Book 3: Step 2 – The Second Step in Rescuing a Princess: “Form a rescue party”

*Disclaimer note: This is merely a translation of the original Chinese version. I do not claim any part in the creation of the original story.

 

The opportunity to rescue a princess is a great honour for a knight, for not only can he marry a beautiful (and rich) princess, he can also gain increased recognition.

But rescuing someone else's princess is a great misfortune for a knight, for not only does he has to risk his life to rescue the beautiful (and rich) princess, he also has to stand by and watch as the beautiful (and rich) princess marries someone else. Besides, the Sun Knight is already very well-known in the lands; he does not need to increase his fame at all.

That night after the Queen had asked me to rescue her daughter-someone else's princess, Leaf asked me worriedly, "Sun, are you going to refuse the Queen's request?"

I took a deep breath and prepared myself to spew out a whole load of crap about the God of Light, when Leaf smiled wryly and said, "Sun, could you please simplify your words? I'm still not as good as Storm and Adair are at interpreting your meaning and might not understand everything you say."

I silently sighed in relief and said simply, "There's something fishy about the whole thing. Even though her daughter is missing, the Queen had not immediately sent out her men in search for her, and instead she asked us to form a group to rescue her? This method doesn't seem very effective, and it doesn't seem like something a mother worried for her daughter's safety would do."

Leaf nodded at my words.

"Furthermore, even if she insists on forming a rescue party, there are plenty of warriors from the Church of War to choose from, and even the Son of War-whom even Judge claimed that he might not win against-alone should be more than enough to rescue the princess, so why would we have to join in the party? We are knights who specialise in group battles; our talents would be useless in a small rescue party!"

'And regarding the Son of War's comment about needing a healing priest…… I'll just ignore that!'

Leaf thought about it and offered hesitantly, "Could it be that they are going to go against undead creatures?"

At that, I stopped and frowned. Dealing with the undead? That is possible. Although undead creatures' weakness are fairly obvious-they fear holy light-most warriors cannot cast holy light and the only way they can deal with them is to cut up the undead into small tiny pieces. That is why even the bravest and strongest of warriors would get a headache at the thought of dealing with the undead.

"I do not know," I answered uncertainly.

Leaf then said rather hesitantly, "If they are dealing with the undead then don't we have a responsibility to join in the rescue mission and help them?"

I frowned at that and asked another question, "Of the other holy knights that we brought along, who is the strongest? Other than the two of us."

Leaf thought about it carefully before listing them out, "We brought a total of 33 holy knights, and among them the stronger ones are the two knights from the Leaf Knight Division, the two knights from the Blaze Knight Division, there's one from the Judge Knight Division, and another from the earth Knight Division……"

"Alright!" I decided. "We'll send the Earth Division Knight and a priest on the rescue mission in our stead!"

"……"

Just then, there was a knocking on our door. I glanced at the door and said blithely, "It's most probably the Queen sending someone to convince us to go. Leaf, do not say a word."

Leaf was a nice guy and no matter what others asked from him he would always agree, so the best thing to do would be to tell him to shut up. Leaf himself knew this very well and so he dutifully kept quiet.

I smoothed out the creases in my clothes and pasted on my signature smile before calling out, "Although this Sun knows not which brother stands outside our door, this Sun invites our brother to enter and share with us the love of the God of Light."

The door opened, and in walked someone. My eyes immediately brightened at the sight of our guest, for this person was no brother, but a lovely girl in a pale blue gown; she had round rosy cheeks, lovely green eyes that sparkled like emeralds under the sun and pink pouty lips. Even though she looked to be only eighteen years of age, she had a beautiful hourglass figure with a tiny waist……

All in all, even though the girl cannot be said to be breathtakingly beautiful, she definitely still qualified as a beauty; a young and innocent beauty!

The girl shyly spoke up in a soft voice, "How do you do, Sun Knight, Leaf Knight? I am Moon Orchid's third princess, Ann Alecia Janiyah……"

Ann…… what a simple and easy name to remember!

"Good evening, Princess Ann. The God of Light's representative, the Sun Knight, at your service," I introduced myself with a flawless smile before turning to introduce Leaf, "This is my brother, Leaf Knight, one of the Church of Light's Twelve Holy Knights."

Leaf gave a small smile to the princess and bowed.

"Sun Knight, Leaf Knight," Princess Ann nodded gracefully to each of us. Then, after all the introductions were out of the way, she suddenly grabbed my arm in a shocking move as she pleaded, "Please, you have to help rescue my sister, Alice!"

I was stunned and 'forgot' to shake the Princess's hand off as I exclaimed, "This Sun does not understand? Is the Princess Alice in any danger?"

"My sister Alice is the Son of War's betrothed, she-she'd been kidnapped by someone, and we don't know where she is……"

Ann then seemed to realise her inappropriate actions and quickly released my arm, stepping back a few steps. With her head bowed, she cried heartbrokenly, "I'm very worried about her safety, so I had asked my mother to allow me to join the rescue party, but……"

"But-what?" I asked, slyly taking the opportunity to step closer as if in concern.

Ann didn't seem to suspect a thing as she said, "But my mother declared that it would be improper for a princess to travel in the company of a group of male warriors. If I insisted on going I must have a knight accompanying me. That was why my mother had asked for you to join in the party, but-but it seems like you are unwilling……"

At this, Ann paused and looked up at me with tears still in her eyes, her shining pools of green filled with hope.

I smiled gently and answered her, "It was nothing like that, Your Highness. It is the duty of a knight to protect a fair maiden, so fear not for as long as the God of Light still shines on this land, this Sun will protect you wherever you may go."

"Then, I'll go and inform my mother right away!" Ann said with a smile. Due to her over bubbling excitement, she nearly tripped on her skirts as she skipped out the room. But before she left, she turned and smiled at me shyly.

"I am looking forward to travelling with you, Sun Knight."

I smiled and simply waved a hand at her. 'I'm looking forward to it too, my dear Princess Ann!'

After the Princess had gently closed the door, I turned back to see Leaf watching me. I stared back at him. We had been staring at each other for ten seconds or so when Leaf gave up and quietly turned to pack his things.

What an obedient and understanding boy.

~O~O~O~O~

And that was how I came to tramping about in this mosquito infested countryside…… Smack!

Luckily I had yet to change my gloves for a clean one…… I opened my hand flat and, with my other hand, flicked the new mosquito corpse away.

Leaf looked a little worried as he asked, "Sun, Michael and the rest have yet to return, should we go and look for them?"

I frowned at that. To be honest I was kinda lazy, but I was worried that they might have stumbled upon some problem, so after thinking about it I decided to just use my mage sight to check on them…… what? You've forgotten what mage sight is?

Alright, it has been a long time since I've last used it, so I'll explain it once more. Listen carefully as I'm not going to explain it a third time.

This world is filled with all sorts of aura elements. Be they a forest, a city, a person, or even an undead, all of them have aura elements within them. Now normally, a single item would have a mix of all kinds of elements, and only in special circumstances would a single thing have a dominating element.

For example, the 'dark' aura in undead creatures is extremely strong. Conversely, I, the Sun Knight, have a very strong 'holy' aura, also called 'light' aura, within me. Because holy aura is the counterbalance of dark aura, I am the undead's natural enemy. To them, every part of me from my hair down to even my toenails is deadly.

I was born with the natural ability to sense these aura elements, and it is called mage sight. It is extremely rare and is something that one is born with. You could try to learn the skill but you would never be as good at sensing auras as those born with it. This mage sight allows me to sense what elements are within someone else, and from those elements I can determine what they are or what they do. For example, those with very strong light aura are either Light priests or holy knights.

Warriors tend to have stronger fire and wind elements, but only by a little. Compared to mages who specialise in fire spells or wind spells, the fire and wind elements in warriors are very low, so they are still pretty easy to tell apart.

Warriors who focus more on strength usually have stronger fire elements, while those that favour speed and agility would have greater amounts of wind elements. The Son of War is impressive, for both his fire and wind elements are extremely strong, almost equal to that of a mage…… Huh? You finally remember about this ability? And you also recall my teacher warning me not to use it in front of others?

Ahem! There's only Leaf here right now, and he's a nice guy so it shouldn't matter!

So as I extended my senses outwards……

"Ah! They're back," Leaf cried out to me.

Although I couldn't see anyone coming, Leaf is an archer and so his eyesight and hearing are far better than a normal person's. If he said they were coming back then it must be true.

I was about to recall my mage sight when I accidently sensed something with a dark aura not too far away.

Could it be an undead? I was a little torn about it, for if it really
was an undead creature then as the Sun Knight who absolutely loathes the undead, I would have to chase after and get rid of them…… Hold on. There's something beside the spot of dark aura, something with… light aura?

What is going on there? Typically these two opposing auras can never be found together…… I was even more puzzled now.

"Sun, Sun?" Leaf called out to me as he looked in the direction I was staring at. He then asked, puzzled, "Why do you keep looking behind? Is there something behind us?"

I was silent for a while before I smiled faintly and said, "My brother Leaf, through our historical records the God of Light would often counsel us to watch behind us, where there might be dark corners which may need us to brighten."

This time it was Leaf's turn to be silent. I think he probably can't work out what my words meant, for even I did not know.

It was just that I had finally heard the rest of the party nearing us and had to switch back to Sun Knight-speak, praising the God of Light in every sentence I utter as in accordance with what 'the whole continent knows' of a Sun Knight.

As for the dark aura's presence…… Well, my teacher had drilled into me not to use my mage sight in front of others. Since I cannot use it, I couldn't have known about the dark aura behind us, right? And since I don't know about them I can't very well chase after them and investigate, now can I?

"Michael, Princess Ann, Alston, you're back…… Ah?" Leaf gave up on deciphering the meaning to my words and turned to greeting the returning party warmly.

Pomp!

I jumped in shock and turned to see what had happened, only to see the body of some dead animal. The body was as big as a human being, and there were clouds of dust flying all around the body. Looks like it was thrown onto the ground with great strength.

"Hahaha! And here I thought you had no other expressions other than your smiles; so Sun Knights can also be shocked?" A female warrior came out from behind a row of bushes and stepped into the clearing, laughing loudly. Her every action was filled with youth and energy; I'm not sure if it was due to her previous exertion or her laughing too hard, but her cheeks were glowing an adorable red…… Ann looked so cute!

That's right. This girl dressed in full body armour and carrying two axes on her back, with an alarmingly high amount of fire element in her, is the little beauty I had mentioned previously, Princess Ann.

I smiled faintly, not at all upset at her words. I'm pretty sure that even if I had looked shocked, I looked elegantly shocked, so there was no harm done to my Sun Knight image.

After all, no one said that the Sun Knight isn't shocked by anything.

Seeing my calm response, Ann muttered something lowly, probably something about how dull I am. She then turned to Leaf and grumbled in irritation. "Aimer, didn't I tell you to just call me Ann? You call Michael by his name, so why won't you call me by mine?"

"Actually, my name is Elmairy, but whatever, at least it's better than elderberry," said Leaf, sneaking a glance at me. "Alright, I'll just call you Ann from now on if you insist."

Actually, with the Son of War and the Princess's high status, addressing them directly by their name would have been rather inappropriate, but as I had said, Leaf can never refuse anyone's request. Even when I had changed his name to 'Elderberry' and had called him so for three years, he had still responded to me.

Just then, Leaf cried out in alarm. "Alston, you're injured!"

The Son of War, Michael, and his warrior priest had come out from the bushes. The older of the two, the warrior priest, Alston, had half his right sleeve gone, and there were spatters of blood all over his arm and sleeve.

"Let me heal you!" Leaf offered kindly, stepping closer and throwing out an elementary level healing spell at the arm.

I smiled gently as I pointed out, "Brother Leaf, this Sun believes that the God of Light's radiance my brother had shared would not be enough, or else brother Alston could have recovered with the blessings from the War God before this."

