Round Table

by Bluestar076

In the kingdom of Seven, miles away from the Fairy Tail guild, Lunafreya Lacrima becomes the new queen and decides to find a guild of fellow knights to become stronger and improve her traits to become a proper guide for the land. To do so, these knights will embark on adventures of every type with allies and fellow guilds as new threats approach (SYOC closed).

2. Duty, Debt, and Glory

Round Table Chapter 2: Duty, Debt, and Glory

By Bluestar076

Hello everyone! Bluestar here with the second chapter of this new story! That's right, this time we're doing things properly and there may be some new episodes as the SYOC period goes on, to see if there are more people interested in the project! And unlike Shogunate Pride, the first chapters of this story will revolve around small missions that will serve as introductions for all characters, and then we'll pass on to the real story. And yes! Even if we're still in the period, there are already a lot of characters that I've accepted! And I also take the chance to thank you all for sharing your wonderful ideas. Despite being a story still in construction, you contributed to giving me tons of ideas about it and I couldn't be more grateful, and this is the least I can do to repay you! Continuing the story like I'm doing with Shogunate Pride! I'm sure you can't wait for more, so I'd say that we jump right into today's chapter! And as always, I hope you enjoy it!

Note: I do not own Fairy Tail. All rights and characters belong to Hiro Mashima, A-1 Pictures, and CloverWorks.

---

Chapter 2: Duty, Debt, and Glory

Three months later…

Fiore – City of Magnolia – Guild of Fairy Tail

Summer was about to leave for the year and give its place in autumn, with the first leaves starting to fall from the trees. Despite the change of season, the sun was still shining high in the sky, and people were still feeling the heat in the air, to the point that some still went to the sea.

But for a city like Magnolia, the change of season wasn't something that significant, as life there had always been simple, yet extremely enjoyable. Fiore was a region that went through a lot but still stood up, also thanks to special guilds that protected both the region and that small town in particular.

Some members of their most famous guild known as Fairy Tail were walking around, enjoying the serenity as they were heading back to their guildhall.

"Aaaaah…" One of the most renowned members, Natsu Dragneel, was inhaling as much air as he could through his nose, feeling good in it. "Man if hot air is the best! Nothing better to regain energies after a good fight by getting some heat!"

"You're able to do that, Natsu? I didn't remember it…" Another one, Lucy Heartfilia, a new yet famous writer, said. She then looked elsewhere with a skeptical face. "And I wish I could say the same…it's still freaking hot out here to the point that I can't breathe…"

"Then why won't you take your clothes off?" A third member, Gray Fullbuster, said. He was already in his underwear, embarrassing the other girl.

"BECAUSE YOU KNOW I'M NOT A DEGENERATE LIKE YOU!" Lucy shouted back.

"Hey! Who said I'm a degenerate!?" Gray retorted.

"Well, if you keep on putting those off someone will think that," Natsu replied.

Naturally, that didn't fly well with the other mage. "Don't you dare start, idiot!"

"Hey! I talk whenever I want-" Natsu was ready to begin yet another quarrel with him, but two glaring eyes made the two mages pale out and turn around while trembling.

"Now, now…we surely don't want to put up a scene in public, do we?" Another member, Erza Scarlet, told them. Her tone was gentle and calm, but deep inside, the two boys knew what she really meant.

In less than a second, they were already holding each other. "NOPE! NOT AT ALL! SEE HOW WE'RE SO BUDDIES?"

"YUP! THAT'S RIGHT! AH AH!" Gray added.

"Good boys." Erza simply commented.

"Man…this makes me think that we still just came back from the battle with Erigor," Lucy commented with a sigh and a resigned smile.

It was then that another member, a small girl named Wendy Marvell, intervened. "Well…that's the best in it, don't you think? Honestly…I wouldn't change this daily routine for anything in the world! Well…maybe except for a bigger breast…" She commented.

Lucy was taken a bit backward from that last part but she thought that she was right, as she looked up while the wind gently flew over her hair. "Now that I think of it…ever since we defeated Zeref, Acnologia and cleared the 100 Years Quest…everything had been normal. To the point that I keep on wondering what's gonna happen next." She wondered. It was at that moment that Erza gently wrapped an arm around her.

"Well…as long as you're here with us, every day is like an adventure, don't you think?" She asked with a smile.

Lucy smiled back. "Yeah, I guess you're right! After…uhm…five? Ten years? Gosh, it's hard to tell for how long I've been here after what happened at Tenrou Island…well, after all this time, I can surely testify it! I couldn't write all these successful books without experiencing incredible situations in the first person!"

"Just what I wanted to hear…" A small white exceed, Carla, replied satisfied. And she wasn't the only one of that kind.

Another one, a blue cat called Happy, looked at the group while he was eating some fish. "Now that I think of it…why did you want to come, Gajeel and Panther?" He asked the two of them, who were with the others, despite not being an active part of Team Natsu.

"I told you, I was getting bored. Levy decided to take the baby for a long walk and I didn't want to spend too much time without doing anything." Gajeel commented before making a stressed face. "Elfman in particular was getting too loud."

"I simply stuck along as always." Panther Lily replied.

It was then that Lucy whispered to Gajeel. "Are…you sure that coming with us was a better idea considering how you can argue with Natsu?" She asked.

The Iron Dragon Slayer fairly made a skeptical face. "Well, better than nothing I presume…"

Natsu couldn't help but make a skeptical face upon hearing it.

"Now, calm down-" Happy said, wanting to avoid another quarrel.

Gajeel then also looked up. "Hmmm…we're at September, right?" He asked.

To check it out, Erza took her Lacrima Phone. "Yup. September 9th."

"Man time surely flows. Three months already had passed since I paid a visit to that young queen girl. For some reason, she passed on my mind." The Black Steel added.

"Well, this means that she was quite the memorable character, don't you think?" Panther asked. Gajeel chuckled as if to agree.

"Man, to think that you were able to interact with an actual queen…if I ended up in your place, I would have probably fainted out…" Wendy commented, paling out.

"You have no idea how it would have ended if Erza was in your place," Gajeel told her.

Naturally, the red-haired girl was confused. "What do you mean?" She asked.

The Iron Dragon Slayer preferred to leave her to the unknown, as she already had a lot of fangirls already. "Ehm…never mind."

The girl was still confused but shrugged. "Well, in return, I went to Caelum last month and met a special girl. Happy to know that incredible people are starting to show outside of Fiore."

"How 'special'?" Natsu then asked her. This time, it was Erza who wanted to leave him to the unknown as it was a complicated answer.

"Ehm…never mind that."

"What's with you and the anonymous answers!? Did you make a marathon of that Forgotten series where they go to a deserted island and they never explain anything!?" Gray complained.

"You know, Gajeel, it's quite funny that you mention it, considering that not that far in the future, I'll probably go to Seven to see the queen!" Lucy then pointed out.

Naturally, everyone turned at her.

"What do you mean?" Carla asked.

"Eh eh, you see, it's a job for Sorcerer Magazine actually. Jason asked me to come with him. The thing is that apparently, today, the queen of Seven will inaugurate a new legal guild completely handled by her, and seeing it as a spook of the year, Sorcerer Magazine wants a special service about it." Lucy explained.

The natural reaction was shock.

"UH!?"

Almost obviously, Gajeel and Panther were the most stunned about it. "A-A guild? Like ours-!?" The exceed exclaimed.

"A-Ah…" Gajeel simply said.

"Well, what would you know? I have a feeling that you may have inspired someone!" Wendy told him with a smile, trying to cheer him up. Though the other Dragon Slayer's expression remained the same, similar to an Easter Egg Island's head, only with his mouth open.

"But can she really do it? I never heard of a royal also serving as a Master before!" Natsu asked.

"I mean, she's still the queen. She can do whatever she wants in her own kingdom as long as the Magic Council is ok with it, and it seems that they are." Gray fairly pointed out. "Still…will she be able to do so? Handling both a kingdom and a guild surely isn't easy. Even Makarov has his problems."

"True. But who are we to decide it? The guild has just been opened. Let's give her some time. Maybe she'll end up surprising us!" Erza commented.

"Oh, don't worry, Erza. She will. Even if inexperienced, the girl has guts, and that's enough for me." Gajeel told him.

The S-Class Mage was happy to hear it. "Speaking of which…what type of guild is it, Lucy?" She asked.

"Oh, as far as Jason told me, she's trying to pull up a guild made out of knights. The pictures I've seen portrayed her often while wearing armor of a sort." Lucy explained.

…

Erza went silent and stared at her.

"Uhm…Erza?" Wendy asked.

Too many things echoed in her mind.

Queen. Guild. Knights. SWORDS.

Too many things that she liked.

And then…she looked at her fellow guildmate with a straight stare. "Lucy…do you think there's place for me?"

The blonde girl was left confused. "Uhm…why's the question- AH!" As soon as she asked, Erza went right in front of her, with her face just a few millimeters from Lucy's.

"HOW CAN YOU ASK WHY? WE'RE TALKING ABOUT KNIGHTS HERE! TONS OF SWORDS, HONORS, CODES, CHIVALRY, FIGHTS! I MISSED MY CHANCE TO SEE A GUILD OF SAMURAIS LAST TIME, I WON'T LOSE THIS ONE! MAKE SURE TO TELL JASON NEXT TIME YOU SEE HIM!"

"A-AH! OK OK! PLEASE CALM DOWN!" Lucy exclaimed, panicked.

Like nothing happened, Erza got away from her friend and took a quick breath. "Sorry, the hype of the moment, eh eh…" She commented with her cheeks slightly red.

Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were simply left astonished.

"Man…this is one of the rarest times I see Erza fairly hyped…" Natsu commented as if he revealed a world's deep truth."

"I should have brought a camera or something…" Gray added.

The mage known as Titania quickly glared at them with an ominous aura. "What did you say?"

"NOTHING!" The three boys screamed in unison.

"Good boys! Leaving this aside, the guild shouldn't be far. Let's get going!" Erza concluded.

"Yes!" Wendy and Carla replied.

"Aye, sir!" Happy added.

Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Gajeel, and Panther remained there for a few moments, still shocked, but they shortly followed afterward.

Even so, Gajeel couldn't help but feel optimistic. It surely came out as something unexpected, but hearing about the queen she helped founding a guild made him feel…somehow closer to her, and satisfy his curiosity even more.

"A guild of knights, eh? It seems that you've picked up the hardcore way, kiddo. But, after seeing what you were able to do, I think you'll be able to handle it. One thing is for sure…I'll look forward to seeing how you'll surprise me, Queen Lunafreya."

With that in mind, the small group came back to the warm and familiar hall of their guild, with a new day of adventures on the ride.

And they weren't going to be the only ones.

---

Seven – Capital of Somnus

Miles away from Magnolia, the capital of the Kingdom of Seven started a new day as well, with tons of people already filling the streets of the city. Three months had passed ever since Lunafreya ascended to the throne and Hagen's failed coup took place. The news spread out shortly and there were some worries about what would have happened next if something similar occurred again more often, but by defending her birthright by fighting in person against the responsible and taking him out, more people started to think that overall, the kingdom was in safe hands, and life got back to normal as soon as the celebration period ended.

Throughout that short time, Lunafreya started to adapt to the life of a ruler by getting used to some activities she found boring and learning more about bureaucracy and law. She could soon see how her father was right about having a not-so-easy life. But luckily, between the army, the ministers, her mother, and her personal keeper, there were lots of people ready to help her. She also got the time to walk around and get the people used to seeing her face. The subjects were surprised to see their sovereign walk around through town more often, sometimes in casual clothes, but they could see that she seemed willing to help them and be of a presence, giving her more supporters on a moral level.

During that time, Lunafreya also worked hard on her personal new project, something that she cared about a lot ever since the failed coup. And now, after three works of hard labor and preparations…this project could finally begin.

Naturally, she thought that she could use her authority to help spread the news, and so, that morning a proclamation was issued.

"HEAR, HEAR! HEAR, ALL!" In the northern section (and not only there), an auctioneer gathered the attention of the surrounding people. When all eyes were on him and the knights that joined him, the man opened a scroll with an important message.

"It is announced that today, September 9th, our new Queen Lunafreya Lacrima inaugurates the public opening of her new legal guild called Round Table! A place for those who search for strength, and personal growth, and want to learn the values of friendship, family, and the code of chivalry! Our queen is currently searching for fine and brave warriors who wish to join her in her project! So, whoever wants to participate is asked to go to the Old Wyrm mansion standing at the hill of the western section of the capital and fill all the right modules! Knights, commoners, nobles and so, everyone can join the guild! As long as they're willing to wear armor to fight. That's all!" Once he had done his job, the auctioneer closed the scroll and started to move away with the knights around him.

A clamor started to rise from the people. Each one gives their opinions.

"Talk about self-publicity."

"A guild? Like the ones that appear in Fiore's Grand Magic Games?"

"We did see her in that shining armor recently, right?"

"I hope she knows what she's doing. It doesn't look easy on paper."

"I'd join but I'm too light!"

A few meters away from the spreading crowd, Aurelia was looking at how the people reacted. Alongside her stood Bogardius, put in charge of surveilling her while she was doing her food shopping.

"Well…it seems that they're quite surprised by it, don't you think?" Aurelia asked the general.

"After the unpleasant event that occurred during the coronation period, I guess the people got used to hearing more about knights. The queen also became more cautious about the army and the people's safety. This is probably the last label on doing so." Bogardius commented before looking up. "Who would have thought? The little girl we saw running around through the corridors of the castle who was afraid to succeed to the throne…decided to follow the road of chivalry… by founding a guild of mages and becoming a warrior queen! Man…I don't know if to feel worried or proud for her."

Aurelia assured him with a smile. "I know it may sound worrying but…I know how my daughter thinks, ever since she was a child. She surely has her reasons for doing so. And I could see how she seemed willing to take her duty seriously." She then took some apples from a basket. "You know…I'm happy that she decided to take this initiative." She then said.

"How so?" Bogardius asked.

"As you know, Lunafreya had been outside of the castle or this capital in general only a few times, so she never had seen the rest of the world. Maybe…this experience will help her go out and explore the wonders this magical world has to offer and meet new people! And perhaps…new friends that will care about her! This would surely help improve her self-esteem." The former queen continued, trying to be hopeful.

Bogardius looked at her with a bit of a skeptical face. "Considering all the dark guilds and all types of monsters that live out there, I wouldn't properly say the term 'wonders'. That's what guilds are for…" He thought.

"If I were to be honest, I, too, am curious about what will come from this." A third voice suddenly said from behind.

