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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Everything in the First Princess’s Palace was new to Cassiela, the leader of the Dawn Revolution Group.
Among all things, what surprised her the most was that everyone became kind when the name “Yuma” was mentioned.
It was almost like a magic spell…!
With the identity certificate bearing the seal of Marquis Tornel, the guardian of the Empire’s southern front, and the mention of coming on Yuma’s orders, all doors in the Princess’s Palace opened.
All knights showed respect to her, despite her appearance being far from that of a noble or a knight.
“Please enter.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Cassiela nodded vaguely and walked into the inner part of the First Princess’s Palace.
She was wearing black armor.
Step, step.
She stopped abruptly in front of the Princess’s office.
Michael, the Princess’s personal guard knight wearing thin white armor in contrast to Cassiela, opened the door for her.
An extraordinary aura emanated from her at first glance.
The bloodline of the Emperor.
There was a unique presence exuded by those who had been noble from the beginning.
Cassiela quickly bent her right knee.
“I am here to see Her Highness, First Princess Brigitte.”
Thud.
“I am Cassiela, leader of the Dawn Revolution Group.”
First Princess Brigitte gazed at Cassiela, the red-haired revolution leader who paid her respects before her.
“Rise, Cassiela. I have heard from Marquis Tornel.”
Cassiela had arrived at the Princess’s Palace in the capital with the Dawn Revolution Group, following Yuma’s orders to assist First Princess Brigitte.
“You’ve come to help me at Yuma’s request?”
Cassiela sensed supremacy in Brigitte’s words.
The same kind of loftiness as Yuma’s.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You are welcome. Since my knight called for you, you must certainly be a useful knight.”
Brigitte trusted her own judgment in recognizing Yuma as a significant figure, and she also believed in Yuma’s judgment.
Therefore, she had no doubts about Cassiela.
“The oath of allegiance…”
As Cassiela began to speak, Brigitte tilted her head.
“Revolution leader Cassiela, isn’t your loyalty directed towards Yuma?”
Cassiela’s eyes widened at Princess Brigitte’s very direct words.
As Cassiela remained silent, unable to say anything, Brigitte continued with a slight smile.
“Then, you should swear allegiance to Yuma. Why are you trying to do it to me? You just need to move according to Yuma’s orders.”
Brigitte had no intention of extracting false loyalty from anyone.
She knew well how futile that would be.
“I understand, Your Highness.”
Cassiela thought Brigitte somehow resembled Yuma.
Perhaps it was because of their similarly striking navy-blue eyes.
“Let’s postpone the knight’s oath for now. When Yuma returns, I’ll grant you the title of Grand Duke right away. It would be better for you to receive it directly. Ah, of course, I’ll inform the entire imperial family. I’ll order them to treat the Dawn Revolution Group equal to the First Knight Order. You’ll just receive the official rank later.”
Even counts couldn’t look down on knights belonging to the Imperial First Knight Order.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
As the formal conversation ended, Brigitte’s face softened a little.
“More than that, I’d like to hear about when Yuma fought on the southern front.”
The solemnity that had existed until just now slowly faded.
Brigitte’s face was like that of a child about to hear a fairy tale.
So Cassiela could comfortably recite Yuma’s heroic tales.
With each word of the story being conveyed, Brigitte exclaimed and marveled.
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After leaving the land of White Night and quickly passing through the Gelpiel Forest, Yuma and his group were heading straight to the royal palace of this Pineon.
It seemed a bit odd that the very person who had killed Kament, Pineon’s greatest conqueror king, was voluntarily entering the palace, but there was a need to clearly inform them about the existence of the White Night Clan.
He had gained subordinates called the White Night Clan.
So, as their leader, he had a duty and responsibility to take precautions to prevent his subordinates from falling into unnecessary conflicts.
The palace wasn’t too far.
It wasn’t the official royal palace located in the kingdom’s capital, but rather a “temporary palace” that had been established right here, near the front lines.
Why was there a temporary palace in a village right in front of the front lines?
Martes.
It was because he had not only taken on the role of chief negotiator but had also ascended to become the new king of the barbarian nation of Pineon.
Yuma, who had stopped by the Information Guild to inquire about Martes’s current location, was quite surprised. Hearing that he was now a king, not a great warrior.
‘That guy, he’s moved up in the world.’
A third of the ten great warriors had died.
And the army units under their command had been annihilated as well, but even so, the barbarian nation of Pineon was still a powerful country.
Even a tiger with broken teeth is still a tiger.
That tiger had just become a very docile cat, but only towards Yuma and the Astes Empire.
Growl…!
A very primal sound came from somewhere.
The culprit was the cat-folk swordswoman Hestia, who was pulling her robe down to avoid drawing attention.
“Hee, heek…!”
Hestia, knowing it was embarrassing, blushed bright red.
It was a bit past lunchtime.
The temporary palace was two blocks away.
Since they planned to meet with Martes and then spend the day here in Langers anyway, time was plentiful.
“Don’t you smell anything this time?”
It was a question directed at Hestia, who had smelled risotto in this area last time.
“Yes, I’m smelling! Sniff!”
It was just a casual question, but Hestia seemed to have already activated her food radar.
