Lysandra led them into the courtyard where the sun flared down and around stood the tall and imposing walls of the castle keep. Inside the courtyard, plants and trees of all different sorts were across the garden, granting it shade. A cool breeze rolled through, messing with Ezra’s hair.
“This castle is very important,” Lysandra said. “It was built before the Sealing War a thousand years ago and was designed to be impenetrable from the outside. During the war against the Demon Lord, it acted as a key resupply outpost. One might say that it was essential to the winning of the war altogether.”
The students were silent. Ezra tapped his foot like a jackhammer. Exposition cutscenes were the worst!
“You may ask why I bother to speak of such a long past time,” Lysandra said. “It is of great relevance, to you, however. A second Demon Lord has risen. He is the one who summoned you to this realm.”
There were various gasps of shock. Horror. The typical stuff. Ezra’s hands slipped into his pockets, and then they started shaking. The Demon Lord had summoned them? That was a piece of evidence for the ‘Demon Lord is in his System’ theory.
“Yes,” Lysandra said. “He’s been taking warriors with potential from other worlds and using them for his army. You were very lucky that we managed to intercept you in time. You would’ve been forced into joining that awful creature’s war machine. But thanks to the efforts of our wizards, you were taken away. Unfortunately, they made a mistake and several of you were put into a dangerous situation as a result. Ezra, Charles, Pete, and Steve. I apologize.”
She bowed down at a perfect 90-degree angle.
Charles shook his head and bowed in return. “I thank you, Queen Lysandra. Without you, we would’ve been forced into something horrible.”
One of the girls from Ezra’s class swooned, tumbling backward onto the stone brick path.
Ezra rolled his eyes, then looked at the queen.
“I’ve got a question,” he said.
The queen returned to a standing position and nodded. “I will be happy to answer. Simply inform me of what you wish to know.”
“Yeah. What are you getting out of this? Why help us?” Ezra said.
“Can I not do goodness for the sake of goodness?”
A boy next to Ezra gave him a nudge.
“Hey, why don’t you cool it, dude?” someone said.
Ezra didn’t respond.
“Come with me, Otherworlders,” Lysandra said. “I wish to show you more of our land.”
Lysandra walked us out of the castle and into the town beyond, her guards fanning out and preventing anyone besides the Otherworlders from getting close. Vendors lined the streets, hawked their wares as busy travelers shuffled back and forth, and the stone bricks clicked against Ezra’s shoes.
“Our kingdom has seen better days,” Lysandra said. “Since the second rise of the Demon Lord, things have become more difficult. Trade has been interrupted, and many have suffered personal losses. Despite this, we—“
There was a shout and one of the guards tried to grab a running figure. A ragged child bumped into the Queen, everyone watched with bated breath.
The queen leaned down and passed a single gold coin to the child. She beamed and walked off.
“We do what we can,” Lysandra said. “But it is never enough.”
The child walked off, holding the gold coin in her hand.
How convenient.
Lysandra waved her arm out, indicating the town square. “This is the land of Cortia. My people. And perhaps, your people, if you should so choose.”
“What do you mean?” Charles said.
Lysandra inclined her head. “I apologize. I have deceived you. You see, as Otherworlders, you have access to resources and abilities we do not. The reason why I spent so much time discussing other things is because I was attempting to convince you of a proposition.”
“Convince us of what?” Ezra said.
“You have several options,” she said. “Firstly, you may assume a normal life amongst the citizens of this kingdom. No one would blame or harass you for this decision. Secondly, you may join my skilled craftsman, manufacturing the tools necessary for us to farm our fields and wage our wars. Thirdly…”
She spread her arms out.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“You may take the most difficult path of all,” she said. “You may become warriors. Knights of the kingdom who drive off the darkness. Perhaps you may be the ones to end this terrible war and bring peace to our lands.”
One student started clapping. Then another, until the entire class was pounding their hands together and cheering.
“Well, after a speech like that, how could we not!?” one girl said.
A boy pounded his fists together. “Being a badass knight sounds kinda cool!”
“And what if you want to walk away from this place,” Ezra said. “And go join another kingdom or something?”
Everyone quieted down.
Multiple heads with confused or hostile faces stared at him.
“Why,” she said. “You would be granted food and supplies for your journey, along with my personal best wishes.”
Bullshit. Bullshit bullshit bullshit. Ezra wasn’t some master of charisma and he wasn’t a genius, but he knew a liar when he met one.
After all, he saw one in the mirror every day. If Otherworlders were as valuable as she claimed, she wouldn’t let them go without a fight. Not unless she was genuinely good.
A monarch that was good like that wouldn’t have lasted a day in a world as oppressive as this because someone with much higher stats would’ve just overthrown her.
Ezra was making a lot of grand leaps and assumptions, but something deep inside of him screamed that this woman wasn’t telling the truth.
It didn’t hurt that Synica had more or less admitted that the queen couldn’t be trusted.