When Aurelia and Bogardius turned around, they could see a man with a lived-in look with short gray hair, a gray beard, and blue eyes. He was wearing black armor with golden lines throughout the plates and the pauldrons. He was holding a helmet with a mouthless mouth and two small golden wings. Luckily, it was a familiar figure for the two of them "After knowing our queen for a while and after the impressive performance she showed three months ago, I can say that this will surely be something new for the Kingdom of Seven."

Castor Rorkwall – Commander of Seven's Royal Army

"Commander Castor! I didn't expect to see you here." Bogardius commented as the other knight came closer and made a small bow.

"I've returned from my trip to Filan in Guiltina just yesterday, my general. And I surely couldn't miss a proclamation from our queen. After what happened to the case of Hagen, I want to make her sure that there still are plenty of knights from the army ready to stick with her to the end." Castor replied before making a pleased smirk. "Besides, I can't hide the fact that after answering like that to Hagen's betrayal, I've piqued some interest in the queen! She surely has some temper like her father."

"I'm very glad to hear that coming from someone like you, Sir Castor," Aurelia replied with a smile. "Are you perhaps interested in her idea?" She then asked.

Castor made a small laugh and shook his head. "Oh no. I think that I'm not fit for such a task. And I'm pretty sure that Queen Lunafreya will probably search for younger people. She'll probably feel more comfortable with youngsters who could be still in touch with her. But I'll surely do my best to support the project from afar!" He replied before looking at Bogardius. "And I may know someone that will join her."

Bogardius took some seconds to understand but he quickly realized it. "Oh, 'her'? Well…I'm sure that she'd be happy to join and support the queen. Though our Lunafreya never heard of the special branch where 'her' stood until now. And yes, her majesty openly asked to not have many commanders or even me among the members of her guild, as she doesn't want to charge us with too much work."

"Indeed. That special branch of the army had been a secret even to her, I remember King Aegium openly asking Vivienne to not say anything. But now that Lunafreya is queen, she'll finally learn the truth about them. I've already asked 'her' for an opinion and she was more than glad to accept. That is, of course, as long as you agree with it, General Bogardius." Castor explained.

"Oh, please do. I'm sure that Lunafreya may get a big support in having 'her' as a guildmate and close knight. She has my permission." Bogardius accepted. "I'm very glad you two thought of this, Commander Castor, and I humbly thank you."

In their discussion, Aurelia looked at the two of them a bit confused. "I don't get it. Who is 'her'?" She thought.

"Please, do not even mention it, General. I'm just doing my job as a humble commander who had been faithful for many years to King Aegium and who had seen Lunafreya grow up. After seeing her goodwill to follow in her father's footsteps to give this kingdom stability, this is the least that I can do." Castor replied before starting to walk away. "If you excuse me now, I'll make my way back to the castle. After two weeks of traveling, I need some rest…and a good bath!"

"Please do!" Aurelia agreed.

"Then see you soon, General and Lady Aurelia. And give Queen Lunafreya the good luck from me!" With those words, Castor started to make his way through the market zone and quickly disappeared.

"Such kind words. Who would have thought that our little Luna would have gotten all these followers so quickly?" The former queen asked.

"Indeed. And I'm glad to say that she seems to have taken them with her efforts. And we're just at the beginning!" Bogardius replied. Then, some thoughts started to pass in his head. "Hmmm…"

"Something wrong?" Aurelia asked.

"No, not really. It's just that…now that I think of it, I could do something similar to what Castor thought." Bogardius replied.

"Really?" The former queen then asked surprised.

"Yes. I do know, two people who could be of great help to her. Well…the second one may be a bit hard to handle, but she could still be of help." The general replied.

That answer made also Aurelia think. "You know…I may also know someone who would help her with it…" She said with a smile.

Overall, the queen's announcement was taken with surprise but also with interest from some of the people in the city and the rest of the region, as the proclamation was already spreading wide in the land, gathering more people's attention.

One of them in particular, a girl, had listened to what the auctioneer had to say. Once the message was over, she made a smirk. "A guild of knights? Now that's something new."

She soon started to make her way through the crowd. On her hips, she was holding two swords.

"It seems that you want to do things big, eh, cousin? Well…challenge accepted."

---

Capital of Somnus – Western Side – Guild of Round Table

While the various announcements were made, the royal sorceress Vivienne was making her way toward a building that she would have visited more often from then on while carrying a large box in her hands.

"Oof…this is surely heavy…but I can do it…" She commented before looking at the palace she and the queen took as the base for their new project and could see that the months of efforts of their restructuring gave their results.

The old Wyrm mansion now had a garish white color, with the roof, the windows, and the roller blinds having a blue color. Even the door was changed with a bigger one that had elegant ornaments and doorknobs that looked like they were held by lions' heads. The windows were all cleaned up, showing perfect reflections. And finally, right above the main door, the written ROUND TABLE stood proud in gothic letters, to represent further the chivalrous air that the guild wanted to give.

"My, my! They surely did a great job! Well, not to brag, but when you live in royalty, this and more! And the best is inside!" Vivienne commented before entering inside, only to be amazed and satisfied by the result.

The main hall had been completely repainted and the floor had been replaced with new smooth and shiny tiles. Now, the floor, the walls, and the ceiling all had the same color as the outside, a pale with some blue lines and ornaments (like the columns that looked like they were covered by roots with leaves.). The hall in general was a large room with four tables, each with eight seats on both sides to drink and eat, and at the opposite side of the main door, stood a long table with drinks and cocktails of every type, looking like an elegant bar. Above the bar and on the extreme right and left sides of the hall, stood two staircases that brought to the first floor, where doors leading to various offices and even a gym stood. Another staircase was present on the second floor, leading to the second floor, where all the dorms and the bathrooms (including a hot spring) stood. One last staircase brought to the third and last floor, where there was the large room with the round table and the windows from where a good portion of the city could be seen from the western side. Even the table was cleaned up and restructured, now having the same white and blue color as the rest.

"Just as I thought!" Vivienne commented. She looked down to see her reflection in one of her tiles. But she knew that she couldn't waste too much time and took back the box, going deeper into the hall. "Lunafreya, I've come back! Luna?" She looked around to search for her queen, and after a few seconds, she could hear a familiar voice mumbling the lyrics of a song.

"I wish doushite koko ni iru no, oshiete kudasai ima sugu, mieru…mono ga subete ja nai no ne…samusu ni furueru kara, ude toosu jaketto, itsu no ma ni ka sukitoote itte kibou ni natteku…"

Following the voice, Vivienne soon found her queen in a surprising yet stunning situation. The ruler was washing the floor with a mop and a small water basket while listening to a song from her Lacrima Phone, which was tuned to Spitify (for some reason, this app had a llama as a logo. No one knew why).

The young girl was caught in her chill activity that when she turned around and opened her eyes only to see Vivienne in front of her, she got scared out. "AH! Vivienne, don't come out just like that!"

The sorceress was a bit stunned at that sight. "Did you…spend your time cleaning this whole hall?" She asked.

Upon that question, Lunafreya looked down with her cheeks slightly red. "Well, yeah. I do need to take care of the place after all, right? Especially now that the guild is officially open." She replied.

"But, Luna, you're a queen. You could have brought some of the palace's janitors to do that." Vivienne told her.

"No, for God's sake! You do know how big the castle is, they already sweat enough! Besides…I still want to show my sign of responsibility for the guild!" The queen promptly answered.

Vivienne had a drop of sweat fall down from her head but she shrugged. "Alright, if you think so. But keep in mind that you don't have to exaggerate. If anything, you should be the one to do the least of these jobs." She added. Then by looking down, she could see how her queen was wearing a more…casual attire.

Lunafreya was now wearing a short blue jeans jacket with silver buttons over a white sleeveless T-shirt with a black star on it, short blue jeans that didn't reach the calves, black boots with white tips, and even a pair of black fingerless gloves.

"My, my! Gotta say that this simple outfit of yours seems interesting! You look like one of those shonen manga protagonists!" Vivienne commented.

Lunafreya was happy to hear it, as it showed it a bit. "Do you like it? I thought that I needed something to walk around the kingdom without getting easily recognized, so I came up with this type of wearing, which I love! I may have become a queen but I certainly don't want to give up my teenage period! W-Well…I'm technically an adult already but-" She explained her reasoning but got interrupted by Vivienne's laughing as soon as she got embarrassed.

"Ah ah ah! You never cease to amaze me, Luna! That's why I love you with all my heart! Your reasoning does seem right, and yes, I surely like this outfit! Though…you do have the crown at hand, right?" The sorceress asked.

To answer, Lunafreya took it out of her pocket. "Always have her around!" She replied before putting it in her head. "After having someone trying to take over my throne, I surely wouldn't want someone else to take it while I don't have my eyes on it. Speaking of which, how did the proclamation go?" She then asked.

"Well, I had to carry these things from the Magic Council all around here so I couldn't give a proper look. But in the parts where I ended up walking through, people did seem surprised a bit. You surely made something they didn't expect!" Vivienne replied.

"And…did you catch someone who showed a bit of interest?" Lunafreya then asked, a bit hopeful.

But Vivienne shrugged. "Well…not really, I wasn't paying attention."

To that, the queen couldn't help but sigh. "W-Well…I guess that's normal."

The royal sorceress couldn't help but lay an arm on her shoulder in comfort. "I know how you feel, but yes, it is normal. Even if you're the queen, we still just opened the guild, so, normally, we won't get as many missions or members as the others. In fact…" As she explained, Vivienne took out an issue of the well-known Sorcerer Magazine. "On the way here, I bought this issue from Sorcerer Magazine which says that in the last two years, already-established guilds had grown their actions and new ones started to appear around Ishgar and even in the rest of Earth Land!"

Curious, Lunafreya came closer to look. "Really?"

"Yes, take a look. All these records were made by other guilds in the rest of the world. Apart from the famous ones like Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, or Mermaid Heel, there are also ones that are making incredible successes like Garuda Wrath in Bosco, Olympus Will in Bellum, and look, there's even a Seven guild called Kraken Call! There are also other guilds with incredible records such as Nymph's Trove in Fiore, Vermilion Wyvern at Pergrande's Kingdom, Dragon's Den at Bosco, Shogunate Pride at Caelum and surprisingly, there's also an incredible guild like this in Iceberg called World Slayers!" Vivienne continued to explain.

"World Slayers?" Lunafreya wondered. "For some reason, that name seems…oddly familiar…but maybe it's just an impression of mine. Well…it seems that there's a lot of demand for mages around the world. One more reason to do our best, right?"

"Exactly! And speaking of which, I also got this box from the Magic Council that has given us the dashboard with some missions already, registration papers, some funds to help us in the beginning, and even the stencils with our guild mark in various colors!" The royal sorceress replied.

Naturally, Lunafreya was ecstatic to hear about the last part. "Our emblem!? Let me see!" She exclaimed.

The sorceress was more than happy to please her and she showed her. The queen's eyes were starry, like a kid who saw a whole cave of ice cream as she laid eyes on the guild mark.

A white circle with eight swords that crossed their tips with each other and two small chains on the sides of the circle. All of this is on a black background.

Lunafreya was on the verge of commotion. "They've accepted the drawing I've sent them!" She said, all happy. For her, the drawing represented exactly what she intended the guild to be. Chivalry, honor, battles, and union. So naturally, the idea that the Magic Council accepted it was more than wonderful. She took the stencil and looked at her keeper. "Well…considering that we're going to be part of this, we have to put them in our bodies! Where do you want yours?"

"Oh, nothing too complex. Just on my hand. Make it light blue!" Vivienne replied. Lunafreya did so, and the royal sorceress felt a small sensation of self-accomplishment on seeing the mark. This was the queen's thanks for supporting her all those years. "This is just…adorable! Welp! My turn! You're the Master, after all! Where do you want it?" She then asked.

Lunafreya blushed a bit and lightly opened the collar of her shirt, revealing part of the chest. "Here. Make it golden. I'm the light that will guide you, after all, right?" She asked with a chuckle.

"You got it!" Without adding anything else, Vivienne did so, and Lunafreya was very happy to see it. Golden like the crown, golden like the light of her God Slayer Magic, and golden like the light that she was going to represent for the future knights of the guild.

"Well…here we are! From now on, we can be considered an effective guild! Ready for this, Merlin?" Lunafreya jokingly asked.

"Only if you are…King Arthur!" Vivienne replied with the same joking tone.

"Wait, why king? No wait, Queen Arthur does sound bad. Oh well, ah ah!" The queen commented.

With that laugh and all those missing parts…it was finally time for them to start.

Round Table had officially opened its doors.

A few minutes later, Lunafreya and Vivienne ordered and cleaned up everything that the Magic Council had given to them. Adding to the cleaning that the queen had done before, the whole guild was completely in order.

"Aaaah, isn't this perfect? Just what you would expect from a guild of knights!" Lunafreya commented.

"You surely take things seriously, Luna! This is a very big first step for being a proper queen!" Vivienne added.

"Now all we need to do is-" the queen was going to add something else, but right in that moment…

THUD THUD THUD!

A very strong knock on the door could be heard behind them. It was strong enough to make the two girls widen their eyes and pale.

An awkward silence followed.

THUD THUD THUD!

But the knocks continued.

The two ladies slowly moved their eyeballs at each other.

"I-I'm not imagining that, am I?" Lunafreya asked.

"N-No?" Vivienne replied.

The knocking kept on going. And every time was as loud as a ram breaking through a door.

At a certain point, Lunafreya couldn't take it. "VIVIENNE, WHAT DO WE DO!?"

"Calm down, Luna! There's no way it can be that bad, can it?" Vivienne tried to calm her down.

THUD THUD THUD!

Another knocking made the sorceress doubt about it. "Er…for the most part!"

"VIVIENNE, SERIOUSLY! WHAT IF IT'S A RIOT SINGING 'DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING'!?" Lunafreya whined out.

"NOW DON'T EXAGGERATE! It's not like we're in Fiore during the X400s! I'm sure that it's worse than we can think! Plus, it's not like you did something that bad to enrage the people! Did you perhaps raise the bread's price?" Vivienne insisted.

"NO! WHY WOULD I!?" Lunafreya replied.

"Exactly! There's no need to panic that much, the people are loving you! You're the queen, whatever there's behind that door shouldn't concern you!" The mage assured her.

"But, but…WHAT IF IT'S THE MAGE COUNCIL TO WARN US THAT WE FORGOT A PAYMENT!?" The queen didn't seem that convinced.

To that question, Vivienne made a dull face for a few seconds and then… "…FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK-" She instantly slapped herself. "W-Well…if that's the case, there's only one thing we can do…"

With that, the two girls slowly turned at the door…

THUD THUD THUD!

