Chapter 46: Odd Reunion

Pedro leads us to what could only be described as a sturdy fortress right on the outskirts of the port town we were in just a moment ago, creating a striking contrast that one would find hard to believe that they’re still in the same land.

“Welcome to the Round’s Fort Camlann,” Pedro gestures towards the giant stone structure in front of us. “Its original purpose was to be a back-up stronghold for the Royal family in case of an invasion, but here in this time of peace, it’s made into our ideal training ground. The walls may not look the part, but they’re designed to resist most magical attacks, strengthened by our finest mages…”

“Sir, where’s the gate?” Before he could continue his rambling, however, Pedro is already stopped by Peng.

“Ah, right…” pretending to cough to hide his embarrassment, Pedro gestures to his far right. “It’s over there. Let’s go.”

“Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that a person over there?” Benkei, meanwhile, squints at the target far in front of him. Following his words, I can make out a vague silhouette of a person as well, seemingly leaning his back on the fort’s wall while sitting nonchalantly. A weird one, at first glance.

“Let’s see who it is,” Pedro quickly decides, and the four of us make our way to the fort’s entrance.

We’re soon greeted by the person in question, and his appearance suggests anything but normal as we expected. The man exudes an air of unkemptness. His clothes, if one could even call them that, are riddled with moth holes and patches, and they look as if there’s a layer of dirt covered on top, masking their actual colors. The same can be said with his oversized fedora, which he attempted to lower to hide his face. But even so, that huge hat seems to have failed, with his overly messy blue, greasy hair and poorly shaven beard still plainly visible. His long bangs cover his left eye, but even with only one remaining, I can still see the lifelessness coming from the man as if he has nothing left in the world. Granted, with a look like that, I doubt that the man had anything in the first place.

The knight captain, though surprised, doesn’t hesitate to approach the strange hobo blocking our way to the gate. With a friendly smile, Pedro offers a handshake and asks:

“Good morning, good sir. What business do you seem to have here?”

Replying to him, however, is only silence. The man in front of us doesn’t even seem to be noticing the knight’s existence at all as he continues to indefinitely gaze into blank space.

Pedro, however, doesn’t give up. Raising his volume, he continues:

“Sir, what business do you have here?”

Another deafening silence. The knight’s face is getting flustered, but I can tell he’s trying his best to contain his rage and embarrassment. Taking a deep breath, he continues yet again:

“Sir, can you hear me?”

Finally, he gets an answer from his opposition. However, such an answer is certainly not what he had hoped.

“Are you blind, or are you dumb?” The man scoffs at the knight before him in a hoarse and groggy voice, almost drunken, and yet I can’t see any traces of alcohol on him. “If I’m sitting in front of the gate to your damn training ground, what business do you think I have, Captain?”

“… So, you’re a trainee partaking in the Round’s trial,” Pedro clenches his fist tightly, trying his best to suppress the anger boiling inside him while still keeping the smile on his face. “Get in.”

“No,” contrary to our belief, the man shakes his head. “I’m waiting for my employer.”

“Employer?” The question comes out of all our mouths at once. Pedro then continues with another of his own:

“Can you tell me you and your employer’s name?”

“Arthur Gold. That’s my name. As for my employer’s, I refuse.”

“Can I ask the reason?”

“Nothing particular.”

“Then I don’t see any reason for you to hide them?” Pedro raises his eyebrows towards the man named Arthur. Before he could answer, however, another voice has already sounded behind us:

“Now, now, don’t be like that, Artie. The kind gentleman is only curious.”

As we turn around to see the owner of the voice, all of us immediately regret our decision so much that all of our muscles stiffen like a rock, for our target is none other than an angel with long, auburn hair. Accompanying him is a blonde woman in a blue hooded cape and a giant book in her hand.

Pedro, meanwhile, is also scared speechless. However, his reason only serves to increase the danger of our situation even more as he utters the name of the threat:

“L-Lord Gabriel! What brings you here?”

“To offer my help to the coronation, of course! I even brought my lovely assistant with me, see?”

“This man… is your assistant?” Pedro’s eyes widen in shock.

“Ah, no, I meant the woman over here,” The angel gestures towards the one standing next to him, who then politely bows before us:

“Greetings, Captain Pedro Destreza of the Round. My name is Pelle Torden, and the young man you speak of is my employee.”

“He… hold on, young?” Pedro raises his voice in pure disbelief. And who can blame him, really? With that look, all of us would be surprised as well. Meanwhile, Gabriel lets out a hearty laugh at the reaction, wiping his comedic tears as he explains the situation:

“He might not look the part, but the lad is only your age, Captain! I bet you two would make great friends!”

“He’s sixteen?” Pedro is completely taken aback by the information. The rest of us are as well but in an entirely different sense.

