The Amber Sword

Even in the busiest of worlds, there would be a quiet corner.

The light in the small room flickered as the merchant girl rested by the bedside with her dainty head gently placed upon her crossed arms. Her eyes were curiously focused on the sleeping Nun Princess as she lightly poked her occasionally.

“Amandina, how could Miss Magadal be a puppet? Look at her skin, it’s soft and it’s very fun to play with……she looks beautiful as well, Brendel must be lying right?”

Amandina sighed. Those who knew Romaine well would know that her focus was on ‘fun’ instead of the second half of the sentence. Amandina was holding a book of ‘Rockefeller Poems’, but her focus was not on the book, it was on the rainy battlefield.

The blades that flashed in the air, the brutal murders on this day would be recorded in the history of this port. But on the next day, the glorious sun will befall the land once more.

Can we really win?

Amandina’s heart was in suspense. She placed her book down and slowly took off her silver-lined spectacles while looking out towards the port. The howling wind and rain sounded like it was weeping, like the ancestors of Aouine were crying.

It was just the sorrowful cries of the people before their death, and it was not known to her whether it was from her relatives or even her friends.

“Please be careful. Don’t disrespect Princess Magadal……you…you are so disrespectful,” Amandina scolded her, staring at Romaine who was quietly and gently squeezing the Nun Princess’s breasts.

“I know, I know,” she answered naturally.

Amandina glared at her.

The merchant girl then stopped and asked, “Hmm, do you want to go out?”

“Yeah, this room is too stuffy, it makes me restless.” Amandina looked at the Nun Princess with slight jealousy, “And, if Princess Magadal suddenly wakes up, don’t tell her anything.” She added.

“But Brendel said it’s most likely that she won’t be able to wake up,” Romaine said.

“I said ‘if’.”

Romaine escorted Amandina out of the room.

And when she looked back, the Magadal’s eyelids moved a little. After a few seconds, it moved again.

This time she was sure it was real.

“Ah!”

“Ama…” the merchant girl immediately turned around and shouted, but she halted.

This is all thanks to my effort, so why do I have to tell her? Let’s wait for another moment.

She thought about this for a moment, then turned around and looked closely at the Nun Princess. she seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. Her eyebrows are tight and she was visibly exhausted. She struggled for a moment and uttered some words.

Romaine was curious so she approached and carefully positioned her ear next to the princess’s mouth, only then she could hear some words clearly. “How can this happen, be careful…”

“Be careful……”

“Huh?” The merchant girl stood up, and took the situation seriously for once. Then she placed her finger on the princess’s forehead, and said, “Miss Magadal, are you dreaming? Let little Romaine help you get out of it…”

The room shimmered.

…

The heavy rain conceived a blurry world on the plaza of Anderla Cathedral. A series of black coaches passed through the rain, stopping quietly in front of the cathedral’s main gate.

The emblems on the carriages glinted in the light for a moment.

Vitokin’s pale lone wolf; Arreck’s mountains and eagles; Covardo’s crescent lilies; Seifer’s howling and blazing moon; Grinoires’s sword and dark oak; Karsuk’s dark tower.

Yanbao’s broken blade dimmed a little. [TL: They’re talking about the emblems of the Dukes.]

Arreck walked down the carriage calmly, Devard the Hawk and Silver Knight Sylvia accompanied him. He looked up. Duke Seifer smiled and nodded his head in reply not far away. But it was the men accompanying Duke Seifer that caught his attention.

Fiery Nicholas, the Sword Grandmaster of Seifer’s royal family. His power should be way above Devard and the Silver Knight,

Brendel turned his focus to the old man in the purple robe. Prince Luke’s teacher, ‘The Wonder Chaser’ Garlock, a Kirrlutz native who’s battle power was comparable to Wood’s.

The old man, a general of the Black Blade Squad, next to Count Vitokin was Nigel, also known as ‘The Unshakable Sword’. Although he was not a Sword Grandmaster yet, he was an Elemental Awakener. Apparently, he was so strong some even thought he was already in the Elemental Realm.

Vitokin was his attendant when Nigel was younger. Besides, Vitokin himself had the potential to ascend to the Gold rank.

