August 31st, 2018. Pendragon.

Even though Bismarck knighted us during that shitshow of a trial, we haven't actually been allowed to go back to Area 11 yet. No, the Dipshit of One said we have to stick around another couple of days for a proper knighting ceremony with the Emperor – as if I had any damn need to be in the same room with that memory-manipulating bastard.

So we're stuck in a fucking locker room getting changed after the fight, waiting to be told where we're going to be allowed to stay until then.

Because apparently an imperial princess's hotel suite isn't good enough for a Knight of the Round, or some nonsense like that.

you really do come from a world free of aristocrats, Suzaku asks in wonder. Don't you partner?

Eh… they still kind of run it even without their titles, there's just a few extra steps involved – not only that, but they have even more money and fewer obligations on how to use it.

Before that discussion can go any further, a knock on the locker room door gets our attention.

"Sir Kururugi, you decent in there?"

Sounds like Gino…

Have I ever said how weird it is that you can so easily recognize the voices of people we've never met?

It's a little late to complain about that now.

"I am," Suzaku replies as he buttons up the shirt to our brown ASEEC dress uniform. Man, we barely even got to wear it… "Will you be coming in, or am I free to come out?"

The door swings open as Gino steps through, Monica following a step and a half behind him. As she steps out of his shadow, Gino turns back over his shoulder. "C'mon Lady Ernst, you can at least say hi after coming this far along!"

"I have no intention of getting overly friendly with either of you," an unfamiliar voice coldly replies from the hallway.

After a moment, however, a woman steps into view – tall, dark, and serious. "All the same," she admits with crossed arms as she turns to us, "your strength truly impressed me. Eleven or not, I would have personally demanded that Lord Waldstein put you in your place if he hadn't done so already of his own accord."

Tch.

"In my place, Lady Ernst? I'm afraid I don't quite follow."

The dark-skinned beauty raises an eyebrow at our tense reply, before an epiphany seems to hit her. "…I suppose it's natural a fighter of your background would have misunderstood my phrasing; I meant that someone of your demonstrable power rightfully belongs at the top of our empire's order, not lost among the ignorant rabble."

Monica's cough into her fist sounds suspiciously like it's covering up a laugh. "If you wanted to congratulate Sir Kururugi on his promotion to the station of Knight of Ten, wouldn't saying it plainly have been so much simpler?"

Dorothea scowls at the blonde girl, while Gino sighs. "Man, and here I thought I'd get to be the first to say it. Still, that was one heck of a performance," he adds with a grin, extending a hand toward us. "You were really dancing with the angels out there, buddy!"

Dancing with the… what?

Suzaku accepts Gino's handshake for decorum's sake, but doesn't stop our confusion from showing. "I'm… sorry?"

"Oh, my bad," Gino says, a sheepish laugh. "Back when I used to watch air shows as a kid, I always thought… doesn't matter, anyway, the point is that you're the real deal. And I'd like to be the first to properly welcome you to the Knights of the Round. I understand you might be feeling pretty cooped up right now, but trust me – once everything gets made official, you're gonna miss having this kind of free time without three hundred fires to put out."

Suzaku hesitates, unsure of what he's supposed to say or do next.

So I yank the wheel out of his hands, and put a little more pressure on Gino's. "Three hundred fires, huh? I guess that's why Bradley wasn't more supervised – because you needed the extra pair of hands for paperwork? Given that the obvious sadist going around calling himself a Genius of Homicide apparently wasn't one in those fires. So clearly not one of those fires, in point of fact, that that bastard who promoted me wouldn't even listen to a word about his victims–!"

Gino jumps at the heat in my tone, before straightening up and getting serious. "Huh? Look, I wasn't too thrilled about that either! But I convinced the others to look into your evidence during the duel, and it's been judged credible enough for now that a more thorough investigation's been ordered."

Monica nods, stepping close and offering a handshake – the expectation being that first I'll have to let go of Gino to accommodate her, and second that I probably won't be as harsh with her as with him.

