LSK – Side Stories: Faking reality. (Part 3)

*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.

 

When he saw that no one was going to answer him, Creus sighed resignedly and took out the card. Even though it sounded more like his teacher was giving him a task just for the sake of explaining away his absence, he dared not treat it as a joke and ignore it. If his teacher found out that he had ignored his orders, he'd probably experience firsthand why exactly his teacher was acknowledged as the strongest Sun Knight in history.

"Are you really going to see that necromancer?"

Creus blinked and looked up in surprise. Right away, he recognised the boy in front of him. "Little Blaze Knight? Why aren't you in class……? Never mind, forget I asked."

In the middle of his question, he suddenly remembered that he himself was not in class either. And the reason for it – 'My teacher has a date with the Princess' – was better left unspoken. So, thinking of his own situation, he realised that the other might have a similarly unspeakable reason.

"Well?? Are you really going to meet with that necromancer?!" Jacques asked impatiently.

"Of course," replied Creus with a shrug. "My teacher told me to, so I have to."

Jacques stared at him blankly. He couldn't understand why the Sun Knight would have given such a task, but he quickly gave up on figuring it out and just settled for warning Creus, "We, the Church of Light's greatest enemy is the undead, and necromancers are always dealing with the undead. You do know that, right?"

Of course he knew that. Creus scratched at his face and mumbled, "But, it's an order from my teacher……"

"This…… He must be testing you!" Jacques finally came up with a reasonable explanation. "Perhaps he's testing you to see if you would really betray the Church of Light and consort with necromancers!"

Creus didn't think that was the case at all. He knew his teacher far better than Jacques did. Disobeying his orders was among the top three on Neo's list of most hated things. Even if he had to betray the Church of Light, Creus was pretty sure that the consequences of that would be far better than the punishment he would suffer at his teacher's hands should he not do so.

"Well, no matter what it is, I still have to go. It's getting late, so I need to leave now. Bye!" Creus hurriedly bid goodbye to Jacques as he rushed off. It was already nearing evening and he had yet to carry out his task and meet the necromancer. If he had to meet with a necromancer, he'd rather have the meeting take place whilst the sun was still up.

"You--!" Jacques stared at him with bulging eyes before pulling out his sword. "Stand where you are! I absolutely forbid you from consorting with necromancers!"

When he saw that he had drawn his sword, Creus was stunned and felt at a loss…… He then thought, if Jacques already knew that he was going to meet a necromancer, knowing that he knew magic shouldn't make much more of a difference, right?

Oh well, if he blabbed about it, he'll just deny it when they ask.

"Ice Wall."

Jacques stared in surprise at the four ice walls surrounding him. The walls extended all the way up to the ceiling and effectively caging him in.

From outside the frozen walls came Creus' voice. "The Ice Walls will disappear after I've left, so you can come out then."

Jacques felt furious at that and he hacked at the walls with his sword wildly, but the walls held firm against his onslaught. "You bastard!" he yelled. "Let me out! I forbid you from consorting with necromancers! I'm warning you, I'm going to tell my teacher about this!"

"Go ahead and tell him. Just remember to tell him that this was the Sun Knight's orders," came Creus' unconcerned voice.

"Creus!!" Jacques roared from within his icy prison. "I will never acknowledge you as the Sun Knight, you hear me?! You traitor!!"

The faint sound of Creus' footsteps slowed at that before picking up again.

~O~O~O~O~

Jacques was so mad that he immediately stormed up to his teacher and told him about everything. But to his surprise, he didn't get the reaction he expected.

"If that's Neo's orders, then it can't be helped," said the Blaze Knight resignedly. When he saw his student's stunned expression, he sighed and warned him. "You should never mess with Neo. He's not exactly mild tempered. He's not at all afraid of me, and with the exception of Judge and the Pope working together, no one else can stop him."

"But, Creus is going to meet a necromancer!" Jacques cried out. "I'm not acknowledging that guy as the Sun Knight! I'm going to expose his true colours!!"

And with that, he stormed away again.

"Expose his true colours, huh? You've got your work cut out for you then, with so many of them……"

As Blaze looked on as his student ran off, he muttered, "Forget Neo, how many of the other Twelve Holy Knights actually match the descriptions of the legends?"

But then he remembered that his own student seemed to be a perfect match with the Blaze Knight of the legends.

"At least amongst the next generation, you won't have to put up a false front."

Now that he thought about it, he felt rather fortunate that he didn't have to brainwash his student into becoming another person. He suddenly felt rather cheered up.

~O~O~O~O~

Jacques stormed through the streets for a while, stirring up a lot attention from by passers before suddenly realising that he hadn't a destination and had no idea where to go. But as he was still feeling angry with his teacher, he refused to return to the Holy Temple and continued wandering aimlessly around the city.

He was walking down a street when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure…… Creus?

'Hadn't he gone looking for the necromancer? Why would he be wandering around on the streets?' thought Jacques in puzzlement.

But just as the questions were being raised in his mind, he suddenly spotted the lollipops in his hand. Speechless…… so he went to the candy store first? What is he, a kid? A fifteen year old guy still eating sweets?

As he watched Creus get further and further away, he followed behind without a second thought.

He followed Creus all the way into one of the poorer sections of the city. Jacques had never been to this part of the city before, so he looked around him curiously, taking in the dirty streets and old beaten down buildings. As he crinkled his nose against the disgusting stench, he could hardly believe that this was still part of the Sprouting Leaf City.

Not too long after, Creus turned in into one of the old wooden houses.

'Is that the where the necromancer lives?'

Jacques was still pondering on whether he should barge in or not when he saw Creus coming out. The guy was even waving at the house as he called out, "I'll be leaving now then. I'll come and visit you some other time…… Oh alright! I'll bring strawberry lollipops with me next time I visit. I don't want to have to make another trip out to the candy store again every time I come here. Good bye!"

'Next time?!' Jacques glared at him. 'This bastard actually intends to come again?!'

Jacques hesitated as he watched Creus walk back, before deciding against following him back. He drew his sword before stepping towards the broken down wooden house.

When he had walked up to the door without incident, he shot out a leg and gave the wooden door a good kick, kicking it open. He then shouted "Come out! Show yourself, necromancer!"

The inside of the house was covered with cobwebs and dust. If he hadn't just seen Creus walk in and out of this house, he would never have believed that anyone was living here.

He stomped into the house angrily, swinging his blade and cutting a dust-covered table into two. "Stop pretending! Come out! I know you're in here, necromancer! I just saw Creus talking with you just now!"

"I don't think I remember inviting you in, little boy."

Jacques' heart thudded at the voice. He spun around but couldn't tell where the voice was coming from; he didn't see anyone who could have spoken.

"Did Creus tell you to come?"

"I have nothing to do with that bastard!" Jacques cried out angrily. "I'm here to get rid of you!"

"That bastard……? Is that how you address the future Sun Knight? Is that really proper, little Blaze Knight?"

The owner of the voice seemed to have recognised him.

"I refuse to acknowledge that bastard as the Sun Knight!" he roared. "That evil bastard, he has no right to be the Sun Knight, consorting with evil necromancers like you!"

"Evil bastard? You're calling Creus…… evil? Hahahahaha!"

"What're you laughing about?" shouted Jacques. "He's consorting with you, a necromancer! If that's not evil, then what is?"

