It was another boring day of work.

Jonathan sighed as he leant against his spear. He was just an ordinary guardsman who was assigned guard duty at the entrance leading up to the palace of Verne. At one point, he used to be an adventurer— which was essentially a mercenary hired to deal with monsters.

But ever since he narrowly survived an escort mission for a caravan that resulted in hundreds dead from an onyx wasp swarm, he had retired and chosen to go for a safer job.

Like becoming a guard working at the palace of Verne.

It was not the most elegant job to have. In fact, it was far from glorified. All he did was stand in front of the gates of the palace as passersby pointed at him and whispered— oftentimes bothering him and inundating him with annoying questions like if the latest gossip about the nobles was true or not— while the hot sun beat down on him from above.

Sometimes, Jonathan wished he worked inside of the palace. Mostly so he didn’t have to deal with annoying crowds or the hot sun. But he was not high-leveled enough to be positioned inside the palace, and he couldn’t be bothered to risk his life to level up to be positioned within the palace.

It was also a much more dangerous position, considering the looming threat of war with the Empire of Julin. While Jonathan didn’t particularly keep up with politics, he heard the whispers of the nobles— that war was inevitable.

So if Jonathan did become a royal guard, his life would be at greater risk, since he very likely would have to deal with assassins and the like. Whereas just being a gate guard was a much safer and easier job.

Although… that was also debatable.

He had heard about what happened here in Verne while he had been gone on his only vacation week of the year. He had been visiting his family in the countryside, when apparently, the Leviathan of myth and legend attacked the city.

It almost sounded too ridiculous to be true. But Jonathan had no choice but to believe it when literally everyone in the city— from the king to random street vendors— all said the same thing. The only reason why the city was still standing was because a powerful warrior from Medul descended from the heavens and saved them all.

But if that hero hadn’t saved them all, and Jonathan had been at guard duty at the gates of the palace, he would’ve been the first one to die. Just like if war broke out, and the city was invaded.

I’m in danger no matter what I do, Jonathan sighed. But at the very least, if I die doing my job here, it won’t be my fault. It won’t be because I’m an idiot who got himself killed.

So he just dealt with what he had to. Even if he had to deal with overzealous newbies like his current partner.

Jonathan glanced to the side and pursed his lips. His partner, Seth, was smiling away and happily chatting with a middle-aged woman and her young son. They were barraging the newbie with questions, to which he answered enthusiastically.

“Have you really seen Prince Winemar before?” the boy asked with wide eyes.

Seth nodded as he raised his chin. “Indeed, I have. In fact, I have even exchanged pleasantries with Prince Winemar before.”

“Wow…” the boy cooed, before turning to his mother. “I want to meet Prince Winemar too!”

“Can you please let my son into the palace?” the mother asked Seth as she held the boy’s shoulder.

And Seth hesitated as he shuffled his feet. “Uh…”

Jonathan sighed at that. “No, we cannot allow that to happen. We do not have the permissions to let you through even if we wanted to.”

“Aw, but—” the young boy started.

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And Jonathan promptly cut off the child. “Now please leave the premises or we will have to arrest you for trespassing.”

The mother’s brows snapped together. “How rude! Is this how you treat all visitors?”

“I—” Seth started.

But Johnathan just snorted, “Lady, you’re not a visitor. Nobody but the nobility and the royal guards are allowed inside of the palace. So fuck off, before I arrest you.”

The mother’s eyes widened in horror as she covered her son’s ear. She gritted her teeth, then began to usher him away from the entrance of the palace. Jonathan could hear her muttering something under her breath about how she was going to bring this up to his supervisor.

But he didn’t care.

Although, Seth, being the newbie he was, chewed his lower lips uncertainly and spoke up, “Did you really have to dismiss them that rudely, John?”

“First of all, don’t call me John,” Jonathan snorted as he turned to the newbie. “And secondly, yes. Otherwise, they’ll think they can get special privileges and be let into the palace when nobody is allowed in. Even we aren’t allowed inside, beyond our barracks.”

Jonathan folded his arms, and Seth scratched the back of his head. But Seth didn’t argue any further. The newbie just nodded as he straightened. And the two of them returned to their post, silently standing by the gateway as the sun slid down from the sky overhead.

Jonathan had thought that they would be unbothered by any passersby for at least another hour or so. So he thought he’d at least be able to relax for the remainder of the afternoon, before he could go back home for the day. Unfortunately, another family seemed to take interest in the palace— a father, a mother, and a young child.

The three of them approached Jonathan as he sighed internally. I hate my job…

The father— a rather tall and disheveled man wearing a hood to cover his face— approached Jonathan and spoke casually.

“Hey, sorry, but I need to enter the palace,” the father said simply. “So if you’ll excuse me—”

And Jonathan wrinkled his nose as she smelled the stench wafting off the hooded man. “I’m sorry, but who made you king? Nobody’s allowed into the palace. Not especially a homeless man like you.”

Jonathan just folded his arms and spoke matter-of-factly. The hooded man sighed and slowly raised his hood as Seth glanced over from the side.

“Look, I don’t want to deal with this. Just let me in, alright?”

“Wait, you’re—” Seth’s eyes went wide. He turned to Jonathan and tried to work his jaw. “Jonathan, t-that’s…”

But Jonathan just rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you think showing me your ugly mug is going to do.”

The homeless-looking man frowned, and his wife chuckled in the background. His child tugged at her sleeves, asking a question which Jonathan didn’t quite hear.

And that was when Seth sputtered, “Jonathan, you don’t understand—”

“Huh? You know this homeless man?” Jonathan furrowed his brows as he looked towards the newbie.

“He’s—” Seth started.

But he was interrupted by a voice that came from inside of the gates of the palace. A woman’s voice.

“He is the Savior of Verne. The Hero from Medul. The Light from the Heavens.”

Glancing back, Jonathan blinked a few times as he saw a pair of figures stepping out of the palace of Verne. Immediately, he dropped to his knees, bowing at them.

“Princess Hilda, Sir Aloysius!” Jonathan lowered his head.

Seth was a step behind him, taking a moment to process what he had to do.

But the princess just chuckled as she strode out of the gates of the palace. “It’s just Hilda now, I am no longer a princess.”

“R-right…” Jonathan straightened as he faced the former princess. Then he glanced back towards the homeless-looking man as she walked up to greet him.

“Hello, Damien. It’s been a while.”

“Hey, Hilda,” the homeless-looking man— Damien— said casually. “Could you help me get in the palace? I’ve got to meet with Archmage Fornus to check on Elana.”

“Archmage Fornus…? Wait, what’s going on? How do the both of you know this man, Sir Aloysius?” Jonathan asked with a quizzical expression on his face as he faced the [Knight].

Aloysius shook his head as he chuckled. “You can stand down. Damien here is the one who defeated the Leviathan and saved Verne. So he can do what he wants.”

“Wait, you can’t be serious, right?” Jonathan gaped at Damien for a moment.

Jonathan went cross eyed as Hilda just nodded.

“That is indeed correct,” the former princess said simply.

“I… that’s—” Jonathan started as he glanced around.

And Seth just shrugged. “I told you so.”

Meanwhile, Damien raised a brow. “So… can I enter now?”

And Jonathan’s mind spun as he stood there in sheer confusion— in sheer disbelief. This couldn’t be real, right? But it was.

Slowly, he lowered his head as he nodded. “Yes, you may.”