Chapter 31: Arranging the Territory
Aaron’s gaze froze on him. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve found the person you truly want to serve,” Oliver said with a smile. “His name is now taboo for many, but of course, you know who I mean.”
Lowering his voice, he uttered the name that everyone avoided like the plague: “Scar.”
Aaron continued to stare at him, but a tremor flickered in his eyes. “That’s impossible…”
“It is indeed incredible,” Oliver shrugged. “Let me be honest with you. I’ve been in contact with him all along—but you have to forgive me. I wasn’t intentionally keeping it from you, it was his request.”
The next second, Oliver felt a sudden force strike him. Caught off guard, he heard a cacophony of screams around him as his body was hurled off the horse and slammed to the ground.
Passersby scattered. Aaron pinned him down, his eyes bloodshot. “I am his mentor! You’ve always known how much I worry about him!”
“I’ve always trusted you, and yet you did this!”
“Calm down…” Oliver sighed helplessly as the other knights, clueless about what was happening, rushed forward to pull Aaron away. “Commander, this is a public—” Before they could finish their words, a spell flung everyone aside.
Even so, it was clear Aaron was restraining himself. Although his anger was already beyond control, he deliberately selected one of the least harmful spells from among the hundreds he had mastered to free himself from their grip.
This gave the others a chance to scramble to their feet and attempt to intervene again. But with a wave of Aaron’s hand, a magical barrier enveloped him and Oliver, isolating them from the outside world, even muffling their voices.
As Oliver struggled to his feet, Aaron grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Shock and confusion mingled in Aaron’s eyes as he bit out each word, his tone menacing. “I’ll give you one chance to explain yourself. Don’t make me turn against you.”
“Alright… alright, I’ll explain!” Oliver managed a bitter smile, catching his breath. “I swear, you and Scar share a bond as mentor and friend. Just as you’ve always trusted me, he trusts you completely.”
“But precisely because of that trust, he feared you’d act impulsively. He was afraid you’d make irrational decisions, so he repeatedly begged me not to reveal his whereabouts. In exchange, I made him promise to report his safety to me every three days—I figured that’s what you truly cared about.”
“What could be more important than knowing he’s safe, even when wandering alone out there? Isn’t that right, Aaron?”
Those words loosened the tension in Aaron’s face. He released Oliver but kept his expression cold. “If that’s the case, then why are you telling me now?”
“Well… how should I put this?” Oliver straightened his crumpled clothing. “I understand that the Holy Light Knight cannot afford internal discord. His concerns were valid. But over these past few days, I’ve started thinking—perhaps it’s worth ignoring his request. Perhaps letting you lose control for a moment isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe we all need a bold change, a leap of faith.”
Aaron remained silent, and Oliver let out a long sigh. “What are we now, Aaron? Yes, at night we’re absolute heroes, doing everything we can to protect the people. But by day, we’re ordered to suppress those who rebel. And who are those rebels? They’re just commoners, driven to the brink of despair, who had no choice but to stay.”
“Aaron, doesn’t that bother you? I know you, I know it pains you even more than it does me.”
“We swore an oath. The Holy Light Knight’ vow is unlike any other!”
Most knightly orders were privately established by nobles, so their oaths varied. Nowadays, the majority focused on loyalty to their patron, with lofty virtues reduced to mere formalities.
But the Holy Light Knight’ oath, passed down for over three centuries, was different. While it mentioned loyalty to the king, it did so briefly, emphasizing instead: “To uphold justice unto death,” “To protect the weak unto death,” “To oppose tyranny unto death,” and “To resist foreign invaders unto death.”
Yet now, they were loyal to the king by day and protectors of the weak by night. It seemed they were fulfilling their oath, but in truth, they lived in a fractured existence.
In some ways, Aaron knew this was cowardice. He appeared to be seeking a balanced solution but was, in reality, evading responsibility under the guise of pragmatism.
Of course, until today, even if he recognized this, he didn’t mind continuing to evade it—because he saw no hope. Even if they defied the king, what could they do?
If the king were to die, none of the princes set to inherit the throne would be any better. Even if the direct royal lineage were completely wiped out, the branch nobles would remain just as cruel and inhumane.
Overthrowing the current royal family entirely and establishing a new kingdom would mean war, and war would lead to even more deaths.
As members of the knightly order, they weren’t afraid of death. But the problem was that the greatest casualties in war were rarely knights, they were the ordinary people displaced and devastated by it.
If faced with these realities twenty years ago, Aaron wouldn’t have hesitated. The young are fueled by pure passion and a sense of justice, seeing the world in stark black and white. Back then, he would have simply believed that all injustice must be eradicated.