"Oh? Your views on good and evil are too naïve! But……" the previously light voice suddenly turned dark and foreboding. "You know what? People hate this kind of blind self-righteousness of yours the most, little Blaze Knight."

The floorboards suddenly shook, and Jacques hurriedly muttered an incantation, casting out holy light. However, the holy light only managed to chase away a small part of the house's illusion. He wasn't able to see through the illusion to the rest of the house.

But even though he couldn't see the rest, he could still see clearly the figure of a little girl stepping slowly towards him, a lollipop in her hand. Even though he had an inkling that this little girl was the necromancer herself, he still couldn't force himself to attack a girl.

The girl walked up to him and said, "Since you hate Creus so much, I don't think I need to let you go. In fact," she giggled. "If I killed you, he'd probably thank me instead!"

"What're you talking about--"

Before he could finish, he was suddenly attacked by a dark figure. Even though he had caught the sound of someone coming at him, he hadn't had enough time to do more than raise his sword and block the blow aimed at his chest.

He staggered back from the hard blow, and when he had steadied himself again, he saw that his attacker was a pale faced man with blank eyes and stitched up skin. He didn't look at all alive…… an undead!

An undead wearing a pink apron and wielding a broom.

When Jacques realised that the weapon the undead had attacked him with was actually a broom, he felt like laughing. A little girl necromancer and an apron-wearing undead…… Why was this so different from the descriptions he had been told?

But even if it was just a broom, Jacques dared not let his guard down when he saw the undead coming at him again. He hadn't forgotten that this very same broom-wielding undead had managed to force him back a few steps with just one blow.

"You're not bad! This undead was a pretty skilled swordsman when he was still alive, you know!" praised the little girl. "But, I can't allow you to destroy him. If you destroy him, who's going to help me sweep the floor?"

Just then, the floorboards suddenly shook, causing Jacques to wobble unsteadily. Fortunately, the undead had not taken the opportunity to attack him. But then, the floor beneath him suddenly gave way, and he fell down into pitch black darkness. He could only hear the sweet but cruel voice of a little girl calling out, "Little Blaze Knight, I wonder what your expression will look like when you realise that you've died and become an undead? Hehehe!"

 

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LSK – Side Stories: Faking reality. (Part 2)

*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.

 

Jacques walked aimlessly around the Holy Temple, greeting the passing holy knights and pondering on what he was going to do next……

"Stammer!"

The sudden shout startled him from his thoughts. Jacques looked around him for the source before pinpointing it to a room further along the hallway. He peeped into the room and saw the Earth Knight and his student – Georgo – inside. But the strange thing was – there was also a priest in the room, and the priest was a pretty girl somewhere around his age.

"Georgo! Stammer when you speak! And you should be blushing when you see any girl…… You brat! Look at me when I'm scolding you! Stop flirting with her! And stay away from her!"

Georgo sighed as he looked at the blushing girl wistfully. Just a little more and he would have had her in the palm of his hand, but unfortunately, he dared not push his teacher any further. So he stepped back, but he couldn't resist pointing out, "Teacher, you're not stammering either……"

The Earth Knight realised his too-fluent speech too late and coughed lightly. "I-I was just too-too upset. Y-you were too dis-disobedient…… Argh! I told you to stammer, not for me to stammer! If you don't start stammering right now I swear I'll punch your face in till your teeth drop out. We'll see then if you can speak so smoothly with a few missing teeth!"

When he heard the threat, Georgo immediately adopted a shy and quiet demeanour and nodded his head sincerely. "Ah! I got it, already!"

But the Earth Knight was still not satisfied. "'Ah!' is not stammering! You should say: 'Oh, I-I got it!' Don't add the 'already'! And your expression! You call this sincere and down-to-earth? You're just being rebellious and trying to anger me!"

Hahaha… Jacques quickly covered his mouth with his hands, trying to muffle the laughter escaping him as he withdrew his head from the room.

'Georgo? Sincere and down-to-earth? Hahaha!'

"Look at her!!"

This time when the second roar sounded, Jacques wasn't startled. He noticed that this wasn't coming from the Earth Knight's room however, but from the room next door.

'What is it this time?' he wondered as he peeped into the other room.

To his surprise, the scene inside the second room looked rather similar to the previous one. Similarly, there was a student and his teacher, but this time it was the Storm Knight and his student. And again, there was a female priest in the room, but this time, the priest was older, her curvaceous figure and matured beauty declaring her to be in her twenties.

"Ceo, look at her in the eye," the Storm Knight ordered icily.

Ceo forced his head up to look at the female priest, but he looked rather constipated as he did so.

The Storm Knight then turned to the priest and said, "Madame, please."

"No problem," the female priest said coyly, winking at the handsome little boy as she began posing seductively and throwing him come-hither looks.

This time, Ceo tried his hardest not to look back down, having heard the unspoken threat in his teacher's cold voice earlier, but his face was as red as a tomato, and his blush was even spreading to his ears and down his neck.

"Kiss her."

When he saw that his student could finally stare at a woman without looking away, the Storm Knight decided to bring it to the next level. However, he hadn't expected his student to look at him in a betrayed manner, as if he had just pushed him into the fiery depths of hell himself. A little stab of guilt hit him, so he relented. "Just on the cheek."

"Teacher, can't we just hold hands? Please?" Ceo pleaded, but his teacher's face remained as icy as ever, and there was even a storm brewing in his eyes at this plea. So Ceo turned back to the female priest. The latter no longer had her seductive expression on and was now looking at him as if she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

When he saw this, Ceo felt less nervous. He turned back to look at his teacher once more, but the latter remained steadfast in his cold gaze. Left with no other choice, Ceo gathered all his courage and puckered his lips, lightly pecking the female priest on her cheek before immediately rushing away to hide in the corner of the room, his face red.

When he saw his student's antics, the Storm Knight roared thunderously, "You brat! I've been training you for three years now, and yet you can't even kiss a woman properly, acting as if I'm forcing you to kiss an old hag?!"

"Excuse me?!" The female priest protested in an offended voice.

The Storm Knight blinked at that, but before he could recover, the female priest had already stomped up to him and given him a loud slap.

"No-no! I was saying that you are as beautiful as a hag…… Ah! Stop kicking me! It was a slip of the tounge, I misspoke! I'm sorry!"

At this, Jacques could no longer stand to watch this anymore. He barged into the room – and before anyone could react to his entrance – he grabbed the female priest and landed a loud smooch on her cheek. He then turned to the boy huddled in the corner and said, "See, Ceo? What's so hard about kissing her?"

"That's right! This little brother is way cuter than you!" Pleased with Jacques' actions, the female priest gave him several more kisses in reward before turning on both the Storm Knights in disdain. "Useless men!"

"Let's go little brother. Big sis will treat you to some sweets. What would you like? I'll buy them for you."

"Really?" Jacques' eyes lit up in delight as he shouted, "Then let's go, pretty sister!"

The female priest was even further pleased to be called 'pretty sister', and she nodded quickly. "Of course, we'll go right away."

The priest tucked her hand into Jacques' arm and left the room. But not before she threw the two Storm Knights a dirty look.

The two Storm Knights stared blankly after them as they left the room. After some time, Ceo shuffled up to his teacher and tugged at his sleeve shyly. "Teacher, there's no women now, so can we learn something else instead?"

