Patrol

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The Magic Knights Entrance Exam...

Xierra, Yuno, and Asta were able to get through its gruelling selection process. Xierra, Asta, and Yuno successfully joined the Magic Knights and took their first steps toward becoming the Wizard King.

The Crimson Lion Kings wasn't exactly the first squad that came to mind when Xierra was chosen by all of the nine captains.

However, after much thoughts, she decided that the Crimson Lion Kings would be the best for her. Not only that she planned on rivalling with the other two from a different squad, but she wanted to try something.

–– to become the Wizard Queen without relying on the best squad.

As Inari said, she could become the Wizard King or Wizard Queen from any squad, basically. It's just that the Golden Dawn's captain had the best chance at becoming one.

So, she could just aim for it from any squad without being in the Golden Dawn. And besides, it'll be more fun for her to compete from another squad.

Woken from her peaceful slumber, Xierra stretched her limbs and quickly bathe to freshen herself up. It hadn't been long since she arrived at the Crimson Lion Kings' headquarters.

It's humongous, she admitted. Even her room was bigger than the whole church she grew up in. She couldn't imagine how big of a room Yuno received in the Golden Dawn.

Changing her clothes, Xierra wore a simple white-coloured, long-sleeved t-shirt, along with some black shorts. She figured she would throw away the idea of wearing a dress since she's a Magic Knight now.

It would be uncomfortable for her to fight around with a dress to wear. Perhaps, she could since she wore shorts beneath her white dress. However, it didn't feel right.

Grabbing her red robe from her wardrobe, she looked at herself in the mirror. Grinning proudly, she glanced behind at her fox companion who was still half-asleep.

"Say, Inari. How do I look~?"

"Master, you sounded like you're being asked out on a dat––"

"Am not!" Xierra pouted and Inari just laughed mischievously at his master's antics.

"Fufufu~ You look great, Master."

––

Walking out of her room, the white-haired girl bumped into Leopold, who seemed to be searching for her.

His eyes lit up at the sight of her in the early morning. The young Vermillion then greeted, "Ah, little cub! I'm glad you're awake."

'Still with that nickname?' Inari sweatdropped, resting on Xierra's shoulder for the time being.

"Good morning, Leopold-san. What seems to be the matter? You look awfully... err, cheerful?"

"Of course, I am!" Leopold laughed merrily, causing the girl to chuckle as well. He braced his hands on his hips and leaned forward, peering close to the girl's face.

"But before I tell you what's going on, did you have a good sleep last night? The rooms here are prepared for Magic Knights to have the best rest possible, so I would like your evaluation on your room."

"Hmm? Oh, yes! Very much! The bed is comfortable and the room's spacious. Thank you for your concern!"

Xierra gave him a closed-eye smile, showing her genuine gratitude. Leopold grinned at her positive reaction, huffing proudly and puffing out his chest at the gesture.

"Oh, I forgot to say–– you look good wearing our crimson robe!" Leopold beamed with pride, pointing at his own red robe and his other free hand pointing at hers. She moved her view from the boy to her robe, brushing the crimson cloth off of possible dust.

"Inari also said it fits me well," Xierra replied with a smile, glancing at the fox on her shoulder and patted his head. "Thank you so much for the compliment!"

"You're welcome. Now, you have your first mission coming up for you today," Leopold happily stated, grinning widely that it showed his sharp canine teeth.

Inari's ears perked up at the mention of their first mission. They just arrived yesterday and now a mission? He's surely excited for what's to come.

"Really? What kind?"

"Apparently, you're going to patrol around Saussy Village with another newbie!" Leopold announced merrily, laughing all the while. Sweats dripped from Xierra and Inari's foreheads, confused at the vermillion-haired boy's ways.

'Patrol? That's it?' Inari gloomily thought. 'I thought we're going to battle already or something.'

"All right, this way, little cub! We're going to meet your patrol partner!"

Leopold led the two across the grand hallway. Xierra and Inari were too afraid of touching anything since everything seemed too fancy and expensive.

Who knows what they're going to do if they touched one and accidentally broke it. It was totally not a fun moment to think of the consequences.

A question appeared in Xierra's mind and she parted her lips to ask her senior, "Leopold-san, are you going with us, as well?"

"Hmm?" Hearing his name called, he glanced back and looked at the white-haired girl in the eye.

"Oh, unfortunately, no, little cub. I have another mission to embark on. I think I'll be able to accompany you on your second mission and the next ones."

His answer was unexpectedly... normal? Considering the two were already adjusted to his energetic nature, due to being with Asta all the time, his calm answer sort of felt a little off to the two. Inari huffed and Xierra just nervously chuckled, nodding at the boy.

"Okay, let's go meet your partner. Maybe you two can get along, haha!"

