[Rosalie] Chapter 4: The Dragonknight Ceremony

[Throndir]

《 Chapter 3: The Antwarch Dragon Knights

《 Chapter 5: Little Sister's Demand

《Chapter 4: The Dragonknight Ceremony》

The ceremony was held a short distance away from the campsite itself, though a noticeable path lead from it to the site. It was fairly secluded, with nature abound all around you. The peaks of Mt. Velothia was visible, you were certain that it was from somewhere high up there that you were first summoned.

There were still people gathering for the ceremony, the thing itself won't be starting for another 20 minutes or so. Valeriya beside you seemed nervous. But there were some other girls who waved at her, ones that looked a bit younger.

"Daughter, and hero Rosalie... The ceremony will be starting in 20 minutes... Are you two not yet dressed..?"

[Oath]

Rosalie had a blank expression on her face. "Dressed? I don't have any other clothes with me and I didn't hear anything about changing..." Rosalie hadn't thought about it, but for a formal ceremony it would make sense for them to dress up, it was like that in her own world after all.

[Throndir]

"Oh crap..." Valeriya stammered, glancing at you.

"Us dragons can change our clothing at will as an innate ability for us... Its part of the transformation between our human forms and dragon forms. Dressing up was completely out of my mind... I'm so sorry Rosalie."

"If we hurry, we might be able to find some spare clothing... Maybe one of the knights are willing to let you borrow one of their uniforms... Or maybe I can try using the clothes from my transformation...?"

[Oath]

Rosalie looked over her clothing once more. Definitely not suited for anything formal. "Would a knight's uniform really be so formal?... Actually even if it is, after what we've done in the short time that I've been here would anyone even let me borrow one? I guess it couldn't hurt to ask.. Unsure of where to start, Rosalie looked to Valeriya for help.

[Throndir]

There were a couple of other knights who were lingering around. Some wore armor, though, some wore some sort of uniform, it looked ceremonial.

"Well... we might be okay." Valeriya said. "We could always explain that you're the summoned hero, and... by chance are your clothes considered formal..?"

[Oath]

Rosalie tried her best not to laugh. "Valeriya, I don't think I've ever worn what could be considered formal clothes in my entire life. A lot of people from my world would consider my clothes to be little more than rags. Some of the soldiers might be our best bet then. She pointed to the nearby guards. "Do you think you could convince those guys to let us borrow some clothes, or find out if they have spare sets?"

[Throndir]

"Well... The others don't know that... We can just say these are actually formal clothing back in your world... You know, the traditional garb of heroes."

Valeriya glanced at the men.

"But if you'd like I can borrow some clothes from those men too." She said mischievously.

[Oath]

Rosalie struggled thinking about her options. "Do you really think your mom would believe that this is a formal outfit? I can't think of any world where someone would say that this is formal." She paused a moment. "Maybe we should see if those guys will let us borrow some clothes?"

[Throndir]

Valeriya shrugged.

"It was worth a shot." She replied simply as she stepped forward towards the nearby dragonknights-to-be.

"Yo! Hand us a spare of your outfit!" She yelled out. The men looked towards Valeriya, unsure if they were the ones being talked to. "Yeah, you! Rosalie here needs one."

"Like hell I will! Get your own damn outfit! Besides, who's she anyways? This is a formal event, for the dragonknights, not some random common-folk wishing to see the ceremony."

[Oath]

Rosalie sighs once more. "I am Rosalie, the hero summoned by the Velothian Dragons. If you do not believe me, I would be more than happy to show you an example of my power. I have bested Hertha in combat, so you may not want to test me. Rosalie hoped that this time perhaps, one of the humans would be wise and listen to her before they were incapacitated.

[Throndir]

"Wait!" A man called out. He was lying in a stretcher, with two armored men carrying him around. When he spoke, he remained staring at the sky, though he made an effort to lift his head.

"I figured you would be here at the ceremony..." The man who spoke was the first knight who had greeted you and Valeriya when you first appeared in the camp. As you recall, it was the captain of the new recruits. The man had since had his armor taken off, though there were various burn marks, and his hair was still strangely sticking up in weird sharp angles, almost as if he had used a healthy amount of hair spray.

"Please forgive the recruits! They don't know you're the... umm... actual Summoned Hero..."

Valeriya snorted.

"Unfortunately... in my... condition... I'll have to skip out on the proceedings and watch from a distance. Summoned hero, since you do not have your own outfit... as a... ermm... way to ask for forgiveness, I offer you my own attire for the occasion. At least for the ceremony, you can be a honorary Dragonknight."

[Oath]

"It's good to see that you're alright. Apparently I don't know my own strength in this world. If you would be willing to let us borrow some clothes, I would be quite thankful." Rosalie was surprised to see the captain around again so soon, but she was glad he was ok. He did deserve to be hit for his assumptions, but she may have been a little too hard on him.

She stepped towards the guard captain, with an outstretched hand. "let us forget what has happened in the past, and have a fresh start. I'm sure that we will be working together to protect these lands."

[Throndir]

"Y-yes umm... Lady Summoned Hero lady sir..." He stammered. A moment later he turned towards the recruits (or tried to).

"But yes... Recruits! This is our Summoned Hero believe it or not... Treat her with respect!"

The recruits saluted him.

"Sir yes sir!" They all chanted in unison.

"My outfit is in my tent over there." The captain said pointing to a tent. "Fear not, I will be sitting beneath that tree over yonder... Back to resting! Away my men!" With that, the two armed guards who carried him around, turned back around moving away from the scene, towards the tree that the captain had just pointed at.

[Oath]

Rosalie looked over to Valeriya, and did her best to stifle a laugh. "I guess that's one problem solved. Give me a moment and I'll go change. With that, Rosalie walked over to the tent and changed into the clothes that the captain had so graciously offered to loan her.

[Throndir]

You had eventually finished putting on the clothing. The uniform itself was their ceremonial uniform, though, yours, by the fact it was from the captain's, looked slightly more ornate than everyone else's. There were a few questioning glances from the other knights when they had seen you appear, but those who had been watching the scene unfold earlier must have told the rest as no one bothered you. You did note a few glares however.

The ceremony then began, while Valeriya whispered in your ear beside you. She too had changed into an outfit. Though unlike you who required to actually change clothing, Valeriya's clothing simply morphed.

"What do you think?"

"Alright, so the more recruits the longer it usually goes... but luckily this year there aren't many new ones, they aren't really strong either. What will happen is that the knights, in order of importance, will take their turns picking out one of us. Usually this is already decided upon before the actual ceremony. But since we had literally just summoned you, there might be some conflicts... How that will work is anytime a knight chooses one of us, the rest of the knights can contest it. Then it's a sword-fight between the two. The first to surrender, or otherwise be knocked out is the loser."