Aethelheim's Side

When I opened my eyelids, the last thing I expected was to be inside a church. I touched the hard stone pedestal I lay on. Nothing made sense. In front of me was a long red carpet that stretched to the end of the door. On each half, lines of oak wooden benches were arranged. The scratches on its frame and noticeable cracks spoke of its age.

Statues of worship were etched into the dilapidated walls of the church. However, I wasn’t familiar with the person etched on it. The same statue stood behind me, in the centre of the church, overlooking the believers who prayed to it.

“Greetings, miss. Please don’t be alarmed. You are in safe hands.” An old man donning typical priest attire was kneeling below me.

I was in an unfamiliar, foreign location, alone with an old man. Alarm bells rang in my head. As a high school girl, my danger senses were firing on all cylinders. But I had to remain calm. The first step was to assess the situation objectively.

“Where am I? What have you done to me?” I interrogated curtly. I refused to give him the impression that I was a soft and easy girl.

“We summoned you from your world for a specific purpose. The king should arrive at any moment to explain everything.” The old priest raised his hands in surrender. From his mannerisms, I presumed he was speaking the truth.

As if on cue, the towering doors opened. The sun’s rays shone a path of light for his entry. It was reflected by the king’s sparkling silver armour and iridescent cape. A golden crown perched above his white locks of hair. Though his face was wrinkled, his radiant aquamarine eyes and clean white beard made him seem gentle and wise.

Behind him were typical guards holding spears, following his every step. Their armour was made up of stereotypical grey metal plates from head to toe.

If I had to guess, I either travelled through time or to another world…

It took all my willpower not to make my brain combust here and now. Nothing made sense. I was supposed to be sleeping soundly in my bed! Why was I in the same room as a medieval king?! That too in my pyjamas!

“Has the summoning been completed?” The king asked the old man, ignoring my presence.

“Yes, your majesty. This girl was the result of the ritual.” The priest knelt on his knee.

The king sauntered towards the pedestal until he was a mere centimetre away from the altar. I got off the pedestal and stood on the carpet, staring directly into his eyes. The priest pleaded for me to kneel, but I ignored his words. I wasn’t a native of his nation, or even this world. There was no reason for me to kneel to him.

“State your name, child.” His voice was deep and pristine. It sent shivers down my spine.

“Natsu Fukuyama. Yours?” Though every bone in my body was shaking in fear, I refused to back down.

“Alucard von Lancaster. You’ll address me as King Alucard or Your Majesty henceforth, got it, Miss Fukuyama?”

King Alucard’s eyes applied pressure to my entire body, forcing me to the ground. His glare was forcing me to kneel to him. This man was the embodiment of royalty and authority.

“Understood, your majesty.” I finally submitted.

A cocky smirk formed on his face, relishing in his victory against me. He turned back towards the entrance, walking into the blinding light. Before he left, he turned his head towards me.

“What are you doing just standing there? Come with me to my castle. I’ll explain everything there.”

Wait. Was he serious?

I walked through the cornea-burning rays of the sun. It felt as though the chills in my skin had been scorched away. My feet had stepped on hard cobblestone. Houses, thin but tall, stood on the left and right of the cobblestone world. As I looked up at the sea-blue sky, a tower touching the heavens caught my eye.

“That’s where we’re going. Hop on.”

King Alucard motioned his hand towards the royal carriage straight out of a fairy tale. Its wheels dwarfed modern cars, and the interior was made of luxury red velvet cushions. Sitting on such comfortable seats almost dropped me to sleep, but my enthusiasm for sightseeing stopped me.

As the carriage crawled forward, I observed the city. Men and women dressed in traditional European clothes went about their work, like hard labour and shopkeeping. Children hopped and bounced about the stone road, enjoying their youth. The view in front of me was straight out of my world history book.

It didn’t take long to reach King Alucard’s castle. We had temporarily stopped at the main gate before his property. Two guards stood at each end of the gate, holding crossbows in their arms and swords in their sheaths. One of the guards immediately recognised the vehicle and promptly opened the gates. Calling the view on the other side breathtaking was an understatement.

A humongous structure of arranged cobblestones stood at the centre. On its path was a fountain roughly 10 metres tall, elegantly flowing with crystal blue water. Surrounding the fountain was lush greenery and beautiful flowers properly shaped around the perimeter.

