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).

8. Flushed Away

Round Table Chapter 8: Flushed Away

By Bluestar076

Hello everyone! Bluestar here with another chapter! We're continuing to introduce the various OCs after we have reached the halfway point! And this may even be a special episode since some of the most famous characters between you are finally getting introduced! Surprisingly, I don't have much to say this time other than, as always, I'm working on this and the next chapter of Shogunate Pride at the same time. Man, it's incredible how productive I've been this last period. Maybe meditation is really helping out XD! But, leaving my concentration problems aside, I won't waste any further of your time, and I say that we can start right away with the next chapter of this story! 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, CloverWorks, and J.C. Staff.

Chapter 8: Flushed Away

---

Seven – Capital of Somnus – Royal Castle

It was late at night, around 2:30 A.M., and even in a city as big as the capital of Somnus, most of the streets were dark and silent. While there was still someone who could be seen walking around and there were still some bars open even at that hour, most of the citizens were already asleep.

Even in the royal castle, the scenario wasn't completely different. The various servants were already under their sheets, and of course, among those already in their full REM phase were also the queen, her cousin, her maid, and the royal sorceress.

Still, there was someone who needed to do their duty. The walls of both the city and the royal castle were illuminated by various fireplaces, with the knights moving back and forth on their guard turn. Though, much like the other days that had passed by on the last period, that night would have been another chill one.

But even if it didn't look like it on the outside, there could have still been some worrying news.

Inside the castle, a knight of the army walked with a firm step through one of the halls until he arrived at a brown door with golden doorknobs, knocking on it.

"Come in." A voice from the other side said.

The knight could open the door, going to the general's office, where Bogardius was sitting at his desk. Apart from other knights, alongside him were Castor, Atticus, and another known commander of the army. It was a woman with page-boy shoulder length style, azure hair, and eyes of the same color, wearing full-plated armor colored in a sapphire blue color with golden lines. She had a red cape on her back.

Lillie Silverdragon – Commander of Seven's Royal Army

The soldier came closer to whisper something in the general's ear, who was astonished by what he heard.

"Are you serious?" Bogardius asked. The knight simply nodded and gave him what seemed to be a folder. The general sighed. "All right. Thanks for the reporting. You're dismissed."

With that, the simple knight made a small bow and left the room, leaving the general and the commanders to examine the contents of the folder, which made them flinch a bit.

They were pictures of deceased knights belonging to the army, and judging by what was shown, they seemed to die in a quite gruesome way, with limbs or even their heads getting violently ripped from their bodies.

"This is already the third team that gets mysteriously killed in the sewers with their bodies under these conditions. And we continue to have no idea of what's causing this." Bogardius commented, bummed.

"T-The third one!?" Lillie asked before looking back at the pictures. "Our soldiers are perfectly trained even if they use basic magics…what could reduce them to this?"

"That's exactly what we're trying to figure out," Atticus told her, while Castor tried to think about it.

"The sewers of the capital are indeed particularly complex in the underground levels…but they were mostly built as an escape passage in case of extreme danger centuries ago. So, I don't know who could be hiding in there, capable of such things." He observed.

"Sure, in a world such as ours, with magic at the base of the day, everything can happen, so we can't exclude the presence of a dark mage. But…seeing the violent way these soldiers got killed, I can't help but think that…it could be something non-human." Atticus comments.

Lillie turned to her general, concerned. "What should we do, general? If it keeps like this, we cannot afford to send more men to die like that."

Bogardius looked down with his hands clasped. "Indeed…I never thought I would say it for something like this, but we may need to raise the measure level. We may need to send a lieutenant or even a commander down there, but we can't also afford to lose them as well if they end up dying like the rest."

"Hmmm…have we tried to ask to consult for a guild?" Castor then proposed. "There are plenty of them that have their headquarters here in the capital. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't decline a job requested directly from the royal army."

"Yes…it could work! I mean, I've heard that in this period, many talented mages are starting to rise. They could be our solution to this mystery without affording to send more knights in there!" Lillie agreed before turning at the general and pointing at herself. "Let me handle this. I'll search for a guild and even join them personally if they were to accept."

Bogardius thought of it and nodded. "Commander Lillie, I'm sure that you would be more than a valid guide for whatever guild decides to take this quest. Still…I don't think that's enough."

"Uh? What do you mean?" The woman asked.

"Those sewers are incredibly intricate, and it's very easy to get lost and, as such, be exposed. Those who built it those years ago surely knew what they were doing." Bogardius explained. "If only there was someone who has some knowledge about it…" And then…a light bulb lit in his mind.

He…did know someone.

"…Of course!"

Everyone looked at him, confused for a few moments…before realizing it as well and getting weirded out.

"…General, you're not really thinking about-" Atticus wanted to make him talk about it.

"Yes." Bogardius simply answered.

"…Are you really-"

"Of course."

"…Wouldn't it be better to-"

"No."

"LET ME-" Atticus tried to discuss it, but Bogardius put two fingers in his lips.

"Shhhhh tch tch tch tch…" The general raised his stare.

"We may need…his help." He proclaimed. "Make sure that he gets to know about this."

Lillie had a drop of sweat near her head before sighing. "Oh God…this will be tough." She commented. She then turned around and bowed to look down on what seemed to be…a rat?

Somehow, the lady commander didn't seem to be terrified and instead knew what she needed to do with it.

".- .- .-. -. / -.- - ..- .-. / - .- ... - . .-. / .- -... - ..- - / - ... .. ... .-.-.- / - .- -.- . / ... ..- .-. . / ... . / -. .-. . . - ... / .- / -. ..- .. .-.. -.. / - - - - .-. .-. - .- .-.-.-" She started to tap her finger to the floor in Morse code to communicate with the rodent.

Surprisingly, the rat understood what she said and nodded before making his way outside the castle. He ran fast and firm until he found the first manhole he laid his eyes on.

From then on, it was all a way-down descent…until he would have reached his master to give him his next quest.

---

Later that morning…

Somnus – Southern Section

A few hours later, the sun was already shining high in the skies above the capital, and life was already spreading far and wide in the streets, with many people starting their job activities.

Among them…was a girl with particular hair and a particular job, as she worked for what probably was the most famous magazine in all of Ishgar, dedicated solely to the world of magic and guilds, where even some prominent figures appeared, such as Lucy Heartfilia, Mirajane Strauss, and Kagura Mikazuchi.

It was none other than Sorcerer Magazine, which had branches in other nations of the continent apart from Fiore. And one of such branches was also in Seven.

This girl, in particular, was already sitting near a member of Red Dhampir, who seemed to be focused on eating peanuts.

"A particular record like no one has ever seen, to the point that you could compete with the famous Sting Eucliffe from the guild of Sabertooth! How do you feel about managing to achieve this goal, Mister Pence?" The girl asked with a bright smile and full of energy. When it came to her looks, she was of average height, with the look of a young adult, silver eyes, and fair skin complexion. But she was also full of particular details, like the sharp teeth she had and the hair that glowed underneath a stony gray exterior and grew past her lips. By looking closer, it looked like they were multicolored like a rainbow…or a pack of Skittles. When it came to her outfit, it consisted of a long-sleeved black jacket over a gray shirt with black pants.

Takara Kammuri – The Crystal Drake

Pence, the mage who had just achieved the record for the mage who had eaten the most peanuts in an hour, looked up to her like he didn't even realize that he was getting interviewed. "Oh, nothing, really! I just like eating peanuts!"

Takara remained like that for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Wait, that's it? Come on, we're talking about a Guinness World Record, a big feat! I'm sure that you have more to say about it! Aren't you happy that this could bring popularity to your guild?" She asked.

"Uh?" Once again, Pence looked completely oblivious and dull. "Oh, sure, sure! But you see, that night, I was particularly hungry after I saw a black-haired woman dressed as a penguin escape without getting my chance to take a picture of her, and in my agitation, I ended up eating all those peanuts like I'm doing now. There wasn't really any intention, I just needed to eat peanuts!"

"…Ah-ha…" Takara didn't seem impressed by that answer. "So…whenever you feel frustrated, you start eating peanuts and reach that number?"

"Oh, not only when I'm frustrated. I also do it when I'm sad, when I'm agitated, when I get my salary, that kind of stuff!" Pence continued.

"You…eat peanuts?" Takara asked.

"Well, if there was a cake, I would take that as well! Maybe one with chocolate and cream and a bit of Smarties…they help me a lot in battle as they empower my belly for my Ultimate Belly Slam! This is how I got my title as 'The Mage of Gluttony'!" The mage continued.

But despite noting everything down, Takara was feeling like she was wasting her time further and further with a joke mage. She looked up at the watch, and it seemed like time was on her side. "Oh boy! It seemed that we had finished our time for the interview! I thank you for your availability! Is there anything else you want to say to our readers and your fans?"

"Make sure to eat tons of peanuts, and you may become strong and chubby like me!" Pence replied with a large smile. With that, it was the last straw for the journalist.

"…Ok. T-Thank you, and I hope to see you again." Takara wanted to end it there and as soon as possible, and after the last regards, she quickly left the guild, only to sigh and put the notebook in front of her face.

A few moments later…

Once the interview was over, Takara returned to her workplace: the building of the Seven branch of Sorcerer Magazine, which consisted only of two floors, with her office being on the second floor.

"Hey, Takara!"

"How's it going?"

"Liked the interview?"

"When will you make another one of those parties?"

As soon as she made her way to the building, many of her co-workers started to greet her, implying her popularity in the place. Something that surely made her happy.

"Heyo, pals! I'll keep you updated! I…need a bit of space for now." Takara answered all of them before closing herself in her office. Once she did so, she put her face to the table and made a long sigh. "Why do they all end up being interviewed by me?"

She wasn't the only person working in that room, as two co-workers noticed her coming in and complaining.

The first one was a young girl with short bob-cut hair, pink eyes who wore a formal job outfit consisting of a black jacket over a white buttoned shirt with a pink ribbon, a black skirt, and a pair of black high-heeled shoes.

"I assume that the interview didn't go well, Takara-chan?" She asked.

Astra Rubel – Journalist of Sorcerer Weekly

Takara rolled her eyes up to her. "Oh, I don't know. I came to the Red Dhampir guild with the intent of interviewing a mage who just got a Guinness world record, and all that I get is 'I like eating.' How am I supposed to react?"

Astra came closer and stroked her back. "Awww, my poor skittle imp. Here, here!"

"Man! Considering that you are eager to interview even the quirkiest characters out there, this interview must have struck you right in the pride. Not for a reason, your interviews are those who sell the most." The other girl said. This seemed older than the other two. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes and was wearing a white jacket with a black scarf, a pair of black high-heeled shoes and even a pair of black gloves.

Kyoko Kuremi – CEO of Sorcerer Weekly Seven

"You bet it did! We're talking about mages here! You'd expect unique characters that could give you blowing quotes, and instead, I got a man who likes to eat and be chubby! Sigh…life's surely easier for you, Kyoko. You got to interview those kickass mages in Fiore!" Takara replied.

Kyoko giggled. "Oh, well, it's obvious! I'm the boss, after all! Though I don't recommend interviewing with them. Last time I tried to interview a mage of Fairy Tail, it ended up with me almost getting wiped away like a baseball…" She later said, shivering a bit. "They're just as quirky as you, Takara!"

"What? Nah, you're exaggerating, as always! I'm just lively! Good old Takara Kammuri for you! Got it memorized?" Takara said.

But this time, even Astra didn't seem that convinced. "Uhm…Takara? Do you remember what you did at the last New Year's Eve party?"

The other girl looked at the void for a minute as she remembered how she had flooded an entire house.

"LET'S MAKE THIS HOUSE A LIVING POOL MADE OUT OF CHAMPAGNE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"…Naaah, it was one time! Also, I think the alcohol possessed me that night." Takara tried to cut it out shortly as she sighed again and looked up at the ceiling while having her neck leaned at the chair. "It's just that…I don't know, what's happening recently isn't exciting me anymore."

"You're saying things are getting quieter?" Kyoko asked.

"No, not that! There are plenty of things you can find in times of peace! I'm talking about finding something worth writing an article about that doesn't get ruined! I had high expectations for this article in particular but that guy screwed it up with his simple answers. I need…something exciting…dangerous…unique…I need to find…the next scoop!" Takara explained. Her hair became of an indigo color by that.

"Hmm…I'd say good luck to you searching for it! It's not like you can get something that unique, considering how many talented guilds and mages are coming up this last period. Maybe Zeref and Acnologia's deaths did stimulate a lot of people." Astra noticed.

"And besides, it's not like we're not satisfied with what you are doing now! Again, your articles are quite popular in these parts! Our branch has increased in popularity ever since you moved here from Caelum. Sometimes, all you need is a daily routine to be satisfied in life. I certainly did, oh oh oh, and look where I'm now!" Kyoko added.

"Yeah, I get your point, Kyoko, but unfortunately…I'm not like that. I'm a more adventurous person who likes to find bigger treasures every time! This is why I'll start searching for that scoop that could get me a satisfying brio! And if the gods do exist up there, they'll help me in no time!" Takara answered. And…just like that…

They heard a knocking on the door.

"Come in!" Kyoko said.

Another girl entered the room to deliver a piece of paper to the young CEO. "Miss Kyoko, we just finished an article that could bring out some attention, and we needed your approval for it!"

Kyoko gave it a quick look and whistled as soon as she finished reading it, getting the other two's attention. "Oh my…of course, I give it an approval! I can't wait to see the reaction of the media and the other guilds! And it will all be thanks to us!"

"Thank you, Miss Kyoko!" The girl made a small bow and left the room.

"What was that about?" Takara asked.

"Well, it seems that Round Table had completed the impossible quest of the Nythvail's Groove just a few days ago! You know, that old legend of that wood where many people got their butts clapped almost immediately? They passed it! Even if it's not something as big as the clearing of the 100 Years Quest, it is still a big feat to write an article about it!" Kyoko explained, all happy.

"Round Table? Wasn't that guild founded by our new queen not that long ago? Are they that good already?" Astra wondered.

While the other two girls talked about it, Takara felt caught by that article and the idea of someone new managing to do something impossible.

…Then she had an idea…a risky idea…Takara got a wonderful…risky idea. This was implied by the fact that her hair changed to a mix of orange and yellow and the mischievious grin she made.

She tried to look for the first thing that could have come in to help, and once again, luck seemed to be on her side when she looked closely at her printer. "Oh no! It seems that the printer is out of ink!" She looked up at the two girls. "You don't mind if I go out to buy some new one for a moment, do you?"

"Uhm…no? Just make sure to get back here ASAP." Kyoko told her

"GREAT! You're the best boss, Kyoko, see ya!"

VOOOOOM!

As soon as she got the approval, she left the room and the building as a whole as soon as she could.

"She looked…strangely excited for just some ink. Does…does she like it a lot?" Astra asked while Kyoko made a skeptical face.

"I don't know, but knowing her as a person, I'm certain that she's about to do another one of her shenanigans." The blonde girl said.

Meanwhile, Takara was already far from the building of Sorcerer Weekly, scratching her hands with a smirk. "It seems that Takara Kammuri has just found her new hunt! Let's see how I'll be able to treat royalty itself!" With that in mind, she immediately headed toward the center of the capital, where the center of the castle was located.

Would she have found what she was looking for?

---

Somnus – Royal Castle

Since the capital of Somnus was quite big, to the point that it was recognized as one of the biggest cities in all of the Ishgar continent, it took a while for the young journalist to reach the center, but inevitably, after a couple of minutes (more than what she said she was going to do), she could see it.

The royal castle, standing imponent a few meters from her.

"Oh boy…it's the first time I see it this close, and it surely makes an effect! Surely, the queen has a good life. Well…duh, she's the queen!" Takara commented before shaking her head. "No, Takara! Don't lose focus!" She told to herself before looking at the castle, aiming to go in there.

But as soon as she made a few steps closer, she saw something that alarmed her, implied by her hair that turned white.

As expected, two knights were on the sides of the main entrance, guarding it and looking in every direction possible.

"Ah, crap, I should have thought of it…" Takara commented before turning around. "I'm pretty sure that if I tell them straight that I want to meet the queen for an interview, they would straight up kick me away, especially if they find out that I've done it without permission! …Maybe I should get back and tell Kyoko what I want to do? It could spare me a lot of problems…no! What am I saying!? We're talking about the queen here! It would take ages before she has some time for this interview! I can't let this occasion pass! But…how can I go in?"

Then…she got another idea that made her have a similar smirk as before.

A few minutes later, if someone was very careful, they could swear to see a cardboard box trying to sneak inside the castle behind the guards, who kept on looking forward.

"For some reason…I feel attached to this box…as if…my nature is affiliated with it…oh well, this will surely help me!" Takara thought while trying to move within the box.

"Hm!?" Suddenly, one of the two knights turned around after hearing something, making the girl stay completely still.

"What's wrong?" The other knight asked.

The first one looked carefully for a few minutes and then…he turned his head back. "Must have been my imagination."

"Phew…" Takara could take a breath of relief and get inside the castle. The first step was made. But unfortunately, she couldn't feel secure yet, as she saw that more knights were passing through the entrance right at that moment. "Oh God…"

She relied on all her stealth skills with the box to pass through. It was hard. Even if it took a few minutes, it looked like an eternity to her, with the constant fear that one of the knights could see her or notice the box in the middle of the hall. She needed to analyze carefully any movement the soldiers were making before she could move.

It took her a lot of breaths, but finally, she was able to pass through the main hall. Or so she thought.

"Wait a minute…" One of the knights said before starting to get closer.

"HMM!" Takara choked her breath to make as little noise as possible. Her hair turned off for a moment.

The knight came closer and looked at the box. After a few moments…

"…Oh, it's just a box." With those words, the knight left, and Takara could feel her heartbeat again.

"Phew…" She could make her road through and leave the ground floor.

"…WAIT A MINUTE-" The knight realized how wrong what he had seen was, but it was already too late.

Takara was able to make her way to the upper floors, where she could remove the box and move more freely. But she still needed to be cautious about the knights and, potentially, other people.

"Ok…now, all I need to do is to reach the throne room, where the queen probably is now! Though…I think I'll have to make an extra effort to find the various stares. God, this sounds like you're going back and forth in a castle to take down a vampire! Oh well! Nothing is impossible for me. Let's go!" She commented before starting to run. A long walk inside that giant castle awaited her.

Meanwhile…

One of the rooms of the royal castle was surrounded by a dense steam, emitted from the heat of the water belonging to a large bathtub.

A few handmaidens were in there, ready to assist, and someone in particular was enjoying what the royal service had to offer.

"Aaaah…" If there was one state that could describe Lunafreya's current mood, it would be total chill and pleasure. While she wasn't like other rulers who took advantage of their benefits, she definitely enjoyed some of them, such as a bath in the tubs of the castle, where the water was poured by a fountain that looked like the statue of a giant fish, and the water was always hot at the right pace. "Whenever I get the chance…I give myself a moment to escape from anything and enjoy a bath here…it's so beautiful…"

Vivienne was near her, enjoying the moment as always. "I know, right? True, we put a hot spring in the guild as well, but nothing beats this."

Even the queen's mother, Aurelia, was with them. "I still remember the first time I washed you here, Luna…even if you were a baby, you could already enjoy it…"

To that, the queen slightly blushed. "N-Now, Mom, there's no need to say it that openly…at least…not when the others are here." She spoke.

She was referring to the fact that even the other female members of Round Table were there, enjoying the bath with them. Needless to say, despite their various personalities, they felt blessed at that moment.

Ruina looked at her with her usual expression. "Meh. I don't mind. My mother would tell me a similar story as well." She commented. "If anything, I still wonder why you put me and the others here. This is supposed to be super special treatment, right?"

Lunafreya swam closer to her. "Now, Ruina, no need to act this way! You're still part of my guild and my friends as well! So…I think that every once in a while, you deserve special treatment for everything you do ever since you joined." She told her.

"She's doing this again? Why?" Ruina thought.

"Speaking of which…do you perhaps want me to wash your back? I'm sure that some of this water poured directly in your body would make you feel better!" Lunafreya asked with a giggle, making the other girl slightly blush.

"What the!? Where does that come from!?" Ruina exclaimed at first. But then…she didn't see anything wrong or suspicious in it. "…Well, if you insist."

Lunafreya nodded and proceeded. The huntress could see how the queen made sure to pour the water gently on her back and massage it with the maximum delicacy, to the point that Ruina even left out a relaxed breath.

"You like it, don't you?" Lunafreya asked with a smile.

"Y-Yeah…maybe a bit," Ruina answered. "Your hands are…incredibly soft."

The queen giggled again. "Of course! A woman as beautiful as you surely deserves special treatment!"

Ruina blushed once again, trying to look elsewhere. That was surely the last thing she expected to hear from someone like the queen.

Then, as she continued, Lunafreya could feel someone doing the same to her, and when she turned around, she could see Honoka washing her back. "Ah! Honoka?"

"You surely deserve the same, goshujin-sama. Let me give it to you." The short maid told her.

"Eh, eh! A washing-chain reaction! I never thought I would see it!" Lunafreya commented.

Alexis and Lilybeth were watching the scene from a few meters away, and Lady Lancelot was getting a bit jealous.

"Aaaah…getting your back washed by the queen or you washing her back…it must be a divine pleasure…ngah, it's not fair! I want to do it too!" Alexis complained.

