People began taking steps back as Yorshka activated [Humanize], transforming back into her pure dragonewt form. The extra height made her taller than the majority of the male knights, while her wings made her seem bulkier than any of the other knights. Like a beast revealing their size to scare off any would-be contender.

Royce wasn’t cowered, but he didn’t look too confident in standing there. I saw him gulp. Considering they knew each other from Yorshka’s tenure as a Knight of Aurena, he should be fully aware of what Yorshka could do.

“Captain!” Yet, unlike him, others were taking a step forward, especially the two other captains next to him—Karlst and Falamm. “She is challenging us. We can’t reject such a bold-faced challenge when we are knights! Defenders of Aureolis, and she—”

“She lied to us! We placed our trust in her and this is how she repays us?” A female knight drew her bow, making Saori how she was one of the people who attacked her. “Accept it, now, Captain Royce. This is more than just our honor, this is rank betrayal! It doesn’t matter if she is a Champion’s companion or not, she can’t act this way in front of us!”

“Agreed! Not to mention, the Vicar is speaking with the Commander and we must assure the peace! We are the Goddess Knights!” some other knights rambled.

“Well, I wouldn’t go so far as wanting to make a commotion but—” Yorshka snapped her head towards the groups of knights slowly approaching her, almost surrounding her. “Come, what better time to ‘teach me a lesson’ than now when I don’t have my spear?”

Royce hesitated, but with the knights gathered around him like a mob, calling for him to fight Yorshka, fully abandoning the graceful, elegant, and noble appearance I believed Knights of Aurena should have? He had no choice but to acquiesce. He ordered somebody to get her spear, leading everybody to gather around the training field.

As the knights got ready, including some squires being dragged into the mess, several priests and shrine maidens noticed the commotion and came over as well. Most felt baffled not at what was happening, but that no one had stepped up to stop this mess.

“Ho? Didn’t I say it was all right for the Commander to see me beat you and your squad’s faces into the dirt? I didn’t think you were that shy and self-conscious, my dear old friend.”

Royce scowled, eyeing Yorshka’s smirk as if somebody had just spit on and kicked his dog. He looked to his sides, but his frown only deepened. “This won’t be like the first time.”

“Oh really? Why?” Yorshka tilted her head to the side, stroking her chin. “Because you led the kids around and helped them level up? Because Falamm and Karlst did the same? I hate to break it to you, but so did I. In fact, there is a reason why I can be so confident. I mean, has nobody heard about the grimgarian attack on Port Annencia or Elyona? Hello?”

Yorshka flaunted her arms around, turning on the spot to look at the entire congregation of white- and grey-robed priests and the curious knights and squires. The priests and shrine maidens began to mumble, muttering about how the newspaper hadn’t mentioned it all.

She then clapped, nudging everybody’s memory when she said, “Artorian” and pointed at herself. Despite her appearance change, everybody here knew Yorshka’s family came from Artorias with many even complaining out loud at how much she bragged about her husband and daughter.

“Massive attack, the entire port was invaded by ships and echikobolds riding on sea serpents! Yes, sea serpents, as in the lesser leviathans. Still not as strong as an actual one, but I must say, having to fly and dodge their water beams is still hard even as a dragonewt. No protection and boom! It shoots through my wings’ webbings and I’ll free fall!” She massaged her wings, pouting for the sake of her story.

A clear exaggeration, since she had [Air Walk] to stop her fall, but the way she worded her story caused an uproar amongst everybody. Even the students next to me couldn’t believe what she had to face, all but Tatsuya and Kyouya who witnessed it themselves from the vampire’s floating castle.

“It was pure chaos …” Tatsuya grit his teeth, looking uncomfortable. “To be honest, we did miss the worst part since we came too late to ‘save the day.’ The city was already in ruins, with the port and countless ships sunk underneath the waves with many casualties.”

“From above it looked almost like your typical open sea wreck. You know, in those pirate or marine shows or movies. No blood, really. Everything was swept away by the water or covered by the ice trio’s spells and breath attack,” Kyouya pointed at Tasianna and the twins.

I looked over at them before all three shrugged. I had heard enough to get the whole picture of the invasion, but I never pushed them to say more, as the siege on Elyonda was probably equally as horrifying. Some might compare the two sieges and argue which was worse, but war was war. It was better to not compare them if possible.