Once we crossed the giant-sized entrance, right in front of the house-length staircase stood a velvet red and gold throne. It shone brightly, rivalling the sun’s brightness. A woman dressed in a gaudy red dress was already seated next to the throne. Her face seemed like it was etched to perfection with proper cheekbones, and her aquamarine eyes seemed gentle and caring.

Once King Alucard was seated, he introduced his wife.

“This beautiful woman beside me is Violet von Lancaster.” He seemed proud to show off his wife to me.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms Fukuyama.” A gentle smile formed on her face. I couldn’t help but return the same expression.

“Likewise, your majesty.”

After the introductions, King Alucard whispered something to a guard. Several minutes passed before the guard returned with two people with him. One was a teenage girl, about my age, wearing a church sister’s outfit. Her blonde hair was especially striking, matching her equally golden eyes. The other person could not be any more different from her. He was a giant, almost 7 feet tall, and his muscles were humongous, barely holding back his simple brown shirt and pants. The two of them knelt beside me, giving their respects to the king and queen.

“Now that all of us are present, let us begin with why I summoned you here,” announced King Alucard, “I would like the three of you to fight for the nation of Aethelheim in the Sovereign’s Tourney.”

The royal chamber was silent. None of the individuals present made even a squeak of a sound. The gravity of King Alucard’s words was that great. I ruminated on each syllable he said. He wanted me, a teenager, to fight in a battle for this country? I’d heard better jokes.

King Alucard continued, explaining the rules and structure of Sovereign’s Tourney. In a nutshell, the three nations of Argentum, Aethelheim, Ashenfall and Aogiri would fight in a full-scale war in a free territory called No Man’s Land. The winner of the battle would control the entirety of Argentum for the next 10 years until the next Sovereign’s Tourney.

I was dumbfounded. The idea of using war as a method of getting peace through control felt disgusting. Unnecessary bloodshed should never be the solution to salvation. However, I still didn’t understand how the three of us were supposed to be involved.

“May I ask a question, your majesty?” I respectfully brought up.

“Of course, please speak your mind, Ms Fukuyama.”

“Why did you choose us?”

King Alucard looked unfazed at my doubt. He must have expected at least one of us to wonder why he specifically called us three to fight, especially when, at least I assumed that, the three of us lacked any military training. I was surprised that the two beside me were perfectly calm.

He stared at the blonde girl and began speaking, “Ms Anastasia, you are the most talented mage in the country. You’re ability to use castless magic and your nearly limitless mana pool is unmatched. With your prowess in sorcery, our enemies will surely be annihilated.”

The girl, whose name was Anastasia, lowered her head. King Alucard then shifted his eyes to the hulking man.

“Mr Stephen. I had heard rumours about you from your home village. The way you destroyed thieves or enemy soldiers with your pure strength interested me. I was actually asked to kill you, but that would be a waste. I’d rather have you as the army’s powerhouse, crumbling our foes with your bare fists.”

“Gruuuh..” An unintelligible sound emerged from his mouth. Was this guy even human?

Lastly, he rested his eyes on me. Beads of sweat ran down my forehead. I had no experience in real combat other than kendo. I couldn’t use that in the war!

“Ms Fukuyama. Though we have just met, I still have the same confidence in you as I do in the others. The summoning spell we used to bring you here was meant to choose the most courageous being from far and wide. I have complete faith in the priest’s magic and therefore I have faith in you.”

Expectations were man’s greatest sin. It was a burden set from one person to another that must be kept due to the guilt of defying them. I despised expectations, yet I was enticed to prove him right anyway. It was a deadly cycle of emotional struggle.

“Thank you, sir. I will try to meet your expectations.” I bit my tongue at my words. I was disappointed in myself for falling for such emotional pandering.

But there was another reason I agreed to fight. I had a friend in my previous world, one I cherished dearly. It was his dream to help as many people as they could, whether they asked for it or not. It didn’t matter how arduous or time-consuming it was. As long as it brought a smile to someone’s face, he was willing to do the work. I admired him deeply and strived to become a better person for it.

He would have helped King Alucard to save the people of the nation. I was certain of that. Therefore, I was ready to do the same.

