Capturing the Paladin

"I don't want him to return to my place again!" Ichihara snapped; she still seemed annoyed with me.

"Why? He's the only person who can destroy buildings 100 meters away," explained Zhao; the man was still insisting until finally Ichihara agreed to his lover's wishes.

The man immediately took me away, into a small alley to avoid the main road. Toghon would have been very surprised to see his army defeated so quickly. Unfortunately, I had no other choice either.

The two of them took me in silence. We turned several times at the intersection we met, went down the stairs, over a small bridge, until we arrived in front of the Eastern Warrior's headquarters.

"Come in." Zhao told me while I looked into his eyes as if he was watching something. After that, Ichihara accompanied me to the second floor into her office, which was quite familiar to my ears.

Ichihara immediately opened the wooden wardrobe. She seemed to take out some clothes from it. I see that the clothes are similar to those worn by Ichihara and Toghon, maybe the uniform for the Hwarang class?

"Take a bath and put it on!" Ichihara said, annoyed, pointing to the bathroom in the office.

I certainly don't want to keep her upset and scold me. So I just did as she was told; taking a shower after a few days was really refreshing.

They wait for me. After I finished showering and came out of the clean place, they were already waiting by sitting on different chairs. Ichihara sat behind the table while Zhao sat in front of the table.

"Sit down," Zhao pleaded, patting the empty chair next to his.

I said yes, I couldn't refuse their orders after the two of them wanted to save me from the Toghon armies. Zhao looked at me in a friendly manner, as if there was something he wanted from me.

In contrast to Ichihara, she kept a sullen and annoyed face from the first meeting by accident until now. It seems that she hasn't entirely accepted me in this place.

"Why did you get caught by the Toghon Army?" Zhao asked.

"Toghon caught me after killing my friend," I answered.

I saw that Ichihara's attention was immediately drawn to me right after hearing me speak. She began to ask about the name of my friend who was killed. I shook my head. Her life went too fast before I asked that.

"Is she a woman with a wound to the neck?" Zhao asked, pointing at the neck.

I nodded. My body jolted when I saw Ichihara pounding his desk roughly. Zhao tried to calm the woman down so she wouldn't be mean to me.

"First, you left without paying off your debt. Second, you left by killing one of my best maids in this city. Then what else are you going to do?!" asked Ichihara in a snarling tone.

I was silent. Zhao still seemed to be trying to calm Ichihara down. Unfortunately, the anger that she is showing won't down if I don't leave this building soon.

"Related to that. I've heard it from your best maid. You always accept whatever kind of reward people give you. I get that," I said.

I have no choice, the debt must be paid off, or it will continue to haunt me. I don't have anything anymore; my sword is nowhere to be found. This spear is all I have.

"I can't pay for it in coins, but maybe you can have this spear," I explained, handing the Allegiance wand that was like a brother to me.

Zhao suddenly stands up, and so does Ichihara. The group leader immediately grabbed my spear and watched it closely. Then, she began to snap her fingers right before Allegiance until an information status appeared.

It has the name Allegiance written on it. Does that mean we can see the weapon's status by flicking it in front of it?

Ichihara's eyes went wide, as did Zhao. They both immediately looked away and were now looking at me with confusion. My legs started to back up, seeing their unusual gazes at me.

"How did you get this weapon?" Ichihara asked. I told him I went to a blacksmith and asked him to make a weapon according to my wish.

"The materials you use. It's a rare material with a pretty hefty price tag," Zhao said, pointing at Allegiance with his hand.

"But since you've given it, this completely belongs to The Eastern Warrior," explained Ichihara. I nodded slowly.

"And now, a Paladin without a spear or weapon. With neither armor nor shield, only stupid men can't position themselves!" Ichihara reproaches.

I'm getting worse and pathetic. Zhao defended me and asked Ichihara to consider something other than the spear I gave her. He's such a nice guy; I totally misjudged him.

"I'm the leader here! You can't interfere with my order," Ichihara said firmly.

I stood up again, looking at Ichihara and Zhao who were still arguing. A big smile spread across my face as they both saved me. I thank and apologize that my carelessness caused one member of The Eastern Warrior to die.

"Where will you go?" asked Zhao; I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. Maybe returning to Camelot would be best for me," I explained.

"Stay at The Eastern Warrior. We'll guide you," Zhao asked.

I'm glad Zhao cares so much for me, a foreigner of the Paladin class who doesn't have a spear. However, I can no longer trouble anyone. My life has been pretty miserable lately, so I'll probably get used to it.

"I can't bother you anymore. Not a single Adamas from the Camelot Kingdom is a member of any other guild outside the kingdom. I'm sure there isn't," I replied firmly.

Ichihara looked at me differently, her eyes glistening as she held my spear. Zhao also looks at me, something I don't even understand about the two of them.

Zhao called out to me. I began to turn around and saw the man was pulling out his sword. He threw it at me, which Ichihara rejected. I received it with my right hand.

"What did you do?" Ichihara asked.

"A coward is he who takes a knight's weapon and lets him go home unarmed," Zhao explained.

"You called me a coward?!" Ichihara groaned, Zhao cleared his throat.

The two of them suddenly get into a dispute with each other. Ichihara grabbed Zhao by the collar and pushed the man against the room wall. I separated the two of them and handed the weapon Zhao gave me.

"I-I don't seem worthy of this sword," I said, sticking the hilt of the sword towards Zhao.

"Take it! That's for you," Zhao insisted.

"Don't give him a weapon!" groaned Ichihara, causing Zhao to turn his head away.

Just as Zhao was about to take his weapon back from me. The door to my right was knocked on several times, and Ichihara seemed to let go of Zhao's grip on her hand.

"Come in."

The door opened. I froze in silence, watching two men arrive in very familiar armor, red armor and white armor. The two of them were Knights Templar of the Three Knights Alliance.

I started to retreat a few steps back. I saw both Ichihara and Zhao's eyes sharpened strongly when they found the two people visiting their base.

"What are the Three Knights Alliance Members doing here?" Ichihara asked firmly.

"We would like to take him to Camelot, Lady Erika," replied the man in red.

"Call me Ichihara; we're not friends."

"Sorry, Lady Ichihara. The leader of the Three Knights Alliance ordered me to bring and execute him," replied the man. I trembled in fear, hearing the word execution come out of his mouth.

"Then take him," Ichihara replied. I widened my eyes, not believing what I had just heard from the woman's mouth.

They quickly walked toward me, their sturdy steps making the sound of iron armor rubbing against each other. I did fight back, but my sword skills couldn't compare to the Templars.

"You can't take him," Zhao said, blocking the templars' steps.

"Don't meddle in their business, Zhao!" Ichihara said.

"But we've already saved him. So how could we let him be taken just like that?" Zhao asked, disappointed.

"This is already a different matter. Your attitude threatens war in the two kingdoms," Ichihara said firmly.

Zhao seemed to think for a long time; he finally opened the way for the two templars to take me away from The Eastern Warrior's headquarters. Then, I could finally return to Camelot, not to live freely but to be executed.