The interrogation, or beating as Natsuki would call it from her end, had lasted about half an hour, and the captain, a Mr. Remy Bardas, was quite furious at the girl’s stubborn silence, his bloodied hand serving as clear evidence to his frustration.
Bardas was a middle-aged fellow, most likely in his mid to upper thirties, Natsuki assumed, whom had been sent in from the capital to replace the man the raven-haired girl had assassinated just days before, and apparently he wasn’t too happy about leaving the luxury of Seris to have to brave the wilderness and harsh weather conditions of Southern Vedel in the spring. His anger towards his current situation he had unleashed upon the eighteen-year-old who had taken every blow with barely even a grunt, even as the taste of iron filled her mouth and the bruises accumulated over her body. Natsuki knew it was only a matter of withstanding the blows for now, the nano-machines coursing through her blood would heal them easily enough with time, but not even she had expected what happened next.
The captain had disappeared for several minutes, in which Natsuki was left bound to her chair with two foot soldiers standing watch nearby, when he finally came bursting back through the tent’s entrance, making his way around the chair to face the girl, a rapier in hand.
“Do you know what this is?” he agitatedly questioned her, snaking the weapon in front of her, and she took note that the pommel seemed to be glowing oddly.
“This,” the man continued, “is the Brandishiér, an antique rapier from the days of Vedel’s origin. Granted it isn’t the only one of it’s kind, but it still holds sentimental value to me since it’s been passed down from generation to generation in my family. I always carry it when I leave for battle…A good luck charm perhaps...”
“What are you getting at…” Natsuki thought to herself as the man continued to ramble.
“And this,” Bardas stated, shoving the end of the sword in Natsuki’s face, the heat it emitted causing her to draw her head back, “is the old Vedelian symbol “indignus”…Although there is no precise word matching it in today’s tongue, it would roughly translate to unworthy scum of the earth, which is exactly what you Resistance bastards are.”
Using his free hand to grab a fistful of Natsuki’s hair, the captain yanked her head to the left before driving the heated pommel of the sword into the right side of the girl’s neck, and this time, Natsuki couldn’t contain the scream that formed in her throat as the hot metal burned her flesh.
With a devious grin, Bardas spoke again, his voice rising over the anguished screams, tone full of vicious excitement, “Back in the day, this sword was used by the Nobles to mark disobedient slaves, petty criminals, murderers, and those who betrayed their country and king. It’s very befitting of you, don’t you think?”
“S-Sir, you’re drawing blood, sir,” one of the soldiers stuttered, obviously disturbed with the scene.
Bardas snarled, and with a huff, drew back, the mark on the girl’s neck still steaming as the tent was filled with the stench of burning flesh. Taking her face in his hand, the noble forced her to look at him.
“Be thankful that this pansy has sympathy for even a dog like you. Take her back outside,” the man commanded, and then hastily disappeared out of the tent.
“I’m afraid not,” Lucretia replied, switching the phone receiver to her left ear, holding it with her shoulder so she continue writing.
“This truly is unfortunate…” Anya commented, “Both girl’s disappearing like this…”
“I haven’t completely given up hope yet.”
“But what if they don’t come back? Won’t your plan will be useless without both of them?”
“That’s not entirely true,” the second Column remarked, “Although Tokiha showed signs of becoming an exceptional Otome, as much as I hate to say it, I think she can be replaced easily enough.”
There was a pause on the line before Anya spoke again, “What makes you have so much confidence in her? Do you really think she’d be able to handle that kind of pressure?”
The older woman couldn’t help but smirk, “I think she might be the only one who can. Besides, I’m not the only one who has confidence in her abilities…”
“She might have been chosen by the Shinso, but that doesn’t make her the best choice,” Mizuki Granger argued, slamming her fist down on the table the five women were currently situated around.
All five of the Columns had been summoned to Garderobe to discuss the latest candidates for possible future replacements, only for that discussion to quickly turn into a heated debate.
Lucretia Oleander, often considered the unofficial leader of the group, silently sat back in her chair listening to the women throw arguments back and forth across the table, Anya by her side looking quite nervous and unsure of what to do. It was the remaining three who were causing the uproar that, by the looks of it, wasn’t about to end any time soon.
“What is it that you have against Natsuki? She is the current Pearl number two. Isn’t that proof enough that she’s capable of handling the job as well? She’s undeniably the best fighter of the two.” Shizuru shot back.
“But fighting isn’t the only aspect of being a Column,” Xiang Yu, wielder of the Break String Spinel commented, “A Column must excel in all aspects of being an Otome, and Mai Tokiha has proved this during her time here at Garderobe.”
“Just because she has the highest numbers doesn’t mean she’s the best. Ask the girls in their class, most of them will say that Natsuki is the better Otome.”
“What do those girls know?” Mizuki snapped, “You’re just biased towards Kruger because you have feelings for—“
“That has nothing to do with this!”
“Like hell it doesn’t!”
“Stop it you two,” Lucretia finally intervened, and both the Galactic Aquamarine and the Bewitching Smile Amethyst complied, although they were still seething.
“What are your opinions on this matter, Lucretia?” Xiang calmly asked the older woman.
The number two Column closed her eyes, “I haven’t quite decided yet.”
“Anya?” Mizuki eagerly questioned.
“I-I don’t know…” the woman stammered, taking a quick glance at the Gakuenchou.
The young number one Column huffed, “I think Xiang should choose, I mean, it is her position that’s being filled.”
“That isn’t fair, the replacement is someone we’re all going to have to work with,” Shizuru was quick to counter.
Mizuki eyed the chestnut-haired girl wearily, “If Norah was still here…”
“I said that’s enough!” Lucretia threatened.
Silence filled the room for a time, no one daring to look at the other even though the tension was still present.
“It seems like there are two votes for Mai Tokiha and one for Natsuki Kruger. As for Anya and myself, we’re both impartial. Both are worthy candidates, so either would be a fine choice, but respecting the group’s decision as a whole, Mai Tokiha will be our new Break String Spinel wielder.”
“But Oleander-sama—!”
“That is my final decision, Miss Viola. End of discussion.”
1. Indignus is actually Latin for unworthy.
2. I don’t really have a clear-cut vision of what the mark looks like. I just imagine it being about the size of a U.S. silver dollar, the symbol itself being inside of a circle.
3. Just for reference, this is the age line-up for the Columns: Lucretia, (Norah), Xiang, Anya, Mizuki, Shizuru
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