Brendel looked around and saw the head of the White Lion Legion and the admiral Count Janilasu. He frowned, seems like all the experts are here.

Including the leader of the Highland Knights, the most powerful people in Aouine and most of the Kingdom’s Elemental Awakeners were all almost gathered here, plus many other Gold rankers as well. The power of the country was undoubtedly exhibited here.

But compared to the forces in Kirrlutz, this was nothing. Of course, Brendel was the only one who knew that.

“Do you know all of them?” Dilferi who was standing at the side asked.

“I’ve only seen them once before,” Brendel answered.

While he answered, the others walked into the Rokshbe Hall. It was a place that was often mentioned in history.

And when the two of them stepped into the hall, Brendel admired the hall’s magnificence.

Above the arches, the mural of the Flame King Gretel expelling the Miirna people was painted in bright colors. The famous Holy Sword Oderfeiss was dazzling. The sages were determined to get rid of darkness, but would their descendants have the same determination?

Afraid not.

There was complete silence in the main hall.

Something was different in the cathedral. Archbishop Moros opened the door and glanced around, and he was silent. He walked to the middle of the meeting place with two high-positioned bishops on each side.

And everyone present realized it: something has happened!

Brendel raised his head and squinted his eyes but he saw no expression in Duke Arreck. Duke Seiferdid does not look scared, and he stared at his niece who was directly opposite from him with a smile.

Princess Gryphine had no expression on her face, and the members of the Royal Faction who were standing beside her had a grim look

Something must have happened with the Royal Faction.

Moros paused for a moment, there was no hint of happiness nor anger on his darkened face. He slowly raised his head and prayed, “Dear Marsha, you are definitely pleased with your people’s continuous yearning and pursuit for peace, because it doesn’t matter if they are people of Kirrlutz or Aouine, the descendants of the Flame King will always uphold on justice-”

“However,” He said sharply, with a serious look on his face. “Ampere Seale is now shrouded in darkness. The cathedral’s management was incompetent. Even those acts of our young generation are despicable and outrageous!” Moros further condemned.

“Before I headed here, I received a message claiming that some of you here have colluded with the Sheep! But I refuse to believe that. But if you did, I hope you can stand up and confess before the meeting starts.”

After Archbishop Moros said this, everyone started discussing among themselves.

The hall was inevitably filled with buzzing discussion noises. Everyone was curiously looking around. It seemed like they were trying to find the hidden mole among the nobles.

Only Brendel looked towards where Duke Seifer, Yoakam and Vitokin were, who all had a smug expression on their faces. Only Arreck was stone faced, like he had nothing to do with it.

The North sure is good at hiding things.

Brendel turned his head around. The knights in the south were standing still, as if they were waiting and observing every change.

Makarov had a disdainful look on his face while Fleetwood was sweating buckets.

“Despicable!” Brendel heard Countess Yanbao scold softly.

“Mr. Makarov, you know who I am talking about.”

Moros glanced at the Royal Faction.

“Ah!” Someone among the crowd yelled, as if they predicted something to happen.

“Nonsense,” Makarov said. He frowned slightly. The Holy Cathedral reacted to the situation quicker than he expected and he felt a little nervous.

But why would they make their move now? Are they ready for war?

The Black Blade Squad was still in the Grey Mountains. Only one assault team arrived. Just why are they so confident?

“I know this is nonsense too. But since this is nonsense, I hope Mr. Makarov will uncover this lie and reveal the truth.”

“We must know, Aouine’s nobles cannot be tainted.”

Moros said quietly.

“Fine. Although it is unnecessary, it’s not too difficult of a task anyway.” Makarov added, “But before I prove my own innocence, I would like to ask. Do you have proof?”

“Of course.”

“What I have is not proof, but a witness.” Moros added.

The meeting place was filled with the crowd’s noises.

Brendel raised one of his eyebrows-  There is a traitor in the Royal Faction!

Sure enough, Makarov turned to look in shock. Although the Royal Faction and Northern Alliance have been fighting for many years, there has never been a case of having a traitor.

Makarov was not the only one in shock.

