Namaran, the city atop the cliff, was in absolute silence a little after midnight. Dark purple barrier of strange magical energy lit underneath the moonlight that shone ominously upon the streets, as an even more peculiar song, if it could be called that, broke the quietness of the night from the empty city hall in the center of the town with the intent to send the eardrums of anyone that heard it to the afterlife.
"Twinkle! Twinkle! Little! Star! How I! Wonder! What you are! Up above the world so high! Like a diamond in the sky!"
"Ugh...!"
"Twinkle! Twinkle! Little! Star!"
"D-don't wonder...!"
"How I! Wonder! What you aaaaare!"
Lloyd's outery of a song filled the city hall. His voice was particularly strong and loud despite the lack of any musical knack, absolutely molesting the hell's knight's ears. Sir Giolexius, the commander of the first corp of hell's army, struggled deeply with each word that came out of Lloyd's mouth. He vented.
"Stop!"
"No."
"Do you honestly think I will give in and speak?"
"Oh, I think you will."
“...”
"Most definitely."
"That will never happen."
"We'll see what happens. Ahem."
The hell's knight twitched his jaws in frustration as Lloyd cleared his throat, shortly before tilting his face sideways in an annoying manner.
"So you have no intention of telling me what the king of hell is scheming to accomplish as of yet. Is that correct?"
"I won't!"
"I am so relieved to hear my dearest fan wants to keep listening to my songs."
"Th-that's..."
"Thank you so much. Shall I, then?"
"H-hold on!" Sir Giolexius shouted desperately, but the plea did not sway Lloyd's heard a single inch in any direction whatsoever.
"Check this out. Five little monkeys jumping on the bed! One fell down and bumped his head!"
"...Urgh...!" Sir Giolexius shook his skull violently, but he couldn't put up a resistance at all as Javier had begun to add beat into the terrifying nursery rhyme.
Bam! Bam! Badum-tss. Thump! Thump! The sheath of the grandmaster's sword fell straight down, shrouded in rhythmic aura, on the hell's knight's head like percussion enriching any music.
"Argh! Therp! Ouch!"
The shock from the impact was immense, as Lloyd's torturous song continued to rattle the hell's knight's ear drums.
"Mama called the doctor and the doctor said! No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"
"S-stop!"
"Stop?"
"Y-yes! Just stop it already...!"
"Then are you going to tell me what the king of hell is up to now?"
"Like I told you before, I am a knight bound by honor not to share the secret plans of my lord and liege!"
"Then keep listening to my songs."
"What?!"
"Next song."
"H-hold on!"
Sir Giolexius hurriedly stretched out his hands, only to be whacked in the arm by Javier's strike.
Bam!
"Urgh!"
Knee to the jaws fell like an entire avalanche sweeping through his face. Sir Giolexius barely managed to stay awake and lifted his body from the ground with two hands, followed by deep regrets.
"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Javier smacked the crap out of the hell's knight skull, along with the beat of Lloyd's horrid performance.
"Row, row, row your boat, gently up the creek! If you see a little mouse, don't forget to squeak!"
"Urgh..."
It felt as if he was rowing his boat across the River Styx each time Lloyd let out another word out of his mouth. Sir Giolexius desperately wished to lose his consciousness, dropping the hellish glow on his down like teardrops down his cheeks. But Lloyd's massively destructive performance continued, this time with a gently abysmal choice of song with the intent to comfort the little poor soul from hell, accompanied by off-pitch notes.
"You better watch out! You better not cry! You better not pout! I'm telling you why! Why! Santa Claus is coming! To town!"
“...”
The hell's knight would rather cry out in agony right now, but couldn't due to the sheath of Grandmaster Javier rattling his skull rhythmically to enrich the distasteful performance.
"He's making a list, and checking it twice!"
Bam! Bam! Badumt-ss. Thump! Thump!
"Gonna find out! Who's naughty or nice!"
Badum-tss.
"Urgh! Argh! Ack!"
The fierce beating of the skull genuinely made Sir Giolexius wonder who this Santa Claus was, but he knew one thing for sure: who was naughty. There was one individual clearly naughtier and more evil than the king of hell.
