[ ~ Chapter • Start ~ ]
Somewhere in a room in the Fortress City of Ken...
Six women sat in six different chairs surrounding an ornate wooden table while a bigger chair had been left empty.
In the upper left sat Claudia, who was clenching her fists under the table, trying to keep her calm.
"You called, teacher?"
On the upper right was Alicia Arcturus, the Princess Knight who ruled the First Fortress, Feoh and the most skilled Swordsman before . This princess wondered what could have happened with her, or even Celestine who probably should be here at any moment now.
"Umm... is something wrong, Miss Claudia?"
Sitting on the rightmost chair was Prim Fiorire, the Princess who was ruling the Second Fortress of Ur. Like Alicia, she was confused. The princess had pink hair and blue eyes like Sill, though lacking puffiness. She wore a white dress with gold trimmings, though its lower half doesn't cover her privates other than a pink panty.
"..."
And on the bottom right chair, was Kaguya, leader of the Third Fortress of Thorn, who looked like she hailed from Japan. She was dressed in a red kimono and a fundoshi that covered a certain private part. A powerful practitioner of their magic arts second only to Celestine, supposedly said to have a "blessed ass".
Kaguya was as calm as always, putting her hands on her thighs as she noticed Claudia's strangely distressed face. She might ask her about it later, or she would tell it right now. Maybe it was about the news that was spreading like wildfire?
"... I'm still waiting for what you've been keeping in your chest, Claudia."
Sitting on the bottommost chair is Maia, the woman who ruled the Fourth Fortress, Ansur, which was said to be the "Home of Mercenaries" due to how many sellswords and mercenaries lived and trained there.
The same fortress was where a certain mercenary group had lived and fought Olga's forces, who might soon take over it.... maybe.
"Can we get over this already? I have a lot of forging to do back in Rad."
The girl who said that was Luu-Luu, the Princess Knight who governed the Fortress City of Rad, a city of dwarves and the main source of many weapons of Eostia, she is a halfling with incredible strength almost rivalling Claudia's.
Of course, they were the remaining members of the [Seven Shields Alliance], originally led by Celestine. But now, it was led by Claudia Levantine due to "certain circumstances".
"You all heard the news, right?" She began to speak with a grim tone.
For a moment, silence surrounded this room. Alicia, Prim, and Luu-Luu were in fact confused.
"Nope, I haven't. I probably was too busy in Rad so no sort of news passed my ears." Luu-Luu replied, crossing her arms as she tapped her foot on the ground.
"Huh? What was it? Is it about Lady Celestine? Did something happen to her?" Alicia asked, glancing at the empty seat
"Yeah. I heard." Maia honestly replied, leaning backwards and resting her legs on the table. "This Rance guy took over Geofu in a single day, by deceiving Celestine into giving him the fortress. That was completely unexpected and surprising to hear, though. This guy really just made enemies with probably the whole Eostia in a day and I don't expect anything else from him. But... surely he wouldn't convince the people at Geofu to trust him, right?"
Claudia immediately shuddered after those words were spoken from Maia's mouth, it's as if what she said might become true soon enough. The Princess Knight then shook those distracting thoughts away.
"Lady Celestine... she did what?" Luu-Luu was the next to speak. "Surely she knew what she was doing, so why are you addressing this, Claudia?"
Claudia only glared at Luu-Luu angrily while trying her hardest not to slam her fist to the table.
"I... I believe Celestine needs to be rescued from his jaws. He's too strong, that's why we need to unite the fortresses together to free Geofu and eventually, her!"
"Nah. No need, someone like an idiot would surely make the people in Geofu revolt after a short while. I'm sure of that." Maia confidently said as a small smirk was on her face.
"Still..."
Claudia could not help but deeply sigh.
"I'm with you, Claudia." Alicia said, with conviction on her eyes. "If that's what you want, then I'll lead my and Prim's soldiers with yours."
"... Thank you." Claudia breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Alicia was standing by her side at this moment of crisis. "What about you, Prim, Kaguya, Luu-Luu?"
"I'm pretty sure this Rance guy is kind and noble, Celestine is merely doing this because she knew it." Was Prim's reply, though she was scolded by both Claudia and Alicia afterwards.
"I'm with Prim here. Celestine knows what she's doing." Luu-Luu replied.
"... I shall be staying my hand out of your problem. Though I might later decide to visit Geofu." Was Kaguya's reply.
After that, they were dismissed and would soon return to their respective fortresses, except Claudia who walked herself home, where her father, Grave Levantine waited.
"I heard of it." He spoke in a stern tone, halting Claudia from her tracks. "You lost a battle against someone."
Suddenly, she knelt towards him.
"... Father... please..." Claudia said, tilting her head to look towards her surprised father. "Train me harder than before! I must recover my lost honor, for Celestine!"
"... If that is what you wish. Then fine. Don't expect me to be as merciful than before, I will break you then reshape you as a proud member of the noble house of Levantine and soon surpass me! Unlike my... disgrace of a son." Grave said, narrowing his eyes while feeling utmost respect to Claudia and pride to himself, though left his last words a whisper.
He was just curious about Rance, though. Someone who had defeated his daughter in the matter of minutes also had his respect. Maybe he should visit him if the time came by....
[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]
Somewhere in the Fortress City of Ansur...
"Damn. That guy was pretty impressive himself." A middle aged man spoke. This man was Vault, the leader of the Black Beasts/Kuroinu Mercenaries. "Gaining control over a fortress in an instant is a great feat in itself."
"So what do we do with him, boss?" A Mook said, curious about what Vault would say.
"Try to make him join our cause. Use everything you can do." Vault replied with a small grin on his face. "He will be an essential asset to building our Cuntry, the Empire of Service and our paradise! Now go!"
"Yes, boss!"
Vault watched the mook go and find Rance, thinking he would be easy to manipulate using his lust.
What he didn't know what he was absolutely wrong.
[ ~ Line • Break ~ ]
In another place, a Dark Elf was staring at a crystal ball on a table. The said Dark Elf was Olga Discordia.
"Celestine..... you did something unexpected, didn't you?" She said, with venom lacing her voice. "Tsk.... That worm will become nothing but annoying trouble for me. Therefore I need to begin preparing myself. And observe how he fights by sending hundreds of monsters soon."
Turning her head away from the crystal ball, she began to move. Her powers were waning like Celestine. Even so, she's still weaker than when she was at her prime.
And that's why she needed to regain her powers and become as strong as her prime self once again.
[ ~ Chapter • End ~ ]
Extra Note: Shenanigans ensue. Claudia is paranoid because three people don't trust her and due to that she had to face her humiliation by training much harder than how she was supposed to. The Kuroinu/Black Beast mercenary group wants Rance to join him, and Olga sees him as a real threat.
Also, actual lemon with Celestine next chapter.