I stepped out of the car and looked in awe at the large building that stood before me. It was like looking up a ten story building, and that was only the front door, which was like an open arch, with people wearing all sorts of elegant medieval outfits walking around. I couldn’t help but look down at my black dress and back up at everyone else and feel a bit out of place, but once more, I had to remind myself that I was invited here and that I didn’t just show up.
There were a few knights in golden armors standing by the entrance, and a few others that were moving about. Some of them looked like they were just starting their shift since I could see their faces while they carried a helmet under their arms, and others looked like they were statues, just standing there, unmoving. I could somehow feel their gazes behind the metal helmet, and I was feeling somewhat intimidated by their aura…
Though, I wasn’t sure if it was me or if they were doing it on purpose. I learned while training under Asteora and Althea, that after years of training, powerful people are able to command their power to create an even more powerful presence of themselves, which helps intimidate a lot of foes and give them an edge in combat. These knights were probably doing the same thing just by standing there, and I could feel it.
But then again, it might just be the same nerves that I’ve had for a while after coming here.
Behind me, Althea walked out of the car and stood for a moment, looking with an expressionless face up at the building. I thought that for sure she would feel happy or something like that after coming back to her hometown… but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps I should ask her later what she’s feeling.
“Okay, let's get our entrances done so we can meet up with the emperor. Lady Asteora should already be inside… she’s got the… benefit of going wherever she pleases, so we’re not likely to meet her here,” Oliver said, standing in front of us and looking with a smile, before turning his back on us. “Follow me.”
We didn’t linger much longer and went after him, but as I was doing so, some of the knights around the building suddenly stopped moving, their heads following our movement. I wasn’t sure if they were looking at me or not, so I tried looking for the ones that didn’t have a helmet on, and they were also stuck looking this way.
Most of the knights here were pale people with very pretty faces, but they were all looking as if they had seen a ghost… for some reason.
So, I tried to follow their gazes, and quickly realized that they were looking at Althea. Slowing down a little to stand close to her, I leaned my face to her side, and without losing my sight of the knights around the building, I spoke to her.
“What’s going on here…? Why are people looking at you like that?” I whispered, covering my mouth so people didn’t know exactly what I said.
Althea’s expression didn’t change and she didn’t look at the people I was looking at. “A lot of these knights were in the Final War. So they’re probably wondering if I am who they think I am, or just someone who looks like it.”
Once she said, I realized that it was obvious that if she was such an important knight before, that a lot of knights from the empire should know who she was just by looking at her. It was then that I worried if they were going to make a fuss out of it, so I walked with even more care to make sure they didn't feel offended, or something like that.
Luckily, we didn’t have to walk a lot to reach a large desk that only had a pretty lady, dressed in the same elegant, medieval outfits that everyone else here wore. She had the same kind of pale pretty face that everyone else here did.
“Hello, Lady Maria,” Oliver said with an amiable smile. “ Would you mind giving us the go-ahead?”
This ‘Lady Maria’ quickly gave a glance at Oliver, and lowered her head as she swiftly took out papers and stamped them all over the place, just like old bureaucratic buildings did in the past. It was so strange seeing them do things the old way… I couldn’t even see a single light bulb on the walls, or anything like that. It was all either magic, or just old things.
“Here you go,” the lady said, passing a few papers to Oliver. “You already know the rules.”
“Right. Thank you so much,” Oliver replied, giving us a look as he beckoned us with his head to follow him. “We’re good to go now. There’s still some walking to do, so let us not waste time and—”
“Lord Hanssen,” a loud and commanding voice of a woman boomed. “I am here to escort you to His Majesty's hall.”
I quickly turned to look at the woman that had suddenly appeared. It was a tall lady wearing the same golden armor that every knight here was wearing. She was even taller than Althea, and the build of her sturdy armor let me know that she was just as fit as Althea or Reeta—if not more.
She had long blonde hair that was arranged in a tall ponytail which was swaying in the wind. I wondered if that could be a problem… since enemies should be easily able to yank your head from that, but… maybe it’s like my fire where it’ll burn your hand off if you try to touch it.
As she was also approaching, I noticed the fierce and intimidating look that she carried on her green eyes, and I couldn’t help but swallow my saliva as I heard the metallic steps of her boots getting closer.
“Oh? This would be a first, Lady Helena,” Oliver said with surprise, not at all intimidated by her presence despite him not having any magic power.
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“It’s Lady Greycastle,” she said, her tone just as stern as the look she had. “And…”
We waited for her to continue speaking, but she just paused with a deep frown on her face as she looked at Althea. I threw a glance at Althea to see how her reaction would be, but Althea was simply looking back at the knight.
It was getting somewhat awkward, so I looked away and hoped that someone would say something, but as I did, I noticed that the other knights were whispering to each other. I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but after a couple of hushed whispers, I picked up that they were asking each other something while looking at Althea.
“Holiest Knight,” Helena said in a whisper that was heard all over the place.
I tightened my lips and looked at Althea with concern. It seemed like they had recognized her right away… obvious, now that I think about it.
Right after, this knight dropped to the floor on one knee, placing her arm across her chest, as she lowered her head. “We’ve been waiting for your return!”
