The Time I Reincarnated as the King of Knights?!

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! I hope y'all get that gobbler!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're working for the Rosso's behind everyone's back, are you not?"

Glenda's eyes shot open instantly. Her worst fears were immediately true as soon as she heard that. Many questions were running through her mind. How did she know? How much does she know? For how long has she known? Glenda's emotions seemed to reach a peak, but what Artoria said next made it worse.

"You also have contact with a 'merchant' from the Eastern Empire as well, don't you?"

Glenda got up rapidly from her chair, knocking it over and causing the table to also move. She quickly pulled out her gun and pointed it at Artoria. 

Artoria continued to sit, looking at her with the same face showing no change in expression whatsoever. She sat there completely unfazed at having the gun pointed at her. 

"How do you know all this?", Glenda asked Artoria. She thought she had power here. Unfortunately for her, she forgot what Artoria did previously. 

"Is that supposed to scare me? I'll give you one small warning, Glenda, and I really hope you take it to heart. If you want to go down this path, the only thing you'll find at the end of it is gunpowder and lead."

Glenda considered it, but she decided to call her bluff. No one else would have guns in this world. The Eastern Empire was where they came from. No way someone from a monster nation would be able to get one.

She pulled the trigger and a loud gunshot sounded throughout the room. Time seemed to go in slow motion as the bullet made its way to Artoria. Glenda thought she had her, but that's where her problem was. She thought she did. 

Faster than Glenda could see or react, Artoria seemed to pull a revolver out of nowhere and rapidly shot four rounds. One shot hit the bullet in mid-air and the other three hit the gun in Glenda's hand, knocking it to the air. Glenda stumbled back in complete shock and fell to the ground. She looked up at Artoria who held a revolver, looking down at her. "What? H-How?!"

"Yeah, I bet you weren't expecting that. Gotta love concealed carry. You should try it sometime, Glenda, it would make things easier for you.", Artoria's words didn't register with Glenda. She was only focused on how she had a gun.

"How do you have-"

"A gun? It's quite simple. Why wouldn't I? I'll give a small pass though. Very few people know where I'm from."

"What do you mean-"

"First off, let me put this thing away.", Artoria spinned her revolver before putting away. Glenda tried looking, but she couldn't see a holster or anything similar. "It's kind of funny don't you think, Glenda? Two knights using guns in a world with magic, powerful artifacts and magical equipment. It seems out of place. Something a child would imagine because they think it looks cool not knowing that it can be a weird mix of genres, but I'm not one to judge. I think it's nice to let out some silly ideas once in a while."

Glenda wasn't listening to her. She was slumped over thinking how it all got to this point. "Did you know?", Glenda asked Artoira with a defeated tone. 

'Yeah"

"When did you find out?"

"I already knew everything the moment you came in here."

It finally set in for Glenda. Everything was futile from the start. Nothing she could've done would have saved her today. The only thing she could do now was wait for her death. 

"I'm not going to kill you. I know about that curse the Rossos put on you to make them serve you. You should notice that it's gone. And before you ask, I'm not the one who killed them. Anyway, you have some options available for you. You can continue with the saints, leave them and do what you want, or maybe you can join my empire. Point is, whatever you choose, you will come clean about everything to Hinata before you do anything else. Besides, my fight isn't with you, it's with a group of other people. So, what will it be?"

"Can I have some time?" Glenda was hesitant to make a choice. But it felt good. The ability to make a choice that was truly in your own hands.

'Yes, but you still need to confess everything to Hinata."

"Ok. It's not like I have much of a choice in that aspect." Well, maybe she's completely free yet.

"Wonderful. Hinata, come in.", The door opened and Hinata came in, hand on her rapier ready to unsheathe it. She heard some of the loud sound from outside, but she didn't barge in. Whatever happened, Artoria could take care of herself. Wait, when did she start prioritizing Artoria over her own comrades? It should be the other way around. She should be checking in on Glenda instead of worrying about Artoria, even if Glenda was on her suspect list. Is she being influenced by something? 

