================================
Chapter 261: Zola’s Knighthood Plans
================================
Her name was Lunette Astarte, the one heralded as the first Queen of the Kingdom of Jeremiah, at the end of her life, she gave her mantle to her son… Altair Isley.
Altair and the late Queen Lunette’s surnames are different but they are still mother and son and the two had the same unique silver hair —a trait that only the members of the Astarte Royal Family has.
But although it was a short controversy when the Queen was an unmarried woman yet still had a son, the loyalists and supporters on her reign stated that it was in the middle of the war that she had given birth to Altair, thus justifying the son’s eligibility to the throne.
And because of the severity of the war, Altair was hidden by the humans and was only introduced to the world when he was six years old, four years after her coronation.
Though many speculations were raised with the appearance of Altair at that time, it was with the help of the Humans’ unrivaled technology as well as the Terrans’ [Blood Probing Ritual] that they all proven Altair to be of the Queen’s own blood.
It has been 56 years since the war had ended and Altair became Jeremiah’s sovereign when Lunette died at the age of 55, three decades after she had taken the royal authority.
To have lived that long was a miracle because as far as everyone who fought alongside her in the war knew, she had received a critical injury that should have killed her. But she lived on for three more decades and the kingdom grew prosperous during the time that she had reigned as Queen.
On her deathbed, she was clutching a fiery-red bladed sword* and she had a peaceful look on her face. Leaving a few words that none of her vassals understood except for her son. (notes at the end of chapter)
Altair took the reins; he never married, and ruled for two decades before he went missing one sudden and unforgettable night.
While the kingdom was in a panic with the loss of their king, they discovered a royal decree on the kingdom’s throne that whoever will be able to pass the test he left behind shall inherit the kingdom’s sovereignty.
Whether it was an act intended to end the Astarte Royal Bloodline or not, the loyalists all saw this action as a huge disappointment and unfilialness to his royal duty and as well as his role as the last descendant of the Astarte Royal Bloodline.
Still, this decree had his royal seal of authority and the unique Mana Signature only he and no one else had, thus the [will] he left behind before his disappearance was treated as an absolute decision from his side as King.
Although it will affect the future of the kingdom, the loyalists still agreed to follow the decree.
According to the game’s story, he’s been missing for almost a decade now and only those who had the qualifications to challenge this [test] he left behind are able to take to know of this detail.
To the gamers, it was an [S-Ranked Quest] and only a single person within an organization can partake on this because there was a background investigation set up by the human society.
And so, within The Legion, ‘Volga’ was the only one who had taken the test and passed it, making him to be one of the [carriers] of The Legion’s ticket to glorious fame within the game.
But now, he had quit The Legion and he even is going to declare war against Kladis to crush him to pieces and get back his stolen pride and dignity.
Many people had many theories as to what had happened to Altair or the reason why he went on a missing journey. No one knew what happened in the background but even to this day, specially selected people with special capabilities are being sent on missions connected to the search for the missing King of Jeremiah.
*****
“As grand as this succession war is, Altair and his identity as a King is but a small part of an even bigger and grander scale of things. His family’s treasure, The Providence, held the secret that is connected to the Gods and Devils of the past.”
Being the one who had the [Light Sword] before, he knew some information that he didn’t tell The Legion solely because of his dislike of Kladis.
Turns out… keeping those secret upon himself is a great choice since now he could make a grand shortcut towards his newfound goal in playing the game.
“I was foolish before. I should have done this right after I’ve met her…”
On his mind, Scion’s image, her tranquil beauty as she bathed in the afternoon sol inside her room in that tower… was enough source to drive him step by step forward and become the person he wanted to be in front of her.
“My goal is clear. I will become the next king!”
As he thought of this, Zola withdrew his gaze from the castle in the far distance of the city.
In the city, there are nine districts and he was in the ninth district, closest to the Terran Side of the Human-Terran Coalition, the headquarters of the Wall of Jeremiah* —an NPC-ruled organization that welcomes humans with open arms. (*Wall of Jeremiah is first mentioned in Volume 5 ch.34)
In hindsight, the Wall of Jeremiah is a subordinate organization (Guild) of the Bright Light Sword Faction which is the upgraded version of the past Silver Cross Knight Order the Late Queen Astarte once belonged to.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
In other words, the Bright Light Sword Faction has become the royal guards and that the Council of Elders had become the royal family’s protectors.
—of which, ironically, is an empty position since there is no royal family to protect. Altair never married and unlike his mother, he has no secret son or daughter.
There are still a large portion of the former nobles who remained in Jeremiah. They formed their own factions and became part of the army composing the overall force of Jeremiah.
The nine districts, with the exception of The First District, which location is in the castle, represent all of the major factions holding the power in the country known as Jeremiah.
Open Secret information: these noble families are the remnants of the traitors that once dethroned the Astarte Royals.
Seven districts have a “Grand Noble Family” presiding over it, and each of these districts is a private army all on their own.
Zola is in the Ninth, the location of the Wall of Jeremiah Knight Order.
There are no official ‘Guilds’ in Jeremiah, only the so called ‘Knight Orders’ where a player, once having joined a faction and passed their knight tests and exams, will be granted the title of a [Sir Knight]. Thus, many men and women with noble aspirations of becoming a knight joins these trainings for that purpose.
