On the plains south of Siofra City, merchants and travelers bustled about, particularly near the entrance of the Maze.
Many adventurers returning with full packs chose to sell their harvested magical materials directly to these traveling merchants to save themselves the trouble of a trip into the city proper.
In the midst of this crowd, two hooded figures walked side by side along the main road.
One figure revealed a few strands of blonde hair, her entire form concealed beneath her hood.
The other was clad in silver-gray heavy armor, looking like someone who was not to be trifled with.
The merchants surrounding the Maze exit immediately took notice.
A duo like this clearly possessed high-level strength, meaning their harvested materials were bound to be valuable.
Like a shark scenting blood, a middle-aged merchant with eyes for nothing but gold rubbed his hands together and approached them.
“Have you two just come out?” he asked. “Do you have any materials that are inconvenient to carry? I offer a very fair price!”
Abruptly addressed, the slender blonde figure took half a step back, hiding behind the heavy-armored knight.
This was a reflexive instinct honed by the Elf during her travels across the North Continent.
She had encountered many human merchants with ill intentions toward her, especially pudgy, middle-aged men like this one.
Because of this, she never dealt with such people. While traveling in a place as precarious as Siofra, she wouldn’t even remove her hood.
The silver-armored knight spoke in a hoarse voice. “No.”
With that, he pushed past the short, stout merchant and walked straight toward Siofra City.
Only after the two figures disappeared into the crowd did the merchant spit on the ground and curse.
“So what if you’re strong? You’re not exactly the Knight Commander, are you? Bah!”
…
Once Lance and the other reached the edge of the noisy crowd and the number of pedestrians thinned, Lance finally asked, “Miss Astrid, what do you plan to do next?”
“Hmm? Me? I haven’t decided yet. I’m not sure where to go from here,” she replied. “I’ll probably stay in Siofra for a while.”
Lance nodded and took the opportunity to ask, “Then would you like to come to my home first? I haven’t had a chance to properly thank you yet. My sister, Noren, would probably like you very much.”
‘Oh?’
Astrid’s senses sharpened instantly. He was taking her to meet his family? Noren? It sounded like a sweet girl.
But…
Astrid looked worried and hesitated for a moment before asking, “After being away for so long, is your sister alright?”
“She should be… fine, right?” Lance sounded a bit hesitant, clearly sharing the concern.
“I’ve been gone for 20 days before without anything happening. Because that child is a bit special, she basically never leaves the house.”
There was something Lance didn’t say: the child basically didn’t need to eat; if she wanted to improve her quality of life, she just needed to take two sips of the blood he had left behind.
Rationally, Lance believed his sister wouldn’t be in danger.
But he couldn’t help but fear the worst. After all, he had been gone for nearly 40 days.
If Noren got anxious and ran out to look for him, things would get complicated.
Seeing Lance’s worry, Astrid found a reason to continue grouping with him.
She immediately said, “Where do you live? It’s better to go back and check as soon as possible.”
“Alright.”
With that, the two quickened their pace and rushed toward Siofra City.
…
“Lord Crais! You’ve finally arrived!”
The handsome young man who had previously reported to the Saintess looked excited.
He immediately struck his chest with his hand in a standard Knight’s Salute.
Joel Crais simply nodded coolly. He scanned the hundreds of fully armed knights below.
Seeing that their military discipline seemed decent, he gave a slight nod. As far as being knights went, these guys at least looked the part.
But their numbers were lacking.
“Is this the entirety of the armed forces our Knight Order commands?”
“Yes, my lord! According to your instructions, all knights have been summoned here.”
“You expect to confront the other two Churches with just these few hundred men?” Joel Crais’s tone was thick with doubt.
Even if he knew nothing of military strategy, he could see that these few hundred people could hardly maintain the Church’s control over the western district of Siofra.
Hearing this, the handsome young man realized the misunderstanding and hurried to explain, “These are our regular Knight Order members, my lord. We also have a detachment of squires composed of locals. They usually handle the day-to-day security and public order.”
