>>5548852>“We’ll avoid destroying anything. For now, at least. I’ll lead a team over the walls and see what we’re dealing with. Shelley and Diana, you’re with me. Ava and Nero, you too. Lysithea, you can climb on the back of my pegasus. You know the city better than any of us.”Other than the faint trails of smoke you see rising from behind the walls, you have no idea what’s waiting for you over there. Rather than charge ahead recklessly, it would be better to get an appraisal of what the situation is. And when it comes to scouting, you trust no one to do the job better than yourself. While you could technically order your subordinates to do it for you, what sort of leader would that make you? Once your allies have prepared themselves, the five of you take to the skies, leaving the rest of the Blackwings camped outside the city.
As you draw closer and make it over the walls, you’re shocked by what you find. ‘Chaos’ was an apt way to describe the city, but you find even that word falls short to describe the scene below you. Everywhere you look, the streets are stacked with corpses. The stench of violent death and blood wafts up to your nose even from this height.
“W-what is this?!” Lysithea gasps from behind you.
“Those bodies…they’re all torn apart!” Nero says, astonished. “Was this the work of an enemy army?”
Down below, there isn’t a single living soul in sight. Here and there, you spot corpses clad in the armor of the Leicester Alliance. These were likely the remnants of the city’s guard. However, most of the bodies below are in civilian clothing. Your immediate thought is that these people were poisoned. After all, Alena’s note had cautioned you about drinking the water once you'd arrived in the city. But that can’t be right. Nero is partially correct in his observation. Severed limbs, innards, and shattered bones, which are scattered around haphazardly, indicate that these people died violently, rather than through some sort of poison. And if a battle against an enemy did occur, you’d expect to at least see a few bodies belonging to said enemy.
>“Remain calm. We knew the situation we were heading into was bad. Let’s focus on opening that front gate. Then we can move in and find out just what’s going on.” You try to maintain an air of confidence and calm, but even you are shaken by the situation. “The lever to open the gate should be up along the ramparts.” Lysithea shakily points out your destination. “You’ll find it within that tower.”
