The Prodigal Female Knight can't be this much of a Klutz - Chapter 1
“Arisu-chan is a fine knight, a strong and reliable one, I just need you to look after her while I’m gone. You’re supposed to head to the capital in two days anyway aren’t you?”
“Yes, but….”
“Come on, just this once.”
Well, I couldn’t exactly refuse an earnest request from the Grand Master of the Empirical Knights, especially not when he’s a close relative of my mother and a good friend to my parents.
—Two days later
“Kyaaaaaaa~ Crossford-san, please help meeeeeee” said the strong and reliable Arisu Von Riciel as she was entangled between some thick and red tentacles that were much larger than me.
How did things come to this?
—-Several hours before disaster struck
The Capital of the Empire, Verdache, a beautiful city, lined with buildings and at its center, the Knights of the Empirical’s main headquarters, And a beautiful cathedral that stands tall that you can’t miss as soon as you enter the city. I’ve visited the capital a few times in the past now but the sight is still impressive. I never get tired of it.
The carriage drives through main street, passing through the various stalls and markets, to reach my destination just across the Headquarters, the Knights Lodging and Training Grounds. I paid the kind carriage driver for his work and set off on my way.
The person who was supposed to receive me, should be around here somewhere. I didn’t get a full description of her appearance from the Grand Master. He only said, ‘She’s as beautiful as her fighting, and I doubt you wouldn’t be able to recognise her.’
As I began searching for a person who fit the description, I heard a voice call out to me.
“Do you happen to be Alex Crossford-dono?”
Long, black, illustrious hair that nearly reached her waist. A slender yet curvaceous figure perfectly accentuated by her modest and plain clothes. The girl that had called out to me, was a beauty that could only be described as breathtaking.
“Y-yes, that would be me. And you are Arisu-san, right?”
“Yes, my Master has spoken great things about you. I look forward to working with you.”
A gentle smile fitting her appearance. This kind girl was a fighting prodigy? I wouldn’t have believed it if the Grand Master hadn’t boasted of her so much.
“Please come this way, I’ll lead you to your lodging during your stay. Please let me take your bags as well.”
“No, no, no. There’s no need for that. I can’t allow a woman to carry my bags for me, please.”
“Please don’t worry about it, you’re our guest. And I’m far stronger than I look.”
She insisted with a smile. I took up on her offer as it would be rude to refute it and handed her my luggage. It may not be heavy but it wasn’t light, despite that she picked it up with one hand with ease.
“Please follow me.”
She started to lead me inside the lodging. I looked around with a sense of nostalgia, when suddenly-
“Kyaa!”
… I’m not sure what happened but when I looked back at Arisu-san, she was face down on the floor.
“A-Are you ok?!”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.”
She said as she got up with her face coloured crimson from embarrassment.
“I simply tripped over something, there’s nothing to be worried about.”
“O-ok”
She continued on her way, as if nothing had happened. But however, a few moments later-
“Kyaa!”
“Arisu-san, are you alright?!?”
“I-I’m fine.”
This time, she tripped over a plant pot. The image of a breathtaking and beautiful female knight is slowly being shattered.
“It’s fine, you can hand my bags back to me.”
“No! I’ll be fine!”
She was, in fact, not fine as the same thing repeated a few more times on the way to my room.
“T-this is where you’ll be staying.”
“T-thank you. But are you alright?”
“Y-yes, I’m fine. I’m just a bit of a ditz.”
A bit? This was a bit? Her clumsiness was so astronomically bad, that I genuinely thought someone had put a curse on her.
“A-anyway, please get some rest, you must’ve travelled quite a distance to get here.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
“Please treat me more casually, you are supposed to be my Senpai.”
Arisu said, with a bright smile on her face
“Alright, you should do the same, Arisu-san.”
“Then, I look forward to working with you, Crossford-san.”
After I’d freshened up a bit, I went around the area. Last time I visited this place was when I was still an apprentice two years ago. It hadn’t changed much in that time, though I did see a lot of new faces.
“Yo, is that you Alex?”
I looked to find my former classmate and a good friend, Cork Raiden, waving at me.
“Oh, it’s been a long time, Cork.”
