[Sara POV] Year 5, Day 206 (Late evening)
Sara flew high over Borderwatch. Nothing really to do. Just watching, killing some time.
[Boring. Sara is bored. Nothing happening. Just normal night.]
Sara had noticed something earlier today—been busy lately with cave decorations and friend visit, so only just saw it. An ex-city watch member had been crucified. Broke rules apparently and got the same treatment as everyone else. Rules applied to everyone, even city watch. Maybe especially city watch.
The city watch had upgraded their execution methods. Before: death sentences via hanging, quick and standard. Now: crucifixions. Seeing someone dying slowly for days while nailed to a post really reminded everyone crime was bad. Very effective deterrent.
Sara approved. Borderwatch was a really safe city, the safest Sara had ever seen. Even non-fatal punishments were so efficient people died of hunger before daring to steal food.
[Good professional system. Nora runs things well. Sara respects that.]
They ran it like a big mafia. Most city watch members were career criminals or close to it. The ways were clear: follow rules, happy life. Break any rule, probably days of torture and public crucifixion.
And his ex-friends—the ones who followed rules—were having fun party right now. Near establishment gate. Gate resting area. Grilling. Drinking. Celebrating with maids and syndicate dwarves. Green hand badges visible. City watch enjoying themselves while former comrade died slowly somewhere in city.
[Dark. Very dark. But effective. Sara understands. Monster logic and criminal logic—same thing. Loyalty through fear and reward.]
Establishment was quiet. Late evening. Most sleeping. Only two places with activity. Sara saw them clearly from above.
First was gate resting area. That party Sara noticed earlier. Maids, syndicate dwarves, city watch with green badges. Grilling, drinking, celebrating together. City watch barracks were integrated there. Staff plus security all consolidated.
[Same party. Ex-watch member’s friends following rules, having good time. Nothing unusual.]
Other place was coca-cola factory. Extending heavily. Even during night, building active. Lots of construction and expansion.
[They making coca-cola city trademark drink. Big ambitions. But having large supply issues. Not enough product. Too much demand.]
Dominos tried it before leaving. Interested. Sara liked it with ice. They served it cold here. Made sense. Borderwatch hot. Desert nearby. Cold drinks good.
[Sara misses Dominos. Friend’s name. ‘Poisoner lady’ was too not-personal. Friend’s full name is Dominos Penthante, but friend doesn’t like family name. Family abandoned friend to brothel over debts. No contact for centuries. So friend prefers just Dominos. Sara uses name friend likes. Proper behavior.]
Last week been best of Sara’s life. Someone with no friends had both dress and friend now. And Sara owned both. They couldn’t abandon Sara. Sara would never abandon them. Perfect.
[In about week, Dominos back. With all things from Central. Living permanent in Sara’s place. Both Sara and snakes waiting. Home. Friend coming home. Sara is happy.]
Sara had already collected some cookie donations tonight. Several. Many actually.
[Want more cookies. Want to try everything. But Sara should not. Belly pain happens. Bad example for dress—dress learning restraint. Sara must show restraint too. No more cookies today. Be responsible and set good example.]
[So boring. Nothing to do. No cookies, no friend yet, nothing interesting. Just flying and waiting.]
Then Sara heard something.
Explosions and combat sounds. Screams of death. Chaos of magic and violence.
Sara looked down. Saw something hard to process.
Approximately a hundred people were attacking the establishment gate. Pouring through. Overwhelming.
But hundred was strange. Very strange.
No clear organization. Random weapon selection. Some clearly knew how to use weapons—proper stance, professional movements. Others looked like holding weapons first time—awkward grip, confused swings.
Acting like mob. Uncoordinated. Just: mass. Just: violence. Just: chaos.
All screaming. Kill the devils. Over and over. Kill the devils. Loud. Constant. Unified message despite lack of coordination.
[Strange attack. Wrong tactics, wrong execution, wrong everything.]
Also Sara recognized some faces. Had flown over city today after Dominos left. Seen some of these attackers. Shopping. Walking. Normal activities. Normal citizens. Nothing suspicious. Nothing violent.
[Normal people now attacking. Mind control? Compulsion? Something very wrong.]