Lunafreya was trembling a bit. "E-Everything will be fine, right?" She asked her keeper.

"You're the queen, there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of. And I'm here in case! Ready to take out the sword in case?" Vivienne replied.

"Y-Yes…" The queen shortly replied. She knew that the door couldn't wait any longer. She took a deep breath…and said the magic words.

"C-Come in…the door is open."

…

The knockings stopped…replaced by the noise of the large door that got opened. A silhouette could be seen…approaching them.

STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.

Lunafreya and Vivienne slowly widened their eyes…as they saw the figure getting closer and looking at them from above.

It was a woman with a gigantic size, standing over 210 cm. She had an extremely muscular build and a rosy complexion. She had sharp, cold yellow eyes, long, straight hair that reached her buttocks and a vertical scar over her left eye. More scars could be seen throughout what was exposed to her body. She had a simple outfit of a black tank top, blue jeans, and black boots.

"…That's it. Better prepare the epitaph..." This was Lunafreya's first thought as soon as she saw her. Vivienne, too, feared for the worse.

"…Are you the queen, Lunafreya Lacrima?" The woman simply asked with a straight and cold tone.

Lunafreya moved her eyeballs to Vivienne who, while still sweating, told her with her facial expression to go ahead. The young girl couldn't do much else. "Uhm…yes?"

The giant woman didn't say anything, adding further pressure to the moment. Lunafreya thought for the worse, as she thought that it would have been the trigger to her murder.

And then…

…The woman kneeled to her.

"…Ah?" Both Lunafreya and Vivienne were left with a dull face.

"It is a deep and great honor to have your acquaintance, Your Majesty. I apologize if my look scared you, but I promise, I mean no harm." The woman asked.

Lunafreya was still a bit confused and pressured, but she could see through her words that the big lady seemed sincere. "O-Oh, there's no need, really! If anything, I should apologize for acting scared. For a moment I thought that you would have aimed for my head, eh eh…" She replied, a bit embarrassed.

"That thought will never come into my mind, I can assure you, My Lady. If anything, that will happen to those who will try to even lay a finger on you. I intend to serve you and the rest of the kingdom at the best of my capacities, as I always did." The woman replied.

"Well, that's good to know and- wait…did you say 'as I always did'? Are you part of the army?" Lunafreya asked, more confused. "Ehm…please rise."

The woman didn't even blink as she did so.

"May I know your name and what you mean by that?" The queen then asked.

The woman took the opportunity to introduce herself. "With pleasure. My name is Augusta 'Lupus 'Taurinorum. I'm part of the branch of the 'Golden Knights' in the Army of Seven. I've served your father ever since I started my formation."

Augusta 'Lupus' Taurinorum – The Galaxy Knight, Thicc Killer

Upon hearing that, Lunafreya blinked her eyes, feeling lost. "The…Golden Knights?" She asked.

Vivienne, on the other hand, after hearing that started to think, and after a few moments, she realized the deal. "Ah! Wait a moment. You're that Augusta!? You're Commander Castor's pupil!?"

Augusta nodded. "The same. I didn't expect the Royal Sorceress to know of my existence."

Naturally, the young queen looked at her keeper. "You know this lady, Vivienne?"

"Well, kinda, yes. And I did hear that she was huge, but not to this level! Without offense, of course." The sorceress replied.

"None taken." Augusta talked back.

Vivienne then turned to the queen. "And well…it's a bit of a complicated part, that of her role. You see, the 'Golden Knights' are a smaller branch of the royal army of Seven that are put under hard and vigorous training and then put to deal with specific missions. I'm sure that you remember Commander Castor. Well, he's the one who trained this girl, who's now a member of that branch."

"Wait a minute, why do I get to know this only now!?" Lunafreya exclaimed, still unknown to everything.

"Y-You see, the Golden Knights Project is a secret reserved only for the higher positions of the monarchy, and not even the prince or the princess is allowed to know about it. To be fair, I tried to tell you several times in the past, but your father always stopped me…" Vivienne explained. She still remembered how it usually went.

"My, my! Look at all these strong knights! Can you imagine the face Luna will make as soon as she-"

"DON'T! It's already the fifth time I tell you!"

"Fine, fine…"

"Now that you are the queen, you could know about them." The sorceress concluded.

"AND YOU WAITED THREE MONTHS TO TELL ME ABOUT IT!?" Lunafreya fairly complained.

"Eeeeeeeeh, Iiiiii forgot…" Vivienne answered, trying to look elsewhere with a drop of sweat coming down from her head.

In all of that, Augusta stood there, getting embarrassed. "Uhm…am I inappropriate? I'll take my leave if I'm-"

"Oh no! Absolutely not! Forgive me again, as you can see…I'm not exactly the type of queen you'd expect. I'm still learning the trade as you can see, eh eh!" Lunafreya replied. "So, Lady Augusta, what brings you here?"

"I returned from a mission a short time ago, and today, my mentor and superior Castor told me about this guild you had just opened and asked me to come here, with General Bogardius's consent," Augusta replied.

It was then that Lunafreya started to feel something in her heart. Something…pleasing. "And…what did you say?"

"That will depend on you, My Lady. If you'll allow me, I'll be more than willing to follow you in taking place in this guild. This whole body is at your service." Augusta replied straightforwardly.

That was enough to put Lunafreya in awe. "GAAAAAAAAAASP!" She looked at the giant lady with starry eyes.

Augusta was caught a bit by surprise by that reaction and looked at Vivienne for confirmation.

"Oh, she just acts like that when she's happy! She's still a teen, after all!" The royal sorceress replied.

Lunafreya immediately took Augusta's hand. "YES! You have no idea how this makes me happy! I care a lot about this project as it could help me to become the proper queen this kingdom deserves, and seeing someone already wanting to join it makes me enthusiastic! Of course, you can come! It'll be a pleasure working with you, Augusta!" She said with a large smile and closed eyes.

For that, Augusta couldn't help but make a small smile as well. "You've already gained my respect by putting yourself two heavy burdens, and I want to make sure that you'll not be alone. It'll be the greatest pleasure for me, Your Majesty…or should I call you Master?"

"Oh, both are fine, no need to be so formal!" The queen jokingly replied.

"Well, would you look at that! We already made a jackpot! And with even one big piece of meat!" Vivienne commented.

"Oh, oh! Wait! Pick me too! I want to join!" A new voice suddenly said from the entrance, gathering everyone's attention. When they turned around, they could see a new figure arrive.

It was a young girl, standing around 162 cm with honeyed skin that looked slightly sunkissed, but not outright tanned, and looking fit and healthy. She had golden blonde and luscious hair that almost looked like fur, collected in a high ponytail that reached her mid-back. She kept two long sections united to frame her face at the front, and her bangs were long and fell over her cheeks in a curl while the middle of her bangs were parted to the left. Her eyes were golden and seemed full of life. The most peculiar part of her appearance was that she had two long ears that looked like those of a horse with fur on the inside and a long-furred golden tail that was wiggling fast. She was wearing a long, flowy green skirt that reached her mid-calves and had a section of buttons on the back of her tail, a short-sleeved, flower-printed yellow blouse with a collar colored a soft pink, tucked under the skirt with a brown belt. And finally, she wore knee-high socks and brown Mary Jane and she was holding a floral-print tote bag.

The others were a bit surprised to see a girl with slight features, but either way, they let her come close.

As she came closer, the new girl was showing rays of positivity and excitement from every part of her and looked at everyone with a smile and her tail wiggling. "After seeing the tall lady here enter, I thought that this place was open and here I am! This is the new Round Table guild, right?" She asked before looking at Lunafreya. "Oooh! And you must be the queen!"

"Indeed!" The queen simply replied.

As soon as she said it, the girl quickly held her hand, and her tail wiggled even faster, she even made a particular sound that looked like a happy dog. "Oooh! You're even cuter in real life! My name is Pavlova Franke! But you can just call me Pava! I've heard that the queen wanted to open a new guild for knights, and when the news spread throughout the region, I did my best to come here as soon as I could!"

Pavlova Franke -The Chimera

Upon hearing it, Lunafreya could not help but blush and feel as moved as a daughter who got a new doll for Christmas. "Two in a row! She even said that I'm cute!" She thought. "So, I assume you want to join as well?"

"Yes, yes! Absolutely!" Pavlova immediately replied, almost sounding like she was barking.

In the meantime, Augusta whispered at Vivienne. "Is it me or despite her look, she sounds more animal than human?"

"Well, she's not the only one who has those features here in Earth Land. Even a certain mage at Lamia Scale was like that if I recall correctly." The royal sorceress commented.

In the meantime, Pavlova continued. "I absolutely want to join! I want to feel that compensating feeling of saving others from dark guilds and monsters, swinging blades, going on an adventure, and having a great BIG laugh all together! And I'll obviously do my best to be at your service, Your Majesty!"

"Well, I think that seals it, don't you think, girls?" Lunafreya asked the other two ladies, who didn't have any objections. "You saw them!"

"OH YES! Trust me, you won't regret it! I can do a lot of things! I'm friendly, open, determined, I have an excellent smell, a big sword, I'm agile, and- AGH!" Full of excitement, Pavlova started to list her traits before getting attacked by something from behind that made her fall.

"AH!" The others were caught by surprise.

"O-Ouch…what the?" When she looked around to see what hit her, she found a white high-heeled shoe.

"A shoe?" Vivienne asked confused.

"Well, they can harm a lot if you have good aim and strength. But who threw it?" Augusta wondered. But the answer wasn't too late to come, as yet another voice suddenly screamed from the entrance.

"Don't you dare exaggerate with the queen herself! Give her some space!"

Everyone turned around to see a younger girl than others with flawless fair skin, almond-shaped-sapphire-blue eyes, glossy, waist-length, golden-blonde hair tied up in an elaborate braid wrapped in a bun and held in place by a band with a silver cross. She was wearing a snowy white dress with a pleated skirt, a matching white cardigan, a silver locket with a silver chain emblazoned with what seemed a crest, a white handbag, and a white-heeled shoe on one foot.

When the others saw her barefoot, they quickly realized who was it.

"Oh, now I see. Quite skilled for being apparently so young." Augusta commented.

Pavlova stood up while holding the shoe that hit her. "Hey! What's your deal!? That hurts, you know!?"

The new girl came closer, showing some elegance in her walk. "It is you that should need to be more formal when you have a royal in front of you, instead of filling her head with tons and tons of words! I could hear you from outside!" She exclaimed.

"Hey! I can be as formal as you want! It's you that shouldn't be that hasty!" Pavlova retorted.

Lunafreya started to get embarrassed and put herself between the two. "Ok, ok! Let's not exaggerate here! We don't want to give a first bad impression here, do we?" She then looked at the young girl. "And well, yeah, that wasn't very kind. So how about we apologize and be friends?" She asked.

Seeing how Lunafreya was the one saying it, the girl looked down, feeling a bit bad. "Oh…forgive me, Your Majesty…should you whip my back as puni-"

"NO NO, FOR GOD'S SAKE! Just…apologizing will be enough!" Lunafreya quickly stopped her.

Vivienne and Augusta looked astonished at the scene. "Why do youngsters go that extreme today?" The royal sorceress asked.

The new girl, in the meantime, went close to Pavlova. "Uhm…sorry for that."

From having an offended expression, Pavlova quickly made a happy smile and wiggled her tail. "Much better! Don't worry, I forgive you! I'm sure we can be great friends!" She replied. "Here's your shoe!"

"That…escalated quite quickly?" Augusta commented.

Even the new girl was taken a bit off guard by that reaction. "T-Thanks?" After putting on her shoe again, she turned to Lunafreya. "So…it is really you, Queen Lunafreya?" She asked.

Lunafreya nodded with a smile. "In the flesh! I know, seeing from this close I don't make that much of an impression, do I?"

The girl didn't answer immediately. Instead, she blushed and kneeled down as she held her hand in awe, with glitters around her. "Aaaaaah…no, the contrary! Your beauty and kindness…am I looking at a goddess?"

"Eh?" The queen was left with a dull face again.

"W-Well…she seems to admire you!" Vivienne commented, a bit confused.

"A bit hypocrite in my opinion…" Augusta added with a drop of sweat coming down from her head. Pavlova just looked at them curious with her tail wiggling.

"O-Oh, please! No need to be this formal! Like I said with Augusta here, I'm someone who still has a lot of road to do! So please, stand up, and let's be friends for now!" Lunafreya told her.

"What are you saying, My Lady?" The girl asked while standing up. "You're the queen! It's a duty of mine to respect you with the most elegance I can show, both as a noble and as a servant of yours! I want to show you that my loyalty towards you is unlimited and deeply profound!"

Lunafreya was a bit embarrassed but she let it slip. "Well, you do seem to show off just the right traits of chivalry I'd expected from someone that young!" She replied. "What's your name, then?"

Upon hearing it, the girl quickly put herself on alert. "The name's Alexis Lichtschwert, coming straight from the Lichtschwert's household, at your service! And well, yes…I'm fifteen years old."

Alexis Licthschwert

"Fifteen, eh? Quite brave for that age. Well, not that I started that later…" Augusta commented.

"Licthschwert, you say?" Lunafreya asked. To answer her, Vivienne came closer.

"The Licthschwert are one of the founding families in Seven, and they usually serve as the rulers' left hand. I even heard that their offspring swear loyalty to the royals at the age of seven! Eh eh…Seven…age of seven…quite ironic!"

"Really?" Lunafreya asked before looking at the girl more deeply…remembering something. "Oh, wait a minute! I know you!"

"AH! R-Really?" Alexis asked, surprised and hopeful.

"Yes! You're Atticus's daughter! The girl that pledged me loyalty to the park that day! You were so embarrassed that you tried to hide your face!" Lunafreya explained.

To that, Alexis couldn't help but blush and even shed some tears of joy. "You…you remembered…" She quickly hugged her tightly. "Stay assured that after this, I'll follow you to the end of the world, my queen!"

"Kh- C-Come now, no need to exaggerate…" The queen commented.

"Awww!" Vivienne found the scene adorable while Augusta looked still confused.

"Look at them! Already buddy buddies!" Pavlova commented.

The two girls then separated. "So, I assume that you also want to join the guild?" Lunafreya asked.

Alexis nodded. "Count on me! I may be young, but I intend to make my family, this kingdom, this guild, and most importantly you shine!" She exclaimed.

"Someone here has a faaaan!" Vivienne whispered to Lunafreya.

"Well…not that I don't dislike the idea!" The young queen replied before closing her hand in a fist as a sign of victory. "Man…to think that this is the first day and we're already at-" Before she could continue, they could hear more footsteps coming from the entrance. "Ah! M-More!?" The queen exclaimed, starting to get shocked at her own achievement.