Saori, as a historian, had a different opinion on the subject though. “Well, we can probably all read about it in a year’s time then. No fight is ever the same, and it is important to understand and learn from the tactics employed and the tragedy that happened. How can we minimize casualties while maximizing the damage done; how to stop the worst. Artorias and Elyonda will have everything on paper at that point, since scholars will piece everything together.”

“Princess Anasthasia already has the paperwork to deal with them,” Renee snickered as she talked about Yeos’s princess, probably elated she didn’t have to deal with it. “God Istari be praised, I guess?”

Master prayed. “Istari be praised, yes.”

Turning away from this banter, I looked over at Yorshka as she was finishing her story. “So much until I had to depart and fight with Champion Hestia in the fight in Elyonda! Color me surprised when I actually saw an authentic sea terror in a rank SS leviathan! Karhalentheel! Anybody who ever has been in Yeos’s capital would know about it. Come on, doubt me!”

And doubt her is exactly what many of them did.

“See? My words, of course, might sound ridiculous, but you all seem to believe in that silly newspaper which disparaged Champion Hestia’s name and her deeds. She fought and defeated the demonkin who caused the entire incident, while the rest of us dealt with the accomplices. Whoo, that leonid nearly killed my husband, you know?” Yorshka’s face stiffened, turning into a small frown as her energy dwindled. “My clan’s matriarch and my empress saved the day. She stopped the leviathan and his corpse can still be seen frozen deep in the giant iceberg sitting in sight from Elyonda’s pier. Go on. Take a vacation to Elyona and see it.”

She then pointed at Neill and me before clutching her hands together, letting her metal vambraces creak. “Both of my country’s princesses fought bravely, but did the Empire even bother to acknowledge them? Princess Hestia’s mother fought, but did anybody mention her? No for both; instead, you were all told this ‘Crimson Dragon’ might or might not be a threat. Considered her an invader from Kargryx wanting to improve her standing.”

… Oh, it is personal for her. That wasn’t an act.

She then turned back to Royce and the knights standing before her, eyeing him with no sign of her usual, carefree self. “And now I come here and hear all of you disrespect my princess, after learning you attacked her, Royce. I might have resigned, but I am still a dragoon. I have a knight’s honor and pride … and you trampled all over it.”

Royce remained silent. As such, Yorshka snapped her fingers, calling her all the knights watching the fight on the sideline to come and join. “You all should have interfered,” she told all of them, reminding them of their knight’s vow to Goddess Aurena and how defending her blessed was also part of their duty.

“Stories of holy knights charging alongside Champions should be known! … But all of you disgraced the name of Knights of Aurena!” She waved her hand at the squire holding her spear. “No, no, Sir Royce, this isn’t like the first time when I had to prove myself that a knight the Commander personally inducted into the order was capable. I’m not speaking like this to mock you, I am speaking to stop myself from punching you before the Commander arrives. Speaking of which …”

The door of the knight building opened with a loud creak. A metallic stomp took the first step out of the white, ornate building before the figure of a man with a dwarf-like build but with a beastman’s height revealed himself. Although he was wearing his sabatons, the man wasn’t actually wearing a full set of armor—no, he was only wearing a brown, weathered gambeson.

His brown, slightly greyed hair was kept short, probably to minimize grooming needs, although it contrasted with his well-kempt mustache. A large scar decorated his left cheek with multiple smaller cuts visible on his hands and gambeson, making me wonder why he hasn’t gotten a new one yet.

His left hand rested on his longsword’s handle while the other was massaging his neck as he stared at us with frustration. He scanned the area, his gaze stopping on no one before he let out a large sigh. Still, his mere presence felt oppressive, almost as if he had his aura active, although I figured it was merely the silence and the stares directed at him that made us feel in awe.

It almost made the man walking next to him seem meek. The Vicar, his presence wasn’t as oppressive but people still greeted him out of respect.

The old man looked around the area before excusing himself, telling the Commander he would await his answer, and then leaving. Once the Vicar was gone, Yorshka waved at the Commander with a friendly grin.

“Yo, Commander! I guess I disturbed you, huh?”

