The Year-End Festival ended like this.

Silin and the Châteaubriand family suffered a humiliation never before seen in their lineage.

It also became publicly known that the Emperor had set tasks to support Silin, staining his own reputation.

The ranking ceremony was wrapped up in a mess, and a new era dawned for the Wonhwa army.

One centered on the new sun named Erilot Astra.

A whole week had passed since the Year-End Festival.

Entering Torchlight Palace, I stretched with a groan.

Then my eyes caught the mirror.

I looked noticeably plumper than a few days ago.

It was natural since I had spent the entire week eating and sleeping.

I looked much better than when I was worn out by work.

‘Happy, huh.’

When lying quietly in bed, the maids brought all sorts of delicious food.

Eat, then sleep again.

Since the maids took care of washing, I kept my body fresh without lifting a finger.

‘As expected, the more money and time you waste, the sweeter it tastes.’

I wish I could live like this every day.

...Though the family was a bit exhausted.

The three brothers were a fuss.

“Let me see! Are you hurt? Hurt anywhere?!”

“...There’s a wound. Is this Silin Châteaubriand’s fault too?”

“Glad you came back safe.”

They held my face, hawk-eyed, looking for injuries.

They trailed me everywhere asking if I was okay.

They shouted at the doctor asking if there would be any aftereffects.

More annoying than any mission.

But surprisingly, Dad was quiet.

Quietly...

“Hm? Dad, why are you taking your sword out at this hour?”

“I’m going to Châteaubriand manor.”

“...What? Dad? Wait!”

He stayed silent when I tried to stop him, but the moment I nodded off, he tried to sneak out to Châteaubriand manor.

Because of that, we even had to issue an emergency order at our estate.

“Let go! I said let go! I won’t kill the child, but I will kill the one who raised such a child—!!”

“Ah! Lord, please calm down!”

“My lord—!!”

Recalling that night’s chaos, I shook my pale face.

‘Still, I’m glad it was sorted out quickly.’

When I sulked that I wanted to rest, Richmond stepped up.

“Why don’t you handle the Châteaubriand issue after Erilot has had enough rest?”

I quickly made a sad face.

“I want to rest, Dad...”

Thus, the commotion ended.

After that, I could enjoy a peaceful break.

Humming while sitting, Gorgo, the Western army’s administrative officer, sneaked up.

In his hands was a tray with warm milk tea and snacks.

“What’s this?”

When I asked, Gorgo laughed awkwardly and placed the tray on my desk.

“Some fine tea has arrived. Ah, though it’s ridiculously insufficient for the Wonhwa’s nobility, would you please try it if you don’t mind?”

Why is he acting like this?

His eyes were extremely languid.

Still, since he brought it, I lifted the teacup.

‘Ah, a nice aroma.’

I tasted it and was surprised.

“Allegroye company?”

“You recognized it! Ha ha!”

Even among the Astoras, known for wealth, only the direct line drinks this expensive tea.

You can’t just buy it with money.

It’s reservation only, first-come, first-served, and closed when fully booked.

‘Seems like they try to meet the demands of a powerful house like Astra...’

I raised my teacup and looked at Gorgo.

“This is good tea, hard even for nobles from the first district of the Imperial Capital to get.”

“Do you like it?! I prepared it knowing that...!”

Before Gorgo could finish excitedly, a huge noise came from behind.

Crash! Bang!

A group of knights barged in.

“I’ve brought tea as good as Allegroye...!”

“Plannose—the ultra-expensive rich perfume brand. It’s an unreleased product, but I thought it would suit the Wonhwa well...!”

“A magic tool ‘Spirit’s Mirror.’ Surely helpful for training—”

The knights noisily offered their gifts.

Not only Western army knights.

There were knights from Eastern, Southern, Northern, and even Central armies.

‘There are also administrative soldiers under the Grand General.’

I frowned and looked at them.

“What’s going on?”

The knights laughed awkwardly.

“Well, the thing is...”

“This is about the Wonhwa—please hear me—”

“Hey, who opened their mouth before the superior?”

It got noisy again.

Then Sham, the highest-ranking Central army knight, glared at them.

The knights flinched back.

Sham turned to me with a playful smile.

“At the New Year, there’s a great knight transfer, isn’t there?”

Right.

I nodded.

“I’ve long admired the Western Wonhwa. You may know I’m well-known for spear fighting. If kept nearby, I’d surely be of help.”

