Roland had no interest at all regarding clothing designs and material. If it wasn’t for the seamstress aunty who saw how handsome he was and had obstinately roped him into measurements while she discussed the design to herself, I think he would have just left with the words “Three sets of warrior clothes. Here is the deposit.” and then vanished without a trace.
However, what I didn’t expect was that even the weapon shop didn’t trigger Roland’s interest at all. He only picked up a metal sword disinterestedly. But thinking about it, apart from emitting an aura of darkness, Roland’s magical sword was also at a level of sharpness that was rarely seen. With that, how could he ever show interest in a sword that could be bought in a normal weapon shop?
In the end, the dessert shop took up the majority of our time. Just the lollipops bought by Pink took up two big bags and out of that the strawberry lollipops filled up half of one of them. In the end, waiting for the strawberry shortcake that was nearly baked and hot from the oven did not leave us with enough time to go to the doll shop.
Before we returned to the little cottage, Pink began to whine like a spoiled child. “Doll shop, let’s go to the doll shop! Just a little while will do.”
Unhappily, I said, “Let’s go there next time! My transformation’s time limit is almost up and if this continues on, I’m going to be sucked dry by the Dragon’s Saint Brigandine.”
“Who says you will? You survived last time after bleeding so much. You’re more difficult to kill than an undead creature…”
After giving Pink a roll of my eyes, I didn’t pay her any more attention. I switched to talking to Roland. “Today’s time wasn’t enough, next time I’ll take you to more interesting places.”
Roland nodded. “Being able to go out is already pretty good.”
I don’t know whether we are accompanying Roland out or Pink out today… Looks like next time I will have to think properly about where to bring Roland to, lest he feels bored.
After bidding farewell to the two of them, I maintained my Sun Knight smile as I walked. As expected, I was the center of attention no matter where I went, even if this was a street that was considered extremely deserted in the city. However, the looks that everyone was giving me seemed to be a bit strange. Could it be that my clothes were unkempt somehow? I looked down hurriedly and saw a black leotard and silver armor… I had forgotten to terminate the transformation!
No wonder everyone was staring at me. With this kind of get-up, no matter where you go you’ll be seen as a suspicious character. What was the person thinking when he first designed this outfit? If an assassin dressed like this, could he even conduct an assassination? This outfit is even more eye-catching than my glistening Sun Knight armor!
My lord, your servant is an outfit meant for night movement. Although it is very conspicuous in the daytime, it has an excellent cloaking effect in the night.
I was stunned for a moment, but I soon after remembered that it was the Dragon’s Saint Brigandine talking. I comforted myself by murmuring, “It isn’t that my memory is bad; nobody would get used to their own clothes speaking, right? Dragon’s Saint Brigandine, if there isn’t anything extremely importantly, please don’t speak. You caused me to be startled.”
Yes, my lord. Your servant shall not dare to do so from now on.
Why does it feel like I’m bullying Dragon’s Saint Brigandine…? Leaving that matter aside for a minute, first I needed to find a place to terminate the transformation. If I didn’t, I was going to suffer a massive loss of blood.
I glanced all around, looking for a place to transform back. Instead, I saw in the far distance the Sun Knight Platoon walking in my direction. I hurriedly ducked into a dimly lit alley. I waited until they had grandly walked past and entered a tavern, then walked out from the dimly lit area and tilted my head to look towards the building.
“A good Captain shouldn’t investigate his subordinates’ private matters… But then again, when have I been a good Captain?”
After rationalizing in my head that I was definitely not a good Captain, I found a place where there was no one around, quickly scaled the wall to the tavern’s roof, and then started searching for my platoon members. Without spending a lot of energy I found them in the tavern’s private room. Thankfully, the tavern was constructed of wood, and the noise created by the customers outside was muffled. This allowed me to use my dagger to cut a small, rectangular hole in the roof without much effort and use it to spy on my platoon members.
I put my eye to the opening and, as expected, I saw my twenty-five platoon members sitting at a long table. My vice-captain, Adair, was even sitting at the spot of the host and on the table there was quite a bit of a spread.
Damn it, it smells really good!
“What should we do Adair? We can’t find the chance to carry out our plan and attack!”
Attack? Who are they going to attack? I furrowed my brows.
“Should we report this to the Captain? The Captain may not know about this matter…”
Adair shook his head, replying, “No way. Since the Captain has already handed it over to us, then no matter what happens, we still have to do it ourselves. Don’t tell me you guys have already forgotten what was the first teaching that the Captain gave us?”
One by one the members looked at each other with a bitter smile and then replied in union, “If I tell you to jump down a cliff, you have to jump down. Otherwise, I’ll push you down and then push a giant rock down to accompany you!”
