EPISODE 3.2
The Lone Knightess and Defender of Ignalia
"Speak. Who are you and why are you in this place?" The young lady knight said again.
For a while, it was silence.
"W-we're just—we're just—" Aleph began.
"We're just two ordinary travelers who happened to pass by in this area," Creed said.
Aleph nodded, a little too enthusiastically. "Y-yes! We aren't doing anything here, we are just traveling to the next town!"
But then, the knightess eyed the bag full of goods the duo were carrying each. "And what's that? Were you two pilfering?"
"Pilfe—what?" Aleph said. "No, we're just picking these things up because we need them."
"That's what pilfering is," the knightess retorted.
"Exactly that! We're just getting some stuff we could use, so we weren't doing anything weird," Aleph said.
"Pilfering is stealing. And more importantly, you two are suspicious individuals," she said. "Were you aware of how dangerous this place is?"
"Quite so," Creed admitted.
"And now you understand why I have every right to apprehend you?" the knightess added.
"That, I couldn't follow," Creed replied. He looked at the tip of the spear. "Also, could you please put that down while interrogating? You really could either skew my brain or poke my eye with that easily."
"Not yet. Not until I'm sure you are clean," the knightess reiterated. "Sorry, I need to keep my guard up against the likes of you."
"Come on!" he said, then moving his head a little bit, he continued: "Honestly, we just came into this island and we had no idea what's happening here."
Her eyebrows furrowed even more.
"You just came into this island?" the knightess repeated. "Now, that's even more suspicious."
"Huh? Why so?" he asked. "I mean, yeah I somehow could get a sense why you'd think that, but not just because we're foreigners, we are already up to no good."
"This island is the easternmost, inhabited land," she said, slowly. "Beyond this island, is just the endless Austerian Sea. Moreover, the ports are closed in the other parts, so where could you have come from?"
***
Instead of enlightening him, that confused Creed even more. But not so is the case with Aleph.
"This island—is the farthest island in the east? And if you're a knight—does this mean this is Ignalia?" Aleph gasped.
The knightess looked at her weirdly. "Yes. Why, don't you know where you are?"
Aleph and Creed looked at each other.
It was Aleph who answered first. "Well, you couldn't blame us, much more my companion over here. We just found ourselves on the island a few kilometers away from—"
"She meant that we were shipwrecked and found ourselves on an island that we don't know," Creed said.
"Shipwrecked? I hadn't heard of any ship that got destroyed nearby—"
"That's because our ship was destroyed in a storm, far away from here. And for some reason, this is where we ended up when we drifted using a piece of log," Creed said.
While Aleph seemed pretty understanding about the fact that he didn't come from this world, he couldn't be sure with other people. He didn't know how they would react, or if they would even believe them. It was safer to say that he was from this world, much like everyone else.
He wanted to glance at Aleph to gave her a signal not to say more, but thankfully, she caught on.
"Y-yeah. W-we had been drifting for a long time," she said.
"Until we came to this island," Creed finished up.
The knightess seemed to think about that for a while. Thankfully, she finally lowered her weapon.
Creed and Aleph both heaved a sigh of relief.
"So will you let us go now?" Creed asked.
"Not so fast," she said, putting out her weapon once more. Creed immediately took a step back. "If you really are telling the truth, then you should come with me. Peacefully, I hope."
***
Minutes later, Creed and Aleph found themselves riding on an absurdly large bird.
He glanced at the bird.
It was an ostrich-like creature, big enough to be ridden by two people, and strong enough to carry not only them, but most of the stuff from the merchant cart. For some reason, the lady whom they both assumed to be a knight, picked up the rest of the items, too. The poor bird did most of the work, which obviously it didn't like because it had been cawing loudly ever since the knightess forced them to ride it.
The large bird was brightly colored, with feathers a hodgepodge of red, orange, and yellow. He had never seen such a bird before in his previous life. The bird also seemed to be trained to be used as a mount, because it had a saddle and a bridle.
Its beaks were also large that Aleph in front of him kept on poking it. The bird screeched at her, and she nearly fell.
"Stop poking the bird-horse or it will eat you alive," Creed scolded Aleph. He turned to the knightess. "Uh, do we really need to ride this thing? It looked exhausted from carrying everything."
