The Legend of the Meta-Defying Smith Who Saved the Kingdom

On the flight back to the Royal Castle, I got a good look at the city of Cordova in the aftermath of the battle.

It was a mess. Just a complete mess. So many buildings had collapsed from the quakes, much of the city was on fire, and several of the city gates had been smashed open from the inside, and people were still fleeing to the north and east even now that the battle was over.

I suppose it was a blessing that the prevailing winds throughout the battle had been from the northeast, so the poison never spread towards the city and the people fleeing.

The Smith landed on the balcony with a thud, cracking some of the floor tiles. I bet he did it on purpose. As the legends say, the King and Crown Prince had cleaned themselves up, and the surviving Royal Guard Knights were in attendance. The Princess, however, was armored as if she was going to battle, and had knives drawn as soon as the Smith entered the throne room.

"Oh, oh ho! Y-you have returned, Knight James!"

"He's not a Knight, father, merely a Smith," the Crown Prince hissed.

The King looked up at his son with confusion on his face. "But then why does he wear such brilliant armor?"

"Be quiet. Let me handle this, father. You just relax."

The Crown Prince stepped forward, waving the scepter regally. Attendants rushed in to prop up the King, who contented himself to watch.

His eyes weren't dim, though. They were sharp. The old man knew what was going on.

The Smith didn't kneel or genuflect. He pulled off his helmet and scowled at the Crown Prince.

"Every last demon is dead. I confirmed it myself when my Classes returned."

"Yes, well done, Smi—"

But the Smith interrupted the Crown Prince.

"Now, as I said, I'm done working for you royals. I'm done."

"Done?" The Crown Prince lowered the scepter, and glowered at the Smith who was glaring at him right back. "Done? I don't think you know your place, Smith."

"I just saved the entire damn Kingdom, you twit. I just defeated the entire damn army that routed your army and almost all your Knights."

"You're just a Smith and Enchanter!" the Crown Prince bellowed. "And you will not speak to your betters this way!"

"Betters?" The Smith's armor and hammer started glowing, but before either side could move, the Princess threw herself to the ground between the two, prostrating herself at the Smith's feet.

"Please, don't! I saw, I saw what you did down on the Plains! Whatever you want, take it! We'll let you go! We'll never bother you again! Please!"

"Maria," the King drawled. "You disgrace yourself. He has no combat Class. He's a commoner. He has no allies."

"Knights! Arrest this insolent cur!" the Crown Prince shouted.

The Knights stepped forward, drawing their swords.

Maria got to her feet and turned to the Crown Prince. "Please, don't do this!"

"This means war," the Smith growled.

The Crown Prince looked away from the Smith and down at his younger sister. "You whiny coward, you think your Smith can do anything after two days of nonstop fighting? He's bluffing." He turned back to the Smith. "After we arrest you, we're going to track down your wife and children, and if you so much as breathe a word of discontent, we'll—"

Color faded from the room as the Smith's armor pressed on reality, enchantments activating at full power.

Swish

I was looking in the right direction, so I caught it.

Princess Maria drew her knife, a long dagger, and deftly decapitated the foolish Crown Prince in the middle of his threat.

"Maria!" the King shouted, and he tried to rise from his seat on the throne, but she was on him in the blink of an eye, and his head was parted from his shoulders as well. A look of shock was frozen on his face.

"Princess!" the Knights shouted, but the Smith waved a hand in their direction and they fell to the ground, flattened by some kind of gravity enchantment.

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The Princess fell to her knees before the Smith, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, I didn't have anything to do with it, I swear, take whatever you want, I'm sorry—"

It was quite unsightly.

I think even the Smith felt a little uncomfortable.

"Hey, uh, Princess? Look, I'm not going to do anything to you, okay?"

The Smith waved to some Maids, beckoning them, and they got the Princess seated and calmed her down.

The Knights remained pressed to the floor, barely able to groan.

After about fifteen minutes in which the Princess regained her composure and the Smith awkwardly stood around waiting, they got down to negotiations.