After they finished, the platoon members laughed themselves into hysterics. One of them nudged the comrade beside him, laughing as he said, “Ed, how’s the feeling of being pushed down a cliff and then having a giant rock following you down?”
The platoon member called Ed gave a bitter smile. With a sigh he said, “To think that at first, no matter who it is, Captain will give them such a radiant smile. He looks as though his temper is so good that even if you step on his head twice, he won’t be angry. But the truth is that if you’re not humble enough to let him step on your head twice, then you’re dead meat!”
“Well said!” the other platoon members cheered loudly.
What a bunch of nonsense; I don’t have any interest in stepping on other people’s heads! The person who spoke is called Ed, right? You better watch out, I’ll remember you!
At that moment, Adair hastily said, “Don’t say it like that. The Captain is still quite nice; it’s just that he is stricter with us, the Sun Knight Platoon…”
All of the platoon members simultaneously turned their heads to look at him.
Adair revealed an expression of helplessness, and he added on, “And also stricter with those who have provoked him…”
Everyone raised their eyebrows in unison, as though asking Adair how he could lie through his teeth without even changing his expression.
Adair couldn’t help but admit, “Fine, he is also stricter to others who may potentially provoke him in the future… But no matter what you say, you can’t refute the point that the Captain is loyal!”
“That is indeed true.” The members all nodded their heads.
Hehe, luckily you guys nodded your heads, if not… Hmph! Actually daring to talk bad about me behind my back? All of you better watch out, I shall remember this!
One platoon member sneezed, and then looked left and right suspiciously. “Why is it suddenly a bit cold?”
“I think so too. Let’s shut the windows.”
Ed slammed his fist down onto the table and the said disdainfully, “That fellow Jacques didn’t even dare to accept Adair’s challenge to duel with him one on one. To think that he’s a high-ranking knight!”
Jacques? I frowned. Who is that? Could it be that he is Adair’s enemy, so he wanted to let the Sun Knight Platoon help him seek revenge under the guise of my name?
“However, Adair, are you certain that the Captain knows that Jacques found members from the Monastery of the God of War to be his guards?”
The Monastery of the God of War? I was momentarily stunned. It can’t be. My Sun Knight Platoon members actually provoked the Monastery of the God of War whose capital is in the neighboring country? This is a little too exaggerated.
Adair answered a little helplessly, “I’m not sure if the Captain is aware of that. But, in the event that he had actually already known this and still set the order, and we fail to carry out his orders, and even go and bother him with this matter…”
Wait, wait, what does that have to do with me? I don’t know any fellow named Jacques and definitely haven’t set any orders that would strain the relationship between us and the Monastery of the God of War.
Ed suddenly wrapped his arms around his head and shouted, “Ah! Then I’d rather fight to the death with those guys from the Monastery of the God of War, so as to prevent being pushed down a cliff by the Captain and then have a giant rock accompany me.”
Hearing this, everyone started to laugh. They even began to riot and spout stuff like ‘duking it out with them’, ‘sending them home in body bags’, and ‘busting their balls’, and— Wait, wait! If I repeat any more even the God of Light will send thunder down on me and strike me dead, so as to prevent me from saying any words that might taint little children’s innocent souls.
One of the platoon members was a little worried. “But, if the Captain doesn’t know that this matter is related to the Monastery of the God of War, then doing things rashly isn’t really good, right?” he said. “Although we have stood up to quite a lot of enemies, that was all done under the Captain’s direction. If the Captain doesn’t have any intention of provoking the Monastery of the God of War, then…”
“Then we’ll all be killed off by the Captain,” Ed replied, sounding as he wanted to cry.
Hearing that, all of them became crest-fallen one by one and in the end they all looked towards their leader… Of course that wasn’t me, who was hiding on the roof top, but Adair. Adair only let his breath out in a sigh, and said helplessly, “I better go ask the Captain. Everyone, don’t do anything yet.”
“Thanks for your troubles, Adair!”
“Only you can correctly understand what the heck the Captain is talking about without any misconceptions.”
“If the Captain wants to push you down a cliff because of this, we will secretly catch you at the bottom,” Ed comforted him.
Adair said sternly, “No, no! If the Captain were to find out about you doing that, I will die an even worse death. Please, just let me fall down. If the Captain wants to push a giant rock down, remember to help him push it quickly, and choose the biggest and heaviest rock.”
The other platoon members said in realization, “Oh! Adair, you sure are crafty! If we push a giant rock down, the Captain will definitely be scared that you’ll directly go and meet the God of Light, so he will quickly heal your wounds. The captain can heal any kind of injury instantly.”
Adair started smiling, a bit embarrassed.
Oh! So I haven’t yet told my platoon members that I have learnt the technique of reviving the dead. Even if they had really gone to meet the God of Light, as long as their heads are still here, I will still be able to let them return to the world of the living.