After going through that inside his head carefully, Leaf immediately realised his error. "Ah… you're right. If an elementary spell was enough, Alston could have done it himself instead of waiting until now."

He turned back to Alston and said worriedly, "Alston, is your injury very deep? Is your bone fractured or broken? If it's only a fracture an intermediate level healing spell should do it, but if it's broken you'll need Sun to cast an advanced spell."

Alston shook his head and said apologetically, "I'm sure it's broken. It's all my fault, I'm afraid. I had seen some rare herbs and got left behind. When I got attacked by that animal, Michael and Ann weren't able to reach me in time as I was too far away from them. "

It's broken…… Hmph! If I had known earlier I wouldn't have spoken up to remind Leaf. But then again, even if I hadn't spoken up the job would probably still have fallen to me, as Leaf has difficulties with the more advanced healing spells.

But it's difficult for me too! I have to chant a whole long slew of incantation spells.

Huh? Why can't warrior priests cast healing spells themselves?

I, too, wanted to tell him to heal himself, but unfortunately warrior priests aren't very good at healing spells. Their healing ability is considered to be even worse than holy knights. I am obviously referring to ordinary holy knights, not knights like me. If you were to compare them to holy knights like me, even the Bright Light Priests would be worse than 'holy knights'.

This difference in ability has to do with our different religions. Healing spells are one of the Divine Spells belonging to the category of Light elements, and priests and holy knights who believe in the God of Light are filled with 'light'. They would obviously have an easier time casting healing spells compared to those of other religions.

But other than their different Gods, their main specialisations play a role in it too. As the God of War favours the strong and brave, so warrior priests tend to specialise in the Divine Spells mainly to do with increasing the strength and skills of warriors. The spells I had used previously-Divine Wings and Holy Blessings-belong to that category of spells.

As I was explaining all this to you however, I had been busy reciting a long list of nonsense praising the God of Light: "……bathe Her people in the God of Light's love, warmth and care, and steering Her people away from grief and sorrow. O' God of Light! It is now, that one of your beloved children is in need of you. Please shower your love down onto this land and bless your child with absolute healing!"

A white glow surrounded Alston's arm and then left as quickly as it came.

"It's completely healed!" said Alston with a look of wonder on his face as he turned his arm about this way and that. "Thank you very much, Sun Knight."

Just then, Michael gave a cold snort. "The Sun Knight is famed for his strong healing abilities, yet I see that he has to go through so much trouble just to cast an Absolute Healing, with so much mumbo jumbo. Guess you aren't as strong as they claim you to be!"

I didn't react to his mocking, maintaining my smile all the while. The earlier reciting of the 'mumbo jumbo' was already annoying enough, now I'm even mocked for it?! I don't want to speak any more!

Leaf smiled wryly at that.

Ann then grinned cheerfully and said, "With the Son of War, me, the Church of War's most powerful and young priest, two of the Twelve Holy Knights-one an archer and the other a holy priest…… Oh wow! We might even be strong enough to take on a dragon!"

'I'm a holy knight!!'

Leaf smiled hesitantly at this and said, "This-… um… Ann, you haven't forgotten that we are here to rescue the Princess Alice, have you? Weren't you very worried about your sister?"

Ann started at that and said hastily, "Of course I'm worried about my sister, I was just joking around. You're too stiff, Aimer."

"Ah, I see. I'm sorry for that," said Leaf, scratching at his head while smiling sillyly.

I frowned at their exchange. Last night Ann had looked extremely worried about her sister, yet today she seemed to have changed completely. What is going on here?

"Alright, we'd best be moving along. We have to make it to the lake by tomorrow night," said Alston. The others all merely nodded. As the oldest among us, Alston gave off an air of leadership and maturity. He didn't really look all that old-probably only around his thirties-but amongst this group of youngsters-only in their twenties, he who had ten years on us was definitely qualified to be our elder.

As we were now behind schedule, Michael and Alston decided that we would not sleep tonight and will instead continue on our journey through the night.

'W-wait a minute! Continue on through the night?!' My face screwed up at that.

After seeing my expression, Leaf hurriedly spoke up, "Perhaps we should sleep for a while? We would be better off rested and refreshed than tired and worn out."

"It'll take too long to set up camp and we're already far behind schedule," said Michael impatiently. "It's only two days; it shouldn't be a problem for us."

"But there's still Ann and Alston," said Leaf after some thinking. "They're a woman and priest respectively. I'm afraid that they won't have the stamina or endurance to last two whole days."

At that, Ann scowled heavily while Michael gave a snort at Leaf's ignorant and foolish thinking. "So what if she's a woman? Ann is one of our best warriors in the Church; her stamina and endurance is definitely not weaker than yours, or did you think I would actually bring along a burden to slow me down?"

Alston, too, smiled gently and said, "Elmairy, you need not worry about this priest. I normally train myself physically every day, so two days will not be a problem for me."

"Er……" Leaf gave me a few glances before finally giving in to them, because he's a nice guy and would never trouble others. That's just how he is.

And as for me, I couldn't speak up to disagree. How can I, a knight, open my mouth and protest that I cannot take it, and that I do not wish to hurry on for two days continuously, if even the woman and priest had agreed?

So with the majority agreeing and the minority unable to protest, we began our long and arduous journey. Even though we weren't running full out, everyone's legs seemed to be longer than normal; every stride they took was one and a half times wider than a normal person's; and their pace was faster than normal; so all in all we were really travelling at the same speed of a normal person running.

This is killing me! Even though I was only wearing light body armour, light armour would still weigh at least some ten kilograms! And don't forget my travelling gear.

We ran from morning all the way into the afternoon, stopped for a quick lunch of bread and beef jerky, took a few gasping breaths, and then continued on for the rest of the afternoon. After eating something for dinner and giving some time for the food to settle in our stomachs, we then started running on again…… After running a whole day, my clothes were soaked in my sweat, and then blown dry by the wind, only to be soaked once more. Rinse and repeat. It felt like I had sweated enough for a whole year!

By now I was lagging far behind the group. Leaf slowed down to fall back to me. He looked rather worried as he asked me in a low voice, "Are you alright, Sun?"

I was gasping and wheezing, my lungs working laboriously to supply my body with sufficient air. There was not a single part of my body that didn't ache; I even ached in places I didn't know I had!

I somehow managed to gasp a "No."

At my answer, Leaf looked at me closely before giving a sigh and offering, "I'll carry you, then. You can take a rest on my back and continue running later."

"Leaf……" I clasped his hands with the utmost gratitude, saying "Even though night has fallen and the God of Light cannot bear witness, this Sun still swears that you are a great guy!"

Leaf gave a wry smile and squatted in front of me, turning my comfy bed…… I mean his back to me and said, "Get on."

Fearing he would change his mind, I quickly clambered on and tried to get into a comfortable position. This was not easy, as Leaf was rather bony and nowhere near as comfortable as my own bed.

Leaf then stood up and continued on, picking up the pace to rejoin with the rest of the group. This further jarred me uncomfortably, but I dared not complain for fear of angering such a nice guy, so I just kept my mouth shut.

When Leaf finally caught up with the group, the other three turned to look at him. Their reactions at the sight of us were identical. First came surprise, then shocked disbelief, followed by looks of contempt (me) and sympathy (Leaf).

"He……" Ann started to say.

In a move atypical of him, Leaf interrupted the other three people's questions, saying only, "Let's hurry on or we will have hurried all night for nothing."

The others fell silent at that, giving me numerous scornful looks.

I felt a little embarrassed to being carried while everyone else would be running, but I would rather die of embarrassment than to get down and die from exhaustion from running!

Besides, it's not like anyone said that the Sun Knight would be good at running, nor did anyone say that the Sun Knight may not be carried by anyone.

"Fine, let's go then," Michael finally said. He then sneered coldly, "But you better keep up with us. If you can't continue on, no one's going to help you carry 'that thing'."

Looks like Michael doesn't believe that Leaf can carry me while running for a whole day. But here he's wrong. It is true that them warriors are very strong, but when it comes to stamina and endurance no other job can compete with a holy knight!

What? What about me?

Ahem! Holy Knights are also divided into several different categories, and it just so happens that I belong to the category with weaker endurance. But! When it comes to one's endurance in radiating holy light no one can compete with me! Not even that old geezer can release as much and as long as I can…… And don't you dare call me a priest!

I'm a holy knight!!

So in short, what followed after was just boring old running. I don't think you guys want to listen about this part, do you? Well, if you do want to hear it, I can't tell you about it anyway, as I was asleep for the following 24 hours.

By the time I had woken up, we had already arrived at a lake and were beginning to set up camp beside it.

 

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Book 3: Step 1 – The First Step in Rescuing a Princess: “A Princess goes missing”

*Disclaimer note: This is merely a translation of the original Chinese version. I do not claim any part in the creation of the original story.

 

The Sun was shining so brightly that not even the thick shade of the trees was able to completely stop the Sun's rays from penetrating through their thick foliage, creating little gold petals on the ground. As I walked on this narrow and lonely path, I breathed in the scent of fresh soil and clean air. Cheerful companions singing happily, a high-spirited and trusting team working together……

Smack!

'Damn. Mosquitos!'

"Ah!" I cried out in horror, for there upon my beautiful and otherwise flawless white glove is the print of a bloodied mosquito corpse, its six tiny legs clearly sticking out. It was a perfect-if red-specimen of a mosquito staining my white glove.

'I-I had only brought three pairs of white gloves! I hadn't thought that smacking a mosquito would result in ruining a pair of gloves!'

"Sun Knight?"

I looked up only to see the entire team looking at me. Other than the Leaf knight, everyone else had all sorts of strange expressions on their faces as they stared at me. I hurriedly pasted on my flawless smile and answered, "Yes, your grace? Did your grace hear of the God of Light's beautiful whispers in your ear, reminding you of something that needed discussing with this Sun?"

"Didn't you just cry out suddenly? What was it?" The Son of War asked impatiently. "And haven't I told you this a dozen times before? Just call me Michael and drop the 'your grace' shit, it's annoying!"

"Your grace Michael, it was only because the Sun today is shining so brilliantly, showering the land with its beauteous rays of light. This Sun just couldn't help but cry out at such splendour, thankful to the God of Light for Her bountiful love for Her children and creating such beautiful scenery……"

"Shut up!" Michael's brows were tightly knitted together, and he looked like he had a pounding headache.

"Yes, sir."

I smiled as I kept my mouth shut. Now even if I were to go screaming and jumping around like a monkey he probably wouldn't deign to respond to me. Good, good. I can now be a silent Sun Knight for the rest of this journey.

As I changed my mosquito-imprinted gloves for a clean pair, I thanked my lucky stars that I wouldn't be forced to open my mouth and speak again. Even with the mosquitoes flying around, this trip should be that bit more bearable if I don't have to speak……

'Buzz…… buzz……'

My eye twitched as I glared at the pesky black dot flying around me. I waved at it in an effort to shoo it away, but the darned thing just wouldn't leave me alone, insisting on flying around my ear and then in front of my face…… Smack!

'Ah! My second pair……!

'Arghhhhhhh!!!'

I can't stand it anymore! I want my clean and orderly Holy Temple! I want my room where I won't be disturbed! My secret wine cellar filled with grape wine! And most importantly: no, mosquitoes!! But-but why? Why the hell am I tramping around on this God-damned mosquito-infested muddy path in the middle of nowhere with this bloody hot sun glaring down on us?!!

And to think that not even two weeks ago I was living happily in the Holy Temple, working hard to save up for my retirement, in the hopes that by the time my 41^st birthday rolled by I would be able to retire gracefully and glamorously……

~O~O~O~O~

"The neighbouring country's Son of War is getting married and they have extended an invitation to the Church of Light for someone to attend as one of his groom's men. As the God of Light's representative and the Church's walking billboard, your mission will be for you to go and attend the wedding as a groom's man."

