In a tent set up along the road from Ironwood to the castle, listening to a report, Victor sat in a chair, still trying to recover from his strange journey, but catching a glimpse of everyone in the room staring at him strangely.
— What's going on? Why are you all glaring at me? — he asked, glancing at his knights.
Alganis watched him intensely, then exchanged looks with Linea, as if gathering courage.
— My lord, what happened to you? And how did you advance to a new level so suddenly? — he finally inquired.
"Incidentally, they probably didn't see the gates, and I obviously didn't move anywhere... Physically... So, was this a shift in consciousness? This all turned out awkwardly... How should I answer all these questions?"
— Alganis and Linea stay, everyone else leave the tent, — the lord ordered the five guards who were also present.
Saluting with their right fist over their chest, the soldiers vacated the premises, after which Victor invited the remaining knights to sit in chairs against the opposite wall.
Sitting upright, as if swallowing sticks, they fixed their gaze on the baron, who was collecting his thoughts, deciding how to explain—or lie—because what had happened was unbelievable even to him.
— I don't fully understand it myself, but my development follows a strange path. When my energy started flowing uncontrollably through my body, I simply lost consciousness and had a dream where I met the goddess Iris... — He tried blending truth with lies, hoping it sounded plausible. — In the dream, the goddess told me that if I build a temple dedicated to her on my land, I will receive her blessing, and she will assist me in my growth, to demonstrate my strength, — Victor improvised, observing the knights' reactions.
By their skeptical expressions, they weren't particularly convinced by his account, but revealing that he was a paladin tasked with reviving gods would have been even more absurd.
The idea of temples wasn't arbitrary; gods desired worship, and the first step was to construct shrines for them. Ironically, Victor had been a firm atheist in his previous life.
Not an atheist converted by others, but someone who chose this belief himself. He simply didn't want to consider heaven or hell, and after much reflection, concluded he didn't want either destiny, as his life had been plagued with hardships. Refusing to pay additional debts for sins, he had renounced religion completely.
Later, he became so convinced of his views that he rarely contemplated religion or his attitude toward it.
Now, he wouldn't declare anything categorically, retaining his skepticism about gods, assuming they were merely hyper-powerful beings styling themselves divine.
— Could this be a revelation? — Linea finally asked.
Victor shifted his gaze to the girl, barely visible in the dimly lit tent, lit only by a few candles on the table and faint sunlight trickling through narrow crevices.
— What kind of revelation? — he asked, hoping her input would bolster his deceit.
Linea paused, recalling something, but Alganis spoke up.
— In ancient times, there were prophets who could receive revelations from gods and convey them to mankind, but… —
Interrupting him, Linea continued,
— Prophets are mere legends; the Royal Mage Tower has banned mentioning them.
"Bingo! Just what I needed! This works for me, even though I don't know why prophets are forbidden, but I'm not a prophet, so there's no problem," Victor immediately thought, hearing exactly what he wanted.
He was confident that in this medieval world, there would inevitably be some superstition or fallacy that could help him conceal information about himself.
— Then you must keep quiet about this. Hope there's no issue with that? — The lord stared intently at the knights before him.
Unlike his soldiers, these two required special monitoring, as they were equally powerful and he could rely only on their word.
— Of course, my lord, — they chorused together, but Victor continued eyeing them, hoping to catch any doubts on their faces.
— Until we figure out what's happening to me, any leak of information could be catastrophic for all of us, — he stated flatly, not threatening them but pointing out the facts.
In this world, it was easy to attract unwanted attention, and you never knew where or how you'd acquire an enemy eager to push you into the abyss. As long as you had a lord, you had support, but lose that backing, and you'd be like a dandelion seed blown by the wind. Although this didn't affect Linea, she needed his magical abilities, so betraying him made no sense.
— Yes, my lord! — they again echoed in unison.
Victor was pleased with their response and finally relaxed a bit.
— Did anything strange or inexplicable happen to me? — The boy wanted to understand what had occurred while his consciousness was elsewhere.
— My lord, we monitored you constantly, — Alganis began. — Your breathing and body temperature were stable, but I wanted to summon a priest, however…
— I forbade it, — Linea interjected. — Your magic is too unusual, and if this was linked to your ability to raise knights with your hammer, it would immediately reach the Central Church, and from there, the king would find out... I couldn't allow that.
Alganis glanced at the girl, normally behaving irresponsibly and even foolishly, but in this instance, she had foreseen the chain of consequences.
Victor, too, was impressed, as he'd recently begun doubting her intelligence, but this insightfulness restored his faith that there was grey matter working actively in that pretty head.
— You were examined by Natila, who confirmed you're fine and don't need a healer, — Alganis added, looking at his lord.
"Exactly, nothing complex here. These girls can diagnose minor ailments and deviations, but they aren't physicians, nor am I. Meaning, if there were any anomalies, they wouldn't have noticed them."
This was good news for him, as if it happened again, the only anomaly would be his immobility for a while.
— Let's go back to the castle. Order the soldiers to dismantle the camp, — Victor commanded, glancing around the tent and contemplating his upcoming spring campaign and what he needed for the journey.
"A great idea!" he thought, grinning broadly as he began plotting his future expedition and ways to mitigate his soldiers' hardships.
Freeing himself from these worries, he focused on new ideas. Here, his brain perpetually generated novel concepts, and every minor observation could spark another, but now he wanted to reach the castle and wash off the dirt that had accumulated on him, as if he'd rolled around on a barnyard floor.
— Why am I so dirty? — he suddenly asked the knights, who had already closed the tent flaps and were preparing to leave.
