[SRP] I Need an Army

[Lavi]

((Permission given from WyvernSlayer to lightly control Satsume for the purpose of getting through a lot of exposition so that we can start at more open things))

When Cecily finished recuperating from the tumultuous events that landed her in Satsume's house, she was preparing to leave. The first thing she needed to do was to tie up loose ends: checking out from the inn, thanking the alchemist from the refugee camp, and find out what happened to her retainer Theodore. After all of that is completed, Cecily planned to meet with her contacts to obtain information for her next move.

Checking out from the inn was uneventful, at best. However, Cecily did not mind. She had few belongings: a change of clothes, her dress for formal occasions (although it needs a thorough washing), and a small purse to carry the money she could pull from her network organization, Eight Republics.

At the refugee camp, Cecily noticed that there was some patchwork done on the surrounding tents as she approached the alchemist's tent.

"Excuse me," she said as she gave the canvas a few taps for attention.

Cecily only offered Satsume a brief glance, one of unmasked worry, before the alchemist pulled back the opening to his tent.

"Thank Elimine, you made it," the alchemist gave a sigh of relief. He looked weary, but otherwise unhurt.

"I have little time, so allow me to be direct: what happened to my servant Theodore? I ordered him to stay behind to protect you," Cecily said curtly.

She lied: the two had no pertinent agenda to attend to, but the noblewoman was desperate to hear anything about Theodore.

"Well…" he hesitated.

Cecily bit her lip. "So he is dead?"

The alchemist did not answer her.

"Did he leave anything behind?" she asked him further.

"One moment," the alchemist returned to the confines of his tent.

Cecily could only stare at the canvas as she struggled to keep the tears out of her eyes. Theodore was her first retainer: she could remember the ceremony in which he pledged his allegiance to House Laus and to the well being of herself: Cecily Laus.

The alchemist returned with a sheathed dagger. Upon seeing it, she couldn't keep the tears out anymore. She took the dagger and ran her fingers along the weapon's pommel until she found the dent on the carved lion's mane. She dropped the dagger in Theodore's vassalage ceremony - a great embarrassment to herself - but Theodore paid it no mind. At least, he said nothing of it in front of her.

"Thank you," she thanked the alchemist. "That will be all."

With that, the two departed, leaving the camp to a place more secluded. Along the way, Cecily stopped, gesturing Satsume to do the same. Before the knight could speak, she did so herself. "Please kneel once more."

When he complied, Cecily gripped Theodore's dagger and sheath as though to draw it in a backhand grip, but kept its blade nestled in its place and close to her breast as she turned to face him.

"Do you swear, upon your honor, to uphold the tenets of the House of Laus? And to defend, uncompromisingly, your lady from any and all threats to her welfare and her interests?"

Satsume merely nodded, to which Cecily gave him a piercing gaze. "A gesture is not an agreement."

To this, Satsume exploded. "Okay, really? You want me to be MORE submissive? You came into Bern and you had nothing. NOTHING. You were DYING. I helped you because I thought it was right. I kept you safe in my own home and put my own family in danger - a family that has already lost one member to the idiocy of Lycian nobility. I didn't HAVE to save your life once - never mind twice. I didn't HAVE to put up with your blasted, up-nosed, indifferent, spoiled requests, and you KNOW it. And now you would just have me be a puppet for the lady of Laus? No. I will protect you, but I'll do it for YOU, not whatever you represent. And I'll do it on MY terms."

Cecily cracked a smile. She respected honesty, though Satsume is perhaps too honest. She would have to keep that naivety in mind whenever she takes him to formal occasions, where it is a battle of wit. She did not have much of a choice, anyways, without Theodore being there to protect her. If there was a time where she did not need or want Satsume as a subject anymore, she can deal with it then.

"I shall bestow upon you the mark of a subject of my house and my lordship. Keep it with you at all times," she offered the dagger to Satsume and the latter took it.

"With that formalized, let us be off: we need to meet with one of my contacts. Our next course of action will be based on that meeting," Cecily said.

Upon Satsume's acknowledgement, the two made their way into the city and stopped at the Smoking Dragon, a tavern in the area. There, they met Nicholai, who related to them an incident that occurred in Pherae: the Pherae Royal Library was put under watch by Church guardsmen for unexplained reasons. This was after a royal librarian was given expressed permission to access the archives and supervise a group of travelers.

"It is unusual for the holy guard to monitor the royal archives," Cecily told Satsume.

The two agreed that Pherae would be their next destination, and they set out to return to Lycia.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castle Pherae
Several days later

Returning to Lycia was not a problem, but avoiding the guards' attention within the country was a barrier. Cecily had to requisition a coat that she could use to obscure her face in public. Thankfully, she was not particularly well known in Pherae as the province was too remote to be of diplomatic importance to Laus outside of general recognition of each other's existence.

As their intelligence suggested, there is a significant presence of holy guardsmen, situated at the royal library and the immediate area. The library itself did not appear damaged, which made the scene even more strange to Cecily. The two took a break in the populated town square as they reviewed the situation.

"Do you have any thoughts on what may have transpired, Satsume?" she asked.

[WyvernSlayer]

Satsume chewed on the end of his pipe and looked past the fountain at the looming royal library. Clusters of holy warriors were situated around it, talking among themselves, entering and leaving the library, and so on. According to what Cecily's informant had told them, there was an incident there that necessitated the involvement of the Keepers of Sanctity. Strange, to be sure.

"Do you have any thoughts on what may have transpired, Satsume?" asked Cecily.

Satsume drew a hit from the pipe and frowned at its harshness. "Well, the way I see it..." He knelt down and tapped the pipe's charred remains out on the cobblestone. "Somebody must have gone looking for knowledge that wasn't meant to be learned." He fixed his cloak around his shoulder plates, then turned to address Cecily.

