"What happened to you two?" Eris asked with some concern as she cradled Yuki in her left arm.
Currently, Lucas was panting while sprawled out on the ground, rubbing his head in pain. Christina also seemed to be breathing harder, but she had a bright smile on her face and seemed quite pleased with herself.
Lucas was unable to escape his pursuer this time and had been caught by Christina, earning him a swift knock on his head from her fist.
She might have held back, but it still hurt. On top of that, not only had Lucas cheated, he still lost the race, so the boy was feeling a bit disappointed with himself.
"Oh, nothing much," Christina said with a grin, "We just had a little competition and Lucas lost."
"Oh! Like when Lucas and I spar together," Eris commented with understanding.
"You spar with each other?" Christina's ears perked up, very interested in what she was hearing.
Lucas, on the other hand, felt a chill shoot up his spine. Ignoring the pain in his head, he turned a pleading look towards his precious big sister, hoping she wouldn't reveal anything she shouldn't.
Seeing the look on Lucas' face, Eris 'understood' what he meant and immediately began boasting pridefully, "En, that's right! Lucas and I spar a lot to compare out swordsmanship. Recently, he's been beating me more often than not with all kinds of tricky moves. I can't use my sword really well right now, but as soon as I can, I want to get back to it…"
Hearing this, and seeing the stump where Eris' right hand used to be, Lucas suddenly felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He still felt responsible for his big sister's current condition, but seeing her talking so cheerfully about starting her sword training again brought a smile to his face though.
Eris was truly the resilient big sister he admired, though she might have been acting a bit too cheerfully, which made Lucas wonder if she was perhaps trying too hard to act alright.
It was a delicate subject, so Lucas didn't want to touch on it carelessly, especially in the middle of such a critical time.
"I know!" Eris suddenly shouted, breaking Lucas' drifting train of though, "Why don't you spar with Lucas in my place, Sister Tina? I'm sure it'll be a good experience for both of you!"
Damn it! Lucas nearly cursed out loud. He loved his big sister dearly, but sometimes he wished she wouldn't be so careless with her words.
Christina, who had also become a bit somber after Eris casually mentioned her disability, was taken aback by this sudden suggestion. However, after glancing down at Lucas and seeing the sour look on his face, her mood improved dramatically as she flashed a brilliant smile, "That sounds like a wonderful idea! I can't wait!"
Seeing the two girls looking down at him, one of the smiling cheerfully, as if asking him to praise her, while the other was smiling meaningfully, like a carnivore eyeing its next meal, Lucas didn't know whether to cry from laughter or despair.
Oh whatever, I'm sure it'll be informative at least, Lucas tried to console himself, though he wasn't having much luck in that regard.
"Why are you lying in the dirt?" A new voice suddenly called out.
Quickly jumping to his feet, Lucas lined up beside Eris as the two of them bowed, "Welcome back, Master"
Christina also bowed politely, "Welcome back, Aunt Celestina."
Observing the 3 children for a moment, Celestina nodded lightly before signaling for them to follow her.
Back inside the Manor, while she was removing her armour, Celestina asked, "How is the evacuation proceeding?"
Stepping forward, Lucas began to detail the progress that had been made on emptying out Redwood Town. Counting the advanced-team they had sent out yesterday, some 600 people had been airlifted to Herald City so far, with another 100 or so waiting at the embarking point for the Sunchaser to return.
Things were running a bit behind schedule, but that wasn't too surprising given the experimental nature of the evacuation method they were using.
Lucas also relayed a message he had received from his Aunt Sasha, saying she had established a temporary camp in the Eastern River District of Herald City and was actively working to recruit healers, adventurers, and labourers from the local population.
"Have those wastes inside the city made any moves?" Celestina asked with clear disgust in her voice.
Shaking his head, Lucas replied, "Not so far. It seems that Count Baker and the local Garrison Commander are both completely uninterested in anything other than protecting themselves and their property."
