86 Chapter 86 - Setting Off

It was only several hours later that Drake returned to his room. His head was now filled with a lot of information which Satre had been more than happy to share. Most of it was miscellaneous, some extremely important.

For instance, the ranger had told him that their organization had bases in most, if not all, major cities of the twelve kingdoms. While this may seem like it should be common knowledge... Well, it wasn't. News of it had never reached Drake, probably because he lived in Blue Coral City.

In this world, it was extremely hard - not to mention dangerous - to travel between different cities, so most people would spend their entire lives without ever leaving their place of birth. Don't be fooled by the seemingly large amount of travelers Drake met in these two months. The only reason the roads were so crowded was because many were fleeing from the war. In peaceful times, one could travel for days without meeting anyone - apart, obviously, from the soldiers in the outposts.

And so, it was quite normal that Drake had never heard of the rangers having bases - and apparently recruitment posts - in certain cities. Since he never thought he would leave Blue Coral City, much less become a ranger, he didn't pay much attention to news about them. Besides, the nearest town with a ranger base was none other than Menoraz Kingdom's capital, Sapphire City. And that was several hundred kilometers away from Blue Coral City.

But, more important than all that, it was the purpose of those bases. According to Satre, they weren't simply places for rangers to rest in or train. They played a major role in keeping contact between the rangers and the population. If anyone needed the rangers' help, they could go to those buildings and expose their problems. Of course, whether the rangers would act on it depended on many different factors.

Satre also said that if he wanted to officially become a ranger - and he was losing track of what was considered official or not after their conversation - he needed to go to Sapphire City. Unfortunately, there was a little situation they needed to take care of first: the war.

He felt his head throbbing with pain as he remembered that. When he had told Satre about Higler's note to him, she had laughed. According to her, that was exactly why she was here. Preventing wars was one of the rangers' many duties. In the case they failed to do that, then it was their job to end the war as fast as possible. In fact, there were several other rangers searching for ways to finish the war, but from different angles than them.

To people like the Rangers of the Confederation, whether a kingdom won or lost the war didn't really matter. Even if Lapidum, for example, swallowed Menoraz whole, they wouldn't really care. What they worried about were the countless casualties war brought. As a fully-fledged ranger, Satre had access to information Drake didn't, and shared with him that as of now, a little after a month since the war began, over a hundred thousand people were dead already.

He couldn't help but think that maybe it would be better for a single kingdom to conquer the others. That way, most major conflicts would end. However, he also knew that no country would agree to be annexed by others. Not even Virgo Kingdom, which was highly respected and known as a neutral country could do so. To create one huge kingdom - an empire - would require countless wars and endless bloodshed, and it would probably fall to internal revolts, bringing more death.

Knowing that it was useless to fantasize like that, Drake laid on his bed. He had drunk - a lot - and his head was spinning. Without bothering to take off his clothes, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Tomorrow, he and Satre would set off - to where, only she knew.

.....

Before dawn of the next day, Drake met Satre at the bottom floor of the hotel. The ranger was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and held the same smile, but there was something about her that was different. She seemed... Sharper.

Unable to pinpoint exactly what the feeling she was giving was, Drake shrugged it off. Instead, he just walked up to her, nodding a 'good morning'.

"What's the plan?"

"Don't have one. I wished to talk to General Lilac, preferably with you by my side. That's no longer possible."

"Sorry 'bout that."

"Don't be. You had every right and reason to do what you did. Besides, it's not a huge impediment, I can just talk with her on my own, while you wait somewhere nearby."

The ranger chuckled, saddling up her Yscalent effortlessly. That skill had troubled Drake for a few days - on which he suffered several falls from loose saddles - before he mastered it.

"Well, that sounds like the start of a plan to me."

"Yup. We can't have a ceasefire without Lilac's and Bloodborne approval. Mmm... This would be less troublesome if you were a ranger already. Then I could have you talk to Lapidum while I pacified Menoraz's people. Ah, what can we do. Let's go to one first then the other."

"Don't you have a signet or something of the like I can use? An honorary ranger badge or some sh*t like that?"

He didn't hold much hope when he asked that, and to his complete lack of surprise, Satre snorted when she heard him. She seemed to find the idea interesting, even if not feasible.

"The corporation does indeed have something like that. It's used by our non-combatant personnel: assistants, informants, and so on. It's not a badge, but a document by the way. But I won't give you one of those for two reasons. The first is that I don't have any with me. The second is that it would be useless."

"Why?"

Petting his Yscalent, Drake mounted it too. Both he and the Ifere were already drenched, but he had grown numb to it.

"This is a war. If you were a general, would you stop it because of someone with a piece of paper saying they represent the rangers?"

Drake was stunned for a second before shaking his head. He certainly wouldn't, especially because rangers had no real authority in such matters. There was also something else that Satre didn't tell Drake, as to not hurt his feelings, and that was that she didn't trust him with this.

He was talented, but not experienced enough for a conflict of this scale, and especially not experienced enough to deal with General Bloodborne of Lapidum Kingdom. The woman was a sly fox whom even older rangers would have trouble with. Besides, she had yet to see what Drake was good with.

Not all members of the corporation were skilled at mediating conflicts and wars. There were several which, if put on the task, would escalate the battle to the point it involved other kingdoms. She knew that from experience. She couldn't risk sending Drake to talk to General Bloodborne and have him f*ck up everything more than it was already.