He turned to her. His face contorted upon looking at her. “It is the fourth day, Yorshka. The fourth!”

“I know! A new record, right? Better get things on the table before the first week passes! Also, it’s in the morning this time, instead of in the middle of dinner! Won’t be disturbing anybody!”

“That’s not the point, uurgh …” He smacked his face, caressing his weary, sunken eyes.

… Oh, right, they must be talking about Yorshka’s first fight with Royce.

Amalee, his assistant, walked out of the building as the man looked like he was about to blow up, calming him by patting his arm. Well, that was all she could actually do since there was a major height difference between the two, making Amalee look like a teenager next to the burly man.

The Commander clicked his tongue, realizing something as he looked at Yorshka and shook his head in disapproval, but that only earned him Yorshka’s shrug.

“This is a matter of pride as a knight,” Yorshka said. “Your subordinates disrespected my mistress, continuously speaking down to her despite the fact she had shown him her strength. Does he need her to turn into a dragon to squash him like an ant? She already crushed him with a major handicap in [Humanize (Moderate)].”

She then waved her hand at the squire again, this time formally asking him for her spear. Once she had it in her hand again, she directed her spearhead at the knights. “No objections?”

The Commander grumbled before sitting down on a bench to the knights’ chagrin.

Yorshka smirked before pointing at all the knights who harassed me or my party, which included the five who nearly attacked Saori on the first day. They probably felt vindicated since she was a Champion of Edna, but it probably turned into regret as Yorshka challenged them, using their honor and pride against them to rile them onto the training field.

In fact, they even forced a few knights who had nothing to do with this feud into the mix, with Royce and his posse doing the same. If this were any other situation, then a company of Knights of Aurena would surely ease my hearts, but, sadly, it wasn’t to be.

“Sir Julius?” Yorshka eyed an older-looking knight.

The veteran shrugged, sighing with a self-deprecating smile. “Loyalty to the order over friendships, Dame Yorshka. Sorry.”

She smiled. “Shame. Let’s have a good fight, then.”

Guess she had more than just enemies.

While her reaction to that one knight was generally positive, her look as she stared at a few anxious-looking younger knights was like that of a disapproving parent. She clicked her tongue and said “Stand tall” in a low voice, prompting them to gulp and nod. After taking a deep breath, they put their helmets on and readied for the fight.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

All in all, the total number of knights about to fight Yorshka was 85—almost a full company. She was completely surrounded in a circle. Although I knew she was strong, these were still pretty high numbers against a single person.

Regardless, I trusted her, and she didn’t disappoint.

The moment the battle began, Yorshka dashed towards the archers with [Gale Steps], taking five of them out with precise strikes to their heads. The magic squadron tried to stop her, but she simply dodged everything by taking to the skies, only giving her opponents enough time for the archers to unsheathe their secondary weapons. Only the leader of the squad, the female knight from before, kept shooting, cornering Yorshka until she used [Dragoon Dive] and her silver powder to tank through two arrows.

Crashing on the ground, she engaged the knight in a melee, pushing the knight to the point she lost her bow.

“Dame Kirstine, we had some fun with tea and shopping, no? Us few female vets enjoying our company was a good memory for me!” Yorshka said as she knocked the knight’s helmet off with the shaft of her spear. “I know your parents died in the war against Carmaniate, so I won’t ask you to apologize to my friend. Hope you’re up to drink later, though!”

“Dammit, Yor—Beastman!” the knight shouted.

With a waning smile, Yorshka grabbed the knight by her hand and slammed her tail right into her face, knocking her out cold. “Next.”

The knights surrounding the female knight took a step back at Yorshka’s icy glare, only for her to sigh out loud and engage them.

“I know all of you!” Yorshka shouted after knocking the count down to 73. “If I were the enemy, would you be cowering right now? No! I’ve taught all of you better than that! Move, hold fast, and posture up! Up!”

She knocked a frightened knight’s weapon away and kicked him onto the ground. With her spear pointed at his throat, Yorshka snarled, “Sir Dias, I drilled you for three years. I taught you how to fight against an enemy stronger than yourself since you had the talents of a mage. I taught you how to block a close-range fighter with your limited tools and physical stats, and this is what happened to you after I went away for a mere year?”