"My, my! Look at the job they did with this mansion! To think that it was still a rotten building three months ago!"

"Hmph. I don't mind. I was happy with the barn I was standing in."

This time, two voices could be heard and two figures could be seen.

The first one was a young man, the first one so far. He stood 185 cm tall, and he had sun-colored hair, green emerald eyes, white skin, and a healthy dose of tan. He also was built pretty well in his body, as he had visible muscles. He was wearing a black shirt, blue pants, and dark brown boots.

The second figure instead was a girl taller than the average (but not as much as Augusta). She was 187 cm tall, and she had dirty blonde hair in a quite unkempt form, except for two braids that rested on her shoulders, which were spread to the sides, exposing her forehead. Her eyes were deep brown with a scar over her left one (and another one on the right cheek). Like the boy, she also had quite a muscular body. Someone would have said that she had an Amazonian build. She was wearing a black sleeveless crop top with golden trimmings around the arm holes with matching loose pants that went down her knees and were held up by a belt. On her feet, she didn't wear anything, as she went barefoot.

"Oh, my! Finally a boy, here! And here I thought that this was going to be a second Mermaid Heel!" Vivienne commented.

"I can't also help but notice that this also seems a reunion of blondies…" Augusta commented.

"What? You have something against blondies?" Alexis asked, feeling called.

"Ah! Absolutely not! My apologies." The giant lady quickly replied.

The boy heard what Vivienne said. "Is that so? Well, would you look at the coincidence? Because if that's the case, I fear that someone might take you all as a harem of mine, ah ah!" He said with a laugh.

The girl who came with him glared at him. "It's not funny."

"My apologies then, friend. It wasn't my intention to offend you!" The boy replied, but this didn't seem to help.

"And I'm not your friend! We just walked out together!" The girl exclaimed.

"Now, now, no need to be hasty! However you found this guild, I'm just glad you came!" Lunafreya said, trying to calm down the waters. "Are you also here to join the guild?"

As soon as he saw her, the boy was pleasantly surprised by the sight of the queen. "Oh! Queen Lunafreya! It's such a pleasure to meet you in person! I've assisted at both your crowning and the way you've opposed that infamous Commander Hagen and I can't help but have been impressed by your feats!" He spoke.

Lunafreya immediately blushed and looked elsewhere. "O-Oh come on, I just did what I had to do, that's all!" She said it in a way that clearly meant 'Please praise me more'.

"Our Luna here likes compliments a bit too much!" Vivienne stated with a smile.

Pavlova gasped upon hearing it. "Just like me! Oh, we already have much in common!"

"GUYS!" Lunafreya whined, feeling more embarrassed.

"Oh, but you deserve those merits, Your Majesty! Trying to handle both a kingdom and a guild? And more importantly, a guild where you get strength and grow inside? I was just born at the perfect time for joining him!" The boy continued before making a small bow. "Please, consider me a part of this project. The name's Escanor De Orkney, and hopefully, from now on, my flaming sword will be at your service." He took the occasion to introduce himself.

Escanor De Orkney – The Sun Knight

Lunafreya, Alexis, and Pavlova all gasped in awe after seeing that behavior. "He's the perfect example of a knight!" They all said in unison.

Augusta, on the other hand, was more curious about his name. "De Orkney? Like Jeorge De Orkney?" She asked.

"Why yes! He's my father!" Escanor was more than happy to answer.

Augusta was genuinely surprised to hear it. "Yes, I did hear of the heroic deeds your father had faced." She then crossed her arms and looked at the man with an interested smile. "I'll look forward to seeing how you keep your name high."

"Ah ah! You flatter me, tall friend! He'd probably be happy to hear it! I thank you on your behalf! I'm also here to keep on walking on his road after all!" Escanor commented.

Alexis couldn't help but keep on looking at him with starry eyes. "I feel like I could learn so much from you! C-Can I call you Escanor-Senpai?" She asked.

Almost everyone looked at her with a skeptical face. "She's definitely fifteen years old…" Somehow, they were able to say it in unison.

"OF COURSE!" Escanor suddenly shouted.

"THANK YOU!" Alexis replied with the same energy.

"Dude! Why the hell are you screaming!?" The new girl exclaimed.

"Hmm, so your father was renowned in the army! I assume that you also come from there as well?" Vivienne asked, curious.

"Indeed! In fact, it was Bogardius himself who told me to come with you! He picked both me and this girl over here to come here." Escanor replied, pointing at the new girl.

To that, Lunafreya and Vivienne couldn't help but get moved with puppy eyes. "B-Bogardius…"

"Awww, look at them! This guy must be so cool!" Pavlova commented.

"Eugh…" The new girl wasn't of the same reaction.

Lunafreya then fairly took the chance to look at the second person. "What about you? I assume that you must be someone cool if Bogardius told you to come here!"

The girl took the chance to make a small smirk. "Well, glad that at least you can see someone who knows their shit when you see one. I surely didn't think that a pipsqueak like you was actually the queen."

The young queen was taken aback by that comment. "AH!? P-Pipsqueak…?"

"Hey!" Vivienne complained.

In less than a second, Augusta was already in front of the girl with a cold stare that meant violence. "You'd better take it back now."

"That's right! That's not a term you should use to our queen!" Alexis added, right behind the giant lady.

The girl wasn't scared of that reaction and instead already made her knuckles crack. "What? You have a problem with me, pussies? It's not the first time I've beaten someone bigger than me, so I won't go easy on you!"

"H-Hey calm down!" Vivienne said, starting to get worried.

"Oh boy this won't end good…" Escanor commented.

"Can I close my eyes?" Pavlova asked, a bit scared, but right then…

"ENOUGH!" Lunafreya suddenly released a shout that stunned everyone. Vivienne could feel the same charge she had while facing Hagen.

Augusta, Alexis, and Grendel all looked at her with wide eyes. They could see that she felt genuinely annoyed.

Lunafreya came closer to them with her eyebrows frowned. "I don't intend to cause a fight in this guild before we can even be considered a proper one. This is not something you would see in the code of chivalry!" She complained before looking at Augusta and Alexis. "Let me handle this. Do not answer to her provocations."

"A-Ah…yes, Your Majesty…" Both ladies said, taken aback.

The queen then turned to the other girl. "And you. I don't know why you called me pipsqueak, but I don't intend to let you make a mess here even if Bogardius recommended you. Why have you come here? Because if you came here just to brawl, then there are better places than here to do that!"

The girl gritted her teeth at first, but she could see how Lunafreya seemed quite serious in it. She would have never admitted it but…she felt defeated in intimidation for a moment. So, in the end, she sighed. "No…I came here to join the guild for a debt." She looked behind the queen to glare at the two ladies. "Sorry."

Augusta and Alexis didn't seem fully convinced yet but they accepted the apologies.

In an instant, Lunafreya got back to her happy expression. "Much better!" Though in her mind, she thought of something else. "Did I just do that? Me?"

"W-Wow…I never thought I'd see her like that!" Escanor commented.

"No wonder the people I saw so far respected her!" Pavlova added.

Vivienne felt a bit out of place. "Oh, our queen here does have her moment when she loses her temper, even if she still has social issues."

The queen crossed her arms. "So, why did you call me pipsqueak, exactly? That's not…really kind of you." She then fairly asked.

"I'm just surprised, that's all! Not really what I'd expect from a queen! If you want me to fully respect you, you need to show me what you can do. Trust isn't given, is earned! Remember that if you want to be a queen." The girl honestly said.

While Augusta and Alexis were almost on the verge of tearing her body apart, Lunafreya sweated a bit. She surely felt a bit demoralized to hear that but on the other hand…she felt it like she needed someone like her. So, somehow…she found the answer to that.

"Is that so? Then…how about you give me a chance? After all, this is the very reason why I founded this guild in the first place, to show that I intend to become a strong queen. Give me a chance in a mission to show what I can do, and I promise that you'll change ideas."

To that, the girl stared at her in silence, with Lunafreya doing that with a resolute stare.

A bit of tension was in the air but in the end…

The girl made a smirk. "Is that a challenge? Lucky for you, I'm fond of them. HEH! Alright, you may be a pipsqueak but I can say that you have guts. Alright, I'll stick with you for now, and if you convince me, I may think about staying. Besides…I owe at least this to that geezer of the general."

"Glad to know! Then welcome on board, you won't regret it." Lunafreya replied with a smirk of her own. "Speaking of which, you didn't introduce yourself yet."

The girl was more than happy to point at herself and make an introduction. "I'm Grendel Hellebores! And you'll be the one who won't regret having someone like me! At least, if you can convince me!"

Grendel Hellebores – The Barbarian

Vivienne took the occasion to come closer and whisper to Lunafreya. "Uhm, Luna? Are you sure? She could bring some trouble with that attitude of hers! And besides, she isn't fully convinced…"

"It's alright, Vivienne. This is just what I needed to test myself for this task." The young girl replied, convinced. "And besides! She could actually be a real asset if she decides to sta- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Suddenly, she screamed in pure rage.

"Y-Your Majesty, are you ok!?" Augusta asked.

"Something broken?" Alexis added.

"What is it?" Escanor and Pavlova asked afraid.

"Dude! Do you really have to be that loud!?" Grendel exclaimed while covering her ears.

"WHAT ARE THOSE MUDDY FOOTPRINTS ON THE FLOOR!? I JUST HAD FINISHED CLEANING HALF AN HOUR AGO!" Lunafreya demanded, looking at the dirt on the white floor.

"What did you expect!? I came all the way here barefoot as I always do- GAH!" The girl was about to explain herself before Lunafreya threw her what seemed to be white slippers.

"The Bathrooms are on the second floor. YOU'D BETTER CLEAN UP THOSE FEET AND THEN COME BACK WHILE PUTTING THOSE SLIPPERS ON OR ELSE I'LL GIVE YOU MY PROOF RIGHT NOW!" Lunafreya kept on shouting in pure wrath, to the point that the others had to cover their ears.

"WHAT!? NO CHANCE IN HELL I'D-" Grendel wanted to object, but she could see how Lunafreya was looking at her with flames in her eyes. For a second time, she felt defeated. "ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, I'LL DO IT! For Claire's sake, what's with this psycho?" And she made her way through.

The others were still taken aback and stunned by that reaction. Pavlova in particular put her tail between her legs and had her ears all lowered.

"Eh eh eh…y-yeah, here's another thing about our queen: she's extremely exigent about hygiene and cleaning," Vivienne explained, taken aback as well.

"My God, for a moment I saw a lion instead of a woman! Hmm…a Lion King…sounds good…" Escanor commented.

"And here I thought I was unintentionally threatening…" Augusta added.

In all of that, Lunafreya cried a bit. "My beautiful white floor…"

Five minutes later…

After a quick cleaning, Grendel unwittingly came back with the slippers on. "There. God if I hate putting these."

Lunafreya could take a breath of relief and then gave a general look at all who joined. "Well…all in all, not bad for the first days! Five people already! I would have never thought some people cared about this!"

"You don't even have to mention it, Your Majesty. We're more than happy to do this. At least, I am." Augusta replied.

"Make them two! I'm here to carry on the tradition!" Alexis added, all happy.

"You can count me on the tradition part as well! But also because I already feel at home!" Escanor said.

"Yup! Yup! I can't wait to have my adventures! It's what guilds do, right? Oh boy, I'm just too excited!" Pavlova added, wiggling her tail.

"Welp, you heard them. You'd better not make me wait further, big girl." Grendel spoke.

"Oh, don't worry! In fact, I wanted to get straight to the point and-" Seeing how many people were already chiming in, Lunafreya wanted to pass on the next part, but right at that moment…

SBLAM!

The entrance door suddenly opened in a rather violent way, making everyone turn around.

"Someone else!?" Alexis exclaimed.

Vivienne, in particular…seemed shocked by it. "W-What!?"

The person in question the tip of her sword on the floor. "Well, well, well. It seems that this place has already gathered someone's attention." She commented.

"Uh?" Lunafreya asked as she looked at her.

This new figure was another girl, standing around 186cm tall. She had short deep red hair that slightly curled outwards with bobby bins on both bangs. She was wearing a purple v-neck t-shirt with white hemming and a blue front pocket, black-chap-style shorts with white belts holding on two black pockets on either leg. Over the t-shirt, she wore a black hooded jacket with white hemming and a pauldron-like addition on the shoulder. She also wore black fingerless gloves on her hands and the sword she planted on the floor was long and colored of a threatening crimson red.

"It seems that you have made yourself already a name, queen. But it's not enough. If you want this guild to be flawless, you need someone who's over the top, over anything! And lucky for you…I'm the knight for you! Because in all things that I do…I am number one." The girl said with a smirk.

The others were left surprised by such a presentation.

"Woaaah! Such conviction! She must be someone who knows her stuff!" Alexis commented.

"Indeed! It seems that there's someone else who seems convinced enough!" Escanor added.

"I-I don't know you guys, but she scares me…" Pavlova said, trembling a bit.

Augusta simply looked at the scene, making some opinions on her head.

"Heh. Surprised? Well, it's only normal. It's the effect I give every time." The girl replied before pulling out her sword and leaning it on her shoulders. "Let's just say…that I mean business here. I want to make sure that my name echoes far and wide if that's not a bother for you! I mean to kick assess out there as a knight!"

"Well…you seem quite the character already! What do you think, Vivienne?" Lunafreya asked her keeper, who was still stunned. "…Vivienne?"

Grendel, on the other hand, stared at the girl in silence for a few moments…and then dashed right toward her while charging a fist.

"WHAT!?" Everyone exclaimed.

The girl didn't blink, and in less than a second, a pile of dust rose up for the impact.

"OH COME ON! CAN YOU NOT MAKE A MESS WITH ANYONE!?" Alexis complained.

"Is that girl ok!?" Pavlova added.

"Wait a minute…" Augusta said, noticing something particular…and she was right.

When the dust faded, the others could see the girl and Grendel stare at each other with the former having blocked the latter's fist.

"She…she was able to block it!?" Escanor exclaimed.

"Now she piqued my interest," Augusta commented. The queen instead, looked at the scene surprised.

The two girls kept on glaring at each other, and then…

"…Pft. AH AH AH AH AH!" Grendel burst out in a loud laugh before she put the fist away. "And here I thought that you were all talk! Finally, someone who's similar to me! You have style, kiddo." She spoke.

The other girl smirked back. "Ah ah ah! If that's the case, then knowing that I pleased you is more than satisfying for me since it's my purpose! You aren't that bad either, I like that charge!" She said with a boastful tone.

"W-Well…at least Grendel found a friend in here!" Escanor commented with a nervous smile.

