Standing in line with several demonic soldiers, I stood at attention. Before me, there was a large gray demon shouting at us.
"Who are we?!" [Gray Demon]
"The Royal Guard!" [Solace] [Demonic Soldiers]
"What is our purpose?!" [Gray Demon]
"To protect the Demon Lord!" [Solace] [Demonic Soldiers]
"Who is our enemy?!" [Gray Demon]
"Anyone who dares to harm the Demon Lord!" [Solace] [Demonic Soldiers]
You may be wondering how I got into this situation. Let's go back a bit.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"So you're telling me that the Demon Lord isn't in this Lithik?" [Wilharrow]
"They're still out. That's why, this is the best time to infiltrate their castle." [Nakros]
We were gathered in a hidden room, the same one where we accepted the request to take the First Hero's Relic. Well, the demon wasn't present this time.
"How do you plan on doing that?" [Wilharrow]
"Just apply for a job. I know someone in there that can get you guys in easily." [Nakros]
"Won't that cause problems for them? Are they not a demon too? We ARE going to kill the Demon Lord." [Raon]
"First of all, they don't care about politics. Second, they're about to retire. They cannot care less." [Nakros]
Seems legit.
"Ah, but make sure to split up roles. All of you better not apply to be servants. Some should become guards or chefs or something." [Nakros]
"Understood. We'll go with that then." [Wilharrow]
With a nod, the plan was concluded.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Back to the present…
"The Royal Guard must always be vigilant! Always be powerful! Always be unstoppable! Do you disagree with me?!" [Gray Demon]
"No sir!" [Solace] [Demonic Soldiers]
As you can probably tell, I applied for a soldier position. Well, actually I applied for a guard position. It's just that the inside guy Nakros knew decided to give me a higher position.
"If you agree, then you can't afford to be anything otherwise! Run ten laps!" [Gray Demon]
I was out here in their training field with other Royal Guards going through a few drills. It's been a few days since I've joined and gotten used to their daily schedule.
("Wake up, eat breakfast, patrol, train, eat lunch, patrol, train, eat dinner, patrol, sleep. Rinse and repeat.") [Solace]
It wasn't even that hard to be honest. My stats were simply too high. Even so, these guys were pretty strong. Since the average level of the Royal Guards is around 100-110, we would put on bags of sand to increase weight when running. Weight training would be lifting giant boulders. Combat training would mostly be using bare fists since other weapons would probably break. We still did use real weapons once a day though.
"How's the Royal Guard life, Alt?" [???]
Whilst running, one of the demons spoke to me. This one had pure white skin with bright green hair. The mix of the two was a little weird to be honest.
"Not too bad. It's kind of fulfilling really." [Solace]
This demon in particular was very friendly to me. His name was Lemin. He's part of the "Tenacious Demon" species which apparently become stronger the more pressure they take. It sounds pretty impressive, but seeing Lemin struggling to keep up the running pace makes it hard to see.
"Wa… Wait a bit… Alt…!" [Lemin]
"Okay, okay." [Solace]
Out of the kindness of my heart, I usually stay at his pace. We usually get overlapped once or twice because of this, which also leads to us getting punished with another ten laps. It's okay though since it's easy.
"Lemin, don't bother the newcomer so much." [???]
Passing us by was another Royal Guard, specifically speaking it was Lemin's twin brother Belrick. I say twin, yet the only similarities they share is the hair and skin color. Even then, I'm pretty sure hair color is bestowed by the god favoring them.
("I don't think genetics have something to do with it…") [Solace]
"I… I'm not bothering him!" [Lemin]
Lowkey, he kinda was.
"If you say so." [Belrick]
Did I mention that Belrick was also the strongest among the Royal Guards? He immediately proceeded to overlap us thrice after we finished five laps. As per usual, he finished first.
"Well done, Belrick! You truly are the hope of Lithik! You might even become a Feerae one day!" [Gray Demon]
"You flatter me, sir." [Belrick]
The people who finished their laps usually rested on wooden benches near the edge of the training ground. To help visualize it a bit, think of a square center platform. Then add a race track surrounding it. Then, there are benches even further out. Other than the arsenal of wooden and steel weapons next to the benches, that's basically it.
"Three more laps to go, Lemin." [Solace]
"I…! I know…!" [Lemin]
He was wheezing and sweating buckets. The rest of the soldiers were already finished and the Gray Demon was getting pissy.
"For how long are you two going to dilly-daddle! Hurry it up!" [Gray Demon]
I'm pretty sure he's the captain or something of the Royal Guards, but I've never actually confirmed it. Nor have I confirmed his name. Now that I think of it, everyone just called him "Sir".