Those who had party next to gate—running. Panic. Random directions. Some tried fighting. Then magic explosion. Someone threw magic bomb from guard house window. Into attacking mob. Killing some. Wounding more.
It caused more strange things.
Few wounded attackers stopped screaming. Just: stopped. Stood there confused. Then were attacked by other attackers. Killed by own mob. For not screaming. For breaking pattern.
[Oh. Screaming is identification. Wounding breaks control. Those who stop become targets. Strange system. Throw-away attack magic. Sara seen this before. Professional expendable force tactics.]
Alarms started. First here. Then seconds—entire city. All alarms screaming emergency.
Sara felt puzzled. [What is this? Why now? Why normal citizens? Why mind control? Makes no sense.]
But then—realization.
[Oh. This is Sara’s chance. Sara protects compound. Sara saves people. Sara is hero. Nice introduction. Show usefulness. Perfect timing.]
Sara looked down and assessed the situation. Two places with action.
Guard house: few city guard throwing things from windows. Magic. Weapons. Whatever they had. Into mob below. But guard house had strong stone walls. Secure. Safe. Guards handling. Their job. Plus all attackers running into compound anyway. Not targeting guard house specifically.
[Guards safe. Doing their job. Not Sara’s problem.]
Party area: few people remaining. Two, maybe three. Late at running or decided to fight. Now in combat with entire mob. Losing. Dying soon.
[That’s target. Sara saves those. Shows heroism.]
Sara dove. Fast and direct.
A dwarf in builder clothing defended himself with box. Blocking strikes from gnome with halberd. Desperate. Losing.
Sara landed on gnome. Literally on top. Squashed flat. Dead instantly.
Then rolled out chains. Fast. Everywhere.
Approximately ten attackers near dwarf died instantly. Chain wrapped, pierced, killed. Professional execution.
No blood drain. Sara’s rule. Dress only feeds when Sara allows. Wrong place. Wrong time. Blood drain causes confusion. Fear. Better keep killing clean. No feeding. No complications.
[Everyone safe. Can kill rest now. Easy.]
But Sara thought. [Should capture. Prisoners useful for questions and investigation. Kill everyone equals no information. Stupid waste. Better capture alive.]
Sara rolled out more chain. Much more. Collecting instead of killing.
None were really strong. Easy capture. This chain killed entire Empire city in minutes. Collecting hundred attackers? No issues. Bit more effort for alive capture versus killing. But manageable. Fast.
Kilometer of chain out. Maybe more. Sara center of massive web. All attackers bound. Suspended in air. Screaming. Struggling. Helpless.
The dwarf Sara saved still held his box. Watching. Staring.
Everyone stopped. Watching Sara, the chains, the suspended attackers. Silent and shocked.
More people arriving. City guard from guard house. People from streets. Maids and armed dwarves from compound. Led by Pebble. Bear-girl. Massive.
Few minutes passed. Everyone staring at Sara, the chains, the prisoners screaming in air. Crowd growing. More arriving. Nobody said anything.
But Sara heard whispers among the crowd. Who is she? What is she? How did she do that? Monster or hero? Confusion and awe mixed together.
[Sara should say something. But what? Sara bad at talking. Always says wrong things and messes up. Sara worried.]
Finally dwarf moved. Took cookie from spatial bag. Gave to Sara.
“Thank you, cookie fairy. For saving my life. Was sure I’d die here.”
Sara confused. [How did he know? How recognized Sara?]
Dwarf saw confusion. Pointed at talons. “I fixed several floors you destroyed. Recognized these immediately. Unique damage pattern.”
Sara tried apologizing. Opened beak. Words came out. Panicked. Fast.
“Sorry. Sara didn’t—didn’t mean—floors were—Sara didn’t want—”
[Messing up—words coming out wrong, wrong order, everything wrong. Panic rising. This is like Dominos’s first evening when everything Sara said was a disaster and scared her friend. It’s happening again, destroying the introduction with dumb words. Stop talking, stop making it worse. But too late. Already started, already messed up.]
Dwarf reassured quickly. Nice. Understanding. “Don’t worry. You saved my life. Many lives. You’re a hero to everyone here. Cookie fairy came through. I’ll fix floors gladly—small price for being alive!”
