Ch.159Pink Buds Blooming Age (1)

Yuris was once known as the shield of the empire, but since Roman fell, they had also taken on the role of the sword.

Perhaps this was only natural. As long as Evan existed, it would seem strange for any other place to bear the title of sword.

From the beginning, the empire’s only real threat had been the barbarians in the north. Now that Yuris played an essential role in blocking the barbarians’ southward advance, Yuris, where Evan lived, was the only family that fulfilled the conditions of being both sword and shield.

After marrying Airin, Evan decided to focus on developing the knights.

Since the knights had once been so underdeveloped that Kris was the strongest among them, Evan believed it was time to raise their average skill level. The reality was that even if battles between Masters occurred, Experts couldn’t even approach them, and moreover, this was an unprecedented golden age with more than three Masters.

Surely the average level needed to rise accordingly.

“Move faster!”

Though he wasn’t accustomed to teaching since he had done everything by instinct, Evan was still doing his best to train the knights. Now one knight order was quite decent, and he had managed to produce about 3,000 Expert-level knights.

Eight years had been enough time for both the imperial family and Yuris to retrain their knights. After recovering the forces lost in the battle against Extinction and producing knights of an even higher caliber than before, Evan no longer took to the front lines of battle.

The reason Evan had stepped up to train knights in the first place was to focus more on his family. Now the empire was no longer so weak that Evan needed to personally intervene whenever problems arose.

After all, the original reason he had stepped up was to prevent the chaos caused by Extinction from growing worse. With Yuris now stable, Evan’s main duty was simply training Yuris’s knights at a leisurely pace.

Watching his children grow up was the most enjoyable thing of all, and in eight years, he had never once argued with Airin. He thought they would live happily without worries for a long, long time, but…

“Ah, hello.”

Evan froze in place when he saw the girl who appeared with Arthur. Before he could assess the situation, he noticed that she was blushing while looking at Arthur.

Evan wasn’t slow-witted, and he could tell exactly what feelings this shy girl standing before him harbored for Arthur.

“Hello there. Are you Arthur’s friend?”

“What? Oh, yes! I’m Arthur’s friend… My name is Levi.”

“Why are you so nervous? Dad’s not a bad person.”

Arthur moved Levi behind him and looked at Evan. Though his expression showed he was quite surprised, Arthur soon composed himself and spoke.

“Um, I came because I have a favor to ask you, Dad.”

“A favor? Did she confess to you or something?”

“T-That’s not it! Not yet a confession…!”

Levi hastily spoke up but then realized what she had said and hung her head low. Evan gave a bitter smile at the sight.

They were only eight years old, yet they were already finding their partners. Though he had met Airin when he was fifteen, they hadn’t properly dated until he was nineteen.

When Evan noticed that Levi seemed uncomfortable with his expression, he smiled slightly and assured her it was fine. However, seeing that Levi still looked anxious, Arthur gently patted her shoulder and smiled faintly.

“It’s okay if you wait outside for a bit. Dad and I will talk.”

“Oh, okay!”

Unlike when Evan had smiled at her, Levi’s expression immediately brightened, and after glancing at Arthur, she headed outside. Once they were alone in the room, Evan ran his hand through his hair and continued.

“If it’s not a confession, I’d like an explanation for why you brought a girl here.”

“I’m not as popular as you, Dad, so Levi probably just thinks of me as a friend. It’s not like with Sis. Don’t misunderstand.”

Misunderstanding? It didn’t seem like a misunderstanding, given the look in Levi’s eyes. However, Evan chose not to mention it. He knew Arthur was quite dense, and he didn’t want to interfere with Levi’s feelings by bringing it up.

“She’s pretty skilled. We’re about even. To be precise, I’m about a 6 and Levi is about a 4.”

“She’s older than you?”

“Yes, she’s a year older than me. Anyway, Levi is quite skilled. But since she’s a commoner… she might find it difficult to become a knight. No, it will definitely be difficult. That’s how the empire is. They say a commoner becoming a knight happens only once every few decades.”

Though many things had changed, the gap between commoners and nobles remained. After all, the empire was where the emperor’s power was strongest, so how much greater would the difference between nobles and commoners be?

With the entire continent now under imperial rule, the increasing number of nobles was becoming a social problem. Now that all wars had ended, how could a commoner possibly rise in society?

