Junger, Dayla, Alter, Benjamin, and a combination of Ritzy's and Benjamin's knights were resting at the Reds camp. Waiting for Ritzy to return before it became night.
Alter,
"The sun is setting".
The group looked at Alter, some were mad, others sad, but all knew that the sunset meant time was running out and it wouldn't take to long for midnight to come.
Junger,
"Yes and? What do you want? Are you thinking about leaving our lord!?".
Alter,
"I'm just stating the facts and making conversation".
Junger started pointing his finger and approaching Alter,
"Well you have a funny way to make conversation!".
Dayla quickly intervened before Junger reached Alter.
"Calm down, he didn't mean anything bad with what he said".
Junger calmed down seeing Dayla's worried face. He couldn't stand seeing her unsettled and it reminded him that he left Ritzy behind.
"I-".
Dayla brought her hands-on Junger's cheeks,
"You don't need to explain yourself".
Junger smiled at her response but then gave a sad face right after. Seeing her made him forget about the danger his lord was in, but only briefly.
...
Half an hour passed and people were getting antsier so they decided to calm their nerves by discussing the plan.
Dayla,
"So, how do you think we'll deal with the Bentley family problem? Ritzy said he had something but he never really explained it to me".
Junger,
"We could use force and demand the head of the household to annul the engagement and forget what happened".
Alter,
"We can't use force on nobles Junger".
Benjamin,
"It's true what you say knight Alter but there is an exception. Nobles can fight nobles with no repercussions".
Dayla,
"That's true, Benjamin has a similar rank as that family. Benjamin is a pseudo noble but as the grandson of the Benedire family, his rank should be comparable to the head of the Bentley family".
Alter,
"Than the question is what excuse can we use to against the Bentley family? We can't attack a noble family for no reason".
Dayla,
"I believe we could-".
Footsteps of a single horse could be heard coming closer to the camp.
Benjamin,
"Seems like Ritzy was able to escape".
A second later a knight riding a horse appeared in front of them and dismounted. He then approached Benjamin and said,
"Lord Benjamin, Lord Benedire request your presence back at camp".
Everyone expected Ritzy but their hopes were crushed when they saw it was merely a knight. And from the looks of it, his grandpa noticed he was away from the battlefield with no permission to leave.
Looking at the knight, Benjamin knew he needed an excuse to not go with him even though it goes against his grandpa's orders.
"Sorry but I'm waiting for Lord Ritzy, we have an important discussion that can not wait. Please tell my grandfather that I'll come as soon as I'm done".
The knight hearing Benjamin rejecting Benedire's request worried him and he started to panic but when he heard that he was waiting for Ritzy, his worries drifted away.
"Do not worry Lord Benjamin, Lord Ritzy is currently with Lord Benedire right now".
The knight then turned to the rest of the knights with the Red's emblem on their chest plates.
"Knights of the Reds family, Lord Ritzy has requested your presence as well".
The group was confused but oddly Alter spoke up.
"You heard him, men, our lord has requested us".
Alter then walked up to the knight,
"Tell Lord Benedire and Lord Ritzy that we'll be on our way".
Knight,
"Of course sir, I'll head there first. We'll be waiting for your arrival".
The knight turned to Benjamin, gave a slight bow, and got back on his horse to leave.
Leaving, Benjamin spoke up,
"Seems like you bought us time to escape knight Alter but I think we should go check if Ritzy truly requested our presence".
Alter,
"I doubt your thinking, Lord Benjamin. Sadly, I've seen too many times where knights are falsely requested by their lords to only be tricked and killed".
Junger,
"What Alter say's is true, this has happened many times before. I think we should escape because remember, Ritzy said to wait for him or leave. It isn't possible for him to become close to Benedire in the short amount of time we left".
Dayla,
"What you speak is true Junger but I doubt this is a trick. They only sent one person to fetch for us and the one requesting us is Lord Benedire. He isn't known for being deceitful or devious. I can't imagine him using a knight to lie so he can lure us to him".