Sara felt better. Took cookie. Ate it. Bowed to dwarf. Hesitant to speak more. Just in case Sara says something strange again. Better stay quiet.
[Dwarf is nice. Calls Sara hero. That’s good. That’s what Sara wanted. Just needs to not mess up. Needs to stay quiet. Needs to be careful.]
Sara looked at the prisoners closer. They all still screaming. Still attacking motions even while bound. Like crazy. Like broken.
[Mind control. Definitely mind control. But how does it work? What’s mechanism? What identifies friend versus foe?]
Sara thought about screaming pattern.
[Screaming is identification maybe. Friendly sign. Those who scream are controlled. Those don’t scream become targets. That’s system maybe. Test. Should test.]
Selected one banged-up attacker. Only making strange whisper. Not proper screaming. Damaged voice from bomb explosion maybe. Can’t scream loud enough.
Selected one more. Active. Loud. Screaming properly.
Released quiet one first.
Immediately ran. Toward closest people. Panicking them. Fear. Backing away.
Then released loud one.
Loud one attacked quiet one immediately. Killed fast. Then tried running. Same direction. Toward people. Toward compound.
Sara recaptured loud one. Fast. Chains. Bound again. Test complete.
[Yes. Correct. Screaming protects. Silence marks targets. Control system identified. Professional magic. Sara understands.]
But then Sara noticed. Everyone looking with confusion at Sara’s useful experiment to understand how attackers work.
[Sara just did an experiment in front of everyone—released prisoners and let them kill each other while the crowd watched. That’s not normal or hero behavior. That’s testing and experimentation on people. Probably wrong. Damn it, Sara messed up again. Did a villain thing when trying to be a hero.]
Sara looked around, needing a binding solution. Something to restrain prisoners properly. So they couldn’t harm anyone.
Saw pipes. Massive pile nearby. Mythril pipes. Five meters each, strong and expensive. Perfect.
[Those are Silvereth’s—no, she uses 22 now. Those are 22’s pipes for the hot spring project. Sara borrows them and will return later. Probably. Maybe. If Sara remembers. Sara hopes 22 understands the emergency and doesn’t try to kill her over it. Hopefully.]
Sara took first prisoner. Pulled from chains. Held firmly.
Used mythril pipe. Bent around prisoner. Wrapping hands, legs, everything. Binding tight and secure. Breaking few bones—hands, arms, some ribs. But alive. Can’t move or attack. Just bound and safe.
[Professional restraint. Efficient and secure. Hero work—protecting people by restraining threats. That’s what heroes do. Sara doing hero things. Sara is pleased.]
Repeated for rest. One by one. Each prisoner getting pipe treatment. Each one bones broken. Each one screaming louder. Each one secured.
Approximately ten minutes total. All hundred bound. Massive pile of prisoners wrapped in mythril pipes. Still screaming. Still struggling. But helpless. Completely helpless. Would take serious effort to unbind. That’s problem for later. For other people. Sara just secured. Sara’s job done.
[Perfect. All prisoners bound. All safe. All ready for questioning. Mission complete. Hero mission. Sara protected compound. Sara captured enemies. Sara—]
Then Sara thought about methods.
[Oh. Sara just made public torture session. Binding people into pipes. Crushing bones. Making them scream louder. In front of witnesses. In front of crowd. That’s… that’s torture display. That’s not hero behavior. That’s villain behavior. That’s wrong behavior. Damn. Sara made something wrong. Again. Already. Sara keeps messing up. Sara always does wrong things. Why is Sara like this? Why can’t Sara do hero things properly? Why does everything Sara does look like villain things?]
But looking around again—nobody seemed scared of Sara? Nobody running? Nobody having accidents? Nobody screaming? Just: watching. Silent. Processing.
[Perhaps not that bad? Perhaps acceptable? Perhaps hero behavior includes restraint even if looks brutal? Sara not sure. But nobody panicking. So maybe okay. Maybe Sara did right thing wrong way. Maybe methods were villain but result was hero. Maybe that’s acceptable. Sara hopes so. Sara really hopes so.]
