Adelaide Chapter 1: The Royal Family and The Royal Knights

Edit: 7/28/2018. I reread the chapter and it was confusing. I fixed things to be less confusing. Please comment below if you find anything more confusing.

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Adelaide Chapter 1

The Royal Family and The Royal Knights

In the East side of the continent of Edenia, resides the country of Veronia.

Veronia has many towns and cities. Most are human, but there are also other humanoid beings such as elves and dwarves. All races are treated equally.

In the center of the country resides city of Archidam. Archidam is the capital of Veronia and is ruled by humans.

Inside the city, a large castle stood in place. Inside the large castle resides the royal family.

In the throne room, twelve people were present.

One was the king who is standing and holding a sword on his hand. The king put the sword over the shoulders of the kneeling individual in front of him.

“Adelaide Axtarosa, I now dub thee as “Royal Knight”.”

Adelaide Axtarosa, a female knight wearing gray armor received royal knighthood.

There are only seven royal knights in Archidam. One has retired a year ago so there is an open position. This position was taken by the 18-year-old Adelaide.

A royal knight isn’t chosen only by pure strength, but also talent, and potential. There are stronger combatants in Archidam than her such as veterans, but she is very strong for her age and she has great potential.

“It is an honor, I will always serve the kingdom.”

A beautiful, calm and cool voice was heard from the female knight.

“The accolade has ended, you are permitted to stand.”

A beautiful face which has an expression filled with a harmony of calmness and coldness. A face which can fill a man’s heart with both heat and cold. A calm expression which people could not imagine smiling.

Her gray irises emit a calm but dignified aura. Her smooth gray silky hair is braided on one side over her shoulders with a black ribbon on the end.

Her gray armor has a simple design, the scabbard on her belt is a simple black, the shield on her forearm is but a simple gray shield, but because of her beauty, the simplicity of her battle attire is enhanced to look better than armors made out of orichalcum.

Adelaide Axtarosa, the talented treasure of the dignified Axtarosa family and the daughter of an archduke.

The people around clapped their hands to mark the end of the ceremony.

--

One of the audiences is the crown prince of Veronia, Prince Reyhard Axtarosa.

A handsome prince with white hair and blue eyes which has taken the hearts of most women just by his looks.

Prince Reyhard Axtarosa clapped with a gentle smile with a hint of being in pain. There is feeling a mixture of happiness and pain on his chest.

“…You really are amazing…” Prince Reyhard muttered.

The reason for his pain is due to his feelings for his first cousin.

He knows to himself that it is not normal and it is taboo for a person to fall in love with his cousin. Prince Reyhard knows this and has given up on this love and has decided to hide this feeling until it disappears when he matures.

He knows that it will disappear, but he cannot deny that at the present, he has feelings for her.

--

An old man in his 50’s but still has a handsome face approached Adelaide. This man is the archduke, Axavier Axtarosa, Adelaide’s father.

“For little Adel to be royal knight already… sniff… you have grown up already.”

“Father, please do not easily show tears of an Axtarosa in front of others. At least keep it inside the house.”

“Is there any father who won’t be proud if his daughter has achieved Class Level: 4 at the age of 18?! Sniff, I’m so proud of youuu!”

Adelaide decided to let her father hug her. Normally she would dodge his hug, but she has permitted it for today.

Class Level: 4 are mostly attained when a person is at his 30’s. Getting it at the age of 18 shows how amazingly talented Adelaide is. Truly fit to be a royal knight.

“Hahaha! You haven’t changed, Xavier!” the king said as he gave the royal sword to the maid beside him.

The maid has violet neck-haired hair and is wearing a purple mask.

The masked maid is a royal knight whose only duty is to protect the king. Only the royal family knows of her true identity.

“Reks, don’t give her dangerous missions!”

“Err… isn’t that what being a royal knight is about?”

King Reksaflaig, the king, said with a wry smile.

--

A man with an elegant demeanor approached Adelaide.

“Class level: 4 at 18 years old, what an amazing feat. I’m astounded.” The man who was wearing a white robe said as he approached Adelaide.

The man has a handsome face which rivals the crown prince. Unlike the crown prince which gives off a young man’s charm, this man gives of a face full of beauty.

This man’s name is Claudius Weiser, one of the Royal Knights.

Adelaide pushed her father, which was soaking her armor with tears, away to greet Claudius.

“I’m not worthy to receive such words from a talented individual such as you, sir Claudius.”

“No, there is no one worthier of praise than you. I may be at Class Level: 6, but I have only reached it after I turned 30. I only became a Class Level: 4 when I was 21. That’s three years later than yours. Lady Adelaide, you have worked hard and much more talented than me.”

“I’m truly happy to be praised by you. Since it would be rude to further more deny your praise, I would gladly take it.”

Adelaide put her right hand on her left chest, to show respect. Claudius had a gentle smile on his face.

