"Your Highness, Crown Prince Arslan, forgive me for greeting you earlier from horseback." A woman with long silky black hair and green emerald eyes kneels on one knee. "My name is Farangis."

"I was formerly in service of the Temple of Mithra in Khuzestan. I cam in accordance with the dying wish of the previous High Kahina."

"You have my thanks, Farangis. You saved me earlier in my moment of peril."

A man arrives and kneels beside Farangis.

"And you are?" Arslan asks towards the man.

He had dark purple hair and blue eyes. He had a white cloth worn like bandana around his head.

"I escaped from the Royal Capital of Ecbatana for the express purpose of serving Your Highness." Gieve replied, having sparkles around him as he says it in a charming matter.

Sena's eyebrows twitched. She didn't feel any genuine feeling when Gieve said that but she felt he had no bad intention towards Arslan. Also, the Freelancer felt that she and Gieve would have a nice time together.

"Your Highness, the lady Queen Tahime was still well when I escaped." Gieve states.

"Truly?! Tell me everything you know!" Arslan says.

"It will be troublesome if the remnants of Kharlan's army comes back. Let us go somewhere." Narsus picks up a lit torch.

"Please wait just a short while, Narsus." Arslan called out.

The prince approaches the priestess. "I would ask a favor of you, Farangis. Will you offer up an elegy for the death of Kharlan and his men?"

Everyone had surprised looks on their faces. It was something they didn't expect from the crown prince.

"Some of them must have even had families in Ecbatana. Even then, they took part in this treachery. The reason must have been great."

"The Divine Mithra is the god of contracts and fidelity, but also the god of war. Please, a divine elegy to mourn the warriors."

"As you wish." Farangis goes to a cliff and kneels, with Arslan behind her.

"Mourning traitors... What a truly naive prince." Gieve mutters, leaving his spot.

"I heard that." Sena said out loud with her arms crossed, surprising Gieve. She was just behind him the entire time.

Gieve is a suspicious man, and Sena won't allow any chances of the prince to be in mortal danger. Watching him will be her role.

"Oh my, another beautiful woman! Your youth is that of no other!" Gieve says, trying to distract Sena. He even had sparkles around him.

"My youth is nothing but hardships. If every you inflict harm upon His Highness, you will not get away unscathed." Sena said threateningly.

"Of course." Gieve says with a calm look as he leaves but internally, he didn't want to see Sena again. Dangerous beauty, he thought.

"Looking forward to being here." Gieve says to Elam.

Sena goes back to Narsus and Daryun. The sky was getting clearer, the sun is going to rise in any moment.

"From five to seven, huh? Well, our fighting strength has increased by half, but can we really trust them? Especially that man." Daryun said. He was talking about Gieve.

"What I can say for now is that Gieve doesn't hold any bad intentions towards Prince Arslan. He is suspicious and mysterious, so I will be watching over him for the time being." Sena pointed out.

"His skill is undeniable. Assuming there are three hundred thousand in the Lusitanian army, this means each of us needs only to take care of no lesser than fifty thousand." Narsus smiles. "Far easier now, do you think not?"

"Hm, true. Fifty thousand, I may be able to manage alone." Daryun imagines the situation with a hand to his chin.

This man just might really do it, Narsus thought.

"If I had endless arrows, daggers, knives, and unbreakable swords, then I can surely kill that amount. But if I used my greatsword alone, the deed would be done. Although, I have no plan on using it thus far." Sena taps her two-feet greatsword.

Farangis sings the elegy upon sunrise and it was a sight to be seen. The winds that came was a cool breeze after a tiring battle. The sun has risen and revealed everything from the darkness.

♔♕♖♗♘ Arslan Senki ♞♝♜♛♚

Narsus, Daryun, and Sena parted ways with Arslan temporally and entered Ecbatana, the Royal Capital, to locate and find the king. There were cloaked and hooded to hide their identities.

Sena had to leave Gieve for this moment. She has to believe that the traveling Musician won't do anything to harm Arslan.

To Sena, the three of them looked funny and so eye-catching. Daryun was covered in a black cloak, Narsus had white, and Sena had straw-colored one.

They roamed the streets together, wary of their surroundings.

"The devastation is considerable." Narsus says what he sees.

"Yes. I would hate for His Highness to see this." Daryun stated.

"But if he does, he'll have a much greater resolve, don't you think?" Sena pointed out.

The two men sighs at Sena's words. They can't argue with that because it is true.

Just like they discussed earlier, Sena would leave them and try to know what's happening inside the castle. And so, she waits for a bunch of Lusitanian soldiers to come out from a bar.

Three of them came out, drunk to boot. It was the perfect timing, no one was around. People would avoid bars or places where Lusitanians would go to.

