## Chapter 745 – Paladin Kim Kat

ㅡShimmer, shimmer.

The armor, which looked luxurious at a glance, sparkled in silver.

As expected of the Royal Knights.

Their equipment was extraordinary, and it was judged that they all possessed decent skills. No, they were definitely strong. You could call them strong at this level.

“…”

Was this knight, who was holding out his palm in front of me, a little weaker than Baron Salberin?

I’d have to fight to know for sure, but my senses were telling me so. Strong, but not an opponent I couldn’t beat. I’d already torn Salberin to shreds, so this was nothing. They were only strong by general standards.

There were a total of five knights gathered.

A squad consisting of four men and one woman. The woman had short orange hair, and her armor design was slightly different from the other male knights.

Were these the only five who came as an exploration team?

Were these people unable to break through the 4th floor right now? Well, if there were a lot of golems, they wouldn’t be able to just break through. Anyway, with people coming from all over to explore the dungeon, it was only natural that the Royal Knights would come too.

After a brief thought, I stared at them for a moment.

This was said to be the Royal Knights’ area.

If they came by royal order, they would have that much authority.

These people were genuine public officials. There was no need to cause friction, and there was no reason to, so it was better to just pass by.

Besides, golems weren’t only here.

“Ah. You’re from the Brass Sanctuary. Nice to meet you. I am Linsol Felbaite, a War Knight belonging to the Royal Knights.”

The male knight who approached me checked the emblem on my armor, smiled, and held out his hand. I thought they would act high and mighty, but was it because of my armor? A friendly response.

But War Knight?
Was that a rank?

“Nice to meet you. I am Kim Kat, a Paladin directly under the Saintess of the Brass Sanctuary.”
“Paladin?”

I shook his hand as I answered. Judging by his reaction, he didn’t seem to know the details of being a Paladin directly under the Saintess.

“You can understand it as a special Paladin directly appointed by the Saintess.”
“Ah, Saintess Kadia… She’s a very beautiful woman.”
“Hehehe, that’s right.”

As expected, one of the kingdom’s three beauties.
Even this knight knew about her.

“Are the Royal Knights carrying out a mission here?”

Anyway, the atmosphere was good, so I asked.

“You could say that. We are currently on a mission here. Ah, but I thought religious people hadn’t been involved so far, so has something happened?”
“Has something happened? Not really. I simply received a mission from Saintess Kadia and came to investigate the dungeon.”
“Hehehe, so you came on a mission too.”

Was it because I revealed that I was a Paladin? The War Knight smiled and kindly explained to me. He wasn’t a friend who couldn’t communicate. And he was young too.

And… did he not have any prejudice against barbarians?

Karin clearly said that she left the Royal Knights because she hated discrimination… Or maybe it was simply because I wasn’t in the same group, but in the church, so he was being polite.

They might discriminate within their own group, but they couldn’t do that to a Paladin from another group, especially one from a church with strong influence.

I didn’t know what rank War Knight was, but if he was weaker than Salberin, he was probably just a regular knight. A guy like that couldn’t start a fight with another group on his own.

He had that much sense.

“Then I should get back to my mission. I’ll wish the Paladin good luck. Ah, and if you’re thinking of exploring, try going around that way. Golems are coming out from all directions, so if you’re thinking of defeating them, it’s perfect.”
“Hehehe, thank you for the information. Blessings be with the Royal Knights as well.”
“Thank you.”

I said goodbye and glanced back.

I had to check on Karin.

“…”

Karin was looking at the knights with a strange expression, glaring at them. Her narrowed eyes seemed to emphasize Karin’s violence.

She touched her lips and looked at me.

What on earth was this sister thinking right now?

It would be nice if nothing happened and we could just move on, but Karin hated the Royal Knights. Well, still, Karin was older than me. She would take care of it.

If I couldn’t trust my sisters, who could I trust?

“Someone from the church came?”

It was right then.

