Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Knight Order Expansion (2)
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“Sion’s been put in charge of a knight order with twenty members?!”
Helena Aleyas jumped to her feet upon hearing the news.
“Is that true?!”
“Yes, it’s information that just leaked from the Integrated Supervision Headquarters.”
“This is ridiculous! How could they assign twenty subordinates to a kid who’s only been a knight for a year?!”
Helena clutched her long hair.
“Does that mean it’s been approved? Brother Serxes—no, the Integrated Supervision Headquarters Chief—let that pass?!”
“At the last executive meeting, Knight Order Leader Excellency showed such a favorable reaction…… The atmosphere inside the Integrated Supervision Headquarters is positive too, and they couldn’t refuse the Independent Knight Brigade Leader’s request.”
“Brother, seriously! He should’ve blocked it somehow!”
Helena slammed her fist on the desk as she vented her frustration at her brother.
“Sion’s still in his mid-teens right now! Does it make any sense for someone that age to lead twenty subordinates around?!”
“It’s certainly unprecedented.”
“And if that guy actually racks up some massive achievement……”
In truth, improving security in the Hermel region and capturing a Dialogue Church bishop weren’t all that impressive as achievements.
It was amazing for a young rookie knight to pull that off on his first mission, but to the Holy Knight Order as a whole, it was trivial.
But if Sion led a proper knight order and achieved something major, he’d become an untouchable figure among the young knights.
“No, no. That can’t happen. If it does, Kurt will become the next Knight Order Leader.”
Her youngest brother Kurt, who’d been inactive for a while, had recently returned as commander of the Judgment Knight Brigade.
If Kurt started seriously vying for the next Knight Order Leader position by riding on his son Sion’s coattails…… Helena would be completely pushed out.
“I have to do something, somehow……”
Helena turned her head urgently, clutching her hair in irritation.
Standing there with tense expressions were her son Cain and Robel.
“Cain, Robel!”
“Yes!”
“Yes, Mother!”
“It’s been a whole year since you two joined the Heresy Inquisition. Why haven’t you racked up any achievements?”
Cain and Robel had passed the enlistment exam with excellent scores and obtained Grade 2 Knight qualifications.
They were working in the Heresy Inquisition where their mother Helena was, but…… they were still in the learning phase, so they had no notable accomplishments.
“Th-that’s…… We’re sorry.”
“We messed up……”
“Didn’t you hear me? When did I ask you to apologize? I asked why you have no proper achievements!”
Cain and Robel shrank back even more in front of Helena’s hysterics.
Truthfully, this was unavoidable. The Heresy Inquisition was the Holy Knight Order’s intelligence agency, and they didn’t fight enemies directly all that often.
They did track down and arrest Dialogue Church lackeys hiding in society…… but rookies like Cain and Robel weren’t assigned such tasks yet.
“This won’t do.”
Helena muttered as she bit the tip of her thumbnail.
“I need to come up with some countermeasures.”
She had to meet with Serxes and discuss it.
Serxes probably found Sion’s rapid rise uncomfortable too.
“If Brother Serxes, who has personnel authority, steps in, maybe……”
Leaving her grim-faced sons behind, Helena desperately racked her brains.
* * *
“Hmm, you’re picking twenty from these?”
“Precisely eighteen. With Edwin and Lieselotte, that makes twenty.”
Late at night when everyone else was asleep.
I’d called Dietrich and was showing him the documents.
“Take a look and give me your opinion.”
Edwin and Lieselotte lacked the experience to consult on this.
That’s why I wanted to discuss it with Dietrich, who had plenty of experience as Archbishop Hausel’s closest aide.
“Hmm…… A mix of veterans and rookies.”
Dietrich muttered as he flipped through the documents.
“That brigade leader…… Bernhard, was it? Anyway, he’s really delegated full authority to you.”
“Seems like it.”
The list Bernhard sent had knights of all ages and careers.
It was basically saying pick whoever I wanted.
“Bernhard wants me to dominate the Holy Knight Order. That’s why he’s supporting me to the max.”
“Using you for his own goals…… Not a great feeling.”
“It cuts both ways. If he’s using me for his aims, I’ll milk it for all it’s worth.”
“Hmm……”
Dietrich swept back his long hair and muttered.
“Milord, you said Bernhard’s assigning you unsolved missions?”
“Yeah.”
“Unsolved missions…… Then we really need to assemble the best possible force.”
Unsolved missions were problems the Holy Knight Order had deemed impossible to resolve.
Bernhard planned to tackle them to improve the Independent Knight Brigade’s standing.
“Then milord, we should center it on these people.”
Before I knew it, Dietrich had sorted the documents by career length.
“I’ve gathered only Grade 1 Knights with over ten years of experience. They’re all ready for immediate deployment.”
“……”
“There are twenty-five in total. Pick the ones you like and form the unit.”
Dietrich said confidently.
But as I skimmed the documents, I replied indifferently.
“Dietrich.”
“Yes?”
“Your instincts are off. You didn’t used to handle things this sloppily.”
“M-Milord?”
Dietrich looked shocked.
He probably never imagined I’d say something like that.
“The average age is mid-forties. Do you think middle-aged knights like that will obediently follow my orders?”
“Ah……!”
