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Lio once again was the brains behind our operation. We had the singular goal of figuring out exactly what happened to Isla Doniz, since Fiar kept his mouth shut and stared lifeless at his toes.

The issue we came across was the archived info was safeguarded by the Military Knights. So Lio and I stood over Fiar’s table in front of his couch, staring at what Lio had drawn on a piece of paper.

What was on that paper was the plan Lio concocted. Much like his previous plan, we each had our role. Lio and I would negotiate with the Military Knights, while Kueler simply tagged along for the reputation he had with all the knights. Apparently he was very famous among them. We would essentially be leeching off that fame for leverage over the knights.

And arguably the most important role went to Christia. She had to stay in Fiar’s place and look after him. It sounded mundane, but who knew what Fiar would have done. He could very well go on a rampage, run away, or even kill himself. He was a mentally unstable mess, and we didn’t want to take any chances. We wanted to help our friend.

I stared at the paper and nodded. “Okay, this’ll do.” I wasn’t much of a negotiator, so I just hoped I didn’t bring down Lio with my ineptitude. I scratched the back of my head and yawned.

Sharp knocks on the door startled me from my fatigue. I walked up and opened the door.

Kueler stood there, suspiciously armed to the teeth with weapons and armor. Christia stood beside him with rather normal looking pants and tunic, but she also had a dagger strapped to her waist.

“Woah, why are you guys so armed?” I couldn’t get my eyes off of the large sheathed broadsword that swayed on Kueler’s belt.

“You can never be too armed, especially if it's the Military Knights that we’re dealing with.” Kueler waved a finger in the air.

Christia made an exaggerated nod of her head. “Yup! And I have to be prepare myself, in case Fiar tries to pull that same stunt he did with you guys.”

Ah, so Lio already relayed that information to them. It has barely been a day since that incident. That was good, I can save my time explaining everything.

I led the two adventurers inside, and they audibly gasped when their eyes fell upon Fiar. His eyes were bloodshot and lacking life, and his body was as still as a statue. It was almost like he hadn’t moved from that spot since Lio beat him to a pulp.

“What happened to him?” Christia looked to Lio for answers.

However, Lio never even looked back up from the page. “Oh, did I forget to tell you guys what Fiar did?” he said.

“No, it's not that. I was just wondering why his face is all bruised and his knuckles swollen.”

“Oh, that. I beat him up. Out of self defense, of course.” Lio still stared at the paper and grinned in satisfaction. He finally lifted his face to meet Christia and Kueler’s eyes.

Kueler burst out laughing and slapped Lio on the shoulder. “I’m impressed, Magician! You got him good.”

Lio felt the bruises on his own cheeks, they were beginning to swell. I instinctively touched my own bruises, and it still stung to touch it.

“He got me good, too,” Lio said.

He got both of us good, I was surprised. He’ll have some apologizing to do once he returns to his old self.

X X X

Lio had just finished going over the plan, and everyone nodded. Christia took her position by the couch next to Fiar. I could see the tips of her fingers turn white as she gripped the hilt of her dagger tight in her hands. She was not playing around, and neither were we.

We immediately headed out to the headquarters of the Military Knights, which was oddly found in the center of the Merchant district. Dead center, surrounded by dozens, possibly hundreds of merchant stalls and shops, was a fortress castle made of hard chiseled stone. It stood menacingly tall over everything around it. And there were we, looking up at it in awe. Or at least I was.

Fighting the loud voices of nearby merchants pitching their products to consumers on the streets, Kueler stepped forward on the stone path that branched off from the main road and led to the castle. “Incredible.” His jaw hit the floor.

Apparently he had great respect for Military Knights. They were the humble alternatives to the Royal Knights. Unlike the Royal Knights, these guys served the people. They were the ones in control of defending the nation from invading forces, even though Kori Soaro hadn’t been to war in at least fifty years. That’s besides the point, though. They also manage and hire guards to police over the city. Therefore, their duties required them to be tough as nails.

There wasn’t a drawbridge that acted as the entrance, like a traditional castle would have. This one simply had a metal gate, both sides protected by guards standing on the pathways atop the rampart. Those guards wore iron helmets and leather armor infused with chainmail and held bows in their hands. They saw us approaching the gate and they all grabbed an arrow from their quivers in synch.

“Name your business, citizens!” one of the guards yelled back.

Lio was the one to step forward and speak. He placed a hand over his heart and bowed. “Sirs, we want to request access to the archives. Can you help us with that?”

