Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38. Boy, Raise Your Sword (1)
The funeral for the deceased knights was held solemnly and grandly.
While conducting the funeral with maximum courtesy, the Tolome family tried to firmly imprint the fear of the Warlock discovered in the Baum Mine on people.
It was to make the deaths of the deceased knights as valuable as possible and restore Tolome's reputation damaged by this incident.
Tiday the Soul Collector, Warlock Tiday.
The knights of Tolome discovered the disaster that had been asleep and was the fear of the era active 200 years ago.
The knights of Tolome did not succumb even in front of overwhelming fear and held their honor high, piercing the heart of the evil thing.
They would not be lacking at all to be called true knights and heroes.
It was propaganda started by Tolome at first, but with the Felix Royal Family trying to put a foot in through this matter and the Goddess Religion joining in to elevate religious authority through the fear of the Warlock, the events that happened in the Baum Mine spread instantly.
It started to establish the prestige of the Tolome family, but eventually, everything led to the result of elevating the honor of Blanc, who killed the Warlock.
Although not intended by Blanc, the situation was that he had now gained the title of 'The One Who Killed the Fear of the Era' beyond the Knight of the Moonlit Grass and the Sixth Knight of Aselheit.
And now, the knight who killed the fear of the era was looking at a silver-haired girl with a deep frown.
"Is it tasty?"
"Yeah, it's tasty."
"……You say that is really tasty?"
The girl in front of him was eating the Mint Candy Blanc brought with her cheeks bulging.
As if one wasn't enough, the girl quickly popped another candy in.
"It ish tashty?"
Her cheeks were puffed up like a squirrel with an acorn in its mouth, but seeing that appearance, Blanc couldn't bring himself to think it was cute.
Because he knew well how atrocious the thing inside Iselin's mouth was.
"Don't eat too much……."
Blanc sighed, pushing a box of Mint Candy he brought instead of stimulants toward Iselin.
***
Blanc, who arrived at Tolome's mansion leading the unconscious Stefan, was dragged here and there even before fully recovering from his injuries.
The Royal Family, the Religious Order, and merchant guilds wanting to acquire items coming out of the dungeon first all wanted to meet him.
Blanc went out to deal with people if they were people and places that could be beneficial to meet if possible.
As a result, he was able to possess not only the money ripped off from Baron Tigor Baum but also more than 100 gold.
It was the combined amount of the reward money given by the Royal Family and the Religious Order, and the advance payment received from the merchant guild.
Of course, the merchant guild that paid the advance was the place led by Weird.
'With about 100 gold, it's doable.'
Poor nobles somehow managed to run their families with 100 gold. If spent sparingly, it was money that could last a year even for a noble.
If spent sparingly.
"Baron, I brought the list and personal details of the knights participating in this Kingdom Tournament as you instructed."
"Good work."
Before following to the Baum Mine, Billy wasn't free from the Tolome family's affairs, but now he was helping only with Blanc's work without even looking at others' faces.
That was how much Blanc's status within the Tolome family had risen, and he was now officially hired as the butler of the Cadmus family.
As soon as Blanc hired Billy as a butler, he used him to investigate several things.
The first thing Blanc investigated upon returning to Baltimere was about the White Thunderbolt.
All Blanc knew about the White Thunderbolt was that it was an Aura cultivation method emphasizing pleasure and speed, so it fit his tendencies well.
However, Blanc, who realized there was a secret hidden within the White Thunderbolt while fighting the Warlock named Tiday, did his best to uncover that secret, but.
The person who handed the White Thunderbolt to Blanc was actually a figure from the future 30 years later, and its origin started from the Anton Kingdom, so there was no particular way for Blanc in the Felix Kingdom to do anything.
Moreover, it was impossible for Billy, a mere butler candidate, to dig into matters hidden deep in the backside of the world.
'But I can't borrow Tolome's hands either.'
Since it was a matter related to the Aura cultivation method forming his foundation, Blanc, feeling awkward about borrowing Tolome's hands, decided to do things he could solve immediately instead.
That was recruiting knights.
Just in time, thanks to the Kingdom Tournament, many knights in the Felix Kingdom were flocking to Baltimere.
If he were to recruit knights, there would be few times as good as now.
It was no exaggeration to say that the greatest power of all noble families came from their knight orders.
Of course, it was possible because there was wealth and power to support it, but if faced with a worst-case scenario, drawing a sword was faster than money and power.
In the worst situations, the only thing one could trust in any era was ultimately military force.
Even Berger, the head of the Alchemy School and among the top mages, had created a knight order in the Neudorf family.
Therefore, the most urgent task Blanc, who had to raise the Cadmus family, had to solve was also creating an armed group.
He was a person who had to fight a decisive battle with the three families of Gartaria to stop the first Void Tree and simultaneously reclaim the territory of the Cadmus family.
No matter how much full support he gained from the Tolome Knights due to the Baum Mine incident, in the end, they were just people he borrowed.
To rise in the name of Cadmus, he needed his own knights, swords he could draw at his will anytime.
