The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 386 – The Unheroic Knight

Helenna looked down at her buzzing phone with nothing but pure satisfaction. Her hair turned a burning orange. She had wondered how long it would be before the elf finally gave in and came crawling for her expertise. Arascus had sent her the details already and it was obvious that he would struggle in something like this. Generals were simply not cut out for such public work. Helenna answered as she pulled out the plans she was already working on. “Hello, Helenna speaking.” Helenna said and turned the phone to loudspeaker.

“This is Iliyal.” Iliyal said, he had obviously been drinking. Helenna knew it by now, the elf needed to get properly wasted to start slurring, but the moment he had even a shot in him, his tone would be considerably warmer. “I have an issue.”

Helenna would not play easy. “What is it?”

But then Iliyal himself was too competent. “I’ve talked with Arascus already, he said you know what the plan is.” Helenna was glad the elf wasn’t here to see her annoyed smile.

“I have plans.” Helenna said.

“Do you have a camera crew?” The elf got straight down to business.

“Can your soldiers not work a camera?” Helenna asked.

Iliyal chuckled through the phone. “Doing something and doing something well are too entirely different things. I assume between the two of us, you will be able to get a crew together much faster than me.” Helenna wondered if the elf consciously knew he was working her or whether he simply was always so flat and direct. It worked anyway.

“I’m surprised a general of Kassandora is asking for help.” It was as satisfying for Helenna as she thought it would be. A soldier of Kassandora asking for help was an admission that the Goddess of War was nowhere near as all-powerful as she imagined herself to be.

“Teachers teach and cooks cook, Helenna. This is why I’m ringing you.” The elf did not sound annoyed in the slightest. After Erdely, Kavaa had mentioned to Helenna that the elf was seemingly unflappable.

“I’ll send you a crew.” Helenna said as she tapped a pen on her paper. “Are you able to simulate battle?”

“That means what exactly?” Iliyal asked.

“What do you think it means?” Helenna asked.

“I know what it means if I were to say it.” Iliyal said. “But what do you want? Men bleeding or men dying?”

Helenna wondered if the man knew he had the makings of a diplomat or not. That was the sort of question one would throw out at the table to put the other party on the back foot. “No, I just need photos of men being heroic.”

“That’s not a battle simulation.” Iliyal corrected her.

“What is it then?”

“That’s a propaganda stunt.” Iliyal said.

“What’s the difference?”

“Men die in battle.” Iliyal replied and Helenna smiled.

“We don’t need it now, but later? Will it be possible to simulate battle?” Helenna asked. She had thought the elf would be against the idea from the very start and so hadn’t even bothered to consider what to do if she could get photos of men dying.

“It depends if you’re willing to wait a day or two for me to prepare it.” Iliyal said and Helenna leaned back as her hair turned with the bright red of joy. This would be a productive relationship indeed.

Fleur approached the gates to her home. She didn’t care much what her friends thought of it. Ed was from Allian aristocracy too, he should know that what these estates looked like. Lyca and Eliza may be impressed, but it didn’t matter. This was Fleur’s home, but she didn’t live here anyway. There were two guards. Anarchia’s men, it was obvious from simply looking at them. They had shoulders the size of Lyca’s head with arms and legs as thick as tree trunks.

She remembered when she went off to Arcadia. How happy everyone had been. They would a witch in the family! Finally a child showed promise! What grace! What honour! How amazing Fleur was! And as miserable as it sounded, Fleur knew it wasn’t. Her entire family had truly been happy. Maybe some of her siblings were jealous of her, but she had been jealous of her brother’s horses too after all. If sibling jealousy was the worst a person experienced, then they were lucky indeed. And then she had excelled in Arcadia, naturally. And then she had disappeared because of Anassa.

Her parents knew she wasn’t dead. Fleur had explained the situation as best as she could. Obviously, back when Arascus was still in Karaina and before Operation Misfortune, she could say nothing bar the minimum: yes mother, I am safe, I am fine, I am doing better than ever. You’ll be proud of me. And then the Kirinyaan Invasion came. And it became impossible to hide herself from her parents. So Fleur had sent the images. She sent the recordings. She had asked not Anassa but Damian Sokolowski and the man had given permission after checking with his higher ups, most likely Kassandora.

And her parents had replied. Her entire family. Her older sister and brother and her younger siblings. The Ambelee family was no longer just pretentious aristocrats, they had not just a witch but a sorceress! And it wasn’t some childish notion of sorcery! It was a return to the old Rancais chivalrous ideals! Fleur had become a modern day knight. Complete, from the honours and the uniforms to the wading in blood.

Fleur remembered when she killed that Guguoan man back when she and her friends had been sent off on a rescue attempt to Fer. She had killed that man, and she had felt nothing. There was no grand revelation in life. No Divine came down to judge her. The heavens did not open up to smite her. Hell did not swallow her whole. She had killed a man and she realised how fragile human life actually was.

And from then on, even though everything was different, nothing had really changed. The two men saw the party of four sorcerers approach. They didn’t look like sorcerers of course, they looked like four young people. Fleur knew Ed had a plan. She loved that the man did. Of course he did. That was good. Fleur in no mood for plans. “Let me handle it.” Edmonton said.

“Go ahead.” Fleur replied dryly. She knew that if she tried, there was only one way this whole scenario could go. So Edmonton stepped ahead. The man walked with a confident stride that Fleur liked. It was better than Lyca’s annoying swagger.

“Hello! Hello! Allian?” Edmonton shouted as Lyca and Eliza stayed behind Fleur. That was good, Fleur liked having the eyes on her. They forced her to keep it together right now.

