Scarlet Exile
I don't own Dog Days
Chapter 2: The New Knight
(Filliano Castle)
The castle was in a state of gloom. Anyone with a heart can tell that much. Maids scuttled around as usual, but plastered on their faces were fake smiles. They were distressed. Even the National Research Institute is affected. This is due to the fact of the two people who knew about the failed summoning were in a deep sadness that simply did not make sense. The National Research Institute is affected, through their child leader, Ricotta Elmar. The castle was affected, through the country's ruler, Millhiore. The castle had made sure to keep the gloom within the castle, and tried indeed. The country itself is slowly being affected. However, only two people know why the two leaders of their country are in such a state: Millhiore and Ricotta.
The reason is this: The failure of the summoning. Millhiore was sure she was on time. And she was sure that it all worked out. But he didn't arrive. All because of that one person who disrupted the ritual. Millhiore didn't know who interrupted her, but she was sure he was against the summoning of the hero. Ricotta is trying to find some clues on site, but always returned glum.
Millhiore wanted Cinque's presence. Where was he? Was he in Flonyard? Or was he still in Earth, waiting for her call. If only Tatsumaki would tell her. But the dog familiar hasn't been seen since the day she sent him to act as the bridge for Cinque. Without her familiar Millhiore didn't know anything about Cinque's current situation. Star-Reading is too random to rely upon. Where are you, Cinque?
(Castle Grounds)
"I wonder what's wrong with the princess…" A knight muttered in between a fight. Normally, this would have earned him a hundred push-ups and a lap around the castle, if it weren't for the one overseeing the training deep in thought. Éclair sighed, as she waved for the knights to continue the spar. She knows something was wrong. But she has neither the authority nor the will to question the princess. And since Rico tends to be out a lot recently, she can't question her.
She had tried to question her brother. There had been a recent council meeting that he was to attend to regarding the behavior of the princess. But apparently that meeting did not yield any results. The Princess eluded the questions thrown at her. She left without a word.
"The only thing that can hope to make her smile once more is Cinque's Return." her brother had told her.
"Guh, stupid Cinque. Still able to screw up badly even when he is not here. When he returns I'm gonna strangle him and say "Why didn't you come earlier, you idiot!" Yes… That sounds right." Éclair had told herself in her head. If she had said that aloud, no doubt she would earn the looks of every knight in a 15 meter radius.
"By the way, Captain." Éclair jerked around to see who had spoken. It turned out to be another knight
"Yes?" Éclair asked impatiently.
"We have a new knight. He was assigned to your unit, ma'am." Éclair nodded in response to this message, and shooed him off. The new knight huh… Well, I guess I'll have to meet him.
Éclair trudged across the yard to see the new knight, armed from head to toe. By simply glimpsing, you could call him the epitome of a knight. But closely you'll see the almost childish expression that guy has. Éclair made a mental note to discipline the knight. How did this guy get past being a page?
"Captain Martinozzi, I am Sir Terry Deviron. I am assigned to be part of the Praetorian Guard Unit. It is a pleasure to be working with you." The knight saluted, except the bright smile was still present.
"Keep your face as stoic as possible when saluting a higher-up." Éclair immediately pointed out. Terry simply grinned in response. Éclair sighed.
"Do 50 pushups and run around the castle. I will only say this one more time. Keep your face stoic." Éclair snarled. Terry nodded and started the pushups. But the grin never wore off.
'You'd expect that no one at all would be smiling considering the princess.' Éclair said mentally.
"Sir Deviron. Why did you join the knights, if you're not willing to follow orders?" Éclair said, though she meant the question to be rhetorical. But Terry answered.
"I only wanted a job at the castle the first time." Terry casually responded. "But the Hero Cinque made me want to be a warrior. Thus, I decided to be a knight."
"Go and run one more lap in addition to the one lap I gave you."
Terry simply nodded. He finished his 50 pushups and started running the laps. Éclair watched him leave.
"He sure didn't complain much…" Éclair muttered. He obviously did not care how much punishment he got. But Éclair didn't exactly want people in her group that didn't take being a knight of Biscotti seriously. Especially since they now have a reputation to keep. Three consecutive victorious wars after countless consecutive losses against the Galletian army was quite a feat (though, technically, the last one was a victory on both sides). If they suddenly lose the next war they are challenged upon, the victories will be attributed to Hero Cinque rather than the Biscottian Republic. Then they'll forever be known as the country that relies on outsiders to win their wars.
