“A knighthood ceremony. I can’t even tell you how many years it’s been!”
“If I recall correctly, the last one granted was in the South, some forty years ago.”
“Still, if it’s Sir Danil, it’s a well-deserved reward. Did he not achieve feats that no one could dispute?”
“That is true.”
“Now he is truly a Magic Knight, Sir Danil!”
Words of congratulations, applause, and cheers never ceased.
Under the dazzling lights, Danil was simply dumbstruck.
People thought Danil was deeply moved, but the reality was a bit different.
*A knighthood? Me?*
He knew what it was in theory.
But knowing something and actually experiencing it were entirely different concepts.
Order of Honor? He’d heard of it.
“From now on, you are a recipient of the Order of Honor.”
Huh? So what’s so good about it?
That was exactly Danil’s current state of mind.
“Your expression is strange, Chief Danil.”
“Ah.”
Danil came to his senses at the whisper of Elena, who approached holding a wine glass.
“Hey, Elena. Just one thing.”
“Speak.”
“How amazing of an event is this? I can tell it’s a big deal from everyone’s reaction, but…”
*As expected.*
She had worried she might see excitement or a sense of superiority.
It was a needless worry.
What showed on Danil’s face was bewilderment and pressure.
Elena laughed at the reaction that a mage absolutely thirsty for promotion and success would never show.
*I believed in you, Chief Danil.*
Elena turned her eyes slightly.
Rainer was smiling and clinking glasses with nobles.
In his eyes, she saw calculated composure.
He was probably congratulating himself that he had captured Danil’s heart with this knighthood.
*What a shame, Grand Heir.*
Not knowing even in his dreams that it was a ridiculous delusion.
“Please don’t worry too much, Chief Danil. A knighthood is an honorary title usually given to outsiders who have rendered great service. Respect follows, but no obligations or rights; it is a formal position. You may act as you always do without any problem.”
“Aha. I see.”
Danil sighed in relief.
*If I compare it to my previous life, it’s roughly like receiving a knighthood from the British royal family? Oh. Then am I now on the same level as Beckham, Conan Doyle, and Joanne Rowling?*
The thought made him burst out laughing.
It was truly a silly sentiment.
Had a British person heard it, they would have shouted like this:
“The meaning and weight of a knighthood is not merely at that level! You fool!”
It was such a light thought that even if they swung at him with full force afterward, he would have nothing to say.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Danil was a Korean from another world.
The institution of “knighthood” was a word he had only seen in the news or history books.
Having grown up in a place without such a culture, his awareness of it could only be limited to “an honorary title given to celebrities.”
And the timing was bad too.
If knighthoods were granted as frequently as in Britain, even Danil—a political dunce—would have known the basic political and social implications and weight it carried.
But a knighthood ceremony was not a common occurrence.
The most recent precedent was forty years ago.
Danil, thirty-two years old, hadn’t even been born yet.
Danil. A man utterly devoid of experience that would let him appreciate the meaning and weight of a knighthood.
That is why Danil laughed.
Elena laughed.
Rainer smiled.
Three people, three different smiles crossed paths, and the banquet reached its climax.
*
“Sir Danil. Congratulations! I shall send a congratulatory gift later. Is there anything you specifically desire?”
“Sir Danil is the benefactor who saved my son’s life. Please visit our home sometime. We shall treat you with utmost sincerity.”
“If you are looking to acquire a house in Kazzan, please speak to me anytime. I own quite a few buildings.”
The nobles in the banquet hall swarmed toward Danil and formed a line.
They gave it their all to leave their mark on the figure Rainer was interested in.
Praise, congratulations, and subtly veiled requests poured out incessantly.
*Whoa. What the hell is this chaos?*
Danil dealt with the nobles frantically.
The sound of clinking glasses and laughter never ended.
Elena was watching this from the side.
She knew this too was part of the work to recruit Danil, but she did not take any action.
*It’s about time.*
Having confirmed the shills Rainer had prepared, and the time bomb mixed among them, Elena elegantly tilted her wine glass.