"But, following that same line of thought, why would they stop simply because you have a badge? No offense."

"None taken, it's a valid question. Hahaha... The answer? They will stop because it's I who am telling them to."

There was such confidence imbued on the bold claim that Drake couldn't bring himself to point out how absurd of a reason that was. From everything Satre had told him the day before, he knew the Rangers of the Confederation had a wide reach, but he had yet to fully understand just how big their influence was.

Anyhow, if Satre said she could do it, then he would believe her. Someone like her, who walked on the edge between life and death every day, might be boastful, but they wouldn't make baseless claims. Overestimating oneself could be deadly.

Silently, they rode out of the city, and towards the frontlines. However, when they were getting closer to the battlefields, to the point where Drake was pretty sure the thunder they were hearing wasn't actually thunder, the ranger took a sharp turn.

Drake didn't question the sudden change of directions, since it was to be expected. By taking the roundabout path, they could avoid the fight and get to Lapidum Kingdom much more easily. After all, there were countless kilometers of wilderness between the two countries, and only a small part of that was experiencing the conflict. While an army would surely be noticed, two people could pass through the frontier without alarming so much as a Sercoliot.

"All right. You wait here for me. Depending on how my talks with Lilac go, it can take anywhere from twelve hours to three or four days, so don't be surprised if I don't come back today."

"Roger that, ma'am. Good luck."

"I don't need luck. I have me."

Blinking at him, Satre sauntered way. Drake smirked, and shook his head. The ranger had a - intentionally or not - coy way of acting and speaking that was dangerously seductive. However, he didn't envy whoever set their sights on her.

Looking at Frainer and Kniivar, Drake suddenly laughed. Two months ago, he was a recently graduated biologist. Now, he was following a ranger and diving deep into a kingdom at war with his, searching for an Old One in hopes of talking it into ending the war. Fate certainly acted in strange ways.

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While Drake was setting up camp, Satre was riding away, towards Menoraz Army's headquarters. The playful smile she held when she said goodbye to Drake was nowhere to be seen. She had put on a strong front for Drake, but the truth was she had no confidence in convincing General Lilac to agree to a cease-fire.

If rangers could truly make generals stop warring simply by speaking a few words, then wars wouldn't be a thing anymore. However, not only were wars common, each one was more brutal and fiercer than the last. Aside from Virgo Kingdom, each country would enter a war at least once every fifteen or twenty years. At least.

Glancing at Selyes, the ranger smiled ruefully. They were human and Ifere, entirely different species, separated by a thousand different barriers, and yet, there was no one else in this world who understood her better than the wind-type creature. She couldn't even fake a confident mood, because the Spirit Contract would let the Ifere see right through her.

"This is some deep sh*t we stepped on this time, isn't it, girl? Ha! Who told us to come to Menoraz? We could have been peacefully hunting pirates in Centerium, but Ben spoke so highly of the kid I just had to come take a look."

Selyes didn't answer, but the Ifere snorted in such a humanly manner that it was clear what it thought. Selyes were already one of the smartest species on Iferes known to mankind. Add a Spirit Contract on top of that, and what you had was basically a human who couldn't speak, and controlled some very dangerous wind blades.

"Not like we would step down now anyway. Let's just hope Isabella will give me some face, and listen to reason."

What Satre hadn't told Drake was that General Lilac was an old acquaintance of hers. Although they couldn't be considered close friends, they had no animosity between them. They shared similar views, but the ranger knew that when it concerned Menoraz Kingdom's prestige and reputation, General Lilac could be more stubborn than a Bourdeail during winter.

Shaking those thoughts away, Satre pulled out her ranger badge, and pinned it on her chest, just in time. In the distance, as if it were a mirage coming out from the curtain of rain, she saw the first of many checkpoints she would have to go through to get to the Menoraz Army's headquarters.

"Halt! Identify yourself!"

Uncaring for the several firearms pointed at her, Satre urged her Yscalent forward, until the lieutenant in charge could see her more clearly. The angry frown on his face disappeared the moment he saw the badge.

"R-Ranger! Ah.... Uhmm... What's your purpose here?"

"To meet General Isabella Lilac. That shouldn't be a problem, I believe?"

The officer stared at the ranger, and shuddered. There was a cold glint behind her smiling eyes that left no room for discussion. Taking a step back, he waved for his subordinates to let her pass.

"Let the ranger through! Warn checkpoints two through eleven that she's coming!"

"Thank you, lieutenant."

Smiling sweetly, Satre used her heels to make her ride go faster. Selyes followed behind them seemingly calm, but the ranger knew her companion was checking for threats every step of the way. Ifere or not, once you partnered with a ranger for a long time, this became instinctive. You could only luck your way through so many ambushes.

Very soon, human and Ifere were being led around a compound by a very nervous corporal. Satre wasn't too sure about what exactly was making the soldier so anxious - maybe it was just her, she did have that effect on people - but she didn't really care.

She did care, however, when he kept stealing glances at her ear. Although she acted like it was nothing, the wound was, in fact, a sore point to her - mainly because of the memories associated with it.

Before she could scold him, however, he brought her to a room filled with important people, whom Satre promptly ignored. The only one she cared about was the older woman at the head of the table.

"Isabella, it's great to see you again."

"Oh, f*ck off..."