As they reached the palace, they glanced around, the guards glanced at them suspiciously as they walked further into the building. “S-So, um… Don't be too surprised when you meet my father, he might be a little angry that I brought you here…” Saturn told them.

“This place is really clean, the walls are shiny as well…” Sli-Mai said while looking around.

“Definitely looks a lot different from Hirano’s castle.” Toshiko added.

“That's because this is a palace and not a castle…” Yoshiro sighed.

Upon reaching what seemed to be the entrance to a throne room, Saturn braced himself before opening the doors.

“F-Father, I'm back…” As soon as he stepped in he froze as a man glared at him on a throne.

“...You're late. Who are these… Individuals you have brought in?” He asked.

Mizuki without warning walked up to the throne, causing her party members to panic slightly. “Um… We are adventurers, three of us come from Hirano. The other two, I don't really know where they come from yet. Since I haven't asked…”

The king narrowed his eyes before sighing. “...Hirano huh? Of course you would bring adventurers from a rivaling kingdom…”

“I-It's not like that father!”

He went up to Saturn and glared at him. “And how do you suppose it isn't? You brought them here just out of a whim, didn't you?” He seemed to be very close to getting angry, but he just walked back to the throne.

“...I'm disappointed in you, Saturn. Next time learn that actions have consequences. If they had been spies, they would've been able to leak info!” He shouted.

Suddenly, a woman walked past Mizuki and her party. “Now now… Clearly our Saturn doesn't have the capability of discerning a spy… Nothing to get… Too mad over...”

“...And who are you supposed to be?” Noburo recklessly asked, causing their party excluding Mizuki to panic.

She turned her head to face Noburo, her face immediately turned to annoyance. “D-Do you know who you are talking to?!” She shouted.

“I am Summers Satsuma, the queen of Summer Palace! I should have you arrested for that arrogance…”

Mizuki grabbed her arm within a matter of seconds, gripping it tightly. “Okay… I was fine with not getting involved when the king yelled at Saturn. However, if you have a problem with my party… Then I will gladly punch you right here and now.”

All of her party member's mouths dropped at the same time. The queen looked at Mizuki in disbelief before looking back at the king. “L-Laken, darling! Do something about this… Crude girl!”

Mizuki turned to face the king. “And another thing, from what I've been told you have been putting WAY too much pressure on your son. He can master Excalibur at his own pace!” She shouted at the king.

Toshiko rushed toward Mizuki. “S-Stop it, Mizuki! We aren't here to fight an entire kingdom!”

“B-But, they started it!”

Laken glared at Mizuki. “...Leave. And don't come back to this palace, or else you will be arrested by our guards.” He paused for a brief moment afterwards as if contemplating something.

Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion come from out of the entire palace and the area shook for a moment. “W-What the hell was that?” Noburo questioned. They rushed outside with the king and queen, and noticed smoke coming from over the walls.

Meanwhile… Above the skies where the smoke rose up, a demon glanced down at the kingdom before laughing. “Kekeke… They thought a barrier would stop me from getting in? Fools…” He prepared an attack once again.

Another demon flew up to him. “Solamu, our plan is going along very well. Soon… We will be able to slaughter those sheltered humans…!”

“Good… Todesa, go back down and alert the other demons that we will be invading shortly. The other demon nodded and flew toward what appeared to be a camp on a mountain beside Summers Palace.

Laken glanced at the smoke before turning to stare at Mizuki in disbelief. “Y-You are a spy…! You came here to distract us so you could attack our kingdom!”

“...I'm sorry, what-” Guards surrounded them before Mizuki could finish.

They were immediately put into a jail cell under the castle. Mizuki blinked before glancing at her party. “Um… What just happened?”

Laken rushed down into the dungeon and found them in a cell. “I-I'm so sorry about my father…!” He apologized.

“H-He gets… A little suspicious way too easily…”

Mizuki tilted her head. “Why are you apologizing? I probably would've been skeptical if an explosion happened right after I met adventurers from another kingdom as well…”

“M-My father… He is very intimidated by the surrounding kingdoms, including Hirano… He wanted a power that could establish his dominance, and that's when… He found Excalibur.”

13 Years ago…

A younger Laken sat on the throne, lost in thought.

“M-My king…! We found something you might want to see!” The king raised his head to look at the guard.

“Oh… Ginji, what did they find?” He asked.

“W-Well, the other day a cavern suddenly appeared and… When we went inside we found a sword that was stuck in some kind of stone!” Ginji explained.

Curious, Laken followed Ginji to the cavern. They made their way to the cavern until they reached a small opening that surrounded a blade.

Laken's eyes widened as he saw his child, Saturn next to the sword. “W-What is he doing down here!?”

Ginji panicked slightly. “I-I don't know! When we tried pulling out the sword, it wouldn't budge so we went to inform you… He must've snuck past us when we left the cavern-”

Saturn glanced at the sword before grabbing it, it came out as quickly as it had been inside of the stone.

Ginji’s eyes widened in shock. “N-not even our strongest civilians could pull it out…”

Laken paused. “W-wait… I remember a tale, there existed a sword named Excalibur that was used by a Hero to seal a demon decades ago… But the hero died several years later, the sword was… Sealed inside of a stone…”

That immediately gave Laken an idea, if Saturn had the capability of welding Excalibur… That could be the perfect opportunity to gain power over the neighboring kingdoms!

He walked closer to Saturn before placing a hand on his shoulder. “My son… I want you to practice sword fighting… You have the capabilities to become a really powerful individual.”

Saturn looked confused. “I'm… Powerful…?”

“...You will understand, in time…” They went back to the palace, where Laken hired the best sword fighter in Summer Palace to train Saturn.

Later, Laken stood on a balcony while staring at the sky. “Power… I need it… For the sake of my kingdom…!”