"Benustrus, eight hundred thirty-eight. This drawing, I'm still not sure what it means," Gunnar said as he stared at the drawing of the dead flower and the vase laying down on the table. "Is this represent the state of the Kastihel Kingdom?" Gunnar asked Rozan.
"It could be, but there's something more important that we need to find out," Rozan said as he walked on the street to Arkas Castle. "Have you guys noticed or realized that the spirits of the lords were never been seen?" Rozan asked.
Everyone raised their eyebrows and had just realized that, and they wouldn't have realized it if Rozan hadn't mentioned it. They all thought about it, but they couldn't find any answer to his question.
"Let's not bother to think about that, we wasted a whole day in Calish Castle, and everyone is weakened by this world. Just focus on dealing with what's in front of us," Agnez said as she looked over her shoulder and stared at everyone.
They wasted half an hour to finally reach Arkas Castle. The whole place looked like a military base because the walls were high and the towers were built in and placed in the most strategic spot.
"Wait, don't open the door yet," Gunnar said as he tried to stop Agnez from opening the giant steel gate.
"Arkas Castle, the home of the White Knights and their lord, Lord Exima. I was lucky and blessed that Lord Exima accepted me because she knew that I was the only survivor and the living evidence of the cruelty of her uncle," Gunnar said with his eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"Not many people knew who Lord Exima was since she was a closed person who didn't want her identity to be revealed to the public. She was in fact the niece of the King of Kastihel Kingdom, and she was the new lord since her father died not long after the Kastihel Kingdom was at its peak," Gunnar flipped the page.
"King Vorher the first, the King of the Kastihel Kingdom. He didn't only form one, but three military orders that were tasked primarily with the kingdom. It was the Royal Guard, whose task was to guard the king's life at all costs. White Knights, which were military officers leading the kingdom's military power, and Zlettkrieg, female-exclusive elite soldiers acting as the task force and personal guard of the White Knights," Gunnar flipped the page again.
"Lord Exima was the leader of Zlettkrieg, but after her father passed away, she became the Lord of Arkas Castle. The White Knights and the Zlettkrieg were directly under her command. Although they were called the White Knights by the people of Kastihel, for the enemies, they were called the Death Knights," Gunnar continued.
"I remembered what Lod Exima said to me. She said those who tried to fight will face death, and those who surrendered will be forgiven. Lord Exima was the bravest and just," Gunnar said as he closed the book.
"Huh? The lord of this place is a woman?" Sven looked at the castle wall with his eyebrow raised.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Agnez asked.
Sven immediately shook his head as he slowly walked away.
"The White Knights, or the Death Knights. I guess this is where we are going to fight a tough enemy," Jeanne said as she unsheathed her other sword. "Let's open the gate," Jeanne looked at Agnez.
"Wait!" Rozan said as he walked toward Gunnar.
"What is it this time? We don't have much time," Agnez asked, and she started to get annoyed.
"Just listen to me first, and hear what I have to say," Rozan said as he grabbed the book from Gunnar's hand. "In the book, Bernutus mentioned something about the cruelty of King Vorher, and Bernutus was welcomed because he was the living proof of it,"
"So? What are you trying to say here?" Agnez asked with her arms crossed.
"I'm not sure, but I believe that Exima isn't our enemy because of the last paragraph that Bernutus said," Rozan said as he looked at Agnez. "So, why don't we try to dig for more information while we are inside rather than use force?" Rozan asked.
Everyone was staring at Agnez, and then she nodded her head in agreement.
They entered the castle, and the first thing they saw was a big statue in front of them. A man with a giant sword and a giant shield in his hands. They didn't know who he was, but they were guessing that man was Exima's father.
The castle wasn't that big because whoever made the castle also made four barracks on the right side of the castle. There was a vast field that looked like a training field in between the castle and the barracks.
Before they could enter the castle, a horn sounded, and everyone immediately grabbed their weapons and readied their stances. They could hear the neighing of the horses from the barracks and saw dozens of knights in silver armor that shined under the sun charged toward them.
"Lower your weapons!" Rozan shouted.
Everyone looked at Rozan with confused looks, but then Jeanne sheathed her sword and did what Rozan said. Brynhilde, her team, and the Lord Knights followed Jeanne and sheathed their weapons.
"Gunnar, be ready if things didn't go as I expected," Rozan said as he walked past Gunnar to the front.
Gunnar nodded and tightly held his shield.
"We came in peace!" Rozan said with his arms in the air.
The White Knights kept charging at them, but suddenly one of the knights at the front raised his lance. The knights started to slow down, and slowly rode their horses toward Rozan.
The knight with the lance dismounted the horse, and then the knights walked toward Rozan. The knight's face was protected by a helmet with white long feathers on top.
"We came in peace, we are here to free the Kastihel Kingdom," Rozan said with his arms still in the air. "You're the White Knight, right? We are here because Bernutus led us here," Rozan continued.
"We are not the White Knights," A woman's voice could be heard from beneath the helmet. "We are the Zlettkrieg, the White Knights' personal guards," The woman removed her helmet and showed her short brown hair and black eyes.
"Are you a spirit, or are you still alive?" Rozan asked because the woman and the rest of the knights looked so real.
"We are cursed," The woman answered as she looked at everyone. "We can't die because of the dark lord. Everything that you see, even the buildings are cursed by him. We don't age, but our souls are slowly being corrupted," The woman explained.
They were surprised that there were still people that were alive in the Kastihel World. It was a good thing because they could know what happened to that world and why it ended up like that.
"Cursed by the dark lord? What's that mean? And who's dark lord?" Agnez asked.
"This whole land is cursed. You must have experienced it yourself, right? Weakened and dispirited. If you can't handle it and die, you will be a part of this world," The woman replied as she looked at Agnez. "The dark lord is the King of the Kastihel Kingdom who sacrificed souls that he offered to become a demon himself, Urdt is his demon name," The woman explained.
Everyone looked at themselves and understood the reason they were weakened and their skill levels decreased.
"What if I lift the curse in your body? Will you be alright?" Alberta asked.
"Don't! If you do that, I will die because this curse is the only reason I'm still alive. We don't want to die before we avenge the death of the people of The Kastihel Kingdom," The woman answered. "Anyway, you mentioned Benurtus' name, but how do you know him? He should be dead, two hundred years ago," The woman asked.
Gunnar walked to the front and stood next to Rozan. He showed the book to the woman.
"This book, we are being guided by this and we believe this book belongs to Benustrus because he told us everything from the beginning of this chaos," Gunnar answered.
"I believe he wants us to meet the lord, Lord Exima," Rozan said as he pointed at the book.
"Lord Exima can't be disturbed. Not now," The woman said as she shook her head.
"Then when we will be able to see her?" Rozan asked with a confused look.
"Who knows, we are ordered to protect the castle. The ones who know are the White Knights, and you're not allowed to enter as well," The woman answered with a serious expression.
"We can't waste our time here, we are all weakened by the curse as you said. The longer we stay the weaker we get," Jeanne said as she looked the woman in the eye. "Please, this isn't just for us, but for all of you as well,"
The woman looked at them as she started to breathe heavily because she couldn't decide whether to let them enter the castle to meet Lord Exima or not.
"Wait here, I will inform the lord," The woman said.