"Ugh... Stop! Enough!" Sir Giolexius cried out, failing to endure the physical and aural violence manhandling him simultaneously. His entire body shivered.
Perhaps the cry for help was heard by the god, as Lloyd finally stopped his concert that was as horrendous and filthy as the buzzing sound of flies over rotting food in the trash can.
"Enough? For real?"
"Huff... Huff... Thank you..."
"Too early to say that," Lloyd replied with a halfway smile, asking the hell's knight in a cold voice. "So, are you finally ready to tell me what I want to hear?"
"Th-that's..."
"Go on."
"I am a knight. I can't..."
"Wrong answer."
"H-hold on!"
"Ahem. One, two, one, two, three, go!"
"Stop!"
"What."
"N-no. Please don't sing..."
"You want me to stop singing."
"...Right," Sir Giolexius nodded and replied in a resentful voice. "The worst song I thought I had ever heard was sung by the choir of angels, until I heard your performance today."
"Thank you so much. You flatter me."
"You can physically torture me in any other way you desire. I'll endure it silently. So Please just stop singing." "No."
"But it's massively agonizing! Not just my ears, but it feels like my entire honor and pride as a knight are being overlooked upon! I don't know if you know this or not, but I am a knight from hell, who has sworn an oath to live or die by blood and fire of the battlefield!"
"Okay, so what?"
"But your song... is literally crushing all that down! It's as if you don't acknowledge me as a proud knight! It's massively humiliating."
"But you didn't find it humiliating to serve a liege that didn't do anything for you in exchange for your blind loyalty?"
"What?" Sir Giolexius paused. Lloyd put a bigger smile on his face.
"Think about it. The king of hell isn't a great liege."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Your lord and liege? But what did he do to earn your loyalty? Did he offer you any benefits?"
"Benefits...?"
"Those are your rights at a workplace, as a professional that gets paid to work."
"What are you trying to get at...?"
Sir Giolexius's eyes shook as Lloyd Frontera spoke of confusing things that did not make sense to him at all. But the estate developer did not care; he continued to elaborate in an eloquent manner.
"I will tell you what I'm trying to get at. Have you ever gone home immediately after your shift was supposed to be over?"
"Shift...?"
"Yeah. Have you ever?"
"There is no such thing as a shift for a knight. I am sworn to protect my liege day and night. I don't even have a home to return to."
"You don't have a home?!"
"Of course not. Those things are meaningless for a hell's knight."
"Tsk, tsk. You are a really poor soul," said Lloyd, with a look of genuine compassion in his eyes. But before the hell's knight could reply, he added a pitiful, yet empathetic statement to shake him further. "What about insurance?"
"...What?"
"Insurance. Dental, medical, liability and stuff. What if you get hurt while you're working and require medical attention? Who takes care of that?"
"Of course-"
There was none. The hell's knight had never heard of anything like that in hell. Sir Giolexius became speechless at the realization nothing like that was ever discussed or assured, as Lloyd sharply continued to point out the flaws of the system he was in.
"There's none, right? What happens, then, if you return to hell after getting battered like this? Do you not get any monetary compensation for the risks you undertook? Seriously?"
"That's-"
"That's terrible. The king of hell is a terrible man."
"Don't you dare insult-"
"Just look. How can I not, when he's not fulfilling his duty as anyone's liege?"
“...”
"Think about it. Let me at least hear you get to go on vacation from time to time."
“...”
"No way."
“...”
"Are you being serious? No vacations, either?"
"N-no."
"Holy moly. That's just outrageous. What about paid leave? Sick leave?"
"Wh-what are even those?"
"You've never even heard about those."
"N-no."
"Oh. My. Goodness. Tsk, tsk."
Lloyd let out a sigh and shook his head in disbelief, causing Sir Giolexius to feel a bit cheated for some reason.. He thought he may have been a little naïve in the way he took care of himself in the workplace. It felt as though he could have been deprived of benefits that were rightfully his. And Lloyd was quick to notice the change of looks on the hell's knight's face like a witty guy he was. He continued to entice the hell's knight with sugar- coated words.