"You idiot!"

The Storm Knight grabbed his student by the ear and roared furiously, "I was called useless! You brat! Don't you know that being called useless by a woman is a great humiliation for a man? You incompetent brat, if you don't learn how to stare at a woman without going red within a year and how to wink at women within two, I'll-I'll spend the rest of my savings on a whole group of hookers and tell them to gang rape you!"

Ceo pleaded with his teacher, tears in his eyes from the pain from his ears and fear from his teacher's threat. "Please, no! Teacher…… I'll-I'll work harder! I swear I will! I swear!"

~O~O~O~O~

After bidding goodbye to the friendly female priest, Jacques abandoned his previous idea of playing around and instead decided that peeking on the others' lessons was much more fun. And so he proceeded to do just that, eating the bag of sweets he just received from the priest as he did so.

Elmairy was taking care of little animals whilst his teacher read out fairy tales to him. Jacques declared it boring after just one glance.

Next, he peeped into the Cloud Knight's lessons room, but there wasn't a single person in the room. Jacques looked around curiously, wondering where they were.

"That's strange! Could it be that he, too, doesn't need the lessons?" mumbled Jacques as he scratched his head in puzzlement. He then turned to leave……

"Are you looking for me?"

"Ah!!"

Jacques jumped and quickly spun around. A person had appeared right behind him without his noticing anything! And added to the fact that the person was as white as a sheet and looked rather frail and wispy with half his face covered by his hair……

"I-I-I wasn't looking for y-you, re-really!"stammered Jacques. Even the Earth Knight would have nodded in approval if he were to hear his stammer.

The little Cloud Knight tilted his head to the side slowly and said, "You were looking in from outside for quite some time."

"……You were inside the whole time?"

The little Cloud Knight slowly nodded his head.

'That's impossible! There was no one inside……' Jacques felt a chill creep up his spine and so he hurriedly changed the topic. "I-I was looking for the little Sun Knight."

Again, the little Cloud Knight nodded slowly. He then lifted his arm slowly and pointed at the wall. "Creus is in the room next door."

"Er, oh, thanks!"

Jacques hurriedly turned to escape…… but he then stopped when a thought occurred to him. His curiosity overpowering his terror, he turned back and asked, "Is-is your teacher in the room too?"

The little Cloud Knight shook his head. "Teacher is napping under a tree right now."

Phew! Thank goodness the Cloud Knight wasn't in the room, or else he really would have believed that it was a ghost he had seen, and not the Cloud Knight.

Jacques patted his pounding heart in relief before asking curiously, "Then why are you not with him?"

"My teacher told me not to disturb him and find somewhere else to drift in."

'Drift…… Are you sure he said drift?'

Jacques waved his hand at him dismissively and said, "Well, if that's so then you can go back to your drifting!"

When he blinked next, he realised that there was no longer anyone standing in front of him.

"… …"

After a moment of speechlessness, Jacques pulled himself together and walked over to the next room. "I hope it's something more normal this time. After all, Creus is my future boss. If he's too weird, I'm not going to take orders from him," he mumbled to himself as he tentatively poked his head in.

"Child, you must often go looking for undead creatures."

Jacques blinked when he heard that. Why would they be talking about the undead? He looked in and saw Creus questioning the Holy Temple's scariest person – history's strongest Sun Knight.

"To carry out the Sun Knight's vow to eradicate all undead creatures, you mean?"

When Jacques heard this, he nodded in comprehension. 'Ahh… Yeah, that makes sense! That's probably what he meant!'

The Sun Knight wagged his finger and said with a mysterious smile, "No, no, not at all. It's because you have to use them as an outlet for your frustrations."

"Huh?" Both Creus and the eavesdropper outside had identical expressions of surprise and confusion.

The Sun Knight then explained in a serious tone, "Think about it. Every day, you have to constantly smile and forgive every single person, and sing praises of the God of Light with each sentence you speak. If you never vent out your emotions, you'll get depressed, and won't be able to carry out your duties as the Sun Knight capably; if you can't do your job well, you might get fired; and with you losing your job, you'll get even more depressed, till at last, you will depart from this world and join the God of Light. Surely you don't want this scenario happening, do you? "

"…… no, sir."

"Well, that is why you will have to vent your pent up emotions on the undead at least once every month, understand?"

"But what if I can't find any?"

"Not to worry, my child. Here, take this business card. It's for a necromancer specially contracted by the Church. Not only can you request for any type of undead creature, you can even put the expenses on the Church's tab."

"……"

Creus wordlessly took the card, a dazed look on his face. But perhaps he had gotten used to such shocks, for he quickly recovered within a few seconds and calmly put the card into his pocket as if there was nothing strange about the whole thing. He then looked back at his teacher, awaiting further teaching.

However, the Sun Knight merely clapped his hands and said, "Alright, that's it for today. I'll be leaving now."

Creus blinked at that and asked in surprise, "Teacher, where are you going?"

"I have a date with the princess…… Er, no! I mean, I have an appointment with the Crown Prince. We have many official matters to discuss, and also to improve relations between the royal family and the Church of Light…… So, I have to leave now or I'll be late. It is not proper to leave a lady waiting."

'I see, so the Crown Prince is a lady too, huh?' thought Creus in exasperation before reminding his teacher, "but teacher, it is still lesson hours right now!"

The Sun Knight was already at the door when he heard this and paused. Jacques, who was still hiding outside let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't had time to hide yet! So taking advantage of this window of an opportunity, he hurriedly hid himself behind one of the curtains along the hallway.

"Is that right?" asked the Sun Knight a little awkwardly. "It's still lesson hours…… hmmm… that is difficult to explain away. Judge just reprimanded me to take things more seriously not too long ago. Alright then! I'll just give you an exercise to carry out now! You will go and pay a visit to that necromancer I mentioned earlier and introduce yourselves to each other."

And with that, he continued on his way.

Creus immediately cried out worriedly, "Wait! Teacher, are you not going to come with me? That's a necromancer, a necromancer! You're going to go with me for at least the first time, right?"

"You're already eighteen! Stop acting like such a child!"

The Sun Knight was already halfway out the room when a shred of responsibility finally hit him. "Just remember not to attack the necromancer! As long as you don't attack them, you won't come to any harm. Alright, now get to it!"

And so after leaving a meagre piece of advice, the Sun Knight left. Creus stared after his disappearing teacher's back whilst saying with a pout, "But teacher, I'm only fifteen……"

 

Previous                                                                                                             Next

LSK – Side Stories: Faking reality. (Part 1)

*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.

 

Underground cellar:

Jacques pounded desperately on the walls holding him in, but as the walls were made of solid rock, his fists were helpless against them.

He knew how pointless it was, but how could he not do anything? The darkness swallowing him was suffocating, slowly eroding away at his mind. It felt as if, were he to stop trying, to stop making even the slightest effort, he would be swallowed whole, never to emerge from it again……

Suddenly, the only door to this dark prison – the trapdoor above – opened.

The sudden influx of light from outside blinded him, but he squinted against the light, trying to see what was happening. A head of gleaming golden hair appeared in the opening above. Despite the person peering into the dark cellar, the surrounding light from the outside threw the person's face into shadows whilst casting a soft glow around the person, as if the person was glowing with light himself.