All the knights atop the rampart lowered their bows and stared at one another. “Oh of course!” a knight yelled back. One knight ran down the rampart stairs and began opening the gate for us. As soon as the young knight got the lock open and swung the gate ajar, he stared back at us with widened eyes. More specifically, his eyes were aimed at Kueler.

“Wait, its you? Kueler?”

Wait, they knew each other? Or maybe its that fame he was talking about? I just kept my mouth shut and followed Lio’s shadow. He strode ahead of us all, even ahead of the behooved knight that stood idle in front of Kueler.

“Yes, the one and only.” He put his hand over his heart and smiled. He had the charisma of a war hero, I just felt it in the air. Heavens forbid he’d use such charisma on me, I’d surely melt.

The knight stammered over his words, trying to think of something to say. “Well, uh, we’re all huge fans of you! The legendary hero who stood up to King Arveragus himself!”

“Oh please, you guys exaggerate too much!” Kueler bellowed out a laugh and followed behind us. That young knight, probably even younger than myself, scurried behind us.

Right before us was a thriving military stronghold. Knights in shining armor bustled about the courtyard that we walked across, and young trainees swung around wooden swords. Entire classes of these trainees were lined up and striking at dummies.

As I was staring around the place, Lio tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey, make sure not to cause a commotion, because I don’t think I’d be able to protect you in an environment like this.”

“You know I never do that.” I frowned. “Besides, why wouldn’t you be able to protect me?” I mean, Lio is extremely strong, only the second highest rank a mage can have. So there was no way he’d lose. He was always so hard on himself.

“We’d be walking in close proximity to dozens of competent swordsmen. They could easily close the gap before I could cast a spell.”

I looked ahead and saw about a dozen or so knights standing on the grassy field of the courtyard, lined up at attention. Standing against them was a man in a golden helmet with a red plume sitting on it. That was our target, I suppose. We needed to find the man of the house somehow.

Lio was right, though. They all looked extremely competent. Their bodies were muscular and fit for war, and their swords had an intimidating shine to them. I just stared at their swords, sweating.

Would they really be able to pull their swords out before we could cast a spell? Maybe I was underestimating a swordsman, I haven’t fought one before to test that theory. I just assumed that a magician would generally beat a swordsman nine times out of ten. You know, because I don’t think a sword could produce giant fireballs that turn anything it touches to a crisp.

That young knight clearly points to that older one wearing the gold helmet. He stood tall and instructed the other knights, his finger waving proudly in the air. This was definitely our guy. We needed his permission to access the archives.

He might have heard our footsteps, because the older knight turned his head around in a dime. His eyes lit up like a stoked fire. “Kueler! You brave dog!” He walked towards Kueler with arms opened wide. Kueler’s reputation really did precede him.

Kueler jogged ahead of us and approached him as well. “Haha! I thought they jailed you!” They embraced one another like brothers who hadn’t seen one another in years.

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“They did. I just served my sentence.” That knight had such a handsome smile that my heart began fluttering in my chest. “So what brings ya’ll here?” He analyzed Lio and I intently. “Its gotta be business if you’re bringing a Fire Mage and a stunning young woman too.” Goodness, I might just melt from this guy’s charisma.

He walked over, his iron armor rattling as it brushed against skin, and knelt down before me. He grabbed my hand and kissed my palm. “Nice to meet you, I’m Dallon, the commanding knight of this stronghold. May I know your name?”

The moment his lips pressed against my hand, my entire face went red. I couldn’t even look down at him without feeling severe butterflies in my stomach. “C-charliette, sir,” I managed to squeak out.

“Oh wow! What a lovely name! I’ll be sure to remember that.” He got back up to his feet and returned to Kuelers side, leaving Lio in the dust. I could feel he was fuming. As for myself, I was still quite flustered and grabbing on the edges of my dress in sheer awe.

But still, this helps us immensely that Kueler knows the man in charge. That meant we wouldn’t have to go through much of that hassle that we feared. I just had to control the emotions of my heart from spilling out. Let’s just say he made a lasting impression on me, whether I liked it or not.

“So, Mister Dallon, we’d come to access the archives that your troops safeguard. You think you can grant us access just for a little while?” Lio chased down Dallon and stood between him and Kueler.

Dallon put his hands on his hips and stared at the short grass under his feet. It was the sigh that seeped out of his mouth that scared me, since that wasn’t a good sign of a cooperative person. He clearly had a problem with what Lio proposed to him. All of this happened with a group of newbie knights that Dallon was supposed to train, stood and stared at us.