--

This scene is only a junior and a senior acknowledging each other and nothing more.

Prince Prince Reyhard knows this, but he cannot help but envy the atmosphere of the two.

This wretched feeling… jealousy? For me to feel such an emotion… I feel ashamed of myself.

The prince felt a hand over his shoulder.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

The one who put his hand on the prince’s shoulder casually was a man on his late 20’s.

The man has a slim build and is wearing light leather adventurer’s clothes. He has a bow on his back and a dagger behind his belt.

His name is Arc, a Royal knight.

This kind of action of a commoner towards the royalty shouldn’t be allowed, but to Prince Reyhard, such a thing doesn’t matter.

Arc has always treated Prince Reyhard as an equal, he doesn’t see this as something bad and has already opened up to him. The prince trusts him as if he is family.

“You really do know me, Arc.”

“Haha, of course. Just how many years have we been together? I’m going to train you like crazy later to make you forget about it. You better be prepared.”

“Thanks…”

Prince Reyhard was able to calm down. Having a true friend by your side really helps on these times.

--

A relieved tone was heard in the throne room.

“Whew! It’s too hot in this!”

The king was about to take off his royal cloak. This was halted because he felt a sudden chill on his back.

“Dear, what are you doing?”

A woman who has blue hair and blue eyes spoke with a cold tone.

“B-But Kaia, the ceremony is over! I’m sure you understand that this big lump of fur feels hot!”

Queen Kaia is the wife of the king and the current queen of Veronia. She is the daughter of a Duke and was a former famous magician.

“Please act more like a king! A lot of nobles are always requesting me to fix your manners!”

“But isn’t this why you fell in love with me?”

“P-Please stop saying such words when I’m talking to you. You can act like this when only we are around, but please act like a king in front of others!”

Queen Kaia turned red as she scolded the king.

“Hahaha! Mama is turning red, so cute!”

“So cute!”

Two little girls at the age of 10 ran around the queen. The children are identical twins, but it is easy to distinguish them from each other because of the hair and eye color.

The older of the twins has blue hair that is always put up into short twin tails and her eyes has white irises. Her name is Skaia.

The younger of the twins has white shoulder length hair and blue irises. Her name is Azaia.

“You two, behave inside the throne room!”

“Hahaha! Can’t catch us!”

“Catch us!”

The twin princesses ran towards a man wearing heavy plate armor in the room and climbed to his shoulders.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry queen, I’ll take care of these two brats!”

“Two brats? Jagg’s brain is a lot similar to a brat’s!”

“A brat’s!”

The armored man wearing plate armor has a big build. He has spiky long red hair and has a wild expression. He has a scar coming from the forehead down to the chin. He is a royal knight, his name is Jagg.

--

As this was happening, a woman casually approached Adelaide.

Adelaide notice her approaching and she responded by facing her and standing straight, a gesture of respect.

“Little Adel, congratulations!”

“This is thanks to your guidance and efforts in teaching me how to use magic, miss Fleisha.”

“My, my… thank you~”

The woman who approached Fleisha is a woman on her late 20’s. She has waist length brown hair and purple eyes. She is wearing a light brown robe and is holding a magic staff.

Her name is Fleisha, a magician. She is the most powerful person inside the room. At the young age of 29, she is already at class level: 7, the very first in history to achieve such a high class at such a young age.

There are very few humans in class level: 7. Such a high-class level is only attainable by magic users who are still able to do battle even at age 70. For the record, she reached class level: 4 when she was 15 years old, 3 years earlier than Adelaide.

In other words, Fleisha shouldn’t be called a genius, but a monster. It is informal, but it is considered that she is ranked higher than the nobles of the country aside from the royal family. This is all because her power is acknowledged and the nobles are scared of her because of her cheerful carefree attitude. She would not bat an eyelash and destroy half of the city just to get what she wants, and no one can stop her.

“Cute little Adel, I’m very happy that you’re now in the same group as me. Now, we can hang out more often and have fun~”

“Miss Fleisha… we also have some missions to do.”

“Of course, can’t forget about the side activities~”

“…”

Adelaide didn’t answer because she knew that with Fleisha’s power, any mission that can be completed by force will definitely be completed by a little effort.

--

While everyone was having their own casual conversations, a man who ignored the atmosphere approached King Reksafleig and bowed his head.

“King, permission to talk.”

“You don’t have to be so stiff all the time, Flaint…”

The man’s name is Flaint. He is wearing red coat over black plate armor. He has red hair done into a spiky ponytail. He has a long sword on his belt.

Flaint is a commoner of unique talent, similar to Adelaide. He was appointed as the captain of the royal knights last year after the former captain of the royal knights retired. He is 28 years old.

“King, the ceremony is now over. Adelaide is mow part of the royal knights. It is best if she started going on missions and starts leveling up as soon as possible. There is already a mission prepared for her, I would like it to be finished as soon as possible.”