Annoyingly, she's pretty much right. "Once a few more things have been properly put in order," she explains, "the Valkyrie Squadron will be called back to the capital for deposition–"

That, however, sets Suzaku off enough that he takes back over. "Why? They've already recounted everything they suffered at the hands of that bastard once, and I gave it to you on video. You just told me their testimony was accepted as credible, so I don't see a point in dragging them halfway across the planet just to make through them go through the whole thing again."

"And while they have my sympathies," Monica counters, "I won't compromise my own preferred standards of evidence in handling the investigation. While what you gave us was in no way worthless, but it's still not as much as I would like–"

"So you're going to keep extending their involvement in this business just to sate your own perfectionism? To hell with that, if a Round has to oversee the inquiry then I'll do it!"

Monica's eyes practically seem to flash in the locker room's flourescent lighting, though with what I couldn't say. "You don't realize what you're volunteering for, Sir Kururugi."

"Probably not," Suzaku admits, before I take back over and sneer. "But it's not like you were going to try and put what's left of the body on trial, right?"

I'll give Monica one thing. Her patience is a hell of a lot stronger than mine. "There's more to administering the law than just handing out punishments to criminals. Without the fullest possible knowledge of Bradley's crimes, His Majesty's justice can't be rendered in totality–"

"Don't you talk to me about justice in the same breath you use to invoke the Emperor!" we snap. "Not when Clovis butchered an entire city's worth of people in Shinjuku to cover up his illegal cybernetics testing! Not when Cornelia was considered entirely in her rights as a mere General to duplicate that massacre just for the sake of trying to draw a single individual out of hiding!"

Before either of the pair can answer, we get our phone from out of our pocket and barely hold back from throwing it at them, the screen already showing one of a few pictures we copied and downloaded to it ahead of time just in case.

"Jesus Christ!"

Monica doesn't share in Gino's curse of alarm, but her eyes do grow wide at the photo.

"This is a still image of my combat data from Shinjuku," Suzaku explains. "You see all these corpses in the street, and how there's no weapons anywhere near them?! You see the children?! The elderly, too starved to be capable of fighting back if they'd wanted to?!"

Gino grimaces and turns away with clenched fists, while Monica just looks down. That they have the decency to act ashamed… I don't know if that's supposed to make us more or less pissed off. "THAT'S the Area System Britannia forces on conquered nations! And if you Knights of the Round are at the top of society's order," I add with a glare at Dorothea outside, "then you're as responsible for this blatant evil as anyone else! Or are you going to tell me with a straight face that none of you have ever actually been to a recently conquered Area?! That you've only strayed from the nice and comfy imperial core when called to some desperate front line, and you let yourselves stay ignorant about all this?!"

It takes… entirely too long for either of the blondes to say anything to that. And all I can do in the end is laugh. "Holy shit… hahaha… you get all this hype, but… you're really just a bunch of sheltered nobles who don't even know anything! Hahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA–!"

"Oh please," Dorothea drawls with a roll of her eyes as she stalks inside. "Ranting and raving about your own self-righteous convictions, you're worse than Nonnette…! Tell me then, if you're so self-assured in that righteousness – why are you here preaching, instead of slaying that evil where it stands? You boasted earlier that you'd kill Lord Waldstein and hold him to account for his decisions, and yet here you are bemoaning that he's seen fit to give you authority and status that countless others would sell their souls for! Your hands are no cleaner or dirtier than those of every other weakling who takes the path chosen for them by someone stronger… but instead of accepting the life you're given with dignity, you act like a victim and play for pity from anyone weak enough to lend you their ear!"

Before Suzaku or I can respond, she jabs us in the chest with her pointer finger. "You bring up Prince Clovis's crimes? His victims were avenged by Zero."

Poke. "You bring up Cornelia's actions at Saitama, but then ignore that your own comrades interfered in that operation, mitigating the damage she caused, and then you bested her in a duel. Those people have been avenged."

Poke. "You're still furious about Luciano Bradley? As pointed out, you already killed him. His victims have been avenged. In every crime you see fit to complain of, the stronger side has already served its justice and provided for the weak. Stop obsessing over old news and move on."

