Anomaly Ch. 54

Oftentimes, when Shirou found himself dealing with royalty, it was due to necessity. See, by the nature of a royal lineage being as long lived, it was fairly common for them to have some form of magical energy. It was the reason why the Clock Tower still technically served under the British monarchy, even having sat in a meeting or two with the Lords when discussing particularly dangerous situations that might involve the common populace.

He had, in fact, met the Queen - the British Queen, that is - once. Though, he doubted that serving her tea would count for an impression, all things considered.

Still, beyond that, even his recent acquaintance in the form of the elven Grand Elder could be counted as meeting with royalty. At this point, he could be called an old hand at things like this.

Shirou certainly didn’t feel that now.

The royalty he had met were all treated with respect. One could not do anything untoward to them, lest the people they ruled over take major offense. This was clearly not the case when it came to Tyuule.

In the course of his world, there were examples of rulers becoming slaves. Particularly, when the Europeans came down to Africa and started carving their colonial holdings into it. Local kings and emperors, after their lands were seized, were taken and sold, as was the rest of their peoples.

Tyuule was one of those conquered rulers.

The Empire - or maybe just Zorzal - declared war on the Warrior Bunnies. The Imperials decidedly won, and took the Warrior Bunnies, proud race that they were, as their unwilling slaves. The crown jewel being the fallen queen next to him.

The problem with that that Zorzal had made?

Just because the queen had been taken as a slave didn’t mean that it made her any less of a queen.

…

The morning sun crested over the horizon by the time they had finished their preparations. They had started well before that, with the leaders of their group understanding that time was of the essence. If they sat for too long, the inevitable retaliation by the Prince was going to catch up to them.

Of course, the retaliation might’ve already been waiting for them in Italica, but that was a situation that they’d deal with if it happened. Shirou personally had doubts that the people living there would stand idly by should another wave of bandits attempt anything.

That meant that the best time to attack them would be during the trip to Italica itself. With the time that had passed after leaving the capital, Zorzal would have certainly sent men after them already. Coupled with the fact that they could only travel so fast with all of the former slaves, it was a guarantee that whoever was sent would be able to catch up to them fairly quickly.

Assuming, that is, that Zorzal would go against his father’s orders. Which, Shirou and anyone who had seen the prince could attest to, was the likely outcome of everything. Therefore, it was with this mindset that everyone was on high alert. 

For his part of the last part of the convoy, Shirou placed himself off to near the rear, on the side of the tree line. With his Reinforced eyes, he could see through the thick foliage in the distance. So far, he hadn’t spotted anyone. That didn’t mean that he was any less prepared.

That being said, his job was made infinitely easier with the help of the Yaga and the Warrior Bunnies. Apparently, the retinue that had come with Tyuule had included a few veterans. They were more than capable of using their natural abilities, mixed in with their own brand of magecraft, to see in the distance.

With them, they were interspersed in the entirety of the column, in charge of watching a certain part of the forest. The thing is, while Shirou could have done so on his own, with the amount of forest to watch, and possible magical interference, it was much better to have more eyes than just one.

Lelei and Tuka were both riding in the cart near him. Both of them were capable, yes, and Tuka had complained that they should be in front because of that. He knew that it was just because she was feeling quite left out as Shirou had essentially left them in the dust over the past few days.

 “Chulainn!” One of the Yaga, one that Shirou recognized as one of Anatoly’s couriers, ran up to him from the front. Narrowing his eyes, Shirou noticed with a start that the column had come to a halt. Or rather, it was in the process of doing so, an almost visible wave of halting slowly making its way to them.

Something was wrong.

“What is it?”

“We’ve spotted something in front, Anatoly told me to grab you and Komakado as fast as possible!”

Alarm immediately found itself at the forefront of his mind. Komakado was similarly alarmed as Caroline quickly translated the message, popping up from the back of one of the carts. The older man had decided to hang back, since it was fairly obvious that he wouldn’t be able to fight.

There was no time to think about just why Anatoly wanted a non-combatant there, but the Yaga would have had a good reason to.

“Lelei, lighten the cart. Everyone else, please get out.” Tuka and Lelei quickly climbed onto the cart as the mage casted her spell. As she did so, the other occupants left - sans Komakado and his translator - and Shirou commandeered the horse pulling said cart. Without any more delays, the Enforcer whipped the reins and took off, cart in tow.

They passed alongside the column quickly, where it became apparent that an almost physical wave of panic had overcome the civilians. The Yaga and Warrior Bunnies were trying their best to calm them down, but it was clear that news from the front of the column had begun spreading. Shirou’s hands tightened as he spotted a familiar head of white.

“Tyuule!”

“I have this covered, just go!” The queen shouted back, before going back to trying to keep order. Shirou grimaced. Certainly, she had the charisma to do so, but…

If it really was an attack, they didn’t just need order - they needed to get everyone to safety. Especially the younger kids. Thankfully, it seemed that Tyuule already was prioritizing that, as he could hear her direct her people to guard the children’s carriage.

