"Captain Raphael!" A young guard cried out as he rushed down the hallway towards his superior. The large, middle-aged man known as Raphael turned to the guard with a scowl. "What is it, newbie?" Raphael hissed. "Can't you see who I'm talking to?" The guard's gaze shifted to the woman standing beside Raphael. Although she was not as tall as the captain, her height was still impressive.

However, the boy couldn’t exactly tell who she was. After all, he was still new to the job.

That’s until he looked at her eyes.

Scarlet red... he thought.

The boy’s eyes suddenly widened open and he immediately kneeled down.

"P-princess!" he stammered.

"Took you long enough," Raphael shook his head.

"It's alright, you may stand up," the princess said with a gentle smile.

"R-right," the guard stammered as he stood back up.

"May I have a moment with the captain, please?"

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "What could be so important to disrupt my conversation with Princess Euphemia, Memhed?"

The young guard hesitated for a moment, glancing between Raphael and the princess before speaking.

"It's Alicawa, sir... he's dead."

The news of Alicawa's death came as a shock to everyone in the kingdom. Captain Raphael was no exception. He clenched his jaw and his hand tightened into a fist.

The captain himself had been close to the young man, and had taken him under his wing. The thought of his protégé dying so suddenly was a heavy burden on the captain's heart.

As he stood there, reflecting on the news, Princess Euphemia approached him.

"Captain Raphael, I'm so sorry for your loss," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Raphael looked up at her, a small smile on his lips.

"Thank you, Princess," he replied.

"But I'm afraid there's no time to grieve. We have a job to do."

Euphemia nodded, understanding his need to focus on the task at hand.

"What do you need from me?" she asked. "I need to know what happened to Alicawa," Raphael replied, his tone serious.

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"I need to know how he died, and who's responsible." The princess nodded again. "I'll make sure the investigation begins immediately,"

she said, before turning to leave.

Raphael watched her go, his mind already beginning to work. He knew that the truth behind Alicawa's death would not be easily uncovered, but he was determined to find out what had happened.

He would not let the young guard's death go unanswered.

With a deep sigh, he turned and made his way to the training grounds, where he would spend the next few hours training the kingdom's new guards.

As he trained, he couldn't help but think about Alicawa, and the many other guards who had lost their lives in the line of duty.

But he also thought about all the good that the guards did, and how important it was to continue their work.

The sun was beginning to set as Raphael finished his training. Exhausted, but still determined, he made his way back to his quarters.

As he settled in for the night, he knew that the search for the truth about Alicawa's death would continue tomorrow.

“On behalf of the Kings, I order you to open this door!” A muffled voice shouted outside Raphael’s room.

“...Wha?” Raphael muttered, still half unconscious.

“You’ve got three seconds to surrender yourself, captain!”

What the hell is happening here? Raphael thought.

Raphael rubbed his eyes, trying to shake the grogginess of sleep. He stood up and made his way to the door, but as soon as he reached for the handle...

Bam!

The door exploded inward, sending splinters flying through the air. Raphael's instincts kicked in, and he reached for his sword, grabbing it from the bedstand in one fluid motion.

“What’s-” Before Raphael could get answers, two of the lower-ranking guards immediately set on attacking him as soon as they saw Raphael holding a sword.

However, the difference in skill between the Housecarls and the Royal Guard is simply too great.

One attacker lunged towards the captain, while the other attempted to pierce straight through the front.

Raphael, not wanting to kill them, sidestepped at the first guard’s attack, and roundhouse kicked the man right onto his helmet, making him fly so fast that he nearly broke the wall behind him.

The captain stood in his fighter’s stance, embalming his body with such an Aura that the people in that room could nearly feel it. He was such a formidable sight that the remaining guard thought twice before attacking.

He glared towards the Castellan.

“You better have a fantastic reason for this,” He growled “or by Sylvar I’ll crush your skull!” Raphael screamed in a fit of rage.

“W-why yes, we do...Captain Raphael Jung of the Royal Guard, you're under arrest for the murder of Mathias Alicawa," the Castellan replied, looking nervous under Raphael's intense gaze.

The captain was taken aback at the accusation at first, but he gained his composure again, and his eyes narrowed. He was a respected and trusted member of the royal court, and the thought of being accused of murder was outrageous. "Prove it," he said, his voice dangerous.

The gray-haired man in charge of the arrest hesitated, but then stepped up to the challenge.

“According to multiple witnesses, you were seen arguing with Mathius on the night of his murder. We have reason to believe that anger might have overcome you, and-”

“Bullshit, Alicawa and I argue all the time!” Raphael interrupted with a yell.

“Then come with us and clear your name, captain.” One of the guards near the Castellan said.

Raphael recognized that voice.

He took a deep breath, and loosened his grip on the sword, returning to his normal stance.

Raphael couldn’t let this false accusation tarnish his decade-long reputation.

“You’re right.” He stated. The captain would get to the bottom of this, and make whoever responsible for the death of his disciple pay.