I was standing in front of the Pope's desk in his office, staring at the brightly-smiling face of the Pope as he sat behind his desk. I asked expressionlessly, "How many Sons of War are there?"

"Just the one," the Pope replied cheerfully.

"The one who came asking for the Princess' hand in marriage? That one?"

The Pope gave a little clap in joy as he praised, "Yup! That's the one! You're so smart!"

"You flatter me. But hadn't he just left three days ago?" I asked, my face still void of any expressions.

"Mmhmm!"

"Is it possible for one to travel from here to the neighbouring country and propose to someone in two days time?"

The Pope gave a careless shrug and answered frankly, "Nope, it's not even enough time for one to reach the border between our countries."

I couldn't find anything to say to that. 'Is the Pope having too much time on his hands and playing a joke on me out of boredom?' I asked a little exasperatedly, "Then how is he getting married?"

"My dear boy."

The Pope calmly took a sip of his tea as he gave me a 'you're so unworldly' look, saying to me, "He has a whole church of people who can propose for him in his name. What does it matter that he's not even in the country? The point is, the Queen of Moon Orchid has already agreed to give her eldest daughter's hand in marriage to him. The betrothal gifts are already being prepared as we speak and the invites had been sent out a week ago. Now all that's missing is the groom, his groom's men and the wedding gifts from the various foreign countries. "

A week ago? Wasn't that the very next day after the three-person duel?

I was astounded. 'You've got to be kidding me! He already had a back-up bride prepared? What? If things don't work out with this country's Princess there's always the Princess waiting back home? As long as there's a 'Princess' in their titles it doesn't matter who they are?'

How envious…… shameless of him!

'But perhaps the Princess is flawed for the Queen to sell off her daughter so hurriedly?......' I asked for confirmation, "Is the Princess pretty?"

The Pope immediately gave me a thumbs-up, giving rare praise for the unnamed princess. "She is one of the most beautiful women in Moon Orchid."

My face twisted in a grimace before I then asked hopefully, "Does she have some unmentionable illness?"

"She's healthy as a horse and fit as a fiddle!"

"Poor personality?"

"Loved by all!"

My heart was twisting in agony! To think that there was such a high quality beauty living just over in the neighbouring country all this time and I never knew. But now she's about to become someone else's wife; their wedding invitations had long been sent out and I'm even one of the groom's men!

To watch such a beauty getting married to someone else would be absolute torture!

I asked painfully, "Beautiful, healthy, agreeable and a (rich) princess. To think that there was someone so perfect in this world…… Why hadn't you told me about her earlier?!"

The Pope calmly set his cup down and said airily, "Do calm down, Captain Sun Knight. Do not forget that you love only the God of Light and no other. Even if you were to marry someone you would be so 'involved in your work' that you would ignore your poor wife. That wouldn't be fair to her, would it?"

"Bullshit!" I protested. "I would spend an hour on my work, and another hour on ignoring her," I said seriously, "and the rest of my time would be spent lavishing my love on her."

"Your 'rest of the time' seems a little too much……"

"Hmph! As long as the one handling my work, Storm, isn't complaining, why should you?"

The Pope gave a deep sigh. "Not complaining? You're clearly lying through your teeth. His resentment these few days have been rising to even greater heights than Captain Hell Knight's. Sure you don't want to leave the Holy Temple for a few days so you can avoid running into him and getting killed?"

A frown crept onto my face. Now that he mentioned it, whenever I see Storm in the hallways he's always carrying a humongous stack of documents…… I gave a slight shiver and said, "Fine, I'll go! But I'm bringing Judge along."

"Bring Judge along?!"

The previously calm Pope suddenly leapt up from his chair and shouted shrilly, "You might as well be bringing the whole Holy Temple away with you!"

He had a point there. If both the Sun Knight and the Judge Knight were to leave, the Holy Temple would be without a leader. After thinking about it I then changed my mind and said firmly, "Then I'll bring Storm instead. Let him get away from all the stress and work and see if he can relax a little."

The Pope immediately denied my request. "The Holy Temple can go without the Sun Knight, but it cannot survive without the Storm Knight."

'You…… I'll let you off this time but I'm recording it on your tab! After all, I have plenty of time……' I said to him exasperated, "Well, can I at least take Adair?"

Once again, he rejected me. "The Sun Knight Division can go without a captain, (when have they ever had a captain anyway?) but they cannot survive without a vice-captain."

'What the hell does he mean by that?!' I thought indignantly.

I raised an eyebrow at him in annoyance, about to tell him that I could do whatever the hell I wanted with my vice-captain, when……

The Pope then added, "Besides, Storm may be doing most of your work, but in actuality he would often throw back half of the work to Adair to deal with. If you were to bring Adair with you then prepare yourself to face the consequences of angering Storm for the eleventh time."

…… I had to submit to his judgement.

"…… then I'll just bring Frost."

The Pope shook his head, saying, "Frost is not part of the Good Warm Faction. If you were to bring him along on a mission people would think strangely. Furthermore with Frost gone who's going to prepare the entire Holy Temple's deserts? You want to deprive the entire Holy Temple of their deserts? You really want to incite the wrath of the entire Holy Temple?"

"No… then can I bring Cloud at least?" I asked, getting a little irritated. I can't bring this person, I can't bring that person; technically they are all under me, yet I can't bring a single one of them?! Am I or am I not the head of the Holy Temple?!

"No way!" the Pope cried out. He then explained a little awkwardly, "The farmers' crops haven't doing very well this season and the donations we've been receiving from them have similarly decreased. To cut down on cost I had let the librarian go and had instead asked Cloud to take the position. He spends all his time in there anyway; he is even clearer about all the books in the library than the librarian himself, so why not let him manage the library? If you were to take him away now the library would fall into ruins and no one would be able to find anything!"

I bowed my head and thought hard, before raising my head and said, "How about Moon?"

"I don't have any objections about that, but can you get him to leave his lover for a month?"

"How……"

I took a deep breath and growled, "How difficult! Moon thinks the world of his lover and places even more importance on her than his own life. He'd go berserk if I asked him to leave her!"

The Pope nodded sagely.

I got up and paced around in frustration, before turning to ask him instead, "Then who can I bring along? I'm telling you right now that I refuse to go alone. Who knows if the Son of War is holding a grudge against me for what I did. What if he comes looking for revenge from me? Even Judge admitted that he can't win against the guy! I am not going to meet with him on my own."

The Pope kindly suggested, "You could bring Leaf!"

"Leaf?" I stopped in my pacing, thought about it, then said hesitatingly, "Bu-but Leaf, he's…… He's a nice guy!"

The Pope gave me a strange look and said, "Not only is he a nice guy, he's an obedient person. He wouldn't refuse any of your ridiculous requests; from running out to buy blueberries for you to helping you to beat off the dogs attacking you. What are you not satisfied with?"

"But he's an archer," I whined.

The Pope didn't seem to understand. "So what? It's not like you haven't seen him and his skill with the bow. Even Judge dares not claim that he can beat him."

"But I want to bring someone who knows how to use the sword……" I struggled.

He still could not understand my reasoning as he said, "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but in this time and age almost everyone is using swords; knights, warriors…... In comparison, archers are a lot more in demand now. You should be grateful for an archer accompanying you, not disparaging him."

I answered him bluntly, "Archers cannot be my human shield, and they cannot help me fight in short-distance battles. Moreover, his speed in escaping is definitely higher than mine! Why the heck would I bring him along for?"

The Pope rolled his eyes at me and grounded out exasperatedly, "I'm only asking you to be a groom's men, not to run for your life! It's settled then, you'll bring Leaf!"

"With the way my luck has been recently, something might happen that would require the groom's men to run for their lives!" I protested. "Let me bring Hell, or you can just find someone else to be a groom's man!"

"Hell?"

The Pope frowned at that, saying slowly, "That can't be good, can it? His 'identity' is a little sensitive; it wouldn't be appropriate to bring him along to joyous occasions such as weddings. Now if it's to funerals than I would have no objections……"

I gave a snort and said recklessly, "Even if someone were to suspect something we can always say that his dark aura is due to his years spent undercover in the Church of Chaos as a dark knight! Or if worse comes to worse, we can say that he had been discovered whilst spying there and that he had become the way he is now as a result. And that even when the Hell Knight had become like this, the Church of Light would not turn away one of our brothers, so we still accepted him back."

After hearing this 'explanation' comparable to the 'the Sun Knight is perfect' lie, the Pope shrugged and said, "Well, he's your responsibility. If you think there won't be any problems then I guess it should be fine."

Seeing that he had no more objections, I quickly rushed off in search of the Hell Knight Captain to confirm our coming trip.

You should know that he is currently very in demand. The queue of people waiting to have a go at him at swords fighting run from the Holy Temple up to the royal palace, and among them are a number of people I would be hesitant to offend, including-but not limited to-the Judge Knight Captain, the Princess' future husband and even the King's two trusted knights.

And not to mention the Storm Knight Captain; this past week he had been so pleased that someone had been helping him with his workload that he had been almost cheerful, his resentment decreasing quite a lot and even his dark eye bags seem to be getting lighter.

I wonder what his expression will look like once he hears that I'm taking Hell with me.

I paused at that thought, but then decided that as there was still Adair there to help him with his work, he shouldn't be too mad as to take revenge on me!

Okay, it's decided then! I'm bringing the Hell Knight Captain.

~O~O~O~O~

Even though I was going to go look for Hell to book his time, I had not taken several steps away from the Pope's office when I met the wondering Cloud Knight Captain. How rare. Whenever I'm looking for him, it would take me at least several hours to find him; and when not looking for him, I would never see him. To meet him now like this is something that has never happened before, I wonder if this is a good thing or not……

"Argh?"

While I was lost in my thoughts, Cloud had grabbed hold of me and pulled me along as he flew down a hallway…… If I hadn't been previously aware of Cloud's skill at 'flying', I would have been convinced that he was on skates. And so whilst pondering what reasons he could have for suddenly grabbing me, we had already flown down a hallway.

But where was he taking me?

"Cloud……"

I had just started to ask, but Cloud had already lifted that pale hand of his and pointed ahead of us, followed by a hushing signal by placing his finger to his lips.

I tentatively peeked round the corner…… and saw the Hell Knight Captain and his division's knights.

There's nothing wrong with seeing the Hell Knight and his division's knights standing in a hallway, but it is strange when they were standing on opposite sides, with the Hell Knight on one side and his division knights on the other, both sides staring at each other silently.

The person at the head of the Hell Division knights was the Hell Knight Captain…… No, that's wrong! It's the Hell Knight Division's vice-captain. It was he who had been the one in charge all these years, causing me to nearly forget that he wasn't the Hell Knight but only the vice-captain filling in the missing Hell Knight's position. I think he was called - called De-something…… Demon?

I was about to ask Cloud, but when I turned back I realised that there was no one behind me. A wave of shivers swept up my spine. If I hadn't known better I would have sworn that I had met with a ghost; but then I remembered that this was the Church of Light! There's no way that anything ghostly or supernatural could have appeared here. Cloud had probably just drifted away silently as he was wont to do.

"You are Dylan?"

Just then Roland had spoken up, breaking the silence between the two parties and reminding me that I had remembered another name wrongly.

The other guy nodded and said aloofly, "Yes, I am Dylan, Sir Knight Slayer."

Upon hearing this title I was shocked, and looking at the other holy knights behind Dylan, they too had frowned in consternation. However even though they were frowning, none of them looked very surprised, and no one spoke out to correct Dylan's words.

As the Hell Knight, outsiders would simply call Roland 'Hell Knight', or at most adding some other respectful title to it. In the Church of Light, fellow holy knights and priests would address him as 'Captain Hell Knight'; just like Adair addresses me as Captain Sun Knight. It is only in more informal occasions that he would shorten the title to merely call me 'captain'.