'I wonder who's the other newbie...'

––

Arriving at a neatly arranged room, she figured it was the Captain's office, seeing that he was sitting right there behind his desk.

The rows of books displayed on the shelves didn't surprise Xierra one bit. She figured that there would be some books in the Captain's office, since... well, he's the captain and all.

Darting her eyes to the brunet beside Fuegeleon, Xierra tilted her head with imaginary question marks around them. It was obvious that she's curious and confused at the same time.

The tall light-brown-haired male chuckled at her honest reaction, reaching out his hands towards hers. He locked his carmine eyes with Xierra's azure ones.

"Nice to meet you. My name's Rhein Vermillion. I'm also a newbie like you," Rhein introduced himself politely and shook Xierra's hand with a smile, which she returned.

"'Vermillion?' Are you––"

Rhein cut her words off with a cheeky grin, crossing his arms in front of him. "Yup! I'm a Vermillion. Though, I'm a distant relative to the Captain Fuegoleon and Leo right here."

"I see."

Xierra gave him a closed-eye smile before introducing herself and her fox companion, "My name's Xierra."

Xierra then turned to the fox on her shoulder, pointing at him, "And this is Inari. He's a part of my magic, but is also a 'living' being."

Rhein's eyes sparkled at the sight of the fox, marvelling at him and boosting Inari's ego. "Woah... So cool! Can it talk?!"

"'IT?!'" Inari exclaimed in disbelieve, forgetting all other presences and just focused on the light-brown-haired male.

"Listen here, kid! I am a god, I'll have you know! If you call me 'it' one more time, I'll––"

"All right, that's enough, Inari..." Xierra lazily dragged the black-coated fox away from Rhein's face, assuring him that nothing's going to happen with the fox's master around.

"Whoops, sorry... I guess I offended him, haha..." Rhein nervously chuckles and scratched the back of his head while sweatdropping at the female beside him.

"No, don't worry. Please, don't take this fox's words to heart. He's always like this," Xierra replied with a sweet smile.

Though, Inari knew she was embarrassed on the inside due to his behaviour. Huffing away, the fox decided to sleep on his master's shoulder once again.

It seemed to become his favourite spot to sleep on since he fell to slumber so easily there.

Leopold laughed merrily at their lively interactions, cut short by Fuegoleon who cleared his throat.

"I am glad that you get along easily," Fuegoleon spoke calmly. "I believe it is time for you both to depart on your mission."

"O-Oh, right. We'll be leaving now, Captain."

"We'll be going now, Captain!"

Rhein and Xierra were about to leave the room, the Captain called out to them again.

"Forgive me for not assigning a senior to look after you two. But, I'm sure Rhein knows his way around. He will be with you throughout your mission and the future ones. Make sure you two work together and be careful."

"Yes, sir!"

––

The two newly formed partners flew on their brooms over green lushes forests and vast plains, mesmerizing those who set their eyes upon them. From above, the Clover Kingdom looked as beautiful as the white-haired girl imagined it to be ever since little.

The buildings she passed before she arrived at the headquarters were smaller from above. They were actually towering over her form when she walked halfway to the Crimson Lion Kings' headquarters.

Patches of the yellowish-green grass below and the misty white clouds around them, along with some small villages.

Xierra giggled quietly when she went through some fluff of clouds, fading away the moment her body went through the middle of them.

She was wearing the face of those in ecstasy and full bliss.

Even the carmine-eyed male mused at her positive reaction–– seeming as if she hadn't done this before–– which she hadn't, of course, considering she grew up in the boonies.

"You like the sceneries below?" Rhein inquired, looking ahead while glancing back to make sure the girl's following and not straying off. Though, he need not worry. Inari's with her, after all.

"Though I'm surprised that you've never seen this view."

"Well, I do live most of my life in the village and grew up there."

Rhein arched an eyebrow, curious as to why the female found such a normal view to be so amazing. "Really now? Are they that pretty though?"

"Yes, of course. They're definitely beautiful! Oh, how mother nature works––"

"Master, stop it with your adventure dreams and mother nature thingies. I'm getting bored," Inari complained while wearing a deadpanned expression, causing Rhein to sweatdrop while Xierra popped a vein.

"Excuse me??? I'll have you know––"

"Yes, yes. I don't wanna hear any of your long speech," Inari cut her off, looking away from his master with disinterest–– probably bored of all her talks about her dreams.

Unbeknown to Rhein, the fox had already known of the girl's dreams and wishes without the latter saying them out loud. He's a part of her, after all.

"Hey!"

"All right, calm down, you two. We're going on a patrol." Rhein separated the two's dangerously near faces away from each other with his large hands, covering their visions.

