[Completed] Legend of the Five Knights IV: Fated Holy War

Episode 79: Origins of the Shield Knight

It took us only a minute to reach a large palace with a large fountain. Its waters glistened in the sun like crystal.

Seemed like a waste of a precious resource to me. Or was it recycled like the fountains Professor Hitch told us about?

"Lost in thought?" a voice called out from behind. I turned around and saw Alabaster.

I looked back at the mansion and saw that the knights had entered the house. "Yeah, got distracted by this fountain."

He sighed. "Such a waste of water."

I laughed. "That was my thought too."

"It's put to better use in a garden." He walked ahead of me as if possessed.

My eyes glanced back at the fence of the house. While it took us a minute to get here, it would take a toddler a lot longer given the cathedral was a handful of miles away.

"Eiya! Eiya!" I heard yelling. It didn't come from the other knights, but Eita.

"Eita!" I said, running over to him.

"Tetsu? So you're the one who came in."

"That was actually your brother and the other knights. Guess you haven't had any luck finding Eiya?"

He shook his head solemnly. "Not at all. I've looked pretty much everywhere other than the garden. Bora's looking around the streets to see if he got lost. We think he might've taken Capitolinus from the cathedral."

I rubbed my chin. "Likewise. Say, do you have a key to the garden?"

Eita reached into his jacket's pocket and gasped. He searched his pants but nothing. "My key's gone..."

"Let's go to the garden," I said, dashing ahead.

Eita nodded. "It's straight from here," he called out.

I smiled. "Thanks." I shadow warped ahead of him and reached a pair of opened white doors. They had the carving of a tree covered by angels at the bottom. The motif seemed more like something one would find in Makkuroyama than here.

I reached for the door, but was stopped. Alabaster grasped me by the wrist.

"Allow me to open them," he said, reaching his hand out. He pushed it open and slowly walked outside. 

The garden stood out from the white and gold I'd seen thus far. The rich green and the multitude of colorful flowers made me feel as if I wasn't in the middle of the desert. My eyes darted upward. An arch made up of glass protected the garden. On it were a system of water sprinklers. Given how high they were, they likely weren't the irrigation system. Then how was this place kept like this?

"This plant needs some water," Alabaster said, grabbing the leaf of one of the plants. It was a ginkgo tree.

"Aren't they usually hardy? Maybe it's sick," I said, glancing up at its yellowing leaves.