Chapter 25: Riveria City

As the gang continues forward to Riveria, they pass by different villages. They stop at each one and take a quick rest while also restocking their supplies.

At some point, they also drop-off the criminal hostages at one of the villages that has a prison. A week goes by as the crew finally approaches Riveria.

They get there and expect a beautiful and grand city that's filled with well-dressed and fancy people. Instead, they arrive and the streets are completely empty and it looks like nothing happened for quite a while. Saiba asks,

"What happened here!?"

Lazaro shouts,

"How are we gonna go on a shopping spree now!?"

Lily suggests,

"We should split up and look if anyone is still here."

They all nod in agreement as they split up into two groups. Lazaro, Klaus and Raffael begin racing on their animals throughout the city. On the other hand, Saiba and Lily start heading to the armor that Geoffried's friend owns.

They park Uma at the front and walk in. Inside a tall fancy man with glasses and gray hair is standing at the counter. He gets scared and puts both hands up while shouting,

"Please don't hurt me! If you want gold, I only have a little left, but I will give it to you as long as you do not hurt me!"

Saiba replies,

"Hurt you..? I'm the hero! Why would I hurt you?"

Confused, the man says back,

"Hero..?"

Lily asks,

"Are you, by any chance, Mr. Calerus?"

Still confused the man answers,

"That I am! I am Vincent Calerus, owner of Calerus Armor! How did you know?"

Lily replies,

"Mr. Geoffried told us about you."

Vincent replies,

"Oh Geoffried! You two must be the ones he told me about! It's a shame however, a gang of skilled bandits came by, not too long ago, and ransacked the entire city. Not a single thing was left..."

Saiba says,

"Bandits..? Why are these guys always getting in the way?"

Lily asks,

"Do you know why they attacked Riveria City?"

Vincent answers,

"The other shop owners have been hypothesizing that this must be the work of a rival company, specifically Alberoth Electric..."

Lily whispers to Saiba,

"Do you think this incident and the Fielsworth incident are related..?"

Saiba nods yes. Lily asks,

"Do you know who the bandits were? Any names, faces, locations?"

Vincent shrugs and nods his head no. Lily tried to think, but she doesn't have enough information to form a plan. Lily tells Saiba,

"Hero... I think it's better if we don't help them. We don't have a clear culprit and even if it is Alberoth Electric, we're not strong enough to take them on..."

Saiba ignores her and says,

"Come on Lily! We have to go get these guys for what they did to the village and this city!"

Lily gives in and agrees with Saiba. Saiba walks out while waving to Vincent and saying,

"Thanks for all your help, Mr. Vincent!"

Vincent waves back and says,

"Good luck to you Hero! May you have good fortune in your future travels!"

As they get out, Saiba suggests,

"Wait! Isn't Lazaro an Alberoth? Why don't we ask him if he knows anything?"

Lily answers,

"Do you even know where he is? He could be anywhere in this large city!"

Suddenly, they hear a familiar voice shout,

"Klaus, Raffael!"

Saiba says,

"That's Lazaro! It sounds like something happened! Let's go!"

Saiba starts running away. Lily gets in the wagon and shouts at Saiba,

"You dummy! Get on! It came from the other direction!"

Saiba makes a u-turn and quickly hops on Uma. He rides in the direction that Lily pointed as a large flash of lighting suddenly crashes down from the sky in the distance. Saiba shouts,

"What was that!?"

They keep going and approach a group of people. As they get closer they can recognize the people there. On one side is Lazaro, who is standing up with his bow, locked and loaded.

He looks scared as he is shaking. On either side of him is Klaus and Raffael. They are laying on the ground and they've been burnt to a crisp.

Across from them, there's a tall man with blonde hair and light blue eyes that's similar to Lazaro. He announces,

"Lazaro! Long time no see! It seems like you've resorted to a life of poverty and criminality! You've even begun accompanying little insects like these! Have you no shame, little brother?"

Lazaro shouts back,

"Don't make fun of my friends! They're better people than you could ever hope to be!"

The man replies,

"Better than me? If they were better than me, why are they lying on the ground like the insects they are?"

Lazaro grinds his teeth. Saiba mumbles to himself,

"Did that guy just say 'little brother'..?"

The man then takes a spear that was strapped to his back and brings it up. He points it to the air as the puffy white clouds begins to change into a swirling storm cloud. He shouts,

"Charge Strike!"

Another lightning bolt forms in the sky and begins shooting towards Lazaro. Lazaro looks up and is frozen in fear. The lightning bolt crashes down as a flash of yellow and encompasses everyone there. As the area fades to yellow, Saiba shouts,

"No! Lazaro!"