Chapter: 548
As news spread that a duel against the Alrn Knight Order was approaching, the members of the First Knight Order, while feeling a sense of inevitability, were also gripped by fear.
Everyone currently associated with the kingdom’s knights had grown up listening to the heroic tales of Benedict Alrn or had witnessed his exploits firsthand.
Thus, most of those standing here had dreamed of becoming knights of the Alrn family, imagining themselves writing heroic tales alongside the saviors of the kingdom.
But those dreams never came to fruition.
It wasn’t due to restrictions set by the Alrn family.
Benedict Alrn allowed anyone confident in their skills to take the test.
However, he didn’t come after those trying to run away during the trials. Instead, he aided them in fleeing, allowing them to throw away their self-respect in the process.
As a result, the knights who had faced the trials could never forget the horrors of that day.
The tests that stretched over several sleepless nights.
The hell where they were sure they would lose their lives unless they gave up.
Since escaping from that hell, they lived each day steeped in overwhelming defeat.
How much better would it have been if they had never taken the test?
How happy would they have been if they hadn’t realized that the genius they thought they were was actually a nobody?
Would they have felt this crushing sense of defeat if they had committed themselves to the trials to become knights of the kingdom from the very beginning?
Certainly, they stood in a position everyone envied, but deep in their hearts, there was always a nagging sense of defeat.
And this feeling of defeat didn’t fade even with the passing of long years; instead, it thickened into what could only be called inferiority complex.
“The legend of the Alrn Knight Order ended decades ago!”
The leader of the kingdom’s knights raised his voice. No one harbored deeper hatred for Benedict Alrn than he, and he clenched his fists in anger.
“Those we’re about to face are nothing but rookies who haven’t even experienced proper combat in ages!”
The commander was right. After the death of his wife, Benedict had retreated, sealing himself and his knights within his domain.
In contrast, what about the kingdom’s First Knight Order? Those claiming to be the sword protecting the kingdom lived through combat every day.
“This battle isn’t about individual strength! It’s about the unity of the Order! No matter how monstrous Benedict Alrn may be, he’s still just one man! He cannot complete the entire Order alone!”
As the commander’s passionate shout echoed, just a flicker of hope stirred in the knights’ hearts.
Wouldn’t it be different now? Even if they had once crumbled in the past, weren’t they now swinging their weapons desperately to overcome that feeling of defeat?
While they had been languishing in peace, they had solidified experience. Perhaps they could bring down the knights of Alrn.
“Let’s stake the honor of the royal palace on this! You are the elite of this country!”
The commander of the kingdom’s knights, Tabol, smiled in excitement as he scanned the knights raising their voices alongside him.
The events that transpired at last year’s Partran family party had engraved a profound humiliation in him.
He was called a fool played with by a mere girl, received slurs from his family, and faced subtle disdain from various knights.
But all of that ends today. If the Knight Order he had nurtured could successfully subdue Benedict Alrn’s knights, it would prove his competence!
Benedict Alrn. I may not be able to defeat you through sheer force. However, power isn’t the only force that exists in this world.
Let’s see what shape the knights, who have been dormant in peace for decades, are in.
As he observed the knights’ heated expressions, he cast his gaze toward the kingdom’s spatial magician.
Only recently, during an incident at the Soul Academy, that magician had failed to properly cast spatial magic, tarnishing the royal palace’s honor. Now he was sweating bullets as he prepared magic alongside his subordinates.
“I trust it will go well this time, yes?”
“Y-Yes, of course, Commander of the First Knight Order.”
“I hope it doesn’t fail again. If your incompetence gets exposed once more, many heads will roll.”
With a chilling laugh, Tabol stepped into the teleportation portal and took in the verdant landscape of the plains, clicking his tongue. He secretly hoped for another failure. What a pity.
“Have they come early to wait?”
The knights of the Alrn family had already settled in the area before the kingdom’s knights, stretching their bodies.
It seemed they were also feeling the tension of this encounter, after all.
Since it was their first real battle in a long time, loosening up their stiff bodies was only natural.
Huh?
Tabol froze for a moment as he saw the Alrn knights moving with wild abandon.
Why does that knight’s swing feel so heavy?
He didn’t seem that old, yet how could he wield such skill?
No, it wasn’t just him. The weapons wielded by the others were equally hefty.
There wasn’t a single one that could be dealt with easily.
…Calm down. These are monsters forged through the hellish training of Alrn.
Of course, they had solid bodies.
They were certainly strong, but that didn’t mean the gap between them and us was insurmountable.
Just as they had repeatedly gone through their hellish training, we too had lived through a kind of hell.
Such a minor difference could certainly be bridged through experience.
While Tabol swallowed nervously and measured the knights’ level, the kingdom’s knights who had arrived soon followed suit, eyeing their opponents and tightening their grips on their weapons.
“Lu…Lucy! Are you sure about wearing that armor!? At least put something on top!”
“Of course I will! Young Lady! Even if it’s a legendary blacksmith’s creation, still!”
It was at that moment, from behind the training knights, the ladies of the Alrn family emerged.
Under normal circumstances, everyone would have turned their attention to Benedict, whom all knights admired.
The symbolic presence of Benedict Alrn overshadowed everything else. But this time was different.
The gazes that should have sought the towering knight instead fell upon the bouncing young girl in front.
Lucy Alrn, hailed as a goddess descended from the sky, was donning bizarre armor that even an indecent adventurer wouldn’t wear.
