Chapter 303

Chapter 303. Knight Order…? (3)

“Haa.”

Cheonggwi, a blue-skinned man and also Ryanga’s right-hand man, had been sighing frequently as of late.

Did he perhaps have some worry? No, that wasn’t it.

Cheonggwi, by nature, didn’t tend to worry too much.
And even if he did have a problem, he was the type to resolve it simply by acting.

So perhaps he was going through something difficult? Yes, that was it.

Right now, something had happened that was a bit difficult to endure, even for Cheonggwi.
Although ironically, the cause did not lie with him.

“Brother, can I go in now?”

“How should I know? You go in if you want.”

“I went in last time. You go in this time!”

“No way! I don’t want to be turned into pulp by going in there!”

Cheonggwi turned his head toward the commotion nearby.

He saw several men whispering among themselves with expressions of absolute terror.

Not just them. Those who would normally be inside the hideout had all come outside.
Seeing that, Cheonggwi’s sigh became even deeper.

The reason why the subordinates of the King of the Hundred Ghosts were outside:
It was because of Historia, who had come yesterday to see Ryanga.

…Or, to be more exact:

From the moment Historia conveyed the news she brought to the King of the Hundred Ghosts, she had remained in a depressed mood until today.

And depressed to a level where, if someone made a simple comment or mistake, she would smash their head into the ground without hesitation.

That was why all the subordinates had escaped outside to avoid the King of the Hundred Ghosts seeing them.

‘…Wouldn’t it be easier to simply go look for him?’

Honestly, from Cheonggwi’s point of view, the King of the Hundred Ghosts’ reaction was incomprehensible.

He didn’t know exactly what kind of relationship his leader had with this Marquis Palatio—whom she called “her Justification.”

But if she wanted to see him, why didn’t she just go find him?
He couldn’t understand why she didn’t do something so obvious.

‘Well… I think I heard a rough explanation, but…’

Cheonggwi turned his attention back to the voices of the subordinates arguing nearby.

“Hey, airhead, didn’t you listen yesterday? *He* has to be the one to come, because if *she* goes, it’s meaningless!”

“But if the boss wants to see him, wouldn’t it be easier if she just went?”

“It doesn’t matter if she goes or he comes, they meet either way, right?”

“What? The boss!?”

“I guess it’s something like… a fairy tale princess type thing.”

A horned subordinate laughed scornfully.

As if what he had just heard didn’t match his boss at all, he shook his head in denial, but then he remembered something and—

“Ah, right. I think I saw the boss murmuring something on a cliff the other day… What was it? Something like ‘now I am his—'”

He didn’t get to finish.

BOOOOOOM!

An explosion resounded.

The two who were chatting stood staring stupidly to the side.

There was the subordinate, his head buried in the cliff and his body trembling.

“…Well, yes, it’s understandable to want that, uh-huh, uh-huh. Totally.”

“Sure, sure—when it’s someone important, it happens.”

Ryanga, who looked at them after understanding the situation, rolled her eyes as if annoyed, and suddenly disappeared.

Only when she vanished completely,

Did the two subordinates let out a sigh of relief and immediately covered their mouths, looking around nervously.

Cheonggwi watched them and thought, shaking his head:

‘What kind of person is that Justification for her to be like this…?’

Since the King of the Hundred Ghosts heard the news that her Justification had died and then returned to life, every time the slightest topic related to him came up, she exploded hysterically.

But since Historia came, that hysteria had gotten even worse.

“…It’s over. Today there will be one hundred percent…”

“Another punishment battle?”

“Aaaaaah…”

The desperate voices of the subordinates reached his ears.

The punishment battle.

That was the name they gave to the training where the boss fought alone against the entire King of the Hundred Ghosts group.

…Of course, in reality, it was nothing more than the boss venting stress using her subordinates as punching bags.

“Should we bring him ourselves?”

“If we keep doing battles like this for days, I feel like we’re actually going to die…”

“Kidnap him and bring him—”

“Kidnap him? Do you really want to die?”

Listening to the subordinates’ laments, Cheonggwi seemed to think of something and finally sighed deeply as he stood up.

“Sigh…”

Everyone looked at him at the same time.

“Huh?”

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t tell me… are you going to run away?”

The atmosphere became a bit agitated.

“I will bring him.”

Cheonggwi said decisively.

“Oooh, really…!?”

“But don’t say anything to the boss. If she finds out I was the one who brought him, I don’t know what might happen.”

He waved a hand and looked into the distance.

‘The Marquis Palatio’s mansion… It was in the Kingdom of Asteria, right?’

He aligned the direction mentally.

“Please bring him, we really beg you.”

“Please…”

“We trust you, Vice-Leader…”

Taking advantage of the fact that the boss wasn’t watching, the subordinates, hidden within the forest, gestured encouragement to him as he discreetly left the territory.

Cheonggwi let out a hidden sigh.

