The Girl Who Bore the Flame Ring

Interlude 2: The Tale of a Certain Island-Exiled Mischievous?Fiend

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At the end of their five day journey by boat, Noel and Riglette arrived at Willa island where small fishing vessels were moored in the ocean harbour. The cries of the sea birds were lively and the sea breeze felt refreshing. The weather too, was particularly splendid.

“All right, I’m the first on Willa Island!”

Noel thrust both hands happily into the air and rushed off the boat. Riglette walked languidly down, massaging her temples. The salty spray had caked onto her glasses, and sand had gotten into her shoes, so her mood dropped rapidly as they disembarked.

“Sir Riglette and… Sir Noel th-the, the fiend! The people of Willa island wholeheartedly welcome you!!”

“Salute Sir Noel the Fiend!”

The aged island chief saluted warily, and the soldiers behind him rattled in their armour.

“Um… That fiend part isn’t really in my name, though.”

“My apologies if I have offended you! Please do not be angry! At least spare the people of the island!!”

“You know, I’m not really even angry…”

“I’m very sorry!!”

“Uh… anyway, let’s walk.”

Tiring a little, Noel told them to pay it no mind, and decided to just proceed onward. The soldiers at attention continued their salutes. They led her to an aged mansion on the island and the chief told her that it was going to be her place of residence. Essentially, she was to be watched all the time. Guards were posted outside the mansion, and Noel, her observer Riglette, and a female servant would live inside.

“So I can’t leave this house?”

“No, as long as you inform the watchmen… I mean your guards, you can go anywhere, but the people of the island may be rude. If they make offence, please immediately come to me about it. Oh please do not act hastily… I beseech you!”

The frightened chief was pale as he spoke. Noel furrowed her brow. It seemed as if they feared her as a real fiend; the kind who ate people when angry. She wondered just what kinds of rumors had spread.

“Hey, am I really that famous here?”

“You…you’ve killed ten thousand Baharans, taken one hundred heads, burned all the traitorous Coimbrans, and even ate their bones. Lord Amil sent you here as punishment because he was afraid killing you would curse him. Those are the rumors as to why you’ve been exiled to this remote island.”

“How foolish. Just where did those rumors…”

“Right. Yup, I know!”

Noel’s curt response seemed to lay the blame on Riglette, though Riglette herself appeared flabbergasted by the rumors. Noel briefly troubled over what to do, but since they were pretty hilarious rumors, she decided not to correct them. She even began planning to run around with her white mask proclaiming the curse. If the rumors continued to be embellished, it would be pretty amusing if she turned into something completely different from a regular fiend. While she was at it, she would go after Riglette too.

“Why are you grinning at me like that? It’s depressing.”

“Oh it’s nothing.”

Noel played dumb; her fun would have to wait.

“Ah, I think this is rude to say to our esteemed fiend, but you cannot leave the island alone. We are a solitary island quite distant from the continent. It wouldn’t end well if an amateur attempted escape alone.”

“Yup, okay. So should I test the waters with a swim?”

“Sir Noel Bosheit, you are a criminal. It would behoove you to repent at the church before you play. If you aren’t serious on even the first day, it’ll cause me some trouble, you know.”

Noel nodded frankly to Riglette’s backhanded jab, “That’s true, and I’m a little tired, too.”

“You need to pray for reform, not sleep. Church is not a place to sleep.”

“Ahaha, that’s right. Then let’s pray!”

Noel stood, stifling a yawn, ready to sleep. Closing her eyes for prayer made her sleepy. As she was probably going to be spending quite some time on the island, she needed to get used to it quickly before she became sick of it. The island chief on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief.

Even after one full week, Noel hadn’t managed to talk to any of the islanders. Whenever she called out to them in boredom, they would scream and run. The most interesting one was her maid.

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“Ah, umm, Miss Fiend. I have finished the preparations for lunch.”

“Yup, thanks. So, what’s on the menu today?”

“S-s-steamed wilapra fish, corn soup, and bread.”

“Looks good. Hey, why don’t we eat together? See, you look hungry too. Come on, come on, don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

As Noel approached with a grin, the maid became ever more pale. The frightened maid even began to tremble as Noel drew near. Noel briefly considered that it might not be good to tease her like that, but it was funny, so she closed the distance.

“P-p-please forgive me!! Please, I beg of you, at least don’t eat me-!!”

The maid flew from the mansion with a scream. She was a dutiful girl who came back to clean after an hour had passed. Incidentally, even Noel had been rendered speechless the first time she had blatantly run away. It had been a long time since Noel was the one being surprised.

“Are you at it again? Just how many times are you going to tease her? Enough already, just behave.”

