Chapter two : The Sword of the Holy Knight

Liones Kingdom, Capital city of Liones.
One month ago.

"Please, open the door !"
"Your Majesty, there's no point in resisting !"
"You have nowhere to run !"
"Your Majesty !" At the screams and orders from the Holy Knights, your adoptive father grabs both you and Elizabeth by the shoulders and pulls you away from him.
"Elizabeth, ___, you must flee." He looks straight into your eyes and order you. Elizabeth shakes her head and grabs his shirt. "We won't escape alone, father."
"Come with us !" You plead at him with tears threatening to spill from your eyes.
"I will be okay..."
"But-" You tried to convince him again, if you and Elizabeth tried, maybe you could be able to carry him and take him to safety.
"Hurry, before the Holy Knights come." He looked at Elizabeth, knowing her personality, she'd understand that you needed to leave immediately, and she'd make sure you were safe and sound. She looked at you, and put her hand on your shoulder. You then nodded your face at your father, defeated, and started crawling into the tunnel you had found in the room, Elizabeth trailing behind you.

This is a tale of ancient times... an era before the human and non-human worlds were forever divided. When the Holy Knights defended the realm wielding their magical powers, they were feared and highly respected. But among them, a group emerged that betrayed the kingdom and become mortal enemies to all Holy Knights. They were known throughout the land...as "The Seven Deadly Sins".

You and Elizabeth were laying on the bed in the room the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins had kindly given you. You watched the landscapes happily, glad to have finally started your journey.
"Elizabeth ! ___ ! Come downstairs for a moment !"
You couldn't believe it. You had really found him, the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, and he was going to help you save the kingdom. You stood up and followed your sister downstairs. Once you got here, the blond handed each of you a change of clothes. However, when you put them on, they weren't exactly what you'd wear on a daily basis, but you would never complain to someone that had kindly helped you. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had no problem explaining her dislike of the clothes, it was a short, skimpy uniform that displayed your bodies.

"Um... what is this outfit for again ?" You asked nervously biting your fingernails.
"It's the Boar Hat's uniform !" He gave you a thumbs up happily while Hawk apologized.
"I'm sorry, that's just a way to put his pervert taste on display."
"You want us to collect info on the Seven Deadly Sins while we wait on tables, right ?" Elizabeth asked him, already on edge after only a few minutes wearing the uniform.
"Info on the Holy Knight would come in handy too." Meliodas' voice came out muffled, and you looked down to see him under your skirt. "Relax... I'm just conducting a size check." He stood back up when the pig hit him across the face and started biting at his cheeks.
"You creep ! We've got girls coming to bring in customers, and you're just gonna scare them off !" After calling everyone down, you turned to Meliodas in hope he's answer some of your questions.

"Excuse me, Sir Meliodas ?" He hummed and looked at you, along with Elizabeth and Hawk. "There's something I would like to ask you. Are the Seven Deadly Sins... are you guys really as ruthless and bloodthirsty as the country says ? And if you are, what terrible crimes are you guilty of ?"
"What crimes, huh ?" He rubbed at his chin with his hands, eyes looking around as if he was actually thinking.
"I believe the people have the wrong idea about you, I mean, you saved Ellie and me when you didn't even know who we were."
"To be honest with you, ten years ago, I travelled all across Liones to get my hand on every panty I could find."
"You're joking right ?!" You deadpanned, not believing a word he had just said.
"I am. I actually groped the boobs of over a thousand women." He scratched the back oh his head while looking to the side. Your hands flew to your mouth from the shock.
"Boobs ? Seriously ?" Elizabeth almost laughed at how stupid he sounded while you were quite worried about all those women.
"Are you serious ?!"
"I'm not."
"Stop toying with me ! Please !" You gained your composure back. "Or is it that the crimes you've committed are so awful you can't even speak of them ?"

"Wel- watch out !" The Boar Hat shook, making you lose your balance, but thankfully-or not- Meliodas had managed to catch you before you could fall, however, his head had landed right in between your breasts.
"Stop it !" Elizabeth yelled, making you jump.

"Oh, we're here !" Meliodas ignored her and pointed at the window. "This is where we'll get our next information, Vanya Village !" All four of you stepped out of the tavern, and off of Hawk's mom before watching her lower herself into the ground. You started walking around the village, listening to Meliodas' ranting.
"I get ale from all around the kingdom, but Vanya's is unique. Vanya Ale is made from what they say is the best water in the kingdom and the gruit that grows near the river. Everyone loves it."
"Maybe, but the river has gone bone dry." Hawk looked under the small bridge you were crossing and sighed.
"The herbs withered that grew along the source have totally withered." You stated worriedly and Elizabeth followed.
"What's going on ?"

