…
This is it...
"Halt! do you have an audience with the princess?!"
"Yes."
"Name?"
"Claire Kagenou."
The guards look at each other.
I can hear him whispering not-so-subtly...
"Do you have the namelist..?"
"Why would i have it..?
"Because its your job you dumbass?!"
"Wha- how come its always MY job?"
"Because its what we agreed upon..?"
"Whe-"
I cut them off, as much as i can watch these clowns talk all day i need to get to princess Iris.
"Hey, go call the princess or im going in."
The guard looks at me as if i grew a second head.
"You- Thats treason! get he-"
Suddenly i see a person with long red hair approaching...
"What are you two saying?"
The guards straighten up instantly and look to princess Iris in shock.
"Your highness! this low barony woman just threatened to forcefully enter and see you, so were gonna have her executed for treas!-"
"Get out."
"You- Your highne?-"
"Get out and dont come back tomorrow, your fired. trying to execute someone for something like that... shameless."
The guards look dejected as hell and just leave...
Wow.
Guess the princess doesnt tolerate bullshit huh?
But i guess they were dumb-and-dumber incarnate...
Well, whatever.
"Im sorry if they bothered you Claire, please come on in"
Princess Iris gestures to go inside with her hand and goes inside. I follow her inside as we quietly walk along the royal corridors.
It was a very silent walk, not much was being said or talked about.
Eventually my curiosity got the better of me.
"So what is the situation, your highness?"
Princess Iris looks at me over her shoulder and sighs as she looks forward again.
"This is top secret information, only meant for the Crimson Order. this is why i have to have you in my office and make sure its secure before we talk, this information getting out could be astronomically bad for us."
...
What could be so bad..?
Suddenly, this doesnt look just an opportunity for Kazoto to get a job.
We continue walking in silence for an unknown amount of time.
Eventually however, we managed to reach her office space.
Princess Iris then opens the door and gestures for me to get in as she does.
I get in and sit at the seat in front of her desk.
Princess Iris seems to look around the room for... something.
Im not sure what she is looking for but she is checking everywhere.
And i mean EVERYWHERE, like under her closet, in the closet, under the sofa, the chairs, under the chairs, etc etc...
Eventually after clearing the whole room she goes and looks the door with a key and finally sits on the seat behind her desk.
As soon as she sits she lets out a relived sigh.
Just what is going on?
Princess Iris seems to have caught my confused expression and finally decides to answer me.
"Alright, im guessing you much have a bunch of questions. please ask me as much as you need to confirm your suspicions."
"Alright... first of all, what is exactly going on? why did this have to be so secretive? if this was JUST a job offer, i dont think you would have gone through all the trouble required in order to do a check on the entire room for spyware."
Princess Iris frowns a bit before returning to her neutral expression.
"Your correct, Claire. theres a newly discovered organization, which i honestly have no idea how strong they are but..."
She looks down, seemingly... afraid?
"They are strong enough to make my father tell me that if i want to fight them, i must cut off all connections from the royal family. including funding, personnel and weaponry..."
Thats...
Thats absurd...
She takes a deep breath and looks at me.
"I need talented knights like you if i need to even have a chance of winning... and then ontop of that, theres also the ongoing war with Velgalta while we will have to participate in if we want funding, which isnt even guaranteed... we have to do something huge enough to make being recognized by the government and the king make sense rather then just being the princess, we'll need achievements in order to secure even basic iron swords..."
Wait- what the hell even is so strong..?
To force the kingdom prodigy Iris Midgar to have to get achievements for basic funding like this..?
"I dont know who they are, or what they even want... but i know their name."
"What is it?"
"The cult of Daibolos."
Wait, the childrens fairytal-
"No, it isnt just a fairytale. its real somehow and its avoided us for the last... im not sure how long. all i know is they have been a secret part of Midgar lurking in the shadows for atleast as long as i was a child."
...
"You seem, conflicted?"
"...Its hard to believe something like the cult of Daibolos is an actual force in this world... let alone an extremely ancient and strong one..."
The princess flashs me a look of understanding.
"I was shocked to my core when i found out as well... but i cant have them shut down the Crimson Knights. so what ill do is make it seem like the Crimson Knights is a branch of the knightly order which specializes in warfare and combat on the surface meanwhile, when people join and pass a certain rank they get informed about this fight against the cult and help us defeat it for good."
...
Is this... really ok?
To just... abandon normal life in favor of fighting a bunch of mad people which we might not even be able to win against?
I mean, im not weak by any means. and neither is Kazoto or Niko but...
To make princess Iris even tremble in fear the only the mention of their name...
"Its fine if you dont want to join, after all... this is for sure going to have cult members hurt your family or maybe the cult members ARE your family... its a big web of problems and it will definitely be hard, this fight i mean... this is why, im asking you Claire Kagenou"
Princess Iris then stands up and offers me her hand while the sun is shining behind her.
"To join the Crimson Knights and help me defeat this ancient threat together."
...I cant just stand over to the side and do nothing...
I might not be a hero of legends but, that surely cant stop me from trying to help.
I stand out and take the princess's hand, determination brimming within me.
"Its no doubt going to be a pleasure to work with you Princess Iris."
The princess smiles and nods at me as we shake hands.
We let stop shaking hands and both of us sit back down.
Princess Iris then reminds me,
"Make sure to choose the 3 people responsibly, Claire. this is going to drag them into our fight so you have to have absolute confidence in them. there is no time limit to choosing who you want to enter, just make sure you make the correct choices."
...Niko is definitely joining.
Im not sure about Kazoto yet however, Niko has already proven himself on a multitude of occasions.
His abilities and special curse are going to be useful in a fight in which we dont know how strong the enemy is.
"...Is it fine to suggest one person already?"
"As long as your sure."
"Then i choose Niko Shimo."
"The guy in your class with the curse and the weird artifact?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, inform him when you can of all this and make sure he knows what hes up against then tell me if he wants to join so i can hold the entrance examination for him."
"As you wish, your highness."
"Your dismissed, I look forward to working with you and thank you for your time... Claire Kagenou"
I bow then i say,
"The pleasure is all mine, your highness."
And then i take my leave.
As i exit the room i let out a breath i didnt know i was holding...
This is going to be something alright.
Something huge.
...