The Fellowship of the Sun Sets Out

“I’m sorry, Master Frederick! Did I startle you?” Nout’n said, running around the table to Frederick and grabbing his hand, and leaned closer and closer with every word. “I didn’t mean to. I promise. But it was the only way, you see! When those bandits pillage the village, they steal food from the people. Even if we protect the people, what the bandits stole can never be returned. It only makes sense the only way they can properly repent is by becoming food themselves. Oh, how joyful I was when I saw them eating through the winter! I lived with them, I lived with them for a long time, and they loved me. But when they learned where the food came from, they betrayed me! They looked at me with eyes of disgust and horror. Ah~, It hurt. It hurt so much, you see. But my yearning to be a hero will never disappear! I’ll always, yes, always–! Aspire to be a true hero, just like yourself, Master Frederick! Yes, my knight, my master, my own hero!”

Frederick was too stunned to find the words. ‘My hero’? Frederick? Why would someone who viewed Frederick as his hero do such a thing? Was it really Frederick who inspired him?

Before he knew it, Tristan was already there. He grabbed Nout’n’s bony wrist off Frederick’s arm, twisting it till it snapped, and grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him to the table.

“Are you stupid? The only lives knights are allowed to sacrifice are their own, you lunatic.”

“Tristan, let him go,” Sir Logan said.

Quickly, Tristan loosened his hold, but by that point Nout’n’s arm had already been dislocated.

“It was dangerous, master. Who knew what kind of spell this mad man would have inflicted Frederick with.”

“He won’t do anything of the sort,” Sir Logan replied. “He may be vile, but ultimately reasonable.”

“Ah~ aaaaaaaah~ it hurts so much,” Nout’n said, but immediately afterward flicked his arm and it snapped back in place. All the while, Frederick himself was still trying to process being the ‘hero’ of this man.

“Now, let us begin.”

Sir Logan rolled out a large piece of paper. It was a map of the entirety of Avalon. There were other kingdoms beyond it as it was one of the older maps that contained the other locations present in the Triganatos continent, but as far as they knew, any other kingdom present in this map had long since been eradicated by the demons.

Avalon was located in the northernmost region, just a bit further north would send them to the snowy mountain edges, impossible to traverse. Meanwhile, down south was where the expected Demonic weapon was located.

Sir Logan recounted their mission to locate, then retrieve the potential demonic weapon that Darakota and his men encountered. This was information everyone had already known, so no one was surprised in the slightest, only this time, Darakota was there to share more information.

“Darakota, what do you know about the terrain and weapon at hand?”

“Eh? I didn’t really get a chance to see it for m’self, so I can’t tell ya what the weapon is or if it even exists in the first place. But we were around the Morgon Mountains when we got ambushed by the beasts. People started runnin’ like flies while we fought. ‘Aventurers’ my ass. Those people ain’t got a flick of courage in their bodies. And they all died in the end,” Darakota laughed out loud.

“Don’t you feel bad they died? I bet you tucked your tail in and just ran away the moment things went to shit, anyway,” Robin said.

“I’m an adventurer, knowing when to back off and run for your life is part of the job. Those shitheads dying ain’t my problem. They should’ve seen it coming.”

“Darakota, focus. Do you think you can lead us back there again? This time deeper than the original expedition was able to reach,” Sir Logan interjected.

“Eh? Depends if ya’ll can keep up. For kingdom dogs, fightin' those monsters—worse than the ones on the border—through dense forests and rocky mountains is probably too much for ya,” he replied.

“That won’t be a problem,” Frederick said. “It doesn’t matter what the terrain is or what we’re going up against, our duties will never change.”

“Heh, I hate that attitude of yers. Every one of ya knights always says the same thing. Fightin’ for the kingdom or some bullshit like that, but everyone, and I mean everyone, is fightin’ for some ulterior motives. The only difference between you and us adventurers is that we’re honest about it–but there is one more thing I gotta mention. The one reason I think this whole operation’s gon’ be a suicide mission.”

“And what would that be?”

“There was a dragon. A pretty big one at that.”

Frederick’s eyes widened in shock. It wasn’t just him, Robin looked in complete disbelief, Tristan’s brows furrowed, Nout’n clapped in awe, while Junge pressed his hands together and babbled in prayer:

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. It’s not my fault.”

“Heh, got ya’ll shittin’ yer pants now, huh? That’s right. The main reason most of us got wiped out was because of that thing.”

Despite his words, it seemed like Darakota himself was unfazed by it.

“Could it be that the Dragon itself is the secret weapon the Demons had?” Tristan said.

“Beats me. It showed up right around the time the scouts came back with the info. But if I had to guess, it probably is.”

Dragons of legend were known to bring entire empires to ruin. Not all were evil, but it only became scarier to know some were revered as gods.

Throughout legend, humanity has only ever been known to have bested a dragon twice. Both a thousand years ago, during the age of heroes. One was by the Demi-God Apolaki, the Descendant of the God of the Sun, Agni, and the other by the four Great Heroes who eventually went on to defeat the Dark Lord that threatened to destroy all life as they knew it.

In both cases, the beings to bring down the beasts were beings of higher power. Powers that could not be expected from four outlaws and three knights.

“This is insane. There’s no way there’s a Dragon–I mean, how have we not heard of this until now, right? Surely we would have already been wiped out if there was one!” Robin shouted,

“Dragons rarely leave their domain unless they find a good reason to,” Tristan said. “Potentially when Darakota and his men encountered it, they were by the border of its domain. It would take us nearly three months to travel far enough to reach Morgon Mountains, and before that point, rarely did anyone, even adventurers venture that far out. However…”

“However?”

“Tristan noticed it as well,” Sir Logan said. “The fact of the matter is, the adventurer expedition encountered it in an area where no records of a dragon ever existed before. This could mean what was once land free became part of the Dragon’s domain. There’s the potential that the dragon’s slowly creeping its way up north.”

If their theory was to be believed, then eventually, the Kingdom of Avalon, the last bastion for humanity, must battle, not just the forces of the Demonkind, but also a Dragon of myth and legend. It could only spell absolute destruction. The prospect of an unavoidable grisly future weighed on everyone’s shoulders. They were really going to face this threat, with no one but them seven?

“Master, I believe we must bring more people for this expedition,” Frederick said.

“No, the Knights are already spread thin. We must complete this mission on our own. I have already taken two of the strongest knights in the kingdom, each one of you is worth at least a hundred men.”

What’s more, Sir Logan believed bringing more people would only further risk their chances of being discovered. It was not worth the risk.

Sir Logan stood and evaluated everyone in the room, assigning them their roles.

During this expedition, Frederick and Tristan are expected to let go of the roles of a knight they have been familiar with till now and adopt one similar to an adventurer’s party. They couldn’t rely on overwhelming numbers or a strategic formation made for larger groups of people. Every individual would be responsible for one main task. Beyond that, working together would be a must. Unavoidable when there are only seven of them.

And when all was said and done, Sir Logan raised his sword and said–

“For the Kingdom of Avalon, for the future!”

Tristan and Frederick did the same, raising their sword, standing proud. Meanwhile the other four merely watched with disinterest. Only Nout’n clapping merrily in awe. Robin looked off cringing slightly.

And there, a few days later, they set out on the mission that would define the future of humanity's remnants.