Ch 9: The Knight?

Lequiss, Jildelmn, and Fylo continued walking straight to the City Hall. Currently, they're about halfway there.

Lequiss looked bored out of his mind. "Aghh, this is so boriiiing." Complain Lequiss.

"Deal with it, you decided to save those people right?" Said Jildelmn.

"But there's nobody stroooooong." Complain Lequiss.

"It's better for us if there's nobody strong though I'd like it if that man with the spear appears but... It's surprising that you're a Quiss user..." Remarked Jildelmn.

A knight suddenly sprung on their left in an alley, ready to attack. Fylo slaps him knocking him back to the alley. They continue to stride along the road.

"Weird... Aren't knights supposed to be strong after their training?" Asked Fylo.

"Naturally, they should be stronger than a normal person after training but these knights are as weak or even weaker than a normal person." Remarked Jildelmn.

"Why's that?" Asked Lequiss.

"I don't know, how about asking one ourselves?" Said Jildelmn as they stopped walking, he looked in front of them, a knight running towards them wobbling around ready to swing. Now close enough to swing, the knight takes the swing but is immediately caught by Jildelmn by the neck. Jildelmn now strangling the knight.

"Aghk!" The knight lets go of his sword and struggles to get the hand off his neck, Jildelmn lifts him up by the neck with one hand, his height makes it easier for him to lift the knight.

"Hey there, Mister Knight. I'd like to ask some questions, mind if you answer some?" Said Jildelmn in a calm and threatening manner as he squeezed his hand a bit.

"A-Agh! P-Please let me go!" Begged the Knight.

"I'll let you go if you answer us."

"O-Okay, Okay! I'll answer you so please let me go!"

Jildelmn looks at Lequiss and Fylo as if asking for approval, Fylo shrugs his shoulder and Lequiss with a smile, nods. Jildelmn after seeing them, looks back at the knight.

"You better not run." Jildelmn releases his grasp on his neck, the knight falls on his back as Jildelmn releases him.

*Cough* *Cough* The knight breathes heavily, he looks up to see Jildelmn standing there towering over him.

"Now, Mister Knight, I'd like to ask, why are you knights so weak?" Asked Jildemn.

"W-What do you mean?" Said the Knight looking worried.

"I'm sure I said it pretty clearly, I won't ask again. Why are you knights so weak?" Asked again by Jildelmn now more firm.

"I-I-I..." Stutter the knight. The knight looked at Jildelmn's seriousness and the knight sighed in defeat.

"It's because we're not knights..."

In the West Side of the City.

Eilda hiding behind an alley. In the back which seems to be a main road, a knight is running towards another knight that seems to be in standby.

"Hey! They're in the East! Everyone's going there to try and capture them!" Said the Knight that ran towards him.

"Do we need to go?" Asked the knight on standby.

"Yeah! Or else that bastard might get angry and do something if we don't catch them!" Said one of the knights.

"Alright, it seems we have no choice. Let's go." Both of them immediately ran toward the East.

Eilda gets out of the alley "They're gone" and along with her coming out were Mihikolo and Hans in a full white cloak.

"These hoods sure are handy, we haven't taken them off since yesterday. Huh..." Mihikolo was dazed upon nothing as he realized something. "It's been one night and we're already sneaking in somewhere again..." Remarked Mihikolo.

"Let's go, we're almost at the city hall." Said Eilda as they started to run off in the road. It was empty as if it had been purposely cleared out with no one being on the road.

"Hopefully, there's no one guarding there. I only have three bullets left and I don't wanna waste them." Remarked Mihikolo.

"Don't worry, you don't have to waste your bullets, I'll handle them if there are guards." Said Eilda.

They continue to run across the road and soon enough they reach the outside of the City Hall, they stop before they can be seen out in the open, and they peek at the city hall behind one of the houses. It looked like a simple and normal white rectangle city hall from the outside with some trees around the estate.

"So this is the City Hall? It looks like a normal City Hall." Remarked Mihikolo.

"You know what City Halls look like?" Asked Eilda.

"Yeah, there was one in the Kingdom of Laraposa."

"There was? I didn't see it."

"That's understandable with how large that kingdom is."

"It seems they haven't changed anything significant so the way to the basement must be the same." Said Hans.

"That's perfect, We can do this much quicker than planned and it seems like there's not much security around either. I only see about two people guarding the main door. We can easily avoid their gazes if we're fast enough. " Said Eilda.

"What're we waiting for then?" Asked Mihikolo.

As he said this they got out in the open and started going towards the building, It was a simple yet impressive building, naturally a City Hall should be but there were too few people guarding the place which was rather strange... They reach one of the trees that's fairly close to the main door of the building which is just in front of the two guards and stop there, hiding from the guards.

