Chapter 574: Chapter 84: Swearing Allegiance

“Fuck your mom!” the grown-up Mia cursed loudly.

“Who taught you such filthy language!” Aske burst out in rage.

“You!” the grown-up Mia retorted.

Aske: ………

“I’ve said it’s not me!” Aske roared with fury, “I don’t care who taught you that language, or who deceived your heart or your body. Anyway, whoever did it, go find them yourself!”

“You think I don’t want to?” Mia cried with tears falling, “You just ran off! You just ran away like that! Ellie and I waited for you for so many years…”

Such a beautiful girl, yet crying like a little girl who hasn’t grown up, her tears falling like rain, even the Banshee Queen felt somewhat helpless and could not bear to watch, so she floated over to wipe away her tears.

The result was that she earned a round of disdainful looks from the others — you didn’t come out to save us when she was beating us up just now, and now you’re comforting someone when they’re in tears? Whose side are you really on?

“Are you, Ellie?” the grown-up Mia paused for a moment and sobbed, “No, you are Minerva…”

“It’s me,” the Banshee Queen said softly. She actually didn’t know Mia, but she knew Ellie did.

“Minerva, let me tell you,” and so the grown-up Mia stopped crying, vigorously wiped away her tears, and spoke seriously, “and please pass this on to Ellie. And Mia…”

She beckoned to the little Mia, who hesitated before looking to Aske. Seeing that he didn’t stop her, she cautiously walked over.

“Aske is not to be trusted,” the grown-up Mia said as if she was giving her last words, mumbling in a low voice, “He’s just a scumbag, never put any of your thoughts on him.”

“Apart from Mia, no one else in the team can be trusted. They all have their own thoughts and schemes, and with Aske… with us, they’re not on the same path.”

“In short, the only person you can trust, Mia, is Ellie, and the only person Ellie… can trust is also Mia. You two must work closely together, and also…”

She hesitated for a moment (that indecisive expression, looking just like the little Mia), and said inwardly:

“Minerva, tell Ellie.”

“She must stop Aske from going back.”

After speaking, she suddenly activated her Spiritual Essence, severing the connection with the powers of the Spiritual Tree, her figure disappearing on the spot.

Everyone: ………

To be honest, this “Mia from a parallel universe” wasn’t very hard to defeat. On one hand, she bore no Killing Intent towards Aske himself, and on the other hand, even though she did want to kill everyone else, aside from Thira being injured, no one else was seriously hurt.

However, from the moment she appeared until now, the few words she had spoken had put a deep crack in the previously unreserved mutual trust within The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps.

“Aske…” After a long Silence, Nora was the first to speak up.

“Oh, you don’t have to explain,” Aske said with a smile, “I won’t take her words seriously.”

“You know, in a thousand parallel universes, there are a thousand Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps. Maybe in some parallel universe, Aske is a shameful scumbag, Eleanor, Nora, and Thira are evil betrayers, and Mia is an innocent victim, who can be sure such a world doesn’t exist?”

“But even so, this is not a reason for us to doubt each other now, or even guard against each other. Remember why we, who were strangers at first, came to trust each other so deeply? It was forged through battle after battle, where we trusted each other with our lives. Such deep friendship can’t be easily shaken or harmed by just anyone spouting a few words.”

“But…” Eleanor came over and said, her voice trembling slightly, “Aske, there’s no need to comfort us right now. I just want to know, regarding the accusations she made, do you really not have any doubts about us at all?”

“Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?” Aske quipped with a chuckle.

“Of course it’s true,” Eleanor said earnestly.

“In this world, there are no certainties. I cannot say with one hundred percent certainty that I trust you,” Aske spoke candidly, “but from what I remember of my past and my understanding of you, I don’t believe you would betray me.”

“Really?” Eleanor looked at him silently, as if making some difficult decision.

Then, she knelt on one knee before Aske, with the Will Light Flow in her hand transforming into a Longsword, which she plunged into the ground at her feet:

“Master Aske Lepeios Achilles,” Eleanor lowered her head, eyes fixed on the tips of his boots, and said solemnly, “In Constantinople, you took me in, taught me the skills of war, and guided the direction of my life. For this great kindness, I can only repay by dedicating the rest of my life to you.”

“I am Eleanor Maria von Weisbach, and I swear by the name of God and my family to offer up my body and soul without any reservations. I shall be your Knight, your Longsword, your Shield; I will do my utmost to protect your safety, your honor, your will; from the moment of this vow until the end of my life and soul.”

“Should I break this oath, no matter the motive, I shall be shattered and sent to Purgatory, to suffer eternal torment.”

She spoke with the utmost solemnity and seriousness, while Aske looked at her making the oath with an expression of growing bewilderment:

Huh?

“At this moment, you should draw out the Longsword and tap her shoulder three times to complete the Knighting ceremony.” Seeing him freeze, Thira cautiously reminded him.

“Wait a minute,” Aske finally came to his senses. “Why are you doing this?”

“If I become your Knight,” Eleanor explained softly, “then my relationship with you will be witnessed by God, and I can no longer betray you.”

Aske: ………..

Let’s not even talk about being witnessed by God. If you, Eleanor, are indeed of an honest character who keeps her word, then even without this vow, I would willingly trust you with my back.

If you were base and despicable, even if you swore by God and your name, I would not dare to trust you in the slightest!

So, does this Knight’s oath really have any substantial meaning?

Aske was agonizing over this, while Eleanor still maintained her kneeling position with sword planted in the ground, waiting for her knighting, creating an increasingly awkward atmosphere.

Nora, who had been standing by in a daze, also snapped to. Having read Aske’s memories, she was aware that the traditions and culture of the Divine Luo were distinctly different from those of the Dragon Country:

To the Frank Knights, who were deeply religious, swearing by God, family, and one’s own soul was the most severe and extreme form of oath, one that absolutely could not be broken—even far surpassing the binding power of a Soul Contract sealed by Extraordinary Power.

On the other hand, in Dragon Country, swearing was closer to cursing oneself. They did not believe in an omnipotent subjective consciousness that would supervise and punish those who broke their oaths, and therefore did not place much significance on the oath itself.

Basically, these two were not communicating on the same frequency. Out of consideration for her close friend, Nora gently reminded Aske via Mind Communication:

“Don’t worry about whether it’s useful or not, Ellie just wants some peace of mind, so please just go along with it!”

This reminded Aske, so he pulled a Longsword out of thin air and tapped Eleanor’s shoulder thrice, saying:

“Cough, I declare your oath valid.”

“You should say, ‘I accept you as my Knight’,” Eleanor suggested somewhat helplessly, not able to restrain a quiet reminder.

“Oh,” Aske quickly corrected his posture and tapped her shoulder a few more times, “I declare, I accept you as my Knight, Eleanor.”

The corners of Eleanor’s mouth drooped, revealing a rueful bitter smile, while her mood plummeted to utter dejection. It was like she had prepared a marriage proposal for a very long time, only to receive an indifferent “okay” from the other party.

Although the ceremony was successfully concluded and their relationship was somewhat closer through the bonding ritual, what was this subtle yet sharp feeling of being undervalued?

She felt like crying…