Chapter 7 - Claire Kagenou

Anos exited the palace gates with a calm demeanor and observed the presence of new guards outside. Approaching one of them, he gazed down at the armed dark knight.

"W-What do you want?!" The guard exclaimed in alarm, grasping his sword. Despite the hostility, Anos paid him no attention and proceeded to retrieve the golden insignia given to him by the king from his pocket.

The guard noticed the emblem and paled instantly, dropping to his knees with cold sweat on his face. He apologized profusely to Anos. "Forgive me, sir. I was unaware that you possessed the royal emblem."

"Fumu."

Anos gave a nod in response before continuing on his way. Passing by the other guards who had also spotted the insignia, they instantly stood at attention, saluting him. Upon leaving the palace grounds and entering the street, Anos examined the small emblem in his hand.

The reactions of the humans confirmed that the king's gift was a rare and precious item in the country, with probably fewer than three such insignia in the whole kingdom. This realization reassured Anos that the king was not behind the princess's kidnapping.

Anos breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that the worst-case scenario had been averted. He was grateful that he no longer needed to resort to extreme measures like killing the king to rescue his brother. As he walked through the palace gates earlier, Anos had been mentally half-preparing himself to obliterate the entire castle with his magic.

Had the human king been conspiring against his own brother, he would never have entrusted such a valuable item to Anos. Especially when it gave Anos such a high level of authority over his kingdom's men.

Anos walked through the bustling streets of the capital, his mind focused on the task at hand. He needed to find a lead on the whereabouts of Cid.

As he made his way through the crowd, Anos overheard a group of human knights discussing a recent prisoner interrogation done by the first princess. When he heard them, Anos quickly approached the soldiers and inquired about the prisoner.

The soldiers hesitated at first, but upon seeing the royal emblem in Anos' possession, they quickly divulged the details of the interrogation. Anos learned that his brother was indeed the one being interrogated and that he was taken to a nearby garrison five days ago.

A wave of relief washed over Anos upon receiving the news. Finally, he had a solid lead on his brother's whereabouts. While Anos had the power to teleport directly to Cid's location, he knew it would create more harm than good. Thus, he nodded appreciatively at the knights before hastening his steps toward the said garrison.

As he approached the garrison, Anos took a moment to observe the area. The garrison was heavily guarded, and any attempt to enter unnoticed would be futile.

Anos grew suspicious as he observed the number of guards stationed at the garrison. "This is strange," he thought to himself, "why are they using so many personnel for just one student?" A nagging feeling of concern began to creep up inside him as he considered the possibility that something may have happened to his brother.

With that unsettling thought in mind, Anos quickly moved toward the front gate.

As Anos approached the front gate of the garrison, he noticed the guards on duty eyeing him with suspicion. He could tell that they were scrutinizing his every move, trying to determine whether he was a threat or not. But Anos remained calm and collected, knowing that he had the royal emblem in his possession.

"Who goes there?" One of the guards called out to him, raising his hand to block Anos' path.

Anos pulled out the golden insignia and held it up for the guards to see. "I am Anos Voldigoad, brother to Cid. I have come to retrieve my brother from this garrison."

The startled guards exchanged a glance before one of them stepped forward. "We have received no orders to release any prisoners. We cannot allow you to enter without proper authorization from our commanding officer."

Another guard also said arrogantly "Heh. Even if you have the royal emblem with you, our commanding officer is Iris-sama herself. The first princess of the Midgar Kingdom."

Anos narrowed his eyes, feeling a surge of anger rise within him. He knew that time was of the essence, and he couldn't afford to waste any more time. Without saying a word, he stepped forward and pushed the guards aside, walking confidently into the garrison.

"You?!"

One of the guards moved to stop him.

"Know your place, human."

Anos waved his hand dismissively, unleashing a powerful burst of magic that sent the guard flying into the wall behind him with a loud crash. As he lay unconscious, Anos fixed a steely gaze on the guards ahead of him, who quickly parted to make way for him. They trembled and clutched their swords tightly, but dared not raise them against him.

"Hmph."

Anos strode forward, deeper into the garrison. His tyrannical gaze was more than enough to force even the bravest dark knights to move aside pitifully.

—-------------------------------------------------

"Is that it for your report?"

Asks a beautiful girl with red hair the shade of flames. The red hair that reaches all the way down her back glitters in the candlelight, as her wine-red eyes flash over the investigative report. That imposing, beautiful figure of hers makes the reporting knight's cheeks dye red.

"Th-, that is all, Iris-sama. We will continue our investigation."

Iris nods and then gestures for the knight to leave the room.

When the door closes, only Iris and a handsome, blond-haired man are left alone in the room.

"Marquis Zenon, thank you very much for your help this time."

"The incident occurred on school grounds, so I am also partly responsible. But more than that, I am also worried about Alexia-sama…"

Zenon looks down and bites his lower lip in frustration.

"You also have your duties as the Swordsmanship Instructor. I am sure no one would find fault with you for this. For now, what we should focus on is not who to blame, but to safely rescue Alexia."

"Indeed…"

"So."

Iris suddenly closes the report folder.

"How sure are you of the probability of this student Cid Kagenou being the culprit?"

"I am also loathed to consider a student of the academy a culprit, but circumstances show him to be the most suspicious. But when considering his strength, it is highly unlikely for him to win if he faces off against Alexia-sama in a direct fight."

Zenon chose his words carefully while replying.

"In which case, it would either mean that he has an accomplice, or that he had to have used drugs of some sort. But he didn't confess to anything even under the interrogation of the knights, right? Are you sure about this?"

"I want to believe in him. I truly do."

Iris nods and then closes her eyes.