“I don’t want to hear it from the person who was clutching her stomach she was laughing so hard, the first time.”

“Ha, it’d be impossible not to laugh at that.”

Riglette snorted. The maid had fled, crying and screaming; Noel had been completely taken aback; and Riglette had laughed so hard that she had trouble breathing. She clutched her stomach painfully as if she had been struck by an arrow.

“Speaking of which, are you getting along with the the islanders, Riglette?”

“No. I have no reason to speak with them. Basically, I don’t think there is any merit to befriending them.”

“Then when you’re finished your food, why don’t we play some more?”

“Well… if I’m free, I might be able to find some time for you.”

Riglette took her seat and began to eat in a sour mood, but that was only a front. In reality, she was enjoying herself. They had spent enough time together for Noel to be able to tell. When she really was displeased, she’d tut, and because she didn’t this time, there was only one conclusion to be drawn.

Once two weeks had passed, the people’s curiosity naturally began to outweigh their fear. A fishing couple peeked through the windows to see what was happening; the children would turn and bolt if called out to; an old woman looked like she was considering bringing something over, but thought better of it; and the island chief began to slouch a little more.

The weather’s great, and I just want to play once I get outside. It’d be more fun if Riglette joined in, though.

The win loss count for their board games was 235 to 30 for Noel. She had kept record of it, but Riglette refused to look, even though she looked so proud when she won, and tutted so furiously when she lost. Well, Noel could tell at once that it was almost lethally painful for her. It was fun to watch her face change with the situation from superior to inferior. Noel hadn’t tired of it yet, so she could probably get through a thousand matches at the rate they were going. All that aside, it looked like it was about time she could talk to the islanders. She wanted to swim; she wanted to fish; she wanted to go boating. She wanted to bathe even more in the sun —as if she hadn’t done enough of that already—. Keeping their doors shut was torture in its own way.

“All right, let’s head to the sea today. I’m going for sure.”

“I’ll have to refrain as I need to finish writing my report. I’m quite fed up with having to falsify so much.”

“I see. It’s hard for new MPs, eh?”

“Even though you’re the criminal, it doesn’t seem so hard for you.”

“Pretty much!”

Noel changed into light clothes, put on a straw hat, and set out for the beach. When she headed out, the watchmen did observe her, but their faces went pale and they didn’t say anything in particular. Running at full speed, she arrived at the vast sandy beach. There were some indications of a local presence, but nobody was in her general vicinity.

“Well, that’s fine. Mr. Sun is out quite nicely today, so I’ll just take it easy. Maybe I should pick up a shell to give to Riglette when I get back.”

Noel bathed her full body in the sun as she thought while idling on the sandy beach. When she lay down and had a short nap she noticed some shadows approach. Vaguely checking what it was, she saw that they were some dark, sunburnt children. She hadn’t yet spoken with them once, and, hopping quickly to her feet, a smile played across her face.

“T-the fiend woke up!”

“A-are we going to get devoured?”

“What’ll we do!?”

As she did, she heard their frightened voices, some among them on the verge of tears.

Noel called out to them in her best non-threatening voice, “Hey, if you would like to, why don’t you play with me? I’d like to try talking with everyone.”

Deeply shocked, after some deliberation, some of the children tentatively nodded. Though clumsy and awkward at first, they opened up to her after about an hour, rather riotously on the beach. Noel’s mental age was close to that of a child’s, so she was unimpeded by that thing known as shame. She talked about all kinds of things, and swam around catching loads of fish by hand, quickly becoming a hero of the children. They even began going to the mansion to play, and Noel always heard them out. There wasn’t much to do on the small island and her stories enthralled them.

“What exactly are you doing? Becoming the leader of the children and conquering the island?”

“That’s a great idea! Ah, Riglette, want to play?”

“No. I hate children. Don’t jest.”

Riglette tutted. Noel had completely become one of the children, but didn’t care at all.

“We’re going fishing tomorrow. I bet even you could do it, Riglette.”

“While you do put it… wonderfully, this is hardly the situation for that kind of thing. Something big is happening on the mainland. Just as the Baharan government succeeded their imperial positions, they announced an invasion of the continent of Mundonovo. The world is moving again.”

“Hmmmmmm…”

Noel didn’t want to go to that western continent, and she didn’t feel the need to celebrate Amil’s inauguration. She had to gather information for her eventual return, but it was still premature.

“You are also a commander of one thousand in the Coimbran army, so you should be paying a little attention to this. Your important friend Cynthia is going to get caught up in this, is she not? Well, she’s been placed specifically in northern Coimbra, so it’ll probably be fine.”

