Another Banquet

"Another victory for Florentia! Let's salute to one of our commanders who has paralyzed Avalon's secret lab, Raphael Chastain!" One of the commanders toasted, raising the blood-filled cup in his hand.

Crowds of cheers were heard. They chanted Raphael's name. We were in one of the knights of Florentia barracks around the Taverin. After our infiltration of Avalon's secret dungeon—we immediately set off for the Taverin.

I left my captain who had returned to headquarters with the rest of my team. Only me and Kyle, a member of the Raven team, were brought to the Taverin. I didn't have to beg them to bring Kyle because Raphael recognized Kyle's archery skills.

Raphael did have a prominent military career for a long time. He was only five years older than me. He would be more well known in a few years, mainly because of his big role in the Taverin Wars. But thanks to our infiltration this time, he would shine even faster. Maybe he would be General before me.

"I didn't do it alone, I got information from the knight, Valor Dubois. It was his observation and intuition that gave me this victory. I was solely leading them," Raphael spoke. Then I realized that all their eyes were now on me.

The novice knight who was small, silver haired and didn't look strong enough to wield a sword like me— was now the center of attention. Dubois' name was well known, but we haven't shown our talents and military accomplishments among the knights of Florentia in a long time.

"Good job sir Dubois!"

"We wish you well in the next war!"

"Good work!"

The knights pointed, punched me in the shoulder, ruffled my hair and did all the knights' friendly greetings with me. I just responded with a smile and awkward gesture. I will never get used to this. I missed hanging out with the girls, but the female knights of Florentia were in another barracks. They have their own party.

"Tell me what you found there," when their attention to me began to subside, a general sat down next to me and smiled at me.

I know him. I mean, Florentia only had twelve generals. I couldn't possibly not recognize him. He was Harvey von Maxwell, General of Florentia who led the Scout unit. He was responsible for ambush plans, spies and information gathering. I was a Scout knight who had only joined his unit less than two months.

Usually, at most I had only ever spoken at the commander level. Now a general was talking to me. General Maxwell had blond hair, slightly sunken cheeks and eyes with thick eye bags. He was thin and looked like he could fall with just a little push. But we couldn't underestimate the Generals.

To reach that level, one had to be strong and intelligent enough. But I could never like this one general. Maybe because he's the leader of the spies. I didn't really like their job. I think being on the front lines was more interesting. I could stand out more, just like Raphael. But I know that I would be more useful if I joined the Scouts. Because I have my past life knowledge to help the Florentia allies.

When a victory occurs, information gatherers like me won't get much attention. Only the leaders were in the spotlight. As happened today, where Raphael was praised as a knight of great merit.

"Did sir Raphael not report it to you?"

"He's only making reports for the generals. He's not my subordinate either, but you, young knight. Are you part of the Scout unit right? so it makes more sense if you report to me," he said again.

"Do I need to write it down? I mean, to make things look more formal," I asked.

"No need, I've read Raphael's report. I want you to tell me what's not in the report..what should the knights of Florentia do after this?" he said again.

I thought so too. Was this person testing me? That means I couldn't just say that we killed hundreds of Shadows and brought home a sample of Avalon's poison of mass destruction.

"The Avalons don't have many knights to guard their lab. I think when we infiltrated, there were less than a dozen knights there guarding an asset of that size. They made use of Shadows and trained reconnaissance bats. But their defenses aren't strong enough,"

"Then?"

"In my opinion, the dungeon was indeed about to be abandoned. They intended to close it down. They have another secret lab besides there and are planning something bigger. It's not strategically positioned so I don't think it makes sense for them to have a base there. They are just making use of the underground passage that the previous generation of vampires built long ago," I explained what I was thinking.

Of course I'm still hiding some of the facts that happened. Raphael's report didn't mention me taking the sword from their altar. It was his decision, he said no one needed to know about it.

"A fortune teller huh? Damian said you knew all about it because of the vision a god sent you," general Maxwell commented.

"Well, that—"

"You're making a big bet on your career, I guess all the rumors about the prophecy are bullshit. It would be easier to believe if you were just a knight with high observation skills. That's a very valuable ability in the Scout unit. So, you think the Avalons are planning something big huh?" he said again.

"That Possible,"

"After this what will you do? You're going back to headquarters?"

"No sir! I'm going to the Taverin,"

Florentia planned to attack first. We didn't want the enemy to notice that their laboratory was destroyed and instead come up with other plans that didn't happen in my previous life. I realized that everything I did could change the storyline. I wish I could give Florentia a bigger win. But there's also the possibility of things getting much worse.

"Okay, are you going to be behind the scenes gathering information or—"

"Actually, sir Raphael asked me to come with him, with the Jaguar team. Only during the war at the Taverin,"

"Oh, interesting..are you also as strong as them?"

"No sir, I'm just an amateur," I said.

"Remember sir Valor, you are part of the Scout unit so I am your superior and you will report directly to me. We will read Avalon's moves next. We will talk a lot at the Taverin. Now have a drink..I haven't seen you drink." General Maxwell held out a cup of fresh blood for me.

I smiled at him, then pretended to drink it. My face turned pale and while trying not to swallow a drop of female human blood — I said goodbye.

Again, I'm gargling in the backyard. Trying to get all the blood out of my mouth. I gasped. Feeling sick and nauseous. I lay on my back looking up at the sky. I saw a cluster of galaxies above my head that looked like a sprinkling of fairy dust. Magical and mysterious at the same time.

Then once again, I met Sir Raphael. He looked at me, but I didn't think it's going to be like our first meeting. At that time he thought I was a lazy knight and told me to bring his weapons for the humans to polish.

But I just realized it now. He didn't ask me to bring his sword. Raphael never leaves his sword.

Me too, seems the same. The sword I took from the dungeon—kept calling me to touch it. Now I felt uneasy separated with that sword even if it's only for a few minutes. That was weird. How can I be possessive about an inanimate object?

"As I thought, you can't ignore the sword altogether. You must have brought it," he commented.

"So do you," I said.

"My sword and yours, were forged by the same person. Sir Valor, it is a cursed sword..since you don't seem to know anything, I'll teach you how to treat that weapon. Now sit down and let me see your sword," said Sir Raphael again.

To be honest I didn't really pay much attention to what he was saying. I was distracted by his face, and his body. Ok, we're both men at this point. But should he take off his vest like that? And why was his hair and shirt a little wet? Now I could see everything and didn't know where to look.