Some say that even after the age of eighty, he would don his crown and head to battle.
Ursus had suffered a crushing defeat deep in the snowfields. The bodies were churned into the snow, the corpses piled up into walls.
The emperor screamed bloody vengeance, his anger louder than the howling wind.
The surviving officers surrounded his tent, but the crown shone bright, so bright that the people could only shout their reverence for him.
A sudden fierce gust from the north blew the tent open. Only then did everyone dare to raise their eyes and look ahead.
The crown had fallen on the ground. No longer was there an emperor on the snowfields. It is said that in the end, Old Vasily was trampled to death by the crowd.
Of the countless nameless soldiers kneeling outside his tent, none knew the name of the Slayer of Crowns, or from where they came.
Reunion Member
Oh, this is the first time I've heard you tell this story in Siracusan.
Reunion Member
So you got the name 'Crownslayer' out of a book. What's the book called again?
Lyudmila
'Truth and Justice'.
Reunion Member
Sounds complicated... I thought books like that were all chunky doorstoppers about big ideas, but you're saying it's a storybook?
Lyudmila
No, it's not. The stories inside aren't for entertainment, but to get people thinking.
Lyudmila
What is 'truth'? What is 'justice'?
Lyudmila
Should they be considered the same? Should they be set against each other? Who gets to be the one that defines them? Which side of the scale do we believe we're on?
Lyudmila
Or maybe they don't exist in any real sense? Just like... Just like how Reunion is over.
Lyudmila
In the end, the only time they're of any use are when putting together a lovely little list of justifications.
Reunion Member
Err... Y'know, before you told me this story, all I wanted to ask was where we should head next.
Lyudmila
I was just about to say. This is where we part, friend.
Lyudmila
If you keep going straight this way, you'll come out of the woods and spot some old nomadic city tracks.
Lyudmila
There's likely to be Leithanian border patrol teams nearby, or possibly Siracusan cargo landships passing through. Watch out for them.
Lyudmila
You made it through Chernobog and Lungmen. Avoiding them shouldn't be too difficult for you.
Reunion Member
*sigh* Out of a team of thirty, I'm the last man standing...
Reunion Member
Why can't we just stay here, Crownslayer?
Lyudmila
If we stay together here, we'll just become targets for those in power. That or be forced to become cannon fodder again.
Lyudmila
Since you guys didn't want to follow Nine, I'll be the one seeing you off.
Lyudmila
This is the last thing I can do as Reunio—the last thing I can do for you.
Reunion Member
But where will you go? You'd be on your own too, wouldn't you?
Lyudmila
I'll wander. I'll check on a few things. I'll think a bit.
Lyudmila
Before I left Siracusa, my master told me not to go back to Ursus to seek revenge. I was too weak, and knew too little... But I didn't listen to her.
Lyudmila
It might be time to return now. I'd like to see her again. Maybe she can give me some other suggestions... Ways for me to become stronger.
Reunion Member
What's your master like?
Lyudmila
She's from one of the Siracusan famiglie. She was strong in battle, yet also one of the wisest people I knew. She taught me a lot.
Reunion Member
Siracusa, eh? That's a long ways away.
Lyudmila
Look at this bonfire out here among the snow, friend. Once, it could ignite the anger of the Infected. It could spark the dream of Reunion. It could set all of Ursus ablaze.
Lyudmila
But now, all it does is keep us warm.
Lyudmila
Here's the last thing I have to say to you: Forget Talulah. Forget Chernobog. Forget Lungmen. Forget Reunion. Forget us. If you choose to leave, then leave it all behind you.
Lyudmila
Hell, forget the crystals growing on your body. Maybe if you forget everything, you can go home.
Reunion Member
*sigh*...
Reunion Member
Though we both chose to leave, I always felt you and I weren't alike...
Reunion Member
You look like you're the type of person who knows a lot, and you've read lots of books. At times, I feel like you, the Captain and Talulah are all pretty similar.
Lyudmila
......
Reunion Member
*sigh*... I meant more like... When I was little, my grandpapa always said people who read too much were easily lead astray.
Reunion Member
Anyway... Never mind. See you later, Crownslayer. Best of luck to you. Looks like you're going to need it.
Lyudmila silently looks at the fire in front of her. It is a burning duffel bag, her master interred within.
She did not sleep at all that night. She thinks about how she used salt and water to scrub away the bloodstains in the room, how she dragged her master's corpse out into the wilds under the cover of the incessant rain.
She was stick-thin before she died. Lyudmilla barely had to exert herself.
Lyudmila never forgot how she met her master.
There was blood everywhere. Her uncle, her only living relative. His family. His servants. Their corpses strewn across the entire house.
The one who sent her to Siracusa told her that her uncle had control of the businesses on a couple of streets. Not a powerful man, per se, but in a small Siracusan town, it would be enough to let her live comfortably.
But before she could even get used to her new life... A simple Originium bomb smashed through the windows. In the chaos, her arm was gashed. She trembled in fear as she cowered under the bed.
There was no difference between the gangsters rushing into that house and the Ursus Guard charging into the lab. She felt like she was back in Chernobog, back in that night she lost her father.
Only when everything finally went quiet did Lyudmila dare to leave her room.
The gangsters, too, were lying down in pools of blood. The only ones alive in the house were her and the lowliest of her uncle's servants.
If memory served correctly, the servant was always living out by the gate, in charge of sending and receiving letters. The only time she would limp into the house was to deliver the mail to her masters.
She would always tiptoe across the carpet, so as to not make too loud a noise.
'Another gang vendetta. Your uncle upset them. I'm about to head off... Do you have anywhere to go?'
'D-Did you kill all these bad guys?'
'If I didn't, you and I would both be dead.'
'Why didn't you save them when it all started?'
'I thought they were here for me... With this body of mine, I need to wait for them to get close before I can do anything.'
'You're scary... but also amazing. C-Can I go with you?'
'Do you want revenge? For your uncle? You weren't that close to him. And I remember that the one who sent you here wanted you to live a peaceful life... Well, I suppose that's not happening anymore.'
'Lyudmila, do you know what it means to be my student?'
'I've become decrepit and weak now. Are you still willing to be my student, and my tool?'
'We will both regret it, ragazza.'
'I won't. All you need to do is teach me. Teach me how to hold a knife, how to get my revenge. I won't regret it!'
'A knife? No, you're not ready for a knife just yet.'
'First, learn how to light a fire. Burn down this house and everything in it, so that nobody can find us.'
'Fire hides everything, Lyudmila.'
She chose to deal with her master's corpse using the very first trick she taught her.
But now what?
After leaving Reunion, she spent two years making her way back to Siracusa, all to lose the last home she could return to in barely a day...
The fire is extinguished, and the morning breeze blows away the last of the ashes. There is no trace of it left in the wilderness.
