A huge underground city built out of nothing but metals, earth and stones. Golems working as laborers, and canals and rivers running with lava.
The sight was so breathtaking that one could hardly believe such a place existed beneath Lumiose City if they did not see it for themselves.
Dawn Forge, it was the name of this place and not the shop.
"This way, Lord Reinhardt" the old dwarf led them to the tallest building inside the Dawn Forge and opened the door.
"Elder Bodhog, you won't believe who I brought…"
"I know, this is a small place, words travel fast." An aged rumbling voice echoed out before the other party could finish. Moments later, a dwarf with a wide, muscular frame and soot-smudged beard appeared. "Welcome, commander".
Reinhardt smiled faintly. "It looks like you're still doing well, Sir Bodhog."
"I should say the same to you," the dwarf replied with a chuckle. "Looks like that curse of yours was nothing but a long nap, eh?"
The two men who knew each other for a long time, exchanged greetings. The latter was the sole elder of the colony and one of the few Grandmaster rank blacksmiths in the world. The Dawn Forge was run by him.
Reinhardt introduced the dwarf to Verdia and Arthur.
"I know why you are here. If it's that runt's armor that your father asked me to make, it's completed."
To call the son of a duke a runt, only Bodhog had the guts to do that in the entire Lumiose city.
Arthur blinked at the little man and pouted. "Runt? I'm not that short!"
"You barely reach my beard, lad!" Bodhog cackled, which somehow made Arthur even redder.
While Arthur tried on his new armor, shining, perfectly tailored, and just slightly too big, Reinhardt and Bodhog quietly discussed other matters.
"Those damn demons, so it was their doing after all. I can't believe they managed to infiltrate this deep into our society," The dwarf sighed in concern.
"Still," Bodhog continued, hammering a glowing blade rhythmically, "it's a relief you're back, Commander. You've no idea how the folks here slept easier after hearing the demons' bane was awake again."
Bodhog was an old friend of his father and had joined the Temple of Light order in many of its expeditions. Hence the reason he calls Reinhardt commander.
Bodhog might not look like it, but he was a level 6 warrior.
.
.
After finishing their task at the Dawn Forge, the three exited when Verdia all of a sudden declared that she wanted to shop. Naturally, Reinhardt had to tag along.
For a Duchess to walk around in the city without any escorts would be unthinkable and only invite trouble. However, with Reinhardt there, Raymond had no qualms about sending his wife to the city.
After all, who better than a peak-level-10 knight to carry shopping bags?
As one would expect of a noble woman, Verdia was quite adept at shopping, and thanks to the vast wealth possessed by the Arcknight, she bought mountains of items from every shop she visited.
Every employee of the establishments she visited would send them off respectfully and with stars in their eyes saying please come again.
Sigh… Reinhardt sighed in exhaustion. Naturally, he was not so fond of shopping; however, the reason why he was so worn out was because of the constant attention that he was getting.
As he was one of the only three level 10 knights in the entire kingdom, he was extremely famous. Plus, this was his home territory; everyone recognised him wherever he passed by.
Some came to him to get his sign, others would come to him to curry favor or flirt. The constant interruption vexed him very much.
"You are quite famous… Commnader" Verdia finally opened her mouth to say something and it was laced with irony.
Reinhardt scratched his cheeks helplessly; it was not like he wanted all this attention. He was just about to say something when suddenly chaos erupted.
A cheering group of fans crowded him, swarming him from all directions. Hands reached out, overlapping with voices of reverence, making it impossible for Reinhardt to get out easily.
Of course, for a Level 10 Knight, a crowd of level 1 was nothing; however, he had to exert conscious restraint so that he would not accidentally send anyone flying with the strength and reflexes of his divine stats.
Kyaa~
He was trying to get out of their encirclement when suddenly Verdia screamed.
Her foot tripped on a stone and she was about to fall on the ground. However, before she could, a big sturdy hand supported her at the waist, pulling her into his embrace before she could fall.
He had curly golden blonde hair, sharp manly features and golden eyes that made one hypnotized just by looking at them.
For that single moment, she stared at him in silence, heart racing. Wait, why am I like this? she thought, pulling herself free from the flustered embarrassment.
"Are you alright?" Reinhardt called out.
This finally snapped Verdia out of her daze, and she pulled her body out of his embrace.
With a flushed face and beating heart, she tried to keep her embarrassment in check when suddenly she realized something.
Arthur was nowhere to be seen.
"Arthur!! Arthur? Where did you go? Where is my son??"
Her voice trembled. She searched frantically around them, the crowd shifting to make way for her. However, Arthur was not there.
Tears welled in her eyes almost instantly, and her breathing hitched with growing terror.
It took him only a second to piece it together. It was a setup. The stone she tripped on, was set there intentionally. While the crowd closed around him, two figures emerged from the opposite side of the street.
They moved fast and with experience. They kidnapped the boy and moved along with the crowd, before disappearing. A two‑pronged distraction. It was smart but they picked the wrong opponent to mess with.
"Don't worry, I know where he is," Reinhardt assured Verdia.
"What do you mean?"
And so he explained what happened earlier.
Verdia's voice cracked. "Please, you have to save him!"
Reinhardt's expression hardened. "He's my brother. Anyone who wants to harm him will have to get through me first."
Then in a swift motion, he picked up Verdia and chased in the direction the criminals ran towards.
"W-What are you doing?" Being princess carried like that, Verdia's face flushed red, and she couldn't help but protest.
"I am your only escort, remember? I can't leave you behind lest something happens to you. Since the criminals dared to kidnap the son of the duke in his own territory, they might also be targeting you. If you are with me, they won't be able to kidnap you."
Reinhardt reasoned, tightly holding her body. He increased his speed further as he traced the tracks left behind by the criminals.