Chapter 38

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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The support funds sent by the kingdom had finally arrived.

It certainly couldn’t be called a large amount.

But for us, who had almost nothing, it could truly be called a long-awaited rain in a drought.

However, we couldn’t spend it recklessly.

We never knew what would happen and where.

Thanks to selling off all the junk in Lionheart Fortress, we had some leeway in funds for now.

But that was only for a very short while.

Once we started using the funds in earnest, it was clear that it would quickly run out.

It had been about two months since I took the position of commander, and I had postponed it as much as possible.

But now, I couldn’t delay it any longer.

“We need to resume the work of the Royal Knights.”

Originally, the Royal Knights worked by dispatching a small number of knights to where they were needed.

In the first place, only knights who could face demons were eligible to join the Royal Knights.

In the past, before their annihilation, the Royal Knights enjoyed their peak as the Golden Generation, with each member being equivalent to a regular knight order.

They could truly be called the Golden Generation.

Naturally, because they were such Royal Knights, they were supported and received assistance from various races and countries without discrimination.

But now that the Golden Generation had been wiped out, how would it be?

“Only flies are gathering. Both requests and support.”

“It can’t be helped. The trust in the Royal Knights has been shattered.”

“...We have no choice but to endure and accept it for now.”

Even though I was handling work in the office, there were no requests coming in from other places.

I let out a sigh at Cluna’s words, who was working with me as an adjutant.

The current situation was not very good.

With the annihilation of the Royal Knights, there was a heightened sense of crisis that they could no longer rely on external personnel.

As a result, each country strictly prohibited the outflow of talent and instead focused on building up their military power.

That in itself was certainly a good thing.

But the problem was that the timing was bad.

The reason they were brutally pushed back before the establishment of the Royal Knights was that they didn’t form alliances with each other.

In the past, they had somehow resolved that issue under the pretext of the Royal Knights.

But now, even that pretext had disappeared, and they were returning to the past, to square one.

“In order to inform the world of the Royal Knights’ well-being, we have no choice but to start rebuilding our reputation from scratch through requests.”

“But the situation isn’t completely hopeless. If each country gains a sense of urgency from this incident and builds up their military power...”

“Unfortunately... that outcome won’t be very good.”

“Pardon?”

Actually, I understood.

The Royal Knights they had trusted and relied on had all burned down, and now all that was left were ashes.

How could they trust and rely on the Royal Knights again?

Moreover, in the past, the Royal Knights were called the strongest Royal Knights in history, the Golden Generation.

Rather than rebuilding, it would be a better choice to focus on their own country’s defense.

The problem was that I already knew the outcome.

More than 80% of the continent was occupied.

And even some countries and races, like the Dwarf Republic, were completely destroyed in the end.

I turned my head.

Cluna was staring at me intently.

If I say one wrong word, this is what happens.

She had a lot of experience.

I showed my palm and said,

“No, it was a slip of the tongue. Don’t worry about it, more importantly, how is Bayard’s condition now?”

“Fortunately, she has stabilized a lot. She still shows signs of instability, but...”

“But?”

“Uh, um, Commander...”

“I-I’m sorry. Helia, I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s okay, Miss Bayard. I can pay it all back with training.”

“Yeah! That’s right! I’ll work hard too!”

“Eek...!!”

Helia seemed to be even more outraged at Bayard’s words.

It had been like this since two months ago.

When Helia saw Bayard hugging me, she vented her anger through sparring.

It was to the point where even Clara and Ruby, who were watching, were shocked.

But Bayard was unfazed.

Rather, she was receiving it all with a refreshed expression.

Watching that, it suddenly came to mind.

I had seen a video on the internet before of a martial artist and a bear sparring.

Calling it sparring was an overstatement.

In fact, the bear was just playing along.

“What a funny combination.”

“Still, thanks to that, Bayard has become much brighter.”

“That’s the ironic part.”

Helia was sincerely engaged in the sparring.

But Bayard just received it appropriately, as if playing along.

That showed that there was still an overwhelming difference in strength between the two.

But thanks to that, Helia’s skills were rapidly improving.

Stimulated by that, Clara and Ruby were also working hard in training.

In the end, it could be called a virtuous cycle.

It would be nice if things continued to go well like this.

While thinking that and handling work, I noticed a letter on my desk.

I looked at Cluna and said,

“What is this letter?”

“It’s a letter that just arrived this morning. Judging by the seal’s pattern, it seems to be a letter sent from the Dwarf Republic.”

“The Dwarf Republic... Do they still have something to say?”

After being rejected like that before, I thought they still hadn’t come to their senses.

I released the seal and read the letter.

The contents of the letter were completely unexpected.

“...Cluna, our first request has arrived.”

“Our first request? Don’t tell me it’s from the Dwarf Republic?!”

“Yeah. Half of it is a request, and half of it is a quibble.”

To summarize the contents of the letter, they said they couldn’t trust the skills of the new commander, me.

So they wanted me to prove my skills by solving this request alone.

They were not wrong.

It wasn’t just some incompetent knight order.

It was about the commander of the Royal Knights.

In a way, it was only natural for them to tackle me like this.

The problem was that it was the Dwarf Republic.

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like they were just trying to find fault because of what happened before.

But still, a request was a request.

We weren’t in a position to be picky right now.

“Commander, let’s formally refuse this request.”

“Is there really a need for that?”

“Facing a demon alone is very dangerous. Even the previous Royal Knights faced demons in groups of at least two.”

“Then it’s rather a good thing.”

If I go alone, I can somehow resolve it.

Because I have time stop.

Even if I can’t do anything about it, I can survive using time stop.

The current Royal Knights were too unstable to send out.

So, it would be better for me to go alone and do something about it.

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