933 Guardian Knights
“Hmm-mm~” Ai expressed her joy while humming softly.
She had just gone to a small festival, went to a lovely cafe, bought lots of exciting things, shared stories, and joked around with her little sister Elysia. They were sitting on a beautiful, fragrant flower garden bench.
The sunlight was warm, and the atmosphere was really comfortable. It was as if the recent tension had been swept away, and the world had returned to peace.
“Here.” Ai brought her ice cream closer to Elysia’s lips.
“It’s delicious, seven flavors of ice cream.” Elysia took a little bite while finishing her flower crown. She then put it on Ai’s head. “Yep, purple suits us.”
“Hmm, thank you.” Ai touched her flower crown with a satisfied smile. She was happy to get whatever Elysia gave her.
“Here, now is my turn.” Elysia brought her blueberry crepe close to Ai’s lips, but the latter bit off most of it and smiled smugly at her.
“Mou, this is what they call sharing a meal. It’s not going anywhere. A graceful lady should be taking one small bite at a time to look elegant and charming.” Elysia raised her finger and gave a piece of advice.
“Yeah, yeah…” Ai took a small bite like what Elysia ordered. By the time Elysia finished speaking, she had already eaten the crepe.
“Eh? Where’s the part for me?” Elysia blinked her eyes innocently when she looked at her nonexistent crepe. Only the wrapper remained.
“Thank you for the food.” Ai put her hands together.
“Ai.” Elysia pouted. It took a bit of effort to find a cafe that could accommodate customers’ particular demands in this town, and she got the only custom blueberry ice cream crepe. Still, it was gone before she could taste it.
“…” Ai was amused to see the variety of Elysia’s expression. She then took out something from her Space Bag. She gave it to Elysia. “Worry not, the lady maid actually got two for us. Here for you.”
“You better tell me first.” Elysia accepted it happily. She didn’t know they got two crepes in that cafe.
*Rustle* *Rustle*
The rustling sound could be heard from the flower hedges that towered relatively high.
“Kyaa, master hero!”
“Hero-sama!”
“Mister heroes!”
“They ran this way earlier, right? Did they run into the flower garden and hide there?”
“That’s impossible. They are honorable heroes, and they couldn’t possibly go into hiding there. Something sudden must have forced them to act quickly.”
“Yeah, the world needs them. They might be going to the capital city soon because the Emperor requested their presence.”
“Ah, what a shame. I wanted to take a group photo and have a meal together. If I’m lucky, I can get one.”
“Dream on, girl. Whatever it is, the red knight is mine! He is so hot.”
“The light blue is my favorite hero!”
“As for me–“
The girls’ excited voices came from outside the flower garden area. They talked about the prominent knights or heroes with passion. However, they soon left as their heroes may have left.
“They are like rabbits in heat hungry to devour their prey.” Ai commented softly as she looked at the young girls back to their activities.
“Hm, everyone is working hard to save their loved ones and their homeland. Heroes rise and lead to win the battle. It’s only natural for young girls to adore their heroes with a bit of fanaticism.” Elysia raised her palm. Luckily, her divine group didn’t need to endure such troublesome things.
“That sounds troublesome. It must be hard to be a hero here.” Ai didn’t care about the so-called human heroes or anything.
*Rustle* *Rustle*
“Phew, those troublesome girls are gone, right?”
“Yeah, looks like they’re gone, boss.”
“Why are we hiding here? Real mens never hide from problems even though the girls are troublesome.”
“Hahaha, it amuses me every time it happens. I’m a prince from the east, and a guardian knight. We destroy monsters and vile creatures like heroes, but we’re here, hiding from the girls.”
“Shut up, you attention seeker. We’ve morphed back from our guardian knight armor, but how come everyone can identify us so easily? Shouldn’t that be a confidential information? We’ve never morphed back in front of other people, have we?”
Five young men dressed as dashing knights of different colors stepped out from the tall flower hedges. They swept away the leaves and flowers stuck to their robes while muttering and complaining.
“That’s probably because we already have the aura of a hero? Look at my gorgeous muscles. This is a gentleman and a hero.”
“Stop your acts of narcissism, red. We became guardian knights and heroes thanks to Elysia. She bestowed these high-grade artifacts to us.”
“Miss Elysia sure is spoiled by her Goddess master, huh. She can even give these high-class artifacts without a second thought.”
