Chapter 373 : Fraudster

Chapter 373: Fraudster

In the residential area of the Second Tier officials and the Doyle Knight Order, high-ranking officials and knights of notable status had already gone to the castle. However, this area welcomed even more knights.

These were the knightly retainers of the nobles gathered in Doyle City.

Compared to the banquet held in the castle, due to their greater numbers, they simply held an outdoor feast.

The flames soared into the sky. Even in the darkness of night, the Third Tier below could see the bright light and rising smoke from the Second Tier.

The knights drank and made merry, their bold cheers ringing clearly through the air, occasionally accompanied by the sounds of bards playing flutes, lutes, and hand drums.

With the role bards had played in the Northland War, over the years they had gradually spread throughout the Kingdom of Greenwood. Naturally, bards had become a fixture in the knights' feasts.

The matters discussed at noble banquets were not for the ears of bards, who were mostly commoners. How could commoners approach nobility?

But these knights were not nobles. Most of them yearned to be sung of. Especially in recent years, knighthood was no longer conferred solely by nobles. It could now also be granted through evaluation by the Warrior Guild, formerly the mercenary guild.

Thus, those who previously could not become knights suddenly found themselves called knights after being evaluated as Tier Four by the mercenary guild.

Later, due to the Eastern Campaign, both nobles and knights suffered heavy losses. The nobles, desperate to restore their strength, formally conferred knighthood upon them, granting them everything that came with the title.

They had become true knights.

Yet they suddenly found that the ones sung of by the bards were instead the three great knight orders. As for them, the knights officially conferred by nobles, they remained largely unseen.

Even under the influence of the bards, those 'free' commoners often compared them with the three great knight orders.

Or rather, compared them with the Oath Knights and the Virtue Knights. When mentioning the Doyle Knight Order, people only commented on their numbers.

The Virtue Knights, still numbering only five and maintaining a low profile while active in the Diocese of Rod between York Territory and Lake Salvador, were mentioned far less frequently.

It was the Oath Knights—knights who upheld and practiced "bravery and fearlessness, protection of the weak, and the spread of justice"—who were constantly praised by the commoners.

Especially when these knights carried out certain tasks for the nobles, despairing commoners would curse them to their faces, saying they weren’t true knights, that only the Oath Knights deserved the name.

This angered them even more.

Especially those knights who had been expelled from the Oath Knights by Richard.

Marquis Richard was an anomaly among nobles, and his Oath Knights were anomalies among knights.

Everyone knew that a knight needed only to be loyal to their lord and follow their lord’s orders. Only those who upheld this principle could be called knights. This was the rule upon which humanity survived, unchanged from the earliest recorded history until now.

But in their hearts, they remained uneasy.

The more they acted as knights, the more they sensed the gap between themselves and the knights from before the founding of the Warrior Guild.

So when the Senate announced the redefinition of warriors and knights, their fear reached its peak.

According to the standards outlined in plain text, most of them were certain that they did not meet the criteria of knighthood as defined by the Knight Guild.

Yet they did not want to lose the status of a knight.

They had struggled to achieve the title they had long dreamed of. They had enjoyed the benefits of that identity. How could they willingly give it up?

Even those few who were mentally prepared to accept the change had families that relied on their status as knights and would never allow them to admit it.

When the pursuit of ideals clashed with real interests, could these knights, recognized by noble conferment, really choose another path?

Perhaps the only choice they had was to remain in the military camps outside the city rather than join the revelry here.

The knights who stayed behind celebrated wildly. They drank deeply, listened to the bards’ praises, laughed loudly, all while trying to mask their inner fear.

Even though most of them would not pass the Knight Guild’s assessment, they were still powerful Tier Four warriors who fought on the front lines. They deeply understood the horrors of war and the difference between themselves and true knights.

And what of the nobles?

They were certainly clever. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have survived the Eastern Campaign and retained their noble status.

But their understanding of war was shallow. They were not the type of nobles who led charges on the battlefield.

Those nobles had died long ago, back before the York Territory launched its offensive against the Fishmen during the Eastern Campaign.

The nobles had chosen greed. The knights, for their own interests, could only choose to follow.

