Chapter 220
Silvanor did not exactly look unhappy.
He looked a little pleased, yet for some reason there was a sorrow mingled in his expression.
Even so, his gratitude to Seonghyun was sincere.
So when Silvanor went down on one knee and bowed his head, Seonghyun decided it must have been his imagination and let it go.
He could roughly guess what it felt like.
Ordinarily, he would have read Silvanor’s memories to find out.
But some memories were blocked.
So Seonghyun asked Silvanor directly.
“Do you know any knights in Sysbalt? Or any connections?”
“It has been too long since the period when I was active. I fear it would be difficult.”
“Hmm. That does make sense.”
Seonghyun felt a bit troubled by the loyal answer.
However—
“If you wish to enter a knight order, there is the path of taking the examination.”
“Examination?”
“Yes. In any knight order, it is rare for every position to be filled. Casualties arise on missions, and retirees are inevitable, so it would be wise to aim for those openings. Moreover, since my lord already holds a knighthood, it will be easier.”
“True enough…”
“Of course, you must prove your skill, but for my lord, that should be all too simple.”
There was a hint of flattery.
But it was not wrong.
Seonghyun was confident in his swordsmanship.
In that case, should he head there at once?
As he thought so…
“A letter of recommendation would be ideal, though it is not easy to obtain.”
“A letter of recommendation?”
“Yes. Sysbalt is a city of knights where many knights gather. If you have a recommendation from a resident knight, you may take the entrance test more smoothly. I am not up to date on recent affairs, but I doubt it has changed much.”
At Silvanor’s words, Seonghyun nodded.
Either way, he would still be taking an examination.
He would go straight there first, and if there was no exam open, he would aim for a recommendation next.
There might even be something useful in the process.
With that in mind, Seonghyun put the other vassals away and, accompanied by Fiora, Helena, and Silvanor, set out for Sysbalt.
0.
In the City of Knights, Sysbalt, there were several famous knight orders.
The Equinox Knights were among them.
Among the many knight orders of Sysbalt, they ranked in the top three in skill.
However, after an unfortunate accident last year, the captain of the order had to be replaced, which sparked many concerns.
The captain of the long-traditioned Equinox Knights was changed overnight.
Naturally, there were worries they would lose their tradition.
Players did not care much.
But among NPCs, it was a particularly sensitive topic.
And yet—what was this?
“Puhaha! Have you heard? I hear the new captain of the Equinox Knights is exceptional!”
“Yeah! I heard it too! They say they scored a sweeping victory in the mock battle against the Valkyrion Guard this time!”
“Against the Valkyrion Guard? Isn’t the Valkyrion Guard also one of the top three knight orders in our Sysbalt!?”
“That’s what I’m saying!! Even those who kept harping on tradition are admitting it now!”
“Ooh! What was the new captain’s name again?”
“Ragna Ekrion.”
“Right, that was the name!”
NPCs laughed and chattered as the story spread.
Before long, the tale was circulating widely among players as well.
But where there is light, there is also shadow.
As the rumor of excellent skill spread.
The opposite kind of talk about his personality also began to circulate.
“Ragna Ekrion, that captain is a bit much.”
“Why so?”
“You could call it chivalry, perhaps, but they say he handles his knight order quite harshly.”
“Come now, a knight order should be a little rough, shouldn’t it?”
“It’s beyond that level. They say the number of casualties has doubled compared to when the previous captain was in charge.”
“By that much?”
A casualty rate twice as high as before was certainly a noticeable figure.
Even those who supported him could not help but hesitate a little.
It was a fact that he handled the order that harshly.
Having a strict and perfectionist personality is not necessarily bad.
But an increase in casualties could certainly be counted as a flaw.
Even so, strong knight orders were the idols of the citizens.
Ragna Ekrion’s reputation continued to rise by the day.
To the point that, among the three top-tier knight orders, word was spreading that the Equinox Knights were now the very best.
The more such talk spread, the more days Ragna Ekrion spent training alone at the drill hall.
At the same time, in the empty drill hall, he drew his violet sword, curled a cold smile, and murmured,
“It is not far now.”
With those words, he gazed at his violet blade.
For an instant it felt as if it twitched, and Ragna Ekrion murmured to the sword,
“Wait just a little longer. The time for your soul to awaken is near.”
And there was a man watching Ragna Ekrion from beyond a monitor.
Wearing a thoroughly troubled expression, the man was Deputy Manager Lee Jaekyung, head of NPC Management Team 2.
Deputy Manager Lee scratched his head as he looked at the gauge that had risen along with Ragna Ekrion.
[Progress 78%]
There really was not much time left.
The timing for one of the major stories, not an event, to unfold had already been fully prepared by the Events Team, and the Story Team had finished their part as well.
Even so, Deputy Manager Lee scratched his head in distress.
“Ha, seriously.”
When a large-scale story unfolds, players do like it.
In effect, they even treat it like an event.
