Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Knight Order Expansion (4)
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“Useless...!”
Helena was furious when she heard that Madus had been beaten to a pulp by Sion on his very first day and carted off to the Holy Spirit Church.
“What kind of Iron Guard Knight can’t even handle a single kid like that?!”
She had selected him precisely because he was skilled in knightly combat and could resort to dirty tricks without a shred of conscience... but it had been a total failure.
“This just ends up giving Sion even more power!”
Word was that Sion had overwhelmed an Iron Guard Knight right from day one, earning the trust of the new recruits.
It would only help him lead the knight order going forward.
“And if word spreads that a knight from the Heresy Inquisition picked a fight with Sion and got utterly crushed...”
Helena bit at her fingernail.
Nothing had been going right for her lately.
Even the Heresy Inquisition hadn’t notched any notable achievements recently.
“If only Cain and Robel could rack up some solid accomplishments, I could at least relax...”
But funneling achievements to Cain and Robel wasn’t easy.
Forcing missions on them only risked blunders that could harm the entire organization.
As the head of the Heresy Inquisition, Helena could at least discern that much.
“I have to corner Sion somehow. But how...”
With no way to suddenly boost Cain and Robel, the only option was to drag Sion down.
So how could she do that?
“I need to come up with a plan, some kind of plan...”
Helena racked her brains in frustration.
* * *
“Helena’s always been one to scheme this and that since the old days, but her plans are always so sloppy.”
“She always ends up getting counterexploited by us and taking heavy losses.”
As I chatted with Dietrich, I recalled the clashes I’d had with Helena back when I was Archbishop Hausel.
“She seems to think she can play the cunning strategist, but she doesn’t have the talent for it.”
“It’s her personality. She’s not cut out for crafting cold, flawless plans.”
“And yet she somehow climbed all the way to Grand Inquisitor of the Heresy Inquisition. Because she’s Ianus Aleyas’s daughter?”
“Ianus isn’t the type to put his daughter in a high position just because she’s family. Helena has her competent sides.”
“Either way, I doubt she’ll back off after this. She’ll keep trying to get in your way, my lord.”
“Yeah, we’ll have to stay vigilant no matter what she pulls next.”
We were in the middle of that conversation when footsteps approached.
“Lord Sion.”
“Edwin, what’s up?”
Dietrich had fully concealed his presence, so I played it off like I’d been alone and turned to Edwin.
“Regarding the training regimen... First-Grade Knight Lotus has some questions.”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
A knight with a gentle demeanor stepped out from behind Edwin.
He was a first-grade knight who had recently advanced to four stars and had performed well in a provincial knight order until recently.
A veteran we’d recruited to mentor the young knights based on his experience.
“What’s on your mind, First-Grade Knight Lotus?”
“Please, speak informally. I may be older, but you’re the knight captain and my superior.”
“Got it, First-Grade Knight Lotus.”
Unlike Madus, Lotus was the type who respected the chain of command.
Seeing a veteran like him show such deference would set a good example for the others.
“The basic training and swordsmanship drills aren’t much different from what the Holy Knight Order has always done. But... the mana training is quite different.”
Mana training.
It’s training to master controlling and wielding mana.
This allows for more skillful mana use and increases the maximum mana capacity of your circles.
“You wouldn’t happen to be teaching us the Heavenly Eight Emperors Method, would you?”
Lotus looked slightly tense.
The Heavenly Eight Emperors Method is a mana cultivation technique exclusive to the Aleyas family and their inner circle.
It’s not something to teach ordinary knights.
“No, it’s not the Heavenly Eight Emperors Method.”
“I see. Then I must have misunderstood...”
“But it does incorporate some of the theory from the Heavenly Eight Emperors Method.”
“Huh?”
“And not just that—I’ve drawn from knowledge I’ve picked up here and there. It’s a mana cultivation method unique to the 13th Unit, something you can’t learn anywhere else.”
“W-Wait a second.”
Lotus seemed genuinely flustered.
“Are you saying you’ve devised a new mana cultivation method?”