The person reached in with a hand, smiling as he said, "Found ya."

~O~O~O~O~

During sword practice, the fencing instructor, Neo, walked amongst the twelve little holy knights, watching each of them carefully for mistakes and correcting them. He felt rather satisfied as he watched their progress. The little holy knights' sword skills had exceeded his expectations, and there were certainly quite a few who have even achieved a professional swordsman's level.

Take the little Judge Knight for example. He had already heard the praises for the boy's sword skills even during the selections, so he already knew what to expect, but he never expected the little Frost Knight's skills to be this good either. And look at the little Leaf Knight. Even though he looked all shy and innocent, his sword skills were surprisingly good too.

"Eh? Where'd the sword go this time?"

Neo blinked at that. This voice…… he turned around, and just as he thought, it was his student – Creus. The latter was standing there looking at his empty hands with a befuddled look.

"Careful!"

Jacques, who was standing near him, suddenly cried out whilst quickly stepping forward to knock the incoming sword away from its oblivious victim with his own sword.

Ceo had looked up at the warning to see the fallen sword lying on the ground not too far from him…… and its pointy blade pointed at him!!

'Thank goodness it was knocked away,' he sighed with relief before hurrying to thank Jacques.

But Jacques had turned to glare at the culprit and was shouting at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm really sorr--" Before Creus could finish his apology, he was suddenly lifted into the air by the back of his shirt. He turned around to see his own teacher smiling at him.

But even though Neo's face was graced with a gentle smile, the chilling look in his eyes did not escape Creus' notice. "Apologise," Neo said coldly.

Creus immediately smiled back a sunny smile before turning back around to bow apologetically at Ceo……Despite being lifted in the air by the back of his shirt, his bearing was still flawlessly elegant and graceful. How impressive!

However before Creus could open his mouth to speak, Ceo immediately paled as he said hurriedly, "No, no, there's no need to apologise at all……"

Unfortunately, Creus had already started. "My dearly beloved Brother Ceo, whilst the sun shines as bright as ever, it's light can sometimes become too much and pierce through to the deepest and darkest corners of a person's heart. This Creus was unable to withstand such glorious light, and for a moment, lost his hold of the blade. I pray that, as one of the God of Light's children yourself, you will be able to forgive this Creus' error. This Creus dares swear to the God of Light presiding over us in the sky above us that he would not repeat such an inexcusable mistake again! "

He endured the long spiel with a long face, and at the end, Ceo sighed lightly and said wryly, "I forgive you, and I won't mind if it happens again. Just don't apologise to me again. Ever. I feel tired just listening to you speak……"

Neo didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this. He had to admit– other than his horrible sword skills – there wasn't a thing he could complain about Creus…… His skill in affecting elegance and his bullshitting ability were extremely good. Looks like they can skip the personality-moulding lessons from now on.

Neo clapped his hands and addressed the rest, "Alright, swords practice ends here. Take a short break before reporting to you own teachers for your next lesson."

At that announcement, the little holy knights dispersed. More than a few of them had let out a sigh of relief. The Sun Knight might always have a smile on his face, but no one was stupid enough to think that that smile was real.

'How boring!' thought Jacques as he jogged to catch up with the rest ahead of him. "Hey, hold on, Aivis! Spar with me tonight?"

Aivis paused to look around, making sure that the Sun Knight had left, before rolling his eyes and answering Jacques in an impatient tone. "Why don't you ask those from your own faction? I am the little Stone Knight, one of the Judge Knight's. We're rivals with those on the Sun Knight's side!"

"So?" snorted Jacques. He then stretched out his hand, palms up, and said, "If we're not friends, then pay me back the money you owe me! You haven't forgotten how much you still owe me, have you?"

"Er……" Aivis tried to change the topic. "Didn't you say you wanted to spar tonight? Why don't you bring someone along from your side, and I'll bring Ecilan. We can fight against one another, or even two against two."

Jacques disapproved of this idea. "Who would want to bring them! They're all a bunch of sissies!"

'You're too loud, Creus is still here!' thought Aivis as he snuck a look at Creus. The latter happened to be walking past them at that moment, and he even smiled at him friendlily.

After Creus had passed them, Aivis smiled helplessly at Jacques as he replied, "Really? Then, at least, what about that… erm……"

Aivis slowed at that. Ceo? Hmm, he's pretty shy and probably included in Jacques' definition of 'sissy'; and Elmairy is definitely out of the question; Creus…… er, forget about him being sissy, no one would go to him for sparring, full stop.

In the end, he sighed and said, "I think I'll just get Ecilan, and the three of us can fight against each other……"

Jacques snorted imperiously, his point made.

~O~O~O~O~

"You don't have to bother with the personality-moulding lessons anymore," said the Blaze Knight to his student. He looked at his student: the boy was always doing something and could never sit still for even a moment; his knight uniform was always messy and the stains on his clothes seem to be ever increasing; and when he spoke, the entire Holy Temple could hear him.

He was even more like the original Blaze Knight of the legends than he himself despite having held the title for over ten years. What else is left that needs moulding?

Jacques snorted rudely at his teacher's announcement. He'd always held these so-called personality-moulding lessons in scorn. Personality moulding? What bullshit!

"Is that all? Then I'm going out to play now!"

'Playing during lesson hours?' The Blaze Knight hurriedly called him back. "Hold on!"

"What now?" Jacques turned back, his arms crossed and his voice impatient as he asked crossly, "If you've got something to say then spit it out!"

'Just look at him! Is this the attitude a student should be showing to his teacher?!' thought the Blaze Knight, incensed.

But just as quickly, the Blaze Knight remembered that this rude attitude was precisely the Blaze Knight's well-known characteristic, and the boy did it even better than he did! The Blaze Knight didn't know whether to be proud or depressed at this realisation.

Even if anyone were to reprimand him on letting out his student during lessons hours, he need only show them Jacques' attitude, and they'd probably agree with him that the boy didn't need any more lessons on personality-moulding!

He sighed and said exasperatedly, "Oh, forget it. Go ahead and play, just don't make too much of a ruckus."

"Calling me back for nothing, weirdo… got nothing to do……" complain Jacques as he stomped out the room.

The Blaze Knight could only smile wryly at the empty room.

 

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LSK – Side Stories: For all of you. (Part 2)

*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.

 

Neo looked at Creus, speechless. The latter was rather rugged and scuffed; his clothes were untidy and there were even a few tears in them, and his face was covered in bruises. Creus looked nothing like the ever elegant and graceful Sun Knight. The only thing one could say in his favour was his beautiful golden hair; it still shined beautifully under the sun despite it being all messed up.

"You've been fighting?"

"I was beaten up." Creus winced as he spoke, the bruises acting up as he spoke. "But it's alright!" he smiled brilliantly. "Roland helped me beat them back!"

"Incompetent!" Neo snorted. "You should fight your own fights!"

"But why?" Creus immediately objected. "There were ten of them! Even with Roland there were only two of us! Two winning against ten is already quite impressive!"

"Shouldn't you be saying one against ten?" Neo retorted with a snort. "With your sword skills, you couldn't have dealt with even a single one."

'Although, as good as Roland's sword skills are, could he really have managed to fight against ten and still win?' A shred of doubt crept into Neo's mind.

