Chapter 7. victory and vanity

　At the imperial gate of the royal castle, a line of merchants’ wagons are lined up.

　Tonight’s event is a banquet to celebrate the victory over the terrifying immortal beasts, and since it also serves as an unveiling of the holy knight and Saint, all the merchants and servants of the castle have cheerful expressions on their faces.

　A mountain of foodstuffs and liquor were brought in, as well as expensive fabrics and jewelry, all of which are for some unknown use.*

　The assistant to the prime minister sighs as he stands by the scene, attending to the inspection and stamping the inventory of the cargo.

　–Is it really necessary to go to such lengths in these times? Even if there are political motives behind it, it’s a bit questionable…

　They have received a report that the defeat of the undead beasts, in the northern part of the kingdom has been largely completed. Nevertheless, there are many people who have been forced to flee their homes.

　Due to his position, he doesn’t dare dispute the decision made by his superiors. He has a wife and children too, so he cannot so easily express his righteous indignation.

　The man frowned, trying to suppress the feelings of frustration. The image of his acquaintance who had given up his position yesterday and left the royal castle came to his mind.

–In any case, the king’s order to return came too soon. I don’t know much about the battlefield though…

　In his head, he understood what the king intended.

　It has been more than a hundred and ten years since a holy knight with a holy sword appeared in the Country or the surrounding area, and word of his exploits had already reached neighboring countries. 

　It turns out that the man who became a Holy Knight was originally a low-ranking knight and the second son of a Baronet – in short, a commoner. The country probably wanted to honor his achievements by bestowing a peerage him, and to surround him with a solid position as quickly as possible. On top of that, they also wanted to promote the grace of the goddess both within the country and to neighboring countries by allowing him to marry a saint.

　Perhaps it was fortunate that there were no unmarried princesses or high-ranking noble ladies of same age.

　–No, the holy knight had a wife in the royal capital to begin with…

　Having a wife and child of his own, a bitter feeling spread through his chest.

“Leave your worthless wife who can’t do anything behind.”

　The words spat out by his direct superior, the Prime Minister, still ring in his ears..

　– Worthless, huh? If you say it like that, most of the people in this country become so.…… me, too, I’m the same.

　In a corner of the royal castle, where everyone is buoyant and bustling with activity, the bottom of his stomach grew cold as he silently went about his work.  

　Then, his thoughts turned to his acquaintance who had just returned home, disagreed with the King, and left the castle soon after.

　The old friend of the assistant to the prime minister was, until just yesterday, the head of the Royal Order of Knights. Abandoning that prestigious honor, he resigned his post and headed back to the northern part of the kingdom. A gag order was imposed, and only a few higher-ups knew about it. It seems that they were trying not to spoil the celebration.

　─ ─ …… How foolish. Well, in the end, it’s not something I can say since I’m just trying to protect myself and can’t do anything…

　All the man could do was pray for his friend’s bravery and safety.

　As the sun began to set, the celebration began.

　The great hall of the royal castle was lavishly decorated and filled with gorgeously dressed nobles.

　In the center of the hall, the king was solemnly receiving the oath of knighthood from a Holy Knight in a ritual-like fashion.

　The holy sword was swiftly drawn, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

　It was a beautiful sword with a Embossment of Ivy, the symbol of the goddess, engraved on the blade.*

　There was a murmur of admiration from all around..

　In a corner of the hall, a group of new junior knights were watching the scene. Almost swallowed up by the feeling of being out of place, they looked at him with envy, but a few tilted their heads curiously.

“Hey, didn’t the Holy Sword have a kind of white glow to it?”

“It was like that when I saw it on the battlefield. ……”

“It must be because there’s not any undead beasts here, right?”

“…… that’s true too …….”

　The murmurings of these young people, who still lacked proper manners, was drowned out by the noise in the hall and no one paid them any attention.

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