Chapter 15: A jet-black temple.

So Ren felt he had to do his best.

Although he himself had some thoughts about the Imperial Military Academy after Ulysses’ words, he put the sword first for the time being.

He must do his best for Licia, who had to endure so much in order to study for the exam.

For the time being, my stay will be five days. I wanted to return home with as much as I could get, although I would have to wait to see what I would do in the future after I had been exposed to the hard swordsmanship.

“…I’ll do my best.”

Ren said and called the restaurant waiter.

He tucked into the imperial city’s gastronomic delicacies and steeled himself for the afternoon ahead.

Soon, Ren walked around the imperial capital without a map.

He went to a train station near the restaurant, where he paid the prescribed fare and bought a ticket. He stepped into the station and waited for the magic train without looking at the timetable.

Within a few minutes, the magic train arrived, its exterior reminiscent of a retro steam locomotive, but painted white. Ren got on the train and started to travel without even looking at the route map.

He had no difficulty at all in moving around for the first time, thanks to the information he had obtained originally.

He headed for the government district of the capital with the same or better familiarity than other residents of the capital.

It was about a twenty-minute ride on the magic train, and the ticket cost 500G.

—-Going out through the station gates where Ren arrived, he found himself in a plaza with a large fountain that stood out well.

Edgar, as promised, was standing in front of that fountain.

“Ren-dono.”

He bowed as Ren approached.

“It has been a long time. I apologize for not being able to greet you the other day. I couldn’t speak before the Lord.”

“It has been a long time since I last saw you. Please don’t worry about what happened the day before.”

Although it had been a long time, it was actually the first time the two of them had spoken to each other like this.

About a year and a half ago, Edgar was in Clausel when Viscount Givens’ turmoil broke out, but he and Ren had never spoken to each other at that time because Ren had only woken up once in front of Viscount Given, and when he woke up the next time, Edgar was already gone.

Edgar was therefore looking forward to this day.

“Thank you for contacting our house the other day. The Lord was very pleased to hear from you, Ren-dono.”

By contact, he meant the letter of introduction Ren received from Ulysses.

The letter of introduction only stated that he was allowed to enter the Holy lion office, so Ren couldn’t determine how he should go about it.

When he contacted Edgar to ask for more information, he received a reply that Edgar would show him around on the day of the visit.

“Well, Ren-dono, please come this way.”

He said and started to lead Ren on his way.

He leads him on a slow walk, not in a carriage, but through the quiet government district.

(When you come to this area, you see a lot of well-dressed people.)

Many people who work for important institutions were walking around the area.

It’s easy to imagine that they are all well paid. Some of them seemed to be nobles, which was a scene that would certainly not be seen in Clausel.

They walked for a few minutes, chatting and enjoying each other’s company.

After passing through a number of large and distinctive buildings, the found the Holy Lion Sanctuary. It was a building reminiscent of a temple, so large that the Ren’s village could have fit inside.

The exterior of the Lion Sanctuary is jet-black, and at first glance, it is quite intimidating.

(I can’t believe I’m going in here.)

The Holy Lion’s Office exists in the legend of the Seven Heroes.

However, players have never been able to enter it.

(The hard sword technique was for enemies only, after all.)

That’s not to say, however, that the Holy Lion’s Office is the root of evil. It’s just that it is an important facility related to the Lion King.

Even those who belong to the Heroic Faction have plenty of opportunities to visit.

Especially for civil servants.

“Ren-dono, may we?”

The response to Edgar’s question was delayed, and Ren spoke the words of apology.

“I’m sorry….. I was overwhelmed.”

“It’s understandable. The place is one of the most special places in Leomel. It’s an institution related to the Lion King, and even nobles aren’t allowed to set foot in it without permission.”

The reason why Ren was given permission was due to the power of Ulysses.

“Then, let’s get to it.”

Edgar headed for the entrance of the Lion’s Head sanctuary.

The entrance to the lion sanctuary has no door, and inside there’s a liberating space with thick pillars leading to the back of the building. The pillars and cobblestones were made of polished granite-like black material, giving it an even more impressive appearance.

