B9 - Chapter 41: Supreme Commander

"Do not lie to her."

There was no humor in Kaelyle's voice, none of the lazy amusement that seemed to color nearly everything the one-armed man said. Even the faint grin that had remained on his face throughout most of their tour had disappeared.

Rollo merely snorted as he stepped past him. Clearly, he hadn't taken the words to heart. His people followed.

Sebastian glanced briefly toward Viola before moving as well.

Viola hesitated. A sense of foreboding crept over her as she looked toward the door. The entrance seemed to morph before her very eyes into the shape of a giant, beastly maw, hungry for her flesh.

She quickly shook her head, dispelling the illusion. No matter how she felt, it wasn't as if she could turn back now.

With a few quick steps, Viola caught up with her team and followed them inside.

The doorway had made her expect some kind of office. Perhaps a meeting chamber, considering how many people had been brought here at once. But the room she now found herself in couldn't be called anything other than a hall, and not a small one either.

The ceiling rose several times the height of a man, framed by thick beams of dark wood. High windows stretched nearly from floor to ceiling along one side of the chamber, allowing the late daylight to spill freely across the polished stone floor. Several enormous beasthide rugs covered the center of the room, each thick enough that Viola's boots sank slightly into them.

A long couch occupied the far side of the chamber, large enough to comfortably seat a dozen people. And yet, despite all of that, the room still felt almost empty.

There was simply so much space.

Rollo's group moved farther inside, followed by the others. Even after all five teams had entered, there would still have been enough room for twice their number without making the chamber feel particularly crowded.

Viola slowed as she looked around.

This was the office of the Supreme Commander?

She had expected... more. Something that would display the dignity and standing of a person of rank. Her grandfather, for example, had rows of bookshelves in his office, even though she knew he wasn't particularly fond of reading.

There should at least have been some weapons mounted on the walls. Armor. Trophies. Standards taken from defeated enemies.

There was none of that to be found here. Instead, the entire room seemed designed for comfort.

Viola's wandering gaze finally settled on the single person standing before one of the enormous windows at the opposite end of the room. Their back was turned toward them. That, by itself, would not have been particularly noteworthy. But...

Viola blinked several times.

For a moment, she wondered whether the perspective was playing tricks on her.

This person... was huge.

Even from behind, Viola could tell that they would tower over everyone present. At least in sheer height, not even Grent was a match.

As for what else they looked like, she couldn't say. The heavy coat resting across their shoulders hid most of their proportions. Their arms weren't inside the sleeves. Instead, the garment merely hung from their shoulders like a cloak, its lower half shifting slightly whenever a draft entered through the open window.

Long blonde hair had been gathered into a single braid that fell down their back.

Viola's eyes narrowed.

There was something strange about this person.

Her instincts were acting up again.

Not in the same way they had around Kaelyle.

This was different.

Looking at this person's back gave Viola the inexplicable feeling that she was staring at something far larger than what her eyes were actually seeing.

She swallowed.

What in the world...

Viola's group stopped near the center of the room, leaving enough space for the remaining teams to enter around them.

Nobody spoke.

Even Rollo, who had spent much of their walk through the city asking questions or complaining about Kaelyle's behavior, had fallen completely silent.

One group after another filtered into the chamber.

Krabat and the members of the Ashen Choir.

Sly and his Storm Hounds.

Finally, Krogos entered with Cog and Hammer.

Kaelyle remained by the doorway until the last mercenary had crossed the threshold.

Then he leaned slightly into the room.

"That's everyone," he announced.

The supreme commander didn't answer.

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"Good luck."

His grin returned for just long enough to make Viola feel uneasy.

Then he pulled the door shut.

Click.

The sound of the latch settling into place was oddly loud.

Viola resisted the urge to look back.

Instead, she kept her attention on the supreme commander.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

The silence slowly became uncomfortable.

Nobody seemed quite sure whether they were supposed to speak.

Viola glanced toward Sebastian.

He gave the slightest shake of his head.

Wait.

That seemed wise.

The supreme commander clearly knew they were here. If she wanted them to introduce themselves, they would have said so.

Viola shifted her weight slightly and continued studying the figure.

Now that she stood closer, she began to notice more details.

There were scars.

Many of them.

Most were faded enough to be difficult to see from a distance, but several crossed the exposed skin of the supreme commander's arms and shoulders. One particularly long scar ran diagonally across the back of one arm before disappearing beneath the coat.

They weren't clean scars either. Not the thin lines left behind by proper duels or carefully treated injuries.

Some were broad. Jagged. Old wounds that had healed long ago.

Viola had met veteran soldiers with bodies like that.

People who carried their histories on their skin.

At last, the sound of footsteps faded entirely.

Everyone had found their place.

The supreme commander seemed to notice as well.

Their head tilted slightly.

Then she turned.

Viola's eyes widened.

The first thing she noticed was that the supreme commander was even more imposing from the front. The second was that she was far more beautiful than Viola had expected.

Strong features framed a distinctly feminine face, not delicate, but striking in a way that immediately drew the eye. Her blonde braid fell across one shoulder as she turned, revealing more faded scars along her collarbone and upper arms.

Her clothing was surprisingly plain beneath the ornate coat. Nothing but simple cloth and leather.

Yet somehow, that only made her seem more imposing. There was nothing decorative about the woman herself, nothing that appeared intended to make her look powerful. She simply was.

