Beast Knights (KKM Fanfiction)

Never Again

I'll never again be able to hear the words I want to hear the most... ~ Megumi No Ame, Alan Dawa Dolma

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A long stretch and a deep sigh of relief ー that was what Yuri did as soon as they got out of Roseberke Castle's conference room. The meeting took a long, not to mention tedious, 3 hours. But it was something they needed to do at the moment, especially when their current situation at Shin Makoku. The house leaders did come up with a plan to help together with the Beast Knights. But at the moment, it was more of an investigative phase kind of help rather than actual sending of necessary forces to deal with the current situation.

It wasn't a surprise to Conrad, Gwendal, and Murata, though. They still needed to realize who they were up against, and so necessary investigation must be done first before anything else.

"Was it that full of tension in there for you to do that, Yuri?" Mari asked with a chuckle upon seeing the Maoh's actions. "Then again, I guess it's quite hard to breathe in there at some point, huh?"

"It's even heavier than the meetings I would usually have with the Ten Nobles back in Shin Makoku."

Mari smiled at that and tapped Yuri's shoulder. "Don't worry. It's not like they don't like you. A lot of things had happened in the past for almost everyone here to be quite guarded of this land and their missions."

"But Akiyama-san..." Murata interjected, making the said Knight face him. "Why didn't you tell us ahead of time that you were chosen as a Beast Knight? You and your friends back on Earth..."

"Honestly, I don't see any reason why I should. Or you could say that I have to do my duty first before anything else. After all, this land has been my home since I first got here. I have to protect it first."

Though that didn't answer Murata's question, the Daikenja sensed that Mari doesn't intend to answer it as truthfully as he wanted it to be. At least, not yet. At the moment, he had to respect that.

"But I'm glad you're one of the people that protect this island, Mari-san," Yuri said with a smile that surprised the said woman. "If you weren't here, I guess this place wouldn't be as beautiful as I see it today."

The others couldn't help smiling at that upon hearing those words. Mari, however, was showing a completely different smile than the rest. Both Conrad and Shori noticed that, but they didn't comment on it because it disappeared just as soon as they saw it.

Just what was that supposed to mean?

"They say that this land was even more beautiful before the war. But I only got to see that beauty through a vision that Klaus showed to me a long time ago," Mari said as she walked ahead of the young king. "I'm sorry, but I have to head straight to the training ground for now. There's still something I have to do before dinner."

Though confused and also curious, Yuri nodded as the other house leaders did the same thing. When the Wind Tiger Knight disappeared from their sight, Yuri faced Lady Sofia. "Just what does she mean by training ground? Does Mari-san have to train more even before dinner?"

"Not all the time, Your Majesty. But for this, I don't think it has something to do with her training."

"She's training her successor during this time of the day, as long as she doesn't have any mission or any other job to do," Hanz added to Lady Sofia's answer. "Knight Mari's quite hands-on when it comes to training that child. Not that it's a bad thing. But at times, both Knight Mari and Gale tend to forget the course of time that they would end up neglecting both rest and meal time."