Ch.24Knight Order Competition

“I, I cannot accept this! The opponent dropped their sword in the middle of the match!”

Tybalt rose up like he was having a fit and shouted. However, he was the only one who couldn’t accept the result. The Wind Knights waiting for Tybalt nodded their heads as they discussed the duel that had just taken place.

“A bit unfortunate… If Tybalt hadn’t let his guard down, it could have been a good match…”

“That’s a meaningless assumption. Tybalt lost, and that girl won. Tybalt, just accept it gracefully.”

“B-but…! One more time, please let me duel one more time! It will be different this time!”

Tybalt was being unreasonable. Just as Karnok was about to intervene, someone else spoke up first.

It was Saeeurin.

“Would you say the same thing in a real battle?”

“What…?”

“In a real battle, you would be dead.”

Saeeurin looked down at her right hand. The purpose of a duel isn’t to kill your opponent. The main goal is to test each other’s strength and foster one’s own growth.

That’s why she had held back at the last moment. If this had been a real battle, Tybalt’s head would have been shattered by Saeeurin’s hand.

“Until the moment our swords clashed, your mind was elsewhere. With an armed opponent right in front of you. Be grateful this wasn’t a real battle.”

“T-that’s…”

“But I understand. It couldn’t be helped. How could you think of anything else when faced with such beauty…”

“What…?”

Theo and Flora let out deep sighs at Saeeurin’s words. As if they were used to this kind of situation.

Tybalt, on the other hand, couldn’t. He could only gape blankly at the confidently spoken words.

Tap-

Saeeurin’s light figure jumped and landed outside the training ground. It was near Karnok.

Saeeurin spoke.

“Vice Captain Karnok. May I go out for a while…”

“Ah, yes. Are you using it now?”

“Yes.”

At Saeeurin’s words, Karnok took out a piece of paper from inside his garment and handed it to her. It was a [Daily Pass]. Saeeurin politely accepted the pass and quickly left the training ground.

No one contradicted Saeeurin’s words. Because they were true.

***

After leaving the Blue Wing headquarters, Saeeurin headed first to the bakery. Now she knew what the letters on the bakery sign meant.

“Golden Hill…”

Even though it wasn’t a weekend but a weekday, there was a long line in front of Golden Hill. Saeeurin went to the very end of the line and stood on her tiptoes to look ahead.

Of course, she couldn’t see anything.

At the end of waiting is always a sweet reward. After waiting for a full thirty minutes, Saeeurin was able to get the pie she wanted.

Inside the rustling paper bag were five large pies. Three of them, excluding two, were her share.

She sat on a nearby bench and put a large pie in her mouth.

Saeeurin’s daily routine without missions was colorless. After finishing her training to become stronger, she would return to her room and use her personal maintenance time for additional training.

Occasionally, she would go to the training ground for duels, and before she knew it, night would fall. That was Saeeurin’s routine.

That’s why these special days felt even more precious. It was a special reward given to those who run without rest. Sometimes, knowing when to loosen up is the key to not breaking and lasting longer.

Saeeurin chewed and swallowed her burning desire for revenge along with the sweet pie.

Due to the area’s high foot traffic, there was quite a lot of information to be heard. Although the truth couldn’t be verified, it was quite helpful.

-I heard a reincarnator recently destroyed a neighboring country… They say thousands of swords flew with just a wave of their hand…

-Do you believe such absurd rumors? It wasn’t thousands of swords, but they commanded ten thousand soldiers. The Ten Thousand Sword Emperor, was it…?

Before she knew it, she had finished one pie while blankly passing the time. Saeeurin got up from the bench. The short break was over. It was time to return to her routine.

On her way back, she bought a pretty hair tie.

***

Time flew by quickly, and the day of the competition arrived. The venue for the competition was inside a large colosseum in the center of the Karma capital.

Since it was quite a spacious place, most Imperial Knight events were typically held here.

‘There are a lot of people.’

Despite it being a weekday, not a weekend, it was incredibly crowded. Saeeurin looked around blankly with her mouth open. She had heard that the Knight Competition was one of the few major events in the Empire.