The woman swept her gaze across the gathered mercenaries.

A single glance.

Yet Viola felt her spine straighten by itself. Every fiber of her body seemed to scream at once.

This person... was dangerous.

The woman slowly crossed her arms beneath her chest. Then she spoke.

"Form a line."

Nobody moved. For a heartbeat, the entire room simply stared at her.

The corners of the supreme commander's lips drew downward.

"...Now."

That single word was followed by a flurry of movement.

Viola didn't know if she had ever seen a group of people move that fast. But before the echo of the command had even faded from the hall, the few dozen mercenaries, herself included, stood in a perfectly straight, single line.

Only then did the displeasure leave the Supreme Commander's face.

"My name is Rhea," the woman introduced herself. "And I have the misfortune of serving as supreme commander until one of you weaklings finally grows the spine to challenge me..."

Viola's lips twitched.

What kind of introduction was that?

"But for now," she continued, "I'll be asking each one of you a few questions. Answer honestly, and you'll be accepted into Dragon's Perch. Lie, and you won't walk out of here."

Without waiting for anyone to speak, she pointed at the first person in line, who happened to be the Group Leader of the first group, Rollo.

"You. Are you here under orders, promises, threats, or obligations from anyone outside House Hohenheim that you have not disclosed to us?"

"...No," Rollo answered.

The Supreme Commander looked at him intently for a moment before nodding.

"Do you intend to betray, sabotage, steal from, spy on, or deliberately harm House Hohenheim, Dragon's Perch, or anyone serving them?"

Rollo frowned. "I would never do something like that."

The Supreme Commander didn't comment, but she seemed to accept his answer.

"Last question. Tell me your true identity."

"...I'm Rollo."

The Supreme Commander simply stared at him.

Her brow slowly furrowed.

Rollo began to fidget beneath that gaze. It was clear that some kind of internal struggle was taking place inside him. However, under the Supreme Commander's increasingly threatening glare, he eventually relented.

"...Rollofryed Bummelborn."

Pffft.

Hahaha!

Viola didn't know who had started it, but the moment the first person began to chuckle, nobody could keep themselves together. Muffled snickers and suppressed wheezing could be heard all along the line.

"Shut the fuck up, you stinking bastards!" Rollo cursed loudly. "Do you think I chose this stupid name?"

For a moment, shame had completely overwhelmed his fear. Unfortunately, the outburst only made everyone laugh harder.

The Supreme Commander didn't say anything. She didn't seem to care about his outburst at all. As far as Viola could tell, she was only interested in the fact that he had spoken the truth.

The commotion died down the moment the Supreme Commander moved on to the next person. She repeated the exact same questions.

"Are you here under orders, promises, threats, or obligations from anyone outside House Hohenheim that you have not disclosed to us?"

"..."

Viola barely heard the words. Her mind was somewhere else entirely. The three questions continued to echo in her thoughts.

No... that wasn't quite right.

The first two didn't bother her in the slightest, but the last one was a different matter altogether.

She couldn't reveal her name.

Though she had already escaped her family's area of control, in some ways, she was in even greater danger here. This place belonged to the Hohenheim family.

To Ezekiel.

Sure, he had spared her on the battlefield. However, he had made it equally clear that it would be the last time he did so. His exact words rang in her ears as she recalled the memory.

The next time we meet... I will kill you.

She remembered his face when he said it. Not a trace of levity. He had meant every last word.

If they met again...

Viola's face distorted.

How... How could she have been so stupid? How could she have honestly believed she would be able to come here without being discovered? Hair dye and a hood? If that was all it took to infiltrate the Hohenheim family, they would have been brought down years ago.

She truly was an idiot.

No, no, no.

She hadn't been discovered yet.

The Supreme Commander seemed to have some kind of ability that allowed her to tell when somebody was lying. However, that power couldn't be perfect. Even Mind Mages could be tricked. And Viola had undergone intensive training to resist such coercion since she was young.

No problem.

She simply needed to clear her mind when she spoke her fake name.

Easy peasy.

No problem at all.

"...Do you intend to betray, sabotage, steal from, spy on, or deliberately harm House Hohenheim, Dragon's Perch, or anyone serving them?"

Rhea had moved about halfway down the line toward Viola's position and was speaking to the last member of Rollo's team.

The man answered easily.

"No."

However.

Shhhhhht!

A shrill sound, like air being split.

Rhea stood there with her fist outstretched.

Viola hadn't even seen her move.

As for the mercenary?

He was nowhere to be seen.

Viola's gaze snapped to the far wall, thinking he might have been sent flying, but...

There was nothing.

Her nose wrinkled as a peculiar scent reached her.

Blood?

From where?

Following the scent, she returned her attention to the spot where the man had stood only a second earlier.

Only then did she notice the fine red mist hanging in the air.

Viola's eyes widened, her heart hammering in her chest.

Could it be...?

Was this all that was left of him?

Rhea slowly retracted her fist, letting it fall to her side.

Nobody spoke. They didn't even dare to blink.

Every eye was fixed on the Supreme Commander who had just pulverized a human being before anybody even had the time to react.

Slowly, her gaze turned toward the end of the line.

"Strange..." she said, her voice completely monotone. "This is usually the moment the other traitors try to run..."