Adair, you better be able to give me a good explanation, hmph!
Returning back to the Holy Temple, I was filled with a whole stomach’s worth of doubts. However, I didn’t know when Adair would report to me and I couldn’t possibly go over and ask him. If I did that, wouldn’t the fact that I had been eavesdropping be found out?
Luckily, I saw Storm Knight who was holding a whole stack of documents.
“Brother Storm,” I called to him.
Storm stopped in his tracks, and asked as if he was extremely used to it. “Is there anything that you want to ask, Knight-Captain Sun?”
“Have you ever heard of Jacques?”
“Jacques?” Storm asked back. “Do you mean the third son of Baron Gerland?”
The third son of Baron Gerland, so he was Jacques! I had once told Adair to beat that fellow until he was unable to open his mouth to repent.
Adair, oh Adair, I have wronged you. You are indeed, my most loyal vice-captain!
“Sun?” Storm looked at me doubtfully.
I turned my head, and said with extreme sincerity, “Brother Storm, Sun is extremely grateful that you would help me dispel my doubts. Your explanation has given Sun a moment of realization, as if the rainclouds in my mind have been dispelled to reveal the light of the sun. It is as though the God of Light has descended inside my heart, and melted an entire winter’s worth of snow.”
“If you really want to thank me, then please, don’t ever speak words of gratitude to me again. Just hearing it makes me get a headache…”
“Let me consult you regarding another question. Recently, has there been any news about people from the Monastery of the God of War coming to our country?”
“So you already knew about it.” Storm’s face darkened as he said, “The Monastery of the God of War’s people arrived yesterday. It is said that they came to attend the coronation ceremony that is going to be held later and are living in the palace’s quarters reserved specially for guests.”
I frowned. What does the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound’s coronation ceremony have to do with the Monastery of the God of War? After all, the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound is the Church of the God of Light’s capital and has never been the Monastery of the God of War’s territory.
“Such benevolent etiquette from the Monastery of the God of War is worthy for us to follow the example of.” These words of mine were secretly asking Storm, and were not just words of courtesy to congratulate.
Storm laughed coldly once. “Even the Son of the God of War is here. This etiquette may be a bit too considerate.”
The Son of the God of War is the person with the highest position within the Monastery of the God of War. It’s about the same as the Sun Knight of the Church of the God of Light, but it may be an even higher position than mine. Although I’m the head of the Holy Temple, the Pope from the Sanctuary of Light can control me. Also, to speak truthfully, if Judgment Knight were to have a power struggle with me, he wouldn’t be at a total disadvantage.
However, in the Monastery of the God of War, a priest’s place is always below a warrior. Among the warriors, the Son of the God of War is the sole authority, so that’s why there is no one who can keep him in check.
Thus, the Son of the God of War coming to the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound is as strange as the Pope and me going to the Monastery of the God of War’s capital, the Kingdom of Moon Orchids.
Storm suddenly took two steps toward me, leaned to my ear, and whispered, “The princess’s lady-in-waiting’s younger brother secretly revealed to me that the moment the Son of the God of War reached the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound, he first visited the His Majesty the king and the crown prince and then went to visit the princess. Also, the Monastery of the God of War has brought along a lot of luggage this time, and among it there are many extremely heavy and firmly locked pieces of ‘luggage’.”
Luggage? I think betrothal gifts are more like it. So the Son of the God of War wants to propose to our country’s princess!
“And Baron Gerland might not be uninvolved in this matter, for there seem to be quite a few members from the Monastery of the God of War going in and out of his house…”
“Knight-Captain Sun.”
Storm abruptly stopped and retreated a step, looking alertly at the one who had interrupted his words.
I turned towards the person with a smile and greeted them. “Knight-Captain Judgment, what a lovely evening.”
Judgment was straight to the point as he said, “His Holiness the Pope is looking for you.”
Oh, it’s about time. I nodded and replied simply, “My gratitude to Brother Judgment’s notification.”
I knocked lightly on the door of the Pope’s exclusive study. A moment later I got a reply.
“Please come in.”
Upon entering, I saw someone standing in front of the floor to ceiling window, admiring the scenery outside. I bowed respectfully. “Your Holiness the Pope.”
“Why should you address me as ‘Your Holiness’? Knight-Captain Sun, as the head of the Holy Temple, your position is equal to mine.”
“Sun does not dare to, as ‘respecting the elderly’ and ‘venerating the worthy’ are the fundamental principles of conducting oneself.” I heavily emphasized the respecting the elderly part.
Hearing that, that person turned around. His delicate and pretty face made him look like he was only fifteen or so years old and when he smiles, he looks like a youth, full of innocence.
