"Look, it's the prince!" Yelled one of the Knights. "His Highness Prince Quinus! We have been looking for you everywhere!"

The other knights gathered around the prince and they bowed their heads after dealing with the last of the goblins.

"Prince Quinus! We feared the worst, my Lord!" The captain of the knights said to the prince while bowing his head.

"When were you all dispatched here?" Quinus asked.

"We left about a week ago, my Lord. When word got out about the goblin ambush outside of the village of Kishin." The captain replied.

Quinus closed his eyes and sighed while recalling the battle that took place. He remembered being surrounded by a group of goblins at the time, and how they swarmed their positions. If he had known that it would turn out like this, he would have used his enchanted sword's ability to burn them all.

"Alright, send word for them... I want to bury my fallen men. They deserve a proper burial," Quinus said with a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, Your Highness," The captain replied with a bow and just as he was about to leave was when he noticed not only a Wolfkin but a Dark Elf was coming out of the Labyrinth as well.

He had a concerned look on his face before he spoke, "Y-Your Highness? Do we need to be worried about her?"

The captain looked at the stunning woman, who was standing next to Quinus.

"No... She's saved all of us multiple times. She's my girl- Ahem... She's our friend," Quinus said, as he nearly slipped that he wanted Rya to be his girlfriend. He didn't want to push her away after everything that had happened between them.

Rya raised her eyebrow while looking at the Prince with a confused expression.

'Your girl?... H-He must be tired or something.' Rya just shook it off and focused on the task at hand.

The captain looked back at his fellow knights, then he turned around and bowed once again.

"Understood, Your Highness... If she's earned your trust then she has mine as well."

"Alright, let's head to the site and take care of our fallen brothers," Quinus said with a deep sigh.

With everything squared away, the group headed over to the site where Quinus and his fallen knights got attacked by the goblins earlier in their quest to destroy the Dungeon Core in the 'Tomb of the Horde'.

It took them about an hour to get there.

"It feels way more peaceful in the forest than it did a couple of days ago. I can't believe this place used to be filled with goblins," Percy said out loud.

"Aye, I bet you're right, Percy. This place feels like it has a calming effect now... I'm glad our comrades didn't die in vain," Sir George said with a bright smile, but his eyes had a hint of sadness in them.

"Well, we wouldn't have gotten the chance to enjoy this peace without, Lady Rya. I don't know how I'm going to repay her," Quinus said as he looked at Rya, who was hanging back with Dalia.

"Well, the Goddess must be smiling upon us. How else would we have run into someone as special as her," Percy said with a grin.

Quinus shakes his head.

"Well, I'm not sure about that, Percy. We were the only ones to survive," Quinus says with a grim look on his face.

"Aye, the seventeen others would be proud to know their Lord has come up victorious. Their sacrifice will be remembered," Sir George said with a solemn tone while putting his hand on Quinus's shoulder.

"Well, I hope they can find happiness in their next life," Quinus said with a touch of melancholy.

"Hmm... I don't know if we will be reborn, my Lord. But if they do, I'm sure they will." George said with a nod.

Quinus stared at George like he wanted to respond but he held his tongue.

"My Lord, we're coming up to the clearing where the ambush happened," One of the knights announced to the party.

"Thank you, Sir Menns," Quinus said with a nod.

They had reached the area where they had fought and slain the goblins.

 

***

 

Once they came into the wide clearing. They were able to see bodies scattered about from the ambush. Most of them were the bodies of the goblins but seventeen knights lay next to each other in the middle.

"This is tragic. It feels like yesterday when we left Kishin with all of them by our side," Quinus said with a heavy sigh.

"That it does, my Prince," Sir George said with a saddened voice.

"Let's bury them before they can get turned into the undead. It would be a great disrespect to their memory," Quinus said as he walked forward towards his fallen comrades.

"Right away, my Lord. You lot, let's dig up a proper grave for these good men." Sir George said to the group of knights, and they began digging.

"Yes, my Lord," They all said in unison.

‘I shouldn’t let them do all the work.’ Rya thought as she watched.

"If you like I can bury them, Quin," Rya said with a kind smile.

"I appreciate the offer, Rya. They were my men, my responsibility…. We would rather do this ourselves. This is our duty after all," Quinus said with a nod.

Rya wanted to help but she understood what he meant and stepped back.

"Very well then," Rya gave a nod to Quin while she stepped aside and watched them bury the dead.

 

***

 

It took an hour before they buried the fallen. After giving them a proper burial. They all stood in front of their graves with their heads bowed and hands together in a praying position.

"May you find happiness in your next life, my Brothers," Quinus said out loud while he was in prayer.

"May the Goddess guide you in the afterlife," Sir George said with a heavy heart.

Everyone else repeated what the two said as they were also in prayer. After they were finished they made their way through the forest until they arrived on the outskirts of the village of Kishin. It had taken them quite some time to get to the village from the clearing and it was almost sundown.

The town looked like something out of the Medieval ages. There were cobblestone streets with little houses and shops alongside them. The buildings were built from wood and stone while others were made of brick. The village has a 10-foot wall that surrounds the perimeter with guards patrolling around. Many green bodies were lying around the wall from all the goblins that died trying to invade the village. Even with all the dead monsters lying about, everything was calm and quiet, except for the sounds of nature.

"Well, I don't know why I was expecting anything else?" Rya said to herself.

"Hmm? What were you expecting, Alpha?" Dalia asked, looking over at Rya.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to get used to living in a... Ah? a human settlement." Rya said with a chuckle. 'Almost let it slip that I wasn't from the planet Tertius.' Rya thought to herself.

"Yeah, I agree. I'm not used to these unnatural things they live in. How are you supposed to move when you make something that big!?" Dalia asked while she scoffed at what she thought was the stupidity of the human race.

'Good! Dalia doesn't suspect anything. Hehehe.' Rya thought to herself with a giggle.

"Well, humans like stability. So, they tend to stay in one place, mostly," Rya says to Dalia.

"Oh really? That makes sense, I suppose. But I'm not sure I like it," Dalia said with a nod.

"Well let's give it a try?" Rya nodded back as they followed the group towards the gate.