Lilybeth made a nervous smile about it. "I don't know, Alexis…it would sound a bit weird considering you're fifteen…" She commented before sinking her body deeper into the water. "Aaah…still…this feels like I'm standing in Elysium…I never knew I would end up here."

"Tch." Grendel, not so far from them, scoffed. "Don't tell me."

"Eh? What is it, sis?" Faris asked with a small grin.

"Nothing. It's just that I passed my entire life getting disgusted at the rich's privileges such as this, and now I'm one of them. It feels…odd." Lady Gaheris told her.

Faris looked up after putting her hands on the back of her head. "Well…even if my father was a rich bastard, I never got this treatment, so I surely try to enjoy it." She looked back at her friend. "You should do the same. You can't hide the fact that it's good."

"Well…" She was right; Grendel couldn't hide it as she let out a breath of relax. "Yeah…a little bit."

It followed a moment of silence and then…

"…Want to see who stays underwater the most?" Grendel proposed.

"I'm on to it!" Faris immediately accepted, and both of them put their heads underwater, with bubbles that could be seen already.

Vivienne looked at the overall scene with a relaxed smile as well. "It seems that everyone is enjoying this new experience. How to blame them?" She said…not aware that Vesta was right beside her.

"Indeed. I had a lot of good baths, but this is none less. Say, do you want me to massage your back afterward? I just know the right spots for some relaxation." Lady Morgan proposed.

With that, Vivienne immediately jumped backward. "AH! STAY AWAY FROM ME, WITCH!"

Myuu, on the other hand, was proceeding to wash herself all on her own. Aurelia took the chance to get closer to her.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Myuu dear?" The former queen asked.

"Y-Yeah. This soap cream for the body in particular feels so nice. It makes me feel back at home…" The twilight-purple-haired woman replied.

"Oh?" Aurelia asked, sitting next to her. "Are you an important child?"

"Well…my family is a wealthy one, so I could afford nice baths, though not as wealthy as this one," Myuu explained.

"I see. It surely must feel good to have gotten back to your origins, don't you think?" Aurelia told her back.

"Yeah…" Lady Leodegrance said as she lowered herself a bit into the water. "Still…I don't think that I deserve all this treatment, unlike the others…not after my first approach with Her Majesty."

Aurelia made a gentle smile and went behind her. "Myuu dear, you remain too locked on the past. Knowing my daughter, I'm pretty sure that she already overlooked it, especially considering that she let you join her guild. What matters now is that you're here to help her with the others. I'm sure she considers you a friend of hers."

Myuu blushed a little. "A…friend?"

"So, don't overthink too much and…enjoy the moment." Aurelia continued as she started to gently wash the other girl's back. "Here…let me help you."

"A-Ah…" Myuu made a delicate breath of relaxation as soon as the former queen started to wash her. "I-I think I'm starting to see where Her Majesty took her soft hand..."

"Modestly, my baby girl got a lot of things from me," Aurelia commented with a smug smile.

In the meantime, while Pavlova was focused on swimming back and forth in the tub, Saoirse was enjoying the bath while using her own head as a rubber duck.

"Ah, ah! These are the advantages of bein' a Dullahan! Ya get ta play with yersel!" Lady Lamorak commented.

Augusta was sitting beside her. Unlike the others, she was simply sitting in silence with her massive body while keeping her arms crossed. "You like playing with your head? I thought it would make you feel annoyed whenever you lose it."

"Nah! There are times and times!" Saoirse replied before looking more carefully at the other knight's body. "Dayum! Did ya get all those skair?" She asked.

"…Did I get what?" Augusta asked back.

"Skair! Ya know, big cut in yer body!" Saoirse repeated.

"…Ooooh, you mean scars." Lady Hector realized before touching her own chest. "Well, as part of the Golden Knights, I did face some dangerous enemies."

"Did ya ever face a ghost? Or a lich?" The other girl asked.

"Well…not for now. But I did face a Rathalos in the past. That was tough." Augusta replied.

"Ooooh!" Saoirse exclaimed as she put herself comfy. "Sounds badass! Tell me more."

And in all of that, Persephone was standing on one of the borders of the tub, looking at everyone else. "I-I don't know how I ended up in here…"

Everyone had different reactions, but one feeling was common: total relaxation, as they thought that every once in a while, they deserved a break from all the missions from the guild.

Then, right at that moment, a few footsteps could be heard getting closer, but as they were focused doing something else, the various ladies didn't notice it.

"It already has been a while since I started wandering here, and I'm getting the feeling that I'm lost," Takara commented as she ended up in that room. "Woah…is this a normal bathroom here?" She wondered as she got closer. "Man! The queen must surely enjoy herself if she gets to have a bath like this every-" She was going to comment further but…she lowered her stare…and noticed them.

Lunafreya and the other girls were looking at her with their eyes wide open.

Takara did the same, as she didn't realize that they were there.

An awkward silence followed.

….

"U-Uhm…hey there! I…I hope I'm not disturbing anything, I was just looking-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A loud shriek of embarrassment roared in the bath and outside of it, with Takara being forced to cover her ears, as her hair assumed a red-pink tone. "OUCH! O-OK SORRY! I DIDN'T WANT TO! I'll just leave here and-" Takara wanted to apologize, but shortly after, she could see several energy attacks getting charged. "Wa-Wait, what's all that magic? C-Come on, chill down, we can talk-"

BOOOM!

"AAAAAH!" After getting blasted away by all those hits, Takara ended up crashing to the floor in front of the bathroom. "O-Ouch…Ok, I might have stepped into some mages-" She didn't even get to comment that she heard several footsteps that made her look up to see an unpleasant situation.

General Bogardius and several other knights were glaring at her.

Takara's hair turned off as she gulped. "E-Eh eh…hi?"

A few minutes later...

Takara ended up in the throne room, held by two guards on her knees and standing in front of the queen, who was glaring at her from her throne alongside the other female members of her guild.

Their stare meant that they were holding themselves to commit a murder.

"Wa-Wa-Wait, Your Majesty! I can assure you that this was all a big misunderstanding! True, I like spicy things, but trust me, that was not what you were thinking!" Naturally, Takara tried to justify herself as best as she could. Despite being an adventurous person, she could see that she was in deep danger. This was also implied by her hair, which was a mix of red-pink and off.

"Oh, I don't know, what should I think when you entered inside my bathroom without any warning and while I'M TAKING A BATH WITH MY MAGES!?" Lunafreya shouted, both embarrassed and annoyed.

"You dared to see the queen naked! Do you know how much of a carnal sin that is!?" Alexis added.

"W-Well, it's bad, but let's not exaggerate…" Augusta told her.

Honoka immediately put herself in front of the queen. "Goshujin-sama, please let me handle her. I'll make sure she never does it again."

"Come on, cousin, I know you're all for justice and morality, but you surely agree this clown deserves a punishment, don't you think?" Faris added while she glared at Takara with a diabolical grin.

"Yeah…I still needed to stretch a bit, this is the perfect chance." Grendel said, making her knuckles crack.

"IIIICK! NO, NO, NO! D-Don't make them get closer, Your Majesty, I'm sorry! I'll do anything!" Takara immediately begged for forgiveness.

"What do you want to do, Luna?" Vivienne asked.

Lunafreya was still incredibly mad but wanted to be rational. "I don't know…what do you say?"

"Oh, please! The choice is yours! Still…she did enter without warning." The royal sorceress replied.

Lady Arthur looked back at the other mages, who were just as offended and embarrassed as her. She didn't want to be cruel with the punishment, but she surely did have to make her do something while trying to be as delicate as possible. She took a deep breath and looked Takara straight in the eyes.

The journalist was getting paler every second that passed.

"Well…let's try to not jump to conclusions…let's see at least what she has to say." She spoke.

"Ah!" Takara immediately got out of the knights' grip and headed to kiss Lunafreya's hand despite the glares of people like Augusta, Honoka, and Alexis. "Oh, thank you so much, Your Majesty! They were telling the truth when you said that you were a wonderful person!"

Lunafreya, on the other hand, felt more embarrassed. "Uhm…thank you, but don't extend yourself too much."

"Ah, right!" Takara immediately stepped back.

"So, who are you? And more importantly, why did you come here and end up in my bathroom? You know…seeing how the others are reacting, it's better be something worthy." Lunafreya immediately asked.

"Oh, don't worry, I came with a specific purpose! Like I said before, it was all an accident. I was trying to make my way here to the throne room to try and consult with you." Takara started to explain.

Bogardius immediately raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you ask so? The guards would have referred it to the queen."

"Y-Yeah…I would have tried my best to greet you. That's…quite strange." Lunafreya added.

Takara swallowed. "I-I thought that you were busy? You know, being a queen surely drains a lot of time. Am I right?"

"Well, yeah, but not entirely." The queen corrected.

"Hey, it's not like you're a hitwoman or a spy, are you?" Augusta asked, getting more glares.

"Ah! No, absolutely not! I'm a simple journalist, that's all! I wanted to see if the queen was available for an interview!" Takara immediately answered.

To that, Everyone in the room made a skeptical expression.

Lunafreya already knew what to do. "Take her away."

The two knights who were holding her earlier were now starting to drag her away.

"AH! N-No, wait, Your Majesty! I'm not from one of those magazines! I don't want to make gossip, I swear, I would never!" Takara exclaimed.

"You just said that after you saw us in the bathtub!" Vivienne fairly told her.

"W-Well, yeah, but it was an accident! I'm not like that, I swear! I come from Sorcerer Magazine! The interview was about the guild!" Takara continued.

Upon hearing that, something inside Lunafreya got activated to the point that she widened her eyes. "Stop!" She ordered. The two knights did as she said.

Another silence followed as the queen slowly stood up and came closer to the girl. "You…come from Sorcerer Weekly?"

Pavlova looked at the others. "What is that?" She asked.

"It's the most notorious magazine of the Ishgar continent when it comes to mages and guild. They hold interviews, trivia, and other stuff." Augusta explained.

"They also host photo services! I did a few of them some time ago!" Vesta added, getting everyone's attention.

"Wait, what!?"

"R-Really, Vesta?" Lunafreya asked.

"Oh yeah! I can confirm it! You're Vesta Venator, right? I heard you were a freelancer mage a while ago! You became a mage of Round Table?" Takara said.

"The one and only, dear," Vesta confirmed, making a pose.

"Why did you tell us only now!?" Vivienne asked.

"Well…the argument never rose." Lady Morgan explained.

"A-Anyways…" Takara wanted to get the argument back to her. "It's true, I come from Sorcerer Weekly. The name's Takara Kammuri. Got it memorized? And I came here to interview the guild in general! Your personal business was not of my concern, I would never!" She explained.

Ruina wasn't entirely trustful of it. "Does anybody know her? Well, if there's anyone here that reads Sorcerer Weekly, that is." She asked.

To that, Lilybeth raised her hand. "I…may have read something written by her…I saw her name appear in some of the issues."

"Wait, you read my articles? Oh, that's great! See? That seals it!" Takara commented.

"You read Sorcerer Weekly, Lilybeth?" Alexis asked.

Lilybeth looked down with her cheeks slightly red. "W-Well…sometimes. I remember reading it on my way to Seven."

Hearing one of her mages saying that gave Lunafreya more security about it, but she still needed to ask some questions to the journalist. "So…Sorcerer Weekly asked you to come and do an interview?"

"Yes!" Takara promptly answered.

"Then…why didn't I hear anything about it? I'm sure that they would have warned me." The queen asked.

At that, Takara started to pale, and her hair assumed a purple color.

"…Are you ok?" Aurelia asked.

"Ah! Yes, don't worry! You see, it was going to be a surprise! We like to do so in our parts! Many guilds wish to be interviewed by some of us! And we thought that doing the same to you would have pleased you, Your Highness!" Takara answered. It was a complete lie, but since things were slowly turning in her favor, she was going to take that hook.

Lunafreya looked at her in silence for a few seconds and then made two large, starry eyes. "I…can't believe it!" She immediately looked at Aurelia. "Mom, I did it! I got under the eyes of Sorcerer Weekly!"

"Aww, that's great, my dear!" The former queen told her, leaving the other members of Round Table and the general suspicious.

"Uh…doesn't she find the surprise factor a bit…weird?" Ruina asked.

"You know how goshujin-sama is. This girl doesn't seem dangerous though, only an idiot." Honoka answered.

"I'm still not convinced. Especially with those hairs that constantly change color." Faris added.

"So…how come you were interested in my guild?" Lunafreya asked, acting like a child who just got an award.

"Oh, you see, after you completed that quest at Nythvail's Groove, you were temporarily on the mouth of everyone, and we surely couldn't let this opportunity for a perfect scoop pass by, so here I am!" Takara continued. "I may get that excitement I was longing for! Eh eh!"

"Really?" Pavlova asked excitedly. Her tail started to wiggle. "Then Galtier was right!"

"Ha! I may get some tannasg's attention, then!" Saoirse added.

After hearing that, even Faris got excited. "Then it means that someone acknowledges my strength! YES!"

Lunafreya turned to the others. "See? This is an excellent opportunity that we may get!" She then looked back at Takara. "We can talk about your punishment later. For now, you're more than free to come with us!"

"Wait, come? Where?" Takara asked.

"To the guild, where else! If you want to make a good interview, you need to hear everyone! You're gonna love it, I assure you!" Lunafreya explained.

To that…Takara started to get worried again. True, she was happy that she was getting what she wanted, but if the queen wanted to bring her to the guild, things could have grown a bit complicated, as it would have taken her more time, making Kyoko and Astra grow suspicious.

"O-Oh, Your Majesty, I'm happy that you want to accept my request, but…you know, we could do it here! It's not a big deal for me!" She tried to change direction, but it didn't work.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed now! I'll make sure that the place will be of comfort for you! It's also 9 A.M! Which is usually when I start to put my service to the guild!" Lunafreya told her before snapping her finger. "Honoka, bring me my armor! It's service time!"

The maid nodded and immediately headed for the armor.

"Let's go then, girls! Make sure to not pull out some shenanigan for our public image." The queen concluded.

While some were excited, other members were still confused and a bit suspicious about how the scene went.

"What do you say, Augusta?" Vivienne asked.

"I don't know…this girl doesn't seem shady, and if what Lilybeth said was true, I'd say that we can trust her, but…there's still something missing." The huge lady replied.

"Oh, those of Sorcerer Weekly usually don't have anything to hide," Vesta added, making Vivienne assume a skeptical face.

"You know, I'm not that convinced if it comes from you."

And with that, the girls started heading out of the castle toward their guild, preparing themselves for what seemed to be an important event.

All that was left were the knights and Aurelia.

"Luna surely looked excited, don't you think, Bogardius?" The former queen asked.

"I…don't know what to say." The general commented. "Are you sure you're not mad, my lady? That girl did see you naked."

"Oh, no! I'm terribly pissed off." Aurelia said with a chill yet creepy smile. "But if Luna's happy, I can think of that later!"

To that, Bogardius sweated a bit. "I forgot how Lady Aurelia can be creepy when she wants, even in her health condition…" He thought. "W-Well…we'll see, I suppose." He then looked at one of the knights. "Speaking of which, did Commander Lillie return yet?"

"No, sir." The knight replied.

"I hope she didn't get lost." The general commented.

The day for both the queen and the journalist started bizarrely and embarrassingly, and it would have gotten even more bizarre from then on.

---

Somnus – Guild of Round Table

Back at the queen's guild, things were surprisingly quiet, and a gentle breeze was moving the grass and the bushes near the imposing building.

And right at that moment, someone in particular reached such building, with the intent of entering.

It was a boy with black hair that reached his lower back and brown eyes, wearing a raggedy thick sweater rolled up to his elbows, denim jeans frayed at the hems, and a few scattered patches attempting to hold it together. On his feet, a pair of scuffed sneakers.

"Phew…" The boy seemed to be out of breath once he had reached the proximity of the building, but he seemed nonetheless satisfied. "It's always a fatigue to cross the capital while trying to not be seen publicly…well, not that with this look someone would recognize me." He commented. "All right…it seems that we're here…"

Cyndham Mercer – The Peacemaker (no, not that type of peacemaker)

The boy made a few steps forward as he looked carefully at the door. A bit of tension came into him. While the intention was clear, he still had mixed reactions on the idea in general, as he had a specific impression of what type of person the queen was, and after the speech she gave back at her crowning, and the announcement of her personal guild, this impression was completely turned upside down, so he needed to see whether he would have felt comfortable with everything or not.

But, on the other hand…he heaved a deep breath. "No, wait…don't let your thoughts flow too much, or they could get you. We're talking about the queen, after all. Take deep breaths…and make a smile." With that in mind, he knocked on the door, waiting for a response.

A few seconds later…

"Who goes at the door?" Xavier asked from the other side.

"I already did it three days ago!" Hector replied.

"I'm working out, so I'm all sweaty! It's not a good impression!" Orlok added.

"How dare they disturb us in the middle of our sweet laziness?" Scuti said.

"Ok, Ok, I get it…" Galtier said with a groan in the end. And so, he opened the door. "Who is it? We don't want your vacuum cleaners."

"Greetings!" Cyndham promptly saluted him.

"…Hello?" Galtier asked back, raising an eyebrow, followed by a few seconds of silence, which made the young boy confused. "…So? About these vacuum cleaners?"

"What? No, I'm not a door-to-door salesman! The name is Cyndham Mercer! I came here after I heard of the queen founding a guild! Well, even if it took a while for me to come." Cyndham explained better.

Galtier flinched. "Ah-! You were interested in the guild?" He turned around, facepalming. "There we go…another bad first impression. You surely feel low, Galtier Ceulfan…"

"Uhm…you, ok?" Cyndham asked.

Sir Agravain immediately raised his head and turned around. "Ah! Nothing, just thinking out loud." He said before clearing his throat. "So…what made you look toward our guild then, young boy?"

"Oh, it's simple! I heard that ever since it opened its doors, Round Table had already started to make a name for itself! So I wanted to meet Queen Lunafreya and ask her if I could join!" The other boy replied. "Well…this is what a normal person would say, right?"

"We're making a name out of ourselves? Hmm…the idea of that impossible quest surely helped a lot…our name could grow even bigger from now on. Eh eh eh…well thought, Galtier." The blonde knight thought with a grin. "Oh, please! Come in, we'd be more than happy to receive you, young boy! I am Galtier Ceulfan, a member of the guild known as Sir Agravain in here."

While he was happy that everything was going smoothly, Cyndham raised an eyebrow as soon as he heard the other man's last name. "Wait, did you say Ceulfan? You're one of the Ceulfan family?"

"Hm? You know of my family, perhaps?" Galtier asked back.

Cyndham just noticed what he said and sweated a bit. "Ah, fuck! Think of something!" He thought. "Uh, yeah, I may have bought something from one of your blacksmiths a while ago! Quite the quality you have!"

"Oh, I see. Well, we hold a large portion of the kingdom's business when it comes to blacksmithing, so I can see it happening." Galtier said before noticing the boy's sweat. "…Are you ok?"

"Wha? Oh! Yeah!" Cyndham quickly wiped off the sweat from his face. "Man, it's surely hot even if we're in September, don't you think?"

But…Galtier didn't seem convinced entirely. He got closer to the boy. "Wait…hold on…"

Cyndham's pressure started to rise. Did he find out?

But…what Galtier simply did was wipe something off his face. "There was some chocolate. Did you eat some of it on your way here?"

Cyndham did it and thanked his carelessness for once. "Ah! Y-Yeah! It was probably my breakfast, ah ah!" He said, but his mind thought otherwise. "Thank God…"

"The queen isn't here at the moment, but you can wait here in the meantime and meet some of the members." Galtier then told him as they moved further within the hall.

"Oh, sure! It'd be my pleasure!" Cyndham answered. "Now that I think of it…I wonder how the other mages of this guild are. Considering that we're talking about the queen and that a member of the Ceulfan family itself is among them, I expect some notable people."

"Oh?" After hearing that discussion, Xavier immediately stood up and came closer to the new boy. "Is what I heard correct? Does someone want to join us as well?"

"Uhm…yes?" Cyndham replied, taken a bit off by that boy's look, especially the blindfold. "Is he…blind?"

"You have good eyes, possible future guildmate! I'm sure you'll have the greatest of times here! If you have troubles in the future, you can count on a Demon Prince such as me to cover your back! I'll make sure to condemn your enemy, ah ah!" Sir Percival continued, proposing to shake his hand, though he was stretching his hand a bit higher than Cyndham's height.

"Uhm…pleasure's all mine, but…I'm right here." Cyndham corrected her.

"Oh, sorry!" Xavier lowered his hand, and they could shake it. "Yeah, I'm still working on that! I try to compensate for the lack of sight with my other senses, hearing specifically!"

"A blind person who has excellent hearing? W-Well…that's surely something I didn't expect." Cyndham thought before getting 'assaulted' by Valdric. "AH!"

Valdric was showing off his regular outfit: a plain outfit of a black t-shirt with gold edging, heavily worn brown pants, and sturdy traveling boots. "So, you're planning to join us, too? Are you perhaps searching for glory as well? Because if that's the case, we could be partners! I'm already on pair with Ayuri over there, so a trio is always a good thing!" Sir Geraint told him, pointing at Ayuri, who simply waved his hand to salute him.

"H-Hi…" Ayuri was also wearing his casual outfit: a long sand-colored trench coat, the belt of which he left untied, a black-and-white pinstripe collared shirt, pale grey pants, whilst his shoes were light brown.