"I did help!" Creus insisted.

Neo looked at him disbelievingly.

"I may not have been able to help fight against them, but I helped to block their blows, and I helped to divert their attention away from them, and I even managed to get help! If I hadn't gotten Leithe to help, Roland wouldn't have been able to defeat all ten of them either!"

"You know Leithe?" Neo asked in surprise. 'This boy might not be strong, but he sure knows all the ones who are strong…… I guess one can say that this is a talent too?'

"Nope," Creus replied frankly.

"… …" After a moment of speechlessness, he reminded the boy, "But you said you got Leithe to help."

"Oh…!" Creus sighed impatiently and said matter-of-factly, "I knew at first glance that he was a good guy. If he were to see Roland and I getting beat up by so many, he would have immediately jumped in and help without asking why! So when I saw Roland losing against them I immediately ran to get him!"

Neo was speechless. 'One could call this a talent too, a talent for being a cowardly person……'

He then asked the boy the same question without much hope, "Forget it. I want to ask you this: Why do you wish to be the Sun Knight?"

When he heard this question, Creus' eyes immediately lit up.

"'Cause I want to stand in your place!"

"My place?" Neo frowned, not really understanding him. Is he saying that he wants the Sun Knight's position? But what a strange way to say so.

Creus gestured wildly with his hands whilst saying excitedly, "Yup! Your place. You have so many people standing by your side to your left and right! I counted; there're eleven of them! I want them to stand by my side too; it'll be like I have eleven brothers! That would be awesome!"

Neo chuckled at that. "Even if you were to become the next Sun Knight, they won't be standing by your side. The ones who will be standing by your side would be the next generation's Twelve Holy Knights."

"Huh?" Creus didn't really seem to understand that. "Next generation? Will there still be eleven of them?"

"Of course."

"Then that's alright!" Creus beamed at that. "That's still eleven! As long as there's not one less. But it would be better if there's one more; six to my right and six to my left, how cool is that!"

Neo couldn't really say what he felt when he heard such an answer to his question, so he moved on to the next question. "And what would you sacrifice your life for?"

Like any ordinary twelve year old, Creus had never thought about such a question before. He looked down and frowned as he thought hard. Neo wasn't in a hurry and patiently waited for him to figure out his answer.

Finally, Creus looked back up with a smile. Just then, the afternoon sun glinted on his golden hair, dazzling Neo for a moment.

"I would sacrifice my life to protect."

~O~O~O~O~

Neo smiled as he looked around the hall, everyone's gaze upon him as they waited with baited breath for his decision. He then announced loudly, "I've decided that the next Sun Knight shall be – Creus!"

The entire hall fell silent, but only for a moment before it erupted.

"Why did you choose me?"

Creus certainly looked shocked. Even though he had stepped forward, his eyes kept turning to look behind him at a certain friend.

"Well, about that……"

Neo looked at Roland. The latter's face, arms and legs were unmarred by any bruises or cuts. He then looked back down at Creus with his badly bruised face and smiled faintly, "Probably because of that beautiful golden hair of yours."

~O~O~O~O~

How absurd!

The Twelve Holy Knights plus one soon-to-be-wed royal knight had gathered in the Sun Knight's room and opened up the underground cellar. They had then left carrying barrels of wine with them to some random prayer room where they proceeded to get drunk. After several bottles of wine each, it could be firmly declared that they were all totally and completely smashed.

Roland sighed at the sight before him, yet, in a strange way he felt rather relieved. The absurdity of the real Twelve Holy Knights' actions made the absurdity of a Death Knight staying in the Church of Light insignificant in comparison.

After all, is there anything more absurd than the existence of a wine cellar under the Sun Knight's room?

Roland looked at the most absurd of them all – the Sun Knight. The latter – in a rare occurrence – had finally succumbed to the staggering amount of alcohol in his blood. His cheeks were flushed red and his blue eyes unfocused.

This was so different from his image of the perfect Sun Knight, and yet, why was he the one chosen to become the Sun Knight?

Roland had to admit that this had been bothering for the past ten years. As he recalled the questions the previous Sun Knight had asked him, Roland wondered if Creus had been asked the same questions too. Could it be that he had given a better answer than him?

"Creus."

"Hmmm?"

Roland finally voiced the question that had been plaguing him for more than ten years now. "Why did you wish to be the Sun Knight?"

"For all of you!"

'For all of us?' Roland looked at him carefully. The latter was swaying on his feet and irrefutably drunk. Perhaps he wasn't really aware of what he was saying? Roland frowned, but in the end he couldn't resist asking another question. "And what would you sacrifice your life for?"

"Huh? Whaz zhat you say?"

Creus was now slumped on the table, a silly smile on his face. Roland repeated his question in a louder voice: "What would you sacrifice your life for?"

Creus stared at Roland and then at the rest of the knights gathered in the room before smiling drunkenly.

"For all of you!"

 

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LSK – Side Stories: For all of you. (Part 1)

*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.

 

"Sun!"

Neo halted in his footsteps before turning around elegantly, a surprised cry on his lips. "Oh! Is this not the great exalted Pope?"

The Pope paused at that, staring warily at the Sun Knight before him who wore a brighter-than-usual smile. "Sun," he asked hesitatingly, "I haven't done anything to offend you recently, have I?"

"Hoho, how could the honoured Pope have offended this Sun? It is just that, there's been a rumour going around amongst my fellow holy knight brothers that I have been using magic to maintain my appearance at twenty years old?"

"…… Oh?" The Pope smiled sweetly. "Is that so? How ridiculous! Do they not know that the Sun Knight is naturally youthful even at the old age of thirty?"

"And you, my grace, are as young and cute as ever!"

"Hahaha……"

They stood there, chuckling with each other good-naturedly.

Neo's face suddenly darkened as he drew his Holy Sun Blade threateningly and growled, "If you dare let out my real age next time, I will kill you."

"As if everyone doesn't know that the Sun Knight is hitting thirty this year!" The Pope pointed his staff at Neo and said in a seething voice, "And don't call me cute, or I'll kill you even if it's the last thing I do!"

As the tension between the two thickened, the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching.

Someone's coming!

They hastily kept away their weapons and put on a smile and a solemn expression respectively. The Pope asked with a curious expression, "Sun Knight, there are more or less ten competitors left in the selection for the next Sun Knight; I wonder if you have anyone in particular in mind?"

"Hmm……" hummed Neo thoughtfully. "There are many promising ones this year, so it is hard for me to say which one would be most suitable……"

"You guys can quit acting; it's me."

The newcomer was dressed in all black; even his eyes and hair were black. His brows were furrowed deeply, and overall he looked to be a very stern person. However at the moment, he was wearing an exasperated smile on his face as he walked up to them. "Sun, you may have many promising young ones in your selection, but my choices are rather limited. They're all some lousy, no good brats; a bad bunch overall. I'd probably be struck down by the God of Light Herself if I were to choose anyone other than the exception of the bunch – Leithe."

"Leithe?" Neo repeated, a question in his eyes.

The Pope rolled his eyes at him and prompted, "You know, the one who showed the best sword skills in the fencing round?"

"Ah! That one!" Neo nodded in comprehension.