Hinata decided not to think about it for now. She saw the room was a mess. Chairs were knocked over and the table was out of place. "Is everything fine?", she asked as she surveyed the scene. It was evident some kind of fight took place.

"Everything's good, Hinata. We just had a little scuffle. Nothing too big to worry about. Anyway, Glenda here wants to tell you something."

Glenda got up and approached Hinata. "You see, the truth is…"

/\\//\\//\

It was a fast confession, but she got all the main points across. From being cursed by the Rossos and to her contact with Damrada, the "merchant".

"If you're wondering, Hinata, the person she's talking about is the same one that lied and kind of manipulated you into attacking Rimuru. How was that fight by the way?"

"He caught me by surprise and his sword skills were better than I thought. Whoever trained him, trained him well."

I cracked a small smile. "Yeah, I wonder who trained him. Anyway, now that this is over with, I need to talk to you, Hinata. In private.", I said as I looked over at Glenda. She got the message quickly and left the room. "Don't try to stay outside near the door and eavesdrop. I'll know. Also don't tell anyone about this. I expect you to follow my orders. If you don't, I'll drag you to my empire, where you'll undergo some...enhanced interrogation techniques." I let out a bit of my aura at her to let her know I wasn't messing around. I wanted her to know that she was on the thinnest of ice that could break with one tiny misstep. 

"Ok, now that that's taken care of. Sit down, Hinata.", Hinata went and picked up a chair and adjusted the table back into position. I saw her stop for small second and look a little confused before she sat down.

'What will you do about Glenda now that you know?"

"I don't know. There's a lot to think about. The Eastern Empire, the Rossos, the underworld, and who knows what else."

"You might want to stay calm for this one, but there's one group you're forgetting about."

"And who would that be?"

"The Seven, or I guess six now, luminaries."

"What? What about them...wait, did you say six? How do you know one is missing?"

"I had someone take care of him. That sun luminary was actually Granbell Rosso in disguise. And he also had connections to the Eastern Empire. As a matter of fact, all the luminaries have connections to the Eastern Empire and are actively sabotaging your kingdom in certain ways. And given the doctrine of the religion here, they would eventually attack my empire deeming it 'unholy', 'dangerous', and whatnot. What I'm telling you is that I'm going to kill them and if you want to help, you can. I just need you to take me to Luminous, and before you say anything, I already know the truth about her as well."

Hinata was not looking too good. She had her head down, and her hands were clenched into fists. They were shaking from how much strength she was exerting. She was gritting her teeth. I guess this sort of revelation was a bit much, but she needed to know. She was the only I was willing to tell all this stuff. 

"Hinata, don't think too much about it. They're a common enemy. They're a threat to your kingdom and its development as well as a threat to my empire. All I'm doing is plucking the overgrown weed out before it becomes an even bigger problem. If you're thinking about the consequences, tell me this, how many times have the people of this kingdom actually seen the luminaries? If something happened to them, it would be very easy to replace them."

Hinata hesitated and looked like she was struggling. "I can take you to Lady Luminous. I'll decide what to do after hearing from her. I just need to hear from her first."

"I understand.", She's going to defer to Luminous. I guess I would do the same in her position after hearing the things I told her. 

"I do have to tell you something about her before you meet her."

"What is it?"

"She might act a bit to…'close' to you. She's going to be attracted to you is what I'm trying to say. So, you should expect her to try to make some advances on you. She's tried to do it to me many times."

"Oh. I'll keep that in mind."

I'll admit, that part about Luminous may have slipped my mind. The question now is, how am I going to stop her advances? I am aware of the effect I have on others. Both men and women, but Luminous is going to be tough to handle. I feel like the more I reject her, the more she'll try to get to me. The last thing I want is for her to become obsessed with me, because the last time someone became obsessed with the king of knights, things did not go well for anyone involved.