However, this person is at least sixty years away from the four words “youth, full of innocence”. That is because this youth is the Sanctuary of Light’s Pope, the fellow whom I call the ‘damn old man’.
But don’t think that the reason why I call him a damn old man is because I’m envious of his youth. According to my teacher, when he was ten and came to attend the Sun Knight Selection, the Pope was already like this. When he was forty and about to retire, the Pope was still like this.
That also means that this damn old man’s lowest age estimation is at least sixty years old, but he insists on using magic to let himself preserve his youth.
This would be fine by itself, since even my teacher secretly uses this magic to maintain his youthful appearance. However, he had at least let his looks maintain at the age of thirty or so. Not like this damn old man, who actually makes himself look like a youth of fifteen years; he’s shameless to the extreme.
“Knight-Captain Sun, you are still as eloquent as ever.” The Pope chuckled.
“Your Holiness the Pope, you are also still as young as ever,” I said with a radiant smile.
Both of us smiled for a moment. Then the Pope’s face suddenly sunk and he used his youthful voice to shout, “Enough! There are no other people here, so let’s not talk nonsense anymore. The Monastery of the God of War is already stepping on our heads, so why are we still having internal strife?”
My smiling face disappeared in a flash as I said to him unhappily, “You still dare to say that? The crown prince purposely gave me a hard time by making me sing the Hymn of the God of Light without knowing about it beforehand. You better not blather and tell me you know nothing of this matter.”
The Pope laughed hollowly. “This is also for your own good,” he hastily explained. “Last time you gave the king a hard time and made the crown prince extremely dissatisfied towards you. If we don’t let him punish you, and satisfy the hatred in his heart, he’ll never lose his grudge against you.”
I snorted coldly. He could have first told me about it! I can play the part of an ignorant lamb very well.
“Still, did you have to really sing the whole of the Hymn of the God of Light?” The Pope furrowed his brows, but only after he walked to the teapot in the study and sat down did he helplessly say, “Originally the intention was to make you lose some face so that your reputation would be dampened. But in the end you really sang the whole of the Hymn of the God of Light, so it had the opposite effect.”
I laughed bitterly for the second time, for I couldn’t possibly explain the situation by saying that I had sung the whole Hymn of the God of Light because I hadn’t had breakfast, and had lost all rationality due to hunger.
“And now the crown prince is even more afraid of you.”
“When you were conversing with him, did you act as though you were at odd ends with me, and really wanted to triumph over me?” I asked worriedly.
“Of course.” The Pope shrugged his shoulders. “The image as per usual. The relationship between the Sanctuary of Light and the Holy Temple is turbulent, especially under the surface, and the Pope and the Sun Knight are both in open strife and veiled struggle… Do you want a cup of black tea?”
“Yes.” I nodded and asked, “Even like this, the crown prince’s doubts still haven’t been dispelled?”
As he brewed the tea, the Pope complained, “Isn’t that because you went overboard before? Even daring to force the king to step down the throne… Don’t you think that the crown prince will be afraid that you would dare to force him off the throne too?”
“How can this be the same?” I objected. “Is he not aware of what kind of personality his father has? To force his father down the throne is one matter, but to force the crown prince with his good reputation down from the throne? I wouldn’t dare to say that I could do it.”
“That is indeed true, but humans’ hearts are always very wary!” The Pope handed me my black tea and helplessly said, “Thus, he decided to suppress the Church of the God of Light.”
“And so he sought help from the Monastery of the God of War?” I received the cup of black tea, and as I sipped it, I pondered.
The Pope also poured himself some tea, and as he drank it, he explained, “Yes, the only ones whose influence can compete with ours is the Monastery of the God of War and the Cathedral of the Shadow God. However, the Cathedral of the Shadow God is far away, and their image swings towards the darkness. To our citizens who are used to the light, they are definitely unable to accept it. Thus, the crown prince chose the Monastery of the God of War.”
“Even intending to marry his only sister to the Son of the God of War?” I frowned. This could become hard to manage.
“You’re pretty well-informed. Yes, it’s exactly like that. If the princess were to marry the Son of the God of War then they would be able to expand the number of their believers in the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound legitimately,” the Pope also said worriedly.
I gasped in admiration. “The crown prince plans to shake the Church of the God of Light’s position through the believers of the God of War. He would definitely receive a lot of benefits from the Monastery of the God of War. Even so, that’s fine in itself. However, although it was plainly his doing, he pushed the responsibility onto Baron Gerland. Even Storm thought that it was the good deed of Baron Gerland. What a despicable and shameless method! Indeed, worthy of His Highness the crown prince who had been wielding power all the year round.”
