Anomaly Ch. 58 (Patreon)

There was a major difference in the defensive positions of Alnus and Italica, and not just because of the modern weaponry that they had back on the Hill. Weapons meant nothing if the people wielding them were untrained.

Unfortunately for Italica, untrained was an understatement when it came to their guard. 

Most, if not all, of Italica’s garrison was composed of soldiers loyal to the Empire, not the city itself. The exception was the ruling family’s personal cohort, though they barely numbered a hundred, not nearly enough to man the wall, let alone defend the entire city.

However, this normally didn’t pose an issue. Due to the nature of Italica being a major trade hub, the Empire had a vested interest in making sure that the city was safe, even if the city itself harbored a significant demi-human population. Even then, the garrison was mostly seen as a vacation for the guards, as the most action they would see would be the extermination of some bandits here and there. Should there be a need to pull out the garrisons of the Imperial cities to reinforce the frontlines against the many enemies of the Empire, then Italica’s retinue would be one of the first.

Then, the massacre beyond the Gate happened.

Suddenly, a threat that the might of the Empire could not break loomed just over the horizon. But none of the residents of Italica paid it no mind. So long as the threat remained on the other side of the Gate, then it was business as usual for them.

Except it wasn’t. While Italica’s people knew that the Empire had sent an army to conquer the world beyond the Gate, what they didn’t know was that Italica’s own Count Colt Formal and his two sons had been part of that retinue. And when word returned that all of them had been killed, all hell broke loose as a succession crisis started within the Formal family. While the advanced age of the Count had been a worry as of late, none had thought he and his heirs would be killed there.

Eventually, it was decided that Count Formal’s daughter, Myui, would take the title. Despite the fact that titles were only usually held by males, and that Myui herself wasn’t even the oldest living Formal, she was the only one of the family that still resided in Italica. Anyone else would have taken too long to instate as the new Count.

Just in time, Myui Formal became Countess to meet with the Rose-Order. Just in time to see them nearly fall to a veritable army of bandits. Just in time for the city that her father had put his blood, sweat and tears into building to be saved by that wandering Celt.

When the deed had been done, the residents of Italica had breathed a sigh of relief. The panic in the city had reached an all time high during that siege, but the timely assistance of Chulainn had proven invaluable. Since then, the Emperor had sent a larger retinue of soldiers to assist the city, to prevent more would-be assaults on arguably the most important city in the region.

Even then, it wasn’t enough. The Empire was still fighting yet another war of conquest to the northeast, and the soldiers that were sent were a pittance compared to what they needed. Instead, the new Countess found herself penning missives to other cities, asking for some assistance. Manpower, food, anything they could spare.

The lords of those cities only smelt blood in the water. With her age, they thought of Myui as easy pickings when it came to concessions, especially with Italica desperate for aid.

She wasn’t. 

Myui was stubborn like that, despite her normal disposition. She could not thank the Celt and the Rose-Order for their assistance as much as she wanted to back then, not with the condition of both her House and the city. But when they returned? Myui would do so with interest, and she’d be damned if she let the city fall to those vultures.

With the assistance of her head maid, Kaine, she started her plan to reinvigorate the city. While Myui was still too young to properly take her place as a Countess her father would be proud of, she was never too young to learn. In the space of just a few weeks, plans had been drafted for an expansion of their agricultural lands, funded by the Formal family’s own coffers. Those would take time, but just the announcement of that had made more than a few farmer families wander into the city.

Even more pressingly, was the announcement that Italica would be training their own garrison, one that had no ties to the Imperial crown. Had this been in any other city, there would have been a massive outrage. Imperial pride was its own kind of beast, and the young Countess Formal had just spat on it.

In Italica, the announcement was met with more excitement than Myui had expected.

Or perhaps she should have expected as much. The Empire was still rife with racism towards demi-humans, and Italica was their one safe haven. With their own garrison, they wouldn’t need to be beholden to a people that outright loathed them. On the first day alone, there were hundreds of young men and women ready to sign up.

Things were looking up.

As life seemed to often do nowadays, it hit them with an unexpected sucker punch.

An earthshake.

Myui hadn’t been alive during the last earthshake, but it had been told through stories when she was much, much younger. A warning for children to not incur the wrath of the gods. Nothing more than a bedtime story with a lesson at the end.

She didn’t expect it. Nobody did. And when it hit, the young Countess could feel the overwhelming despair hit her as men, women and children screamed across the city. Even her own maids were not immune to such terror.

