Settling Things With The Three Knights of the Royal Guard! And My Lack of Motivation

* * *

Excuse me! Sorry to have kept you waiting!

It was about 20 minutes after they left the room, when that serious-looking guy, Byun, returned to the waiting room where I was waiting, with a bright and cheerful voice.

Were ready to intercept you, so please come this way, intruder Emi-san!

Byun pointed down the corridor, starting to guide me.

Hes wearing a blue and white, glittering and stylish armor.

Unlike his previous innerwear, he looks very cool.

I threw the last cookie into my mouth and started walking down the corridor, munching on it, following Byun.

Here we are, the Trial Room.

After walking a short distance, Byun stopped and pointed at a large iron door.

That door, with its majestic decorations, gives off the vibe that theres a boss behind this door and theres something like a geometric pattern carved in its center its probably super ancient magical writing.

<Thats right, Emi. It says Trial Room No. 1.>

I see, number one

So, considering what the Three Knights of the Royal Guard said earlier

There are three rooms connected, behind this door?

That is correct.

Byun nodded, confirming my guess.

And in each room, I, Byun of the Wind Bow, Shito-Shitorin of the Rain Staff, and Nikkor of the Sun Sword are waiting to beat you up! Defeat us all, embed this orb we have into the last door, and you will be able to proceed further into this labyrinth, to the heart of the Sky Kingdom!

Byun explained, tapping the beautiful white orb embedded in his chest armor.

Thats a lot of trouble.

No, no, dont worry about it! Its our job! Well do our best to beat you up with all our might!

I felt bad for making him prepare all this for me, and scratched my cheek apologetically, but Byun shook his head, with a refreshing smile.

Hes a good guy, this guy

<Isnt it strange that youre thinking that, after he just declared hes going to beat you up?>

Now, Ill also move to my designated position. When Im ready, Ill call you from inside, so please enter after that. After that, I think well just naturally start fighting.

Saying that, Byun bowed and opened the door, entering the Trial Room.

Soon after, I heard his voice from inside, You may enter now!

All preparations are complete.

<It took a strangely long time, but finally, we can move forward!>

Extra-sama said to me happily.

But I

Reflexively crossed my arms, tilted my head downwards, and muttered

<Is there something bothering you?>

Well, you see, Extra-sama.

<Yes?>

It seems like Im going to defeat the Three Knights of the Royal Guard and go further into this labyrinth

<Yes?>

But I dont really want to

<Come to think of it, thats true.>

I ended up here because of well, circumstances.

<Yes.>

Do we really have to fight these guys?

<>

Extra-sama and I suddenly fell silent.

From inside the room, I could hear Byuns voice, Whats wrong? You can come in now?

<Well but, after they prepared all this, it feels kinda bad to say were not going, doesnt it?>

It does?

You think so too, Extra-sama?

<Yeah it feels like were already in the flow of fighting and advancing. Itd be rude to turn back now, right?>

Right?

Yeah.

Alright.

Lets do this.

I made up my mind.

And I got motivated.

Releasing the shackles of my heart, unleashing my fighting spirit and violence

Haze leaked from the joints of my armor.

It might be indecent, but well, what leaks, leaks.

Creak, creak creak

I started hearing creaking sounds from the surrounding space, but I ignored them.

Im going to do it.

Im going to do it.

Yeah.

Well.

Without killing them

Im going to do it.

What if they die?

Well

Too bad.

RAAAAAAH!!

I kicked the iron door leading to Trial Room No. 1 with all my might!

GAGOON!

Gan-go!

The iron door, making a loud sound, was bent and blown away!

Beyond that is a large, empty hall!

And standing there, in the center, is the first of the Three Knights of the Royal Guard!

My name is Byun of the Wind Bow! One of the proud swords of the Sky King, the Three Knights of the Royal

RAAAAAAH!!

Byun started reciting something as I entered, but its too long!

His lines are too long!

I chased after the iron door, which was being blown away, hid behind it, and quickly approached Byun!

And then, with that momentum, I kicked him in the stomach!

Guuuaaaah!?

Byun was blown away by the impact, crashing into the wall of the Trial Room!

I-I lost?

Byun muttered blankly, then rolled his eyes, fainted, and collapsed!

And then, the white orb detached from his armor, rolling on the floor!

I picked it up, stuffed it into the pouch I created by transforming my armor, around my waist, and ran to the iron door on the opposite wall, leading to the next Trial Room, and then!

