Chapter 231
“Let’s use the warp gate.”
The clear, flowing voice of the robed individual stopped Cain and Icarus in their tracks. They looked at each other.
“Do you have money?” Icarus whispered.
Cain shrugged and said, “Do I look like someone with money?”
“What did you do with your salary back then?”
“We have salaries?” asked Cain.
Icarus tilted her head. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember getting paid. It seemed that she had simply forgotten about it because Joshua handed her a massive bag of money. In addition, the money that Joshua had handed over to Icarus technically wasn’t for them.
Cain shook his head and bemoaned. “Wow, it seems that we have gotten ourselves a scummy master.”
“We’re basically homeless and penniless right now. We really need the family to protect our rights…”
“You’re stating the obvious.”
“So, you don’t have any personal savings?”
“No, nothing at all. I didn’t think I’d ever need the money.”
“I had my hopes up, but I really don’t think you’re ever going to get married now.”
“What are you on about?!”
“Who wants to marry a man with no money these days?”
“If I set my mind to it, I’ll have no problem making money! And do you really think that money is all that matters in love?”
“Sure, sure, keep telling yourself that.”
While Cain and Icarus’s voices continued to mount, Iceline stared at them from beneath the hem of her robe.
“Even if I’m broke, I’m still going to get married before you,” Cain said while openly staring at a certain part of Icarus’ body.
Icarus furrowed and retorted. “Says the old bachelor.”
“P-pardon?”
“Now that I think about it, you should be the Solo Knight rather than the First Sword! Yes, you have been a creepy solo knight since birth!”
“You speak as if you have any experience yourself!”
“It’s not that I am not capable of experiencing that myself; I just don’t want to do it. If I’m willing, then—”
“Oh? I think I’ve heard that before…” Cain smiled sarcastically, interrupting Icarus.
“...!” Icarus’ eyes widened at the realization. She slowly lifted her head and directed a murderous gaze at Cain.
“Old bachelor.”
“Broke.”
“Ignorant.”
“Dumbass.”
“I have never even held a woman’s hand before~!” Icarus gesticulated.
“Says the no boyfriend since both androgynous alien,” Cain retorted.
“Argh!” Icarus’ cheeks flushed red in anger.
Cain stuck his chin up and shrugged. He felt like he had won, but he didn’t really enjoy his victory.
“It would be nice if we had an emergency fund for times like this…” said Icarus.
“You’re right,” said Cain. He looked down and retrieved a small leather pouch from his waist.
“You said you had no money!”
“Every man has his secrets.”
“True.” Icarus wore a wide smile on her face, despite her anger moments ago. The incongruous sight made Cain inexplicably nervous.
“This money will be very useful for the family.” Icarus suddenly produced an even bigger leather pouch and stuffed both wallets into a fist-sized pocket.
The tip of Cain's chin hit the floor. “Was that a subspace artifact?”
“As the saying goes, the more, the merrier.” Icarus smiled at Cain before continuing. We can’t see the future, so we have to save up as much money as possible. You understand that, right? I’m so glad you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for the cause.”
“...”
‘It looks like I should give Icarus another moniker.’
“Stingy.”
“I guess you can say I’m a decent housewife myself,” said Icarus.
Cain clenched his fists in frustration after being robbed of his tiny savings.
“Hey…” All of a sudden, Iceline’s charming voice shattered their standoff. She swept her gaze at Cain and Icarus before revealing a strange smile.
“I have lots of money,” said Iceline.
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
“I think we should be focusing on getting to Arcadia as soon as possible, don’t you?”
Their response was a silence stiff enough to cut with a knife.
In reality, there wasn’t really a reason for them to argue in the first place. Iceline’s all-in bet during the Reinhardt Masters’ Battle paid off massively, so she had earned enough money for her to live like a queen for the next three generations.
However, the reason Iceline didn’t reveal her wealth right off the bat was that experts weren’t really the type to show off their capabilities.
***
“Battalion Commander, sir!”
The 400 knights of the 11th and 12th Battalions were waiting for Joshua.
“Congratulations on achieving your goals!”
“I was so surprised. I can’t believe you would say something like that in front of the proud central nobles…” Viper trailed off. He was inevitably afraid to even recall the events earlier.
However, Cazes and Ranger were tearing up.
“What do we do? No one chose to stand with us, those idiots…!” Ash sobbed.
“Who’s this boy?” Ranger glanced at Ash.