“I speak Allian.” One of the men answered through a thick Rancais accent. “Not well, but enough.” He looked the four youths up and down. Fleur shot him a dirty look that made him look away. “Are you lost?”

“We’re lost.” Edmonton answered sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head and made a stupid laugh. “Apologies, honestly, I’m sorry.” The tall man made a performative bow. He stood taller than both of those guards. And in his dark shirt and shorts, he looked far better than those overly muscled freaks. Dysgenic souls like that should just be put down. They stood there, in tight black shirts leaning on the metal gate of her estate.

The two guards looked at each other. The man who remained silent raised an eyebrow to the other. That one spoke in Rancais. Loudly, obviously he didn’t think anyone could understand. “They’re Allian.”

“Allian?” The other man asked.

“I know.” The first replied.

“Ask them what they want.”

The Allian-speaker turned to Edmonton. “What… do you want, here?” He spoke with odd pauses. Fleur could practically see the gears working in his head.

“We’re lost.” Edmonton said. Fleur realised how this was going to go then. It was a good plan. And with them being only twenty, it would probably work out. “We were on a trip.” Edmonton said and the first man raised a hand.

“Trip is fall over, no?”

“Like a holiday.” Edmonton said. “And then…” Edmonton raised his hands and looked around. “Well, we have a problem.” The man shook his head and then turned to his friend. They spoke in Rancais again, saying nothing of importance, simply relaying details. The other man ended up sighing and shaking his head. “What is this place?” Edmonton asked.

The Allian-speaker turned to look at Fleur’s huge palace of a home. It had its own running up to it. There were guards walking around on the grounds. A few people had turned to look at the guests at the gate. “This is Chateau Renee.” The man responded and the other nodded. The name was the same in Rancais and he must have caught it.

“Wow!” Edmonton genuinely sounded as if he was in awe. “That’s a palace! Does a king live there?” Fleur kept her smile contained. Obviously it would be annoying to people who were against hierarchies. The man shook his head and sighed.

“It’s the People’s Council for this region.” He said. “We solve problems, here.” Edmonton turned back to look at his friends and the man stopped him. “But with your… problem. I… port, you should go to a port. Boat to Allia.”

“So you can’t solve the problem?” Edmonton asked.

“It’s not…” The man scratched his head. “No plane here. Get boat.”

Edmonton sighed heavily. “Alright alright.” He held up his hands. “We’ll go, we’ll go.” The man nodded at them. “But I have one question though.”

“What?”

“I’ve read about you from Allia.” Edmonton said. “My school doesn’t like you.” The man laughed. And then spoke in Rancais to the other. Now that he didn’t have to consciously translate, he spoke in a snapp

“We’re famous in Allia apparently, this boy said they talk about us in their schools.” The other man laughed too.

“But I just want to know, why does the People’s Council have a palace?” The man shook his head apologetically.

“Oh no. This Chateau was abandoned when we got here. There were only a few servants but the noble cowards ran away.” Fleur felt a massive weight lift off her shoulders. So her family were safe. Naturally they would be. She had come from their blood so of course they would have enough intelligence to flee. Naturally. Of course. Fleur finally smiled.

And suddenly, when she looked at the men. She wasn’t terrified of what they were anymore. Instead, she just saw… whoever these freaks were standing guard at the gate to her house. To make some People’s Council? How about the fucking people build their own fucking council?

“Ah.” Edmonton said. “I see!” He backed away with his thumbs held up to Fleur. “I could have done that better actually.” Edmonton said. Fleur supposed he could, but she had already learned enough. The place had been empty save for a few servants. Fleur had to know which servants and what they knew.

“Are you going?” The man asked.

“Do you want me to get us in? Ten minutes and I’ll manage it.” Fleur thought for a moment. If they got in, they’d most likely get a guard. It would be annoying to get rid of their guards. And then they would probably have to fight their way out anyone. “Hello?” Edmonton said.

Fleur had enough of this. Ed was wonderful for trying to help but not everything was a courtroom. Sometimes, the peasantry did not want their gracious lord to cast some noble, rehabilitative judgement on a criminal, sometimes, the peasants clamoured for their knight that would go in and just fucking put an immediate end to the problem. Fleur pushed the idea of problems away from her mind, there was no reason to talk in roundabouts to herself. Problem solving was what the peasantry called going in and just fucking ending someone’s life. Fleur grabbed Edmonton’s shoulder. “I’m going to flick the switch Ed.” Fleur said. The man sighed, he looked at the two guards.

The man stepped away. “Go ahead.” Fleur considered psychology a hobby, her own especially. She knew there was no grand justification or good reason for her being this way. Her family truly loved and supported her even after she made them worry. Her mother had been so terribly worried when she heard about the Kirinyaan Invasion, and then so terribly happy Fleur had survived it. Her father had spent sleepless nights worrying about, but been so horrifically proud that he raised a little warrior of a girl. Her older brother and sister had both written back with awe and respect. Her younger sister talked about how she was so happy she had a big sister that could protect her. Her younger brother said that one day he would be like Fleur.

Fat chance of that last one happening. “Thank you.” Fleur said flatly. She turned to the men.

Fleur snapped her fingers.

Her white crystal rings flashed.

Two invisible spears of air materialized by her side.

And the men suddenly had gaping holes in their chests.

The gates swung open and Fleur went in. Behind her, she heard the rumbling that came about whenever Ed condensed the water in the air to something usable for himself. She heard Eliza’s magic shake the earth. She heard the crackle of Lyca’s fire. And ahead, she saw men start to run and re-organize themselves as they just looked at what had happened.

Above it all, Fleur heard her own hurricane.

Knock knock, she was home.