No—should that even be called armor?
Surely, it only barely concealed the essential areas.
What covered her skin with a high-quality fabric merely kept some parts hidden, that was all.
The outfit revealing her body curves was something a dancer might wear.
A noble family. And the daughter of the prestigious Earl of the border, the Alrn family—how could she wear such a garb!
The knights, raised in the kingdom, blinked in disbelief at what contradicted all their common sense.
Did she not realize what others thought?
Even upon spotting the First Knight Order, Lucy Alrn giggled mischievously.
“Huh?♡ Is it not okay to show people like this?♡”
“Why are you even asking such a thing?!”
“Why not?♡ Is there something wrong with my cute and splendid appearance?♡ I don’t see anything wrong at all?♡”
“Th—that’s…”
“Why can’t you say it?♡ Did something strange pop into your head why you shouldn’t show it?♡ I definitely want to hear it with this filthy mouth!♡”
Tabol, along with the kingdom’s knights, knew too well what to say in response.
It was merely enough to state that there was decorum she, as a noblewoman, ought to maintain.
However, the people of the Alrn family, including Benedict, were at a loss before the self-absorbed girl, unable to chastise her.
“Ha. How foolishly anxious I’ve been. I didn’t expect the Alrn Knight Order to be in such a state.”
Laughter slipped out from someone among the kingdom’s knights. How could they call themselves the continent’s strongest knights?
How could they be feared across the continent when they couldn’t even reprimand a brat like her!
“Excuse me.”
“What is it? Have we said something we shouldn’t?”
While the knights of Alrn raised their spirits in the face of ridicule, the overconfident knights of the kingdom took the opportunity to puff out their chests.
“Even if a noble’s daughter, just standing there, no one dares speak up?”
“Where’s the knight’s resolve just thrown away?”
Tensions began to rise between the two knight orders even before the duel had begun.
As if a fight could break out the moment someone made a signal.
As each one gripped their weapons, waiting eagerly for what was about to happen, Lucy Alrn suddenly jumped forward, directly approaching the knights of the kingdom.
“Hey♡ Virgin boy, all reeking of innocence!♡”
“…Did you call for me?”
“You caught on pretty well?♡ But you’re no different from those similar dimwits lurking around!♡ Looks like you haven’t even held a girl’s hand?♡”
The knight at the forefront quivered his lips at the insults that seemed too harsh to be heard even in the markets.
“What do you need from me?”
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me?♡ What’s wrong with my cute and splendid armor?♡”
“Everything is wrong! How can the daughter of a high-ranking nobleman wear such armor!”
“Hey♡ hey♡ Did you not understand me?♡ Is your brain too dim to catch a human’s words?♡ I clearly asked what the problem was!♡”
The answer to the question of what was wrong was simple.
Exposure.
There were far too many exposed areas.
It was clear that she, as a noble’s daughter, should be safeguarding herself.
Yet the knight couldn’t dare speak such terms aloud. Fear of Benedict’s sharp glare behind Lucy held him back.
“Why can’t you speak?♡ Did you cause a commotion with my house dogs but now can’t say a word?♡ Huh?♡”
“…”
The knight, wishing to escape the situation as fast as possible, found he could not escape Lucy Alrn’s clutches.
Instead, she took a step closer, a grin stretching across her face.
“Could it be you’re feeling aroused?♡”
“W-what are you saying!”
“Pff♡ Hahaha♡ Just look at your flustered expression♡ So that’s what it was!♡ The First Knight Order of the kingdom is a gathering of perverts eyeing the lady’s skin?♡”
“Not at all! Please don’t insult me!”
“Oh really?♡ If that’s the case, then why can’t you look me in the eye?♡ Why can’t you look at me properly?♡ Huh?♡ Huh?♡”
The knight swore on his blade that he had never taken an interest in the little girl before him. He was certainly someone with standard preferences.
Only…
Sure.
Only…
The fact that the exquisite beauty named Lucy Alrn was breaking those standards was in itself a problem.
And because she had directly mentioned the word “desire,” he couldn’t help but be aware of the situation.
“Wow♡ No way!♡ Looks like you were actually looking!♡”
“…Huh?”
“Oops!♡ Sorry♡ I was too small for you to notice!♡”
As she offered her apology.
She pretended to cover her mouth only to hide her laughter.
Yet thinking of not holding it back at all.
Her eyes, looking down upon the knight, drove him mad.
The knight, having lost his reason, swung his fist, but it couldn’t touch Lucy Alrn.
Lucy, with a light footstep, gracefully dodged the knight’s punch.
“Your blade’s weak♡ Your punch is pathetic♡ Your character is laughable♡ Pathetic pathetic knight!♡”
“Y-young lady…!”
“Just how could something like this become a knight of the kingdom?♡ Was the commander a fool, so all the subordinates turned out dimwitted?♡”
As her derisive laughter flowed forth, the gazes of the kingdom’s knights sharpened. When they noticed, the Alrn knights prepared for a clash, but Lucy Alrn intervened.
“Aren’t we done yet?♡ Are you scared that you’ll be roasted by me?♡”
“You will regret this.”
“What are you saying?♡ You’ll be the one regretting it♡ You’ll go down in history as the knight who lost to a girl!♡”
With the knight stumbling over his shattered pride, Lucy’s taunts drew them in, and he charged at her, while she drew her shield.
Thus, the very first clash between the Alrn Knight Order and the kingdom’s knights began.
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