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When Lumine left the comfort of her hotel room that day, the last thing she expected was a particular knight standing at the door, hidden underneath the shade of the roof. At first sight of her, he smiled slightly, approaching her with deft movement.
“Lumine, good morning,” Dainsleif greeted with a slight bow; a formality he hasn’t shaken off just yet.
“Dain, I wasn’t expecting you here so early.” Lumine rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around at the people walking by behind them.
Nothing was wrong, there were no fights breaking out or wars to be concerned about. His appearance here was bizarre, unnatural to their usual schedule.
She looked him in the eyes with a raised eyebrow, “Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no. Not quite.” He frowned, a familiar serious expression covering the slight excitement he had shown towards her earlier, “See, I was recently assigned to investigate Byakuyakoku. It’s another kingdom a way’s off from Khaenri’ah.”
“Byakuyakoku? I’ve read about that in some of the history books here. They have one of the largest libraries around.” Lumine glanced at the ground, lost in thought.
“Right. Well, His Majesty sent some delegates to acquire a book from their library. Unfortunately, they went missing and haven’t returned.” Dainsleif narrowed his eyes, “He’s entrusted me with the task of finding their whereabouts. It’s my belief that they may have been killed.”
“I understand. You want me to come with you. That’s why you’re here, right?” She looked back up to him, a similarly serious expression on her face.
“That’s right. Your skills in combat aside, I think it’d be a fun trip for you to explore the different nations around here.” He nodded in confirmation, to which Lumine sighed.
She stepped off the curb of the sidewalk and onto the cobbled street, tugging Dainsleif along with her. Towards the city gates they went, slipping through the crowds whenever they needed to get by.
“Fine. But you’re treating me to dinner there. I’d like to try their cuisine,” She huffed, pulling him further along.
“Alright. Alright, just please be gentle with my arm…” He groaned, following her swiftly.
At the rate Lumine was going, she might just dislocate the poor arm she was holding onto.
The ground was stained with dried blood, the scent of death looming in the air alongside it. Though there were no bodies to be found, the collapsed field tiller on the ground in front of them–broken parts and all–said enough of the events that transpired here. Lumine was running towards him, he could tell with the hurried footsteps coming closer to him.
“Lumine,” Dain called out, standing up from where he was kneeling on the ground.
“Dain, there’s people coming our way.” She rushed towards him, pointing towards the path leading down, towards the center of the city.
They were on the outskirts, away from major points of interest within Byakuyakoku. The footsteps of the group of people Lumine mentioned grew louder and more defined the closer they got to them.
“Looks like we weren’t the only ones sent to investigate.” He turned to face the group, a slight scowl on his face.
“You must be the people the King of Khaenri’ah sent.” One of the guards—armed with a blade and nothing more—narrowed his eyes at them suspiciously.
“That is correct. I assume the politicians behind your Sunchildren sent you to investigate as well,” Dain spoke nonchalantly, clasping his hands together in front of him.
“Bold words coming from Khaenri’ahns. You know the reputation you have here, especially after attempting to steal from our library,” Another one of the guards growled, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.
They were prepared for a fight on the former battleground, but one never came. The third guard, shorter than the rest, held him back, shaking his head disapprovingly. He seemed more sensible than the rest, a spear user.
“It’s ill advised to fight against this man. That’s one of the Royal Guards of Khaenri’ah, The Twilight Sword,” The guard spoke calmly, sighing shortly after, “We’ll only get ourselves killed by interfering. We should head back to Dainichi Mikoshi and report our findings.”
“
That Twilight Sword?
” They were muttering amongst themselves now, the fear setting in at the recognition.
That was Dain’s reputation, after all. A ruthless killer, the King’s blade.
To Lumine, he was a kind and gentle soul. Far from the impressions people held of him.
“We apologize for the attempted stealing on behalf of our delegates, however,” Dain narrowed his eyes, his tone firm, “I would like a formal explanation behind the deaths of our people on your land.”
“We aren’t too sure either. The assailant wasn’t one of our guards.” The third stepped up, explaining the situation in more detail.
A smart one, covering up for the other two.
“I see. We’ll be on our way then. Keep in mind that this won’t be forgotten by His Majesty.” Dain started to walk away from the scene, giving them a side glance.
Lumine followed, tailing behind him as they slowly made their way over to the capital. Though the city itself was underground like Khaenri’ah and hard to access, the light coming from the very top of Dainichi Mikoshi paired with the light breeze made the city feel simply ethereal.
The architecture of the library and other main buildings were very similar to Khaenri’ah’s own, it was a place she made a mental note to visit more often.
“I thought Khaenri’ah and Byakuyakoku had a diplomatic relationship with each other?” Lumine asked, kicking a pebble down the path as she walked.
“Diplomatic relations doesn’t stop other kingdoms from disliking Khaenri’ah’s reputation,” Dain explained, keeping his attention on her, “The Royal Guards are infamous for doing morally gray acts in the name of the king. Myself more than the others, due to my reputation as the Twilight Sword.”
“Oh… I see,” She muttered to herself.
“It’s not the worst thing in the world. It saves me from any potential fights,” Dain attempted to reassure, though Lumine didn’t seem all that interested in his words.
“Yeah… I suppose. Now, about that cuisine I was meaning to try…” Lumine had a mischievous glint in her eye, to Dain’s dismay.
He sighed exasperatedly, “You’re going to burn a hole through my wallet, aren’t you.”
“You know you’d do it because you love me.” She smirked, it was a losing battle.
“You’re right.” He looked away, crossing his arms against his chest.
“That’s what I thought.” Lumine placed her hands on her hips victoriously.