The Pope rolled his eyes and said unhappily, “Stop admiring him already and hurry and think about what to do! Right now the younger generations are all young and vigorous and have already lost interest in the benevolence of the God of Light. If the faith of God of War that worships the strong came here as well, they will be converted to the worshipers of the God of War right away!
“You better not forget that consolidating believers is your main duty as the Church of the God of Light’s signboard,” he emphasized once again. “And you were the one who caused the crown prince to fear us in the first place, which is what made him cooperate with the Monastery of the God of War to try to suppress us.”
“Nonsense!” I coldly snorted. “Regardless of whether I did something or not, it was only a matter of time before the crown prince tried suppressing us. Because of that fat pig king, the palace’s reputation has plummeted to the bottom in the recent few years. This has let the Church of the God of Light’s reputation rise to an unprecedented level due to how we had always watched over the king and stopped him from messing with the national politics. Now that the crown prince has managed to ascend to the throne with much difficulty, how would he permit there to be an influence within the Kingdom that is even stronger than his?”
He immediately started mumbling, “That’s why I said, that you should have pretended to be weaker earlier. In the end, you still forced the king to resign from his position, which made the crown prince even more fearful.”
I was a bit embarrassed as I said, “Anyway, no matter whether I pretend to be weak or not, he will not give up trying to suppress us.”
The Pope said persistently, “No matter what, maintaining the Church of the God of Light’s operation is my duty, ensuring that the believers adhere to the God of Light’s rules is Judgment Knight’s duty, and consolidating believers is the Sun Knight’s most important duty! That’s why you’re responsible for resolving this incident.”
“I know.”
As it concerned the most important duty of the Sun Knight, I couldn’t help but nod my head solemnly. “However, I want your assurance that this time, no matter what I do, you won’t interfere or try to stop me,” I warned the old man.
This time, the Pope actually said straightforwardly, “It’s a deal.”
Looks like this time the incident is really grave, otherwise this damn old man wouldn’t be so straightforward. Every time something happened, he would always interfere sneakily. Even if things looked like there were only disadvantages and no advantages, he would still have a way to make a side profit out of it. Worthy indeed of the damn old man who has been maintaining the Church of the God of Light’s operation all year round.
“Right! There is another matter,” the Pope said with a grin that made me feel very uneasy. He asked with an innocent face, “Do you still remember the Hell Knight?”
“The Hell Knight is one of the Twelve Holy Knights. He is the only one who is in the ‘cruel, cold-hearted’ faction but does not obey the Judgment Knight’s orders. Instead, he is a Knight that receives orders from the Sun Knight, and is specialized in doing some secret mission that are not known to anyone. There are also some who say that he is the specialized assassin of the Twelve Holy Knights. It has been even more rumored that in the first generation of the Twelve Holy Knights, the Hell Knight was not a real person at all, but an insider identity that the Sun Knight used for secret missions.”
“Why did you explain it so clearly? I know the origin of the Hell Knight.”
“Weren’t you the one who asked me about it?” I replied, not too happily.
“I wanted to tell you that on the Hell Knight’s side, some problems have arisen.”
I raised an eyebrow and said, “The problems with the Hell Knight should have nothing to do with me, right? Though technically he is receiving orders from me, I have never seen him before. In the early days, when he was chosen to be the Hell Knight, he was already sent to be a spy in the palace by you.”
The Pope said with unmatched sincerity, “Don’t say that. He is still one of the Twelve Holy Knights that takes orders from you. From a young age he has been forced to be a spy. Now that something has gone wrong, could you bear to abandon him and just leave him to his fate?
This damn old man… He says it as though I was the one who sent Hell Knight to be a spy. Obviously you were the one who had pushed him into the fire pit! I glared at the Pope. This damn old man, don’t even try to push the responsibility onto me. Just the matter of consolidating believers has already made me troubled enough.
Both of us stared at each other, one with wide-open eyes and the other with narrowed eyes. In the end he sighed as he said, “Well then! If you don’t care about Hell, I can only sacrifice him. He has never appeared before anyways, and letting him disappear without a trace is actually the easiest way to solve the problem…”
Enraged, I roared, “Damn old man! As I have said before, whatever you want to do is none of my concern. Even if your Sanctuary of Light’s priests have all died, it is also none of my concern. However, you are definitely not allowed to touch my holy knights!”
The Pope beamed. “Then Hell’s problem?”
I fiercely growled, “Give me the way to contact Hell! And since you have pushed the problem to me, then from today on he will be mine. Don’t even think about trying to get him back!”
“This is the way it ought to be, he was originally yours after all! I guarantee that I will definitely not interfere with his matters anymore.” The Pope replied with extreme sincerity.
Ac-Actually being this clear-cut… Hell Knight’s problem must really be more than a trifle.