"That's just wrong. He did you wrong."
"I..."
"I know how you feel. You feel cheated. You're disappointed. After all the trouble you went through to carry out the missions you were given, too. The feeling that you were just being used and abused like an expendable tool. But let me tell you what."
"Wh-what?"
"Your feelings are not wrong."
“...”
"Every human... even if you're not one, has some kind of rights even if you work for someone else. Even if you receive a fat paycheck every month, you still have the right to receive the benefits that are supposed to be given."
"P-paycheck?"
"Hold up."
“...”
"You're not even getting paid?"
"Th-the knight from hell does not fight for money, but for honor-"
"Screw your honor. There's no such thing as dignity or pride without actual monetary means to back them up."
“...”
"What. The. Hell. Even if you love putting in extra efforts to make your organization grow, you must take at least minimum wage! From what you told me, you work all day and all night without taking a break, meals or lodging benefits, vacation, insurance, or pay! The king of hell absolutely cheated you!"
"D-don't you dare say stuff like that against my liege!"
"Yeah, yeah. I know he's your liege, and I know he brainwashed you to believe that he has the right to exploit you because he's the king."
“...”
"Really? You call someone like that your liege? What do you think, Javier?" Lloyd took a glance at Javier, who immediately understood what he was trying to get at and replied.
"That's the worst kind of liege any honorable knight could have."
"You think so, too?"
"Yeah. I am a knight in your service as well, but I get my pay and benefits from you, my lord."
"Of course you do, because those are your rights as someone that works for anyone."
"I agree with you."
“...”
Lloyd and Javier passed around the basketball like prime Golden State Warriors looking for the open man to shoot, causing Sir Giolexius to anxiously pout. He had never doubted that it was his duty to offer his king and liege blind loyalty and selfless efforts. He wanted to refute Lloyd's claims undermining his honor and pride that he had worked so hard to build, for the lack of monetary compensation or benefits. But he couldn't. His heart still demanded absolute faith in the king of hell, but a small fragment of rationality in him was whispering to his ears.
I...
The hell's knight had been mistreated, but still gave his one hundred percent to serve the king of hell, who had been, in fact, using his loyalty to his advantage.
"I..."
As soon as Sir Giolexius came to this realization, his entire body twitched in both mental and physical agony. He bled from his mouth as he struggled to reply.
"Perhaps there is a little bit of truth in what you say."
"Tsk, Tsk. I know how difficult it is to acknowledge this, but you've done well."
"N-no... Perhaps I've known this somewhere deep inside my heart for a long time."
"It's okay. You've been through a lot, being mistreated and exploited."
"Ugh... Why did I...?"
"Tsk, tsk. Stop crying, dude. You didn't do anything wrong."
"B-but I..."
"It's really okay. Think about it. How is it even your fault? All you did was try to offer your everything to make things better for your employer. There's nothing wrong with doing your absolute best in a given situation. It's his fault to have taken advantage of your good heart and exploited you."
"D-do you think so?"
"Absolutely."
It was that moment Lloyd knew the hell's knight had been swayed to his cause. He was definitely ready to open up his heart and share the little secrets he had been reluctant to share. After winning him over completely, the information about the king of hell was going to be finally given. Lloyd clenched his fist with confidence at the sign of success, maintaining the compassionate look on his face and nodding empathetically at the troubled hell's knight. He added in a soft, gentle voice.
"Be proud of yourself. Lift up your chin, because you are a good and honorable man. You do not deserve to work for a scoundrel like him."
"Th-then..."
"You want to know what you need to do now, then. You have no idea what you're supposed to do now."
“...”
"Perhaps I can tell you. Do you want to hear?"
Sir Giolexius nodded with a heavy heart. It was time for Lloyd to seal the deal with a final move.
"It's simple. Let's write up a contract."
Flap! Lloyd took out a contract that he had drafted in advance from his inner pocket, addressing the shift hours, meal and lodging, benefits including vacation and insurance, and monetary compensation in detail. It was a real, official work contract.