He hummed melodiously, another bad sign of indecisiveness. But still, I held onto hope that things would go smooth with Kueler’s reputation as our trump card.

“I’m sorry, Magician, I can’t let ya’ll do that. We’ve limited access to archives extensively after a murder case was brought to light, which involved the archives being used by the murderer to research his victim.”

I’ve actually heard about that in a tavern before. A man was lurking around, killing those he owed debt to. He was able to figure out where their families lived, based on archives of the location of their deceased relatives, and found his victim’s location after torturing and ultimately murdering the victim’s family. It was gruesome, and showed the dangers the archives could bring in the hands of a sick fiend.

“You know we’re not murderers, though,” Kueler spoke up for us, patting his comrade on the shoulder.

“I know that, obviously. But if I let ya’ll go in, then more’ll come and demand to see the archives too. It’ll be a mess.”

“A mess you can handle, I’m sure.” Kueler smirked and folded his arms over his chest.

“You sure love breaking the rules, huh? But I don’t.”

Just when I thought we could avoid hardship while getting the archives, my previous thoughts came back to bite me in the ass. I threw my hands up in despair. “What are we going to do then?” I asked Lio. In my periphery, I saw Dallon turn his head to me. What does he want now?

“C’mon! Isn’t Kueler’s reputation as a Royal Knight good enough evidence to know we wouldn’t use the archives for ill intent?” Even Lio threw in the glove in their little discourse. Little did I know that it would be my turn as well.

Dallon still glared at me with a dumb smile on his face. He never took them off of me.

“I’m sure you could do something, Dallon,” Kueler said to him.

The old knight nodded, still staring right at me with a lovestruck expression. Huh, lovestruck felt like the right word to describe him. “Perhaps…”

“Oh really?!” Lio inched closer to Dallon, and I reluctantly followed behind him. I was getting weird vibes from the guy. He still hadn’t released his eyes from me.

“Mhm. Y'all can use that archive as long as you want, as long as I can take Charliette here as my bride.”

I was stunned. No way was I going to do that. Even if it was for Fiar, I wouldn’t dare sacrifice my body and my freedom for that. I immediately shook my head, screaming “No way!” Kueler and Lio similarly expressed their disapproval.

“Oh well. Then y’all will never get to the archives. No without a fight, of course.”

That last thing to come out of his mouth rubbed me the wrong way, almost like he was expecting us to fight him for access to the archives. Time and time again we vocalized our intentions, which were all peaceful. I even came in my dress and hadn’t even picked up my robe yet since I was not even expecting to go into combat. Perhaps Kueler was, though. That would explain why he came to us looking like a soldier about to go to the frontlines.

Kueler himself had a way different reaction than I did. He smirked and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. “You like Charliette that much?” he asked.

Dallon placed his hands on his hips, sprinkling in a hint of sass. “Well yeah. She’s gorgeous. Definitely my type.”

I stepped back quite a lot. What was Kueler getting at? Don’t tell me he’s willing to sell me off like some bargaining chip?

“Listen Dallon, you’ll have your fight. You and me.” Kueler still held his hilt tight.

“What are you getting at?” Dallon narrowed his eyes and ran his fingers along the tip of his own sword hilt. This was a standoff between knights.

“You and me. If I win, give us access to archives, that’s all we want. If you win, you can have Charliette. Deal?”

Wait!

Before I could express my obvious disapproval of this deal, Dallon nodded his head almost immediately. “Deal. You know me too well. Not much of a deal, though, considering I never lost to you in combat training in our younger days.”

Everything that came out of Dallon’s mouth made my heart sink to my stomach. I ran up to Kueler and punched him on his shoulder, hurting my knuckles on his armor in the process. “Kueler, what are you thinking! I never agreed to this!”

Lio had a huge frown on his face, targeted right at Kueler. We were both about to explode on him, rightfully so.

The strong adventurer that stood next to me, about to gamble away my life, tapped my back on the shoulder. “You don’t need to agree to this since I’ll win. No doubt about it.” He had a stoic look, the wolf pelt coat tied over his chest fluttering in the wind.

He better win. I just wasn’t right for him to use me like that. I swear it, once this is over, he’ll have to make it up to me. I backed up further next to Lio, with a pouty expression. I was so pissed.

“Do you really think he’ll win?” My arms were cross over my chest as I posed the question to Lio. He sighed.

