The Devils of Jujutsu

Chapter 20: Royal Presence part 1

(Asta's p.o.v.)

Me and Liebe had finally made it Heart Kingdom's capital. It was a long Trek but we arrived with a month to spare, that was plenty of time to get prepared for the army of cursed spirits sent by Suguru Geto. First, we had to find out which direction would they be coming from, but we had to wait for a week before they got in range for us to sense them. And Second, we had to set commissioned curtains that surround a 2km radius. Commissioned curtains are cursed tools made to create a veil with special conditions. In this case, said special condition would be denying access to all with low cursed energy. That way if any Heart Kingdom soldiers try to enter, they would be repelled.

The plan for each of the 4 teams was to set commissioned curtains and put up a veil as soon as the whole army is within the perimeter. Then, we would battle until every last enemy had been exorcised.

After a week of waiting, the curses were finally within our range, and we judged that they would come from the Northeast. When we had our bearings, Liebe came out of the grimoire so we could quickly set up the commissioned curtains. I pulled them out of my bag and handed half of them to Liebe. We split up, I took the west side while my brother took the east.

(Loropechka's p.o.v.)

I'd been watching our mysterious intruder for a couple of months since he defeated Gaja. When he reached the outskirts of the capital, he stayed put for a week, until he decided to make his move. Then, suddenly, his grimoire began to glow, and a white haired devil appeared. This shocked me and Undine as she said, "That boy is a devil host?! Loropechka, it's too dangerous to let him stay in the country any longer!" Still watching closely, I replied, "Wait, Undine. We still need to know what they're doing here." I saw that the ash haired man is searching for something in his travel bag. He had pulled out what looked like tent stakes, wrapped in some kind of strangely marked paper, about 8 of them. He then handed half of the stakes to the white haired devil, and he said, "I'll take the western side, you take the east, brother." I thought, 'Brother?! He just called a devil his brother?!! Now I'm more curious about him!!' The devil then replied, "Alright, let's get these commissioned curtains set before the enemy arrives." The ash haired man nodded in agreement.

"Commissioned curtains? It that what they call those stakes? Just what are they doing here?" Undine questioned. "I don't know, but it might have something to do with the 'enemy' that devil mentioned." I replied. Then, Gaja enter the chamber, "Pardon the intrusion, Your Highness. But a dark presence has been detect in the outskirts of the capital. Without a doubt it's a devil." He informed me. "I know, Gaja. I'm looking at him right now." I replied. He was shocked at what I told him. I let him see the visual of the white haired devil and the ash haired man. Gaja's expression turned serious and he begged, "Please,   My Queen, allow me to eliminate those threats to the kingdom!" I replied, "No, Gaja. Based on what I've observed, these two are not threats to us. Think about it, you fought the ash haired man yourself, and lost so easily. And yet, he chose to render you unconscious instead of killing you. Also his statement about not wanting to even look at a royal, says that he has no interest in harming me. And finally, just before you walked, I heard the devil say that they had to prepare for an incoming enemy." After reviewing all we know about those two, I just came up with the reason why they came to Heart. "Of course, I see it now, they came here to intercept an enemy, one that does mean to bring harm to the kingdom. They're here to protect us." Undine and Gaja had been going over information I reviewed earlier and  came to that realization as well. But, Undine brought the one remaining question about the intruders, "Still, if they are here to defend Heart Kingdom from an unknown threat, why didn't they warn us about the attack instead of acting on their own?" Undine was right though, Heart Kingdom was our home, we had every right to defend, yet this mysterious man and peculiar devil are trying to do so by themselves. "That question can only be answered by them. I planned on watching them a little longer, but if there truly is an enemy coming here, we can't afford to sit here any longer. Gaja, come with me. It's about time I meet these intruders face to face." I announced and Gaja bowed in acknowledgement. After that, I got ready for my encounter with the stranger siblings.

(Asta's p.o.v.)

After a couple of hours, Liebe and I were finished setting up the commissioned curtains. We meet up at the last one we set, which was deep in a forest. "Now that we set them up, what do we do now? There's still 4 weeks before they arrive." Liebe asked me. I answered, "We should take this time to train, we have to be ready for whatever comes at us." Liebe nodded. As we were about to get started, we both sensed someone coming toward us from the woods. Me and my brother put up our guard for whoever is approaching us. They came into view and there were 3. One was Gaja, the other was a royal woman wearing a crown, I assumed she was the queen, and behind her, was towering young woman wearing a dress made of water, most likely the Water Spirit, Undine. The queen started talking, "Pardon our interruption, but we would like to talk to you two for a bit. I am the queen of Heart Kingdom, Loropechka. The young lady behind me is the Water Spirit, Undine. You're already acquainted with Gaja." I was seriously pissed off at the mere sight of the queen. It made me want to kill something. But before I could say anything, Liebe said to the queen, "We have no desire to talk to the likes of you, royal. So, get lost." I nodded in agreement. Undine didn't like our response as she said, "That's so rude, she came all the way out here just to speak with you two. It would be courteous if you oblige her." Liebe replied, "No one's talking to you, so stay out of it old lady." I could clearly see a tick mark form on her forehead. She then shouted, "I'm not an old lady!!" "Calm down, Undine. We're not here to start a fight, remember?" The queen told the water spirit. Undine shut up and snootily looked away. I then spoke, "Back on topic, My brother is right. Get out of our sights, not only do we not want to talk to you, we got more important things to do." "You mean defend the capital from an incoming enemy?" The queen asked. We were both surprised and I thought, 'She knows? How?' The queen inquired, "Are you both willing to talk now?"