The female knight with short orange hair who was over there walked towards me and said to the War Knight.

Looking at her, this woman was an Ajumma.

ㅡWith some wrinkles around her mouth.

Those wrinkles proved that she had crossed the irretrievable boundary of youth.

Originally, people who used mana rarely aged, but if their skills were lacking or they were old, they would gradually age. It was slower than ordinary people, but they did age.

She looked quite young, but she couldn’t hide her wrinkles.

“Ah, Elder Knight.”

Elder Knight?

The War Knight said to the female knight and slightly lowered his head.

Her armor design was a little different, so was this female knight the commander of this site? Judging by the fact that her rank included “Elder,” she seemed to be a relatively high-ranking person… But I didn’t know their ranks.

“Hmm, someone from the church?”
“…Nice to meet you.”

Feeling the need to confirm that I was from the church, she called out to me as she approached. I reflexively greeted her, and the War Knight stepped aside.

ㅡThump, thump.

At the same time, Karin, who was behind me, walked forward.

The female knight, reacting to the sound of footsteps, checked Karin who was walking over.

“…”

The silence was short.

“Oh my?!”

The female knight was the first to open her mouth.

“Aren’t you Karin?!”

What the fuck, they knew each other!

The female knight, with a smile suddenly spreading across her face, passed me and stood in front of Karin. There was a smile on her face, but it was by no means a friendly smile. Karin clearly recalled that her time in the Royal Knights was terrible!

I had a feeling this would happen when she said Royal Knights, but to think she would meet someone she knew…! There was nothing good about fighting!

“That’s right, that’s right, it’s Karin. Did you quit the Knights and come to explore the dungeon? Hohoho, how many years has it been? Have you been well? Your black hair looks very pretty as always, you.”

The female knight spoke to Karin, pretending to be friendly, and laughed while covering her mouth. It was clearly sarcastic. I was about to step in right away, but ㅡSwish! Karin signaled me to stay still.

Was this sister okay…?

She told me not to step in, so I should stay still.

I sent my women, who were waiting right behind me, behind the corner. It seemed like Karin had to talk alone for now.

“Um, Jeniel?”

Karin, who had been touching her lips, said.

“Wow! You remembered my name? I’m so grateful!”

The female knight, Jeniel, who reacted exaggeratedly to the fact that her name was remembered, put her hands together and expressed her gratitude. It was an obviously teasing action, and Karin wasn’t the type to put up with this.

“Ah, right. That was your name. Jeniel… It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? Have you been doing well in the Knights?”
“Of course, I’m doing well. I’m already an Elder Knight, you know? But what has our eternal War Knight Karin been doing all this time? I was sure you had returned to your homeland, the land of the barbarians!”

ㅡShiver!

I shuddered for a moment.

Why was this bitch digging her own grave?
Did she not know Karin’s skills…?

“Well, similar. After leaving the Knights, I did some mercenary work and went to Isvant. It’s still a frontier there.”
“Is that so?”

The two seemed to be in stark contrast right now.

Karin was currently wearing a brigandine with a black leather exterior. This armor, which tightened at the waist and revealed the curves of her body, was more like a mercenary than a knight. It looked like she was wearing a women’s padded jacket.

But Elder Knight Jeniel was wearing the Royal Knights’ standard equipment, which literally sparkled in silver.

Anyone could see that this side looked stronger.

However.

Just by looking, this female knight was a knight that I could beat.

Strong, but not as much as me. And she would be weaker than Garos. About Salberin’s level? Of course, I couldn’t deny that even that was strong.

“By the way, Jeniel. How many times have I told you that I’m not a barbarian, but just a mixed-blood? I remember talking about it several times when I was in the Knights, you know. That I was born and raised in the Vestart family.”

Karin asked, tilting her head for a moment.

“Ah, was that so? Sorry, sorry! It’s been so long that I don’t remember well! I guess only the word ‘barbarian’ remained in my head!”

Should I stop this…?