Dorothea stares down at us with the ghost of a smirk, like she's dead certain she's destroyed us with facts and logic, and is just playing it cool to look like she's not having too much fun. Maybe she thinks she's trying to win with some grace, even while satisfied in the belief that she's gotten us to shut up.

Unfortunately for Dorothea Ernst, a phoenix still comes back even if it's killed outright.

Ready to burn. "So instead of actually believing in anything yourself, you just think whatever someone else tells you to? That's the weakest shit I've ever heard."

"That's enough out of both of you!"

In the time Gino takes to step between us and Dorothea, she's already ripped the glove from her left hand, even if she stops short of actually throwing it. "I advise you to step aside, Sir Weinberg. Our new colleague is clearly in need of remedial education."

"I don't agree with how argumentative Sir Kururugi's attitude is, but nothing he said until a second ago was incorrect! You're welcome to disagree, but I for one have been complacent – let myself believe things outside the homeland weren't all that bad, because it was easier to indulge my own self-pity that way."

Turning back to look at us over his shoulder while still warding off Dorothea, he adds, "Having said that, I think you need to get better at learning how to make friends instead of enemies. Whatever our disagreements, we don't have the luxury of taking sides against each other. I suggest you apologize to Lady Ernst."

Suzaku hesitates… and after a few seconds' deliberation, we come to an agreement.

"No."

Gino nods and starts to smile, before doing a double take and staring at me. "That's what I – wait, no?!"

"Even most beaten-down Numbers have enough dignity to keep their own beliefs, some semblance of their own identity. Even if they're too dishonest or cowardly, or just not strong enough, to act in accordance with those beliefs. If Lady Ernst here truly only respects power, then she's not entitled to the dignity and respect due to a Knight… just to the pity owed a slave."

Gino yelps as Dorothea bodily throws him aside, before knocking us to the floor with a right hook. It gets my attention that Monica isn't saying or doing anything, other than bite her lip and watch how this plays out.

So it's gonna be like that, is it…?

"First lesson," Dorothea growls as she picks us up by our shirt, lifts us to our feet, and then decks us again. "Keep your attention on your opponent!"

We stagger back into a wall of lockers with a grunt, before Dorothea puts a knee in our gut. "Second lesson! Remedial social contract theory!"

Taking hold of our shirt with both hands, Dorothea drags us around and slams us chest-first to the floor, before kneeling on our back. "I'll put this in simple terms so even a child like you can understand. The weak obey the rules set by the strong. In exchange for that obedience, the duty of the strong is to protect the weak and to provide for them. This fundamental notion is the basic order on which society functions."

Our face is numb, and if those flecks of red on the floor mean anything than we're probably bleeding somewhere.

Suzaku grits our teeth, and gets enough leverage with a knee to roll over and throw Dorothea off us. "If that's what you think, then you're living in a dream world! Go spend a week in some broke-down ghetto somewhere, then come back and tell me if you felt protected!"

Dorothea's already regained her balance by the time we're back to our feet, and she comes back in with a stiff left. "The only reasons to be in a ghetto are if you're too stubborn to accept your defeat and assimilate, or if you're planning rebellion – in either case, you bring needless suffering on yourself by refusing to follow the path you were given!"

Another right. "Justice?!"

A left. "Truth?!"

A right. Pretty sure I can feel a new bruise forming. "In the end, it's the victor who decides what those are! That's why I only believe in power! Why I seek power! Why I continue to fight powerful enemies on a battlefield where defeat is never an option!"

Suzaku catches the uppercut she'd meant to send us flying with. "…sounds to me like we're not so different after all. Like you do realize that the world's too cruel to stand for."

Dorothea masks the hitch in her breathing with another quick punch. But Suzaku catches that one too. "Here's a news flash, Knight of Four: you HAVE power. Everyone in this room does! We're Knights of the Round, accountable only to the Emperor himself!"

And then Suzaku lets Dorothea go with a headbutt, sending her reeling back against the bench behind her. "We have authority! Leverage! Just like I've been working with Euphemia to enact policies that help everyone in her territory regardless of their race or origin, the rest of you can pressure other Viceroys into following her lead – or if necessary, even make arrangements to have them replaced if they refuse to cooperate!"