Éclair sighed as she saw the knight running past her to do the 2nd lap. At the corner of her eye, she saw a downhearted Ricotta Elmar. Éclair decided she had enough and ran up to the doggirl. But the chief of the NRI avoided the cold glare Éclair was giving her.
"Alright, Rico. Spill it. What's going on? Why are you and the princess so glum?" Éclair did not pull any punches with her questions. But Ricotta simply walked past her and into the castle. IT would seem that Rico did not even notice her. Éclair grumbled, knowing that Rico must have been in real deep thought. She looked at the retreating backside of the orange doggirl. The kitchen chef offered her some treats as she passed, but once more, she ignored the voices around her, keeping herself in her world that no one was able to infiltrate. Éclair grumbled then she once more saw the face of the ever-smiling Terry. Éclair sighed. It was painfully obvious. Terry will NEVER stop smiling.
(Gallet, Nighttime)
Two siblings, one boy and one girl, from the cat empire sighed as they rested in a particular room. These two siblings aren't your normal run-of-the-mill cat siblings that you will find in just any corner of Gallet. These two are the white-haired lion siblings of the country. These two are the last of the Royal Bloodline of Gallet. The eldest is the girl, the one known as Leonmitchelle, and is the one who is known as the leader of the Galletian Empire. Leaning on the door nearby is her younger brother, prince Gaul. The two are normally rather active and likes to move about when they could, but today is one of the days that the serious atmosphere simply takes over.
"Wonder what's wrong with the dog princess… I mean, Biscotti is rather… inactive lately."
"I heard there was some sort of problem that Milhi simply would not share to the rest of the country." Leo-sama replied to her brother's statement.
"That's bad leadership on her part." This earned Gaul a glare from his rather protective sister. "I mean, Biscotti itself is having problems due to this.'
"Their economy is fine, Gaul. There is no need to worry on that part. They're still the world capital of inventions, no matter what any other country says. And they're still keeping the title of strongest military. Only the country's atmosphere sunk."
"Exactly. If the country's atmosphere stinks, then tourism will go to an all time low, right? Eventually, the Economy will go down down down! As for the inventions part, I heard Ricotta is also quite affected by the problem. No Ricotta, means less inventions. And for the military thing, they only have it because we lost to them two times. We could get it back if we attack now, while Cinque's not back." These words suddenly struck an idea in Leonmitchelle's eyes.
"Could it be that it's related to that idiot hero?" Leo asked.
"That's the first thing everyone thought of, you know." Gaul remarked.
"… I wonder… So no one knows if it is the case?"
"Yup."
"… Why don't we challenge Biscotti into a war, then?" Leonmitchelle grinned to Gaul. Gaul simply gasped in response.
"wha… What? Why? I mean… We don't exactly have a reason to attack Biscotti anymore!"
"Maybe… They are not allowed to summon the hero, don't you think?" Leonmitchelle grinned. "I mean, what's the point of a hero if you have no war?" Gaul grinned as he realized what his sister means.
"Ah! So if we challenge them to a war, maybe we can give the dog princess a reason to summon the hero!" Gaul smirked, "Alright then, sis. I guess I'll get the three idiots to be ready for war."
"Please do." Leonmitchelle nodded. Gaul left his sister's room, excited to finally see Cinque once more. Little did he know that Cinque was already summoned. And that his summoning… was not known to have succeeded.
(Biscotti Castle, A Few Days Later)
"Eh? A war?" Lorrain Martinozzi gasped as he sat at the council table. Millhiore herself was also surprised at the declaration. One of the council nodded in a grave tone.
"Gallet has once more challenged us to war. And I'm afraid that considering their forces, we might simply just lose…"
"Especially since of the highly demotivated townspeople." Another council member said accusingly towards their princess.
"I am sorry for what had happened, but did Leo-sama say anything accompanying this war declaration?" Millhiore asked.
"She said, summon your hero." The council shrugged. "I'm guessing that they want us to summon hero Cinque again."
"I see." Lorrain nodded. He turned to the princess. "Princess, can we summon the hero soon?" Millhiore hesitated as she simply looked down.
"… That's the problem me and Rico has been trying to get over as of late." Millhiore replied. "Hero Cinque should have been with us five days ago." This was news to everyone in the council table. "However, during the summoning, I… was assaulted. The next thing I saw was my cercle… I lost contact with Tatsumaki as well. Without him, I am not able to redo the summoning nor am I able to know IF the hero was summoned at all."
"… You could have just told us." A council member said. "We would have kept this quiet if you had wished."
