Everyone gathered around the brutalised remains of Arthur, trying to ignore how grusome the corpse was.
"What should we do with the body?" Leon questioned.
"Burn it." Nickolas stated. "But we have bigger problems than that."
"The other bodies disappeared." Damien explained. "One moment they were there, and the next they were all gone."
"Also you know, the entire Order is staring at us." Alfred pointed out.
Indeed – the plaza might have been empty due to the fight, but the entire space around it was teeming with hundreds of knights.
"I’ll deal with the people." Nickolas sighed. "Deal with the body in the meantime."
Calen nodded and flicked his wrist, setting the corpse on fire – meanwhile Nickolas climbed the stairs to the main keep to address everyone gathered.
"You all saw what happened here." He stated in a calm yet loud voice. "Is there a single person here who still thinks I
"Good. In that case I will be assuming my former duties – and since almost every member of round table either ran away or mysteriously disappeared, we’ll be choosing the new members soon. For now the emergency council will include me, sir Leon, sir Damien and sir Greg."
He clapped his hands once.
"That’s it, you can return to your regular duties. We’ll inform all the commanders about the leadership elections in the coming days."
It was clear that most people were glad to follow Nickolas once more, as the gathering dispersed very quickly, leaving the group alone with only a few guards assigned to the area.
By that point Arthur’s body was already a pile of ash and the group’s focus shifted to the general state of the plaza.
"We’re in deep shit." Leon commented.
"It’s not that bad." Damien argued. "They managed to not destroy any structures or walls."
"But we have over a hundred holes in the ground – it will take months before we fix all of this, and that’s not even counting the cracked pavement."
"We can always make the recruits do the dirty work and tell them bullshit that it’s training or something."
"You know I can hear you, right?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.
Nickolas finally joined them after discussing something important with one of the older commanders.
"We can maybe ask Tharion to clean up for us." He suggested.
"I don’t think he’ll like that-"
Leon suddenly frowned and looked around.
"Speaking of, where the hell is he?"
Calen also looked around in search of the Guardian but something else caught his attention.
On the ground nearby he noticed a small, dark circular object – something that he was fairly sure wasn’t there before.
He crouched down to pick up the item; it was a familiar coin made of dark metal.
"I guess he already left." He offered the coin to Nickolas. "He left you another one."
However Nickolas didn’t take the coin and only shook his head.
"No, this one is for you. We’ve already had our chance and we used it rather well, at least in my opinion – besides I’m pretty sure you’re going to need it more."
Calen wasn’t going to argue with that – a ticket for a free help of a Guardian was nothing to scoff at, so he simply nodded and put the coin into his pocket.
"Now I have a rather important question for you Nick." Damien narrowed his eyes. "What possessed you to put me on the emergency council? I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I have no interest in politics or leadership."
"Oh suck it up, it’s only a temporary role until we choose the new members." Nickolas rolled his eyes. "Besides I think you’d be a great permanent addition to the leadership."
"How do you even choose your leaders?" Isara attempted to change the topic slightly.
"There are two components to the choosing – the tournament and the elections. The first one decides which candidates are qualified, while the second allows people to choose their preferred leaders."
"Yes, one where only high ranking members can enter, unless someone receives a special permission to compete from the Head of the Order. We implemented mostly because the members of the round table are our representatives, and we can’t afford weakness in that field."
"Do you only choose new leaders when the old ones die or disappear?"
"Yeah mostly, although every knight of the Order has the right to challenge one of the current members to take their place. Obviously that doesn’t happen very often, probably partially because of the tournament, but it is technically possible."
"And you don’t want to have this position everyone is fighting over because...?"
"Because round table shit is boring as hell – plus I’d be stuck with Leo in one room for several hours a day, I’d do anything to avoid a fate like that."
"Thanks Damien." Leon deadpanned.
"Now now kids." Nickolas chuckled. *I hope you can behave yourself for the next two weeks, organising a tournament is a major pain in the ass and I’ll need your help with it."
"Only if I get to keep my spot by the table." Leon stated.
"I mean, you never abandoned it so I’ve never even thought about taking it away from you." Nickolas shrugged. "Besides it’s not like anyone would stand a chance against you in the tournament."
"So Damien will drop the job as soon as he can and Leon is perfectly content to continue his role." Calen looked at the Devil. "What about you Greg, are you thinking of entering the tournament?"
"I might." Greg admitted. "Depends on how much I’ll like the work during the emergency period, but even then I’m not sure people will elect me."
"I think you’re severely underestimated how many fans you gave among the common members." Alfred said. "You’re one of the few members of the Order whom even the people in other settlements recognise."
"That’s just because I used to be a scary monster boys in armour."
"True, but that’s exactly what garnered you so many followers. Sometimes people don’t want leader who’s wise or cunning – just a one that looks cool."