"EYES, RIGHT!"
The parade was perfect so far, and now it was time for the pass in review. This is the other part of the parade that has to be exactly right. They'd be marching in front of the most important person in the entire country. Artoria.
And everyone else that was there too, but it wasn't a big deal.
The only one that really mattered, to them, was Artoria.
And so it began. They started marching across in perfect synchronization, accompanied by the music of the band playing. They all gave salutes, some more classical salutes, and some more traditional to their species. As they passed, Artoria saw their uniforms and the decorations they had. Some had aguilletes, medals, ribbons, patches, insignias, and other stuff, showcasing their accomplishments and position. The most decorated were in front, leading and representing their respective unit.
Of course, despite the numerous and loud cheers from the crowd as well as a lot of confetti falling all over the place, it was never a cause for distraction. They were representing their accomplishments and showcasing their victory. The opportunity for a parade like this almost doesn't happen. Not many people can say that they defeated one of the most powerful countries in the world, and not only that, but also took over a large portion of its territory.
And they were one of them. It was very hard not to feel at least a little patriotic. The many cheers from the crowds, the way children would look at them like idols and like they were superheroes, and how the children were wearing flashy and very decorated costumes, pretending to be one of the soldiers marching. The many proud looks from the family members of the soldiers marching. It was perfect.
Shuna, who was watching all this, more specifically the children and the families, could only glance at Artoria next to her. For someone who can pick out signs very easily, Shuna couldn't help but wonder how Artoria was so oblivious at this moment. Didn't she have a skill that could let her detect even the tiniest insect with ease from vast distances? Well, it's not like she would have it active all the time. There was no need to have certain skills "on" at all times.
Well, it's going to be almost impossible to hide it, since there's…a lot.
"Hinata, why can't you train our knights like this? Look at them, so in sync, and their uniforms look way better than ours," Luminous whispered to Hinata as she saw the marching. It was very disciplined and organized, and the decorations looked amazing. The cords on the uniforms seemed to slightly sparkle, as if actual silver and gold were woven in; the medals gave off slight glints because they were made from real metals, nothing plated. If there was gold, it was real gold instead of a plating. If there was silver, it was full silver, not a plating. These people were rich.
"I'll try my best, Lady Luminous," Hinata responded, but she wasn't too sure. There were still some difficulties in making the saints work together. There was barely time to instill such discipline and training into their troops to reach the standards that she sees in the parade.
That was the reaction from many who saw the marching. But some weren't as surprised. This was an expectation. Others didn't really care about it and just wanted to see the show. Like Milim. She was enjoying it a lot.
"Frey, we have to do something like this!" Milim excitedly said to Frey as she saw the parade.
"We'll need time to set it up, Milim. There's a lot that goes into a parade like this."
"Right, right, it's a victory parade. We should go to war, so we can celebrate a victory."
"Milim, you don't need to do that for a parade. You can just throw one whenever you want."
"Alright, we're having a parade as soon as we get back home!"
Overall, there were varying reactions to the parade, but it was all positive.
The parade went smoothly and without any problems. As the last of the parade passed, they got into another formation in the city square. All the different units stood in formation, facing Artoria, where she sat in her booth. The sky still had the colors from the earlier flyby by Gabiru and his dragonewts. Seeing such a scene, journalists wrote down what they saw, and artists were painting and drawing what they were seeing. Especially, one of the Kijin artists, who was frantically painting the scene in front of him.
The sight of Artoria looking down at the massive formations of units beneath her from her booth, and all those units looking up at her with such respect and loyalty. All the flags, the decorations on the uniforms, those tiny details. The way the setting sun casts rays of sunlight that seem to make everything shine more, in the golden hour. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't paint such a scene with as much detail as he could. He would transfer this into a much larger canvas, maybe even a mural. This would be another master piece, a crown jewel, a pièce de résistance.
But it was about to be even better. And luckily, he still had some room on his canvas to add adjustments.
As all the units stood in formation, another cannon was rolled out and loaded. Proceeding as planned, it was loaded with a blank and fired, the boom echoing across the entire city square. And despite such a sound, none of the soldiers flinched in the slightest.
And just a few more seconds later, another boom echoed in the sky. Everyone looked up to see a firework. And after that, another one, and another one. The sky was filled with bursts of fireworks, providing a large spectacle for the entire city. It was a colorful display. There were also sparklers handed out to those in the crowd, letting the crowd further immerse themselves in the celebration.
Even as the sun fully set, the fireworks still kept going off. Until it eventually stopped. Only to be met with even louder cheers from the entire crowd. At this point, the parade was over, and as such, Artoria gave a slight nod to Benimaru to bring it to a close.
Benimaru nodded back and sent a signal to the drum major. The drum major called for the band to separate, and also brought in a string section. Now, he would conduct. Very smoothly, all the players got into position as the drum major got onto a podium.
The crowd quickly quieted down as they prepared to listen to the music. In the center of the city square, soldiers held a large piece of cloth as they started to attach it to a flagpole. Another one held the halyard ready to raise it.
With a simple movement, the conductor started the music. It was the national anthem of the country. As it played, the flag slowly raised, revealing the flag of Tempest as it climbed higher and higher.
