"You’ve been looking pretty relaxed lately, Commander, I’m glad to see that. You were so constantly stressed out before that I was honestly getting worried that your hair would start to turn gray before long," Remarked Tilda with a wry smile.
"Hm? Oh, now that you ntion it, I have been feeling a lot better these days. I haven’t had any headaches in a while," Mused Jules thoughtfully.
"It’s certainly a welco change, that’s for sure. What, did you finally get a boyfriend of sothing?" Smirked Tilda teasingly.
"H-Huh? No, of course not!" Huffed Jules indignantly.
"I don’t know why you’re getting so defensive."
"I-I simply have no experience with romance, that’s all. I’ve probably been less stressed out lately because things have been nice and peaceful, we’ve had no notable incidents since the Monster Queens, and negotiations with Anima are progressing well. Not to ntion, the Knight Order has grown exponentially stronger over these last six months, so that’s pretty encouraging," Replied Jules with a smile.
It was the 28th of April, 1920, a little over six months since the death of the Aeroraptor Queen. Things had settled down since then, and the nation had continued to progress and develop.
The Knight Squads had been shuffled shortly after the end of the whole Monster Queen fiasco. The Irregulars had agreed to be divided up between the squads, they determined that it wouldn’t really make a difference since they hardly saw each anyway, outside of those of them who were in the sa location.
With the Commander Squad, Jules was still the Commander of course, Siele was still the Vice-Commander, and they had four First-Class Knights, Tilda, Akila, Kia and Hart.
As for the First Squad, the Captain and Vice-Captain were the sa, Rione and Wein. And their First-Class Knights consisted of Quila Edge, Aria Beryl, Lloyd Howlite, and two forr mbers of the Second Squad, Diar Malachite and Dox Sordes.
The Second Squad had undergone the most changes, with Raven assigned as the new Captain of the Squad. His Vice-Captain was Celia, and the squad’s First-Class Knights included Colt and Lexia, plus Laiza Terren and Ferd Beryl.
And finally, the Third Squad. Aster was still the Captain, and his new Vice-Captain was Tacitus, who opposed it for a while before eventually giving in after Jules agreed to give him a special exemption from patrol duties if he accepted the position.
And the First-Class Knights of the Squad included Ravella, Nile Voner, Cleaza Opera and Zina Peridot.
Additionally, since there were several of the Relic Armants that had lost their wielders, they’d been handed over to new owners.
Jules still had the fla-enhancing sword Caliburn, Aster had the dual blades YinYang, Celia had the gauntlets Impact, Ravella had the whip Flagell, Rione had the lightning-enhancing warhamr Mjolnir, Quila had the bow Relic Armant Hawkeye, Colt had the poison dagger Venom Fang, Lexia had the chained spiky club Morningstar, Tacitus had the large, expanding sword Berserk, Wein had the extending staff Jingu and Tilda had the scythe Death Reaper.
Gungnir, the razor sharp spear that had previous been wielded by Fyre Mozill, had been passed down to his forr subordinate, Dox Sordes, who was assessed to be the most skilled Lancer in the nation at present.
Then there was the axe Labrys, which was previously owned by the First-Class Knight of the Commander Squad, Drote Athyst, who’d been killed by the Undead King. The weapon was then in Tacitus’s possession, though he forgot that he even had it after a while, so it ended up sitting in his Storage Ring for several months.
It had been given to Aria Beryl, after she was assessed as the most skilled Pulverizer after Tacitus and Rione.
Also, while not technically a Relic Armant, there was also Akila’s dual blades, which he’d nad Parallel, since there were two of them and also as a reference to the fact that he ca from another world.
"Thanks to the lack of incidents, the Knights have been able to spend more ti training, and the results are starting to show. I’d even go so far as to say that the current Knight Order may be the strongest in history, at least since the Age of Ancient Magic," Smiled Jules.
"Yeah, I-...wait, was the Knight Order even a thing back then?"
"Huh...I have no idea, actually."
anwhile, in Athyst City...
