"Can you tell me more about the Chamber of Commerce and what they've been up to over the years?" After typing the message, Wang Fei looked towards the uncles sitting nearby.
"I'm sorry... Sir Silverlance Knight. Although I can tell you about the evil deeds they've committed, there's no evidence to confirm any of it. They never leave any traces behind."
"Do they have support from higher-ups?"
Kowal snorted in displeasure.
"If you mean public support, then of course, you only see the nobles! But if it's secret cooperation, you'd probably see the names of nearly half the Knightly Associations in the league pop up... and that's not even counting several heads from the National Security Commission."
"Kowal... watch your mouth," Vogel warned his close friend sternly, seeing that he was encroaching upon the high-level agency that oversaw Kazimierz.
"What? Where was I wrong! It's obvious we almost didn't make it out alive last time because those bastards refused to send help! Even you, who used to work with them, they wouldn't listen to! So you expect me to speak nicely about them?!"
'Even the National Security Commission isn't exempt?' Wang Fei was quite shocked by this information. That agency was the foundation of the National Council, led by his grandfather and Grandmother Iolana. If even that place was controlled by the Chamber of Commerce, then Kazimierz was in a very worrying state.
"Especially that damn Armorless Union... those limp-dicked sons of whores! If it weren't for them, our boss wouldn't have had to leave this place!"
"You're drunk, my friend," Marcin reached for a jar of lemonade, poured it into a glass, and handed it to Kowal.
Kowal grabbed it and took a drink, sobering up slightly before turning to thank Marcin.
"Thanks."
"Sigh, Kazimierz has changed so much now, Sir Knight. Although I don't know in what way... I'm sure it's not for the better. Especially now that even the noble knight factions have started turning against each other for personal gain. Even I can no longer say with full confidence that the honor of a knight is as valuable as it was in the past, when such things can be bought with a few thousand dollars."
"When you say the noble knight factions are turning against each other, does that group include the Nearl family?"
"Of course not!" Kowal answered instantly. Vogel nodded in agreement and added.
"The Nearl family is one of the leading families, a pillar that has stood with Kazimierz since the time of its founding. And with the fact that they have produced two generations of Knight-Primarchs, their honor as noble knights is even greater, perhaps even comparable to the royal knight dynasty."
"Sigh... but it's such a shame," Vogel sighed.
"Because the nobles saw the Nearl family as too powerful, they tried to find ways to tarnish their reputation with various rumors. Especially the most recent case, where they used the death of the Knight-Primarch to punish them."
"Sir Czin was accused of murdering his own son, condemned by society, and then permanently stripped of his knightly title. Even his wife was punished. Yet, the two of them never once came out to demand justice. They willingly accepted the punishment before being placed under a rule forbidding them from leaving the Nearl manor by more than ten meters. At first, they were almost fitted with tracking explosives on their ankles. Fortunately, due to their good deeds in the war, combined with the legal battles fought by Sir Kirill and Mlynar, they were able to mitigate that action—" Vogel's voice cut off mid-sentence as he sensed a terrifying aura from the figure before him.
'How dare they...'
CRACK!! The phone in Wang Fei's hand shattered into pieces. At the same time, he didn't realize that the aura around him was being enveloped by a black shadow creeping up his body.
But he snapped back to his senses when he heard the system's voice.
'Soul fragment has been contaminated by resentment. Soul condition improvement has increased. Resentment status: 20%.'
Wang Fei froze... Suddenly, he was back to his senses and looked down at the message. The number remained at 20%.
'What the hell is this, system? Are you telling me that if I can't control my emotions, my soul will turn into an evil spirit?'
Wang Fei fretted silently. Besides the tiresome task of gathering spiritual energy from the Nearl family, now he had to try and control his anger too?
System... this is too hard a mission!
"Sorry about the phone. I squeezed it a bit too hard," Wang Fei wrote on the table guiltily.
"...I think you should be apologizing to young Maria. It was her phone, not mine," Vogel said, looking at the wreckage of the phone with a complex expression. He had been observing the other's reaction for a while, and the anger just now was clearly on the level of an executioner. And that black spiritual aura... it made the middle-aged man quite anxious. Luckily, the black shadow had faded. Perhaps it was purified by the Pegasus power within him.