"Hey?" Cyndham answered back. "What's with him? Why is he standing on that corner?"

Escanor took the chance to get closer with a warm laugh. "Oh, he's just shy, but stay assured that we treat him properly! We promise to do the same if you get accepted!" He told Cyndham. "And, well, we could start by getting to know each other better! Tell me boy, do you…praise the sun?"

"What?" Cyndham asked, confused.

"Escanor, for Claire's sake! Don't start already; he just arrived!" Galtier scolded the other blonde knight.

"Y-Yeah, I think we're all exaggerating with this kid. We should give him a bit of space." Hector added, trying to separate the others from the newcomer. "I hope you forgive them; they're quite quirky," he said.

"Oh, don't worry! At least I can acknowledge that despite being in a group of knights, you're all friendly enough!" Cyndham assured him while he thought of something else. "W-Well, at least this guy seems normal."

"Y-Yeah kinda…" Hector told him while scratching his cheek. He then gave him a careful look. "Man, you surely have a simple and plain look. Wish I had a face like yours." He commented before sighing.

"Never mind…" Cyndham thought. "What do you mean by that?" He asked. Scuti took the chance to get closer.

"Let's just say that he could move away all the women inside the capital if they see him." Sir Tristan commented as he drank a glass of ACE juice.

Cyndham was left taken aback by him. "W-What the!? How tall is he!?"

"I suggest you get used to this. We're not that different from other guilds when it comes to quirks." Scuti continued before looking at him more carefully. "Hmm…"

Cyndham swallowed. "W-What is it?"

After a few more moments, Scuti looked up. "No, it's nothing." He spoke. "I have the feeling I saw him somewhere before…" He thought, on the other hand.

"H-He's huge, elegant, and even serious…what am I going to see next?" The new boy thought, getting more pressured than expected.

And as he called for it, Orlok came out from the bathroom, sounding relaxed. "Phew! I surely needed it! The exercises that Augusta sent me are demanding even for someone like me!" He commented before looking at Cyndham. "Oh! Is he the one who knocked at the door?"

"…I wonder if I can say shut up internally." Cyndham thought.

Orlok didn't lose any time and came closer. "Hey there, fella! Don't feel intimidated, I don't bite! A pleasure to meet you. I'm Orlok! Even if I look like it, I'm not a vampire!" He said with a small laugh.

"We'll still need to see it." Another voice from behind, a familiar one, answered.

Orlok raised his head with a laugh. "Still not convinced, Ruina?"

"Uh?" Cyndham turned around with the others, who seemed to recognize the various figures.

Lunafreya and the other female members came back from the castle, apparently with a new girl following them.

"Uh? Who is that?" Hector asked.

"And what's wrong with her hair?" Scuti added, getting a skeptical stare from the other knight.

"I-It's not like you're that normal with those hair that keep flowing even with no wind."

Scuti simply shrugged and sipped his juice again. "I was born with them."

"Welcome to our humble guild, Takara! As you can see, Vivienne and I made sure that it could look the fanciest possible!" Lunafreya said to the journalist.

"Indeed!" Takara commented. "The reflection on the floor is amazing!"

"Yeah, try not to walk around without being clean. I know it for experience." Grendel warned her.

Cyndham, of course, had his eyes on a specific person. Galtier could see it and approached him.

"These are the female members of our guild. And I'm sure you know who that pink-haired lady is."

"Queen Lunafreya Lacrima…" Cyndham whispered. Sure, he still had his ideas on the ruler of Seven, but seeing her in the flesh was surely a different experience.

"Hm? Oh! I didn't see you there! Can I help you?" Lunafreya asked as soon as he noticed him.

"Ah! Uh…" Cyndham immediately bowed. "Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty! I'm Cyndham Mercer!"

"The boy here was interested in joining our guild!" Escanor said for him.

Naturally, the queen was more than excited to hear it. "Wait, really?"

Even Takara got the chance to get closer to him. "Am I hearing it right? A possible new knight? This guild surely takes your interest if you're here! Can you tell me more in the specific?" She asked.

Once again, Cyndham was left aback. "W-Well, I…"

"Uhm…who is this, girls? Another newcomer?" Orlok asked.

"Ah, not really! I'm-" Takara was going to introduce herself, but Honoka did it instead.

"She's a pervert who got in the bathroom while we were washing ourselves."

"HEY-" The journalist wanted to complain, but she didn't get the time as all the male members immediately pointed their weapons at her with serious glares, making her pale. "U-Uhm…I can explain."

"Don't worry! We've already threatened her enough! What's more important is that she's a journalist coming directly from Sorcerer's Weekly who wants to interview us!" Lunafreya explained.

The male members, even Cyndham, were impressed.

"Really? Someone wants to hear about our great tales?" Escanor asked.

"Just what we've been waiting for!" Xavier added.

"Sorcerer Weekly? I may have caught more attention than expected…" Galtier commented.

Takara made a large smirk as she came closer to him. "You did! And I'll make sure to bring out the best in you to have the best impression and the best scoop! The name's Takara Kammuri! Got it memorized?"

Despite the title, Galtier looked at her with a bit of a disgusted face. "Well, if all of Sorcerer Weekly's journalists peek into others' bathrooms like you, I'm deeply concerned for how you make your job."

The girl felt demoralized. "It was an accident. How many times do I have to tell you!?"

"We'll still need to see it, weirdo," Ruina told her.

In all of that, Cyndham felt a bit out of place. "Uhm…should I get back later? It seems that you're already in the middle of something…"

But Lunafreya smiled at him. "Oh, don't worry! I surely cannot ignore someone who wants to join the guild! Please stay! You could even participate in this!"

"Oh, the opinions of someone who just joined would surely add some spice to the interview!" Takara added with a wink.

Cyndham looked at them in silence, specifically at the queen. "How can she be so happy with this? This all seems something heavy to carry on, and yet she smiles…" He thought.

"Hm? Are you ok?" Lunafreya asked, noticing his expression.

"Ah! No, don't worry! Of course, I'm ready to join! Starting my activity as a guild member with an interview isn't something you can't say every day, ah ah!" Cyndham tried to act normal.

But some of the members looked at him confused.

"What's…with that guy?" Lilybeth asked.

Lunafreya looked at Takara with a childish smile. She was yearning for the event to start. "Well, Takara! We're all waiting for you!"

"Be free to open the fireworks!" Vivienne added.

Takara made a large smile, showing her sharp teeth. She then made a pose worthy of a magical girl series and winked. "All right! It's time for Takara Kammuri to burn it up with another stunning scoop interview!"

Some of the members couldn't take her seriously and made skeptical faces.

"What a clown," Faris commented.

"Yeah…" Grendel added.

"Ok, let's start with-" Takara was finally about to start the interview, but right at that moment, the door of the guild opened. "Eh?"

"This place looks just like a guild…I hope I didn't end up in the wrong place." It was Lillie Silverdragon, who looked around before noticing Lunafreya and everyone else. "A-Ah, Your Majesty-?"

Escanor and Augusta widened their eyes as soon as they saw the woman and immediately made a little bow. "Commander!"

"C-Commander!?" Lilybeth asked, while panicking a bit, not knowing how to behave.

"Eh, don't worry! Just don't say embarrassing things!" Saoirse assured her, even if she didn't know what was going on as well.

Lunafreya, on the other hand, was more than happy to see her. "Lillie!" She immediately ran toward her to give her a warm hug.

"Aw, Your Majesty! I'm so happy to see you too!" Lillie told her, hugging her back, leaving the other mages of Round Table stunned a bit.

"Uhm…is it normal?" Augusta asked, thinking it was weird seeing a commander hug the queen like nothing.

"Oh, don't worry! It's absolutely normal!" Vivienne assured her.

"Who is this pretty lady, if we may, Your Highness?" Vesta asked.

"Oh, right! You still didn't meet her!" Lunafreya said. "This is Lillie Silverdragon, one of the commanders of the royal army."

Lillie immediately proceeded with a bow. "A pleasure to meet you all."

"Ah! Another commander!" Alexis exclaimed, bowing immediately. "The pleasure is all mine!"

"And…about the hug?" Galtier asked.

"You see, Luna here is quite bonded with Lillie in particular since, well…apart from being a commander, she was also her babysitter when she was a kid," Vivienne explained.

"What!?" Everyone exclaimed.

"Awwwww! It's so adorable!" Pavlova commented with heart-shaped eyes.

"Then she's…my predecessor!" Honoka added before bowing. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep goshujin-sama safe like you did."

Lillie had a drop of sweat. "U-Uhm, sure thing! You must be the maid I've heard of." She said before looking at the others. "And yes, I did take care of her when she was little." She explained before making a tired face. "She'd made me do kilometers just to keep up with her whenever she saw something that she liked…"

"Oh, come on, Lillie! It's not like I was that agitated!" The queen tried to correct it, but the commander and the royal sorceress already looked at her with skeptical faces. "Girls, come on!"

"Ha! Would have loved to see you there!" Faris commented with a laugh.

"Seeing the queen as a toddler…aaah, such a bless!" Alexis added.

"But…weren't you the one embarrassed to see pictures of yourself as a toddler?" Lilybeth fairly asked, remembering what had happened the last time, which made Lady Lancelot turn immediately red.

"T-THAT'S ANOTHER ISSUE!"

"Oh boy, this surely would be something great to add! But the queen doesn't want gossip, so I need to be careful…" Takara thought.

"Leaving this aside, it's a pleasure to see that you're doing ok, Your Majesty, adding to the fact that I see some familiar faces here." Lillie continued, referring to Escanor and Augusta.

"Glad to see you too, Commander Lillie!" Escanor answered back.

"Speaking of which…what brings you here, Commander, if I may ask?" Ruina then asked.

"Oh, right! You see…I was looking for a guild that could help us with something, but…if you're all here with the queen…this means that I'm at Round Table, right?" Lillie explained. "Maybe I should change direction-"

Sensing that there was something more, Lunafreya grabbed her. "Oh, don't worry, Lillie! If it's a job that we're talking about, then we're more than happy to hear it!"

"Wait, a mission!?" Cyndham asked, unaware of it.

Takara widened her eyes. She immediately realized what this meant. "Oh no…I'm in danger!" She thought. Her scoop was at stake.

"Are you sure? I'll head out for another guild in case." Lillie asked.

To that, Lunafreya giggled. "Oh, don't worry, Lillie! When it comes to work, my knights are always ready to accept it. Right, guys?"

"YES!" Everyone answered.

"No…" Ayuri whispered.

Lillie was impressed by such an answer, but she smiled. "Well…if you insist." With that, she could start her explanation. "You see, it's a concerning matter that started to rise in these days, right in the capital."

"It's happening here? What is it about?" Galtier asked.

To that, Lillie came closer and put the photos she and the general got that night on a table, showing them to everyone.

"Eugh!" Some members, like Pavlova and Lilybeth, were naturally shocked by it.

"Oh God…this is serious, then…" Cyndham thought.

Myuu shrugged. "Nothing I'm not used to."

"High five," Ruina told her, making the other lady knight high-five.

"These are all soldiers coming from the army…I even see a sergeant in there. What happened?" Augusta asked.

"All these pictures were taken in the sewers that lay underground the city, making the elaborated system we know well." Lillie started to explain.

"Yes, I'm familiar with it…" Cyndham thought.

"Wait, there's such a thing down there?" Takara asked.

"I've heard that it was a system created to make the citizens escape in case of imminent danger!" Pavlova explained.

Lillie nodded. "Within these last days, many people have complained about a strange smell coming out from the sewers that made people feel dizzy."

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'd say so far, so good, but…seeing these pictures makes me think otherwise," Persephone commented, worried.

Lillie nodded. "The questions and the problems started to rise when the plumbers started to mysteriously disappear without a trace, with that smell still present. Starting to get concerned earlier, we sent a few small squadrons to figure out what happened. Thanks to these photos we got from some soldiers belonging to the scouting patrol, we figured out that the knights ended up getting in the deeper floors of the sewers…where they were found in these conditions."

"Deeper floors? How deep are those sewers?" Grendel asked.

"Take note that they're meant to shelter millions of inhabitants," Scuti told her.

"Unfortunately, we still don't know what caused this. Even if we have our theories." Lillie continued.

Lunafreya sweated a bit. "Well…whatever it is, it's surely cold-blooded."

It was then that Cyndham got closer to take a careful look at the photos, studying them deeply. "…Adding to that, it wasn't human."

Everyone looked at him.

"How can you tell?" Ayuri asked.

"I looked carefully at how this knight's arm is missing with the hole that is left. No regular human is strong enough to pull an entire arm with that kind of violence, unless they are a mage. These wounds here also imply the use of some sort of claw, which reminds me of those of a dragon or the attack of a bug. Maybe I'm wrong, but…I think that we're dealing with…something more unnatural than a human or a mage."

Vivienne was impressed. "Wow, Cyndham! That seemed a detailed analysis! How did you figure out?" She asked.

The younger boy got embarrassed. "Ah, well…I used to study a bit of medicine in the past and…read a lot of thriller novels, that's all."

"Ooooh! So, you're some sort of detective? If you'll join us, I'd dare to call you a knight sleuth, eh eh!" Xavier jokingly commented.

"N-Now, let's not exaggerate. I just tried to help." Cyndham said, trying to look elsewhere. "I hope they don't figure out something else…"

"This will surely help within the investigation!" Lillie added. "Either way…After we got another squadron because of this, we decided to pick the option to ask for a guild to help, fearing that we could lose more men if we kept sending knights down there. I offered to search for one personally and…I ended up here. Are you…willing to help us, then?"

Lunafreya smiled. "You even ask? It's my soldiers we're talking about! So I'd say that this is more than a personal matter to me if some infested creature uses them as their snack!" She then looked at Cyndham. "Cyndham! This will be your first mission!"

The boy got caught off guard. "Uh!? This soon!?"

"We're productive in here, young boy! We want to make sure that the newcomers are worthy of being knights, so this will be your special opportunity!" Escanor told him.

"Uhm…how can I say it…I know how to use magic. I wouldn't be here if I didn't, but…I'm not…that particularly strong…if possible, I'd remain on the backlines if we end up in a fight." Cyndham explained.

"Oh, don't worry! I'm not that strong as well, and here I am!" Lilybeth assured him.

"What do you mean? You're an authentic demon with that sword!" Faris told her.

"Thanks," Seethe said from the sheath.

"Well, yeah, thanks to him!" Lady Galahad continued.

"Anyways, there's no problem with that! I'm sure you'll find a way to be useful! You just need to take an armor, and we're ready to go!" Lunafreya added.

Once again, Cyndham flinched. "Uhm…beg your pardon?"

"An armor! You're not seeing us like that now, but we all wear armor! This is a guild of knights, after all!" Lunafreya repeated.

Cyndham started to sweat. True, it was a guild of knights, but he didn't expect them to take it that seriously and honestly... he wasn't really in the mood to wear armor.

"Uhm…Your Majesty? I hope you don't take it back, but…are we sure armor is necessary for me? True, I may get some more resistance, but come on, there's no real need for that. I'll be fine! I just need to be careful! There are many places out there where knights don't wear-" Cyndham tried to justify himself on it but…

"You'll wear armor like everyone else." Lunafreya kept on smiling, but her tone was clearly different.

"BUT-" Cyndham tried to insist, but it was pointless.

"You'll wear armor like everyone else."

The boy could only sigh and nod. "All right…you're the Master, you are the queen, the rules are yours…" He spoke. "I can't believe she's this picky!"

"She can't be stopped when she's this firm, boy. I can confirm it." Grendel told him.

Vesta, on the other hand, whispered to Ruina with a smile. "I was able to find a way to trick her."

"Now, apart from me and Cyndham, let's see who will also go!" Lunafreya said, looking at the members of her guild. "Hmmm…considering that this regards the royal army in particular, I'm sure that Augusta and Escanor would help more than gladly!"

"Whether there's a reason or not, there's no way I would refuse to offer my aid to you, Your Majesty. Count on me and my blade." Augusta replied.

"Hmm…I may be a bit weaker than usual if there are not signs of sunrays down there, but I'll surely offer my help! If there's someone who is trying to destroy the army piece by piece, they'll meet the flames of my Flagrans!" Escanor added.

Lunafreya was happy to hear it. "Xavier, do you want to help as well? We may need your hearing or any other sense of yours in such a place!"

Of course, Xavier was delighted. "The two rulers working side-by-side once again? I'd be thrilled to do so!"

"Then let's see…" Lunafreya continued, looking at the others. "Orlok! Do you want to come as well?" She asked.

"You even ask? Of course!" Orlok accepted. "Not only do we talk about something non-human, but I also get the chance to let Augusta see the results of my training!"

Augusta immediately looked at him with a smirk. "Make me proud of you."

"And finally…Valdric! This could be the perfect chance for you to give a good impression to the army!" The queen continued.

"Oh, right!" Sir Geraint immediately walked toward Lillie. "You can count on me too, milady! You'll see if I'm worthy or not to be a knight!"

"Uhm…sure?" Lillie simply replied.

"Good! I think that's enough of us! The rest of you can stay here or make themselves busy with a mission!" Lunafreya concluded.

"It's starting to become a routine that I'm loving!" Pavlova commented.

Ayuri took a breath of relief. "Phew…I wasn't really in the mood for fighting today…"

Faris heard him and came closer. "Oh, really? Even with that badass magic of yours? It seems that someone here needs to learn the basics of this guild." She lowered her head to him with a smirk. "How about we go on a mission together and show you how it's done?"

Ayuri immediately became red. "What? C-Come on, Faris…I'd be only a burden for you."

"Ha! Don't say it like that!" Lady Mordred continued. "I'll make sure to watch your back in case," she whispered, making Sir Yvain get more flustered.

Grendel looked at them with an eyebrow. "Oh, well. I guess I could chime in, as always, for another monster to slay."

"YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN, SIS!" Faris told her, already excited. The two immediately fist-bumped each other.

The mood of the other members seemed similar, with everyone preparing themselves to spend the day.

"It seems that everyone is ready to start!" Vivienne commented before looking at Lunafreya. "Though, Luna…what do we do with…well, our little pervert here?" She asked, referring to Takara.

"Can you all stop calling me like that!?" Takara asked. "T-Though yeah, Your Majesty, what about our interview?" She asked.

"Oh, right…" Lunafreya replied, feeling a bit bad. "W-Well…as far as it kills my heart to say it…I'd say that we can do it as soon as we get back to the mission, so…would you mind if you come back some time later?"

"Oh, sure I-" At first, it wasn't going to be a problem for Takara, but then she realized something that alarmed her.

"…You ok?" Lunafreya asked.

"A-Ah…" The journalist started to stutter as the realization came into her mind. "R-Right, if I go back, Kyoko will probably storm me out with questions and inevitably find out what I tried to do, and I'll be screwed by then! I can't afford to do so now! Plus, I don't know how long it will take them to come back, and I may lose my chance for this scoop! I need to come up with something quickly!" She thought as she sweated.

Then…she lowered her stare toward the knights who were going to the mission. In particular, she locked her stare toward their armor and their weapons.

With that, she got another idea that made her smirk. Maybe there was a possible escape from the scoldings back at Sorcerer's Weekly…at least for now.

"Yeah…about that…I may have a perfect alternative for it that could make both of us happy in a way that you could do the mission and I could do the interview." She spoke.

Everyone looked confused.

"What do you mean?" Orlok asked.

Takara immediately proposed. "How about I follow you in this mission?"

"WHAT!?" Everyone (except Scuti) exclaimed.

"Are you serious!? You saw the photos too, right!? It's far too dangerous!" Persephone told her.

"Look, whether or not you're telling the truth about what happened before, being goofy is one thing, but masochist is a completely different one! You could get killed in an instant!" Vivienne added.

But Takara didn't remove her smirk. "And that's where you're actually wrong! I didn't say that I couldn't defend myself, did I?"

"Uh?" Everyone asked.

"What…do you mean?" Galtier asked.

"Luckily, my house is nearby! Wait a moment, please!" With those words, Takara quickly left the guild, leaving everyone like that.

"…Uhm…does it happen that often here?" Lillie asked the queen, who nodded with a sigh.

"Y-Yeah…"

Three minutes later…

The guild's door opened again. "I'm back!" The journalist announced.

"Oh, there you are. So, what is it that- WHAT THE FU-!?" Galtier was skeptical at first, but when he saw the girl coming back, he was completely bewildered, mostly like everyone.

"T-Takara…is that?" Augusta asked.

Takara was wearing full armor, which was shining with an iridescent tone in some parts. And on top of that, she was wielding a particular sword that was glowing as well.

The girl looked at everyone with a large smile as she flexed her equipment. "What do you think? Pretty cool, eh?"

"Where did you get that armor!? B-But more importantly…" Hector asked.

Galtier was the most shocked of them all as he immediately recognized the material that the armor was made of. "I-IS THAT ADAMANTIUM!?"

"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted.

Takara could only enjoy that amazement. "People might say…that I come with a lot of surprises! And yes, this sword is made of adamantium! All thanks to my second passion!" She explained as she took out several gemstones.

"AH!?" Everyone exclaimed again.

"What? What is she showing?" Xavier asked.

"Where did you get those gemstones!?" Ruina exclaimed.

"Oh, I collect them far and wide! I sometimes like to be an evaluator of precious materials and even sold them! But mostly…" Takara replied before eating some of those gems. "They're my main source of energy."

Galtier had a heart attack as soon as he saw those gems getting eaten that easily.