"Oi! Let go, kid! I can't see!"

"We're almost at the villa––" Rhein's words were cut off by a familiar yell–– one that couldn't escape Xierra and Inari's ears.

"That's..."

"... Asta?"

The white-haired girl and her scouting partner went down to get near the source of the voice. Going down into the forest below them, they flew between trees and over bushes.

They dodged the stray vines and sharp blades of green whilst they followed Asta's loud yells. It wasn't that hard.

They finally halted to a stop when they saw the scene in front of them.

Asta and another male with dark shades were running away from some giant fiery boars. A silver-haired female Xierra saw a glimpse of at the exam before was there as well, running in front of the two panicked males.

"Should we help them?" Inari voiced from between the two Crimson Lion Kings' members, deadpanning at the Black Bulls' flustered and chaotic situation.

"Should we?" Rhein raised an eyebrow as he crosses his arms, contemplating what to do. "They're the Black Bulls though."

"And...?"

"They're full of failures, why should we help them?"

Xierra kind of expected Rhein's answer, knowing he's a part of the royals and all. Not to mention, he's a distant relative of the Vermillions.

–– he's technically a royal too, right? So, Rhein's answer was kind of obvious to the white-haired girl, causing her to sweatdrop.

"Why not? I mean, we're all the same: human. The only difference was only our statuses."

Her answer slightly surprised the male beside her, earning her wide eyes from the carmine-eyed Vermillion.

The male grinned when Xierra already left him behind, going to save the poor Black Bulls that were being chased by who-knows-how-many flaming boars.

"Astral Creation Magic: Wisps of the Hollows."

As she chanted her spell, tiny roundish fiery creatures appeared out of thin air. Xierra pointed towards the rampaging boars going after the Black Bulls' members.

The summoned blue wisps seemed to know what to do as they chased back the boars, letting them going the opposite ways from the chased members.

The three members of the Black Bulls finally noticed the Crimson Lions standing by the sidelines, with Inari on his master's shoulder, as always. The wisps beat the boars with just one contact with their fiery blue bodies.

One of them touched a boar's body and it immediately lit on flames. The others followed suit. After a few seconds, the boars' shrieks came to an end and their hulking figures were limp.

Asta's eyes glimmered upon seeing how Xierra's spell managed to beat the boars in a second. He did beat several with his anti-magic sword, but even that took him about a while.

Xierra right here just cast a spell and bam.

They're as good as dead.

"WOOOAHHHHH!!! Xierra, that was so cool!!!!!" Asta's strings of praises flushed the girl, making Xierra blushed at his words that came afterwards.

She didn't have enough time to process everything he said, so she just muttered a simple "thank you" to the ash-blonde.

"Oh, who is this, Stupidsta?" the guy with the shades voiced out roughly. Inari and Xierra sweatdropped at Asta's given nickname, wondering how he even got that.

'"Stupidsta?" How did he get that name?'

'Though I would say, it sort of suits him, Master.'

'Inari, don't be like that. Asta's talented... in his own way?'

"Oh, right! Magna-senpai, this is Xierra! We come from the same village."

Asta then pointed at the black fox that was floating casually beside the white-haired girl, "And that's Inari, Xierra's pe––"

"You say 'pet' one more time, I swear I'll kill you right here and now."

"–– err, partner."

"I'm a god, for–– you know what? I don't even care anymore, huff..." Inari flopped down onto Xierra's head, his gold eyes dropping lazily in disinterest.

Xierra gave him an awkward chuckle, patting his head to comfort him. Her soft hand calmed the fox's temper down as he let out a small heave.

"Xierra, this is..." Their focuses were now turned to the royal beside the white-haired girl, who was giving them a strained closed-eye smile.

Xierra could tell that Rhein was trying his best to not come off as rude. But, old habits die hard. It would take time for him to change–– she concluded.

"You know, isn't it a bit rude to ask for my name when you lowly commoners are supposed to be introducing yourself first," Rhein scoffed, earning sweatdrops from Xierra and Inari both.

'This kid is hard, isn't he?'

'Yes. Yes, he is.'

"And I see Noelle's with you?" Rhein pointed out, eyeing the silver-haired female behind the two Black Bull males.

The said girl fidgeted in her spot before putting up a brave front, "And what is it to you, Vermillion? Hmph, from what I can see, your squad even let a bug like her in."

"From what I see, a royal like you got into the worst squad," Rhein retorted, triumphantly smirking at his successful mimic.

Rhein raised an eyebrow and crossing his arms. He smirked in victory when Noelle blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Xierra, no offence."

His sudden apology took the rest off guard while thinking of the same thing, 'He just insulted us, but did he just apologized?'

"Uhh..." Xierra struggled to answer, questioning the brunet's change of demeanour, "No worries, none is taken."