“D-Dame Yorshka, I-I—”

“Are you still worthy of being a knight? If I was still part of the order, I would demote you back into a squire for this pitiful display! I am your enemy right now!” She then raised her head up to the people around. “That applies to all of you! Honor and pride has nothing to do on a battlefield when life or death is dependent on your skills! I taught you enough to shed that weak, romanticized version so your swords can pierce through all enemies of the order and Aureolis! What is with this lackluster performance? Help Sir Dias, now!”

Perfectly timed, Yorshka had to dodge as a spell flew at her, but it wasn’t from the people around her, but rather the remaining knights who still had a commander leading them. Yorshka clicked her tongue and knocked Dias out with a kick before engaging the rest. Similar to her other knockouts, she wasn’t pulling any of her punches.

“This is … brutal,” Fleindia said.

“It is necessary,” Midirn replied. “A captain’s duty isn’t just to serve the goals of the organization but also to assure her subordinates are performing in an adequate manner. She was friends with the older ones, but she must have taught many of the newer kids. How would a teacher feel if her students fail after performing well?”

“I would blame myself,” Saori answered. “There is a certain amount of pride that I felt whenever my students aced the history sections of the exams. It means I was able to deliver the information well and they put in the effort to learn it well. To see them fail and forget everything later on would feel like a waste of time to me. A shame.”

“Hey, not like we’ll be using medieval European knowledge all the time, Sensei,” Kazumi complained. “This is such an outlier of a situation that nobody would have thought of!”

“I would use it.” Kohaku raised her hand as she wanted to become a mangaka in the future. Tatsuya, Kyouya, and Nishio did the same for different reasons.

“That’s not really the point …” Krim-Slak shook his hand. “What Saori said is probably what Yorshka must be feeling. Don’t forget, she has been working as a knight for a long time, even if she wasn’t fully dedicated to the cause. Didn’t she treat you kids the same way? Training you the best she could?”

“… That makes sense.” Tatsuya nodded. “When she started to mingle a lot more with us, I haven’t seen her train anybody else. She focused fully on us before we left for the bandit subjugation. I guess these knights would be like graduates of ‘Yorshka high?’”

Kyouya chuckled. “Yorshka’s High School of Knighthood and Survival?”

“‘Yorshka’s High School of Beatdowns!’ Like, look at that!” I pointed at the number of fallen knights.

From the original 85, only 31 remained standing as Yorshka unleashed the full extent of her skills and spells. Even though the knights had the support of the four remaining “commanders,” Yorshka outsmarted and outstated them all even with all four working side-by-side with impeccable coordination.

None of the five veteran knights were out of breath and it looked like they could still fight for much longer, but Yorshka dashed back and clapped. She then threw her spear into the air and flew up. Just as she stopped and grabbed her spear I felt her aura.

“Have fun!” Yorshka smirked. “Territory Release!”

Okay, that’s overkill!

“She can use a Territory?! Since when!?” A few knights and priests began to shout as large silver spears appeared in the sky.

Some were just large enough for Yorshka to hold and wield while others were larger than a large ship’s anchor. Sparkling powder also began to envelop the area of her Territory, attaching themselves onto everybody, slowing and “freezing” her enemies movements while acting like a set of Nordor silver power armor for her allies.

Royce and his knights attempted to break through the Territory, but Yorshka’s attacks came raining down mercilessly. She avoided any fatal damage, simply sending her spears into the ground to cause explosions like an airstrike. The wide scale attack knocked down everybody but Royce as he tried to keep himself on his feet. His armor was chipped and dented, to the point he had to rip his chestplate off to breathe.

Yorshka descended and held her spear at his prostrating figure. With the looming threat of her Territory still being active and ready to continue the fight, Royce lowered his face and grunted before surrendering.

“Nice!” The students and I cheered as Yorshka deactivated her Territory and returned to us, heralded by Tasianna, Ellaine, the wyverns, and Midirn clapping her on her back for a good match. Then again, was that actually a match or was that just showing everybody their place?

Nevertheless, I had to thank her since it made the perfect distraction. I turned around, noticing Tasianna wasn’t around. Saori explained she sent Tasianna and her fenrirs to check out the missing cardinal’s room. Being a fairy, she should be able to bypass eyes better than Saori, a prime target after her speech.