"I shall pray for Alexia-sama's safety."

With a bow, Zenon turns to exit the room.

But at that very moment, a single girl slides into the room through the door that Zenon had just opened.

"Iris-sama! Please listen to me!"

"Claire-kun, what do you think you are doing! Please pardon her rudeness, I'll bring her back out immediately!"

Zenon seizes the girl who just slid in, Claire Kagenou, and tries to drag her out.

"Marquis Zenon, who is this?"

Iris stops Zenon and asks.

"She's…"

"My name is Claire Kagenou! I am Cid Kagenou's older sister!"

"Claire-kun! S-, she is an exemplary student at the academy, and is currently temporarily with the Knight Order on a sort of experience program."

"I see… Very well, you may speak."

"Thank you very much!"

Claire Kagenou kneels before Iris in desperation.

"My little brother, Cid, would never do something like kidnapping Princess Alexia! I'm sure there must be some big mistake here!"

"The Knight Order is conducting their investigation with the utmost caution so that there would be no mistakes. It is still not yet confirmed that your younger brother is the culprit."

"But the way things are currently going, if the real culprit is not found, it will be him who gets executed!"

"The Knight Order is being very careful. They will not mistakenly execute the wrong person."

"But still!"

"Claire-kun!"

Zenon stops Claire as she frantically tries to press closer to Iris.

"Claire-kun, leave it at that. Any more and it would be a provocation to the Knight Order!"

"Kuh…!"

Claire glares first at Zenon, then at Iris.

"If anything happens to that child…!"

"Claire-kun, don't you dare finish that sentence!"

Covering Claire's mouth with his hand, Zenon drags Claire out of the room.

BAM.

Staring at the forcefully closed door, Iris sighs deeply.

"So our love for our family is the same, huh…"

She murmurs.

"Alexia, please be safe…"

Long ago, these two sisters were very close.

But when was it that they began to pass by each other?

How many years has it been since they last talked?

Could it be that they would never again be able to talk with each other?

"Alexia…"

As she closes her wine-red eyes, a single tear rolls down her cheek.

—-------------------------------------------------

As he walked down the dimly lit hallway, Anos noticed that the doors to the prison cells were heavily reinforced, with multiple guards standing watch. But he remained confidant, knowing that he had the power to overcome any obstacle.

Suddenly, he heard a voice coming from the other end of the hallway, and he stopped in his tracks. It was a girl's voice.

"No! Kuh-! Let me go! Cid! Your sister is coming for you!"

From those words alone. Anos instantly recognized the voice of the person being restrained as Claire, the oldest daughter of the Kagenou family, and his own older sister who was attending the Academy together with Cid. Anos immediately quickened his pace toward the source of the commotion.

As he approached the origin of the voice, Anos could see that Claire was struggling against the grasp of several dark knights who were holding her captive. He noticed that her face was bruised and her uniform was torn, indicating that she had been roughed up.

Anos didn't hesitate and raised his hand, summoning a powerful surge of magic that knocked the knights off their feet and sent them flying across the hallway. Claire fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Are you okay?" Anos asked, helping her to her feet.

"I'm fine," Claire replied, a bit dazed. "But Cid is in there."

Anos shifted his focus to the heavily guarded cell before him, sensing a barrier encasing the lock. But to him, it was a trivial task to break it open. He stepped forward and raised his hand again, channeling his magic toward the barrier.

"Dee."

The energy crackled around his fingertips as he focused his power, and with a loud boom, the barrier shattered into a million pieces.

The guards standing watch looked on in shock and fear as Anos approached the cell and effortlessly tore open the reinforced door. Inside, he saw his brother Cid, bound and gagged, with bruises and cuts covering his face.

A blur passed beside him and tackled Cid into a hug.

"Cid! Are you okay?! What happened to you?!"

Cid looked up, his eyes widening in recognition. "Nee-san… you came," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Examining his injuries, Claire knelt beside him and asked, "Who did this to you?" Her voice was filled with anguish, and tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the blood covering her little Cid's body and his missing nails.

Looking at the state of both his siblings. Anos clenched his fists, his rage boiling over to dangerous levels.

"Where do you think you're going?"

His hands then moved at horrifying speed and grasped the necks of the two guards sneaking beside him.

"Did you really believe that sneaking around would be enough to hide from me?" he growled.

"Argh!"

"Ah!"

His grip on the guards tightened, his eyes cold and unyielding. "Answer me," he demanded in a low and dangerous voice as a dark aura began to emanate from his body.

The guards struggled to breathe as their faces turned red from the lack of air. Finally, one of them managed to gasp out a response. "We were just obeying orders," he said, his voice shaking.

Crack

Anos's terrible aura intensified with each passing second, causing even the ground beneath his feet to fracture under the pressure.

"Orders?"

"The orders of Princess Iris-sama," the guard replied.

Anos released them, and the guards stumbled to the ground, gasping for air. He turned to Claire and Cid. "You both need to leave this place immediately," he said.

"I'll handle everything here. Grega."

A tiny crimson flame flickered to life at the tip of Anos's index finger. He aimed it at the concrete wall and let it fly. The flame made contact with the surface and erupted into a powerful inferno, blasting a massive hole in the wall. Sunlight flooded the area, illuminating the dark prison.

"Eh?!"

"Huh?"

Claire and Cid were left in awe by the immense power of the seemingly small flame as Anos strode back into the heart of the garrison.

His face was twisted in a terrifying scowl as he searched for the one responsible for harming his family. Anos was fed up with these humans and their ignorance, always giving him reasons to consider destroying humanity regardless of the era.

He could feel his patience wearing thin. These humans had no idea who they were dealing with, and he was more than willing to 'remind' them.