Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: The Land of the Defected Knights (2)
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[Keke, that bastard Sershes's face is twisting up real badly.]
Igzard mocked from within me.
[He must've thought you were still some greenhorn knight in your early teens. He never imagined you'd dare talk back like this.]
Just as Igzard said, Sershes appeared to be quite shocked.
"Sion, you dare to...!"
"I don't think I said anything wrong, Uncle."
"This kid keeps...!"
Sershes bared his killing intent.
He looked ready to draw the holy sword 'Decalibus' from his waist at any moment.
"What's all this commotion?"
Right then.
A calm voice restrained Sershes.
"I don't think you should be showing killing intent to a young nephew, Brother."
A woman with an expressionless bobbed haircut walked toward us.
"Est, why are you...?"
"I just got back from a mission."
Est Aleyas.
Ianus's second daughter and the Grand Commander of the Pilgrimage Investigation Division.
My young aunt had stepped in.
"Long time no see, Sion."
"Yes, Grand Commander."
"Almost three years, huh? We've finally managed to cross paths."
Whenever I returned to headquarters, Est was out on assignment, and whenever she was at headquarters, I was away on missions.
"You're in such a high position, yet so busy."
"Tell me about it. I even failed to keep my promise to visit your unit."
"It's fine."
As I conversed with the calmly speaking Est, Sershes raised his voice from the side.
"I'm not done talking yet!"
"Brother, lower your voice."
Est scolded Sershes once more.
"People are watching."
"Urk...."
Knights from various divisions had been paying attention to us for a while now.
If he kept yelling at me here, it would only hurt Sershes's image.
"Sion."
"Yes, Grand Commander."
"You should apologize to your uncle."
"Understood."
I obediently followed Est's words.
"I'm sorry for my rude words, Headquarters Commander."
"You, with just that...?"
Sershes ground his teeth.
But if he nitpicked my attitude after my apology, it would only make him look worse.
"That arrogant attitude of yours—you'll regret it one day."
Leaving those parting words, Sershes stormed off.
With footsteps full of rage.
"It's been a while since I last saw Brother that angry."
"Really? I feel like I see it pretty often."
"Is that so? You two don't get along well, then."
Est didn't seem particularly bothered.
Her expression barely changed, so I couldn't tell what she really thought.
"There are a lot of people around. Shall we take a walk?"
"Yes, Grand Commander."
I left the building with Est.
Come to think of it, back during the enlistment exam when Est showed up, we'd walked together like this too.
Though her daughter Liz had been with us then.
"By the way, how has Sister Liz been lately?"
"She's been gaining experience in the Pilgrimage Investigation Division. Growing steadily."
"I see."
"She reached 6-stars not long ago."
"That's... impressive."
From what I knew, Sena was at 5-stars, and Kain and Robel at 4-stars.
Yet Liz had already hit 6-stars? And she was around the same age as Robel?
Liz had stunned everyone at the family gathering years ago by displaying 3-star mana power at age 16.
Was it true genius talent, or had Est raised her well?
"You're younger than Liz and already at 6-stars yourself. You shouldn't say that."
"Yes...."
"Honestly, Liz seems a bit conscious of you."
"What do you mean?"
"After hearing how her cousin reached 6-stars first and made a big splash, she got stimulated. That's why she's been working harder."
"...."
"Of course, that's just my guess. Who knows her true feelings. She's a kid whose heart is hard to read."
That must be because she takes after you, Est....
I wanted to say it to the original expressionless holy knight, but I held my tongue.
"Winter's coming soon, so we'll see each other at the next family gathering. You're required to attend starting this time, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Family gatherings were mandatory from age 16.
I hadn't gone once since Ianus summoned me at age 12, but this time I had to.
"We'll all be together again after so long."
"Yeah."
Ianus.
Sershes, Helena, Est, Kurt.
Sena, Kain, Robel, Liz. And me.
It wasn't often we all gathered like this.
"By the way... you're heading to the Edel Felt family in the northwest, right?"
"Yes."
"The Edel Felt family has many strong knights. Johan Edel Felt, the Celestial Rank knight at 9-stars, is still active... Greta Edel Felt stands out in my memory."
"Greta Edel Felt... the martial-rank knight, daughter of Johan Edel Felt, right?"
I remembered her too.
She was Est's comrade back in the day.
"She's reached 9-stars now."
"So the Edel Felt family has multiple 9-star knights."
"Yeah, so don't let your guard down."
"I won't be facing them all myself. Our Independent Knight Brigade's job is intelligence gathering first and foremost."
"You never know how things will play out."
As she said that, Est stopped walking.
"Sion, can I ask you a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Last time, you borrowed my holy sword Roangite."
I'd once asked Est if I could swing Roangite once.
"Can I borrow that demon spirit sword Ashurai you're carrying for a bit?"
"This one?"
"Yeah."
"Sure...."
I handed Ashurai to Est.
She took it with both hands.
