Chapter 74: Fie

The characters shown in this chapter have made appearances in the games.

It's a new week. Giliath demands your power stones! We are climbing back up to over 500!

*

Unbeknownst to me, a certain event back at the main DG Cult base triggered due to my presence being there. As to what would happen from it, I would not know.

Meanwhile, in western Zemuria...

If one continued on west from Thors Military Academy, they could cross through the main capital of Erebonia, Heimdallr, and then Leeves subsequently.

Beyond that going by the main road, one would encounter Gala Lake, which attracted tourists all year round, not only for its beauty and giant waterfall, but also its mysterious nature. It also has a town nearby, Milsante, which houses several tourists as the years come.

However, what laid beyond this lake was one of the more popular cities in the entire country. Raquel. Not only was it the Entertainment City, it also acted as the nexus point to connect all of western Zemuria together. This caused Raquel to behave very similarly to Crossbell, allowing an easy exchange of different cultures.

And yet, Raquel City was an entertainment city at it's core. This made its appearance much more crude than how Crossbell looked.

The year was still S1194 of the Septian Calendar, but there seemed to be some interesting developments at this side of the country.

Not long after the Hamel Tragedy ended and the reconstruction period began, a scruffy looking information finished his business in Parm, only go make his way back home with a new addition in tow, a snot-nosed brown-haired brat who had run out of tears.

Miguel became pleased that the child no longer made the fuss as the two made their way to Raquel, only for Miguel to find a potential client to take the boy in. And in return, someone became interested rather quickly. Miguel knew the boy was attracting the soldiers' attention, so he wanted to get rid of him quick.

In the end, a local hostess who served at the popular casino, Ellen, decided to adopt the boy without learning of his special circumstances.

The brown haired boy swore to take revenge on what transpired that fateful night, and became grateful to Ellen who accepted him. Vowing to protect his new mother, the boy threw his old name, Johan away.

From then on, he took his new mother's last name, and started to call himself Ash Carbide, ditching his brown hair and turning it dirty blonde in the process....

While Raquel became more busy and livelier, not too far away a certain group started to gather in a more dangerous part of the wilderness situated north of Raquel. This particular spot was a breeding ground for mercenaries alike, to which they often skirmished here. Many traces of battles could be found here, likely due to the twisty and elevated terrain this place has.

This was the Languedoc Canyon. Those looking for training should not tread this place lightly, as it was also infested with monsters.

However, by some chance, a small figure who seemed to be no older than five or six years old managed to wander into this dangerous canyon alone, avoiding monsters along the way.

Every step they took they looked quite tattered. Hair was a complete mess and some dried blood could be seen on the shirt which seemed to be too large for their current size. This figure seemed to be a girl as well, with very tattered hair. Lots of dirt was currently in it which hid its pretty shade of white.

This figure soon spotted a tree nearby in one of the windy canyon, and decided to sit down. It wasn't as if life could no longer be seen in their eyes, it was more like this person was lost, unable to find their current way.

Some time had passed since this figure sat down. The girl couldn't feel much energy left in her body to move. She had not moved around from that current spot.

However, it didn't take long for her to feel a chill in the windy canyon. At the same time she started to feel several presences approach her direction. Not that of monsters, but those of humans.

"Oioi, you can't be serious now. A brat actually managed to get this far in?", A rough sounding voice seemingly to be that of a man's suddenly reached the girl's ears. Shortly after, the man's voice was quickly berated by that of a female's.

"Oh can it you stupid bear. You'll frighten the poor girl if you take a direct approach like that. But you are true about one thing. We don't see many wanderers without an affiliation in these parts. Let alone a brat like you.", the female said, only to reveal two figures approaching the frontside of the white haired girl.

"Hmm, it does beg to wonder how you even got in here, little one.", A third voice said, belonging to an even deeper voice of a man's than the first figure. A third figure revealed themselves shortly after.

Seeing two grown men and a woman appear all wearing a uniform in similar fashion, the little girl slowly lifted her eyes at them, only to tilt her head a bit without saying anything.

Seeing such a light reaction, the big figure of the three continued to speak.

"Not much of a response there. What should we do, Boss?", the big figure asked. Going one by one, these three figures were of course Jaegers, and powerful ones at that.

The first figure went by the moniker, Killing Bear, while the second big man was called Behemoth. As for the woman, she was known as Firebird. All three were current Captains of the Jaeger squad roaming these parts. Several other lower ranked Jaegers scattered around the area to not interrupt this.

As they did, a fourth figure finally decided to take a step forward, showing himself in front of the little girl. If one looked closely, one could literally scream danger from the amount of aura covering his body. This man was none other than the same man Naoto encountered together with Roselia while sitting on the orbal car as they made their way to Heimdallr for the first time a few years ago.

And now a few years later, this man could be seen within Languedoc Canyon together with his Jaeger squad, who happened to come across this little girl. The girl couldn't afford to spend the remainder of her energy to run away, so all she could do was look at him. Seeing the girl's eyes, the man let out a chuckle.

"Heh, those are eyes I know well. You're a lost lamb, aren't you? And quite the fortunate one to make it this far in. So. Where is that takin' ya?", the man asked. After asking that, she decided to crouch down, bending his knees next to the girl.

"I don't know..", the little girl finally said, "Anywhere but there...", the little girl mustered the energy to answer the man. This brought a smile on his face.

"Well done.", the man said, placing his hand over the girl's. "Must've taken guts to answer that. Tell ya what. I've taken a liking to you.", the man replied happily.

Hearing that, the girl looked directly at him, just confused. As she did the Killing Bear lodged a complaint.

"Oi, are you seriously thinking of taken a brat in, Boss?", Killing Bear retorted.

"You're such a buzz kill, Killing Bear. I don't see the problem. Better than than letting you die out here meaningless, right?", the man asked, letting out another chuckle.

The girl stayed silent for a moment before nodding her head. Seeing this, the Killing Bear clicked his tongue while the man laughed.

"Haha! Well ya see, I'm kinda known 'round these parts. They call me the Jaeger King, but that's such an embarrassing name, isn't it? Just for you missy, you can call me Rutger Claussell." the man said, finally introducing himself, as Rutger.

"Rutger Claussell...", the girl managed to utter softly. "I am Fie...", the girl continued to say, which caused Rutger ti smile again.

"Heh, Fie is it? Very good. From now on you will be my daughter. No objection right gents and ladies?", Rutger asked quickly scanning the area.

"None. It is always a welcome for someone to join our ranks. Welcome, little one.", Behemoth said, nodding his head.

"Neither from me, Boss. I've always wanted a little sister to play with." Firebird responded happily.

"Man, this is gonna be annoying but no objection here.", Killing Bear responded.

"Good.", Rutger said, before reaching his hand out to Fie. Fie saw as if she had a new light to take which was now ready to grasp in front of her. Without hesitation, Fie took Rutger's hand...