“Hug you! Every inch of me can’t wait to deepen our brotherly bond!”
“Lucius? Dear Lucius, are you free?”
“Shut up, Maximus. I’m not into guys.”
Lucius, with a headache, pushed away the duke who had come up close and asked, “Spit it out, what do you want?”
The usually expressionless Duke Maximus only showed this attitude in front of this beautiful paladin.
Perhaps because he had been repressed by government affairs for too long, this time Maximus acted even more desperate than before.
They had been old buddies for decades; if they fell out, the Human Kingdom would really be finished.
“It’s not a big deal. Just that we haven’t seen each other in a long time.”
“Not long. Only five years.”
“Right, five years. You’ve been at the front for five years. Why are you back this time?”
Maximus casually leaned against the base of the wall.
He didn’t directly mention the sewer matter, but instead asked about the Church’s personnel deployment.
The Church of All-Father was in a semi-independent state within the Human Kingdom.
The king could deploy them, but whether they obeyed depended entirely on the High Priest’s will and as a paladin, Lucius’s return to the Royal Capital this time was clearly at the High Priest’s behest.
“There was no place for me at the front. After I defeated the Dwarf High King and the Elf Archon, they haven’t appeared on the front lines. The orcs migrated away on their own. You should know these things.”
Lucius casually answered Maximus’s question, but he could still tell what kind of person the other was.
Others didn’t know what the duke was really like, but didn’t he?
Although the Regent Duke always acted in a way that made his anus tighten, after decades of association, others might not know, but Lucius could tell.
The duke’s pragmatic, wooden nature was his true face; his attitude towards him was probably all an act.
This guy was usually expressionless, but what if?
‘Better to die from tightness.’
Lucius suddenly felt a chill.
It would be better to quickly confirm whether the information from the front lines was deceiving him.
Maximus didn’t care about Lucius’s offense.
He shrugged, “I know. Just confirming.”
The scene fell into silence.
They hadn’t seen each other in five years but had nothing to talk about.
But it wasn’t necessary.
Both knew that if they wanted to, in less than a second, their super brains could come up with dozens of topics for awkward small talk.
They both knew about the shady dealings between the Kingdom and the Church.
Lucius knew why Maximus had come, and Maximus likewise knew Lucius’s stance but some procedures still had to be followed.
“Lucius, does the Church really disagree with my plan?”
“You have to ask the Pope. I’m just an ordinary paladin.”
“The Human Kingdom is doomed.”
“The Templar Order has been fighting on the front lines, Your Regent.”
“But the Church is digging up the foundations of the Royal Capital! Or am I no longer the Regent?”
“Fine, then my dear Duke. Why are the soldiers of the Royal Guard wearing blue armor? Why is your family crest on all their armor?”
Lucius’s handsome face now brimmed with anger, his purple eyes stared straight at the duke.
“Is the Royal Guard the power of His Majesty, or your Maximus’s private army?”
The Church indeed had many things that dissatisfied Lucius, but Maximus’s “blue descendants” filling the entire Royal Capital made him even more uneasy and this year’s Double Crown Knight also wore blue armor.
Maximus calmly looked at Lucius.
“I am loyal to His Majesty.”
He only said this, but didn’t deny anything.
“Heh, yes, you are loyal to His Majesty,” Lucius laughed in anger and said, “Of course you are loyal to His Majesty. Without His Majesty, how could you manipulate the entire kingdom? The assassin last time was deliberately let in by you, wasn’t it?”
“That was an accident—”
“What accident could make a Great Knight freeze for five seconds? If you hadn’t said anything, I would have thought the Elf Archon personally came to assassinate the previous king.”
“Alright. Let’s put aside these unpleasant matters, dear Lucius.”
The ambitious Maximus helplessly raised his hands.
Regardless, he was the Kingdom’s Great Knight, and the one sitting on the throne was still the bloodline of the Scaurus family.
He had no interest in continuing to manipulate this damn throne.
If possible, he just wanted to take Aiouwen back to his southwestern duchy to retire.
Unfortunately, the current state of the kingdom didn’t allow it.
If Maximus didn’t remain stationed in the Royal Capital, he wouldn’t be surprised if the capital collapsed the next day.
Lucius obviously understood this too, but he was now a paladin of the Church of All-Father.
No matter what the Church did, he had to stand on the Church’s side.
“There’s a problem beneath the Royal Capital.”
“Hmph.”
“Tell me. Did the Church already know about the existence of those things?”
