Chapter 13: Phoenia Cyrus
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"Don't hold this against me, kid."

Before Taro had the time to properly digest the words of the flame woman, the bald man dashed towards him. In a reflex he jumped to the side, barely dodging the surprise attack. The fist of the man slammed into the ground, leaving a smoldering crater where Taro had been standing. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew that this was not a normal practice. If he hadn't moved, that crater would've been inside his chest instead.

"Oh, I believe I didn't properly introduce myself yet. My name is Phoenia Cyrus, oldest daughter of the renowned Cyrus family, one of the greatest of South Tyronia." The woman declared.

Her words barely reached Taro. Her underling continued the assault on him, with a faint sense of bloodlust in his eyes. Taro dodged one attack after another, turning the room into a series of holes. The man was not especially fast so it was easy to evade his attacks, but the problem was that he didn't give Taro a single moment to rest. The wounds from before hadn't been completely healed, and Taro already started to feel them reopen. If it went on like this, his fatigue would kick in sooner or later, and one good hit would surely turn him into mincemeat. 

"Our house birthed many valiant warriors. Most of them have served under the imperial army for their whole lives, dedicating themselves fully to the protection of the kingdom. My dad is one of those warriors and naturally, I am one as well." Phoenia kept going as if nothing was happening.

Another flurry of attacks flew towards Taro's direction, which he barely managed to dodge. His side, which had been burned before, started to ache. Keeping his balance started to become troublesome, and he was getting slower. He was clearly reaching his limit...

Why was this monk-like man attacking him anyways? Didn't they just fix him up? So why would they attack him again out of the blue? Did they want to train him into some hard-core soldier, like that Phoenia woman claimed to be? Or was this some new kind of torture maybe? He also couldn't deny the possibility that this woman was just doing this for fun. She did not seem the type to care about strangers, like he had experienced not long ago...

Although... Somehow she didn't strike Taro as that kind of person. For that, she was way too collected. Someone who was just messing with him, would show at least some hints of madness. Either way, this fight was meaningless unless he knew what he was fighting for. He needed to poke for the answer.

"Hey, can't we cut this out? Before anyone gets hurt? Or at least tell me why we're fighting?" Taro pleaded.

*sigh*

...Did she just sigh at his question, as if he asked something ridiculous? 

"I thought you were smart, but it seems like I overestimated you. Did you forget my request?"

"Huh?"

Another sigh.

"That sword of yours, I want to see its power. In action. Right here, right now."

Ah, that was what she meant. By letting this man drive him in a corner, she wanted to test his sword's capabilities. That's why she had said she wasn't finished yet before. She wanted to confirm his words in an actual combat setting, where he did not have a choice but to use its power. However, his flexibility had been sufficient up until now, which had interfered with her plan.

...Why did he not think about this before? If he remembered right, Phoenia had even vaguely mentioned this before... So many things had happened the past couple of days, which had made his mental condition clearly worse. He needed to reset his thoughts as soon as he got a moment to rest.

Also, now that he had a small break to think, all this seemed pretty logical from their viewpoint. What they were doing, was by far the most effective method to get answers. After all, words can lie, but actions can't. If Taro was in their place, he would've probably done the same.

"Baros, you can go all out now. It was not what I had originally planned, but it will suffice. We don't have much time left, so finish it quickly."

"Aye, miss!"

The man took an offensive stance. He mumbled something in a low voice, during which a good amount of prana seemed to build up in his fists. Taro readied his sword. He did not want to hurt the man, but he realized any discussion would be a waste of energy. If they wanted to test him, so be it. Whatever the consequences were, it was not his fault...

Baros launched himself forward. In less than a second he got into Taro's melee range, ready to break him down. 

Taro inhaled. 

The only thing between the destructive fists and his doom, was his sword. But it was enough. If his guess was correct, the man would still be using similar attacks than before, albeit slightly strengthened. He could not read the flow of prana like others could, but he had learned to read people instead. The man in front of him was not someone who was going to use vastly different attacks. No, he was the kind of person who had spent their lifetime to master one style. That's why he had been able to control his power as well earlier. If he didn't master the craft, there was no way he could've had such restraint.