However, since it is a large-scale story that entangles entire regions.
There are inevitably players who suffer damage.
And not a small number.
That was precisely the part Deputy Manager Lee was worried about.
If the large-scale story proceeds.
The users living here in Sysbalt would all end up suffering first.
“Because this is what happens when Ragna Ekrion becomes a Dark Knight…”
It would be best if it could be prevented beforehand.
Regrettably, that was close to impossible.
To stop that, a party would need to join a knight order and preemptively block Ragna Ekrion.
But there had never been a case where a party joined a knight order, and the Equinox Knights were one of the top three orders in Sysbalt.
There was no way anyone could just get in.
Even if one passed, the whole party would not. At best, a single person might pass.
And even then, that person would clearly enter not as a knight, but as a squire.
Stop Ragna Ekrion as a squire?
That was nonsense.
To use a military analogy, it would be no different from a recruit requesting a meeting with a division commander, then slapping him across the face and saying, take off your rank and let’s settle this like men.
After that, the recruit would have to beat the division commander in a fight, with the commander mounting a self-propelled artillery and the recruit barehanded.
Who among the users could possibly do that?
Then suddenly.
‘There is… isn’t there?’
One of the users reported not long ago.
Deputy Manager Lee Jaekyung hurriedly searched.
There was indeed one.
‘Hmm, the user Seonghyun.’
If it was user Seonghyun, it might be possible.
He already held a knighthood and had the skill to match.
He did wonder if Ragna Ekrion would ever work one-on-one with Seonghyun, though.
But then again, Seonghyun had no reason to come to Sysbalt in the first place.
Why would he come to Sysbalt when he could be cashing in on Hexia?
That was what he used to think.
“Huh? What was that?”
[Uh… I said user Seonghyun is currently headed for Sysbalt?]
Deputy Manager Lee blinked, holding the receiver in a daze.
He had called Assistant Manager Lee Wonsang just in case to ask.
This was real?
User Seonghyun to Sysbalt?
Why?
That crossed his mind, but he quickly pulled himself together.
[Deputy Manager?]
Assistant Manager Lee asked again, puzzled.
Deputy Manager Lee did not answer, laughed heartily, and hung up.
Assistant Manager Lee was left bewildered, wondering what that was about.
Meanwhile, Deputy Manager Lee chuckled as he watched the shared screen from Assistant Manager Lee, smiling in satisfaction at the sight of Seonghyun.
‘This might, just might, be stopped.’
One could think it would be a big problem if a fully prepared project disappeared.
But on the contrary, the other staff would surely welcome it with open arms.
Thinking that, Deputy Manager Lee bit his lip and wished that user Seonghyun would clash head-on with Ragna Ekrion.
Of course, the odds were low.
But who could say for sure.
‘Wherever he goes he causes an uproar, so maybe this time too.’
With a vague sense of expectation, Deputy Manager Lee Jaekyung watched Seonghyun and earnestly hoped.
1.
In the City of Knights, Sysbalt, a wider variety of professions gathered than one might expect.
Knights, of course, and many different close-combat classes as well.
What was unexpected was that there were also quite a number of mage-type classes.
Whether mages, spirit summoners, or dark mages, ranged dealers all required a sturdy vanguard like knights.
Naturally, there were many in the mage line.
In Sysbalt, a city where many professions and races gathered, some knight-class users harbored dreams of a knighthood and challenged knight orders.
So they always kept their ears wide open to catch even the smallest news quickly.
As on any other day, while they were doing just that, a commotion broke out at the Sysbalt Gate.
“High Elf!?”
“Isn’t High Elf a race users can’t choose!?”
“Do they have a user mark?!”
“No, they don’t? They don’t have an NPC mark either?!”
“A special NPC, maybe!?”
A sudden uproar.
At the cry of High Elf, people began to gather.
Ordinary elf race was available to users.
High Elf was one of the races users could never choose.
Rumor had it there were quests to become certain high races.
But there had never yet been a user who became a High Elf.
So the shout of High Elf naturally drew a crowd.
Partly because it was rare, and partly because they wondered if it might be a special NPC who could grant a high-race quest.
It had not been long since that rumor started to spread, when in an instant, a huge number of people gathered, and in the midst of the commotion, at the source of the rumor, there were four people surrounded by the crowd.
All four wore robes.
But they could not hide the distinctive High Elf ears, and they were discovered.
As people swarmed in great numbers,
Papap!
Pat!
The four in deeply pulled hoods vanished in an instant.
Those who missed the movement shouted in confusion.
“T-they disappeared!?”
“W-what!?”
“One of them was a user!”
“The other three?”
“H-how would I know!? Maybe special NPCs?”
“Whoa!? Everyone split up and search!!!”
As users rushed around in excitement, the user with the hood pulled low wore a very troubled expression.
‘I didn’t think it would turn out like this…’
Who would have thought a High Elf appearance would cause such a fuss.
Naturally, the one at the center of the uproar was Seonghyun.