At the base of the keep were the warriors of the Caraha tribe that had stirred the attention of the City of Zubikai. Aldweck and his group had managed to keep up with the rose-suit soldiers that were quickly folding into action with their rifles. In the center of all the action was a bloodied Chief Zaberdack, who had a gunshot wound through his shoulder. His teeth were fierce as he stood on top of a group of bodies that had begun to form a pile underneath the Caraha warriors. They were dodging the bullets in real-time, but some of the Caraha clan had already fallen to the soldiers' defenses.

Steilart tackled one of the soldiers that were firing at the group that had separated from them. Aldweck punched a soldier who had turned around to point his gun at the group, before asking, “What happened? Why are you in a fight with these guys?”

“Turns out, I’m not so good at surveillance.” He leaped into the air and wrapped his legs around one of the soldiers before snapping his neck.

“What the hell! Everything is going to shit again.” Velis held his head, pulling the gun he had just taken off the soldiers in the alleyway and shooting two of them.

Chammie pulled a gun off one of the soldiers and started firing as well. The square had erupted into war and people were peeping out of their homes at the warzone which had erupted into a full-scale massacre. Aldweck went from soldier to soldier, punching and kicking everyone who he saw as an imminent threat. Things began to shift to their side when a large set of feet stumbled from above the staircase. There were at least a hundred men and behind them was a man with a long black beard and flowing hair.

“What is the meaning of this?!” He motioned with his hands and all of the gun barrels were pointed at the group of men that remained.

“I go off to enjoy my day, and I hear trails of gunfire in my courtyard while I’m enjoying tea. You are going to die for killing my men!”

“I’m assuming you’re Commander Blaire,” Erick said, summoning an array of fire arrows into the sky that was pointing at the group. Commander Blaire stumbled and backed up a bit before putting his hands up, “I’m sure we can negotiate something.” Blaire said.

“I didn’t expect the commander of this city to give up so easily,” Erick said.

“You are going to help us lead a coup against Lord Warner. If you refuse, I will have you killed in the name of the Mariotta Kingdom.” Aldweck said, stepping up.

Commander Blaire’s eyes drifted up to the man who was walking through the crowd, “K-Knight Aldweck?!”

“If you help us without betraying us, I will have your crimes reduced. The only other choice you have is death by my disciple’s arrows. So, decide what it will be. You have ten seconds to decide. If it takes more thought than that, then you’re plotting something against me and my companions.”

“Ok–Okay! I’ll help you! Just don’t fire those arrows at us!” He scrambled to his feet.

“That’s what I wanted to hear. We’re taking half of your guns. Rally the people into the square and call for them.”

Commander Blaire looked at Aldweck and then to his men before nodding, “As you wish. Do as he says. From this point on, we’re rebelling against the Lord. If you refuse, you will face death. I guarantee it. This is the Knight of Mariotta. We are not in a position to refuse if you have any brains whatsoever!” He pushed his way through and then called for several of his men to gather around him.

“Okay, I want all of you to split into three different groups and gather the able-bodied fighters in the city. We will be rallying up their courage.” He looked to Aldweck, “Sir Knight Aldweck, I believe we will need you for this mission as well. My men have treated the population here with little regard, it is unlikely they will listen to us.”

“We’ve got that taken care of.” Naomi appeared from one of the alleyways, dragging one of Commander Blaire’s soldiers by his shirt collar. His face was all bruised and bloodied from where she had been interrogating him for information.

“I-I see, and who are you?”

“I am the strongest member in the Caraha clan.”

“Naomi!” Chief Zaberdack said.

“You know it’s true, that’s why you don’t have anything in response to that. Even your men undoubtedly agree that I am the strongest in our clan. If you are a leader, you will learn to accept that.” She dropped the soldier on the ground and looked at Blaire.

“Commander, you and me will take care of rallying the people up for this mission. I am also the most fit to slaughter everyone in your group in the unlikely event you try to oppose me.”

“C-Caraha clan!?” He put his arm up and took a few steps back, “What kind of monsters have you brought to my doorstep, Knight Aldweck?”

“Just a few friends.”

“Knight Aldweck, you and Chief Zaberdack should go prepare the ships at the harbor with Chammie. That way, by the time I round these people up we can be off to the next island.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Aldweck said, motioning for the rest of the group to come with him as Chief Zaberdack followed along with them to the harbor, taking a map from one of the soldiers.