The only thing that worried Taro, was the damage that was about to be done. On him. It was a fifty-fifty. But there was no choice. If anything happened, it was the result of their own naivety.

Baros smashed his fist forward, straight at Taro's face. A trail of fire had formed around the glove, adding to the destructiveness of the attack. 

Taro easily blocked the hit with his sword. The prana around the man's fist got sucked up by the metal, completely nullifying the attack. Both of them were left unharmed. Fortunately, it seemed that this man was using those gloves as a weapon. If he had been purely attacking with the prana in his fists, this battle would already been over. And the result wouldn't have been nice to watch...

The man quickly backed off a little in surprise, but he was not startled for long. As soon as he had recovered, he launched a second hit, this time towards Taro's stomach.

Taro quickly altered the positioning of his blade, blocking the second attack. The result was the same as the first hit. However, this time the man did not back off. Instead, he recovered the prana around his fist and fired of a succession of attacks, aimed at every single part of his body. If Taro had been a normal swordsman, keeping up with it would've proven impossible. However, swordsmanship was all that Taro had known. If he couldn't do this much, it was better that he would fall here...

Taro blocked each of the blows. His sword danced around in the air like a baton, masterfully transforming the area before him into an impenetrable shield. No matter how hard or how fast the man tried to hit him, he could not reach him. After about a minute, the flurry of attacks paused for a moment. However, that did not mean the battle was over yet. Phoenia was quietly watching the spectacle, observing every single movement Taro made.

Baros distanced himself a little and took the same stance as before. The fire prana disappeared around his right fist. Instead, a faint brown glow surrounded the glove. It was unmistakably earth prana. Around his left fist, the fire prana was shimmering as bright as before. 

A second later, both of them were clashing again. Sweat was dripping of the man's head, yet he did not lose any of his strength or speed. He was amazingly well trained. Years of hard work showed in their exchange, which Taro had nothing but respect for. It made him glad the man didn't have to lose all that progress because of him. As long as he had a choice, he did not want to break other's dreams in order to pursue his own nightmare. 

The fight continued for several more minutes. Baros had desperately tried to break through, but it had been in vain. Taro was his natural enemy, and he was trained for these kinds of situations. In a fair head-on fight against a single target prana user, there was no way he would lose. It seemed like Phoenia had also come to this conclusion.

"Baros, that's enough."

The man immediately stopped his assault and backed off. He bowed before Taro, as a gesture of respect. He did not know how to react, so he instinctively bowed back. The man seemed to take it well, because a big grin formed on his exhausted face. 

"Thank you, Baros. Now, take some rest and then see if the preparations are proceeding well."

"Aye, miss!"

The man walked out of the room and left the two of them behind. Phoenia approached Taro, carefully avoiding the burned pits. 

"...I see. Seems like your words held their weight. I would like to ask you more details, however it seems like our time is up."

Just as she ended her sentence, another man stormed into the room. He looked to be gasping for breath, yet he was desperately trying to construct sentences with the little breath he had left. His face was clearly frightened. 

"Calm down, Ron."

Phoenia's words were hardly reassuring, yet they seemed to bring the calm back onto Ron's face. He quelled his fear as good as he could, then rephrased the sentences he wasn't able to speak out earlier.

"M-miss Phoenia... There have been more casualties. Ten men dead, and about fifty missing. That's what we've gathered so far. And all of this happened in a single night."

"..."

"One of casualties is..."

He gulped. The fear slowly turned back into his eyes.

"..."

"It's sir Donovan, miss. The noble you had a meeting with yesterday. He was found dead in his sleeping chambers, strangled by something like a cord or a wire. Nobody has seen a thing, and there is no sign of forced entry. Everyone is going crazy..."

"Tch."

Phoenia bit her lip out of frustration. Taro was surprised to see that expression on her face. Whoever this noble was, she must've had good ties with him. However, she restored herself rapidly.

"Who else?"

"Uh... I don't know about all of them, but most of the others were second district citizens, mostly traders and merchants. All found dead within their homes, the same way sir Donovan was found. And some seem to have ties with him..."

"What about the missing people? Do we have any eyewitnesses, any clues to where they were last seen?"

