I was content with that response. More than content, in fact, as I watched my princess sashay away, staring at her shapely body and elegant curves the whole time from behind. The sounds of her chiming as she walked were all that was left in my ears; I could hardly believe it was legal for her to wear so little clothing in public—it looked like a thong just behind that sheer drape, for Keeper's sake.
I had lost track of time. I wanted to see more of her. That's all I could think at the moment. However, Snow was trying to get my attention in the background.
"Yo, Dweeb!" His nickname for me. "You really trying to pick up the Golden Rose Knight's Captain?"
"Say what?" I asked.
"That chick you just tried to get at is the Captain of the Golden Roses. Please tell me you know who she is," Snow inquired.
"No idea," I replied nonchalantly.
"Dang, you've really been out of the loop since Captain Asura went O.O.C.," he said, meaning out of commission. Snow shrugged, closed his eyes, and started academically explaining to me, "The Golden Rose Knights, or Golden Roses, joined about a year ago and since then have risen to the rank of number 1 Guild in the Valley Kingdom. Their captain was a mage who came out of nowhere, rose to the ranks of Vice Captain in the Snow Lilies, and then started her own Guild to replace the one the Kingdom abolished, called the Gray Cranes. Her name is—"
When he opened his eyes, he found me picking my teeth, blatantly not paying attention while he was talking. "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?" he snapped, seething steam from his nostrils.
"Look, if I'm gonna learn about her past, I'd rather hear it from her directly than from you. So no, I'm not listening," I responded, still picking my teeth.
"You fucking asshole!" he snapped in a non-serious manner.
Turning my head, only to face him for a brief moment, I continued, "All I know about her right now is that she's hot and I wanna sleep with her." I half smiled at the end, shark-like teeth revealing a bit.
Snow gave me a bland look, like he couldn't believe I just openly said that—and in that way.
"You really are the shallowest motherfucker I know, seriously. What do Ophelia or Star see in you?" he complained but then stopped himself as he came to realization about something. "Wait. Is this the secret sauce I've been looking for? My ticket to pull any girl I want? Is Greed's bad vibe attitude what I need in order to—"
At this time, a loud booming voice caught the air and perforated our ears, "SNOW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? GET OVER HERE!" A large man, maybe mid to late thirties, powerful build, and had gray hair that was slicked back said. His face had faint wrinkles and had a gray, wispy mustache.
And had similar attire to Snow, except his coat-jacket looked more like a button up or flannel given his build.
Man to man, I envied his physique. Good for you.
"Looks like I gotta get going. The old man's calling! Please tell Ophelia to message me back… Okay, see ya!"
"SNOW!" the large man yelled again.
"I'm coming, you damn tree trunk! Keeper," he yelled back, heading over to him and joining his Captain, Jecht of the Silver Shark Knights, at the throne where they were stationed. Snow's Silver Sharks logo on the back of his jacket flashed at us as he left us.
Havoc and I then decided to join back with Code.
Sirus, the Arcane King's assistant, appeared from the doors in the back and made an announcement, "Captains and Guild members, if you would be so kind as to make your way to your thrones. We will be starting the Kingdom's Guild meeting now."
Sirus then formed a hand sign, and a magic circle appeared from under him.
"Assembly Magic: Supreme Ruler's Throne."
Right then, the back wall where he, Ryo, and others had come from started to disassemble. Blocks of stone were shifting over and under each other, forming something new.
The other side of the meeting room, where we entered, was shifting too. But it was only shifting to remove the doors completely. Shutting us in with no way to leave.
When the wall behind Sirus stopped assembling, it formed a tenth throne. This one was grander and more eccentric than the rest of ours. Behind it, there were stone wings that flew out and curved toward us, engulfing almost the whole wall.
There were now parts of the wall that were missing, and through those missing spots, you could see space itself.
Sirus was not only a user of Assembly magic but also an Elf. And a powerful one at that. I haven't seen him fight, but if he wanted to, he could probably reassemble this whole castle with a simple spell.
"Now, my fellow Knights, if you would please be so kind as to help me welcome our Royal King, Ezkar."
Standing applause rippled from within the room at this time, and I decided to observe everyone around us.
Starting from the door we entered was my princess and her Golden Boy bodyguard, Lance, representing their Guild—the Golden Rose Knights.
Her second Vice Captain, Love, was on her other side. She had light lavender hair with blonde ombre. Her armor was less than Golden Boy's, revealing her arms, stomach, and thighs. Just like him, she wore a sheer white cape that stopped right at her ankles.
A large white banner displayed their golden rose logo behind them.
And my princess, not even paying attention, sat slack in her throne, giving a faint clap for the Royal King out of sheer duty rather than respect.
