Chương 145: Chapter 137 - The Auburn Haired Knight

Kira Something was wrong. Kira was being released far too soon. Her lieutenant approached the holding room with his shoulders tense and exhaustion showing across his face. Whatever had happened while Kira was confined, it had left him shaken.

"Everything okay, Lieutenant?" she asked, saluting him.

"No," he replied. He pushed the key into the lock and turned it.

"I don't think it is. I don't know what I'm allowed to talk about, so just keep quiet and your head down. The Lord Commander gave me orders to release you as soon as you were done throwing your tantrum, and you're banned from sparring or training for now. We can't have you raging anymore. Go eat and go to bed early."

"Understood." The door opened, but Kira didn't move immediately. He was speaking to her differently. There was none of his usual irritation over her latest outburst. He hadn't lectured her about restraint. He seemed more concerned with getting her out of the holding area and somewhere she wouldn't draw attention. Had her day come early? Kira forced herself to step through the doorway of her cell. Her lieutenant moved aside to let her pass, though his eyes remained on the corridor rather than her.

The other officers at the end were behaving strangely too. Conversations stopped whenever someone approached. Several knights stood together without speaking, while others moved through the halls with their attention fixed straight ahead. No one looked relaxed.

"Dame Kira," her lieutenant said sternly. Kira realized she had stopped in the middle of the corridor to watch them. His voice pulled her attention back to him. She lowered her head in acknowledgment and continued walking. Something significant had happened. Were they going to war? Was the cathedral under attack? No. Those possibilities usually brought urgency. The knights would be gathering weapons, organizing squads, and arguing over assignments.

There would be fear, but there would also be excitement from those eager to prove themselves. This was something completely different. Everyone looked afraid to be noticed. Like they were trying to blend into the background and be just an unassuming knight. Kira left the holding area and followed her lieutenant's instructions, at least for the moment. She took a longer route toward the elevator, passing several officers known for spreading rumors through the barracks. None of them said a word.

A pair of knights fell silent when she neared them. One watched her pass before immediately looking away. They knew something, but whatever orders had been given were strong enough to keep even the worst gossips quiet. Then Kira remembered the one person who knew everything. Stan. She nearly leapt in excitement. Stan operated the elevator through most of the busiest shifts. Everyone passed through his grate eventually, and people had a habit of speaking freely around him.

He heard arguments, private discussions, and orders before they were given. If anyone knew what had happened, it would be Stan. Kira hurried toward the elevator and waited impatiently for it to arrive. When the grate opened, she stepped inside.

"Mess hall, please."

"Of course, Dame Kira," Stan replied. The grate closed, and the elevator began moving. Kira waited until they had left the floor behind before stepping closer.

"So, Stan, there seems to be some sort of…"

"Before you ask, yes, I know what's going on. Yes, it's big. Much bigger than you're probably thinking. No, I am not allowed to say. The Lord Commander himself commanded me to keep quiet." Kira's shoulders lowered. Even Stan wouldn't tell her.

"I'm sure you would've filled me in if you could," she replied, unable to hide her disappointment.

"You know I would." Stan continued facing the grate, keeping his hands on the elevator controls.

"What I can say is, keep your head down and don't stand out." Kira leaned back against the wall and tried to work through what she had seen. The Lord Commander had personally ordered silence. Training for her specifically had been stopped, and her lieutenant was afraid she might rage again. Whatever had happened was serious enough that no one wanted an unstable girl drawing attention to herself. Her eyes widened. The greater dragon to the north had been defeated. The slavers were here. That had to be it.

Kira's stomach tightened. If the Church had received an offer for her now, it might decide there was no reason to honor the agreement that protected her until her fifteenth birthday. Chelsea"Okay, yes, it's time to head back, Liam," Chelsea said with a sigh.

"No more stops." She grabbed one of the bags she already had packed from the manor, along with her special bag meant for Looty. She had to look around the treasure room to find her but she was eventually found hidden behind two larger mimics with teeth. Chelsea lovingly pet the two, as she did with all of them before snatching Looty up and placing her in her bag.

