As the days passed inside the bunker, Rudra gradually acclimated to the calm and vibrant atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the world of suffering and pain outside. Magnusson Bonnofal, a prominent figure among the survivors, gathered the residents to announce the instructions for the coming weeks and the new mission for the 10 knights of the FIDELIUS group.
The golden-eyed knight made his way to the designated meeting place in Bonnofal's chamber alongside his 10 companions still scattered amongst themselves.
"..." – Rudra remains silent, noticing the looks pointed at him.
In the dimly lit room, Bonnofal introduced them to the details of his mission.
"Sirs, you are here," said Magnusson, who was sitting in his chair.
"It is with great joy and enthusiasm that I come to introduce you to our first advance."
The knights remained silent in the room, while Magnusson took from his desk, a white letter, with a seal containing the coat of arms of the house Bonnofal and Artas.
"A letter?" – asked Gael, confused by the attitude of the bunker representative.
"Exactly, knights. A simple and mere letter." – replied Magnusson.
"I wrote this letter myself, using one of the finest sheets of paper in our family."
"I believe I did an excellent job with every passage written in it."
"This will be your mission, I entrust you with this valuable letter for delivery, to the lands of Lisithea, to the lord who resides there."
A seemingly simple task of delivering a letter to a lord in the lands of Lisithea, yet he emphasized the crucial role this mission played in advancing his plans to end the protracted war.
"I'm sure that, by the looks on your faces, you are skeptical that a simple letter can change the course of our resistance, but I assure you of this. The information contained in this letter is worth much more than you think, and I believe that Lord Lisithean will agree with this as well."
Connor, the red-haired knight from the Alitzaverdde household in the Rista region who was closest to the desk, expressed skepticism, questioning the meaning of a mere letter.
"A letter? Can you explain to us how that makes a difference in this war?"
Humbert Ellgarten, who was to Connor's left, asked Magnusson to elaborate, seeking a clearer understanding of the importance of the mission.
"Magnusson, could you explain why this letter is so important to our cause?"
Magnusson explained that the contents of the letter, delivered to Mr. Lisiteu, had the potential to turn the tide in favor of the resistance.
"Hmm… right. Sirs, this measly piece of paper is basically useless, however, the content written on it can help us understand the reason for this senseless war."
Caspian Erostus, who had been listening attentively to Magnusson's statements, requested that Magnusson explain why it was a letter.
"Magnusson, but why just one letter?"
Magnusson closes his eyes and answers Caspian's question:
"I don't think there's much we can do. The plains are too infested with soldiers to carry too many things."
Alyfir Erugenrrand, hiding in a corner, asked about compensation for exposing himself to the risks of war.
"What about the risks we're taking? What's the compensation for that?"
"Don't worry about it, knight."
Magnusson assured them fair payment, approximately 800 argon each. However, Edmund, visibly angry, lamented the decrease in compensation since his last mission and the lives lost.
"We risk our lives, and yet the pay goes down? Unacceptable!"
Gael joined the protest, and a heated argument ensued among the FIDELIUS. Excluding Rudra, Edgar, Caspian, and Bart'Olimios, members Connor, Lloyd, Augustus, Alyfir, and Gael nodded at Edmund's statement.
"That's not right, Magnusson!" – exclaimed Alyfir.
As tensions rose, a blond-haired knight in bloodstained armor entered the room, silencing the assembly. Walking toward Bonnofal's table, he exchanged glances with Rudra, intensifying the gravity of the situation. Bonnofal addressed the knight as Arnold, one of the former strongest knights of the Rista Empire.
"Arnold–!? Have you returned yet?" Magnusson asked.
Arnold's arrival changed the focus of the discussion. The former knight of Rista's army entered the room and Bonnofal handed him a money bag containing 230 argons.
"Are they giving you trouble, Magni?" asked Arnold, who was showing considerable intimacy with Magnusson.
"Don't worry about me, Arnold." Magnusson replied to Arnold.
"Here is your payment."
The FIDELIUS, previously indignant at their payments, were surprised at the amount received by Arnold. Alyfir confronted Arnold about the apparent inconsistency, and Arnold explained that he accepted the money only because Bonnofal insisted.
"Why did Arnold accept less than the rest of us? That's not fair!"
"Think about it, I wouldn't even need this money, I'm only accepting it because Bonnofal insisted on paying."
