Chapter 27: The Queen's Knight

==================================================================================

God, this woman really pisses me off. What is all this possession business? Is she a bugged NPC? Whatever the reason is, there's no way in hell am I just going to accept this.

Regaining my composure, I stood up from the bed and inspected my entire body. Hmm, looks like I really am healed. Even though using that lightning did some serious damage to my body this was still a game. We're all just bits of data that can be restored with the proper means. Even so, that doesn't mean I should use my abilities recklessly...

"Oh, you're ignoring me?" The Queen asked with a bemused smile

"Nii-san! Is something going on here?" Hime looked at me with suspicion

"Wait, remember what Haruki said? About the Queen being weird? I think we should wait for an explanation." Sylva calmed her down, looks like she's already over the initial shock.

"Ah, now that you mention it..... But we didn't notice anything wrong...."

"Haruki probably felt it because the attention was directed at him. For now let's stay out of this." Sylva guided Hime to the edge of the room

Glad the two of them had calmed down; I then turned my concentration to the Queen who was starting to get annoyed of my cold shoulder.

"So? What is it you want?" I asked while frowning

"....Did you not hear? I said that you are mine!"

"I'm afraid I'll have to refuse."

"How dare you! To not even consider my offer!"

Fuming with rage at my attitude she started to come closer with a clearly displeased face. Her barely covered body drew my eyes attention but only for a second before I grabbed the bedsheets and threw them on her. Placing my hand on my sheathed blade I start to look at her with a threating gaze.

"Please don't come any closer. Just give me an explanation."

"............"

"Hey." I called out when she remained silent.

"....Fu-fu-fufufu. HAHAHA, You truly amuse me Haruki! To reject my advances without a second thought! My body feels all tingly when I think of you being mine!" She started to laugh deliriously

It's confirmed. This woman is a total nutbag.I just can't read what's on her mind at all! One minute she furious and the next she's back to this state again. This is pointless. I should just leave....

"Wait, we'll discuss this after those two give us some privacy." She gestured at Sylva and Hime

"Haruki, will you be fine?" Sylva asked

"I guess. I don't think she intends to hurt me...." I nod to ask them to leave for a while

"Be careful okay, Nii-san? Don't do- Just don't do anything!" Hime left while slamming the door behind her.

Seeing there's no use in threating her I let down my guard and sat down on a nearby couch. Rubbing my temples to get rid of my stress I waved my hand so she would sit in front of me. Walking slowly she came closer to me and sat down on my lap wrapping her arms around my neck.

Really? Again with the weird flirting? She just doesn't give up....

"I'm not sure Your Highness should act in such a manner." I said in a bitter voice

"Please. Call me Diana." She whispered in my ear and traced her fingers on my chest, which nearly made me snap from annoyance.

"Fine then. Diana, just get on with it." I abandoned my fake formal tone

"Hihi, as you've heard I want you to be mine. But you could call it a, hmm, a deal, shall we say?"

"Deal?"

"You came here to build an alliance, correct? I propose that you serve me and I shall grant that."

"I still don't see why you need me. In the first place, I'm not officially a part of Roden's delegates."

"Doesn't matter. When I saw you at first I immediately realized you had much more power than your allies. You emerging victorious, on your first time no less proved I'm right. Do you see? I want your strength to serve me, Haruki."

"Why would you want my service? There are plenty of strong people here from what I've seen."

"Hmph, as a Queen I want the very best. When I saw you fight in the last battle, I just felt my entire body burn thinking about you." She said and pressed my lips with her finger

Unable keep my patience, I lifted her up and put her down roughly on the chair opposite mine before sitting back down. Glaring at her I started to talk again.

"Will you cut that out!? It's really getting on my nerves!" I yelled at her

"Heh, so cold. I it's purely business for now." She grinned mocking me

"Fuuu, so what are the exact terms?" I try to get the conversation back on track

"Let's see... Become my agent and I will immediately agree to an unconditional alliance. I'm sure you'll find other benefits as well. Ah, yes. Of course your friends can choose whether to follow or not."

"Your agent? What are my obligations? I don't want to be a slave." I questioned

"I merely request that you address issues that trouble me and complete some tasks for me. If you feel that your unsatisfied serving me I grant you the freedom to leave anytime you wish. Think about it, having me as an ally is surely beneficial to adventurers such as yourself?" She smiled confidently

Honestly, the terms sound pretty good. From what she says that probably means I'll be doing quests for her and become some sort of personal champion. I can leave when I want and in addition it's true becoming allies with an influential NPC will give me some advantages and I need to take anything I can get. Even if I don't really like it this gives me a better chance at surviving if someone powerful like her favors me. I mean, in any game affiliations has its advantages....

"..........Fine, I'll accept for now. If I disagree with you I will leave immediately."

"A very wise choice. I'll look forward to working with you, my dear 'knight' Please take care of me." She said in teasing tone

"Then if you'll excuse me, my 'Queen.' I have some matters to attend to." I replied with a cold smile

Walking to the door, I heard Diana's words as I closed the door behind me.

"Do not think I've given up. I will surely make you unable to live without me."

=================================================================================

Diana's Knight

As the personal knight of Diana, Queen of Prax, you are recognized as an influential character in her domain. You will be offered special quests by the Queen herself, which you are obliged to accomplish.

As you have not given your total servitude benefits will be limited

- All stats permanently increase by 5

- Able to command a limited number of Prax's soldiers

I read the new information window with a slightly bitter face. Of course the advantages that I could receive in the future could really help me out but was this the right choice? It should be, right? We were planning on exploring here anyway and having a clear status has its perks. I'm also sure the quests she gives are also important so there's that........

Huh? I have an unread notification...

