Part 11

With heavy heart the Warriors of Light boarded Sky Empress and returned to Cornelia castle to report this incident. The court was horrified at hearing the news about powerful opponents just laying in wait in the country's mountains. With this King Franz had no choice but to declare the Drakenguard Mountains the forbidden zone to travel to and to declare mobilization of the royal army to defend the nation from the newly assembling monster army at the shrine. He also sent an emergency messenger to Dwarfheim to warn them and possibly request some help. As part of his gratitude, King Franz had requested that the Warriors rest within the royal castle until they recover. Despite the party's protest, King Franz insisted so the party had no choice but take the guest rooms and sleep in comfortable beds. By the time Kelin had woken up, it was already as he nearly slept an entire day. After he thanked the royal physician for helping him out and the royal chef for making him dinner, he went out in the garden to train. If he wanted to save the world and to live up to his reputation, he needed to be stronger. Little did he expect that someone else had the same idea. As he was approaching what he thought was a lone, quiet corner, he heard some grunts coming from there. "Heyah! Hiyah!" Intrigued at this, he turned around the corner only to be surprised at the sight he saw.

A lone maiden in blue military coat and boots with heels that stretched to her white thighs. Kelin was quite surprised at this. Whenever he saw her and told her tales about his exploits, she always wore a proper dress and held her combed hair down. Now her hair was messy with the curled-up pony tail held up by a simple white ribbon. Unknown at what to think about this, he ended up watching her practice without disturbing her. Her footwork was clearly an attempted copy of actual knight's one and she was slashing with her thin rapier rather than piercing. Normally, Kelin would probably step up by now to either stop her or teach her, but in this case he couldn't. Her footwork and swordplay might have been sloppy, but on her face there was a clear determination to improve, to become better. He didn't know what drove her to do this, but it was clearly something he respected so he silently watched her several minutes. While taking a quick breath and then preparing for another set, she finally noticed the newcomer at which she screamed. "WHA-WHA-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Finally broken from the spell, Kelin started apologizing. "I am sorry, Your Highness. I wanted to practice here too, but didn't want to disturb you." Clearly embarrassed as her face kept getting more red, she asked him: "H-how long have you been watching me?" "Just a few minutes. I am sorry for not alerting you. I will leave you alone." Before he could leave, Princess Sarah, unable to look him in the eye, asked him: "You don't want to know why I am here?" "I can clearly guess. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Again, he tried to leave, but Princess stopped him for the second time. "Wait. C-can I ask you something?" "What is it?" Princess mumbled something that Kelin didn't hear so Kelin requested: "Could you please say it louder? And would you mind looking in the eye, Your Highness?" Princess had forced herself to look at him with her dark blue eyes that showed signs of tears. While still blushing from embarrassment, she asked him: "Was I good? Did I do right?

Kelin: "You mean your swordwork?"

Sarah: "Yes."

Kelin: "Are you sure you want to hear that answer, Your Highness?"

Sarah: "Would you mind not calling me that? At least for once I don't want to be treated as someone special. I just want to feel like a normal, regular girl, even for a bit."

Kelin: "Are you sure?"

Sarah: "Yes. Please, be honest."

Kelin: "Very well. Judging from your swordplay and footwork and swordplay, you have been studying the knight's training and you are doing quite observantly. I must say, just from your attempts at recreating their moves, you have potential to someday become a knight."

Sarah: "But?"

Kelin: "You have made two critical mistakes. Firstly, the weapon you are carrying is a rapier. While there are variants that can do what you have been performing, I am afraid the rapier you are currently holding is only designed for piercing. If you tried to block a strike, it would take no effort to break it and strike you down.

Hearing these words, the look on Sarah's face turned from embarrassment to sadness as she sheathed her rapier into its scabbard. "And the second?"

Kelin: "Those boots are a huge, huge mistake. I hope you haven't been practicing in those."

Sarah: "And what if I did? I prefer using high heels over regular ones."