"Oh, you! Can't you try to remember something other than things related to fencing?" Judge sighed exasperatedly, but he didn't bother continuing when he saw Neo's uncaring face. "You have quite a number of promising lads. Who are you going to choose? Roland? Lanceler? Ankesar?"

Judge wasn't the only curious one, for even the Pope was staring at Neo with undisguised curiosity. However, Neo merely blinked back at them.

A thought suddenly crept through Judge's mind, and he asked, "Don't tell me you don't remember even a single name?"

Neo shrugged nonchalantly. "I remember Roland. That boy's fencing is very good."

"You—honestly……"

Neo suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and there's Creus."

"Creus?" Judged repeated, unable to put a face to the name.

"That boy with the amazing divine skills?!" The Pope shouted, forgetting himself. "No way! I want to recruit him into the Hall of Light; I forbid you from choosing him!"

"Did you remember Creus because of his good sword skills too?" Judge asked Neo curiously.

"No," Neo frowned. "I remembered him because his sword skills were so poor that I couldn't forget him!"

The Pope was immediately all smiles when he heard that. "If that is so then don't choose him. His divine skills were so amazing that he left a very deep impression on me. He is definitely priest material! Not a knight!"

'One only has eyes for fencing, while the other – divine skills. Neither of you are better than the other,' thought Judge wryly.

"So, you're choosing Roland?" Judge nodded in approval. "I remember that boy too. His fencing is indeed impressive, and he looks to be a very good boy too."

"Roland, huh?"

Neo thought it over in his mind, unable to find any fault with it. But then again, other than their fencing skills, he didn't seem to know much else about the boys, and the Sun Knight shouldn't be chosen based on their fencing skills, right?

"You don't agree?" asked Judge when he noticed Neo's hesitation.

"No."

Neo frowned and replied absentmindedly, "I need to think about it some more."

~O~O~O~O~

"Why do you wish to be the Sun Knight?"

In order to base the choice of his successor on something other than fencing skills, Neo decided to ask this question of every one of the participants.

"To uphold justice" was the most common answer. Neo smiled and then asked, "And what is justice?"

Most of the boys would pause at this next question.

'To uphold justice?' Neo thought mockingly. 'What would a twelve year old know of justice? Their answers were more or less some foolish half-assed idea that they heard from adults.'

 

"Why do you wish to be the Sun Knight?"

Neo looked at the brown haired boy before him intently, hoping for a different answer from this boy.

Why? Because this boy was Roland. And as can be expected from the one with the best fencing skills, his gaze remained calm and steady, showing years of discipline and hard work.

"I want to punish all criminals!" A glint of righteous hatred in his eyes as he answered the question.

Neo blinked at that in surprise, smiling wryly. This would probably have been Judge's ideal answer…… and yet it was coming from a competitor for the position of the next Sun Knight?

He thought about it before asking again, "And what would you sacrifice your life for?"

Roland answered firmly, "I would sacrifice my life to punish the evildoers!"

'You've entered the wrong selection, my boy. You should have gone and competed with that Leithe boy and give Judge another option to choose from,' Neo smiled wryly.

~O~O~O~O~

"Hey, have you made your choice yet?"

Neo turned around to see Judge jogging up to him. "I don't know," he replied.

"The selection's tomorrow already, and yet you still haven't decided?" Judge asked in disbelief.

Neo couldn't find a single thing to retort his friend, and so instead he asked him, "Judge, have you asked your little Judge Knight why he wants to become the Judge Knight?"

"Of course," answered Judge with a nod. "The Judge Knight have always had a rather poor reputation, and there are hardly any good selections in every generation's selections. But not only is Leithe good with a sword, he is also strong of character and is sure to do well in anything he choose, so I was curious as to his reason for choosing to be the next Judge Knight."

"Hold on!" Another thought struck Neo when he heard Judge's reply, "If that is so, then why did you choose to become the Judge Knight?"

Judge smiled at him. "You've known me close to twenty years, yet you're only asking me this now? I'll tell you if you tell me why you chose to become the next Sun Knight."

"I……" Neo blinked at that. "I forgot."

"That is so like you……"

"I really forgot! And I don't really need a reason, do I?" said Neo impatiently. "What twelve year old kid doesn't dream of becoming the next Sun Knight?"

"That's true. The Sun Knight has all the fame and glory; unlike the Judge Knight who is feared and avoided by everyone. "

Neo went silent at that and asked tentatively, "Do you ever regret it?"

"No! I never have and I never will!"

Judge turned to look at Sun and told his story.

"My father was a drunkard. Not only was he a drunkard, he was also abusive. Whenever he got drunk he would start hitting people, and my mother suffered the brunt of his attentions. My mother was the first to be killed, beaten to death by him. He threw her body into the river and told everyone that she had drowned, but I had seen everything. My sister was then next. He had beaten her to death when she was only three years old. I was twelve then, but I never said a word to him about it. I merely chose to join the selection for the next Judge Knight, and when I was selected, I told my teacher about my father and let him bring my father to justice."

Neo was speechless. Despite having worked alongside him for the past twenty years, he had had no idea about this part of Judge's past. Could he really have been too focused on his fencing?

"So when I asked Leithe why he wanted to be the Judge Knight, I had actually expected to have to throw another sinner into the Judgment cells," Judge continued on calmly. "But to my surprise, he refused to tell me the name of the person. He merely told me that he wished to become the next Judge Knight so that all sinners wouldn't get the chance to commit their second crime."

"And are you satisfied with this answer?"

"I have no right to say whether I am satisfied or not, for even I cannot give a better answer. So Neo, did you ask this question too?"

"Yeah." Neo frowned and said hesitatingly, "But it's different, you and I. I haven't found a satisfactory answer…… I-I don't even know what the right answer is. "

"You've asked all of the participants?"

"No……" Neo shook his head with a frown. "There's still that Creus, but his fencing skills……"

"Go and ask him," smiled Judge encouragingly. "If even I can find a satisfactory successor from that group of hooligan brats, surely you'll be able to find your little Sun Knight?"

 

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Book 3: Rule C – The Twelve Holy Knights’ Third Shared Rule: “No matter how lame/foolish the Sun Knight looks, never ever provoke his wrath.”

*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.

 

Royal Palace of Moon Orchid

"Aahhhhhhh!!!!!"

An ear-piercing scream pierced through the quiet night, coming from Princess Alice's room.

Princess Ann and a group of knights burst into Princess Alice's room, but was greeted with the sight of her royal highness crouched on the ground, sobbing and burying her face in her hands. When she heard them burst into her room, she shrieked in a panicked tone, "Get out! All of you get out!!"

The knights looked at each other in confusion, but upon seeing no one else in the room, they turned to look at Princess Ann who nodded her head, dismissing them.

Ann walked over to her distressed sister's side and asked carefully, "Sis, what's wrong? Was it a spider?"

Alice just shook her head, not saying a word.

Ann grew more worried and said, "I'll go and get someone--"

"Don't go!" Alice hurriedly stopped her sister.

Ann paused. 'Don't do this, don't do that. Just what was wrong with her?'

"Sis, you're really worrying me like this," she said exasperatedly. "No matter what it is you have to tell me so I can help you."

Alice slowly lowered her hands and looked up, but upon seeing her sister's stunned face, she burst into tears again and started wailing.

Ann had a strange expression on her face and she asked in bewilderment, "Sister, your face…… why is it so dark? Wasn't it just fine this morning?"