As you continued to walk into the village, you could see more people in one point, so you walked faster.
"Ellie, look at all the people ! Do you suppose there's a festival going on ?"
"Yo !" Meliodas greeted them with a shake of his hand, and you guess he was familiar with these people because they recognized him as the owner of the Boar Hat. "What festival is this ?"
"That look like a festival to you ? We're trying to pull out the sword of a Holy Knight from the ground." One of the many angered villagers complained.
Elizabeth turned to you, thinking. "A Holy Knight stuck his sword into the ground ?"
"But, why ?" An elder man walked to your group and stopped next to you.
"The other day, we incurred the wrath of a powerful Holy Knight. He infused his sword with mana and jabbed it into the ground, thus sealing off all the groundwater source under our village."
"If we don't do something soon, we will lose our water, as well as our gruit !" One villager said, sweating from the effort it took them to attempt to remove the sword from the ground.
"If that happens, then, there won't be any more Vanya Ale !"
"A Holy Knight ? Wait, could it possibly be the one you defeated ?" You turned to Meliodas.
"That Twigo guy ? He's no Holy Knight." You gasped, surprised that such a strong man wasn't an actual knight. "Or, you could say the real ones are a lot worse than him."
"Right now, only the power of a Holy Knight could remove that sword. I'll be quite hard to break the news to everyone, but I fear this village is done for."
"No !" Elizabeth was about to say something to Meliodas, but before she could, a kid walked towards the crowd.

"Ey. What's with all this pathetic moaning and groaning ?" Apparently he was famous in the village as a few villagers screamed his name. "Some wack Holy Knight's sword stuck in the ground is nothing ! If my friends the Seven Deadly Sins were here, they'd remove it in an instant !"
"Stop it Mead ! Whose fault is it that were in this mess in the first place ?! Of all the nonsense you could say, why would you bring up those criminals ?!" An elderly woman scolded him. Soon enough, everyone was getting angry at the little boy.
"She's right, don't make the Holy Knight any angrier !"
"Do you have a grudge against us ?!"
"No... come on... it's not why I did it !"
"We've all had it with your lies and mischief !" All of a sudden, a young girl ran to him and threw a stone. But instead of hitting the young boy like she'd intended, it landed on the blond's face. You put your hands on your mouth in shock while Elizabeth turned her head to the side to hide her laugh.
"I hate you guys !"
"Yeah ? Well we all hate you even more !" A group of kids came with more rocks and started aiming at Mead, but every stone that was thrown only hit Meliodas. So, to avoid getting for trash thrown at him, he grabbed the kid by the shoulders, and quickly led him away.
"You jerks ! You're mean ! Mean jerks !" The kid continued to complain as he was being taken away.
"Why are they hitting me ?"
"Stop it ! All of you !" The man from earlier scolded the village.

"Jeez, talk about bad timing to visit." Hawk sneered watching his friend running away.

"He doesn't mean any harm, he's an honest and earnest kid." You decided to stay behind and ask the elder about Mead, and what had happened that would lead to a Holy Knight jamming his sword into the ground, knowing it would cut the water, and thus stop them from working. He told you all about Mead, how he got everyone used to being pranked, but it wasn't because he was mean, he just wanted to make friends. He finally told you that the reason why the Holy Knight acted this way was because
Mead threw a big in his ale goblet. You, Hawk, and Elizabeth headed back to the tavern, in hope to talk with the kid.

You walked inside the tavern, making the bells above the door ring.
"Hey guys." You bent down, so you could meet Mead's eyes.
"Mead, I heard you're quite a prankster in the village." Your hands were on your hips, and it almost looked like you were scolding him.
"The headman told me all about you."
He turned to your sister. "What's with you ? Who do you girls think you are ?"
When Elizabeth glared at him, he stopped complaining and listened. She kneeled next to him and grabbed you by the shoulder to bring you down too.
"When we were little, we used to get scolded by our father all the time because of all the pranks we played."
"So what ?"
"He wasn't our real father, so we really just wanted his attention. One time, this one claimed the tallest tree in our gardens to try and scare us. And when he saw her, I'd never seen him so scared. He didn't want me to hurt myself, so he climbed all the way up by himself. This man that had never climbed a tree before... surely enough, he fell down and hurt himself." She noticed your head dropping, and quickly added. "Though thankfully it wasn't anything serious."
"I still remember it so vividly. If he had died that day..."
"Well, I don't lie and stuff just to annoy people, either."
"Will you tell us about it ?" You stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"My...my parents were travelers. And when we stopped at Vanya a few years ago, they both died in an epidemic. But the village people took me in and raised me like I was their own. I was so happy, but I knew that I wasn't anybody's real family. After some time, I got so jealous of everybody for having what I didn't." His tears suddenly fell down his cheeks, and it seemed like they couldn't stop so he rubbed them away with his forearm. "So I just started lying, and pranking everyone..."

"Is that why you put the big in the Holy Knight's goblet ?" Elizabeth softly asked. Mead slammed his hands on the table, shaking the plate and cutlery that he had previously used.
"No ! I did that 'cause he treated everybody like crap ! Everyone, kids and adults go through a lot of troubles to make the best ale every time ! And he just disrespected them ! All Holy Knights are just no good bastards !"
"What about you saying you're friends with the Seven Deadly Sins ?" Meliodas asked taking a sip of his ale.
"That wasn't true..."
"Oh. I gotta tell you, my hopes were up a little." Elizabeth looked at him in confusion.
"But... why would you lie about that ?"
"Well, if the Holy Knights are the bad guys, and they're after the Seven Deadly Sins, doesn't that make them the good guys ?" You and Hawk turned to look at Meliodas who looked as confused as you and just muttered a "What ?".