Alexis on the other hand, looked skeptical. "Don't know if to feel good or bad about it."

"Friends are always a good thing, right? …Right?" Pavlova asked, still a bit scared.

"Indeed. I think that I'll have fun with you if you intend to join." Grendel concluded.

"Oh, you bet I will." The girl replied before looking at Lunafreya and approaching her. "Apart from my reasons, it was only natural that I would have paid a visit to my family, especially after hearing about the new queen!"

"Family?" Lunafreya asked confused. Vivienne on the other hand looked elsewhere, sweating even more with a nervous smile.

In the end, the girl was only a few centimeters away from the queen. "Who would have thought I would have seen you with that crown this soon? I can finally see you properly…Lunafreya." She spoke.

Alexis was shocked. "Did she just call her by name!?"

"This means that she must be very close to her!" Pavlova guessed but in reality…

Lunafreya blinked her eyes. "…Who are you again?"

The girl remained in her position for a few moments…and then made a dull face. "Eh? WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHO ARE YOU AGAIN'!? YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ME!?"

"E-Ehm, should I?" Lunafreya asked innocently.

"HMMMMMMM!" Vivienne started to get more nervous.

The girl couldn't help but sigh. "I can't believe it. Well, this shows how my family sucked. Well…that's partly better because I can leave a major impact on you." She then pointed at herself. "I am Faris Lacrima! Remember it well, because it'll be the name of one of the greatest knights in all of Earth Land!"

Faris Lacrima – The Crismon Terror of Alvarez

Naturally…everyone was dumbfounded by what she said, especially Lunafreya.

"What did she just say!?" Alexis exclaimed.

"…Eh eh…excuse me…I think I didn't hear correctly…did you say 'Lacrima'?" The queen asked with a nervous smile.

"I'm pretty sure that you're not deaf." The girl, Faris, replied with a grin.

"WHAT!? How!? Does that mean that you're part of the royal family? Or even bigger…you're a relative of mine?" Lunafreya exclaimed.

"HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" Vivienne got worse.

"YES! That's exactly it, Lunafreya! I'm your cousin!" Faris went straight with the truth.

Tun tun tuuuuuuun!

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASP!" The young queen was shocked, and the others reacted similarly.

"A PLOTWIST ALREADY!" Pavlova exclaimed.

"LA CUGINA!" Augusta added.

"…What did you say?" Escanor fairly asked.

"Oh, sorry. That's how you say 'cousin' in female form in my parts." The giant lady replied.

"Oh! Interesting! You should tell me more!" The boy replied.

"You're my cousin!? B-But it doesn't make any sense! Neither my father nor my mother had any siblings, right?" Lunafreya asked.

"Gosh, they really didn't tell you anything? Gee, I always thought that my old man was an asshole, but not to this level!" Faris commented before taking out something from her pocket. "Here. This will make things clearer."

Lunafreya took the picture, and everyone else (excluding Vivienne), looked at it…getting shocked once again. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASP!"

The picture showed Lunafreya's father, King Aegium, alongside another man with a cold stare, crimson red hair, and red eyes while wearing dark armor with a cape.

TUN TUN TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

"VIVIENNE! EXPLAIN THIS! WHO'S THIS MAN!?" Lunafreya asked.

At that point, the royal sorceress couldn't just hold it anymore. "Eh eh eh…well…that's…Alexander Lacrima…the brother of your father…which means…"

"I HAVE AN UNCLE!?" Lunafreya exclaimed. "HOW COME THAT I GET TO KNOW ALL THESE THINGS NOW!? FIRST THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS AND NOW THIS!?"

"CAN YOU JUST STOP SHOUTING FOR FIVE FUCKING MINUTES!?" Grendel shouted, starting to get annoyed.

This time, it was Lunafreya who looked down. "Sorry…"

Still, the royal sorceress couldn't hide it anymore and just spit it out. "You see, there's a reason this time. Your father and Alexander didn't have that much deep of a bond…"

"Again, my father was an asshole, simple as that. As a result, he and Uncle Aegium didn't have that deep of a bond." Faris synthesized it.

"Oh…" Lunafreya simply commented.

"Yikes…family tensions?" Pavlova asked.

"Unfortunately, they are common in nobility. I know a few cases in mine. There's always one in every family." Alexis commented.

"As there are always assholes," Grendel added.

"And…how so? Care to explain it?" Lunafreya asked.

To that, though, Faris sighed and looked down. "I'd rather not talk about it for now."

Lunafreya was still confused about the whole story, but judging from her expression, she could see that it wasn't a nice story. "Hey…don't worry. True, I'm confused but we can talk about it a second time, maybe when even Mom's around!"

Faris was a bit surprised to see Lunafreya trying to be of comfort, but without saying it, she appreciated it and even took the chance to make one of her smirks. "Well said! Because I think it's more time we start this thing! If I want my glory, I can't stand here doing nothing for too long!" She spoke.

"Quite impatient, aren't we? Well, it's not like she's totally in the wrong…" Vivienne commented while turning at the queen, who looked at the others, who nodded.

"True, indeed! And if anyone else doesn't show up…" Lunafreya said before looking at the entrance, followed by the others.

…

This time, no further presence showed up…for the moment.

"…I'd say we can finally start the activity! I'm sure you all know me, but let me introduce myself again. I'm Lunafreya Lacrima, and with the help of my keeper Vivienne Avalon, we want to give you a welcome to Round Table!"

"Hope you'll find this place of your liking! Although a lot of crazy stuff will probably happen." Vivienne added with a wink.

"YES!" The others shouted in unison.

"A step closer! Just wait, dad! You'll be super proud of me!" The young queen was already wishing that this good outcome would have grown even deeper.

---

A few minutes later…

After the first members showed up, everyone gathered at the round table on the third floor, with the queen feeling moved to see some of its spots already filled.

"Ooooh…I feel like I'm touching a holy ground…" Alexis commented. "Should I take my shoes off?"

Augusta looked at her. "Now, don't exaggerate."

"Eugh, I can't stretch my back that much. Guess I'll have to get used to it." Even Grendel said her opinion.

Escanor, on the other hand, found the idea of his liking. "You really thought of everything, don't you?"

"Not that you'd expect less from something run by the queen herself!" Pavlova replied happy.

"Modestly, I and the queen have some refined tastes in elegancy! Don't you agree, Luna?" Vivienne asked the queen, who nodded.

The girl then looked at the others. "First off, once again, I want to express my gratitude for being willing to join this crazy project of mine. To most of the people living here in Seven, this may have come out as something bizarre and unexpected, but I want you to know that it's a project that I intend to cultivate and grow with you and whoever will decide to join next." She started to explain. She then turned around to look at a painting that stood behind her seat at the table, portraying her father. "My father, Aegium Lacrima, was a stern, yet humble king, who did his best to maintain the peace in the Kingdom and the joy in the subjects despite all the adversities that Ishgar had gone through between the increase of the dark guilds, Zeref's machinations and Acnologia's rampage. Thanks to the deeds of the guilds in Fiore, we had started an era where we wouldn't have to worry about these problems anymore, but at the same time…tragedy hit both this kingdom and my family when my father sadly passed away. And now…all that weight had been put on my shoulders. As I said during the crowning, I still don't consider myself ready. That's why I decided to found this guild. So that through all of you, I could find the proper strength and wisdom to be a proper ruler."

"So, you're asking for tips and sparring partners? I do have some if you want." Grendel commented.

"I understand what you mean, Your Majesty. I, too, have a grateful memory of King Aegium. Finding out about his departure was surely a hard blow for everyone. But I'm pretty sure that we'll all come out of this more vigorous. I intend to make my part." Augusta added.

"Don't forget about me! I surely didn't get here to let you take all the glory! A queen doesn't shine if it doesn't have strong pawns to support it, right?" Faris asked with a smirk.

"Uhm…couldn't the queen move where she wanted in chess? I remember making some games and my pawns were devoured by her…" Pavlova asked.

Faris looked at her with a skeptical face. "I know…that was…a metaphorical figure."

"What's that?" Pavlova asked all innocent, making the other girl facepalm.

"Maybe I'll need to give some more lessons to the rest of the crew, after all! Not that I complain! I've always liked to tell people what to do!" Vivienne commented, all happy.

Lunafreya looked skeptical at her upon hearing that. "Yeah, because we all know what you're capable of."

"Exactly!" The royal sorceress agreed all happy.

"Man…hearing all these causes…these searches for glory…Man, I wish I could be as ambitious as you all!" Alexis said.

"The fact that you are here with us is already a good start! I certainly don't intend to make a bad impression either!" Escanor replied. "So, what's the plan, Your Majesty?"

"We'll make sure to spread our name far and wide. As the lords' chamber always tells me, the kingdom and its subjects need assurance and hope. And I intend to give them by both ruling the land and trying to serve justice at it with this guild! And we'll do it…by doing what every other guild does! We'll start right away with the missions we received from the Magic Council Department of Seven!"

"Ooooh! So, we start the adventures?" Pavlova asked, hopeful.

"Aaah, finally I get to beat up something! I need a moment where I can feel alive!" Grendel commented, starting to get pumped up.

"Does that mean that you're usually depressed when not fighting?" Augusta asked her.

"N-No! I just like punching people, that's all!" The other girl countered, showing a knuckle duster in her hand. "See this? It has the record of over 500 teeth removed from people's mouths!" She proclaimed all happy.

"Ew…" Both Alexis and Escanor commented.

"Oh, really? It seems that someone here has already reached a high top! But don't get cocky, I'll make sure to reach you somehow!" Faris replied with confidence.

"And I'll be here to wait for you, big girl!" Grendel replied. Once again, the two of them boasted in a burst of loud laughter.

"Count me in, too! I need to make myself a name like everyone in the family!" Alexis concluded. "Man, maybe I'm getting too excited…"

"Not at all! Excitement is at the base of every cause! You don't do a thing if you don't like it!" Vivienne told her.

Lunafreya nodded and went to the next part. "Ok, before we start…I assume that you all have your armor at hand, right?" She asked.

"I have the one as part of the Golden Knights," Augusta replied without problems.

"I, too, have the one as part of the army!" Escanor added.

"I borrowed one of the armors that my family has! I can't help but think that the former owner's spirit is haunting me…" Alexis answered.

"I have one as well, of course!" Faris replied quickly.

Pavlova and Grendel…stood in an awkward silence, as Lunafreya looked at them.

"What about you two? Do you girls have your armor?" She asked.

"Uhm…"

"Well…"

The two girls couldn't help but be honest.

"…We needed an armor?" They said it in unison.

"What!? You're telling me that you don't have one!?" Lunafreya exclaimed.

"Come on, girls! It's a guild of knights after all! You're telling me that you never saw all the knights that wander around the land!?" Alexis asked.

"Hey! I didn't even want to come here at first! How the hell was I supposed to know that I needed armor!?" Grendel complained.

Pavlova started to feel bad. "I-I didn't know…"

"N-Now, now, no need to get alarmed that much! There's always a way. You'll just have to go buy one! Don't worry, I'll take care of the expenses for this time." Lunafreya said, trying to calm everyone down.

"You're literally the queen! You could order any blacksmith to just do them!" Faris noted.

"Do you have any idea of how many times I told her even when she was a princess?" Vivienne added.

"Girls! I don't want to be remembered as someone who just takes from the people! All workers must have their work compensated somehow! And…well, if you think about it, some of the money will return to me with the taxes." Lunafreya explained.

Everyone went silent.

"No, no…she has a point," Augusta commented.

"Alright…" Grendel said as she stood up from her seat. "Guess we don't have much of a choice. Let's make it quick."

Even Pavlova stood up, happy. "Oh don't be like that, Grendel! Walks are always wonderful! Breathing fresh air, walking under the sun, and seeing many people minding their business! And it will also be the first time that I'll see a blacksmith shop!"

Naturally, Grendel already had an annoyed expression. "You know what else is good during a walk?"

"What?" Pavlova asked.

"Silence." The other girl quickly said.

"…Oh." That was all Pavlova could say.

The queen came closer to the two girls to give them a good handful of Ishgarian Jewels in banknotes. "Use these. There should be a blacksmith in this section of the capital."

Grendel felt odd at seeing that amount of money. "Man…I didn't earn this much back at my previous job…"

"Maybe we could once we start doing business with the guild!" Pavlova told her before starting to run towards the exit. "Come on! Let's not make our new friends wait!"

"HEY, WAIT!" Grendel couldn't do much apart from following her.

A few moments later…

It didn't take long for the two girls to come back right where they were.

"Did you take it?" Vivienne asked.

"Yup! Mine was on offer!" The dog-like girl replied.

"I just got the simplest one that didn't cost too much." Grendel simply added.

"Now we can start with business, for real!" Lunafreya stated, and she could already see the charge in the others.

They quickly went to the first floor, where they put the dashboard they received from the Magic Council, seeing it already filled with a lot of papers.

"Wow! Look at all those missions!" Pavlova commented.

"I'm not surprised. Even if Earth Land got rid of its bigger problems, there are still plenty of evildoers that roam around this world between monsters, criminals, and dark guilds. This makes the use of legal guilds such as ours necessary." Augusta explained.

"And we're about to join in the blend right now!" Lunafreya added before giving a closer look at all the missions. "Alright, let's see…all these missions seem various enough. Do you guys have any preferences?" She asked the others.

"I'll be fine with whatever choice you'll make, Your Majesty!" Alexis replied.

"I'm ok as long as we have fun!" Pavlova added while wiggling her tail.

"I don't have any particular preferences," Augusta commented.

"Me neither! What matters to me is that we do our job properly!" Escanor added.

"Same, actually! I just can't wait to start!" Vivienne spoke.

"Well, if no one has anything to say, then I'd like a mission where I can smack someone's face. I don't intend to go around without doing anything for too long." Grendel then asked.

"And make it a tough challenge! If we want to grow, then we need to accomplish something ambitious!" Faris fairly added. "And yes, I want to kick someone's ass as well!"

Lunafreya made a skeptical face upon hearing those requests. "Man, some of you can be very exigent…but I'm ok with it! Alright, let's see…" With what they asked in mind, the queen gave a careful look at the dashboard to see if there was a mission that satisfied the two girls' requests…

"Hmm…oh! You think this will do?" The queen then found a particular mission and made everyone read it.

Me and my son had been kidnapped by a powerful demon! We tried to take him out but he was too strong for the soldiers, and he had been taking the both of us as hostages! Please help us, whatever guild reaches this request! We've been held at the mountain that stands above the old Delvar's hamlet! I offer 500 000 Jewels!

Soon, everyone gave their opinions.

"Hmm…this seems challenging enough," Escanor commented.