With the prisoners secured, Sara walked toward the gate house. Checking damage. Assessing casualties.
There were deaths. Sara had heard death cries. Had seen some corpses. But saving who could was primary. Rescue first. Count dead after.
Seems multiple corpses near gate house. Near party area. Sara’s rescue came bit late. Too late for some.
Multiple maids there surrounding gate house. But giving Sara space. Wide berth. Watching. Silent. Letting Sara inspect.
Sara saw victims. Four maid corpses. Five city guards. All dead near gate house entrance.
Got hit by first attack probably. Killed before understanding what happened. Before reacting or defending. Just dead. Random and unlucky.
Even Sara was surprised how random and sudden the attack was. No warning. Just violence and death.
What caught Sara’s attention most—one of the dead was from that group. Letter girls. The ones who joined after stampede. Served guild bosses before. The ones with double belonging between themselves.
Upsilon. That was name. Got last place in naming game. Worst letter. Sara had seen her overwork herself since then. Trying to prove she wasn’t the worst. Just working harder. Always harder. Proving her worth.
And now dead. Killed before proving anything more. Random attack. Random death. Unlucky.
One maid hugging Upsilon’s corpse. Crying hard. Another letter girl. Sara felt sad. Even Sara sad. Letter girls were so close. All of them. Double belonging between themselves and other maids. Tight family bond. And now broken. One less. Grief and loss.
[Sara gives space. Won’t interfere with grief. Wrong time and place. Sara just a witness here. Let them mourn. That’s the respectful thing.]
But Sara thought about timing. [Really unlucky. Usually only two maids at gate. But this is shift change time. New group arriving. Old group leaving. Both groups there. Both ended up killed. If attack came hour earlier or hour later, only two dead. Instead: four. Timing. Bad timing. Random bad luck. Very unlucky.]
Sara walked toward party area. Checking those victims. Those Sara didn’t manage to save. Those who died while Sara wondered about strange attack from above.
Two more city guards. Two dwarves. One maid.
The maid caught Sara’s attention. Hobgoblin. Sara recognized her. Seen with Null monster lately. Often. Part of group. Part of family maybe.
Lina. Yes. That was name. Lina.
At least Lina died hero death. Sara could see it. Position. Evidence. Story.
Shield artifact in Lina’s hand. Still there. Still activated. Defensive position. Body positioned between attackers and others. Protecting. Defending. Holding line. Hero stance. Last stand.
But taken down by mob. Literally overwhelmed. Head was few meters from body. Separated. Clean cut maybe. Or torn. Hard to tell. Body had number of horrible wounds. Hammer marks. Axe cuts. Blunt trauma. Sharp trauma. Everything. Mob had pounded until shield failed. Until attacks connected. Until Lina fell. Until defense collapsed.
[Damn. While Sara was up there wondering about the attack, watching and assessing, this maid was down here. Fighting. Protecting. Dying hero death. Sara was too slow. Sara wondered too long. Should have dove immediately instead of watching and thinking. Let hero die while Sara was curious about tactics.]
[Sara came too late. Sara failed. Lina dead. Upsilon dead. Five maids total. Seven city guards. Two dwarves. Fourteen dead. Sara saved many but not these. Not fast or decisive enough. Too busy thinking instead of acting. Sara’s fault. Sara’s delay cost lives. Cost Lina’s life.]
[But Sara saved many. Dwarf. Others from party. Many more who would have died. Captured all attackers alive. Prisoners for questions. For investigation. For understanding. Sara did that. Sara protected. Sara saved.]
[And Sara has belonging now. Probably. Elf will see Sara was hero. Sara protected compound. Saved people. Elf won’t send Sara away after this. Sara has home. Finally. After so long. Even with failures. Even with victims. Sara belongs. That’s everything.]
[Null monster hopefully brings Sara to desert playground and gives cookie of belonging. That would be nice. Sara wants belonging. Sara wants to belong here.]
[But Dominos needs a cookie too. And snakes? Will Null monster give cookies to snakes also? Maybe if Sara asks really nice. Everyone should have belonging cookies. Everyone should belong together.]
[Yes. This will be perfect. Everyone will have cookies then. Everyone will belong.]