RAAAAAAH!!

I kicked the iron door with all my might!

GAGOON!

Gan-go!

The iron door, making a loud sound, was bent and blown away!

Beyond that is a large, empty hall!

And standing there, in the center, is the second of the Three Knights of the Royal Guard!

I am Shito-Shitorin of the Rain Staff one of the Three Knights of the Royal Guard, and the

RAAAAAAH!!

Shito-Shitorin started reciting something as I entered, but its too long!

Her lines are too long!

I chased after the iron door, which was being blown away, hid behind it, and quickly approached Shito-Shitorin!

And then, with that momentum, I kicked her in the stomach!

Kyaaaaah!?

Shito-Shitorin was blown away by the impact, crashing into the wall of the Trial Room!

Y-Youre strong Fine, go ahead

Shito-Shitorin muttered, desperately trying to muster her strength, then rolled her eyes, fainted, and collapsed!

And then, the white orb detached from her armor, rolling on the floor!

I picked it up, stuffed it into the pouch I created by transforming my armor, around my waist, and ran to the iron door on the opposite wall, leading to the next Trial Room, and then!

RAAAAAAH!!

I kicked the iron door with all my might!

GAGOON!

Gan-go!

The iron door, making a loud sound, was bent and blown away!

Beyond that is a large, empty hall!

And standing there, in the center, is the last of the Three Knights of the Royal Guard!

My name is

RAAAAAAH!!

Nikkor started reciting something as I entered, but its too long!

By this point, Im feeling pretty good, so even those four words are too long!

I overtook the iron door, which was being blown away, and quickly approached Nikkor!

And then, with that momentum, I kicked him in the stomach!

Dowaah!?

Nikkor was blown away by the impact, crashing into the wall of the Trial Room!

W-Wait, wait th-thats too

Nikkor muttered something, then rolled his eyes, fainted, and collapsed!

And then, the white orb detached from his armor, rolling on the floor!

I picked it up, stuffed it into the pouch I created by transforming my armor, around my waist, and ran to the iron door on the opposite wall, a door with even more majestic decorations than before, and then!

RAAAAAAH!!

I kicked the iron door with all my might!

GAGOON!

Gan-go!

The iron door, making a loud sound, was bent and blown away!

Beyond that was a long, long corridor, stretching as far as the eye can see.

In other words

Ive defeated all the Three Knights of the Royal Guard.

And cleared the Trial Rooms!

Huu

I let out a deep breath, cooling down.

I glanced back at Nikkor.

Yeah, hes twitching, but hes not dead.

He seems to be unconscious.

Good!

I was able to hold back!

<Um, Emi, Emi.>

Extra-sama timidly spoke to me as I sighed in relief.

Whats up?

<You see Byun said that at first, right? Embed the orbs into the last door and you can proceed.>

He did say that.

Ah.

I hurriedly ran to the remains of the door I had just kicked, and stared at it, sparks flying from its cross-section.

Apparently, there are three indentations in that door and if you embed the orbs there, the door would open, through some magic tool mechanism

In other words

<You destroyed the gimmick, with your momentum>

Um

Ahh

Then, what about the three orbs I got from the Three Knights of the Royal Guard?

<Theyre just garbage now, taking up space in your pouch.>

Well, thats

Kind of

I feel bad for ignoring the gimmick

<Well, theres nothing we can do about it now. Lets just throw the orbs away somewhere.>

Youre right

Rah! Rah! Rah!

So I took out the orbs, which had become mere garbage, from my pouch, and threw them towards the ceiling with all my might.

Mekyo, mekyo, mekyo!

Apparently, the orbs are quite hard, and all three of them pierced through the ceiling and flew off somewhere.

<Why at the ceiling?>

On a whim.

If I left them lying around, I might feel bad again when I see them

Anyway

I looked at the long, long corridor behind the last door.

If Byuns words are true, this leads to the heart of the Sky Kingdom.

<In other words, as I mentioned earlier, thats where the control magic computer, the power source, and such are hidden.>

To be honest, Im not interested in those things.

Not at all.

But

<Weve come this far>

Yeah

If I dont go any further now then the Three Knights of the Royal Guard were beaten up for nothing

So well shall we?

And so, without any particular motivation

I started walking towards the deepest part of the labyrinth the heart of the Sky Kingdom.