Benjamin,
"What Dayla speaks is true. My grandfather wouldn't use another's name for his own purposes. Also, my grandfather was in that weird spell that Ritzy saved us from. It's entirely possible that Ritzy and my grandfather met and escaped together from that powerful spell".
The group went quiet. What Benjamin spoke is possible and Dayla words about Benedire were rumors they heard about before as well so it wasn't entirely impossible that Ritzy truly summoned them and is with Benedire right now.
Alter,
"What you spoke is true but there's only a small chance what you say really did happen".
Dayla,
"Knight Alter please-".
Alter raised his hand signally her to stop and said,
"But... Ritzy is our lord and even though there's virtually no chance he called for us, we still need to respond if he actually did call for us. We promised to protect Lord Ritzy with our lives and we can't do that if we abandon him here".
Dayla lit up hearing Alter's response. She quickly grabbed his hands and said,
"Thank you Knight Alter for believing me. If you didn't agree, I doubt I could've convinced everyone to go check if Ritzy truly requested for us".
The knight removed his hand from her grasp but quickly gave a small bow.
"It's my job Miss Dayla, you do not have to thank me".
...
The group didn't take long to arrive at the Benedire camp since they were able to use the Reds' horses stored back at the camp.
Arriving, a knight saw them and approached them.
"Lord Benjamin, I thank the war god you came back safely".
Benjamin,
"The battle was successful, luckily Lord Ritzy was able to help me during my time of peril and turn the tides back in our favor".
Knight,
"Then I thank Lord Ritzy for helping my lord in his time of need when I couldn't".
The knight gave a slight bow and then turned to the rest of the group.
"Please follow me, Lord Benedire and Lord Ritzy have been waiting for your arrival".
Alter,
"Lead the way".
The knight nodded and turned the horse around so he could lead them back to Benedire.
...
Outside; Ritzy, Amora, and Benedire were drinking tea and talking about the past. Ritzy explaining his time of training with Lord Puissance, Benedire telling stories of him and Amora's time during their mercenary days, and Amora reminiscing about her time with her last husband and sometimes helping Benedire tell the stories of their mercenary days.
Benedire,
"So, Ritzy, has Savior still kept his habit of forgetting other people have limits?".
Ritzy,
"Limits?".
Benedire,
"Yes, for example, when we traveled the world. He would accept quests from the local guilds that were ridiculously hard to do even for us".
Amora,
"I forgot all about that, I almost forgot that most of our fame came from him accepting quests before thinking if we could even do them. Luckily, the gods were on our side and somehow helped us survive even the most impossible of situations".
Benedire,
"It's a bit traumatic now that I remember it more clearly. Remember when he accepted the earth dragon quest. Even worse, when he accepted the quest and one of the mercenaries nearby laugh at him. He betted all our equipment and even used our guild cards to make sure no one could back out the bet".
Amora,
"How could I forget. That was the first dragon type I killed!".
Benedire,
"Oh yes, I forgot you barely joined a couple of quests before we took the earth dragon on".
They both laugh in joy reminiscing of their mercenaries day but then shortly look back at Ritzy for his answer.
Ritzy seeing they were now waiting for his answer he said,
"At first I thought he was giving me regular training when we started. I had just finished my awakening ceremony when I met my teacher Savior so I had no prior knowledge of how training should be".
"Since I had no prior knowledge, I accepted everything he gave me, no matter how hard it was. It was almost a nightmare because I thought everyone had almost drowned many times, had scratch and bruises all over their body after training, and had been beaten over and over again many times for basic training".
"It wasn't until later in the future that I realized I was doing something completely abnormal and it wasn't basic training. Luckily, I was able to survive his lessons and become part of the best fighters in the kingdom. Eventually leading me to be able to save you two today".
Benedire and Amora only looked at Ritzy with shock. Not being able to fully believe what he said but sadly they considered the possibility it's true since it aligned with Savior's personality.