"Y-You just eat those! Wait…if you eat a certain something to get energy then…" Hector recognized that symptom. He couldn't be wrong.

"That's right!" Takara confirmed. "Gemstone Dragon's Prismatic Roar!" To give further proof, Takara released a small blast of energy mid-air from her mouth, which was filled with various gemstones' shrapnel, giving it the look of a rainbow.

"WHOA!" Everyone exclaimed.

Lunafreya had two large starry eyes upon looking at that. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Once again, Takara struck a pose. "The name's Takara Kammuri! The Gemstone Dragon Slayer! Got it memorized?"

"Y-You're a Dragon Slayer!? Really!?" Hector exclaimed.

"She even has an element similar to yours!" Persephone added.

Myuu looked at Xavier for that. "You don't have anything to say?"

"Again, I'm not a Dragon Slayer!" Xavier told her.

"HEY, THAT'S NOT FAIR! NOW I WANNA FIGHT YOU!" Grendel exclaimed.

"MAKE THAT TWO!" Faris added.

"Uhm, please, not now! But yes! I may be a journalist, but deep inside, I have a secret magical side! So, what do you say, Your Majesty? Do you think I can properly defend myself?" Takara then asked.

Vivienne looked at her former pupil. "What do you- Oh…" She could see the excited reaction of Lady Arthur, who looked like a child who had just seen a huge teddy bear.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? OF COURSE YOU CAN COME! OH MY GOD! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU IN ACTION! IT WILL BE SO COOL AND BADASS!" Lunafreya freaked out before looking at the commander. "You don't mind if she comes with us, do you, Lillie?"

Lillie made a nervous smile. "W-Well, it's not like I can refuse a demand from my queen. If she can defend herself, then so be it!"

Takara gasped out of excitement. "YES YES YES! You won't regret a thing! Come on, then! Let's clap some knight-killer's ass!"

"YES!" Those who went for the mission were stunned but eager to start the mission nonetheless. It was glad to see that they could rely on a new ally. Well…all except one.

Cyndham paled out as soon as he saw Takara's powers. "O-Ok, these guys could actually be VERY strong…"

And so, a new day and a new bizarre adventure was about to start for the queen and her knights…with an extra help coming from a journalist searching for her ultimate scoop.

---

The chosen group for the mission left the guild, and guided by Lillie, they headed toward the center of the city, where a secret passage for the sewers could be found, but they didn't go there immediately.

Before that, one of the members had to get properly ready for it.

"I've arrived." Cyndham declared, making everyone look toward her. Finally, the newcomer could show his armor, although unwillingly.

It was a green armor with gold highlights, mimicking the textures of a reptile, with the helmet that recalled a horned lizard. A gold gauntlet was worn up to his elbows with the same reptilian look, but hid thin stick-like swords on the webs of his fingers.

"Oh my! This is very good, Cyndham!" Lunafreya commented.

"Yeah, I also approve! How come you didn't want to get armor? You even had one that looked like a dragon!" Takara added.

"Uhm… thanks! It should be a chameleon, actually." Cyndham corrected. "And well…I don't mind but…I preferred to go without that's all." Cyndham corrected.

"A chameleon with horns? Particular choice. Oh well…now that he's with us, we should be able to start with the mission, correct?" Augusta asked.

"What do you say, Commander Lillie? Shall we head toward those sewers?" Valdric asked.

"Yes. And before we start, I also need to know that to travel throughout the deeper levels of the sewers without getting lost, we'll need the help of a specific person." Lillie explained.

"Who?" Xavier asked.

"It's a…particular member of the scouting patrol that spends most of the time in the sewers. I know it may sound off, but he comes in very handful with particular missions. I'd dare to say that when it comes to inspections, he's probably the best around." Lillie replied.

Naturally, everyone was surprised to hear that.

"How come that we never heard of him?" Escanor added.

"Yeah, I didn't hear of someone like that," Lunafreya added.

"Let's say that…he likes to have his privacy and operate from the shadows. But since it's the sewers that we are talking about, I'm sure that this will be a matter that will touch him personally." Lillie explained.

"Oh, an underground star? Now I'm getting curious." Takara commented with a smile. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's search him out and get off with the mission!"

"Before that…how do we actually get inside the sewers? I'm quite sure we won't go through it with a manhole." Orlok asked.

"Oh, don't worry, Orlok! When it comes to our sewers, there's one way to get in there!" Lunafreya replied before looking at Lillie.

The commander nodded and looked down at the floor and moved out a few briquettes, revealing an underground stairway.

"Ah!?" Everyone else exclaimed.

"Wow! I-I passed through most of the capital in the past, but I never knew such a thing!" Cyndham commented.

"Really? You like to walk a lot?" Orlok asked him.

"W-Well…kinda," Cyndham replied.

Lunafreya looked at her guildmates with a smile. "There are plenty of secrets that our capital holds! Just you wait to see the rest!" With those words, both she and Lillie went down.

Escanor looked at Cyndham. "Well, boy! Your grand debut is at hand? Agitated?" He asked.

"Well…kinda?" The boy replied.

"Don't worry! In case you feel overwhelmed, just so you know that you can count on us! The purple light of the demon prince shall guide you!" Xavier assured him.

"Y-Yeah, you get the point. Make sure to stay close to us if you're that insecure about your fighting skills." Augusta added.

Cyndham nodded. "I'll make it so. Thanks!" He spoke. "Man, they all look tough, and some of them even have some high charge and despite this…they all seem nice with me." He thought before looking down. "How come that people like this decided to follow a person like her? I…" As his thoughts went deeper, he stopped himself by shaking his head. "No, I can't think of it now. I'll…see it better with my eyes."

Takara, on the other hand, seemed excited, with her hair assuming an orange tone. "Oh my! A glimpse at the capital's secret passageway! Don't mind me if I make myself comfy! Well…not that you're that comfy in sewers or anything."

With that said, the small group went through the underground passage and soon found themselves in an underground road with pipes and a water canal. The emptiness of the place was enough to make the knights' metallic footsteps echo.

"Ah, look! There's an echo! Echoooooo…" Takara already started to play with it, getting a glance from Augusta.

"Don't play already." The giant woman said.

"Sorry-" The other knight quickly apologized.

"What an…interesting experience. I can clearly hear many sounds, but at the same time, there's only emptiness." Xavier commented.

"Hmmm…I don't know, there isn't much light in here." Escanor added.

Lunafreya, on the other hand, looked at the commander. "So, how are we going to start? You said that we first need to find this soldier from the scouting patrol that lives here, right? How do we find him?" She asked.

"Considering that he had been warned yesterday, I'm sure that he's waiting for us and has prepared something to let us reach him," Lillie replied.

"Like what?" Takara asked. And just like that, the answer came on its own, when the small group of knights could hear a croak that made them look up.

A singular crow was looking at them intensively.

"Uhm…is it me or…that crow seems interested in us?" Cyndham asked.

"I don't know, but if it's planning to poop on us, it better know that it's not the case," Augusta replied.

Lillie sighed and raised her hand in sign of halt. "No need to worry. That crow is exactly the thing our knight had prepared for us."

Immediately, everyone looked at her. "…What?"

"It's…complicated to explain. He'll probably tell you when we'll meet him. But for now…" Lillie replied before starting to tap her finger to a wall of the sewers while looking at the crow.

"Uhm…why is she…doing it? Is it…I don't know, some sort of ritual?" Takara asked.

Cyndham, on the other hand, seemed to have grasped the intent of that action. "It's a morse code."

Lunafreya looked at him. "Morse code?"

"It's a type of language based completely on sound. It's usually made for the mute and to send secret messages." Xavier explained properly, surprising the newcomer.

"You know of it?" Cyndham asked.

"Of course! My father made me study it a bit. It can be helpful in particular cases!" Sir Percival proudly answered, getting Takara's attention.

"Oh! Then your father must be quite the cultured one! I'm sure he gave you lots of things you could share with!" The girl said.

But Augusta already stopped her. "We can talk about it later. We may make Commander Lillie lose her focus."

"What makes me more surprised is that…does this mean that the crow actually knows Morse language?" Orlok wondered.

"-.. .. -.. / -.- - ..- .-. / - .- ... - . .-. / ... . -. -.. / -.- - ..- / ... . .-. . ..-.. / .. ..-. / ... - -..- / ... ... - .- / ..- ... / - ... . / .- .- -.- / - - / ... .. - .-.-.-" This was the message Lillie sent to the crow, who surprisingly nodded and started to fly toward a specific direction.

"Let's follow him." The female commander suggested before starting to move with the others, leaving them amazed.

"It…it actually understood? I'm…I'm more eager to know this guy now…" Lunafreya commented.

"Same here!" Takara added. "Say, Miss Lillie, is there anything you can say about this knight?"

To that question, Lillie had a drop of sweat coming down from her head. "W-Well…if there's anything that you need to know before meeting him is that…he's a troll."

Everyone felt confused.

"A…troll?" Escanor asked.

Augusta already imagined a large green creature living in the sewers, surrounded by crows. "I…have a bad feeling about this."

"Uh…if he's part of the royal army, he surely must be a gentle troll, right?" Cyndham asked while he thought about it. "S-Should I prepare my weapon?"

"Maybe even someone I could spar with in my free time! Trolls are interesting people to fight!" Orlok added.

"We can say it like that, yeah…" Lillie replied. Of all the people in there, the one left more confused was obviously the queen herself.

"The royal army allows non-human creatures? Well…not that I'm completely unaware of it, considering that I have a dog-lady on my guild…" She thought.

On their way, the crow ended up flying into a dark crossroads, where he could not be seen anymore.

"Ah, dammit! What do we do now?" Valdric asked.

"No worries, my friends!" Escanor said as he concentrated some of the sunlight he had gathered that day to make a small torch. "At least we won't end up crashing with each other."

"Oh, thank you, Escanor!" Lunafreya said before looking around. "Though…it's still pretty dark in here. How do we get back on that crow?"

"We surely can't go blind, or we'll end up wasting hours wandering effortlessly," Cyndham asked.

Then they all looked at Xavier, who seemed…focused.

"What is it, Demon Prince? Takara asked. "You find the dark intriguing?"

Right at that moment, Augusta remembered what had happened at Nythvail's Grove and what Xavier was capable of. "Wait a moment…could it be that you heard one of those sounds?"

"What do you mean?" Takara asked.

"Xavier here has trained his hearing to the maximum to compensate for the lack of his sight, to the point that he can even hear the sounds of one's soul!" Escanor explained.

"Oh my!" Takara had starry eyes before starting to write in her notebook. "This is surely something I have to take note for!"

Cyndham, on the other hand, was once again taken aback. "W-What the? Is he even human?"

Xavier was smiling as he heard all those compliments aimed at him, and while he would have loved to waste minutes on telling his 'darkest' arts, he kept on focusing on what he was hearing.

A faint yet clear sound of flapping wings could be heard from the left of the point they were standing on.

"My tricks helped me once again! This way!" Xavier said before starting to move there, followed by the others.

"Wait, can we trust you?" Cyndham asked.

"You can! He helped us many times! And if it's the queen that tells you this, you should be free of concerns!" Lunafreya told him with a wink.

The boy turned around for a moment. "I doubt that…" He whispered.

"What was it?" Lady Arthur asked, panicking Cyndham.

"A-Ah! Nothing!"

"Oh! So, you put lots of trust within your companions, Your Majesty?" Takara asked, already interested.

"Well…it's at the base of every guild. And since I grew up reading the efforts of guilds such as Fairy Tail, I try to give a similar air when it comes to my guildmates." Lunafreya replied, blushing a bit. "Plus! A queen has to put trust in her subjects! After all, it's with them that a ruler is strong…right?"

Takara was putting down what she said in the notes. "Interesting, indee- AH!" She ended up tripping and falling.

Augusta looked at her with a skeptical expression. "Yeah, I get this idea of making the interview or the service or whatever, but make sure to watch where you're walking."

Takara made a nervous laugh, with her hair assuming a red-pink tone. "Eh eh eh, yeah…"

As the walk continued, they ended up on another long road. This time, it seemed filled with closed hatches.

"The crow went this way; I'm pretty sure of it," Xavier said to the others.

"But the question is…" Orlok said as he looked at all the hatches. "…Where?"

Lunafreya looked up to Sir Percival. "Can you still hear the flapping?"

Xavier tried to focus, but this time, he shook his head. "Hmmm…it seems that he stopped."

"This could make things harder…" Cyndham commented before looking around. "Well, at least we know where we are going. Although, we may need to look at each one of these hatches."

"Or…" Takara said as she made a step forward. "You could use some extra help!" She then started to…sniff around in a way that everyone could hear it.

Lunafreya whispered at the others. "Poor soul…sniffing in the sewers…"

Then, the journalist had an answer, and she pointed at the fourth hatch on the right with a smile. "That's the one! I sense the crow there!"

"You got its scent?" Cyndham asked, surprised.

"Well, she is a dragon slayer. If I'm correct, their sense of smell is incredibly developed compared to regular humans." Augusta explained.

Takara was happy to hear it. "Well, what can I say? I have plenty of things that could help you in the future!" She said as she laid her hand on Lunafreya's shoulder.

"Uhm…future? What do you mean?" The queen asked.

"Ah! Uh…" Takara realized what she had said and tried to act ignorant. "Never mind! Probably slipped in my mind! Getting too confidential, maybe, eh eh!" She then noticed Augusta, who was glaring at her.

"Maybe even a bit too confidential, considering that hand on Her Majesty's shoulder."

"SORRY!" Takara immediately removed it, making Lunafreya giggle.

"Forgive her. She's devoted." The queen told her before looking at the hatch. A hand crank was there to open it, and so she did. "Well…time to meet this particular knight."

Lillie had a drop of sweat falling from near her head once again. "Let's hope he doesn't get too weird…"

As soon as they passed through the hatch, the group found themselves in a vast hall, where this time, a particular sound could be heard, one that made Cyndham get a bit pale.

"Are these…rats?" He wondered.

"Scared?" Orlok asked.

"No, not really, but wouldn't you be terrified to see a storm of rats swatting you?" The boy continued.

Sir Safir thought of it for a moment. "Well, after all the types of enemies that I faced in the past, rats are probably the least thing I'm scared of…" He confessed.

"A mercenary!?" Cyndham thought, stunned, before looking at Lunafreya. "D-Did she got really all these strong people?"

Lunafreya came closer to whisper at Lillie. "Uhm…should we get ready to get actually ambushed by rats?"

"Don't worry…once again, it's normal. Like with that crow…everything is under control." Lillie assured her, although a bit nervous.

Takara looked around. "We may meet a person who comes from a novel…well, at least I'm pretty sure it won't be a clown…hopefully."

The small group made a few steps forward…until they ended up on a spot where a mountain of gimcrack could be seen. Around it, several rats were minding their business.

Cyndham started to pale again. "I-It's normal, Cyndham…this is their habitat…"

Adding to them, several crows could be seen hanging on the pipes, cleaning themselves. A caw could then be heard as the group saw the same crow that guided them fly toward the top of the gimcrack, apparently on someone's shoulder.

"Ah!" Lunafreya noticed it. "Is…is that him?"

Lillie nodded.

The figure leaned his head toward the crow, who cawed at him, making him nod. "They're right behind me, you say? Better introduce myself properly then!" After saying it, the knight took off his hood and turned around, with the group of Round Table that could see him properly.

"Ah!" Needless to say…they were surprised by his look.

"What? What does he look like?" Xavier fairly asked.

It was a small, thin, somewhat androgynous looking young man who looked a lot younger than he actually was. He had large gray eyes and short white hair and had a large smile on his face. He was wearing torn rags with a hood under what seemed to be a silver armor. The most surprising fact about it was that this outfit seemed clean enough despite being in the sewers. He was standing around 155 centimeters tall.

"Hello there! This is the first time I actually talk with a legal guild, so the place may look a bit messed up to you, but stay assured that nothing is toxic or dirty here! I like to take care of my hygiene!" The figure said.

Creimire O Cleirigh – The Sewer Rat

The small group was speechless to that at first.

"Hm? What is it? Did a cat cut your tongue? If that's the deal, then make sure to warn me. My rats here hate cats, as expected." Creimire asked.

"Ah, no! That's not it! It's more like…" Orlok started.

"You…surely look more different than I thought. Or better yet than…what everyone here thought." Cyndham completed the phrase.

To that, Creimire made a small laugh. "Ah, don't worry! It's normal, it's the effect I give everyone." He said before striking a pose similar to that of an anime with funny muscular characters. "I personally know to be handsome. I even gave an ogre a heart attack for my looks once!"

"Wait, really!?" Cyndham asked, shocked.

"NO, STUPID!" Creimire promptly answered with a smile.

"What the-!?" Naturally, Cyndham felt both offended and confused at it, but then…he remembered what Lillie said as he looked at her.

Lillie simply nodded in a sigh.

Even the others acknowledged it. "Oh…I get it. He's not a troll, he's a troll." Augusta said.

Lunafreya made a confused smile before looking at her commander as well. "Uhm…so, is this the scouting patrol knight?"

Lillie nodded again. "He is. This is Creimire O Cleirigh, one of the best patrollers we have."

Creimire promptly made a bow. "An honor to meet you, Your Majesty! I did hear of what you were able to do during this last period, including the guild you had founded."

"Really?" Lunafreya asked.

"Of course!" The boy said as a few rats and crows came near him. "I have my staff wander around the capital and the kingdom in general! They keep me updated on everything! It was this crow that guided you here after all! His name is Lovecraft if you ask!" He explained, surprising the others again.

"Wait, you're telling me that you're actually able to communicate with all these animals?" Valdric asked.

"Indeed, I am! After all, they were the ones who raised me, so I ended up learning how they act and how to communicate with them." Creimire explained. The rats all looked at them.

"My, my! I see that here we have a hidden talent in nature! I could use the help of some demonic beasts, actually…" Xavier commented.

"For Claire's sake, don't call them demons; they're normal!" The boy replied, making Lunafreya bow.

"Ah, forgive him, he's particular…"

"Wait…they raised you?" Augusta asked.

"Yeah, long story. I might as well tell you about that another time. But speaking of other stuff, I'm glad to see that in the end you were able to reach my humble place! Though I surely didn't expect less from a guild!" Creimire continued.

"Uh? What do you mean?" Orlok asked.

Once again, Cyndham realized what had happened. "Wait…don't tell me that your crow took the dark road on purpose before!"

As an answer, Creimire made a smug smile. "What do you say?"

"What!? Why would you do that!?" Cyndham asked.

"Just to test you, if anything else! True, I could have come on myself to greet you personally, but I wanted to see if you had what it took to face the lower levels of these catacombs. No offense, Your Majesty." Creimire explained.

"None taken," Lunafreya replied.

"To be more precise…I wanted to see if you could think outside the box and rely on something else that wasn't entirely your eyes." The boy continued.

"Our eyes…?" Xavier asked. "Oh, right! We first needed my hearing and then Takara's sense of smell to get here! Commander Lillie also had to use touch to communicate with your crow. That was your challenge?"

"You got it right! I wanted to see if you could affirm your other senses, and needless to say, you were promoted with the highest score. Well, not that I would expect less from mages that were recruited by Queen Lunafreya herself." Creimire replied.

Lunafreya blushed. "Oh, come on, you'll make us faint from embarrassment."

"But what about the sense of taste? That's still missing." Takara asked.

"Would you have preferred me making you taste something here, of all places? I'm quite the hygienic person even if I live down in the sewers." The boy replied.

"R-Right…" Takara commented. "Still! Hearing of this guy is incredible! I need to note it down…" She added as she wrote in her notebook.

"So, you wanted me to take them here because of this test?" Lillie asked.

"Well…also because if I go outside, I'll probably turn into ash," Creimire answered.

"Really!?" Lillie exclaimed.

And once again, the patroller made a large smile. "NO, STUPID!"

Lillie made a skeptical face as a result.

"I can't imagine what would happen if he was to troll Faris or Grendel…" Lunafreya thought.

"Though, yeah, I have a few problems with sunlight, mostly because I never got out that often…" Creimire continued.

"Oh, poor boy! Then you were lucky to have my presence here! With someone like me, you'll be able to feel the blessing of the sun again!" Escanor told him while making a pose that made him glitter.

"AGH!" Creimire immediately tried to cover himself. "For Claire's sake, tone it down! I'm still testing things!"

Cyndham looked confused overall. "I…don't know what to say. The situation's getting even more bizarre."

"Oh, don't worry about that! It's normal around here!" Orlok assured him. "Besides, I'm kinda liking this guy!"

Creimire was surprised by that. "Really? Oh, thank you! You don't look that bad at all! Look at those muscles! I could never do otherwise; just look at me!"

"Oh, please! I may be a mercenary, but I could command an entire army of animals only in my dreams! You surely have more traits!" Sir Safir continued. "The name's Orlok if you ask!"

"Orlok, you say? Well…I'll make sure to remember it for your courtesy!" The shorter boy said, ending it with a small laugh.

"Aw, look at them; they're already bonding!" Valdric commented. "Though…I hope I don't sound hasty with this, but what about the mission, then? How are you going to help us?" He asked.

"Oh, don't worry! I was just about to go there!" Creimire said as he showed a pipe behind him. "Right behind us, there's a pipe that will get us right to the deeper floors of the sewers! I already sent a few of my rats to investigate there, and they'll report to us whether they see anything suspicious about those dead soldiers!"