Your luck has increased by a high amount. A random bonus will be added to your status.

Lightning resistance has increased by 5%

My jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Luck had this kind of effect!? Even though my resistance only reached 70% for months even with equipment, increasing luck had added the total. What's more, it's passive! It doesn't rely on the gear I have equipped! Well, I guess this was just a onetime thing since increasing luck has random effects. I gained 35 points from the tournament victory and knight bonuses but I can't afford to gamble level up points on luck....

At least it's risen a bit. Maybe I can use red lightning more often? I should test it out in the near future and experiment with my magic again. Who knows? I might be able create a new skill again! Before I tested it out the three girls that travelled with me appeared.

"Hey, Haruki! Glad to see you're still in one piece!" Amy seemed upbeat as usual

"Uh-huh, no thanks to you." I grumbled

"Haha, no way am I gonna stand in the middle of the storm that is your love life." She playfully said while glancing at Hime and Sylva

"Give me a break....." I rubbed the back of my head

"More importantly, are you feeling fine Nii-san?" Hime asked with a concerned look

"Huh, of course I am. See?" I move around to make my point

"You seem fine now but you were in a serious condition you know? You were covered in really bad burns all over your body!"

"Yeah, that happens sometimes with my skills..." I shrugged

"Speaking of which, what was that? Red lightning? I've never seen you use that kind of magic. When I saw it, I felt that you were.....different."

Well, looks like she was already awake during my match. Can't give a half-assed explanation to her then....

Sylva was looking at me with a calm but serious expression on her face. Since she already knew about the details of its usage, it made her worry again when I activated it.

"Haaah, Sylva already told you what happened before meeting you right?"

"That's......" Hime eyes darted away from my gaze

"It's fine. The lightning magic I use has special properties. What I know is that it uses my emotional state to change in effects and is visible through color. Red was, as you should already know, unlocked when I felt hate and killed someone."

"....."

"I'm sorry, Hime. I understand if you can't accept thi-"

SLAP!!

Before I finished, Hime had slapped my cheek and glared at me.

"Won't accept!? Of course I'll accept it! I know why you chose to do it and that's fine! You're my brother. There's no way I could hate you!" She screamed out loud

"..... Yeah, thanks Hime. Looks like I really should rely on you a bit." A relieved smile came to my lips

"Took you long enough to realize that!"

"Don't get carried away, you're still the little sister here" I said while ruffling her hair

"Aaah, you're such an idiot." she replied while sticking her tongue out

"Haruki, a moment please." Sylva still looked serious

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Judging from the last fight you had I'm guessing you found a way to use the skill freely?"

"I think so. I just have to let my emotions fre-"

"Don't use it. At least..... not the red lightning."

"Why?"

"I'm sure you already know." she at me disapprovingly

Yes I do know. When I used it on Arran I felt as if it were corrupting me. I felt an urge to kill anyone besides Sylva and Hime back then. But even if that's true I can't abandon it! It's currently the most powerful magic I have! I need to learn how to control it.....

"I'll be careful." I deflected her concern with a white lie

"Haah, just don't go overboard." She saw straight through me.

"Uuuum, what happened with the Queen?" Amy suddenly threw a fastball at me.

Hime and Sylva also remembered the issue from before and were looking at me questioningly. Crap, stay calm! Don't look guilty, I didn't do anything wrong.

"Nii-san?" Hime watched me as I sweat bullets on my forehead

"Did you...... flirt around with her?" Sylva asked somewhat coldly

"NO!"

"....."

The both of them clearly didn't trust me a single it! This is just going to make the explanation for my decision much more awkward! Amy's also stepping back again..... You're the one that caused this mess!

"Haruki, just tell us what happened." Sylva pressed on

"Fine, I am now Diana's personal knight and champion. We agreed to a contract with me being some sort of retainer."

"Diana?" Hime was dumbfounded

"In short you agreed to be hers?" Sylva eyed me disapprovingly

"Haruki, don't you have any self control?" Amy poured fuel into the fire.

"Alright, you guys are way of the mark! I am not hers, okay!?"

"Then why'd you agree?" Sylva asked

"Look, the quest we came here for was the alliance. By agreeing to her request I've secured the quest's success."

"Who cares about some stupid quest." Hime sighed deeply

"Hey! It's not like I wanted to! We were going to stay here anyway right? She offered to support us in case we need it, and in this unpredictable game world I not taking any chances...."

"Hm, that seems logical. What's your job?" Sylva asked

"I think she'll have some special quests. Oh yeah, you guys can choose to join those quests or not she said."

"I see. Well, that's acceptable I guess. That's fine right, Hime?"

"..... Fine, I think so too." Hime pouted a little

I'm glad that's over. Now we should start training and increasing our levels. I also need to think of some new magic skills. A few seconds before I state my mind a messenger had came up to us and spoke with me.

"Lord Haruki, the Queen requests your presence in the Throne room." He said while kneeling down

"Huh? It's only been a few hours.... What's the matter?" I asked the still kneeling man

"It is for the announcement of the alliance. And more importantly a formal ceremony will be held on your appointment as the Queen’s knight."

"What ceremony?"

"Queen Diana has summoned all minor lords to her palace. It is customary when a Ruler appoints a personal champion. Of course, the guests from Roden will also be invited." He answered while looking at the three people beside me

Talk about a hassle.....

I have a feeling that this is going to cause me a lot of problems in the future....

##############

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed :D

Since quite a few number of you are following I just wanted to say thank you. You really help motivate me to keep writing so keep enjoying to read as much as I enjoy writing!

As usual, any form of feedback from you is highly appreciated and will be a great help

Back to Main Page

Characters + Setting + Suggestions