Astraea could only describe the goblin architecture in the sewers as chaotic. She couldn’t see any order in these structures at all.
Even the wild goblin tribes outside looked better than what was down here.
And more than that… With so many goblins, what were they eating down here? It couldn’t be…
“Ugh!”
The moment she thought of that awful possibility, the little elf started retching again. She had already emptied her stomach earlier, so now it was just dry heaves.
This was nothing like when she went to see Aidan in Port Tils. Back then, all she had to do was sprint through the area. Here, clearing out goblins meant fighting.
The intense physical exertion, combined with the disgusting thoughts in her head, made Astraea feel like she was about to ascend to the heavens and meet the Elven Goddess.
Luo En saw her clearly. To be honest, he was barely tolerating the stench of the sewers himself, let alone the little elf with her sharper senses.
They had only explored the outskirts of the goblin nest so far and hadn’t even encountered many goblin patrols.
Gripping his straight sword and staying on guard, Luo En spoke. “Teacher Astraea, maybe we should head back for now? We can come again once we’re better prepared.”
Astraea waved her hand. She wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but a wave of nausea kept her from refusing.
She felt like her body was forcing her brain to agree with this retreat plan.
“What if we run into a Hobgoblin in your current state, Teacher Astraea?”
Luo En continued to lay out the facts, and the little elf finally nodded.
“Alright… Ugh… Let’s go back first… Ugh…”
She couldn’t adapt. Astraea’s sensitive nose simply couldn’t get used to this place, unless she had some special hobby.
Completely overwhelmed, Astraea finally agreed with Luo En’s proposal. Her current condition was indeed not suitable for further exploration.
But they weren’t just going to leave without a trace. As they retreated, Luo En used his straight sword to carve marks into the sewer walls, so that next time they could avoid having to re-explore.
“Ugh! Cough, cough…”
Once back on the surface, the little elf collapsed ungracefully on the ground, greedily gulping down the fresh air.
“I’m… I’m alive.”
After a while, Astraea’s pale complexion improved slightly.
She was a bit hungry, but honestly, after that trip into the sewers, she probably wouldn’t be able to eat for a while.
“How is it?”
Maximus stood before them, appearing out of nowhere. His tall frame carried a strong elven scent, but the little elf’s nose was practically useless by now, so she couldn’t smell it.
“Duke.” Luo En, who had been sitting on the ground resting, immediately stood up and bowed. He was still wearing his knight armor, and without the little elf’s help, he couldn’t take it off by himself. “There appears to be a large goblin nest beneath the Royal Capital. The disappearances of women in the capital are likely their doing.”
Since they had only scouted the outskirts, Luo En didn’t speak too confidently, but he was pretty sure that was the case. How else could they have built so many messy structures in the sewers without a large nest?
Moreover, the cases of missing women in the capital had been happening for years. Even if it wasn’t large at first, the underground nest would have grown large over time. Goblins certainly didn’t have the same reproduction issues as their cousins, the elves.
After hearing Luo En’s report, Maximus felt troubled.
The Royal Capital sewers were a maze, and they were filled with flammable and explosive gases. Sending troops down meant no torches could be used.
In the darkness, the casualty rate for soldiers would skyrocket. Losing even one soldier to goblins would feel like a terrible loss to the Duke.
That meant he could only send knights down to clear them out.
Maximus knew it was a thankless task, but he had to deal with it.
This was the Royal Capital, after all. He wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly until the underground threat was eliminated, and on top of that, the Church of All-Father might try to slander him.
As for Luo En… To be honest, he couldn’t teach the young man much. Luo En had already become a Guardian Knight. As long as he lived and stayed determined, he would one day become a Grand Knight.
But of course, if you have a reliable workhorse, you use it to the fullest. Otherwise, it would be a waste of the great gear he had given Luo En, right?
Indeed, the armor Luo En was wearing right now was the very set Maximus had worn when he was still just an ordinary knight in a Duke’s household.
Giving that armor to Luo En was a clear gesture of recruitment, but Luo En apparently didn’t see it that way and had never responded.
Maximus wasn’t in a hurry, though. He wasn’t the kind of petty person who would destroy what he couldn’t have. As long as Luo En didn’t become his enemy in the future.
