Chapter 2

Ridding inside a carriage pulled by a single white horse was Lyon and the Princess who was blissfully watching as they passed the busiest street in the Avaritian Kingdom. Buildings were scattered around, from small restaurants to large jewelry stores, nobles walking around who saw the carriage would bow their heads to the carriage where they were as it passed by. Other carriages were also present with high ranking nobles onboard.

Business was booming near the palace, but as they continued to follow the street buildings began to get smaller, stalls began to crowd the street as commoners scattered around buying fruits and vegetables. A blow on a horn by the coachman brought them to a halt, everyone moving to the side and falling in line before bowing their heads as the carriage passed by them. 

Not long after as the carriage passed by, the commoners returned to normal lives creating a noisy street filled with people who were less fortunate.

“Lyon, what do you think of the commoners?” The princess asked while looking out the window, forcing herself to let out a smile as they turned right on a street filled with more commoners.

“They are the less fortunate” 

“How are they less fortunate?”

“They were born with lesser mana, thus they are less fortunate from nobles gifted with large mana reserves inside their bodies”

“Is that so…”

The princess frowned as they moved forward to an empty street where not a single soul could be found, buildings were vacated and the road was filled with holes and scattered rocks. Their journey had just turned sour as the carriage bounced after passing the holes on the ground.  

Lyon was watching from the window when he saw something shining from an alle. He stared through the glass trying to figure out what it was, but it was too far away. And with the rocky road they were passing through his vision got wobbly. Unable to focus on the object shining from afar.

Thirty minutes had passed ever since they left the palace, but due to the princess’s sudden urge to look around the streets of the kingdom their normal path towards the academy was lengthened. Deep in his thoughts Lyon did not notice the princess staring at him, watching as they passed more vacated buildings.

Continuing to stare outside the carriage he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his left eye, the empty streets were suddenly filled with blurry vision of people walking around, cheering with huge smiles on their faces as if they could see the carriage passing by.

It took him a few minutes before he could feel the piercing glare from the princess’s alluring light colored azure eyes. He immediately turned around to face her, but to his surprise she was only an inch away from him. Looking at his calm yet shocked face she suddenly blew towards mouth, Lyon unamused adjusted his seating moving sidewards further away from the princess. 

She closed her arms and suddenly turned her head towards the opposite side pouting in the process. The carriage suddenly went to a halt surprising the two who almost fell out of their seats. Immediately the coachman opened a small window where he could peek inside the carriage.

“Apologies for the sudden halt Princess, but we have arrived at our destination” He calmly spoke before leaving his seat to open the door for the princess.

The princess exited the carriage as the coachman assisted her and stood on the empty road filled with creepy buildings, Lyon exited soon after, his hand wielding the handle of his sword being cautious of thieves that might suddenly attack them.

Jiniya walked towards an alley that seemed to be a dead end, with a large wall blocking the path. Lyon was watching her as the coachman nervously talked to him telling him that if the King found out that he brought the princess to such a disgusting place he could lose his job.

Lyon gave a quick glance at the coachman assuring him that everything will be alright and that he would talk to the King or the guards if ever he was placed in a troublesome situation, the coachman nodded his head and led the carriage to the deeper ends of the road where it slowly became brighter. Not long after the coachman had finally returned to the normal path carriages would take.

“Why is the Princess so invested in going to such an unpleasant alleyway?” Lyon asked as he walked closer to the princess, stopping a few inches behind her, his hand still on the sword's grip.

“You see, Lyon, this place used to be a busy street when I was young. Me and the Queen would walk down this road with numerous guards surrounding us. And then she would pull me to this alley, where she uses water magic to open a hidden door to the academy” Jiniya spoke, her eyes sparkling and her body tingling from excitement as it was the first time she was about to pass the alley way again after so many years.

Impressed by the Princess’s story Lyon simply watched as Jiniya used water magic to design a long staff with a very extensive hook at the end. With a huge smile on her face she pushed the staff through the wall where it actually passes the wall. Her excitement elevated as her body began to twitch, her voice giggling like  a child. Twisting and turning the hook-ended-staff, she tried to pull something from within the wall.

Lyon was impressed by the Princess’s dedication to find the entrance, smiling as it was the first time the Princess looked so serious, yet, was having fun. A gust of wind suddenly blew from the entrance of the alley, without batting his head Lyon tried to look behind him. At the very corner of his eye he saw a black robed figure, tightening his grip on the sword he suddenly heard a faint sound of footsteps walking towards them.

When he glanced back at the princess she was still focused on what she was doing, not even hearing the faint footsteps. He felt a strong mana present in the vicinity and was approaching him at a fast pace. 

He slowly reversed his grip on the sword, pulling it out while turning around, he hand stretched to get the sword out of its scabbard. Spinning his body and using the sword to block an oncoming person wielding two swords that had its blades crossed ready to slice him into four pieces.

