Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

Dion strolled through the residential complex and tribal leader quarters located directly beneath the palace. The layout here looked distinctly different from the city across the gorge; it featured spacious and modest mansions scattered at comfortable distances from one another, alongside larger buildings like the Aetherias trading company branch, a merchant guildhall, a modest barbarian arena used for performances and training, an open-air theater, and a longhouse that likely served as the royal archives.

They walked deeper into the district without spotting a single soul. The buildings looked weathered and damaged, yet structurally intact, needing little more than basic repairs.

”It looks like this area didn’t take nearly as much structural damage,” Dion observed.

”Yeah... The city across the bridge actually looks much worse,” Aria replied.

Both of them turned to look at Sheila, whose gaze swept over her surroundings with a deeply emotional expression. Sheila walked up to the wrought-iron fence of a sprawling mansion and peered inside. She saw a thick splatter of dried blood coating the driveway, a few torn garments discarded over the crimson pool, and a solitary stuffed teddy bear lying right in front of the gate. There were no corpses or bodily remains left atop the congealed blood.

Grip.

Sheila clenched the iron bars tightly. Dion and Aria stepped up on either side of her, Dion resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

”Do you know who lived here?” Dion asked gently.

”Lord Draco Wiseflame. He had a ten-year-old daughter, and that’s her bear,” Sheila answered.

Dion and Aria gazed down at the dirt-stained teddy bear resting on the blood-soaked ground. Both of them could vividly feel the heavy sorrow washing over Sheila. Dion simply gave her shoulder a comforting pat, while Aria reached out to squeeze her hand in silence. After a long moment, Sheila looked up, meeting their eyes.

”Let’s keep going. We need to see what’s left of the city’s elite district,” Sheila said firmly.

”Alright... Lead the way,” Dion replied.

”Yeah... understood,” Aria added.

They resumed their walk deeper into the district. The scenery around them remained unchanged, deserted streets, minimal structural damage, and the eerie quiet of a ghost town. They looped around the complex and returned to the main thoroughfare where the Aetherias trading company branch stood. Pushing the front doors open, they heard a sudden noise echoing from within. Clang! Dion, Sheila, and Aria snapped their heads toward one another, then bolted straight inside.

Blam!

All three ducked instinctively, glancing up to see the heavy entrance door behind them blasted clean through by a projectile. Spinning around toward the service counter, their eyes went wide. Standing right before them was a small girl clutching a long-barreled flintlock-style rifle with trembling hands. Her face was pale with stark terror, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Her clothes were ragged and filthy, her face smeared with soot and dirt, leaving distinct tracks where her tears had washed the grime away.

The little girl’s lips quivered as she desperately tried to cock the rifle again, but her shaking hands made the manual reload clumsy and frantic. Realizing the girl was completely panicked and exposed, Sheila lunged forward with blinding speed. She caught the barrel of the rifle, causing the terrified child to shake so violently she wet herself on the spot. But as Sheila peered closely at the grime-covered face, recognition flashed in her eyes.

”You... Greta? Lord Draco’s daughter?” Sheila asked in disbelief.

”Y-Yes... p-please... papa... mama... everyone... they tried to eat me... p-please... help... help me... Big Sister... Princess... Sheila?” Greta stammered out, her voice trembling with the deep, lingering trauma of the previous night’s horrors.

Sheila pulled Greta into a tight, protective embrace, and the little girl immediately hugged her back. Klotak. The rifle slipped from her grasp, clattering onto the counter. Her tiny frame shook uncontrollably as she buried her face into Sheila’s shoulder. Dion and Aria rushed over to join them. Aria immediately noticed the raw scrapes and cuts covering Greta’s legs and elbows, likely sustained from a desperate fall while running for her life.

Without a second thought, Aria opened her dimensional storage and pulled out a healing potion vial. She sprinkled the liquid over Greta’s wounds and gently rubbed it in. The girl hissed in pain, though she still kept her face hidden and continued to tremble.

”Hang in there for just a second, your cuts will heal right up. Here... drink the rest of this,” Aria said, standing up.

Greta looked up at Aria with wide eyes, and Aria helped her drink the remaining potion. The lacerations across Greta’s body vanished completely in an instant, leaving the child staring down at her unblemished hands in awe.