It wouldn’t be strange if Karin cut off her head in one stroke… Honestly, with our power, we could slaughter all the guys here in 30 seconds.

But if we killed the Royal Knights, it wouldn’t end there.

Above all, I didn’t know their scale, so I couldn’t fight recklessly.

Somehow, I was assuming a massacre, but this habit of mine had become too strange. Anyway, it wasn’t good to fight with these guys.

The Royal Knights were the undisputed strongest force in the kingdom, and killing them meant challenging the kingdom.

“Right, Karin wasn’t a barbarian, but her mother was a barbarian. I remember now. Ah, my memory is so hazy these days.”

Jeniel, who continued to be sarcastic until the end, covered her mouth with her hand and tried to check Karin’s face. Seeing her being so sarcastic, I could roughly picture the relationship between Karin and this woman during her time in the Royal Knights.

ㅡTremble, tremble…!

No, my molars were about to break…!

ㅡCrack!

My tightly clenched teeth made a bizarre sound.

I felt like anger was filling my heart right now. If Karin hadn’t told me to stay still, I would have drawn my sword and killed her a long time ago…!

How dare she make fun of my Karin…!

It was too hard to bear!!!!!!!!!!!

“Yeah. Karin wasn’t a barbarian. I definitely said that a long time ago. Oh my, I was so happy to see you that I had a memory error.”

ㅡSmirk.

The bitch tried to cross the line, and then Karin smirked and said.

“Hey, hey. It’s because you’re old. Because you’re old. Because you’re old, you have amnesia. Looking at you, you’re already all wrinkled.”
“W-what?”
“Are you okay? Do you have a man? You haven’t made one even at that age? Looking at you getting old, it seems like you should catch a man soon, Jeniel. What do you think? Looking at your hazy memory, you’re completely a grandma now.”

Karin looked down at Jeniel with an expression that seemed to see something really pitiful. Karin was taller, after all.

“O-old…!”

She stuttered, visibly flustered by the word “old.”

“Looking at your face, I just feel sorry and have pity on you. Why didn’t you train harder? Look at these wrinkles around your mouth. I was going to argue with you, but I can’t because I feel sorry for you.”
“W-wrinkles! What wrinkles…!”

The bitch touched her mouth for a moment.

The tips of her fingers slipped into the wrinkles that couldn’t be hidden.

It was like… a camel falling into the inhuman and cruel sand hell that was said to be in the deepest part of the desert.

“So even the people who were my peers are getting this old. The world is really something. Huh? Time flies, right? Jeniel.”

Ah.

Come to think of it.

Unlike Karin, who only looked like she was in her late teens or early twenties, this Elder Knight Jeniel had literally… crossed the line of youth a long time ago.

It wasn’t just the difference in equipment between the two.

“What do you think people would think if you and I stood side by side right now? Huh?”
“K-Karin… you, you…!”

Anyone would think they were looking at an Ajumma and a high school girl. The difference in their “youth” was that great. Karin knew that and returned the mockery to her. There was no sharper blade than mentioning “youth.”

It was quiet for some reason.

She was trying to solve it gentlemanly.

“Kyahaha, ah. This. It’s so nice to see you after a long time, bitch. Jeniel. Why are you so old? Huh? Did you have a hard time getting promoted?”
“H-how dare you say such a thing to me…!”
“You idiot, can’t you tell even after looking at my face? Nothing has changed since then, right?”

Karin pointed her finger at her face while bringing it close to her.

“Kuh…!”
“What does that mean, you blockhead. Honestly, you weren’t a match for me even back then, bitch. Even if a whole bunch of you guys came, you couldn’t kill me. Don’t be a drama queen and let’s go our separate ways? Huh? I’m a little busy. Ah. If you know anything, let me know. We’re peers, after all. And congratulations on your Elder Knight promotion.”
“You!”

ㅡThud.

At that moment, Jeniel put her hand on the hilt of her sword.