The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 56: Brief Respite

But Jack's smile only grew wider, his eyes flickering with amusement. "Oh, mademoiselle... I only fulfilled my God's will... I've pushed the very First Vao to his true nature... Isn't that lovely, mademoiselle?"

Mono's fingers curled, cracking the ground beneath her. He had openly admitted he stabbed them in their backs. She was going to kill him. But when she stood up, Jack didn't flinch. Instead, he chuckled.

"... Mademoiselle, I assure you... You do not want to fight me."

"Quite the contrary," Mono hissed. "I'll tear that smile off your face... I'll grind your corpse under my heel, Jack."

Jack sighed, his eyes beginning to flicker again. But this time, they weren't relaxed like usual. They were wild.

"Oui, oui. Very well, mademoiselle," he cooed. "Then let the fun begin."

With her hammer in her hands, Mono charged, the Blood dripping from her lip.

But Jack's smile only grew.

...

In the Adventurer's Guild, the tables had been pushed aside, leaving only one in the center. Sitting at this table were the kings and the adventurers, a map of the Royal Capital and its borders set on the wooden surface in front of them. Outside their army waited in suspense for the inevitable order to storm the city. With the help of the goblins and their contacts, more nonhumans had joined them - they were still distrusting of the humans, but the fact that their highest leaders allowed nonhumans to work at their side was enough for them to willingly agree.

Of course, this meant Vao, Hekue, Sasha, the fairies, Verde, Midori, Hazel, and the goblins.

"... The walls would be defended with cannons, ballistas, and archers," Ironwood muttered. "More than any other city so far... We'd need to take them out before we could even get close... Half our fighting force would be taken out by the time we reached one of the gates..."

"We have Penny and Gug," Jasper said. "With their sizes, we could have them in the front. We hide behind them, they kick down a wall, and we're in."

"But Gug doesn't have armor," Hazel pointed out. "Cannon fire and ballistas would rip him to pieces."

Hekue shook her head. "Hekue has that covered. With her flute, she weaved thick armor made from a living tree. It's not the best, but it would minimize his injuries."

The table hummed thoughtfully, Hazel leaning forward. "... It's come to my attention that there's slaves in the Royal Capital. They live in fear of being wiped out if they disobey orders. They'd no doubt fight against us if we attacked, no?"

Yin nodded. "Yeah... Anyone got any ideas? Non-lethal ideas?"

Verde spoke up. "Perhaps we could send a message, informing them to join us?"

"How are we going to do that?" Tourmaline asked. "A single one of us gets close, it's lights out."

Violet spoke up next. "Ooh, Dad could do it! He can talk to animals!"

All eyes were on Vao, the dullahan's head cradled in Verde's arms. Ironwood furrowed his brow. "... What... Are you?"

"A dullahan."

Salem cleared her throat. "It's best not to question it... He's always talked to animals. I think it's just because he's so stupid he understands them-"

"OI."

Salem smirked when he threw a baked potato at her, her friends chuckling quietly. Ironwood leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table. "Okay... Vao, could you manage that? Sending an animal to the slaves?"