"The weather’s so nice and breezy today, I’m kinda having a hard ti staying alert when it’s so relaxing," Grinned Celia sheepishly.
"I know, right? It feels more like we’re just out on a casual stroll instead of patrolling," Raven nodded in agreent.
When Jules contacted The Irregulars to discuss the shuffling of the Knight Squads to balance things out better, Raven and Celia had two conditions, that they be placed in the sa squad and in the sa location as well. Fortunately, Jules had no reason to object to that, so their conditions were t.
"It’s too bad Ravella isn’t with us anymore-...huh, maybe I should rephrase that, kinda sounds like I’m saying she’s dead," Replied Celia with a wry smile.
"Yeah, it would’ve been nice, but she wanted to be in the sa squad as Aster, so that was that," Recalled Raven.
"She also wanted to be in the sa location, but that didn’t work out. Aster wanted Tacitus with him so that he’d be able to keep an eye on him and make sure he wouldn’t slack off too much, and since this whole reshuffling thing was for the purpose of balancing the squads and the even distribution of Knights throughout the nation, it wasn’t feasible to have three high-ranked Knights in the sa location," Responded Celia, before adding, "I feel bad for her, she’s really had absolutely no luck with pursuing Aster, which is only made harder by how oblivious he is to her feelings."
"Yeah, she’s basically the only one of us who ended up disappointed by the reshuffle. Colt and Lexia ended up in the sa place too. Colt definitely seed pretty thrilled about that, Lexia acted annoyed but I’m pretty sure she was actually happy about it, not that she’d ever admit it," Chuckled Raven wryly.
Colt had insisted on being in the sa location as Lexia, who acted apprehensive but didn’t actually say no to it, so Jules okayed it.
The two of them had been assigned to Malachite Town, while Ravella was pretty much by herself in Opal Town.
"I’ve really been enjoying myself lately, I hope these peaceful days last. It’s been so nice to be able to just relax and take it easy instead of having to worry about having to fight so impossibly powerful enemy. First it was the Undead King, then that Elf Leptar, and then the Aeroraptor Queen. Well, I never actually saw the Aeroraptor Queen myself, but anything that can put up a fight against Dark Raven is just unnecessarily powerful," Celia sighed wistfully.
"Uh, does that apply to ? Because, by that logic, I’m as unnecessarily powerful as it gets," Pointed out Raven with a slight laugh.
"No, it’s different with you."
"Yeah? How so?"
"Dunno, it just is."
"Alright, if you say so. Also, of the three enemies you ntioned, only the Aeroraptor Queen is actually dead. The Undead King is sealed away, and Leptar is in prison."
"Hey, co on, don’t say it like that, you make it sound like they’ll escape soday and we’ll have to deal with them all over again," Frowned Celia warily, lightly elbowing Raven.
"I certainly hope not, but it’s also far from impossible. If that ever does happen, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to protect you," Smiled Raven, putting his arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head.
"Right back at you, we’ll protect each other. I may not be as powerful as you are, but I’ve gotten pretty strong myself lately," Grinned Celia, playfully poking his cheek.
"That’s true, I doubt even I could survive taking a direct hit from one of your full-powered explosions," Mused Raven thoughtfully, before adding, "The Commander was pretty exasperated with you when you carved out a good third of the Sodalite Mountain with your explosions while training."
"Don’t remind , she lectured for a whole hour after that," Sighed Celia, her shoulders slumping as she recalled the mory.
"I an, she was also impressed and encouraged, though I do get why she’d want to discourage you from wrecking the nation with your training."
"Yeah, she told to train with my Magic by shooting it up at the sky, where there’s nothing to damage. Which is fine and all, but it’s more satisfying to blow sothing up, plus it gives a better idea of how destructive my Spells are."
"Yeah, but-...hm?" Raven suddenly froze and trailed off, turning his gaze towards a nearby alley as he sensed imnse hatred and malice being directed at him, a stiflingly powerful intent to kill...
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