“What about you two?” King Alucard asked Anastasia and Stephen.

They nodded in agreement. The plan had been set. We three would act as generals for the Aethelheim army.

“I express my heartfelt gratitude to the three of you. Aethelheim is in good hands.”

After the meeting, we were guided to our rooms inside the castle. The three of us would be sent to the army’s main base for training tomorrow until the day before the Sovereign’s Tourney. I had to mentally prepare for the back-breaking work ahead of me.

Once the royalty were out of our view as we walked through a narrow corridor, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“It’s so nice to have someone I can finally talk to casually here! I’m Anastasia!” I didn’t expect the soft-spoken teenage girl to be hiding such a bubbly personality.

“You can call me Natsu. It’s nice to meet you, Anastasia,” I replied in a semi-formal tone.

“So hey, how’s your world like! What’s special about it? Tell me everything, please!” Anastasia ran her mouth nonstop. She must have been dying to speak to me since we were in the royal chamber. Our conversation flowed smoothly, learning new things about each other.

“Grrrr…” Suddenly, a growling noise had softly interrupted. Stephen looked sad; his bulky arms were drooping down.

“Stephen must be feeling left out. Because of an injury to the throat by his dad, he couldn’t speak words anymore. He’s the sweetest guy once you get to know him,” Anastasia explained.

“I’m sorry, Stephen. I didn’t know. You’re always part of the conversation, so don’t be afraid to speak up, okay?” I felt bad for Stephen. I had completely misunderstood him based on his looks.

“Grrrr!” A bright smile erupted on his face as he pumped his fists up in the air. It reminded me of when a child received a compliment for the first time.

A big smile formed on my face as well. Anastasia and Stephen were incredibly nice people. I was happy to have such great company by my side. But we were at war. Survival wasn’t guaranteed for any of us. I prayed for our safety, hoping that we could meet up here just as we are at the end of this war..

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The rest of the days flew by. At camp, I practised my sword techniques, whereas Anastasia learned new spells and Stephen strengthened his muscles even further. We had regular meetings with the army’s strategists to prepare tactics for the battle. We even chatted at night once our training was over for the day.

Though I tried learning new spells, I couldn’t find the one I was properly compatible with, so I focused even harder on my swordsmanship. This included several spars with Stephen. I recalled Anastasia scouring through grimoires throughout the night to find the right magic for me. Stephen used to constantly apologise for hurting me during our sparring sessions as well. I honestly didn’t deserve to have friends as good as they were.

Even though we were preparing for war, those 2 months were filled with peace and tranquillity.

All of a sudden, the final day had arrived. The three of us climbed on a carriage driving towards a smaller base camp near No Man’s Land. Amidst our small, playful talk, Anastasia suddenly got serious.

“Hey guys, can I just say something out of character for a moment?”

“What’s wrong? Is everything alright?” I asked worriedly. Anastasia wasn’t acting like her usual jovial self. Even Stephen sensed her sudden personality change.

“Yeah. It’s just that tomorrow is going to be the turning point of our lives. Anything can happen on the battlefield that’d be out of our control.”

“Mmm.” I nodded, indicating that I was listening intently.

“So, I just want to get a few words out of my chest, you know? I don’t want to leave the battlefield with any regrets.”

Anastasia breathed in a gust of air. I noticed tears forming in her eyes.

“Thank you for being with me these last 2 months! Before meeting you guys, I never had any friends. Because of the church, my only company was the old priest, and people in the magic school didn’t want to talk to me because of my skills. You two are the only people who have ever cared for me and paid attention to me. Thank you for being by my side!” Tears gushed out of her eyelids like a rushing waterfall. Even my eyes welled up with tears from her heartfelt words.

Stephen grabbed the two of us gently, pulling us three into a tight hug. He didn’t even try to hold back his weeping.

“It’s because you’re such a great friend to both of us. We should thank you too.”

Anastasia’s wailing was uncontrollable. Our tears had formed into a hotpot of heartfelt emotion. I had to protect what we had here, no matter what. I would crush anything that broke us apart.

“Anastasia. Stephen. All three of us will make it out of this alive. I’m sure of it.”

The carriage stopped smoothly. We had reached our destination.

The Sovereign’s Tourney was approaching.