He then slipped a well-packaged pouch tied with a ribbon onto my desk.

“...”

I glanced once at the gift, once at the knights.

“Ah, I see.”

Knights from other armies want to come to the Western army.

And Western army knights want to stay.

‘Because the Western army’s status rose sharply during this Year-End Festival.’

The Central, Southern, and Northern armies were utterly humiliated.

Plus, since the Western army drove away many knights, there are many good positions available.

The other knights’ eyes sparkled.

“This is the chance, Wonhwa! While the Western army’s status is high, recruiting skilled knights will help the Wonhwa in the future.”

Meanwhile, the Western army knights looked worried.

“The Western army is now cohesive, but if many outsiders join, it’ll be chaotic again, and also...”

It’s barely a chance to build reputation, but they worry someone else will snatch it away.

Knights from other armies glared at the Western army.

Sham, spear expert of the Central army, collapsed onto his knees before me.

“Please give me the chance to be loyal by your side!”

Thales, the genius archer of the Southern army, kneeled hastily.

“Please give me the chance to protect the Wonhwa with my bow—!”

Joaquin, the first-class mage of the Northern army, also dropped to his knees.

“The Western army lacks magic soldiers. If you want me to be an arrow, a sword, or a shield, I will be that!”

Other knights knelt as if ready to kill each other with their eyes.

“Wonhwa, don’t abandon me...”

“Please give me the chance to prove my skills in the Western army...!”

What’s wrong with these guys?

I sighed with a tired expression.

Imperial Guard dining hall.

A Western army knight quietly placed a tray on a table.

“You’re not moving, Iseze?”

Iseze glanced at him.

“Well, the Wonhwa will decide.”

Other knights overheard and laughed.

“Now that he’s called the strongest sacred knight, would you send him away?”

The knight who set down the tray twisted his mouth.

“Yeah, he contributed a lot in the ghoul extermination. Honestly, tell me, the Wonhwa won’t send you, right?”

“No such words were said.”

“Iseze has blocked with his whole body that it’s impossible. Since /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ he’s cherished like that, he wouldn’t get any hint, right?”

“What are you saying, Liam?”

“Well... honestly, I don’t understand.”

The knight called Liam tapped his food with a fork.

“Sacred knights are special, but they’re basically useless unless it’s monster extermination. Mostly for healing or buffing in the rear.”

“So?”

“Compared to that, a magician like me is much more useful. There’s a saying ‘Attack is magic soldiers’ for a reason.”

“...”

“We can set barriers, cover both long and short range. In terms of offense and defense, aren’t we better than sacred knights?”

“Get to the point.”

“Then why do only you get special treatment?”

The mood grew strange as all eyes gathered.

Liam smiled and pushed some meat from his plate to Iseze.

“Enjoy while the Wonhwa doesn’t appreciate magic soldiers yet.”

“...”

“That attention will soon be mine.”

Before Iseze showed her worth, Liam was the strongest in the Western army.

Other armies kept sending transfer offers.

Staying until now was just to raise his value.

It was a good opportunity for him to remain in the Western army.

‘I won’t lose to this jerk.’

Everyone felt that in the ghoul battle.

The Western Wonhwa had something special.

Not just individual talent, but also the favor of Duke Astra’s most trusted granddaughter.

The pride of a knight is to serve an excellent master.

“I’m going to be your Western army Wonhwa’s guard, so stay out of my way, Iseze.”

I couldn’t lose my place to a rookie commoner who hasn’t even received his appointment.

Iseze chuckled.

He picked up his tray and looked at Liam.

“Don’t stick your foul mouth in. I’m not losing this position.”

“Sham of the Central army, Thales of the Southern, Joaquin of the Northern, and even Jayden from the Emperor’s personal knights are all eyeing this position? Dream big.”

“You’ll only know by trying. But I think I can tell without trying you’re not up to it.”

“What?”

Liam stood with a clatter.

Iseze smiled coldly.

“Wanna fight?”

“You bastard—!”

The dining hall turned into chaos in an instant.

“Hey, you!”

“What are you doing? Stop it! Hey, hey!”

Knights struggled to hold Liam and Iseze who were lunging at each other, sweating nervously.

Torchlight Palace.

The Wonhwa gathered to discuss the great knight transfer.

‘Except for me and Sebastia, everyone looks miserable.’

The Northern Wonhwa was extremely discouraged.

“I got scolded a lot by Father, and my sister... ugh.”