“So it has, hasn’t it.”
“I didn’t expect to see you still here, after our apprenticeship had finished.”
“Yeah, I work with the Knights now. Forget about me, I didn’t think I’d get to see you again, especially not here of all places.”
“Haha, yeah. It sort of just happened.”
I explained my situation to Cork as he listened attentively.
“In charge of the Beautiful Klutzy Knight, aye.”
“So the klutziness was always there.”
“Yep, she’s a great Knight at fighting but a massive klutz.”
“Kind of hard to believe after all that.”
“Well, you’ll see soon enough.”
Then Cork suddenly remembered.
“Ah, speaking of, she just went off on an extermination quest into the Deep Forest.”
“Huh? And she didn’t think of informing me beforehand?”
“She must’ve thought you needed some rest.”
“Cork, give me directions to the site. Even if she’s strong, I have my own duties to attend to.”
Then, I set off in the direction of the forest, still concerned about Arisu.
—
I might not be the strongest physically, but I’m very confident in my magic skills. I use Body-Strengthening Magic to boost my speed and head into the forest. I can hear the sounds of blades slicing through flesh in the distance.
I hurried towards the location given to me by Cork, only to find a stunning sight before my eyes.
Arisu, fighting the boar like monsters, beautifully as if she was dancing. Each and every one of her movements were so refined and breathtaking that I couldn’t help but simply stare at her without saying anything.
As everyone has been saying, it seems that she lives up to her reputation, easily taking down monsters that would usually take 3 to 4 adventurers to defeat.
As she finishes up her fights, I clean up the stragglers using Fire Magic, ensuring none of them escape.
“Crossford-san, I thought you were supposed to be resting.”
“I couldn’t just simply rest while you were out on a mission could I? I was assigned to a mission of my own, remember? To watch over you. Please tell me next time before embarking on a quest by yourself.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Good work. You exceeded my expectations from hearing praises for you left and right.”
Arisu started blushing, and said “Please, you’re flattering me.”
“This is nothing compared to someone like my Master.”
“That may be so, but you’re strong too, have some confidence.”
I opened up my bag that I brought along and tossed her a potion to help her fatigue. She thanked me and drank it all in a gulp.
“Shall we get some rest before moving on to the next area?”
“Yes.”
“There was certainly an unusual amount of monsters concentrated in this one area. Is it usually like that here?”
“Hmm, usually this place is overrun with weaker monsters but I’ve never seen this man high level ones at once.”
“That does seem suspicious.”
I leaned against a rock while drinking a potion to restore my own stamina from running all the way there. Suddenly a loud buzzing sound erupted.
“Crossford-san, look out!”
Arisu dived towards me, knocking me to the ground. The rock I was leaning on, suddenly exploded.
“A medium-level curse that blows things up. Thank you for that, Arisu-san.”
“It’s fine, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No I’m fine, thanks to you.”
Arisu then looked up to find that we were in a rather complex position, with us basically hugging each other tightly. Her face grew red as she hurriedly backed away from me. But that’s when I noticed.
“Arisu-san, wait!!”
“Fuehh?”
The ground shook as a high level trap magic consumed the ground beneath her. I dived after Arisu and fell into the massive pit that had opened up into the ground.
“*Cough* *Cough* Arisu-san, are you alright?”
“Y-yes, I’m fine here. Sorry for getting you into this mess, Crossford-san.”
“You should really pay attention to your surroundings, you know.”
The pit was gigantic and the sky had disappeared, closing us into the space under it. Before us, stood a massive entrance of some sorts with symbols and scriptures all over it. It must’ve been the language of the Demons.
” ‘The BACKRøøM’? It says I believe.”
“Crossford-san, is this…”
“Yeah, it’s a Dungeon.”
Dungeons. Fortresses that are usually home to the high level monster class, Ancient Demons. A place considered to be infinitely dangerous for a group of high-level adventurers, much less a mage and an apprentice knight.
There were no exits and the only path was the entrance into the Dungeon.
“Looks like we don’t have much of a choice, do we?”
After patching up our wounds from the fall, me and Arisu, head into the Dungeon, hoping to find a way out alive.
Little did we know of what was to come next.