Speaking of which, I was really getting a headache. With the crown prince trying to suppress the Church, the Son of the God of War proposing to the princess, and Hell Knight’s problem… Why did it seem like all the troublesome matters were all squished together?
“Haha!” The Pope lifted his tea to drink leisurely and then sighed. “It’s rare to be able to see the omnipotent Sun Knight’s troubled look!”
“Things are this grave, and you still have the time and mood to be sarcastic to me,” I replied unhappily.
“Be sarcastic? This isn’t being sarcastic. No matter what happens, so long as it’s handed over into your hands, it can always be solved…”
At that moment there came an earth-shaking roar from the outside. “Sun, Sun!”
The Pope and I were both stunned, and then heard a series of loud and urgent footsteps that were drawing nearer and nearer. The Pope hurriedly brushed the tea set into the drawer of the teapot, picked up his robe, and quickly returned behind his big study desk. After using the veil on the table to cover his entire body, he sat motionlessly.
I also quickly stood in front of the big study desk and made a reverent and respectful expression, though the corner of the smile was a bit stiff.
Just then someone actually kicked the door behind me open with their foot. The door even bounced off the wall, which emitted a second loud bang. I was shocked, and even the Pope in front of me trembled.
Who is so bold as to actually kick the Pope’s door?
Turning around to look, I found it was actually Blaze Knight who has the most hot-headed personality. I lightly reprimanded him, “Blaze Knight, the Pope His Holiness is here, how could you be so rude—”
Blaze quickly interrupted me, roaring, “Your vice-captain is in danger! Hurry and go to him! He’s about to stop breathing!”
I was stunned. Adair… is about to stop breathing?!
I chased after Blaze to the front of a room’s door. As per normal, Blaze didn’t bother using his hand to open the door. After he kicked the door open with his leg, I saw one large group of knights from the Sun Knight Platoon. All of their eyes were red, and when they turned around and saw me, they started shouting, “Captain, Captain!”
“Stop ‘Captain’ing me! All of you, get out of the way!”
I shoved away two platoon members and glanced at the bed. Adair was laid out on the bed and the knight uniform on his body was stained with fresh blood. He looked pale from losing too much blood and both his eyes were shut tight. Obviously he had already lost consciousness, and his breathing was so weak that his chest was barely moving.
There’s no more time!
After a rough examination, I discovered that his main injuries were the chest, where there were three injuries caused by the sword, and his thigh, where there was one. I immediately put my hands on the injuries at his chest and thigh area separately.
“Moderate Heal!”
I chanted a short incantation and preformed a moderate heal. This level could at most heal wounds like more severe cuts and broken bones. Of course, it wasn’t enough to heal Adair’s fatal wounds, but it would at least slightly lessen his injuries and give me a little more time.
High-level heals require the user to first gather enough holy light, and then one still has to recite the incantation to convert the holy light into healing light that can heal wounds. If I were to directly start chanting high-level heals, I’m really afraid that before I could finish my incantation Adair would have already toured around God of Light’s residence.
Lowering my head, I saw that Adair’s face was still that of one who might stop breathing anytime. Immediately I executed another moderate heal, which let his breathing become slightly more obvious. It was at this point of time that I could finally concentrate on gathering holy light and started the incantation to gradually convert the pure white holy light into honey-colored healing light.
“Ultimate Heal!”
After seeing Adair open his eyes and reveal a look that seemed a little oblivious to his surroundings, I was relieved. Admittedly, even if Adair really died, there was still Resurrection to revive him—but for matters like reviving someone, it is impossible to not pay a price. Moreover, the chances of Resurrection failing are also quite high.
“Captain!”
When two platoon members supported me and Adair jumped up from the bed frantically, I realized that I had actually fallen backwards. Thankfully, the reaction speed of my Sun Knight Platoon was the real deal; if not the one lying on the bed now might change to be me.
I sighed. First is singing worships, then it’s using holy light to help Roland hide his dark aura, and now using such a high-level heal. Even if it’s me, I can’t take it.
As the two platoon members pulled me up to a standing state, I glared at Adair fiercely and roared, “You better lie down! Don’t think that just because there are no external injuries you are already fine. The fact that you have been injured has not changed. Rather than let you topple over from exhaustion by over-working yourself, I might as well hit you until you topple over now!”
Adair obediently laid down on the bed, not daring to move a muscle.
After my roar, I panted for a few moments. Then I turned my head, and called, “Blaze.”
“Ah?” Blaze looked at me, stunned and obviously frightened by my lack of elegance and smile.
I forcefully put on a smile and said, “Sun wants to handle a few ‘platoon matters’, so sorry to trouble you, but please go out for a while, and remember to help Sun close the door.”
