Chapter 193: Reunited
Vergil was beside himself.
He had known for as long as he could think that his sister was a rambunctious sort. She had become even more of a troublemaker after she started following that bitch Saarfi around.
But never in a million years did he think that this nightmare would be possible.
His father was dead. His twin was framed for his murder.
And the only person who seemed more upset about the situation around them was the very large Andros.
There were indents in his brother’s palms from where he’d pressed his nails into his hands. His jaw had been clenched so tightly for so long that it was a miracle that he hadn’t cracked anything.
The rest of their siblings still seemed to be wrapping their heads around everything. Their chatter was unbearably idiotic.
"Is this really happening...?"
"T-They said father was dead... do you think..?"
"No. No way. Father would never get killed by that little weakling."
Andros finally couldn’t take the chatter anymore.
"Shut up! All of you stop this useless fucking chattering, or-"
"D-Dragon!"
It broke through the clouds before anyone even realized what was happening.
An enormous beast as black as night, but with an inner glow as bright as the sun.
Their mount came to a stop as soon as it arrived, terrifying all of the princelings onboard.
It landed on the ground with a quaking thud. No sooner had it arrived than three more figures emerged from the darkness.
A silver wolf that ran atop the clouds. A winged creature with a leathery frame and a long beak. Lastly, a giant mystical eye floating on majestic white wings.
"Where is she?"
When the dragon spoke, everyone on board Mercy nearly fell on top of each other.
Save for two.
"...Solomon?"
Vergil believed there was a small chance he could have been mistaken, but at the same time, he knew what he heard.
The voice was unmistakably that of his former classmate. Either that, or he was finally going insane.
Mercy began to lose his size rather rapidly.
As he drifted to his normal height, the passengers on his back slowly slid to the ground.
The dragon was engulfed in a column of fire.
What stepped through the flames was no mythical creature, but their very familiar classmate wearing splendid armor and a red cape.
However, he didn’t look pleased to see them at all.
Mercy trotted toward Solomon, and his expression softened for a moment.
"Go on, boy. Tell me what happened..."
The princelings watched in absurdity as Solomon actually began to talk to his horse.
Though no words were made audible, it was evident by the raising of Solomon’s eyebrows that he was receiving some kind of informational dump.
The situation only became more absurd when the eye, the wolf, and the pterodactyl all returned to more recognizable appearances.
All of Andros’ rage was sapped away by a much greater feeling of absurdity.
"H-How did you all do that? Where did you-"
"Mercy says the empire’s been taken." Solomon turned to the rest of his siblings, ignoring his classmates. "Canari was framed for her father’s murder. Jiaoying has gone to search for her."
"H-Hey, don’t just ignore me when..."
"Oof, that’s gotta be hectic... Glad my folks are a whole continent away." Everett whistled.
"So what are we doing? Another royal coup?" Nila hopped excitedly.
"It would help if we did..." Dakota held up her lantern grimly. "Your boyfriend ate all the souls I had stored."
"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Nila snapped.
"Might as well be."
"And you might as well be-"
Solomon grabbed his sisters by the back of their heads and smashed them together.
""OW!""
"Stop it. Your sister-in-law is missing, and you two are arguing about Nila and Raizel’s relationship."
"We don’t have a relationship!"
Everett started to open his mouth.
"""NOT ONE WORD!"""
Everett closed his mouth and turned around.
Vergil and Andros were at a complete loss.
"Da!"
Bansha bounded across the ground to reach Solomon’s greaves.
He bent down to pick up his gentle companion, uncaring of the temperature of her excited flames.
"Hungry! Play!"
Solomon’s heart melted at the sound of her small voice.
"Sorry, sweetheart. Play might have to wait for just a little bit longer while I go get your mom."
"..."
Bansha’s lower lip quivered.
"N-Now, hold on, don’t be like that, I know I’ve been gone a lot, but-"
Bansha threw all of her heads back and let out a heartbreaking howl.
For such a little thing, her voice traveled quite far into the forest.
Solomon looked around in a panic. All of his siblings dog piled on him at once.
"Look at what you did, dude, you made the baby cry!"
"You know she’s very attached, stop leaving her all the time!"
"I hope you won’t treat my niece or nephew like this when they get here. Or else my blade will taste the flesh of your ass!"
It was rare for Solomon to be cornered in any capacity. And yet, his siblings had successfully backed him into a tight space.
"She’s still a puppy! I can’t bring her around with me all the time yet!"
Bansha only cried harder. If she had been standing, she would have fallen out.
While Solomon tried to calm her down, Dakota found herself considering a strange possibility.
She held her lantern in front of her brother’s face and jingled it like a set of keys.
It didn’t take long for Solomon to get the gist of what she was saying.
"...Do you honestly think you have enough to help her grow?"
Dakota shrugged. "Only one way to find out..."
By now, Vergil and Andros had grown to accept that they wouldn’t be properly addressed.
But somehow, the things they had seen so far had completely wiped away the negative feelings around their treatment.
"E-Excuse me!" Vergil blurted. "Can we please get some answers here?!"
The four horsemen glanced at him as if they had completely forgotten that he was there.
Along with twenty or so of his siblings, no less...
Solomon stared at them for a moment with an unreadable expression.
"...You’ll all be fine."
After delivering his very brief words of comfort, Solomon turned back to his sister.
"Let’s refrain from killing until we have a better idea of what’s going on. I want to find her first."
"Surprise, surprise, loverboy..."
Dakota removed a small soul from her lantern and held it out in front of the sniffling Bansha.
"Alright, my sweet girl. Let’s see if we can’t get you a little growth spurt..."