"Don't tell me we're just going through the front door?" Asked Mihikolo.

"We can do that if it makes it quicker." Said Eilda.

"No... We don't need to take that risk. The backdoor will lead us to the basement much quicker." Said Hans.

"I see, then let's go to the back." Said Eilda, They quickly sneak their way to the side of the building and stop to peek at the back. They see a similar sight of earlier with some trees around.

"Is that the door you're talking about?" Asked Eilda as she pointed to a door with two guards.

"No. It's that one." Hans points to a balcony right above the door she pointed at, the balcony had a small door, unlike the one below it.

"A balcony? How would a door in the balcony reach the basement quicker than a door on the ground?" Confusedly asked Mihikolo.

"He's right, it doesn't make sense." Remarked Eilda.

"Well, you'll understand when we reach the basement but first we need to reach that balcony." Said Hans.

"That'll be easy, let's just climb to the roof and drop down to the balcony." Said Eilda.

"How is that easy?! Can't you see this building is at least 3 stories tall?!" Mihikolo seemed surprised.

"I've seen you running on roofs before, can you do it, Mister Hans?" Asked Eilda.

"Yes, It'll be easy to climb up there." Answered Hans.

"Ah... I'm being ignored..." Mihikolo now looks saddened.

"Then let's go." Eilda grabs Mihikolo and carries him like luggage. Eilda sprung up there in one jump while Hans swiftly climbed up there by grabbing onto the ledges of the windows.

"W-Wow, I didn't know you could jump like that, Eilda..." Remarked Mihikolo with a dumbstruck face.

"Now we only need to drop down to that balcony and we're in." Said Hans. They quickly moved toward the way to the back of the building right below the balcony without making much noise. Now right below the balcony, Eilda hops down first and lands easily while Hans drops down one by one, dropping to ledges of the window till he reaches the balcony.

"It seems the guards below didn't hear us." Quietly said Hans.

Eilda drops Mihikolo and looks below the balcony and sees both the guards unaware of anything and just looking at the distance.

"Yeah, they didn't notice." Quietly answered Eilda.

"Alright, after going inside, we need to be more quiet and fast. Fattah and his son may still be inside along with more knights." Said Hans. Eilda and Mihikolo nod in agreement.

Hans opens the door and they go inside, they shut the door behind them and it makes a bit of noise.

"Huh? Did you hear something?" Asked one of the guards below the balcony.

"What? I didn't hear anything, you must be imagining things again." Said the other guard.

"You sure we don't need to report anything to the mayor?" Asked the guard.

"Nah, you worrying too much there's nothing." Said the other guard.

"Well if you say so."

Now inside, they are met with an extravagant interior of what seems to be like a lounge, with caving-in ceilings and chandeliers—excessive decorations across the walls and even a carpet throughout the whole room. At the end of the room were some rails and beside it was a stair that connected to the first floor.

Mihikolo seems amazed by the sight. "Wow, I didn't know City Halls looked like this from the inside."

"I like the inside of the Mixus estate better, It's a lot simpler." Remarked Eilda.

"The second floor is where the Vaskards reside, This floor has their rooms in the halls but enough chit-chat, There may still be people inside so just follow me, and I'll lead you to the way to the basement." Said Hans as he started to walk silently across the room, Eilda and Mihikolo followed along.

They reach the end of the room, At the railing they see that the room splits into two halls, one on the left and one on the right and Hans instantly goes to the left hall along with Eilda and Mihikolo. They continued to walk down the hall, There were many doors that led to multiple rooms but Hans ignored them all until suddenly he stopped.

"What's wrong? Why'd you stop? Did we pass it already?" Asked Mihikolo.

"No, we're here." Answered Hans.

"What? I don't see anything that may lead to a basement. Are you sure this is the right spot?" Asked Mihikolo.

"Yes. We've passed 6 doors and there are 3 left before we reach the end of the hall so this is the right spot." Said Hans as he kneeled down and pulled the carpet right below him, tearing it apart. Upon tearing it, a small hidden trapdoor was revealed.

"Huh?! What the hell?! There's a door on the floor?!" Exclaimed Mihikolo.

Hans opens the trapdoor and sees a circular staircase that leads straight down with walls enclosing it, the way down there is very narrow and tight.

"Is this the way to the basement?" Asked Eilda.

"Yes." Answered Hans.

"How does this work? It doesn't seem like it's hidden below. Wouldn't people see it on the first floor?" Asked Eilda.

"On the first floor, there are multiple pillars that are holding the second floor and one of them is this. That's why it's quite tight in there." Answered Hans.

"I see, so it's disguised like a pillar on the first floor and so you can only access this way through here, the second floor." Discerned Eilda.

