Octantis, A Kingdom With No King

"Jonathan, you know I'm not like that. If I could afford it, I-I would pay it! I'm an honest woman, Jonathan, you know that," the woman sits up in struggled, mechanical movements.

"No, Rose, I don't," Jonathan holds his spear against Rose's chin after a brief, obvious moment of hesitation. From the crowd, pushing through the doors of the Wanderer's Union comes a woman at least six feet and half inches tall, red hair tied into a side ponytail.

She has combat boots that almost reach her knees and tight black shorts that fit well with her curvaceous figure. Unsheathing her sword, in front of everyone that's watching, she holds the blade against the soldiers in threat. Other guards on stand-by point their polearms towards her but the stranger doesn't bat an eyelash.

From her bag, she pulls out a satchel of coins and dumps them into Jonathan's hands, holding down her sword.

Jonathan's hands shake as he checks the amount, standing back when he finds that it's the right amount. He looks back to the other guards, gesturing that the task is over. He turns only once to look at Rose before he marches off, only a glimmer of sadness in his cruel eyes.

Olive and Garden roll forward onto the ground, Garden crawling onto her feet so she can run to Rose's rescue. Mizuki exhales, pressing a palm against her chest. What did I just watch?

Mizuki, with the little help she can offer, rushes up to Olive's side, helping him onto his feet. She bends to his level, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Olive, are you okay?"

Olive shakes his head. "They… always do this…"

"Always what? Hurt the people?" Mizuki tries to pry more answers out of him but Olive falls silent, freezing in place. A shadow falls in front of her, urging her to raise her gaze.

"Hey, you can go back to your mother," the voice speaks soothingly. Olive turns to Mizuki, meeting her eye and silently mouthing 'I'll be off' before breaking out of her grip. He brushes past the other woman, waddling back to Rose's care.

"You're brave," Mizuki comments to the older, red-haired woman now towering over her. Mizuki reaches out a hand, "Hirashi Mizuki."

"Miko," she shakes it tightly, flashing an award-winning grin. "Of the Wanderer's Union."

"I never heard about there being political problems here. Isn't this a kingdom?" Mizuki chats, rubbing the back of her head in confusion as she averts her gaze back to the plaza. Most of the crowd has stopped whispering amongst themselves, returning to their daily activities. Rose, herself, has also managed to compose herself, forcing a smile for her customers who occasionally inquire if she's alright.

Miko sighs, "One with no king. You see, he was killed 10 years ago by a mysterious assassin. He was never found."

Mizuki snaps her gaze back to Miko, who wears a solemn expression. "How could that be?!" she exclaims in shock. "Did he have no children?"

"A daughter and a son, both the brightest children Astrum had ever seen. Of course, each land has its ruler and some of the princes are talented, none as much as ours. No one as beautiful as our princess, either," Miko confesses. "At the young ages of 16, they were both trained to be highly-capable Knights. Most don't even start training until they're 18."

"Had?"

"The prince and princess went missing with the king, but only the king's body was ever found. They never disclosed where or how but since then, the military has taken over. They're cruel, really, much more brutal than the thoughtful, just treatment we used to get from our king," Miko speaks with a distasteful lilt in her tone. "You know, I like to believe the prince is one of us, disguised as an everyday folk."

Mizuki's heart throbs. Her expression doesn't change but she's aware of this. She doesn't know where it's from - maybe anticipation, the thrill of finding this kingdom's history after all this time. The possibly sends her mind in circles, living on the same ground as a prince. What could that feel like?

"I believe the military wouldn't let the prince live if they ever got his hands on him. The princess… It's not like we can have a queen. Power makes the worst of us. This social division and everything."

Mizuki thinks hard about this, increasingly disturbed by the town's lore the more it settles in. Vivid, almost gory images flash through her mind of an old, righteous king lying dead on the castle floor in impudence after his years of service to the townspeople, a sinful act of contempt. Mizuki feels a shiver run down her spine, rubbing her arm to calm her nerves. "I hope things get better."

"Trust me, we all wish the same," Miko pats Mizuki lightly on the shoulder. Shooting her a look of thoughtfulness, she bids farewell and returns to the Wanderer's Union, knocking her Katana tip-first into the ground for it to dissipate into its sheath. Mizuki turns her head towards the road down to Hinata's house, an odd, indescribable feeling in her stomach. Why didn't Hinata tell me about this if it's so important to the story?

Mizuki quickens her pace on the way home, wanting nothing more than to face Hinata himself and ask him about what he's been keeping from her.

Mizuki's not mad (maybe because she's sick of getting set off all the time).

Lately, her only goal has been to level-up but considering it's an RPG, it doesn't sit right with her. The Hirashi Clan, her father's company, owns branches all across Japan. Through video games, they investigate the existence of parallel universes and how to tap into them, how to live stories in 3D while safely returning to the real world.

Since young, Mizuki has always been trained to be the next heir over her two older sisters. During this time, she would investigate play styles and genres of games, and of them all, RPG the most. These games always have an end that involves something in the story, surely not something that can be overcome with a simple point system.

Mizuki twists the knob of the door, pushing it open wide. She expects him to be somewhere right where she can see him, only to be let down when he's nowhere. Kicking her boots off at a side, she peers around the house. "Yasui-kun?" she calls out loudly, voice echoing off the walls. No response. "I need to speak to you!" No response.

Mizuki hangs her satchel around the backrest of a chair, trudging towards the backdoor. She pushes it open, cautiously, stealing a few looks around before she opens it completely. Mizuki recognises it clearly, the memory of the first time she found herself in this world fresh in her mind. The adrenaline, fear and confusion. She strolls out, noticing a whole garden set up against the walls of the house. The rest of the plot is mostly empty, nothing like the image she remembered seeing in the photocard.

"Maybe this isn't his childhood home," she ponders, stepping forward to check out what he's been growing. On one side, it's mainly vegetables - tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, wild greens and herbs (but Mizuki can't name any of those based on sight). On another side, she finds fruits of all kinds, strawberries on vines with apple and orange trees.

Mizuki wonders how long he's awake all day for him to get everything done, tend to all his shrubbery while doing everything else he has to do. "Never took him for the gardener kind," she chuckles under her breath, closing the back door behind her. Back inside, she decides to dig up information on her own accord, through books or guides or anything.

Hinata shouldn't be back for a while, she guesses, especially if he left the house not long after her. Most of his books are tucked away, unlike the usual sight, so Mizuki has to do a bit of snooping around. Even with the elixir, bending over is a little bit of a problem so she avoids anything that's tucked away at a shelf too low. In her search, she finds old newspapers on one of the bookshelves, a purple book hidden under the stack. Gingerly, she pulls them out, scrunching her nose as the dusty odour hits her nose.

She folds her legs against the couch, laying the items in front of her. She unfolds the newspaper open into its full size. The headlines read: 'Ocantis, a Kingdom with no King.'