Arrogance curled at the corners of the girl's lips, her expression dripping with contempt.
"Royal Knights, huh."
"Make me regret it?"
When the girl named Sylphine first called out, the sound of the carriage wheels had been loud, yet Geno's sharp hearing caught every word clearly. He had actually been planning to move aside and give them room.
Now, after hearing this other girl's obnoxious, affected tone, the intention to clear the way quietly evaporated.
"So these are the Royal Knights who made Macao feel so humiliated. The so called darlings of the kingdom, the people common folk admire so much."
"But it seems some of them are not very worthy of admiration at all. With that kind of tone, even if she is a woman, I still want to teach her what 'know your place' means."
From the anime, Geno only knew the general existence of Royal Knights, civil servants of the Fiore government. The details were vague. He had some impression only of the Garou Knights, the covert unit that appeared later in the story.
They were an independent force serving Fiore in the shadows, appearing in the latter part of the series. Stationed in the Abyss Palace, they served as executioners, mercilessly killing all prisoners sent there. Because of them, the Abyss Palace had become an inescapable forbidden zone.
Within Fiore, the Garou Knights were treated almost like an urban legend, their magic designed purely for efficient killing. They had once been ordered to execute "thieves" who infiltrated the royal palace, but that mission ended in failure.
It was only after coming to this real Fairy Tail world that Geno truly began to understand the Royal Knights.
The Royal Knights of Fiore were divided into four rank stages. You could roughly tell their level from the sword they carried at their side.
First Rank:
Trainee Knight, Official Knight, Knight Captain.
They wore black iron longswords. Knight Captains had a shield insignia engraved on the hilt of their black iron sword.
Second Rank:
Regular Royal Knight, Royal Knight Captain, Royal Knight Commander.
They carried silver longswords. On the Royal Knight Commander's sword hilt was the blood red rose emblem that Geno had seen earlier on Sylphine's weapon.
Third Rank:
Bronze Royal Knight, Silver Royal Knight, Gold Royal Knight.
They wielded darksteel longswords. The sword of a Gold Royal Knight bore the symbol of a blade crossing the land.
Fourth Rank:
Royal Holy Knight, Royal Holy Knight Commander.
They used primordium longswords. The Royal Holy Knight Commander's weapon bore the crest of the royal palace itself.
The status of a Royal Holy Knight in Fiore was extremely high. There were only seven of them in the entire kingdom.
Their standing was roughly equivalent to the Ten Wizard Saints chosen by the Magic Council, though in terms of political and social weight, the Royal Holy Knights were far above the Ten Wizard Saints.
However, no matter how exalted the Royal Knights were in Fiore, to Geno it did not matter. Whether they were First Rank trainees or Fourth Rank Holy Knights, it was all the same to him. He could not care less about titles or rank.
This was a world of magic. True strength was the only thing that really mattered.
"Hey, you filthy coachman, what do you mean by this? You think you are too good to move? This young lady has been yelling at you right here, and you act like you cannot hear a word?"
"If you do not hurry up and clear the road, I swear I will make sure there is not a single corner in all of Fiore where you can live."
Seeing that the driver up ahead had not even bothered to turn his head toward her, the curly haired girl frowned sharply, then began grinding her teeth in anger.
"Unbelievable. You disgusting commoners dare to ignore a Royal Knight."
She pulled a silver sword from her waist with a snap.
"You brought this on yourself. Go die."
From the way she held the sword, it was clear she was really intending to strike.
That was just fine. Geno had been thinking of giving this noisy little pest a light yet memorable lesson anyway.
"Die..."
The girl spurred her horse, sword raised, about to slash at Geno, when Sylphine suddenly urged her own mount forward.
"Illya, do not be reckless. Even if they are ordinary citizens, we are Royal Knights. We must treat them with respect. That is an order. Put your sword down."
"Eh... this..."
Illya, the curly haired girl, stopped and looked back at Sylphine.
"But Sylphine, that coachman clearly does not respect us. We serve directly under Princess Hisui. We are her exclusive Royal Knights. If he does not take us seriously, that means he does not take the royal family of Fiore seriously."
"Did you not hear me, Illya? This is an order. Put your sword away."
Sylphine nudged her horse closer to the carriage.
At last, faced with Sylphine's serious tone, Illya pulled her sword back with a sulky expression.
"Fine. Whatever."
Seeing Illya sheath her weapon, the other knight girls in the group broke into giggles.
"As expected of Illya. She never listens to anyone, but when Sylphine gives an order, she does not dare disobey."
"Of course. Sylphine is the one she idolized back at the Royal Knight Academy. And do not forget, Sylphine's father is a member of the royal family. Illya's father used to be one of his retainers."
"Retainer or not, the real reason is that Sylphine is just too outstanding. She had only been at the academy for half a year when she went from a First Rank Knight Captain to a Second Rank Royal Knight, then in another half year she became a Royal Knight Captain, and now she is already our Royal Knight Commander."
"In the academy's history, the only person with a promotion speed like that is the current Royal Holy Knight Commander."
"Exactly. Sylphine will definitely succeed that person one day."
"Sir driver, can you hear me? We may have been a bit rude earlier. I would like to offer you a sincere apology. I am very sorry."
Sylphine's tone was steady and polite.
"The cargo we are transporting is indeed very important. If possible, we would really appreciate it if you could help by making a little room."
She took out a stack of money, ten thousand J notes totaling a hundred thousand.
"Please accept this as our thanks."
The moment Illya saw the money, she almost exploded, her hair practically puffing up in fury.
"What! We just want this filthy commoner to move aside, and we are giving him that much? A hundred thousand J. That is ten thousand times ten. Can a commoner like him even make that in a month? What a lucky pile of dog dung."
Even so, she flicked her hand, snorted, and stuck her chin up.
"If it was not for Sylphine being here, you would already be dead, you disgusting coachman."
"You better pray I never run into you alone on the road. If I do, you will not live for even a second."
"This girl at least talks like a proper Royal Knight. Unlike that other one... forget it. Since the leader is speaking so sincerely, I might as well let it slide this time. If there is a next time, even though I prefer not to lay hands on women, I will have to make an exception and teach her some manners."
"And judging from that girl's personality, there probably will be a next time. Still, she had better pray we never cross paths again. Otherwise, I will not wait for her to mouth off before I show her how small she really is."
"Heh..."
"Keep your money. I am in a good mood, and you speak decently. I will not hold it against you this time."
"But tell that bitch under your command to remember this. A person should not be too arrogant. Even if you are Royal Knights, in this world that worships strength, you are nothing more than a few insignificant raindrops."
"Nothing special at all."