“Hey, I heard that her friends also received the similar gifts. Wouldn’t it be bad if someone tried to get close to her just to ask for high-grade artifacts?”
“Her Goddess master won’t allow that, and everyone else can’t get close to her. There’s always a barrier that keeps her away from other people. That’s what I said separates the masterpiece from the others.”
“Speaking of which, I was wondering what my angel, Miss Elysia is doing now? She joined her master’s group and went to save the world.”
“What would you do if you met her, red?”
“I don’t know, my friends. Maybe I want to express my love?”
“Stupid, but brave. You already know her definite response, right? Her case was similar to Ella. She belongs to her Goddess master.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I became a hero who defended the truth for her. I will never regret my youth. Let’s serve the justice and eradicate the evil.”
The young knights exchanged words as they walked through the flower garden.
However, the man in a casual red knight outfit suddenly froze when he noticed who was sitting on a park bench not far away. His muscle twitched a little, and he rubbed his eyes to see whether he was seeing things wrong.
“Mi, Miss, Miss Elysia!? This is getting out of hand! Now, there are two of them!” The red knight widened in surprise. He immediately turned around, checking his appearance.
“Hi! Fancy meeting you here.” Elysia smiled kindly and waved her hand. She didn’t expect to meet her acquaintances here.
“Holy cow, you just said it, and it turns out that the said angel is already here, boss.” David patted his boss on the back and whispered softly.
“Okay, perfect. Let’s greet them. I hope they didn’t hear what I said earlier.” Brian walked up to the stunning angels with confident steps.
“…” Ai grumbled a little. Almost no one was brave enough to disturb them, and these brats dared to ruin her date with their little sister?
“I see, I’m glad to hear that you are heroes, defenders of justice, quellers of evil. Five elemental knights, unite~” Elysia covered her mouth in amusement.
“You jest, Elysia. You’re the angel who gifted us with these super-elemental powers. Are you hanging out with your twin sister? I didn’t know you had a twin.” Brian felt a bit intimidated because of Elysia’s twin sister. Still, he mustered his courage to focus on the angel of kindness.
“Yes, she is my big sister, Ai. Sister, they are my acquaintances at the academy. We haven’t known each other for a long time, but they are good people. Have you just returned from the mission of conquering and exterminating accursed monsters? So, the heroes that everyone welcomed a while ago is your party.” Elysia nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, we just came back from the battlefield and are on our way to the capital city.” Brian nodded in confirmation. He glanced at Elysia’s twin sister once more.
The big sister was vastly different from the bright and kind little sister. It was almost the opposite because Elysia’s twin sister had an oppressive, intimidating aura.
“Wait, Ely. So, who are they talking about are you? You gave high-grade artefacts to acquaintances you haven’t known for long? You were so careless that everyone could assume you were the treasure bank!” Ai pinched Elysia’s cheeks.
“Eoow, oww, I’m so sowwy. Bwut, hwumanity nweed mowe powwe to save pwople. Thew awe gwood hewoes.” Elysia tried to explain a little of her excuse. She couldn’t say that the so-called high-grade artifacts she gave them were prototypes she made during the training and trial period. The unpolished with lots of flaws Heaven Grade artifacts.
“Sigh, since Ely gave her treasures to you, then you are quite decent. Don’t let her trust down. Stay firm in your belief in the justice of a hero or your strength might corrupt you.” Ai released Elysia’s cheeks.
“We understand. Thank you for your kind advice.” Raphael nodded in understanding.
“Anyway, what are you doing here, Miss Elysia? Are you the only two here?” Theo looked around, but he couldn’t find the others.
“Yep, we’re just the two of us now. We’re hanging out together. We call it a date.” Elysia put her hand on Ai’s arm. She then sat back down with Ai and ate her crepe.
“Err… It’ll leave a bitter taste on my tongue to let you go unprotected. If it’s possible, we shall escort you.” Theo offered a favor.
“No. Just go and leave us alone.” Ai flatly refused.
“Sure, but make sure that no one else notice you, including us. If you can’t do that, then you can’t be our temporary bodyguards.” Elysia didn’t mind it, but with a condition. She could make them satisfy their desires but would not involve them if the Ruvoid Avatar took the bait.
“We are honored.” Theo responded with a knight’s salute.