“Don’t know. Never seen a battle between two swordsmen of this caliber before.”

Before we could speculate, the battle began. Both combatants drew their swords and charged at one another. Were they not going to use wooden swords?

Right, they were knights, flesh and blood. If they were going to fight, no way would they hold themselves back with flimsy wooden swords. They were a much different breed when compared to mages.

Kueler jumped in for the opening strike to Dallon’s abdomen, but Dallon quickly swatted it away with his own blade. Sparks danced in the air above them like shining stars.

Dallon stomped on the ground and dug the heels of his boots in the ground. It was an unusual move, considering he essentially stuck his feet to the ground and hindering his mobility. Kueler by contrast was moving circles around him, striking from every angle possible. Yet every attack was parried hard enough to send him staggering. Dallon didn’t move an inch, yet he had full control of the battlefield. Kueler couldn’t do anything.

Lio and I stared at one another. This was the first time we saw professional swordsmen fight each other. There was a surprising amount of technique involved in it, much like a mage’s spell. While each spell served a purpose, these sword techniques and stances were much the same.

I could see now why Lio was frightened to fight a swordsman. Their movements were so fast that we could barely keep up with them. I was fully confident that a swordsman of their skill would easily tear me apart before I could even utter a spell to defend myself. Unlike us, these guys don’t need to rely on spellcasting, only the speed of their body.

Their fighting styles were opposites. Dallon hardly moved, keeping his blade as close to his body as much as he could to better defend from attacks. Meanwhile, Kueler relied on agility to dodge and attack. It was defense versus offense, the classic rivalry.

Bits of grass was sprinkled in the air alongside the sparks jetting out of the sword collisions, landing atop them. By the end of this battle, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were entirely covered in grass from head to toe. Still, I looked intently at the fight, my future kind of depended on it.

Kueler was struggling to get passed Dallon’s defense. He struck overhead, yet that was parried. He tried to sweep at his legs to dislodge him from his stance, but Dallon’s sword always came to save him at the right time. It never failed to meet Kueler’s strike at the apex of its descent. But Kueler was smarter than that, I knew he wouldn’t just strike continuously if it didn’t yield any results.

He used his environment to his advantage. Kueler now ceased to aim for Dallon, but right under his feet. If he couldn’t dislodge his stance directly, he would do it indirectly by digging his heels out from the dirt by striking at the ground right next to it. It always came short from Dallon’s heel, so Dallon miscalculated and was unable to stop his blade.

Kueler dodged and weaved through Dallon’s growing offensive attacks, then struck at the ground by his feet whenever he had the chance. It always caught his opponent off guard. By this time, all the rookie knights in the areas surrounded them, creating a makeshift arena out of spectators.

“Go captain!” Some knights in favor of Dallon yelled.

Some surprisingly sided with Kueler, cheering him on with sparkles in their eyes. “Show him the might of a true Royal Knight!”

This felt like a fight club now, with everyone hollering and cheering. Such an atmosphere made me expect people to start betting for winners soon.

Dallon finally began to catch on and adapt. When Kueler went for another strike at his feet, Dallon predicted and threw his blade up to parry it. But something different occurred, something that broke the cycle. Kueler switched stances, digging his heels into the dirt as well and putting his whole weight into parrying his counter. Dallon’s blade struck against Kueler’s and the amplified force of the parry sent him off his feet. His feet slipped off the stance struggled to regain their footing.

I saw a glint of fire in Kueler’s eyes. He ripped his heels out of the ground and charged at Dallon. Unable to keep his footing, Dallon held his blade up to defend the impending strike. But Kueler didn’t swing.

He dropped to the ground and leg sweeped at Dallon’s stumbling foot. The knight practically folded as he collapsed to the ground.

His grunt echoed throughout the castle, and the sound of his muscular body slamming against the hard ground made me wince. Sounded painful, yikes.

Kueler stood triumphant over Dallon. One hand was clenched into a fist while the other pointed his sword at his neck. Dallon smiled, he just smiled. No malice or bitterness for losing, he was a genuine man of the sport. That smile of his was also contagious enough to infect Kueler and even myself, who stood quite a distance away. I couldn’t help myself, I still stood by the opinion that his smile was the most charismatic one in the world.

“Do you yield?”

The entire crowd erupted into cheer and praise for the victor. The sunlight reflected off the sword, and all I could see was the true power of a swordsman. I was enlightened. We were enlightened, Lio and I.