Of course, everyone made an uncomfortable expression.

"…Don't worry, the pipe is clean." The boy assured them.

"Aaaah…"

"So, we're getting to the center of attention, eh? Just the juice I had been waiting for!" Takara commented.

"Well, Augusta, what do you say about smashing something non-human?" Orlok asked.

"If it's human or not, it will still be something to smash, so I'm on to it," Augusta replied with a small grin.

"Well, it seems that you've heard them already getting excited! Let's get on with it, then!" Lunafreya concluded.

Creimire made a small bow and stood beside. "Ladies first!"

"…Why, thank you," Augusta told him while getting to the pipe, sliding down to it. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Her voice could be heard from down there.

"Oh, right! I forgot to say that the way down is a bit…fast." Creimire said.

This got a skeptical expression from Lillie. "Of course, you worry about warranty later, right, Creimire?"

"Well, it's not like everyone passes through here, don't you think?" The patroller told her back. "Don't worry! It will be like going to an aqua park!"

"If…you say so…" Lunafreya commented before going as well. "At least it's vast enough to not get STUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuck…" She went all the way down as well.

Needless to say, everyone followed, having different reactions, and that bizarre gateway would have brought them to the true stage of their mission.

Also, little did they know that there was a crow who took pictures of them slipping in the pipe to get their reaction. It was yet another innocent prank coming from Creimire.

---

Despite the fast travelling, everyone was able to land on their feet.

"WOOO! That was awesome! Who's in for another ride?" Takara asked before noticing how the others were already looking around, amazed, so she did it as well. "Oh boy…"

While the look was still that of a sewer, everything was incredibly larger, with more roads and a ceiling that seemed endless. It was like standing inside the depths of a cave. To illuminate the road, there were several ochre yellow torches attached to the vast walls.

"That sensation I had before…I feel like it has been doubled." Xavier commented. "It's like standing in a completely different world."

"Yeah…the concern of getting lost is probably doubled with this…" Cyndham added.

"Cool yet menacing at the same time, don't you think? Don't worry! Even if it doesn't seem like it, the roads here are easy to remember! You just need to be careful at…not being infected." Creimire told them.

This got him a stare from everyone.

"You could get an illness here?" Augusta asked.

"Hey, on my defense, I don't take care of this level! Plus, you're here because of the smell, so I'm sure that plays a big part in it." The boy replied.

Lunafreya sighed. "Oh, good grief. This already looks troublesome…well, not that we weren't prepared for this! Make us a road!"

"Your wish is my command, Your Majesty!" Creimire agreed as he summoned a particular staff from what seemed to be a pocket dimension. "Requip: The Psychopomp – Xolotl's Leash."

Naturally, everyone was surprised by it.

"You're a Requip Mage!?" Takara asked.

"JUST LIKE ERZA!" Lunafreya added. "Ah, sorry-"

"Oh, I surely am! I need to defend myself in case someone tries to chop my head off! And my Requip magic here allows me to summon various weapons." Creimire explained before using one of his spells. "Eye Spy." His eyes started to shine.

"Ooooh…what did you do?" Orlok asked.

"I've connected my senses to one of the rats that I sent here to have their complete point of view. You may need to warn me in case we get attacked, though." The patroller told them.

"So, it's not only a question of language…he's one with nature itself! I took a long effort to do so, but he manages to do it so easily! Maybe those crows and rats really raised him…" Cyndham thought.

"Incredible! It's almost as if those animals were your familiars!" Xavier commented.

"Kinda, yeah! Only that they're pure flesh and bones. We simply rely on the trust we have." Creimire replied before turning toward a specific direction. "The rat is moving that way! Let's follow."

Everyone nodded and did so.

For the first minutes, the walk seemed calm. Despite the vastness of the place, the only concerning thing was that the group of knights probably didn't know what they were walking into. One common thought they had was probably that they were going to have a good shower that night.

Still…Lunafreya couldn't hide her interest in the vastity of the place. "To think that people of over 300 years ago were able to build all this."

"They surely thought big! If I'm correct, Seven did have a long and troubled past, so I'm pretty sure it was the subject of many invasions." Takara added. "Any opinions on it?"

"Well...I naturally studied the history of my land, and while I can say that we did make many mistakes in the past…I still can't help but adore the will of life the people grew throughout the centuries. That's what makes me want to defend them, you know!" Lunafreya replied with a genuine tone.

That made Takara almost on the verge of commotion, with her hair assuming a yellow tone. "Finally…a pure answer, not a peanut one!"

That left Lillie confused. "Uh…peanut?"

"Ah! Eh, never mind…" The other girl concluded, not wanting to tell them what happened with her interview that morning.

"Hmm, I assume that a job like yours must be troublesome sometimes!" Escanor told her.

"Yeah, it has its flaws, but I still wholeheartedly enjoy it! It gives me the chance to meet wholesome people like you!" Takara told him. "Sometimes I wonder how it feels to be part of a guild…"

"Hence, why the sword and that armor?" Orlok asked.

Once again, Takara looked around, sweating a bit. "Y-Yeah, kinda."

"Well, considering those two things and your Dragon Slayer Magic, you could be a great asset. Maybe you could lend us a hand as soon as we find out what killed those knights." Augusta commented.

Takara's hair assumed a yellow color as she heard it. "Y-You think?"

"Well, you would be better than me, that's for sure…" Cyndham told him before getting a friendly pat from Valdric.

"Don't say it like that already! Every knight makes small steps that slowly descend into glory! I'm making sure to be the perfect example for it!"

"Yeah! And if anything, you still get to hang out with new friends!" Orlok added.

Takara continued to take notes of them. "I see, I see…everyone has a personal way of chivalry. This is getting more interesting!"

Lunafreya was looking at the scene from behind with Xavier and Lillie, getting excited. "Isn't it great! Look at how she's taking notes on my guild! Aaah, she'll surely give me a heart attack once she's done…" She said as she wriggled up for the excitement.

"You surely love this idea if you're that happy, Your Majesty. That makes me happy, too." Lillie told her.

"It surely makes us happy as well! Maybe this could help us be known better out there, if you know what I mean!" Xavier added with a small laugh. Then…in the blink of an eye, his mood shifted from playful to serious as he stood in front of Creimire, getting his spear at the ready.

"Uh? What happened, blind boy?" Creimire asked.

"…I heard a weird sound just now. An…irregular soul." Xavier explained.

This put everyone in an alarmed state.

"What do you mean?" Lunafreya asked.

"I don't know…for the first time, it's hard to explain. But for now, I can say that…it's coming closer." Sir Percival continued.

Everyone immediately raised their weapons.

"I didn't expect them to come this soon," Orlok commented.

They all stood carefully. It was a matter of minutes, but the rising tension made it look like hours. Who knew what could have assaulted them?

Then…a squeaking noise could be heard.

Hearing that made Orlok feel surer. "Wait a minute…it must be Creimire's rat! Then we're supposed to be safe, right?" He asked.

"I'm…afraid it's not that easy…" Escanor replied. "What do you say, Creimire?"

To answer, Creimire had to deactivate his spell and focus better on the approaching sound. As he grew up with hundreds of rats around him, he could recognize the ones of his own with ease.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

"…This is not one of them."

"HM!" Everyone immediately prepared themselves.

The loud squeaking noise was followed by loud footsteps, and in a matter of minutes, they could see a large rat appear from behind a wall, ready to assault them.

"Everyone! Jump!" Lunafreya warned. The group did so and avoided the impact caused by the rat, who turned around to glare at them with murderous intent.

"I've seen rats of all types in years, but that's surely a new one!" Creimire commented. "Definitely not one of mine."

"And he's surely sick! Did you see that orange liquid he's losing from his mouth?" Takara asked.

"Uh? What do you mean?" Lunafreya asked before giving a careful look. And she could see it as well.

A strange orange liquid was falling from the rat's mouth. Other than that, he was also releasing a strange smoke of the same color from his back.

"What…is that thing?" The queen asked.

"It's also making a weird smell! Could it be that it was that the people heard?" Valdric added.

Lillie immediately raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

But they didn't have the time to come out with their theories that the rat immediately roared out before shooting several orbs of orange substance at them.

"AH!" Once again, everyone jumped out, with Valdric spreading wings made of golden energy and dashing toward the enemy with his longsword, stabbing him in the back.

The rat roared in pain, starting to move around to shake him off.

"Ok, I got him!" Valdric exclaimed, trying to maintain his grip on the rat, unaware that some of the smoke that surrounded the beast was already heading toward him.

Thanks to his special ability, Cyndham was able to perceive such smoke as an oppressive aura that would have surrounded the knight, a detail that made him alarmed. "No, wait! Valdric! Get away from him!"

"Uh!?" Hearing the warning made Sir Geraint immediately fly away, only to get another shot of orange substance that he was forced to block. "Ngh!"

"Did you see something?" Augusta asked.

"Whatever that thing he has is, it's not good for us. If we get too close to him, we may as well receive some sort of dangerous effect. We'd better focus on long-distance attack!" Cyndham explained.

"How were you able to tell?" Escanor asked.

To that, Cyndham made a smirk. "I need to compensate my lack of strength with something, and luckily, I have a magic that helps me increase my senses."

"Oh! We'll have lots of stuff to discuss later! But first, let's take care of this abomination." Xavier commented before generating several baseball-like spheres made of purple energy. "Soul of Thunder: Bolts!" As soon as he threw them, the balls started to bounce around the rat, piercing his body several times.

Cyndham was already running around him, wielding his weapon: a crossbow that could shoot more than one arrow at a time so that he could confuse him further. "Make sure to blast him before he gets us!"

The rat roared out and tried once again to attack the other knights, managing to escape from Xavier and Cyndham's grip.

Still, his attack didn't succeed, as Creimire promptly stood behind to change his weapon for a moment. "Anubis's Crook – Tomb of Sand!" He immediately created a dome of sand that blocked the rat's rampage, forcing him to jump back.

A few moments later, Takara and Lunafreya were already out to assault him on both sides with their swords. After a roar of pain, the mouse immediately glared at them.

"WOO! Did you see that, Your Majesty? That will surely increase the people's attention as soon as I write it down!" Takara commented before looking up to the rat. "Uh oh…" The beast tried to bite her, forcing her to block it with her sword. "Nghh! Think this will stop me!? Gemstone Dragon's Embrittling Roar!" She shot a roar that looked like a laser blast made out of ice that froze the rat's face, making him recoil a few steps.

"Hey, that wasn't the same roar we saw before!" Orlok exclaimed.

Takara was happy to hear it. "Oh, gemstones have many secrets you may not know about! Now, Your Majesty!"

Lunafreya immediately jumped on the rat's back, generating several blades of light behind herself. "Holy Sword God's Judgement!" She immediately threw the blades at the rat, making them impale its back.

The rat roared more furiously and shot more spheres at the queen, who was saved in time by Takara.

"Ah! T-Thanks…" The queen commented.

"What? You think I wouldn't have thought about it?" Takara asked with a smirk.

Escanor and Orlok already prepared their blows in the meantime. "Solar Flare – Caelum Ignis!"

"Blood Devil's Rage!"

While Sir Gawain released a burst of golden flames (That almost blinded Creimire), Sir Safir shot a torrent of boiling blood.

Surprisingly, the rat answered with a beam made out of the orange substance, crashing with the two blows. Luckily, the two knights' power was superior, and the rat ended up getting wiped away.

"Hey, did you see that!?" Orlok asked.

"Yeah, considering that he was able to answer…maybe that isn't just a substance," Gawain commented.

Augusta was already stepping forward, holding his greatsword at hand. "Either way, we don't have to worry. This battle is almost over."

"Hey, didn't you hear what I said before? Get away from him!" Cyndham commented.

"No need to worry, Cyndham. Augusta knows what she does." Lunafreya assured him.

Even if badly wounded, the rat was able to stand up again and try one last charge. But Lady Hector already knew what to do.

"Royal Ascension Style – Third Rank – Viscount's Executioner Blade." She raised the greatsword above her head with her arms bent and ready to strike from above, keeping one leg slightly in front of the other. In the blink of an eye, she stepped forward, bringing the sword down with her entire body weight for a single devastating attack that cut the rat, bringing it to the ground. "Commander Lillie, now!"

The commander of the army was already pointing her hand at the rat, who still tried to react despite the wounds. "The Last Stand!" By doing so, she generated a golden swipe of energy that blasted the rat away. When the smoke faded away, all that was left was only what remained of the body with very little of that orange smoke that disappeared and a few orange droplets. "…Target eliminated."

"All right!" Takara exclaimed, making a small jingle with her mouth.

Everyone came closer to what remained of the rat to see better what its deal was…especially with that strange orange substance.

Cyndham took a small drop of what was left of the liquid and looked at it carefully, even smelling it a bit. "It's surely making a weird, pungent smell."

"So, we can assume that this is what caused the smell that the people reported to the knights?" Orlok asked. "In that case…this is what killed them, right?"

But Cyndham didn't seem convinced. "…No. I don't think this is the case."

"How so?" Valdric asked.

"I still remember the details within the photos, especially with the wounds those corpses had. It looked like their arms were completely ripped away. And while this rat is big, it didn't have a proper mouth to do that type of damage." The newest member said.

Creimire whistled at that. "You surely know a lot about anatomy and fauna, don't you?"

"Well…nature is one of my passions, we can say…" Cyndham replied with a drop of sweat coming down his head. "Still…we can assume that the smell is that and…that orange stuff is probably what drove him crazy…"

"You said that we should have gotten away from it and avoided a direct confrontation with that rat, right? What made you say so?" Augusta then asked.

"As I said before…I have an innate ability that makes me perceive even the smallest inch of ethernano in the air. Thanks to that, I could read this rat's aura, and I could see…something nefarious within it, as if that orange thing could have done something bad to Valdric if he remained there."

A bit of tension rose.

"So…you're saying like it was some sort of plague?" Escanor asked.

"A…magical one, to be more precise?" Lunafreya asked.

Cyndham looked back at the rest. "…Could be."

Lunafreya looked as well, concerned about what that could have meant. "If he was not the beast we were looking for…it probably means that this rat was a victim. And that our culprit is deeper within the sewers."

Lillie looked at Creimire. "Where is your rat headed?" She asked.

To answer, the patroller used the Eye Spy again on the rat that was still making its way through the sewers. He turned around. "Over that way. It's getting deeper."

"Let's hope there's enough light for it…" Escanor commented.

"Shall we go then?" Xavier asked everyone, who nodded. The walk resumed.

As they kept on walking through that vast secret passageway, Cyndham kept a vigilant stare, especially after the assault that they had just received.

"So far, so good…but if that was just the appetizer, I fear what could be next and what actually killed those knights…" He thought. He looked up at the others and the queen. "I'm pretty sure that they're tense as well, but they're still moving forward. Well…nothing that surprising considering that they know how to defend themselves and that they're better than me, but…how come they're still trying to look up to what's next? Maybe it's just me?" He wondered.

"Hey!" Valdric suddenly called him.

"AH!" Cyndham raised his head and looked at him. "Oh, sorry…I was overthinking."

"Ah ah, don't worry! I can get it if you're tense, considering that this is your first mission!" Sir Geraint told him. "I just wanted to say thank you for before!"

Cyndham was…genuinely surprised. "Ah…really?"

"Of course! You know…even if I'm certain to become a great knight, I know well some of my flaws, and one of them is that I tend to charge without thinking. Considering what you said before, I could have had a bad time if you didn't warn me." Valdric continued.

Cyndham didn't know what to say at first. While he wanted to pull out the face of the friendly one, he wasn't that used to talking with that many people due to his past, and as such, he preferred to stay on his own. Still…this was the first time that someone genuinely thanked him.

It was already a feat that he was able to stay around with that many people, albeit a part of his plan. But…thanking him? He thought it would never happen. Due to his magic, he thought that he was going to be a background character, and he would have been fine with it.

But apparently, people were giving him more credit than he was expecting.

He tried to make a smile. "N-Now, I just wanted to help a comrade, that's all!" He spoke.

"And you did a good job on it! Both knights and mages must rely absolutely on coordination and trust, so it's a good thing that you already know what those are!" Valdric insisted. "It makes me glad that you thought of it, so keep up the good work!"

"Well…I'll try my best then!" Cyndham concluded with a smile, but his mind was thinking otherwise, although the mood was…similar.

"For some reason…this feels nice…"

In the meantime, Creimire made a small sigh.

"Something wrong?" Orlok asked.

"Oh, nothing. Even if he tried to kill us, I can't help but feel sad for that rat. If that guy there is correct, that animal was nothing else but a victim." The patroller replied.

"You care a lot about animals, don't you?" Orlok then asked another question.

"Of course! After all, a good portion of them had been my family for most of my life." Creimire replied.

It was then that Sir Safir got more curious. "So…what we heard about you spending all of your time down here is actually true…"

"Well…yeah. It's a long and complicated story, but I don't troll when I say that those rodents and birds have raised me ever since I was a child. To be fair, no one actually knew of my existence a few years ago!" Creimire explained.

"Really?" Orlok asked.

"Yeah! I had been found by the army after I put my…personal touch within the sewers, and in a short time, I became part of the Scouting Patrol. It's not that bad as a job, actually! I still get to be myself with my buddies! But…yeah, I have concerns about going outside, to say the least." The boy continued.

"Why so?" Sir Safir asked.

"Would you react normally if you saw someone who had spent most of his life down in the sewers, who talks with crows and rats, and who has troubles in sunbathing?" Creimire replied before making a melancholic smile. "I know that I'm handsome, but…my beauty wouldn't probably be understood by those up there."

Orlok stood in silence after that act of sincerity, but then…he shrugged and said something that would have surprised the young patroller.

"…I wouldn't be shocked."

"Uh?" Creimire looked up to him.

"Sure, you're an uncommon person, but that doesn't make you wrong or weird. As I said before, I like your personality! And I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be the only one saying it!" Orlok told him.

Lunafreya overheard them and turned to them with a smile. "I…think Orlok is right."

"Wha-? You too, Your Majesty?" Creimire asked.

The young queen nodded. "When I first heard of you, I thought that you were a bizarre person, but after hearing you talk and seeing you act like this, I can say for sure that you're more normal than expected!" She then looked up with her eyes closed and a nervous smile. "And to be fair…I wish I could command other people like you do."

"You say so? From what my friends told me, people seem to love you a lot as a queen." Creimire commented.

"Hmmm…I don't know, I still think I make tons of error here and there…" Lady Arthur insisted.

"Our queen here just needs some more self-esteem! And luckily, she has all the help she needs, including another monarch!" Xavier said while pointing at himself with a shining smile.

Creimire looked at Augusta, Escanor, and Lillie then. "And you guys? What do you think of her?"

"You're asking me? Of course, I support Her Majesty in every way possible!" Escanor commented. "After hearing of how she rebelled against that treacherous commander, I could see a star as bright as the sun!"

"It's my duty to support the queen in all of her actions. But…to be honest, she's a nice person." Augusta added.

"Considering that I've known her ever since she was a little kid, I can say that she has a tender heart and knows what she's doing," Lillie concluded with a smile.

All those comments made Lunafreya sob and tremble like she was some sort of slapstick cartoon. "G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-uys…" She needed to lift her nose to calm down. "B-But yes, Creimire! If they could get so many nice words from me, I'm sure they could do the same for you!"

Needless to say…Creimire was happy to hear it. If anything, this was the first time he actually discussed with someone outside of missions, and he felt…well-accepted somehow. "Well…thank you guys! If that's the case, I suppose that I could try sometimes to hang out with the world!"

Takara took the chance to sneak behind Lunafreya with a smirk. "I see someone here has a lot of supporters…how does it feel?"

Lunafreya was caught unprepared. "Uhm…it's surely nice! Though I don't know if I can accept them completely…"

"Nah, you're too critical of yourself! If someone compliments you, then you should get it all the way through! I did so myself, and now I'm rocking hard! Plus, receiving this appreciation is the first step to walking the way up to the stars! You just need to give more!" Takara told her. Her hair assumed a magenta color. "Besides…you could even get a soulmate and whisper it all to me then! I'm all in for romance in the air…" She spoke.

That immediately made Lunafreya turn a deep shade of red. "AH! W-We can cut that out, Takara! I already have my mother insisting on that!" She exclaimed.

"Awww, and here I thought I could get more confidential considering the time we're spending!" The other girl continued.

"Yeah…for being just a journalist from Sorcerer's Weekly, you're surely having fun. Almost to the point that you look like an actual mage coming from a guild." Augusta noticed.

Takara looked at her. "Uh? Oh, come now, let's not make similitudes! I just happen to join you to get more things to put in the interview, that's all!"

"Still! The way you fight and the way you talk to us make you assume an almost familiar vibe! Are you sure you're here just for that interview?" Escanor then asked.

Somehow, that question made Takara's cheeks turn slightly red and her hair assume a red-pink tone. "Naaah, you're exaggerating with fantasy! I'm just a journalist who likes to be hardcore, that's all!"

Lunafreya looked at her with a skeptical expression. "Oh, now you're getting embarrassed, eh?" She thought.

In all of that, Lillie was looking at the scene with a smile. "Heh. It seems that you ended up having a good company, eh, Your Majesty?" She asked. But unfortunately, when she turned around, she saw something that caught her attention. "Uh?"

Everyone looked at her. "What is it?" Lady Arthur asked.

"Uhm…I think the sight talks by itself, Your Majesty." Lillie replied, pointing forward.

