## Chapter 815 – The Capital’s Winter

Preparations for departure began immediately.

As soon as the meeting ended, various instructions and information were relayed. The situation being what it was, the content was about summoning all available troops and quickly arming them.

Master Knight told me to come to the camp set up in front of the Ice Labyrinth in about two hours. It seemed he was planning to finish all preparations by then and head straight to the palace.

I acknowledged and left the conference room.

Still, the fact that they’re reacting this quickly must mean they believe me. His face looked quite skeptical, but he’ll probably ask me all sorts of things on the way.

“The Spirit Realm, you say…! Could you give us a more detailed explanation!”
“It’s a hard story to believe!”
“And who exactly is this Karin Vestart person!”

As I left the conference room, various people followed me, bombarding me with questions. These people are doing this because they believe me.

“I’ll explain everything in detail as we go. For now, I’m going back to the lodgings to prepare for departure. Let’s meet again in a bit.”
“Ah, I understand…”

I need to go back for now too.

“Paladin!!!”

As I came down to the first floor, the Holy Knights called out to me.

“Ah! Holy Knights!!! It’s so good to see you in a place like this!! You’ve worked so hard!!!!”

I immediately reached out to shake hands, and he shook my hand violently.

“It seems you’ve worked even harder!!! Anyway, this is a really serious situation…! First demons, and now even spirits are targeting this land!!!! Oh, Verdesis!!! What is becoming of this world, that such evil beings are running rampant!!!”

The three Holy Knights were almost glaring, at a loss for what to do.

Thinking from the Holy Knight’s perspective, invaders from another world = demons, so they must be taking the matter of spirits very seriously as well?

Of course, they would.
That’s why they’re Holy Knights.

In fact, the spirits are also evil villains belonging to an inhuman force of evil. There’s no reason why these guardians of the balance wouldn’t be furious.

“That’s right!!! It’s a terrible thing!! I plan to guide the knights today and then immediately return to report to the Holy Maiden!”
“Very good!! We will immediately summon the Holy Knight Order to accompany you!!”

If the Holy Knights come along, nothing could be better. The Holy Knights who believe in me are truly on my side. If they testify together, the credibility of my words will increase.

“Thank you!!!”
“We should be the ones thanking you!! To resolve such inhuman deeds and even uncover their conspiracy!!! This is a tremendous achievement!!”
“Hehehe!!”

After greeting the Holy Knights, I ran towards the lodgings.

I should spend the day guiding the knights to the palace. And after talking a bit with them, I can return to the capital tomorrow.

First, I need to let them know about this at the lodgings.

But should I ask Karin to come with me?

No.
I won’t take her.

Karin dislikes the Royal Knights. I won’t do something like taking my woman to such an uncomfortable place.

But well, I guess I can’t help but not know Karin well. She quit a long time ago and wasn’t promoted, so she was called a War Knight.

And it wouldn’t be strange if the units were different.

The Royal Knights are composed of three divisions, and each unit does different things, so it’s natural that people don’t know each other.

Just think about being in the military. No one knows the name of the first platoon leader of the company next door. You might know the name of the company commander next door, but not the platoon leader’s name. It’s the same thing.

Anyway.

I told the Royal Knights that it was a high-level spirit.

It can’t be helped. This is another world where magic and demons exist, but there are also absurdities and things that feel unrealistic in this world.

The Spirit King is one of them.

Me talking about this means that I have to `convince` Master Knight, who doesn’t know much about the Spirit King until now and is here as the chief in charge.

That’s a very difficult task.

“Hello? I killed the Spirit King. Please believe me. I caught the Spirit King, who you got your ass kicked by, with a former Royal Knight named Karin. And the Spirit King is a much stronger being than a high-level spirit. So give me more rewards.”

Who would believe me if I said something like that?

Only suspicion would remain, and the credibility and trust in my words would plummet. I don’t want to endure such penalties. It’s easier and better to claim credit by lumping it together as a high-level spirit in many ways.

Even the peerless great hero Admiral Yi Sun-sin, despite achieving tremendous feats to save the country, was slandered for “false reporting,” so I have to approach this carefully.

In addition, Cortés also destroyed the evil empire of the Aztecs, but for a while, he suffered from rumors that it was a preposterous lie.

“Is this bastard lying about catching the Spirit King to get more rewards?”

There are many people in this other world who have twisted thoughts, so there might be people who think like this. That would be a loss for me.

I am a Paladin.

A Paladin who needs to be mindful of his public image.

Slaying the Spirit King is a huge achievement. It’s a shame to give it up, but I need to downplay the credit a bit for a sure reward.

And well, saying that I caught the Spirit King is just advertising that I have a huge treasure.

There are many crazy people in this other world, so it’s bound to arouse jealousy and envy.

The Spirit King’s Heart, it’s a valuable item. Who wouldn’t be tempted by such a crazy item? The more powerful they are, the better they know the value of such things. There’s no point in attracting attention.

Let’s hide this completely.

If a Paladin monopolizes the essence of a high-level spirit, no one will say anything. Still, it might be okay to subtly hint at the existence of the Spirit King to the Holy Maiden, but I’ll think about that while writing the report.

I returned to the lodgings.

“Oh, you’re back, Darkie?”
“Yeah. What were you all doing?”
“Packing and resting a bit. We were also having a discussion about the heart. But what are you going to do now, Darkie? Are you going back?”
“No, I think I need to go to the palace with the knights for a bit.”
“Hmm… I kind of figured.”

উইনিয়া immediately understood.

