Chapter 115 – The Runaway Princess (5)

Joshua waited for a week. By that time Silo became a mess of a person. He was always drunk and there was no life on him. He waited for Zola. And when she did arrive Joshua explained what happened. This made Zola react. Cyra was amiable to her and she liked her company. But the moment Joshua told her about tracking the ship down. She gave Joshua a complicated response.

“Joshua, even I couldn’t track something that happened a week ago. No to mention she flew in a flying ship. All we know is that she should be in the demesne of this nation or kingdom you speak off. Getting there would be a problem. I could gather some maps and scanned them to my Omni-Forge. I can find a good route but that land is miles away from the Freelands. Even if I travel there it would take days or months. If we have a ship then things might not be so bad. There are also things to consider like how we enter their borders without getting caught. Or the worst part of this whole fiasco. How do you take someone back who would be heavily protected? I am strong. I have the strength of a hundred men but I cannot fight an army or a nation by myself. I can go with the guerilla tactic and slowly cripple their kingdom. But that would take me years and a war of attrition is not that easy. I need to gather information and gather intelligence about all of this.”

Hearing all this made Joshua’s head swirl. He rather thought simply. He thought that maybe they could just find Cyra and take her back to Edawick. But that didn’t satisfy Zola. She said.

“But that would only mean that she would be running way forever. I cannot be her guardian angel. I am sorry. But I cannot live my life here protecting her. She’s my friend but I have my limits too. And even if I somehow just take her back. Think of the consequences and the following events that may happen. She will be hunted and these Templars would be in their interest to take her back. There are many options that we could take. I could assassinate her father and then we put someone to the throne as the leader in exchange for her freedom.”

“You are surprisingly thorough.”

“What are you saying?” said Zola. “Being thorough is good. It is the little things that matter. Look, I know that you want to save Cyra and all. I can see that there is this wanting of yours to travel far across the land to save her. But Joshua, let us be real here. She is a princess of a demesne that people refer to as the strongest in this continent. And the Lord that governs the nation is a worthy lord that has earned the respect and loyalty of his people to the point of being fanatical.”

She said with furrowed brows. Joshua listened, occasionally hearing the whistles of the wind coming from the grassland where the sheep’s are usually herded. The two had strolled to this small pond where they discussed thing. But so far it was just Zola giving her opinion.

“So it is too hard? Leave her alone?” Joshua said uncomfortably.

“No. But even I can see why they would take her. The moment you told me about this happening, I investigated. I talked to people and inquired about them. This whole thing that the Templars wants is clear. They want an alliance so they can curb the war to their victory. The Maltius La Fende had been planning to but they needed an incentive to accept the alliance. And what better way for an alliance to start other than delivering the beloved belladonna of the Maltius La Fende? Cyra may reluctant but it would be a good excuse and a start of a friendship.”

Joshua frowned. He was getting a headache from this. He wished that things would have been just simple. But the truth was there. He could only think how bothersome all of this. What he wanted was just to save a friend. Yet here he was hearing all of this from Zola.

He kicked a pebble. The pebbled rolled far from him. Zola watched him do that. She looked at Joshua’s lost face. She could not help but feel sorry for him, not as much as she feels sorry for Silo who had his bride stolen away from him.

“It’s cruel really,” murmured Joshua. “To think that they could have lived here peacefully without all of this drivel. This is one big joke really.”

“Well, it was not your fault or Silo that Cyra was actually a princess of a powerful kingdom.” Suddenly, Zola laughed. This made Joshua looked at her with his brow raised a millimeter. Zola could feel Joshua’s stare. “Sorry, it’s just that the absurdness of it is just laughable. Really, how did things become like this?”

“You tell me,” Joshua sighed. “I would to know or hear any answers. But you make it sound like rescuing Cyra would take a lot of effort.”

“It really does,” Zola admitted. “It would have been fine if she was a just a normal princess. But the state of this continent is at the boiling point. You were there when Avilla was attacked right? That attack and their reason for attacking Avilla City, was to cut the supplies right?”

‘Yeah,” Joshua nodded. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

Zola raised a finger. “But give this a thought. Why would they risk an entire fleet of flying ship just to attack the city? If they have that kind of resources then shouldn’t they focus it on the front lines? Why were they so willing to take Avilla?”

“I don’t know,” Joshua answered.

“I can tell you,” Zola smiled thinly. “When I woke up here I encountered the Templars. They were scouring the lab ship that was I put to sleep in. What do you think they are doing there?”

Then the coin dropped at Joshua. “Ah, searching for relics?”

“Exactly and the Bali and Cagan hoped that these relics would help them. But the Templars won. This is just a hunch but I think the Templar led them purposely.”

Joshua didn’t know what to say. He folded his arms and tried not think about it. He was failing at that.

“All I want is to save a friend and yet this is just,” Joshua complained.

“True, sadly we cannot be retarded about this.”

Zola craned her head up to the sky in thinking. It was really hard to save a Princess of a powerful nation. But Zola had started getting an idea, slowly.