Cynthia had been appointed to the desolated northern reaches of Coimbra with Elgar. According to Riglette, Gaddis’ appointment as viceroy had raised hell, and furthermore, he was doing something with the goldmines that Grohl had given up on.

“If it seems really bad, I’ll just go there and help her.”

“Just how do you intend on doing that?”

“By boat, of course. I figured we could steal one since it seems easy enough.”

“You have to let me know before you do anything. If you just did something on your own…”

“Ahaha, I wouldn’t leave you behind!”

Noel began to prepare the fishing rod she had borrowed from the children after her brief response. Stealing a boat was a last resort, and it wouldn’t be pretty. If she could, she would want to head back at once. That way would surely be entertaining.

One month passed. Once the children had opened their hearts to her, the adults were dragged along and began to speak with Noel. The parents thought that she was threatening them by playing with the children, but it seemed that they were finally able to recognize that Noel was more than just a rampaging fiend. Though they mostly had strained expressions, they began interacting with her as if poking at a boil.

“Uuum…”

“You’re making a show of being worried about something. It’s really a nuisance, but…”

“Is something troubling you? Even though we get along now, I’m still just the fiend. The kids and the adults call me that.”

She smiled when called a fiend, but there were some things she was unsatisfied with. Actually, it was her sole dissatisfaction.

“You don’t like it?”

“I mean, Noel’s such a great name…”

“Then I have an idea, but…”

“Oh?”

She was sure that it wouldn’t be good enough, but Noel decided to hear Riglette out anyway. It would probably have the desired effect, but serve to lower her reputation, most likely intentionally.

“Just tell them that you’ll kill them all if they don’t start referring to you by your name. For example, you could start by killing them one at a time when they make mistakes.”

“Ahaha, that’s my Riglette. Wily and evil! You wouldn’t lose to a fiend.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a real one,” Riglette responded bitterly.

She had been tutting more frequently since they had come to the island. As to why: she had to spend most every day with Noel. That aside, her stress hadn’t increased much, her complexion was healthy, and her constant frown had begun to fade, but her fairness of skin remained the same as she never went outside. Noel even got to wondering if it was actually Riglette who had been placed under house arrest. Of course, if Noel actually told her that, she would probably go completely red, so she had to hold back.

“So what are you going to do dressed like that?”

Noel had a bandana on her head and was wearing traditional island fishing clothes. She had a harpoon in her hand and was brimming with excitement to go.

“The fishermen all head out today, but what I’m aiming for is the Willa tuna. It’s delicious right to the bone, and it is super expensive on the mainland!”

“Okay, okay, go and have your fun. It’d be nice if you could be the bate for the fish.”

Riglette casually looked over her official documents. She was rather busy and had no time to bother over Noel, who found her reaction rather boring and decided to plan something.

“Oh, you aren’t stopping?”

“I don’t care what you do. I don’t want to be like a certain white haired monkey.”

“I see. Then I’ll get on a fishing boat and just head right back to Coimbra!”

“D-don’t say such stupid things! Do you understand what position you’re in!?”

She stood with eyes wide at Noel’s statement, and then tutted when she realised she’d been had, though too late.

“Ahaha, it was a lie of course. But wait, didn’t you not care?”

“Y-you shitty fiend! Get out!”

“Ahaha, I’ll be back!”

They had a large haul unlike anything that had been seen in recent years, and Noel got to eat delicious fish to her heart’s content.

After half a year, Noel had gotten the people of the island to open up to her. Even the once fearful island chief would come over with wine and snacks to play. She could keep company with his grandchildren and he now returned her words. The watchmen were no longer posted at her mansion, and the maid was frying up some food on the grill, now able to lightly brush aside any teasing. Occasionally, soldiers would arrive from the mainland to see how Noel was doing. It seemed like Wilm had yet to lower his guard, and he was likely driving home the point for Riglette. That was the only time Noel would go to the church to pray with a serious expression, and behaved as though sincerely reflecting upon her actions to the point that the islanders had to desperately hold back their laughter. Riglette endured all the gushing with a grimace, claiming that it would be most dangerous if the military police simply nodded in satisfaction. Nobody had ever stopped calling her the fiend, but she had already gotten used to it. Noel was able to laugh, play, and live with the people around her; accepted as one of them. Riglette, however, spent all her time cooped up in the dark mansion. Even still, she would sometimes participate in the banquets, and had become self conscious of her weight all on her own.