What I'm trying to say here is that Dylan should only address Roland as 'Captain Hell Knight' or 'Captain'; even if he were to follow the way outsiders address us and call Roland 'Hell Knight', it's still fine. But he had directly addressed Roland as Sir Knight Slayer.

Only knights of the same rank or a superior addressing those below them would address the other in this way…… This is bad!

I frowned at this. Could it be that the Hell Knight Division's vice-captain wishes to keep the position of Hell Knight? Should I step out and reprimand him for this?

But then, forcing them to stop would only be superficial at best. In fact, it might even backfire and lead the Hell Division Knights to thinking that Roland was merely depending on others to keep his position. Perhaps I should let Roland handle this one himself?

But can he do it? From what I've heard from Elliot, even when he was a royal knight Roland was a rather quiet and anti-social guy.

Roland didn't look tense or nervous, only asking calmly, "So, you are my vice-captain?"

Hearing that, a flash of anger swept onto Dylan's face as he growled, "You are so sure of yourself and your position?"

'Calm down! Calm down, Dylan! Roland didn't mean anything by that. He's just trying to ascertain that you are his vice-captain Dylan and not any other person by the same name, nothing else!' I wanted to explain, but I couldn't just leap out, so I forced myself to remain hidden, worried about Roland.

Roland looked at him. Due to his Slayer outfit, the bottom half of his face was covered, hindering others from making out his expression.

But I know him too well! 'That idiot probably doesn't even realise what's happening and is showing a puzzled face underneath that mask……'

Roland spoke up a little hesitatingly, "I am not very sure about it……"

Dylan gave a condescending snort, saying, "So you do realise your situation after all?"

I rolled my eyes at this. 'Please, you guys aren't even on the same page.'

What Roland meant by 'not very sure' is that he isn't the real Hell Knight, so he's not very sure of his position; Dylan's 'not very sure' is referring to the Hell Knight's sudden reappearance and taking back the position of captain so matter-of-factly after having been absent for the past thirteen years.

'This just won't do!' I couldn't stand to see this spiralling down even further and was about to step out to help Roland when I spied a familiar figure. I quickly withdrew my foot and hid myself again.

"Captain Hell Knight," Adair greeted Roland respectfully, before turning to greet the vice-captain Dylan with greater familiarity. "Dylan, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a long time……"

Halfway through his greeting, Adair finally realised that something was up. He looked at Roland, then at the opposing group of Hell Division Knights, his face darkening. He then turned to Dylan and said in a disapproving tone, "Dylan, what is the meaning of this? Are you thinking of overstepping your boundaries?!"

As can be expected from my vice-captain, he was able to take in the scene in just a glance! What wonderful judgement I had!

"Adair," Dylan cried out beseechingly, "these past thirteen years I've been the Hell Knight, yet now all of a sudden-…"

"It's acting captain Hell Knight!"

Adair was completely unmoved and rebutted Dylan's words. He then went on to say coldly, "You've always known that you were merely the vice-captain and that one day the captain would come back. The fact that he's back now was something you expected all along, wasn't it? So why are you complaining?"

"But I never knew that the Hell Knight was such a weird person," Dylan protested.

"Stop trying to find excuses, Dylan, you've never cared about others' appearances before. Besides…" Adair turned to look up and down the hallways before saying carefully, "of the Twelve Holy Knights, is there any one of them who isn't weird?"

"That's right!" Ed, who had been following behind Adair suddenly butted in. "He can't be as weird as our captain!"

'…… has it really been that long since I've pushed someone down the cliff?'

The rest of the Hell Knight Division had to concede to Ed's comment. "That is true……"

Even Dylan had fallen silent at that, before protesting, "But at least the Sun Knight Captain maintains his outward image, but look at his outfit…… Doesn't that outfit just scream of suspicion?"

Even though he could hear the criticism of his outfit, Roland still kept quiet.

'Thank goodness no one knew that the Sun Knight, I, had worn that very same outfit before,' I thought gratefully.

At Dylan's insistence, Adair had turned to look at Roland's outfit, but he didn't comment on it, merely saying, "Dylan, please, on my behalf, will you just give him a chance?"

Dylan's expression changed at that plea and was about to protest, "But……"

Adair forcefully interrupted him, raising a finger. "Just one month. If after this one month you still think that he isn't qualified to be the Hell Knight, no matter what you choose to do I will stand by your side!"

Dylan looked at Adair doubtfully.

Adair gave a dry cough and raised his voice, declaring loudly, "Even if our captain orders me not to help you, I will still stand by your side!"

The crowd gasped loudly in surprise at his declaration.

At this, even Dylan was convinced by his sincerity, but he gave one last struggle, "But he is ashamed to even show his face……"

"So what? He is only ashamed to show his face. Our captain is completely
shameless……"Ed muttered.

Adair immediately turned back and growled at him, "Ed, stop your nonsense at once!"

"What does it matter anyway? The captain's not here now is he?" Ed replied unconcerned.

"He's here."

Roland who had been silent all this while suddenly spoke up, his words throwing the entire hallway into deadly silence.

Ed started quavering, but he still tried to affect a carefree attitude as he said, "Y-you must be joking, Captain Hell Knight. I just heard that the Pope had summoned the captain to his office, so how can the captain possibly be here? Ha-haha, this is a pretty funny joke though! I didn't know you had such a sense of humour, sir."

At that, Roland just raised his arm and pointed at the corner of the hallway and said, "He's been there since the beginning, but I have no idea why he didn't come out."

"Haha…ha… " Ed's awkward laughter immediately trailed off and turned into horrified whimpers. "Captaiinnn, please let me explain!" he wailed.

I wasn't paying the slightest attention to him for I was lost in my contemplations. Adair had convinced Dylan to give Roland a 'trial period'; I wasn't worried at all about what would happen one month later, for with his skills, his serious nature and his natural leadership abilities, Dylan shouldn't have any complaints about Roland.

What I am worried about is…… if Roland were to have to go through a one month trial period, who would I bring to Moon Orchid to play groom's men with now?

I grimaced bitterly. Looks like I'll just have to take Leaf with me. Even though he is an archer, his swordsmanship can't be any worse than mine, right? Although, even if he is better than me, he might not be that much better…… I think I better ask around about it first!

I stepped out from my corner and with a brilliant smile I greeted them, "To see my fellow brothers gathered here together to speak of the God of Light's love and benevolence fills this Sun with such warmth and joy. Alas, this Sun is also filled with remorse for having to interrupt my brothers' conversations! This Sun ought to be punished for this infraction, but it cannot be helped, so this Sun begs for your forgiveness and understanding, and hope that you can allow Adair to leave your exchanges to follow this Sun. This Sun swears upon the God of Light that after this, this Sun will return and offer his most sincere apologies and commune with the rest of my brothers about the God of Light's beautiful nature."

"Adair, what did the captain say? Is he going to kill me?" Ed whimpered.

"No, stop speaking nonsense. The captain only wants me to leave with him," Adair explained in a hushed voice before hurriedly answering me in a louder voice. "Yes, captain."

I nodded and smiled at everyone. Everyone had been watching me anxiously, and upon seeing that I wasn't going to say anything else, they all let out a sigh of relief.

After bidding them farewell, I turned and left for a secluded spot, Adair following right behind me. Once there I turned and asked directly, "How is Leaf Knight's sword skills? Be honest."

Adair frowned at this unusual question, before answering diplomatically, "Just a little bit better than yours, sir…"

"Don't compare to me!" I shouted, a little annoyed.

If Leaf's sword skills really were just a little bit better than mine than it would mean that he really sucked. At this point, I did not wish to risk myself just for the sake of my pride. If I were to really bring a guy who sucked at using the sword, I run the risk of an early unscheduled trip to meet the God of Light!

Adair answered seriously, "Yes, sir. Captain Leaf Knight's sword skills are pretty good."

This answer was still too vague. I frowned lightly and persisted, "And how is he compared to you?"

"He is not as good as me, but not by much."

'Ah!' My brows smoothened out. 'That means that he really is pretty good. Adair's sword skills are among the top ten in the Holy Temple. Looks like I can rest assured in bringing Leaf along to play at groom's men……'

"Captain."

"Hmm?" I answered distractedly.

"About Ed," Adair said carefully, "please don't take what he said to heart. He's always been one to shoot his mouth off and speak without thinking, but he doesn't really mean it. You should know, too, that he's always held you with the utmost respect."

"Oh!"

I suddenly smiled brightly as I looked at the nonplus-looking Adair. "I would have forgotten about that if you hadn't reminded me. But since you mentioned it, let's take advantage of the short time this Sun has before leaving to have a special gruelling training session with my dearly beloved Sun Division Knights!"

"… …"

Adair's expression looked as if he was repenting to the whole Sun Knight Division.

~O~O~O~O~

"Sun? Sun?"

When I came back from my thoughts, the first thing I saw was a little black dot flying around right in front of me, buzzing annoyingly. Without a second thought I swung my right hand……

Smack!

Leaf's eyes widened as he stared down at me numbly.

I calmly withdrew my hand from his face and showing him said hand I explained to him, "There was a mosquito."

Leaf looked down at the flattened bloody mosquito on my white glove, while I studied his left cheek. Not only had it reddened, it was starting to slowly swell up, and there was even a thread of blood at the corner of his mouth…… Maybe I am soon to become the first person ever to anger a Leaf Knight?

"Oh, I see." After a long while, Leaf raised his head and smiled at me, "Luckily I had you to help me get the mosquito, or else I might have gotten a red mosquito bite on my face."

"… …"

'You might not have gotten a swelling from a mosquito bite, but the entire left side of your face is swelling horribly.' I gave a warm and gentle smile and said, "My brother Leaf is too kind, this is something that this Sun should be doing for my brother no matter the circumstances."

"Hehehe!"

Leaf raised a hand to shade his eyes from the sunlight bearing down on us and said admiringly, "The Sun is shining so brightly today! Sun, your hair even looks like spun gold under the sunlight. How pretty, can I have some?"

"Unless this Sun is mistaken, Brother Leaf has requested for this Sun's hair several times already?"

"They've been used up—No! I mean I had accidently lost them." Leaf gave me an apologetic look.

"I see. In that case why don't I just give my brother a bit more this time?"

Hoping that he would forget about my slapping him, I decided to be a bit more generous. After all, my hair will just grow back, it's not like it's something precious…… Although, Leaf is a little weird, he's always asking for my hair from me. I've heard of ear fetishes and hands fetishes and even foot fetishes, but I've never heard of a hair fetish! And it's not just hair; he would sometimes ask me for some of my nails too.

But because whenever he would ask me for my hair or nails happened to be right after I had done something that might have angered him, I dared not refuse him something so simple and so I would meekly hand them over without questions asked.

I picked up my Holy Sun Blade, drew the blade and swung the gleaming sword at my hair……

"Sun! You're going to accidently cut your own head off!" Leaf exclaimed worriedly as he snatched the sword from me. "Here, let me do it. Just don't use the sword; you had nearly given me a heart attack……"

As he said that he gave a neat swing of the blade. I hadn't even felt a thing, but there was a lock of gold hair in his hand. He carefully kept them away while asked worriedly, "I had cut off a little more, is that okay with you? I was thinking that I might use them often on this trip…… I mean, the Sun should be shining quite brightly during this trip, I want to take them out and admire them under the sun; it should look very pretty."

I shook my head to show that I didn't mind. Now that I had had a look close up, Leaf's sword skills really is as good as Adair had reported. This journey shouldn't pose a problem then, for if something were to happen I can just push Leaf out to defend me without any worries! He could have sliced of all of my hair and I wouldn't have minded!

After having tucked the lock of hair away, Leaf started casting healing spells on his swollen left cheek. It might have looked serious, but a low level healing spell was sufficient to heal it and his swollen face finally returned to its normal self.