Every knight around the place appeared confused for a moment, but the moment didn’t last as they also followed the same thing, and I turned all over, almost panicking since I was also in the middle of it all.
Althea, on the other hand, was as calm as ever, looking down at the knight kneeling in front of her as if it was the most natural of things. But after a moment, Althea herself kneeled in front of the knight, placing both hands on the woman’s shoulders as she did. The knight reacted by quickly looking back up to Althea with widened eyes and surprise filling her pretty face.
“Wha—”
“Don’t kneel to me anymore. I’m no longer that knight. Please stand up,” Althea softly said, bringing the knight back up to stand just as tall as she used to be with a face full of confusion.
“But how could we? You’re the holiest there is! To not bow our heads to you is not only to insult you, but to insult the very Gods that we serve!” the knight exclaimed, and bent down slightly as if she was going to drop to the ground again.
However, Althea stopped her once more by lifting her hand in a stopping motion, shaking her head as she did. “No. Look at me,” she said, letting the knight have a look at Althea for a moment, before she continued, “I no longer carry the power of the Holy Gods. The armor I don has no touch from their grace, and I hear Their voices no longer. I am as far away from Holy as a Holy Knight can be.”
Helena looked down at Althea for a moment; at her dark armor. She appeared startled and confused at the same time, so she didn’t say anything while inspecting her. After a moment, the knight’s confusion was cleared and a deep frown was painted on her face.
“The Darkest Knight’s armor…” she said, causing the other golden knights that were still kneeling while looking this way to widen their eyes.
Some of them quickly stood up, taking an uncertain step forward as they whispered among themselves. Again, I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but since they were whispering with a higher tone of voice, what little I could pick was that they were just confused and surprised to see Althea—the ‘Hero of the Holy Gods’, and the ‘Holiest of Knights’—wearing a ‘tainted’ armor.
“Um…” I let out with uncertainty, mostly because if I knew something about these people, it’s that they used to follow Althea to kill demons and stuff… so if they felt like Althea had been dirtied with darkness, they might just attack her—and me by association.
I threw a concerned look at Oliver, who so far was just looking with a wry smile, and I wondered if we were in trouble. But before I moved over to him to ask him to do something about this, Helena chuckled while nodding her head.
“I see…” she said, closing her eyes with a soft smile on her face. “Yes, only someone as holy as you could be able to take control of the darkness within those artifacts and use them against the forces of evil. Truly inspiring!”
“What?” Althea replied, a confused frown now plastered on her face, and I couldn’t help but match it, since what that woman said sounded like super nonsense.
“Yes, I can see that bringing the Holy Artifacts from our world would’ve been a tall task, but cleansing the armors of the enemy to use them for good is something that only the Holy Hero could do. Well done! I shall learn from this,” the knight said, opening her eyes to give a confident smile and a nod.
The other knights around the hall all looked just as confused, but after a moment, they seemed to believe what Helena said, which made them sigh in relief as they also nodded in understanding.
I couldn’t believe that these people were believing such a stupid thing! All that that woman said was nonsense! Althea wasn’t ‘cleansing’ the armor, she got it as a gift from a demon! And, and, she already said that she didn’t have Holy Powers, so they should know by now that none of it made sense!
It appeared like Althea was also conflicted, as she carried the same confused frown from before. “This is not at all what—”
“Ah! Lady Greycastle!” Oliver interrupted Althea with a wry smile. “You have quite the acute eye for details! But now’s not the time. Althea has to meet with the emperor, after all.”
“Right,” Helena replied, half-turning to be in Oliver’s direction. “He shall be eager to meet with you, and I’m sure that he’ll regain the path to the light once he sees you. Please, allow me to take you there.”
I could tell that Althea still wanted to argue back about the whole misunderstanding, but I grabbed her by the arm, causing her to look at me with the same confusion as I looked at her with a forced smile.
“Leave it like that. I don’t want to have trouble with all of these scary-looking knights,” I whispered, before letting go of her arm and hurrying to be close to Oliver and Helena as I half-turned to beckon Althea, “Come on.”
Althea tightened her lips but said nothing as she followed after us, and I could finally release a sigh of relief as we walked out the back of the building and into a large green area. However, I gave one last glance back to the building we walked through.
I saw all the golden knights standing by the edge of the building, looking this way. Some of them had their mouths open in disbelief, while others were just looking. I even saw one man whose eyes turned glassy!
As I was going to look away from them and ignore them, something super strange happened. They all started making signs with their arms! They spread their arms wide and acted as if they wanted to hug the sky or something like that. My mouth hung slightly open for a moment while I watched the strange ritual, until I realized that they were doing it for Althea, which is when I quickly looked at her.
She wasn’t looking back at them as she just kept walking with the same frown on her face from before. I turned my eyes from her to the knights and then back to Althea…
As we were getting further away, I wondered if she also did those silly things in the past… and tried to imagine it… with her serious face, looking at the sky with teary eyes, as she tried to hug… the sun?
Althea turned to look at me, her frown changing to a questioning look as she raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Oh, um, nothing,” I said and looked forward. “Let's just get to it!”
And so, we walked ahead, and I tried my best to not think about the strange golden knights.