“Grand Master, we’ve arrived.”
The knight riding beside Luther pointed toward the dark-grey fortress at the end of the road.
“Indeed.
Prepare yourselves.
It’s time to greet my two old friends.”
Luther pressed his heels into the flanks of his Calibanite destrier and urged it forward.
New Spring Town was a remote settlement nestled at the edge of the forest, home to only a few hundred people.
Luther remembered the place, but the sight before him was completely different from the muddy little village in his memories.
The settlement was now surrounded by sturdy stone walls overgrown with lush green vines, while watchfires burned atop the ramparts of a solid fortress beyond them.
Judging from the scale of its defenses, a sizeable knightly order had clearly established itself here.
It wasn’t as grand as Aldurukh, but it was impressive enough.
“Welcome, honored guests of The Order.
Please, follow me.”
As they approached the fortress gates, a young man dressed in wizard’s robes greeted the group with a smile and a courteous bow.
“Merlin.
It’s been a long time.”
Luther looked at the young man, nostalgia flickering in his eyes.
He never would have imagined that the two “savages” his knights had discovered deep within the forest would one day establish one of the brightest rising powers among Caliban’s knightly orders—
The Order of the Round Table.
“Is that Merlin?
The Great Wizard Merlin?”
One of the knights beside Luther muttered in surprise.
“So much for the legends.
The bards always describe him as an old man with a long grey beard.”
“Of course they do.
I knew him long before any of those songs were written.”
Luther dismounted, his thoughts drifting back into the past.
How long had it been?
For a knight of Caliban, disasters often made better markers of time than calendars.
He remembered seven winters passing over his lands.
Or perhaps eight.
Luther wasn’t entirely certain.
But he still remembered the day his men had first discovered the pair.
His knights had mistaken them for some strange breed of lesser beast and had nearly attacked on sight.
It wasn’t until Merlin spoke that Luther heard his own name among the young man’s strange, incomprehensible words.
“Haha…”
As Luther reminisced with the members of The Order, Merlin maintained a polite smile.
That had been close.
Merlin remembered what happened after meeting the female Primarch Lion El’Jonson.
The two of them had wandered through the forests of Caliban for a long time before finally encountering a patrol of knights just as Merlin was beginning to lose hope.
Humans!
Finally, humans!
“Friendly!
Don’t shoot!”
Overcome with excitement, Merlin had almost burst into tears as he rushed toward them.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten one rather important problem.
The knight facing him immediately shouted something in rapid Calibanite.
Oh no.
Language barrier.
The moment Merlin saw the man raise his crossbow, he knew he was finished.
“I…
I…!”
“Ha!”
Lion El’Jonson, clinging to Merlin’s back, immediately tensed and prepared to fight.
“Don’t ‘Ha’!
They’re friendly—”
Then an idea struck him.
“Oh, right!
I…
I foresaw this!”
Merlin began gesturing frantically.
“I foresaw your arrival!
Luther!”
In desperation, Merlin simply shouted Luther’s name.
After all, in the history Merlin knew, it was Luther who had discovered the lone Primarch Lion El’Jonson in the forests of Caliban and brought him back to The Order.
Fortunately, this time was no exception.
And since Luther’s name was apparently the only recognizable word to come out of Merlin’s mouth, the knights somehow interpreted the whole situation as evidence of prophetic sorcery.
Merlin immediately seized the opportunity.
He presented himself as a mysterious wizard who had lived in seclusion within the forest and, with Lion El’Jonson at his side, successfully entered human society on Caliban.
He had been maintaining that act ever since.
After bringing the two of them back to civilization, Luther had wanted them to remain with The Order.
Merlin, however, insisted that prophecy demanded he and Lion El’Jonson leave and follow a different path.
He remembered the original history very clearly.
Luther had indeed taken in Lion El’Jonson, but in the end, he had led half of the Dark Angels into rebellion and become a traitor.
Merlin had no intention of letting his guard down around him.
Relying on his reputation as a “prophetic wizard,” Merlin traveled across Caliban with the still-uncivilized “Lioness,” Lion El’Jonson.
Merlin himself wasn’t particularly strong.
In fact, physically, he was even weaker than the average native of Caliban.
Fortunately, as Lion El’Jonson gradually adapted to human society, her extraordinary talent for strategy and command also began to emerge.
Combined with her overwhelming personal strength, the two of them successfully established a foothold on Caliban.