Finally, Monica reacts. "You're suggesting we take His Majesty's authority for our own?! That's tr–!"

"If you're insecure enough to waste His Majesty's time with this kind of mundane affairs, then be my guest."

All I did was put a finger against her lips, but Monica recoils as if I'd slapped the taste out of her mouth.

Gino cringes, and I can even see Dorothea flinch in our peripheral vision.

"…that was a low blow," Gino mutters, before straightening up with a frown. "But… I guess it proves your point, too."

Huh. From their reactions… either Charles uses those words often enough to have the ring of a trademark, or else what he did to the vi Britannia children is so infamous – or else still recognized as so beyond the pale – that even some of his most ardent and powerful servants are ashamed of it eight years later.

To have this kind of shared, almost universal negative reaction, but then choose to suffer in lonely silence rather than try to help or cover each other…

Suzaku clenches a fist.

What else can you call it, but theft of humanity? From his own subordinates…!

Welcome to imperialism, Suzaku.

"Look, I know I get hotheaded and jump to accuse," I admit, before Suzaku takes over again. "With reckless and stubborn streaks a mile wide each. But you three, compared to Sir Waldstein? I'm not sure that there's a reason why we can't all see eye-to-eye here. If we're all in some basic agreement that the way the world is right now isn't acceptable, then we can use our power to make it better – probably in a lot more ways than I could think of by myself."

Suzaku extends a hand, and Gino takes it without hesitation. "You're an interesting guy, Sir Kururugi. I look forward to working with you… as a Knight of the Round."

Dorothea stands up, and watching us with her cold eyes. After a moment, however, her expression suddenly softens. "It seems you might have some grasp of what strength truly means after all. Very well," she says with an actual smile. "I'll train with you until it's time to go home."

Rather than come close and shake our hand, though, she just walks out as Gino lets out a soft whistle.

"I've never seen her warm up to someone that quickly," Monica notes from behind us.

"No kidding, I've never even seen her smile before."

"You… did both see her try to beat the stuffing out of me, right?" I ask.

The blondes share a look, before Gino wiggles his hand in a so-so gesture. "Ehhh, she fights with pretty much everybody she talks to at least once. If you hadn't given her the excuse today now, odds are she would've done it later. Just think of it as sort of a… Dorothea compliment?"

"In any case," Monica said, producing a tablet from a pocket inside her cloak and looking at something on it, "your accommodations during your stay in the capital for the next week have been decided upon. In light of your extended stay, Princess Merrybell informed us that the Grandberry will be undergoing some light maintenance–"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone! What do you mean, my stay for the next week?! I need to get back to Area Eleven! I thought I was going home as soon as His Majesty dispensed with the bread and circuses – you know, the day after tomorrow!"

If Monica's annoyed by my outburst, she doesn't show it. "Plans have changed, I'm afraid. While your own strength is undeniable, it's nevertheless a stain on the Knights of the Round that Luciano Bradley underestimated and then lost to a novice pilot – however talented – who leveraged what many would call a mere technological advantage. In light of your inexperience, I've obtained permission from Lord Waldstein to arrange a crash course. We, the Knights of the Round, will be testing your aptitudes in piloting tactics, military leadership, and administrative governance."

Eyes glinting like steel, she adds, "Rest assured: if circumstances were more to my liking, someone else would be deployed to Area Eleven with you to continue this training. But as the captain of His Majesty's Imperial Guard, I can't leave the capital, Anya and Nonnette are currently on the European frontline, and policy dictates that no fewer than three Rounds remain on standby for emergency deployment at any time. I suggested sending Gino or Dorothea to Area Eleven in your place, but was overruled. It seems that Lord Waldstein wants to see you further tested in the real world, as it were… I suggest you be thankful to him that you aren't being kept here longer."

Suzaku holds me back from mouthing off, even though our fists aren't any less clenched in his control than in mine. "…understood."