Dark clouds began to form over the Libelikan continent after they had been on the island for a year. Rumors came to the island about rebellions here and there, a mysterious plague, people selling themselves and their children under a heavy tax burden, and widespread death by overwork in the mines. There was no way to tell how true they were, but the faces of the men who went to sell fish were clearly depressed. It wasn’t long before the peace at sea began to suffer as well when pirates began to indiscriminately attack merchant vessels and fishing boats alike. The black waves even reached the tranquil Willa Island. One day a ship landed and pirates disembarked to occupy the island. The guards and the island chief who had been easily defeated, and the pirates had stolen food and money. When at last they appeared about to take away the islands women, children, and even Riglette, Noel stepped in. Her lateness was due to a nap on the sandy beach.

“If you drop everything you stole, I’ll let you go. If not, I’ll kill you all.”

The pirates attacked her in a rage and she easily crushed them with her warhammer. A mere thirty pirates were no match for Noel, and once she had captured their ship, she raised a homemade twin hammer banner and claimed it as her own. Such was the day that Noel won the total trust of the islanders. From then onwards, the islanders trained under her for the purposes of self defence; even the Coimbran guards participated. The young men, women, children, and even the elderly took up weapons and learned their use. Not a single islander thought to be protected by someone else, having learned that it was necessary from the pirate attack; especially considering that they were so far separated from the mainland. That mainland had its own problems, and was unable to protect the distant island.

“I think a small fish would be the best emblem for Willa island. It’d be pretty cute.”

Painting said small fish on a cloth, Noel’s opinion wavered. The fish had x symbols for eyes, and it’s body seemed too bony somehow.

“If it’s going to intimidate the pirates, how would making it cute help? Please try to think with that empty head of yours.”

“All that’s important is that they remember it. If they lose to someone flying a small fish, they’ll be embarrassed, and it’s half bone,” Noel smiled.

“It’s important they don’t look down on you. A small fish cannot raise morale.”

“I see, that makes sense. Then we’ve got to go with this.”

Noel showed her a cloth that she had concealed that was emblazoned with crossed harpoons that looked similar to her twin hammer banner. They would proudly fly the banners and place them around the island to ward off pirate attacks. Their vigilante corps was only about one hundred strong, but their morale was extraordinarily high. Although they did tentatively have a commander, they essentially just followed Noel’s instructions. Fending off the pirate’s revenge multiple times, they managed to take some of their attackers’ supplies instead, and the island once more returned to peace, the pirates likely knowing that they would take great losses if they attacked. There was also that more rumors about the banished fiend were beginning to resurface. The pirates they had taken prisoner were now toiling away in the fishery. Noel’s fearsome reputation did have its advantages.

“If there were more people, this island would be rich. It’d be convenient if some more pirates came by. It’d be great if we could have more workers and soldiers.”

“Please don’t spout that lunacy anywhere else. You’ll be seen as a fool by more than just me otherwise.”

“Ahhhh, is this okay?”

Noel was casually playing with a coconut that the children had given her.

“What is it?”

“It looks like you’re already lumped in with me. I heard this from the kids, but you’re the fiend’s right hand! You’ve done it, Riglette!”

“N-no way…”

“It’s true.”

“T-that can’t be…”

Riglette collapsed to the bed, massaging her temples.

“Aaaah, I want to meet with Cynthia, the young master, and Barbas. Do you think they’re doing well?”

She had occasionally contacted Kai. Siden of Gemb was interested in her, and so they had proactively contacted her. A messenger would sometimes stop by with small gifts and information on a small Gembi ship. The island was on a carefree high alert, but even if it was easy to meet, the two never did.

“I… don’t know about that white haired monkey, but Lord Elgar and Sir Cynthia are in northern Coimbra as always. They have some hardships, unlike you.”

“Is that so. Ah, if I write them a letter, would it arrive? And I can send some pickled fish.”

“That is impossible. You would trouble them by doing that, and above all, it would cause me a load of trouble, so please hold back.”

“I see… Too bad!”

“Well… if you say you’ve decided to serve the emperor, it’ll resolve this house-arrest at once. Don’t you also have an offer from the commander of the Black Sun Cavalry?”

“Ahaha, but that’d be too much. The emperor is my enemy after all.”

With a cold laugh, Noel rejected the proposal. She was happy with Falid’s offer, but they were aiming at different targets despite their shared goal of finding happiness. It was written in the letters: the happiness he sought was the implementation of Amil’s dream. Noel begged to differ.

“Did you not promise to take up your sword for His Majesty?”

“I remember my promises. One day I’ll have to give him a grievous injury!”

Noel smashed the coconut with her warhammer as she spoke, spraying the milk even as far as Riglette in an incredible mess that took an hour for the two of them to clean up. The battered coconut was eaten as punishment, truly giving Noel her just desserts.

Unlike the continent, the island of Willa retained its peaceful days.

Author’s Note:

Come visit Willa Island.