"We do have some, miss, but... It appears the disappearings are completely random. There is no common link between the missing people, apart from the fact that they are all from the second district. The only part of information that we have, are sightings of an encounter with a middle-aged woman just before they disappeared. However, the descriptions are almost always different, so we're not sure if it's the same woman or not..."

Ron told her some more information, but nothing seemed to be of significance. There was one thing that bothered Taro, however. A middle-aged woman who might be abducting people. Could it be...?

"Alright. Tell everyone in this building to halt what they were doing and assist the investigation in any way they can. I want every single piece of information about this woman or these women reported directly to me or Baros. Also, I want every single corner of this district searched. If anyone complains, tell them to do it directly in my face. I will not allow any more of our people to suffer."

"Aye, miss!" The man seemed to have calmed down. No matter how strict and direct the commands of Phoenia were, she seemed to be right on point. Without a doubt, a leader figure was standing next to him. Taro did not know her position in this town, but he was sure she was at the very top, because that's where she belonged. Despite the horrible news she had been cool-headed and had made quick decisions, just like a person of her stature was supposed to. 

Then, without a word, she took his arm and dragged him outside.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

"Our fun is over here. I'm going to find the person behind all this, and you are going to help me."

"Help you? With investigating? But aren't the others already...?"

"Yes. My people will scout this whole district with ease. If even a single rat is hiding here, they will get cleaned up before they can hide their tails."

"So then, where are we going?"

"To a place my people cannot enter."

"What does that mea-"

"There's no time to talk now. I will explain while we're walking there. First, we both need to get ready." She waved at a nearby girl, who quickly approached her.

"Gear him up. He does not need magic weapons, so don't waste time on that. Get him ready in five minutes."

After she had given the girl a couple of short commands, she disappeared into a side room. The girl guided him through the hall, into a huge room which was completely filled with all kinds of gear: armor, shields, weapons, bows...

"Wait here, please." She ran off from one side to another, assembling a couple of different items in the middle of the room. After she was done, she signaled him to come closer. Taro approached her, after which she started to undress him. Before he could even react, he was already down to his underwear. A big scar showed up on his back, but the girl did not blink at the sight of it.

"H-hey!" 

The girl paid no heed to his protests either. She grabbed the clothes on the ground and put them on him one by one. In even less than a minute, he had completely changed attires. His old clothes were lying spread around on the ground, completely abandoned by their owner. Taro wanted to collect them, but she did not leave him the chance. She forced him outside, slammed the door shut, took his hand and guided him towards another room. Normally Taro wouldn't mind holding hands with such a cute girl, but he did not know if he liked being dragged around like that... 

Finally, he ended up outside. Right before his eyes, the ocean was stretching out. Countless people were swarming on the docks before him: they were loading and unloading their goods, tinkering with their ships, selling their wares in little markets... It was a complete contrast with what he had seen when he entered the city. While passing by, some threw him a quick smile. At first Taro didn't realize why, but when he took a better look at his new attire, he understood. He had been given the formal uniform of the guards, minus the heavy armor. In other words, people saw him as a protector of the city. 

"It seems you're ready. Thank you, Tenessa."

The girl bowed and went back inside.

"I surmise your arrival in this city hasn't been the best experience. If we had more time, I would have let one of my people turn that image around. However, for now this view will have to suffice..."

She looked out at the horizon.

"Vinclum is a vivid city. It has a lot of problems, however, we are all working together to make it a better place. One day, we'll reach a city all of us love and admire. Until then, we will fight to the bitter end. It is the least I can do for her..." She dazed off for a moment, while giving her inner speech. Taro was not sure if she had said those words to him, or to herself.

"We need to find whoever is trying to sow chaos and make sure they keep their filthy hands off our people. And for that, I'm going to need your help."

"...And what if I refuse?"

"That would be a pity, however, you would lose the information you are longing for."

So she was still keeping him chained on that promise of information... For all he knew, it could be a fluke. However, in this unfamiliar city, she was his only clue. Even though every second counted, getting back Liss would be probably be harder without this woman's help. Also, he had a feeling all of these events were connected with each other somehow. In other words, he had no choice but to follow this red-haired woman for now.

"Alright, alright, I give up... So, where are we going?"

"There's one place my men cannot reach."

She took a deep breath, then started walking, her eyes filled with determination.

"We're going to infiltrate the first district."

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