“I would rather not leave the Caraha ship all the way back there, but we had little choice, I didn’t expect to be able to dock here with the way things were said about this place.” Zaberdack said to Aldweck, “It will take some time but we should arrive at the harbor within half an hour. From there, we can start preparing the ships for sailing.”

“I have a strong feeling that we aren’t going to be able to go to the next lesser island, Chief Zaberdack.” Aldweck said.

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, just the incident with the ship on the way here. The absence of that ship has definitely raised alarms. Messengers to Commander Blaire were probably en route right before we intercepted him. That’s just my opinion.”

“It sounds like a wise one to me, but let’s not worry so much about that right now. We need to get these ships prepared.”

The docks weren’t so active, but there were many ships. Twenty or so of them were guarded by rose suits who were put on high alert by the large group that had hiked around the mountain to meet them at the isolated harbor.

“Halt! State your intentions.”

One of the soldiers from Commander Blaire’s retinue that was well known approached the soldier from the group and gave him instructions written on paper.

“I-Impossible.” He read the paper and looked up at the higher-ranked officer, “Is this true?”

“It is. We want you to prepare the ships. We will have a few hundred coming along with us in this matter. Start right away, there is no time to explain any more details. Understand?” He said, in a commanding voice.

The man saluted, “Yes sir, I will notify the rest of the guards.”

As Aldweck was reading more of the book, the people started to fold in and board the ships. He took the time to invest some more time into figuring out why he was transported to this world.

~ - ~ - ~

“You saved me, Isabella, but you’ve been acting differently. Please tell me what’s going on.” Klein said, holding her hands.

Isabella looked back at Klein and smiled faintly, “We can go on that adventure now that you wanted. My family has been moved out of the country, and Count Fahren won’t have his beautiful wife anymore!”

“Let’s go at once. Leave this place and move to brighter horizons. What do you say?” She smiled, brushing his hair out of his face.

“I-If you say so.” He blushed.

Isabella pulled off her white glove, “Look at this. These white gloves are a sign of goodwill in my family. I will allow you to have one, take it as my proposal to you. You meant a lot to me.”

“Meant?”

“I mean you mean a lot to me.” She smiled, hiding something behind her face, her mind clearly somewhere else.

~ - ~ - ~

Aldweck closed the book once more, he felt like he was closing in on the truth. The ships had already set sail and the island of Zubikai had been virtually liberated without shedding more blood than necessary. Things had gone swimmingly ever since Aldweck had obtained the cursed book from Jebediah. Mitch was starting to wonder if curses were blessings, and blessings being curses, in this world. Even in that, there is a paradox. A paradox that must be solved. Aldweck frowned.

He looked out to the sea and saw Chammie aboard another ship, waving at him with a gentle smile. He appeared as if he were at home with himself whenever he was aboard a ship. Something about him had changed on this journey, which made him appreciate a lively ship. Aldweck smiled back and waved, turning toward Erick who was asleep against the mast of the ship they were on.

Erick was trying to save his energy for the big attack. They had decided to march toward Jarquale immediately, in fear of the rebellion losing steam. The final and decisive moments were upon them in this great conflict that they had roused in the Cariqueys. Everything had happened by chance.

Mitch was doing his best to fight against those chances now, and to make his own. He looked out at the sea and drifted off into slumber. There was nothing more important than finishing what he started. His answers might come if they succeed, but if they don’t, Mitch had resolved himself not to give up. He had met many people in his journey, but this was not his home.

Steilart and Velis had enacted an arm-wrestling contest between themselves and the Caraha warriors. Some of the rose soldiers had even chipped in, making the competitive environment even more fierce. Velis had lost to Steilart, but even Steilart was no match for the Caraha warriors who were purely known for their strength in battle.

In the end, it wasn’t a Caraha warrior that won the arm wrestling competition, but a large man known as Durda, who was respected for his mighty strength in the rose soldiers. His uniform had been custom-tailored due to his size, there was not another rose uniform in the world that existed that could fit him, which often gave the impression that he was born in a world too small for him. Durda was respected for winning, and they all began drinking.

Many of the inhabitants of Zubikai had negative feelings about the soldiers and had decided to take separate ships. In those ships, there were passionate talks of independence that traveled on the bands of wind that were carried across the waves of the ocean.

Naomi and Chief Zaberdack were aboard the ships where most of the soldiers had positioned themselves. Keeping the rebellion in a uniform group was an important matter. Everyone was nervous that hell could break loose at any moment. Enemies had become allies in the face of a revolution that could not be stopped.

This was the changing tide, the sun that set so that the moon could rise and give new light to a country that had fallen in darkness.