At last, my two close aides accepted their officer positions in the knight order.
Thalia would be vice commander, and Viten would be First Squad Leader.
With a Master-rank powerhouse seated as vice commander, the knight order was beginning to look the part. Still, many positions remained to be filled.
The positions were not the only problem. We also needed a site.
The so-called golden-yolk plots of the Holy City—where roads ran straight, temples and schools stood nearby, parks were plentiful, and government offices were close at hand—were so expensive they made your eyes pop.
But setting up in the suburbs would not do either.
It was a matter of appearances, but more importantly, any real fighting would take place within the Holy City. What good would it be if our headquarters were tucked away in some mountain valley? We would never be able to respond in time.
“There is one suitable site currently on the market. It is Count Billoy’s mansion. It is called a mansion, but it is large enough that one could justifiably call it a palace. It is not far from Lord Iden’s palace, and it offers quick access to any part of the Holy City.”
I had been racking my brain over finding a site when Lucian brought me an excellent piece of information.
“How much?”
“Five and a half million baht.”
This was no joke.
Five and a half million was nearly twice the knight order’s annual budget.
“If you wish, I can provide the funds.”
“Five and a half million is a large sum even for you, isn’t it?”
“It is. Much of my capital is tied up, so I would need to borrow from the bank to raise that much.”
“A knight is not a profession that makes money. It is a profession that devours it. In other words, the money you invest in me will not come back.”
Lucian smiled slyly.
“Lord Iden wishes for the power to push aside his brothers, while I wish to drive away the ravens pecking grain in my wheat field. Our interests align.”
“Good. Let us draw up a contract.”
Lucian signaled to a servant. After receiving a sheet of paper, he swiftly filled in the blank spaces with flowing script.
“I have another business proposal.”
“I was about to make a proposal myself.”
“Please speak first.”
“No, you speak first.”
“…Very well.”
Lucian set down his pen. I accepted the contract from him and began reviewing it.
“A severe famine has recently struck the County of Avaro. As a result, many refugees have flowed into the Holy City.”
“And?”
“I was thinking we could undertake charitable work in Lord Iden’s name. We could distribute grain, build temporary shelters, hand out clothing, or create jobs.”
I stared blankly at Lucian’s face.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Handsome as I may be.”
“I was wondering whether you really are the same man people called a demon who only knew money.”
“You need not make it so complicated. If we improve Lord Iden’s reputation, people will buy even one more item from my trading company. And would that not bring even one more applicant to the knight order?”
“…You are the same person I knew.”
I agreed with the charitable work as well.
The reason I had been thrown out of my home in my previous life had ultimately been poverty. No matter how disappointing a child might be, it could not have been easy to sell your own flesh and blood for a handful of coins.
The circumstances here seemed even worse than in my previous life. Famine, epidemics, and war already plagued the common folk, and monsters joined in to torment them as well.
“I would be happy to do good in my name, but did you not just say the trading company had no funds?”
“If a trading company has excess reserve funds, then it is not doing business properly.”
I see.
Well, I trusted he would handle it well. He was exceptionally capable, after all.
“What is Lord Iden’s proposal?”
“Here. Take this.”
I pulled a thick bundle of talismans from my coat and placed it on the table.
“It is a gift. I cannot take an investment of five and a half million baht from you and call it even.”
“If my guess is correct, these are the items Lord Iden sold when you disguised yourself as a merchant.”
“That is right. They are accessories that can cure Overflow.”
Lucian’s eyes sparkled as he examined the talismans.
Qi Dissolution Talisman.
It helped control the qi of someone suffering from Qi Deviation. However, anyone who survived through its use would never be able to use martial arts again.
Falling into Qi Deviation itself meant that one’s qi and blood had ruptured to the point where survival was uncertain, so it was difficult to call the inability to use martial arts a penalty.
“What should an item like this be called?”
“A talisman.”
Lucian carefully lifted one talisman.
“In the five years since Lord Iden vanished, the price of this item… this talisman has risen to whatever a seller wishes to ask.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You were active for such a short time, and Solitas’s blessing cannot cure Overflow symptoms. If these return to the market after five years, it will cause an enormous wave.”
“That was my intention.”
When I smiled,
“You are not giving these to me merely for my own benefit.”
He displayed the insight of a merchant.
“That is right. All you need to do is spread the rumor that the ‘Young Saint’ has returned.”
Lucian’s eyes lit up once more. This time, the gleam was so bright it was nearly blinding.
“…You are devising a truly interesting plan.”
He laughed aloud and tucked the talismans into his coat.
***
With Lucian’s help, I acquired the site.
Count Billoy was far removed from being a frugal man. His mansion was large enough that it had nothing to envy of my palace.
Moreover, unlike a certain person’s palace, its garden had retained its shape. It seemed likely to give hope to the dejected gardener, whose workload had been reduced.