“You’ve worked hard. Go rest. I’ll send someone to handle the rest.”
His super brain, capable of handling all the kingdom’s affairs single-handedly, processed countless things in a second. Maximus announced his decision as if he had expected it all along.
“In one month, the Royal Capital will host the decennial Knight Tournament. I want you to participate.”
Finally, Maximus dropped a bombshell.
The Royal Capital Knight Tournament was the best way for many squires to get promoted.
There were two ways for a squire to become a knight. One was to swear fealty to a noble and be knighted by them. This method was simple; as long as the noble could afford it, they wouldn’t refuse to knight someone.
However, knights promoted this way owed an obligation to the noble they served. No matter where they went in the future, if their liege issued a call to war, they had to return and fight for them.
If one didn’t want to be bound by lord-vassal relations, they could either remain a squire forever or take part in the Royal Capital Knight Tournament.
After the decennial tournament, the top fifty percent of participants would be automatically promoted.
Knights promoted this way only needed to fulfill one duty to the kingdom and weren’t bound by traditional lord-vassal ties. This was how most wandering knights got their status.
Although Astraea didn’t understand why humans had such a strange promotion system, she was surprised that Maximus hadn’t simply knighted Luo En himself to bind him to his side. She cast a glance at the Duke.
“Understood.”
Luo En gave a final knight’s salute and saw Maximus off. Then he noticed the little elf had recovered.
“Uh, Teacher Astraea, why are you staring at me like that?”
Luo En scratched his cheek, feeling a bit awkward under the little elf’s gaze.
“What are the benefits of being promoted to a knight?” Astraea asked abruptly.
She had grown up in elven society and didn’t really know much about the human knight path of transcendence.
But even if she had been born in the human kingdom, she might not have known, since the path was mostly controlled by nobles. The majority of the human kingdom was commoners, after all.
Luo En thought for a moment. His mind went back to the evening when he had decided to become a knight. He and his father had sat together on the lawn under the setting sun…
Just kidding. As a noble’s son, Luo En would have been forced by his father to become a knight even if he didn’t want to, unless Baron Ili had other children.
Unfortunately, he was the only son. After his mother passed away, Baron Ili never remarried.
“Mainly physical improvement. There’s also bodily growth, like what happened to me.” Luo En looked down at his now two-meter-tall body. “Also, once you become a Banneret, you can activate the Life Seed through promotion and master the technique of projecting energy. My father is a Banneret.”
“Life Seed? What’s that?”
Astraea had truly never heard of it. Maybe the nobles of the Elven City-States knew, but she was just a commoner.
“I don’t know. My father described it as something similar to a magic core.”
The little elf had a guess. Could the so-called Life Seed be another form of magic core? But she’d have to wait until Luo En became a Banneret to find out. No knight would let her study them openly.
Astraea stood up, stretched her shoulders, and then began to help Luo En remove his armor. “So, are you an official knight now? You used to be so small and thin, but now you’re tall and strong. You look about the same as those knights on the walls.”
“No, I’m still a squire.” Luo En shook his head. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt a strange sensation.
Even though his body and strength were no different from an official knight’s, he just knew he was still a squire.
Maybe once he became an official knight, his physique would be even stronger than that of a typical knight.
Luo En knew this was probably the result of divine blessing, but he didn’t resent it now. No matter what form his power took, as long as he could protect the people he loved, that was enough.
If the Church of All-Father insisted on making a move against Astraea… He wouldn’t mind becoming an illegal dark knight.
“But to participate in the knight tournament… Teacher Astraea, could you teach me swordsmanship?”
Luo En remembered that the little elf was quite skilled with a blade. If he could learn a thing or two from her, with his powerful physique, he should be able to get a good result in the tournament.
“Swordsmanship?”
Astraea chuckled. If she didn’t use magic now, Luo En could easily pin her to the ground with his physical strength and reflexes. After all, swordsmanship was just a set of experience-based combat routines passed down by predecessors.
The little elf guessed that at the level of a Grand Knight, no technique could beat one’s own instincts and experience.
So Astraea already had a new idea for how to train Luo En.