Against the World II: Transgression
Chapter 25: The Knight Templar, Part 2
In every city in the Emiliel Holy Kingdom, there was each one of the churches inside which had a teleportation magic circle made permanent. Each of the churches contained seven teleportation magic circles: six to teleport, one to receive teleportation. Arthur stands on a teleportation magic circle with the aim of Axellibra.
The magic circle shimmered, and Arthur instantly found himself on top of another teleportation magic circle in another room.
“Saint Arthur, welcome.”
Arthur nodded at the greetings of the guards, then hurried to leave the church.
Arthur's goal this time was not Luciel's Great Church, but Royal Palace—the king's residence as well as the center of royal administration.
“Ah, so you're a replacement for Sir Ulbath A man in his forties made his voice a dozen seconds after Arthur left the church. “See Sir Ulbath was defeated by someone as young as you…. You may be the most talented human in the history of Emiliel Holy Kingdom.”
“Sir Gawain,” greet Arthur with feet that spontaneously stop, looking respectfully at the long blonde-haired man with a bushy beard who was sitting on the bench next to the entrance of the church. “It's the first time we met in person like this, I feel flattered.”
Gawain Swordainth, leader of the Order of 2 Knights Templar, the oldest member of the Twelve Holy Saints currently together with Lancelot Knitherland—leader of the Order of the 3 Knights Templar.
At his meeting with the Saints a week after he was inaugurated, Gawain and Lancelot were absent. They are senior members along with Ulbath. Each of them has the right not to attend meetings that are not too important. Order 1, Order 2, and Order 3 have always been special since the initial formation of the Knights Templar. Their leaders had also always been holders of First, Second, and Third Saints.
Unlike the existing Order, the title of First Saint, Second Saint, and so on it showed the level of strength of a Saint among all Saints. Sixth Saint does not mean he leads Order 6. The Order of the Order in the Knights Templar does not hint at anything special other than differences in duties, areas of operation, and things of the like.
The Twelve Holy Saints: First Saint, Arthur Lancedragon. Second Saint - Gawain Swordainth. Third Saint Lancelot Knitherland. The Fourth Saint, Rossia Himera. The Fifth Saint, Bedivere Luminia. Sixth Saint, Gallahad Grahamvell. The Seventh Saint, Petracia Lliorente. The Eighth Saint, Maviera Veil Heravastya. Ninth Sainth, Dimitar Kolovasteen's. Tenth Saint, Marya Ellenswarth. Eleventh Saint - Rodolf Vlasenki. The Twelfth Saint, Alfonso Alsabnitz.
“You shouldn't be flattered to meet an old man like me.” Gawaian stood up from where he was sitting, stepped over to Arthur and gently patted him on the shoulder. “It should be me who is flattered to be in the presence of a young man who can even defeat Ulbath easily. Even Pope Genea assumed that you were stronger than him. Maybe you're on the same level as Neira Claudian.”
“I'm flattered to hear that compliment, but I don't think I'm as strong as Miss Neira Claudian. Miss Neira has a sword that may have been the sword of legend created by Hernandez the Blacksmith. Even if I could corner Miss Neira (which I clearly doubt), the situation would change if she took out that sword.”
“Ha-ha-ha, you are so different from Ulbath! Nice, nice! If you're as upset as Ulbath, maybe I'll pay Bedivere to poison you. Ha-ha-ha.”
“And you're full of jokes,” circus Arthur, but ignored Gawaian.
“Now, now, let's go. It's not good to keep Lexata waiting. We don't want our Order's budget cut, do we?”
Arthur sighed, setting foot in Gawain's footsteps. Although the old man beside him said it was not good to make the king wait, their footsteps could not be said to be fast at all.
...—Main Vanguard Division 12 Imperial Army, West Side of Verada, Vermillion Empire—...
The 12th Division of the Imperial Army had no archer troops. They also didn't have enough Magic Casters to battle at long distances. They were not suitable for attacking into the high ground.Such a battleground position would be detrimental to them, especially if the opponent was filled with archery troops. Hence, it was important to familiarize themselves with the typical attacks of archery troops.
“Do not you dare stop dueling!” xavier exclaimed while creating a giant blue magic circle about a hundred meters in the air. “Make sure you avoid while still dueling. You must have a sharp instinct and appropriate reflexes. Division 12 is the best and the strongest of all divisions, make sure you plant it deeply in your souls!”
Right after shouting those words, the field area that was the training ground of the soldiers was bombarded with blue fireballs the size of an adult male fist. those 12,000 soldiers had to survive those fireballs, at the same time they had to defeat each other.
“You medical squad,” Xavier's eyes focus on 1500 soldiers who are ready to slide to save the wounded soldier, “Go back and forth from this side to the other side of the training field until this rain of fire stops. Avoiding is your main exercise now. There is no meaning in taking you to the battlefield if you are killed by an attack like this. Do!”
“Ready, Commander, Sir!”
Disciplined, the 1500 soldiers rushed into the training ground. Along with avoiding the rain of fireballs, they were also required to avoid the soldiers who were dueling. Their main task is to save the wounded soldiers, but they must have more quality than that. How can they do their job if in the end they are the ones to be saved?
“Now you stay nine,” Xavier said as he turned around. “You should also practice and keep growing. I don't want to send a letter of condolence to your family. I don't want to bother looking for someone else to replace you. Therefore, I have to make sure you are ready. For the next five days, you will fight with me every day. Now go on, show that you deserve to be captain in the battalions in this division!”
The nine captains of Xavier immediately darted in attack welcoming the commanding officer's orders. Some of them took out weapons, some of the rest advanced empty-handed. They advanced simultaneously, but they quickly spread out, besieging Xavier from all sides.
“Do not hold back, give up everything you have.”
...—Royal Palace, Axellibra, Emiliel Holy Kingdom—...
“You two are late, Sir Gawain, Sir Arthur.” Lexata IX said right after Arthur and Gawain entered the meeting room at the king's palace. “Even Sir Lancelot has arrived before the meeting time. Especially you, Sir Gawain. As a senior member you should show high discipline to be exemplified by young Saints like Sir Arthur and Dame Rossia.”
“That time is relative, King Lexata.” Gawain retaliated with his wise scepticism. “In your perception, maybe I'm late. But in my perspective, I was on time, even earlier. So you don't feel like I'm late, learn to look at time in my perspective.”
Arthur shook his head at Gawain's ridiculous reasoning. “We don't mean to be late, King Lexata,” he explained. “However, while on the way here, a dog is seen standing at the end of the road. He looked worried, not knowing what he was doing. Because we did not want to disturb, we finally had to take another difficult detour. That's why we're late.”
Arthur nodded to himself, emphasizing how true his words were. Compared to the ridiculous reason that Gawain made, the reason was more logical to be trustworthy. You can't just pass in front of a dog that is worried if you don't want to be attacked. Dogs will tend to be fierce and easy to attack in such conditions.
Lexata IX let out a long sigh hearing the reason. “...Hurry to sit down, I want this meeting to be finished quickly. If it wasn't for the demanding situation, I wouldn't have invited you all here. Budget for each Order I will make as in previous years.”
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*Sir is the name for a knight man in the Chivalric Order, and Dame is for a woman.