"Exactly and what makes it harder to find is that the second floor is not accessible without authorization from the Vaskards or Fattah himself."

"I see..."

"Hey, what the hell are we waiting for? We're just wasting time, let's just go down already." Said Mihikolo.

"Yeah, you're right, let's go." Eilda starts to walk down the narrow stairs, luckily it is wide enough to fit her easily, Mihikolo goes along, and he easily fits in with his small body. As they keep walking down, Eilda notices Hans not coming along and is just kneeling there.

"Mister Hans? What's wrong? Aren't you coming?" Asked Eilda.

"No, you guys go on. I have something I need to do." Said Hans with a serious look, facing the other hallway.

"What? You're just gonna leave us?" Confusedly asked Mihikolo.

"Yes, like I said earlier, I'll be handling the aftermath..." Answered Hans.

"Alright. Let's go Mihikolo." Said Eilda as she continued to walk down.

"Wha? Uhh, alright?" Mihikolo follows her down the stairs.

Hans sees them off and closes the trapdoor, he tries to put back the carpet on top of the trapdoor but he sees the carpet torn apart.

"Ah... I guess, I shouldn't have torn it apart but I guess it should be fine, They're gonna wreak havoc in this place anyways." Remarked Hans.

Hans stood up and started walking down the hall.

"Gahahahaha! I can't believe that! Ahahaha! That's so funny!" Laughingly said Lequiss as he continued to walk down the road while loudly laughing.

"That's quite pathetic." Remarked Jildelmn walking beside Lequiss.

"That's pretty bad, why don't you follow my boss instead? The Great Mihikolo?" Asked Fylo walking beside Lequiss.

The knight they caught earlier is now walking behind them.

"Uhhh?" The knight was confused by Fylo's question.

"Anyways, so what you're saying is that you're not a knight, none of you are?" Asked Jildelmn.

"Y-Yes, most of us are ordinary citizens. Most of us don't know how to wield a sword or even do what an actual knight does. We were only forced to do this..." Answered The knight.

Jildelmn looked surprised "What? How could they force their own citizen into this?" Asked Jildelmn.

"They took our family and threatened us that they would get executed on the Annual Execution of the city and then forced us into being their knights." Answered The Knight.

"Can't you just tell the other citizens of this city what's happening?" Asked Lequiss.

"I've tried that, we've all tried that but nobody believed us! Everybody has blindly believed in Fattah!" Answered The Knight.

"I see, I understand your situation a bit now but I don't understand why would they have the need to make their own citizen into knights?" Asked Jildelmn.

"Well, It's sad to say it but ever since Hans died, the city has been going downhill though slow, It's only ever fine when the annual execution is happening when people all over come to see it, do we get profit." Explained The Knight.

"What does that have to do with you being a knight?" Asked Lequiss.

"With the decline of the city, most of the knights quit or moved to another location to become a knight there." Explained The Knight.

"That's understandable but wouldn't a knight normally have loyalty to whoever they're serving? How could they just straight up leave?" Asked Jildelmn.

"I don't really know since I wasn't a knight then-"

"You still aren't" Comment Lequiss.

"But the rumors say that the knights were only loyal to Hans not to Fattah and they didn't want to be involved with the executions anymore, so they didn't break their loyalty, to begin with." Explained the Knight.

"I see..." Said Jildelmn.

"Ahahaha! So that Mister earlier was actually really famous?" Laughingly asked Lequiss.

"Well, he is a Vaskard so it's not that surprising." Said Jildelmn.

"Uhm, what are you talking about?" Asked The Knight.

"Oh right, he still hasn't revealed himself yet huh? I guess you're going to find out later. Anyway, why are we just standing here? Let's go."

They continued walking.

The knight stood there watching them from behind as they walked on. The knight admired Jildelmn's back, It looked like the back of someone he could count on, he kept on looking until suddenly he ran up to Jildelmn and grabbed his arm.

"Wha?!" Jildelmn was surprised.

"Please..." The knight's voice shaking.

The knight raises his head, revealing his face full of tears. "Please save my family!"

Lequiss and Fylo look at them confused. Jildelmn looks down to see the knight's face, he sees the sadness and desperation on the knight's face.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Asked Jildelmn.

"Please, I didn't believe in those rumors. I believed that you're a good person and on top of that a strong one so please can't you save my family?!" Asked The Knight.

Jildelmn removes the knight's hand. "Mister, you're looking pathetic right now and what you're asking is totally unreasonable, you don't know me and I don't know you." Fiercely said Jildelmn, it seemed like Jildelmn was turning him down.

"I-I-I..." The Knight turns his head down again in shame.

"But... We'll do it." Said Jildelmn.

