The loyal Head Knight had no idea why he was kicked out. They must have miscommunicated.

'Yes, that must be it.' Arthur slouched down to the floor in front of the door while thinking of their talk.

Had he been too honest…?

Maybe he should've been more thoughtful about how his liege must have felt about circumstances.

Truly, he too was a deep thinker like his father.

Life returned to the State Knight's eyes.

He believed this to be a temporary phase. When his liege realised his error, he'd correct his words.

'I just need to do something for him. His Highness must have felt suffocated by this room.' Arthur knew Prince Vhalen had a tight schedule that only included etiquette classes, studying, music lessons, general knowledge, potioneering, etc…

Thus, his thought changed to something else.

He needed to get something exciting for his Prince to do. Something that will make him feel satisfied.

"Captain!" One of the Squires training and doing errands for the State Guardsmen ran towards him.

His friend seemed to be passing him information again through others. Arthur decided to listen in.

His face hardened the more he heard…

"Thank you, I'll deal with it immediately." The knight straightened his armour and was about to leave.

However, he suddenly had an outrageous thought.

The devil on his left rose from hell to whisper:

"You have to show how cool you are. Isn't this a great timing? Jenna can't one-up you on this!"

The imaginary voice from his shoulder was truly tempting, until an angel descended from the sky.

The handsome and magnificent figure of the angel landed on his shoulder before speaking few words:

"Knights SHOW their loyalty! YEAAAH!"

"YYEEAAAHHH!" Arthur was hyped to the point he loudly barged through the door and shocked the Prince. The short and youthful figure had no idea what crazy thought drove his guard to do this.

But he was familiar enough with him to ask:

"What are you thinking now?"

"My liege, please go out with me!"

Understandably, Prince Vhalen looked disturbed.

It was only after thoughtlessly speaking that Arthur realised his idiocy, then coughed and spoke firmly:

"There is an illegal underground gambling den's location I just got word of. Do you want to lead the troops to apprehend them? My men are ready to move at a command!" He knelt with dignity.

But it was too late to recover from his mistake.

Vhalen sighed, then decided that this would at least be more fun than studying all day and night.

He went to his drawer and pulled out a jacket, then straightened his clothes to get ready to head out.

All while leisurely asked the knight for details:

"How many can you move without making too much of a scene?" He took charge of the matter.

"At least 20 guards, Sir!"

"That should be enough. Tell me more about it on the way, and let us reward the informer personally."

"It shall be done." Arthur tried hard to control his happiness and speak with a more somber tone.

This was his chance!

The knight followed behind his liege and followed acted as a bodyguard. Keeping his senses sharp.

All until they made their way down a lot of steps to get to the bottom floor of the extensive palace.

There were a few knights waiting patiently, and they stood to attention when Prince Vhalen arrived.

"At ease." The short figure gestured, but no one considered anyone with his prestige to be 'small'.

His elegance and demeanour made him seem towering compared to State Knights like them.

His platinum hair and golden eyes made them feel a sense of worship. He was truly a special person.

A true member of Royalty!

But these common thoughts didn't affect him.

Vhalen's eyes scanned the armoured and bulky figures around him. He felt really bad in a sense.

'What did he do to you guys?' Even though he was a Prince, he was aware of how soldiers trained.

But the kind of physiques these knights had didn't seem possible without rigorous training everyday.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The way even the girls had pulsing veins and big bodies made him glance at Arthur for a moment.

Only two see two shining eyes stare back at him.

The prince couldn't bring himself to criticise him…

It was responsibility for the State Guardsman to always be fit for combat, but Arthur was too much.

Vhalen's eyes glowed when looking at the soldiers.

'They should fall in at around the time the performance will happen.' This was his analysis as a possessor of the Rare Class: 'Healer'. Vhalen was enough of a medical expert to know their condition.

Unlike a certain meathead of a Head Knight.

But instead of bringing this problem up, Vhalen gave each of them a smile and nodded at them.

"You all have worked hard so far, now all you need to do is deliver." He gave a short speech to them.

All the knights cheered sincerely in response.

Even the one standing straight behind him.

Vhalen continued to give his elegant smile and was about to lead them out of their room, but stopped when he noticed someone who stood out. It was a youth wearing some clothes that seemed customised to fit him. A unique piece of work.

He had enough knowledge of various things to recognise they were personally woven magic resistant clothing. Such clothes only belonged to two types of people: The rich, and the aristocracy.

The youth seemed to belong to the former.

'A merchant…?' Vhalen didn't know why such a person was here, but he approached the person.

"Excuse me, are you the one who informed the palace about that illegal gambling den? If so, I'd like to thank you for your cooperation." He made sure to keep a respectable distance between them.

But the person in question didn't seemed to get it.

"Right. You and him welcome." When the youth who looked like a merchant spoke, he'd also went out of his way to grab the hand that had been outstretched in a respectful gesture of courtesy.

Then shook that hand up and down.

The entire group of 21 knights found their jaws drop upon seeing such a disrespectful display.

"My apologies! My friend here is unaccustomed to etiquette. Please forgive his impudence!" Arthur quickly ran over and held Alex away. Separating them and forcing his friend to bow in apology.

"…That's fine." Although Vhalen was shocked, he didn't seem to mind. It somehow felt refreshing.