Her sister was the former Northern Wonhwa.

She was said to be the strongest Northern Wonhwa while she was alive.

Apparently, she got a terrible scolding from that ‘strongest Northern Wonhwa,’ so her face was still pale.

The Southern Wonhwa’s expression was equally bad.

“The tea is cold! How dare they bring such tea to Torchlight Palace? Their minds must be rotten.”

She had been grumbling all day.

‘She’s last place, so her pride is completely crushed.’

Compared to them, Sebastia and I were relaxed.

I naturally led the trash Western army to first place.

Sebastia was second, but still, we had set a new record together.

As for the Central Wonhwa...

At that moment, a palace servant in charge of Torchlight Palace said,

“Here they come.”

The door burst open and the Central Wonhwa, Silin, entered with a grim face.

She roughly sat down.

Her usual graceful posture was nowhere to be seen.

Sebastia smiled silently and whispered to me,

“The Châteaubriand family has completely lost the Emperor’s trust.”

“Because of the Central Wonhwa?”

“Yeah. Everyone saw her rampaging as she pleased. Plus, after that, the attack on you too.”

Maybe she heard the whisper, because Silin glared at us.

“You two seem to have time for chatter.”

Sebastia shrugged casually.

Silin bit her lip and looked at Sebastia.

But she said nothing and turned her head sharply.

‘She can’t cause a fuss anymore.’

Silin said,

“Let’s start the meeting. Bring in the Grand General and the top-ranked knights.”

The palace servant went out to fetch them, and soon the knights entered.

Thus, the meeting began.

The first to speak was the Southern Wonhwa.

“We don’t have enough magicians. Since the Northern army has many, I’ll bring Rius, Helman, and Joid.”

“Ah! If you take them all...!”

“In exchange, I’ll give a sacred knight. You’re short of those, right?”

“...Then I’ll give Helman and Joid. Rius is difficult.”

“Suit yourself. And I want to bring Params from the Eastern army.”

At that, Sebastia frowned.

“No.”

“The Eastern army has many powerful spearmen. They performed well thanks to that. Please yield.”

“Then will you give Kaisa?”

“Not...! Kaisa is our staff candidate.”

“She’s not even staff yet. I have no intention of exchanging anyone but Kaisa.”

“That’s too much!”

The atmosphere became icy.

Lower-ranked armies fought fiercely to regain footing; upper-ranked armies defended their positions sharply.

Silin said,

“Will fighting solve anything? Let’s compromise a bit. I want Kaisa, Dean, and Mori.”

The Southern Wonhwa and Sebastia chuckled bitterly.

“What kind of compromise is taking all the best ones?”

“If it’s like this, the Eastern army won’t exchange soldiers.”

“Al-Also, the Northern army can’t give Mori!”

The Wonhwa raised their voices, and Silin lightly raised a hand.

“Then I’ll give Jowick.”

“...!”

“W-What...?”

“Jowick?”

Sebastia, Southern Wonhwa, and Northern Wonhwa all took a deep breath.

Jowick was the Central army’s Grand General.

He had tremendous blessings, excellent tactics, and flawless martial arts.

As Central army Grand General, he was highly trusted by the knights.

“Th-That Jowick...”

The Northern Wonhwa swallowed dryly.

‘Jowick is being ousted for funding the Western army.’

Jowick looked calm as if he had expected this.

The Southern Wonhwa quickly spoke.

“Then to which side will you give him...?”

“That’s for the four Wonhwa to discuss.”

“Four? You didn’t request soldiers from the Western army?”

“The Western army wants Iseze, Liam, and Ku (Western army’s deputy Grand General).”

All eyes turned to me.

‘They really want only the cream of the crop.’

We only had three useful ones, and they demanded all three.

Maybe everyone thought the same because they were all watching my expression.

Iseze, Liam, and Ku flinched and looked at me.

The Northern Wonhwa glanced nervously at Silin and me.

“By the way, Western Wonhwa is quiet. Don’t you want any knights?”

“Of course not.”

“Then please say so.”

“The knights I want are...”

The knights abruptly turned to look at me.

I held the prize for first place in the Year-End Festival.

I could take any knight I wanted.

All eyes focused as I slowly looked at ‘them.’

At that moment, the imperial palace.

Six dukes of the empire gathered face to face with the Emperor.

In the sharp atmosphere, Duke Astra spoke.

“I demand an investigation into the attack on my granddaughter.”