Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 99- Setting Out

[Keeno POV]

After leaving the war room, we began preparing to depart. Once all preparations were finished, the commander issued orders on who attacked where.  Sigurd’s squad along with three others were assigned the mountainous territory who’s main city was built into and on the sides of the mountain.

“…” (Keeno)

“Is something wrong, my Lady?” (Emma)

“I feel like we were assigned this city because stone doesn’t burn as easily.” (Keeno)

“Well, it would make sense, considering what happened last time you were involved in the attacking of a major place here.” (Freya)

“I’ll have you know I was completely justified in that.” (Keeno)

“I don’t see why you’d have a problem, also considering that fort was also mostly stone.” (Pram)

“I never said I had a problem, just that I felt like it was the reason we were assigned this target.” (Keeno)

“Well, I for one, am happy it’s this place. There are a lot of stairs there.” (Emma)

At that, the people around us that had been slowly making more space around us due to the topic of our conversation suddenly stopped being discreet about it.

“That’s a weird reaction.” (Freya)

“It’s because Emma has become a bit infamous due to her penchant for pushing people down stairs or other similar things in urban combat.” (Selkie)

“Oh, when did you get here, little fox?” (Keeno)

“I’m not little!” (Selkie)

“Says the one shorter than all of us.” (Pram)

The little blonde kitsune poured at the teasing she received before going over and grabbing Emma’s hand.

“Emma, they’re bullying me.” (Selkie)

“And your reaction is just further enforcing your childish image.” (Emma)

Emma said this while using her free hand to pat the little fox’s head.  If her tail was any indication, she was enjoying this quite a lot. It was then that Sigurd stepped to the front of the group and turned to all of us.

“It’s time. We set out for our mark now. If all goes to plan, we will arrive in two weeks.  Prepare yourselves for anything that may happen on the way.” (Sigurd)

Once his little speech was finished, he turned around and started to walk away, followed by the rest of us.  As we were leaving the city we were based in, several people lined the streets and waved off the soldiers.  Some threw flowers in the way, others ran up and gave the soldiers some kind of small trinket, probably a kind of good luck charm or something similar.

“…” (Keeno)

{What’s on your mind, Keeno?}

‘It’s just…so human.  Constantly being bombarded with grudge aside, in my mind, most Falheim people were seen as monsters rather than human, but seeing this is…endearing?  Anyway, knowing that not all people are reprehensibly irredeemable mongrels and actually seeing it is a weird shift in perspective.’ (Keeno)

{While I feel this should have been obvious seeing as there is an entire rebellion going on, at least you are starting to fully understand.  Of course, I’m not trying to mock you or anything, but I also have what is basically a different point of view when it comes to these things.  While I DO have a bone to pick with specific people in this country, most of which are nobility related, I’m not mad at the entire country.}

‘I understood you weren’t mocking me, Ama.  I know you’ve said many times that it’s not all of Falheim that is bad, but specific pieces of the whole that are rotting it.  But I AM seeing this from a mortal point of view, so I feel like I need a little slack with this.’ (Keeno)

{Just remember this for the future, Keeno.  A neutral point of view is needed on all things.  See all sides of it.  If you need to choose a specific side, make sure it’s the one that is beneficial for everyone in the long run.  Though you may think that it was due to you being selfish, you already made a decision like this with the Dead Zones.  Keeping the point of view, you have now is good as it will make making decisions in the future easier, as the Goddess of Death, if you are going to make a system that punishes people for a sin, you need to keep a perfectly neutral stance on judging them.}

‘Why does it feel like this turned into some kind of lesson?’ (Keeno)

{It kind of did, though teachable moments like this are always good.}

‘Fair.’ (Keeno)

As soon as my conversation with Ama ended, I saw something insanely sweet.  One person threw a flower which Pram caught; she then placed the flower in Freya’s hair by her ear.  It all happened so naturally that one could almost think it was planned that way.

‘Pram is smooth.’ (Keeno)

{Indeed.  Hmm.}

‘Don’t try and make something that will give us a similar situation, it will just feel like we’re copying them.’ (Keeno)

{Alright, though I do think it’s about time for a change in scenery here.  I’m kind of tired of beach and ocean.}

‘I’ll try to think of something.’ (Keeno)

We marched the rest of the day after making it out of the city.  It was finally out of sight when we set up camp.  I was sitting beside a fire, roasting some small chunks of meat while Pram and Freya chatted with each other.  Emma had gone off to do something with the little fox trailing behind her like a duckling.

“So, my Lady, this is where you were.” (Sigurd)

“Hello, Sigurd.” (Keeno)

“There is something I need to discuss with you, may I sit?” (Sigurd)

“Go for it.” (Keeno)

He sat on a log on the opposite side of the fire, the light it gave off making his face seem grave.  We sat there, the only sound coming from the constant chatter of other people and the crackling of the fire, as well as a few small sizzling sounds from juice dripping off the meat.

“My Lady, I have a bad feeling about this mission.  Something about it feels…different than previous ones.” (Sigurd)

“Hmm.  Maybe because it’s a very important battle?” (Keeno)

“No, well, maybe a bit, but it’s not that.  It’s…it feels like this is too easy.  We’ve been successful on most missions for a while now with very few casualties and it’s giving me some…trepidation for continuing.” (Sigurd)

“Isn’t it a bit too late to be saying all this?” (Keeno)

“Yes, and I did bring it up with the commander before we departed, but he said that we need to continue pushing forward or else we will lose the momentum.  At the time I understood him and I managed to power through these thoughts during preparation, but after marching all day, the thoughts have come up again.” (Sigurd)

“Hmmm.” (Keeno)

“Forgive me for intruding on the conversation, but I have some input on this topic.” (Freya)

“Feel free to give it.” (Sigurd)

“Things like that are normal when you are doing something like this, be it on the way to siege a city, or any other mission where stakes are high.  Sure, repeated successes may seem like things are too easy or that some big, bad thing is going to happen soon, that isn’t always the case.  If that doesn’t help, then attribute the successes as thanks to the strength of you and your subordinates, or poor planning or reaction from your opponent, or any other reason you can think of.  Thinking in the way you are now is only going to cause you to mess up at some point, and that won’t end well.” (Freya)

“I see.  That…that makes sense.” (Sigurd)

It seemed that Freya’s words helped Sigurd move past his doubts a little and he soon got up to leave.

“I would love to stay and chat, but I still need to finalize the plan for when we get to the target.” (Sigurd)

He walked away, leaving us three alone.

“…Keeno, I didn’t say anything earlier since we were surrounded by people and I didn’t trust using telepathy, but are you sure helping out that prince person is worth it?  I mean, the way he just demanded you explain everything to him like it was wrong to hide any information from him just gives me a bad feeling.” (Pram)

“I agree.  He gives me the same feeling I got when I dealt with Family leaders, which is to say, not trustworthy in the slightest.” (Freya)

“Don’t worry, I know that trusting him is only going to lead to trouble down the line, that’s why, once this is over and the Dead Zone is gone, we’re going to make Freyr the new ruler.  He’s competent, and unlike the prince, his soul isn’t tainted.  And hey, what’s a bit of regicide when we’re already enemies of the world?” (Keeno)

{Hehehe.  A small step in righting the wrongs of this country’s leadership.}

The night continued on as we conversed over a topic that was anything but good for a certain prince.

Chaos Realm:

Order: …And why am I now stuck with a sleeping Crisis in my lap?

Because your lap is very nice to sleep on.

Order: …

You’re so cute when you blush like that.

Order: *blushes more*

*Begins patting Order’s head*

Order: Hmmmmm.

Hehe.

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