Sena knocks out the three of them by hitting the back of their heads with the handle of her knife. One by one, she drags them into a corner. For the two soldiers who weren't her size, she puts them inside empty barrels and shuts it tight.

Sena strips the remaining soldier until he was only wearing his underwear. She then inserts him into a barrel. A man would come here later to get the barrels thinking it's filled with liquor and put them in a carriage that leaves Ecbatana.

Wearing the Lusitanian uniform, she made sure that her hair is securely tucked inside the helmet so it won't fall out. Sena scouts the outside of the castle. Entering would be dangerous and suspicious since she doesn't know if regular soldiers can enter the palace.

Soldiers went out of the palace, carrying scrolls and parchment papers. The Freelancer was confused. Why would soldiers bring out scrolls from the Royal Library?

She thought that they would be transferred to Lusitania or if they would sell it to someone for a huge amount of money.

When they placed the scrolls on the ground, it confused Sena even more. When going back into the castle, one of the soldiers saw Sena, calling out to her.

"Hey, you! Help us carry these scrolls." He ordered.

"Yes sir!" Sena saluted with a manly voice and joins them into the castle.

With this, I can look for the Queen and King or even find out the enemy's plans.

The Freelancer will leave them after they'll go out once more. They entered the Royal Library and soldiers started getting the ancient scrolls like it was nothing.

These are important and valuable scrolls. If they plan on selling or transferring them, they should handle it with care. Typical savages.

Sena picks up the scrolls and carried a few. The soldiers started calling carts and cloth to make transportation easier. As she was going with the flow, the men started to talk.

"I wonder if burning these scrolls is right. I mean, they're valuable."

"Shh! If Bodin hears you, you'll be beaten!"

"Yeah... I'm sorry."

Mentioning the very name of Bodin caused Sena's heart to beat at an abnormal rate. Her mind stopped working and it's like the world froze in that very moment. Rage was evident in her eyes and face.

Noticing that Sena wasn't doing anything, a soldier yelled at her.

"What are you doing?! Stop standing there and work!"

Sena breathes in deeply, trying to calm down. "I'm sorry, the dust is irritating me." She says in a calm matter, her back facing him. She can't afford to show the bloodlust painted on her face.

She calms herself and debated if she'll save as much scrolls as she can or look for the King and Queen. She has swore loyalty to the Royal Family, but these scrolls are important to Pars, in which she also swore to the Kingdom.

Following what her heart says, she went for the scrolls. She inserts as much as she can into her boots and inside her clothes without making any obvious changes.

Putting some scrolls into the cart, she and other Lusitanian soldiers brought out the scrolls and dumped it to the ground. It was irritating to see the history and culture of Pars to be treated this way. Even though she's a Freelancer who saw everything neutrally, this is just plain madness. All the great history of a kingdom will be burned, never going to revive from the ashes. It was common sense to save a Kingdom's priceless culture.

Sena secretly left the men and dug a hole in the soil not too far away from the building. She puts the scrolls there and covers the hole again. The Freelancer does this every time she sees the perfect time to escape.

If possible, she wanted to stop the burning of the scrolls but that's just a dream. Even if she did kill the man who'll burn it, another man would do it in his place. And it would keep going.

When Sena had the chance to handle the scrolls wrapped in a cloth, she was extremely delighted. One cloth full of scrolls would amount to a hundred. She managed to get her hands on the cloth for four times.

It was a race against time. She had only saved more or less a thousand scrolls by the end of the day out of twelve million volumes. Sena got scrolls from each section of the Royal library. History, tax bills, medical texts, and maps.

Night fell upon the Kingdom of Pars. Sena declined to participate in the burning of the scrolls. Seeing the ancient texts being soaked in oil, it caused her blood to boil.

The King was watching, located at the back of the stand. Bodin climbed up a stand for everyone to see. Seeing his face and hearing his voice, Sena wasn't able to hide her bloodlust. She looked menacing. Luckily for her, it was dark and no once can really see her face.

Burning the ancient texts is retarded. It's stupid. Destroying medical texts is stupidity. Turning twelve million volumes of ancient history to ashes is craziness.

"Unleash the flames! Burn it all!" Bodin yelled.

On his command, a soldier carried a torch and lit it with fire. The hands of Sena was twitching, and her eyes didn't leave the soldier who lit the stick. Her hands shook uncontrollably, wanting to kill the man.

The Freelancer started to perspire. Sweat was dripping from her forehead.

Kill? Not kill? KILL? NOT KILL? KILL? NOT KILL?

The soldier lit the pile of scrolls and parchments on fire. The flame grew large, lighting the place. The soldier ten throws the stick into the fire. It was like a huge bonfire, but it wasn't. This is an act of a savage.

