As the trio arrived at the wall, Thea saw the supposed gate they had to pass. This time, unlike at the outer wall, there were just two knights protecting the entrance and at the right side of the gate there were two guard posts. One of the knights was a large, muscular man, about 1.9 meters tall, wielding a dual edged sword at his waist. The second knight was of similar build but slightly shorter, 1.85 meters approximately.
Both of the guards looked very serious and gave off the feeling of being veterans with combat.
"Johnny!" Lily shouted out to the one of the men.
"Insolent! We are royal knights! How dare you ca-" The shorter knight was cut off with a fist in his uncovered face, knocking him unconscious.
"Please excuse his behavior Madam Zyla, he is new here and doesn't have much experience yet. I'll educate him properly later." The taller knight bowed respectfully while calmly asking for forgiveness with a low, manly voice.
"Fufufu, that's alright Johnny, can you send a mana message to Betsy to pick us up?" Lily asked joyfully.
"Of course Madam, please follow me." The knight Johnny answered.
The tall knight began to walk towards the guards post but not before he easily picked up the unconscious knight with ease and flinging him on his shoulder.
Thea was slightly impressed with this as both knights were wearing full plated armor and instead of helmets they were wearing a strangely stylish beret.
As the trio followed the knight, into his guards post Thea inspected the Johnny, curious about his stats.
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[Name = John Lionheart]
[Race = Lion-Kin]
[Titles = Student of Zyla Ewald, Honorable, Ex-Commander, Baron]
[Level = 204 (9537/31500)]
[Strength = 607] [Mana = 124]
[Defense = 461] [Charm = 21]
[Agility = 425] [Luck = 9]
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Thea stumbled, shocked by what she was seeing.
If Thea's mana and defense were similar to her strength and agility, she would actually be weaker than this knight they were following.
"What's wrong Althea?" Mia asked in a whisper to Thea. She found it strange how she suddenly stumbled, leading to her thinking something was wrong.
Thea looked at the worried cat-girl and giggled before she pat her head, scratching her ears a bit.
"Nothing, let's just say we are following a capable 'knight'." Thea whispered back, enjoying Mia's reaction when she scratched her ears.
"Fufufu, I hope you two know that most beast kin have improved senses and strength compared to ordinary humans, and as you both are beast kin, you should know that both Johnny and myself can perfectly understand what you two are whispering to each other~" Lily said amused by their innocence.
"Well I haven't said anything wrong, you really are rather strong for a normal person." Thea tried to compliment the knight.
"HAHAHA. It seems my disguise has been broken." The guard loudly laughed. He put the unconscious man, he had been holding, into one of the rooms that they were passing and brought the trio to a waiting room.
He gestured for the three ladies to sit before he took out a mana stone, Thea sensed mana being injected into it before the knight put it away again. He then took off a ring he was wearing and his appearance started to change.
What was revealed was a man of similar height, yet slightly more muscular, tan skin, a mane and lion ears, yet still a different, yet attractive human face.
"Impressed?" The Lion man asked the two girls that were intently staring at him.
Both the girls nodded before Thea asked a question, "Why hide your appearance though?".
The lion man gave a burly laugh before answering Thea.
"I wanted to try giving the humble life a try, and a decorated, ex-commander, who is also a baron becoming a guard well let's just say many people wouldn't agree with that. As such, I bought a shapeshift ring and came to work here. I guess today I will be going home to my wife and daughters early." John said looking unfazed Thea had found him out.
John took out the mana stone again and sent another message to someone before he sat down opposite the trio.