It was only then that I looked around and realised that there was no one else around but the two of us, so I hurriedly asked, "Where is his grace the Son of War?"

Leaf explained to me, "Just now the warrior priest had noticed someone hiding in front of us, so Michael led the others to investigate them. Before he left he said for the archer and the priest to stay here until they get back."

'Ah, I see……'

Wait a minute, the archer would of course be referring to Leaf, for with that huge bow and quiver of arrows that he carried on his back only a blind man wouldn't know that he was an archer, but who is the priest?

I looked around expressionlessly. The warrior priest was not here either; there was only Leaf and I.

I looked at Leaf. Leaf was also watching me and when he saw me looking at him he said tactfully, "I think Michael had misspoke when he called you a priest."

He then went on in a quieter voice, "Or maybe he misunderstood your job? Hmm, maybe he thinks that anyone who knows healing spells is a priest? Or maybe……."

I had rolled my eyes in my mind. 'You'd just used healing spells on yourself, so why hadn't he called you a priest too?'

It was obvious that the Son of War had said it on purpose!

~O~O~O~O~

Back then before all this started, I had arrived along with the Leaf Knight at the Moon Orchid's royal palace, worn and tired from our trip and looking forward to resting in a comfortable bed. But the moment I had stepped foot into the palace I had immediately noticed the tense and disquieting atmosphere. I nearly thought that there had been a mistake somewhere, that it was actually the Princess' funeral and not her wedding that we were coming for. If I had known I would have brought the Hell Knight!

The Son of War stood to one side, unaccompanied by any of his usual warriors.

Moon Orchid's Queen was sitting on her throne, her body as still as a statue…… Well, if I were wearing that ceremonial outfit that looked even heavier than a set of full body armour I wouldn't move either. Not to mention the heavy-looking crown that looked more suitable to being put in an exhibition than to be worn on one's head.

She wore a veil that covered her face, but it was a thin one, allowing one a blurry glimpse of her features. Even though her eldest daughter was already of marriageable age, she looked no older than 30; looks like she aged very well.

Like my own country's King, the Queen barely spoke, but it seems that in this one aspect the 'weaker sex' is much more skilled than the men. My country's King had to at least give them a look before his trusted knights would understand and speak for him, but this Queen's eyebrows hadn't even twitched, when one of the two female knights standing behind her jumped out and started explaining the situation to us.

The female knight liked to mince her words and often repeated herself, so it would be a bother to repeat everything she had said here. Besides, I can't repeat them to you even if I wanted to as I had already forgotten them. The gist of it was that the Princess that was going to be married had been kidnapped, is all.

"The Princess has been kidnapped?!" I exclaimed on the surface, but inside, I had a little niggling seed of doubt. If it had been a prince who had been kidnapped it would be more understandable; after all, princes are always running around outside the palace on quests, or wooing beauties, or fighting. They're pretty easy to kidnap. Princesses on the other hand, rarely even step foot out of the palace, so how could they have gotten kidnapped?

Besides, what would one kidnap a princess for?

If you were thinking of getting the throne, with a prince already lined up before them a princess would never get the opportunity to inherit the throne, so kidnapping her for that would be useless.

If you wanted a beauty, all you had to do was walk around the city, and I guarantee you that you'll find women even more beautiful than the Princess. After all, beautiful women are bountiful everywhere. Even if this Princess had been lauded for her great beauty, that is only because compared to the 'rest of the Princesses in the world' she would be one of the most beautiful, but if they were to be compared with all the beautiful women in the world, I doubt any princess would even be in the top 100!

And if it was because of money, well, if you can manage to kidnap a princess, you can definitely get into the treasure vaults, so you might as well just go straight to the vaults yourself! Kidnapping someone is very troublesome and a lot of work!

So typically, the only person who would do something as pointless as kidnapping princesses would be the monsters and demon kings from the fairy tales!

And in my humble opinion, the only reason the monsters and demon kings would bother with kidnapping a princess-other than because they forgot to grow a brain-would be so they can increase their fame and notoriety!

Could it be that she really was kidnapped by a demon king? But I hadn't heard of any demon kings popping up recently?

Whilst I was busy trying to guess who would kidnap a princess and why, the statue Queen of Moon Orchid suddenly spoke up. "Sun Knight, We ask a request from you."

My face rapidly changed expressions at her words. The Queen actually deigning to speak herself could mean only one thing…… I'm going to be so troubled!

But even though I was well aware of my impending doom, I still had to paste on a determined and unafraid expression as I said seriously, "Your Majesty, if this Sun can help even the slightest to lighten your burden and illuminate you with a ray of sun from the God of Light, this Sun will definitely pursue it with all that he has."

The Queen was still without expression as she said, "We wish you to rescue Our daughter and bring her back."

Upon hearing this, I cast a surprised look at the Son of War who had been fuming in silence all this while. It was all I could do to keep myself from saying something like, 'what the hell does your wife being kidnapped have to do with me?'

Just then, that damned Son of War gave a snort of derision and said to me, "Well, what can I do? The Princess's rescue party is missing a priest."

Fuck you! I'm a knight!

 

Previous                                                                                                             Next

Book 3: Rescuing a Princess - Prologue

*Disclaimer note: This is merely a translation of the original Chinese version. I do not claim any part in the creation of the original story.

 

After reading countless of fairy tales and legends passed down for centuries, we should by now be well aware of one forever unchanging fact.

In fact, this fact can even be proven in a time-tested coalition of events; that is:

When one is a professional knight, during one's long and arduous career of knighthood, one has to rescue at least one or two princesses.

And but of course, the handsome and magnificent me would not be exempted from this!

 

Prologue: The knight and his sword's seal.

Two travellers were walking along a small and quiet road, both wearing cloaks with hoods. One was cloaked in dark green while the other was cloaked in grey. They had both their hoods drawn up, hiding their faces and leaving only a glimpse of their lips.

The two travellers had been travelling in companionable silence for quite some time.

That is, until an adventuring team on a quest passed them by. The team was made up of five members, and as they had more people in their group than the two travellers, the cloaked travellers graciously stepped aside, allowing the team to walk past them on the narrow path. The leader-a warrior-gave the two travellers a nod in thanks. Although a little arrogant looking, his demeanour was easy going and straightforward, and so did not arouse dislike in others.

Although the team did not have a large number of members, two of them were rather eye-catching, causing the two travellers to turn and look at them curiously. The warrior taking the lead in front had a head of black wavy hair and his whole body was rippling with strong and healthy muscles, giving off an impression of a strong and silent panther.

The holy knight walking behind the warrior, on the other hand, had a head of beautiful golden hair which glimmered under the sun, a pair of warm and gentle blue eyes and a smile so bright it could blindside a person.

When some distance had passed between the team and them, the one wearing the dark green cloak spoke up. "What a lively and enthusiastic team. Although I do not know who they are, they must have an impressive history. Could they be one of the top three adventure teams in the land? Which team do you think they are?"

The other traveller in the grey cloak gave a small knowing smile and said, "I doubt they are a very famous team."

"Why would you say so?" The green cloak asked curiously.

"Because I recognise one of them."

"Someone you know?"

The grey cloak nodded, saying, "Mhmm, the one with gold hair and blue eyes is my student, and he could never be in a team that's top three in the land."

"That was your student?" The green cloaked traveller exclaimed in surprise, "Then he really is a holy knight? But his footwork looked so weak and unsteady, and the way he held his sword was all wrong. It's hard to believe that that is your student. I had thought at first that he was only disguising himself as a holy knight, and that he was actually the person that the team was in charge of protecting, that the disguise was just to confuse his enemies!"

"… … he really is a holy knight, and he's actually one of those highly ranked holy knights," the one in the grey cloak said, the tick in his jaw clear to all.

The dark green cloaked looked at him disbelievingly.

The grey cloak gave a few loud coughs and explained, "His sword and armour aren't really his weapons, but rather his seal."

"Seal? I don't understand."

The grey cloaked traveller gave a faint smile. "If a mage were to wield a sword and wear heavy body armour, would you say that those outfit and equipment would be of any use to him? Or would they hinder him instead?"

The traveller in the green cloak smiled and mocked his companion lightly, "Are you saying that as a holy knight, you yourself managed to train a mage instead?"

"That was only a figure of speech. My student is a holy knight…… at least, he thinks he is a holy knight."

As he watched the distancing team, the green cloaked one suggested, "You have such an interesting student. Why don't we follow behind them and see what they are up to?"

"No, no. We'll be discovered if we follow behind them."

The green cloak's disagreement was clear in his voice as he said, "How? The team does not have a thief who specialise in hiding and sneaking around, only an archer. With our abilities it should not be hard to evade detection."

The traveller in the grey cloak gave a chuckle and shook his head. "They may not have a thief, but they have my student. Believe me, my friend, when I say that my student is extremely strong at everything other
than the skills a knight should have."

"But he is a knight?" The green cloaked one asked disbelievingly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at this ridiculous reality.

"Yes! Thank goodness he is a knight……"

As he watched the disappearing team, the grey cloaked sighed thankfully. "If it weren't for the position of a knight and the sword in his hand acting as his seal, what kind of great things would he bring about? Ah, I am really looking forward to witnessing them."

"If you are so looking forward to them, why would you seal him?"

"Because this peaceful time and age does not need 'great things'."

"I see." The green cloaked figure nodded in complete agreement with the other's opinion.

As he continued to watch the faraway team, the one in the grey cloak said darkly, "Besides that, I had another important reason for insisting on turning a mage into a holy knight."

Picking up on his companion's solemn tone, the other traveller perked up and asked seriously, "What is the other reason?"

The grey cloaked figure finally turned away from the team and looked at his companion in the eyes, saying with great pain and regret, "Because I had forgotten to choose a back up knight!"

 

Previous                                                                                                             Next

Book 2: Rule B – The Twelve Holy Knights’ Second Shared Rule: “Respect the other Twelve Holy Knights’ privacy.”

*Disclaimer note: This is merely a translation of the original Chinese version. I do not claim any part in the creation of the original story.

 

"This is the Holy Temple's great hall, other than being decorative it has no other real use."

"Creus……"

"There are two hallways leading off from the great hall. One leads to the inner section of the Holy Temple, while the other leads to the Hall of Light's great hall."

"Creus……"

"This is the most important place of all, your room. It's just next, next door to mine. The room in between ours belongs to Captain Judge Knight……"

"Creus."

"And the conference room where the Twelve Holy Knights hold their meetings is just down two corridors after a right turn. It's the third room you'll see…… hmmm, this isn't very clear. Let's go, I'll just take you there."

"Creus!" I shouted, getting a little irritated.

Creus stopped in his tracks and corrected me, "You should call me Sun! Only call me Creus in private. But if you really insist on calling me Creus I guess it's okay too, it shouldn't really matter……"

I interrupted his ramblings, "I think I should be leaving now."

"What? What are you saying? Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, just leaving the Holy Temple," I said simply, feeling a little uneasy. The longer I remain in the Holy Temple the greater the chances of my being discovered for a Death Knight. It's a small matter if I were to be killed, but if it was discovered that Creus actually had dealings with a Death Knight, it would be a whole different matter for him.

Creus merely looked at me in surprise and said, "But you are the Hell Knight Captain. Where are you supposed to stay if not in the Holy Temple?"

I was speechless for some time before finally regaining control of my mouth. "I am not really the Hell Knight, remember?"

Just then, a holy knight came running at us, shouting frantically, "Captain! The royal knights and the Church of War's warriors bumped into each other on the streets and are now fighting each other like cats and dogs! (Or more like tigers and wolves.)"

Creus' face darkened at this news as he asked displeased, "What are the holy knights doing? Haven't they broken up the fight?"

"No, but they did form a strong defensive formation and are shielding the surrounding spectators! And after that they……"

"And after that they… what?"