Monica nods, and smiles. "Sir Weinberg, would you mind giving me a few moments in private with Sir Kururugi? And then you could show him around to his office and lodgings."

Gino looks fom her, to us, and back again, before throwing his hands up with a shrug. "Sure, why not. I've got a few errands I need to follow up on anyway."

He leaves the locker room, and Monica listens to him leave for a few long seconds. "Thank you, for not telling everyone that I warned you about Bradley, or that I offered to lobby for your promotion as a reward for killing him. To say that such a reveal would have ended my career is quite the understatement."

Shall I, Suzaku?

By all means, go off.

"Honestly? For the most part, I was too pissed off with and focused on Bismarck to even think about any of that until you reminded me just now. Although frankly," I growl as our eyes narrow, "in hindsight I would have expected more support – and what's this about Gino needing to convince everyone that the Valkyries' testimony was worth listening to?! When you had to have suspected as much or worse from the start! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Monica doesn't flinch at the accusation, but rather appears to nod in acceptance of it. "I acted aloof in order to preserve the public image that I had a little stake as possible in what happened to Bradley, or what would happen to you. I judged that this was necessary not only for my own sake, but to protect you as well – to minimize the scrutiny that Lord Waldstein or His Majesty might put you under, compared to if they suspected we were conspiring together. I had intended to congratulate you on your acting ability as well, in that regard, but it seems that perhaps I was mistaken on that detail…"

"What are you playing at, Lady Krushevsky?" Suzaku asks. "What's your game here?!"

Monica doesn't answer at first, content merely to judge us with her eyes.

Eventually, however, she nods again. "I'm the captain of His Majesty's Imperial Guard," she proclaims. "By all rationality, I stand in closer proximity to the Emperor than anyone except the Knight of One. I don't bring this up as a boast or as an attempt to impress you with my authority, but in the hopes that it will impress upon you the significance of what I'm about to say next: in my career to date, I have only lain eyes on His Majesty twice. And both of those were for public appearances that he mysteriously elected not to delegate."

...wait, what?! "What kind of a joke is that supposed to be?"

"It's no joke at all, Sir Kururugi, but an example of how reclusive His Majesty has become over the last eight years."

Stepping closer, she continues. "I haven't uncovered the full scope of the details yet, but something is amiss in the capital; His Majesty's time is clearly occupied with something of greater concern to him than the Empire – some personal project or goal that consumes him so completely that day-to-day matters of state have been primarily left for Lord Waldstein and Prince Schneizel to deal with."

Ragnarok…

"Why tell me all this?" Suzaku asks. "Or maybe the more pertinent question is, what do you want from me?"

"I understand that I have and am continuing to subject you to a great deal of risk in all this," she continues. "But you have not-inconsiderable personal power, you're bull-headed to a fault, and most importantly… a complete outsider to the royal court, free of prior influence from anyone other than Princess Euphemia, who for my purposes is a harmless non-factor – and that makes you as close as I'm realistically going to find to a trustworthy ally in my investigation."

Monica raises a hand to brush her bangs aside, using the same motion to part her cloak and show off her slender figure through the white Knights of the Round uniform. "When I first called you the night Zero appeared, I noticed the way you were initially looking at me. In exchange for your silence and cooperation when I require it, Sir Kururugi… I'm willing to reward the trust you place in me with a gesture of the same – the right to avail yourself of my body however you wish. You can even put a child in me, if you'd like."

what?

What?!

WHAT?!

"Once the pregnancy advances," she continues, "it would put me at a considerable tactical disadvantage if you felt a need to dispose of me – alternatively, the resulting child could be used as leverage to exert control over me and disincentivize me from turning on you. As this is an offer I'm making entirely of my own choice, I also have no objections to keeping this off the record and freeing you from any kind of responsibility–"

Suzaku looks away and shakes our head at the same time as I facepalm, as much in exasperation and embarrassment as… as everything else. Anger, horror, indignation, and I don't even know what the hell else. "This is too fucked up…!"

