Blessing of The Moon Goddess

"Long live The King! Long live The King!"

All people in the crowd cheered for him. His Majesty, the latest and the longest king to ever rule the kingdom in Orabon's history. With his gentle, old smile, he waves back at the crowd, wearing a happy expression. Along the main road made of pebble stone, a somewhat expensive and valuable mineral, the crowd's cheering never stops showing how grateful they are for seeing His Majesty. Today marks the 50th year of his reign, and to show the people how happy and lucky he is for having good citizens, he holds a banquet for not only the nobles but for all residents in the Kingdom of Orabon.

 Coincidentally, today also marks the night of Blessing of The Moon Goddess. The holy being that always oversees everything that happens in the kingdom. A divine deity to speak of. Moreover, the Moon Goddess will also give one of the royal family a blessing every 25 years. And that's why I know that His Majesty will feel very lonely throughout this festival. 

The death of the empress, Her Highness The Queen was something that none of us expected. It all happens in a blink of an eye. That day His Majesty and the queen go for a walk while I was assigned to guard them. Oh yeah, I'm a guard at the royal palace. It was around noon when it happens. An arrow out of nowhere heading straight for Her Highness. Resulting in her death. That was 3 months ago, and now His Majesty must be sad.

"Hey Arthur, what are you daydreaming about? Quick, escort His Majesty to the hall at once."

"Sir yes sir!" 

Sir William Fritzgerald of the White Cavalry Order, the seventh Swordmaster. With his brave figure, he leads the White Cavalry through countless wars with winning as his main goal.

"Hey, do you hear me!"

"Sir yes sir!"

If only he is a little soft.

As I'm escorting His Majesty to the dining hall filled with all the great nobles in the Orabon, I'm hearing a sobbing come out from His Majesty. He must be through a tough time without Her Highness by his side.

"Your Majesty, allow me to speak."

"Yes, you may."

Well, here goes nothing.

"Please don't be so sad. I'm sure Her Highness doesn't want to see Your Majesty crying."

The sobbing starts to subside.

"May I ask what is your name, young knight?"

"I'm Arthur Kaiser from the Kaiser family, Your Majesty."

"Oh, the Kaiser family. The prestige household where all great knights come from I assume."

"Yes Your Majesty, though what you said is a bit exaggerated. It's not like our family does anything worth mentioning."

"Ah, what your family has done for the country can't be called an exaggeration young knight. Your father, Elijah Kaiser is the sixth Swordmaster, the predecessor of William Fritzgerald. So, hold your head up young knight, may one day the Swordmaster position will be taken by you. Oh, it seems we have arrived at the dining hall. It's nice to speak to a young knight like you. May we meet again one day, and maybe it will be when I'm handing you the Swordmaster title."

"No, Your Majesty, It is my pleasure to speak with you. And I hope one day I'll earn the Swordmaster title."

I didn't know the king is extremely talkable. Even the nobles need to make an appointment to speak to His Majesty, and I got to talk with him even if I'm a lowly knight. What a day! May the Moon Goddess bless His Majesty The King, to rule the Kingdom of Orabon with his righteousness. As I walk back towards my workplace, at the castle gate, I hear the royal announcer's voice.

 "And I announced the arrival of our honorable guest, His Majesty, the King of Orabon, King Julius Zachary-"

-BOOOM

And the festival was ruined.

Aah, what happens? Why does everything is spinning? The last thing I remember is that I'm walking down the corridor after escorting His Majesty to the dining hall- His Majesty! Where is he? Where is everybody? Why does the castle explode? Who does this? 

"Arthur! Are you okay?! Hey, what happened?"

Oh, it's Sir William.

"I-i don't know sir. A-after I've done escorting H-his Majesty, there's suddenly a loud noise and everything has destroyed. T-the King! Where is the King?"

"There."

Sir William is pointing in a direction, but why is his expression seems gloomy. As soon as I turn my head facing that direction, I see His Majesty sitting on his throne. The only thing is, there are three swords going through his body. The King... the King is dead! Not only that, all the nobles here are dead. Who dares to do this? After the assassination of Her Highness, The Queen, they're targeting the King- no, they're targeting the Kingdom of Orabon. Who are they and why did they do this?

"Sir Will- aaarrrgghhhh!! Sir William!"

The figure of a brave old man in front of me has become lifeless. Leaving only a shell without a soul, Who would've thought the strongest man in the country will die like this. No! He can't die like this, he still needs to lead The White Cavalry. 

"Watch out!"

An unknown someone suddenly pushes me to the side, helping me escape death by an arrow.

"Aaaarrgghhh! I don't want to die! Please, somebody, help me! I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

'I don't want to die' repeating that same phrase over and over like a chant, hoping to escape death. 