“Not quite that grand. I just cherry-picked the best parts from existing methods.”
My top priority right now is improving every knight’s mana manipulation skills.
I’ve thought this for a while, but the Holy Knight Order’s standard training skimps on mana cultivation.
Aleyas family members diligently build their mana through the Heavenly Eight Emperors Method, but ordinary knights rarely get proper opportunities for mana training.
Even in the regular curriculum, mana cultivation gets short shrift.
“First-Grade Knight Lotus, the 13th Unit is going to emphasize mana cultivation.”
“Mana cultivation...”
In the Dialogue Church, it was commonplace to pursue mana growth by any means necessary.
From my perspective, accustomed to that, the Holy Knights were neglecting mana far too much.
“I refined this mana cultivation method because I want to raise the overall mana manipulation ability of the entire knight order. The Heavenly Eight Emperors Method is excellent, but it’s not suited for teaching to large groups.”
“Ah...”
The Heavenly Eight Emperors Method requires concentrated training for talented individuals to be effective.
It’s not practical for training masses simultaneously.
That’s why I analyzed not just the Heavenly Eight Emperors Method but also various ‘heretical methods’ from the Dialogue Church to create a new one.
One that even knights of average talent could easily adapt to for mana control and rapidly accumulate mana.
“First-Grade Knight Lotus, my first goal is for every knight in the order to wield sword aura.”
“Every single one to wield sword aura...!”
“Assault Knight Brigades and Judgment Knight Brigades can all use it. We’re not elite units like them in the Independent Knight Brigade, but the 13th Unit should at least reach that level.”
“......”
Lotus stared at me with wide eyes.
“Is that your goal as knight captain?”
“My first goal.”
“You truly are an extraordinary person, Knight Captain.”
“Brigade Leader Bernhard plans to assign all unresolved missions to our 13th Unit. We have to deliver at that level.”
“An unresolved mission specialist unit... Do you really think it’s possible?”
“You think we can’t?”
At my question, Lotus let out a small sigh.
“To be honest, up until a moment ago, I thought it would be difficult.”
“I appreciate the honesty.”
“But now, I’ve changed my mind. I think you can do it, Knight Captain.”
Lotus bowed his head before me.
“Please take care of me going forward, Knight Captain.”
“That’s my line, First-Grade Knight Lotus.”
The knights under me right now are all greenhorns.
Even Lotus is still inexperienced by my standards.
But that’ll change from here on.
As my close aides... they’ll grow into the Holy Knight Order’s finest elite unit.
* * *
And so, we focused on training for a while.
Edwin and Lieselotte, who knew my methods well, served as instructors, and Lotus threw himself into helping me wholeheartedly.
As a result, everyone’s skills improved dramatically. We haven’t hit the first goal of sword aura for all yet, but it’s within reach soon.
In the meantime, I turned sixteen... and received a summons from the Heresy Inquisition.
“Brigade Leader, why is the Heresy Inquisition calling for me?”
“Because this unresolved mission came down from them.”
I headed to the Heresy Inquisition with Brigade Leader Bernhard.
The name might evoke grim images of witch hunts, but the modern Heresy Inquisition is an intelligence agency that collects and analyzes information from across the continent, so the atmosphere was clean and sleek.
“The building’s spotless.”
“I hear Grand Inquisitor Helena’s been particular about it.”
We were shown into the Grand Inquisitor’s office.
Stepping into the spacious room, we came face-to-face with Helena, who didn’t look particularly welcoming.
“You’re finally here, Sion.”
“It’s been a while, Aunt.”
“I told you to call me Helena.”
“My apologies, Helena.”
I’d sensed it before, but Helena really hated being called aunt.
[You’re planning to keep calling her that, right?]
‘Depends on the situation.’
As I conversed with Igzard in my mind, I subtly checked the presences around us.
The room held just the three of us, but I could tell Cain and Robel were lurking nearby.
“Brigade Leader Bernhard, is the 13th Unit ready?”
“They’re still training, but they’re fit for deployment.”