"I want sovereignty," the Smith said, speaking gently. He must not have wanted to upset the Princess again.

"Okay," she nodded stiffly.

"I'm going to take my family and leave the Kingdom, alright?"

The Princess sniffed. "Yes, of course."

"I don't want anyone to follow us, okay?"

"Right. Ruby?"

A red-haired woman, looking rather frazzled, stepped forward and nodded. "Yes, your highness. I'll see to it there's no trail to follow."

There was a minute of silence as the Smith just looked at the Princess, and she and the woman who must have been Countess Ruby Sevilla discussed things.

"Yes, so that makes you Queen now, your highness."

"Really?"

"Well, there's no one else left, is there? Besides, I'm sure the Smith would—"

"No!" the Princess shouted, cutting off Countess Sevilla. "Don't! The Smith is sovereign, we will not presume anything."

The Smith sighed. "It's fine, Princess. Or, should I say Queen, now? It's easier for me if you're in charge." He turned to the Countess. "What would I need to do? I do intend to leave the Kingdom."

"Wait a month, or maybe two; or at least come back one time so we can gather all the nobles and get oaths of fealty. If you back the Queen, it should go smoothly from there."

The Smith frowned. "What about the Knights?"

"These are all that's left," the Countess gestured to the Knights still pressed into the floor.

Queen Maria looked down at the Knights, and a hard expression came over her face. It seemed that her fright only extended to the Smith himself. "I want oaths of fealty from you, as well!" she called down to them.

The Smith turned as well. "Anyone who doesn't swear an oath right now, I'll kill on the spot. And if I have to come back here because of oath breakers, I'll just kill all of you."

Man, the Smith really meant business with these Knights.

The gravity enchantment was lifted, and the first to spring to his feet was the Aspirant Knight. He genuflected and presented his sword. "I swear! I swear fealty to the Queen! Long live the Queen!"

He was immediately followed by every other Knight.

The Queen nodded. "Good. Sir Suero, you're head of the Royal Guard Knights and Commander of the Knight's Order. Go secure the castle and ensure all the guards know about our ascension."

"Yes, your highness!" he shouted and he and the rest of the Knights left the throne room.

"It doesn't quite sit right with me that that Knight just keeps climbing up the ranks like that…" the Smith said with a grimace, and the Queen responded. "Really? His Class is Social Climber, you know. It's what he's good at."

"Wait, seriously? That's his second Class?" the Smith snorted. "Of course it is."

And so, there was another hour of discussion between the Queen, the Smith, and the Countess, and they made plans for a gathering of all the nobles of the Kingdom for the Smith to intimidate, and my remote viewing magic ran out.

It turns out the demons called themselves elves. And the Class system is a curse. And the Irregulars knew about it. And also that Queen Maria the Wise handled her ascension with quite a lot less grace than the Legends recount. Oh, and the Smith was an outright war criminal. That was surprising! But the man did slay over two hundred thousand demons in just two days.

Fathers can and will do anything to protect their families.

Over the next few months I did other remote viewings, to check some of the wilder legends about the Legendary Smith after he saved the kingdom.

Did he solo clear every Dungeon in the land? No.

Did he develop a horseless carriage that ran on magic power? Yes! Unfortunately, the materials required for regular smiths and enchanters to make them were too expensive. More celebrated at the time but not mentioned in the legends today are the water pumps he created to replace the broken windmill pumps outside Cordova. They were considered Legendary Artifacts until they were stolen during the troubled times that followed.

The Smith did have six children, as Andrew the Chronicler wrote. And as he wrote, the sons met tragic ends, but they certainly had happy childhoods, and were well-loved by their parents.

Their deaths broke the Smith's heart anew, each time.

But the Enchantress supported him, and they otherwise had a perfectly happy marriage and life together.

His daughters married good husbands, and had many children of their own, and they lived nearby. The Smith and Enchantress lived to see their great-grandchildren born.

Did the Smith ever find his family from Asufal?

Well, the answer to that is a story in itself.

But it's not the Smith's story.

It's Sarah's Story.