Volume 5, Chapter 16 – Ending The Topic

The girl’s cutting words echoed through the entire Sanctuary of Knights.

As for the knight girl’s voice, everyone present except for those few Legendary-tier Holy King of Knights candidates and Yunchou lowered their heads and fell silent.

“You don’t know how to answer?”

After a long silence, Fisiel’s voice slowly sounded again.

“If you refuse to speak, then I’ll take it that you agree with my view… Then, listen carefully to my way of the knight.”

Her sharp voice rose higher, and as Fisiel spoke, the entire Sanctuary of Knights fell into an eerie quiet.

Admittedly, the Paladins present did not think much of Fisiel. Even so, a scene where no one refuted her and simply let her continue speaking was extremely rare.

“In my view… if I really were to become King of Knights. The first thing I would do would be to bring all Paladins of the Kingdom Faction together into one unified whole.”

“The reason I would do this is because the power of the Paladins is far too scattered. Put nicely, Paladins are out everywhere punishing evil and upholding justice. Put bluntly, the Paladins in every corner of the Kingdom are just arrogant people who only think about relying on their own strength and trying to change the Kingdom.”

Hearing Fisiel’s words, some Paladins immediately grew dissatisfied.

“You say that none of us could have held the Northern Fortress and we admit we can’t compare to you. But we go around the Kingdom punishing evil and upholding justice, and that is wrong too?”

“It is wrong, of course it is wrong, and gravely wrong at that!”

At this, the knight girl answered with utter seriousness.

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“Let me ask you, when did we Paladins start upholding justice all over the Kingdom?”

“I…”

“You can’t say? Then I’ll tell you. From the very founding of the Paladins up until now, our path of upholding justice has never once stopped!”

“I admit, in places the Kingdom cannot see, the darkness has always been there. Whenever that darkness begins to spread, there has always been a Paladin who steps in in time to cut off that budding spread of darkness.”

“But from the founding of the Paladins until now, for centuries upon centuries, the history of our Paladins… has been nothing more than unendingly, endlessly maintaining justice… Yet has justice truly defeated evil? Has the light truly defeated the darkness?”

“The answer is no! And that is exactly because we Paladins are like a pile of loose sand. Scattered like that, we cannot protect the justice we insist on in our hearts at all!”

At this point, Fisiel’s expression grew even more grave.

“So I believe that bringing us Paladins together is the most important thing right now! Paladins gathered as one will be able to exert a power beyond imagination!”

“Of course, I also believe that the Kingdom’s wars of annexation must not stop!”

With a turn of her words, Fisiel directly shifted the topic to the wars of annexation between the various nations within the Kingdom.

That sudden statement once again threw the scene into an uproar.

“This is your way of the knight, Fisiel? To let such unjust wars of annexation continue, how many innocent civilians inside our Kingdom should die in these wars?!”

“How cruel! Can someone who says such things still be called a Paladin, Fisiel?”

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“Only a Paladin who has betrayed the Kingdom like you would become that cold-blooded! Step down, Fisiel, you’re not fit to be King of Knights!”

“…”

The atmosphere in the Sanctuary of Knights grew increasingly heated.

Faced with the accusations of so many Paladins, Fisiel’s expression was one of wordless stubbornness.

『Fisiel… she’ll be alright, right?』

Watching the knight girl being condemned by so many Paladins, Tianyin could not help feeling worried.

「Xiaoyin… this is something we cannot get involved in… if we step in to stop it, it’ll only make things worse and more suspicious…」

『Wuu… I get it…』

Samael very promptly stopped Tianyin, who had wanted to speak up for Fisiel.

And just when Tianyin did not know what to do, a heavy sound suddenly rang out, overpowering the voices of all the Paladins present.

“All of you, be quiet!”

The voice was deafening, like muffled thunder in the sky.

As it rang out, every Paladin present very consciously shut their mouths.

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“What kind of behavior is this! What, if someone else’s way of the knight is different from yours, that makes them no longer a Paladin?”

“Humility, humility! Where have you all thrown away the humility in the Seven Virtues of the Knight?”

Hearing this, the Paladins present once again lowered their heads in shame.

“Thank you, King of Knights.”

The situation was brought under control in time, and Fisiel, who had been at the center of the topic, thanked him with a face full of gratitude.

“No need to thank me.”

Hearing Fisiel’s thanks, the voice of the King of Knights continued to echo back and forth through the sanctuary.

“Fisiel, your way of the knight is very good. But bringing it up now is bound to provoke public anger, and for the sake of the upcoming election proceeding normally, your speech will end here…”

The first part of the King of Knights’ words sounded like he was comforting Fisiel, but the latter part became somewhat thought-provoking.

“King of Knights… it’s alright, I can still…”

“There is no need to go on, Fisiel. You are an excellent Paladin, and I agree with your ideals as well, but… you’ve said enough. I will not allow you to speak any further!”

Even though stubbornness still lingered on the girl’s face, in front of the King of Knights, a Throne-tier being, she had no choice but to let go of the thought of continuing.

“Understood… Fisiel will step down now…”

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Fisiel actually knew that she could have kept talking. However, thinking of her lady, Tianyin, who was still in the sanctuary, and afraid of dragging Tianyin down with her, she gave up on the idea of continuing…

As she unwillingly stepped down from the place where she had just given it her all, Fisiel’s expression became incomparably dejected.

“Enough… Paladin Fisiel’s way of the knight ends here. The rest of you do not need to keep debating Fisiel’s way of the knight!”

After Fisiel left, the King of Knights’ voice rang out in the sanctuary once more.

“Then, next is the last Paladin… hmm, trainee Paladin Yunchou.”

“Y-Yes!”

Having his name called by the King of Knights, Yunchou, who had always been like a marginal figure with no sense of presence at all, finally spoke up, his face full of excitement.

“Mm… Yunchou, go ahead and explain your way of the knight.”

“I’m well prepared, King of Knights.”

Wearing a shy, harmless smile, Yunchou slowly walked to the very center of the Sanctuary of Knights.

And just as the many Paladins began to look forward to what this trainee Paladin Yunchou would say, that seemingly rather nervous boy, the anxious expression on his face, in that very moment, disappeared.