When the rest of the group looked up, they saw something that stunned them.

The rest of the road was covered in several orange buboes, some bigger, some smaller. They were apparently innocent, but the group of Round Table could deduce that something was off with them.

"Are these…eggs?" Takara wondered.

Creimire looked closely while trying to keep the distance as well. "No…this…doesn't seem to be the case. I don't see any fetus inside." He commented before smelling it. "These…are more similar to the rat we faced earlier.

This naturally raised some tension among the other mages.

"So, it's that orange weird stuff again!?" Valdric exclaimed.

"If so, we should get rid of it immediately! Cyndham said that one false step could have ruined us, right?" Augusta suggested.

Cyndham looked at them carefully. "They're not releasing a smoke that could infect us, but at the same time, if Creimire is correct, this should be the exact substance…and we still don't know what the heck that is supposed to be…" He thought.

Lunafreya sweated a bit but took out her sword again. "If it's the same thing, then Augusta is right. Let's make sure to get rid of it." She ordered. The others nodded and pulled out their weapons. Right at that moment, she looked to the right and saw an important image. "What…h-hey, guys…look!"

The others looked in that direction and were surprised as well.

A few meters away from them stood a corpse, lying on the ground. And by looking at it carefully…they couldn't get mistaken.

Lillie took out the photos again to make the match, and it fit. "This is…one of the knights we had got a report from. One of the first scouts…"

"Then…we actually got close to-" Orlok was about to say it, but once again, the answer came from itself, when they started to hear particular footsteps coming from behind the corpse.

"It's getting closer!" Valdric warned.

"And this time…the footsteps are different…it's not a mammal creature," Xavier added.

"Then what is it?" Cyndham asked.

"It's…some sort of paw that barely taps the floor, almost like…" The self-proclaimed demon prince continued.

Right before he could finish the phrase, the creature came out from the shadows with a creepy noise, and everyone could look with shock at it.

"What the…?" Augusta commented.

It was a strange creature that looked similar to a tiny trilobite, with a flattened shell and multiple spiked protrusions emerging from its shell. It had six crustacean paws and a horned, crested head. It also had two spike-pointed arms. As soon as it saw the group of Round Table, this unidentified creature roared out, making a screeching noise before starting to head toward the various knights.

"Ah! Get ready!" Lunafreya exclaimed.

Unlike the rat from before, who tried to assault them directly, this creature stopped a few centimeters from the others and tried to swarm them with a barrage of attacks coming from its pointed arms, forcing the knights to defend themselves with their weapons and Cyndham to step back.

"H-Hey, what's the deal with this thing!? It's incredibly fast!" Escanor exclaimed.

"We should have a solid defense by now, but I highly doubt that this thing will ever get tired!" Augusta added.

The creature roared again and released a toxic breath that had the same color as the buboes.

"GET BACK!" Lunafreya shouted, making the other knights jump away.

But this didn't stop the creature as it tried to resume its attack. Xavier promptly got in front of it in time and was able to break the combo with a direct parry attack. "Soul of Ash – Javelin!" He immediately generated several burning spears with smoke that immediately pierced the creature's body, reducing it to pieces. Once again, the small group of Round Table could see an orange smoke leave its body.

"Phew…at least this was easy…right?" Takara asked. Right after that, several more similar screeches could be heard around them, and more of those creatures started to appear from the shadows, completely surrounding the group.

Naturally, everyone looked nervous at Takara.

"C-Come on! It's surely a coincidence!"

Lunafreya held her sword tightly. "Ok, guys, we have no idea what these things are, but one thing is certain! They're seeing us as their snack, so get ready!" She warned.

"YES!" Everyone replied.

"SKREEEEEE!" The creatures roared again and launched themselves to attack.

"O great sun, help me get rid of my enemies!" Escanor already gathered enough solar energy to release it in a burst of light and heat in all the directions where the monsters tried to attack him, getting rid of a good portion of them. "Hm! There may be a lot of them, but they're surely easy to take down!" He said…just as another creature tried to assault him from behind.

"Ah!" Escanor noticed it in time and jumped back, not before getting cut in through the armor first. "Ngh!" He was then forced to defend himself from the creature's rampage and got pushed back while doing so. "Dammit, they're still persistent nonetheless!" He commented. "Blinding Flash – Caecus Lux!" He was forced to release a binding flash to blind the creature and free himself from it. Afterwards, a direct slash was all that it took to cut him down. But unfortunately, that wasn't enough, as more of those creatures were already circling him. "Kh…this may take a while."

Creimire was looking at him from afar, sweating a bit after he used that flash. "I swear, that knight may become the cause of my death-" He commented before dodging the attack from another creature by jumping to the right. "The Raven Queen's Staff." He had already prepared himself. "Ok, I have no idea what you're supposed to be, but just so you know, I don't like when people infect my home and these pipes like that, so how about I let you know what they payment his?" He threatened.

Naturally, the creature didn't care (not that it could) and headed toward the attack, trying to reduce the boy to a pincushion, but Creimire seemed ready for that. "Shadow Walk!" He melted down to a shadow and reappeared right behind the creature by using its shadow and impaled it with the staff, making it fall to the ground. Seeing as more creatures tried to get closer, he generated several tendrils from his body that he shot against four monsters at the time to pierce through their bodies. "Shadow's Flicker!"

As the charge continued, one of the creatures tried to assault him from behind, cutting him in half with its arm, but as it did so, Creimire's figure dissolved, with the real one already standing above him.

"Over here!" The patroller didn't lose any time and immediately assaulted it with a dive attack, impaling it on the neck with his staff. Seeing how the situation was still critical, he started to move around with the creatures trying to follow him before getting blasted by Creimire's Shadow Flicker. "Heh! I may need to go in little steps if I don't want to destroy anything, but it's not something I'm not used to!"

In the meantime, Augusta was handling the situation well, swinging her greatsword that crushed the creatures' bodies. One of them got even thrown toward the sewers' ceiling like a baseball. "Ugh. It's not that I'm not used to creatures like that, but it's always an unpleasant situation all the times. Uh!?" She commented before noticing that some of the creatures had teamed up to shoot a collective breath toward her. "AH!" Despite her large body, Lady Hector was able to make a large jump that made her avoid the attack. And as soon as she landed, she noticed that the spot where she was standing before got melted by the attack. "Is that…acid?"

The creatures weren't willing to give her time and tried another attack that forced her to defend herself this time. "TakeOver: Neptune's Essence!" She quickly used one of her forms to create a water bubble that she used to defend herself from the second beam. "Even if my armor had been crafted with the finest materials, I may end up into serious troubles if that thing gets me." After the attack ended, she made the bubble fade away and immediately answered with a slash that generated a tidal wave that fully hit the creatures. "Neptune's Tide!"

The attack was successful, but seeing as more creatures were ready to surround her, she quickly generated a trident with water she had gathered to attack them. "I may have the perfect technique for this, but I may end up doing some serious damage. Guess I'll limit myself to make my part."

Not that far from her, Cyndham tried his best to move around and as far enough from the creatures, trying to prevent any dangerous attack. Thanks to his magic, he was able to see the weak points of those creatures and shoot at them with the crossbow. "Ok, I'm getting constant, I just need to- AH!" He thought he had put himself in a stable condition, but this turned out wrong as one of the monsters was able to assault him from behind. "AH!" Cyndham was able to jump at the right time, but by doing so, he got cut in the back. "Gh!" The assaults got more frequent, with the boy trying to get away from their grip while shooting with the crossbow.

Still, as soon as it continued, the monsters were able to close him into a corner, getting closer and closer. "SKREEEE!" One of them tried to devour Cyndham's head directly, forcing him to use his crossbow to block it. He could see how the monster insisted as it pulled out its tongue, which had little fangs in it. "AH! D-Dammit! I won't resist for too long!" He exclaimed. "Is this really how it ends!? Dammit…just when I thought that I finally found something that would have made me live a normal life! I don't want this to be the end…!"

"Holy Sword God's Punishment!" Suddenly, the creatures were cut down by several slashes of a sword that reduced them to pieces. When Cyndham opened his eyes, he could see Lunafreya standing in front of him. "Phew! I made it in time! Are you ok, Cyndham?"

"Your Majesty, you…you saved me? That could have been reckless!" The boy asked.

"Of course, do you even ask? If you want to be part of my guild, it is my duty as both your Master and your queen to keep you safe." Lady Arthur continued before turning around with her sword at the ready. "There's more of them coming. Do you think that you can tell me where to hit them? You seem pretty good on it!"

Cyndham was once again speechless. She didn't even hesitate or think twice before going to his help. As a queen, he expected her to leave him behind, thinking that he was but a sacrifice for a mission, but there she was, rescuing him and asking for his aid, acting completely on her own.

To this point, he really didn't have any idea what to think about her. Still, she saved his life. As such, he needed to pay his debt. "Their weak point are the head, the chest, and their neck. Make sure to aim at those things! I'll give you back-up fire."

"Thanks! I appreciate it!" Lunafreya replied before throwing herself into the attack. The creatures threw themselves as well, trying to overwhelm her with their pointed arms, but Lunafreya promptly defended herself, and while keep on using the Holy Sword God's Punishment, she was able to take down the crustacean-like enemies, looking like she was dancing with them.

Cyndham could only look at the scene with respect. "True, she may be reckless…but she's surely talented with her sword…" He commented in a low voice before noticing some of the creatures trying to assault her from behind. "Not on my watch!" He immediately shot at them with the crossbow. "All right…Maybe it's time to get serious. Predator!" He then used a spell that gave him a sharp sight and turned his nails into claws that looked like those of a reptile, and he decided to dash directly against the rest of the creatures, piercing through their bodies.

Lunafreya could turn around for a moment and notice his attack. "You could do that?"

"Well, I prefer to stay in the background, but when I'm forced, I can become terrible!" Cyndham answered back.

Lunafreya smiled at that answer and looked back at the enemies. "That's more like it!"

Meanwhile, Takara was doing their best to push the creatures away while stabbing them with her sword, but the numerical majority of them forced her to jump back.

Lillie was doing the same, shooting more directional swipes of energy at them, and jumped back as well, making her and Takara stand back-against-back.

"I think I get the idea of why many mages prefer individual battles," Takara commented.

Lillie slightly turned at her. "Feeling a little regret about coming here?"

But Takara remained optimistic. "Nah. I can handle these guys. Watch this!" She said as she jumped in the middle of them. She started to focus energy with her gemstones floating around her…before releasing them with an explosion. "GEMSTONE DRAGON'S RHAPSODY!"

Needless to say, the explosion wiped out most of the creatures, even those that were facing the other knights, freeing them.

"Woah! Nice job, Skittles lady!" Creimire commented.

The nickname stunned the girl for a moment, but she still thumbed up. "Ah, it's nothing, really!"

Lunafreya was once again in awe. "H-How were you able to do that!?"

"This is but one of the many secrets I have!" The other girl continued before hearing a screech from behind them. When they turned around, they could see the last horde of the crustacean-like creatures. "Oh, come on! Don't they ever end!?"

Xavier and Orlok stepped forward.

"Worry not! I think that this will be the last we'll see of them! And I think we know how to deal with them! What do you say, Orlok?" The former asked.

The latter already made his twin axes spin. "Let's do it!"

Valdric joined them. "Mind if there's a spot for three?

Sir Percival needed nothing more to immediately dash while covered in electric energy. "Don't mind at all, Valdric! Soul of Thunder: Burst!" Going straight as an arrow, he was able to destroy a good chunk of them.

"Burning Angel's Chorus!" Valdric followed shortly after, destroying another good number of them. Only one of those creatures was left, who would have soon met its end.

"Enhance: Speed Boost!" Orlok followed afterwards, slamming the creature on the wall with violence and then pushing it throughout it to get rid of both the creature and the orange buboes.

Cyndham was left a bit…terrorized by that scene. "O-Ok, maybe I should not piss him off in the future…" He thought.

With that, the assault was finally over. What was left were only the shreds of those mysterious creatures.

Valdric came closer to give a careful look at them. "So…we can assume that these are the actual responsible for killing all those knights?" He asked.

Cyndham looked back at the photos. There was no doubt this time, and the corpse of the knight near there could confirm it.

"Yes, it should be this thing. But with this…another question comes up…" He confirmed.

"Yeah…what the hell is this thing supposed to be?" Takara wondered.

"Hmm…considering the orange smoke that came out from their bodies when they died, I assume that they're also creatures corrupted by that orange liquid? Though it seems that they got transformed on a bigger and worse scale…" Augusta tried to guess.

"You're saying that these things were normal animals as well?" Orlok asked before looking at the remnants again. "I don't know, they don't seem entirely normal. I would have guessed that they are the ones who made that orange liquid in the first place."

"No…I don't think that's the case." Creimire intervened. "When I first inspected it, it didn't look like it was something natural."

"Oh right…We did say that it had a magical origin, but…it's hard to tell what that is." Orlok said.

"Hmm…I think Vivienne should see this, hoping that we can get a sample of this." Lunafreya commented before looking at the knight. She came closer to kneel and touch his armor with her eyes closed as a sign of homage for him. After that, she stood up again. "Well…now we know who did this. But…the mission isn't over yet."

"Right…we need to find where those other knights of the photos are. Which means…" Augusta said, looking toward the spot where the creatures appeared. "I think we'll get something out of it right there."

"Are we supposed to meet a big fish or something?" Takara wondered. "Because if that's the case, I'd be quite excited!"

Lillie raised an eyebrow to her. "You're surely sounding more like a guild mage now."

Takara immediately blushed a bit, with her hair turning red-pink. "Ah! N-No, don't say it like that! Don't know what my co-workers would say!"

"Uh-uh?" Cyndham wasn't entirely convinced. He then looked at the entrance. "I'm quite concerned for what could be there after what we saw just now."

"Don't be it! You have us to cover your back!" Lunafreya told him with a wink.

The boy looked down a bit for it but nodded. "Yeah…I'll try to…do my best."

"All right then! Time to head off!" Xavier concluded.

With all that said, the small group headed toward that spot, leading to a completely different room. They had seen the tip of the answer they were looking for, and now they were getting ready to see the whole iceberg of it.

Would they have been ready?

---

Once they were on the other side, the group found themselves in a larger room where there was more natural light, as they could see a large opening to the outside right in front of them. As they descended further, they could feel the water being a little bit deeper than before, as the floor was completely immersed by it, with their iron boots getting immersed as well. Right in front of the opening stood a small waterfall, implying that they could go even lower, where the sewers probably reached the level of the sea.

"I think…we're at the end of the sewers," Valdric commented.

"Eugh…good thing that I brought up the armor…I couldn't afford to lose my shoes." Takara added, a bit disgusted.

"If what we said before is right…We should be able to find another answer here, " Xavier said before touching something with his leg. "Uh? I…may have touched something. Can you tell me what it is?" He asked.

Lunafreya turned around to give him a look him and she was taken aback a bit. "A-Ah! Uhm…Xavier? That's…one of the bodies!"

"What!? AH!" Xavier immediately made a jump back.

Everyone looked around and soon found out that the corpse…wasn't the only one.

All around them, several corpses of knights were lying down, devoid of both life and limbs. Yet another dreadful sight to witness.

"It's them, there's no doubt!" Lillie exclaimed. "The exact position and the exact wounds…"

"Our theories were right then…" Augusta whispered, with their sword ready

"And this mean…expect everything coming!" Creimire added. Right at that moment, he heard a familiar squeaking noise that made him turn around. "Uh?"

When he turned around, he could see a rat that had an uncomfortable expression on its face.

"Oh, it's you, Honda the 154th!" The boy said happily, confusing the others.

"Honda…the 154th?" Cyndham asked, confused.

"Does…does he name all of them?" Augusta added.

"Is he the rat that you had kept in contact with that brought us here?" Escanor asked.

"He is! A talented explorer!" Creimire replied before noticing something. "Hey, you're shaking! What happened?"

"Are we supposed to get ready for a whole nest of those creatures again?" Takara tried to guess. But in reality, the answer was going to be worse.

To answer, Honda the 154th looked behind Creimire, who looked toward the same direction with the others.

"Uhm, guys? I feel a presence like before…but quadruple the bigger." Xavier warned, bringing tension back among the various knights.

"G-Guys? When I said the term big fight…I wasn't very serious…" Takara said as her hair assumed a purple color.

"Whatever it is…get ready!" Lunafreya ordered.

Everyone waited impatiently for what was about to happen. Whatever it was, they knew for certain that it was going to be the complete reason why those knights were found dead.

The tension kept on rising. What bothered them the most wasn't an approaching march like it had happened before, but silence. An oppressing silence that almost looked like it took hours. The only noise that could be heard was the water. The knights had their fingers wiggle nervously around their weapons, eager to start the fight against whatever was going to fall upon them, just to have the certainty that it could have been something tremendous.

Then, after what seemed to be an eternity, two eyes coming from what seemed to be a reptilian head rose from underneath the waterfall. Judging by the size of them, it was something of large dimensions.

"There it is…" Orlok said after a swallow.

Lunafreya tried to figure out what it would have been and, at first, thought that she knew the answer. "Oh wait…it's a crocodile!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" As an answer, he got a large roar from the creature that echoed throughout the entire hall, stunning for a moment the group of Round Table.

"I-I don't think that's what a crocodile sounds like!" Escanor exclaimed.

"Now that I think of it…what does a crocodile sound like?" Valdric asked.

"That's not the time for such a question! It's coming!" Lillie told her.

Shortly after, the creature rose, revealing its complete body. The head was the same as the small crustacean creatures they had fought earlier, but its mouth was more complex, and there was a large, pointed white horn on the top of it. Four draconic wings were on its back, its paws had three claws also had three claws, added to those he already had on its feet. Its long tail had a large pincer, and the most gruesome detail was that its belly was covered in several fangs, implying that it could open. And once again, several orange buboes covered his body.

"…FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Lunafreya got absolutely scared by such a sight, and everyone didn't have a different reaction.

"I…I've seen thousands of things in these sewers, but THIS!?" Creimire commented.

"That's horrendous…it's a perfect fusion between a dragon and a demon…" Lillie added.

Despite getting aback at first…Takara started to get excited, with her hair assuming an orange color. "Well…this sight looks familiar. It's time to make hell rain upon this creature!"

"This is probably what spawned all those other monsters we saw before! We absolutely need to be careful with this one, Your Maje-" Cyndham was about to warn the others when he noticed that Lunafreya wasn't there anymore. "Uh? Your…Your Majesty?" He looked back and saw that the young queen stood a few meters away from the others and the enemy.

"I'LL FACE IT FROM A SAFE DISTANCE BECAUSE IT'S QUITE DISGUSTING!" Lunafreya told them.

"For some reason, I get her feeling," Augusta commented before looking up to the creature, who glared at them. "Well…it seems that we have some slaying to do here. Whenever you're ready."

"You know I always am!" Orlok told her.

"Then let's do this!" Xavier concluded.

"Yes! Round Table and Commander Lillie, attack!" Lunafreya finally gave the order, and everyone got ready to run toward the monster.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" As an answer, the large monster released a purple beam that forced the group of knights to jump away, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

"If we don't contain him, this beast could make the entire sewers crumble, and the capital with them!" Escanor warned.

"Then we'll make sure to get rid of it as soon as possible!" Augusta replied before assuming one of her forms. "TakeOver: Mars Essence!" Her armor turned a crimson red color, and her senses turned more prone to battle. When she looked up at the gigantic monster, she immediately dashed toward him, wrapping herself in a layer of flames and going at high speed like a spinning meteor. "Burning Impact!"

The beast put an arm in front of itself as a defense, and while there was a slight impact that made it recoil, it was still standing solid, glaring at the monster. Augusta scoffed and got away before trying to repeat the effect several times, with the monster putting up a fight, trying to attack her with the claws. "Dammit! This is one of my strongest forms, and this is the best I can do?" Lady Hector thought.

Lunafreya sweated a bit and looked at the others. "Whoever can attack her, go and help her! The rest of us will try to harm him from here!"

"Leave it to me!" Xavier accepted before jumping high. "You have a demonic look now that I think of it. So, it's time for me to teach you a lesson! Soul of Thunder: Burst!" He immediately dashed forward against him, joining Augusta in the clash and forcing the beast to focus on both of them."

Lunafreya already charged her blade. "Now! Holy Sword God's Bellow!"

"Solar Flare – Caelum Ignis!"

"Sword of Death! Whirling Sword Dance!" Creimire used a new spell that made him look like an angel of death as he delivered eight swords to swirl them around the dragon-demon mix.

"Burning Angel's Message!"

"Gemstone Dragon's Prismatic Roar!"

"The Last Stand!"

"Blood Devil's Rage!"

Like it happened with the illusion of Aldoron, all the attacks merged to generate one large blast that could push back the dragon, which got hit. But even if it had a few burns around its body, the creature was still standing.

"No way!" Takara exclaimed.

Enraged by it, the dragon released a roar followed by a flap of its wings that pushed everyone back. It then raised its horn to make it surrounded by a particular laser energy, swinging it like a lightsaber.

"EVERYONE! GET AWAY!" Augusta warned.

"Kh!" Cyndham did so, and while running from the rampaging dragon, he tried to use his magic to analyze the anatomy of the creature, noticing a particular. "Wait…its body is emitting large waves of heat due to the buboes on his body so that means-" Before he could finish his analysis, he could see with horror as the dragon made its way to him, meeting its eyes with those of the boys. "Oh no-" Cyndham could only see with horror as he got pushed up by the dragon's horn. "GAAAAAAAAAH!" He ended up crashing violently on the ground.