"You can't! This is the treasure of Pars..." Said one of the Parsians that were witnessing the burning.

"Stay back! Stay back!" A Lusitanian soldier yells, wielding a spear.

Despair can be slowly seen from the Parsian's expressions. Man, woman, and child. They watched in horror.

The huge flame reflected in Sena's eyes. The color matched her eyes and it looked like her eyes had real flames in it.

Looking at the fire, she was speechless. Nothing could be done. Even if she did kill every single men in sight, that would just mean fighting the whole Lusitanian army.

"Burn them! Burn them! They are evil, heathen texts!" Bodin yells. "Destroy them! Reduce every last volume to ash!"

A brave Lusitanian soldier who was with Bodin on the stand walked forward. "Lord Archpriest..."

"What?"

"Heathen texts though they may be, sh-should we be consigning such valuable texts to the flames without even examining them? Even if they must be burned, their value..."

"You blasphemer! The world of man only needs the holy book of Yaldabaoth. Texts written at the behest of the Devil must be destroyed."

"But to burn even the medical texts..."

"Silence! Those who wholeheartedly worship the God of Yaldabaoth will not be possessed by disease!"

Bodin grabs the soldier by the collar. "Those who fall ill, harbor seeds of evil in their hearts and that is why god punishes them!"

He pushes the soldier over the stand and falls to the fire. Sena had enough and left the place, killing a soldier or two as she goes into an alley. She searches if they had the item she was looking for. Luckily, one of them had the item. The Freelancer proceeds as she planned.

"Though he may be the ruler of a kingdom, should any man be seized with evil intentions, such as taking a heathen woman to wife, disease shall surely serve as god's staff to strike down the arrogant!" Bodin says out loud intentionally to warn and threaten King Innocentius VII as he wanted to make Tahamine his queen.

"Those with evil in their hearts, repent!" Bodin yelled once more.

Daryun and Narsus was within the crowd, watching as well. They were angered by the actions of Bodin, especially Narsus.

"Taking money and objects of value is one thing, but to burn away our culture... This goes beyond the action of savages. They are crude monkeys!" Narsus says with loathe.

"Burn! Burn! Burn!" Bodin cheered.

"Let me kill that man named Bodin. The King and King's brother and such, I leave to you." Narsus pointed out.

"Very well." Daryun agreed.

Narsus and Sena will have to talk about who gets to kill Bodin if they knew that they're going to fight to kill him. It would be a problem that no one wants.

"Burn! All texts from pagans and heathens should be burned to the ground from the face of the earth!" The archpriest kept on yelling.

Sena arrived at the top of a house, looking down at the ground. There was the fire, the Parsians who watched in despair, the King of Lusitania, and Bodin.

She breathes in, and yelled loudly.

"The Execution of the Pure Boy in White!"

It was heard clearly by all. Narsus and Daryun knows whose voice it belonged to, and it belonged to Sena. All looked to Sena who was wearing a Lusitanian army uniform. The people thought that it was Lustanian soldier who's speaking. Daryun and Narsus were baffled at her actions.

The name of the event made Bodin halt in his movements and his eyes went wide. He turned to the source and sees Sena holding the holy book of the Faith of Yaldabaoth.

She burns it with a torch she grabbed from the alley. Everyone watched as the book was lit on fire. This caused Bodin to be extremely angered.

Sena throws the book along with the burning scrolls.

"What are you fools doing?! Save the book!" Bodin yelled at his soldiers in attempt to save it.

No one moved from their spot. Going into the fire just to save a book is plain idiocy.

"You all have failed in the eyes of god! I will make sure to see your death in the one and only name of the Faith of Yaldabaoth!" Bodin gritts his teeth with pressure, extremely frustrated.

"Before you kill your men for such commands, why don't you save the book yourself?" Sena yelled, catching Bodin's attention again. The archpriest held his staff tightly as he looks at Sena with bloodlust.

The Freelancer showed her own bloodlust in return. It was far more ferocious than his.

"I will make sure to see the very day where you will crawl on the ground, begging for mercy as you are burned alive and killed by your own torturous ways!"

Bodin grits his teeth even harder. "Capture him! Capture him alive and bring him to me!" He yells to the men.

Before the soldiers could even act, Sena leaves the rooftop and goes on to the next. When she was five houses away, she quietly enters a building. No one was awake to see her.

Bodin yells in frustration, stomping the wooden stand he was staying on. "That blasphemer! I want him now!" He hits his staff on the stand a number of times until it broke in half.

Narsus and Daryun uses this chance to leave from the crowd. Sena has a lot of explaining to do.