"...I know, what if I j-just leave this to Sir William. He can handle things like this easily, right? Then we will all be saved, right?"

SLAP!

"Hey stop it! Sir William is dead! Everyone else is dead! No one can help you, even if there are people who are still alive, they will only save themselves. So get up, get up and face this. Get up and stay alive!"

Who is this person? Why is this girl still trying to be brave? No... she isn't brave, her hand is shaking heavily showing that she is scared. She just acting brave because that's the only thing she can do right now to encourage me. So, why am I still scared of dying and not even trying to stay alive? Even this girl doing whatever she can right now, so why am I sitting here saying that I don't want to die but I don't do anything. What a disgrace to the Knight of Orabon. 

"Who are you?"

"This is no time for exchanging names! Wait until all of the enemies is dead, and then I'll tell you my name. If you're still alive after this."

As I pick up my sword, I swear, 

"I, Arthur Kaiser, a knight from the Kingdom of Orabon, son of Elijah Kaiser, swear upon myself, my family, and the Moon Goddess. I will bring salvation to the kingdom and death the kingdom's enemies."

Oath to the Moon Goddess. An oath that can't be broken no matter what you do and if you fail to keep the oath, the wrath of the Moon Goddes shall fall upon you.

"Are you a madman? Do you know the consequences for someone who fails to keep the oath to the Moon Goddess?"

"Yes, I know"

"So, why did you do that?"

"To atone for my sins for trying to abandon the kingdom, for trying to abandon my comrades, for almost making my fallen comrade sacrifice a meaningless death. I, Arthur Kaiser, shall atone my sins."

Watch me, Sir William, watch me, dad, watch me, Your Majesty, I'll make them pay for everything they have done.

"Argh!"

Sigh, how many of them are left now? I feel like the number isn't decreasing at all. What about that girl, is she done right now? Hopefully... wait a minute, that girl doesn't even look like a knight. Where is she now!?

"DIE!"

STAB!

Really? How many of them come to me only to die? This isn't even a fight, it's a straight-up massacre. It makes me look like a disgrace as a knight but, whatever. I need to find the girl right now. It'll be easy if I just scream her name, if I know her name that's it. I continue searching for her as I slash through the enemies, 

"Who even are they? Going against the Kingdom of Orabon is like questioning the authority of God."

"Yet the kingdom has fallen." a voice whisper behind me.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" I scream as I point my sword towards the voice. 

A man in a well-dress suit. Looks like a noble from the party. Sitting at a pile of debris from the castle remnants. Who is he? Why didn't I notice him before? He seems like a well-trained assassin, seeing how well he hide his presence, I'm sure he's a high-ranking assassin. Can I win against him? Against someone like him? 

"Me? I'm a noble that is involved in this absurd situation. Why? You don't believe me?"

"Like hell, I'll believe you! You're the only one who didn't panic, it's strange to think that a noble like you is really calm. You're the one who leads this attack on the kingdom right?!" 

What is he saying? How can I believe anything he says like that. He just insulting the kingdom.

"Sir! Is that you? Who is the man in front of you?"

Where did this girl come from? She can't be here right now, it's dangerous. She needs to go away.

"Girl! Go away! He's a foe-"

"Aaah!"

Fast! How did he go from here to there in just a second? He's already behind her, holding a dagger near her throat. What to do now? The girl is in danger. Maybe if I start running-

"Nope, don't move. If you move even one inch, this girl's head will go- SPLASH" he's signing with his hand as if the girl's head would be thrown off.

"Now, be a good boy and drop of the sword."

I need to do what he said or else the girl would be dead. I begin to slowly drop the sword onto the ground. 

"Sir! Don't do it, sir. Just use me as a shield and kill him!"

As she says, she signals with her eye, showing me she can kill him with his dagger.

"You! How can I kill you? I won't kill you. If I just put my sword down, he will release you, right?"

Please take the bait, please take the bait.

"Hmm, I'll think about it."

Yes, he took the bait.

"Please, release her. I'll do anything for you. I kneel for you, just release her."

Urgh, begging like this makes me feel sick. To think I, a knight, need to beg him like this to release her. This plan better works or else...

"Seeing how earnest you are, I'll release her"

He slowly pulls his hand away from her neck and walks back.

"NOW!"

At my signal, the girl spins around quickly and snatches the man's dagger, and slices his throat. Her movement is swift like a hunter's. The man falls onto the ground while trying to grab her down. His mouth seems to mutter something.

"Oh, King of Orabon. On this day, you and your descendants have been cursed. Her wrath has fallen upon you and your child. Every year on the night of the Blessing of the Moon Goddess, It shall turn into the Curse Night of the Moon Goddess. On the name of Aleta Zachry, the Moon Goddess has accepted her prayer. Long live Her Highness, The Queen."