Everyone saw the scene with horror, with Valdric in particular getting enraged. "CYNDHAM!" He immediately spread his wings and dashed toward the creature, starting to cut through his back while having his blades engulfed in flames. "Burning Angel's Blessing! STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!"

The creature roared with pain and frustration before turning around to the knight, grabbing him with its pincer tail.

"GAH!" Despite his effort, Valdric got grappled, sent to crash several times, and then thrown away.

Lillie frowned as she looked at the beast, trying an old yet usually effective strategy. "Your Majesty! Please, give me your aid! Let's aim at the legs!"

Lunafreya immediately acknowledged it. "I'm on it! Holy Sword God's Punishment!" She followed her commander against the beast, who tried to catch them with his horn. Even if they were smaller, the two knight ladies were surely fast, and after a few moments of running, they were able to get on its legs and start to make several slices on them, even if the monster didn't show signs of faltering. "How much sold is this thing!?" The queen exclaimed.

"Keep on attacking!" Lillie encouraged.

The dragon got annoyed by it and tried to attack them, exposing himself to other knights, who could resume their charge.

"It seems that we need to go serious with this one. Are you ready to do so, Xavier?" Augusta asked.

"You even ask? Of course! I just have the right medicine!" Xavier answered before starting to generate the purple spheres. "Soul of Thunder – Bolts!"

Augusta, on the other hand, started to generate several weapons with her fire after thinking about them. "Genesis Forge!"

Fire rained down on the creature's back, and got suddenly attacked. And that wasn't going to be the only side where he was going to be attacked.

Escanor and Orlok were already running at high speed toward it, making a large jump before impaling their weapons on its body so that they could stand on it and climb on it.

"Do you think that you can reach the head before it shoots another beam?" Sir Gawain asked.

"Don't worry! It won't be a problem for me!" Sir Safir assured. "Enchant: Speed Boost!" He dashed at high speed toward the head, trying to double stab it with his two axes, delivering a perfect blow. "HAAAH!"

But despite the damage, the dragon was still intact.

"What!? It can't be. Is he that tough!?" Orlok exclaimed. Shortly after, he got grabbed and violently thrown to the ground. "AAAAH!"

"ORLOK!" Gawain cried out before glaring at the enemy, preparing his sword. "Now you've done- Uh!?" Just as he was about to engulf his blade into flames, he found himself starting to fall for some reason. When he lowered down, he could see that the monster had opened his whole belly, revealing the fangs underneath. "AH DAMMIT! AAAAAH!"

"I'M COMING!" At the last moment, Creimire dived toward him to grab him and fly away.

"Phew…that was close." Sir Gawain said before looking at the patroller. "I didn't know you could fly!"

"Oh, it's just a specialty of this Requip, nothing special! And I'd say that this is the perfect angle to join the attack!" Creimire told him.

Escanor could confirm it. "You're right! Thank you for the advice!" He said before raising his sword. He and Creimire were just standing right in front of the opening toward the outside, where the sunlight was coming, empowering the knight further.

"Let's see how you like this!" Once he was ready, Escanor released a powerful burst of sunlight that looked like a supernova and completely overwhelmed the dragon. "Corona Burst – Corona Explosi!"

The attack made the monster slam against a wall, freeing everyone for a moment.

"That surely must have got him!" Xavier commented.

"Good thing it didn't take us…" Augusta added with a drop of sweat near her head.

Shortly after, the monster got back on its feet and roared at everyone, furious.

"Dammit, it's still standing! Is he invulnerable or what?" Lunafreya wondered before seeing Takara charge against it at high speed with a smirk on her face.

The girl's hair is orange colored, implying that she is eager to attack. "Nah! Words like 'invulnerable' don't exist in my vocabulary!" She exclaimed before forming a gemstone for each hand and using them to make a double cut in the creature's body. "Gemstone Dragon's Cleaving Talons!"

The creature recoiled for a moment and then roared out, trying to reduce Takara to pieces with its glowing horn. But the journalist was surprisingly able to block the attack with her two blades and answer with the same power, bringing forth a duel between the two of them.

Orlok took the chance to stand up. "Is it me, or is Takara keeping up with its pace?" He asked.

"It must be because the enemy reminds her of a dragon, and she's using her nature as a Dragon Slayer to answer!" Xavier explained.

"Curious that you don't have the same reaction." Augusta noticed.

"I told you, I'm not a Dragon Slayer!" The self-proclaimed demon prince answered.

"Still…" Lunafreya whispered. "The way she fights is just as strong and decisive as that of a knight…it's a shame that she's just a journalist."

Lillie could notice her reaction. "Is she…interested in that girl?"

Meanwhile, Takara kept on attacking as strongly as she could, even if the monster didn't want to fall. Despite this, her smirk didn't seem to go away. "Come on! Is this the best you can do? Or are you worried about not knowing how to react against me?"

Enraged, the monster tried to wipe her away with a beam.

Still, Takara was able to jump away at the right time and jump directly on its body to give it another large slash. "TSEAH!"

Seeing how the girl was persistent, the beast tried to melt her down by releasing a strange liquid from its mouth directly on her.

Immediately, both she and Lunafreya were disgusted by it. "GROSS!" Both them and the others tried to run away from it, as the liquid seemed to occupy most of the area.

"What the hell is that!?" Escanor exclaimed as he stood up with Creimire.

"I don't know but…I can't watch!" Creimire added.

Valdric joined the others in the escape. "I JUST STOOD UP, AND THIS IS WHAT I'M SEEING!?"

"THIS DRAGON SPENDS SATURDAY NIGHT IN MOJITO AND THEN PUKES IT AT US! DISGUSTING!" Takara commented. Lunafreya would have never admitted it, but for a second, she had the contorted image of the dragon standing in a night club with two glasses of mojito.

Lillie turned around, leaving this behind; this may have left him exposed once again! After all those blows, he should go down! Please lend me support!"

Augusta, Escanor, Xavier, and Creimire were already on it. "YES!" They all charged a magical blow of their own to the monster's back so that they could distract him, which worked. All that was needed for the commander to aim at the monster's chest with her hand.

"I've sent you all to this troublesome mission, it's only natural that I take you out of it. My blade, answer upon my call and get rid of that enemy!" As she said it, a golden blast started to form on her palm. "THE FINAL MISSION!"

She was able to shoot a straight and powerful beam that pierced the dragon's belly, making a hole in it. After a roar of pain, the monster lowered her head, and for a moment, it stopped moving.

"Did…did we do it?" Valdric wondered.

"Is it time to run away in a few seconds?" Orlok added, thinking that the beast's huge body would collapse soon.

A bit of tension was still in the air, but it lowered down as they thought that Lillie's blow was enough to finally put the monster to eternal sleep. But unfortunately…that wasn't the case, as its eyes glowed an orange color.

"No way!" Lillie exclaimed.

"It's still alive!" Lunafreya warned.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" After releasing a stronger roar than the others, the creature quickly turned around to slam the knights who had attacked him from behind earlier on the ground with its claw.

"GAAAAAAAH!" They all went down with large thuds.

Valdric tried to intercept him but also got thrown again. "GAH!"

Seeing as only four opponents remained, the beast immediately released a powerful beam from its mouth.

"Oh no!" Takara felt the danger and put herself in front of the others to defend them. "Gemstone Dragon's Resolute Shield!" She quickly generated a nearly indestructible shield out of Diamond that was embedded with Black Onyx on the outside, which crashed against the beam. "NGHHHH!"

"Takara!" Lunafreya exclaimed.

The situation was getting drastic, but Takara tried to keep her smirk until the very end. "Don't worry! I've made sure several times that this barrier couldn't break this easily!"

"That's not the point! If it breaks, you'd be the first one to get pulverized, You don't need to do this!" Lunafreya said before looking down, starting to feel regret. "If I leave an external person die in an official guild mission, I'd feel awful!"

Takara could understand why the queen was feeling that way. The whole idea of getting in there without Kyoko or Aster knowing made her feel guilty a bit as well. Yet…she knew how to answer. "Don't need to feel guilty, Your Majesty! It's me who insisted, and I surely didn't come here just to lie around taking notes for the interview! If there's one thing I don't want to be is a burden, so I'm giving my all to keep you all safe as well!"

Lunafreya was strangely impressed by this answer, and it wasn't done there.

"Heh…you know…a few moments earlier, you kept saying that I act more like an effective mage coming from a guild rather than a journalist and well…I love my job! I adore hearing about people from all over the world share their experiences and their triumphs as they could become the next great spook! But, truth be told, I think it's mostly because I envy them a little bit. I always wondered what it meant to be a mage belonging to a group, a guild…a guild like yours."

"What?" The queen asked, stunned.

"Yeah, I was kinda playing with the idea of asking you to join your guild, hence the armor and the sword! You convinced me back there, especially when you pushed back the coup from that commander of yours! I thought I could help a bit with stability and…personal other goals I had in mind! I know it's a crazy thing to say, considering that I already have a job, but hey, I'm Takara Kammuri! I'm known to do crazy things, and I'll make everyone get it memorized for this!"

"Takara…" Lady Arthur could only whisper her name after this sudden confession. She was at a loss for words, especially considering how it all started with her peeking at the bathroom, acting like a pervert. But deep inside, she was happy to hear that her thoughts actually corresponded to the truth.

Takara then turned around to look strongly toward the monster. "So, please! Don't be sad for me, Your Majesty! I shall be able to answer for my own shenanigans! GRAAH!" With one last push with her barrier, she was able to nullify completely the beam, although she needed to sweat to achieve so. "Phew…"

Seeing how that attack didn't work, the monster started to approach the three ladies in an attempt to devour them directly or stab them with its horn.

Takara was ready to answer, but this time, both Lillie and Lunafreya joined her, with their weapons at the ready.

"I gotta say, young girl, I thought that you were a complete idiot albeit popular but…after this speech, you just gained a bit of respect. And since it's coming from a commander of the Royal Army, it's a lot to say."

"More so if you get the same compliment from the queen herself! Plus…if you're still willing to join Round Table after this, there's no way I'd let you down." Lunafreya added.

The three girls were ready to answer for whatever attack that beast was preparing, but right at the last moment…

Cyndham jumped above them, preparing his claws. "Predator!" He immediately stabbed one of the creature's eyes, making it roar with pain and recoil a few steps.

"Cyndham!" The three girls exclaimed.

"You're ok!" Valdric added.

Cyndham was still in a bad condition due to the attack from earlier, but after seeing everyone trying their effort, he convinced himself that he still had some energy to spare. And besides, he had an important message to deliver.

"Anf…I…honestly don't know what idea to make of you, Queen Lunafreya, but…if you're willing to help someone like me, I certainly can't ignore the debt I owe you." He said, sounding a bit…different for a moment. He then resumed his typical voice. "Leaving this aside, I've analyzed his structure and noticed large waves of heat coming from his magical energy. That is probably what makes him this resistant. If we lower his corporeal temperature, we should be able to make him more vulnerable."

"Lower his temperature?" Escanor asked before looking at Augusta. "Maybe we have made a big mistake."

"On my behalf…I know how to fix it." Augusta replied.

"Me too!" Takara added, looking at the beast more confidently. "Time to show you why I love gemstones so much!" After those words, she took out several sapphires from her pocket before starting to eat them all up, gathering freezing energy around her mouth.

The monster could see what she was planning to do and tried to approach her again, but it was already too late.

"You saw it already, but let me show you the maximum power of my GEMSTONE DRAGON'S EMBRITTLING ROAR!" The young Dragon Slayer released a large blast of ice right in front of the large creature, pushing it back, and this time, the group of Round Table could clearly see how its body was starting to evaporate, and as such, its movements were getting weaker.

"The waves of heat are being dispersed in the atmosphere!" Creimire said.

"If we get another blast of ice, we should be able to weaken him to the right point that a last attack should be enough to get rid of it once and for all!" Xavier added.

Hearing that…made Augusta made a few step forwards, as she turned back to her normal form. "Don't worry, I have the right card for that." She said before assuming another form. This one didn't have any major change, apart from her armor, hair, and eyes assuming a clear blue color. "TakeOver: Uranus Essence!"

"Now that I think of it…we have many members in our guild that can master more than one element…" Valdric noticed.

"Quite handy, don't you think?" Escanor added.

While they discussed it, Augusta raised her sword to generate an icy wind that continuously lashed the dragon-demon, making it lose more heat. "Ariel's Lullaby!"

Takara was satisfied to see the work. "We opened the way! Let's complete this service and make it unforgettable!"

Lunafreya nodded. "You heard them, my knights! Let's finish this!" She exclaimed before jumping to become a helix of light that pierced through the creature's body, removing a part of his belly.

Xavier was already above the enemy. "It's only fair that I follow up! Soul of Thunder: Crash!" He clapped his hand to make a loud sonic boom that made the area crumble and generate several shockwaves that made several cracks around the creature's body.

Orlok followed afterward, dashing toward the creature before jumping. "Enchant: Blood Elemental!" He decided to use his blood to power up his two axes, generating large crimson swipes with them that cut down through the dragon.

Valdric spread his wings high, with several swords of light appearing above him, which were similar to those Lunafreya used. "This will help out in holding him still! Burning Angel's Execution!" He made the swords fall down on the creature, impaling its body in various parts.

Escanor decided to follow Lunafreya's example and engulf his sword in flames. "This time, the power of the sun will effectively punish you! Searing Sunstrike – Solis Incisio!" After making his sword be surrounded by the blessing of the sun, he made a similar cut like Lunafreya, this time making his way all down to the mouth with teeth.

After all those blows, the dragon tried to spread its wing to escape toward the opening, but Lillie was already above her. "Oh no, you won't! Blade's Judgement!" She threw four green swipes of energy from her hand that cut down the four wings, making the beast fall. "It's all yours, Creimire!"

"Oh, the final blow is mine? Why, I feel honored!" Creimire commented before looking at the beast with a smirk. "Ok, I don't know what your deal is, but let me tell you that I care a lot about these sewers' look…so since you tampered with them with all those buboes, don't expect an easy treatment!" With those words, Creimire decided to keep the weapon he had at that moment and released four beams one after another with his sword. "Mavet Flash!"

The beams pierced through the monster…which started to tremble, with the orange substance coming out of its body.

"Ok, it's not what I expected, but run the same!" Orlok warned as everyone was getting away.

After trembling a bit more, the dragon-demon finally blew up in an explosion of that orange substance, which dissolved immediately afterward, leaving only steam from it.

After covering themselves within a right distance…everyone opened their eyes to see the result of their efforts.

"We…did it? We won?" Lillie asked.

"AW YEAH!" Takara immediately jumped out of excitement, with her hair assuming an orange tone. "This had surely been a badass experience!"

"So…my idea actually worked…" Cyndham commented.

Valdric was there to smile at him. "You had any doubts? I think we have found something to compensate your lack of strength!"

Somehow, even if he wasn't used to it, hearing it made Cyndham smile. "Thank you. I think you also played a big part in this."

Lunafreya smiled as well. "We all did." She then looked at the corpses. "And…I think we had helped to put these knights' souls at ease. So…we can assume that this mission is complete, right?"

Lillie blushed a little as she scratched the back of her head. "It will be strange to give a reward to my queen, but you surely carried out the work I asked you to cooperate with." She said before making a small bow. "On behalf of the Royal Army, I thank you, Your Majesty, and you, brave knights."

"Don't worry! I'm sure my boys here will be happy to get a reward, nonetheless! Plus, we surely had some extra help here!" Lunafreya told her, referring to Creimire and Takara.

"Ah, please, Your Majesty! I just did my job with pleasure and a bit of personal concern! But I have to say…that your time with you was a lot of fun! Even if it still physically hurts me, I may as well start to try and go up there sometimes!" Creimire explained.

"Aw, that would be great!" Orlok commented.

"Yeah, but I'd better be careful, or the sunlight may turn me into a werewolf." The boy continued.

"Wait, really?!" Escanor asked.

But Creimire made his usual grin. "NO, STUPID!" He exclaimed, leaving Sir Gawain with a skeptical face.

"Same to you, Takara, really! As soon as Cyndham told us the weak point, you knew how to handle it! I wonder what other shenanigans you could cause for a renowned demon prince such as me…" Xavier said, interested.

Naturally, Takara was pleased to hear the compliments. "Oh, I have many tricks that may leave you interested and surprised! But I could say the same to you." She said before taking her notebook. "Though, this demon prince idea intrigues me. Could you tell me more?"

Xavier made a large grin. "I'd be HONORED to!"

And while the group in general was happy with the victory, Lunafreya and Augusta came closer to examine what was left of the creature.

"Even if we won the battle…there are still a lot of questions that this mission has brought up," Augusta commented.

"Yeah…what the hell was this thing? We all know that there are strange and monstrous creatures out there in Earth Land, but…this seemed just…unnatural." Lunafreya added. She then lowered her stare…and noticed something crucial. "Ah!"

"What is it?" Augusta asked.

Lunafreya grabbed it from the water to show it. It was a small crab that had a small bubo on it, but this time, there wasn't any particular reaction, and it was just dead.

Somehow, everything was more straightforward as the queen looked toward the opening of the sewers. "…It was a crab that came from the sea. And…the orange liquid turned it into that monstrosity. After reaching these sewers, it started to contaminate them with its corrupted energy, bringing it forth to those other creatures."

But still, even after that explanation, the only emotion that could come up from that ordeal was just one. Confusion. And it led to a single question.

What exactly was that orange liquid?

Lillie came closer. "What do you suggest to do, Your Highness?" She asked.

Lunafreya raised her head toward her. "First off, it's better that we start to clean these sewers from any potential orange bubo that we left off. Can I trust you on that, Creimire?"

"No problem. Thanks to my rat and crow friends, it shouldn't take long." The patroller replied.

"And second…" Lunafreya looked back at the dead crab, removing the bubo from its head to give it a closer look. "…We need to start figuring out what this is."

"Should we call the Magic Council?" Escanor proposed.

"No. We have already given them enough worries with what we found in Innsmouth. Like I said before, maybe Vivienne will find out something about it. If what Cyndham said earlier is correct, this should be the work of some sort of magic." The queen replied before making a deep sigh. "More problems storm over my kingdom, eh?"

...Still, despite those concerns, she was able to look at the others with a smile. "But we can discuss it another time. For now…I say that we can get a well-deserved rest."

Everyone nodded, overall happy.

"Then come on! Let's go back to the guild. All of us!" Lady Arthur concluded.

There were still some mysteries and questions unanswered, but there was time for that. The mystery they focused on was unveiled, the big damage was avoided, and as such, the mission was complete.

The small group of Round Table could leave the sewers with their minds satisfied.

---

Somnus – Guild of Round Table

Like what happened other times, when the group of Round Table returned to their guild, the sun had already gone down, leaving space to the first stars in the sky.

As soon as they headed back, they gave the crucial element that started the whole case to the royal sorceress.

"Hmmm…" Vivienne carefully observed the small orange bubo that Lunafreya took from the crab, trying to figure out what it was.

"So…do you have an idea, Vivienne?" The queen asked.

After a few more moments of silence, Lady Merlin made a confused expression while shaking her head. "Yeah, I couldn't tell what this thing is. At least for now." She spoke. "I've seen a lot of magic throughout the years, but this is the first time I've seen something like this."

"I could say the same…I can't even say that it's witchcraft either…" Vesta added, looking at the bubo as well.

This got her a skeptical face from Vivienne. "Hey, who told you to come closer?"

Even Ruina came in to give it a better look. "Hmm…it's also different from the black magic that I usually face within the monsters…"

Much like her, most of the members were there to listen more to the story, especially for how it went.

Faris, in particular, scoffed. "What concerns me the most is that a tiny thing like that was able to pull out a giant monster like you said!" She exclaimed. "I can't believe that I missed it!"

"Well, uh…the giant hornet we faced today was a giant monster as well, so…" Ayuri tried to make them feel compensated.

"It's never enough, Ayuri! When there's blood out there, we're eager to come and get it!" Grendel told him, scaring him.

"A-Ah! Sorry!"

"You do know that sounds extremely awkward, right?" Ruina immediately told them.

In the end, Vivienne put the flask in her pocket. "Oh well…it seems that there will be some more study to do around it. What matters is that you're all safe and sound!" She said before looking at Creimire. "Especially considering that you brought back an interesting person here."

"So, ya control Jaurs, eh? How does that work?" Saoirse asked, curious.

Creimire made a small laugh. "Oh, it's a complicated story. Just so you know that they tell me that they saw your head bouncing around the city several times."

"ARCK! Ohi! Mind ya business!" Saoirse immediately exclaimed, embarrassed.

Vivienne came closer to him. "The idea that you use your animal friends to scout the surroundings is very particular! And it seems that this is the first time you get out from the sewers! How does it feel?"

Creimire answered as his body was still smoking a bit. "Ah, it's going better than expected! I'll just have to get used to breathing this fresh air." He said before pointing at Escanor. "But make sure that he stays away from me."

"Pardon me, friend! It's hard to hang out when you're the spokesman of the sun!" Escanor replied while striking a pose that made him glitter.

"HE'S DOING IT AGAIN!" Creimire shouted while trying to cover himself.

Meanwhile, Hector and Persephone wanted to talk with Takara, especially after what they said about her magic.

"So, you can control several elements based on gems…" Hector said.