"Yes, but to realize that you failed to do what you set out to do can be rather… intimidating. And I have no clue of where Cinque is. I wonder if he made it into Flonyard or is he still in Earth, waiting to be summoned. Either way… Without Tatsumaki, summoning Cinque is impossible."
"Then we do this our way." Lorrain replied. "We don't need Cinque to fight our battles. We can prove to everyone in Flonyard that we are still the strongest military without him."
"But what would we tell the countrymen?"
"We don't tell them anything. If they realize Cinque is not coming, they may become downhearted. Princess, I would like you to stop being depressed in public. Even if fake, your smile might help us regain our countrymen's spirits." Millhiore nodded. She knew that she must smile for her country's sake.
"So we are all in agreement? We do not tell anyone of the failed summoning. Whatever we spoke of remains within these walls."
"Agreed." Everyone in the room said in unison.
"So let us prepare for war." Lorrain said, standing up and leaving for the barracks. They needed to check all their fortresses for the war. If the dog people had been a bit quieter, they would have heard an excited squeak from above them. A mouse was perched just on the wooden beam above them. It heard everything that the group spoke about. The mouse scurried down the nearest mouse hole, eager to leave as soon as possible.
(?)
The mouse walked through a series of tunnels. Though his brain was small, the mouse was somehow capable of memorizing his route. The mouse continued until it reached his destination. As it scurried down the hall, he met up with a few more mouse friends. He scurried among them with pride. By delivering this message, he would be one of the best spies among the mice of that castle.
As he scurried across the hall the fatigue of the journey has finally worn him down. He decided to take a rest on the side of the wall. Plenty of knights had already tried stepping on them. He tried resting, but he suddenly heard a clatter of boots just a bit forward. He snorted. He knew it was that new knight that was hired just recently. You'd think he would know by now not to wear boots when inside the castle because it scared plenty of mice. He eventually saw the knight just ahead. He was muttering something about his friends. But it didn't matter to the mouse. Right now, he felt as though his legs would give up on him. If this knight decided to step on him, he was doomed. And so will be the message he intended to bring. However, what he did not expect was that the knight would suddenly bend down and say: "Huh… you look tired… You want me to take you somewhere?"
The mouse was surprised. This new knight is weird. The other knights ignored the mice, and there were some who go ahead and torture the mice. But to see this knight decide to help was new. The mouse wanted to refuse, but he knew he was too tired to walk any further. He nodded. The knight picked him up. The mouse pointed to the direction he was running to. The knight nodded and walked. Soon they reached the room that the mouse wanted to go to. The knight lay the mouse down near the hole on the door. The mouse turned to the knight and raised his paw just above his eye in a clumsy salute. The knight smiled back at the mouse. He turned away from the mouse and walked away. The mouse turned as well, but he heard something from the knight.
"… Don't overwork yourself." The knight had said to him. The mouse squeaked back, but it knew that the knight did not understand the squeaks of the mice. It turned around and knocked on the door. The mouse hole opened to see some rat guards.
"Aye, aren't you the mouse sent to spy on Biscotti?" One of the rat guards said. He somewhat looked displeased.
"You actually made it out alive huh? Good for you!" The other rat guard grinned. "The one sent to Gallet was eaten alive!" The mouse smirked. This would make him to be a top spy. The two guards let the mouse in. The mouse went past the guards, but not before hearing that grinning rat guard say: "Alright, I get half your cheese tonight!" The mouse shook his head and walked towards the person at the table.
"Oh, aren't you the mouse I sent to Biscotti? Well, well, well. What do you have for me?" The mouse summoned some Flogna energy from the ground and created a projection of his message. Written in Dogscript, the message said: War between Biscotti and Gallet. The man looked at the words and grinned, laughing in a maniacal way.
"Excellent work, 1st Lieutenant Reepa. When I heard that the Galletian spy died an unfortunate death, I thought you would have gone. Then I saw you walk in, and I thought you had run away. But look, you have brought me one of the most DELIGHTFUL info that I could find. I promote you to Captain, and I would like you to return to your family for a bit. You should expect a big hunk of cheese coming at your home shortly. The mouse squeaked in delight. The mouse turned and ran up the walkway. But as he ran, he heard one thing that he DID not like. Something related to his new friend, that new knight. Something about fighting his friends.
Chapter End
And there we go. I didn't plan the mouse POV, but hey it worked. There're two new knights. Who can guess who the unnamed new knight here is? Is he an OC or a character from the series, that is? So Read on and Review~