"I will have you all moved to our new home soon." She called to the room. The mimics didn't reply but a few clicked their lids. Chelsea gave Liam a look as they continued away from the building. She could still hear the children talking excitedly in the back of her mind, trying out their new family name and arguing over how many siblings they now had.

"I just hope my mother doesn't kill me for adding so many people to the Wixx family. For someone who hates her father so much, she sure holds that name in high regard."

"It's part of your class," Freya said.

"You're literally built to adopt children." She laughed, though the sound faded when she looked down at Chelsea.

"Which I really wish you would talk to me about first."

"Sorry, honey. Me and the five thousand kids are a package deal. Take it or leave it." Chelsea leaned slightly closer to her.

"Do you need me to unsummon you, or whatever it's called?"

"That would be great, yeah." Chelsea wrapped both arms around Freya's massive, muscular arm and pressed herself against her side.

"Not until we get to the teleporter."

"Deal." They continued through the streets together. Chelsea remained attached to Freya's arm, enjoying the remaining time with her before she had to return to the cathedral.

"Hey, Chelsea, what will you have me do when we get back to the Holy City?" Ivy asked. Chelsea looked over her shoulder.

"Huh. I hadn't really given it much thought. Want to go back to the dungeons?"

"Oh, you're so funny." Ivy's expression flattened.

"Seriously, though, is there something you'd like me to do?" Chelsea considered it as they walked. Ivy had already spent months handling errands and business matters for her before everything had fallen apart. Now that Chelsea was trapped within the walls of the Holy City, having someone she trusted outside the cathedral would be even more important.

"Liam? Any ideas?"

"I have a few. She could be your full-time servant. She knows where your living quarters are, so she could bring you your meals."

"Huh," Chelsea said. She looked Ivy over, then glanced back toward Liam.

"That's not a bad idea. Sorry, not the servant part. The part about bringing me stuff. If I'm unable to leave the cathedral, then she could act as my representative. Someone who could do all of the little day-to-day things that I'm unable to do."

"So, an elaborate version of my old job?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah, exactly," Chelsea replied.

"Except for the sharing-a-bed thing," Freya cut in.

"Ah. Yeah." Chelsea looked up at her, suddenly realizing how the arrangement might sound.

"I'm sorry, Freya. I didn't even think about asking your thoughts on the matter. If you're not comf…"

"Oh, no, I'm okay with it. In fact, I think it's perfect. You need someone who can do that exact thing. It would be best if it's someone known to be close to you." Freya looked from Chelsea to Ivy.

"And before you ask, Chels, yes, I'm sure."

"Fine. There you go." Chelsea turned toward Ivy.

"If you want to be my personal messenger, the job's yours. You'll basically get to travel the world, seeing kingdoms I haven't even visited yet." Ivy's face brightened immediately.

"Yeah. I accept!" They reached the top of the Merchant's Guild steps as she answered. Liam moved ahead and opened the door, allowing the others to enter before him. The familiar clerk behind the front desk noticed Chelsea almost immediately.

"Miss Wixx, truly a pleasure, as always. How can we help you today?"

"Nothing too exciting. Just using the teleporter." Chelsea started toward the hallway, then stopped. She had greeted this man countless times since arriving in Junstruce. He had always treated her with patience and respect.

"Hey, I'm going to be moving away. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the amazing service you've given me over the past year." The clerk pressed both hands over his heart.

"Miss Wixx, say it isn't so. I'll miss your cheerful face so much. It's truly been a pleasure to serve you." Chelsea smiled. She had expected a polite response.

"If you ever end up in the Holy City, seek me out. I'll definitely have a job for you there."

"Thank…" The clerk's expression changed as her words registered.

"Miss Wixx, you're moving to the Holy City? I don't mean to second-guess your decisions, but demons aren't seen favorably there."

