilst Raul stood before her with arms spread, his mouth moving through what was probably another failed appeal for their goddess to stop drinking. In public, at least.

It was a small blessing that most Familias who'd reached Central Plaza had managed to bring their own supplies. The Guild's emergency stores helped as well.

'Most of them, anyway.'

The supplies wouldn't last till nightfall. The Guild had already run the numbers. Which meant abandoning his first plan—securing Orario ring by ring, pushing outward in controlled sweeps. Too slow. Too resource-intensive.

Instead they would take sectors, driving out from Central Plaza along the Main Streets. Secure the ground with the most strategic value first, then widen each sector from the streets they held.

The pleasure district sat at the top of his list. Everything around it was worth holding: restaurants, taverns, supply stores. More importantly, the gate lay near—access to the outside, to Melen, to the trade routes that would keep the city fed in the days ahead.

Unless Melen had been hit too. There was smoke on that horizon. How much of the port still stood, no one could say.

And according to the Ganesha Familia scouts, the pleasure district had already secured itself. The Ishtar, Bes, and Hathor Familias had fortified their positions overnight. Another bastion.

Whether Ishtar would cooperate was another matter entirely. Her hatred of Freya was legendary.

"Oi—Finn! Come have a drink before the battle?" Loki called out, waving the bottle. Wine sloshed over the rim. "Where's Riveria an' Gareth?"

"Gareth went with the other representatives to the Babel workshops." Finn waved away the offered bottle. Loki knew perfectly well he didn't drink before operations. "Hephaestus and Goibniu's smiths have been working through the night. We need to coordinate weapon distribution."

"Boring!" Loki took another long pull. "There's no better time for merriment than when yer life's on the line, y'know?"

"You're tempting fate, Goddess."

"Fate owes me a few favours." She grinned around the bottle's neck. "How about Riveria?"

As if summoned by her name, Riveria appeared at one of Babel's upper windows. Finn followed her gaze upward.

The archer—Shirou Emiya, by both Gareth's and Riveria's reports—stood on a platform jutting from the tower's flank. The platform was made entirely of swords, blades driven into the stonework. As Finn watched, a section of it dissolved into motes of pale light. Emiya turned and said something to Riveria through the window.

Then more swords appeared.

One after another they materialised out of the air and embedded themselves into Babel's wall in a descending line. A staircase. Riveria stepped through the window onto the first blade, robes snapping in the wind, and began to climb. Alicia followed, then several more elves—volunteers from other Familias who'd offered themselves to the archer's supply line. They carried baskets of food, waterskins, potions.

"Say, Finn." Loki's voice had changed. Lighter. Quieter. The bottle had stopped moving. "Anyone found his deity yet?"

Finn frowned. A reasonable question. Any adventurer would have secured their god before taking a defensive position. It was the first duty of any Familia member.

"No. The people who know him say he keeps to himself. You'd do better asking Ganesha or Astraea."

"Already did." Loki examined the bottle's label as though it had suddenly become interesting. "Ganesha gave me a speech about bein' Ganesha. Astraea gave me tea and that smile. Y'know the one. The 'I have decided this is none of your business, please enjoy the tea' smile." She clicked her tongue. "Justice types. Can't gossip with 'em at all."

"So the ones in the know aren't biting."

"Which tells me plenty on its own, don't it?" Her eyes had come open, just a sliver of red under the lids, fixed on the figure atop the tower. "Finn. I've been up there. Us gods have exactly one hobby and a thousand years of practice at it. A goddess whose kid can do that—" she tipped the bottle at the sword-staircase, "—should have a name. Songs. A queue of gods tryin' to marry her, at minimum. An' I've never heard so much as a whisper."

"Meaning?"

"Meanin' either she's the best-hidden goddess in Tenkai and down here both." Loki's grin returned by degrees, and it wasn't the drunk one. "Or the boy's answer to 'who's your god' is more interestin' than anyone's guessed. Either way—that's the million-dollar question. Or maybe krone'd be more apt."

Finn turned, brow furrowed. "The what?"

Loki waved her hand, nearly spilling the wine. "Yeah, yeah. Million-valis question."

Crack.

Explosions rumbled in the distance—three in quick succession, somewhere in the northern districts. Then the sharp reports from above as Emiya's bow answered. Four shots. Five. The explosions stopped.

The man hadn't left his position in over sixteen hours.

"Finn."

"Yes, Goddess?"

"Do ya have a million valis?"

Finn said nothing. He recognised that tone.

"Rhetorical, rhetorical." Loki raised the bottle towards the tower in a lazy salute. "I want us courtin' our resident archer. Quiet-like. Don't make it obvious, yeah? Subtlety. Finesse. All that."

Finn considered the request. A Level 2 who had duelled a Level 4 to a standstill, shielded a courtyard from a ring of living bombs, and was presently holding a city's perimeter alone from a tower.

"Is it wise, at the current tension? If his deity takes offence—"

"Million-valis question, part three." Loki shrugged. "But think it through, Finn. If his god wanted him somewhere, he'd be somewhere. Instead he's sellin' noodles an' sleepin' on a tower. In Tenkai terms, that's a treasure sittin' in the street with no name on it. An' Ganesha an' Astraea walk past it every day without reachin' down." She took another drink. "Besides, Riveria already likes him. Keeps goin' on about how his presence feels like home." Her mouth turned down in exaggerated grievance. "Twenty years I've fed that woman, an' I've never once been called home. Half the battle's won an' it wasn't even mine."

"Hmm. I'll see what can be arranged."

"That's my captain." Loki tipped the bottle back, then paused with it against her lips. When she spoke again the sing-song had gone out of it. "An' Finn. 'Who's his deity?'—that's the wrong question."

She drank.

"Now go win us a war. I'll be here. Providin' moral support."

Crack.

-=&<o>&=-

End

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