Ding... Ding... Ding... Ding... Ding...
"An army! An army of knights is coming!" A scream can be heard from the village watchtower.
"What? An Army?" Ethan asks in confusion.
Carna village is located so deep in the mountains that even the Bircorn Kingdom soldier never passed through their village. The deep and dangerous Greeshia Forest to their south makes their village very hard to reach; that is why it's very weird for them to hear an army coming there.
"Is it the Kingdom army that is coming here?" Jena asks.
"There's no way an army comes to this village; they must be wrong," Emma replied.
"An Army! An Army! A Kingdom Army is coming to the village!" A boy shouts while running through the village.
"Well, I think you're wrong this time. Let us see what's really happening outside. There's no way they're coming here to attack us." Jena said to the two of them.
The three of them run to the village gate alongside other villagers and see a crowd already starting to form.
"Ol'Berg, what's happening?" Ethan asked Ol'Berg, who already stood with the other village elder.
"We still don't know. The chief is waiting for the army to send their representative."
"What does the Bicorn Kingdom army want to do over here?" Granny Emma asks.
"That's the problem, it wasn't the Bicorn Kingdom banner they brought, it's an unknown banner."
"What? It makes it even weirder, what other kingdom wants to do with us?" Emma said.
"That's why the chief is trying to talk with them, there's no way they come here to invade the Bicorn Kingdom, we're far too remote." Ol'Berg told the three of them.
They slowly walk to the front to look more clearly. That's when they saw the army consisting of around 300 horsemen, their black metal armor reflecting the sunlight, while some of them were wearing loose-fitting robes. While the rest of them line up in the distance prairie, they see 4 people riding their horses to the village. The 4-person riders consisted of 1 knight in black armor adorned with gold lining. 1 elderly man with a long beard in a white robe, holding a silver staff with a dark blue crystal on its end. And the rest of the horsemen is a black knights holding a green banner in their hands, a three-headed golden lion can be seen in the middle of it, while the same lion carving can also be seen on the knight's chest plate.
"No way! How can it be them?!" After being able to see the view clearly, Granny Jena exclaimed with a shocking expression on her face.
"Who is it? Do you know who they are?" One of the villagers asked her.
"Tell us who it is, what did they want with us?" Another one chimmed in.
"Who is it, Jena? How come did you know them?" Emma quickly asked her friend.
"Of course, I know about them. I told you guys many times before. It's the same banner as my hometown, it's the Valeria Kingdom army!" Jena told all of the villagers.
"What? It's them?" The villager replied.
"I never heard that name before; it must be so far away from here." Another man said.
"Wait, are there some sort of missing royalties or something? Are they sending an army to pick you up?" Ethan suddenly asked Jena while the rest of the villagers put all of their attention on her.
"What do you mean by royalties? I told you before that I'm just an orphan. Why would I come so far away if I can live in a castle?" Jena replied with a side eye.
"Rather than that, that bearded old man seems so familiar." She quickly added
"Maybe it's the old wizard who is fighting the dragon you told us about." Ethan said jokingly.
"AH! That's right! You're right, Ethan! he is indeed the same person! How come he didn't change at all?!" Jena exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh, I'm right?" Ethan confusedly replies.
"Who he is doesn't matter. What matters is what they want with us. Let's inform the Chief that Jena knows them, so that she can help." An elderly villager said.
The group moves closer to the village chief, who's waiting for the kingdom representative to arrive.
"Chief! Chief! We know who they are!" Ol'Berg is screaming so they can get the chief's attention.
" Who is it? Let them pass!" The village chief told the other villagers to make some way.
After seeing Ol'Berg's face, he quickly asked, "Berg, who are they? How do you know about them?"
"I know them, Chief, they are the Valeria Kingdom Army, the kingdom where I come from! But even I don't know what they want coming so far away to our village." Instead of Ol'Berg, it was Jena who answered the village chief.
"Ah, so that's how it is. Quick Jena, you come with me to greet them and let us ask what their purpose is."
Both of them and a few elderly villagers go together to greet the Valeria Kingdom emissary.
The villagers cannot hear anything they said, only see the village chief, Jena, and the bearded old man converse. But they can breathe a bit of relief, because they can see that the bearded man is smiling and laughing, so they hope there's nothing to be concerned about.
After waiting for about 5 to 10 minutes, they all see that the group is going back together to the village, including the 4 Valeria riders.
When they reach the village gate, they can hear the village chief say to them, "People of Carne Village, please welcome Sir Orion and Sir Sylvester from the Valeria Kingdom. They will stay near our village for a few days before resuming their journey to the Greeshia Forrest. Please treat them well."
"Eh! Going to the Greeshia forest?" Said one of the villagers.
"Besides ferocious animals, there's nothing worth visiting over there." Said the others.
"Let it be, let's not concern ourselves with these matters. Nothing good came to those who pry into other business." Ol'Berg reply.
While the people are talking to themself, the bearded old man, Orion Everheart, suddenly speaks, "Good people of Carne, my name is Orion. We express our gratitude for allowing us to stay nearby. Please don't hesitate to ask for our help if there's anything we can do. Me and my friend Sir Sylvester will try our best to help."
"AH! There's no way we will bother our guest from afar!" The village chief said.
"HAHAHA! Relax chief. My Cavalery of Madness isn't some ungrateful lot! It's the least we should do." The black knight commander said with a proud tone.
"Alright, let's talk in my place about the details. And let the villagers get back to their daily work." Said the village head.
Ethan is only listening to the conversation and hurriedly gets back to his house. He wants to reassure his family that everything is fine amidst all the commotion.
Arriving home, he can see that his mom and sister sit together at the dining table.
"Ethan! What is happening outside? Is there an army coming?" Nora asks her son with worry in her eyes.
"It's okay, Mom. Nothing dangerous happened. It's only an army from the Valeria Kingdom, they want to stay at the outskirts of our village for a few days, before continuing their journey to the Greeshia forest." Ethan explains.
"Fiuuh. They will not suddenly attack us, right?" Nora asks with a little bit of relief in her voice.
"Nah. Nothing's gonna happen. Sir Orion looks nice. And he is also the one who helped Granny Jena a few years ago." He replied.
"The MAGE! HA! I told you they are real!" Eli suddenly leaped from her chair and exclaimed.
"Haaaaa... Not again..." Ethan's head starts throbbing while listening to his sister's voice.