"I had just finished wiping off my facial mask, when I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my face and screamed…… My skin……" she sobbed.

'Cheh! So it's just this little problem?' Even though her face had turned darker, it wasn't that bad. Ann looked at her sister, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. "I've told you not to play around with all those facial creams. You see now? Now you've gone and used some questionable cream and ruined your fair complexion!"

"How can it be?! I had carefully followed the instructions!"

Alice hurriedly showed her sister the instructions for whitening cream that the Sun Knight had given her.

"'Sand, Evening primrose petals, Root from a Venus-fly trap, Essence of Skunkweed, Yellow Ochre, Unripe Raspberries and black squid Ink. Ground all ingredients together before adding in ochre and ink. Heat up the mixture to 100 degree before applying to skin. Time it for about three hours before washing off,'" read Alice.

Staring down at the strange instructions, Ann could hardly believe her sister actually dared to apply them to her face. After a moment, her expression turned even stranger and she asked her sister carefully, "Sis, where did you say you got this from?"

Alice answered without trying to hide anything, "From the Sun Knight. His skin is so soft and smooth and fair, there shouldn't have been any problems!"

'I knew it……' Ann smiled wryly and said, "Sis, why don't you try piecing together all the capital letters?"

Realising that something was up, Alice quickly looked down and read out, "S E R V E S Y O U R I G H T…… 'Serves you right'! Aahhhh!!!"

The liche lost a body, Solerwaith had been beaten to an inch of his life, and now even she herself had not escaped his wrath……

Alice's screams continued to ring through the royal palace for three days and three nights.

"Sun Knight!! You shameless despicable bastard!!!"

~O~O~O~O~

One day, Leaf carefully opened another letter from his dearly beloved Ann.

 

My Dear Leaf,

What you said to me about the Twelve Holy Knight's Third Shared Rule: 'No matter how lame/foolish the Sun Knight looks, never ever provoke his wrath' is so true! After continuously treating her face with various whitening creams for a month, my sister's skin has yet to recover even a little and is still as dark as ever.

Because her lover's injuries were mostly healed by the Sun Knight, he was able to return to the Church of Chaos and back here again to propose very quickly. However, my sister dared not appear before him before she regains her previously fair skin, and she dared not accept his proposal for the same reason. She is now crying in her room every day. But even if she were to cry every single day, her skin still won't turn fair again.

Ahh!! That Sun Knight is sooo scary! Leaf, make sure you don't provoke him! If you do, quickly escape and come over here. I'll ask Michael to hide you in the church of War. Maybe that way you could evade his wrath.

Praying that you never ever get on the Sun Knight's bad side,

Your Ann.

 

End of Third Volume

 

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RECIPE FOR DISASTER:

Sand,

Evening Primrose,

Root from a

Venus-fly trap,

Essense of

Skunkweed,

 

Yellow

Ochre,

Unripe

 

Raspberries and black squid

Ink

Ground all ingredients before adding in ochre and ink.

Heat up the mixture to 100 degree Celsius before applying to skin.

Time it for about three hours before washing off.

Book 3: Step 10 – The Tenth Step in Rescuing a Princess: “Start a love story with the Princess.”

*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 Church of Light! My Holy Temple! Ah, my heart was filled with such great joy to see the gleaming towers of the Church before me. Like the prodigal son returned home from years of travel, I, too, felt that I was welcomed back in the warm embrace of a loving mother……

I'm finally back! Back to my beautiful days of temple life!

Although I managed to maintain my graceful bearing as I dismounted, I wasn't able to stop myself from walking just that little bit faster. I wished to return to my dearly missed room which I had not seen for over a month, but on my way there, I noticed a large crowd gathered in the Holy Temple's public courtyard. My brows furrowed when I sensed two very familiar people right in the middle of the throng.

Roland and his vice-captain, Dylan.

Even though they were surrounded by a large group of people, I could still hear the clanging of swords clashing against one another. I was alarmed and furious at this. How dared they! To actually start a fight with each other in the Holy Temple itself!

I started shoving my way through the crowd towards the centre. The shoved holy knights turned to give me annoyed looks, but when they realised just who it was they were glaring they immediately leapt aside in surprise.

I finally made my way to the centre, and sure enough I saw the two of them wielding swords and attacking each other ferociously, showing no mercy to each other. I felt a jolt of horror shoot through me; if I were to stop them a second too late, would I find one of them dead at the sword of the other?

"Stop this at once!" I shouted at them furiously, and was gratified to see them stop. I then turned to glare at a familiar figure standing amidst the watching crowd and shouted, "Adair! Why didn't you stop them?!"

Adair stared at me in surprise, before hurrying over to my side and explaining in a quiet whisper, "Captain, it's all right. The Hell Knight Captain and his vice-captain are merely sparring against each other. In this past month, they can always be found sparring here around this time; sometimes, even the Judge Knight would join in with them."

When I heard that, I quickly looked back at Roland and his vice-captain, Dylan. The both of them had long since stopped and were looking at me, not at all looking as if they were at each other's throats…… Oh dear, it seems I had misunderstood the situation. I couldn't help laughing at myself. Looks like Leaf's death had affected me more than I had thought. This is the Holy Temple's public courtyard! People keep passing through here; it would have been impossible for them to stand by and watch as one of the Twelve Holy Knights and their vice-captain kill each other.

And even if Adair did not stop them, Judge surely wouldn't have allowed such a thing to occur.

Just then, Adair leant in and added, "Captain, the Hell Knight Captain promised Dylan that if he could best him in a duel, he would give him back the position of captain. However after only ten days, Dylan was finally convinced. Right now, the Hell Knight Captain is actually training the Hell Knight Division with their sword skills."

"So the problem has been solved?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, sir." Adair nodded and said, "Now, Dylan would be the first one to leapt forward and defend the Hell Knight Captain against any slurs."

I nodded in satisfaction. "Then please explain something for me, I'm going back to my room for my skin whitening regime."

"Captain?" Adair stared at me in incomprehension.

Suddenly noticing my blunder, I hurriedly tried to cover it up. "…… I mean, I'm going back to my room to recuperate."

"Yes, sir. You've worked hard, sir."

I turned to continue on to my room, and as I walked away, I heard Adair's explanation to the crowd: "Nothing happened, got it?"

And everyone replied in unison, "Got it."

Ah, not bad, my very capable vice-captain. He couldn't be bothered with trivial excuses, just like his own dashing captain.

"Creus!" a voice called out.

I turned around to see Roland coming after me. I smiled and asked, "How are you adjusting to life in the Holy Temple?"

"Very well. But, is it really alright for me to continue on like this?" he asked when he had caught up with me and continued to walk beside me. He then hesitated a little before saying, "If my real identity were to be discovered, then you would be……"

I rolled my eyes and said exasperatedly, "After living in the Holy Temple for a whole month, you still haven't got it? If Judge and I were to work together and point at an apple and call it a tomato, that apple will henceforth forever be known as a tomato."

Roland merely frowned at that without saying a word.

"Stop worrying. Even if you were to be discovered, at the very most you would be burned to ashes," I then purposely said, "Should that time come, as long as you willingly let yourself be burned, I won't be affected at all, so you have to promise me that if we were discovered, you will allow me to tie you to the stake to be burned."