"Eh eh eh, just the right type of mission I needed! I'm on to participate in it!" Faris exclaimed, already getting pumped up.

Alexis, on the other hand, was paling out a bit. "U-Uhm…don't you think we could start with something different? M-Maybe the search for a treasure! A demon may sound too- AH!" She tried to object, but Grendel stopped her with a pat on the back.

"Come on, now! Weren't you the one who wanted to live up to your family's name? This is the perfect chance, so don't be a wuss!" The other girl exclaimed.

"A-AH, YES!" Feeling more motivated by that, Alexis agreed (although she wasn't still that convinced).

"Don't worry, Alexis! I'll make sure to not lose you! I have a good scent, after all!" Pavlova assured her.

"It seems that more or less, everyone seems convinced about this!" Vivienne commented satisfied.

"I'll simply wait for your signal, My Lady. I think we're ready to go." Augusta added.

The queen felt like there was nothing else to add, so she took a deep breath, thinking carefully of what could have happened. "Here we are…the first mission of this guild. We'll see if this was either a good or bad idea. But I want to make sure that it's the former! Just watch, Dad!" After thinking of this, she clapped her hands on the face and looked at everyone with a convincing expression. "Alright then! Put on your armor and we're ready to go!"

A few minutes later, Lunafreya, now in her royal armor was standing alongside Vivienne at the entrance of the guild, waiting for the others to get prepared. In the wait, the queen took a deep breath.

"Anxious?" Vivienne asked her.

"W-Well…a bit, yeah. With this, we'll see if this guild can work both for me…and for them." The queen replied.

Upon hearing it, Vivienne made a small laugh and started to gently stroke her head. "I know the feeling. But I would stay optimistic, you did a good job so far with greeting them! And they do seem good people. Knowing how you always do your best to make things properly, I'm sure things will be just fine."

Lunafreya couldn't help but make a smile after hearing that. "Thank you, Vivienne."

"Hey, I watched you grow and I trained you. What more would I need to trust you?" The royal sorceress asked with a wink.

Right at that moment, they could hear several iron footsteps coming closer, and when the two ladies turned around…they saw them.

"Oh my!" Vivienne commented.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAASP!" Once again, Lunafreya gasped with stars in her eyes, seeing how her vision was coming to life.

Augusta came forward, wearing a thick golden armor that covered her entire body. The visor of the helmet was shaped like a skull, and the helmet itself had two horn-like protuberances, while underneath it had several 'vents' from which her hair fell. In addition of also having two layers of metal in certain places, she had a skull engraved at the height of the sternum and one at the waist. She also had several long pieces of white and red cloth that came out from the height of her waist and fell around her legs. The helmet was equipped with two yellow lenses to protect her from sunlight and give her a menacing look with the eyes being full yellow apart from her iris.

Pavlova had a silvery-white steel armor with the usual chest guard, and arm guards, with black breathable material under it. Even the legs and feet were covered by armor leggings, doing up to her tights. She also had two flaps of armor on both of her hips that made the shape of wings, and what looked like a robe made from white material under the armor flaps, which released her knees in length loosely. She also had black belts criss-cross over the skirt. Instead of a full helmet, she tied her hair back to a braided bun and wore an armored visor over her eyes.

Alexis was clad in full armor in full white steel with a rustic helmet with a thinly carved slit that slightly displayed her eyes. Despite the look, it was actually light in terms of weight. It had several marks and horizontal lines, the pauldrons turned down, arm guards with clawed fingers, and even what seemed a long blue feather coming down from the top of the helmet that flew with the wind. She also had her family's crest on the chest.

Escanor wore a full plate silver armor with sun patterns on it, added to a donning cape with intricate designs attached to it. In his hand, he was holding a helmet that almost looked like a shredder.

Grendel simply wore a full-plated silver armor that even looked similar to the one worn by the soldiers of the royal army. She didn't seem that pleased in wearing it.

Finally, Faris wore full-crimson-plated armor with a skirt with steel hips and pauldrons that had two long black horns that were turned backward. On her hips were two sheathed swords, with one thinner than the other.

As soon as everyone was present, Pavlova couldn't help but be amazed. "Oh, boy! It's not the first time I see some knights, but wearing one of these and staying so close to someone with cool armor like you is a completely different level!"

Alexis seemed pleased to hear it underneath the helmet. "Glad that you like it! This is one of the armors that made history in the Licthschwert family!" She exclaimed.

"This armor has nothing to envy the ones worn by the higher-ups, but it does give an effect!" Escanor commented before looking at Augusta. "If anything, I'd say that Augusta here is the real masterpiece!"

Augusta looked elsewhere, blushing a bit underneath the helmet. "It's not a big deal. I simply got my armor as part of the Golden Knights, that's all. But I'm glad that someone likes it."

"Heh! Glad to see that everyone here has some refined tastes in their outfits! When it comes to me, I'm only reserved for the best. And this armor is light and swift as hell!" Faris commented.

"Bah. I only got this because it looked convenient and it was cheap." Grendel said.

"YOU'RE ALL AWESOME! Oh God, I never thought that I'd get to live the day when I would have seen this!" Lunafreya exclaimed, even kneeling down with her head on the ground. In all of this, she still had a large teary smile. "I really thank you for taking this seriously…"

"You literally forced me to do so!" Grendel complained.

Alexis started to smoke from underneath the armor. "O-Oh God…the queen just kneeled at me…how should I take it?"

"Naaah, no worries!" Pavlova said before hugging her. "It's always a pleasure to make a friend happy! That's what they told me after all!"

"She's right! And besides, It was you who asked for them to put one!" Vivienne added while coming closer. "Though for real, I'd say that you all have sick designs! But…do you want to see something really cool?" She then asked with a grin.

"UH! UH! A magic trick!?" Pavlova asked, excited.

"What do you mean?" Lunafreya added.

After a small laugh, Vivienne started to shake her staff. "Bibidi bobidi bu!" In an instant, she was surrounded by some light and came out wearing full-clad-white armor with two wings that resembled those of a horned owl.

Lunafreya couldn't help but screech. "VIVIENNE, HOW COME YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THIS!?" she shouted.

"Oh, it's actually the first time I've done something like this, buuuuut I thought that it would have made you happy so here we are!" The royal sorceress asked. In an instant, the queen hugged her.

"You're the best keeper someone could ever ask for!" She exclaimed, sounding like a small girl.

"Modestly talking!" Vivienne said, all happy. "So, what do we say? Ready to go?" She then asked the others.

"Ready as I'll ever be! The world only waits for me!" Faris replied with a grin.

"Finally time I get to beat up someone!" Grendel added.

"Consider myself at your service." Augusta simply spoke.

"Me too!" Alexis added.

"YES! We finally begin!" Pavlova said all happy.

"Well, you heard them, Your Majesty! We're all waiting for you!" Escanor concluded.

Lunafreya looked at everyone more than pleased. She never thought that someone would have answered her request, but here they were, ready to start a new series of adventures as a guild through the spirit of chivalry.

"Ok, then! Time to show that demon what can we do! MY KNIGHTS, LET'S GO!"

"YES!"

And with that…they've marched on…ready to initiate their first mission.

---

Seven - Delvar's Hamlet

It took a bit of traveling (to the point that they had to use a train) to reach their destination, but eventually, the members of the newly founded guild were able to get to the center of the land of Seven.

They ended up walking through a large plain, until at a certain point, when they noticed that toward the south, the ground started to assume a grey color, almost like ash.

"Hm? Now what's this?" Escanor wondered as he noticed the sudden change.

Augusta lowered herself to take a small piece of earth and give a careful look at it. "This ground is dead, almost like something chemical killed it."

Pavlova looked elsewhere upon hearing the word 'chemical' feeling uncomfortable with it.

"So…does that mean?" Alexis wondered.

Faris looked forward with one of her usual smirks. "Yeah, I think so. In fact…" She then took a large sniff and felt even more delighted. "Indeed. Demons right up ahead!"

"You know what a demon smells?" Grendel asked.

"Heh! You'll soon see why, sis!" The other lady knight replied.

"Then, get ready, guys! If we are correct, then we have arrived." Lunafreya warned. And just as she thought, as soon as they got closer, they ended up on a small plateau…where a completely different scenario could be seen.

It was the ruins of what seemed to be a medieval-like city. The buildings were destroyed, split up open. Moss and dirt surrounded the streets, and menacing shapes could be seen in the distance roaming around. Adding to that, black clouds surrounded the place and vultures flew in the sky, waiting for the next ill-fated.

"Yup! We have definitely arrived! Fellow knights…welcome to Delvar's Hamlet!" Vivienne proclaimed.

Pavlova trembled a bit. "T-This is the place? I'm already hating it…" She commented.

"Ha! You'd better get used to such sights if you want to stay!" Faris told her. "And I can confirm it again…the demons' smell is even stronger now. I'd say that this is a nest!"

"How do we proceed, my queen?" Augusta then asked.

Lunafreya looked around, feeling a bit sick as well like Pava, but she did her best to not show it. "Eugh…I never thought that Seven had places like this…" She thought before clearing her throat. "Obviously enough, we'll have to make our way through these ruins, as our real destination is right in front of us." She said before pointing up.

When the other knights looked in that direction, they could see it: a tall mountain full of pointy tips, with thunders roaring around it.

"According to what's written in the request, the demon and the hostages we're looking for should be up there." Lunafreya continued.

"So we just need to go through this abandoned mess, climb up that mountain, and smash that demon's skull?" Grendel asked before raising his fist a bit and making a smirk. "Nothing simpler."

"Maybe it will become challenging, but if there's someone who wants to step in our way, I'll teach them what it means to praise the sun!" Escanor added.

To that, everyone turned around.

"Praise…the sun?" Augusta asked.

"Yes! You don't do that? It's a tradition I've gotten ever since I moved into my house. Praising the sun is…wonderful…" The boy replied before looking up at the only rays that pierced through the clouds. "It's like a magnificent father for whom I have too many feelings! I could gaze at it all day…" Just as he said it, the others could see that his eyes were smoking a bit.

Alexis sweated at that but tried to pass it. "Ok? Well, it's nice that everyone here seems motivated enough, but how are we going to reach the-" She was going to ask a question, but she got her answer when she saw everyone else jumping directly from the plateau. "…Fair enough" And she did the same.

Everyone was able to land on their feet (with Augusta making a larger thud than the others) and started to walk through. Finally, they could explore the environment for themselves.

"So…Faris…you said that demons live here, right?" Pavlova asked.

"Yup! It's like they're screaming 'Come at me! I'm eager to get hurt!'" The other girl said.

Grendel was already fixing her knuckle dusters. "Not that I wouldn't be happy to please them if that was the case!" She commented.

"Neither do I, sis!" The crimson-haired girl quickly answered back, with the two of them laughing out.

Naturally, Pavlova wasn't convinced at all by this. "Ok…so there will surely be some fights…do you think they'd be eager to surrender?"

"You'll have to make them do so, Pava. Besides, as knights, this will probably be our routine." Augusta shortly replied while keeping on going.

The girl with dog ears could only sigh. "Then I hope I can only harm them and nothing more…"

"Don't worry, I agree! You'll soon learn that there are plenty of ways to take down an enemy in a non-fatal way!" Alexis assured her. That was enough to make Pavlova almost bark of joy.

Vivienne looked at them with a smile before turning at Lunafreya. "It seems that they're already chatting a bit more!" She noticed.

"Mhmh! I already love this!" The queen commented before looking at the rest of the group. "Make sure to stick together. This place is big enough to get lost."

"Sure do, Master!" Escanor replied. "Although, despite the premise, we still didn't see anything that alar-" Just as he was about to express his opinions, he felt his foot stepping on something…fleshy. When he looked down…he could see what seemed the rotting corpse of an infant with the head open and bugs eating the entrails. "Oh God!"

"Uh? AH!" When Alexis looked down as well, she took a step back with a shriek. The insects quickly ran away as soon as there was contact with the body.

"O-Ok…this is alarming enough…poor thing…" The boy commented.

"N-Now that I think of it…why is this place like this? Does anybody know?" Alexis asked, still a bit shocked.

"Yes, I did read a while ago that a famine left by a dying monster left this hamlet to rot, quickly killing most of the inhabitants and forcing the rest to escape. From then on, this has become the refuge to demons and monsters of every type. And probably our target is no exception!" Vivienne commented.

Naturally, Alexis wasn't happy to hear it. "Oh God…and here I thought that after Zeref was gone, we wouldn't have seen any more demons…"

"No. Only the demons of his book had disappeared with him. There are plenty of demonic species out there." Augusta specified.

"And there are just my favorite prey! They get funny to face once you take the hand!" Faris added.

To that, Alexis couldn't help but look stunned. "What's with her?" She thought.

For a while, the walk proceeded correctly, to the point that they reached what seemed to be one of the squares of the room. They could tell by noticing how the zone had a circular form and what was left of a fountain with the shattered statue of an angel (only the lower half was left) at the center.

By looking up, Grendel could see the mountain more properly. "We're getting close." She spoke.

"So far, so good, right?" Alexis asked.

Augusta couldn't help but feel…nervous. "Maybe even a bit too much."

"Augusta's right. There's too much calm for a place like this." Lunafreya added while looking around.

Pavlova wanted to help the others to find possible dangers, so she looked around while sniffing…ending up finding what seemed to be the statue of a gargoyle placed on a fence of stone. "Ah!" She got caught by surprise at first. "Oh! Eh eh, thank God…for a moment I thought that it was-"

And just as she was about to say it, the statue opened his eyes and glared at her.

"-REAL!" Pavlova immediately made a few steps backward while raising her sword.

The others could soon see the monster slowly rising up and moving, forcing them to take on their weapons.

"Our first enemy!?" Escanor exclaimed while holding his sword tight.

Faris heard more growls coming closer. "Not just one."

When the others looked around, they could see as more gargoyles started to arrive. All of them had some pieces of armor and held glaives as weapons.

"We've entered their nest…be careful…" Lunafreya warned.

"Do my eyes deceive me?"

"No, not at all…"

"This may be our lucky day…" These were some of the things that the gargoyles started to say.

"It has been a while since the last time we saw a group of foolish humans come into our nest without advice…" Another one added with a large smile.

"Why? Do you have any problem with it?" Grendel asked, getting already prepared.

"Oh no, not at all, the contrary! We love it when precious food accidentally bumps here. It's our favorite type of delivery." Another gargoyle replied.

"Ok, they don't seem friendly at all…it's better if we get ready…" Vivienne told the others.

