Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Meanwhile, inside Sis Castle.

After Ron and the others had departed one after another, Foss had stayed behind until the very last apprentice learned the technique before leaving the underground inheritance chamber. When he returned to the surface, Pierce came to pay his respects:

“Does Lord have any special instructions regarding this year’s batch of apprentices?”

“Nothing for now. Proceed as in previous years! I’ll go see Father shortly. Is there anything you need me to pass on?”

“Lord’s condition,” Pierce’s expression filled with worry.

Five years ago, the number of Aberrant Beasts invading the territory had suddenly surged. The Lord, disregarding his own safety, had resolutely decided to serve as the sharpest spearhead and personally lead the assault against the incoming Aberrant Beasts.

In the end, a heavy price was paid to quell that year’s Aberrant Beast invasion. One of those costs was that the Lord had overstimulated his Life Energy, causing severe depletion to his body. He had been bedridden and recuperating ever since.

“Ron’s” father had also perished during that year’s intensified Aberrant Beast invasion.

Hearing Pierce ask about his father’s condition, Foss couldn’t help but sigh. “Still the same as before. He can barely raise his arm, but nothing else. At least communication is unimpeded. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know what to do.”

“Is there still no news on the Sun Holy Water?” Pierce asked again.

“During the autumn harvest, a merchant caravan brought word that there will be an auction in the royal capital during next year’s Midsummer Festival. One of the auction items is the Sun Holy Water.”

“That’s wonderful!” Pierce’s face instantly lit up with joy.

But then he immediately thought of a problem. “Did the caravan mention the approximate price of the Sun Holy Water?”

“They did. The caravan manager told me that the auction only accepts payment in Kingdom Gold Coins, and the starting bid for the Sun Holy Water is five thousand gold coins.” Foss stated the figure with a calm face, a number that was utterly impossible for the Sis Territory to bear.

The expression on Pierce’s face also froze. The Sis Territory was located on the far eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Helios. Merchant caravans had difficulty making the journey, and the Sis Territory had no ability to send out its own caravans. Foreign caravans came only once a year.

By rights, they should have accumulated quite a few gold coins over the years. But it didn’t work that way. The Sis Territory had no notable specialties. The only things they could trade were some herbs and a small quantity of furs.

But the things the Sis Territory needed were considerable. The two most critical were salt and weapons and equipment.

Especially the latter. Weapons and equipment capable of withstanding the intense combat of Knights were extraordinarily precious, far beyond what herbs and furs could match in value.

At the very least, the territory still hadn’t been able to equip all of its Formal Knights with genuine Transcendent Weapons and equipment. Many were still using ordinary gear.

And there was one final point: the practical use value of Kingdom Gold Coins: resisting evil spirits. All Knights, when heading out on missions, had to carry a certain amount of Kingdom Gold Coins regardless of whether they themselves could resist evil spirit invasions.

Once combat broke out, the Kingdom Gold Coins they carried would inevitably warp and deform. Afterward, while they could be re-exchanged for Kingdom Gold Coins through the merchant guild, the rate certainly wouldn’t be one-to-one.

The Sis Territory didn’t resent the merchant guild’s exploitation in this regard. In truth, it wasn’t really exploitation.

Without royal mandate, no merchant guild would come to a remote border town like the Sis Territory, which had no specialties to speak of. The cost of a single trip far exceeded what could be earned from the Sis Territory.

All these factors combined made it extremely difficult for the Sis Territory to retain a large quantity of Kingdom Gold Coins. Not to mention, the auction was during the Midsummer Festival, and at that time the Sis Territory would be in the midst of an Aberrant Beast invasion.

Kingdom Gold Coins could also be used to resist Aberrant Beast contamination. Under such circumstances, who could make the decision to divert a large amount or even all of their gold coins to the royal capital for an uncertain bid on the Sun Holy Water?

Pierce asked himself honestly: if he were the one making the decision, he wouldn’t be able to drain the territory’s entire gold coin reserve to bid on the Sun Holy Water either. After all, his own family was in this town.

Without Kingdom Gold Coins, Knights would inevitably be hamstrung when dealing with Aberrant Beasts. A contaminated Knight was often more difficult to handle than the Aberrant Beasts themselves.

“Young Master Foss, perhaps we should reduce the amount of Ignition Potion allocated to the territory guard! That’s the only way to save up enough gold coins to purchase the Sun Holy Water.”

“No. We cannot exchange the Knights’ cultivation progress for gold coins. Not only do I disagree, but Father wouldn’t agree either. Don’t bring this up again.”

Perhaps feeling that his words had been too stern, Foss quickly added, “Even if I were willing to trade your Ignition Potion for money, we’d still have to wait until next year when the merchant guild arrives. And whether there will be another Sun Holy Water auction next year is unknown.”

“Then what about Lord?”

“Don’t worry. As long as a Senior Knight doesn’t die, they can always recover. The slow recovery now is simply because the body’s depletion was too severe. But the recovery rate is actually accelerating. Once a critical threshold is crossed, full recovery will happen in the shortest possible time.”

That was what he said, but exactly when that critical threshold would be crossed, no one could know. Pierce certainly didn’t.

All he knew was that the territory had only one Senior Knight, Lord himself. If Lord couldn’t recover quickly, and some unexpected change occurred during the next Aberrant Beast invasion, there wouldn’t be a second Senior Knight capable of standing alone as a bulwark.

As if seeing through to Pierce’s worries, Foss offered comfort:

“Don’t worry too much. Even if the number of invading Aberrant Beasts increases a bit, we can handle it. Five years ago, we simply lacked experience. Dealing with those mindless creatures of chaos doesn’t necessarily require a Senior Knight.”

In terms of pure physical ability, a Senior Knight wasn’t necessarily stronger than an Intermediate Knight. Pierce might not understand this, but Foss, as the son of a Senior Knight, knew it intimately well.

…

After Pierce left, the sky had already darkened. Foss looked up at the heavens, let out a long sigh, and then returned to the castle’s main building expressionlessly.

He proceeded forward, climbed the stairs, continued onward, and finally entered a dark room with no lamps lit. Two steps in, he stopped, and then reported respectfully toward the even darker inner chamber:

“Father, the new batch of apprentices have all received the inheritance. Two of them show potential for Senior Knight, but their physical foundation is rather weak. Also, Pierce asked about your condition again. I answered truthfully.”

A bout of rather hurried breathing suddenly came from within the darkness, after which silence fell once more. After a long while, a voice like a rusted throat spoke word by word:

“Don’t worry about Pierce. He knows nothing. Focus on nurturing those two Senior Knight prospects. Ignition Potion and meat, priority supply.”

“Doing so may affect the others’ training, especially the Knights. And obvious unfairness violates order, which would cause unrest among the territory’s people.”

“Give it to them! Give it to them!” The voice in the darkness repeated emphatically. “If you’re worried about objections from the others, then arrange competitions. Since they have Senior Knight potential, they’ll certainly win, right? Do things the same way they were done before!”

“Yes!”

Foss fell silent for a moment, but ultimately agreed.