Chapter 306 - 301: The Stirring Chariot (Part 1)

Chapter 306: Chapter 301: The Stirring Chariot (Part 1)

F... friend?

On the beach, every noble who had been about to speak was left with their mouth half-open, having forgotten what they were going to say.

The Knight with the short mustache, who had just stirred up trouble in an attempt to get Roland to suppress Velin, turned deathly pale.

But then, his tense body relaxed as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart.

After all, the Sun Clan had made their stance clear. He could report back that his job was done.

Baron Kroo’s forward momentum halted, his outstretched hand freezing awkwardly in midair.

Roland Sun.

The most dazzling new star among the Knights of the Duchy’s southern border.

The first-in-line heir of the Sun Clan.

A man who held the knight’s code as more important than his own life, who never associated with schemers and opportunists.

And right now, he was embracing an obscure Pioneer Baron.

Diana was stunned as well.

’Cousin? Velin? Friends? Since when?’

Roland released the embrace.

He placed both hands on Velin’s shoulders. The palms of a Level 5 Knight, steady and strong.

Originally, he hadn’t wanted to reveal his stance so soon. He didn’t want his words and actions to influence the opinions of the Dawn Territory’s nobles.

It wouldn’t be honorable, and he could tell Velin didn’t want him to do this either.

But now, everyone was waiting for his final opinion.

Roland glanced sideways at the long seawall standing firm in the ocean.

’From hunting Magical Beasts to managing a territory, he’s like a rising sun. Under his influence, so many incredible things have come to pass in this world.’

’I can only say, that’s him for you.’

’I, Roland, have no reason to oppose such a potential ally.’

With this thought, he lifted his head and looked at the vassals of the Dawn Territory, who were all waiting with bated breath.

"This man, Velin, is my friend!"

Roland’s voice was resonant, drowning out the whistling sea wind.

"While traveling through the Duchy, I had the honor of meeting Baron Velin in the Grey Marsh Territory."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

’The heir to the Sun Clan... really admitted that a Pioneer Baron from some remote backwater is his friend?’

Roland gave them no time to process the information. He raised a hand, his voice rising in pitch once more.

"I have fought side by side with him!"

"Right in his territory, in the muddy swamp outside Shiyan Town!"

"We stood together against—and killed—a Level 5 Magical Beast: the Lord of the Gray Swamp!"

’The Lord of the Gray Swamp?’

The name was quite unfamiliar to the nobles present; it clearly wasn’t a well-known monster recorded in the Duchy’s Monster Beast Atlas.

However, that was not important.

What was important was the term that preceded it—Level 5 Magical Beast!

That title represented a regional overlord, a terrifying existence capable of easily destroying a city undefended by a High-Tier Knight!

How to hunt and defend against a Magical Beast of this level was a required course in every noble’s military education.

And now, Roland was saying that he and this remote Pioneer Baron had... killed such a monster?

"Killed... a Level 5 Magical Beast?" Old Baron Ansel’s graying beard trembled. He repeated the words subconsciously, as if to confirm he hadn’t misheard.

If Velin’s earlier demonstration of "reclaiming land from the sea" was a technology that surpassed their understanding, something they could only vaguely sense held immense value...

...then "killing a Level 5 Magical Beast" was the purest, most direct proof of martial strength, something they could fully comprehend.

A Level 5 Knight was strong enough to enter a Count’s personal Elite Guard, to become the unwavering pillar of a territory.

A lord who could kill a Level 5 Magical Beast possessed, at minimum, strength and influence equivalent to such an Elite Guard.

At this moment, all the malicious rumors about him being a "swindler," a "swamp deserter," or even scheming to "frame a rival in love" vanished into thin air, taking the credibility of those who spread them along with them.

A lord who can hunt a Level 5 Magical Beast needs to use such underhanded schemes against Philippe and Valerius?

That was the most ridiculous joke they had heard all year.

Once the nobles thought it through, their worries vanished.

Greed was replaced by awe.

Awe quickly fermented into fanaticism.

A man of great power.

A lord who could create land from thin air.

A future magnate with deep ties to one of the Duchy’s top clans.

In the last hundred years of the Duchy’s history, you couldn’t find a second person like him.

His future was limitless.

And now, an opportunity to follow him, a chance for their own families to hitch a ride on this high-speed, golden war chariot, was right before their eyes.

"Lord Velin!"

A tall, thin baron shoved aside the person next to him and was the first to rush to the front.

He dropped to one knee without hesitation, the movement standard and powerful.

"I, Baron Bellflower, Jeno Bellflower!"

"I am willing to dispatch all twenty of my family’s loyal Knights to accept your employment and fight for the glory of the Grey Marsh Territory!"

His voice was hoarse with excitement, every word landing with resounding force.

His declaration lit the fuse on a powder keg.

"I’ll offer thirty!" Baron Kroo, not to be outdone, burst forward with surprising strength for his portly frame, squeezing his way to the front. "I won’t just send my son, Alek; I’ll send all thirty of the most elite Knights from my family’s guard!"

"Forty! Lord Velin! I can scrape together forty good men who can fight on horseback!"

"My territory is coastal! My soldiers are the most experienced in fighting sea creatures! Pick me!"

The scene had completely devolved into a clamorous auction of allegiance.

The barons swarmed around Velin, scrambling over one another as they loudly declared the forces they could provide, terrified of being left behind.

They no longer spoke of payment in Golden Suns, no longer cared about the potential risks.

What they were fighting for now was the right to invest in the future, a precious opportunity to secure hereditary fiefs for their descendants.

Diana quietly watched the scene, which had spiraled somewhat out of control.

She watched her vassals—men who would normally argue with her until they were red in the face over a pittance in taxes or a few acres of land—now vying like the most devout believers to offer their family’s military strength to Velin.

Then she looked at Velin.

He stood in the center of the fanatical crowd, his expression still calm as he faced a sea of flushed faces.

He showed no signs of smugness, nor did he make any easy promises.

He just listened earnestly to each person, giving an occasional slight nod.

Roland stood beside him, enthusiastically recounting Velin’s "heroic deeds" in Shiyan Town to the other nobles—while cleverly omitting, of course, the tactical details that didn’t quite align with the spirit of knighthood.

Her cousin, the proudest Knight in the Dawn Territory and even the entire southern border, was now willingly acting as Velin’s staunchest supporter.

Diana’s perpetually tense body finally relaxed.

She let out a long breath, and the knot of worry and unease that had been tied in her chest unraveled, drifting away on the slightly salty sea breeze.

A smile blossomed on her lips.

Without a doubt, Velin had successfully pulled the entire Dawn Territory onto his war chariot.