With a snort, Celestina finished taking off her armour and ordered, "Send a message with the final group today for our people to continue avoiding contact with the local leaders. Getting involved with them now will only complicate things. It's better we deal with them all at once, leaving them no time to prepare or escape."
Nodding, Lucas made a mental note of this before broaching the topic he and Christina had been talking about earlier.
As she listened to her First Disciple's concerns, Celestina's expression didn't change in the slightest. Only when he was done explaining his thoughts did she briefly state, "I agree."
To this curt response, Lucas frowned and wanted to say something, but when he thought about it, he came up short for words.
True, the situation was unstable and there was now a highly dangerous element lurking out there in the shadows, but what exactly were they supposed to do about it?
What could they do about it?
A sense of frustration suddenly overtook Lucas as he was again reminded how little control he had over the world around him.
Even his Master, one of the most powerful and influential people in the entire Rockwell Kingdom, had moments like right now when she was helpless to do anything.
Feeling a pat on his head, Lucas looked up to see Celestina smiling down at him.
Understanding her meaning, he simply nodded and collected himself.
"Good," Celestina nodded, "For now, we do what we can while preparing for whatever may come."
…..
As evening fell on the second day of the evacuation, the Sunchaser landed in the military camp after its tenth round-trip to Herald City.
The ground crew swiftly got to work tying down the Skyship while unhitching the clearly tired Tartans. The giant flying beasts had been pushed hard again today, in a manner they were very unaccustomed to, so it was only natural they were feeling sore and exhausted.
A meeting was soon called by Celestina, gathering together Vanessa, Christina, Sir Green, Charles, Anna, and Lucas.
Drake normally would have joined such a meeting as well, but he and the other craftsmen were busy performing maintenance on the harnesses, ropes, and other equipment in preparation for tomorrow's evacuation flights.
"What's our progress?" Celestina opened the meeting with the all-important question.
"Just over 1,300 people have been evacuated from Redwood Town, including all of the critically injured," Lucas reported succinctly.
"Great," Charles breathed a sigh of relief, "That means we should be able to get a few extra people out on the next flights."
"Indeed," Anna concurred, "There are still quite a number of wounded left, but they're all in stable condition, so it won't be a problem cramming them in a bit."
Now, despite what Anna was saying, it would most definitely be a problem to pack the remaining injured patients in tight aboard the Sunchaser. At the very least, they would have to endure quite a bit of pain and their injuries could very-well worsen.
However, compared to having to endure a multi-kilometre trek over a rough road, then 7 or 8 hours aboard a cramped merchant boat like the rest of the evacuees would have to, being uncomfortable and bleeding a bit was a minor price to pay to ride the Skyship.
"Were there any problems?" Vanessa asked next.
Frowning slightly, Lucas nodded, "According to Aunt Sasha, the situation in Herald City is even worse than we anticipated. There's a severe lack of everything, from shelter, to food, to even simple clothing. The living conditions there are terrible, and social order outside of the wealthiest districts is basically non-existent."
"What are you trying to say, Lucas?" Celestina asked bluntly.
"We need to send more of the Town Guard and militia to help secure our camp, as well as more supplies to ensure people don't go hungry," Lucas concluded, "If we don't, we risk order breaking down entirely."
Hearing this stark assessment, everyone in the room had sour looks on their faces.
Moving of people out of Redwood Town, the part they had all thought would be the biggest obstacle to this mass evacuation, was proceeding fairly smoothly. On the other hand, the biggest stumbling block to their plans was the unstable situation in Herald City.
"Maybe…" Christina started to speak up, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
Normally, the young princess was incredibly confident and had no trouble speaking her mind, even in public, but the current situation was very different from her everyday life. Here, the words she spoke could very well be the difference between hundreds of people living or dying, so the pressure she felt was naturally much, much greater.
Still, Christina Rockwell was no coward, so she quickly gathered her courage and proposed, "Maybe, instead of evacuating the oldest children on the Sunchaser, we should send a group of militia, and a group of skilled craftsmen, as well as a large amount of supplies tomorrow."