"Sir Alfred… The King asked for you …" the voice was cowering, and shaking. He opened an eye to look at the castle guard whose legs are shaking slightly at his presence, not that he didn't hear him coming. This was his favorite spot in the castle garden. The shade was just great.

This was probably the best place in Kanavan.

Everyone seemed to know about his favorite spot though. Probably because he was always seen here when he was supposed to be guarding the castle. That doesn't matter. As long as he's here, the castle and the whole kingdom will always be safe as it could ever be. He's a celebrated hero after all.

"What it is about?" his voice was a little harder than he actually meant because the poor castle guard shook a little bit harder. Was he really that intimidating?

"I-it was supposed to be classified, sir. My apologies," the castle guard swallowed the lump on his throat. "Okay, okay," the blond waved offhandedly to lessen the guard's worries. He didn't want to scare him off any further. He stood up and dusted off his clothes, before stretching his arms and yawning. He was really never the morning person. "It may be a random clean up mission again…" he scratched his head in exasperation. Goblins, slimes, what else? Harpies?

Alfred patted the person's shoulder lightly, but he tensed even more and he just sighed. Everyone in this castle is stiff, prim and proper, and to be honest, it's really boring. Meanwhile, his uniform had a lot of creases, and he almost forgot to brush his teeth. He is a little hungry since he forgot to eat his breakfast, but he could just snag some food in the mess hall - no one would notice, or if they do, no one had the guts to stop him.

He walked towards the castle and waved offhandedly as he placed his free hand in his pocket. "You know what, screw it. go to the mess hall first before meeting the king," he shrugged to himself.

"What are you even doing?" he heard a deep voice as he stuffed his face with the sandwiches to see a man by the door. "Ah.. Ledwgg" he said as a few crumbs fell down the floor which made Ludwig cringe. As far as he knew this Ludwig guy is the current knightmaster – basically the one who sends him to Kerrie Beach to kill off some blue slime and weird birds. "Swallow whatever is in your mouth first," Ludwig said sternly and Alfred did that. "You know why the King asked for me?"

"Sadly, I don't, but he actually sent me to find you since you were taking very long… I suppose it is very urgent," he tapped his foot impatiently, emphasizing the last word. Damn, it seems like almost everyone really knew about his whereabouts. Can't he get a little bit more privacy? But if he actually sent Ludwig to find him, it must be really urgent.

"Oh well," the cerulean-eyed knight shrugged, but he took another cake before following Ludwig as he almost stormed off down the hallway. "Watch the crumbs, or I am going to have you clean that up," Ludwig said after hearing him noisily eat the remaining cake. Alfred rolled his eyes and made a bad lip sync of what he said just to mock him, but managed to quickly shift back to a blank face when Ludwig quickly turned on his heel to check on him.

"What?" he smiled innocently when he received that piercing glare. That smile made a lot of girls (and boys alike) to swoon over. Especially when they are waiting for his arrival back in Kanavan after some long-ass missions. Ludwig did not seem to be convinced, however. Despite that, he didn't say anything and proceeded back to walking towards the throne room, maintaining his perfect dignity as a knight master.
Alfred just pouted childishly as he dragged his boots in the carpet, but before he knew it they were in the front of an enormous wooden door with the carving of the sigil of Kanavan. Ludwig made a polite knock at the door and the door opened on a cue. The ol' king was sitting on his throne (well, what else did he expect), and by his side, there were was a tall, blonde haired guy with glasses standing next to him. His face was almost stern and it seems like he doesn't blink at all. He actually forgot his name, was it, Bernard… or maybe Belward. He heard that he's gay too…

He picked his ear absentmindedly with his pinky but Ludwig stepped on his foot and he made a soft "ouch" noise. Screw all the formalities. He was going to listen anyway.

"Hello, Alfred!" the King says in a jovial tone. "It is good to see you again," the old man scratched his beard lightly, an old habit. "Yes, old man, been a while~"

He finally got a reaction from that Belward person – a slight twitch of annoyance from calling the king old man. He must be new here as a guard, based from his reaction, and Alfred didn't know him too, so there's that

The king's facial expression changed suddenly. "I don't want to beat around the bush… You must have heard, on how the demons have started sprawling over Archimedia when the dimensional doors have started breaking out," his voice is laced with deep worry. Ludwig visibly tensed too.

Actually, no. Alfred had never heard about that, but it actually got his attention. It seems like he knew what will happen next. "They are almost here," the king continued. "The messenger barely survived just to say that."

"I see. Oh well, if you're going to ask me to defend this kingdom, you shouldn't have called me here. That is what a hero like me does all the time," the sunny blond shrugged lightly.
The king made a tired sigh. He must be tired because of many other things too. "Of course. I knew that more than anyone. You were the 35th successor of that family after all…"
He flinched a little at the mention of his family. He wanted to save people not because he had it as a duty, not because that was his last name. He just wanted to do so.
"What do you want me to do then?" he tried to keep a cool voice, he wouldn't want to lose his cool in front of the king.

"You will be going to Archimedia tomorrow, and find the source of the demons and monsters. We don't have much time. We can fend for ourselves here. After all, we have the best marksmen in the continent," he tried to do his usual jovial laugh, but something seemed to be off about it. Alfred narrowed his eyes, suddenly filled with doubt.

"No, I…"

"No, Alfred" the king cut him off, knowing what would he say, the king knew he was going to insist that he would stay. "You should go to Archimedia," he repeated what he said earlier, in a more stern manner. "That is an order. By doing so, you'll be protecting the kingdom, and the world too…" his ears perked up at the last words… Come to think of it, he had always wanted to see the world. He never made it past the borders of the continent, but he made it safe, even the Kingdom of Serdin.

He had always wanted to see the world, to see Aernas, but it seemed like his surname kept him chained in here. Maybe this was a good opportunity after all.

"Oh well~ If that is your wish old man. I guess I can't say no."

The king smiled lightly and said a soft "Thank you."

Alfred supposed that he could say goodbye to his favorite spots in Kanavan, before he actually left. Maybe he'll carve some "Alfred was here" vandalisms using his claymore.