Kelin: "Well, that would be a problem. Not only should your feet hurt more than usual, but you also create more unstable footing. Heels are forced to endure far more pressure than they should, making them easy to break."

From that comment the look on Sarah's face changed from a sad one to one of indifference. "I see. So I am a sham then, is that it?"

Kelin: "No, I-"

Sarah: "Admit that you wanted to laugh at me."

Kelin: "I-"

Sarah: "Admit it!"

Kelin: "... Yes."

At this Sarah started trying to remove the sword's scabbard from her.

Kelin: "What are you doing?"

Sarah: "Trying to remove this so that you no longer can look at this disgrace. There you go." She removed the scabbard and threw it angrily at floor.

Kelin: "Stop this."

Sarah: "Why? So that you can laugh at me more? What's next? Oh, right. This stupid coat." With that, she took her blue coat and threw it at the ground too. "And these- Hey, what are you doing? Let me go!" Before she managed to take her boots off, Kelin came from behind her and hugged her, restricting her arms and making her unable to do anything. "Let me go!" She screamed as she tried to wrestle out from his grip. "No, you need to calm down. Calm down, damn it!" No matter what she did, trying to bite his arms, stomping on his feet or kicking his legs, she couldn't get out from his grasp and soon enough she calmed, her grunts of anger turned into soft sobs as she quietly said: "I am weak." Not hearing what she now just said and thinking he might have hurt her, he finally let her go. At that she turned to him while he tried to apologise. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?" She started crying as she threw herself into his arms, making him lose stability and falling to the ground. So confused about this he didn't know what to do. While still crying, Sarah softly said: "I am weak. I couldn't defend myself back then. I couldn't now. What good am I?" Realizing what she meant, he again hugged her and whispered in her ear: "There, there." As Sarah continued to cry, he became her shoulder to cry on and for a while they spent time sitting on the floor while embraced in each others' arms.

Sarah finally calmed down. Kelin, not knowing what else to do in this situation, asked her: "Are you okay?" Sarah answered: "Yes." and gave him some space so that she could look at him. "I am sorry you have seen me like this. I-." "It's alright, Your Highness. I won't mention this to anyone."

Sarah: "Please don't. Don't call me Your Highness right now. I just want someone to treat me like a person right now."

Kelin: "Are you sure?"

Sarah: "Yes. Please."

Kelin: "Alright. ... Sarah."

Sarah: "Thank you."

Kelin: "May I ask you why all of this? Why sudden interest in training?"

Sarah: "Promise you won't laugh or mock me if I tell you why?"

Kelin: "I promise. I can even swear it if you want."

Sarah: " I... I... ... Ever since you rescued me, I have been having nightmares about my kidnapping. Originally your and Rosch's stories helped me sleep as you always appeared to save me there. However, as you shared more stories and the tales of your heroics spread around, what once gave me comfort has become just another source of nightmares. Now I dream about other monsters attacking us and you are not always there to save us."

Kelin: "That's why you picked that sword?"

Sarah: "I hoped that at the very least I could try to learn to protect myself to gain more confidence. I know that's basically a self-delusion talking to mighty knight such as yourself."

Kelin: "Me? Just who do you think you are talking to exactly?"

Sarah: "Huh? Well, aren't you a scion of a noble family that became a famous knight? Now serving across the world to save it?"

Kelin: "Huh? Who told you those lies?"

Sarah: "What do you mean? That's the talk of the city. I also assumed it based on all of your stories. Wait, why are you laughing now?"

Kelin: "Sorry, sorry. It's just I didn't realize how warped people's opinion about me truly is. If you'd recall, I- Oh, my mistake."

Sarah: "What?"

Kelin: "I wanted to say when I introduced to His Majesty, but I remembered that by then you were already kidnapped."

Sarah: "Oh. But what's so important about your introduction?"

Kelin: "It's because I have introduced myself as only a squire, not a proper knight. Even then I was stretching the truth as this letter here proves it."

Sarah: "And in it is?"

