Under the big tree, a man not in his 50s was lightly breaking out a sweat, making push-ups with his index fingers, warming up with a boy sitting on his back, eating a freshly picked fruit that was being fed by Dal, quietly sitting while peeling every fruit he had picked for Khalid.
'Hmm, there are still many buildings and houses that need to be repaired. Shall I hire a wizard at this point? '
He sighed as he looked at the venetian sky from above.
'To be precise, the building they had just built crumbled a week later.'
He thought while his mouth was stuffed with continuous feeding from Dal.
"Milord, we can always change the building structures to your liking, even the materials if you request."
Khalid looked down at the man he was sitting on; he was covered in sweat, but he never looked tired. Somehow, Reinhardt looked even more masculine and young, like a Greek god.
Khalid then put his finger on his chin as he looked from afar, watching the servants busily cleaning up and renovating half of the palace with new materials, putting a divine statue in the middle of the fountain.
"Clovisto …"
He mumbled as he stood up on the back of Reinhardt, who was making push-ups only using his left hand, but when Khalid moved as he pleased, Reinhardt lost his balance and his face fell flat, kissing the ground, leaving Khalid still standing calmly before he jumps on the grass.
"That was 347."
He tapped his back.
Reinhardt groaned as he stood up, wiping his sweat with a towel as he watched Khalid turn his back with his silvery-ash long hair that was swayed by the wind, leaving a sweet scent of roses from his body.
"It wouldn't hurt so bad if I changed some, right?"
Khalid grinned, leaving them dumbfounded; weren't aware of what he was thinking.
A man wearing a shabby uniform then hurriedly ran towards them.
He respectfully bowed down as he reached the tree with his left hand pointed at his chest.
"Milord, a guest has requested your presence."
He kept his eyes on the ground, not even daring to look at him in the eyes, while sweat ran down his cheeks that could be visibly seen on his face.
He tilted his head as he started to speak.
"Take the lead."
As the guy accompanies him, the two start to follow from behind when they notice Dal tagging along with Khalid.
'This sly fox! '
They thought after seeing Dal's luciform smile on his face as they followed Khalid from behind.
"How are their conditions?"
He asked as soon as they entered the carriage, sitting like a statue with Dal snuggling on his arms like a bug, leaving his two knights riding a different carriage that was following them from behind, all the way from the kingdom's hospital, the only left-standing building that people use as a shelter.
"Their wounds were not severed from before, as they received treatment from the temple as you requested, and the cica herbs have also helped to hydrate and heal their wounds faster."
As the knights mentioned, Khalid spoke before they arrived in front of the 5-storey building that was built of wooden materials.
"Cica herbs? It's my first time hearing it."
He looked at the knight in his eyes.
"It has been used for ages now in our kingdom as a medicine for wounds and bruises that helps to hydrate and heal the wounds faster than any other herbal medicine."
'I see. Using herbal medicine is surely specialized in this era.'
He thought and looked outside the window as the carriage stopped.
As soon as the door opened, Dal and the other knights bowed at him as he walked down the carriage. He almost stumbled on the ground when both of them swiftly ran out from him like cay and storm, holding his shoulder with their arms as they scanned his body, leaving him with a puzzled poker face expression on his chubby little face.
"M-milord, are you alright?! Has nothing weird happened?!"
Erwin had asked as he talked like a wind.
"What the—the only thing that was weird was you both."
He took off Erwin's hands as he walked straight into the building. He watched the two make a menacing expression on their faces as they looked at Dal with a murky aura surrounding their bodies.
'There they go again...'
He sighed as he continued to walk, ignoring the two of his knights who followed him from behind.
When they arrive, the same knight from before has opened the door and left the four in the room with two people patiently waiting in front of them.
What awaits him was a little girl with a fragile appearance looking at Khalid with glimmering eyes, sitting along with the man on the bed that is painted white while his back is lying on the pillow and his head is covered in bandages. He also had a big, bulky body that was covered in muscles.
He looked like he was in his 40s, but his appearance was like a bewitching eye.
He spoke with a soft tone of voice, covering the room that was earlier filled with silence.
"I apologize for the sudden request, your highness. I am thankful for your kind filoksenia, but first, let me introduce myself."