Instead, she noted how a few priests and knights had left the area after Yorshka was done fighting. Our enemies must be wary, she told me, but this only caused me to feel worse. Midirn was correct.

After the fight, I went over to the Knight-Commander and wanted to ask him if we could talk with him. He inspected everybody and nodded, but told me he only wanted to talk with Yorshka and me for now. As he said this, he looked over at the others, causing Saori to nod and order everybody to spread out.

Once Yorshka and I entered his room, he sat down on his sofa and sighed deeply, so deeply I thought he sounded a bit like a landfill. I could feel his stress.

“So, it’s time, I see?” he said, without making a proper introduction. We haven’t met each other before now, so I wanted to give him a proper greeting, but I guess he was the blunt and direct type.

Yorshka nodded. “Midirn has had enough, so we’re taking the fight to them now. Still, we don’t know much, so I want to ask, can you do something, right now?”

He shook his head. “It’s been so long and nothing has changed with Midirn, huh? Ha, I’m glad. I personally hoped times wouldn’t change people, but that is a nonsensical hope considering everything that happened.”

So, they know each other that well? To the point he knows Midirn? How did they meet?

I asked them about this part of their history and the Commander told me he had visited Loatryx in the past for a personal reason. He banged on his left chest.

“Gwyn and Marius—our Pope and Vicar. I swore an oath to them, to protect them with my life. When I noticed something was up, I tried to look away since I made the oath in Kargryxmor’s honor.” He looked me straight in the eyes, probably expecting me to know the importance of such a deal. I nodded, so he continued. “Yorshka already told me what happened with Gwyn. Marius … a traitor?”

The tall man went silent, closing his eyes as he began to stroke a deep scar hidden under his chin and gambeson. “Yorshka, after you left, the number of squires that were introduced by Marius had increased. I haven’t been able to inspect them, being forced to work through that mountain of papers behind me.”

He nudged his head to his unorganized desk, grimacing a bit at how the paper was covering his workplace without a hint of order. It looked like he had thrown them in the air or something.

Yorshka frowned, shaking her head in disapproval. “He made that same face when I told him everything I learned from my travel with Aurora, only becoming angered when I accused him of tricking me. You know, he told me he only wanted me to train the young knights and take care of anybody else as a Knight-Captain. Putting all the work on me to find out any false knights …”

“And it worked. Nobody was replaced or bribed while you were around. It only got worse when Marius sent you away with those children … Everybody makes mistakes. I made one after my near death experince, swearing with all of my heart to protect both of them and to never raise my hand against them as long as I lived. I signed it with, I presumed, your eldest brother’s blood, Princess Hestia.”

I tilted my head in thought, causing the Commander to look at me with a brow raised. “… Sorry, I still don’t have my elder siblings’ names fully memorized. Kahalameet, or something?”

“Right, you’re a transmigrator,”—he scratched his head—“Strict, disciplined, and powerful … The very image of a warrior and defender. Vibrant fins, strands of hair, and he descended down from the clouds as if he was a god. I’ve seen the Holy Emperor before. If somebody had told me he was the current Emperor of Kargryx, then I would have believed it. His aura was unforgettable.”

He lowered his head, scowling. “‘You wish for strength to defeat the demonkin? Then have my blood and make the oath, knight. Leave these lands, give up your body to duty, and defend your home,’ he told me … Later I had heard he was taking a ‘stroll’ over the sky before wishing to take a break in Loatryx. Our meeting was a coincidence.”

Yorshka placed a hand on her head, pouting a bit. “And I missed it … My younger self chastised herself so much for skipping out on training. Haaa.”

“Marius knows I can’t break my oath to him and Gwyn. That I would protect them and assure they would better the Holy Capital in the Goddess’s name. Marius the talented mage, Gwyn the talented priest, and me and my sword arm.” Commander Kuornig grasped his left chest, squinting his eyes in pain. “If I break the oath, then my suspicions will die with me. My blood would rupture and kill me. That is the price I paid for my accelerated stat growth gained through the contract.”

So a Kargryxmor oath can do more than just warn people of somebody’s betrayal through the System? Huh.

