[Lifespan Remaining: 25 days, 8 hours, 58 minutes.]
The first to turn was a man standing beside an overturned carriage. His head snapped toward the courtyard, specifically to Noct.
And along the streets, more faces turned to catch the commotion. Guests emerged from the broken banquet hall while citizens who were caught up spilled out from the alleyways.
They stepped over fallen beams and abandoned belongings as their attention was solely settled on the place where the wind had gathered, and well, the guy that was conveniently standing there.
’Ah...’
Then, they started sprinting toward Noct all at once. Some had knives in their hands while others made do with makeshift sharp objects. Several were bleeding, yet none seemed particularly concerned about their injuries.
Noct raised one hand, gathering mana as he backed toward the courtyard. He could knock down a few of them, but there were simply too many coming down the street.
Even something like Chain Lightning wouldn’t really be enough to stop all of them, and against a crowd this tightly packed, he couldn’t guarantee what condition they would be in afterward.
’If I use something weaker, they’ll just get right back up. Tch...’
But from his flank, he caught a glimpse of something else. Figures emerged from the shadows, and at their head, was a certain girl with distinctive red hair.
"PROTECT ALTAIRE!"
Sprinting out of the darkness, was a massive line of armored figures rushing toward the approaching horde, shields raised and weapons already drawn.
At first, Noct thought they were Altaire’s knights, which given what he’d known about them for now...were definitely bad news. But upon closer inspection, they were different.
The leading knight drove his shield between Noct and the charging man, taking the impact with barely a step backward. Two more moved past him, forcing the other attackers away from the courtyard entrance.
"Close the line! Don’t kill the civilians!"
Aurora stepped forward, her clothes torn and battered, but she otherwise held her dignified look as she commanded the knights.
"My lady!"
"They’re under a magical influence," she spoke loudly. "Knock them unconscious if you have to, then bind their hands and feet. Make sure they can’t hurt themselves or anyone else!"
From the lion insignia plastered pretty much everywhere on their shields, they were Rosenthal Crusaders. That much was clear as day now.
Advancing together, they caught the attackers against their shields before pulling them out of the crowd. Those who could be restrained were forced down and bound by some kind of glowing rope, while those who continued struggling were quickly subdued before being dragged aside.
"Keep the wounded on this side!" Aurora called, pointing toward the courtyard. "Leave a path through the middle!"
A pair of paladins hurried toward the unconscious man Noct had struck with lightning earlier. One checked him briefly before the two lifted him out of the street.
Aurora must’ve overheard his conversation with Lenia before he asked the fairy to help. And while he had been concentrating on the mist, she had been making arrangements of her own.
’...But how?’
Noct gestured to the formation. "Where the hell did you hide all these paladins? A group this big must’ve caught the attention of Altaire’s knights, even if they were to camp out in the nearby woods."
"Ah, that?"
She quickly reached inside her pocket and produced a small necklace in the shape of a cross. It seemed to be made out of pure gold, with a decorated border and a carved insignia of a lion right in the middle.
"That’s—!"
Noct knew about this type of item in the game. Most noble houses had their own heirloom, passed down to the heir. House Rosenthal’s heirloom was called "Cross of the First Dawn", a relic that allowed its user to open a doorway connecting their location to the Rosenthal estate.
It was a powerful relic that could only be used once a month, but because of it, any war the Rexford Kingdom fought with the Rosenthal’s help were won, regardless of their situation before.
"You’ve already been named heir?"
"I forgot you’ve been bedridden this whole time...The ceremony was last spring."
"And you always have that on you, doesn’t your father need it?"
"He’s quite...overprotective."
Hearing the actual reason, Noct couldn’t help but smile a little. The heir to Rosenthal, the church of Aion’s protection, as well as one of the most elite forces in the continent...was a daddy’s girl.
’Not everyone’s perfect, are they?’
But before Noct could comment on the fact, another familiar figure sprinted toward him, her uniform was quite messy as well.
"Young Master!"
Noelle hurried through the courtyard gate, slipping past a crusader who had barely begun to raise his hand to stop her. Yet she dodged him with effortless grace, confusing even Aurora, who watched the whole thing happen.
She looked toward the ruined banquet hall as well as the crusaders who were still suppressing the horde of crazed civilians and guests, then at Noct’s slightly pathetic-looking state.
"Young Master, what happened?!"
"It’s a long story," he looked back at the ruined hall. "The culprit’s clear now. It’s Faust. He’s behind the kidnappings. I don’t know why just yet—"
Noct suddenly remembered the deformed state that his brother was in. "But I know that he’s definitely up to no good. We need to stop him somehow."
"I was about to tell you the same thing."
"What?"
"Yes," the maid nodded. "At the warehouse you asked me to investigate."
Noelle reached into her coat and withdrew a folded sheet of paper. "At first, it appeared to be an ordinary warehouse. But there were marks on the floor under several of the shelves. And behind them, I discovered an entrance leading underground..."
She handed him the paper, which he promptly took. It was a maintenance plan, likely a copy that she had drawn, with rooms running into a much larger passage, wide enough for loaded carts to travel through.
However, the passage stopped, mostly because Noelle hadn’t managed to continue moving on to draft out the whole place.
"I knew it," Noct nodded. "And? Where does he take all of the people? Where do these tunnels lead?"
"The Altaire Crystal Mines, Young Master."