The sound of a crowd arguing took you by surprise, it came from outside the tavern, so you guessed it was the townspeople trying to get the sword out again.
"That's coming from the village !" Mead sprinted towards the door, and ran to his friends.
You all followed after him, and you saw two knights taunting the crowd, who was apparently going to get punished if they didn't pull the sword out before nightfall. Mead unexpectedly grabbed the handle of the weapon and started pulling, ignoring the complaints from the villagers.
"That's enough ! Who was it that insulted us as ale makers ? Was it Mead ? Of course not ! Haven't his actions always reflected exactly what we all felt ?" The headman stopped them from getting angrier at the boy. The same woman that had scolded Mead earlier walked up to him and put her hands on top of his.
"Auntie ?"
"He's right. You're not the one to blame." The men of the village walked up to the two and patted the boy on the shoulders.
"It's twenty now ! Twenty !" Threatened the knights shakily.
"Just leave it to us, Mead." They noticed he wasn't bulging, and everyone got around to tie ropes to the handle and pull together to remove it. The two knights cackled, sitting on top of the well.

"Look at them ! It's not even budging !"
"We'll have more of that cheap stuff of yours !"
"Come out !" They pulled harder. "Damn it ! Come out !" Mead screamed so hard his throat started to hurt.
The knights laughed harder, and as they were about to clink their mugs together to toast, they were ripped from their hands by Meliodas.

"People who can't appreciate good booze don't deserve to drink it." The ropes ripped and all the villagers faltered before tumbling to the floor. He drank the remaining ale from both cups and set them down onto the ground. "That hit the spot ! I don't have money on me at the moment, so is it okay if I pay like this ?" And with one swing of his arm, the sword was out of the ground.
"It's impossible ! Only a Holy Knight could pull it out !"
"Wait, what's that noise ?" The water that had been blocked by the sword was now set free to flow, and it sent the two knights flying away, with the joy of the village.
"You can have that back." Meliodas dropped the sword in front of the two kneeling knights, who were quick to get back on their feet and run away.
"He's amazing..." You whispered to yourself, but your sister noticed, and smiled at you, before looking at the blonde man once again.
"That's the power of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, ___"
"Hang on, mister, are you really..." Mead asked hesitantly to Meliodas. He turned back to him and proudly pointed at himself.
"Yep ! I'm the proud owner of the finest drinking establishment to have ever existed ! The Boar Hat !"
"Hey... that's not what I meant." The boy pouted, but soon stopped when Meliodas bent to his level.
"Enough about me. Don't you have something left to do ?" He nodded his head in the direction behind Mead, and when the boy turned around, the entire village was here.
"Mead, what we did was wrong. Can you ever find it in yourself to forgive us ?" The headman spoke for all of the villagers.
"What right do I have to forgive you ? I'm not even one of you..." Meliodas pushed Mead towards his neighbors.
"Go on." He spoke softly.
"What the hell ? What do you mean; go on ?" He dropped his head. "I don't... understand..."
You smiled as all the villagers called out for their friend.

"Mead."

"Mead !"

"Mead!" Said boy let out a sob and jumped into the arms of the elderly headman, who happily hugged him back.
"You can lie to yourself all you want, but you can't fool to your heart." As soon as Meliodas spoke that sentence, both his and Elizabeth's smiles dropped. You looked at them worriedly, but they soon smiled again when they noticed you looking at them.

"I'm... I'm not sure if I'll be good at it... it's my first time doing something like this. My heart is pounding so fast." You looked down ashamed that you had never worked before and were always given everything.
"Ah. I see, it's your first time. Could you try to say it again ? One more time." He got closer to you. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him and grabbed her own tray to get to work.
"What are you so hot and bothered about ?" Hawk drop sweated from below the counter.
"Well, don't worry about gathering info today. Just focus on your waitressing. The important thing is to relax while you're out there."
"Right ! I'll be relaxed then !" Your first order went awful, you dropped the mug right on the head of one of the customers. "Sorry ! I'm really, truly so sorry !" Thankfully, he was really nice and understanding and told you not to worry about it. "You didn't order this ? Then whose is it ?" Another customer raised his hand, and everything was going well until you tripped, and his meat pie ended up splattered all over his face.
"Looks like you'll have plenty of scraps tonight, Hawk." Elizabeth snickered, filling her tray with more drinks for a table.
"You've never waitressed before, have you ? Even a blind man could tell. You're totally lame at it !" Mead teased you when you leaned on the wall, right next to the door.
"Mead, don't start talking big again ! Haven't you learned anything from today ? If you get to full of yourself I'll leave you in the Forest of White Dreams."
"No ! Not there !"
"What's the Forest of White Dreams ?" You asked the woman.
"It's a spooky forest that even Holy Knight fear to enter !" Mead answered panicked, he turned back