Starting Life From Zero: Far From Home

Chapter Twenty-Six

The carriage made its way around the corner and into the gates of the estate where they were staying. The very same one that would be host the other candidates shortly. As they approached the house, Wilhelm was already outside in the front of the place in clothes that were only slightly less formal than his normal wear, except that he carried four swords at his waist, two on each side.

The older man seemed to be readying himself to go somewhere, but when he spotted the carriage he locked eyes on it waiting to see who was inside.

"This has to be Peter now," May yelled from the front door, as if she were trying to calm Wilhelm down for some reason.

She and Rem were standing between the columns that marked either side of the steps, looking on and waiting to see what they could do.

Peter opened the carriage door and helped Emilia out. "What's going on out here?" Peter asked.

"Maybe you left too soon, but there's smoke rising out of the area near the palace. It looks like something is going on," May said.

"They're probably burning all the bodies," Emilia said. "Oh dear, that sounded rather morbid."

"What bodies are you speaking of, Miss Emilia," asked Wilhelm.

Puck flew out of Emilia's silver hair and circled around her until she could make a sharp turn toward May. "The castle was attacked, but we handled it," Puck said.

"Then what Wade said was true, the Witch's Cult is here in the city?" Wilhelm asked.

"At least one of them was. She called herself Cassiopeia and said that she was an Inquisitor," Peter said.

"I take it there were massive casualties," Rem said.

Emilia shook her head. "Not exactly, this Inquisitor fought using bodies that she brought with her. She used them like puppets, but when she was beat back the bodies that puppet bodies were just kind of left there."

"How many of these 'puppets' were there?" May asked.

"A lot," Peter said. "They probably think that burning them will keep there from being used later," he said.

"We should still be prepared for more attacks like this, if the Witch Cult is about there is no time to let our guard down," Wilhelm said.

"Are you okay?" May rushed out to Peter, throwing an arm around him and rubbing at his hair. "You're absolutely filthy."

"I'm fine, really. I'm going to take a bath right after we get inside," Peter said.

"I'm guessing you took on this Inquisitor all by yourself or did Steve help?" May asked.

"Steve was inside making sure everyone else was safe, I got help from a Knight. This Reinhard guy, I thought he might have been kind of a d-bag, but he seems alright," Peter said.

Wilhelm's steely blue eyes flit up and focus on Peter at the mention of the name Reinhard. He says nothing about what Peter was talking about.

Seeing him watching, Peter steps closer to him. "I've been asking a lot of people this," Peter said. "But is there anything you can tell me about the Witch's Cult? If they're going to be showing up and attacking us it might help to know who they are," he added.

Wilhelm stared over at Peter. "I knew a man who had a connection to the Witch's Cult," he started. "The actions he took several decades ago could have brought this country to its knees."

Peter began to swing his arms back and forth along the sides of his body in sync. "That doesn't sound encouraging," he said.

"Well, they are not to be taken lightly," said Wilhelm.