Monarch of Death

Chapter 53 – The King’s Order (4)

The place where the party was guided to was an office on the third floor of the King’s Order Headquarters. A dignified man in his 40s greeted them.

“Welcome. I’m Erantel, the leader of the King’s Order.”

Erantel von Naiad. He was a famous knight who had risen to the level of Purple Knight, one of only two purple-level Aura users in the Yusteel Kingdom, along with Lord Alrond, the leader of the Royal Knights.

Originally the vice-captain of the Royal Knights of Yusteel, he had a fair and upright personality and was well-received by the public and trusted by King Wescott I. The fact that he was appointed as the leader of the King’s Order meant that the royal family also took this issue seriously. The group also introduced themselves.

“This is Zestrad’s Karnak.”

“This is Serati, who serves Baron Karnak.”

“I am Barros, who serves Baron Karnak.”

Erantel nodded as he pointed to the letter of recommendation in his hand.

“All three of them are qualified. Their status is clear, and above all, they are recommended by Inquisitor Alius, so they are trustworthy.”

Karnak and Barros secretly exchanged glances.

‘Is Alius quite famous?’

‘I know, right? They know the name even in the capital?’

It was just that they couldn’t realize it, but Alius was quite a celebrity. His divine power was powerful enough to rise to the first rank at only 20, and his performance as an interrogator was also exceptional.

In Derat City, the number of necromancers that the Church of Hatoba had dealt with exceeded 50. It was a record that could be counted among all the denominations in the youthful kingdom.

“If Inquisitor Alius had carefully chosen them, they would be worthy of becoming members of the glorious King’s Order and……”

Suddenly, Erantel put on a stern expression.

“You know you can’t become the King’s Order with that alone, right?”

As if he knew that, Karnak replied.

“I heard the rough story.”

Just because you joined didn’t mean you could immediately become part of the King’s Order officially. For now, they must go through a training period as new members. It was to deal with the cult under the senior order, get them familiar with the field, and do a final review to see if they were trustworthy.

“Until then, it can’t be called the King’s Order yet. It’s just doing the King’s Order’s work under orders.”

Simply put, this would not give them the right to be abused, such as the right of summary execution or comprehensive interrogation, and he would only judge their ability to handle things. That was how it sounded.

“It’s a process that not only you but all newcomers go through.”

Karnak had no complaints either. Although he would have been anxious if they had been accepted rather easily, it means that cultists could easily infiltrate them.

“Anyway, it’s a pretty strange combination, isn’t it? The owner of a territory and his knights joined at once…”

“Is there any problem?”

Erantel shook his hand at Karnak’s question.

“Hmm? Ah, not really. It’s not like there aren’t examples.”

There had been cases where the lord directly led a knight under his command before joining. Viscount Roland, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, was the case.

It would be an irresponsible act for the family owner to jump into such a risky job, but for rural nobles, it was a good opportunity to increase the family’s prestige. Especially if the lord was a young man who was burning with sympathy.

From the point of view of the family, it was impossible to just send a person of the level of a lord to death, so of course, a powerful knight was attached next to it.

Of course, you couldn’t appoint an unqualified knight to the King’s Order just by looking at a knight under his command, so most of them were eliminated, but that combination was not particularly strange. It was the other side that Erantel really cared about.

“Was the Baron Zestrad a family enough to embrace Aura users?”

Although he said it before her, Serati’s skills were too much for an ordinary nobleman’s knight. If she was talented enough to awaken her fighting spirit at that age, she was a talent that even the grand duke’s family would pay attention to.

‘I don’t know if it’s the Goblin Hand’s famous sword or if there’s something else.’

According to Alius’ letter of recommendation, Baron Karnak has excellent magical talent compared to his prowess, so his future development potential was limitless. Did Serati figure this out in advance with the unique sense of Aura users? Erantel soon gave up his curiosity.

‘Hmm, I’ll see if I see it.’

After all, she had to go through a trial period. If she couldn’t prove it, she didn’t have to care anymore. Either die or return home, one of the two.

“Okay, then I’ll give you guys the first task.”

“Welcome to the King’s Order.”

If Karnak was truly an undisclosed gem, he would have to prove his abilities in the meantime. Erantel slowly opened his mouth with his hands behind his back. Barros and Serati asked back in bewilderment.

“Yes? Right now?”

“Are we really doing it today?”

The middle-aged man smiled as if he knew such a reaction would come.

“That’s what our job is like. Always busting, always busy. You guys have to get used to it.”

Be prepared. From now on, the hardships are open. It was a smile full of meaning.

»»————-　★　————-««
The King’s Order consisted of seven battalions centered on the leader, Lord Erantel, and each battalion consisted of a small elite of about 8 to 10 people. Karnak’s party was assigned to the 4th Battalion. And, they met the senior King’s Order, who would be with them on their first mission.

Tarman, the wizard of the 5th Circle, was the second son of Count Alban, a noble family with a long history. Kald was a swordsman who worked as a dark hunter and dedicated himself to the King’s Order. Alice, the second-class interrogator of Atima, the goddess of the sea, was one of them.

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Translator: Anom
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The next day, they left Drunta, the capital, early in the morning and headed for the southern part of the kingdom. Serati grumbled as she moved along the duct.

“I didn’t expect to leave immediately without seeing the king.”

Even Karnak and Barros, who had been tired of seeing Drunta in their previous life, felt the same way.

“Sheesh, I made a list of restaurants.”

“I know, right? I was thinking of going around in turn, starting from the west.”

Barros, who grumbled, asked those who took the lead.

“Is the King’s Order always this busy? So much so that there’s no break?”

“Could it be?”