"That same money could go towards food, drink and supplies from our suppliers."
"Think carefully about the children who have bigger dreams than ours, before arguing about small values."
With a powerful message resounding in the room, Arnold departed, leaving FIDELIUS in contemplative silence. After the silence, Magnusson brought the planning and business meeting to a close. After the others had left, Bonnofal asked Rudra to stay last, acknowledging his cautious stance on money matters.
"Rudra, I have been able to contemplate your complacent silence. Stay and share your thoughts."
Rudra expressed his concern for his group, and Magnusson nodded in agreement with his thoughts.
"Magnusson, I recognize the great immaturity towards the group members."
"Huff… I know…" Magnusson sighed in frustration at his members' disbelief.
"For this reason, I entrust you with the position of second leader alongside your captain."
"Second leader, you say?" Rudra asked, surprised by Magnusson's statement.
"Yes, I have already communicated with your leader about this."
"..." – Rudra remains silent, thinking about Bonnofal's decision.
"Are you sure it's a rational choice to put me in this position?" Rudra asked.
"Oh–! Don't be so suspicious. We've already had a long talk, haven't we?"
Rudra, without many options, ended up accepting the position that Magnusson offered him.
"..."
"I'll think about it."
Bonnofal entrusted him with surveillance, given Rudra's familiarity with the battlefield, everyone returned to their dormitories, except for one knight, who was waiting for Rudra outside Magnusson's room.
"You… were one of the few who kept quiet, just like me."
Rudra maintained a firm posture and responded to the statement of the knight who spoke.
"There was no need for all that commotion. The other 9 were reckless."
The enigmatic knight then agrees with Rudra's dialogue, and soon decides to introduce himself.
"By the way, we haven't been introduced properly. My name is Edgar Bonnofal, I am the son of Ingus Bonnofal and Ekaterina de Artas."
"Bonnofal? But then you mean to say that–"
"Yes. I am Magnusson's nephew."
"Nephew?" asked Rudra, surprised by Edgar's statement.
Edgar proved to be a cautious person. He was two years younger than me, considering I was 23 years old. He had dark hair and light blue eyes, and his physical stature was defined, he would have made an exceptional infantryman. Edgar told how he, his uncle and his family had paved the way for this bunker to be habitable.
The Bunker began to be designed 5 years ago, when the great war was still spreading to the extreme south of Aleonia.
The Artas and Bonnofal families secretly acquired a gigantic excavation mine, with stalactites dating back more than 100 years, and began a movement to make it a habitable place to shelter their people who were suffering from war and natural phenomena.
"This world is involved in a great war, similar to another in the past called "Decathus Bavier", which translated from the old Rùbaro language means "War of Knowledge", where everyone fought to dominate rival nations, in search of knowledge, after all, knowledge is power. This war, compared to the previous one, has no explicit motive, but it seems to involve political, monarchical or liberalist issues, according to the people's thinking."
This war involves the following blocks:
Central Thalassia, which is formed by the countries: Aleonia, Galèsia, Hortentzia and Superbia, all formed by humans.
Álfheimr, Tyrr and Sourthengärd forming the block of foreign countries.
Aleonia, together with Galèsia, are in the southwest of the continent, bordering each other, while Hortentzia is in the extreme north, separated by the sea.
Álfheimr and Tyrr are to the northeast of the continent and Sourthengärd is to the extreme south, parallel to Hortentzia.
Superbia is the central country, and the largest of all. Tales say that it was the first place where the goddess Al'lethia set foot, and for this reason, Superbia is called the "holy land".
These are the explorable regions within Central Thalassia. You could also say that Central Thalassia is a large archipelago of islands, but we are used to calling them countries or regions.
Edgar proved to be a very knowledgeable individual as we talked, and he recounted details of the things he had experienced, along with his purpose with his uncle, as we walked through the tunnels filled with civilians.
"Ah, the crystals of light… the hours are already advancing."
Edgar had noticed that the Rubitrill crystals in that cave had begun to develop luminescence autonomously and naturally, according to the stages of the day. Civilians use this functionality to know what time of day it is, whether it is morning, afternoon or night.
"We must relocate, for the next day." declared Rudra.
"You are right. It was very nice getting to know you better, Mr. Rudra."
Edgar replied warmly as he bid Rudra farewell, walking on the opposite side to where Rudra was.