"I promise," Roland said solemnly.

I smiled at that. Roland wouldn't worry if he believed that his sacrifice could solve all problems. He feared not at all for himself, but for the others involved. So this is the best way to convince him to stop worrying. If it were Judge, on the other hand, he would have grilled me further on questions like 'do you swear to the God of Light that you would really burn me on a stake?'

"Alright, Captain Hell Knight, you may continue with your division's sword practice. This Sun is tired and wishes to rest."

"Alright," Roland nodded solemnly, before promising seriously, "Creus…… no! Sun, I swear to you that I will carry out my duties as the Hell Knight properly."

I let out a sigh of relief to hear that. Roland's issue has finally been settled once and for all. Looks like I have a great many carefree days ahead of me!

~O~O~O~O~

A few days later, a messenger from Moon Orchid arrived, raising questions from the King about what secrets the Church of Light could be keeping with Moon Orchid.

Under the watchful eye of the Twelve Holy Knights as well as a representative from the royal family – Elliot, the messenger from Moon Orchid cheerfully took out a large stack of letters and said, "My country's Royal Princess bid me to pass these on to the Holy Temple's Leaf Knight."

Everyone stared at the thick stack of perfumed letters, nearly as thick as Storm's workload.

The Twelve Holy Knights then broke out into knowing smiles.

Elliot scratched at his face awkwardly, his earlier stern countenance disappearing right away.

Leaf, on the other hand, quietly accepted the letters, not daring to look up at anyone. However, the messenger wasn't satisfied, and said to him, "Her Highness also instructed me not to return without a reply."

Leaf's head went even lower as he whispered out quietly, "Alright."

And then, under everyone's avid gaze, he took out a dozen letters – not perfumed though, but probably because Leaf was too poor to afford perfume – and handed it over to the messenger.

The messenger accepted the stack of letters in satisfaction and left.

Blaze was the first one to run up to Leaf and pounded him on his back. "Leaf, you little brat," he hollered. "You actually hooked up with a princess!"

"My God of Light! Who would have believed that the first to hook up with a princess would be the nice guy, Leaf?!"

'Actually, the honour of being the first to hook up with a princess should fall to Elliot,' I pointed out in my heart.

"The world sure has changed!" Earth Knight bit out bitterly. "Even the nice guys can end up with a princess!"

The Moon Knight looked at the cross of the God of Light with tears streaming down his eyes and swore, "I'm going to become a nice guy too!"

I pouted at that.

'I'm a nice guy too! And I'm the head of the Twelve Holy Knights, I'm more handsome than Leaf, and I have a higher salary than him. So why do all the princesses only call me shameless and despicable?!

'Sob, sob. I-I can only stick to my temple life and gaze on at the beautiful female priests in the Hall of Light to comfort myself……

'Damn it! I'm going to be a temple guy forever!!' I cried out in my heart.

Just then, Judge walked over and leaned against the window I was looking out of and stared at the neighbouring Hall of Light. After a while, he spoke up. "The Hall of Light is on leave today."

"I know that."

"Then what are you looking at?"

"A sad empty dream……"

We stared out at the empty hall totally devoid of life for a few more moments, before Judge spoke up once more. "When Leaf sent the message back asking for back-up, he mentioned that there seemed to be something wrong with your eyes."

A jolt of alarm pierced through me, but outwardly, I merely shrugged my shoulders and said, "He was just thinking too much. Do I look like I'm blind? A blind staring at gorgeous women? How ridiculous."

"Then tell me, what colour is that bird perched on the window sill over there?" he asked calmly.

I hesitated for a moment before answering carefully, "White."

A silence fell at that, and after a long time, Judge sighed tiredly and said, "Creus, how long did you think you could keep it from me?"

'I should have known I wouldn't be able to hide it from him,' I thought with a wry smile.

In the beginning, I had used the excuse that I was still weak from the resurrection and stayed in bed in Leafy Forest for several days. Whilst appearing to be resting, I was actually desperately training myself to use my mage sight in place of normal vision, and had hardly slept in those ten days. I thought I'd managed to wield it to perfection. Even when chasing after the enemy, Princess Alice, Solerwaith and Pink hadn't even noticed the fact that I was blind.

After that on the way back to the Holy Temple, I had further improved on my mage sight and even the minute details of an object had became clear to me just from examining the object's elements…… What? You don't understand? Sigh! Okay, for example, I was able to tell the number of buttons on people's clothes and stuff like that.

And in the end, I was even able to get a rough idea of a person's face and could tell what kind of expressions they were making…… I had gotten so good at mage sight that I had nearly forgotten that I was blind in the first place!

But, the one thing I can never see again was 'colour'. I couldn't even tell if someone was beautiful or ugly anymore. Back then in the cave when Alice had asked me tearfully if she was beautiful, I honestly had no idea. In my mind, the only image I could get of her was a bunch of different elements combined together into the shape of a young woman. It was impossible for me to judge anyone's beauty anymore.

Judge frowned and said in a faintly accusing tone, "You never mentioned that one would have to pay such a steep price for a resurrection."

"They don't have to pay such a hefty price," I agreed calmly. "But whilst I was casting the resurrection, I had pleaded with the God of Light and agreed to 'pay the price' for a perfect resurrection of Leaf. As you should know, I have always been cautious and would never gamble Leaf's life on that twenty-five percent success rate!"

Judge went quiet before saying, "If that is so, then you need not keep blaming yourself for Leaf's death. Every time you look at Leaf, you have this sorrowful look in your eyes."

I cycled a deep breath before declaring quietly but forcefully, "I will never leave behind my comrades again, never!"

"And I will tell them that they better jump down a cliff and leave behind an incomplete corpse rather than to die in front of you." Judge countered calmly. "You never know what you might lose the next time."

"… …"

'Even if they were to jump off a cliff, as long as half a head still remains, I could probably still save them. It'll just be a matter of how much I'll have to sacrifice,' I thought mutinously.

Judge then let out a sigh. "You cannot save everyone, Creus. I hope you understand that."

"I know." 'Probably……'

"Other than the lack of colour, are you otherwise affected by your blindness?" Judge probed.

I tilted my head as I thought about it. I don't think I need to mention about my lost sense of aesthetics? So I answered him honestly, "There were a few in the beginning, but after having improved my mage sight, they can all be overcome by it now. In fact, I can 'see' way better now than I did before; I now have three hundred and sixty degrees vision. But other than that, I am only missing colours."

"Speaking of which," I asked curiously, "what was the bird's colour?"

Judge paused before answering, "It was white."

"You lied to me," I said expressionlessly.

"Yes, I did," Judge admitted without a trace of guilt, before adding, "And if you try to hide things from me again in the future, no matter how secret it is I will still expose it in front of the Twelve Holy Knights. Now, think long and hard on how you're going to apologise to the Hell Knight, for I'm going to tell him about your blindness. I want him to watch out for your safety."

"Don't!!" I begged him. "If you do that, Roland's going to follow me around twenty-four seven! He doesn't need to sleep or eat or even use the toilet…… Oh my God! I don't want a guy following me around wherever I go! I'll go crazy!"

"Hey, hey! Judge, don't walk away! Listen to me; as long as you don't tell Roland, I promise to do everything you tell me to, okay? Leithe Judge--!"

 

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