Chapter 45: Knight Of The White Lily

“Finally, I’m here!” I spread out my arms in glee as I fully submerge myself in the chilly, yet exciting sensation of the salty sea breeze. After the nightmarish trips I’ve had earlier, this is truly the first one that I can enjoy myself, and you’re damn sure that I’m gonna make the most out of it.

My partners, meanwhile, seem to be enjoying things in their own way, also. Benkei sits lazily on top of the mast gazing at the clouds and seagulls, while Peng lets out a cheeky smile upon witnessing my actions:

“You seem awfully excited. Finally meeting your beloved prince or something?”

“One more word and it’s a spear at your face, you know,” I answer with a teasing grin of my own. Although to be fair, the promise that I made with that guy two years ago did pop up in my head. Two long years… Did they manage to come back safely, both him and the princess?

“I just want to remind you guys that it’s not all fun and games,” echoes Benkei’s voice from on top of the mast. “England is among the least strict when it comes to the angels’ control, but its royals are a pain on another level compared to the other human forces we’ve met.”

“I mean, they’re still just humans, right?” Peng shrugs at the warning. “I can’t imagine we’re running into too much trouble against humans the way we are now.”

“It’s not just about fighting. Remember the reason we’re here?”

“… Benkei’s right,” his words bring me back to the tasks at hand. “We’re here for two main purposes: find the original recipient of this letter – Peter Pendragon, the one that caused me to go on this journey two years ago; and then lead him to unveil the secrets of his power down under the Royal Vault below the Palace.”

“Which leads me to our plan,” Benkei continues. “Even though I have Byleth’s memories, the land of England has changed drastically, so we’re essentially going in blind. That’s why our short-term priority will be to blend in with the people around and gather intel for the next step – breaking in the Vault.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Peng, meanwhile, still remains rather disinterested as he gazes blankly at his fingernails. “It’s the same old strategy you guys pulled back in Japan, right? Assume a fake identity and try to make friends with the locals.”

“Basically, yes,” I nod to confirm, just in time for our ship to dock at England’s Port of London.

As soon as we take a step out of the ship, however, a voice has already called out to us, and not in a friendly manner:

“Halt! You three, state your names!”

Turning around to see a group of men armed with shining armor, each having a red three-headed lion insignia in the middle of their breastplate, we can do nothing but curse our rotten luck. It’s as Peng said, fighting these guys is probably a joke, but we can’t have too much attention right as we first enter the damn place.

“Are you daft? State your names!” The man looking like the leader screams once more, to our annoyance.

“Gentlemen, I implore you that we mean no harm,” while I’m still racking my brain for a solution, Benkei has already taken a step forward and issued a polite bow.

“I am Raymond Brass, while these two are George Johnson and Jeanne de Lorraine,” gesturing towards Peng and me respectively, Benkei continues. “We are apprentice knights hailing from across the ocean in America, looking for an opportunity to join the prestigious Round Table here in the land of England. We hope to be in your care.”

“… Tch,” unable to find another way to retort, the man clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Fine. You’re clear to go. But if I see you stirring up trouble…”

“Of course. We shall be wary of our surroundings. You need not worry one bit.” Benkei gestures a bow once again as the group of men leaves the scene.

“Did you prepare all of that in advance?” As the last of them are gone from our sight, I ask with great curiosity.

“Not really,” to my surprise, the young man only shrugs, then picks up a piece of paper on the ground and gives it to the rest of our group. “I did prepare an excuse, but in the end, I thought that it would have been better if I followed this information.”

Following Benkei’s directions, I take a look at the slip of paper.

Attention all visitors to England!

If you have sufficient combat prowess and a heart of gold, you are all welcomed to partake in the new trial exam for the Round Table. Should your contributions be proven to be beneficial to the nation, you shall be awarded honorary citizenship. You shall be treated as one of our own, with no discrimination.

This new exam shall be taken immediately as soon as you have the approval needed. For more information, visit any of the Round’s outposts.

Signed,

Current Captain of the Round Table,

Pedro Destreza.

“Quite an odd way of recruiting, if I do say so myself,” Benkei concludes, putting away the paper in his suit. “Is the Round in that sorry of a state that they’d have to resort to foreigners?”

“The way I see it is that you’ve been worried over nothing, man,” Peng, meanwhile, chuckles at the news. “Just look at the bunch facing us just now – no spirit, and no skills either. Their postures are way off even in regular hand-to-hand combat, let alone fighting against our powers. And this thing is further proof of that. The so-called Knights of the Round are honestly pathetic.”

“It’s true that I seemed to have overestimated them for quite a bit,” Benkei can only let out a sigh before the argument. “But it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be careful of our surroundings...”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, however, a deafening screech tears through the air around us:

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“Thief! Someone! Anyone!”

Moments after the voice is ushered, a figure dashes out from the corner of the building nearby, and, before we could react, crashes right into us. Everything happens in a flash, so much that we don’t even get to see our culprit’s face. Meanwhile, the perpetrator wastes no time disappearing from the scene again, but not before throwing a swear on his way out:

“Watch where you going, cunts!”