“You’re sixteen?” All three of us shout while pointing at the knight. “That’s even younger than me!”

“The youngest Captain of the Round to have ever existed, that’s him alright,” meanwhile, Gabriel lets out a grin and pats Pedro on the shoulder. “But that just means there’s a lot more on your plate compared to your predecessors, isn’t it?”

Hearing the statement brings down the smile on the young knight’s face as he soon lets out a defeated sigh. “You’re not entirely wrong, Sir.”

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“Also, lose the act already!” The angel, meanwhile, continues to pat his back and laughs it off. “I told you to treat me like a friend before, right? Just Gabriel is fine!”

“B-but I can’t, Sir! You’re one of the four Archangels, Lord Gabriel of the South! How could I…”

“Tsk, tsk,” Gabriel waves his finger, signaling Pedro to stop, “angels, humans, do these words really matter? Take your current Lord, Uriel, for example. The guy barely shows up here, let alone does his job properly. Do you think that’s the kind of being that deserves your respect?”

“But that’s because…”

“I know that England is supposed to be more or less fine on its own, but this is the coronation we’re talking about! If he’s been doing his job, then I wouldn’t even need to be here!”

“Well… but we appreciate your help nonetheless, Lord Gabriel,” Pedro gestures a respectful bow, seemingly wanting to end the conversation here. However, with them keep mentioning a coronation, I can’t help but be curious on the matter as well – after all, one of the friends I was supposed to meet was a princess.

“Excuse me, but may I ask who is this coronation for?”

“Oh, right…” Answers Pedro, but the air around him soon turns reluctant and awkward. “I was supposed to explain this at the exam later… but I guess this is fine…”

The young knight suddenly takes multiple deep breaths, as if to prepare himself for something. Only after a good minute of pausing does he continue:

“Two months from now, a coronation ceremony will be held for our Second Princess Eliza Bedryant. But… as you might have seen with the current Round, we lack the proper combat prowess or attitude, so…”

“I hate to interrupt,” jumps in Benkei, “but why ‘Second Princess’? Isn’t the heir to the throne usually reserved for the firstborn?”

‘Our First Princess, Beatrice… she…”

“… has unfortunately passed away,” the woman named Pelle interrupts, seeing that Pedro is unable to continue. “In her journey around the world, Princess Beatrice was caught in a civil war on our territory, which sadly resulted in her, and her retainer’s, deaths. Since we’re partly responsible for the matter, Lord Gabriel offered his full assistance in preparing the coronation for Princess Eliza, and that’s why we’re here.”

“Hold on,” I ask, unable to process the information that was just relayed to me. “Did you say… both the princess… and her retainer?”

“… That is true.” The stone-cold woman nods in response.

As I’m about to scream out in rage, both Benkei and Peng have already placed their hands on each of my shoulders.

“Calm down, Petra,” the former whispers.

“That woman isn’t used to lying. Notice the way she paused just now, and the way her eyes shifted down,” the latter adds. “Our target is still alive. I guarantee it.”

And, as if to reassure me even further, a voice that I haven’t heard in a long time suddenly pops up in my head:

“This situation is… certainly interesting.”

“Asmodai?” I ask. “What are you suddenly here for?”

“Remember how I said I only show up with news of our kin? Well, it is exactly that: I detect two, even.”

“Two?”

“Correct. One is coming from that woman – a surging power of uncontrollable thunder. That should be Bael. The other, however…”

“However?”

“Comes from the hobo boy. But the strange thing is… I can’t make out who it is. It’s a very faint presence; either he hasn’t fully awakened his partner, or… that guy is purposely masking it himself. But never before have I seen someone so in-tune with his Demon before, so it’s probably the former.”

“Wait, but if those two are all cross bearers like us, then why are they working for an angel? And archangel, even?”

“I’m not sure, but who knows? Maybe even old Tristan over there isn’t necessarily our enemy, for once.”

As my conversation with my demonic partner relays itself, outside, Pedro is finally able to continue the conversation normally:

“Since the passing of Lady Beatrice, we’ve been preparing the coronation for Lady Eliza as fast as possible. Everything is essentially done, but the only thing missing is her guards for the coronation itself. And since the current knights are, well… not so much up to par, I had no choice but to rely on other forces. Hence all those flyers you guys have seen.”

“And here I thought it was because you were trying to get more people like you here, Captain,” the hobo, meanwhile, hasn’t lost his sharp tongue at all, which reignites the flames of anger in Pedro yet again.

“What is your problem?”

“You are my problem.”

“What did I do to you?”

“If you can’t see even that, then you truly disappoint me.”

“Now, now, Artie, be nice to the lad,” Gabriel, surprisingly, seems to be the sanest person in this ragtag group as he separates the two from another argument. “Miss Pelle and I have other business to attend to, so be on your best behavior and join the Round, okay?”

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