Although Blaze was a bit hesitant, he still nodded his head. “Okay then, take care of yourself,” he said as he walked out.
Once Blaze had shut the door behind him, I immediately pulled away from the two platoon members. I walked to the chair, sat down, and then coldly said, “Now, who wants to tell me what had happened?”
“Captain…” Adair struggled to climb up from his bed.
I turned and bellowed, “Quiet! You’re not allowed to talk. If you can fall asleep, even better! Ed, come over and report.”
Hearing the command, Ed was shocked beyond belief. However, I forgave him; after all; it was the first time I had ever used his name.
Under the repeated reminders of elbows poking him, Ed finally regained his senses. “We met Jacques on the street,” he started narrating with a bit of nervousness, “and because of the order that you, Captain, set—”
“Jacques is the third son of Baron Gerland. Also, Captain didn’t set an order…” Adair hurriedly added. Midway he realized that he had been ordered to keep silent, so he quickly used both his hands to cover his mouth.
Besides Judgment, Adair also knows me quite well… If I had not laid on the rooftop listening to their conversation and then went to ask Storm who Jacques was, I wouldn’t have had any idea that Jacques was the third son of Baron Gerland.
“Ed, continue.” I tried my best to maintain an image of a cold and cruel captain.
“Because of Captain’s orders— No, no! It wasn’t Captain’s orders, it’s that, that…” Ed blurted out, unable to form a complete sentence and sweating from nervousness.
After hearing him repeat “that” for a long period of time, still unable to form a complete sentence with “that”, I could only look at Adair helplessly.
Once Adair received my eye signal, he immediately put down the hands that were covering his mouth and pleaded with much sincerity, “Captain, please allow me to say it! I really want to say it; if I don’t say it, I won’t be able to rest properly.”
I sighed once and replied while shaking my head, “It can’t be helped then. Since you want to say it so much, then I’ll let you say it.”
“Yes.” Adair nodded and started narrating with righteous indignation, “We met the third son of Baron Gerland on the streets. The moment I saw him, it immediately made me recall how he had actually used his sword to hurt our Captain and that he had even done so from behind the Captain’s back. It’s simply despicable and shameless!”
Definitely worthy of Adair who had been a vice-captain for five years; his ability to lie through his teeth can’t even be compared to other people. Although I got hurt by the sword flying from the back while escaping, Adair can turn it into it being a situation where Jacques was sneak-attacking me… Adair, you are no doubt worthy of being my vice-captain. When I chose you, I really had good judgment!
Even the other members of the Sun Knight Platoon looked at Adair with eyes of admiration, especially Ed who had been stumbling over his words and couldn’t even say half a sentence.
“Thus, I couldn’t help but request a duel with him. However, that despicable knight wouldn’t accept the duel and instead found a helper to challenge me…”
At this point, I couldn’t help but interrupt Adair’s lengthy nonsense, and demanded, “Who hurt you?”
Adair drew in a deep breath and said, “It was the Son of the God of War in person.”
I was stunned for a moment. The Son of the God of War? The fellow whose level is even higher than mine?
I found it hard to believe as I yelled, “So you agreed to it? With his higher status, requesting to duel with you is of course unreasonable. Adair, as my Vice-captain, are you really that foolish?”
Instantly, Ed indignantly protest, “It’s definitely not because Adair is foolish! Captain, it’s because—”
“Ed, don’t say it!” Adair interrupted urgently.
“Shut up! Since when was it your turn to make decisions?” I shouted angrily at Adair. I turned to roar at Ed, “Continue your words!”
“Yes,” Ed said. “It’s because the Son of the God of War said that if Adair refused to duel with him, he would challenge you, the Captain. But, but then…”
But then, anyone who has seen me holding a sword would know that swordsmanship is my biggest weakness. Although the matter of my poor swordsmanship is not widely circulated around, it is hardly a secret. As long as one inquires a little, they would be able to find out about it.
So the Son of the God of War has already heard that my swordsmanship is poor and used that to force Adair into fighting a duel in my place. But why would he want to do this? Adair is only my vice-captain, not part of the Twelve Holy knights. Even if the Son of the God of War were to defeat him, it wouldn’t be glorious at all. It’s even orientating towards depreciating one’s position.
Angrily Ed said, “The Son of the God of War went too far! He stabbed Adair quite a few times, and even after the victor was already decided, he refused to stop.”
One by one, the other platoon members also started saying indignantly, “Right! Even when we wanted to go forward to help, we were blocked by the warriors of the Monastery of the God of War!”
“Are you saying that the Son of the God of War wanted to kill Adair?” I was shocked. Why would they want to do this? They haven’t even started to take root in the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound, and yet they are already trying to provoke the Church of the God of Light, who is the local influence? And it’s something as serious as killing my vice-Captain. This isn’t something that can be settled just by having everyone smile at each other, shake hands and exchange words.