Edgar bade farewell to the knights standing at the entrance and quickly headed inside.

Ren, who was late, looked at the knights guarding the entrance, wondering if it was okay for him too.

(—- something’s different)

The figure of the knights standing at the entrance of the Holy Lion’s Office.

The knights here were dressed in black armor, different from the knights patrolling the town as well as the regular knights.

The same is true of the swords they carry at their waists. Unlike other knights, the knights standing in front of the Holy Office of the Lion are either carrying long swords or huge swords on their backs.

“Please proceed.”

One of the knights, noticing that Ren was trying to access the situation, said in an indifferent voice.

“Ah, thank you.”

Ren quickly thanked him and walked away, heading to Edgar’s side.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

As soon as they stepped into the openness, the knights outside secretly watched Ren’s back before exchanging a few words.

“—- That boy from earlier, he’s magnificent.”

The first knight said so, and there were many voices that responded.

“I saw something good. The boy was wearing a core as strong as  iron orichalcum.”

“The knight was brought here by Edgar-sama.  He will be a good hard sword user.”

Ren, unaware of the fact that he was being watched in the shadows, was following Edgar, his footsteps echoing in the Lion’s Holy Office.

◇　◇　◇　◇

Not knowing that they were talking about such things, Ren was making his way along the black cobblestones.

The sound of him walking with Edgar reverberated through the place.

He occasionally exchanged bows with the civil servants he passed, and he passed a knight in the same armor as the knight outside, but they didn’t greet each other aloud.

“Edgar-san?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Is there any reason why the knights in the Holy Lion’s Office prefer to use the color black?”

“Well, it’s because of the influence of the Lion King. The Lion King is a man who likes the color black.”

“—- it’s reasonable.”

Ren also asked him why the inside of the Lion’s sanctuary was so quiet.

Edgar said that there was no particular reason, and that it was probably due to the austere atmosphere of the space.

This quietness seems to be the result of a tacit understanding.

“Why doesn’t the Lion sanctuary have a massive gate or a tightly controlled entrance and exit?”

“There are two reasons. The first is that there are many magic tools for security that are deployed in places that are not visible. The second, and the main reason why there are no gates, is…”

Their footsteps still echoed.

“The knights who guard the Lion’s Office are only hard swordsmen. They are more powerful than the strong gates, because they are swordsman class, and above all, they are the strongest defenders.”

“They’re swordsman class?”

“Yes. As you may know, the grade of the hard sword technique is usually calculated one more than that of the more prestigious schools such as the Sacred Sword technique. In effect, the knights in the Lion’s Office are limited to those who are above the grade of a master swordsman in other schools.”

Edgar continued, making sure there was no mistake.

“If you ask me, a sword sage with hard swordsmanship might deserve to be a sword king of another school, but that is a different story.”

“Haha…..that’s indeed true.”

The sword king is a special case.

There are only five different strongest, but that also is a different story.

Ren who listens, remembers without speaking it out loud.

The highest grade of swordsmanship is the Sword King, which exists only five in the world, regardless of the school of swordsmanship. Below that is the Sword Sage, followed by the Master Swordsman, Senior Swordsman, and finally the Swordsman.

(Maidas and Kai were the master swordsmen of the holy sword technique.)

The two members of the demon king’s cult, who he met at the Adventurer’s Guild in Clausel and confronted each other in the Baldor Mountains. According to Edgar’s story, the only knights of the Holy Lion’s Office who existed were those who could match or surpass those two.

It seemed obvious to me.

This is an important facility in the imperial capital of the great nation of Leomel that is related to the founder of the country, the Lion King, so it is only natural that it should be filled with strong knights.

But Ren, even so, is forced to think about it.

After visiting the Holy Office of the Lion, many things were going through his mind.

(It’s still amazing.)

All the knights in the area would be of the master swordsman class in all schools except for the hard swordsmanship.

He was surprised at the information he didn’t know, but he was strongly convinced that it was natural, and his overflowing interest in the art of hard swordsmanship only increased.

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