Although there are many other countries in the continents all over Terroa who had the same kind of system that grants Knighthood, another reason why Jeremiah was famous is because it was a lot easier to be granted a unique privilege once you pass the knight exam… Nano-Engineer License!
Because of the intensive background checks that a person undergoes if they wanted to be a Nano-Engineer and own the highly regarded Portable Nano-Furnace, the process takes a very long time that sometimes even lasts for a year in the real world.
Thus, when you become a knight in Jeremiah, the intensive background checks are halved and there are higher chances on passing the Nano-Engineer licensure exams… with the last hurdle —and the reason why there are so very few people who are granted a license— being the fact that you also must have the necessary skills and insights in designing to be able to be one.
“Well, I am one of those elites.”
Zola was a real-world prince and as a prince, from when he was young until he was adult, he had received the best education the world could offer.
It was all necessary for one day becoming the King of their Kingdom.
“I’ve passed my Architectural Licensure test when I was 16 and became an Industrial Engineer degree holder when I was 18. I may not be as good as those two above me, but I am still a prince with those so called bullets. Adding all my insider information regarding the secrets of The Providence, all the more these NPCs won’t dare to say no to my name!”
Zola was planning on pinning the entire force of the Kingdom of Jeremiah against The Legion. He will use a third blade to bring down majority of the forces of his enemies before unsheathing his own blade to deal a fatal blow.
“The Humans are serving as the guardians and only those who are after the three swords would know that Altair has with third sword. If I want them to trust my Intel, I would have to be a knight of their order first.”
Only through the arduous development of one mission after another; collecting information and paying attention to the NPC’s legends and words, did The Legion land on the conclusion that with all of the three missions regarding the swords put together, and after only completing at least one of the three missions (the search for Excalibur, the Light Sword, and the Knights of the Round Table), will they learn of the King’s whereabouts.
He, by holding some key information regarding the [Light Sword], knew of a few important elements that can bypass these hurdles.
Yes, he doesn’t have the [Light Sword] but he was still Volga, thus, his memories are the same.
“I’ve come here and taken the [King Test] before and obtained the clues, and eventually getting the Light Sword… but…”
But these information aren’t useful when he was a nobody so he chose the shortest route to success towards his goal by becoming a Knight under the closest organization to the throne and the loyalist of the Astarte Royals.
“The first is becoming a knight then climbing up a rank, then going for a mission and missing for a few months, then coming back with that important piece of information. It’s easy and it’s perfect.”
RPG: Terroa operates three times faster than in the real world and so three months here is just a month outside.
If he dies, he has four insurance policies to use to ‘recreate’ this avatar and continue gaming.
“It’s possible.” A wicked smile broke on his lips. “I now have a great grudge against Siva but my very first victim will be you… Kladis! I know you will not create a new character knowing that you’re a loyal lapdog to that bastard, Gats!”
Although it was a surprise to learn that Gats was the real leader of The Legion and that Kladis, as strong as he was, is just his follower, Zola was still a prince in the real world… what is a mere gamer who just happens to have a smarter brain and slightly wider insights?
If he use this trump card wisely and if the Gats in real world move against him as the prince, then he can just use that as an excuse to erase him by both assassination and even legal means.
“All of you who made fun of me will suffer!”
The Legion had expended a lot of time and effort just so they could complete both [*Search ‘The Providence’ Quest] and the [Knights of The Round Table Quest]… of course, losing the Light Sword to a dog of The Union —a competitor to both these quests— was an unforgivable sin. (pls refer to Volume 5 Chapter 88 for this detail. Janus had mentioned this to Scion when she was rescued by Siva in the Cellar Dungeons)
“My information is important to Jeremiah because it holds the key to finding Altair.” His wicked smile even went wider.
He was seated in an inconspicuous street corner and his chuckling and grinning evilly was scaring some of the passersby.
"Picking up the trail of breadcrumbs Altair had left behind has already proven to be hard enough and now that two of the main keys in completing this great journey is now in the hands of The Union thanks to me, knowing of how ugly Kladis’ face will be was enough to make me this happy… oooohhh I can’t wait to see him grovel in despair when we meet again in the future.”
Zola’s hate with Kladis was completely on another level because Kladis had trampled over his pride and dignity as a man over and over again.
“This is my new career.” He murmured to himself and didn’t hesitate to waste any moment more and pulled up his player window to set up his initial stat distribution.
He swiped the air and wanted to set up the same set he did on his previous avatar but just as he was about to move his finger to put in enough points to a stat, a player wearing a knight valet’s clothes just happens to cut the corner where he was seated and surprised him so much that Zola had to duck and move away.
“Oh shit!”
“What the…?!!”
The knight valet stumbled and the bag of goods he was carrying ripped apart, spilling the contents on the paved ground of the street corner.
“Just what do you think you‘re doing?!” Zola yelled angrily at the valet.
“Sorry. Sorry.” The valet bowed and picked up the goods with haste, scampering off as far and as fast as possible away from Zola.
Zola didn’t think much as to why the valet has the goods outside his Inventory. After sending the valet with an angry frown, he went back to look at his player panel.
He did not bother to change his name and since only the fact that he was a ‘prince’ of a country in two worlds was known to The Legion, it did not matter to him if he used his real name to create a new avatar.
Giving one last glance to the scurrying valet, he let out an annoyed harrumph and then went to press the [Yes?] button on his panel… before his gaze froze and his heart stopped when he saw where all of the stat points to start his new career was put into.
“N-N-No… No! NO!!!”