“Even if I crush them all with skill, there’ll inevitably be some dissatisfied with taking orders from a kid like me. The unit won’t function properly.”
Dietrich’s face went pale.
“I-I’m sorry! I made a huge mistake……!”
“No, I get why you did it.”
Dietrich was probably thinking only of the Archbishop Hausel days.
Back then, he wouldn’t have needed to worry about this.
“Back then, even fortysomething veterans would’ve bowed naturally before me. But not now.”
“I have no excuses, milord……”
Dietrich looked utterly dejected.
“For immediate combat power, sure, they’d be best. But long-term, the cons outweigh the pros.”
With that, I picked up the documents Dietrich had set aside.
“These are the rookies who’ve been knights for only one or two years.”
“Yeah, all greenhorns.”
Just like me.
“Dietrich, isn’t taming rookies easier than taming veterans?”
“Well…… Yes.”
“They lack skill now, but we can train them. What matters is creating subordinates who faithfully execute my orders.”
I just need to raise them into the type of talent I want.
It’s something I did back in the Dialogue Church too.
“I’ve already proven it with Edwin and Lieselotte. They’re improving every day and follow me loyally.”
“So your methods work in the Holy Knight Order too.”
“Exactly.”
“Understood, milord.”
Dietrich nodded seriously.
“Then I’ll reexamine focusing on young knights with little experience.”
“Yeah, whether apprentices or Grade 2 Knights, let’s pick ones with potential.”
Skill shortages now are fine.
They’ll grow into elite knights under me.
* * *
I compiled the list with Dietrich and sent it to Bernhard.
It would go back to the Integrated Supervision Headquarters for processing.
“They said it’ll take time for the new knight order members to be assigned, so let’s train until then.”
“Understood, Sion!”
“I was thinking I need to hone my skills more too.”
While training Edwin and Lieselotte, I did my own personal training.
What I focused on especially was mana control.
‘I need to properly operate mana with the Dialogue Circulation Method.’
My current mana was at the level of a typical 5-star knight.
But I only had one circle, not five. It was a high-density circle created via the Dialogue Circulation Method.
That made precise mana control crucial. Sloppy operation could cause mana backlash, even threatening my life.
[Once you acquire 6-star level mana, you’ll get a second circle. That’ll give you some breathing room.]
‘Reaching 6-star is the hard part.’
With 6-star mana, I could use sword aura.
Sword aura had incomparable destructive power to sword ki, so it’d be a huge help against strong foes ahead.
‘Still a long way to go.’
[Hmm, true. 9-star from the Archbishop Hausel days is still distant.]
9-star.
A realm where you could use sword stream, beyond sword ki or sword aura.
To reach the top of the Holy Knight Order and topple the Dialogue Church, I must hit 9-star.
The problem was, as Igzard said, it was impossibly far.
‘But since I’ve reached it once before, I should get there faster than in my previous life.’
[Yes, good mindset.]
Conditions were better than under Archbishop Hausel.
I grew up in a good environment and started gathering mana with the Dialogue Circulation Method from the beginning.
And…… I had the demon sword Igzard, which absorbs mana.
[Press on harder. I’ll help you.]
‘Yeah, thanks.’
So I trained diligently…… and finally, the day came when the new members were assigned.
* * *
“Gather over here. Follow me.”
Led by Gustav, the aide handling admin, we headed to the Independent Knight Brigade’s training grounds.
Nearly twenty knights were waiting there.
‘These knights…… will be the ones I command from now on.’
I’d requested ten apprentice knights, six Grade 2 Knights, and two Grade 1 Knights.
The apprentices and Grade 2s were all young with minimal experience. But based on enlistment exam scores and such, they had potential.
The two Grade 1s were veterans to assist the juniors when needed. I’d picked reliable, steady types, but I’d have to judge their true character up close.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Sion Aleyas, captain of Independent Knight Brigade Unit 13, who’ll be commanding you from now on.”
I slowly introduced myself before the assembled older knights.
Edwin and Lieselotte stood behind me, while Gustav watched from a distance.
“As you probably know, independent knight orders operate independently as the name suggests. Unlike others, we’ll handle diverse missions, and especially Unit 13 will tackle so-called ‘unsolved missions’—high-difficulty ones.”
“……”
“But no need to worry. Once we take them on, they won’t remain unsolved.”
After the rough explanation, I scanned the new members.
“Any questions?”
I asked casually.
Then, one hand shot up from the crowd.
“I’m Grade 1 Knight Madus Kutlen. I have something to say to the captain.”
“……Madus Kutlen.”
Was that one of the Grade 1s I picked?
No matter how I thought, no. Not even among the reserves.
“Where are you from?”
“I was active as a purge knight in the Heresy Inquisition.”
Suspicious.
I hadn’t picked a single one from the Heresy Inquisition.
[What’s going on?]
‘Looks like…… Helena meddled.’
She swapped out the people I requested for her own picks.
Why would Helena pull something like this?
“You must be incredibly skilled to lead a knight order this size at such a young age, Captain.”
The answer was obvious.
To sabotage me.
“Would you mind showing us a demonstration of your skills?”
Madus Kutlen looked at me arrogantly.
It shocked those around him.
But…… I wasn’t fazed at all.
“Not bad.”
Helena.
You sent your lackey to ruin my knight order.
But it’s your plans that’ll fall apart.