"Thank you so much for your concern. I'll be all right, though," Chelsea replied with a light laugh. She left him with one final smile before leading the others down the hallway toward the teleportation room. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Once they reached the pedestal, Liam stepped aside and waited for Chelsea to say goodbye. Freya leaned down, slipped her arms around Chelsea, and lifted her from the floor.

She kissed her while Chelsea wrapped her arms around the goddess's neck and let out a series of light giggles against her lips.

"I love you, Chels. Have a great first night in your own domain."

"And you have a great three-hundred-thousandth night in yours." Chelsea kissed her once more before Freya lowered her back onto her feet. She kept hold of Freya's hand for another moment, reluctant to let go. Then she dismissed Call for Aid. Freya vanished, returning to Valhalla. Chelsea stared at the empty space she had occupied before releasing a quiet sigh. She reached into her storage and withdrew her teleportation card.

"You two are adorable together," Rose said as Liam stepped onto the pedestal.

"Thank you." Chelsea noticed that the elf's voice had improved throughout the day. It was still rough, but the dry, painful rasp had faded after the bath, food, and time outside the dungeon.

"Hey, I have a dress one of my friends made for me. It's rare+5 quality. What classifications can you make up to?" Chelsea held her card stepping toward the pedestal.

"Actually, answer on the other side." The teleportation room disappeared. Chelsea arrived inside the hidden chamber at the Crystal Cathedral. Liam was already waiting nearby, watching the pedestal for the others. Ivy arrived next, followed several seconds later by Rose.

"A rare+5 quality dress is certainly an impressive feat," Rose said once the magic released her.

"Is she a dressmaker in Junstruce?"

"She is," Chelsea replied.

"I typically only deal in epic, but it really depends on the quality of the materials used. With you being the Empress, I'm sure I'll have access to only the finest materials." The prospect of returning to her work seemed to have restored some of the life that years in the dungeon had taken from her.

"I'll be completely honest with you. You're going to hate me because of one of my quirks."

"Oh? What's that, Your Grace?" Rose asked, looking at her curiously.

"First off, the nice part. I don't need to be fitted for anything. No matter what I put on, it fits perfectly." Chelsea paused, already dreading the second half of the explanation.

"Now the shitty part. There's a good chance I'm going to intentionally rip dresses you make." Rose's expression went to immediate confusion.

"I like the nice part of that information, but why would you rip my work?"

"To be able to gain the attributes from the dresses, I need them to be broken classification. But don't worry. When I put them on, they'll be fixed. And slightly different."

"I don't know that I understand," Rose replied. Chelsea nodded. The explanation probably sounded insane to someone who had spent her life carefully constructing clothing rather than destroying it for System benefits.

"Later in my room, I'll show you what I mean."

"Okay." Chelsea noticed that her glow had returned the moment she arrived inside the cathedral. White light poured from her body again, brightening the small teleportation room and reflecting from the pedestal. They stepped into the hallway that led to the throne-room, but began making their way toward the elevator.

"Let's go get some food first. I'm sure we're all starving. Weirdly, I'm actually thirsty," Chelsea said with a laugh.

"Never thought I'd be excited about wanting something to drink." She had lived for so long without needing water that the sensation felt almost new. Her mouth wasn't painfully dry, but there was a clear need waiting beneath everything else. Whatever a Blessed Demon ate, apparently it drank like a normal person.

"I've been wondering," Ivy said as they walked.

"How is Celeste? Since you changed, how did that affect her?"

"Oh, good question. Let me just switch my ti…" Chelsea opened her titles. A cold chill ran down her spine. With Multiple Personalities was gone. She searched again, certain she had simply overlooked it among the new titles. It wasn't there. Chelsea quickly opened her abilities and scanned through them. Instinctive Control was missing too.

"Um." Chelsea stopped in the middle of the corridor. Ivy and Rose halted with her, while Liam turned back from several steps ahead. Chelsea focused inward, searching for any sense of the woman who had shared her body for nearly a year.