This time, the brunet gave her a genuine closed-eye smile, confusing the others more, including Xierra and Inari.

"Does this kid have a double personality or what?" Inari commented, deadpanning at Rhein's content behaviour around his master.

"Hmm? Oh, no, no. You and Xierra are a part of our squad. If you managed to get all the captains to raise their hands, then that means you're just as good as us, is that wrong?"

"Hmph, you have a nice mouth, kid. I like it. You're going in my list~"

"Your what now?"

Xierra chuckled nervously at their weird interactions. Noelle was scoffing while Magna was raging in the background, held back by the ever so obnoxious Asta.

"Tch, whatever. Oi, girly!"

"Me?" Xierra pointed at herself in surprise when she heard Magna yelled. "Yes, you. Do you see any other Crimson Lion girl around here?"

"... Umm, no. No, I don't," Xierra replied while sweatdropping.

"All right, as a good senior, lemme introduce myself." Magna pointed at himself with his thumb, looking all smug and proud, "The name's Magna. You can call me Magna-senpai, just like Stupidsta over here."

The older male then gestured behind him at the silver-haired female who was crossing her arms in arrogance, "And this one right 'ere is Noelle––"

"That's MISS Noelle Silva to you, hmph!" Noelle cut his words off and scoffed, flipping her hair behind her.

"Well, excuse me! Miss Noelle Silva!!!" Magna exclaimed sarcastically, turning back to the pair afterwards.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, Mr Royal, why don't you introduce yourself ?" Magna mocked slightly, grinning all the while.

Rhein inhaled and the corners of his lips curled up, "Hello, there. What a pleasure to meet you." He bowed with a small smile, seemingly strained and forced.

"My name's Rhein Vermillion–– a distant relative of the Vermillions." Rhein then grabbed Xierra's closest arm and dragged her away with him, "Now that that's over, let's get back to our duties, shall we?"

"Everyone seems to be getting along... nicely?" Xierra nervously chuckled and looked back, waving to the Black Bulls with her free hand.

"O-Oi! That's the way to Saussy Village!"

"Exactly."

"We're going there too, Idiothein," Noelle voiced, catching up to the two in no time. Rhein let go of his partner's arm and stared at the other group in disbelieve.

"What? Oh, great. How nice."

"I don't want to work with you too if this isn't my first mission."

"Likewise, Silva."

Sparks were flying everywhere between the two noble borns, causing the other four to deadpan at their rivalry. "Anyways," Rhein started, "What are you guys going to do in Saussy?"

"We're handing in these boars to the chief!" Asta exclaimed energetically, grinning with several dead boars behind him.

Rhein looked at Asta with an incredulous look, his lips slightly parting. "You're gonna carry all of these?"

"Yup."

"Of course, we are!"

"No."

"Huh, I figured Noelle wouldn't be able to carry all those," Rhein smirked as if he was challenging the girl.

Noelle could care less about the male Vermillion's provocation and swung her pigtails back with a loud scoff to complete her actions.

"Aight, I'll help you kids carry them. Need to work these muscles," Inari offered, turning as big as a bull as he threw the dead boars onto him with his tail.

"WOAAHHHH!!! Inari, you're so cool!!!"

"Of course, I am. I'm a god, after all. If I can't do this simple little thing, how would I protect my master?"

"Haha, yes, yes~ You're the coolest."

Xierra played along as the two squads walked together towards their destination. Inari lifted his head in smugly, skipping his way in front to lead the group.

Despite being a royal, Rhein couldn't help but let his amazement and curiosity get the best of him. His mouth was gaping at the strength of the big fox in front of him possessed.

He was more surprised when he saw the ash-blonde carrying just about the same amount as the fox with that short body of his.

Magna laughed merrily when he saw Rhein's amusing reaction, patting his back quite harsh. Though, Rhein somehow knew Magna didn't mean it, despite them only meeting earlier.

"Who are we bringing these to again?" Noelle questioned, looking at the single giant boar Magna was carrying on his shoulder.

Glancing back, the young Silva saw Rhein carrying one as well, also Asta to add to the team. The ash-blonde was carrying about four of the boars.

"This is quite the haul you got," Xierra commented, marvelling at the boys' physical strength.

"Magna-senpai, you're awesome!!!"

"Haha, of course, I am, Stupidsta! We're taking these to old man Seyhe."

"This mayor of Saussy Village... Seyhe?" Noelle questioned the last part, wondering if she said his name correctly. "You know him?"

"Yeah. I've known him for a long time," Magna replied with a rough voice, grinning while showing his canine teeth.

He glanced back as he answered the female royal, "I'm from Rayaka Village, which is just past here..."

To be continued...

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