“Did you say you caught the Spirit King?”
“No, they knew it as a high-level spirit, so I just went along with it.”

Hearing that, উইনিয়া nodded, and Karin walked over from the back and said.

“That was a good call. There’s no point in revealing it for no reason.”
“Ah, Sis. I sold your name a bit over there.”
“What? Why?”
“It seems that Master Knight was pushed back while fighting Arquena and the Spirit King. Since I was talking about catching someone like that, I had no choice but to sell your name.”

Because she has a reputation that’s perfect for talking about anywhere. Former Royal Knight, and also worked as a mercenary. If I say that, they can roughly understand. Even knights who don’t look favorably on external powerhouses will understand if it’s a former senior.

Why is he so strong? The moment I answer someone who asks this question with, “He used to be a member of the Royal Knights,” they understand. That’s people’s psychology.

In the end, reputation is what convinces people.

“Is that so? Then that’s fine. If you say former Royal Knight, they’ll understand.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Anyway, I went inside.
클라우디 approached, having heard the story.

“캇트. Do you have to leave right away?”
“I’ll sit for a bit before going. I’m supposed to meet in two hours. I’ll probably go back tomorrow, so rest here today. I’ll be back soon.”

While resting a bit, I explained the story from the conference room to my wives.

* * *

And so, I formed a unit with the knights, mages, and Holy Knights and advanced towards the Ice Palace again. I said that I killed all the high-level spirits, but everyone except the Holy Knights was very nervous.

The Holy Knights are like family to me, so they trust my words completely, but the others don’t. They’re preparing for battle.

“Indeed, the Ice Knights aren’t appearing at all. We’ve almost annihilated them, and there aren’t even any flying ones, as if it’s empty.”

켈바ইন next to me said that.

“It is presumed that the gate to the Spirit Realm is closed, so they can’t create any more.”
“I see.”

There was no battle on the way, and we didn’t have any special conversations. I just repeated what I had explained in the conference room. 켈바ইন didn’t ask about Karin in particular, and I only answered appropriately when other guys asked about Karin.

We arrived in front of the palace.

“This is…!”
“Damn it…!”

The corpses were left unattended in front, just like when we saw them last time.

“The recovery team is to collect the remains of the fallen.”
“Understood!”

켈바ইন gave a simple instruction and then stepped inside the palace. Is this because the roles have already been assigned?

ㅡThump, thump.

We climbed the palace like that.
I took the lead and climbed the stairs.

“He couldn’t come inside here…”

He seems to be believing my words more and more. He asked the mages around him about various things. From what I could hear, the mages didn’t seem to be feeling any special energy either. Of course. They’re all dead.

How long has it been?

“This is the place. I killed them here. Those two high-level entities.”

We arrived at the scene where I killed the Spirit King.

“…”

The knights carefully entered.

“…There’s really nothing here.”

켈바ইন, who had been silent, said.

“Because I killed them. Ah, the gate was right here.”
“I see.”

Everyone formed a formation and began searching.

“Indeed… I have no choice but to believe the Paladin’s words. Well then, let me ask again. How strong is that former Royal Knight, Karin Vestart?”
“She’s a really strong woman. I don’t really know her exact combat power.”
“She must be at least as strong as our Master Knights. There’s no way she could have caught that otherwise.”

Master Knight 켈바ইন.

I can definitely feel that he’s strong. If I fought him now, I would definitely be pushed back. He’s much stronger than a guy like 가로스. But compared to Karin?

Karin is stronger.

“That might be the case. I heard she quit the Knights and gained experience as a mercenary.”
“I see… But.”
“Yes?”
“Is there no chance that the Ice Spirits will reappear? According to the Paladin, there’s a high probability that they’ll attack again, isn’t there?”
“That’s right.”

They will definitely attack again.

“So, there’s a chance that the Ice Spirits will open a gate again in the Spirit Realm and attack to recapture this palace. No, they definitely will. There’s no way they’ll leave this base alone. If they failed, they’ll definitely bring more troops.”
“…”

No.

This is a reasonable guess, but.

The Ice Spirit King is already dead, so I don’t think they’ll be able to do it for a while. Maybe other Spirit Kings, but I think this place will be abandoned.

“That could… be the case.”

Let’s answer appropriately.

Of course, the next Ice Spirit King might attack again soon. And the speculation that they’ll attack again is probably based on his experience. It’s not something I can say anything about. This person is a general.

“I think we need to prepare for that as well. Anyway, I’ll express my gratitude. I will definitely report this to the higher-ups and formally express my gratitude. Thank you for your hard work. And please convey my thanks to that former Royal Knight, Karin Vestart.”
“Understood.”

Does he think I did his job for him?

There seemed to be a slightly different meaning mixed in with the words of gratitude. Well, someone like Master Knight must have a lot of pride and responsibility. He might think I stole his credit. That’s not a good thing.

Living in the world is so uncomfortable.

Anyway, 켈바인, who greeted me, went to Knight General over there, who was commanding the knights. At the same time, a mage looked around and approached me.

“Excuse me… Paladin.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Did you happen to obtain the essence or the source of power after killing the high-level spirit?”

His eyes turned into those of a merchant.

“If it’s okay, would you be willing to sell it? For a very high price…”
“I won’t sell it.”

See? People are already appearing who are aiming for the essence of the high-level spirit. How tired would I have been if I had blabbered about catching the Spirit King? They would have definitely sent a truckload of people from various magic towers.

“No, wait a minute. Please listen to me.”
“I have no intention of selling. Go back.”

I’m not selling it, damn it.