Chapter 4 Hall of Knights

Amamiya sits alone in the room that clearly sets as the dining hall. She sits on the long bench, looking at her warm drinks that a maid gives her not long before. Her bikini has been replaced with a blue shirt and brown trouser. In her anxiety, Amamiya keeps tapping the table. She worried for Sora. When they entered this building, they immediately brought to the infirmary due to their condition upon arrival. Both Sora and Amamiya are carefully cleaned and their dirty clothes thrown away. Because Sora's condition is pretty severe, he is put into an intensive care chamber for further treatment, leaving Amamiya sent to the dining hall alone.

To distract her mind, Amamiya sips her drink and looks at the chandelier on the ceiling. That chandelier alone illuminated the entire dining hall. It's source of light is a sun-like orb that hovers on the center of the chandelier. That orb looks to be produced from the white crystals that are put around the chandelier.

The sound of the opening door starlet Amamiya. Sora entered the hall. He wears the same attire as Amamiya. He still looks rather tired. Nevertheless, the treatment makes him look better and his wound on the left hand is non-existent.

"Worried?" is the first question Sora asks Amamiya.

Amamiya smiled faintly. She was clearly feeling relief.

"Your condition is severe and your wound keeps bleeding, of course I'm worried."

"You can least worry now," Sora shows his left arm to Amamiya. "The healers here actually know healing magic."

Amamiya's eyes open widely, surprised from Sora's remarks, "They have magic here!?"

"Yeah. Crazy, isn't it? When they use the magic at my wound, I'm as surprised as you now. But, given the circumstances we arrived at this land, I think it's only natural if there is magic involved."

"You got the point there, but still… magic," Amamiya at a daze from the excitement. Her worries and gloominess from before are gone because that one word "magic".

However, Amamiya's exciting imagination of new found reality about magic cutted short when the door opens once more and the woman who they meet at the gate enters.

Her attire from before has changed to plate armor. Amamiya looks at her with concern, on the other hand Sora is impressed by the lady armor, smooth steel plate cuirass with identical pair of wide pauldrons, a pair of arm guards, but the gauntlets were absent.

"15th century conquistador armor, I think," thought Sora for the armor. "Hm, but where are the gauntlets? Probably taken off for convenience since she also only wears shin guards."

The woman sits across the table, exactly in front of Sora. She puts her schiavona on the table.

"My name is Lydia Talonguard. Knight of Crimson Drake," she introduces herself with a steely cold stare.

The lady knight's strong bearing makes Sora flinch a little. Nonetheless, he feels compelled to introduce himself as well.

"Sora Yamamoto," said Sora as calmly as he could.

"And her?" Lydia now looks at fully nervous Amamiya.

"I-I'm..," Amamiya stuttered because of her nervousness.

She takes a deep breath and starts over again.

"I'm Amamiya Nakano. Pleasure to meet you," she introduces herself with a clear voice.

"It's also my pleasure to meet both of you, heroes of another world. And I welcome you to Elzen, our fair city," Lydia stern tone now becomes gentler.

"Wait. What!? Heroes!?" Sora starlet by those words he just hears.

"Is something amiss?" ask Lydia.

"Yes. We are not heroes of some sort. We just… ordinary people," Sora replied.

Lydia smiles, "Aren't all heroes are. Ordinary people."

"W-well, we are not what you think. We are not some kind of savior. We just-," Amamiya tries to explain but Lydia cut in.

"The evidence you brought says the opposite," the lady knight gives Amamiya the portrait that Sora has before.

The portrait still depicted the same things, but now looks more vivid. Yet, still hard to describe or to understand what of it.

"That was the previous hero and his companions," Lydia explained the picture.

"And what is its connection to us being heroes?" ask Sora.

"The previous hero also came to this land and brought a picture like that," Lydia gives another portrait to Sora.

In that portrait standing two crowned men, facing each other. One man holding a sword and the other a battle axe.

"Who are they?" ask Sora about the picture.

"The man holding a sword, bearing a sigil of wyrm is King Bella, King of Elzen. The man with an axe, bearing sigil of war hound is Elder King Justisius. Late King of Zandar," explain Lydia.

"Late king?" ask Amamiya about the Zandarian king.

"He died in the Battle of Howling Garden during the demonic invasion. He was succeeded by Curtis III."

Sora noticed a hint of disdain from Lydia when she said the name present King of Zandar.

"These two pictures still do not explain why you presume us as heroes," Amamiya protested.

Lydia sighs, "I want to explain further but, I'm afraid it will scare both of you."

"Try me," Sora challenged the lady knight.

Lydia chuckled. She was amused by Sora's confidence. "Sora, right? Please look at the back of the picture."

Sora flips the portrait and looks at it. He sees a man brandishing his sword to a bat-like entity that flies over cloudy sky. Normally, Sora does not get scared easily, but that picture gives him a chill that travels along his spine.

"That picture depicted the final moment in the Battle of Grey Rock Hill. There, the Hero defeated the Demon Overlord," explain Lydia. "The Hero said that picture appeared to him a week before the battle took place."

"So, you said these pictures are prophecies?" Sora throws the portrait to the table. "Do we need to defeat demon overlord to come back to our world?"

Sora's fury is only a reason to hide his fear. Pity, his angry tone failed to hide his shaken voice.