But now, as a middle-aged man and the commander of the knightly order, Aaron couldn’t afford to think so simply. He had to consider the bigger picture, to carefully reflect on whether justice born solely of his personal passion could truly be called justice.
Now, however, hope had appeared, providing a new solution to the dilemma that had trapped Aaron for so long.
The suppressed fire of his ideals reignited within his composed demeanor. Fueled by this rekindled passion, he had just lashed out at Oliver, and now, with his heart racing, he began envisioning a completely different future.
As Oliver had said, he had found the courage to make an all-or-nothing gamble.
Even so, Aaron’s rationality prevailed. The matter was too important, and though he was moved, he refrained from making an immediate decision.
After a long moment of contemplation, he dispelled the magical barrier and said in a commanding voice, “Return to the royal palace. Convene a full meeting.”
With that, he mounted his horse. Oliver heaved a sigh of relief and followed suit. Though the other knights were still bewildered, unable to guess what had transpired, they could sense the gravity of the situation. They mounted their horses silently and began their return to the palace.
Thus, a minor commotion came to an end. The clueless crowd of onlookers murmured among themselves before dispersing, and the street soon returned to its usual state.
—
At 8:00 in the morning, the newly formed gathering and monster-hunting squads embarked on their first mission.
The monster-hunting squad was led by Jenna, while Isaac took charge of the gathering squad and borrowed Leah from Xibel’s team. Xibel’s group had already been hired to supervise the security team, so they couldn’t participate in monster hunting anyway. The members didn’t mind being reassigned to other tasks.
Each squad consisted of 30 people. Jenna and Leah led them to suitable locations outside the city, where they split into smaller groups to carry out their respective tasks.
Mariana also joined the gathering squad but, worried about leaving her daughter alone at the inn, brought her along. Fortunately, Anne was well-behaved and played quietly nearby while her mother worked.
The morning passed quickly. At precisely noon, Leah called out to everyone, “Good work, everyone! Time for lunch. If anyone hasn’t claimed their free meals, come to me to get your lunch!”
At her announcement, everyone found nearby spots to sit and eat. Most had received free meals, but two individuals who weren’t refugees and thus weren’t eligible approached Leah to collect food.
Gerry followed them. After Leah handed food to the others, he naturally stretched out his hand as well.
Leah opened her friends list to check his personal details, then referred to a form recently sent by Chase. Raising an eyebrow, she said, “You already claimed your free meals. It’s recorded here—7:22 this morning. You’ve taken all three meals for the day.”
“Uh…” The precision of her record left no room for denial. Gerry scratched his head awkwardly. “Oh, so there’s a record.”
Laughter erupted around him, leaving Gerry utterly humiliated. He buried his head and ate his food in silence.
Leah sternly warned everyone, “The Qiana Town has shown great kindness to all of you. Please don’t attempt this kind of deceit.”
“I… I’m sorry,” Gerry quickly apologized. “It won’t happen again.”
He wasn’t a bad person by nature, just someone who enjoyed taking small advantages. Having gone hungry for days recently, he couldn’t help but scheme to grab an extra bite whenever food was available.
Hearing Leah say the word “fraud,” he finally realized how despicable his actions had been. Indeed, how could this just be about getting an extra meal? The town of Qiana had provided them with free lodging, food, even medicine, and jobs—unheard-of benefits compared to their previous territories.
And yet, he had deceived them!
What kind of person does that?
Leah shook her head helplessly. Without dwelling on the matter, she turned and sat on a large rock to eat her meal.
Under a tree not far away, Kino quietly ate his lunch. Watching the little commotion just now, he found it amusing.
What’s the point of trying to get an extra meal? It’s so easy to get caught. Even if you sold it at the market, you’d risk exposure. In the end, you’d just eat it yourself and not make any money.
But what they needed most right now was money. Getting more of it was crucial.
Kino had already made up his mind when he signed up. Not only was he skilled at gathering, but he was also proficient at crafting potions. During the gathering process, many materials happened to be ingredients for potion-making.
This meant there was a loophole in the system.
Although the system automatically determined the amount to be handed over and aimed for fairness, it wasn’t intelligent enough. It could only monitor the direct “drops.” If he secretly turned part of his harvest into potions during the gathering process, those items would completely bypass the system’s monitoring and wouldn’t be automatically submitted.
With this method, he could gather resources with the team during the day, enjoy free meals, earn 50 copper coins, and keep some harvest for himself. Then, at night, he could sell potions at the market and earn extra money. That was the real way to take advantage of the situation!
The thought made Kino chuckle to himself, silently praising his cleverness.
As long as he executed the plan carefully and didn’t get too greedy, he could keep exploiting this loophole in the system without being discovered.