"They stood around cheering on the royal knights……"

At this, Creus' face had darkened furiously. He hurriedly turned to me and said, "Just walk around and explore, I'll be back soon. Just remember two things: firstly, don't leave the Holy Temple, don't bother looking for Pink, she's moved; secondly, don't intrude on the other Twelve Holy Knights' privacy, especially their rooms."

"Wait-……" I stared at him with wide eyes as he left quickly with the other holy knight, leaving me on my own in the middle of the Holy Temple.

'Pink moved? Then where should I go now?'

I stood there for God knows how long, and during that time several holy knights walked past me, greeting me as Hell Knight Captain and even saluting me. I was at a lost as to how to respond to them.

Not long after that, I saw someone I recognised walking towards me.

"Judge Knight……" I watched him warily. According to Creus' description of him, he should be aware of my identity as a Death Knight.

But, the Judge Knight did not seem to have any wariness towards me, only correcting me, "It's 'Captain' Judge Knight," he stressed. "Judge Knight is what outsiders call us. Don't get it wrong, 'Captain' Hell Knight."

I was rendered speechless for the second time that day. Does he have no intention of exposing my real identity at all? He's going to just leave a Death Knight running around the Holy Temple?

The Judge Knight looked at me and asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

"I don't know where to go to," I answered without thinking.

Judge pondered the question for a while before answering me, "You could go to the library. There are plenty of books there that you can look up on how to carry out your duties as Hell Knight. Or you can go look for Captain Storm Knight. He's extremely busy and would welcome anyone's help. Right now he's in his room going over the office documents."

I could not say anything to that, only managing to scrape out a "thank you".

"By the way, Captain Hell Knight, do you have time later tonight for a spar with me?"

"Yes," I immediately agreed. The Judge Knight's sword skills are extremely good, and I had been looking forward to being able to fighting him once more.

"Good, then see you at night." The Judge Knight nodded and then continued on his way.

I did not know what to say to that. But now that I've promised to meet him later at night I can't leave the Holy Temple.

Thinking about it, I couldn't just stand in the middle of a hallway all day, so why not follow the Captain Judge Knight's suggestion and read some books in the library? I can pass the time that way until the agreed upon spar at night.

After asking a holy knight for directions, I followed his instructions and left the hallway.

There were quite a number of holy knights in the library, but I determinedly ignored everyone who greeted me as I made my way to a book cabinet and opened it, deciding to look for a few books on Hell Knights……

"Are you looking for any book in particular?"

I jumped back in shock, demanding angrily, "Who are you?"

"I am the Cloud Knight."

Just then, a head actually poked out from the book cabinet. His face was white as a sheet, and for a moment I couldn't tell if he was a ghost or not…… and the head actually claimed himself to be one of the Twelve Holy Knights? Impossible!

"Captain Cloud Knight, could you give me a book of poems about the Twelve Holy Knights? I would like to read it to the children."

A holy knight was smiling cheerfully at the disembodied head.

"Alright." The head retracted, and before long it returned, along with a similarly pale hand holding out a book.

"Thank you, Captain Cloud Knight."

After taking the book, the holy knight kindly told me, "Captain Hell Knight, if you're looking for a book you can ask Captain Cloud Knight to get it for you. He's extremely familiar with where all the books are kept."

It really is the Cloud Knight? I was stunned.

The head…… no, the Cloud Knight looked at me for quite some time before saying wispily, "What a strange man; standing in front of a book cabinet yet not looking for a book." He then withdrew his head and closed the door to the book cabinet with a click.

I was once again struck speechless. And here I'd always thought that Creus was a very weird holy knight, but I never knew that there were even weirder.

I gave up on the library and decided to look for the Storm Knight. Although I did not think that I would be able to help him at all……

"I am so extremely grateful!! Here, just take a look at these documents, circle any problems in red and summarise the main points of the entire document in three sentences at the end. Then give it to me to look over and I'll be able to stamp the approval on them."

And with that the Storm Knight shoved a stack of documents at me.

As I held the stack of documents I had been given I told him nervously, "But I've never gone through documents before, I don't know what to do."

"Don't worry, it's always like that the first time," the Storm Knight reassured me. "I will look over them before stamping the approval…… if I have time……"

I spent the entire afternoon looking over the stack of documents before finally handing them back to the Storm Knight.

"You did them wonderfully!" praised Storm as he grabbed the stamp, and-without even looking down at them- stamped the approval on all the documents. "Are you free tomorrow too? You are? Then how about coming over and helping me again? Okay? No problem? Then it's a date, Captain Hell Knight!"

Even though I hadn't actually said anything…… but a promise is a promise. Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow before I can leave.

"Oh and by the way, can you help me pass this along to Captain Frost Knight? Thanks." The Storm Knight gave me something that-no matter how I looked at it-looked like a plate and a fork. That led me to knocking on the Frost Knight's door.

"Wait."

After taking the plate from me, the Frost Knight said only one word to me before closing the door again.

I stood there and waited.

When the door opened once more he gave me two bags that-from the smell of it-was filled with sweets and cakes. He said simply, "This is yours; that is for Sun."

"… … thank you."

'I'll just give both bags to Creus,' I thought.

"Eat one."

The Frost Knight suddenly said, and he then stared at me. I had no other option but to eat a piece. What a wasteful thing - Death Knights do not need to eat.

"Not sweet? Sweet? Too sweet?"

I did not know what to say to him. As a Death Knight, my tongue is only good for speaking.

"My taste buds are not very good, I can't really taste any food."

The Frost Knight Captain took out a notebook and as he wrote he mumbled, "Hell, super strong flavour."

"… …?"

After he'd finished his note taking, the Frost Knight Captain looked back up at me and asked, "Where are you going?"

As I myself had no idea where I was going to go, I told him, "Just walking around."

Frost nodded and asked, "Help me?"

"Alright."

~O~O~O~O~

I carried a bunch of bags filled with sweets and went around looking for the rest of the Twelve Holy Knights, and my first stop was back to the book cabinet, looking for the Cloud Knight Captain.

"Thank you," Cloud poked his head out from the book cabinet and took the bag of sweets, at the same time giving me a few books. "These are for you."

I looked down to read the titles of the books, The Historical Biographies of Notable Hell Knights and The Hell Knight's Handbook of Duties and Responsibilities.

"Thank you."

~O~O~O~O~

The Blaze Knight Captain stared at me for a long time, muttering, "But Sun was obviously Slayer, so how come there's another Slayer? Just who is the real one? Slayer or Sun?...…"

In the end, he took the bag while mumbling, "I just don't get it. Oh whatever! They both start with an 'S' so I'll just think of Sun as cloning himself!"

I could not understand a single thing he had said. At all.

~O~O~O~O~

When the Earth Knight answered the door, he kept trying to block the way, as if there was some unspeakable thing in his room that he could not let me see.

"M-my room is kinda messy," he gave a bashful laugh.

I nodded my head in understanding and handed him the bag.

"Eaaaarrth! Are you done already?"

Earth just looked at me and gave me a most innocent smile. "Erhehe… Hell, you must have misheard! There's no girl's voice coming from my room."

"… …" I never said a thing.

~O~O~O~O~

The Leaf Knight Captain came to open the door with a cheerful smile. He wasn't trying to block the door to his room and I could clearly see that his room was very neat and tidy, as befitting a clean and proper knight.

"Thank you very much, Captain Hell Knight," he said as he took the bag from me.

It was then that I noticed the little straw doll in his hand. Aren't these things usually made in larger, human-sized figures and placed in farms to scare away the birds from the crops?

When the Leaf Knight Captain followed my gaze and saw me looking at the straw doll he immediately smiled and explained. "These things are really useful, you know! You just have to place them on the wall and with a nail and hammer you hammer the nail into the doll. It'll make your mood loads better!"

I had heard of it. It is rumoured that in the rural areas the witches would curse someone using that exact same method.

The Leaf Knight Captain very kindly gave me a tip, "and if you add a piece of someone's hair in the doll the effects are even better! Or even better yet if you can find their nails……"

I-very carefully-made sure that neither hair nor nail was left behind as I bid the Leaf Knight goodbye.

~O~O~O~O~

That night when I saw the Judge Knight, before we could even start the match, I couldn't resist shaking my head and sighing as I asked, "Are the Twelve Holy Knights all so weird?"

The Judge Knight looked at me strangely.

I couldn't understand why he would look at me so.

He finally answered me slowly, "Well yes, we all have our own unusual quirks and idiosyncrasies, but we are all very respectful of the other Twelve Holy Knights' privacy. As long as they are carrying out their duties properly…… even if they were a dead corpse running around, we would still respect them."

"… …"

I see, so the weirdest of the Twelve Holy Knights is actually me?

 

End of Second Volume

 

Previous                                                                                                             Next

Book 2: Duty 10 – The Sun Knight’s Tenth Duty: “Secure the faiths of the believers”

*Disclaimer note: This is merely a translation of the original Chinese version. I do not claim any part in the creation of the original story.

 

Just then up on the stage, the Hell Knight suddenly gave Elliot a kick. Not expecting his ally's sudden attack, he wasn't able to avoid the kick and was sent flying before finally coming to a stop at the very edge of the duelling stage, narrowly escaping from falling off.

'What a fright! I really thought he was about to fall off there!'

Because he had suffered the full brunt of the heavy kick, Elliot was unable to get to his feet right away, but he still struggled painfully to stand up.

The Son of War was about to step up and finish him off once and for all, but he was blocked by Slayer Hell.

"Why are you defending him?" The Son of War had a look of suspicion in his eyes, before suddenly shouting out, "could it be that the two of you are on the same side?!"

'Shit!'

"On the same side?"

Slayer Hell gave a light chuckle and said unhurriedly, "Can there be such thing? There is only one Princess; she cannot marry two men. It's just that if I allow you to finish him off, then it'll just be a matter of time before I am defeated too. "

Hearing that, the Son of War gave a smug smile as he said arrogantly, "Even with him here you still won't be able to defeat me."

"That's true." Slayer Hell nodded frankly, and then adding, "Your swordsmanship is very good-perhaps even better than mine-and your strength is far greater than mine."

The Son of War gave a laugh at that. "You're not bad either; you are extremely fast!"

'Hey, hey! You guys don't have to be so buddy-buddy with each other, okay!' I thought, not knowing if I should laugh or cry at this scene in front of me. Although, it wouldn't be a bad thing if Slayer Hell can actually become friends with the Son of War.

"Let us settle this fairly then!" Slayer Hell said as he shifted into a fighting position.

The Son of War gave a hearty cry, "Agreed!" and swung into position too. The both of them looked to be in a pretty good mood.

At that point in time, Elliot had finally managed to stand up. He looked on at the fighting men a little discouraged though, as he could not find a way to break into the fight between the others two.

However, I kinda disagreed with his thinking. He should realise that one of his opponent is the Son of War, while the other is…… well, suffice it to say both his opponents are extremely strong! Even if he were to lose to them it is nothing to be ashamed of.

At the same time, I'm confident that after having seen the immense skill and level of those two, Elliot's comrades would not think it shameful to lose to them either. In fact, for Elliot to have even stayed in the fight for so long with those two is a credit to his own strength and skill.

And besides, Elliot is a knight; fighting in single battles has never been his strong point.

In other words, if Elliot, the Son of War and Slayer Hell were to each lead a small team and fight in a three party battle, the other two would definitely have lost to Elliot.

It is precisely this image that I was going for. That when fighting one-on-one, Elliot can last at least ten minutes or more against them; but when it comes to leading an army in battle, Elliot is definitely superior to the other two.

This way to the audience-and especially to the royal knights-Elliot hasn't really lost.

Just then, Elliot took a deep breath and prepared to jump back into the fight……

I suddenly shouted, "Elliot! The Princess is in danger! Protect her!"