*Ugh. I’m tired. So tired. When the hell does this end?*
“Hehe. We meet again before a day has passed.”
“You are?”
Just when he was growing tired of maintaining his business smile, a familiar face approached to greet him.
Count Caron. Sincerity filled Danil’s smile at the visit of this good man who had treated him to a late-night snack yesterday.
“Sir Danil. Though belated, congratulations on your glorious knighthood.”
“Thank you for your kind words, my Count. Thank you for yesterday. It was the first time in my life I’ve had such a delicious late-night snack.”
“Hehe. For a hero to say such a thing, it is an honor to my house.”
“Haha. An honor to your house, you say.”
“I am sincere.”
The surrounding nobles murmured at their conversation.
And for good reason—Count Caron was not a noble of Kazzan.
He was merely an outsider who had briefly stopped in Kazzan on business.
Normally, he shouldn’t even have an acquaintance with Danil.
Yet they were conversing so familiarly?
But it was too early to be surprised.
“Sir Danil.”
Count Caron’s expression turned serious.
“If I may be so bold, may I ask a favor in this place?”
“Of course. Please, ask anything.”
Danil spoke lightly.
“Sir Danil!!!”
—Thud!
The response that came was not light.
Count Caron suddenly fell to his knees on the floor.
The sound of knees hitting the marble floor rang throughout the banquet hall.
“I beg of you! Please, please save my estate! You alone are our only hope!”
Count Caron prostrated himself.
His voice trembled and was full of desperation.
“…Huh???”
Danil was bewildered.
Not only him.
In an instant, sound vanished from the noisy banquet hall.
Hands holding glasses stopped, and laughter cut off.
An illusion as if the banquet hall had frozen over.
The confused gazes of the nobles, and Rainer’s surprised eyes, turned to Danil and the Count.
*It blew up.*
Elena savored the wine.
The sweet taste mixed with the silence, pleasing her mouth and ears.
Elena turned her head.
Toward the man standing at the center of all this chaos.
“Uh. Count? Please don’t do this, first stand up…”
“I beg of you, Sir Danil!!!”
“Hehe.”
Watching the flustered treasure and the time bomb that had gone off right on schedule, it was hard to hold back laughter.
Elena set down her glass.
“Now, let us slowly make our move.”
The time for counterattack had come.
*
A silence where one could almost hear a pin drop.
Servants carrying food, musicians playing music, everyone in the banquet hall was at a loss for words.
To that extent, Count Caron’s action was a shock in itself.
*Has Count Caron gone mad?*
*What the hell kind of impropriety is that?*
*To be so rude in a place where Grand Heir Rainer is present.*
The nobles’ murmurs spread.
Count Caron had committed a great wrong.
Danil had just received a knighthood from Kartar.
Although it was an honorary position, he was a knight of Kartar.
To request help, one had to first speak to Rainer, a member of House Kartar and the highest authority present, and receive permission.
That was noble etiquette and discipline.
Nevertheless, the Count ignored it.
In a place where Rainer and the northern nobles were gathered, no less.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say Count Caron’s political life was over with this.
The gaze Rainer shot at the Count drove home that conviction.
“Hehehe.”
Unlike the nobles who were frightened and turning their heads toward Rainer, Elena laughed.
Her eyes saw.
The rage lodged in Rainer’s pupils, and another emotion contained within it.
*He must be anxious. He must be troubled. He should be. The hero and knight you created has been asked for help by the weak.*
Ordinary people can urinate in the streets.
But celebrities are different.
Because the picture is bad. Because they have much to lose.
Thus, depending on position and name, the repercussions of one’s actions differ.
Had Danil been a mage of the Magic Tower, no one would say anything even if he refused, saying, “What rudeness is this!”
But now Danil is a knight of Kartar and the hero of Kazzan.
For such a man to refuse the request of the weak seeking help?
*I can guess your worries, Grand Heir Rainer. You must be thinking of a way to handle this situation in the best possible light while maintaining the hero’s image. But unfortunately.*
Your hero, you see. He’s a political dunce, isn’t he?
“Count Caron. Please stand up and speak first.”
