Chapter 14: A Hero Arises (Part 6)

Every time I saw a red-haired girl, I would pay more attention to her, hoping that might be Nelia. Well, so far I haven’t had any luck. None of them looked like the petite girl. Some were too fat or some were too old, or some who were men but looked like women or some even worse still, ugly girls. Nelia, by her own distinction, was an innocent looking beauty herself.

While I was in my own thoughts, somehow the red-haired girl managed to get into the front of the crowd. At last, after all the trouble she had to go through, she could now see clearer of the Parade that was going in front of her. I could not see her face clearly from this distance as she was a little further in front up the road and surrounded by throngs of people.

The thunderous march of the Titans and the Spears who were leading the way and the earth rendering hooves of the horses trotting along the parade made her squirmed a little. Despite all that trouble, she seemed out of place. But somehow, she was adamant to be in front of the crowd. I wondered why.

Well, I had my answer soon enough though.

Finally, our eyes met. The moment she noticed me, she waved her hand vigorously. And as soon as I saw her, I could not help but to be ecstatic about it. She was Nelia after all. The red-haired girl with an innocent looking face with a petite body, I could not have mistaken her for anyone else.

“Nelia?!!” I shouted back at her.

“S-Ser C-Claude!!” She called for my name.

I could see that she was extremely excited and happy to see me that she was up to the point of breaking down in tears. In her hand, she was holding something wrapped in cloth.

Nelia did not just stand in one place. The moment she saw me, she moved along the road as we march on. Because of that, she has to manoeuvre herself yet again in the sea of people, who despite cheering and clapping for us, were also pushing and shoving each other. Everyone wanted to fight to get the best view, especially of the Royal Carriage in the King’s Cavalry where their object of desire manifested.

How despicable and unruly.

Couldn’t they give a break to a small innocent girl like Nelia a little space? Fearing for the worse, I called upon Captain Rizzou who was riding in front of me.

“Captain Rizzou?”

“Hmm? What is it, Claude?” He was quizzed by my sudden interaction with him. So did Mike and Ariel. Elise though was in her own world.

As I pointed to Nelia, I asked of the Captain’s favour.

“Captain Rizzou, I need a favour from you. Would it be alright if I take the young girl over there to ride with me?”

“Ohh?” Mike and Ariel were surprised. Captain Rizzou looked towards the direction of where I am pointing right now.

“Just one?” The Captain asked. I nodded in response.

As his face was covered with full face helmet, I could not see his immediate reaction. However, he then spoke,

“Hmmm... Let me see what I can do for you, Claude.”

And then off he rode to the front, towards the gold-plated armoured knight. I was very nervous. Please let them agree to my request. After some short exchange between them, the gold-plated knight suddenly nodded. I could feel that my heart jumped with joy. As Captain Rizzou rode back to his position, he nodded to me and then spoke,

“Good news, Claude. You can have her ride with you. But she must stop and come down from the horse before the main stage at the Grand Courtyard, alright!”

“Thank you, Captain Rizzou!” I said my words of thanks to him enthusiastically. He nodded in acknowledgement and continued to ride back into his position.

I then pointed toward Nelia and called her.

“Nelia! Come up here!” I shouted at her.

However, she did not respond to me. Perhaps either she was shocked upon my request or the crowd was too loud.

Fortunately for us, a guard who was standing by along the road caught of my request to Nelia. He immediately went to her side and beckoned her to follow him. He then grabbed her by the waist and carried her up towards my horse. Because of her petite’s frame, carrying her up to my horse was no big deal for him.

Nelia, who was still surprised, did not fight back. Seeing that the guard might be helping her to move away from the crowd that was pushing and shoving at her back, she would gladly be taken to somewhere safer. And where else was the safest place, other than riding together with me? Besides, the view from my position was one to die for.

As soon as she was safely on my horse, I thanked the ever attentive guard. He gave me a salute as he went back to his earlier position. Nelia was now seated in front of me on Bolt. And Bolt didn’t seem to mind an extra person riding on her. I patted her neck, saying thanks to her. She neighed gently in return.

Nelia, upon realizing that she was now riding with me in the Parade of Champions seem devoid of emotions. There was only awkward silence between us.

“Ohh… who’s that Claude?” Ariel was the first one to the break the ice.

“Yeah. Who’s that?” Mike soon added in.

“Ohh… She’s Nelia, the girl who gave me this ring.”

I showed both Mike and Ariel the ring that Nelia gave me before as a gift. Well, a proposal gift of some sort. I would not know whether to take it seriously or not, but at least wearing the ring that she gave me would do me no harm. Besides, she looked very happy at that time. And till now, I haven’t even taken it off. Not that I needed to anyway.

As soon as Nelia saw the ring that I wore on my finger, her face became flustered. She put her face on my chest immediately.

“Ohh, aren’t you a player Claude. I never knew that!!” Ariel was laughing mischievously behind me.

“Man. You are better than I expected. You are my man, Claude!” Mike gave me a thumbs up and a wink.

“But Claude, she looks so young. Are you sure about going after someone so young?” Ariel suddenly asked of me. However, Mike answered for me instead.

“Ariel, love doesn’t need to care for age at all. As they say, love is blind. Look at how tight and close her face is to Claude that she barely looked at me and you. Given time, she will sure to grow into a fine lady.”

“Surely Mike or are you just jesting with me and Claude?”

“You’ll see. You’ll see.”

They both broke into laughter. I too joined in while caressing Nelia’s red hair. She rubbed her face on my chest as I caressed her hair. The sensation of her face rubbing on my chest gave rise to me somewhat of a protective feeling towards her.

“Young lady? What have you got in your hand there? Is that something for Claude?” Ariel suddenly asked.