Ezra grimaced. For now, he should keep his cards close to his chest, he was too weak to challenge Synica or any of the knights to a battle and he didn’t know how to make a run for it. No, he needed to bide his time.
“I was just asking,” he said. “I want to join my classmates and fight against the Demon Lord.”
Lysandra’s smile turned a bit more genuine and she nodded.
“Those of you who wish to pursue other options may speak with Stip Idia, a Vice Commanding General.”
Stip Idia
Lv. 72
Vice Commanding General of Cortia
The man in question straightened up and slapped his heels together, the intended clang sounding more like a wet sloshing noise.
“However,” she said. “Those of you who wish to become knights, please stay with me.”
A handful of people walked over to Stip Idia and spoke with him, gesturing and whispering. Idia nodded in response and began to walk away.
Lysandra smiled with a hint of mischief in the expression. “I did not wish to influence their decisions, so I neglected to inform them of the best part.”
“The best part?” someone said.
“Yes,” she said. “All the Otherworlders have expressed that this was the most exciting part of their orientation. You see, Otherworlders have the peculiar ability to bond with specially designed weapons. These weapons are imbued with a spirit, granting it—and hence, you—untold powers. ”
“What kind of powers?” Charles said.
“Imagine being able to cleave mountains,” Lysandra said. “Part the waters with a single motion. Heal someone on the brink of death. That is the kind of power I speak of.”
She clapped her hands together.
“And you’ll be receiving one in a matter of hours!”
A cheer went up. Despite Ezra’s pessimism, a small part of him lit up with excitement. A cool magical weapon given for free? That’s hard not to be interested in.
Lysandra led them back to the castle and to the side, Ezra caught sight of a man in an alleyway. He was tired and worn, his clothes nothing more than rags, he caught sight of the royal procession, his eyes widened and he dashed off in the other direction.
Ezra stood there for a moment, and the rest of the group passed by him.
“Did you see something? What are you looking at?” a voice said.
Ezra turned to see Stip Idia. The man was completely unremarkable up close. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a cordial expression.
“Oh, nothing. Thought I saw someone,” Ezra said.
Idia reached up and picked his nose, then motioned with his head. “The rest of the group is going. Let’s keep up, shall we?”
Ezra nodded and followed behind Idia with his legs, but his mind remained on the look of terror on the old man’s face.
----------------------------------------
The group was taken to a luxurious commons area with fancy chairs and walls of gold. There, they were informed that they would be moving out once the weapons were near completion. Something about not bothering the smiths while they were working.
So in the meantime, the group was free to discuss what they’d seen and heard.
“I feel bad for the poor queen,” one of the girls said. “She seems so kind, but that evil Demon Lord just wants to burn everything to the ground.”
Another boy—wait, was that lackey 2?—nodded. “You’re so right. We’ve got to help her out if we can.”
“Are you guys serious right now?” Ezra said.
Lackey 2 winced, then turned toward Ezra with furrowed eyebrows.
“What are you talking about?” Lackey 2 said.
Ezra adjusted his jacket and zipped it up.
“You’ve completely fallen in with this woman after just an hour of knowing her,” Ezra said. “You’re about to get involved in her war, a war we have nothing to do with, are you serious?”
The boy blinked. “Well, I, uh… I never thought about it that way.”
“You and everyone else here.” Ezra spread his arms out. “Guys, would it kill you to be at least a little cautious?”
Charles stepped up, his back straight as a steel beam.
“You accepted this the same as us,” Charles said. “Doesn’t that make you something of a hypocrite?”
“I’m doing it for my own reasons,” Ezra said. “At least I’m not lying to myself and acting like we’re a bunch of heroes. These kids aren’t. You’re definitely not. I didn’t see you saving my ass for most of that fight from earlier.”
Charles reared back as if he’d been physically struck. He sucked in a breath and marched up to Ezra.
“I am not a coward,” Charles said.
“Never said you were. You’re the one who said that.”
“Whatever,” Charles said. “You’re pathetic, Ezra. You see nothing but evil in every single eye. That’s why you can’t see that the queen’s a good woman. The idea of it goes against your fundamental view of the world, you—“
“That’s it!” a female voice said.
Yuki was standing between them. She looked at Charles.
“Stand down.”
Charles winced and he averted his eyes with a quick movement. Yuki faced away from Charles he glared at Ezra, his eyes wide and twitching as they flickered between the two.
“And as for you, please. Be kind.”
Ezra turned around and started walking, putting his fingers out in a peace sign. “Whatever.”
Time passed slowly. Ezra’s comment seemed to have relaxed some of the fire in the students. Many were quietly whispering to each other. Lackey Two was nodding his head, stating that Ezra had gotten it right.
Ezra would’ve laughed if he didn’t find it so sad.
Eventually, the time came. Synica strode through the wooden door, her eyes cold as she took in the classmates.
“The forging is nearly finished. Come with me.”