Augusta already glared at them from underneath the helmet. "We just want to pass on without any disturbance. If you let us do that, we promise to not do anything against you. But if you insist on attacking us, then you'd better accept the consequences." She spoke, with her eyes glowing menacingly.

But to that, the gargoyles started to laugh. "You think that will be enough to scare us? You're not the first humans that try to threaten us, and brave humans have the tastier hearts!"

The mages felt a bit disgusted by it, but Lunafreya could see the direction that the discussion was taking. "Well, I'd say this is their final answer!" She looked at her new guildmates. "How about you finally show me what you can do?"

Naturally, Grendel and Faris were the most excited ones about it. "You have no idea how I've been waiting to hear it!" The former exclaimed.

"LET'S WRECK THEM, DAMMIT!" The latter added. The others nodded and waited only for the signal.

"Alright, then! Attack!" Nothing else was needed, and with the queen's signal, the eight knights threw themselves at the attacks. The gargoyles roared and launched themselves as well, starting a clash.

"Feel the wrath of my Flagrans!" Escanor directly attacked three gargoyles, starting to clash his special sword with their glaives, and even if there were three of them, the boy was able to answer properly at their attacks, putting the blade in the right position.

"GRAAAAH!" Out of rage, one of the gargoyles breathed fire from his mouth, forcing the knight to jump backward.

"So, this is what you want? Fine, have at you!" Escanor exclaimed before starting to raise his sword. "Oh mighty sun that nurtures us all, please give me the blessing to take down these enemies!" As soon as he said it, the few rays of the sun that pierced through the city started to give power to the mage and his blade.

The gargoyles could feel the air starting to get hotter around him, and feeling endangered, they immediately jumped at him, aiming to impale him with their weapons.

But before they could do so, Escanor opened his eyes and with a resolute stare, he threw a single swing of his blade that released a blazing slash of flaming solar energy. "True Sun Magic. Searing Sunstrike – Solar Incisio!"

"GRAAAAAH!" In an instant, the three gargoyles were cut in half and incinerated by the pure flames. A fourth one took advantage of the scene to dive against the knight, hoping to stab him with the tail that had the shape of an axe.

"Hm!" Escanor was able to block the attack at the last moment, but he sweated for a moment. The gargoyle didn't quit and kept on attacking, forcing him to walk backward while he kept on defending himself from every blow.

"You act all cocky but you aren't that strong when approached closely!" The gargoyle mocked him, but right at the last moment, Escanor was able to parry the tail and deliver a strong counterattack. "GAH!?"

Escanor took the chance to look at his enemy with a smile. "I know that you are monsters, but did they ever tell you to not talk too soon? They certainly did it with me!" He then aimed the sword right at him. "Solar Flare - Caelum Ignis! He immediately released a large solar flare that incinerated the gargoyle, leaving only ashes that flew within the wind.

The other close gargoyles started to get annoyed by that and threw themselves at the knight. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Escanor's blade, Fragrans was still emitting flames from the sun, and as soon as he saw the gargoyles attack him, all he needed to do was simply dash forward with the sword and cut through all of them followed by a tongue of flames. "With me, things like unity won't work. You'll all be like moths that throw themselves to the sun."

Alexis, too, was about to do her best. She took out what seemed to be a light pen that instantly took the form of a silver rapier with a golden, vine-styled handguard. As soon as she was close to the gargoyles, she swung the rapier with precision and elegance, managing to counter all their attacks.

"Dammit! Stay still!" One of the gargoyles exclaimed, trying to chop down her head.

As soon as she saw the blow, the young girl made a tall jump with a pirouette. Then, when she stopped and was still in mid-air, she let herself fall on the gargoyles while making several movements with the rapier. "Take this!"

Swish!

As soon as she touched the ground and stood in an elegant pose, several cuts appeared on the body of the gargoyles, who fell to the ground (but were not dead).

"GRAAAAAAAAAAH!" Alexis though, couldn't have an easy rest, since when she turned around, she could see a flock of Gargoyles fly toward her.

"Gee! Are you really gargoyles? Because for now, you look like some stupid rooks!" The young knight lady commented. She then raised her rapier and started to move it around. The weapon released a magic substance that drew figures in mid-air, in particular, it drew several broad blades to the point of making an entire series of them. "Light Picht Magic - Himmlische Säbel!" Once she proclaimed the spell's name, the swords threw themselves against the gargoyles, making them fall like rain and knocking them out.

One of the gargoyles, though, was able to pass through the attack and tried to directly approach Alexis with his axe.

"AH!" Alexis quickly pulled up the rapier and started a small clash with him, until she was able to make a few jumps back. The monster didn't want to let her breathe and threw himself to the attack. In the short time that she got, the girl quickly drew several snowflakes. "Light Picht - Schneewalzer!" By doing it, the snowflakes threw themselves at the beast, followed by a snow blizzard that froze him.

The girl then turned around and could see more of them approaching her from above. "They're becoming many!" She exclaimed. The gargoyles breathed fire en masse on her, forcing her to generate a large shield with her rapier. "Light Picht - Uneinnehmbarer Schild!" The shield did its duty to protect her, but the flames kept on going. "Dammit! I don't think I'll be able to endure it for long!"

Pavlova was busy fighting her own horde of gargoyles, but as soon as she heard the girl, she turned around to see her in trouble. "Ah! I'm coming, Alexis!" She quickly ran before making a tall jump. "TakeOver: Chimera – Harpy!" While in mid-air, she used her magic to transform herself into a winged and clawed version of herself. As soon as the metamorphosis was complete, she started to spin and made a rolling attack with the claws at her pawn. "HAAAAAA!"

SLASH!

All of the gargoyles crashed to the ground, and the dog girl could land and go back to her normal form with a satisfied smile. "You ok, Alexis?"

"Pava, you…you saved my life!" The other girl said.

"Aw, don't get sappy about it! It's what friends do, right?" Pavlova replied with a smile.

Alexis was almost on the verge of moving. Even after the harsh beginning between the two, Pavlova still wanted to be friends with her. But they had to talk about it later, as Alexis saw more gargoyles come toward the girl. "Ah! Pava, lower your head!"

"Uh!?" The Franke mage was confused but did so. With that, the other new mage of Round Table could take the opportunity to draw more blades with her rapier. "Light Picht - Himmlische Säbel!" The swords quickly attacked the gargoyles, taking them out.

Pavlova looked at the scene with wide eyes. "T-Thanks…" And even with that, more gargoyles came out, forcing the two girls to stay back against back.

"You saved me, now it's my turn to pay you back!" Alexis stated.

"No worries! Give it all you got! I'll be here!" The other knight replied. The two didn't wait and dived against the enemy. Pavlova in particular took a new form. "TakeOver – Lycantrophe!" She transformed into a humanoid wolf that growled at the gargoyles and started to wipe them out by using the sword. The humanoid beast kept marching for a while until more gargoyles teamed up to try and take over her like a group of ants taking over a mantis. "ARGH, DAMMIT!"

But the gargoyles were then taken down by several arrows of light that blasted them away. When Pavlova raised her head, she could see Alexis from the distance giving her a thumb up. Even in her monstrous form, Pavlova wiggled her tail. "Thank you, Alexis!" She then turned around toward the other gargoyles still transformed. "Here I Come!"

"GRAAAAAAAH!" In the meantime, Grendel could finally let herself go and unleash all of her fury and violence against the gargoyles. Unlike her guildmates and fellow knights, she didn't seem to use a bladed weapon and relied on brute strength by using her knuckle dusters. Every time a gargoyle came closer, Grendel was there to give him special treatment with melee combat. She smashed one's head with a fist to the chin and wiped away another with a kick in his belly, grabbed a third one by the head with a heavy headbutt, lifted a fourth one by the tail, and threw it against others. She then turned around to glare at the other gargoyles with an excited smirk as she clapped her fists. "COME ON! I EXPECTED MORE FROM SOME HUMAN DEVOURERS!" Her whole body started to get surrounded by a shimmering aura. "IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY OF YOU WILL COME! I'LL CRUSH ALL OF YOUR BONES WITH MY BREAKER MAGIC!"

Not that distant from her, Faris, too, was having a blast in the fight. Her two swords moved like a raging storm on the gargoyles' bodies, cutting them into pieces. One of them tried to assault her, but the knight girl closed her hands to a fist and punched the monster right in the skull, releasing a red electric shockwave that made the body implode. Five more gargoyles tried to swarm her, but she quickly spun her swords, reducing four of them to pieces, and then jumped high to dive attack the last one with her sword. "I'LL KILL YOU! USHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The bigger sword planted heavily on the gargoyle that collapsed on the ground.

Faris took the chance to go near Grendel, and the two stood close to each other. "It seems that you are having a blast here, sis!" She exclaimed.

"You bet I am, sis! Glad that Queenie there went straight to the point as soon as they showed themselves hostile! She surely earned some points now that I'm having fun!" Grendel replied. Their attention was then caught by several roars in the distance, as they saw around fifty gargoyles coming closer.

"Well, look at those idiots! What do you say, I take the twenty-five on the left and you take the twenty-five on the right?" Faris proposed.

"Oh, fuck you! I'll take twenty-six!" Grendel immediately replied, liking the idea.

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! LET'S GO!" The Lacrima mage exclaimed before the two of them dashed forward like trains.

"Windbreaker!" As soon as she got closer, Grendel pushed on with a powerful fist that not only pierced through some of the gargoyles but also released a blast of wind that wiped away the ones behind them. She could hear more growls from behind her, and when she turned around, her aura rose higher. "Come to mom, big boy…HELLEBORES KNUCKLE!" In an instant, the mage of Round Table released a portion of her energy into a fast and destructive barrage of punches that pierced through the gargoyles' bodies. Nothing would have stopped her, to the point that she released her battle cry. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Faris too wasn't holding herself, and after cutting down more of the gargoyles, as soon as she saw more of them, her air started to flow, and several black marks appeared on her body. "Have it your way! Let me teach you what it means to stand in the way of Faris Lacrima!" One of her swords started to get surrounded by crimson magic. As soon as a gargoyle tried to assault her, she cut him in half with a single slash that released a burst of crimson energy that blew up the ones behind the first one. "Crimson Devil's Massacre!"

The gargoyles were stunned at that sight but still tried to attack her together. To that, Faris crossed her swords upside down and then released an X-shaped burst of energy to pulverize them. "Crimson Devil's X Judgement!" The blow even made a small explosion, but it gave Faris the time to reach back Grendel.

The two girls were back against back. Sweat was coming down from their heads and they needed to breathe, but the charge didn't disappear.

"Anf…feeling tired already?" Faris asked.

"Anf…Are you kidding me!? These things won't even give me lactic acid! LET'S KEEP GOING!" Grendel answered, preparing her fists again.

"OH DON'T THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WITH STILL SOMETHING LEFT HERE! COME ON!" Faris answered back.

Their rumble was just getting started.

In the meantime, Augusta had already taken down a good portion of her gargoyle enemies. But she could still see that more of them tried to ambush her.

"LET'S GET HER! SHE MUST BE THE ONE WITH THE MOST MEAT!" The gargoyles shouted, trying to be positive about their victory.

All the giant knight could do was glare at them with a stare that meant only one thing: death. "Fine. Keep on coming. You'll soon learn this is a meat you won't place your fangs on." After warning them, a magical aura started to surround her. "TakeOver: Galaxy Essence – Pluto Essence." Like Pavlova, Augusta used a TakeOver magic to transform into a variant version of her. When the magic faded out, she looked a lot thinner, her hair became grey, her eyes purple and her armor changed into shades of purple, black, and grey, with more skulls appearing around her armor.

As soon as the gargoyles were close to her, Augusta raised her sword. "Nix's Kiss." With one swing, she was able to cut through most of them. The gargoyles that saved themselves were stunned and horrified at this, but they got even more shocked to see their deceased partners apparently come back to life surrounded by a strange smoke and threw themselves against them.

"OHI, WHAT'S HAPPENING!? WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING US!?"

Augusta took the chance to dash toward them with her sword raised. "Care to join them? I'd be glad to grant your wish. Royal Ascension Style – Third Rank – Viscount's Executioner Blade!" As soon as she was right above them, the giant knight raised her swords with both hands and made them fall right on the remaining gargoyle's bodies, crushing them down with a single blow. The ones she possessed were still whole and threw themselves against more of them. "These beasts should learn their place," Augusta commented. She then looked behind to check on Lunafreya. "This should help the queen further. Although she seems to be doing fine."

And just as she said, Lunafreya was doing her best to answer to the weapons of the gargoyle, using her sword at the right point. Like she did with Hagen, she proved to be skilled in swordsmanship. "Holy Sword God's Punishment!" As soon as she found a break, the young queen made her debut to them with an elegant yet lethal sequence of sword attacks that cut through their bodies.

"DAMM YOU!" One of the gargoyles was furious and tried to attack her by breathing fire. Lunafreya quickly turned around and countered it with a beam of holy light coming from her sword. "Holy Sword God's Bellow!" The beam easily pierced through the flames and pulverized the attack.

"How is it possible!? You're just a human!" The gargoyles complained.

Lunafreya stood up and looked at them. "I may be still learning the job, but I'm still a queen! What impression would I give if I let myself get beaten by some second-class beasts like you?"

Even if she was overwhelming them, the monsters felt utterly insulted by that sentence and threw themselves at her.

"Still not learning? Alright, don't say we didn't warn you!" Seeing their answer, Lunafreya planted her sword on the ground and concentrated her energy. Several spheres started to appear behind her. "Holy Sword God's Hive Mind!" She directed the spheres towards the gargoyles blasting them away. She had a small moment of break and could turn at her teacher. "Vivienne! How's it going?"

Even Vivienne was forced to close combat with the gargoyles, finding herself to use her sword against them. "Still breathing as you can see! Though these overgrown bats are quite a bother!" She replied before jumping away. As she saw the gargoyle that clashed with her running in her direction, she planted the sword on the ground and released a burst of clear blue energy that wiped the enemy away. But shortly after, she was surrounded by eight of them. "Oh boy, more of them. Well, I have the right answer for it!" After this comment, the royal sorceress swung her scepter and released what seemed to be a particular blue dust that went around the gargoyles. "Stellarum Crepitus!" Once she pronounced the spell, the dust converged into an explosion that wiped away the beasts.

In the end, the struggle went on for a while, but lots of gargoyles, between knocked out ones and dead ones were lying on the ground, and the small group reunited.

"I'm pretty sure that you're getting tired of them! So how about we finish this?" Vivienne asked.

"Actually, I'd go on all day with these, but we don't have time to waste!" Grendel replied. The others agreed.

"The stage's yours, Vivienne! Guide us!" Lunafreya told her.