As he turned around he was shocked to find that it was the person he saw front he corner of his eye, the person wore a long brown robe wielding two katanas with a huge smile on his face. But even with the attacker forcefully pushing Lyon with all his might.

 Lyon stood his ground and used his other hand that was placed in front of him guiding the back end of the sword he was wielding to produce a sudden burst of flame which also heated his blade. The attacker suddenly pulled back moving meters away from the strong flame, but due to its heat it burnt part of the robe’s hood. 

Slowly the attacker removed the hood and said “Oh come on… You almost burned up my robe, Lyon” the robed man revealed his long black hair that was tied to a bun, his light brown skin and the clothes he was wearing that were similar to Lyon's, indicating he was a student of the academy as well.

“It’s been a while, Metoki”   

Metoki smiled as he walked towards them still holding on the hood of his robe, Lyon felt something wrong with him as Metoki kept smiling until he was face to face with him. Lyon leaned a few inches to the back to avoid their bodies from colliding. 

Unamused of Metoki’s closeness to him, he took two steps back, almost bumping the princess. He gripped the sword's handle and returned it to its scabbard. Metoki, with eyes still fixated on Lyon, fiercely walked closer to him again with a huge grin on his face.

“What is it that you want?” 

Metoki stopped and lifted his cloak, his right index finger pointed at the area that was burnt. It was still fresh like a newly cooked meal, as smoke still came out of it. Lyon took a quick glance at the cloak that Metoki was holding up. 

It seems like a normal cloak, unlike the specialized cloaks stashed inside the palace that was imbedded with large amounts of mana making it a valuable piece of equipment used by the knights when venturing outside the kingdom’s borders. A small button was also visible around its collar, it was shinier than the usual silver buttons used on other cloaks.

But as he stared closer at the button there was a small chiseled mark similar to the insignia on the cloaks used by the knights. Lyon immediately figured out that it was fake, since only knights bared the insignia and those who try to recreate it for their own gain are punished by the law which states;

The Royal Knights Insignia represents the efforts and honor bestowed to a knight. If one was to be found using, selling, or producing a similar insignia they are to be punished for disrespect to the knights, punishment may range from 1,000 gold coins to 10 years in prison.

Knowing Metoki for quite a while Lyon was sure that he was simply scammed, as Metoki was very naive and could easily be fooled, even by a child. Though Metoki was a very talented student, capable of learning intermediate class swordsmanship in mere weeks, whereas a normal person would take months to learn.

But due to his naiveness his applications on the knight selection were always rejected, despite most knights thinking of him as someone very capable. Even with that in mind Lyon still has to apprehend him for breaking the law, if could not do that he would be turning his back to the oath he swore on when he became a royal knight.

Placing his left hand on Metokings shoulder he was about to tell him the consequences of buying something that could tarnish the Insignia’s pride and honor. Mumbling words to himself “So naive, Metoki” when the princess suddenly shouted in joy.

“Finally, I did it!” 

Panting as she stared at the grayish old wall, her staff nowhere disappearing as she took a step back and wobbled almost falling to her knees if it wasn’t for Lyon catching her in the nick of time. She tilted his head back towards Lyon’s chest, her breathing heavily as creating weapons with elements tend to take a large amount of mana from its user.

She smiled at him and raised her right hand with her thumb raising towards the sky. With a strong breeze coming from the wall it started to turn moist, gradually water came out of its holes creating a water falls like effect on the gray wall.

An image slowly began to appear from behind the falls, they were speechless and amazed as a garden filled with various plants was presented in front of them. Lyon helped the princess to get back on her feet, once she got her footing back she immediately spoke stuttering as her body was still recovering mana.

“Such a beautiful sight, is it not?”

“Yeah-” Lyon and Metoki replied in sync. The princess turned around and saw Metoki standing frozen and mouth open over the unrealistic view. She saw his hand that held a cloak before leaning her arm on Lyon. Metoki looked at her and bowed as their eyes met, Jiniya flicked a small water ball at his head causing him to suddenly raise it.

“You do know that using anything with a fake insignia is punishable by the law, do you not?”

Metoki’s eyes widened as he glanced back and forth between the Princess and the cloak, he grew confused as he was one of the few who knew about Lyon being a Royal Knight. He gave off a nervous laugh similar to the one he gave Lyon when he first knew about his status.

Looking at his face Lyon felt pity, he gestured his finger asking Metoki to come closer since the princess was using him to stand straight. He grabbed the cloak from Metoki’s grasp and burnt it to a crisp not leaving a single bit, for the fake insignia he hid it in his pocket planning to report it to the commander once he returned to the palace.

“Do not fret, Metoki. Just tell me where you bought this”

Chapter End.