"He's much stronger than he looks. Plus, as my prisoners, it would be safer for you to be riding, should you try to escape," she said. "And by the way, he is a doco-doco bird, not just a 'thing'".
"Huh," he said, observing the creature. "Aren't you afraid that we could just ride this fellow away and escape?"
"Hmph. If you think a doco doco bird can be ordered by someone who isn't a knight of Ardainia, then you got it wrong," she said, crossing her arms. "More importantly, Mr. Docomelon listens to me, and to me only. Right, Mr. Docomelon?"
She reached out to pat the giant bird, but it avoided her touch. Instead, it made a loud, screechy noise and attempted to poke her hand with its beak.
Creed and Aleph couldn't help but chuckle.
"What's so funny?" she snapped at them.
"The bird doesn't even like you," he remarked, still resisting the urge to laugh out loud. "And what kind of name is Mr. Docomelon? You couldn't have named him something cool, like Wind Knight or Storm Chaser."
"Or Bandit Beater. Or Enemy Eater," Aleph chimed in, laughing loudly than him.
"Those names are just as stinky! And, i-it's not like that! It's just, he hadn't had have enough to eat this morning, so he's just a little grumpier than usual," she said. "For your information, Mr. Docomelon and I are the best partners in the Knights of Ardainia. Oh, why bother? It's not as if it's something a kid like you would ever understand. You don't even know what pilfering means. By the way, I will have you also interrogated about that."
"Huh?" Aleph protested. "But why? You pilfered some yourself!"
"That's because these things should be surrendered to the authorities, you know," she said. "And yes, that includes the things you picked up."
"What?" Aleph said. "But that's no fair! You know we had nothing with us!"
"As for that, we will discuss it in the station," she said.
Creed's eyebrows knit.
"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, you hadn't even introduced yourself yet," he said. "Man, and I thought knights have manners—well, that must have been a common misconception, no?"
To that, the knight blushed. "What—! No—I—"
"I mean," Creed continued, turning to Aleph. "If you think about it, she should have introduced herself the moment she started questioning us."
"Oh yeah, Aleph heard knights were really polite," Aleph agreed.
"But this one not only didn't introduce herself, she also straight up arrested two castaways, with no food or a single penny, because we were trying to pick up something from the ground. If you ask me that is straight up harassment," he continued. "I wonder what the others would say."
"Yeah, what the others would say!" Aleph chimed in again.
"It wasn't like that!" the knight stammered. "It—uh—it just went out of my mind earlier. I'm sorry if I hadn't introduced myself, okay?"
For some reason, she looked really pensive when he said the last sentence. He started to feel bad, a little.
Then, the knight signalled the large bird to a halt, to which it did. She then put her fist on her chest and then placed it on her side. Creed guessed that might've been her salute, or something.
"Deanna Camelot Aventine de Montague. Knight Cavalier, Knight of Ardainia, serving under the Holy Church of the Nine. Pleased to make your acquaintance," she said, with every word full of dignity. Creed was impressed, especially with her long-ass name. She resumed her former more relaxed gait, and then told them. "Now, I hope my introductions are sufficient. Back to the matter at hand. It's my duty to bring you in for questioning—and more importantly, for your safety."
Creed and Aleph looked at each other.
"Say what now?" Creed asked. The party continued on walking.
"For our own safety?" Aleph said slowly. "What do you mean by that?"
She heaved a deep sigh. "That area where I found you—nobody's supposed to be there, or even go near it."
Aleph leaned towards Deanna. "B-but—but why?"
Deanna knitted her eyebrows. "Did you really not know?"
The little kid shook her head. Meanwhile, Creed just shrugged.
"Well, it makes sense if you really aren't from here," she whispered, almost to herself. "Anyway, that place was dangerous for both humans and animals. Many have been hurt or injured just by going there. Haven't you noticed that for a forest, there isn't any animal to be seen around?"
Aleph looked at Creed.
"Well, we certainly talked about that on the way here. We thought there might be a normal reason why," Aleph said. "Now Aleph is freaking out! What's happening over there?"
"It's a long story," Deanna said, sighing. "But first, let me—"
"You took off on your own again, didn't you?"