Lily took charge of converting the site into the knight order’s headquarters. She oversaw the purchase of new furnishings, the cleaning, the decorating, and the hiring of servants.
Meanwhile, I called in a printer and a contractor to discuss how we would spread the knight order’s recruitment notice. The printer brought me copy from a renowned writer for the notice.
[ Knight Order Recruitment Notice ]
Hear this, His Highness Young Lord Iden Esterji requires your courage and loyalty! Those with exceptional abilities, those who yearn for the glory of battle and adventure, those who seek to establish justice in this land under Lord Solitas’s will—gather beneath Lord Iden’s banner.
“Those who know honor, come with me. Our path is the path of victory.”
May you engrave Lord Iden’s words deep in your hearts and let your aspirations soar.
Eligibility: Those aged nine or older who possess sound bodies and moral character
Interview Date: Feast Day of Saint Boros
Interview Location: Main Gate of the Knight Order Headquarters in Esterji Holy City
Interview Method: Tests of martial arts and wisdom
“…….”
I looked back and forth between the notice and the middle-aged printer. The printer, whose chin was thick with fat, looked at me with a face full of anticipation.
“This is the copy you received from the writer?”
“Yes. He is the most famous biographer in the Holy City. He is so busy that even money cannot hire him, but when he heard he could help Your Highness, he readily stepped forward.”
“That is something to be grateful for, but……”
I pointed at the bottom of the notice. At the part about honor.
“I have never said anything like this.”
The printer clasped his hands together as he answered.
“That is what biographers do. They lightly embellish Your Highness’s everyday words so that your heroic qualities can be conveyed properly.”
That was not a light embellishment. He had made me into an entirely different person.
“All right. The writer surely knew what he was doing.”
“Yes. I guarantee that once the notices are posted, warriors who admire Your Highness will flock here like clouds.”
That would be ideal. Since I had purchased the site, I had received reports that Ravenshade’s misbehavior had grown several times worse.
The Feast Day of Saint Boros, our scheduled interview date, was twenty-eight days from now. I had set the date generously because the headquarters’ interior renovation would be roughly complete by then, and people from even remote villages needed enough time to arrive.
Through the efforts of the two tradesmen, the notices spread to every corner of the duchy. They were posted anywhere that more than five people lived.
Just how many people would come for me?
I had heard that when Chris posted a recruitment notice for the Raven Knight Order, the line of applicants had stretched all the way to the city gates.
While waiting for people to gather, I discussed the interview process with the officers.
“It is important to judge the relative merits of Awakened Abilities.”
Thalia spoke.
“Someone with a Nature-Type Awakened Ability like Lord Iden’s is easy to judge, but there are far more cases that are difficult to assess at a glance.”
“For example?”
“One of my peers possessed an ability that nullified attacks aimed at the left side of his body. Before people understood his ability, he was considered invincible. But once its nature was revealed, his right side was relentlessly targeted, and he failed the promotion examination.”
“Even so, that is far better than having no ability at all.”
“Another of my peers is an Awakened Ability User who can blind an opponent for one second, only once a day. One second is an exceptionally long time in a fight that decides life or death, so he passed the promotion examination.”
“…I hear that there are Awakened Ability Users who can transform into dogs.”
Viten, who had been listening in silence, finally spoke.
“You cannot even hold a sword with paws, so why does an ability like that exist? It is not as though you are some mascot. What use would the ability to become a dog be to a knight order?”
Viten was still unable to recover from the shock of losing to Thalia. His self-esteem had now vanished even from the underworld.
“Viten—”
“Senior’s ability is not useless.”
As I was about to offer him some comfort, Thalia stepped in first.
“Senior’s Awakened Ability competes for the top position among Enhancement-Type Abilities. I believe that day, Senior was simply not in good condition.”
Viten’s face brightened immediately.
“That is right. I was not normal that day, was I?”
“Yes, certainly.”
“Right…… I knew something felt strange. There is no way I should lose to you.”
“Of course, I am stronger.”
When Thalia drew that line, Viten’s body swayed. I decided to wrap up the subject there.
“First, we will listen to the types of Awakened Abilities and conduct a primary evaluation. Then, we will conduct a secondary evaluation through sparring that uses only Awakened Abilities.”
Thalia nodded.
“That seems acceptable. Other knight orders use that method often as well.”
“One more thing. We also need to prepare a general admissions process for applicants who are not Awakened Ability Users.”
“I did wonder why Awakened Abilities were not specified among the eligibility requirements…… Are you thinking of accepting ordinary people as knights as well?”
“That is right.”
Five years ago, I discovered limitless potential in the soul of an abused child.
There were people in this world with the potential for not Awakened Abilities, but Daoist Power. Finding them was the other goal of the interview.