"To be honest I don't know what to make of with those pictures," says Lydia. She clearly notices that Sora is about to pissing his pants. "But, those pictures come in the direst moment of our time, and the hero who becomes our savior disappears after the overlord is defeated."

Sora sighs, "You just confirm my fear."

He clenches his fists to stop them from shaking. He is well aware of the fate that awaits for those who go to war. If he is in his teenage years, he will take up arms without a second thought, but now he just wants to run and does not care with anything else.

Amamiya has been silent for a while. Sora assumes she is also scared of the prospect of fighting demonic overlord.

"The invasion is imminent," Amamiya mumbled. "It seems there is no other way. Where do we begin?"

She said those words confidently. Her eyes filled with vigor.

"Are you crazy!" Sora jumps from his seat. "We cannot go to war! We are just ordinary people!"

"Yes, I know that! But, there is no other way."

"We could just run!"

"To where?" Amamiya raises her voice. "We're stuck here! If the invasion is imminent there is no place to hide, no place to run. They will get to us! It is better to take initiative to attack then wait to get slaughtered!"

Sora grunts and punches the table as hard as he could. Then, there is heavy silence hanging in the room.

After a moment Sora mumbles something

"You are right," he said with a weak voice.

He then looks at Lydia sternly. "I said this again. We have no saviors or heroes. We are only ordinary people."

"And as I said before, heroes are also ordinary people," Lydia stared back at Sora. "I'm not expecting you two charging to horde of demons without any training or preparation."

She turns to look at a stuffed head that hangs on the wall. "Moreover, we also have boggards problems."

Sora and Amamiya also look at that head. It's green and looks as grotesque as any depiction of orcs or ogre from stories. The difference is that the head has a pair of bull-like horns attached to it.

"So, that is a Boggard," says Sora.

"Yes, that's what most people call them here. What a nauseating creature," Lydia threw her cup to the head. "So, you too agree?"

Sora releases heavy sighs and averts his eyes from the lady knight face.

"Yes!" Amamiya enthusiastically replies.

"Well, what she said," Sora half-heartedly agreed.

"Good," Lydia was satisfied despite Sora's unwilling attitude. "Tomorrow your training will start. It will be three months of combat and survival training."

"Is that suffice?" asked Sora.

"Those training are usually for rookie knights. In my opinion that barely suffices, but time is not on our side."

"Very well," Sora is glad they get to train, but he still doubts if he is capable of fighting in war or survived it.

"Rest today. The maid will take you to your chamber," Lydia stands up and walks to the door.

"Thank you for your hospitality," says Amamiya, and she bows.

"Don't mention it. We need you after all."

When Lydia opens the door, a maid enters and takes Sora and Amamiya along the hallway and to the 2nd floor. There, the maid shows both of them their chamber with two beds. They need to share the room. Amamiya distraught with the revelation, while Sora only smiled.

"Relax, I won't do anything to you. You are actually more dangerous to me than me to you," Sora tries to calm Amamiya who stare murderously at him.

"I still don't like it!" Amamiya pouting.

"But, there is no other way," Sora mimicked what Amamiya said in the dining hall before.

Amamiya grumbled.

Inside the chamber, Amamiya throws the blanket Sora and orders him to cover his eyes because she wants to change for something more comfortable. Sora simply nods and covers his entire head with the blanket.

Amamiya rummages through the cupboard and finds a night gown. However, it's too revealing and there is a boy sitting on the other bed. She decides to just go to sleep with what she wears now.

Sora and Amamiya lie on each other's bed in awkward silence. Their bed only separated by a single end table. The room itself is not too small, but not big either. It makes the lamp that sits on the end table able to illuminate the entire chamber. After a few more awkward silence moments, Sora decided to talk to his lady companion.

"Hey, you still awake?" called Sora.

"Yes. It's hard to sleep after all that happened before," says Amamiya. She stares at the ceiling thinking about all that happens.

"I'm sorry for before," Sora turned his head and looked at Amamiya's face.

"You're sorry for what?" Amamiya is confused after hearing Sora's apology.

"For consumed by despair and told you to run."

Now Amamiya looks at Sora face to, "It's alright. Actually, I'm scared to hear we have to fight in the war."

She smiles. The face she looks now is what she sees when first meeting with her companion, and that is very reassuring.

"I was also sorry for yelling at you before."

"For that you do not need to apologize. In fact, I need to thank you for that."

Sora yawn, followed by Amamiya.

"Let's just go to sleep. I'm tired."

"Agree," Amamiya turned off the lamp.

"Don't turn off the lamp!" Sora yelped when it all suddenly went dark.

Amamiya turned the lamp back on, "Why?"

"I… don't like… dark," Sora shamefully confessed. "Especially, when sleeping".

Amamiya laughed, "Sora Yamamoto. A brave traveler and pillager, afraid of the dark?"

The lady keeps laughing while Sora holds his shame.

"How old are you?" she asks, holding her laughter.

"25 years old," says Sora plainly.

Amamiya stunted hearing Sora's age. She did not expect that he was much older than her.

"I know, I know. You assume I'm a high schooler. Most people do."

"25 years old and still afraid of the dark." Amamiya laughed again. This time bigger than before.

Sora grunt, "Just… don't turn off the lamp."