Kiyomi and Sako kneeled before the king in the center of the room as he sat on this throne. Chelsea had insisted on taking them to the king.

50 guards lined the whole room on either side of them and facing their direction, evenly split and parallel—from the King Lancester’s sides down to the door. They stood at attention, weapons sheathed. Their helmets hid their faces.

Chelsea stood at attention by the king’s side as a mannequin.

A girl with a large, round pair of glasses stood on his opposite side in a relaxed manner, probably because she wasn’t part of a military force for the kingdom. She looked like a secretary—dressed studiously in a gold-trimmed, black wizard robe with the look of a bookworm. Her hair was a bob cut—dark brown and neat, well-combed. She was reading a book. Then she held the book in one hand and began scribbling something down with her other. A finely crafted, black sword levitated close to her, engulfed in an aura—a magic sword. Those were rare.

Everyone except her was quiet and still as rocks.

After a moment, she shut the book and looked off to a far side of the room away from everyone. A portal appeared where she was staring. She walked towards it leisurely, about to leave.

“You could at least give a farewell before your departure, Le Francia.” He gave her a mildly disgruntled look. A slight annoyance lingered in his tone.

Le Francia stopped before the portal. “I could. But perhaps another time.” Before she took another step to the poral, someone yelled.

A guard stepped out of line. “SUCH INSUBORDINATION SHOULD NOT GO UNPUNISHED!” He drew his sword and pointed it at her. Everyone turned their heads, including Le Francia.

“SETTLE DOWN, SOLDIER!” Chelsea shouted.

“But…” After some thinking, he sheathed his sword, went back in line, and resumed his stance as a statue like the rest of his peers—hands at his side, feet together, looking straight ahead past the girls to the opposite, identical line of guards.

Le Francia was a bit surprised. “I appreciate your sincere loyalty to His Majesty. Retain that quality, even in dire times. Always remember your duty. Be steadfast and strong. The same goes for all of you lest your kingdom falls!”

Together, all the guards, including Chelsea, put their right fists to their left breasts—a salute. “Ma’am!”

She turned back to the portal before her and stepped through, followed by the sword. The portal closed.

Is the atmosphere always this tense? Kiyomi wondered. Le Francia’s behavior puzzled her too.

An awkward silence filled the air.

She was fighting the urge to check everyone’s stats in the room. It would be rude to just suddenly pull up a holoscreen and read off it. She could also check the stats by visualizing them on each person, which would bring up the stats to her eyes for only her to see, but they wouldn’t be as detailed as the standard holoscreen.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

King Lancester’s eyes now rested on the two of them as he sat upright, dignified and confident. He was a fairly young man and not even middle-aged. Neatly trimmed, blonde hair with a crown on top of his head. He wore a cloak, gold-trimmed and black like Le Francia’s robe. It seemed to be something like a dress code for royalty or high positions. His blonde beard and mustache were neat, sharp, and cleanly shaven. “My honored guests, please forgive that. She is just a little upset about an earlier matter. Now, I heard from my captain that you both helped in annihilating the invading monsters. Is this true?”

Sako glanced to Kiyomi, wanting her permission to answer for both of them.

Kiyomi nodded at her.

Sako looked back at King Lancester. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

His face lit up with surprise. He took some time to find his next words.

Soft sounds of awe erupted around them. Some guards leaned to one another, mumbling.

“I am thoroughly impressed at your astounding achievement,” he continued. “Thank you for your aid. I do not know how we would have managed to counter such an enormous horde without you.” He looked to his side to Chelsea. “How large was this horde again?”

“Just about 100 000,” she replied.

“That is quite a feat…” He fell silent in his admiration.

The mumbling around them got louder.

“Are you adventurers?”

“Yes, we are,” Sako replied.

“In that case, out of curiosity, may we see your adventurer’s IDs?”

Sako stiffened and bit her lip, looking to Kiyomi for help, but Kiyomi was just as embarrassed with cold sweats. “They are…”

King Lancester raised an eyebrow. “They are what?”

Maybe we should lie and tell him we lost them in the fight. That was a decent idea. She leaned over to Sako. “Just lie about them, simple.”

“What?! Are you crazy?!” Sako whispered back. “Let’s just show him. You know I don’t like lying, especially if it’s someone as important as this guy.”

“Is there an issue with my request?” he asked.

They resumed their initial positions.

“No, no! We were just… discussing the decision…” Sako forced a smile and showed her teeth. Her eyebrows betrayed her; they were tense. Whenever she smiled with her teeth, she looked downright awkward, like a drug dealer trying to convince you that his drugs were good for you.

“In that case, Chelsea.” He glanced to Chelsea.

“Yes, Your Highness.” She made her way down a few steps, taking her time. The click of her heels echoed in the room as she walked across it. She walked with a refined gait, befitting royalty. And with each click that brought her closer to the two, the fear inside Kiyomi grew more and more.

Chelsea reached them and held her hand out. “You may stand.”

They got to their feet.

“Your IDs, please.” Half of her bangs were professionally clipped back to one side of her head, exposing her forehead. The other half rested just above her eyes, evenly trimmed.

Kiyomi reluctantly pulled it out of her pocket. Sako did the same. They both handed them to her.

Once she got them, she turned her back and returned to King Lancester’s side then stood exactly as she was before.

“What are their ranks?” King Lancester asked.

Chelsea held them up before her eyes and stared at them. Her eyes widened. “This doesn’t…”

“What? What is it?” The king asked.

“Their ranks…” At last, she lifted her head, appearing as if she had just woken up from a bad dream. “They’re F.”

“WHAT?!”