Fiona stared up to the large and luxurious manor. Despite being suited in a fairly big city it was on a large private piece of land, with an expansive yard, filled by a perfectly groomed garden that showcased a myriad of vibrantly colored flowers. 

Damn. If only I could’ve been born into a place like this.

She thought to herself. 

Beside her was the other recruit, Ludwig. He looked to be a few years younger than her, despite that his hair was brown in a similar shade to hers. If they were going purely off of appearances, he may have been mistaken as her younger brother. Despite this the two had a very different air to them.

Ludwig carried himself about with a certain noble grace. Fiona had carried herself similarly once in her prior chapter, but even then it was something she forced. To Ludwig the conduct appeared no less natural than breathing. The young man remained graceful even in spite of the horrible grimace he wore on his face.

 He looked like he was holding back tears, as he looked dejected at his newly painted armor. What had once been the shining silver armor of the Fouchet family, was now painted a matte black. The armor radiated a strong heat as it basked in the light of the sun. Fiona’s armor was the same, though she cared much less about it. 

For as much as her new position caused anguish she knew she was lucky. It would not have been strange for her to lose a hand, much less her life for the things she had done in the 68th chapter. 

“Come on.” Said Fiona, resting her arm on his shoulder. “You don't want to fail at your first assignment now?”

He quickly pushed away her hand, having learned his lesson after the attempted theft of his wallet. 

“Hah. Let's get this over with then.”

The two approached an iron gate that led into the estate's interior. Guarding it stood two soldiers, equipped in spears and light armor. 

“Hold it.” Said one of them. “What's your business?”

“The 111th chapter of the imperial knights seeks an audience with the lord.” Replied Fiona with a curt response. 

“Hmppph.” 

The guard snorted, sniffling a laugh. 

“I don't recall being informed about your arrival. You two should come back later after you've made an appointment.” 

Ludwig made no effort to hide his displeasure, he bit down on the corner of his lip, whilst shooting a glare at the guards.

For a mere soldier to show such disrespect to an imperial knight was practically unheard of, but the moniker of the 111th seemed to inspire a newfound confidence. 

“I have come here under the order of my chapter captain, who is vested with the authority of the Empire. Do you still insist on refusing us?” 

“My orders are not to let in troublemakers.”

Ludwig began to reach for the sword at his side, but Fiona grabbed his wrist before it connected with the blade’s hilt. 

Is this really what that faerie was after?

She recalled the instructions she was given. 

‘You two arrived by train, so you will need to purchase horses. The lord of the city should be able to sell some war horses. Your first mission is to purchase your own horses.’

“Were you issued those orders from the imperial court?” She retorted.

“What’s all the commotion?” From beyond the gate a new arrival spoke. 

Unlike the guards the man was equipped with proper metal armor. A helmet was absent from his attire, which allowed his face to be put on display. He looked to be a seasoned knight, but a man still too young to be considered old. 

“These people claim to be imperial knights. They want to see the lord.” Answered a guard. 

“Impersonating an imperial knight is a grave offense.” Said the knight drawing his blade. “Get lost, go and cause trouble somewhere.”

“Drawing a sword against an imperial knight is also considered a grave offense.” 

Ludwig had now drawn his blade in response. This time Fiona could not easily stop him from doing so. 

“Hmmph.” Scoffed the knight. “Forgive my insolence, but you should know this is not the first time bandits have impersonated the disgraced chapter. Let me determine your truth, if you can defeat me I will accept that you are indeed an imperial knight.”

With the challenge issued the man scaled over the iron fence in a single jump, landing not far behind Ludwig and Fiona. 

Ludwig turned to face him. 

“To keep moving your tongue like that, I hope you won’t complain when you end up losing it.”

“Hah. I will teach you the folly of creating a disturbance in a city under the protection of my lord.”

The knight sought to seek the initiative, being the first to send a strike towards Ludwig. A long stab meant to quickly close any distance, the longsword stretched out towards his opponent. Ludwig replied with a parry on the flat of his blade. 

A blue glow blemished his blade shortly before the swords struck. The knight’s sword was forced sideways, the man gripping it tightly to regain control of its path. 

Fiona looked back towards Ludwig’s blade, the glow had left almost as suddenly as it appeared fading out shortly after the clash. 

Does he not have enough mana? Is that why he was sent to the black knights?

“It seems you have at least some skill, but it’s not enough.”

Her thoughts were interrupted. 

The knight’s sword reached towards Ludwig once more. Though this time was different, like his opponent his sword now radiated with the heat of mana, a dark reddish brown that enveloped the blade. Unlike Ludwig, his mana manifested continuously, the sword never losing its dark red hue. 

Ludwig continued to exchange blows, focusing almost entirely on defense, he made an effort to parry each strike that came his way. Mana continued to cover his sword, only at the moment the blades met. His passive approach had forced him to take a couple of steps backwards, as the knight seemed to dominate the exchange. 

Fiona continued to watch the fight intensely, though her eyes were focused on Ludwig’s sword watching him quickly turn his mana on and off as if he was operating a lamp. 

As she continued to watch the fight, Ludwig took two more steps backwards. If he retreated any further his back would be pushed up against the iron wall behind him. Using the space he once more summoned his mana, though this time it was not for defense. 

The glow emanated once more, but this time instead of covering the entirety of the blade, it instead converged only on a single edge. 

That level of control? Crazy bastard. 

Ludwig stepped forward and threw out a simple diagonal cut towards the knight. The knight responded in turn with the flat of his shining red sword, easily matching the strike with a parry. 

Snap!

Instead of returning the strike, Ludwig's sword continued along its path, only stopping short of the knight's face. The red light faded from his longsword, as the upper part of the blade fell onto the cobblestone street. 

He said he was a prodigy. I didn’t believe him, but it seems there was truth to it. He wasn’t using mana reinforcement so sparingly because he lacked mana, but because he has such control over it that he can fight without any inefficiency.

“What?” 

The knight cried in disbelief. An understandable response, from what Fiona could see, his level of mana was quite substantial, and the man seemed to be experienced. 

Damn. It really ended so fast. I don’t know if I could have even handled that knight, even using tricks.

 Even if the Imperial knights were largely held to be superior to the forces of territorial lords, that was not always the case on an individual basis. The knight that had challenged them seemed formidable, at least to Fiona. She imagined him to be one of the strongest in the territory.

Still Ludwig performed far beyond expectations. Although it was not a chapter known for being exceptionally powerful, there were only a handful of people in the Stone Tower knights who she thought to be on a higher level than him, not considering the fact that all of them were experienced knights in leadership positions. 

“I hope you are ready to pay for your words.”

“That’s enough for now.” Said a voice that came from behind Fiona’s shoulder.

CarburetorThompson

Hello, Carburetor here. I’m planning to continue releasing 1 chapter a week. I know it’s less then ideal for SH where many of the biggest stories post upwards of 3 times weekly, but 1 chapter a week is about as fast as I am writing as of now, so uploading all the backlogged chapters will only lead to longer waits.

I also am posting a poll. I have character reference sheet (sketch) for some of the current characters done. I was wondering if people would prefer me to post it as part of a .5 chapter, or post it at the end of next weeks chapter. Depending on the reception I will continue to do this for more extra illustrated content going forward. Unless there is a super duper major event I probably won’t be adding illustrations for specific chapters, but I will probably do more character reference sheets and object illustrations .