Chapter 301 : Knights Order...? (1)
The land of the elves, Greynifra.
And within Greynifra, under the World Tree, was Fildagreen.
"Whew~"
Recently, thanks to the help of Alon and Penia, human mages had joined, speeding up the reconstruction efforts.
However, Magrina still looked at the desolate Fildagreen and sighed.
"Hello?"
At the sudden voice, she turned her gaze.
"...It's you."
"Long time no see, Your Majesty."
There stood Eliban.
He smiled as if he had been there all along.
Magrina, too, was not surprised and addressed him.
"Why did you do that back then?"
Eliban tilted his head as if genuinely confused.
"When exactly are you referring to?"
Truly appearing not to know, he shrugged his shoulders.
However, Magrina was not shaken and pressed on.
"When Sin appeared, why did you stop me?"
The memory of that moment was still vivid in her mind.
Just as the Sin of Greed was about to attack Alon, Magrina tried to draw upon the power of Baarma.
Even if it meant the elves would learn she had consumed the power of Baarma.
Even if her brother were to find out.
Saving his life came first.
But the reason she hadn't done so was because of Eliban.
Just as she tried to use her power, he appeared from afar, calmly shaking his head and momentarily blocking her power.
Looking directly into Magrina's eyes, Eliban let out a thoughtful hum.
"Even if you hadn't intervened, Marquis would have been fine."
He spoke lightly.
"...He would have been fine?"
"Yes, truly."
He nodded immediately.
Magrina gazed into his eyes.
His blue eyes shone with unwavering conviction in his own words.
"Did you visit the future or something?"
She frowned slightly as she asked.
"The future, huh."
Eliban muttered to himself, then gave his usual smile.
"Actually, no matter what the future holds, my faith wouldn't change here."
"...Excuse me?"
"My hope isn't something that would easily crumble."
He spoke firmly.
Magrina instinctively closed her mouth, about to respond.
Eliban's aura had shifted in an instant.
Though his smiling face remained unchanged.
The atmosphere he now exuded, and the eerie sense of fanaticism flickering in his eyes, made Magrina fall silent.
"Ah—"
Coming back to himself as if realizing it too late, Eliban quickly dispelled the mood.
"Anyway, just to add, Marquis wouldn't have come to harm. If anything, it would have been more likely that you'd get hurt, which is why I stopped you."
"..."
"Oh, and by the way, I've taken care of all the strange gates. I actually came to report that, but I guess I've talked too long."
After saying all this unilaterally.
"Well then, I'll be going. I have to move quickly again."
He left just like that.
Eliban vanished without a trace.
Magrina stared at the direction where he had disappeared.
Unlike before, her expression was subtly different.
In that fleeting moment when Eliban's gaze had changed.
She had sensed a familiar aura emanating from him.
An aura she had felt not too long ago.
Thus—
'Just what... ?'
For a while, she couldn't tear her gaze away from the spot where Eliban had vanished.
***
Alon looked at the crowd packed tightly from the inner to the outer walls of his domain and felt a sinking feeling.
"I didn't expect this many people to show up..."
Of course, he didn't deny that posting the recruitment notice for the Knights' Order so casually had been his mistake.
In fact, it was precisely because it was so casual and sloppy.
He hadn't imagined so many applicants would flock here.
Honestly, the notice Alon had posted was far from enticing enough to attract such a crowd.
"Evan."
"Yes, My Lord."
"We only posted a simple recruitment notice for the Knights' Order, didn't we?"
"That's right."
"Did anything else get added to it? Like salary, working conditions, or any other details?"
"Of course not. Nothing was added."
"Then you're saying that all these people came here just from that one short notice?"
"That's right."
"I can't believe it."
Alon sighed and muttered.
But Evan, on the other hand, looked puzzled and asked back.
"Really? It's a lot of people, but I thought it was still within expectations."
"You thought this was within expectations?"
"Yes."
"Why...?"
"My Lord, surely you didn't think this wouldn't happen, did you?"
Seeing Evan's eyes looking somewhat disappointed, Alon scratched his head awkwardly.
"...I guess you're right."
"To be honest, My Lord, I think you underestimate your own position."
"...Do I?"
"Yes. Do you even know how famous you are?"
Alon let out a small hum before answering.
"Well, I guess my name is known to some extent."
"You're joking, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"My Lord, you're not just well-known. You're so famous that if someone in the Allied Kingdoms doesn't know you, they might be mistaken for an Imperial citizen."
"I'm that famous?"
"There are even mages who became mages because they admired you, My Lord."
"And that's not all," Evan continued.
"My Lord might not realize it, but you're unbelievably famous. It's no surprise at all that this many people came.
Plus, there are already quite a few knights in Caliban who have gotten stronger using the power of Kalannon the lightning receiver."
"Oh."
Hearing Evan's words, Alon thought of those in Caliban and let out a quiet sigh.
"So even without any special conditions, people would naturally drop everything just to have the title 'Knight of Marquis Palatio.' It's perfectly natural."