“You ran into us, you shit!” I throw an insult right back as the thief passes us, but I don’t get to chase after him. Or rather, I don’t need to, since right as his silhouette disappears from our sight, in Peng’s hand is already a bag full of coins, which is being playfully thrown up by the new culprit.

“Amateur,” Peng shows a mischievous grin. “You need to do a lot better than that.”

“No less from the Fairy Thief,” Benkei naturally joins in on the fun by gleefully clapping his hands, as if he’s an accomplice in the act. But the two’s luck seems to be on the bad side today, as their act is soon caught by the kind of people we don’t want to face the most.

“Stop, thieves!” We’re called out by a rather young man, his garment of pure, unblemished white only accentuates his tanned complexion and long black hair even more, like beautiful calligraphy on a blank paper. Drawing out his sword – a long, but extremely thin piece of metal unlike any other swords I’ve seen – the man continues:

“Surrender now, and you’ll be forgiven!”

“Hold on, you’re misunderstanding…” I try to explain the situation, but apparently, one of my partners doesn’t seem to want peace.

“Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it buddy?” Peng lets out the most scumbag-looking grin his brain can think of.

I turn to Benkei, trying to get him to join in on my reasoning. But, to my surprise, even the normally rational young man is going crazy today:

“Yeah, what good would a twig like you do anyway?”

“You’ll regret saying those words!” True to the two’s intention, their opponent soon loses his cool and charges straight at us. However, before his sword could reach Peng or Benkei, both of them have already made a clean dodge – Peng to the left, and Benkei to the right. And, with immaculate teamwork, Peng swipes from below the dark-skinned man’s feet, causing him to lose his balance, while Benkei strikes the man’s sword hand with his palm, knocking the hilt right off his grasp.

Our opponent, however, also reveals himself to not be so simple to deal with. Even when he’s nearly touching the ground, the man, with incredible upper body strength despite his rather lean appearance, picks himself back up without a hitch, and, utilizing his momentum, delivers an upper kick aiming straight at Peng’s face. The latter, seeing the danger, immediately blocks with his remaining palm at a speed reminiscent of his match against Raphael. And at the same time, Benkei has made his next move, striking the opponent’s chin from below with his open palm again. The attack lands and the man is sent flying a few meters away, but with no severe injuries.

After the exchange, however, the man has realized the danger he’s in, and instead of furiously charging in yet again, readies a defensive stance after picking up his sword on the ground:

“You two know magic?” With a cautious tone, the man glares at his adversaries.

“To pick up that information only after a few seconds of exchange… I expect no less from the current Captain of the Round.” Benkei slowly claps his hands in sarcasm and replies.

“And you know who I am, too… You’re not just a few lowlife criminals, are you?”

“Hold on, Benkei, how did you know this guy is the current captain?” I ask with curiosity.

“Elementary, my dear Petra,” smirks the young man, pointing at our opponent’s left chest. Only now do I realize the same three-headed lion insignia residing there, albeit its small size does make it much harder to notice. “That symbol shows that he’s a part of the knights, while the materials of his current garb, as well as the rapier he’s using, suggest that he’s at least a noble, maybe even a member of the Royal family. If he’s not the current captain, I could hardly imagine another position for him.”

“… Your manner of speech is completely different from before, too,” the man, seeing the events transpiring before him, finally puts away his sword. “Now I find it hard to believe you’re a criminal at all. Tell me, stranger: who exactly are you?”

“Forgive our rudeness, Sir Pedro Destreza,” Benkei, finally returning to his normal self, answers. “We’re trainees hailing from the other side of the ocean, wanting to join the Knights of the Round. On the way, we’ve taken back the item of the robbery just now, and so I and my friends had the idea of testing your strength. However, we mean no harm, that you can be sure of.”

“Trainees, you say?” The captain of the Round, now Pedro, breathes out a sigh of relief, completely dropping his guard altogether. “And here I thought you were villains. But then again, if there were any villains as good as you two, I’d be in a mountain of work.”

“Such flattery is unneeded, Sir,” answers Peng, in what could only be described as the scarily fakest attitude I’ve ever seen from him, so much that I’m getting goosebumps just from the nauseous words themselves. “We’re still wet behind our ears, and so we wished to see your techniques. The fact that we managed to disarm you was purely because of our number’s advantage.”

“Well anyway, I’m glad to see that it’s only a big misunderstanding,” Pedro, meanwhile, smiles in return. Somehow, that smile of his reminds me of both the cheerful girl and the kind, but strong boy I met two years ago. “May I know your names, strangers?”

“I’m Raymond Brass, and he’s George Johnson,” once again gesturing towards us, Benkei replies. “The fair lady behind us is Jeanne de Lorraine, but don’t be fooled by her appearance. Beautiful as she is, she’s also stronger than both of us.”

What the hell, Benkei? Why are you suddenly praising me out of nowhere?

“Is that so? Then I assume you’re also taking the Round’s test, Miss Jeanne?”

“Uh… yeah, that’s right…” with no other choice, I let out an awkward smile, regretting that I can’t spear my two partners at once.

“Well, then, follow me. I’d be honored to have you fine warriors joining my test at the knight’s training grounds.”

 

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