The sorceress was happy to hear those words as she teleported herself to the center of the group, swinging her scepter and then planting it on the ground. "Deus Eques! All of your magic parameters are now double the stronger!"

And just like that, everyone could feel more powerful. Needless to say, light, flames, swords, a rampaging wolf, necrotic magic, blowing fists that seemed like coming from a north star, everything flew in that abandoned square, ending up what was left of the horde of gargoyles.

In the end, the ones that remained were terrified by that group of knights. "T-These are not humans! They're worse demons than the ones that live here! RUUUUN!" With that, needless to say, what was left started to fly away.

"Yeah, you'd better run before I come and search you!" Faris exclaimed as she looked at them.

Finally, everyone could take a breath and Augusta and Pavlova could go back to their normal forms.

"That was incredible! Did you see all those attacks go pew-pew? Sure, I would have preferred that there weren't any victims at all but, I can't decide for others. We went totally great!" Pavlova exclaimed.

"Oh, don't praise me, Pava! Praise the sun that gives me the strength to fight!" Escanor commented.

"And I hope that I could have shown what a Lichtschwert is capable of!" Alexis added, wanting some compliments in good faith.

"Ah ah ah! You surely did, kiddo! We all did! But modestly, I was the one who did the best as I went hardcore!" Faris replied.

"Yeah, you should have seen us! We were two hurricanes!" Grendel added before looking at the queen. "Though to be fair, it was thanks to you we got to have this, and you surely showed some metaphorical balls there! Consider them an improvement for my opinion on you!"

"Really? Well, what could I say if not 'thank you'?" Lunafreya replied while making a small bow. "I can't believe it, I've made a good impression!" She then looked at Faris. "You know...I got to see you fight there, cousin Faris, and...are you a Devil Slayer, then?"

"Well, I did say that demons are my favorite prey! And yes, I am. My Crimson Devil Slayer Magic answers my sense of ferocity and manifests through attacks of pure destructive energy. In other words...the perfect magic for someone as glorious as me!" Faris explained, obviously happy to do so.

"Really? And aren't you afraid to go berserk? I know that it happens to Devil Slayers..." Vivienne asked.

"That would be even better, AH AH!" The other knight replied, getting a skeptical face from the others (except Grendel).

Grendel smirked back. "It's still soon to talk! Come on we still need to reach that mou- GAAAAGH!" Just as they were about to resume their journey, the girl clad in armor got hit by something big that made her crash against a wall.

"AH!" Everyone was naturally shocked, with Faris running toward her.

"OHI, SIS! Are you ok!?"

"Kh…for fuck's sake, what the…" When she stood up, Grendel (after spitting some blood from her mouth), could see what hit her: a large and perfectly circular ball of metal. When she looked up, she could see in anger an undead and deformed human being that was growling. "DID YOU JUST HIT ME WITH A LINDOR'S CHOCOLATE!? FINE, RIGHT BACK AT YA!" Feeling annoyed by that, Grendel quickly grabbed the ball, and through her magic, she was able to send it back to the sender, reducing him to pieces.

"Gee, calm down-" Vivienne commented.

"Well, he did throw a big ball at her! I'd say she has all the reasons to be pissed!" Alexis told her.

Right after that, the knights could hear several arrows getting loaded, and when they looked around they saw more of those undead people, aiming arrows at her. Adding to that, several heavy footsteps could be heard approaching.

"Curses! We're getting surrounded!" Escanor exclaimed.

"We must have gathered the other creatures' attention by making a lot of noise during the fight! And we have surely triggered their hunger for blood!" Augusta warned.

"What do we do, then? If it keeps up, we won't be able to proceed!" Pavlova asked, starting to get worried.

Lunafreya sweated a bit but didn't want to give up easily. "There's no choice! We need to use the secret technique every knight uses!"

Naturally, that gathered everyone's attention.

"The knights' secret technique?" Alexis asked. But Vivienne had a feeling she knew where the queen was going.

"Don't tell me…"

"Listen closely because you all must use it! All you have to do is to get ready to use your legs!" Lunafreya explained.

"Use our legs? For what?" Faris asked.

To that…Lunafreya put on a stern expression for a few moments…and then started to run toward the mountain.

"TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

"WHAAAT!?" Alexis and Pavlova shouted.

"WHAT TYPE OF TECHNIQUE IS THAT!?" Faris and Grendel added.

"DAMMIT, I KNEW THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" Vivienne whined out. "I told her as a kid, but it was a joke!"

"Well, it's not like it wouldn't work! And I think we need it so I second that! LET'S GO!" Escanor was the first one to do so, and later on, the others did the same, even if a bit reluctantly.

"I'll use the possessed corpses to give us some time! Let's go!" After ordering her dead gargoyles to attack, Augusta followed them as well, and the big escape started.

As soon as they moved their feet, the arrows started to rain down against them, to the point that Augusta's idea wasn't enough.

Luckily, Alexis seemed to know what to do, as she drew ten figures with her rapier. "Light Pict - Strahlender Wächter!" She gave life to ten knights who stood around ten feet tall with her family's crest, giving them the order to strike down the archers.

"Nice thought, girls! This should give us at least some-" Lunafreya wanted to praise her two guildmates, but she got interrupted when a giant demonic scolopendra rose from the ground and started to chase down the group. "WHAT THE!?"

Faris immediately freaked out. "AAAAH! THAT'S GROSS!" She quickly charged red magic from her sword and promptly jumped to its head to stab it and make the giant insect blow up with a beam. "Anf, anf, anf!"

"Are you scared of insects, Lady Faris?" Escanor asked, noticing her reaction.

"NO, I'M NOT!" The crimson-haired girl quickly turned around to answer. But the way she replied made it look like she didn't want to admit it.

"I think we need to talk about it a second moment! More are coming!" Pavlova warned as she looked at another army of undead people going after them.

"At last…fresh meat…" They whispered.

"Seriously, what did the monster that caused all of this eat!?" Lunafreya complained.

"Sometimes I ask that myself! Ok, more ideas?" Vivienne asked.

To that, Augusta couldn't help herself but take a few steps forward. "Leave it to me, Your Majesty." She didn't lose any further seconds and quickly used her magic. "TakeOver – Mercury Essence!" This time, her body changed shape to a more athletic one with the loss of her muscles. Her eyes and hair became silver and her armor became slimmer and tighter with small angel wings near the ankles and on the helmet. "Chaotic Slash!" As soon as the metamorphosis was complete, she moved at superhuman speed and in a zig-zag to start making a road for the others while taking down the undead.

"Woah! Even I couldn't be that fast!" Pavlova exclaimed.

"Let's follow her, come on!" Lunafreya ordered the others, and so they did.

Thanks to Augusta's efforts, they were able to make a large piece of their road through the hamlet. More monsters tried to assault them, but in one way or another, and thanks to their special magics, they managed to get out of it.

And after some more minutes of road, Augusta could see it closer. "I see it! A bridge that connects this road to the mountain!"

"We're almost done! Keep on carving the path, Augusta!" Lunafreya exclaimed.

"It'll be done- GAH!" But just as Augusta was about to reach the bridge, something attacked her and made her recoil.

"Augusta! What happened!?" Vivienne asked.

The giant lady was confused. Some small electric shockwaves were filling her body. "I…I don't know! I just felt something attacking me!"

"What do you mean you don't know!? You surely can't have imagined- AGH!" Grendel also started to feel the same type of attack. "She's not imagining it! Watch out!" She warned.

But even with their advice, all the mages of Round Table started to get hit several times. It was a short, yet direct blow, almost similar to a whip that even left electric shockwaves, that forced them to recoil and get closer to each other.

"GRRRRRR!" They heard a strange growl in the air, but they couldn't figure out where it came from.

"Fuck, I hate when I don't know where to hit!" Grendel commented.

"What do we do? We can't continue like this!" Alexis asked, worried.

"And we can't risk to blow up the whole place or we would risk to gather even more attention in a place like this!" Escanor added.

"We would need something that's able to detect magic energy but…I still don't have it in my repertory!" Vivienne said.

"Stay close to me! I'll try to act as a shield while you figure out what to do!" Augusta proposed.

"No way! Count me in, too! I'm not leaving you alone!" Pavlova told her.

"Whatever you're doing make it quick, dammit!" Faris complained.

Lunafreya could feel the pressure rising. She was glad that the others didn't seem to quit, but If they couldn't see where the attacks came from, there wasn't anything they could do. "Come on…there has to be a valid explanation…I don't intend to quit this easily!"

Kzzzzzz…

"Uh?" Suddenly, the queen could hear what seemed to be an electric noise from above. It wasn't a clear sight, due to the bad weather, but she could see something charging an attack…or…maybe someone.

"Luna, what is it?" Vivienne asked.

The other young girl could sense the possible danger and widened her eyes. "EVERYBODY, GET DOWN!"

The rest of the group was confused, but they didn't have the time to ask why and did so. And just as they lowered themselves...

KRA-KOOOOOM!

A large impact of thunder magic crashed on the ground releasing a large shockwave made out of pure electricity.

"Kh…uh?" When the group opened their eyes, they could see that despite the attack, they were completely unharmed.

"We're…safe?" Alexis wondered.

"But how? Did that blast purposely dodge us?" Escanor added.

As she looked around, Faris could notice a further detail. "Ah! Look!"

A few electric shockwaves started to show several shapes all around them, followed by an effect of camouflage that faded away, revealing tall monstrous chameleons.

"Electric chameleons! That's why we couldn't see them! They used their camouflage!" Pavlova explained.

"What infamous bastards!" Grendel complained.

"GRRRRR…GRRRR…grrrrrrr…" The chameleons tried to react, but the attack was strong to the point that they all collapsed to the ground one after another with a large thud.

"They're…beaten!" Augusta said.

"Despite their affinity, the impact was so strong that it made them collapse with one blow! Now that's something interesting…" Escanor added.

"And still…we were left unharmed?" Vivienne wondered.

Lunafreya shook her head in confusion. "I don't get it…what happened?" She wondered…and her answer arrived pretty quick.

"AH AH AH AH AH AH!" A loud laughter made everyone turn around. The voice was followed by metal footsteps coming closer. "These silly creatures always think they're incredibly smart with their sneak attacks! But they always forget that I am always able to look where the eye doesn't see!" It looked like the voice of a young man.

Naturally, Lunafreya and the others stood in a defensive stance. "Who are you?" The queen asked.

"Oh? Eager to know my identity? I don't blame you! Because everyone would either fawn or be terrified to hear my name!" The person said. "Well, be honored, wandering knights! You have been assisted by a single person who will one day make the entire world quake!"

"Quite the confident here, aren't we?" Faris asked, getting a bit curious to see someone similar to her.

"It isn't confidence…it's a fact!" The voice continued. Finally, he got out of the smoke and finally revealed his look at the group, who was genuinely surprised.

It was a young man with a pale complexion and short red hair standing around 198 cm. He was wearing a full-clad blue-colored armor with a flowing red cape. In his left hand, he was holding what seemed to be a walking staff with a tip at the end that made it look like a lance, while in the right hand, he wielded a white shield with gold ornaments and a particular red mark, similar to the one Alexis had in her armor. But the most particular trait about him was that his eyes were covered by a black blindfold. Despite this, he was able to look right in front of them with a convinced smile on his face.

"Be either amazed or tremble in fear! Because right now, you are standing in front of the greatest peak when it comes to the demon kind! I am Xavier Ahriman, Prince of Devils!"

Xavier Ahriman – The Laughing Tyrant

But…despite that presentation…the group blinked their eyes in confusion.

"Prince of…Devils?" They asked in unison.

---

And I'd say that we can end it here for now! There was originally supposed to be another battle scene, but then the chapter would have become a lot longer and I wanted to avoid it, so I'll keep it for the future. It was very exciting for me to finally introduce the first branch of chapters! As always, I did my best to portray the characters in the way I got them, hoping to have given the creators a pleasant feeling. One thing I made sure of was to not make a scenario similar to that of Shogunate Pride, despite the start of this chapter being mostly the same thing (but that's mostly because I've wanted to make a connection with the original series), and I hope that, despite some settings, I'll be able to make this and Shogunate Pride two distinct stories and not one the alter-ego of the other. While this story is still under construction, I aim mostly for that goal (though I am starting to come up with some ideas for the first arcs!).

As for the characters, needless to say, it was a blast to finally write them down. It's the third time I've done a story like this, but once again, while the SYOC isn't done yet, I've already started to confirm some of the characters I've received, and you've done a wonderful job in creating these characters, between those who wanted to come back from Shogunate Pride and new users. And I surely had my blast writing them down! I also got the chance to introduce the third character I planned for this story, Faris Lacrima! I hope that you'll get to like her just as I could see you liked Lunafreya and Vivienne, she still needs to show her full tomboy side. While most of the action was focused on the last part of the chapter, I did my best to give a proper taste of what their magics are (I also took the chance to add something better for Lunafreya and Vivienne) and make their interactions believable enough, which is the thing that matters to me the most in writing a character for me, especially when it's made by someone else.

But naturally, I leave the last word to you! Did you like the chapter? What are your opinions on these first members of the Round Table and their powers? How do you think their first mission will proceed? As always, please support this story with lots of reviews! Your opinion is important!

As once again I'm seeing the general excitement between you guys, I can't help but feel grateful and compensated for how you like the idea! Thank you, really! A themed guild isn't an idea that could appeal to everyone, so seeing how many of you are agreeing to participate makes me feel like I'm doing things correctly (As one who tends to feel down pretty quickly, I always need approval, hope you stick it with me _). Next time, I may start to work back on my Digimon Adventure 04 story, since I intend to finally finish the first arc after five years! But if there happens to be too much of a gap, I'll make sure to get back to this story and Shogunate Pride as soon as possible, since the reception they're getting motivates me even more to continue them! And let's not forget that the SYOC is still open! The deadline is 07/11/2024, but if there's someone among you who still needs to finish their OC or make one, I'm willing to stretch the deadline a bit further, so don't hesitate to contact me if you want to present me a character (you find all the rules and the OC form in my profile with the link to the Discord Server)!

With this said, I once again thank you for reading, and if you allow me, I'll now go to play some Spyro Reignited Trilogy, so I'll see you either in the next chapter or the next chapter of another story of mine! From Bluestar here, arrivederci!

OC Credits:

Augusta 'Lupus' Taurinorum – SoIAmAWriterSoWhat (He also made Castor Rorkwall!)

Pavlova Franke – renren-writes

Alexis Lichtswhert – Pink Reef

Escanor De Orkney – LucasVAMP

Grendel Hellebores – ArcaneQuil09

Faris Lacrima – Me!

Xavier Ahriman - ToBlazePurple