"Celeste. If you're still in there, I can't let you out. I actually don't have the title or ability anymore. There has to be something we can do. I'll reach out to Dryscape and see if maybe the witch who performed Gerard's summoning knows something." Nothing answered her. There was no demand for control followed by an irritated comment. Only silence. Liam looked around the corridor, trying to determine who Chelsea was addressing.

"Your Gra… Miss Chelsea, I mean. Who…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll explain some other time." Chelsea kept searching through her information, hoping another ability had replaced the missing one under a different name.

"Ivy, good call, but it seems I can't let her out."

"Oh, that has to piss her off!" Ivy exclaimed.

"Actually, she's really mellowed out. She's not as high-strung as she was that first month."

"You really tamed her?" Ivy asked. Chelsea laughed and resumed walking, though part of her attention remained fixed inward.

"No, no. Not tamed. She and I have become what I'd call friends and what she'd call forced acquaintances. But I let her out on the battlefield, allowing her to let loose with our bloodlust." The memories returned as Chelsea followed Liam toward the elevator.

"The few couple of times we went out, it messed me up. It was my hands doing the killing and eating the still-beating hearts from people's chests. But then it just became my job." She didn't know when the horror had faded. At some point, cleaning blood from her skin and sorting through the remains had become another part of battle.

"That always made her happy, though, so she and I bonded over it." Chelsea finished just as the elevator reached their floor. The grate opened, and the operator waited for them to enter.

"Where are we going to eat?" Ivy asked.

"The Holy Knights' mess hall," Liam replied.

"Her Grace needs to be introduced to the knights." They crowded into the elevator. Rose stayed close to Ivy while Chelsea took her place beside Liam.

"I don't want you eating down in the regular dining room tonight. Certain preparations must be made before we can do that. The knights' mess hall will kill two birds with one stone." The elevator began carrying them down. Chelsea leaned slightly against the wall as the mechanism groaned around them.

"I'm so excited. I have no idea what foods I can eat now. I'm so ready to be done with the bag of organs I carry around."

"Bag of… organs?" Rose asked. Chelsea glanced toward her and laughed.

"Sounds worse than it is."

"No. It's pretty gruesome," Ivy corrected.

"It's just human hearts, livers, tongues, and…" Chelsea trailed off as she heard herself listing them.

"Oh, damn. It is more gruesome than I thought. But not anymore. Now I'm going to eat apples! Oh gods, apples. Surely I can eat them again. Oh, what sort of dishes are there in the Holy City?"

"We're known for a number of dishes, but our vegetable porridge is the signature dish of the empire," Liam explained.

"You'll find many restaurants that have their own version of it. Our fall festival has a competition among them to find the best porridge dish of the year." Chelsea's eyes lit up.

"A fall festival?"

"Yes?" Liam replied, confused by her excitement.

"Most cities hold one, if I'm not mistaken."

"The one in Junstruce happened after you left for Valhalla," Ivy added.

"When is it? Has it already happened this year?"

"It's in a few months," Liam replied.

"No festival in Valhalla?"

"We have a winter and spring feast, but the feasts in Valhalla are always so weird. It's just us twelve eating up on a terrace while the citizens of Valhalla have their own feast in the streets below us. We aren't supposed to acknowledge them, but you know I can't help myself." Chelsea smiled as she remembered the decorated streets and the people celebrating beneath the Hall.

"I skipped out on the last one to eat with some of my berserker friends down below, which pissed off Truth so much. She decided she and the Ninth Sister needed to have a good spar." Chelsea's smile widened.

"Good times."

"How did that go?" Ivy asked.

"She beat the shit out of me." Chelsea laughed at the memory. Truth hadn't held back, and Chelsea had spent most of the spar trying to remain on her feet. She opened her titles and switched back to The Holy Empress of the Forgotten Children. Liam laughed quietly.

"The Valkyr ways are so intriguing to me." Chelsea noticed the elevator operator standing silently at the controls. He had been listening without turning around, keeping the lift moving with the same steady attention he had shown since they entered. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, thank you so much for all of the work you do." The operator turned toward her with immediate terror. His eyes dropped to the white light surrounding her, and for a moment he looked as though he expected her touch to carry some terrible judgment.