Kelin: "A letter from my former master confirming my expulsion from the Order of the Dusk. When I heard the Goddess's voice calling for me, everyone thought I was going insane. It only got worse as I disappeared after I was supposed to return from a mission. When I returned home, I was treated as a traitor by the surviving knights and squires for abandoning my duty. Hadn't I save the city from the disaster, I would have been still banned from entering the Vreyanne Castle."

Sarah: "I didn't know that."

Kelin: "As for the scion of a noble family, the noble thing my family my family had ever done was to make swords for knights and nobility. I come from a family of blacksmiths, not some noble house."

Sarah: "Oh."

Kelin: "Sorry about destroying the illusion you had about me, but that's the truth about me. I am not a knight from fairy tales and legends. I am just a common man who makes a lot of mistakes."

Sarah: "Such as?"

Kelin: "Well, I hate to admit this, and others will deny it no matter how much you ask, but we might have rescued you later than you know. You see, when we entered the Chaos Shrine, we were able to see the room where you were being hold up in. But we thought it couldn't have been that easy so we searched around. Only after we freed you and started leaving the place did we realize what idiots we have been."

Sarah: "Oh, so that's why you have been looking at each other back then. I can imagine all of you stumbling around looking for me. Bumbling through every door until you finally found me."

Kelin: "Yes, we have done some stupid things like that. What's wrong?"

Sarah: "Warriors of Light, the heroes of the realm, couldn't find the room that stood in front of them. That's so... That's so..." At this she started laughing out loud.

Kelin: "Well, glad to be the jester of service, Your Highness." Said this in sarcastic tone.

Sarah: "S-sorry. I couldn't hold it in. Never expected to hear that. Oh, give me one more."

Kelin: "No."

Sarah: "Please. I really want to hear what my- Um."

Kelin: "My what?"

Sarah: "I-I mean what other dumb things did the realm's heroes. Yes, that's why I meant."

Kelin: "No, you didn't. Tell me what did you mean."

Sarah: "..."

Kelin: "Sarah?"

Sarah: "..."

Kelin: "Fine then. Then let me ask you this then: who would you pick?"

Sarah: "Huh?"

Kelin: "You know what I mean. Out of the three of us, who would you choose?"

Sarah: "I... I... I don't have an answer to that."

Kelin: "Why not?"

Sarah: "To be honest, I would prefer either one of you."

Kelin: "Don't lie. If you were that submissive, we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be bothering to train and improve yourself. All you would need is someone strong to protect you."

Sarah: "Easy for you to say. As the crown princess I never expected to have much choice in choosing my husband. My father was arranged to marry my mother and see how happy they are."

Kelin: "So? Does that mean that's the only happy ending you can get?"

Sarah: "Easy for you to say. If you do manage to save the world, you and the others will have endless choices to choose from. I believe I am not the only one that you tried to court with. Though I am surprised Lewyn hasn't tried by now."

Kelin: "That depends. What's your opinion on poligamy?"

Sarah: "Not a fan. If I am already getting arranged to marry someone, I wish at least that he devotes himself to me then."

Kelin: "Then he made the right call. See, while he IS a scion of a noble house, his family practices polygamy. He assumed you wouldn't like not to being the sole wife to him so he didn't try."

Sarah: "Wow. Gotta give him respect for guessing correctly."

Kelin: "Yes. This also made me realize something just now. How much time we have spent between us and yet we know very little about each other."

Sarah: "I agree. It now seems like we just wasted time for nothing."

Kelin: "I wouldn't say that. If it didn't happen, we wouldn't be here tonight. And it wouldn't inspire me to do this."

Sarah: "What? What are you doing?"

Kelin switched from sitting to kneeling on both knees.

Kelin: "I have a simple request for you. I wish for us to restart our relationship. Not as strangers, but as partners."

Sarah: "What do you mean?"

Kelin: "I will be your shield against your nightmares. I will be your sword against your enemies. I will be your trainer so that you can learn how to fight. I will be your support whenever you need a shoulder to cry on. I will be whatever you need me to be whenever you need me to. No matter how far away I am from you, I will always be there for you."