"...."
Est said nothing for a while.
She didn't swing it like I'd done with Roangite before—just held it in both hands and stared.
[What's she doing? Checking for evil energy?]
'Who knows. Beats me.'
As I watched quietly, Est murmured softly.
"Yeah, so this is the sword that person used."
Her usual calm tone, impossible to read for emotion.
After that brief mutter, Est handed Ashurai back to me.
"Thanks."
"All done?"
"Yeah."
"...."
Est said nothing more.
She really was... an inscrutable woman.
* * *
With those thoughts, I began preparations to depart.
As I'd told Est, the 13th Unit's mission this time was solely to enter the Edel Felt family's territory and secure evidence.
But since anything could happen, we needed to be fully prepared.
'With our current strength, we can handle most situations.'
The 13th Unit had grown stronger through various ordeals.
Edwin would reach 5-stars soon, and Lieselotte had already hit 4-stars.
'Edwin's growth is faster than I expected. Must be good synergy with the Dialogue Church's training method?'
A bit regrettable.
If I'd trained him from the start, he'd be a monster by now.
'If he just hits 6-stars, I could entrust him with most things. But I can't force mana growth like the Dialogue Church does.'
Anyway, the biggest concern was facing 9-star knights like Johan or Greta Edel Felt.
8-stars were manageable, but 9-stars were honestly burdensome.
'I can't pull out Igzard's power or Dietrich's help anytime I want.'
Still, I couldn't boost our forces right now.
Absorbing mana with Igzard didn't mean it all accumulated perfectly.
'No choice. I'll hone my skills using this.'
With that thought, I pulled out a sword I'd kept separately.
The black dagger I'd gotten by asking a favor from Cardinal Epitraus.
[Demon Spirit Sword Xantia—a truly fine dagger.]
Igzard admired from within me.
[Ashurai's great, but I like this Xantia too.]
'Think it'll sync well with you?'
'Of course. All demon spirit swords should pair well with me.'
Xantia was one of the Dialogue Church's demon spirit swords, originally wielded by Archbishop Adonis.
After Adonis was subjugated by the Holy Knight Order 20 years ago, it had been sealed in the Papal Court.
[But that cardinal actually handed a demon spirit sword over to you.]
'He owed me one.'
The Holy Spirit Church's policy was to seal evil artifacts like demon spirit swords away from the world.
But I already carried Demon Spirit Sword Ashurai. I'd proven it wasn't particularly evil.
Using that, Epitraus created a document stating 'Sion Aleyas is a holy knight who can control demon spirit swords' and assigned me the 'deep inspection' of Xantia.
He handed it over under the pretext of verifying if it was truly evil by actually using it.
It was possible because Epitraus held immense power in the Holy Spirit Church.
'Ashurai and Xantia... two demon spirit swords.'
Looking back at Dialogue Church history, few had ever held multiple demon spirit swords at once.
Even during Archbishop Hausel's time, it was just Ashurai—now I had both Ashurai and Xantia.
'I'll have to make full use of them if we fight the Edel Felt bastards.'
[So how will you use Xantia? In regular fights, the longsword Ashurai seems more practical.]
'Like this.'
As I replied to Igzard, I channeled mana into Xantia.
Then... Xantia floated into the air.
* * *
Finally, the day to head northwest arrived.
Before departing, I met Legion Commander Berhardt again.
"The 1st Unit is already on site."
"The 1st Unit... Commander Ridcamp's knights."
"Yeah, but the 1st Unit's role is to draw the Edel Felt family's attention."
"The more they focus on the 1st Unit, the freer we can move."
"Exactly. Good luck."
While 7-star knight Ridcamp played decoy, we'd dig into the Edel Felt family.
"Legion Commander."
"What?"
"If the subjugation of the Edel Felt family is decided, the Holy Knight Order will commit a lot of forces, right?"
"Probably."
Berhardt nodded.
"It'll be a large-scale battle. The Assault Knight Brigade will deploy."
The Assault Knight Brigade was an elite unit for big fights—Sershes used to lead it.
Now his daughter Sena was in it.
"Of course, other knights will be mobilized too. They have many powerhouses with 9-star mana... so Celestial Rank knights will be called up."
"Then...."
"Yeah. At least half of Headquarters Commander Sershes, Chief Helena, Grand Commander Est, and Legion Commander Kurt will step up."
More than half the Celestial Rank knights.
That meant it would be the largest battle since the war with the Dialogue Church.
"What about Knight Order Leader Excellency?"
"Who knows. The Knight Order Leader moving is a major event in itself."
If even Ianus, the sole Sky Rank knight, mobilized, the Edel Felts would resist with everything they had.
That could change the battle's dynamics.
"Legion Commander."
"Yeah?"
"I understand our 9-star knights will handle the Edel Felt powerhouses."
I met Berhardt's eyes and asked.
"But... if I get the chance, it won't matter if I take them down myself, right?"