“Ehhh, can’t we just take a break and celebrate today?”

“King, sir Flaint is right. I have turned into a royal knight now, I have to get strong as soon as possible so I won’t be a burden to my responsibility. I request permission to leave.”

“These two really can’t relax, even a little!”

The people had wry smiles towards the attitude of this king.

“King, I have a bad feeling about the mission prepared for Adelaide. I want it to be looked upon as soon as possible.”

“What is this mission?”

“There was a Manticore attack on the town nearby that occurred last night. The Manticore was an Abyth Manticore from the Abyth dungeon. They Evolution Level: 4 monsters found at the third level.”

“Shouldn’t the guardian be on the second level? It should’ve been impossible for the Manticore to go through… Could it be that the guardian of the dungeon was killed?”

Upon hearing the word Guardian, the twins’ eyes sparkled and they asked in a playful voice:

“What is a guardian? Sounds cool!”

“Cool!”

Queen Kaia answered them with a voice that seems to be teaching little children.

“There is a Guardian for different dungeons. It is a strong monster that has been captured and fixed by different magic tools. It is placed by the military of Veronia inside the dungeon to manage the ecosystem of a dungeon. Having many monsters inside a dungeon is dangerous, so controlling their number is needed. Guardians are very strong but don’t attack humans unless they are considered as intruders. They also serve as guards to prevent strong monsters from going up to surface level. These dungeons are maintained for soldiers and people titled as “adventurer” so they can gain experience and materials.”

“Mommy, too long! I don’t understand!”

“Don’t understand!”

“Y-You’ll learn it at school…”

Queen Kaia said with a flustered face as she realizes again that she has no talent in teaching little children.

“Were there reports of people capable of defeating a guardian entering the dungeon?” Claudius asked Flaint.

“There are none. There were also no reports of the guardian’s corpse inside the second level. I have a hunch that it went down to the third level.”

“But that guardian only gets aggressive if monsters stronger than it is present. Such a monster does not exist even in the third level.”

“What of the possibility of someone entering and planting a strong monster in the dungeon?”

“The people who entered the dungeon prior to the disappearance of the guardian have their Status Panel checked through evaluation crystals and we found no skills that can summon something of the sort. Their items are also checked and there were no suspicious items found.”

“So, a stronger monster being spawned is not a possibility.”

“The only thing that can defeat the guardian is an evolution level 6 monster of the higher level and a race advantage. Since the guardian’s corpse was not found, this means that either the guardian is malfunctioning or something has happened in the third level.”

“Heading into the third level is very dangerous, an elite unit must be made before investigating. An encounter of two manticores inside the dungeon would mean death for most people.”

“Hrmmm…”

The king looked at Adelaide. Adelaide looked at the king with expectations of making her part of the mission.

The King made a small smile before making a serious face as he faces Adelaide.

“Adelaide, the mission is for you to join the investigation unit. You’ll be working with the other royal knights, some soldiers and a few A rank adventurers from the city of Abyth.”

“I accept this mission.”

♦

Adeialde.

We rode a carriage and headed to the site. Captain Flaint, sir Claudius, sir Jagg, and miss Fleisha.

“Miss Fleisha, it’s an honor to go on a mission… but may I ask, is there a need for you to come with us? Shouldn’t you be at the city to protect the people?”

“My, my… don’t underestimate the soldiers and the adventurer’s guild of Archidam, they can protect the city from cute little flying cats, cute little Adel. Me, going to the root of the problem and solving it, is the best and fastest way to fix this~”

“I see, you have a point.”

Miss Fleisha put her hands on her cheeks.

“Not only that, it’s a lot more fun to go onto this kind of unusual stuff that stay at the city… I just love unusual things~”

Miss Fleisha always prioritizes her interests as much as possible. She has the leeway to pursue her interests while doing her responsibilities because of her talent.

“Little Adel, you had just had a class advancement, you should review your stats before we reach our destination~”

“Yes ma’am. <Status Panel>.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Adelaide Axtarosa
Being Category: [Person]
Race: [Human]
Racial Classification: [Beast]
Title: [Protector]
Class: [Ethereal Champion]
Class Level: 4

Statistics
Level: 3
EXP: 23%
Health: 516
Spirit: 584
Strength: 529
Agility: 518
Magic: 602

Class Abilities
<Battle Mode Lv. 7>|<Aura Blade Lv. 6>|<Corporeal Slayer Lv. 6>|<Ethereal Slayer Lv. 1>

Skills
<Sword Mastery Lv. 4>|<Shield Mastery Lv. 3>|<Ambidexterity Lv. 3>|<Pain Reduction Lv. 2>|<Unflinching Lv. 3>|<Spirit Mastery Lv. 6>|<Magic Mastery Lv. 5>|<Mana Regulation Lv. 5>
__________________________________________________________________________________________

I reviewed my skills as the carriage headed to town of Abyth.