Sarah: "Isn't that a bit selfish of you? Choosing only one woman to live for when you will have a world to choose from?"

Kelin: "Yes, it is. Which leads me to my next question. Sarah Belfort, would you do me an honour in becoming my wife?"

Sarah: "Are you sure?"

Kelin: "I know that this probably isn't the romantic proposal you have imagined for yourself. I am afraid I am not the best when it comes to proper romance."

Sarah: "I'd say the same. Not once did you compliment the fact we share the same eye colour in every courtship you have tried."

Kelin: "I am aware of that. Thankfully, I am not completely useless. Let me show you."

With that, he leaned in, looked at her closely and gave her a passionate kiss. After he stepped back to gage her reaction, she smiled and answered him: "Well, it seems I won't need to teach you about everything."

Kelin: "Does that mean?"

Sarah: "What else can someone say after that other than yes. I will gladly become your wife forever."

Kelin smiled as the answer he hoped for happened. He wanted to say something, but Sarah decided his lips needed something else to do. As these two shared another passionate kiss, it marked the start of eternal love as the two were showered in light of the full moon.

The next morning the mood in the captain's cabin was gloom. While it was called to discuss the next course of action, no one wanted to partake. The memory of Earthgift Shrine was still too fresh in their minds. Finally, Lianna had enough and piped up.

Lianna: "Alright. So you had a very hard fight. It doesn't mean you can keep sulking about it."

Lewyn: "You don't understand, Lia. That dog was far more powerful than the two Fiends we have fought so far. Even back against Garland we didn't suffer as badly as against Cerberus."

Mari: "Oh, so you don't count bleeding heavily as suffering enough then?"

Lewyn: "Yes. At least then I could have still fight Garland. Cerberus actually managed to knock me out and nearly killed me. I don't count that as something light.

Kelin: "Not to mention this sets up a dangerous precedent. We fought against Fiends that only recently awoke. The two we are now up against have had centuries to build up their strength."

Rosch: "I would normally agree, but they also haven't done anything for centuries. Unlike Lich and Marilith, they haven't affected the space around them as badly as they did. In fact, I don't think they are influencing the area around them at all."

Lewyn: "So you believe they are not as powerful as they could be? That's not a bad theory, to be honest."

Rosch: "Not to mention, Earthgift Shrine is clearly not a normal cave. For all we know, that cave is the reason why they are so much stronger."

Mari: "That doesn't fix the issue at hand. The fact is, we might be too weak now to finish our journey."

Lewyn: "And the solution is quite clear. We go to Onrac and start our journey through northern continents there. Unless we want to go through that hell again, there is nowhere else on Feinan where we can get more experience and better equipment from."

Kelin: "There is another thing we should consider. Class promotion."

Lewyn: "No. Just because you are promoted, that doesn't mean we have the time for it."

Kelin: "Unfortunately, the title and the class are two different things."

Lewyn: "What do you mean?"

Kelin: "While they share the name, the expectation of what exactly knight depends on who you ask. If you ask a civilian on what knight is, they would say a person knighted by a noble person to defend the land and their liege. If you ask a proper knight though, you might get slightly different answer. While it used to mean the same thing, in the recent years it started to mean different things. In fact, there is even a rumour about officially renaming the class to paladin to avoid confusion such as this. And, before you ask, if I was truly promoted in class, I would be allowed to study and use white magic."

Lewyn: "I see. Well, that makes it even less sense to pursue. Even if they give us the promotion outright, that's still weeks wasted.

Lianna: "As someone who went through her class promotion, I would normally agree. But I think you are overlooking something."

Lewyn: "What?"

Lianna: "Normally you need an approval of at least 3 separate masters to receive the promotion. However, there is a shortcut you could use."

Kelin: "No. This system was established to avoid any bad moves such as shortcuts. I won't partake in this."

Lewyn: "Wait a minute, Kelin. You don't mean-"

Lianna: "Yes. I think it's time to pay him a visit."

Rosch: "Him?"

Lewyn: "Are you sure? Depending on what the trial is, it might be a double-edged sword."