Elliot was stunned for only a second before he instantly rushed in the Princess' direction. As he reached her he turned back to look……

A black flash of light lodged itself in his chest and he instantly slumped to the ground. Both his hands were clenched at his chest, his face was filled with agony. A horribly-smelling black mist seemed to be crawling out from his whole body.

I had rushed to his side by then and as I looked down to examine him, I exclaimed, "This is—it's the Black Curse!"

Not fearing the cursed black mist covering Elliot's entire body, the Princess threw herself on him while screaming, "Elliot!"

I sternly looked up at some point in the audience, and everyone turned to follow my gaze.

A cloaked figure standing above the stands of the crowd suddenly drew back their hood…… revealing—one of the extremely rare ghoul witch!

'Oh my!'

I had to work hard to suppress the urge to cheer Pink.

She was hauntingly beautiful in her desolate sorrow; a beautiful face, an hourglass figure and pale skin tinted with a hint of green. Her clothes were ragged and falling apart, her attire revealing in all the right places, showing her beautiful long legs, her cleavage and her flat belly, yet not distastefully so that it was PG 18. All in all, she was beautiful and enchanting and scary, all at the same time.

Although she didn't appear to be a living person, she is technically not a dead person. To be more precise, ghoul witches are actually one of the types of the cursed living. While I might say 'cursed' living, most of them are actually women who had cursed themselves with the intention of becoming a ghoul witch so that they will gain power to get revenge and various other similar reasons.

I had purposely instructed Pink not to use the undead, for with a whole arena filled with knights it would have been too easy for the undead to be discovered.

But I never thought Pink would be able to find a ghoul witch; these things are not easy to find, ya know?

Just then, the ghoul witch leapt down into the arena and started treading slowly in the direction of the King.

Because ghoul witches are technically still women-and a sorrowful one at that, as they had usually experienced an extremely miserable and painful fate- and in addition this ghoul witch was such a beauty, so even though the whole arena was filled with knights, no one really stepped forward to stop her.

The ghoul witch started laughing in a sharp high-pitched voice, saying, "I want revenge! Revenge! Revenge!"

The King's younger trusted knight shouted angrily, "Nonsense! How can Her Highness have had dealings with an evil foul creature like you!"

"Hahaha! Not the Princess, but the King! He threw me away after playing with my affections, and even killed my unborn child! Oh my poor child, I was unable to protect you! My poor, poor baby!" cried the ghoul witch, laughing one moment and crying the next; she seemed to have gone completely mad.

Instantly, the King's eyes bulged wide open. Seated beside him, the quiet, ever-smiling and elegant Queen's face suddenly darkened. Everyone had turned to look at the King in shocked disbelief.

Had the King turned into a completely different person the moment he had ascended the throne?

The King's expression was extremely poor, and there was a tick in his jaw as he forced out through clenched teeth, "What nonsense! I've never seen you before!"

From what I managed to see from a sneaked peek, the reason for the King's extremely poor expression was entirely due to the Queen's four inch spiked heels currently nailing his foot to the floor.

"Not you, your father!" the ghoul witch shrieked.

Everyone let a breath of relief, and the Queen's elegant and regal smile returned as she 'pulled' out her heels from the King's feet and tucked them back under her long skirts.

Everyone started complaining:

"What a fright, speak clearly next time!"

"And here I thought that the moment he had become the King he had changed from a whipped husband to a perverted sex fiend!"

I watched as the King tried to keep his pain from showing as he gingerly moved about his foot, before he was able to shout at the ghoul witch angrily, "Even if that is so, you shouldn't simply slander and harm the innocent (my poor innocent foot!) Royal knights, arrest her!"

Upon receiving the King's orders, the royal knights as one drew their swords and advanced on the ghoul witch with military-perfect order.

The holy knights, on the other hand, all turned to look at their respective captains, who in turn turned to look at me questioningly. I gave a frown and said, "She must be from the same group of undead creatures who had tried to cause trouble in the city the last time. How abominable! We cannot allow her to continue harming the innocent as she pleases. Holy knight brothers, assist the royal knights where necessary."

"Yes, sir!" The holy knights replied in unison and immediately formed into neat formations to surround and capture. The effect from years of fighting along side by side with their neighbours-the royal knights- could be seen as both parties worked together beautifully to subdue the ghoul witch. Their formation was perfect and nigh impenetrable; even if it was a Death Lord it would have surely died a second time, much less one measly ghoul witch.

The ghoul witch continued to attack the surrounding knights closing in on her, but any ordinary attacks were blocked by the knights' shields, and when the shields cannot block her magic curses there were still the holy knights with their holy light shielding them. As such she was unable to really harm anyone.

Through the wall of shields, the royal knights extended their pikes as they advanced slowly step by step on the desperately struggling ghoul witch.

The ghoul witch was not bad earlier with her curse when she had hurt Elliot, as knights aren't able to block from a curse attack. However, when it comes to a direct fight she was ineffective and she could only watch as the pikes steadily grew nearer until they finally pierced her, while her attacks had no effect on the knights.

I turned to look away, not wishing to watch this scene. Even though it was only a ghoul witch-and most probably a fake created by Pink at that- I still did not wish to see any innocent person killed just for the sake of my plans.

"Sun Knight!"

The Princess suddenly screamed. "Elliot, he- he's not going to make it!"

'How can that be?......' I had specifically told Pink to pick the most visually frightening but also the most harmless curse.

But then again, it would be just like her to purposely switch the harmless curse for another more destructive one. So, I hurriedly made my way to their side and took out the rose bead bracelet meant to be the betrothal gift, saying "Princess, please break the beads to slow down his death and give the Pope enough time to complete the incantation for the Absolute Healing spell."

(It was only after he heard me that that old geezer finally begins to slowly recite the incantation.)

But before I could finish my sentence, the Princess had already snatched up the rose bracelet and start breaking the beads one after another as if they were just some worthless rock found on the ground. My heart ached at seeing her break them one after another like there was no tomorrow!

"Sister, my sister, slow down, I say! Breaking so many so quickly won't increase the effect at all!" The King's expression looked even more pained than mine. Looks like he's already thought of the bracelet as his.

Although, I did have the intention of giving this bracelet to the King as an apology for everything, and hopefully appease him from making more trouble for me in the future…… 'Huh? Now that I think about it, what's there to be pained about? It's not like the bracelet's mine anyway.'

By then, the fight with the ghoul witch had already ended.

The Son of War who had been standing aside and watching as events progressed suddenly spoke up coldly. "What difference does it make if he dies anyway? Isn't the Sun Knight skilled in the resurrection arts?"

Instantly, I became the centre of attention, and the Princess even looked at me hopefully as she asked, "Really? Is this true?!"

I nodded carefully as I admitted, "This Sun does know the resurrection arts."

Hearing that, the crowd immediately exploded into an uproar.

"However, only when it is truly necessary and only with the person's agreement, will this Sun use this power!" I suddenly shouted sternly.

"Wh-what? Why?!" The Princess immediately cried out. After all, it is her lover who is on the threshold of death.

"There are too many limitations on the resurrection arts, and it can only be performed on someone who has died within eight hours. If I were to cast it on a corpse that's been dead for more than eight hours, the corpse will become an undead! Furthermore, the resurrection arts cannot be used on those who've died naturally of old age, from illness, or from poison."

I gave a pause here before continuing, "In addition, the resurrection comes with many side effects to the person. The side effects known so far include horns growing from their heads, fur covering their entire body, growing an extra pair of arms, and some even going crazy or becoming disabled in some way."

I listed out all the limitations and drawbacks in one go, thus announcing the resurrection arts' various failings to the world. While at it I might have exaggerated a little to dissuade people from insisting that I perform the spell. That would have been troublesome.

After hearing about all the drawbacks, the whole arena went silent. Especially the Princess; she was crying so hard even though she tried to muffle it.

Only the Son of War looked ecstatic. Think about it. He'd finally understood that the resurrection arts was not as great as it seems, and that it was impossible for the Church of Light to use it to increase their influence, so of course he would be happy.

"The cost of resurrecting someone will always be higher than dying," I said meaningfully with a weary sigh.

Just then, the Pope who had been dragging his feet had finally finished the incantation.

With an "Absolute Healing", a golden glow surrounded Elliot, and not too long afterwards Elliot let out a moan as he opened his eyes, smiling as he called out, "Your Highness……"

"Elliot! Oh, Elliot!" The Princess cried out as she tightly held her beloved.

Upon seeing this, the Son of War's expression soured, looking rather like a husband who had just found out about his wife's affair. He stomped towards them, his warriors following closely behind him.

The holy knights all turned to look at me, but seeing no indication from me they stayed put and did not make a move.

However, the royal knights had gathered in front of Elliot and the Princess, forming an impenetrable wall and stopping the Son of War from advancing forward.

Seeing this, the Son of War gave a condescending snort. The Church of War's warriors immediately drew their weapons. In response, the royal knights, too, extended their pikes from behind their shields. The atmosphere in the arena suddenly intensified.

The holy knights were happily standing by as they prepared to watch the two armies go at one another when a holy knight suddenly cried out, "Ah! Doesn't our Sun Knight wish to marry the Princess too?"

The holy knights were jolted by that reminder and they immediately turned to look at their captains, awaiting their orders. The Twelve holy Knights all turned to look at me…… I had almost forgotten that I was one of the contenders for the Princess' hand in marriage.

I quickly put on a deeply moved expression as I sighed with feeling, "Ah! A knight risking his life to save the princess, and the beautiful tears of the princess shed for the fate of the injured knight, how touching! If this Sun continues to insist on tearing apart these two faithful lovers, surely even the God of Light would look upon this Sun with anger and disappointment!"

Hearing that, the Twelve Holy Knights withdrew their gazes and went back to watching the excitement.

Seeing this, the holy knights, too, returned to watching the ensuing epic battle between the two parties. But seeing as the royal knights are their neighbours (all living together in the same city) and with Elliot's immense popularity, most holy knights were rooting for Elliot and the royal knights.

Judging from their loud and enthusiastic cheering, and taking into account the hot-blooded and recklessness of young men, if a fight really did erupt between the royal knights and the Church of War, the holy knights wouldn't be able to keep themselves from joining in the fight.

At the moment, both opposing parties were standing on opposite sides. No one had yet to make a move as they just stood there glaring at each other; the respective generals of each army sizing each other up. The tension in the air was extremely thick; the arena so quiet one could have heard a pin drop… … if it weren't for a bunch of rowdy holy knights cheering and adding fuel to the fire, that is.

As I stood there watching my own knights and their passionate cries, I couldn't help thinking that they aren't content to merely watching by the sidelines but that they actually wished to charge into battle themselves.

"Those Church of War bastards had actually dared to beat up our own men!"

"Yeah, they even dared to beat up the Sun Division Knight! They're just asking for it!"

"Get them, royal knights! Kill those motherfucking bastards! They had nearly killed Adair!"

I turned to look at Storm. Storm just gave a shrug and explained, "Your vice-captain Adair's popularity among the holy knights is about equal to Elliot's popularity among the royal knights. Furthermore, your Sun Division Knights are the equivalent to the team of talented young knights that Elliot leads. What I'm trying to say is that no matter among the civilians, the Hall of Light, our own Holy Temple or even among the royal knights, they are extremely popular and very well-regarded. Even I would often go to them for help."

"Ah!" I smiled. 'Is that so? Seems like I've been underestimating Adair and the Sun Division Knights. In that case, I can entrust more tasks to them in the future.'

"Sun, don't smile like that! I feel like I've just created more trouble for them……" Storm muttered lowly; so softly that I wasn't sure if I was meant to hear that.

"Why would you say that, my brother? With the God of Light as my witness, my Brother Storm has just helped this Sun greatly!"

"I have caused trouble for them," Storm sighed before muttering to himself. "Once this is over I should treat them to a few drinks in apology."