More scenes of this were happening all over the convoy, which only led to a few curses from Komakado as Shirou sped up.

Not even a minute had passed when they were already at the front. The other leaders were looking in the distance, Italica just over the horizon. The most severe looking one being Anatoly himself, holding what looked to be a primitive spyglass.

“Chulainn, quickly. Do you see that?” The Yaga quickly offered him the spyglass, which Shirou put up to his eye. He didn’t actually look through it, preferring to Reinforce his eyes instead.

The sight he saw marginally made him relax. Cleary, Anatoly and the others had stopped the column because they had seen something they didn’t know, and had thought it was enemy action. Shirou, however, already knew what he was looking at.

It was, after all, not hard to recognize one of the JSDF’s trucks. 

It was also not hard to recognize that one of the soldiers were similarly looking at them with a pair of binoculars in hand.

…

As soon as he relayed his findings to the others, Komakado had actually sat up in shock, then started cackling in thinly hidden relief. The others were not as amused, clearly thinking that this was some trick. It only lessened when Komakado had explained that they were his countrymen, though the feeling of suspicion didn’t completely fade.

Still, they needed to meet with the JSDF, and it was decided that Ghunzul and Yaga would join in. The others decided to hang back, in case this was some sort of trick - their distrust of humans beyond their current party was clear. 

Tuka and Lelei were going to join them, as they were already spotted by the soldier watching them. Unfortunately, that also meant that they clearly recognized the two of them, as neither had worn any sort of disguise. With their unique features, anyone from Alnus would be able to recognize them.

Pulling them back might lead to a situation where the JSDF thinks that the two of them were kidnapped, especially since they hadn’t actually informed anyone else what they were doing.

With everyone prepared, Shirou snapped the reins on the horse, trotting the cart forwards. By his side, a white piece of cloth had been tied to a stick and raised upwards. The universal sign of peace, or parley at least.

When no bullets came flying at them, Shirou knew that they were in the clear. The same couldn’t be said of three of his passengers though.

“Hello!” The one at the front immediately greeted them. Shirou was struck dumb as he just now realized that he already knew who this was. And if he was right, he already knew everyone else in the truck.

“Uhhhh, where is it?” Youji Itami flipped through a booklet, likely for translations, “‘We have come in peace’? No way, that sounds too much like aliens.”

“Oi, I can speak Japanese just fine, you know?” Komakado sat up with a smirk on his face, “No need to do that whole song and dance with us.”

The sound of an unknown man speaking Japanese must’ve startled Itami, as the soldier fumbled with the booklet in his hand. There was even a commotion from inside the car, no doubt since the others were listening in.

Kuribayashi leaned out from the passenger side, shades riding her hairline. “Who said that?” she asked in taut Japanese. The muzzle of her rifle stayed down, but her shoulders didn’t.

“Calm down, calm down. Friendly here.” Komakado lifted a hand, palm open. Itami blinked, halfway between relief and a frown. He glanced at Lelei and Tuka, recognizing them instantly. A suspicious glance towards Shirou, not having realized who he was due to his disguise. Komakado ignored that as he continued, “Name’s Komakado Hideyo, got nabbed during that whole Ginza bullshit.”

Itami’s eyebrows raised in alarm. From the back of the truck, Shirou spotted Kurokawa hurriedly exit the vehicle amidst hisses of the others. Her eyes were immediately on Shirou the moment she did so. For a medic, she certainly had a tight grip on the rifle she had. It only tightened even more as she saw his two companions.

“Komakado-san, my name is Kurokawa Mari, field medic. By any chance, are you or anyone else hurt? If I recall, the Imperials practice slavery. If that’s the case, then can we assume that this man…?” Suddenly, Shirou could feel the ire directed towards him. As he hadn’t spoken yet, they didn’t know that he understood everything they were saying, and with his position as the one driving the carriage, it might’ve painted him in quite the bad light.

It disappeared when Komakado laughed out loud, “Hardly! This brat’s too much of a bleeding heart to be a slave owner!”

“Eh?” Itami and Kurokawa blinked as their gazes shifted to the mage and the elf in confusion.

“Then, what about you two? What are you doing here?” Neither Tuka nor Lelei spoke fluent Japanese, but Lelei was quick to understand what was being asked. However instead of answering, she only pointedly looked at Shirou with the driest look she could.

“So this guy is responsible for kidnapping you!” Unfortunately, Lelei’s driest look was just her normal face, and didn’t do much to alleviate the tension. Rather, it quite literally put Shirou at gunpoint. Sighing, Shirou conceded that he wouldn’t exactly be able to keep the disguise for any longer.

“We should probably take this somewhere private, Itami-san.”

“Wait a minute…? Emiya-san?!” Kuribayashi, who was still at the passenger side window, instantly recognized him, somehow. 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

…