Lianna: "I still say that's your best move. At the very least it should save you some time."

Mari: "Would you mind explaining to the rest of us who this he is?"

Lianna: "Easy. According to the currently known world how many civilization-building races are there?"

Mari: "Four."

Lianna: "Just to make sure, you include mermaids or not among them?"

Mari: "From what I know, they are considered extinct so no."

Lianna: "Alright. And how many of those have you yet to meet?"

Mari: "Only one. The dragons."

Kelin: "Oh, I see what you meant by shortcut."

Lewyn: "I still say it might backfire."

Rosch: "Backfire what? What exactly are we supposed to go for now?"

Lewyn: "The Dragon King's Blessing."

Mari: "What's that?"

Lianna: "Do you know who is the strongest being in the world?"

Mari: "I think so. It's the Dragon King Bahamut of the Cardia Isles, isn't it?"

Lianna: "That's correct. Now his blessing can also be considered that you are worthy enough to earn the class promotion. After all, if the strongest being in the world considers you as powerful enough, who is out there that can challenge that claim?"

Mari: "I see. But why are you hesitant then, Lewyn? Shouldn't this be a great opportunity for someone like you?"

Lewyn: "You would think, but no. Many of our clansmen have went on his trials so I can gage on what we might expect."

Lianna: "I think you are overthinking this. I doubt he uses the same test against us as he would for class promotion. Otherwise, most people wouldn't even dare to approach him."

Lewyn: "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Lianna: "I guess this also settles on if you would to try that test."

Lewyn: "Yes. Even with all the growth I had in the last year, I don't think I am powerful enough to try it."

Kelin: "How bad is this test that even you don't want to try it?"

Lewyn: "If you don't know, then I will just leave it up to your imagination. I am sure it would become just as scary in your mind as in real life."

Kelin: "Oh, come one."

Lewyn: "Heh. At the very least, we now have our next course of action set."

Lianna: "Yes. I will- (several knocks on the door) Hm? Come in. Oh, Your Highness. I didn't expect to see you today. Also, what exactly are you wearing?"

Sarah: "Long story, but that's for another time. I am glad I managed to catch you before you left."

Mari: "We just wrapped up here and were about to leave. Is there something you need?"

Sarah: "Yes. His Majesty has sent this letter and I needed to deliver it."

Lianna: May I see it? Thank you. Do you know the contents of it?"

Sarah: "Yes, I do. Which is why I needed to deliver this. His Majesty was inspired after hearing about your role in helping with the Warriors of Light, Ms. Marciano, especially as the official representative of the kingdom of Hoshido. As such, he is now requesting that I serve the same role as the official representative of the Kingdom of Cornelia."

Mari: "Is that true, Lianna?"

Lianna: "Yes, that's the gist of the letter. Though I do have to ask the intent of your assignment. This ship is Hoshidan property and we have promised to share the technology with other nations, an example taken directly from you. What else can you provide to us exactly?"

Sarah: "I will be honest. None. We have nothing to offer to you. However, you can offer so much to us. As you know, Cornelia has been considered as the most stable and peaceful nation in Feinan. However, that exact thing has made us weak and unable to do anything. We did nothing when Pravoka fell. Our knights couldn't do anything when I was kidnapped. And now as the world faces its biggest crisis yet, we have discovered a threat inside our borders, a threat that even the Warriors of Light might remove. We desperately need military help and cooperation from other nations right now. If it means I have to come along and even beg for help, I will do so for the help of my countrymen."

Lianna: "I understand. Though I would suggest refraining from begging. Someone of your status shouldn't lower themselves to that state."

Sarah: "Does that mean that you will accept me?"

Lianna: "Yes, I will under two conditions. One, you will become part of the crew and be under my command. I won't treat you any differently than any other crew member."

Sarah: "That's acceptable. What's the second condition?"

Lianna: "I don't think we have spare cabins right now so you will have to share one with someone."

Kelin: "That won't be a problem. She can take mine and I will see where I can go."