Tarman, the commander of the 4th battalion of the King’s Order, a man in his thirties with a plump body, let out a good-natured laugh.

“You guys had bad timing. You arrived the same day our mission fell.”

“I guess it was just unlucky.”

“You could say it’s luck. Isn’t there nothing good about a long probationary period?”

Swordsman Kald added by the side, “At best, the timing would have been just waiting for a few days. There is indeed a lot of work.”

He was a young man with an impression like a sharp blade. It was said that he used dual-handed sword fighting with a dagger and a long sword unusually, and it was also said that he was an unrivaled strongman in the Delim region.

“Well, it’s an ordinary axis in the King’s Order, but I haven’t awakened my fighting spirit yet.”

Muttering, Kald glanced at Serati.

As expected of a swordsman, he seemed concerned about the newly joined Aura user. Alice, a priest, on the other hand, seemed more interested in other parts of Serati.

“Miss Serati, your skin is very beautiful, isn’t it? Not like an Aura user.”

“……Does it have anything to do with skin?”

“There are two Aura users in our battalion, and both of them have scars all over their bodies. So, I thought all Aura users were like that.”

Barros, who was listening next to him, was suddenly puzzled.

“Two Aura users are coming to the 4th battalion?”

By the way, the captain of the 4th Battalion is the magician Tarman in front of him. That means…….

“Are you saying that we have two more members that are aura users?”

Still, she knew she would be the captain if she became an Aura user.

Tarman questioned, “Why? I’m still only in Circle 5. Is it strange that an Aura user is below me?”

“Oh, no. I am not saying that Lord Tarman is weak.”

“It’s not wrong. I’m not yet comparable to an Aura user.”

Usually, red-ranked, red knights were treated on the same level as wizards in the 6th circle. Of course, comparing combat power was a bit ambiguous. In a small battle, the red Aura user would overwhelm the 6th circle mage, and in a large-scale battle, the 6th circle mage would be much more helpful in winning.

In any case, it was true that Circles were definitely of a lower rank than Aura users. Even so, there was another reason why Tarman was the captain.

“First of all, the fact that I’m from the Count family is great.”

No matter how skill-oriented a minority of elites were, their status cannot be completely ignored.

“Above all, in our mission, status is part of skill.”

If it was just a necromancer; just kill him at the point of finding him, and that’s it, However, cultists often used their secular status to wield power if they were nobles or royalty. Wasn’t the King’s Order created on purpose in the first place because of those worldly powers?

“Wouldn’t it be easier for someone like me who is strong and well-bred to take down cultists who are strong and well-bred? Many people in the world value the prestige of their family more than their skills.”

And the second reason, actually, was more important.

“Against the cultists, we need other parts rather than fighting power.”

If he were an Aura user, he would exert tremendous power in battle. But were the cultists attacking them fairly and squarely?

“The King’s Order main mission are gathering information, hunting out cultists, kidnapping key figures, and interrogating rather than fighting. Just having high combat skills doesn’t make things work out.”

Serati clicked her tongue, “How come it seems that it’s only a dirty mission?”

Tarman giggled.

“You got it right! It’s our job to do nasty things to the cultists!”

As such, against cultists, wizards with various techniques were more advantageous than Aura users, who were simply good at fighting. So most of the captains of the King’s Order were wizards.

The leader in charge of the entire King’s Order also serves as a signboard, so the renowned knight Sir Erantel was a good candidate, but in actual missions, it was most efficient for a wizard to move with an Aura user as his aide.

“It’s the opposite of a battlefield.”

“It’s only on the battlefield that the captain has to take the lead and wave the shining sword diligently to raise the soldiers’ morale, so Aura users are the best. But isn’t our mission something someone wants to see?”

Serati, who nodded, had another question.

“If that’s the case, isn’t a priest also qualified?”

Regarding various techniques, the clergy were no less than the wizards. Above all, against necromancy, it was much more effective than wizards.

‘Right now, Mr. Alius is good at interrogation, too.’

The answer was given by Alice, “The King’s Order was created to keep the Seven Goddesses in check, but there’s no way priests like us would be given the position of captain.”

In the first place, there wasn’t even a high-ranking priest enough to be the captain. The priests of the seven goddesses assigned to the King’s Order were all second-class inquisitors.

The Seven Goddess Church couldn’t handle the special or 1st class because it was too much for them to handle, and the 3rd class was still too low to follow the King’s Order’s mission.

“I don’t really have any complaints. If you build up a lot of performance here, your chances of becoming a first-class interrogator will increase.”

Karnak, who had been silently listening to the conversation, suddenly opened his mouth.

“Anyway, isn’t it time for you to give more details?”

“Huh? Details?”

“About our mission.”

A brief briefing about the mission we received.

{There is a suspicion that Count Vreeland, one of the local aristocrats in the southern part of the Kingdom of Yutseel, committed himself to the Church of the Black God. He hid his identity, and disguised himself as an adventurer. Head to the county of Brellant, find out clear evidence, and punish the Count in the name of the king!}

But he hadn’t heard any more details.

“I would like to hear information about what the Count is accused of, whether the information is really certain, and what evidence we need to find out.”

Karnak’s request was certainly reasonable. Even so, Tarman couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“That’s all.”

“Huh?”

“That’s it. You know everything we know.”

“No, then you’re moving without knowing whether the other person is an actual cultist or not?”

“Aren’t we moving now to find out?”

To put it simply, heading to the bare ground was a mission.

“I can see why you’re so busy.”

Seeing Karnak shaking his head, Tarman grinned. It was the same smile on Captain Erantel’s lips as seen at headquarters:

“Welcome to the King’s Order.”

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