Summer Palace… The kingdom was named after its very hot weather, all throughout the year. There has been a legend that there exists a sword in this kingdom, one that chooses its wielder. It was given the name Excalibur.
Mizuki and her party wandered around the kingdom, taking in the sights such as lanterns placed around the market. The houses seemed to be made of bricks.
They had bought some local food from the market, seemingly meat on a stick that you ate from one at a time. As Mizuki ate, she glanced around. "Wow… This kingdom really is different from Hirano. The atmosphere is different somehow…"
She glanced up toward the sun, wiping the sweat off of her shoulders. "I-It is pretty hot though… I'm not sure how they handle this weather if it never ends…" Mizuki laughed softly.
Sli-Mai glanced at the sun. "Is it really that hot? I can't feel much heat…" Toshiko stared at her. "...That's because you're a slime, you can withstand the heat…"
"...Oh, right." They continued wandering around Summer Palace, until they stopped for a moment. "...Ok, it's REALLY hot… I don't think we should be in the sun that much longer-"
Without warning, a man accidently bumped into Mizuki. They fell onto the ground. "O-Ow… What was that…?" Mizuki glanced at the man who had fallen onto her.
The man immediately jumped up and panicked slightly. "S-Sorry! I-I was in the middle of something and I got distracted-" He stopped and glanced at Mizuki.
"Y-You… You're not from Summer Palace, are you? If not, you shouldn't be outside for too long… Mostly everyone here knows that you can't be outside for a prolonged period of time without water…" Mizuki glanced at his sword in its sheath before speaking.
"O-Oh… That would explain why it feels like we are melting very slowly…" The man led them to a nearby shop, and bought cold water for them. He handed them each a cup of water that had ice in them.
"Thanks…" Mizuki drank the water immediately. "No worries, I'm just expressing how sorry I am that I bumped into you earlier… My name is Summers Saturn."
Toshiko's eyes widened. "Wait, YOU are Saturn?!" Yoshiro tilted his head slightly. "You know him, Toshiko?"
"K-Know him?! We are standing in front of the first prince of Summer Palace!"
Their eyes widened. "Oh. That explains why he looks like royalty…" Yoshiro nodded.
Saturn stood there for a moment before looking like he was about to cry. "W-Wait, are you about to-" Before Mizuki could finish, Saturn started to burst into tears.
"S-Sorry, um… Could you five hear me out…?" He asked. "...S-Sure?"
"Y-You see this sword?" He took Excalibur out of its sheath. "T-This sword is called Excalibur, apparently it is a prized possession of my family. I-It seems to choose its wielder, and it chose me a month ago… Now I'm having to go through a lot of really difficult training to make full use of it."
"A-And because of that, my family has been kind-of hard on me recently-" He paused as they heard a sudden explosion from afar. "W-What the hell was that…? Do you normally have explosions in your kingdom?" Noburo asked.
Saturn shook his head. "N-No… W-We should probably check it out." They ran out of the shop and ran toward the edge of the kingdom, where the explosion happened.
"W-Wait!" They stopped as they heard Saturn's warning. A monster that seemed to be distorting just like the monster they had seen when they found the first Sacred Item was standing just inches from the gate.
"W-Why is there a monster here?! They don't usually attack outside of their areas…" The monster roared before rushing into the kingdom. "O-Oh crap!" Saturn tried to take out Excalibur but the monster knocked him out.
"H-Huh? The prince got knocked out instantly…" As the monster noticed Mizuki it rushed toward her, she quickly moved out of the way and rushed toward Saturn, grabbing Excalibur.
Suddenly, the sword lit up and took a different form. "Didn't he say only he could use that sword, why is it reacting to Mizuki? Isn't Mizuki a mage?" Sli-Mai questioned.
The monster roared again and ran toward Mizuki, she breathed deeply before jumping above it, and then swung Excalibur at the beast.
The impact caused the monster to be sent flying toward the palace. Mizuki's eyes widened. "...Oops…"
"M-Mizuki, you idiot! You should've sent it flying out of the kingdom not DEEPER into the kingdom!" Noburo shouted.
A few minutes passed as they caught their breath. As Saturn came to, he immediately got up and realized his sword was missing "W-Where did it go-" He paused as he noticed Mizuki holding it.
"Y-You… You're about to use Excalibur? B-But according to my father, it chooses its wielder…"
Mizuki pondered for a moment. "Maybe… It thought that I was worthy of it? I don't know…" She threw the sword back at Saturn as he grabbed it and put it away.
"W-Well um… Did you defeat the monster?" He asked. Mizuki shook her head. "It got sent flying toward the palace…"
His eyes widened in shock. "O-Oh… Father might be mad when I come back then… But the knights should be able to handle it if it's weakened…"
"S-Say, um… Mizuki? I know this is a lot to ask, but could you and your friends accompany me to the palace…?" He begged.
Mizuki looked shocked for a moment. "H-Huh?!" She thought about it for a while.
"I-I mean sure… B-But should regular adventurers like us just walk into the palace like that?"
Saturn shook his head. "I-It should be fine… I trust you guys so they shouldn't have any problem with it."
"...So when are we gonna talk about how that creature was distorting just like the fox we saw when we found the Sacred Item-" Mizuki immediately stopped Noburo from continuing. "Shh…!"
"...Sacred Item?" Saturn tilted his head in confusion. "D-Don't worry about it… Basically, around the time we left our kingdom… We saw a monster similar to that one, however it was a fox."
"...That monster seemed to be more like a troll though…"
Saturn nodded. "I-I see… I suppose there are odd monsters like that." After making sure they weren't forgetting anything, they headed for the palace.