"I see."
"It's not just 'I see,' it's obvious."
"I see…"
"I'll say it again, My Lord — you need to be aware of your own reputation. Do you know that recently, some knights from Caliban visited the estate and even bowed to the statue gifted by Deus as if on a pilgrimage?"
'They bowed...to that statue?'
For a moment Alon was dumbfounded, but he quickly sighed and organized his thoughts.
"...First, let's conduct the interviews."
"I'll prepare everything."
And so the Knights' Order interviews began.
***
At 23 years old this year, Seamus took great pride in his swordsmanship.
And rightly so.
Because of his reclusive master, he had never gone out into the world.
Since childhood, he had done nothing but train with the sword, and at an early age, he had reached the level of Swordmaster.
Even his normally stingy master had praised him when he achieved the level of Swordmaster, acknowledging his talent.
That only fueled Seamus' pride even more.
And when his master finally told him he could leave the mountains, Seamus made a decision.
He would return in glory through his own skill.
And for the first step of that grand ambition—
He decided to become a knight of Marquis Palatio.
Of course, he knew that to truly succeed as a knight, one would usually go to Caliban.
But Seamus wanted to make his success a little more special.
Simply put, he was being a bit arrogant.
On top of that—
Marquis Palatio was so famous that even Seamus and his master, who lived in seclusion, would sometimes hear about him.
So without hesitation, Seamus applied to join the Knights' Order.
And as he headed toward the Palatio estate, he dreamed happy dreams.
He imagined himself joining the Knights' Order, earning Marquis's favor, and quickly surpassing even the five Swordmasters of Caliban.
Naturally, he believed this dream would come true.
He didn't doubt for a second that he would pass the entrance test.
His master had told him that Swordmasters were very rare in the Allied Kingdoms.
So, full of dreams, Seamus came to take the entrance exam at the Palatio estate.
"...?"
But something felt off.
At the entrance exam, there were others with skills on par with his own.
"??"
And there were way more of them than he had expected...
Since Seamus was a Swordmaster himself, he had a keen eye for sizing up others.
That only made him even more bewildered.
"Uh...?"
When he turned his gaze to one side, there were clearly stronger individuals exchanging wary glances.
It was obvious that they were on guard.
And when he turned his head the other way, there were plenty of others around his own level.
And that wasn't all.
"What's that?"
"Isn't that a royal?"
"What's a royal doing at a Knights' Order entrance exam?"
"And over there — a mage?"
"Wait, isn't that the daughter of the Red Tower Master?"
"What? I think I've seen that person somewhere before."
"Baba Yaga? Baba Yaga of Colony?"
"Crazy— why is one of Caliban's top five swordmasters here?! We're doomed."
With whispers pouring in from every direction—
...Is this really the level of the Allied Kingdoms?
Seamus' confidence shrank to nothing...
***
Alon quickly screened out candidates with a simple physical fitness test, and without wasting any time, began the interviews.
To be honest, he had wanted to categorize the applicants based on certain conditions beyond just fitness.
But if he had done that—
He would've had to turn away many of those who had dropped everything to come here, simply because they didn't meet the conditions.
So he decided to endure a little more effort himself.
And so, he welcomed the first applicant into the interview room.
The moment he looked up to see who it was—
"?"
Alon couldn't help but look puzzled.
"Rim?"
"Greetings! Oh— Marquis, sir!"
Of course, the first person to walk in was—
Rim, one of the Shadow Leaves of Fildagreen.
"...What are you doing here?"
"I came to take the interview."
'Aren't you one of the Shadow Leaves serving the Queen?'
Alon almost said out loud, but stopped himself.
"Don't you already have an affiliation?"
"I can change that!"
Did she talk this over with Magrina first?
The words rose up again inside him, but Alon simply flipped the paper as if it were obvious.
"...Please leave."
With a slightly downcast look, Rim left.
After sending away a few more elves like Rim, the next applicant arrived.
"Greetings, My Lord!"
"...Filian?"
"Yes! Filian Merkiliane, sir!"
It was none other than Filian Merkiliane, a noble from Ashtalon.
Smiling brightly and introducing himself confidently, Filian left no room for hesitation.
"Please leave."
"Huh?"
"Aren't you a noble of Ashtalon?"
It was a bit awkward because, honestly, Alon would've liked to have Filian in the Knights' Order.
But of course, Filian was a noble of the Ashtalon Kingdom.
And not just any noble — he was a highly prized young Swordmaster in Ashtalon, so hiring him would surely cause trouble.
So without hesitation, Alon dismissed him.
But then—
Looking quite serious, Filian suddenly said:
"Greetings again! I'm Filian!"
"?"
Alon looked completely bewildered.
But then—
"I've renounced the name Merkiliane! I'm a commoner now, so feel free to call me whatever you like!"
"Cough—!"
At those words, Evan, who had been yawning beside him, started coughing violently.
Alon couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut and grab his head.
It wasn't going to be easy, even from the start.