====== Who is Maple’s First and Last Knight? ====== //Subtitle// **Aim:** Who is Maple’s First and Last Knight?\\ Everyone knows. You should know. Not? … Let's call him Bob, then. Bob was a big boy, he was. You see that tree there? Yes, the one with a bloody house on it. No, not the secret base. The whole house, the one your alchemist lives in. Bob’s belt could wind around that trunk three turns and still have more to spare to put you in! Albeit two-thirds are about his belly, Bob had a — wholesome figure. Not? Oh, he was no slowpoke. The other third is his quickwitted sentiments. Always there to forbear her mishaps. A rare benign man to find for a knight, or so you called him. Not? Nay he was no strongest sword nor the sharpest tool. Many more after him suited those roles better. Bob merely needs to be there to cushion her falls. And did she fall alright… Falling… Falling… Many times, Bob catches her. Doesn’t let her slip through his fingers, doesn’t slip too far. And then lifts her back up. What? Fighting her battles? Not the type of knight you were hoping for? Not? You’ve misunderstood. Bob was not her strongest spear, nay. Maple needed no spear or sword. What she needed was a guardian. She eventually did need a spear, but it became her own undoing. Not? That fabled strongest spear of Maple. Not? An immovable wall welcoming an unstoppable force. The shield that repels all and the spear that pierces through all. Their meeting was banal. Not? The result? Mutual destruction. Assimilated from reality. Evading the paradox. //That’s cheating! — Yeah! That doesn’t answer anything!// Ultimately, the shield and spear themselves matter little. What is of concern is the thing the spear intended to destroy, and the shield was meant to protect. If the thing perishes, the spear wins. If the thing lives, the shield wins. //So, what happened to the girl?// //She fell into a chamber in the world, into a deep, deep slumber.// Forever in stasis until the spear and the shield have their qualities proven otherwise. That is where she is now, isn’t it? Resting in **The Citadel**? Not? OI! What did I tell you!? Stop talking to that man! He’s just an old fool! Go home, NOW! Everyone knows that the First and Final Knight was the betrayer!