The Scarlet Paladin

Claire was in the driver's seat on their final day of travel. Even with her naive eyes, she could tell that the environment and towns they passed were affected by bandits. Destruction and worn infrastructure, the women she passed were skinny and quiet. Hunger and fear in their eyes.

The pit in her stomach grew bigger and bigger.

"You okay?" Lily asked, noticing the signs of Claire's anxiety. Her bouncing leg and hands squeezing the reins tightly, straining her leather gloves.

"I think so…" Claire said with little confidence. She eased her grip on the reins and took a deep breath. "Just… looking around, you can tell our Lady hasn't done anything to fix this."

"It's been that way for a while," Lily admitted. "Adventurers are supposed to make up for the knights' failures, but this mission was actively being suppressed. Elizabeth had to fight to get this."

"Really? Why's that?" Claire asked, tilting her head. "Why would they want it supp-"

Claire stopped. An image of those dead boys from the last bandits' carriage appeared in her mind.. Her mouth went dry as she answered her own question.

"I assume you already guessed…" Lily said, grasping her Paladin's hand. "Elizabeth… she had Jaz gather census information from our Lady one time... The actual population of boys did not line up with the calculated estimate…"

Claire squinted. "Sorry, I wasn't great with math… what did Jaz find?"

Lily let out a forced laugh, "I remember trying to teach you fractions… But, yeah… Let's say, for instance, there are estimated to be 50,000 boys in this fief. The census only had 36,000 accounted for. Those weren't the actual numbers, but it's close."

Claire took a moment to think. "Would boys like Ryley count?"

Lily nodded. "While he wasn't counted for Restol, he would have been counted by Lady Lloyd's estate. So nobles' harems don't skew the numbers."

Claire sighed. "So there's more to this than the nobles?"

"Not entirely," Lily said. "This seems to be a recent phenomenon… the census records we have from a decade ago are accurate to the estimate."

"Her appearance is starting to make more sense…" Claire mumbled.

Lily nodded again. "Yeah, Elizabeth has been investigating this ever since Jaz discovered it. That was Jaz's other job when she came back to Restol…"

"Of course," Claire said, remembering Jasmine's series of absences during training. "I've been wondering for a long time now. Elizabeth… She seems to be involved with all of these things. The trafficking of boys, bandits, civil unrest, and now boys missing completely? What did she do before becoming mayor of Restol?"

"Wish I knew," Lily said with a warm smile. "I've been asking that question for almost a decade now… Jaz might know, but if she did, she would be sworn to secrecy."

Claire pondered that for a moment. A part of her was furious that Jasmine kept this census information from her, but she largely understood why. Missing boys were a volatile subject.

Claire could feel her anger begin to surge. Just thinking about the injustice made her want to lash out..

Claire exhaled slowly. "Do you think we'll find more?"

Lily tilted her head, weighing her options. After a long pause, she sighed. "Probably. Information on these bandits was being actively suppressed…"

Claire's head lowered. The anger made way for sorrow. She didn't know if she could handle that scene again. "Fuck. Ursa might be right… these bitches have it coming."

Lily's faint smile faded. She gripped Claire's hand tightly. "Maybe… but please Claire… don't let this anger consume you."

"I won't let it," Jasmine chimed in from the window.

Claire didn't even react. "Thanks, but I wish you had told me about the missing boys…"

Jasmine took a deep breath. "It was something I was going to talk to you three about tonight… but, yeah. Boys are missing even when we take into account the noble harems."

Claire felt the sorrow take over. Her chest tightened, but Lily's hand kept her grounded. "Fuck, so it's not just Lady Lloyd or the other nobles… there's something new."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Jasmine retorted. "There could be something else brewing, or the noble class just got bolder… or sloppier."

"I doubt a Goddess would be born if it was just the nobles getting more perverted…" Claire said with a heavy sigh. "Any ideas on what it could be?"

"Above my pay grade, unfortunately…" Jasmine admitted. "Tried to dig for more info multiple times. Locked tighter than the Queen's treasury."

"Right… well, we'll have to worry about it after this fight…" Claire said, thinking about her immediate predicament.

"That's probably for the best." Jasmine agreed. "Just remember to keep your head in the fight… try not to let your emotions take over."

"I won't. Nearly died when I did…" Claire said grimly. A cold shiver ran down her spine, reminding her of the troll's grin.

"Claire. You have Ursa now." Jasmine continued. "She seems… unpredictable. But she listens to you. Use her battle knowledge and rely on her…"

"Not like you to trust outsiders…" Lily teased.

"I know. Elsie and I share that in common, apparently…" Jasmine said with a forced laugh. "But we both can admit how capable Ursa is as a warrior. And, she does seem to have good intentions."

"I do!" Ursa shouted from the back of the carriage.

That got an actual laugh from Jasmine. "Right. She does. But her people may be catching on to the recent issue as well. I'd love to see if the Ravian tribes are experiencing the same disappearances."

Ursa moved to join the conversation, leaving her lesson with Elsie. "I would also like to know. The Elders tend to keep those sorts of things quiet. I'm one of very few who know our blessing was stolen…"

"It's best not to make assumptions," Jasmine added. "It'd be easy to tie the lycanthropy issue to these missing boys, but… it could be a coincidence."

"True. We'd have to know when lycanthropy was stolen from the Ravians." Lily said thoughtfully rubbing her chin.

"That… I don't know." Ursa admitted. She furrowed her brow as she tried to recall anything the elders might have said.

"It's okay," Claire said softly. "Let's… let's worry about tomorrow and put this stuff to the side."

All three heard the turmoil in Claire's voice. Ursa and Jasmine exchanged a look before returning to the back of the carriage.. Lily squeezed Claire's hand tightly to get her attention.

"If you want to talk about how you feel, we have 2 hours…" Lily whispered.

"I-I keep thinking I know the end goal…" Claire murmured, lowering her head into her hands. "Getting Ryely back or freeing the noble harems, but then something is added. There always seems to be more… Rebellion. Corrupt nobles. And now, boys are missing entirely? It's…It's too much."

"Yes. It is. It's too much for one person." Lily spoke gently. Her voice was calm and quiet. "It's overwhelming even for the six of us… but that's why we have allies. People we can count on… Those villagers we helped… they believe in you. Not just the cause… The gods only know how many times they've heard something similar."

She rubbed the back of Claire's hand with her thumb, keeping her attention on the road. "You're not alone. You'll never be fighting alone. Our Goddess didn't expect you to do this alone. She wants you to gain allies, to grow your strength… but that doesn't mean you can't feel overwhelmed. Or feel helpless. Or like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders…"

Lily glanced back at the window, half expecting Jasmine to pop back up. "That's why you have us. We're not just your teams or people to warm your bed…Every woman in this carriage cares deeply for you. Every member of the Scarlet Seraphs is ready and willing to follow you into hell."

She watched Claire carefully. "So lean on us. Let us carry some of that weight."

Claire's tears flowed freely. She was lucky, truly lucky. She felt the sorrow loosen its grip on her as she let herself cry. Lily's warmth, her words, and her presence eased Claire's inner turmoil.

"Thank you…" Claire said unsteadily but sincere. "I-I just… hate being a burden… and I feel like when I let my emotions take over… that's all I am."

"Shhhh… none of that," Lily said, pulling Claire in a soft embrace. "No one believes that you're a burden."

This was when Jasmine decided to appear again, as she climbed through the window. She flanked Claire from the other side and gently took the reins from her.

She gently rubbed Claire's thighs with her free hand to reinforce Lily's words. She took over driving, letting Claire get her emotions out.