I looked back to Code and gestured her to him with my eyes.
He rolled his eyes at me in response.
"By the way, were we supposed to have a banner as well?" I asked.
"Yeah, but everyone already knows who we are, unfortunately... and it's for clout—which we don't have—so we don't need one."
On the Golden Roses' left was my buddy, Ryo, and the Crimson Dragon Knights. All three of them had on the same uniforms Ryo always wore: red flame poncho with white on the ends that looked like flame cutouts, each with silver armor underneath, and a white embroidered dragon logo on their red banner behind them.
His Captain, Ark's hair was short and silver, and there was a gnarly scar across his face that could rival Havoc's, except his was over both his eyes, forcing them shut. Noticeably blind.
They looked like they were in three different stages of enthusiasm, with their Captain in the middle being the balance between the two personalities as they all clapped.
To the left of them were the Snow Lily Knights. A more proper and mysterious Guild.
Their Captain, Friera, wasn't able to be present for this meeting, but the 1st Vice Captain, Sylva, filled in on her behalf as her stand-in. She was the only one of the three who had her hood off, with short, light green hair and pointed ears, she was of the Elf race just like Sirus. Black visor shades covered her eyes. Expressionless.
The large and burly male on her right was named Goro, I believe, and the other female mage, Rin, on her other side had blonde hair flowing out of her hood. Both their faces shrouded by the shadows of their silver hoods.
The banner behind them displayed a sheen silver lily logo.
To the left of them were Snow and the Silver Shark Knights. His sturdy Captain, Jecht, stood between him and the third one of them, Marley, their 1st Executive—a slender and shapely chick who wore a blue bodysuit under her oversized Silver Sharks coat-jacket hanging off one shoulder.
She was already staring at me when I glanced over, looking at me with an expression I couldn't read as she blew a bubble from the gum she was chewing. This one was a mind reader supposedly...
Their banner was blue and yellow with a silver shark logo at its center.
Next, the Purple Panther Knights, who were closest on that side to the Royal King's exaggerated throne. Sporting purple, light blue, and gold-trimmed robes. Their Captain, Tubolt, was a blond bowl-cut-looking man. He looked taken care of and proper.
A single dangling silver orb earring hung on his right lobe. Every finger had a ring on it, and his nails were purple. The Vice Captain, another friend of mine from our novice mage days, was not present. Instead, he had two executives there: Wilren and Zayden.
Their banner displayed a purple panther with gold outlines behind them.
On our side, to the right of the Golden Rose Knights, were the Green Owl Knights. This group wore olive hooded ponchos and dressed like hunters. The owl logo on their green banner was brown as well, matching their hunter's attire.
The Captain, Laylee, was a brunette girl with bright green at the tips of her wavy hair, eyes matching that color.
She looked fairly young for a veteran captain of the Valley...
Their Vice Captain, who was another friend of mine with that shared past, was also not present.
Her two executives, Maine and Rowen, by her sides both wore painted masks; something their Guild was known for.
We were next to them. As I casually sat down after growing tired of clapping and lounged in the throne with a leg up on one of the armrests, my head turned, and next to us on our right was the final Guild.
The Blue Phoenix Knights. Their Captain, Syemore, had long white hair with a braid on the left side of his head. He and his two other Vice Captains were wearing the same attire, royal blue cloaks with thick golden seams, baggy harem pants cuffed in gold above their ankles, and black monk shoes.
Both of them had medium-length black hair, but one was a few inches taller than the other and had heavy bags under his gray eyes, like he never got any sleep. This one was Henza, on Syemore's left. The other on the right, Terek, had a braided rat tail on the left side of his head. There seemed to be something off about that guy, I just couldn't put my finger on it quite yet.
The phoenix logo on their banner was gold with a blue background.
At this time, the Captain, Syemore, looked right back at me with a faint smile as his glance met mine. It was almost as if he was observing me too…
We both stared at each other for a good moment as he remained seated, and everyone finished clapping for the Royal King.
I mouthed out the words, "Need something, creep?" to him and he closed his eyes to snicker at what I had just said.
Everyone's clapping halted as the Royal King merely raised his hand. He was then escorted to his grand throne by another mage.
Clean-shaven and handsome; it looked as if the years had been good to him despite his age.
The King's voice didn't carry much weight. You could tell by the way he carried himself that he was born into riches. The man had never been in a real battle his whole life. But nevertheless, everyone listened when he spoke, simply because he was royalty.
With his chest out and voice echoing through the room, he said, "Thank you all, the Eight Guilds of the Valley, for attending this quarter's meeting. It makes my heart happy to see you all here on this very important day. Without further ado… Let the Kingdom's Guild meeting commence."
Great. How much longer of this did I have to fucking endure?