Volume 5, Chapter 3 – Somewhat a Paladin

Very soon, not long after setting out, Tianyin arrived at the current border between Dawn and the Kingdom.

The Northern Fortress.

Speaking of which, after the Northern Fortress became Dawn’s territory, as the contact point with the Kingdom Faction, the former Legendary Paladin of the Kingdom and now Dawn’s only Legendary, Fisiel, had been stationed here all along, leading an army of three hundred thousand.

Because of the Northern Fortress’ strategic importance, after taking it over, Xingyu Muxi had put in a great deal of effort dealing with the repairs to the Northern Fortress.

By the time it was now, under Xingyu Muxi’s focused attention, the Northern Fortress had already been restored to almost the same state as before.

Although that was what people said, in truth the walls still were not fully repaired. Even so, the current Northern Fortress could already shoulder the role of the sole pass between the Kingdom and Dawn.

And as the pass between these two great factions, under Xingyu Muxi’s deliberate guidance, the Northern Fortress had also become the place for border trade between Dawn and the Kingdom Faction.

Of course, with Xingyu Muxi’s wealth, Dawn as a whole did not lack materials obtained through trade.

But looking at the long run, Dawn could not rely on Xingyu Muxi’s money forever.

So, in order to push Dawn toward a self-sufficient state, while supporting Dawn’s native NPC residents in producing all kinds of daily goods, Xingyu Muxi was also deliberately engaging in trade with merchants from within the Kingdom.

And as the only pass between the Kingdom and Dawn, the Northern Fortress naturally became the link through which the two sides traded.

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Precisely because of Xingyu Muxi’s intentional push, by now the Northern Fortress, while still a key military stronghold garrisoned by a large army, had also started to grow into a gradually flourishing trading hub.

Now, the traces left from the battle with the stronghold’s army a few months ago had already vanished. What spread out in front of Tianyin was the Northern Fortress that had begun to head toward prosperity.

Before Tianyin arrived at the Northern Fortress, Fisiel, who had long since been informed that Tianyin was coming, was already waiting outside.

Once Tianyin reached the Northern Fortress, the long-waiting Fisiel formally escorted Tianyin back into the military camp of the Northern Fortress.

The reason it was the military camp was actually because the Northern Fortress’ main role was as a pass, so its nature was not that of a city.

So the Northern Fortress, not being a city, did not have any City Lord’s Mansion. As the one in charge of the Northern Fortress, Fisiel had simply arranged for both her residence and her office to be entirely within the military camp of the Northern Fortress.

After Tianyin arrived at the camp and exchanged a few brief words with Fisiel, she got straight to the point and directly stated the reason she had come to Fisiel this time.

Namely, she wanted Fisiel to go take part in the Kingdom’s election for the King of Knights.

“My lady… I must refuse this. After all, I’m no longer a member of the Kingdom Faction. It wouldn’t be appropriate to suddenly join this King of Knights election like this, would it?”

Very quickly, after hearing Tianyin’s words, the knight girl Fisiel, who still firmly upheld the spirit of a knight, apologetically turned down Tianyin’s proposal.

However, Tianyin had already anticipated that the knight girl would refuse her.

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So when she heard Fisiel’s refusal, Tianyin did not show any surprise at all.

Instead, she calmly addressed the reason Fisiel had given and explained with an unruffled expression.

“You don’t need to worry about that part, Fisiel. The King of Knights’ Throne-tier power can be inherited by any Paladin, right? So I think we don’t need to care about something like different factions at all.”

Yes, that was Tianyin’s explanation.

That somewhat strained explanation in response to Fisiel’s reason.

The reason it was forced persuasion was because what Tianyin was using here was completely twisted logic.

As for how Tianyin had come up with these twisted arguments, to be honest, she herself was not capable of making them up.

In fact, all these reasons had been prepared for her in advance by Sister Xiaomu before she came, after taking Fisiel’s personality into consideration.

That’s right, Sister Xiaomu was just that all-purpose.

“Eh… is that so?”

Just as Tianyin had expected, even though Fisiel herself felt Tianyin’s explanation was a little far-fetched, after thinking it over briefly, she subconsciously accepted Tianyin’s way of putting it.

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Of course, Tianyin did not get smug just because Fisiel had so easily agreed with her words.

Because she knew that as a stubborn knight girl, Fisiel could not possibly agree to go to the Kingdom and join the King of Knights election just because of one casual line from her.

Because—

“My lady, what you said makes sense. Even if the factions are different, all Paladins should be able to join this election. But in reality, I’ve already been struck from the rolls of the Kingdom’s Paladins…”

After hesitating for a moment, the knight girl Fisiel finally voiced those words.

This was the fundamental reason Fisiel was willing to risk offending her lady in order to refuse Tianyin’s ‘order’ that she take part in the King of Knights election.

Fisiel had already been removed from the Paladin Order. From a certain point of view, that meant she was no longer a Paladin.

And if Fisiel was no longer a Paladin, what right did she have to participate in the King of Knights election?

“Pfft, that’s all it is?”

But after hearing Fisiel’s reason, Tianyin, as if she had already guessed it beforehand, showed an irresistibly cute smile.

“Fisiel, if you’re thinking like that, you’re totally mistaken. You’re clearly a Paladin, so why are you saying you aren’t a Paladin?”

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“Eh? I… I’m a Paladin? But… but my lady, I’ve already been struck from the Paladin rolls. After being removed like that, am I still considered a Paladin?”

“You dummy, just because you were struck from the Paladin rolls, does that automatically mean you aren’t a Paladin anymore? Who decided that? You? Or is it written somewhere in the Paladin’s Knight Code?”

Questioned like that by Tianyin, Fisiel fell into confusion.

“There isn’t… my lady, but I really have been removed by the Paladins… that’s also a fact…”

“That’s why I say you’re a dummy, Fisiel~”

Recalling the lines Xingyu Muxi had taught her before she came, Tianyin patiently tried to talk the confused knight girl in front of her around.

“You’re still using Holy Light, aren’t you? You still believe in the Holy Light, don’t you?”

“Since you still firmly believe in the Holy Light and still hold to the code of conduct of a Paladin, with that kind of conviction, how are you not a qualified Paladin?”

Hearing Tianyin’s words, Fisiel was stunned.