The Time I Reincarnated as the King of Knights?!

I think I know how to ward off Luminous' advances. I could tell her I'm part dragon, since she shouldn't have much fondness for dragons considering her history with Veldora and what he did. And if that doesn't work, I may have to unleash my trump card. My ace up my sleeve. Just tell her about an upcoming festival we're going to have back in Tempest as soon as I get back. Once she finds out, it should make her back off.

Hmm, actually, I don't think it would. It'll probably make her try harder. Why is this the one thing I'm focusing on? I'm acting like this will be the biggest obstacle. I just need to go in there, only talk business, and get out. I just need to pay no attention to whatever flirting she's going to do to me. Yeah, I think that'll work. Playing the role of a "denser than a black hole" protagonist could work. Make it so frustrating for her that she just gives up. Alright, sounds like a plan to me.

Right now, Hinata was guiding me to where Luminous was. It should be up the mountain. I was very calm for the most part. The only source of stress for me was about how to deal with Luminous, but now that I got that out of the way, it was fine. Hinata on the other hand, was not so calm. I could feel the emotions rubbing off of her. The only grace she would have is from Luminous and whatever she would say.

One lengthy trip up a mountain later and we were there. I really don't know why it's so high up here. If this is supposed to be some kind of statement of power, then it's a horrible one. Just because something is higher up, doesn't mean it shows strength. You can convey the same meaning with one big building that is imposing and commands you attention. Like a certain building that exists back in Tempest that takes heavy inspiration from a cathedral in Germany.

Anyway, once we made it up, Hinata kept guiding me. I'll be honest, it got a bit annoying at some point, but nothing excessive. As we got closer, everything started to become more fancy and elegant. Expensive looking art and decorations were all over the place. Eventually, Hinata led me to a door. Just a regular fancy door. 

"This is Lady Luminous' room. You can talk to her here. I'll call for her."

"Her room? Like, her personal room? Where she sleeps and stuff? Are you serious? It's not some kind of meeting room or anything like that?", I told Hinata before she could call for Luminous. 

"I know what you mean, but this is just how it is. I have to do this most of the time. I don't think it's hard to imagine why she wants to meet here all the time. She has some…'ulterior motives' for picking a place like this."

I held up a hand to stop her. "You don't have to say anything else, Hinata. I get the idea." Things are already not off to a good start and I haven't even met her. 

Hinata knocked on the door and spoke to Luminous on the other side "Lady Luminous, Artoria Pendragon is here. She wants to talk to you. It's very important."

It was quite for a moment, but she eventually responded. "You can come in."

Hinata opened the door and sitting on the bed was Luminous in all her vampire glory and whatnot. I'll be honest, she was beautiful. She had the looks that would attract anyone, especially her different colored eyes and white hair. But no time to focus on that. Operation "Black hole dense protagonist when it comes to love and flirting" is a go.

I walked in, grabbed a nearby chair, and sat down in front of her. "Hello, Luminous, I've heard some things about you. Some good and some bad."

Luminous stared at me with those eyes of hers. I felt something trying to affect me, but it was easily brushed off. Luminous may not have shown it, but she was probably disappointed that she couldn't affect me with whatever she was trying to do. 

"I hope the good things you've heard about me are as good as you look.", wow, ok, straight into it seems. 

"What do you mean? I have white skin, so maybe that is what you mean? You hope the rumors are 'white' or something? Is this supposed to be something philosophical?"

"Huh? No that's not…"

"Well, to get us back on track, I need to talk to you about something important. It concerns the luminaries.", I interrupted her before she could say anything. I need to speed this along and not give her a chance to think about flirting with me. 

She squinted her eyes at me. I think it worked. Bringing that up should get her attention and actually focus on important things. 

"What about them?"

"Since they are up to no good, and threaten my empire, I'm going to take care of them. I think you're smart enough to know what I'm talking about. I'm not asking for permission, I'm just giving you a heads up. If you want to help then feel free to."

Why am I being so aggressive and arrogant? Part of it is Luminous, and some of it is me just wanting to get this over with and go home.

"You're being quite demanding and aggressive. What you've said would normally cause hostilities to be raised, but since it seems my dear Hinata isn't doing anything, I guess you know certain things."

"Yeah. I know one is dead. I'm looking to finish the job. I think you know their 'time' is coming to an end soon. Unless you don't, but it's just a heads up. I know you know how out of hand they have gotten."

She narrowed her eyes at me. I purposely stressed the "time" part of what I said. It would throw her off and force her to focus on important things.

"How much do you really know, Artoria? These aren't things anyone should just know."

"How I know isn't important, Luminous, it's what I know. There's nothing that can be done when I already know something. I recommend we continue instead of trying to figure out how I know certain things."

She smiled at me and I swear she would've licked her lips or something by the way she was looking at me.

"You have a lot of confidence and are sharp. I like that. It makes me want you."

I tilted my head in confusion. I stayed silent for a few seconds. "You want me to do what?", I asked her in a confusing tone, like she didn't finish saying something. 

"Huh? Oh…um…I-"

"Did you forget what you were going to say? Don't worry about it, it happens to all of us sometimes, but since you want me to do something, I assume you have some kind of plan to take care of those luminaries? I have some ideas myself."

"That's not what I….", she sighed before she could finish saying anything. Alright, it's working. I turned her little attempt to flirt and turned it around to my advantage. Probably my best work so far.

"You want to kill the luminaries, fine, you can, but what about the repercussions? You want some sort of agreement between my kingdom and your empire, but you know there's more to it than just signing some papers."

"And tell me whose idea it was to set up the doctrine and message of your religion? This doesn't sound like something that's my problem. This is something you'll have to figure out. You're supposed to be their goddess, just make an exception. There exists an exception for almost any rule after all. Just give some kind of 'divine message' or something."

'You can't just change years of teachings in a short time like that."

"Are you sure? Do you actually know how fanatical and devoted your people are? As long as you show up and tell them something, they'll believe it, and mostly likely, they'll change their thinking and perform a whole lot of mental gymnastics to justify their reasoning. Trust me, I've seen it done many times."

"It can't be that easy. First of all, how are you even sure you can win? You're a monster, and holy magic is your weakness. Those luminaries won't hold anything back against you."

I just smiled at what she said. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Luminous, but trust me, I know a little thing about holy magic myself."