The Demon King's Paladin Part 2. All Out War.

Chapter 451. Laura's Boredom

                                                                        Laura Buckley's Point Of View

" Bravo! Bravo! Who could've thought that they were hiding in a cave system! And to think, you were able to easily break their camp and force them to evacuate from whence they came! What a rousing success! Hahahaha!"

The King began to laugh and put on a show for all of his court. The Nobles seemed to be quite happy with what the King had happily shouted out. They're not the only ones. We're currently kneeling in the throne room. It was myself, Ashley, Jaime, Jessie and the fool who just so happened to have the Hero Job. Old man Ben seemed to have some mixed feelings about the Promethian Royal Family, so he chose to remain in Phoenix Tail. Perhaps he made the right call? Since Ashley, Jaime and Jessie seemed to be more of my opinion, as in this entire thing is useless. Even the Queen, sitting to the right of the King was too caught up in what they considered a " victory" to really think about what we've said to them. At least the 1st Princess, Rebecca is taken aback like us by her parents attitude... Unlike some people. The fool was enjoying the praise that was coming our way, most likely ignoring the losses that were suffered, both personally and in terms of the greater potential of the Adventurers Guild. Well... There's also a loss in the civilian population, but judging by the way I've seen the Nobles here treat the servants, something tells me they'd actually thank the Demons for that. It's all pretty empty words since the King seemed to ignore all of our personal accounts before addressing the crowd here.

" To think there were fools who thought that Summoning you all would be a waste of time! You're the first group to bring more than 1 Demon corpse at a time. I knew it was the correct move! You all just needed time to accrue some experience before you could begin to show why you're the Hero Party!"

Now the King has begun to gloat about his decision to bring us here. It's all just lengthening the meeting. I could endure it if this meeting was actually going to be useful for the future. But in actuality the King just wants to use this moment as an opportunity to silence his critics. Point blank, after we failed invading Diablos shortly after we arrived here in Gaia, the Nobles were quite vocal about their consent, the only good thing to come from those days was the fact that I rarely had to come here to the Royal Palace. Now we're here, and the bastard seems to ignore everything we've told him about what we experienced. Not even mentioning the one who's currently missing from this idiotic gloating session.

" Ah! Right, since you've all done so well by defeating our enemies, why don't I help make it easier! I'll bless you all with a 2nd Job as a reward for your conquests during this Job! Lucy Smith being the only one who lost... Well, I don't think it's a good idea to award losers just because of being associated as winners, when it comes to combat related matters, it's best to run a meritocracy, don't you think?"

 Lucy was still feeling weak and ill. Even though we rushed back here to Whitestone, the capital city with the best doctors in the country. All for them to tell us the same thing the doctors in Phoenix Tail told us. She was suffering from " Job Sickness". Which in a simplified explanation we received from one of the doctors, means that Lucy's body was undergoing a radical change due to her Job... Or, well, Jobs as she told us when she eventually woke up a week after all of the fighting. It was a bit of a shock to hear her tell the story. But the most shocked were Jessie and Ben, they told us how rare it was for someone to unlock a new Job by themselves. Apparently it's so rare that most don't even remember to mention it when explaining Jobs to children and the like. Which is why we were so surprised. When we first arrived here, we were told the only reason to gain a new Job was by being granted one by a King or a God and by evolving our Jobs. But she just... Unlocked one in the heat of the moment. We asked what it was that was going through her mind at the moment, since we thought there might be a hint to it or something, instead, she just blushed and said she wasn't thinking of anything. I found it suspicious, but she was running a fever, or at least that's what the doctor at the time said. Now she's lying in her room back at our home. She's healing, but she's still far from fighting shape.

" Whether the King feels the desire to reward us or not is up to you. I'm simply here to do my job as a Hero, Your Majesty!"

And the fool answers the King's question with what he assumes would be the " right" answer. It's almost sickening to watch the way he works. As for me. I'll take the 2nd Job if it's offered. I'm not too big of a fan of him disregarding Lucy's efforts however. She fought hard, she held her own against what was the strongest opponent at the time. She even unlocked a 2nd Job and Evolved her original Job in order to win against the enemy. There's nothing that points to her lacking any kind of skill the way the King was implying. I would love nothing more than to bring this up, but Jessie and the rest of our teachers have asked us not to rock the boat when it comes to dealing with the King... No matter how foolish he acts.

" Nonsense! To reward those that've done their duty exceptionally well is only natural for a King! Come, Hero Luke, step forward, I'll unlock your 2nd Job first!"

Without a hint of doubt about what the King said, the fool walks towards the King and in turn, the King stands from the throne he was sitting in. By this time, I had noticed that there were quite a few Nobles that looked deeply uncomfortable with what the King was doing. In particular were the more mouthy ones after we came back from Diablos. Dukes Farna, Dalon and Narsha. Along with Marquesses Harn, Katta, Leo and Walkak. Those were their last names, the Dukes were quite dismayed, Narsha, the only female Duke looked particularly disgusted. It stood out since all the other Dukes only looked at this scene with minor annoyance. Meanwhile, the Marquess, Harn looked at us with great envy. The other Marquesses... Well, I suppose they'd be called Marchioness since they were all women, instead of looking at the King and the fool, they were staring at Jaime, Ashley and me, almost as if they had something they wanted to say to us. However, like we've always done since returning from Diablos, I just turned away from them to ignore them. With that, the King raised his right hand towards Luke, and then a white mass of mana with an orange outline came out from his palm, it then shot from his hand and pierced the fool's chest. From the look of it, he was only surprised at how quickly the mana shot at him and it didn't seem to hurt him.

" Quickly! Bring an Appraisal Orb... Oh, wait, you can check it yourself, can't you? I'm so used to only giving 2nd Jobs to people from Promethia... Go ahead, Hero Luke, take a look!"

The fool did as the King suggested, after a few seconds of manipulating his status screen, the fool muttered the name of his new Job.

" Light Swordsman?"

" Ah! That's a good one for you."

The King was happy to hear what the fool had been given. Guessing from the name, it's either a Job that grants him abilities related to visible light or it's just another name for a swordsman that's fast.

" Jessie, explain, would you? The Hero is confused."

" Yes, Your Majesty."

Jessie was called upon, he quickly began to speak.

" Light Swordsman is a Class built around lightning quick swordplay, it'll work well with your Hero Job, considering how fast you already move."

" Man... I'm getting excited now! I wonder what I'll be able to do now!?"

The fool seemed happy with Jessie's information... It doesn't really matter to me, as long as he stays out of my way.

" Then, next, Cleric Laura, please, step forward."

With the King's request, I do as I was asked, no sense in raising a fuss after all. He smiles and then hits me with the same mana as he hit the fool with. He gestures for me to look at my Status, I quickly open it and take a look... I was a bit confused... Puzzled even, since I recognized the words... But I had no clue what they could mean?

" Love Warden?"

I muttered the word, but everyone seemed just as surprised as I was by the word... What the hell did I just receive?