It was only because of Delilah, one of her Bunny Warrior maids, that she was safely escorted into a safer area, even if the woman had been shaking as well. 

Many in Italica were…not so lucky. With the ongoing efforts, some people had had to be relocated to temporary shelters en masse. Many were just starting to sleep when the earthshake occurred.

Many did not survive.

For two days, the tally of deaths from fallen debris, collapsed buildings, and stampedes increased. In the end, over a thousand bodies had been found, with even more injured or missing. A pallor of despair had descended over the city, many of its residents praying at the temple to ask forgiveness from the gods. Privately, Myui had done so as well.

But even she knew that though they may ask for the gods’ mercy, it was more likely that they would be on their own, especially since the earthshake was not a local event. Against the advice of her head maid, she had fully opened the vault of House Formal. Though it wasn’t on the level of a duke’s wealth, the gold that the Formal family held was not insignificant, owing to their rule of an important trade city.

For a time, it worked. The promise of gold and work in trying times pushed past the despair of the common people. Many of the demi-humans didn’t supplicant to the gods, owing to the fact that the Empire worshiped them. Others, like the Volralden - the Yaga as she would later be corrected - even said that the earthshake wasn’t divine!

She would not correct them, of course. Everyone was entitled to their own beliefs, even if she found them foolish.

Regardless, things were finally starting to go back to normal. Death was, as tasteless as it may sound to others, common enough that the standard mourning period was only three days.

Except, even then, more news started trickling into the city, threatening to undo the fragile peace that had settled.

News among the Imperial nobles travelled faster than normal channels. Rumors travelled even faster. When the two agreed on the same thing? It was almost inevitable that the only people that wouldn’t know were the ones that were still on the road.

Prince Zorzal had crowned himself Emperor after deposing his own father.

Even before this news had reached her ears, the Empire-loyal garrison had left the city, including the Rose-Order. Under orders from the new Emperor, as she was informed. Myui didn’t hesitate to conscript as many of the residents of Italica as she could. She knew of Zorzal, her father had lamented the then Prince’s personality more than once.

She knew what would happen now that he had taken the throne.

The declaration of Italica’s rogue state status cemented it. There would be no parley. No diplomatic missives to smooth over bruised egos. Zorzal intended to make an example of them, and he had already begun to twist the knife.

…

It was as if the Fates were giving them one last bit of hope.

The Celt, the warrior who had helped them just a month ago, had returned to Italica, alongside a retinue of demi-humans. Myui didn’t know why they were here, or how Chulainn had managed to free the demi-humans from bondage, but she certainly wasn’t complaining.

She definitely wasn’t complaining as the Men in Green explained to her that they would also be helping.

She had heard many rumors of them, stemming from traders that had gone to Alnus. They had spoken of the fields of the sacred hill that had been now fortified with stone walls. Of a fledgling village where elves and men lived together, under the supposed protection of the Men in Green. They also told of the stories the residents of Alnus told, of how the Imperial armies attempted to smash through the base, only to be held back by an army that was only a fraction of its strength, yet had weaponry whose magic was said to cut down any man as far as the eye could see.

They also told of a Man in Red, whose own magic rained steel down on the enemies that the Men in Green could not defeat. They told of the screams and horror that the Imperials faced in that time. 

Little wonder then, why the Celt had said that he had come from Alnus Hill. A warrior such as him would no doubt be drawn to the bloodshed that had occurred there. What she was surprised about was that Chulainn hadn’t died in a foolish attempt at the Men in Green, and had instead seemingly built a rapport with them!

Then again, the Celt had surprised her when he had displayed honor in defending Italica rather than joining the bandits, so perhaps she should have had more faith in him.

Still, when she had first heard of those stories, Myui had hoped that she would not see them happen in her lifetime. Now, she hoped that she did. If even half of the tales told were true, then the Men in Green’s words of only needing time for reinforcements to arrive were their best bet of surviving the incoming wave from the traitorous Zorzal.

All of these thoughts had swirled around in her head for the past month. Myui was aware that she had grown in that time, though not in a good way. Duty, as it were, aged the body and the mind far faster than any other method.

But, it was her duty. Her father had not given it to her, she wasn’t even considered the third option before all of this happened. And yet, it fell to Myui regardless, to lead Italica and pray that her precious city would see the next sunrise.

She would not fail. She could not.

…