Alone again, the golden-eyed knight resumes his journey to his dormitory, where he will need to organize himself for the next day. As he walks through the vast tunnels, Rudra reflects deeply on Arnold's words, along with those of his late companion Elio.
"...No reason to save lives…Fight to the end, whatever the cost…"
"...I was given a second chance in my bloody life..."
"...I must pay for my sins… by saving the innocent lives of this hopeless world..."
Rudra looks at his hands, and it brings back memories of when he was an elite soldier in Aleonia's court, fighting incessantly, without rest or provisions. The hands that took the lives of many enemy soldiers, who also had dreams and families.
"I have to make this worth it, for my late brothers..!"
Arriving at his dormitory, he finds a man sitting in a chair, reading a book from the dusty shelf. Rudra is surprised by the unexpected visit, and questions the person who was there.
"You were taking your time."
The man closes the book and puts it back on the shelf. The mysterious man identifies himself as Leslie Westellis. He appeared to be a man of approximately 32 years old, with blond hair and blue eyes, and claimed to be the leader of the FIDELIUS group. Then, Rudra questions his unusual presence in the room.
"What are you doing here?"
As Leslie continues him search on the shelf, he answers Rudra's questions.
"You know… the room you stay in used to be mine when I first came here years ago."
Rudra remains confused, restless and slightly alert, due to his soldier instincts.
"Let your guard down, boy. I have no intention of harming you."
"After all, we are all one big family, and I just came to get my favorite book."
Leslie finds his book and places it on Rudra's desk, wiping the dust off it with an old handkerchief. He maintains a nonchalant demeanor even with Rudra on guard. After finishing cleaning his book, he decides to leave Rudra's room.
"You–!" Rudra calls Leslie's attention.
"...you don't mind me being a knight on your team?"
Leslie, who has him back to Rudra, sighs lightly and answers the knight.
"Why should I fear that? We are all here already, all determined by Magnusson."
"And besides, we all have our moments of redemption, don't we?"
After Leslie's words, he turns his gaze to the table, pointing to Rudra's rosary, and that of his late companion Elio.
"Kid, our mission will be in a few days. We certainly don't know what awaits us out there."
"Besides… I never know when I'll need to be replaced on the battlefield."
Rudra thinks deeply about Leslie's words.
"I'm just kidding, kid. Don't think too much about it."
"Well, it's time for me to retire, and don't forget to keep the shelf clean soldier, or is this place making your mind relaxed?"
Leslie laughed as he said goodbye to Rudra. His presence was firm and carefree at first glance, but he proved to be a shrewd and observant man, and to think that this man would be our leader… I still know very little about him.
After Leslie left, Rudra prepared the environment for him to rest. He sat on the floor, always with a dagger in his right leg. If he was attacked, his military hunting instincts would alert him abruptly.
…you are unique… you are the one who made it… you can change this once and for all…
Cloudy and indecipherable memories remained in my mind, only in the form of a dream. Always a woman with long hair, and a place that resembled an instruction and training center, with many men and children.
In this dream, I was always holding hands with a girl, who was walking in the same direction, to a very confusing room. She was very scared. In this room, there were many men with wide, hooded cloaks.
I dreamed of these images every night in the training camp, writing down every detail in my book, but I never came to an exact conclusion as to what these dreams meant.
"...Maybe someday I'll find out…"
GLOSSARY:
"Aleonia" dèl Renoa: Aleonia is the country west of Central Thalassia. With the capital of the same name, Aleonia provides the most capable and strongest armies of all feudal regions.
Rista (region): is a coastal region, located in the southwest of the continent. It is a maritime escort center where boats and crews from the region carry out manned missions only in areas outside the dead zone.
Livero: A feudal region located in the east of Lisithea. At a time when war did not exist, Livero was a large commercial and agricultural center due to its vast territorial extension.
Rubitrill Crystals: Crimson-colored crystals, derived from the regions of Tyrr, Galèsia, Sulamària and Aleonia dèl Renoa. Commonly used in the composition of special jewelry, and have the ability to reproduce luminescence depending on the weather of the day.
Artas & Bonnofal Families: Both families of the "Lùstria *(share the same blood as the royal family of Aleonia)" lineage, participants in the FIDELIUS movement. The union of two families took place over the years, in order to unravel the mysteries involved in the senseless war scenario.