If the Regressors including himself had regressed properly, this matter would have been solved naturally like a prepared arrangement, but currently, the only Regressor active to stop the Void was Blanc.
So from Blanc's perspective, he had no choice but to prepare step by step from the bottom.
Blanc scanned the list of knights Billy had investigated.
The list Billy investigated was written starting from those with high scores in the tournament.
'Jonas, did he fail to win in the end?'
Jonas' result was 4th place.
It was a result that failed to even reach the finals, let alone win.
'It's not a bad result, but it will be hard to overturn his position within the family.'
One of the reasons Blanc could take the position of the search party's standard-bearer was because Jonas had given up that position.
Jonas tried to find potential in the tournament instead, but eventually failed to win.
Since Blanc, who chose the opposite of Jonas, was widely praised as the one who killed the fear of the era, his insides must be burning quite a bit.
'Will there be a next chance?'
Jonas had already fallen out of Bartomyu's favor due to the Iselin incident. Unless he had won this tournament, 4th place was nowhere near enough to overturn his position.
Blanc decided to push thoughts about Jonas to the back. Anyway, whatever choice he made, it was no longer relevant to Blanc.
Blanc fell into deep thought looking at the list Billy brought.
Blanc Cadmus. He was a rising star and Aselheit's 'Knight' expected to become a legend.
However, although Blanc received the highest evaluation as a knight, how would he be as a 'Lord'?
From the perspective of needing to receive oaths of loyalty from knights, what evaluation would Blanc receive?
'Even I wouldn't enter under myself…….'
It was unfortunate, but Blanc wasn't an attractive lord from the knights' perspective.
First, unstable standing.
On the surface, he was no different from a guest living off the Tolome family. His standing stemmed solely from Tolome's favor.
Second, economic problems.
Blanc was a noble without territory.
Unless one was a Meritorious Noble, having no territory meant the same as having no fixed income.
Knights also needed money to make a living.
Lastly, Blanc's rugged future that would unfold.
Blanc was the rightful heir of Norington.
For a rightful 'heir' to take back the original land from enemies, he had to become a rightful 'avenger'.
He was a person promised a blood-spattering battle with the three families of Gartaria for revenge.
Even a territorial war with an opponent of similar power would be hard to guarantee life or death, but entering under Blanc, who was clearly inferior and had to deal with three families at once, was practically no different from a suicide act.
'It won't be easy.'
Knights who advanced to the upper rounds of the tournament would have already received offers from various lords. There was no reason for such knights to choose Blanc.
Therefore, recruiting high-ranking knights who proved their skills was virtually impossible.
It would be the same for mid-ranking knights. Since they were people who would rather build up their skills a bit more and look for an opportunity to go to a better lord than enter under Blanc.
Eventually, Blanc was in a position where he had to pick out at least useful ones among the knights at the bottom.
'It's not easy.'
At least Blanc knew about future knowledge to some extent through regression.
He knew a few knights who were currently undervalued but would soar as if gaining wings at some moment.
However, it seemed those knights didn't participate in this tournament.
But he couldn't just pick any knight at the bottom haphazardly.
'I can't pick trash.'
Naturally, knights at the bottom were there for a reason.
Since there were only those without skill or with major personality problems, it was bound to be a headache from Blanc's perspective.
Scanning the list of knights' names brought by Billy while clutching his head, Blanc's eyes went wide seeing a certain knight's name.
The knight at the very bottom among the list Billy brought.
'Eliminated in preliminaries, huh…….'
Simon Diez.
Nothing was written next to his name.
A knight of the lowest rank who gave no impression to people, let alone results in the tournament.
Blanc knew that knight.
'Was he here at this time?'
Blanc noted his name.
If it wasn't a person with the same name but the person Blanc knew, this was practically a golden opportunity sent by the Goddess.
People contaminated by the Void didn't simply lose their souls to the Void.
The Void mercilessly cut and tore apart the souls and bodies of those contaminated by it, forcibly detonating their potential.
Thus, allowing them to act as terrible enemies of humanity.
Simon Diez. He was an insignificant knight before being encroached by the Void.
He was a figure grateful just to have received a knight title as a bastard of the Diez family.
This obscure, humble knight later became imprinted in people's memories in a different sense.
As one of those leading the Void.
Simon Diez, whose soul was twisted by the Void, could detonate all the potential sleeping in his soul due to that, and eventually grew to the point where few among humans could face him.
Where he passed, only gruesome corpses, terrible silence, and the Void lingered.
In the past life, he was someone barely defeated through a life-risking battle by Gornas Balthazar, who could be called humanity's last hope, to stop him.
'If this person is the Simon Diez I know, I must meet him.'
He had to meet him.
If he could recruit him, who possessed the highest potential acknowledged by the Void, and make him bloom, it was clear it would be a great help in establishing the Cadmus family's standing.
However, if he became encroached by the Void this time too like in the past life.
'I'll have to kill him before he grows.'
He couldn't leave someone who would become an enemy of humanity alone.
Whether making him an ally to use or killing him as an enemy.
Simon Diez. Keeping him by his side would be the best method.