Favour

Greeting the king while he was on his throne wasn't very intimidating. I've read from various primary sources in history that entering the domain of a ruler was supposedly, and I quote, "terrifying, for the monarch's aura was suffocating."

I felt none of that, it was no different than walking into a kitchen, or walking into a bar. It feels like a normal room. Is it me, or is it the king?

The king is just a frail, stressed man who was thrust into the role before he was ready, so he's not very intimidating or fear-inducing. The man in silver armor standing tall next to him, on the other hand, looked much more strong.

He wasn't fear-inducing or anything like that, but he demanded respect without even speaking. I was thinking about just killing the king here and running away afterwards, if running away is even required, since I can't be sure of anything when it comes to ending this trial, but I doubt I'll be able to pull it off with that knight so close.

There are other knights stationed among the room, and, counting them, there's four.

It's not worth the risk as it is right now... In fact, just Silica being here could get me screwed over. When she dies, I die, so attacking the king would lead to her being attacked or taken as a hostage, since they all think she's my daughter.

Not worth it. I'll need to wait.

"Greetings, Your Majesty," said Archibald while bowing. "I have brought them to you, as requested."

"Thank you. Please go and tend to your duties now; your services are no longer required here."

"As you wish."

He walked out of the room and closed the large door behind him, leaving us with the king and his knights.

I need to stay on guard. Silica doesn't need to do that, since she'd probably just panic and screw us over, but I am vigilant.

"Has anyone informed you of how I have locked down the castle?" asks the king.

"Yes, Archibald told us." I'm answering on both of our behalves, I can't trust her with anything.

"I see. To save our time, I will get to the point. I believe there is an intruder in the castle, and I want to keep Silica near me to protect her."

So, he knows about the game happening in his castle. Judging by how we haven't been apprehended, and how he for some reason wants to protect Silica, he doesn't know that we're the participants of this game.

And it looks like Archibald was wrong: the knights in here didn't look surprised at all, so the king informed some people of his reasoning.

"An enemy in the castle? How horrifying. How could they have burrowed their way into here like this?" I questioned.

"I don't know, and that is the issue. I'm afraid I can't give you any more information, but I am willing to give you compensation for endangering you and your daughter like this."

Perfect.

"No no, you're much too kind, Your Majesty. I can't accept such a thing when it's not your fault."

Keeping my eyes on the knights throughout this entire time, none of them made any hostile movements, or even any movements at all. They were like statues, at least in front of the king.

"I insist."

"...If you say so, Your Majesty. If I could dare to request one of you, I need a new weapon. My sword has broken."

"You wield the sword?"

People in medieval times carried swords, daggers and various other weapons for self-defense purposes, so having a sword for that reason would be believable. I don't want to reveal that I'm actually fairly strong, so self-defense would be a plausible excuse.

In medieval times, fights in the street, fights in taverns, and fights basically everywhere were common, so people weren't fat, were in fact fit, and, most of the time, had a weapon.

"I wield it for self-defense, nothing more, nothing less. I can't afford proper swordsmanship lessons anyways."

"Would you like to become a swordsman?" asked the knight next to the king.

He'll most likely ask me if I want training from the knights. I have no idea why he'd say that, but that would involve sparring, and sparring would involve showing my strength to them all.

"I can't trouble you with such things when there is a suspected enemy in the castle."

"After they are dealt with. We will teach you. Earn your keep, don't be a lousy aristocrat who does nothing yet gets anything they want."

"...Very well, if you wish to do so."

By the time this is all over, I'll either be dead or moving onto the next trial, so this works out for me.

As much as I want free lessons from a trained knight, it won't work out.

"Now then, someone bring him to the treasury and let him pick out a weapon," said the king, "Calling Archibald back would be most efficient."

"No need for that," said the knight beside the king. "One of my men can take him. They would be best suited in helping the man pick out a weapon. Reginald. Take him to the treasury."

"Yes, Grand Master."

So then, that man's the grandmaster of the knights.

"Let us go," said Reginald. "Leave your daughter here, she is in good hands."

"Very well. I hope you have a 'good time' with my daughter, Your Majesty."

And I suspect Silica will now act up through the mental link, as she's been quiet throughout that conversation.

{You're leaving me?!}

I knew it, but I wish that my predictions were incorrect sometimes.

{Calm down. It's not like I have much of a choice in this situation, and now we know that the king isn't suspicious of us. You're the safest you could possibly be, in the hands of the knights and in the company of the king.}

{True…}

{Keep your full attention with the king, don't distract yourself by talking to me unless it's urgent.}

{Okay…}

Of course, since she's the Hider, it would probably be prudent for me to keep an eye on her. But that's not really practical at the moment.

Oh no, anyway.

Now then, time for important things.

"What is your preferred sword?" asked Reginald.

"I don't exactly have one, I'm not very experienced with the blade."

"Hmm, this will be tricky to pick out one that suits you in that case. We'll see which sword 'resonates' with you when we get there."

"Very well. And I'd like to ask something."

"Go ahead."

"Why are we going to the treasury and not the armory?"

"Oh, I see the cause of your confusion. Rather than separating various things into different rooms, like putting riches into a treasury, or putting weapons and armor into an armory, we put everything into one room without any organization. Supplies and miscellaneous things, weapons, riches and all of that goes into the one room that we named the Treasury. It's because we're the dashing and chivalrous knights, that do everything with dashing and chivalrous haste."

This… is he serious?

If he's being truthful, this is the best opportunity I could've come across.