”Thank you, Big Sister,” Greta whispered to Aria.

”You’re very welcome... Can you tell us what happened?” Aria asked gently.

Greta stayed silent, refusing to speak. Sheila glanced at Aria and signaled with a subtle tilt of her head, silently telling her to hold off on the questioning for now as she tenderly stroked Greta’s hair. Meanwhile, Dion vaulted behind the counter to check the rear area. Pushing open a door leading to the back rooms, he found the space empty. He swept through the interior chambers to inspect every corner.

”Hmm... No lingering zombies... just a desk, stock shelves, and a washroom... Looks like Greta spent the night hiding under the desk... or maybe she didn’t sleep at all. Poor kid,” Dion thought to himself.

Stepping back out front, Dion saw that Sheila and Aria had already begun changing Greta out of her filthy rags using some of the pristine garments on display from the shop’s inventory. Once Greta was dressed in clean clothes, the group sat down together on a long bench usually reserved for visiting merchant clients.

”Would you like to tell us what happened last night?” Sheila asked softly.

Greta offered no verbal response. She simply shook her head in refusal, then looked up to lock her wide, innocent eyes onto Sheila.

”Is it safe outside now? Are there still any bad monsters left?” Greta asked anxiously.

”It’s completely safe now. The enemies are gone, and there aren’t any creatures like the ones from last night left in the city,” Sheila assured her, gently resting a hand on Greta’s head with a warm smile.

”I’m so glad... At least... Papa and Mama can rest in peace now,” Greta whispered, her head dropping as fresh tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill over again.

Dion, Sheila, and Aria choked back their emotions. They pressed their lips into tight lines, silently agreeing to drop the questioning altogether. Sheila pulled Greta back into her arms. This time, the little girl broke down into loud, sobbing wails, her cries heavy with grief, yet entirely purged of the paralyzing terror she had carried moments before. Seeing this, Dion stood up and motioned for Aria to step outside with him. He exchanged a knowing nod with Sheila, who acknowledged it gently while continuing to stroke Greta’s hair.

Chime.

Dion and Aria stepped out onto the street and stood in quiet contemplation. Boom! They whipped their heads toward the city across the gorge as a massive translucent half-dome barrier flared to life, expanding outward from the central plaza to shield the entire lower district.

”Cleo just deployed the barrier,” Aria noted.

”Yeah... She’s at the main square,” Dion replied.

The two stood in silence for another moment, glancing back toward the shop before turning their attention back down the deserted street ahead.

”The state of the city after fighting off an undead horde... it’s just so depressing... Is every war like this?” Aria asked quietly.

”Yeah... this is how every war ends. The common folk are the ones who suffer, and they’re the ones left to rebuild,” Dion replied. ”At least, that’s how it always was back on Earth,” he thought to himself.

”Ugh... I really hope Thetor doesn’t end up going through the same nightmare as Northgard,” Aria said, stepping closer to wrap her arms around Dion’s arm.

”Don’t worry. Evelyn and your father are over there, it’s definitely safe,” Dion reassured her, gently stroking her head.

”So, are we just waiting here for Sheila to convince that girl to come with us?” Aria asked.

”Hmm... come with us? Back to our territory?” Dion asked, taking a second to process her words.

”Well, yeah... her parents are gone and she’s all alone here. Why wouldn’t we just take her home with us?” Aria replied casually.

Dion stared down at Aria, who was looking up at him with a completely innocent expression, oblivious to the fact that she had just dropped what felt like a bombshell on him.

”What is this girl talking about? So now Greta is our responsibility? You’ve got to be kidding me... But seeing that kid... honestly, I don’t have the heart to leave her behind either... Ah dammit, why does this always happen to me?” Dion thought to himself.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Thetor, ”All archers, fire your flaming arrows inside! Now!” Evelyn screamed.

The archers loosed volleys of fire arrows right through the barrier seal, incinerating the massive piles of zombies swarming against the magical shield in an attempt to breach it. But a secondary wave surged from the depths of the compound, stacking up against the barrier once more. Crack! The magical shield fractured further, turning Evelyn’s face ashen as she clenched her jaw tight.