“Oh.” Joel Crais understood, but his brow furrowed even deeper in displeasure.
“I believe I said to gather all armed forces! Why aren’t the squires here? Are you treating my orders as a joke?!”
The young man froze, waving his hands in a panic.
“No, no, no, that’s not it at all. Those squires are currently performing patrol and security duties, which is why I didn’t call them over.”
“Then why are you standing there?! Go get them!”
“As… as you command!”
Harshly reprimanded, the handsome young man turned to run down from the gate tower.
But then he remembered something and jogged back to ask for instructions.
“Lord Crais! There is a small squad responsible for checking IDs at the city gate. Do they need to be called over as well?”
The blonde youth grew increasingly impatient. “Do you not understand my words? I said everyone! Everyone!”
“But what about the gate…”
“Close it for a while! You can’t even handle a small matter like that?”
“But — “
“No buts! Execute my orders immediately!”
Left with no choice, the young man had to comply. He ran down the tower to find and gather the squire units.
This order, however, brought misery to the many people waiting to enter or leave the city.
…
“Why is the gate closing now? It’s not time yet!”
“Exactly! What’s going on here?”
The crowd huddled at the western gate of Siofra City grew larger.
As an area directly controlled by the Radiant Sanctum, the western district had always been the area with the best security and business environment.
Now, during the busiest time of day, countless pedestrians and goods were waiting to pass through.
The sudden, mysterious closure caused a wave of panic. No one knew what kind of upheaval was happening inside the city.
Lance and Astrid found themselves blocked outside. Lance found it very strange; in the nearly 2 years he had lived there, he had never seen such a thing.
‘Did something really happen?’
Lance and Astrid squeezed toward the front. Through the gaps in the gate, Lance spotted an acquaintance and called out, “Little Jerr! What’s happening inside?”
The thin boy called Little Jerr heard the familiar voice and ran over, though he couldn’t immediately find the source.
“Over here!” Lance waved his hand. The boy jumped in surprise, then ran over joyfully once he confirmed it was him.
“Brother Lance! You’re back! Where have you been all this time?” The thin boy looked at Lance’s fully equipped silver-gray heavy armor with stars in his eyes.
Clearly, Brother Lance had found some great fortune to obtain such cool armor.
“Never mind that. Where’s your father? Why isn’t he on duty at the gate? What happened?”
“My father went to a meeting!”
“Huh? A meeting?” For a moment, Lance thought he had misheard. Jerr’s father was just an ordinary member of the squire detachment. What right did he have to attend a meeting?
Seeing that Lance didn’t understand, Jerr added, “A big shot arrived from the Knight Order. He insisted on reviewing the troops, so he called my father and the others over.”
Hearing that it wasn’t some major unrest, Lance breathed a sigh of relief. However, he couldn’t help but wonder if this “big shot” had a screw loose. Reviewing even the squires? Did he have nothing better to do?
As Lance was silently mocking the new arrival, a cacophony of noise erupted from inside the city, getting closer and closer.
‘Hmm?’
Having experienced actual battlefields, Lance immediately recognized the sound of a small unit marching.
Looking up, he saw a group of fully armed knights riding tall horses, followed by two rows of squires carrying spears.
At the sound of this commotion, the previously noisy crowd went silent, waiting for the troops to approach.
Lance frowned slightly, shielding Astrid as they retreated into the crowd.
Leading the troops was a blonde knight wearing brilliant white-gold armor.
Reaching the gate, the knight flicked his whip and shouted maliciously, “The audacity! To cause such a clamor here! Do you wish to challenge the authority of our Hammer of the Sanctuary?”
The merchants and travelers at the very front turned pale.
They were just waiting to enter the city and had spoken a bit loudly; how had that become a challenge to the Knight Order’s authority?
The handsome young man following behind Joel Crais felt his scalp go numb. What was with this new direct superior? Why were his actions so incomprehensible?
With no other choice, he rode forward and explained in a low voice, “Lord Crais! These pedestrians likely had no intention of offending the Knight Order. They were simply waiting for the gate to open.”