Alvis opened his mouth to say that the situation isn't
quite as dire as June believes, but held his tongue after a second of thought. It's an opportunity to observe how the Outlanders would carry themselves in an emergency. He went back toward the crowd of soldiers.
"How did it go?" Yancy asked John Doe once he stepped out the tent.
"Clean," John Doe said. "You too?"
Yancy nodded. "I finished right as you went inside. But while you were there, I found and met another Pokemon trainer!"
"I noticed him earlier. The one with the Charizard, right?" he replied. "It's unusual that a kid his age still has a team of Pokemon like that."
"That's not even half of it," Yancy said. "Turns out, he's from some kind of alternate world or...
timeline where dimension-hopping is the norm and Nova never existed."
"...I'll sleep easier knowing that we're from the bad timeline," Doe snarked bitterly. "But more importantly, that means that he's probably not used to fighting with his Pokemon in a life-and-death war before."
"I... I never thought to ask him," Yancy said. "Sorry."
"Hmm... We should go talk to him about it," he said. "I don't think I'd make the best instructor, but I want to give him a few pointers, at least. Maybe even spar with him."
"Don't," Yancy warned. "We need to conserve PP, remember?"
Doe grimaced. "You're right. Damn..."
The two of them thought to themselves for a moment, until June's call for volunteer assistance distracted them.
"What do you think?" Yancy asked.
"I don't have a lot of search-and-rescue skills," John Doe admitted, "but I'd rather not have to sit out a way to be useful for a third time in a row. It's only fair for the rest of the people who just got done fighting a major battle. Doesn't sound like it should consume our PP, either."
"Mind if I come?" Yancy asked. "From the sounds of it, whoever we're looking for might be injured."
"I'm not objecting," Doe replied.
While June rallied her volunteers, Alvis procured a world map from one of the soldiers. A local map would've been far more convenient to be sure, but seeing as he didn't really expect anyone to have a map of an area almost halfway across the realm on short notice, he took what he could acquire.
"Allow me to explain in detail," Alvis told June. He unrolled the map of Oz.
"Last night, the defense force general, Leonard Skaar, walked out of the medical bay of the palace and left St. Elne to head westward to the royal tomb directly west. From what I understand, he shouldn't be walking in the first place, one of his arms is in a cast, he is unarmed, possesses little besides the clothes on his back, and likely has at least one rib still broken. I'm unaware of the exact moment he left, nor his current walking, limping, or crawling speed, but I estimate that he should be close to his destination. I have arranged for an Angelo soldier to teleport you all to the tomb. I suggest beginning the search in the general area there, and expand eastward. I shall accompany you to serve as a guide, if necessary. Your mission: locate him and persuade him to return to medical using any non-lethal means necessary.
Are there any questions?"
"Y'know," said Guard A, "when I enlisted, I was expecting something... grander. Something to boast to my grandkids about when I'm old."
"My friend," said Guard B, "you are in the ass-end of the battlefield. The only plus side here is that you're less likely to get your life threatened."
The two guards leaned back on the wooden chairs as they looked across the empty landscape and the clouds gently passing overhead in quiet acceptance of their lot in life; assigned as watchmen on top of the walls over the royal tomb. Nobody would gain any tactical advantage of laying siege to the place, abominations usually didn't wander this deeply into Yuleia on their own without someone else killing them first, barely any civilians had any reason to come to this remote corner of the world, and the only regular visitor just teleports inside the place whenever she pleases. It's a wonder why the queen (and by extension the defense force general) would even expend resources towards defending this place aside from a desire to preserve history, but orders were orders, and that resulted in a number of soldiers spending their shifts wasting away doing absolutely nothing, at the brink of dying from outright boredom. If it weren't for their salaries, some would consider it worse than death.
"Bah!" Guard A grunted, standing up to stretch. "I'm losing my mind out here. There has to be
something we can do to burn time. What was that one thing the general was calling in about?"
"Oh yeah," said a disinterested Guard B. "I forgot. He wanted us to turn the magic seal back on."
"...Why was it turned off?" A asked.
"At first, it was a temporary thing to re-route power after the Witch attack busted our grid," B explained. "Genius, right? Came up with it myself. Now though? Too much work, really. Plus, some of the others like using sleep spells to let their shifts fly by for them. Not my cup of tea, though."
"That... sounds corrupt" Guard A said.
B chuckled. "So? It makes things bearable for the schmucks assigned here, and nobody's going to waste their time attacking this place with magic anyway. Skaar's in the hospital with a lot of broken bones anyway. What's he gonna do about it?"
"TOSS YOU OFF THIS WALL MYSELF!"Guard A jumped and automatically stood up straight and saluted. Guard B fell backwards in his seat before he turned and did the same. They saw their greatest terror: Leonard Skaar, the defense force general himself lumbering over to them. His limping did nothing to detract from the terror that was his fully enraged expression storming closer to them, giant fists clenched in indignation. Guard A began sweating profusely. Guard B's life began to flash before his eyes.
"G-G-G-General, sir!" Guard A stammered. "W-When did--"
"A few minutes ago! Waltzed right through the gates without none of you useless mongrels taking note! You're all a disgrace to the Yuleian flag!" He halted in front of Guard B and pointed directly at his face. "YOU! Care to repeat what you were saying?! Because from where I was standing, it sounded just a little bit like
INSUBORDINATION!"
"I-I-I-I-I-I-" Guard B stammered. "It's just that... Y'know, I was-- gyaak!"
Leonard lifted the soldier by the collar of his uniform so that his eyes were level with the larger man. His feet couldn't even touch the ground. "Our good queen puts her trust -- her
country -- the hands of soldiers like you, and this is how you dare to use such a responsibility?! Those who piss on the Yuleian banner in such a way are less than the dogs*** I stepped in on the way to beat sense into your sorry ass!" Leonard dropped the choking soldier to the ground. "Now, take laps around the perimeter wall until your legs break, then do push-ups until your arms explode,
then your tongue has an appointment with a few dozen toilets after I personally take a crap in them! Get moving!"
Leonard picked up Guard B and pushed him into beginning his long running session. He then turned his attention to Guard A, who froze in anticipation of certain doom. Leonard stuck another finger at him, but right as he opened his mouth to speak, the guard's shoulder radio sprang to life.
"I-Intruder!" the soldier in the other line chocked out. "H-He--" the one at the other line brought out into a violent cough.
Leonard pulled the radio from Guard A. "This is General Skaar. Status!"
"Ka-- K-13!" the soldier shouted. "I'm at C-13!" A groan of pain followed.
"Help is coming, boy. Don't die on me, that's an order!" Skaar tossed the radio back to Guard A. "You, do something about the magic seal, and kick the other lazyasses into gear. Move!"
The guard nodded before bolting off. Leonard grumbled to himself as he began power-walking toward the tomb's entrance.
Fine. I'll just handle this myself!