Ed nodded his head again and again, and with much anger he said, “If it wasn’t for the royal knights who came to help us the Son of the God of War definitely would have killed Adair.”
“The royal knights stopped it?”
I felt highly suspicious. The royal knights are the subordinates of the crown prince, and the Monastery of the God of War was sent here by the crown prince. Why would they stop the actions of the Monastery of the God of War?
“Yup! It’s the royal knights who are led by Elijah.”
“Wait— wait a moment, who is Elijah?” I asked, greatly confused.
“Captain, Elijah is the chief leader of the young group within the royal knights,” Adair hastily explained. “However, because his allegiance is to the princess, he is unable to gain the crown prince’s favor.”
Another platoon member added, “But even though he is unable to gain the prince’s favor, he is very strong and his reputation is good among the young knights. Even the crown prince can’t help but regularly give him missions to accomplish.”
Ed smiled and gave a small laugh. “Also, there have been rumors that he is having an affair with the princess and has pretty good relations with the queen. Even the crown prince’s wife speaks up for Elijah, which gives the crown prince a headache.”
Hey, hey, hey! Are you guys the Sun Knight Platoon or the Storm Knight Platoon? Why are you guys so familiar with gossip? It’s a living likeness of twenty plus Storms gossiping in front of my eyes!
Rubbing my head, I said, “This Elijah really sounds a lot like Storm…”
“Yup! Captain, Elijah is Knight-Captain Storm’s main competitor in the circle of women! Knight-Captain Storm loathes him the most.” Ed gave a wily smile.
“You guys sure know a lot about this.” I didn’t know whether to admire them or not. Since when did my Sun Knight Platoon become a Gossip Platoon?
Ed spoke with a smile of exultation, “Of course, Captain. Even Knight-Captain Storm frequently comes to exchange gossip with us, or to confirm the accuracy of the gossip. Not that I want to say this, but Captain, regarding gossip news, if our Sun Knight Platoon claims to be second, then even Knight-Captain Storm wouldn’t dare to say he’s the first.”
“So my Sun Knight Platoon has been usually gossiping… Adair!”
“Yes, Captain!” Adair was so shocked that he jumped up from the bed again.
“From now on, the Sun Knight Platoon will have to run one round within the walls of the city every morning!” I said fiercely.
Upon receiving the order, Adair was stunned and his expression seemed to be a bit troubled.
“What? You can’t do it? Are you still fit to be called knights?” On the surface, I was roaring with much energy, but in my heart I was a bit unsettled. How far is a round within the city walls? Maybe it’s too far?
All of the Sun Knight Platoon members went silent.
Looking at this situation, maybe one round within the city really is very far. Should I cut it to half a round? But I have already set the command, so how am I to take it back…
At this moment, Ed seemed to have gathered up his courage as he said, “Captain, when you first met us five years ago you had set a command for us to run five rounds. Then three years ago you became angry when our physical performance lost to the Judgment Knight Platoon so you commanded us to run three rounds. At that time, Adair thought that you meant to add three rounds, so we have been running eight rounds for the past three years. Now…”
“…Now what I meant is add one more round, is there a problem?”
The Sun Knight Platoon shouted in unison, “No, Captain!”
“Good! Now everyone except Adair, leave.”
After waiting for all of the platoon members to go out, I stood up and walked slowly to Adair’s side. Although I was a bit regretful that just now I wasn’t clear of the situation and scolded him as being foolish, I’m the Captain, so how can I apologize?
After hesitating for a long time, I decided not to apologize. Who knows, maybe my apology will end up scaring Adair instead. I better just give instructions and that’ll be enough.
“I am giving you a week’s sick leave, but you should try not to leave the Holy Temple. Also, tell the Sun Knight Platoon to stay in the Holy Temple as much as possible. If you want to go out then wear casual clothes. Don’t wear the uniform of the Sun Knight Platoon. Also, you should sleep more in this time period, eat more eggs and meat, drink more milk, and do less vigorous exercise.”
Adair was stunned for a moment. Then at last he revealed a smile, shouting loudly, “Yes, Captain!”
Suddenly his eyes widened. “Captain, then what should we do about the training of running nine rounds around the city every day?” he quickly asked.
I thought for a bit, then instructed, “You just rest obediently in bed and the others will clean up the Holy Temple to replace running.”
After saying that, I was still not reassured. This fellow Adair does matters responsibly and carefully, which lets people feel relieved. However, on the other side, it also makes people worry that he would become like Storm and die of overworking sooner or later.
“All of the stuff that I said just now are all orders and must be obeyed, you hear me?”
Adair replied with a smile, “Yes, Captain.”