“Those goblins?”
Lucius knew that the Church had been using goblins instead of elves for sacrifices to the All-Father, and he also knew that those goblins originated from the Royal Capital Sewers.
If Maximus wanted to talk about this, then couldn’t the elite Royal Guard even deal with some goblins?
“It’s not that simple. Those goblins have mutated.”
He was very serious, so serious that Lucius put away his anger and waited for the duke to continue.
“I encountered a hobgoblin in the sewers that could exchange a few moves with me.”
“Are you sure?”
The paladin’s long fingers tightened.
He was well aware of Maximus’s strength.
Being able to exchange moves with a Great Knight—that value was almost comparable to the Elf Archon.
And the opponent was just a goblin.
“I’m very sure. It had a very strange power on it, even able to withstand the wrath of the All-Father.”
“No, no. The Church never told me about this… If I don’t even know, then the Church definitely doesn’t know.”
Lucius quickly deduced the cause and effect.
Maximus wouldn’t lie to him about something like this, and if there really was such a powerful goblin in the sewers… it could only mean that the hunting parties the Church sent underground had never encountered such an existence.
And the last recorded Church hunting operation was three months ago.
“Three months ago, the Church’s last hunting party returned from underground. Their reports had no record of this kind of goblin at all, and no description of the strange power.”
Lucius’s brain was like a supercomputer.
Although he was only the commander of the Templar Order, he had full authority to review the hunting party’s mission briefings.
And this briefing, which he had only glanced at, was now being retrieved word for word from the depths of his memory.
“Take a trip.”
Maximus mentally checked off his plan.
Seeing that the paladin had quickly understood the key point himself, “I understand what you mean. Let’s go. I’ll go with you to the sewers.”
“Of course, but before that I need to take you to meet two young…”
***
This is Sir Tang Deli’s family crest.
Astraea and Luo En had not yet left the private room when two big guys barged in.
After seeing Maximus, the little elf finally stopped cuddling with Luo En and presented the emblem she had retrieved after fighting the goblins.
She wriggled out of Luo En’s embrace and handed it over.
As for Sir Tang Deli’s sword, she had already given it to the knight on duty.
“Lord Maximus, and this Paladin Lord.”
Luo En gave a knight’s salute to the two big guys.
Although he didn’t know Lucius’s name, he recognized the Church’s white robe.
However… after Lucius put on this white robe, his snow-white hair hung down from one side, and Luo En mistook him for a female knight.
‘Not as big as Astraea.’
After imperceptibly glancing at the other’s chest, Luo En then looked at the big breasts on the little elf’s chest.
“You are this year’s Double Crown winner.”
Although Luo En had already taken off that blue armor, Lucius had already memorized the faces of all the knights present earlier, so now seeing Luo En he naturally recognized him.
As for Luo En’s action, he immediately understood what was on Luo En’s mind.
But then, he, Lucius, was not a petty person.
As a paladin, he had to be broad-minded, so he would not mind Luo En’s offensive thoughts.
Hmm, he would not mind.
Luo En’s face turned pale.
Looking up at Lucius, this 2.77-meter tall figure, he suddenly wanted to go back a few seconds and slap himself.
‘What the hell were you thinking? A dignified Great Knight like him is not someone a small fry like you should be thinking about!’
‘Must apologize quickly.’
Luo En, whose brain was spinning wildly, suddenly lowered his head and directly apologized, “Sorry, Paladin Lord. I shouldn’t have compared your breasts to Teacher Astraea’s breasts.”
Seeing Lucius’s face gradually turn from a smile to expressionless, Luo En’s scalp tingled, but he still endured the pressure and continued, “Small has its good points, Paladin Lord. You are so beautiful, someone will definitely fall for you!”
‘An apology should be thorough. What if not making it clear causes misunderstanding?’ Luo En didn’t want to be some riddle person; after all, riddles only harm oneself.
Lucius’s face completely darkened, and his purple eyes flashed with dangerous light.
Luo En felt like a small animal standing before its natural enemy.
Astraea on the side was also startled.
After hearing Luo En’s apology, the little elf wanted to cover her face.
Comparing her breasts to Lucius’s was bad enough, but he hadn’t even figured out Lucius’s gender!
“Idiot Luo En! The Paladin Lord is a man!”
“Huh?”
“Hahahaha! Lucius, did you hear that? Why don’t you go back and change your class to a saintess?”
That day, the elf and human were reminded of the fear of being against a giant… no, against a Great Knight.