“Oh, don't worry about him. More importantly, I think I should apologize first.”
“...!” The knights’ eyes widened when they saw Joshua bowing toward them.
“B-battalion Commander, sir! What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry for making such a decision without discussing it with anyone. For you, it must have come out of the blue.”
“It’s fine; we aren’t complaining at all, Battalion Commander, sir!” Ranger exclaimed.
“Hey, who wants to complain?!” Ranger swept his gaze across the other knights.
“What, are you threatening them?” Joshua shook his head and bowed once again before saying, “It was a unilateral decision by your selfish Battalion Commander. If you don’t agree with my choice, then I will help you transfer to another battalion peacefully.”
“In that case, I’ll help as well.”
“Sir Valmont…?” Viper gaped.
Valmont dun Brown. He was the previous captain of the 9th Battalion of the Imperial Knights Order, but he had already become the Battalion Commander of the more prestigious 3rd Battalion.
Valmont was waving at them from the rooftop.
“I owe your master quite a debt, so I’ll give you a hand. I’m sure you won’t believe me, but my only request is another spar. How about it?”
Joshua nodded, drawing a chuckle from Valmont. “Great.”
And the conversation between the two Battalion Commander ended right there. In addition, it seemed as if the knights’ worries were groundless.
“And if we stay?”
“We’ll follow you until the day we die! Even if you tell us to get lost.”
“Are you sure you aren’t trying to throw us away here? If that isn’t the case, then I’m here to stay!” Ranger couldn’t suppress his smile.
.
“Battalion Commander, sir! You’re our hero! A hero of Avalon!”
“It was really refreshing and astounding—the exploits that Battalion Commander, sir, had done, I mean…”
“The battalion commanders of the top battalions should have seen how dumb they looked!”
“Independent Knight order from the Imperial Knights?! I’m sure that the other battalions are gonna die of stomach ache!”
“An order independent of the Imperial Knights? The other battalions are gonna die of stomach aches!”
The knights stuck their thumbs up, making Viper and Cazes laugh. They were all in agreement, and none of them wanted to leave.
“No one wants to leave, Battalion Commander, sir,” Ranger informed Joshua.
“...” Joshua remained silent at that.
“Ah, was the five years too long or too short? It took you that long to make your men obedient. Now it feels like gold wouldn’t even make them blink,” Valmont admired as he stood up. “Looks like you don’t have any problems. Enjoy your battles with your own people now.”
Joshua mulled over Valmont’s words once the latter was gone. Valmont had come for a reason, but he picked this moment in particular.
“...Now that everyone knows,” Viper ventured, “I have a question… What kind of knights did you have in mind, Battalion Commander, sir?”
“...” Everyone fell silent upon hearing that.
“Have you already come up with a name?” asked Ranger with a bright smile.
“Ranger...” Cazes frowned.
Ranger maintained his bright smile as he said, “Does the name really matter? Heck, you can even call us the Knights of Ranger! Don’t rush, but don’t take it for granted either—I mean, take your time but put some thought into it!”
That was the crux of the issue. Whether they liked it or not, their order was real. From the point of view of the knights of the 11th and 12th Battalions, this felt like ditching a stable job for a very uncertain one.
“No, I’ve already thought this through.”
“...!”
Joshua would never put over two hundred knights in an uncertain position on a whim. He had been thinking about the name of his own order of knights for a long time now.
‘Swallow has their own Wyvern Knights, and Avalon has the First Sky Knight’s order’
Joshua swept his gaze across the knights, and he couldn’t help but feel excitement welling up in him when he saw the heat in their eyes.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, he had made another deal with Crevasse, and it was a pretty handy deal. In this world, dragons were the apex predators, so they were the best when it came to taming wild animals.
It had been quite a while since Joshua had been thinking of establishing his own order of knights. Naturally, he had also decided on the name of the knight's order long ago. Still…
“My apologies, but I can’t divulge more details at the moment. Will you still follow me, regardless?” said Joshua.
“But Battalion Commander, sir…” Ranger seemed apologetic as he pressed on and said, “We were asking about the name of our order.”
“The name?” Joshua swept his gaze across the hundreds of knights and said, “Crevasse, the Knight Order of the Frozen Nightmare.”
“...!”
The knights simultaneously gulped a mouthful of their own saliva at the domineering name. Unbeknownst to them, they would soon become famous throughout the continent for their prowess, seemingly capable of tearing even the firmament apart.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m