They drank, dueled drunkenly with fellow knights, and let the bards play music to praise their strength.

It felt as though victory was within reach.

Indeed, with over three hundred Tier Four warriors gathered, what did York Territory matter? Who could resist the charge of over three hundred knights?

That was the greatest military force, even more powerful than any Holy Relic. It was the rule upon which humanity survived.

Thus, amid the continuous day-and-night feasting, the knights’ confidence grew. They cast aside thoughts of failure and began celebrating victory in advance.

In the heat of celebration, they conveniently forgot that the marquis and three earls at the southern edge of Greenwood had not made a move. These individuals, not knights but personal guards of King Pegira who had become nobles, were Tier Five Great Knights, beyond Tier Four.

Unlike the noisy celebrations on the First and Second Tiers, the Third Tier was shrouded in darkness and silence, devoid of the southern economic center’s bustle.

The only place with a bit of light was the Great Cathedral of Doyle.

Beneath the Sacred Cross, Jeremiah knelt with his head bowed.

Behind him stood a man wearing dark green light attire and a feathered hat, his head reverently lowered.

At his waist was a visible long flute.

『..—·Aside from those four, about eighty percent of the southern nobles are gathering in Doyle City. Currently, Doyle City holds four viscounts, twenty-six barons, and forty-one lords.』

『Among them, aside from the four viscounts, six barons and twelve lords are subordinate nobles of Marquis Gregor. What a powerful marquisate—no wonder it’s the best-preserved noble domain after the Unification War and the Eastern Campaign.』

『Of course, your governance has also made an indelible and tremendous contribution to the prosperity of Doyle Territory.』

This bard flattered Jeremiah, but the previous praise for Gregor’s subordinate nobles carried the inherited sarcasm passed down from Oscar.

The nobles he mentioned were all who had sworn allegiance to Gregor, and now, they were all gathered at Gregor’s Doyle Castle.

『I am merely a bishop of the Church, temporarily serving as Gregor’s political advisor, not the governor of his domain,』 Jeremiah corrected the bard without turning around.

『Yes, of course. You are a distinguished bishop of the Church. A mere marquisate governor could never be worthy of such an honor,』 replied the bard, his tone carrying a faint sarcasm reminiscent of Oscar’s.

Jeremiah stopped discussing such trivial yet irritating topics. He asked, 『Are those all the ones interested?』

『Yes, so far, only these have shown interest,』 said the bard. 『But if you’re willing to give us a few more days, our Bard Guild will surely bring more nobles. Please trust in our Bard Guild’s capabilities.』

His tone remained light and sweet, but Jeremiah could hear the plea within it.

Jeremiah found it quite amusing. Matters between the bards and their guild were no secret to a bishop of the Church. Yet it hadn’t been long—just late February—and already they were speaking as “we of the Bard Guild.”

They didn’t even mention Oscar anymore.

Jeremiah asked, 『I’m curious, what is your current rank within the Bard Guild?』

The bard replied, 『Oh, noble bishop, that is a secret within our guild. However, if you truly wish to know, of course I would tell you. Each of us in the Bard Guild is a devout believer.』

『And because it was necessary to contact a noble bishop such as yourself, it is I, a Rank Two Fraudster, who has come to meet you,』 the Fraudster said.

Jeremiah twitched at the corner of his eye, thankfully facing away so the bard couldn’t see.

『Fraudster?』 Jeremiah said. 『So—』

The bard quickly interrupted, 『No, no, no. Fraudster means that the words I speak are more convincing, not that I have deceived you.』

『In truth, I believe my abilities far exceed Rank Two, but I’ve yet to complete the General Advancement Ritual, so I cannot yet become a Rank Three. This is due to the Bard Guild’s recent establishment.』

Jeremiah asked, 『What is the ritual to advance to Rank Three?』

The bard replied, 『Respected bishop, I’m very sorry. That is a core secret of the Bard Guild. Naturally, you are qualified to know, but it is not my place as a Rank Two Fraudster to say. Perhaps you could ask President Yorn directly.』

『Of course, I can tell you this—after the purge of these remnants from the old era is over, I may well become a Rank Three Listener.』