The tests to select new knights concluded successfully over ten days.
The total number of applicants was around 6,200.
An enormous number of people, equivalent to the entire population of a small Holy City, came to the headquarters to join the knight order.
Of the 6,200 applicants, only 500 were Awakened Ability Users. The remaining 5,700 were ordinary people applying through the Non-Awakened Track.
Viten and Thalia failed 430 of the 500 Awakened Ability Users.
To be more precise, Viten had passed 200 of them, and Thalia had filtered out another 130 afterward.
When Viten protested that she had selected too few people, she answered like this.
“I am the vice commander.”
“What? Hey, fight me again. One more bout!”
When Viten’s temper exploded, Thalia made a remark that was rare for her.
“I am joking.”
Before Viten could explode again, she calmly explained.
“As Senior knows, the knight order’s financial situation is not particularly good. We cannot afford to feed Sources of Mana to everyone without restraint, so I believe it is right to concentrate our resources on a small number of people.”
I agreed.
Out of the 5,700 applicants in the Non-Awakened Track, I passed only one person.
It was not because I had cut talented people to save money. If someone with good qualities appeared, I was willing to spend as much of the budget as necessary. There had simply been only one person with Immortal Aptitude: Laszlo.
My master once told me that the bond between master and disciple was woven by the heavens.
Once the tests ended, I held a grand banquet with the seventy-six new knights. All seventy-six were spirited talents, but two of them were especially outstanding.
One was an ogre named Thrudal.
No, perhaps I should call him a creature.
Ogres were vicious monsters over three meters tall, with tremendous strength and a habit of eating people. In the bestiary, they were classified as Grade 3, on par with Lava Spirits. Naturally, there was an enormous uproar when such a monster appeared and announced that he wanted to take the knight examination.
The name of Thrudal’s Awakened Ability was “Knowledge Devouring.” It allowed him to absorb the intelligence of the smartest creature he consumed.
After eating one unfortunate ecologist clean to the marrow, he acquired intelligence equal to that of an Academy scholar and began fundamentally reconsidering his identity as a monster.
“The criterion that distinguishes humans from monsters is the degree to which they are guided by values.”
Thrudal said.
“When I was a monster, I could only covet the prey before my eyes. But I am different now. To become a better being, I wish to devote myself to Your Highness’s values.”
“Um……”
I did not know what I should say in response. For one thing, my neck hurt. His head was so high above me that trying to meet his eyes felt as though it would break my cervical vertebrae.
“What values of mine are you talking about?”
“Honor, loyalty, and justice. You wrote them well in the recruitment notice.”
Thrudal said he liked the words written on the notices I had distributed. Surprisingly, hiring a famous biographer had produced results.
Thrudal’s Awakened Ability did nothing except raise his intelligence. It could not be called an ability that directly helped in combat.
The reason he passed the test with excellent results and was even mentioned as a candidate for squad leader was entirely due to an ogre’s physical capabilities.
Ordinary wounds closed in an instant. Poison and disease could not take hold. He possessed enough strength to smash rocks with his bare hands, and his endurance was so immense that even he did not know its limit.
He had even learned swordsmanship after gaining human intelligence.
The other person was named Shaka.
She was a small girl of fifteen, with pronounced dark circles beneath her eyes.
Like Laszlo, she had been subjected to continuous abuse from childhood in an attempt to force her to manifest an Awakened Ability.
While Laszlo’s father had at least maintained the minimum decorum expected of a noble, the person who abused her had resorted to every possible means.
After suffering every kind of torture too terrible to speak of, Shaka finally succeeded in manifesting an Awakened Ability.
The Awakened Ability she manifested was called “Telepathy.”
It was an ability that allowed her to transfer the thoughts in her mind to another person.
Several people besides Shaka had manifested Telepathy, so in terms of rarity, it was of only low-to-middling value.
Nor could it be called especially powerful for combat. It merely conveyed the thoughts in one’s mind.
The reason Shaka had surpassed so many competitors and become the best was simple. Merely sharing what was in her mind for a moment drove most people insane.
No one could remain sane in the face of the thoughts she sent.
“There is no such thing as honor or justice in this world.”
Shaka spoke in a gloomy tone.
“Humans are animals. The only difference between humans and animals is that humans know how to wrap themselves in plausible values.”
“Shaka, I have traveled the world and seen countless pieces of evidence that humans are better than beasts.”
Thrudal responded gently.
“Then would you like to look into my mind for just one second? There is something in here that could change your mind.”
Shaka pointed at her head with her index finger and gave a small snicker.
I was a little concerned about her state of mind, but of the three values I had put forward—honor, loyalty, and justice—she did not deny loyalty.
She said that she had not originally planned to become a knight.
Shaka had been one of the refugees who entered the Holy City when famine struck the County of Avaro. At that time, Lucian distributed food and clothing in my name, and she experienced goodwill without compensation for the first time in her life.
That made her curious about me. Then, after seeing me in person, she liked me even more. To borrow her words, she thought, “If it is this person, it would be all right even if he abused me.”
…For some reason, I felt that I should not learn the details.
***
After receiving loyalty oaths from the knights, I returned to the fray of work.
Selecting the members had only completed about half of the process of founding the knight order. Many mountains still remained to be crossed.