'I wanted to come up with something original, but this song is just too good to not make a national anthem,' Artoria thought to herself as she listened to the song, and watched the flag be raised. It was an orchestral version of a song she knew, but without the lytrics, because in her opinion it sounded better just with instruments and no vocals.
After five minutes, the song ended and the flag was fully raised. And as soon as it reached the top, one final round of fireworks blasted across the sky, accompanied by cheers.
'Almost brings a tear to my eye,' Artoria thought as she clapped.
"Hey, Artoria, what song was that? That was very good. Makes me want to charge into a battle without a second thought filled with energy," Rimuru said to Artoria after the song ended.
"Well, Rimuru, I'll be honest, I'm being very biased with the song and where it's from, but I'm pretty sure you understand after you hear it. It's from America, and it's called the Battle Hymn of the Republic. A bit ironic considering that we aren't a republic, but it's way too good not to be an anthem."
"Interesting. It's probably unofficial or something?"
"There are a lot of unofficial songs that people want to be the anthem, but this is the best one, in my opinion."
Down at the city square, Benimaru gave the final order for the formation to disband, allowing all the soldiers to join in on the festivities of the final day of the festival.
As Artorai and Rimuru conversed, the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard. Artoria turned around and saw it was Shuna. Shuna looked a little off to Artoria.
"Shuna, are you okay? You look a little pale."
"It's fine. It's just that the final part of the parade is really inspiring. It's a lot to take in."
"Yeah, I can see how it would be. If you need some breathing space or room, I can take you away from here.
"No, it's okay, it's just temporary."
"Alright, Shuna, but don't hesitate to tell me anything."
Rimuru was a little confused. As far as he knew, Shuna was the highest kind of oni. There should be nothing that affects her in this kind of way. Unless the presentation really was that spectacular, but even if it was, it shouldn't make you pale.
'What's going on?'
[Oh, I see. Would you look at that?]
'Raphael? What's going on?'
[Whatever you do, don't make any kind of reaction to what I'm about to tell you.]
'Okay, tell me.'
.
.
.
Rimuru barely contained himself and stopped his eyes from going wide as saucers. He almost shouted.
'How does she not know yet?'
"Hey, Artoria! Can I talke to you?" Rimuru asked Artoria, as he rushed up to him.
"What, Rimuru? Can it wait for later?" Artoria said in a slightly annoyed tone as she was more focused on Shuna.
"It's okay, Artoria, I'll be here waiting," Shuna, however, was okay with it.
"Okay, Shuna," Artoria responded to Shuna before focusing on Rimuru. "What is it, Rimuru?"
"So, you're something like King Arthur, right?"
"No, I am King Arthur."
"Right, right, so, uh, we don't have to worry about anything, right?"
"What? What do you mean?"
Rimuru breathed in, not really sure how to get across what he wanted to. He was a little nervous. The last thing he wanted was for Artoria to stab him with Excalibur if she misunderstood anything.
"I mean, like, we don't need to worry about anything, right?"
Artoria rolled her eyes. "Rimuru, just get to the point."
"So, like, part of the legend of King Arthur is, uh, you know, the whole thing with…Lancelot and… Guinevere." Rimuru closed his eyes from nervousness, bracing for how Artoria would react. But he didn't feel anything. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Artoria's eyes that seemed to have gotten duller, and were looking at him with a piercing gaze.
'I should've kept my mouth shut. I'm so dead.'
"Hmm. I see." Artoria said in a cold and empty voice. But almost like it never happened, she let out a little laugh, and her eyes turned a brighter green again. "Don't worry about that, Rimuru. If you think some affair is going to happen after I have children with Shuna, which will lead to a cascade of events that will lead to a civil war, where I'll be forced to fight against my child, forcing me to kill them, but also leaving me severely injured, forcing me to go to Avalon, or also ending up with my own death, which will then lead to the downfall of this country, then we don't have to worry about anythin, 'cause that won't happen."
Artoria said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Okay, that was…kind of too much detail," Rimuru said in a slightly skeptical tone. She said that with too much ease. Well, most of it fits with Arthurian legends, but there was a bit more there that he wasn't familiar with.
"Right, yeah, nothing to worry about. Say, since you're King Arthur, where are you're knights of the Round Table? Like, you don't have your own version of that here."
"That? Well, do you want to meet them? I can summon them if you want."
"Wait, what? You're serious?"
"Of course, " Artoria said with a smile before she let out a small chuckle. "Nah, I'm just kidding…or am I?"
"Uh…what?"
"Anyway, see ya, Rimuru. This was a successful festival and parade. I doubt anything could make this month better for me," Artoria said as she went away and back to Shuna.
'Oh wow, she actually has no idea. Oh man, how will she react? Wait, that's so unrealistic!'
[It's magic. And really, that's where you cross the line of what's realistic? Biologically speaking, this is more plausible compared to what you do with your skills.]
'What, there's no way.'
[Do you know of seahorses?]
'Yeah, those weird-looking fish.'
[Male seahorses essentially get pregnant and give birth to the babies.]
'Huh? Okay, that somehow sounds even more unrealistic and fake.'