“I cannot do so until I hear your answer!”
“No. I said I understand, so please stand up.”
“…!”
The Count’s head shot up.
The nobles’ eyes widened all at once.
“Sir Danil! Wait…!”
Rainer reached out his hand.
His voice did not reach.
“Will you… help me?”
“Sigh… Well, if it’s something I can do, I’ll help as much as I can. So please hurry…”
“Thank you! Truly thank you, Sir Danil!”
“No. So please stop bowing and stand up!”
“Hehehe.”
Looking at Count Caron, at Danil, and finally at Rainer, Elena laughed.
Danil had spoken.
That he would help, in a place where everyone could see.
This was no different from a promise spoken in a public place.
In the world of politics, a promise is synonymous with a contract.
A contract once made must be kept.
It was the same now.
She raised her glass again.
The sweet aftertaste of victory lingered in her mouth.
*
Two weeks had passed since the wyvern attack.
Kazzan still laughed and chattered, enjoying peace.
But the North outside Kazzan’s walls was not.
Because since Kazzan became “the city where the Black Mane Tribe was massacred,” the highland tribes’ raiding plans had completely changed.
“Touch that place and you’re ruined. So aim elsewhere.”
The moment Kazzan was removed from the highland tribes’ raiding list, the gates of hell opened for every estate except Kazzan.
Until now, Kazzan had been a shield that took more than half of the highland tribes’ attacks.
With that shield gone, the results immediately revealed themselves.
The number of raids by the highland tribes had nearly doubled compared to the previous year.
The savage tribes’ fierce raids exceeded the scope of anticipated plans.
The people groaned, the soldiers grew weary, and the lords screamed.
“Aaaah! Someone, someone please help!”
Then there was a name everyone recalled.
Danil. The Magic Tower mage who had annihilated the Iron Scale Tribe alone and was called the Dragon Slayer.
Could he not turn this situation around?
Could he not stop this hell?
With such faith and hope, numerous delegations visited Kazzan carrying bundles of gifts.
The pretext was “military fund support for Kazzan,” but everyone knew.
What they wanted was Danil’s dispatch.
“It is reassuring to see so much military funding coming in. My thanks to all.”
Rainer smiled as he received the delegates’ gifts, but his inner thoughts were different.
Most of those requesting help were neutrals.
That is, those highly likely to shackle him in the future power structure of the North.
Rainer, tapping away at his political calculator, produced a cold answer.
*Send Danil? That won’t do. My side is more urgent. But don’t worry. I can give any other help.*
A chicken instead of a pheasant.
Rainer planned to send replacement forces such as adventurers and mercenary troops in exchange for the gifts.
Thanks to Danil’s dazzling performance, these people had become useless freeloaders; he could dispatch them and simultaneously sell favors, killing two birds with one stone for Rainer.
And in the meantime, he would keep Danil by his side and completely tame him to his side.
That was Rainer’s plan.
A grand plan to make Danil not merely one in name, but a true one—a mage of Kazzan!
Everything was perfect.
It was going according to plan.
—Thud!
“I beg of you, Sir Danil!”
The Count’s sudden action,
“If it is something I can do, I will help as much as I can.”
Danil’s single remark,
until it completely destroyed the board he had laid out.
“Damn it! Son of a—!”
“Y-young master! Please calm down!”
“Do I look like I can calm down right now!”
The atmosphere of the banquet hall changed.
Rainer, who couldn’t possibly not know how unfavorable this was to him, couldn’t hide his anger and impatience.
His close associates and retainers tried to stop him, but he couldn’t endure it.
“Aaaaah!!!”
“Hehe.”
Watching this from afar, Elena laughed quietly.
*Your plan was perfect, Grand Heir. But you failed to account for one thing. The hero you covet knows nothing of politics. I knew that; you did not. That difference is significant, is it not?*
She emptied her wine glass.
Once you succeed in a counterattack, you must press the advantage.
It was the same now.
The hunter who had laid traps based on information gathered by Titania’s private intelligence unit moved to present the next trap.
The night of conspiracy grew deeper.