She had heard that people even came from other countries to watch it, but she didn’t expect there to be this many people.

“Saeeurin, over here!”

“Ah. Yes.”

Saeeurin approached her peers at Flora’s call. She had stepped out briefly as there was still time before the competition began. Theo was also with them.

The trio enjoyed their brief leisure time. They walked around together, buying street food or souvenirs. Since they were wearing casual clothes instead of their uniforms, no one thought of them as Imperial Knights.

‘People’s attitudes change depending on what clothes you wear…’

When wearing the knight uniform, everyone showed respect to Saeeurin. They treated her as a knight, not as a girl.

But now it was different.

Beautiful, cute, they offered all kinds of compliments and gave her items she hadn’t even bought. Saeeurin’s hands became very heavy. There was even a man who begged her to meet his son.

“Hey you there! Who gave you permission to sell here?”

Just then, a familiar voice was heard. Looking in that direction, there was Reynard, harassing a street vendor with a slouchy posture.

The trio naturally approached Reynard.

“Senior Reynard?”

“Huh?”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Ah, it’s you guys… First time seeing you in casual clothes… I’m cracking down on unauthorized vendors.”

Thud-!

As Reynard said this, he kicked the display stand in front of him. The neatly arranged stand collapsed with a crash.

“Oh, my goodness!”

Looking at his actions, he was nothing but a thug.

“If you want to do business, get proper authorization!”

“I’m so sorry! This is my first time in this country…”

At Reynard’s scolding, the vendor hurriedly cleaned up his stand. He stuffed his goods into a large bag and quickly fled, avoiding people’s gazes.

Watching this, Theo asked.

“But is this kind of crackdown also our knight order’s job?”

“Ah, I’m doing this because of disciplinary action. Usually, it’s the Imperial Guard’s job…”

Saeeurin looked up at Reynard with a strange gaze. If one were to name the person who received the most disciplinary actions in the Blue Wing Knight Order, it would probably be Reynard.

He received disciplinary actions frequently.

Reynard said.

“But are you guys okay like this? The competition is about to start soon, isn’t it?”

“Ah!”

The trio screamed belatedly as they checked the time at Reynard’s words.

Ten minutes left until the competition.

They needed to hurry. Saeeurin, Flora, and Theo started running without even saying goodbye.

A deep smile spread across Reynard’s lips.

The trio, having arrived on time, quickly changed into their uniforms and headed inside the colosseum. Many knights were already gathered there.

There were many unfamiliar faces because they belonged to different knight orders. All of these were competitors participating in the competition. The peers beside them were the same.

Saeeurin slowly caught her breath.

Seniors from Blue Wing and other knight orders were also present. They seemed to be those not directly participating in the competition, as they were standing against the colosseum walls, forming a large circle.

Looking around the massive walls, numerous spectators revealed themselves. In the most ornate and highest seat sat a man.

His brilliant golden hair and languidly downcast red eyes surveyed the arena. The Emperor of the Empire raised his hand.

At that moment, the entire colosseum fell into silence.

“Proceed.”

The Emperor spoke. His arrogantly flowing voice wasn’t loud, but it contained a strange power that allowed everyone present to hear it.

Saeeurin looked up blankly at the Emperor. At that moment, she felt as if she had met the Emperor’s red gaze.

-Waaah!

Cheers erupted. Everyone rose from their seats and shouted in response to the Emperor’s voice announcing the competition.

At that moment, Saeeurin felt a sharp aura. It was as if dozens, hundreds of swords were sharpened and aimed at her.

Saeeurin’s gaze swept across the arena. The owners of the aura were the knights participating in this competition. It was an attempt to gain the upper hand by controlling the flow. But it didn’t work on Saeeurin.

“Hoo…”

A cold chill settled over her softly exhaled breath. Saeeurin also immersed herself in the flow. At that moment, the faint image of a white wolf appeared over the small girl’s body.

A fierce killing intent covered the colosseum. Knights reacted to the killing intent by placing their hands on their swords. Thick bewilderment appeared on their faces.

Saeeurin suppressed her aura. The cold chill and the wolf’s killing intent were nowhere to be found. A deep smile appeared on Saeeurin’s lips.