— My lord, we don't fully understand what happened, since we were outside at the time. When the guards reported that you were covered in this dirt, we rushed here, and shortly afterward, you regained consciousness, — Alganis explained.
"Rubbish! Other knights didn't experience this. Is it because I'm a paladin? How do I make sense of all this?"
Thinking about it, he recalled the journal, which had turned out to be gates to the realm of gods.
"Maybe it has other functions? Must test it."
Stepping outside, the scene resembled a military camp, with tents scattered everywhere—along the road and even in the fields, where soldiers, servants, horses, and medics were billeted.
"Did they plan to wait here for a whole year?" Victor wondered, surveying the setup.
If ignoring the tents and soldiers, there were rolling hills surrounding them, cultivated and planted, awaiting spring to sprout majestic stalks.
Victor tried picturing the future harvest, which would certainly reward him for his efforts, while simultaneously inspecting his domain.
A thin layer of snow blanketed everything, lightly dusting the cultivated patches, creating a contrast between the black soil and white snow.
There were no trees or structures here, only fields and gentle slopes, and even the sky, tightly shrouded in grey clouds, couldn't diminish his appreciation of the scenery. Come spring, the clouds would dissipate, and people in his lands would forget hunger, at least he'd strive for that.
***
Returning to the castle and bathing, Victor headed to the dining hall, where he joined Alganis and Linea for lunch, but this meal differed significantly from previous ones.
All three conversed, primarily listening to Alganis recounting his reaction to his lord's incident.
He decided it was petrification magic, although it had never existed, mentioned only in fairy tales.
Listening to his account, Victor and Linea could only smile, unsure how to comfort the anxious man caught in such a situation.
For him, as a knight, losing his lord was equivalent to becoming homeless, and at his age, he'd struggle to find a replacement. Only battlefield valor might grant him a lucky break.
However, Alganis wasn't concerned about that; he genuinely feared misfortune would befall not his lord but Victor, because it was the latter who had gifted him the means to grow stronger and instilled hope for a grand future, earning his boundless gratitude, which extended beyond loyalty typical of a vassal to his overlord. He aspired to serve only this man and envisioned himself as a knight solely in House Baltas.
Of course, Alganis didn't verbalize this aloud, trusting everyone already understood, and even if they didn't, it didn't alter his feelings.
Victor watched his knight, who differed sharply from the version he'd initially met. The captain of the guard now looked younger and far more energetic.
"There's something strange here... I paid no attention to his appearance until he changed... Wait! Changed?! Changes..."
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind about something he hadn't noticed, and he called over the maid standing by the wall, ordering her to fetch Lulu.
Everyone in the dining hall fell silent, watching the lord, who had just been smiling but now appeared anxious.
Lost in thought, he didn't register that he was staring directly into Linea's blue eyes, which, embarrassed by such intense attention, lowered her gaze.
Lulu arrived about five minutes later, smiling brightly as if she'd received a gift. Standing before Victor, she courteously bowed.
The lord studied his maid, who truly differed from her former self. Using a magician's keen perception, he noted every altered detail.
So, she had grown slightly taller, now measuring around one hundred seventy centimeters instead of one hundred sixty-five previously. Her figure had become more appealing, her breasts fuller, waist slimmer; he couldn't see her hips beneath the maid's dress, but he was certain they, too, had changed.
Additionally, her facial features had evolved: her eyes were now symmetrical and more alluring, nose sharper, lips—once ordinary—now red and plumper. Formerly round cheeks had become more angular, and her green eyes seemed larger due to their distinctive fox-like slant. Even her hair had gained a vibrant golden glow and healthier texture.
"Precisely what I thought! She became a mage! Why didn't she say anything?" flashed through his mind.
— Why didn't you tell me you became a mage? — Victor asked, prompting the knights in the dining hall to turn their attention from the lord to the girl.
The formerly happy Lulu suddenly paled, her lips trembling, and overall, she looked like a terrified deer.
— I'm not going to punish you, I just want to know, — the lord repeated calmly.
— I... I was afraid, — she murmured tearfully, her eyes filling with tears.
— Don't you dare cry here; no one will harm you. Simply tell me why you were scared to tell me, — Victor's tone softened.
— I... I saw how hard you trained to become a mage, but I achieved it accidentally and feared you'd drive me away, — immediately afterwards, tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Right, that's why you hid from me and dodged meetings, while I couldn't even notice these changes... Damn, I saw you so many times walking through the castle, but you always hid your face, and I paid no attention. Wonder what else I missed?"
Victor rose from his chair and, approaching the girl, hugged her, causing her to sob harder, while the knights gaped at the scene, their mouths agape.
— Don't hide anything from me. I already told you, you're the most valuable person in this castle, and even the castle itself isn't as important as you. Got it? — Holding the crying girl close, he asked.
— Ye-e-es, — she wailed louder.
Now, with her enhanced appearance, it looked even sadder, and Victor himself felt upset, regretting that he'd pushed this fragile creature to tears, knowing her character and how little it took to make her cry.
— Go clean yourself up. From now on, Linea will train you, and you'll also become my knight, understood? — he tried to console her.
Truthfully, he didn't need such a knight, and he'd never let her near combat, but the prospect of her gaining strength and healthy resilience delighted him, as he loved this girl like a younger sister.
— Leave, — he instructed, pulling away from her embrace, as his coat was already soaked with her tears.
The girl bowed and ran off, oblivious to what had just transpired.
Unlike her, the two knights were still stunned by the spectacle of a noble comforting a maid.