"No, no, it's completely okay," she promises with what should be a reassuring smile in any other situation. "Because I'm an unclaimed bastard myself, any children you might eventually have with Princess Euphemia wouldn't lose their place in the line of succession–ah?!"

We pin Monica to a row of lockers by her shoulders to shut her up, glaring hard enough to melt through the metal behind her if that were physically possible. "No, Monica. You're not listening to me. Everything you just said is fucked up. And you don't seem to get that, which is at least as fucked up. Your sales pitch? That's not okay. Your explanations, your excuses, your fucked-up reassurances…! I don't give a shit about the royal succession, inheritance rights of lineage, or any of that other stupid noble crap! What I need for you to understand right now, is that the entire core premise of this discussion, IS NOT OKAY!"

Monica doesn't say anything for a long moment, just staring at us in slack-jawed surprise.

"Answer me, damn you!"

The snap seems to get her attention again, and she slumps against the wall with a sad smile. "Welcome to the capital, Sir Suzaku Kururugi. People with even a shred of that decency you just showed me are too rare a breed."

Monica licks her lips, and Suzaku lets go of her like we'd been burned.

Damn, but they look so soft

It… annoys me a little, that I agree so much with you about that.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put my hands on you like that–"

"Hah! After what we've been discussing, a little manhandling like that doesn't mean anything at all to me. You've nothing to apologize for; rather… I find I'm quite happy that you had the kind of reaction you did."

Suzaku tries looking anywhere else but at Monica… and quickly runs out of options as she approaches us. "It's true that I initially saw you as a convenient potential asset, and I used an incomplete first impression as my basis for trying to negotiate with you in that context. For that, Sir Kururugi, you have my apologies."

The Knight of Twelve stands at attention and offers a salute, which Suzaku immediately returns in kind. "That's appreciated, but… not exactly what I was upset about–"

And then she's standing in our personal space, looking up at us as her index finger slides up our chest. "Oh, I'm aware of that. And while I can respect that you'll need some time to yourself, you should be aware that I'm starting to like you genuinely right now. Once our professional circumstances have stabilized a bit, I might entertain the idea of more properly becoming your mistress."

Suzaku opens our mouth to object, only for a delicate finger to fall on our lips and cut us off, not too unlike what I did to Monica a while ago. "Shh. Don't worry about that too much just yet. Just focus on getting through the hell we plan to put you through over the next week, and then consider my revised offer once you get back home. In the meantime, Gino will return shortly to show you around to your office and to your room – I might suggest that you take his advice about learning how to make friends, and point out that he's not a bad man to learn from. Bye~"

And then she takes her leave, walking briskly enough to let her cape billow out dramatically… while also showing off the sway in her hips. Damn it.

Gino chooses that moment to come back as if he'd been summoned, letting her pass by at the door. "…first Dorothea's got a happy face, and now Monica's walking with a strut? What, are you packing some kind of catnip for noble ladies or something?"

Suzaku groans at how stupid he thinks that is, which goes a long way in covering up how funny I'd find it if it weren't about us. "…it's come to my attention that I need more male friends in my life. You care to be the start of a trend, Sir Weinberg?"

"Heh. I don't mind at all – but if we're gonna be friends," he grins, "then you can just call me Gino when we don't need to keep up appearances. And I'll call you Suzaku, is that alright?"

"Sounds like a plan; shall we walk and talk? I was told you'd show me around the place…"

As we head for the door, Gino throws an arm around our shoulder and laughs. "Oh man, I do not envy the messes you're gonna have to clean up – but before that, let's hit the mess hall for some grub! We can use the time to cut loose and talk about dumb regular guy stuff! You know, it's kind of funny that you seem like such a hit with Britannian nobles, while I've got an more of an eye for Eleven gals… oh, but you probably need a break from thinking about women, right? In that case, see any good movies lately? There's this director I've been starting to follow lately, he takes a lot of inspiration from old pre-war Eleven cinema while putting a Britannian coat of paint on it–"

It seems apparent that the next week is going to be an absolute nightmare… but I have to admit, twenty minutes of feeling like a regular teenager without the weight of the world on our shoulders is a nice change of pace.