"T-thank you, Your Grace." He bowed his head so quickly that Chelsea nearly pulled her hand away. This was going to take time to get used to. She hated that everyone felt required to bow whenever she spoke to them. Even a simple thank-you became an entire formal exchange. It made every interaction take longer and left people too frightened to respond naturally.

"Of course! You're doing an awesome job! It takes a special kind of person to do this job." Chelsea meant it. Standing inside an elevator all day, turning the same controls and traveling up and down the cathedral, sounded painfully boring. The fact that he managed to remain alert and courteous made the work more impressive than anyone probably acknowledged. The operator bowed his head again before returning his attention to the controls.

Chelsea decided she should at least look the way the knights expected their Holy Empress to look. She activated Blessed Travel and rose several inches above the floor. The elevator continued upward without her drifting toward the ceiling or being pressed against the floor. Chelsea tried not to think about the physics involved. Whatever force controlled the ability apparently understood that she wanted to hover relative to the elevator rather than the cathedral around it. Ivy glanced back at her.

"Show-off." Chelsea laughed. The elevator slowed, and the operator pulled the grate aside.

"Your Grace, welcome to the cathedral's barracks for the Holy Knights," Liam said as he stepped out. A knight stationed beside the elevator immediately straightened.

"Lord Commander present, salute!" Seven knights positioned throughout the hallway turned toward Liam. Each brought a closed fist across his chest in salute. Chelsea noticed that none of them wore armor made from her dragon scales. Their equipment was polished and uniform, though far less impressive than the armor worn by Liam and the Third Battalion. Then the knights noticed the glowing woman floating beside their commander. Their salutes faltered. One after another, they dropped to a knee and lowered their heads.

The knight beside the elevator saw the sudden change, followed their attention toward Chelsea, and quickly joined them on the floor. Chelsea floated after Liam, acutely aware of every bowed head they passed. They approached the next doorway. On impulse, Chelsea switched her active blessing to Hilda's and quietly directed a little gratitude toward the Goddess of Doorways.

She still wasn't certain whether every doorway counted, but this one was about to save her from entering an entire room of knights without warning.

"In the next room is the mess hall," Liam explained.

"I'll go in and announce you. You won't have to say anything if you don't want to. I simply don't want to startle the entire room with your unannounced presence. At this point, I'm sure the news has spread that you've arrived."

"Okay." Chelsea looked toward the open doorway. She didn't enjoy this kind of attention. Being greeted throughout Junstruce was one thing. Those people knew her, and most treated her like a friend. This would be an entire room of armed strangers waiting to meet the ruler they had been trained to obey. Liam entered alone. Chelsea heard the same announcement that had greeted him outside the elevator.

"At ease." Liam's voice carried through the mess hall. He wasn't shouting, but every word reached the hallway with perfect clarity. Either the room had remarkable acoustics or some ability was amplifying him.

"Today is a glorious day for the Holy Empire. Today, a new Holy Empress has arisen. She was previously one of the twelve Valkyr. Impressively, she bested Sir Erik of the Third Battalion in combat while giving him valid pointers on improving his technique." Chelsea's eyebrows rose. That was a generous description of their spar. She had never actually defeated Erik, though correcting his footwork while he tried to kill her probably counted for something.

"I had the honor of spending the day with her, and she truly is a magnanimous woman. May I introduce the Holy Empress of the Forgotten Children." Chelsea entered the mess hall as soon as Liam finished speaking. Every knight stood behind their seat. The moment she passed through the doorway, they lowered themselves to one knee. The movement traveled across the room in near-perfect order until every head was bowed. Chelsea continued floating until she reached Liam's side.

He held out a small gemstone to her, and she accepted it carefully. She looked down at the gem, then toward the large room full of waiting knights.

"Hello," she said into it awkwardly.