‘…At least so that some of us can survive.’

Giving a brief mental bow to his subordinates who would continue serving as punching bags, he began to move toward the Palatio mansion.

—

After finishing the candidates’ interviews,

Some extra tests to select knights took place, but Alon didn’t get too involved anymore.

The reason was Deus.

Deus suddenly volunteered to help with the selection exams, which gave Alon some free time.

That was why, over the last few days, Alon didn’t do anything important and enjoyed a quiet rest.

“The exams have concluded.”

“I was actually worried, thank you for helping.”

Deus was returning after concluding the evaluations.

“It is nothing. It is an honor to be able to assist in the Marquis’s plan.”

“So do you plan to return to Caliban now?”

“Not yet. I still have things to do.”

“…Things to do?”

Deus nodded as if it were obvious.

“They will be the knights of your lands, so they must receive rigorous education. I thought of training them myself before leaving.”

“…My lands?”

Alon was confused for a moment, but then he understood.

They were the group that would take charge of the territory of Shinto (Divine Land); he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Well… thinking about it, that makes sense.”

“Yes. I will train them so well that they can defeat the Caliban Knight Order without difficulty.”

“…’Can’, you say?”

That the knights were strong was good.

But… was it really necessary for them to be *that* strong to protect Shinto (Divine Land)?

Still, he didn’t see any sense in rejecting the offer either.

“I leave it to you.”

Alon nodded, and Deus replied:

“Yes, and I will also be ready for when it is necessary.”

With an extremely reliable expression, he gave a firm bow and left the office before Alon could say anything else.

‘…Ready for what…?’

Alon just watched him leave in confusion.

—

“I’m back, My Lord.”

“You came?”

Just after Deus left, Evan entered, interrupting Alon’s thoughts.

“I seem to be in a good mood, huh?”

“You?”

“Yes.”

Evan reflected for a second and then shrugged.

“Well—up until now I haven’t had much to do, you know. Anywhere.”

“…True.”

“But now that I have work again, I feel more motivated. In the end, I was a mercenary leader, right? This organizing and managing stuff suits me well.”

Alon nodded without realizing.

Certainly, someone like Evan might have felt a bit displaced.

“I’m glad you’re feeling good.”

“By the way, did you hear the report yet?”

“I only heard about Deus training a bit more.”

“Then let me complete it.”

Evan began his report.

Alon was listening quietly when—

“In total, after the three tests, we selected 50 knights and around 600 soldiers.”

He was left with a perplexed expression.

“…How many?”

Evan blinked, equally confused.

“…Excuse me?”

“How many people did you say?”

“50 knights and 600 soldiers.”

“…Isn’t that too many?”

“This? Not at all, it’s little.”

“L… little?”

“Of course. Think about it. To protect Shinto (Divine Land), that amount is necessary at a minimum.”

If he thought about it, it made sense.

But Alon had a point he wanted to object to:

‘…I didn’t intend to protect Shinto so soon.’

In the place where he planned to establish Shinto, there was absolutely nothing yet, so he planned to start with about ten knights to see if what Rine had explained to him occurred.

That is, he was going to start very small.

But now that they had already been selected, he couldn’t go and fire them all.

“Well… I guess.”

Alon conceded.

“Exactly. Besides, for any of the plans you have in mind, you need this at a minimum.”

“Plans…?”

Alon thought: ‘Did I have something like that?’

In his head, there was only doing a small experiment, but saying “I don’t have any plan” after getting this far sounded weird.

“…Yes, I suppose.”

He replied, though without much conviction.

But even so:

‘No matter how I think about it, 50 knights and 600 soldiers is too many to protect an empty site…’

But after thinking about it a second more:

‘Well, let’s say they got a little ahead of themselves.’

He left that topic aside.

“Ah, and Marquis, I was just going to mention to you: Yutia came to look for you.”

“…Yutia?”

Evan gave him that new piece of news, and Alon moved immediately.

—

“Yutia?”

“Hello, Master. How have you been?”

There was Yutia, with her usual soft smile.

“I’ve been well, but… what did you come for so suddenly?”

Although he was happy to see her, Alon went straight to the point.
She got closer to him and said:

“I had some business near here, and also something I wanted to consult with you.”

Then she looked sneakily at the green insignia on his chest, and moved her hand toward it.

“Ah, Master. You will have to put it on again.”

“…Again?”

“Yes, it seems the clasp fell off.”

Yutia removed the insignia naturally and put it in Alon’s hand.

“?”

Alon frowned.

‘I’m sure it was perfectly fastened this morning.’

The button holding it had disappeared, which was strange.

But even so—

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

He put the insignia in his pocket, without noticing that Yutia’s gaze did not leave his hand.

“Where were you, Master?”

“I was going to the garden.”

“Then it will be perfect to talk there.”

“…Alright.”

Yutia seemed to be in a better mood than usual.

She even seemed to be humming.