Chapter 1
A calculated infiltration attack from the opposing kingdom of light has struck down on the kingdom of the dark knights. The damage done was serious, and it was important to act quickly. The dark knights have devised a plan where they patrol certain areas of the kingdom making sure to weed out whatever spies the light kingdom might've sent.
Mafuyu; a knight of the spur, was responsible for patrolling the area outside of the kingdom. As an experienced knight, she was more than eligible to patrol this area. It was an area that was out of bounds for most knights due to safety precautions.
Those safety precautions were set in place due to hermits. Hermits were a different species from humans; they share genes similar to humans, but are completely different in some ways. They have long horns on the top of their head and possess a speed that a normal human being couldn’t keep up with; making them hard to catch. They secluded themselves from society, they were known to be thieves, sneaky, rude, and insanely hideous. It is said that they'll certainly attack no matter what humans they encounter as they were considered barbaric. Which is why it’s very expected for humans to slay any hermit they manage to spot. it was either kill or be killed.
The reason why Mafuyu was entrusted with duty outside the kingdom was because of her impressive strength and agility, she was quick to act, crushing whatever got in her way in an instant.
The instructions given to Mafuyu were simple: eliminate any possible threat, stay up till the sun was up, and report back to the higher-ups. It was easy for Mafuyu, hell she could even do this in her sleep, she was more than fit for the task.
The sun has begun resting along the horizon, the light emanating from it dimming, the only thing illuminating the dark forest surrounding the kingdom was the moonlight. Mafuyu has been out ever since the evening, so far she hasn’t encountered anything that seemed extraordinary. Everything in the forest was just.. Normal. The birds chirped their song as usual, cicadas were buzzing.
Though.. Mafuyu couldn’t help but feel unsettled, she felt like someone was watching her from behind, she wasn’t someone who would feel this way while on patrol duty.. The feeling was overwhelming, like someone or something was keeping an eye on her. The forest was dead silent, only with the occasional sounds of owls hooting filling the uncomforting silence.
Mafuyu heard rustling nearby, the sound of branches being crushed under footsteps approaching her rapidly. She drew her sword, preparing to strike. Her target was fast, it couldn’t be a white knight.. No way, the movements were far too fast to be human.. Could it be..?
Mafuyu began to focus on the target. She got into battle position preparing to strike. Until.. for a moment, she was caught off guard, for the first time, she missed her target. She felt like ice-cold water was splashed onto her, a sharp pain setting in her abdomen.. She was too focused on trying to find the target that the target took her moment of thinking as a chance to strike..An amateur move from Mafuyu.
Despite the pain, she managed to pull herself together rather quickly, evading most of the attacks from the perpetrator the best she could. The target groaned in frustration. Soon enough, after several minutes of evading and attacks that barely managed to do damage, Mafuyu managed to frustrate her opponent enough which led to their movements to falter. Mafuyu took advantage of this by quickly striking them. She managed to trip the opponent, her sword now pointed at them.
She was panting heavily, blood seeping through her knight uniform, staining the dark purple fabric. Mafuyu’s left arm was on her stomach, clutching it in hopes of somehow preventing blood loss
She had finally got the chance to get a clearer look at her opponent, taking off the hood it wore. and lo and behold, it was a hermit. This would be Mafuyu’s first encounter with a hermit, she knew they were fast but not this fast.. She also thought hermits had great stamina, but clearly, this one lacked the skill with how much she was panting...
She made eye contact with the hermit, which attempted to crawl away but was immediately stopped when Mafuyu stepped on her cloak.
“Gah.. Let me go! Get your foot off of that!” The hermit said she tried to kick Mafuyu, but Mafuyu didn’t budge. She had long brown hair, and small horns that curved, it was definitely a hermit that she managed to catch, alright. Though.. This looked the complete opposite of how hermits were usually described, she had bangs that perfectly framed her face and nice long silky hair
For a minute Mafuyu was captivated, but she knew what she had to do, she prepared to strike down the weakened hermit until a voice stopped her.
She gazed up, it was one of the notable white knights; Akito Shinonome. She has gone against him in battle before and has displayed an impressive amount of skill, hence why she remembers him very well compared to the others.
“Enough!” He called out. Walking forwards. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” He approached the two, preparing to draw his sword in case anything happened. He leaned down examining the hermit, checking if she was hurt.
This was certainly new. A human protecting a hermit.. It was odd, any type of bond between human and hermit was considered forbidden. Everyone knew this.
“I should be .. asking you the same.” Mafuyu spoke, her voice weak and hoarse. She was still panting, gripping her abdomen tightly.
“It’s none of your concern.” Akito dismissed
“Sure it isn’t but you should know… this is a betrayal to your own kingdom”
Akito snorted.
“I won’t say much, but you should know, the whole kingdom is in on it.” He said, helping the hermit up