### Chapter 136: Departure (Part 2)
On the way back to the mansion, I spotted a waffle stand by the roadside. My stomach started growling, so I decided to treat myself to two big bags of waffles—one for the road and the other to bring back for Barry and Grandma Claire.
Upon reaching Longdoll Street and stepping through the big iron gate, I could already hear the sound of Barry and Ryan practicing swordplay from the courtyard.
Clang—
“Faster…”
Clang, clang!
“Even faster…”
“Slow down, you’re too slow…”
“With that sword, even Grandma could hop around and dodge you…”
Two new guests had recently arrived at Vilo Garden.
Technically, they were uninvited guests. Having been in the royal city for a few days without a word, when I went to find them, they simply said, “I know you have plenty of empty rooms,” and moved in without hesitation. They said they’d leave in two days, but two days later, they’d just say, “We’ll leave in two more days.”
I rolled my eyes and decided to leave them be.
However, their arrival had Barry and Ryan—along with Ryan’s father—buzzing with excitement.
After all, these were legendary heroes they’d frequently talked about back in the village, renowned figures they had only heard about until now. One of them Barry had actually met but regretted not having the guts to say anything back then.
And now, the hero was teaching them swordplay.
“What’s the point of swinging your sword quickly? Even if you’re just a fraction of a second faster than your opponent, if they d*e and you live…”
“Just this one strike doesn’t need to pack a punch. There are plenty of people with more talent than me—one flick of their wrist could shake the heavens. But many such people have already found defeat at my hands. For me, slicing through the enemy doesn’t require flashy moves that look impressive; it just needs to be fast enough to take their life…”
As I approached, I found the scruffy-looking man with crossed arms, instructing Barry to jab his sword repeatedly. He turned at the sound of my footsteps and raised an eyebrow.
“What’s in the bag?”
I kept walking. “Waffles.”
I headed straight toward the side building.
“I’m hungry; give me one.”
“Nope.”
“Hand it over.”
“Dream on.”
At that, I sped up my steps, only to hear the man mutter, “Stingy,” causing me to stop and glare back. “Who are you calling stingy?”
“Whoever’s glaring at me.”
He shrugged, and in the blink of an eye, he burst away with lightning speed, leaving Barry, Ryan, and Ryan’s dad in the gazebo staring in shock. Before they could process what had happened, chunks of ice the size of fists went flying past their faces.
In front of everyone, two “heroes” started a chase in the courtyard, quarreling like a couple of children, making all sorts of ruckus that attracted the maids from the main building, who came out to see what the commotion was about.
After a while, worried that my precious waffles would tumble out, I decided not to chase them anymore. I turned to Barry and said, “Let’s eat the waffles in the house later,” clutching my bag and darting back to the mansion.
Shortly after, a man named Carlos returned nonchalantly, looking completely unfazed, and resumed encouraging Barry to practice his swordplay.
On the second floor of the side building, a certain Raplia had just closed the window again.
Known as “Flame,” she wasn’t much of a talker and appeared a bit intimidating, yet her physique was something else altogether. Barry vaguely remembered that his sister, Aili, looked up to her—thus, Barry had now met both of the powerful Pope Knights his sister admired in her lifetime.
Every time Barry thought of this over the past few days, feelings of nostalgia and sentimentality washed over him.
But the sadness had faded away.
At least not now, not at this moment.
Barry was acutely aware that the arrival of these Pope Knights and other formidable personalities in the mansion was no coincidence; something unimaginable was about to unfold throughout the entire Western Continent.
Or perhaps it had already begun.
Barry could feel it.
Even though neither Little Shay, nor Mr. Carlos, nor Big Brother Rect ever spoke of “serious matters” in front of him and Ryan—and often maintained a relaxed atmosphere like earlier—their demeanor would shift when they turned their backs. Occasionally, late at night when all was quiet, Barry had seen them—Mr. Carlos, Miss Raplia, and Little Shay—deep in serious discussion, their expressions heavy with the weight of impending danger.
It was evident to both him and Ryan.
Not just within the mansion, but outside of it too.
Thanks to Barry’s hard work being recognized by the Sword of Kanli, he passed the first round of assessments. Originally, he was set to join the royal city guard, but somehow it shifted suddenly. Big Brother Rect informed him he would be assigned to an order called “German,” awarded the Kanli Knight medal, and congratulated him on becoming a glorious Queen’s knight—an apprentice.