The way this person didn't seem to stare at his eyes and hair in awe, but looked at him plainly.

It made him feel fond of the merchant.

"Anyway, are you planning to come with us? I've heard a lot about you… Your name must be Alex Stuman, the friend my guard always talks about. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." The youth seemed like he was going to say something…

…but was stopped by an elbow from Arthur.

"Same here. There's someone here who could write a five page poem about your greatness."

The two of them stared at Arthur…

"W-what?!"

"Nothing. I'll be following you. Don't worry about my safety. I have this with me." Alex opened a bag.

He caught one of the constantly on the run Squires and get one to fetch his favourite weapon from home. What came out of the bag was a metallic bat that was covered in the highest grade engravings.

He instantly knew what this was made of.

'Is that a lump of Absolute Resistant Damascus Steel?' Vhalen had only heard of it from literature.

It's said that Damascus Steel was separated into different ranks. Each with their own toughness.

Medium Resistant Damascus Steel could barely block Skills, High Resistant had complete defence from Skills, Peak Resistant was able to barely handle Spells, and Absolute Resistant was the limit.

It was able to completely defend against the super moves that some great knights were able to utilise.

One could even consider this bat a Divine Weapon.

This wasn't a matter of wealth anymore. Vhalen had realised that Alex must have had connections.

Which made him want to get much closer.

"Will you come with us?"

"I have some business there, and some heads to pop." A violent smile arose on the Arcanist's face.

"That's great."

"Squad 11, get ready to roll out!" Arthur spoke to the knights behind him, and they let out a cry.

Their eyes hungered for… 'justice'.

Prince Vhalen lead the way as a metal bat holding Arcanist and a paladin style State Knight followed.

They headed straight for the place in question.

Arthur had already manifested his Spirit Essence into reality, the 'Rainwing Backsword' on his waist.

A shield was held firmly in front of him, ready to defend his liege from any who may come forth.

Bright magical glows appeared on the shield…

The five elements on his shield, and the glow of Light Mana circulated through his Spirit Essence.

His troops had a more standard fighting style.

Some had odd weapons like scimitars and morning stars, but these arms were few and far between.

They followed their Prince after informing him of the location. Vhalen expertly wove the streets.

His clothes weren't too eye-catching, and the rest of them were moving too fast to get any attention.

As they were striding there, Arthur spoke to Alex:

"Are you really going to be okay?" He noticed the runic silver glow on the bat, but was still worried.

"Why? Do you think I'd lose to a bunch of thugs?"

"You know that's not true. We were both hunters as kids, weren't we? How great we all were… as kids."

"Says the guy who used to dive into puddles of mud as a kid, but is now too good for them."

"Some have to grow up."

"I know… but you're not the only one who had grown." Alex held onto the Damascus bat tightly.

"…Is it because of that?"

"Don't call my baby girl a 'that'. She's the Neil Armstrong Cannon Number Algebra Cannon!"

"The what…? And did you say 'Cannon' twice?"

"It's much better than your 'Heaven Splitting Hell Sundering God Slaying Devil Killing Light Draw'."

"We were kids back then."

"And you're different now?"

"I'm not immature anymore."

"If you say so…" Alex rolled his eyes. His friend always acted like he was such a 'rational' person.

Even though he was just a big meathead.

"I can't protect both of you when we go in." Arthur wasn't the least bit tactful when he spoke this.

"Don't. I have my strength."

"You're just an enchanter…"

"Don't look down on enchanters!"

"What's going on back there?" Prince Vhalen turned his head momentarily, but they acted it off.

Pretending they were having a nice conversation.

When the prince saw their plastic smiles, he decided against asking what happened with them.

It wasn't that interesting anyway…

Alex flexed his arm before walking ahead. He left some words for Arthur with a delinquent swagger:

"Don't be like that. My 'N.A.C. N.A.C.' shall protect you." He showed the signature written on the bat.

The words {Neil Armstrong Cannon Number Algebra Cannon} was written in bold font.

Arthur had no idea how to respond to this.

He knew his friend was a little… eccentric, but this was going too far. Did he have to act like this?

Alex wasn't even a knight!

He was just a civilian, and those who the State Guardsmen had sworn to protect shouldn't butt in!

…However, it wasn't like the loyal Head Knight didn't like how his friend was supporting them.

Even if it was in his own way.

He sped up to catch up with the group. They hadn't stopped for even a moment to get there.

They went down the steps to the think iron door.

"Do you want to knock?" Prince Vhalen exchanged a gaze with Arthur while spearheading the raid.

The rest of them were perfectly clear on how.

"Hold your hands up!" The bulky Head Knight roared while infusing Mana into his beefy leg.

A thunderous booming sound shook the casino.

Customers panicked and the underground workers reacted fast. They couldn't allow this place to go.

How would the knights know the amount and effort that went into making this dreary place functional?

The blood, sweat, and tears that went into it?

Those thugs who took pride in their profession got ready to defend the place. This was their business.

How dare they barge in?!

Past the group of criminals was someone who watched the scene from afar. Fear was still there.

But she narrowed her eyes after seeing her target.

'Maybe I can catch him right now.' The smiling masked girl thought while hiding her presence.

Waiting for her chance to ambush them.

The knights were outnumbered, but none of them seemed afraid to get into a brawl in this place.

They initiated the raid with loud battle cries…!