"But honestly, is it your intention for them to fight each other, or not?" Storm asked me curiously. "Give us a hint so we can prepare ourselves?"

"This Sun believes that the benevolent God of Light wishes only for a beautiful ending to all love stories, and not to see pointless fights and unnecessarily shed blood."

"Ah."

The Twelve Holy Knights each withdrew their hands from their weapons. Blaze even let out a disappointed pout as he mumbled, "But I was hoping to see a big bloody battle……"

Back in the middle of the arena, the King, upon seeing the escalating situation, slowly stood up and gave a low growl, "Stop this at once!"

"Your Majesty," The son of War began angrily, "have you forgotten our agreement?"

The King's face darkened at that. Even though the Son of War had immediately realised that he had misspoken, he showed no intentions of retracting his words and instead frowned heavily.

"Son of War, why not allow the couple their happy ending?"

I said with extreme sincerity, "This Sun is already willing to withdraw himself from the fight, are you still insistent on separating the both of them?"

"Heh!" The Son of War gave a cold laugh in reply.

I smiled back at him, well aware that the Princess wasn't the main point.

"How about this. Perhaps His Majesty could help to set up a branch of the Church of War in Forgotten Echo, as a way of apology for the Princess' rejection of the Son of War's affections?"

Upon hearing this, both the Son of War and the King stared at me astounded, and even the Twelve Holy Knights were frowning at my shocking suggestion. I, however, merely kept on smiling calmly.

"If it really is such a sincere apology……" the Son of War began while glancing at the King, and after gauging that the later was not against the proposal, he nodded and sighed, saying "Alright! Sigh, truth in fact, I didn't really have the heart to tear apart these two lovers anyway."

I gave a big nod and praised, "Isn't that so! I have always heard that the God of War was a passionate and ardent being who has great reserves of sympathy for others. He would never do something like tearing apart two people who so obviously hold such great love for one another."

"That's right! Our War God is exactly as you describe! I would never have thought that the Sun Knight would understand our War God so well." The Son of War nodded in approval, most of his animosity towards me disappearing at my words.

I responded in politeness, "You flatter this Sun too much. After all, aren't we neighbours? It is only right that I would wish to learn more about your religion."

"Do you guys have to buddy up with each other so?" Storm muttered from the sidelines.

~O~O~O~O~

In the end, the duel was cancelled.

After speaking a few friendly words with Slayer Hell-and extracting a promise from him for a sparring practice- the Son of War left with his warriors in satisfaction, not even once sparing a glance at the Princess.

The royal knights were left scratching at their heads in bewilderment as they looked between Elliot and me, confusion shining clearly in their eyes.

I ignored them and rounded up all the holy knights before leaving for the exit.

But, just as I was about to leave, I suddenly turned around and smiled at Elliot, saying, "Oh and by the way, Sir Knight Elliot, thank you for previously saving my vice-captain, Adair."

Elliot was surprised for a moment, before he beamed at me and said, "You're welcome. I think that with this we're even now, Sun Knight."

~O~O~O~O~

"Sir, the King sent me to tell you that you are to make up for the eight rose beads that the Princess had used on me."

A few days later, Elliot secretly met up with me and passed on this message.

I gave a sigh of relief at this, for this message from the King indicated that he accepted my gift in apology. Although it doesn't mean that he had completely forgotten about what I had done, it does mean that he would not be looking to purposely make trouble for me.

"And from Her Highness the Princess, she says that you've risen from a shameless and despicable worm to a shameless and despicable nice guy……"

I could make no answer to that but smile wryly.

After passing along the messages, Elliot did not immediately leave. Instead, he hesitated as if at a loss for words.

After a moment he finally spoke up a little embarrassedly, "'Even with backs turned from the light and face into the darkness, they still walk under the light……' Y-you don't know how much those words mean to me."

I gave him a small smile. I was well aware of how important those words were. Ever since I had said those words to Judge when I had caught him in a moment of dejection, he's hardly ever refused me any of my-ridiculous-requests.

"Don't worry, even though the Church of War has been granted permission to set up a branch here in Forgotten Echo and spread their beliefs, the royal knights and I, as well as the Princess, we are all firmly on the Church of Lights' side." Elliot promised me with the utmost sincerity.

I smiled as I replied, "As the representative of the God of Light, this Sun sincerely thanks you for your support, Sir Knight Elliot."

"As Elliot I too sincerely thank you, Sun Knight, but……" Elliot revealed a perplexed and troubled expression. "What about that fake Hell Knight?"

"Hmm? Why do you say that the Hell Knight is a fake?" I asked with a perfectly matching puzzled expression. "This Sun does not understand."

Hearing that, Elliot was taken aback. After thinking it over for a moment, he then gave a wry smile as he said, "Ah, no. You misheard me. I said that the Hell Knight's swordsmanship is excellent. If given the opportunity I hope to have a few friendly spars with him in the future."

"You are kind in your praise. I will be sure to pass it on to the Hell Knight Captain."

Elliot looked pleased at this and said, "I really hope to get to know him."

"You will," I assured him with a smile.

He nodded and said, "Then please excuse me, Sun Knight. If there is anything you need please do not hesitate to come to me. I want you to know that, other than betraying the royal family, I will not refuse you anything else."

I gave him a look. "Very well. Should this Sun meet with any problems this Sun will ask for your help as a 'friend'," I emphasized.

Elliot nodded seriously and said, "I understand. From today onwards, the Hell Knight stays in the Holy Temple, and Elliot stays in the royal palace. Other than friendship we have no other relation."

I nodded with satisfaction, and after bidding me farewell, Elliot turned and left.

A few moments later, another person-the Judge Knight-stepped out from the shadows. He watched as Elliot left, before turning to look at me.

I started explaining without prompting. "Even without the Son of War marrying the Princess, many of the younger generation would have readily switched to the Church of War. Religion is not like a country where our boundaries can be clearly separated; that the people living over there have to follow the Church of War, and the people living here must follow the Church of Light, it does not work like that."

Judge nodded at that. "You weren't thinking of completely stopping the Church of War from spreading into Forgotten Echo."

"That is an impossible goal," I agreed. "Just as Moon Orchid has believers of the God of Light, so, too, will there be followers of the War God in Forgotten Echo, and even the disciples of the God of Chaos too.

"However, no matter what I cannot allow the Son of War to marry the Princess, for that will indeed pose a great risk to us. A princess has always been admired by and yearned for by young men. And to confound matters, the King has no child. In that event, the child born to the Son of War and the Princess would most likely inherit the throne, and if the Son of War's son were to become the King of Forgotten Echo, the Church of Light's future would be extremely shaky at best."

Again, Judge nodded to show he understood.

I continued on, "But let's not talk about something so distant in the future. We cannot let the Son of War become a member of the royal family, thus influencing the royal knights' beliefs. As the younger generation have always aspired to become royal knights, should the royal knights' beliefs change, so too will the younger generation's. But on the other hand, if the royal knights were to treat the Church of War as their enemies, so would the younger generation be influenced accordingly."

Judge nodded and continued for me, "Elliot is one of the more notable profiles among the younger royal knights, and the younger knights are the key point, as the older generation have pretty much settled into their beliefs and would rarely switch religions. So by managing to pull Elliot to your side, you've pulled the entire army of royal knights to your side. And with Elliot marring the Princess and with the King still showing no signs of begetting a child, their child would very likely grow up to become the next king. So even though the Church of War has managed to set up a branch here in Forgotten Echo, the Church of Light's position is even more unshakable than ever."

The Judge stopped at that, before continuing on in a dark voice, "But all of this, you could have just have the King privately arrange this deal with the Son of War, allowing him to set up a branch here in Forgotten Echo in exchange for him giving up on the Princess. And yet, you had to stir up trouble and suggest a duel so that you had time to stir up the animosity between the Church of War and the royal knights, making them sworn enemies. Fine.

"But on the day of the duel you purposely thanked Elliot for saving Adair in front of everyone, thus misleading them into thinking that you had allowed the Church of War to set up a branch here at the cost of the Church of Light's influence, just so the Son of War would give up on the Princess and leave her free to marry Elliot. This way, the royal knights' opinion of you would rise significantly—sigh… You really are……"

I hissed at him angrily, "Judge, you do indeed know me very well, but do not think of me so poorly! I am very grateful to Elliot for saving Adair. Are you actually doubting my concerns and protectiveness for my holy knight brothers?! Yes, I had a motive for thanking him in front of everyone, but it is not so that the royal knights would like me, but to clear Elliot of any suspicion of having any connection with the Holy Temple!"

"I'm sorry."

Upon hearing my furious tirade, Judge immediately apologised. "I really am sorry. I misunderstood you. It is just that your methods of late have been rather alarming, that I kept thinking of the worst case scenarios."

"My 'methods' are only used on the duties of the Sun Knight, and I would never let anyone come to harm! In the last two incidents, exempting of the fat piggy king who deserved it, who else has been harmed by my plans?"

I was so angered that my voice had started trembling with fury. "I was trying to carry out my duties, I had been working so hard not to hurt anyone and yet still contrive to bring about a happy ending for everyone. Yet you, the person who knows me best, Leithe Judge, was alarmed by my methods?!"

Judge lowered his head at that for a while as he thought about what I had said. He then looked at me in the eye steadily as he said, "Captain Sun Knight, you have indeed carried out your duties, and had not harmed anyone who did not deserve it. I am truly sorry for misjudging you."

"Leithe, it isn't just a simple matter of me forgiving you, but you have really gone too far this time!" I refused his apology, saying stubbornly, "Securing the faiths of the followers is my main duty, and I have never once forgotten what I, as the Sun Knight, should or should not be doing. I admit that my methods may be a little treacherous and underhanded, but with the limitations of trying not to harm anyone, I have only those methods left open to me!"

"I'm sorry. I, Leithe Judge, swear on my name before the God of Light that I will never make this same mistake."

I nodded my head carefully, finally accepting his apology, but at the same time setting a condition. "How 'bout this, you promise to agree to any ten requests of mine unconditionally, then I'll forgive you."

"… … Do you really need me to promise you this? When have I ever refused any of your requests?"

"That was because it was for the sake of official matters that you had no choice but to agree, but I do have private requests that I might need your help with!"

Judge gave me a perplexed look. "And just how is scaling the walls to buy blueberry pies for you an official matter?"

"That was only a favour, not a request," I denied.

"I see. Are there any even more preposterous things that you can't ask me as 'favours', that you have to ask as 'requests' from me?"

I gave an uncomfortable laugh. "Er, there aren't any currently. But you never know when I might have one! I should take advantage of the rare occasion of you doing something wrong and get you to agree in advance, for insurance."

"…… three requests."

"Deal!" I agreed immediately. I am 'looting a burning house', after all. I'll take what I can get.

Judge merely gave a sigh at my antics, before bringing up another question. "And how are you going to deal with that Slayer Hell?"

"Oh." I smiled faintly. "You must be happy about Captain Hell Knight's long-awaited return?"

Judge gave me a look, asking me strangely, "What do you mean?"

I smiled at him as I explained, "ever since you turned thirteen, no one in the Holy temple has been able to match up to you in terms of swordsmanship. Now after ten years, you finally have someone whom you can spar with. Aren't you happy about that? Or do you actually think that in between your many duties as Judge Knight you would still have time to run over to the neighbouring country's Church of War and invite the Son of War to a friendly spar?"

Judge fell silent as he considered this before he spoke of his worries, "but he is a Death Lord; he is extremely dangerous!"

"A Death Lord in the midst of the Church of Light-the headquarters of the group of people who specialise in dealing with the undead? Are we the ones in danger? Or is it he who is in greater danger?"

Judge thought about this new point and finally nodded, saying in exasperation, "Whatever you say…… besides, I've just realised……

"He is nowhere near as dangerous as you are."

 

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