Evan was well aware of this and took Levi’s situation quite seriously. However, making her a knight based solely on Arthur’s word would draw too much attention, even for someone like him. What was needed was verification of her skills, and when Evan mentioned this, Arthur nodded confidently.

“Then would it be alright if I personally test her skills?”

“…Dad doing it directly is a bit…”

“That would make a stronger impression. It would also be good for people to confirm Levi’s abilities.”

Of course, he had no intention of using his full strength, but because Levi was a commoner, he had no choice but to use somewhat extreme methods. If she could even graze Evan’s collar, that would make it easier for the knights to acknowledge her.

No matter how skilled she was, she was still a commoner. Even to Evan, who had experienced modern society, it seemed ridiculous, but living in this world meant he had to follow its rules for now.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no other way. If you want, I can talk to Airin and find another solution.”

As Evan patted Arthur’s shoulder to comfort him, Arthur shrugged and sighed deeply.

“It’s okay. I know there’s no other way for Levi to become a knight. She’ll probably understand… and she’ll pass.”

Seeing the trust in those eyes that so resembled Airin’s, Evan smiled warmly and handed Arthur a cookie from the table. Arthur took the chocolate chip cookie, broke it in half, and kept one piece for himself.

Who was the other half for? The answer was so easy to guess. Evan smiled slightly as he watched Arthur’s retreating figure.

“He’s grown up so fast.”

He could somewhat understand why Kris would always say “why have you grown so much” whenever he saw him. When you take your eyes off them for a moment, they disappear and return all grown up, so you can only complain to that person about the passing time.

At twenty-eight, soon approaching thirty, Evan was still young. Having broken the limits of mana, his lifespan was longer than others’, but what worried him was how quickly his children were growing. He wondered what he would say when his grown children announced they wanted to get married. He finally understood why the Duke had been so overprotective.

“It’s about time for Robelia to arrive.”

Checking the clock, Evan muttered to himself. While Arthur rarely visited this room, Robelia came quite frequently. She came every day, so he was always waiting for her. Why was she so late today?

After waiting for a while, Evan straightened his clothes when he sensed someone approaching beyond the door. Ready to embrace Robelia as she ran toward him, Evan slightly opened his arms toward the door.

“…Dad?”

However, unlike usual, Robelia didn’t rush into Evan’s arms. Realizing something was wrong, Evan immediately hardened his expression and looked at Robelia. Seeing her hesitant expression as she tried to say something, Evan asked with concern.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen at the academy? Is Kyle bullying you again? Should I scold him?”

“No, it’s not that. Um, this is more like asking for advice.”

At the words “asking for advice,” Evan put on a slightly more serious expression. His daughter was coming to him with her concerns for the first time. Overcome with emotion, Evan sat down and placed Robelia on his lap.

“What could be troubling our Robelia?”

“It’s just something minor. Um, you know how Kyle confessed to me before, right?”

Evan’s expression darkened at the mention of Kyle, but he nodded and gently stroked Robelia’s hair.

“Kyle has changed a lot. I mean, he’s changed for the better now.”

“Better in what way?”

“He doesn’t play pranks during class anymore, and he listens well to the teachers. He doesn’t pick at his food, and today I saw that he’s really good with a sword. He might even be a user!”

As Robelia mentioned each small change, Evan’s expression grew increasingly rigid. How did she know all these little details so well? It was almost as if… Robelia had been observing Kyle with interest.

“I see, but… how do you know all this so well?”

“It’s absolutely not because I’m interested in Kyle or like him. It’s just… I was worried when he suddenly changed, in case he got scolded by Uncle Kaisel and felt bad.”

Worry, she says. Perhaps it was an innocent emotion that only an eight-year-old could have. The concern reflected in those eyes that looked just like his own was so pure. Evan couldn’t bring himself to scold her and simply stroked her head.

“I see, so Kyle has changed a lot.”

“…He did look a bit handsome today. Just a little bit, though.”

At those words, Evan paused his hand and quietly moved his lips while looking into Robelia’s eyes. Though it was a somewhat childish question, he needed to be sure.

“…Do you like Dad or Kyle better?”

“Dad, of course. Kyle is just like a little brother to me.”

“Is that so?”

“When I grow up, I want to marry Dad!”

Only then could Evan smile brightly. The idea that Robelia, who until three years ago had said she would marry him, was now meeting boys was simply inconceivable to Evan.