I nodded. “I understand. I too hate breaking promises, so I can sympathize with what you are going through. It must be tough … still, he is our enemy. What will you do?”

“I will protect Gwyn and Marius; the image of my friends. If Marius betrayed our conviction, then he is my enemy and the oath will be annulled. Yet, I need to believe it without any doubt, which is the issue. I have been carrying this belief this entire time that nothing is wrong … but that will change when I have irrefutable evidence. Then I will join you.”

Gaining his support for the upcoming battle took a weight off my chest, but he did make it clear I had to bring evidence that could annul his contract. If I couldn’t, then it was likely he might join the other side on our eventual raid. If the enemy attacks us before our own preparations are done …

We need to find that cardinal or sneak into the Vicar’s office. Was what I concluded.

“Vicar Marius had told me to send my knights to deal with the demonkin, but he emphasized that Champion Rhea, you, or Saintess Fleindia must accompany them,” he told me.

“It’s a trap,” Yorshka quickly concluded. “We know the sin heir of envy is around this place after his ambush. If one of us goes, all of us has to.”

“Strength in numbers,” but would it be that easy? We left after that last topic and our group regrouped back in my room once dinner was over. The first to speak with Tasianna.

“Books, notes, any sort of documentation was removed from the room, so it wasn’t easy to find anything relevant. Yet, it seemed the robbers overlooked one spot, which I would have probably not seen if I wasn’t in my fairy form.” She placed a small metal chest on the table. “Hidden in a small nook in the back of his bath. I noticed a small crack where water had submerged it, making me believe the person in question was kidnapped while he was having a bath. There were also hints of blood.”

[“We can trace it,”] Uno said from the shadows. [“The smell leads into the city, but Tasianna said to not pursue it due to the suspicion around us.”]

“That was the correct move.” Master nodded before pulling the chest closer to him to open it, pulling out one sheet of paper. As he read it, he began to frown. “Evidence for his betrayal, but also the reason why he did it.”

The note informed us that Cardinal Wendell had been talking with a “Reinhardt” about potential priests who might be susceptible to the demonkin’s influence. Wendell was initially flabbergasted at everything, writing in this “dairy” how he felt, “My mind went blank when this knight began talking to me in this condescending tone; almost lost my composure. Irksome, really, but then he brought up these points about a brighter future and then my family. I couldn’t … Goddess, please, understand!”

Apparently, his family back in the Empire had experienced an accident, with his sister almost dying in an accident that led her into a coma for five years. The Cardinal was offered a way to save her if he was willing to talk, and “Reinhardt” kept his promise. A wandering mask-wearing doctor appeared one day, lazily walking around his mansion before inspecting his sister. This “lazy” part really stuck out from the notes as Wendell kept repeating the word.

“He was mad,” Kohaku noted about the writing. “You can see the feather pen being pressed into the parchment around here. Larger circles.”

Ellaine agreed. “Ink or mana, it shows.”

“Demonkin of sloth?” Tasianna scowled, yet we couldn’t give her a definite answer.

In any case, this doctor managed to give her a remedy that helped her injury, but Wendell’s sister received amnesia from the experience. She was prescribed a specific medicine that would help her, which after a year proved to be true. The sister began not even knowing her name, but on her birthday, she began crying as she told her family how she had flashes of information her family could know.

“He was bribed and became reliant on this ‘doctor,’” Yorshka massaged her temples, standing up with a grimace. “So, I guess we can assume the other cardinals are in the same boat, or maybe they have less sympathetic reasons? Regardless, what now?”

“We find him,” I announced. “He either betrayed the demonkin or something else happened, regardless, he is our source of information. I want to know what is actually going on, not just that the Vicar is our enemy,”

“What about the demonkin hunt?”

“We need to join it as well.”

“Hestia, I already told you we need to stick together. The less we’re separated, the better.”

“I understand, but we have no choice in this matter. We either let this man die, or we send a group of knights into their death. We have no choice. This is the Vicar’s move.”

As much as I despised Royce, I couldn’t let him or anybody else go into this trap meant for Aurora. After today’s showing, it was clear Yorshka still cared for them, so I couldn’t take this choice away from her.

Almost as expected, she nodded. “Then, I will join them.”