He spoke as Khalid sat on the vacant bed in front of the two.
"Lillibet, that was my daughter's name, and I am Garion. We came from the little town of Corban."
He stopped as he gritted his lips.
Khalid could feel the grief and sadness from him, but he never spoke as he tried to listen to Garion.
'He acts gentler than I expected; his action was far different from his appearance...'
He thought as he noticed the little girl, Lillibet, walk straight at him with a sparkling eye.
"Are you an angel?"
She spoke out of curiosity with his sweet, dulcet voice, as her eyes were looking straight at him as if she were looking at a supernal beauty from above.
"If not, then a fairy?"
She added as she tried to reach his cheek with his small figure, just like her hands.
"I'm neither of those."
He replied.
"Not because they were pretty on the outside doesn't mean that they're also good on the inside; even a devil can disguise into an angel too, kiddo."
He added, as he gave a faint smile before glancing back at Garion, who was left unspoken.
Khalid then gently patted her head as he saw him take a deep breath.
"Lend me your hand, your highness!"
He blurted out as he looked at him with a serious gaze in his eyes.
"Why should I?"
Khalid then replied bluntly, crossing his arms and waiting for the guy to respond.
As soon as he spit out a question, all Garion could think of was the fiery forest where all the monsters were feeding on people's lives, eating their flesh in pieces and looking exactly like humans, but the truth is, they are far beyond terrifying and cannot be compared to human beings as they act like possessed monsters, giving fear to people.
He held the blanket tightly as he began to speak.
"O-our little t-town, it was peaceful back then before the v-verendus arrived; they were a cursed being, eating up the souls of innocent people as they used powerful goetic magic to lure the monsters and make a great calamity of our town."
He pauses.
".. and not too soon they will come here to bring another misery."
As he continued to speak, Erwin questioned Garion about the story he had told.
"Why do you come to such a conclusion that the verendus will come here?"
He asked in a serious tone of voice, but the guy was sure about his own words.
He looked at his daughter before he continued to speak.
"It's my fault I let them carelessly follow me."
"YOU-!"
Reinhardt had shouted.
"I was careless; please forgive me. I also have to save my wife. I was desperate. Please, I beg your highness. After hearing all your righteousness, I am sure that we will win this battle! Lend me your hand, milord!"
He begged as he bowed his head and spoke with a belief tone in his voice as if he were grasping a new hope for both the Corban town and the Clovisto kingdom.
"How could we win? Didn't you say they use goetic magic on people? Even if a whole imperial knight fought if they were ruled by a lion, do you think we could win?"
He looked at him straight in the eyes without expecting the guy's response.
"Everyone has a weakness; you can't tell someone living if they have no fear."
Khalid's face turned archaic as he left a smirk on his face as if he were caught by Garion's words of bravery and faith, as he could feel the amity behind his voice that made Khalid have no choice but to trust his words.
"You can rest assured,"
Khalid forewarned them as they walked out of the hospital and went straight to the training ground, where all the knights spent their days sparing on one another.
"I'll leave all the training on the three of you; we will have great kyros if these knights are trained efficiently, so don't hold back and show them the power they should possess!"
Khalid declared as he was standing with the knights, nervously sweating from his words.
"The training will start tomorrow; before dawn, all of the knights that were standing in front of me should be present by tomorrow!"
"Continue your training!"
He left a reminder and headed back in the carriage with the four of them sitting with their legs crossed, watching Dal in Khalid's arms.
The atmosphere had turned heavy as soon as they arrived at the palace.
Khalid immediately went straight to his office with the three who were always following him like no other. He quickly sat on his seat as he worked on his papers, but his work was different from before. Instead of choosing building materials and designs, he was deciding on the knight's armor and uniform, choosing the best color and fabric he could think of.
"This will do."
He spoke as he showed the finished sketch to the three. They were mesmerized and amazed at how detailed the armor was and how the fabric color matched the armor itself. The metal he chose and the fabric, he was so sure that it was all the best and not too hard for the knights to move on the battlefield.
Days just passed by just like that, and the man could be seen standing in front of the mirror with a little boy sitting on his chair as he braids his hair beautifully, wearing aureole clothes that suit his adorable little figure.
"That's enough."
Insisted by Reinhardt as he looks at Dal with a grave-like expression in his eyes.