The next day, I called the Adventurers’ Guildmaster to the headquarters. I intended to sign a supply contract for Sources of Mana.
“The Sources of Mana the guild can supply are limited to Grade 5 and Grade 6.”
The guildmaster was a bearded middle-aged man. His intelligent eyes gleamed as he continued his explanation.
“The price of Sources of Mana has risen considerably lately. Nobles are racing to buy them up. However, we strongly wish to maintain a long-term relationship with Young Lord Iden. If you sign the contract now, we will lower the supply price to near our purchase cost.”
“Why are you treating me so well?”
“Because you treated me well first. My dealings with Young Lord Chris were not particularly pleasant.”
The guildmaster answered honestly. I understood that it was entirely possible, but then a question occurred to me.
“What was Brother Mabel like when dealing with you?”
The theory Karoy had told me—that Mabel was the mastermind behind everything—still lingered in my mind.
A person could wear a mask whenever the situation demanded formality. But when dealing with someone of lower status, their hidden nature would show itself.
“Young Lord Mabel has not signed a supply contract with our guild.”
The guildmaster gave me an unexpected answer.
“He did not sign a supply contract with the guild? Brother Mabel has his own personal knight order as well.”
“We are not the only suppliers of Sources of Mana. There are trading companies that employ specialist hunters, and the black market is thriving as well.”
He seemed to know nothing about my brother’s dealings. I decided to end my investigation into Brother Mabel there.
I signed a supply contract worth eight hundred thousand baht a year. Forty percent of the knight order’s budget was allocated to Sources of Mana alone.
After the guildmaster left, another visitor who had been waiting entered the office. This guest was a young, guileless man of around twenty.
“Good to see you, Caspar.”
“I greet Your Highness, Lord Iden.”
The young man looked as though a gust of wind might carry him away. Not long ago, he had stepped in front of vicious mercenaries to protect me, despite lacking the strength to crush even a single insect.
“I do not know whether the tea will suit your taste.”
A maid brought over hot tea and placed a cup before each of us.
“No, I am not picky about such things.”
Caspar took small sips of tea.
I had heard that a good ruler needed to be precise in rewarding merit.
But I had not called Caspar here merely to give him a reward. If that had been all, I would not have committed the rudeness of making a benefactor come all this way.
“Have you thought about the proposal?”
“Yes. Grandfather has spent the last several days deliberating without sleeping a wink.”
“And his answer?”
“I am sorry, but Grandfather Rupert is elderly and his health is poor, so he says it would be difficult for him to take the position you offered.”
“And? That cannot be the end of it.”
Caspar twisted about as though ashamed.
“He asked whether I might be suitable instead. I have studied alchemy under Grandfather for quite a long time, after all……”
Just as I expected, I smiled first.
My master had taught me pharmacology, but in my previous world, ginseng and mushrooms were nearly the only ingredients available to use.
This world had an entirely different range of materials. There were countless byproducts harvested from Spirit Creatures, as well as various Spirit Fruits and Spirit Herbs that grew in the mountains and fields……
If they were combined properly, it might be possible to create an Elixir Pill that would make even the Udumbara Flower look commonplace.
For that, I needed an expert fully versed in this world’s pharmacology and herbalism.
I had inquired at many shops over the past few months, but there was no alchemist who surpassed Rupert, who had walked the path of alchemy alone for forty years.
Rupert would not want to abandon his shop, but neither would he want to miss the opportunity to connect a duke’s son with his own grandson.
“Welcome to the family.”
I held out my hand to Caspar. He reflexively grasped it with both of his.
“I will work hard so that I do not bring disgrace upon Your Highness’s name.”
“Disgrace? I will be the one benefiting from this. The workshop is on the third floor to the left. I will stop by later so that we can work out a formula together. Go ahead and inspect the facilities first.”
“Yes.”
“Ah, I should tell you this in advance as well.”
Caspar’s expression was swollen with anticipation. I beamed at the thought of disappointing him.
“The work I am entrusting to you is not alchemy. It is Elixir Refinement.”
“…Pardon?”
“You did not hear?”
“Uh, I had only heard that you were seeking a master for the alchemy workshop…… I have never even heard the term Elixir Refinement in my life!”
Caspar was so flustered that he drank tea through his nose instead of his mouth. Right before my eyes, his face turned bright red as he kept coughing.
“Cough, cough! I am sor… Cough!”
I patted his back and continued explaining.
“You do not need to be alarmed. Elixir Refinement and alchemy are practically brothers. Their methods are similar, but their goals are slightly different.”
“M-may I ask what the goal of Elixir Refinement is?”
“To create artificial Sources of Mana……”
For dramatic effect, I paused for a moment.
“To live forever without growing old.”
Caspar gulped.
That was right. The goal of Elixir Refinement was ageless immortality.
In other words, becoming an Immortal.
Along that long journey, I would heal my Cold Yin Severed Meridian and strengthen the knight order as well.
After Caspar left, I remained alone in the office and leisurely raised my teacup.
I had been so busy preparing the founding of the knight order over the past month that I had barely had a moment to breathe. It seemed that I could spare some time to reflect on myself.
But no matter how much I tilted the cup, none of the tea reached my mouth.
……Hm?
I turned over the teacup and looked inside, frowning.
The tea had frozen solid, cup and all.
So had my hand.