Crumbling Fortress (Hard)

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*Upon reflection, you realized again that you have knights who will follow you no matter what. With greater resolve, you press forward, ready to meet Zaira.*

## Summary

The Knights confront Oswald and his conspirator, Zaira.

## Character List

### Major

* Zaira (Fire)
* Lord of Avillon
* Oswald

### Minor

* Fram Berge (Water)
* Johan Talede (Light)
* Charlotte Grace (Earth)
* Schneider (Fire)

## Content

Fram: Who are these guys? I thought this was therian territory! What’re these humans doing here?

Platoon Sergeant: The enemy is here! To your stations!

"Lord": Zaira must be up ahead… How should I approach her? She’s not going to remember me…

Johan: Their uniforms are Avillonian, but I do not recognize their faces… If they were truly our knights, I would know them.

Fram: So then, where’d they get that armor?!

Platoon Sergeant: Now that they’ve seen us, we can’t allow them to leave. No witnesses!

Schneider: Are they traitors?! Leave them to me!

Charlotte: Highness, stand behind me! I’ll protect you!

"Lord": Thanks.

...

Oswald: Highness! Er, I mean… "Lord"! I wasn’t expecting to see you here…

Zaira: How’d you breach the bandits’ border and make it up here so quickly?

"Lord": She looks the exact same. This part is pretty much the same as before. Maybe that’s a good thing...

Zaira: Perhaps we should take this opportunity to end things here. Taking advantage of a rural lord was never a plan I particularly liked.

Charlotte: Who’s she? She doesn’t seem to be Avillonian...

Zaira: Heh, my apologies, but I don’t feel the need to satiate your curiosity.

"Lord": …Zaira, the Sable Tempest.

Zaira: What…? How do you know my name…?

Oswald: Hmph, so you knew about all of this already?! That must be why I failed!

"Lord": Zaira, I know Charles III is the one behind this operation. I also know your ideas went largely unheard.

(Sable Tempest) Zaira: ...Hmph. You seem pretty clever, monarch of Avillon. I don’t know where you get your information, but let’s end this here and now!

Fram: Highness, get behind me! She looks dangerous!

"Lord": Knights, defeat them all!

...

Zaira: Ngh… You’re much stronger than I expected. Isn’t Avillon just a small border nation…?

"Lord": ...

Oswald: Ugh... I only lost because I hadn’t fully healed from our last encounter! If I’d been in top form, things would have turned out differently...

Fram: You lost even when you attacked with dozens of your closest underlings...

Platoon Sergeant: We’ve failed our mission... Commander, let us retreat!

Zaira: Hmph, this outcome was... unexpected. Come, we shall return home!

"Lord": Zaira.

Zaira: Don’t think of pursuing us!

"Lord": I’m sorry for leaving you to yourself this whole time.

Zaira: What are you talking about...?

"Lord": Give a message to Krom Ledios. Tell him I’ll be coming to change your world soon.

Zaira: What nonsense... Soldiers, fall back!

"Lord": Wait just a little longer...

Johan: Should we pursue them, Your Highness?

"Lord": Not yet.

Fram: You know that girl, Highness? I’ve never seen her before.

"Lord": ...Yes. She may look tough, but she’s dealing with a lot of pain underneath. I met her in a different life, so to speak.

Johan: Do you plan to recruit her, Your Highness...?

"Lord": At any cost.

Charlotte: I thought we were your only knights, Highness... Since when did you start thinking of branching out?

"Lord": Erm... You are and will always be my first knights. That will never change.

Charlotte: Tch...! I mean, it still feels nice to hear that, though.

Johan: Do you really think it will be possible to recruit a knight from an enemy nation? Being a knight means swearing an oath of loyalty.

"Lord": True... But the heart is not something that can be easily bound by an oath.

Charlotte: You plan on recruiting even more knights moving forward, don’t you?

"Lord": Of course. I trust you all more than I even trust myself, but there’s a limit to what we can accomplish on our own.

Johan: I agree that increasing the size of our forces is strategically important.

Fram: Knowing you, Highness, I doubt you’ll recruit anyone shady. I’m all for it! Gettin’ more muscle is a good thing!

"Lord": Thank you for understanding. Don’t for a moment think that I’m going to neglect you, though.

Charlotte: Heh heh, I was just joking earlier. We know you wouldn’t ever abandon us!

Schneider: A-am I included in all of this...? I appreciate even just the thought!

Oswald: ...Err, I’m sorry to interrupt this heartwarming exchange, but I’m only here because I was tricked into helping them…

"Lord": Oh, I forgot you were here, Oswald... Now, what should I do with you?

Oswald: P-please give me another chance! I promise not to disappoint you, "Lord"!

Charlotte: "Lord"? Don’t you mean, “Your Highness”?

"Lord": How are you not going to disappoint Highness?

Oswald: As the margrave charged with protecting the north, I, Oswald, swear to do all within my power to fulfill my duties!

Johan: The fact that you say say such a thing after blatantly committing treason is, in some ways, rather impressive.

"Lord": Still calling yourself a margrave? Do you not realize that the moment you set foot in the audience chamber with your soldiers, you forfeited your countship?

Oswald: Th-th-that is okay! I will serve as a regular knight, or... a lowly soldier...

"Lord": ...Oswald. I’ve thought long and hard about what went wrong. Was I simply not enough for you? Or perhaps the rank given to you by my predecessor was unsatisfactory?

Oswald: N-no, nothing like that! It is my fault for allowing greed to overtake me...!

"Lord": We can decide what to do with you later… I’m in no hurry. In the meantime, you’ll have to get used to manual labor.

Oswald: D-does that mean you’re letting me live?! You have my gratitude! Glory be to [Their] Highness, "Lord"!

Fram: C’mere so I can tie you up all nice and tight!

"Lord": Good work, knights. Let’s head back to Avillon.

Johan: By your command!

...

Zaira: Hmm…? The monarch of Avillon… That was definitely the first time I’d ever seen [them]. And yet, I’ve got this feeling in my chest, something like… Fondness...? Nostalgia...? It doesn’t make any sense... I must just be tired. And since I failed my mission, I guess I’ll need to prepare myself to be punished. How am I going to face the captain...?

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