“Cu, curry smell…! Hmm!”
Hestia turned her feet to the right without hesitation and strode forward.
“It’s here!”
At the end of her brightly smiling pointed finger was a shop with a quite modern name, “Cube Curry,” written on the sign.
Through the window, they could see a mercenary with his nose buried in a bowl, inhaling curry and rice.
Bell stared blankly at the scene and said,
“…Look at how messy his face is, it must really be delicious.”
“Let’s go in.”
Yuma gave permission.
Hestia and Bell rushed into Cube Curry, and Yuma and Cloney walked in slowly.
Yuma and Cloney ordered cube steak.
Hestia and Bell ordered curry.
The three women had already become quite close.
They had been talking all the way to Langers.
Bell spoke in a low voice.
“So, Cloney and I are the beings destined by the oracle, right?”
Cloney slowly savored the cube steak.
“Yes.”
“And my lord’s task is to take Cloney and me to the Empire’s princess?”
Yuma nodded.
“That’s right.”
Yuma deliberately didn’t stop Cloney from telling Bell the details about the oracle.
Bell needed to be fully aware for quick cooperation.
Swish…
Bell, who had neatly finished a bowl of curry, wiped her mouth with a tissue and opened her mouth.
“Honestly, I don’t care about the Empire or the Princess. I’ll just listen to Yuma. That’s all I need to do, right?”
Bell’s pink eyes stared directly at Yuma.
Yuma smirked.
“Yes, that’s all you need to do.”
Cloney, sitting next to Bell, looked at her with a blank face.
‘…That’s a good thing to say.’
Cloney thought that what Bell had just said was good.
But it was something she couldn’t say herself.
After all, Cloney considered both Yuma and First Princess Brigitte as her benefactors.
‘Later, I’ll think of something even better to say… to Lord Yuma.’
Cloney made that resolution as she stabbed the last remaining cube steak with her fork.
“Yuma!”
This time it was Hestia, sitting next to Yuma.
Hestia pointed at something in front of Yuma!
It was none other than the 5 pieces of cube steak left on Yuma’s plate!
“If, if you’re not going to eat that, can I have it?”
“Sure, eat it all.”
Yuma pushed the plate towards Hestia sitting next to him.
Cloney once again evaluated the dialogue in her head.
‘…I’ll never say something like that. Ever.’
Another resolution was added.
After finishing their meal, Yuma’s group came out of Cube Curry and resumed their walk.
Yuma asked Bell, who was next to him.
He intended to ask now about a fact that needed to be confirmed someday.
“Bell, have you ever killed anyone?”
It was about whether Bell, who had been with the White Night Clan for 20 years, had ever killed anyone.
Even for a divinely gifted swordsmanship genius, if they couldn’t kill people, they might not be able to use their strength when it was really needed.
“Five people.”
Bell answered without hesitation.
“I’ve killed five people. Not all who invaded the White Night Clan were people fleeing from Pineon’s grasp. There were also those who dared to enter just for plunder. I killed for the first time at 15… and there were several more intruders after that.”
Bell, who had calmly unfolded her story, stopped walking for a moment and stared at Yuma.
“Don’t worry, I can kill anyone if my Lord orders it. I am my Lord’s sword.”
Yuma’s infinitely blue eyes met Bell’s pink ones.
There was not a hint of hesitation in those pink eyes.
“I believe those words.”
Yuma said so and walked ahead.
“That looks like the right place, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Cloney answered Hestia’s question.
Among buildings made of straw and leather, a fairly modern building stood tall by itself.
It seemed they had converted a high-class inn into a temporary palace.
Thud- Thud
As they entered, about a dozen guard warriors quickly approached Yuma’s group.
One man approached with a fierce face, pointing a long spear at Yuma.
Whoosh─!
“This is the king’s temporary residence. Prove your identity…!”
That spear was quite chilling.
And the trajectory of the spear tip raised towards Yuma was somewhat threatening.
A streak of light rushed from beside Yuma.
Slash─!
The iron shaft of the spear was instantly cut in two and scattered into the air.
The person who had drawn their sword in an instant and cut the steel spear in two was Bell.
And Bell’s right hand was placed on the shoulder of the warrior standing next to Yuma.
Crack!
It was a lightning-fast joint technique.
“Urrrgh!”
The warrior with a dislocated shoulder dropped the spear shaft and rolled on the ground.
“For a threat, the trajectory was too sharp, mister.”
Bell’s eyes instantly turned cold.
And a tyrannical aura flowed from her body.
A chilling aura that could suppress the space.
“Don’t move.”
The warriors, clearly recognizing the difference in skill, abruptly stopped moving.
Yuma casually threw the lion medallion he had been keeping in his chest onto the floor.
“Tell them that Yuma, the Supreme Commander of the Astes Empire, has arrived.”
And he patted Bell’s shoulder.
“You did very well. Next time, move after I speak.”
Yuma was quite pleased with the power of Bell, this sharp sword.
His earlier concerns were unfounded.
Bell smiled brightly.
“Okay! My lord.”
The ferocious aura that Bell had been emitting towards the warriors instantly evaporated.
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