Sarah: "No need to sacrifice for me."

Kelin: "It's alright for me."

Lianna: "Fine then. You can share the cabin between yourselves. Lewyn, I think we do have a spare bed in the storage."

Kelin: "Huh? Are you serious?"

Lianna: "I was going to suggest with Mari, but, sure, you two can go together."

Kelin: "Um..."

Sarah: "I accept. Kelin, would you mind?"

Kelin: "Well, if Your Highness doesn't mind, I guess I can't protest. Come on, I will show you where it is."

Sarah: "Thank you. Lead the way."

As they left the room and started walking down the hallway, they checked around to see if anyone was around. After confirming no one, Kelin spoke up.

Kelin: "Are you sure?"

Sarah: "Yes, I am. Partners should be able to live together after all."

Kelin: "Won't that be awkward for you? I am sure you are used to privacy."

Sarah: "I won't lie, it will be awkward, maybe even for a long time. But I am not here to live sheltered life like I did in the castle. I must be ready for sacrifices."

Kelin: "Even so, you could have bunked up with Mari."

Sarah: "Oh? You trying to get rid of me already?"

Kelin: "Trust me, that won't happen. At least not without a very good reason."

Sarah: "Then please treat me as anyone else, especially now that you have promised me to become my partner. You heard the captain. She won't treat me any differently than others so neither should you."

Kelin: "Very well, partner. Don't come crying to me when you regret this. Just kidding. You can tell me anything you want anytime I am free."

Sarah: "Thank you. As the first subject to be solved in our partnership: when are we going to tell about us?"

Kelin: "I don't know. I should at the very least tell Rosch first. What about your father? What says he about this?"

Sarah: "He approves it. Right now he won't make any official declarations about it as we have more important business to tend to."

Kelin: "Then I say we keep quiet about it too. At least for now. I don't want to prematurely announce it as we clearly need time to find out more about each other."

Sarah: "Alright. I can agree on that front. Please lead the way, my good sir."

Kelin: "As you wish, milady."

Meanwhile, back at the captain's cabin after they left.

Lewyn: "Well, that bed won't carry itself. Rosch, might giving me a hand?"

Lianna: "Actually, I want to talk to him a bit more. Could you wait for a moment?"

Mari: "Or I could help."

Lewyn: "Are you sure? I can carry it fine on my own. It's the size that would be the problem."

Mari: "It's fine. I need some exercise and don't have anything else to do right now."

Lewyn: "Alright then. See you later."

Lianna: "Later."

After Lewyn and Mari left, only Rosch and Lianna stayed in the cabin.

Rosch: "What did you want from me?"

Lianna: "I am surprised you haven't said anything when Princess was here. I thought you and Kelin were rivals."

Rosch: "I'm afraid that ship has sailed. I just overheard one of the maids last night. Apparently he already proposed to her."

Lianna: "That's so sweet. Any idea when they will announce this?"

Rosch: "Knowing Kelin, it will be a while. I am afraid we aren't yet on the stage where we talk freely about everything among ourselves."

Lianna: "That's a shame."

Rosch: "At least they aren't being judged. I also overheard one of them complaining about the mess we made last night."

Lianna: "Heh, I would say mission successful. So whose relationship do you think will be revealed first?"

Rosch: "Ours. No contest?"

Lianna: "Really? Not even going to contest that?"

Rosch: "No."

Lianna: "Then let me do that with a small bet. I bet that theirs will be announced before ours does. The loser gets to do whatever the winner orders them to."

Rosch: "You do realize you will most likely lose?"

Lianna: "And you should realize that I won't see it that way. Heh."

Rosch: "You are such a deviant."

Lianna: "And you have no imagination."

Rosch: "Against you, I might as well be brain dead. It seems I have a lot of catch up to do."

Lianna: "Don't worry. I won't leave you alone in that."

Rosch: "Then I have no choice to accept the bet."

Lianna: "Let's see how long before I fail."

After the passionate kiss between the two lovers, they returned back to their duties and readied the ship for the travel to Cardia Isles.