There's no way I wouldn't take advantage of this, not when I have everything in the castle at my fingertips there.

I can also use this to establish a pre-emptive move and strike. Staying docile right now would be safer, but it would give the king more time to prepare his own security, as well as letting him control the pace of this 'battle' and not giving us a proper chance to move on our own. As time goes on, those disadvantages will get worse, so taking this chance to attack would be most beneficial.

I might be able to end this game with a single move if this pays off.

"I see."

"How much experience do you have with fighting?"

"I have some experience, mostly from street brawls, but it's not rare."

Lying is a very efficient tool, but I'm being truthful about how I don't have much experience.

The best lies have a little bit of truth mixed into them.

"Then we'll have to make a few guesses in choosing your weapon. Using our intuition, of course. It has helped me many times."

"Indeed. Why did the Grand Master choose you to help me pick out a weapon?"

"I am both a knight, and a blacksmith. I am well-versed in picking out or even making weapons that suit people."

"Then I am in good hands."

A very good situation; I have the help of someone who is experienced to help me pick out my weapon.

"Indeed you are. We will test out the weapons while we're there, we'll see if you have a specific taste for a type of weapon."

"Thank you."

This is very convenient. He should be competent, since he was trusted to guard the king in the throne room, and my conversation with him has affirmed that. Having him help me out with choosing a sword would be extremely beneficial.

I don't even know what kind of sword would fit me. The weapons I've been using are just random items, it's not like I got them to suit me or anything.

"We are here."

We came across a large door at the end of a hallway, with two guardsmen at each side of it.

Why'd they choose guardsmen to guard it? The knights are most likely much stronger and better at their jobs than some measly guardsman. Although the knights being stationed as guardsmen every single day would be something of a waste of resources, in a situation like this, where there's a suspected enemy in the castle, the logical decision would be to safeguard their valuables and supplies with people that are more competent than the average man.

I can only thank this incompetence. I doubt that everyone in this castle is that dumb though, so the knights will most likely be placed here soon enough to remedy this blunder.

Even more reason to act now.

"Alright, gentlemen, we're here on orders of the king and the Grand Master. Please let us through."

""Very well, Sir Reginald!""

They opened the door for us, and as we walked into it, they closed it behind us too.

"Alright then… the swords and items of that sort should be over here," said Reginald, pointing towards one pathway.

This place is like a maze, loaded with riches and valuables, with various pathways leading to various locations.

I can't wait to pillage it.

Following the armored man, I took a closer look at him.

His armor was a dull silver, like the other knights, and he held a longsword at his waist. His armor was nearly identical to the other knights I had seen as well, with it covering every part of his body, including the face.

I can use that.

"We've arrived. Which sword would you like to test first?" he said, motioning to the wall of weapons in front of us.

"Hmm… how about that one?" I said, pointing to what looked like a longsword.

It has a similar build to the one I got from Daisuki, so I'll test it out.

This is all for the sake of finding a weapon that suits me. Naturally, if I have the chance, I'll be stealing most of these regardless, after I find my weapon.

"Typical longsword, eh? Not a very special weapon, but that's the best part about them. They get the job done magnificently, I even use a longsword myself, a unique one gifted by the Lady of the Lake," he said, patting the sword at his waist.

Is the Lady of the Lake skilled at blacksmithery? If not, then it's a strange way to find a sword.

Walking over to get the longsword for me, he yanked it out of its encasement and grabbed a scabbard to go along with it.

I've never actually used a scabbard. I never really needed to, since I have an inventory.

"Here you go," he said, handing it to me and stepping back.

Inspecting the weapon, it was nice. It would cut and handle well, wasn't too light or too heavy, the pommel at the base of the grip was a good counterbalance to the weight of the blade, the guard was thick enough to block things without breaking yet didn't impede the path of my hand when I tried to hold it, and the blade tapers down nicely to a fine point.

Swinging it around in the stance I saw in just about every fantasy show that has swords, it was a good sword.

It works just fine, but I intend to try out whatever weapon I think looks nice.

"It works very well and is an amazingly crafted weapon, but I'd like to try out a few more."

"I like your spirit, Sir… what is your name again? I'm afraid I don't know."

"My name is Nero."

"A fantastic name, sounds quite regal."

That's because I stole it from Nero Caesar, the Emperor of Rome who was rumored to be the Antichrist himself.

"Thank you."

"Allow me to pick out a few swords for you, eh?"

"If you'd like to."

Next, he got me a rapier.

The rapier is an extremely thin weapon, built for pure penetration power. I could technically cut with it, but it wouldn't do much. The guard wraps around the handle as you'd expect a rapier to do, the blade tapers down to a thinner point that the former sword, the hilt itself was comfortable and didn't let my hands slide or anything, and the design was fanciful, unlike the simplistic longsword I had picked out before.

It was an elegant sword, and I tried using it for its intended purpose: thrusting.

I held the handle close to my chest, put my feet close to each other, and then launched.

I put one foot far ahead of the other extremely suddenly, and used the momentum of that step to boost my sword.

And it worked. I actually executed a decent rapier thrust on the first try.

"You've handled rapiers before?" asked Reginald.

"No, this was my first time."

"Your beginning stance wasn't efficient, you relied too much on your arm and muscles to thrust instead of trusting the sword, and there were problems in your grip, along with various other things, but that was good for an amateur. It seems that the rapier is also a good fit for you. Would you like to try more weapons? It's not like we have a shortage."

"Sounds very entertaining."