“Hmph, I wonder how much a hastily assembled unit like that can actually accomplish.”
Helena grumbled as she slid a document across.
“This is the mission for the Independent Knight Brigade. Take it.”
“We’ll accept, Grand Inquisitor.”
Bernhard stepped forward and took the document.
But his expression hardened almost immediately.
“Grand Inquisitor, this is...”
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you the one who boasted that you’d handle unresolved missions, Brigade Leader Bernhard?”
A smile curled at Helena’s lips.
“It’s a mission handpicked by the Heresy Inquisition. Solve it, and the Independent Knight Brigade will earn massive credit.”
“But Grand Inquisitor, to find Ashurai...”
Ashurai.
I knew that name.
“Brigade Leader, what’s Ashurai...”
“It’s the Demon Spirit Sword wielded by Archbishop Hausel of the Dialogue Church. A sword on par with the Holy Manifest Swords our Holy Knight Order possesses.”
“Indeed, you can consider it equivalent to my own Holy Manifest Sword ‘Exshaoir.’”
The Holy Knight Order has five treasured Holy Manifest Swords, each held by Ianus and his children.
They fall short of the world’s one true ‘holy sword,’ but they’re all immensely valuable sacred blades.
And in the Dialogue Church, swords of equal stature to the Holy Manifest Swords are the ‘Demon Spirit Swords’... one of which was the Ashurai I’d used as Archbishop Hausel.
“Over a decade ago, Archbishop Hausel entrusted the repair of his beloved Ashurai to one of his subordinates. But right after, he was slain by Archbishop Gateus.”
“If Archbishop Hausel had Ashurai in hand, he wouldn’t have gone down so easily...”
Not wrong.
The biggest reason Archbishop Hausel fell to Gateus... was the difference in weapons.
Before the demon sword Igzard, the spare sword Hausel carried might as well have been a wooden stick.
“Hausel’s subordinate crossed the Winter Mountains to repair Ashurai. As a sword forged by the spirits of the Western Great Forest in the continent’s west, it had to be taken there for repairs.”
“......”
“But upon hearing of Archbishop Hausel’s purge, he rushed back to the Dialogue Church. Leaving Ashurai, unrepaired, behind.”
Helena tapped her desk with a fingernail, smirking.
“From our investigations, Ashurai never made it back to the Dialogue Church. It remains somewhere in the Western Great Forest.”
“I’m aware. There are reports of Ashurai’s cries echoing from the woods from time to time...”
“Yes, I’ve confirmed it myself on-site. It was that infuriating wail from the wicked sword wielded by that detestable Hausel Archbishop...”
Her face twisted briefly, as if reliving the past.
“At any rate, Ashurai is definitely hidden in the Western Great Forest, but unfortunately, we haven’t pinpointed its exact location.”
“It’s such a perilous demonic realm that investigations are difficult.”
“Exactly. In the end, even the Heresy Inquisition gave up the search.”
While Demon Spirit Swords hold stature equal to Holy Manifest Swords, they also represent the Dialogue Church as quasi-demon blades.
From the Heresy Inquisition’s standpoint, they’re evil artifacts that must be found and sealed.
“A Demon Spirit Sword the Heresy Inquisition couldn’t locate for over ten years... I’d love for your Independent Knight Brigade to track it down.”
“......”
“You can handle it, right, Sion?”
This seemed to be Helena’s carefully laid trap.
She was dumping an impossibly tough mission on me to put me in a bind.
No doubt she’d planned to wield her political clout and tear me down if I failed and returned.
But...
“Don’t worry, Aunt.”
“What?”
“I’ll definitely find it and bring it straight to you. That wicked Demon Spirit Sword.”
Helena looked baffled as she watched my confident smile.
But from my position, I had every reason to be confident.
The subordinate who’d taken Ashurai to the Western Great Forest for Archbishop Hausel... was none other than Dietrich, right by my side now.
“I’ll have it for you in no time, so look forward to it.”
“......”
Seeing my assured demeanor, Helena clamped her mouth shut, utterly speechless.