Everyone here in the hall was utterly shocked as well. Almost all the members in the Royal Faction were elites and nobles. There was even a legend that goes, ‘There is only defeat through death, but never defeat through surrendering’.  When everyone started to make assumptions of who the traitor was, they gradually turned their focus towards the southern side of the hall.

Somebody walked out from behind Moros.

It was him.

Brendel was shocked.

“Sir Benninger!” The half-elf girl stood up and looked at this young man as if he was a stranger.

She somehow looked calm, but her tightly clenched and trembling fists gave it off.

“Where is my younger brother?”

The princess took a deep breath, and used all her might to ask this question.

But Benninger just gave her a stare, and ignored Makarov who was standing at the side. He lifted his head, turned to the crowd and said, “Everyone knows that I have once admired the princess, and even betrayed my family for her. Despite all of it, I still cannot tolerate the Royal Faction colluding with the cults. And I don’t want to see the princess involving herself in this either.”

His words had a huge impact, the entire hall was in complete silence. Everyone who was present at that moment had fully guessed what was going on, but they were silently grateful that they did not mess with Seifer’s family.

This was too evil.

Brendel was dumbfounded. History never mentioned that Sir Benninger had betrayed the Royal Faction in any way, but even praised him for his loyal pursuit of love. This man sure is sly.

He was surprised, but there was a hint of relief. At least the Royal Faction gets backstabbed, it is better compared to me getting backstabbed right?

Trouble was inevitable. If he was not mistaken, Prince Haruz was abducted by the opposition side, and this meant big trouble. In fact, an even larger problem would follow after that.

He suddenly saw Benninger turning towards him.

What does this guy want?

“Count Yanbao, that person next to you, Brendel, is not your servant, right?” Just when Brendel was considering  the possibility of him outing his identity, the words had already left Benninger’s mouth.

“Err…”

Dilferi was a little frozen, she never thought that she would be involved in the war. According to Brendel, their mission was to escort the princess away from all this and upholding her responsibilities as the Sword Guardian family.

And not confronting these messy questions –

Benninger didn’t need an answer, Dilferi’s shocked expression was all he needed. He continued to say, “Mr. Brendel, my earliest news of you was that you came from Bucce, and you claimed yourself to be a Highland Knight. Next thing I know, you rebelled in Trentheim, killed the local leader, and stirred up the masses to cause trouble.”

“And the other truth is, your true identity is a Sheep cultist, which means you are associated with All For One. And now you are secretly working with the Royal Faction, plotting to take over the throne of this Kingdom. Am I right?”

The baron raised his chin slightly and said, “There’s no need to answer me. Whether it’s the truth or not, we just need to ask the fellow noble knights from Karsuk. The truth of your claims being the descendant of the so-called Highland Knight and the origin of your noble identity will all become clear soon.”

Brendel frowned immediately.

So the opposition came prepared……

He was not really afraid of getting exposed, after all, his identity would be revealed in the future anyway. Still, he could not resist but to turn and look behind, at the real knights who came from the highlands.

Being an imposter for almost one year, he was definitely nervous when he met the original.

Benninger smiled confidently, turned to the head of the Highland Knights and asked, “Dear sir, I’ve heard that you have always kept your promises. I believe you will uphold your creed and not lie. I would let you speak out the truth.”

It was clear that Benninger was extremely good with his words. The leader of the Highland Knights smiled slightly too, he was indeed an old-fashioned knight. He was a true Highland Knight to the core, the spirit of the knight was almost already rooted deep in his bones.

This commander held his head high. he looked like just a normal middle-aged person. But Brendel knew this man as Bunide Norbert. When his gaze landed on Brendel, Brendel felt a little intimidated.

Brunide Norbert may seem like a friendly uncle to the undiscerning eye, however he had another more respected moniker.  Around those that remembered, he was called the ‘Knight of Steel’.

Bunide Norbert had a fearsome reputation in Karsuk. It was recorded in history that many of Madara’s generals died by his hands.

It was also because of him, that Madara did not manage to invade much of Karsuk during the second War of Roses.

Bunide smiled at Brendel, however his gaze shifted to someone behind Brendel. “Ciel, is that you?”

He asked with a serious tone.

There was an uproar in the hall.