After that, Big Brother Rect briefly explained the origins of the German Knight Order to him.
Once the elite knight order of Ethanbel directly affiliated with the royal family, it had been disbanded due to the Regent Empress—who was the current queen’s mother—favoring the emerging Clive family. Many members were bought off or deceived to join the rebel group known as the Iron Guard.
When the Clive family fell and the queen’s troops stormed Foressk Castle, the Old Duke lost all power. Within the Iron Guard, which had long suffered internal strife, a portion of them reformed, redeeming themselves and being readmitted under royal command. Now, to restore their titles, Her Majesty the Queen allowed the best of these battlefield warriors, alongside the excellent fighters from the western region and north, who sought to follow the “Black Mandala,” even some renowned for their affinity with the Power of Order, all to be incorporated into the German Knight Order to restore the order’s prestigious name across the continents.
Big Brother Rect mentioned that given Barry’s current prowess, he wasn’t quite up to joining a knight order comprised of Ethanbel’s top fighters yet.
However, the royal family was eager to quickly absorb more potential warriors into the order, regardless of whether they were from the Silgaya Realm, the Empire, or the Eastern Continent. Even if they lacked experience or skills for now, they could first become apprentices, receiving unified, rigorous training, thereby rapidly bolstering Ethanbel’s military strength.
Those warriors who got in early would receive recommendations to the order; for the Sword of Kanli, there were three recommendations available.
Additionally, they planned to recruit all the apprentice Church Knights who were neglected due to the Church’s waning power in the royal city. While many were novices, some were genuinely impressive.
All these individuals, along with others like Barry who were eager to join, formed a substantial base, and they would all become apprentices under the name of “German.” Barry had already participated in a training camp, and before agreeing, he distinctly remembered Big Brother Rect, who was usually laid-back, unusually solemnly telling him something.
He said, “I’m recommending you, not because of your Little Shay, nor anyone else, but because I see potential in you. Though your talent isn’t high, you’re willing to work hard. You have something worth chasing with all your might, which is what I admire about you—the unyielding spirit deep in your bones.
But you need to think carefully. Becoming a member of the German Knight Order is a choice I’m offering you, a private choice. Don’t rush to agree. First, let me tell you this: once you join the German Knight Order, what awaits you will be day-in-day-out, high-intensity training. You can’t even imagine how tough it will be, and there’s a chance you won’t be able to endure it. If you regret it later and want to quit, it won’t be that simple.
Because soon—though I can’t say how soon—something is going to weigh down on everyone’s heads.
When that time comes, the German Knight Order and us, the Sword of Kanli, will definitely be the first group standing in the front line, risking our lives. You don’t need to ask what it is now; I can only tell you that if you truly intend to join, keep it under wraps from your sister. She’ll stop you, no doubt about it.
What I’ve said today, I’m speaking to you as a warrior—a brave warrior. I’ve taught you swordplay for this long, and I feel it’s my responsibility to give you this choice. You have the right to choose your own path. But if I were to look at it from the perspective of an older brother who wants to protect his younger one, I would never give you this choice. Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s all I’ll say; think it over well.”
Barry didn’t take too long to decide.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked Big Brother Rect, “Are there any front-liners who include my sister?”
Not long after that, he received a letter from Lilith, sent from the southern border of Silgaya.
…………
On the same day, to the west of Chrisrodney City, at the border between the Empire and the Kingdom, the Lahashim Basin.
The wintry snow and lush green pines mingled across the undulating hills. On the vast spaces beyond the ridges, a sea of faces filled the area, flags waving like a party was in full swing, and the shouts of soldiers training surged like waves, the sound of iron hooves pounding the earth deafening.
This was the joint training ground for the Ethanbel Royal City Guard, the German Winged Knights’ subdivision, the Royal Academy’s Gert Class logistics team, and the Valen Empire’s Shanter Army, the Kariye Heavy Cavalry, and the Erin Castle’s Red Riders.
Both kingdoms dispatched their finest warriors to participate in this joint training, initially expecting significant cultural differences would complicate cooperation, yet to everyone’s surprise, once the armies started to work together, it turned out far smoother than imagined. In just a few days, they progressed from defense to coordinated charges, alternating between different weapons, large shields, and small shields, developing a pretty solid routine.
Rumor had it that the Imperial artisans would soon arrive, planning to test a new type of warfare weapon here—a gadget ominously dubbed “Black Eulogy.”