"Y-Yes, sir!" [Lemin]
"Yes, sir! "[Solace]
We sped up just a bit, which eventually slowed back down due to Lemin's lack of stamina.
"Damn it, Lemin! Stop slowing down! And Alt, don't think I'm clueless that you're just following him along!" [Gray Demon]
Guess I got caught. Maybe I should've tried panting or making my movements more sluggish.
"You know what?! Run ten more laps! The others can go have lunch without you!" [Gray Demon]
There were cheers from the other guards, who then left for the mess hall. That's what we called the cafeteria. Some also called it the canteen or whatever too.
"Alone again." [Solace]
Minus Belrick. He was a kind brother, the only one who stayed behind for us.
"Twelve more laps, Lemin!" [Belrick]
It was around now that Lemin didn't have the stamina to reply. His form looked as if an alien attempted to do a human running impression.
"You can speed up now, Alt. No one's watching." [Belrick]
I glanced around a bit just to make sure.
"Aight bet." [Solace]
Belrick and Lemin are the only ones that know how athletic I actually was. It was a side-effect of one of the servants across the hall falling off a ladder, so I ran quickly to catch them. It was pure coincidence that Belrick was there to see it.
"Aaaand… done." [Solace]
I lapped Lemin seven maybe nine times over before finishing.
"You're as fast as ever." [Belrick]
"Says the ace of the Royal Guard." [Solace]
"That's just a title. If you stopped hiding your skills, you'd probably be the ace." [Belrick]
I shook my head.
"I'm only good at running." [Solace]
Belrick gave me a look of suspicion.
"Lies." [Belrick]
"No, really. I'm just naturally really fast." [Solace]
"You said that you're only good at defending, that's why you applied to be a guard." [Belrick]
Did I mention Belrick was there for my interview? It was the Gray Demon, Belrick, and I think the head maid and head butler.
"I wasn't lying though." [Solace]
Just in the first two days, I gained the nickname of "untouchable". Whenever we had to do sparring training, I made it so that no one could get past my defense. It probably was a result of training with Master a long time ago.
"You just need to work on your offense, and you'd probably beat me." [Belrick]
"Maybe, maybe not." [Solace]
I also made sure to attack weakly in spar training. No feints, obvious movements, and slow attacks. I wanted to solidify my position in the Royal Guards, not stand out.
"F… Finished…!" [Lemin]
After around fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, Lemin completed the rest of the laps. It kind of ended with the familiar sight of him collapsing on the benches.
"Nice, wanna grab something to eat?" [Solace]
"Seriously…?" [Lemin]
He didn't even bother looking at me.
"Let… Let me rest… for a bit…" [Lemin]
"Here, have some water." [Belrick]
He tried to hand Lemin a leather bottle, but all his brother did was open his mouth.
"Ah…" [Lemin]
"...You can't be helped." [Belrick]
Belrick propped up Lemin's head and fed him the water. Bit of a weird sight, but it must be because they're siblings.
"I feel more alive…" [Lemin]
"Guys, lunch ends in around ten to fifteen minutes." [Solace]
"Huh?!" [Lemin]
He tried to get up, yet his body was unable to respond.
"Agh, darn… Go on without me…!" [Lemin]
He said in a very dramatic fashion.
"Fine, I'll help you just this once." [Belrick]
Belrick pulled Lemin up and gave him a piggy-back ride.
("Just this once he says…") [Solace]
He's done this every single day.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
We entered the mess hall to see that all the other Royal Guards had seemed to finish eating. By the way, the mess hall was just a massive room with tables and chairs. There was a back section that was a kitchen run by several chefs, Leon being one of them.
("Of course she would pick that…") [Solace]
They get free meals. We usually ate out of wooden bowls, and wooden utensils. The only exception being a knife if we had steak that day. Today, we had some kind of gruel or porridge. I don't know what was in it. It kind of tasted like… wheat and honey. Maybe some kind of nuts as well.
("Looks disgusting, smells weird, but tastes alright. A bit bland though.") [Solace]
They must be focusing on nutrients over taste for guards. We were "enjoying" our meal until someone burst through one of the four entrances of the mess hall.
"H-Heroes! The Hero's party was spotted near the south gate!" [???]
"What?!" [Belrick]
("Huh?!") [Solace]
That wasn't right. Wilharrow should be in the castle as a servant. Did he get caught?
"All units, gear up and head to the south gate! Kill the hero!" [Gray Demon]
"Kill the hero!" [Royal Guards]
("Oh boy…") [Solace]