"Please rise. You can't protect the empire very well from the floor." Her voice carried through the entire mess hall. A few murmurs of laughter followed as the knights returned to their feet. The response helped ease some of the tightness in Chelsea's chest.

"As Sir Liam said, I am the new Holy Empress. I look forward to serving this empire to the best of my ability. I'll be counting on each and every one of you to keep this city safe in the coming years." She looked over the gathered knights. Some appeared old enough to have served through several rulers, while others weren't much older than Chelsea had been on Earth.

"There will be an influx of people, and with them comes possible trouble. But you're the Holy Knights. I'm sure you know how to do your jobs. I'm going to be eating in here tonight, so please don't let me keep you from your meals." Chelsea handed the gemstone back to Liam.

"As you were," he said into it. The formal stillness broke. Most of the knights sat down again, while those who had been walking before the announcement continued toward their destinations. Conversations slowly resumed, though many of the knights kept glancing toward Chelsea. Scanning the room, Chelsea noticed several red marks over the faces of knights. She began floating toward the nearest one.

"Liam, please collect the knights I indicate. Have them go stand off to the side."

"Of course," he replied. Chelsea approached a knight seated near the end of one table.

"This one." She pointed toward him and slowed long enough for Liam to direct the knight away from his seat. Once Liam caught up, Chelsea continued through the mess hall.

"This one." She repeated the process a few times. The selected knights followed Liam's instructions without argument, though their growing concern was obvious. Nearby conversations quieted whenever Chelsea passed, only to resume once she moved farther away. Chelsea circled the entire room. She found the final marked knight just before reaching the exit. The young woman stiffened when Chelsea stopped in front of her.

"Your Grace?" she asked worriedly.

"Please head over with the group there," Liam said, pointing toward the others. The knight obeyed immediately. Her shoulders remained rigid as she joined the small gathering. Chelsea turned and began floating back toward them.

"I figured you'd grab her," Liam said.

"What do you see on them?"

"It's a red X over their faces," Chelsea explained.

"I'd rather do a little cleanup of my troops before moving forward."

"I bet the last one is shitting herself. Ah, I mean…" Liam stopped, clearly realizing he had spoken far more casually than intended.

"You're fine. And I certainly hope not. Can you take us to some sort of meeting room?" Chelsea moved toward the waiting knights, but movement near the doorway caught her attention. Ivy and Rose had leaned far enough into the room to look around without fully entering.

"Wait, first, where are we going to sit?" she asked.

"The officers' tables are over there." Liam pointed toward the right side of the mess hall. Several knights seated in that section wore armor made from Chelsea's dragon scales. Chelsea hurried toward the two elves. Both looked completely out of place among the armed knights and formal military order.

"You two, head over to those tables. We'll be right back. I have Empress business to take care of real quick." Liam caught up beside her.

"A servant will come by and get your order. Please order a variety of things for Her Grace and get whatever you want from the menu."

"You can count on us," Ivy said. The two elves crossed the mess hall toward the officers' tables. Rose stayed close to Ivy, though her eyes moved constantly as she took in the cathedral barracks around her. Chelsea returned to the selected knights.

"Please don't worry. You're not in trouble or anything. I just need to speak with you. Please follow Sir Liam." The reassurance didn't seem to remove their concern, but the group obeyed. Liam led them from the mess hall and into a nearby meeting room. A long table occupied most of the space, with several chairs arranged around it. Chelsea floated inside behind them and studied the six knights more closely. Five carried swords at their sides. The last knight she had chosen had no weapon at all.

She appeared to be in her early teens, with auburn hair and freckles across her face. Without armor or a sword, she looked far younger than the others.

"Please take a seat," Chelsea instructed. Hey it's Riley. Just giving a quick update. I am going to be changing up my release schedule again for Royal Road. Instead of every other day I will be releasing chapters 5 days per week. M-F. That's it. OH also check out my other book. I should have a new chapter up tomorrow. Grom the Barbarian Becomes a Pokemon Trainer