Sergeant Catlyin:
"Finally, I can get a little rest after so many applications. I wonder, now that King Kephalos has liberated us, what does he plan on doing? I know he wants a large army; that's why he put me in charge of picking cadets. But what else does he want?"
I was then interrupted by someone knocking at my door.
"Who is it? If you want to give me your application for the army, that can wait until tomorrow."
An old, drunken voice called back. I knew that voice perfectly.
"Come on there a humble solider here who desperately want to join you cant you find it in your cold heart somewhere to let this poor solider in?!"
I sighed. "Come on in, you old drunk."
The door opened, and in walked the man who essentially handed the keys of the kingdom to King Kephalos. If he hadn't revealed the best and weakest points to attack, our assault would have failed.
"What can I do for you, old drunk?"
The old man raised his hand to his chest. "My, my, is that any way to talk to your ex-boss?"
I rolled my eyes. "Ex is the key word in that sentence. You're just an old drunk now."
"Hmm," the drunk opened his alcohol and took a long sip.
"Come on, old drunk, what do you desperately need that you came all the way to my chambers to speak with me?"
"Ah yes, I almost forgot. You see, I have a couple of brats coming here to apply for the army, and I was wondering if you could take them in."
"Who are these kids?"
"Just a couple of eager brats that want to show what they've got. I've seen what they can do; they'll be very strong soldiers."
"Alright then, if it's you, of all people, who is vouching for them, I'll take them in. But just know, I'll go extra hard on them, old man."
"And I wouldn't want it any other way. Here are their applications."
I took the applications and read them. They were named Whis and Key. Huh, I'm pretty sure that sounded familiar. Whis was tall, 6'0 feet, with a strong build, and only knew hand-to-hand – a brute, basically. Key used a sword, was 5'11, and was fit. Both men were 19, so they still needed quite a bit of experience. But the most odd thing about these two boys was that they wore masks that looked like an owl's head.
"Hey, old man, why do they wear masks?"
"Ah, you see, when they were children, their house began to burn. Since, you know, houses in the poor area aren't built properly, the house fell on the children, causing their faces to get burned. They wear them so people don't look at their disfigured faces."
"Oh, how sad. Well, ok then, just bring them in, and I'll take it from there."
"Appreciated, Miss. Well then, I'll be off now. Rest easy now."
William:
I woke up and immediately noticed a sharp pain in my back from sleeping on the floor. Since the old man's house had only three rooms, options were limited. Sentinel occupied one, and the old man used another. That left only one room. I had passed on the room to offer it to the princess, but Arthur was adamant about claiming it. He challenged the princess to a game of Ground, Fire, Water, and ultimately, he won. That decision left the princess and me to sleep on the floor.
The princess woke up groaning in pain. "My back hurts, William."
"Sorry, Princess, but there's nothing I can do," I replied.
"Yes, there is. Come give me a back massage."
"With all due respect, Princess, if I try, I'm positive I'll break your back."
At that moment, the door to Arthur's room opened, and he stepped out. He gave a big stretch, yawned, and spoke. "Hello, guys. How'd you sleep?"
I nudged the princess. "Hey, why don't you ask Arthur to do it since he rested well?"
"Good idea, William." She raised her voice.
"HEY, ARTHUR! Come give me a back massage!"
"WHAT? No, no way," Arthur protested.
I could see the princess's anger brewing as she activated her wind magic, her aura growing more intense.
"ARTHUR, I'M ONLY GOING TO ASK ONE LAST TIME. GIVE ME A BACK MASSAGE, OR ELSE I'LL SUFFOCATE YOU!"
"Alright, alright, don't suffocate me again. That sucked, last time," Arthur relented.
Arthur approached the princess and started to massage her back. He was surprisingly good at it, usually giving them to the princess and the king. Those were peaceful and nice memories, a stark contrast to the current tension. Then the old man came out of his room.
"Jeez, can you punks be any louder?" he said, scratching the back of his head.
The princess responded in a soothing tone, "My apologies, old man. I didn't mean to wake you."
"It's alright, I had to get up anyway. Otherwise, you punks would be late."
The old man returned to his room and emerged with two outfits, handing them over with a gruff remark, "Here, brats, these will be your disguises."
Arthur and I examined the suits. They looked tailored from durable white fabric, including a knee-length tunic, paired with white breeches and high leather boots. A minimal light armor breastplate and shoulder pauldrons blended with the suit's white color scheme, providing both protection and mobility. Also included were a white cape, and most interestingly, a mask designed with eye holes resembling an owl's.
"Hey, old man, what if they recognize our voices?" I wondered aloud.
"Ah, don't worry about that. I've added some sound magic to the masks, so they won't hear your real voices."
"You can use sound magic, old man?"
"I'm an old man filled with mysteries, aren't I? HAHA!"
He took his seemingly bottomless flask of alcohol from his waist, took a long sip, and then began to draw a symbol on the ground while speaking, "Alright, brats, go get dressed, say your goodbyes, and step into this symbol. It will send you to the camp."
Both Arthur and I changed into our disguises. They felt a bit tight, but the fine fabric continued to add to the mystery of who this old man really was. We approached the princess to bid her farewell for now. Arthur went first.
"Well, we won't see each other for at least two weeks. I'd say I'd be sad, but that would be lying, hehe!"
The princess punched Arthur in the arm and retorted, "WELL, AT LEAST I CAN FINALLY HAVE PEACE AND QUIET WITHOUT YOU AROUND! BE GONE!" She flailed her arms at Arthur to shoo him away.
I smiled at their playful banter. Despite everything that had happened, these two hadn't shown any significant emotion towards the king's death or anything else. They acted the same, which was comforting in its own way.
"Goodbye, princess. I won't be here to protect you, so please be careful. And you know, Arthur will miss you like crazy. That's just his way of showing love."
The princess gave me a gentle smile. "Thank you, William. And that doofus could learn to express himself better. Otherwise, how is he ever going to find a wife?"
"Well, I doubt getting a wife is at the top of his priorities right now."
"Yeah I guess your right but, William, be careful and please protect Arthur."
I smiled and nodded. Both Arthur and I stepped into the circle the old man had created. As he took another sip of his alcohol and began chanting a spell, I noticed a paper on a small table to my left. It was dated January 1, which had to be wrong since it had only been three days since the king's death on October 3rd.
"HEY, OLD MAN, IS THAT PAPER'S DATE CORRECT? IS IT REALLY JANUARY 1?"
"Huh? Yeah, anyway, goodbye, brats."
He snapped his fingers, and we were teleported away.