"I've heard that you can do the same! Sometimes you get surprised by how small the world is, right?" Takara replied with a smile.

"And you even expressed your intentions to join the guild…surely similar magics like yours could be handful," Persephone commented.

"In case, I'll make sure to cooperate! I could even pass you the secret to resist motion sickness!" Takara continued, shocking Hector.

"Y-You resist motion sickness!?" He exclaimed.

"It's a complex way, though. Are you ready to study it?" The girl continued with a smug smile and her hair assuming an indigo tone.

Hector immediately bowed down. "PLEASE TEACH ME!"

Persephone simply looked at her with a drop of sweat near her head. "Uh…"

Galtier took the chance to come closer to the girl. "Well, Takara, you're surely an odd fellow, but I must say that if you express it like that, your magic is surely a subject of interest."

"Oooh?" Takara asked as her hair changed into a lime green tone. "Did I perhaps manage to persuade you? If you want to talk about it, you know how this thing will evolve into, right?"

Galtier immediately blushed. "H-HEY! Don't start already with the weird thoughts! I'm just talking as a gemstone worker as well! If you're really planning to join, I may need to carefully watch you to make sure you don't mess around with valuables!"

Takara raised her hand. "I can't promise anything! But I'll make sure to be careful since you care about it." She said with a wink that made Galtier even more uncomfortable.

Even if Xavier couldn't see it, he could understand what was going on by hearing the tone that was used. "Oooooh! Is this the beginning of one of those relationships I hear a lot about?"

"What do you mean, Xavier?" Lilybeth asked.

"Ah, never mind! Just me thinking out loud." Sir Percival quickly replied.

Even Honoka came closer to the new girl, making a small bow. "I've heard of how you protected goshujin-sama from that attack, and I thank you for that. Even if you're a pervert, you do have some positive traits." She said with a smile.

"Oh, it's always a pleasure to- HEY! CAN YOU STOP WITH THAT!?" Takara shouted back.

"And you, Cyndham? How was your first mission with the guild?" Alexis asked, curious.

"Well…this is surely a complex group, but I did see the spirit of chivalry that I had heard of! So, I'm sure that I'll be able to stick around. Although I hope to be of some use with the magic I have…" Cyndham replied before getting jumpscared by Pavlova. "AH!"

"Don't worry! We all have our usefulness here!" Lady Bedivere assured him with her tail wiggling.

"Plus, it was you who revealed that monster's weak point, right?" Myuu added.

"Y-Yeah…" The boy simply replied, still taken aback.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to find a work fit for you." Scuti said while drinking pineapple juice. "You just need to resist the bizarre air that this guild gives."

"Now that I think of it…I could help when it comes to healing and treating the others…" Cyndham proposed, immediately getting everyone's attention.

"Wait, what!?" Faris exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah! I didn't say it sooner but…I have some knowledge of medicine. So apart from regular missions, I could give a hand with healing the others when they come back from a mission." Cyndham explained.

"Oh, right! We didn't say it but…" Escanor added, showing some bandages he had around his body. "He's the one who put these on us after we left the sewers!"

"He did a pretty good job! He could work perfectly as a medical advisor, don't you think, Vivienne?" Lunafreya asked her former teacher.

"If you're convinced, then who am I to refute? Plus, this could give us a better first impression!" Vivienne replied.

"Ah…t-that was quick…" Cyndham commented.

Pavlova was excited to hear it. "Yohoo! What did I tell you? You already have a useful role!"

"In case, expect me to come very often. I end up getting…a lot of wounds." Alexis added, a bit embarrassed.

Lunafreya and Lillie then looked at the group, who appeared to be lively enough once again.

"Well…it seems that your crazy idea is going strong, after all, don't you think, Your Majesty?" The commander asked.

Lunafreya was very happy to nod. "Sure, they have their quirks, but they're making my sudden dream come true. We're looking like a normal guild, and I love all of them!" She replied.

While someone like Ruina tried to look elsewhere with her cheeks slightly red, others like Honoka and Alexis immediately hugged her.

"AGH!"

"AAAAH, YOUR MAJESTYYYYY, YOU'RE TOO KIND!" Alexis shouted out in tears.

Honoka was tearing up as well. "I love you too, goshujin-sama…"

Lillie made a small laugh before making a small bow. "Well…I left the reward on one of your tables. Let me thank you once again for helping us. I'll head back to the castle now, General Bogardius will be pleased to hear about your support." She then looked at Creimire. "What about you, Creimire? Will you go back to the sewers now?"

"Oh, actually… I think I'll spend more time here. I'll come back later. Don't worry, my friends are used to me staying away for a long time." The boy replied. "I've felt really great staying with you guys! I can get now why guilds are so popular!"

"Have you considered even joining us?" Lunafreya promptly asked, getting everyone's attention.

"What!?"

"What? It's not like we have members coming directly from the Royal Army! Plus, apart from having an interesting magic, he could be very useful to our ranks; he and his animals could act as spies!" The queen continued.

And surprisingly…Creimire already knew how to answer. "Your Majesty, I'd be delighted to join!"

Even the same Lady Arthur was cut off. "A-Ah…really?"

"Yes! This could be the perfect occasion to increase my social interactions! Even if I have my animal friends down there, I always wanted to know what it felt like to have some more human company." Creimire continued before making a small bow. "Both within the army and this guild, my powers are completely in your service."

"Oh, boy, that is great!" Orlok exclaimed, strangely excited. "A-Ah, sorry, hype for the moment, eh eh!"

Even Lillie was happy to hear it. "Well…in case I hope you'll have a great time here! And I don't think it will be otherwise." After saying this, she made a small bow again and left the guild after a last salute.

Lunafreya immediately looked at Vivienne. "Isn't it exciting, Vivienne? We got three more members!"

"Not only that, but even members with important roles! Takara could work as our guild's accountant!" The royal sorceress said.

"And I even have more knights from where I could learn!" Valdric added.

"Ah, I'd be more than happy to do so! I've got plenty of material for the interview, and I say that we can add the final-" Takara was about to express her opinion, but right at that moment…

"TAKARA!" A way-too-familiar voice suddenly came from the entrance.

"EEEECK!" Takara's face and hair became completely pale as she turned around, trembling, only to see the very people she had forgotten about.

Kyoko and Astra were there, looking at her, a bit annoyed.

The mages of Round Table already knew where this was going.

"I can already smell trouble," Galtier commented.

"Should we bet if she gets beaten up?" Augusta proposed.

Takara swallowed and tried to act natural, although she clearly wasn't able to. "K-Kyoko, Astra! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

"What brings us here? What brings YOU here?" Kyoko immediately counters, scaring the girl.

"The stationery shop where we get the ink for the printer is just around the corner from Sorcerer Weekly, but you disappeared all day! Where have you been?" Astra added.

"A-Ah, well…" Takara tried to come up with an excuse. "Y-You see, there was surprisingly a lot of line in the shop, and while waiting, I decided to see what the queen's guild was about!"

But no one was convinced at all.

"At least we can confirm that she comes from Sorcerer Weekly.

"That's…not what you said," Lunafreya said. "Who are these two girls, Takara?"

Both Kyoko and Astra looked up and were quite surprised to see the queen herself. "Ah!" They immediately bowed down. "Your Majesty! It's an honor to meet you in person!"

Lunafreya smiled and made a small bow as well.

"And…is that Vesta Venator there?" Astra asked, noticing the witch among the crowd.

"The one and only!" Vesta told her back.

Takara knew that she couldn't hide it for long and spat it out. "O-Ok. Your Majesty, these are Kyoko Kuremi and Astra Rubel. The pink-haired one is a coworker and friend of mine, and the blonde one is my boss."

"Oh! So, I assume that you talked to them to make the interview!" Lunafreya commented.

But to her surprise, both Astra and especially Kyoko were confused. "Uhm…interview?" The latter asked.

"Uh…yeah! She came straight to my castle while I was taking a bath with my friends to do an interview!" The queen continued.

"You WHAT!?" Both Kyoko and Astra exclaimed.

Takara was already sobbing. "I-IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"

It was then that the queen and her mages could slowly grasp the reality of things that disappointed them.

"T-Then…" Lunafreya said.

Ruina came closer to comfort her. "Yeah, Takara probably snuck out from her workplace and tried to make the interview all on her own without her superior's consent."

"TAKARA!" Everyone shouted.

"You lied to us!?" Alexis exclaimed.

Takara crawled down, completely in tears. "WAAAAAAAAAA! I'M SORRY! I WAS JUST DEMORALIZED BY THAT FAT MAGE FROM THIS MORNING THAT I WANTED SOMETHING THAT COULD BECOME THE NEW SCOOP, I'M SORRY!"

"Who's the 'fat mage'?" Augusta wondered.

"Oh, he must be talking about Pence! That mage who just broke the record for eating peanuts! One of my fat rats told me!" Creimire explained.

Kyoko immediately came closer to her. "Takara, it's already the third time you do a thing like this! You can't take initiatives of your own without consulting me! Come on, let's head back to the building. We'll discuss better there."

"Actually…there's a little problem before that," Lunafreya told her.

Kyoko raised her head. "Uh? What is it, Your Highness?"

"You see, your journalist here had expressed interest in joining this guild after she helped us take care of a mission right now." The queen continued, further shocking the two journalists.

"TAKARA!" They shouted again, making Takara sulk further into panic.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Kyoko asked.

"You're…planning to abandon us like that!? After all these years we'd stood together!?" Astra asked, feeling almost heartbroken.

"No, that's not it!" Takara quickly replied before sighing. "It was a thing I wanted to tell you a while ago but…I was planning to join a guild for some personal reasons of mine and…I wanted to ask you if it was ok if I could do two jobs at the same time."

Kyoko simply had her jaw on the ground after hearing it.

"Is she dumb or something?" Faris thought.

Takara joined her hands in prayer. "I know that I made a mess and lied to both of you, but please let me do this. It's something I have very dear to me!"

Kyoko and Astra looked at each other.

"…So…what do you want to do, Kyoko?" The pink-haired one asked.

To answer that, the CEO of the Seven branch of Sorcerer's Weekly turned on the queen. "What do you have to say about this, Your Majesty?"

Lunafreya was surely lost in that whole situation but tried to give her answer. "Miss Kyoko, I can totally understand how you feel. Even I feel a bit offended after all the shenanigans she pulled on us, but…she seems like a reliable girl in this job sector as well. I think she could be a good asset to our guild, and after hearing that she knows a lot about money handling, I think that she could work well as our accountant. If it was for me, I'd make her happy this time, it will be her responsibility to handle two jobs. But since you're her leader, I think your word is more valid than mine."

Kyoko almost felt moved by those words. "O-Oh God, Your Majesty, you're as magnanimous as they say…"

Lunafreya got moved as well. "T-They say this about me?"

In the end, Kyoko looked at Takara, who was still sweating, while hoping to accept her request. "…Will you still be with us doing your job as always? I don't talk only as your boss but also as a friend who has known you for a lot of years."

"Of course! I would never abandon you girls or the others! It's just a…personal whim that I wish you could grant me." Takara replied.

"A very big whim, if I may add," Kyoko added before making a sigh…followed by a smile. "All right, I guess I can give you this. I'll see how to recheck your turns later." She spoke. "And make sure to bring up some interesting material for our magazine."

"YES!" Takara immediately overflowed with joy before hugging the two girls. "You are the two best friends a girl could have! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She then looked at the queen and made a small bow. "Your Majesty, I'll use my all to make sure that you won't regret this choice!"

"STILL!" Kyoko continued, making Takara pale again. "We surely can't forgive how you left off by lying and how you ignored your duty for a lot of time. Surely, I need to find some punishment, right? So…expect a whole week of overtime starting from Monday, ok?" She said with a smile.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Full terror and despair bigger than the possible reject for earlier filled Takara's heart. "A-A-ASTER, PLEASE HELP ME OUT!"

Aster made a nervous smile. "W-Well, it's not like I can't really disagree. You did escape…"

Takara attempted to garner support from the queen at that time. "Y-Y-YOUR MAJESTY SAY SOMETHING! I'M YOUR KNIGHT NOW, RIGHT? PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME DO THEM! OVERTIMES AT SORCERER'S WEEKLY ARE A DISASTER!"

But as far as she felt bad for her…Lunafreya looked at the other female members, who nodded in unison. And besides, she still felt annoyed for what Takara did that morning. "Well, we still haven't discussed your punishment for peeking at our bathroom and sneaking into my castle without permission, right? And I'm pretty sure that you want to avoid a beat-up from some of our more violent members!" She said, pointing at Faris, Grendel, and Augusta.

As an answer, Takara made the same noise as a choked falcon.

Lunafreya looked at Kyoko with an innocent smile, like that of a little girl. "She's all yours, Miss Kyoko!"

"Aw, thank you, Your Majesty!" The blonde girl answered with the same tone.

With that, Takara suddenly got hit by a heart attack and fainted for a moment.

Galtier could only facepalm. "Let's just hope she's not that sly with us as well."

"Pervert," Honoka added.

A few minutes later…

After things got back for a moment and Takara got up again, it was time to officially accept the new members of the guild, starting with the guild mark.

Takara decided to have it on her left shoulder, colored in stone silver. Cyndham had it black on his nape, and Creimire had it on his forehead, colored with the most obnoxious neon green possible (for this, Vivienne had to check the bottom of the box to see if they had it).

Takara was once again brimming with excitement, with her hair assuming an orange tone. "Oooooh! I always wondered how it felt to have one! And now I have it!" She commented.

Cyndham looked at his own with a small smile. "Time to see how things turn out…"

"Uuuuh! Look at how it shines! Quite the color for me, don't you think?" Creimire commented.

"After that, we need to discuss your knight name!" Lunafreya told them. "It's a thing we do here to acknowledge ourselves even more in the world of chivalry."

"A knight name?" Cyndham wondered. "So, I suppose that I need a further name…well, this could help…"

"Oh, we're doing things properly? Then I think I'll need my name to be both epic and reliable!" Takara commented before starting to think about one. The answer came to her quickly. "Oh, I know one! Lionel!"

"Lionel? It feels…oddly familiar…" Alexis commented.

"Nonetheless, it's a good one! You can go with that!" Lunafreya added.

"Yes!" Takara exclaimed. "Lady Lionel…sounds good enough!"

"I see…I've never been good with nicknames or such, but I'll try still!" Creimire said. "Let's see, I want the silliest name possible…can't be all fierce, we need something that could confuse the enemy so…ah-ha! I'll go with Dinadan then!"

"Dinadan?" Pavlova asked before giggling. "You're right, it is pretty silly!"

"For some reason…I think it's an appropriate name for a troll." Galtier added with a skeptical face.

"Nah, not really! Did you know that it's the name of an ancient titan?" The patroller said to him.

"Really!?" Sir Agravain exclaimed.

"NO, STUPID!" Creimire promptly answered, as if he was waiting for it.

"GRRRRRRR!" Naturally, Galtier felt incredibly annoyed.

"This leaves only one!" Lunafreya said before looking at Cyndham. "You got any ideas, Cyndham? I could pick one for you if you don't come up with something."

"No, Your Majesty! I like coming up with names! And I prefer to satisfy myself with a simple one. Let's see…hm! Griflet! Sounds good enough!" Cyndham replied.

"It is simple, yes. Although…I don't know, I feel some sort of misfortune around it…" Myuu commented.

"H-Hey! Don't bring me bad luck there!" The new knight complained.

"Very well! Only one thing is left to do! Please kneel down, new knights!" Lunafreya said all happy, making the three new members kneel. With that, Lunafreya pulled out her sword, touching her new members' shoulders with it. "Lady Lionel, Sir Dinadan, and Sir Griflet! By the authority I have as both queen of Seven and the Guild Master, I officially declare you mages of Round Table! Knights of the Round Table!"

Overall, the three new knights were happy, with Kyoko and Astra clapping for her friends.

"Congratulations!"

Even Lunafreya looked at Vivienne, happy. "Well, this has been a bizarre day, but it ended with the best result possible! Three new important members!" She commented. "Although…" She made a sigh. "It's sad that we won't have that interview…"

Takara became sobby again. "I-I'm sorry!"

But then, Kyoko intervened. "Actually, there might be a chance for it."

"Uh!?" The queen immediately raised her head. "Really!?"

"Yeah, you see…back when you founded this guild, you surely pulled up a rumor in the world of mages to the point that even Sorcerer Weekly as a whole couldn't ignore you. So…they were planning to interview you about it."

"REALLY?" Lunafreya's eyes assumed a starry shape.

"Yes! But the thing is…we won't be the ones doing it. It will be Jason himself to do it, probably with a crew of his. It should be scheduled around next month." Kyoko explained before a wink. "Don't worry! You'll have your chance!"

Lunafreya jumped out of joy. "YAY! Did you hear it, guys? They'll talk about us!"

More or less, everyone was happy to hear it.

"EXCELLENT! Just what I needed to make sure people know I'll become the greatest knight of them all!" Faris exclaimed.

"My father will surely be happy to hear it!" Xavier added.

Takara stood up again. "Well, well, well! It seems that in the end, we can still have a chance to- GAH!" Takara wanted to get in the discussion, but Kyoko immediately pulled her ear.

"Hey, you know that you'll stay out of this, right?" The blonde said.

"I-I tried…" Takara concluded, resigned.

Sometime later…

It was still night, and the people inside the guild were still relaxing after a hard day of work.

Still…despite all the company that someone would have gotten, there was someone who preferred to stay on their own.

Cyndham was sitting on the grass, not that distant from the guild building, touching his nape, where he had just gotten his guild emblem. "So…I actually ended up as a mage for this guild…I hope everything works out." He said in a low voice. He then turned around and noticed someone familiar.

Creimire was near him, talking with one of his rats, before noticing him. "Hm? Oh, hey! Enjoying the starry sky as well?"

Cyndham made a small smile. "Yeah…you could say so." He replied, before looking at the rat. "Is he another one of your friends?"

"Yes. Even if I'm a member of the guild, I'll probably stay in the sewers for a while, so I thought to leave one of the rats to keep up with the others!" Creimire said before showing the rat. "This is Merlin the 216th. I thought I could use him to make a little mischief for the royal sorceress, but she actually seems pretty happy with him!"

"I see…" Cyndham simply spoke.

"So…excited to be part of this guild? I surely am! I expected to be a background character, and instead, here I am, serving the queen directly! Not anyone can say it, you know?" Creimire said.

"Well…I'll surely try my best, like I did today. If anything, despite their quirks, I think that I can have a normal life here." The other boy said.

"Oh, right. Well…if anything, this is surely what you wanted." Creimire continued, before saying…something else. "Am I right…Julius Stithulf?"

Cyndham's heart stopped for a moment as he looked up to him. "W-What…?"

Did…did he know?

Creimire was still smiling. "I did say that my rats and my crows scout all the surroundings, right? So, I end up hearing of stories of every type, including yours."

Cyndham's eyes were trembling. He thought that he could have passed completely unobserved after all those years, and now there was someone who could see through his camouflage.

He immediately tried to stand up. "Please, don't-"

But Creimire halted him. "Don't worry! Even if I know, I don't have a reason to tell your secret to someone! You're safe with me." After those words, he stood up. "Oh, well! I'll go back now! Merlin here needs to get used to the place! Hope you have a good night!" And then he left.

Cyndham was…at a loss for words. Even if Creimire assured him that he wasn't going to say anything, he couldn't feel entirely assured.

Instead, it made him notice that there were still some flaws in his mask that needed to be fixed, or his escape would have all been for nothing.

"No…" Cyndham whispered as he held his chest tightly. "I came here for this reason…I'll make it work no matter what." Even if concerned, that small scene gave him a newfound determination.

"I can't go back. I won't."

---

And with this, we're finally done! Another long chapter, but at least I didn't have to split it into two parts or almost reach the 40k words! This had been complicated to do since there had been some changes in between, starting with the fact that this was originally supposed to be further within the recruitment arc, but after a skit I made for the Discord server, I decided to put it now, also because there are some popular characters that made their debut among them! And, of course, there had been some changes within the story inside this episode as well that changed a bit, with the villain changing and trying to find something that could have been interesting to show in a mission that takes place completely inside a sewer. Thankfully, I decided to come up with a bit of inspiration from Dark Souls and a small anticipation of something important for the story itself! After that, it was all a matter of making it interesting, and I hope that I have achieved this.

Speaking of which, as always, I leave the final opinion to you! Did you like the chapter? What are your thoughts on the new OCs that debuted here, along with the supporting characters? What are your theories on the orange liquid? What do you think will happen next? As always, I ask you to support this story with your reviews; your opinion is important!

And with this, we're done! I apologize if this chapter took this long, but I've tried my best to make it consistent. I'll make sure to compensate this wait! Maybe with a double chapter coming soon! But before that…apart from Shogunate Pride, I need to go back to my Digimon Adventure 04 story, as I have a fight next that I had been waiting to write for over six years. I'll do my best to make everything come up all right!

With this said, I once again thank you for reading this chapter, and I'll see you either in the next one or the next chapter of another story of mine! From Bluestar here, Arrivederci!

OC credits:

Takara Kammuri – FateWeaver56

Cyndham Mercer – Dannube

Creimire O Cleirigh – DeadlyAnimalsAreCute

I almost forgot about it, But I wanted to give a shoutout to fallabeau fabelle for making the guest character of Astra Rubel, an OC she made for another fic! Thank you so much for allowing me to use her!