A few minutes before the fight between Arthur and Scylla concluded.
Outside Lima Port City, flooded by the giant wave that suddenly appeared, the citizens looked down on their city with worried gazes.
They were speechless, not because of the flood, of course. That happened a lot before the moon got close to the ground.
All of them couldn't say anything because they had just seen something unbelievable. The kingdom knights, which consisted of a group of a dozen people, were also speechless.
Not only did this was the first time they saw a wave as tall as the gate and the flood that attacked the city to the point it reached every nook and cranny, but they also saw a giant monster that could probably top the city easily.
"Frahan, will you survive that?" A young knight asked his comrade with a pale face. "Because I am sure I will die immediately, even with my full armor on." He knocked on his chest plate, which carried Virtue Kingdom's symbol, the white lily.
"Are you kidding me, Greg? There is no way I can survive that. The wave will kill me before I can get close. Only the captain has a chance to get close to them because he's Level 37."
"Hahaha. That's impossible even for me."
The soft-bearded knight captain with short brown hair laughed and tapped the young knights on their shoulders. His expression hardened as he looked over in the distance, his eyes gleaming a brown light matching his irises color due to <Hawk Eye> skill.
"Only someone like that man is capable. I can't even fathom his strength. Hahaha, truly a monster through and through."
"Captain, do you know him?" The young knight called Greg asked curiously. "You spoke as if you recognized that person who fought that giant monster alone."
"Of course I do." The captain answered with certainty. "In fact, we had heard about him at least once as he was a hot topic just a few days ago."
"Huh?"
The young knights still couldn't understand. The other experienced ones just chuckled behind the captain. Not all of them had <Hawk Eye> skills like the captain, but they had already guessed that mysterious person's identity from his captain's words.
"It's the Paladin." He whispered to his subordinates, causing their jaws to fall out of surprise.
"Really?!"
"He's really strong!"
The captain smirked at their childish reaction as if they had met a real hero. That wasn't far from the truth.
Because what that person currently did was an act similar to a hero in a story. Facing a giant sea monster that could create a wave as tall as the city wall alone, although it seemed like he was helped once before, was something straight from the fairy tail.
Then his expression turned serious as he took a step forward. The battle on the sea had reached its climax. Not even he could see that man and the monster's movement. All he could see was a splash of blue blood mixed with water and a play of light.
"That guy is really a monster. There is no news about him being here, so what is he doing in this city? The church is supposed only to investigate the village near the capital."
He muttered to himself, holding his chin as he fell into deep thought, ignoring his subordinate.
"Then he's moving by himself? I don't know, but it's reassuring. However…"
This created another trouble and unsolved debt to the Kingdom. The captain knew better because he was one of the knights escorting King Cassius at the time he visited the church.
And he coincidentally heard the King grumbling about something related to that person before going inside the carriage.
Another reason was his superior also told him not to allow any people from the church to get any credit for this investigation.
It seemed like the tension between the kingdom and the church was at an all-time high, and the higher-ups apparently wanted to make an excuse to cover up something.
As a captain of a kingdom knight, Jerven didn't know a lot about it, but he just knew that what happened right now was a blessing for the citizens and trouble for the kingdom.
'I need to report it as soon as possible.'
Raising his head, he noticed the monster had disappeared, and that man with blond hair and dark blue armor began walking casually on the sea, causing him to smile wryly.
"So a Paladin can walk on the water? That's just ridiculous."
Due to his surprise, his voice was louder than before, and many people heard him. The young knights began to call Paladin with respect in their voices and admiration in their eyes. Some citizens fell on their knees, thanking the Goddess for sending the Paladin to their rescue.
As for Jerven, he silently walked away from the crowd after telling the experienced knight to handle the rest and calm the citizens.
He walked toward a sparse area behind a tree and took out [Earring of Communication] from his chest pocket. Infusing MP into it, he called the receiver from the other side.
It didn't take long before his call was received. Jerven straightened his posture and saluted with his hand on top of his left chest to pay respect to the person on the other side of the call.
"Knight Jerven has something to report." He spoke in a hushed voice but didn't leave the respect behind it. "The Paladin showed up and dealt with the source of the monster anomaly, Your Highness. Please give me your next instruction."
[Good work. Proceed as planned and keep in check with the Paladin.]
A soft voice answered
"Is that okay?"
[Yes. I doubt he will be able to make an obvious move against the kingdom knight. Do ask his intention of being there, but don't antagonize him. I will need him to play a part in my plan.]
"I humbly received your order, Your Highness."
The call ended one-sidedly from the other side after he replied, and the captain took off the earring, heaving a tired sigh as his job increased due to the unexpected appearance of the Paladin.
"Don't antagonize him but still check on him."
Not to mention, because his squad had helped the evacuation process, he would also need to help deal with the aftermath of the chaos with the other knights from the port city. They weren't that unrelated to this incident.
"What a tall order you gave me, Your Highness. But I will do it for your sake."
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