Upon realizing Ariel’s words, Nelia returned to her senses. She was an extremely shy but persistent girl. Perhaps the shock of her being so close to me and also the fact that she was now riding together with me in the parade got to her so much that she had forgotten what she was holding in her hands.

“S-Ser C-C-Claude… T-This is f-for you!!” Nelia handed to me the clothed wrapped item. It felt light as I received it from her.

“Ohh… a gift for our Knight, Ser Claude!” Ariel was back to her teasing self again.

“What is it, Claude?” Mike asked me. I shrugged my shoulder.

“Let’s open it, Claude. See what the young Nelia has brought to her Ser Claude.”

I could feel that Ariel is having so much fun with this. Even Mike, who was beside me, got all excited too. Well, I couldn’t help it then. Let’s opened it. I unwrapped the cloth slowly, as the other two looked on with anticipation. And what came out was a bouquet of beautiful roses. A dozen or more of beautiful roses.

“A bouquet of roses? My, My Claude. Isn’t that uncanny?” Ariel was all smiles.

“A girl giving you flowers? Ain’t it supposed to be the other way, Claude? You know, men are supposed to give the women flowers, and not the other way around?” Ariel added.

“Man, how I wish a girl could give me flowers too. Hey, tell me, Claude. How did you do that?” Mike looked at me, with his envious eyes.

I smiled at him. Now is my turn to tease him. With a wink, I answered,

“S-E-C-R-E-T. Hehehe.”

With Nelia, anything could happen. She will do the least expected thing one could expect. Besides, she gave me the ring I now wore out of the blue. So, a bouquet of roses should not be a big deal for a girl like her. She was indeed a special kind of girl. By the way, the bouquet of roses was the first ever a girl given me a flower as a gift. So, Nelia has done two things for me in my life that I never ever received before until today. A ring back then and now flowers.

“Sheshh… my fiancé doesn’t even give me flowers the day I entered the Elites. What more of today. I haven’t even seen him!” Ariel was pouting. But it was just for a moment as she returned to her usual cheery self.

“I’m jealous of you Claude.” Ariel teasingly nudged me from behind. Mike followed suit, nudging me from the side.

I continued to caress Nelia’s hair as she seemed to like it.

“Thank you, Nelia. It is a very lovely present.”

I smiled at her while at the same time smelled the roses. She looked up at me and blushed even further. She had not talked much, but her demeanour and attitude sure warmed my heart. Even Ariel and Mike acknowledged that Nelia was such a sweet young girl.

Our parade continued along the Residential District towards the northern part of Elsivier. As we marched on our horses along the road, the people who gathered here were still as many as before. Thunderous cheers, claps and whistles crowded the air while flowers and confetti were thrown to us and litters the road with colourful images.

After the Residential District came the housing estate of the rich and the nobles. The houses here were bigger; some even have a massive garden inside in front of the house. Lands in Elsivier were quite scarce because the capital was surrounded by a massive wall. But it did not stop these folks from having a massive garden in their courtyard. Not just one, but nearly all of these houses have big gardens; each one as impressive as the others. As Ariel and Mike explained, the higher ranked these nobles were, the bigger the house would be. In fact, this type of housing could be considered an estate within the wall of Elsivier. As a matter of comparison, the house that Bannen gave me came with 18 rooms. I do wonder how big these noble houses could be. Besides the house in capital, they too have their other estates and lands beyond the walls. These rich folks sure lived in a differently world compared to the rest.

The crowd which gathered here were also no less than anywhere else along the road. However, since the road was a little wider than the Residential District, people aren’t pushing and shoving each other. Besides, those in front of us might be nobles and folks with better etiquette, so pushing and shoving each other should be regarded as plain rude and unbecoming of them.

As we march along, Nelia who was seated in front of me, though who was quiet in her own way, showed much more excitement than earlier on. Perhaps now she was getting used to it that she began to enjoy the occasion more. From time to time, she would even caress Bolt’s mane. And Bolt seems to love it.

After a while, our Parade would soon come to an end.

After passing the rich and nobles residential area, we arrived at Elsivier’s main courtyard, located in the centre of the capital. This courtyard was unofficially known as the Champions Court, since every year, the Parade of Champions would end its parade here. The scene in this courtyard was anything beyond what I have seen before or what I could ever imagine.

If the crowds along the road were already massive, the people who gathered in the Champions Court were even more massive. Perhaps there might be no less than 300 thousand of people gathered here. There were as many people as my eye could see. The most I saw in any one place.

All of them were all gathered here for one purpose; to celebrate the Parade of Champions. The finest warriors of the Kingdom. The pride of Elsigardia.

The sea of people cheered and clapped when the Titans first appeared carrying Elsigardia’s flag. As their thunderous march made way towards the Champions Court and continued forward where the Royal Stage was prepared, the Spears of Elsigardia then formed two lines, each at the side of the road heading towards the Royal Stage.

Right after that, as the King’s Cavalry, with the Crown Princess Sierra in the Royal carriage appeared; the crowd erupted into wild celebrations. Thousands of flowers were thrown towards the carriage as the confetti was released alongside cheers and applause.

“Long live Crown Princess Sierra!!”

A chorus of shouts could be heard among the crowd. Now standing, Elsigardia’s Crown Princess continued to waved towards the crowd. This got everyone else to cheer wildly. In additions, shouts of longevity and reverence too could be heard across the whole place.

As the King’s Cavalry make its way towards the Royal Stage, the Spears of Elsigradia, who already had formed two lines earlier raised up their spears. As soon as the spear was raised, I could hear trumpets and bugles were blowing out a familiar theme. The March of Champions.

“Everyone, we have finally arrived!!” Captain Rizzou shouted from his position and raised his salute.