Khalid just rolled his eyes as they went on the training ground, with the three looking like paladins with all their armor and weapons, except for Dal, who came empty-handed, refusing all the weapons two-handed.
"Begin the training!"
As Khalid shouted, all the knights positioned themselves with all their shields and swords while holding different kinds of weapons like axes and lances as they prepared themselves for the death training that was instructed by the three without them expecting it.
The knights were formed in groups while some of them were riding horses at full gallop as they cut through the pell or a wooden post with a long, sharpened edge sword.
And if ever the knight were seriously wounded, the squire was always there to follow and support his knights, as they were just in a second lower position than the knight after passing the level of the page at the age of seven.
While some knights spar with one another, some also do physical training like trail running, lifting stones, or wrestling as they prepare for the battle.
With all the 363 totals of knights from the kingdom of Clovisto, they were instructed to cut them into groups.
The three took the training as a play and let the knights form three groups that they were going to spar; a divided total of 123 imperial knights were to spar by them. The first sparring was Reinhardt, followed by Erwin, and then Dal, who was just standing like a statue, wearing a mocking smile on his face.
When the first spar started, Khalid was just quietly sitting from above as he watched Reinhardt defeat all the 123 knights with his ax without enchanting any of the spells, and that was followed by Erwin, who almost slashed the imperial knight's heads with his flat, long sword as he swiftly attacked them one by one as they fell to the ground and their faces turned white in rage. The two looked at Dal when it was his turn to spar against the 123 imperial knights without holding any weapon.
"Is he kidding?"
Some thought, but it left Khalid frowning as if he knew what was coming.
As the imperial knights take charge one by one, he then smirks as he lifts his right hand in the air and grabs his plain blue tie that was attached to his gleaming long blond hair, and, to their surprise, it turns into a long flute as he starts to blow a soft harmonic melody that covers the whole training ground.
"T-this! It was the harmony of calliope!"
Their eyes widen as they are left frozen on the ground while he continues to play his instrument.
It was a powerful melody that can give happiness and nightmares to people, and could even turn the place into a bloody hell as it can make people lose their minds and turn into beasts. That's why he was called the reappear niteo because death and chaos follow whenever he plays his melody.
All the knights began to fight one by one as he continued to blow air into his flute.
'Blood will surely cover this place in no time!'
Khalid thought with a dauntless expression in his eyes.
"That was enough!"
He shouted, and as soon as Dal stopped playing with his flute, everyone was left quivering as if they had just woken up in their nightmare, seeing through all of their fears in his eyes.
Just like that, Dal closes his eyes, and the flute turns into a hair accessory, tying it back to his hair, and he follows Khalid like a dog, leaving the two in almost shock.
"He was more dangerous than I expected, so be careful."
A rough voice whispered in Erwin's ear as he followed them from behind, leaving Reinhardt with all the training.
Hours passed and the night had come. The three moons shone brightly from above, giving hope to the man who was quietly looking at the sky, walking towards the balcony with an empty look in his eyes like a somnambulist person who was dreaming and mesmerized by the moonlight in the caelum night.
"The full moon is coming."
He mumbled, but it was enough to be heard by the person hiding behind the long curtains.
"What an oddball."
He said, leaving the man with a tall and thin figure standing on the balcony startled while his face turned pale white when he saw him standing in the dark with his arm crossed, leaning on the wall with a grave look on his menacing hazel eyes.
His face turned paler when the light of the moon hit his face. He looked at him straight into his eyes, trying to get a clear sight of him, but it was too dark to see.
"W-who... are you?"
He asked, but he didn't get the response he wanted; instead, he was shocked to see Erwin walking towards him.
"Curiosity killed the cat, Dal, so you better shut your mouth.''
He affirmed that it made him feel anxious.
Erwin became alert when Dal raised his hands to take off his tie, but before he did, his hand slipped as if he were being lassitude when the full moon was about to come.
Erwin has taken it as an opportunity and landed an attack on Dal.
"Somniate~"
He whispered as he swiftly charged towards him and tapped his forehead, leaving him unconscious in his arms. It was a powerful spell, too powerful that could calm and captivate people.
Erwin sighed, holding Dal in his arms, who was sleeping peacefully like a child..