The two of us are just built different.
After one particular battle against a Great Beast, they were chosen to lead a small knightly order—
The Order of the Round Table.
From there, relying on Lion El’Jonson’s overwhelming strength and Merlin’s remarkable foresight, they gradually transformed it into a force that could no longer be ignored on Caliban.
“We can save the reminiscing for tonight’s feast,” Merlin said with a courteous gesture.
“For now, Lion El’Jonson is waiting for everyone inside the monastery.
The meeting is about to begin.”
“Ah.
Of course.”
Luther raised his head with a slightly embarrassed expression and signaled for the knights behind him to follow.
“Let’s go.
We shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
…
“It seems our final guest has arrived.”
Lion El’Jonson sat at the head of the round table and gave a slight nod.
“Please, take your seat.”
When Luther pushed open the heavy doors of the Order of the Round Table’s monastery, he couldn’t help being momentarily stunned.
He had heard plenty of stories about the Duel Queen, Lion El’Jonson.
She was a rising master of swordsmanship who had defeated beast after beast and challenger after challenger through her own strength alone.
According to those fortunate enough to witness her in battle, her swordsmanship far surpassed that of any ordinary Calibanite knight, and the blade in her hands was unmatched.
Even among Caliban’s fiercely individualistic knightly orders, few knights could claim to have completed one hunt after another entirely alone as she had.
Cold.
Elegant.
Powerful.
Ruthless.
Those were the words most often used to describe her.
Of course, only Merlin knew how fierce this seemingly dignified and aloof queen could become once she started huffing and growling.
And yet, when Luther finally saw her in person, he was still surprised.
She looked rather different from the legendary Lionheart Queen he had heard about.
Her posture was certainly dignified and elegant, and the ornate armor decorated with the scales of Great Beasts did its best to make her look imposing…
But there was one problem.
The Duel Queen herself was much smaller than Luther had imagined.
In fact, she could only be described as short.
Her chair at the round table even seemed to have been specially raised so that she could sit at eye level with the representatives of the other knightly orders.
Luther couldn’t help wondering—
When she sat there, could her feet even touch the floor?
“…”
Lion El’Jonson’s emerald eyes coldly swept across Luther before moving over the other representatives seated around the table.
She was mature now.
She wasn’t going to lose her temper over something so trivial.
“Merlin.
Begin.”
“Of course.”
The smiling Great Wizard Merlin followed Luther into the meeting chamber.
“I, Merlin, advisor to the Order of the Round Table, will preside over today’s meeting.
First, allow me to thank all of you for taking the time to attend.”
“As long-established knights of Caliban, all of you have sacrificed far too much in our seemingly endless war against the Great Beasts.”
“In the ancient Age of Strife, when humanity became isolated among the stars…”
As a respected wizard, Merlin began with humanity’s fragmentation during the Age of Strife.
When it came to speaking, he was far better suited to the task than the taciturn Lion El’Jonson.
“…Although every knightly order is capable of defending its own walls, generations of fighting separately have allowed the Great Beasts to continue roaming freely across Caliban.”
“So?”
The representative of the Order of the Crimson Grail interrupted him impatiently.
“Get to the point, Wizard.
What exactly do you want from us?”
“…A crusade.”
Merlin’s expression became serious.
“We believe the Great Beasts have never been completely eradicated because the people of Caliban have never possessed a single cause worth fighting for together—or a leader they could all follow.”
“What we need is a crusade.”
“A crusade against the Great Beasts.”
“The knightly orders can no longer continue fighting alone.
We must unite.
Only together can we eradicate the Great Beasts once and for all and truly become the knights who protect Caliban.”
“Ridiculous.”
Lord Sartana, master of the Knights of Lupus, gave a derisive snort.
“A knightly order founded only a few years ago has no right to place itself above all the others, much less claim that it can exterminate the Great Beasts.”
“No one can do that.”
“The Great Beasts cannot be eradicated.
This entire plan is nothing more than a delusion.”
“A delusion?”
Lion El’Jonson, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
Her emerald eyes settled on Lord Sartana.
“Then tell me.”
Her hand slowly came to rest on the hilt of the sword at her waist.
“How should we prove that we are qualified?”
A cold silence settled over the round table.
Lion El’Jonson looked directly at him.
“Would you like to find out?”
It really helps the fic grow!