"And the involvement of the church makes me think that it may have been something to do with magic." He put away his pipe. "But that's just my best guess based on the hints we were given. I do wonder what kind of person would-"

Satsume froze mid-sentence. Suddenly, he had remembered the encounter with someone in the area a few weeks prior - a small town near the castle, a big fracas with some bandits, and the help of a few passers-by.

Orica. Satsume shivered at the thought. But there were others, too... and one of them mentioned something about being a librarian. Red hair... red-

"Paige!" Satsume said aloud. He was received by a perplexed stare from Cecily.

"There's a woman I know who may know something," he said. "Or she could have been involved. We should see if anyone around here remembers seeing a red-haired girl named Paige."

[Lavi]

"I see," Cecily answered. She noted that Satsume had another thought prior, hinting that he knew something else, but the noble deemed it unnecessary to question for the time being.

"From your choice of words, I presume that this Paige is likely to hold a central role in the matter, such as an employee of Pherae's royal archives?" she questioned him.

A reply, or lack thereof, was meaningless; Cecily merely wanted to let Satsume know that she knew how to read between the lines.

"I will have you do the questioning, since you have familiarity with this person," Cecily instructed him as she stretched.

She did not want to admit it, but she was fatigued. She would expect someone like Satsume to have the stamina to make such trips with energy to spare, but Cecily traditionally traveled between provinces by carriage: even her trip to Bern was at least done by wagon. But Cecily knew that time cannot be wasted here, particularly since the so-called perpetrators of the incident at the archives could be out of Pherae for all they knew. Separating with Satsume is out of question, as there is no certainty whether she is still being targeted.

[WyvernSlayer]

Satsume nodded in understanding. "Wait here," he said. "I won't be long."

He left the center and began walking towards one of the shops. It was as good a place as any to begin talking to people - after all, travelers need supplies. Now it was only a matter of finding out if the owner could recall anything.

A bell beneath the archway sounded as Satsume entered the shop. It was a small general store; various packages of consumables and medicines were stockpiled behind the counter. Satsume approached the front, which was manned by an elderly woman wearing a worn scowl.

"How may I help you, sir?" she asked. Satsume could detect the false cheeriness coming from her voice, coating her irritation at something or other.

"I'm actually wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for me," he replied. He leaned on the counter, resting his chin against his fist.

"Information, like all things, is a commodity here," said the shopkeeper. She folded her arms in defiance. "And you don't wear the uniform of someone who can demand answers."

"Please, madam." Satsume locked eyes with her. "I'm just trying to find someone. My sister, to be precise."

"I see an awful lot of people in a day, sir," the shopkeeper replied. "Perhaps you might-"

*crash!*

The two of them immediately perked up at the sound of something falling to the ground behind them. The shopkeeper's scowl intensified.

"Excuse me a minute," she said tersely, and before Satsume could object, she disappeared behind the shelves. Satsume could hear her yelling at someone for a moment. Yeesh, he thought. No wonder she's having a bad day.

The shopkeeper returned. "Blasted girl can't do anything right..." she muttered.

"Sorry, who?" asked Satsume.

"A young wretch who's been working here since a few weeks ago," she replied. "Moved here after that mess in the village nearby."

"Oh! The one with the bandits claiming to have found a relic from Sacae?"

The old woman's irritation switched on a dime. "You knew about that?"

"I was there," Satsume said. "We helped the townsfolk fight against the bandits when they attacked the schoolhouse."

"Oh! Well I... pardon my rudeness, sir. I didn't know-"

"It's fine," he interjected. "Perhaps then, you could tell me if you remember seeing a young redhead named Paige?"

"Well, now... I'm not too sure of her name, but..." the old woman raised a finger to the side of her mouth, thinking. "There may have been someone matching your description that came through not too long ago."

"How recently?" asked Satsume.

"T-the night before the library was raided..." came a timid voice from the back.

Satsume peered around the shelves. A girl not much younger than him, with short, cowlicked blonde hair and clad in a stained apron had wandered out from the back room. She clutched a broom in her hands and spoke in a very soft voice.

"Erika!" snapped the old woman. "What have I told you about interrupting me?!"

"What do you know?!" cried Satsume.

The shopkeeper stepped between them. "I am sorry about the interruption, sir. Perhaps you might find more information at one of the other shops? Or with the Keepers?"

Satsume looked past her, and met eyes with the girl. She looked back at him rather solemnly, but said nothing. Satsume mouthed "thank you" before turning to leave.

"...and look, you got the jam all over your apron! Have you cleaned the glass up yet?!" The old shopkeeper's voice followed Satsume out the door as he headed back toward the center to meet up with Cecily.

Have I seen her before? he wondered.

He found Cecily right where he had left her. She looked tired.

"Hey," he said, trying to raise his voice above the sounds of the street. "You look tired. Should we find someplace to rest?"

[Lavi]

She watched Satsume enter one of the shops and nestled down on the street to make herself comfortable. Although the thought of waiting for her retainer crossed her mind, the consequences of it was muddled in her fatigue. Perhaps it would have been better to have rented a carriage so that she did not have to walk so much. Her soles already ached, but Cecily didn't dare suggest slowing down. She could tolerate the discomfort for now. The noble was slowly drifting off to sleep when she heard Satsume's voice again.

Cecily gave a heavy sigh in response to Satsume's question. "Of course I am. But you must not let me keep you from doing as I requested. Do what you need to do: I will not stray far."

She tugged on her hood to ensure that it covered her face, as well as to remind Satsume of her relative safety. There is no indication that the assassins have caught onto her whereabouts, but she also needs to avoid making it any easier for them.