"What..?" The Knight was surprised as he lifted his head up.

Jildelmn grins a bit. "I'm only kidding you, Mister. We're already on our way to save those people rather his companions are already there." Said Jildelmn as he points to Lequiss.

"What..? Really...?!" Asked the knight as his eyes lit up in hope.

"Yeah, so you don't have to worry anymore. I promise you we'll save them." Said Jildelmn as he continued to walk. Lequiss and Fylo walked along.

"Hehe, I guess you have a soft heart after all!" Jokingly said Lequiss.

"What?" Confusedly asked Jildelmn.

"Hahaha! Nothing!" Joyfully said Lequiss.

The knight drops down on his knees as if his knees gave up. He starts bawling his eyes out.

"Thank you... Thank you! Thank you so much!" The knight thanked them with gratitude as he waved at them. They stop and look behind them to see what's going on.

"What's he doing?" Asked Fylo.

"He seems like he's waving?" Unsurely answered Jildelmn.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing?" Asked Jildelmn.

"Oh uh, I was thanking you and bidding you farewell." Answered the knight.

"What? You seem to be misunderstanding something, you're coming with us." Said Jildelmn.

"What...?" The knight looked confused.

"You're coming with us, We need a guide to go to the City Hall." Said Jildelmn.

"Ah... I see..." The knight with a deadpan face stood up and walked up to them. They continued walking towards the City Hall.

"It's just straight ahead, following this road." Said the knight.

"That's quite simple." Remarked Fylo.

"But still, we might get lost so we'll need you." Said Jildelmn.

"I'll just follow behind..."Said the knight.

They continue on walking until Jildelmn suddenly stops as he realizes something "Wait, why are we going there again? Aren't we only supposed to be baits? If we go there, won't we be baiting them there?" Asked Jildelmn.

"Because it's boring just standing around!" Said Lequiss.

"Uh-huh, are you sure this won't mess up your friend's plan?" Worriedly asked Jildelmn.

"I'm sure it'll be fine!" Said Lequiss confidently as he started to walk faster.

Jildelmn looks at him with curiosity...

"Well if you say so." Said Jildelmn as he walked along with him.

As they continue walking, knights left and right spring up to attack them but they easily take care of each of them one by one. Soon after more walking, they reached a point where they could see the City Hall in the distance.

They stop to look at the distance. "Hey! Is that big building is that City Hall?" Asked Lequiss to the knight, pointing in the City Hall's direction.

"Yes, that's the City Hall and where the Vaskards live." Answered the Knight.

"Haha! So, we're close! Hopefully, there's something more fun there than these people jumping at us left and right!" Remarked Lequiss.

They continued walking, getting closer and closer to the City Hall. As they continued walking the attacks have been getting less frequent to the point that there's no one attacking anymore.

Lequiss notices this as he looks around. "We're pretty close now but nobody's jumping at us anymore." Said Lequiss.

"Huh, you're right." Said Jildelmn.

"Mhmm, what if that spear dude you were talking about earlier is waiting for us in that building?" Curiously said Lequiss.

"You're right, that's possible but... That's perfect for me, that means I'll get to meet him sooner." Said Jildelmn with an expectant gaze.

"Hahahaha! You seem to really want to beat this guy!" Said Lequiss.

"I do, he's the first loss, I'd receive even if it was unfair." Said Jildelmn.

"What?! First loss?! So you've never lost once before?!" Surprisedly asked Lequiss, his eyes shining with excitement.

"No, I have lost before but he's the first one I've lost to, ever since I've got here." Said Jildelmn.

"Oh..." His eyes were filled with disappointment.

"Uhh, sorry to disrupt your conversation but we're almost there." The knight suddenly speaks up.

He points to a house in front of them. "We just have to follow the road and go left over there and we'll reach the City Hall." Said the Knight.

Lequiss bumps up with excitement as he hears him. "Oh! We're almost there!" Lequiss suddenly runs in the direction the knight said. The three of them were surprised by him.

"Ah! Wait up!" Yelled Jildelmn, they immediately followed Lequiss. They catch up fairly quickly and are now about to turn left. As soon as they turned left, they were met with a couple dozen knights waiting for them, they were all ready. Behind all these readied knights was Fattah standing there waiting.

Fattah uglily grins. "You didn't except me, huh?"

Lequiss is surprised along with the three, their eyes open wide.

"What?!" Exclaimed Jildelmn.

"Knights! Capture them!" Yelled out Fattah.

The several knights simultaneously ran towards them ready to attack.

"Tch, It seems they knew that we were coming here, Lequiss, can you handle this? I'd like to preserve my energy for that man with the spear." Asked Jildelmn.

Lequiss unsheates his swords. "Ahahahaha! You bet!"