Wang Fei then borrowed Vogel's phone and began asking about other things, such as the political situation, the living conditions of the Infected, and finally, how the members of the Nearl family were doing.
The answers he received were more worrying than he had thought. In politics, the balance of power was tipping towards the Chamber of Commerce, which was promoting the Kazimierz Major to be grander than ever before, while trying to cut old costs, such as funding for other academic departments that the Knight-Primarch had established, and redirecting that money to promote the combat department to support new generations of knights.
But despite the flowery words, Vogel said that supporting new knights was just a facade. In reality, it was just a place where high-ranking noble knights would send their relatives to consolidate power and absorb smaller noble factions into their own.
Anyone who disagreed or tried to break away would be isolated, ostracized by the larger noble factions, or even have their power in the council diminished by the majority.
'Disgusting,' was Wang Fei's current opinion of the noble knights.
The situation with the Infected was even worse. The discrimination, as well as the medical institute that was being established, had been temporarily shelved, with no sign of it being re-approved for the past 5 years. With rumors over the past few years, riots by the Infected had become more violent and frequent, further tarnishing their image. Many nobles tried to propose laws to revoke the approval for the Infected to participate in wars and to strip them of their knightly titles. Fortunately, the National Security Commission did not agree, citing that the Knight-Primarch himself had established that policy. This allowed the Infected to still have a place in Kazimierz, but it had to be admitted that the citizens' perception of them was declining daily, just waiting for a spark to ignite a fire.
Although many Infected still had the right to vote and compete in the Kazimierz Major, there was no guarantee they could actually reach the representative rounds. Most of them were used as tools by corporations to throw matches or eliminate competitors on company orders.
Many Infected knights had tried to form federations for the Infected to compete with the remaining corporations, but it was very difficult for them to gain prominence without support from the higher-ups. This made their federations no different from large clubs that gathered like-minded individuals. Among these clubs were the Pinus Sylvestris Knightclub, the Crimson Solitaire Knightclub, and the Auxiliary Planthill Knightclub.
As for the Nearl family, Czin and Yolanta were permanently stripped of their knightly titles. They were forced to stay in the Nearl manor, with Campaign Knights watching over the mansion 24 hours a day.
The first Radiant Knight, Kirill Nearl, rejoined the army and became the leader of the National Security Commission alongside Iolana Russell, maintaining Kazimierz's stability for many years. He remained a knight who adhered to the traditional ways of the Knight-Primarch, his grandson. Despite many attacks from the nobility calling him an old-fashioned traditionalist with no concept of change, his confrontational nature meant that the noble knights didn't dare face him directly and would shrink away when confronted by Kazimierz's most powerful former knight.
Mlynar Nearl, after the Knight-Primarch's departure, became a severe workaholic, trying everything to make Kazimierz better. He resigned from his position as the right hand of the royal family and transitioned into working as the head of a patrol unit for the Kazimierz National Security Commission, traveling to various villages to fight bandits and hidden rebels. Three years ago, Mlynar's group was ambushed by rebels collaborating with Sarkaz mercenaries. His entire knightly unit was slaughtered. Only Mlynar survived, thanks to the help of villagers and his mercenary comrades.
When Mlynar returned, his demeanor had changed as if he were a different person. The nobles tried to frame him for killing his own team, as the wounds on the bodies of those knights were found to be from a sword and traces of Originium Arts similar to Mlynar's. Mlynar did not try to dispute the accusation, but he did not admit to it either. Before long, a court order sentenced him to be dismissed from the agency, return the "Right Hand Knight" insignia to the royal family, and forbade him from interfering in Kazimierz politics for twenty years. He was currently working as an ordinary salaried employee in a small law firm in the city center.
Hearing about Uncle Mlynar, Wang Fei admitted he was as shocked as when he heard about his parents' punishment. Someone with such high ideals and as stubborn as his grandfather, yet he accepted those accusations without a word of complaint... If he wasn't being blackmailed or hadn't gone through something terrible, Wang Fei could hardly imagine someone like Uncle Mlynar ending up in this state.
This made his opinion of Kazimierz sink even lower.
"As for Margaret, she—" Vogel was cut off mid-sentence because the argument from the two girls seemed to have reached them.
"I still don't agree! Can't you see what everyone has gone through just by getting involved in that stupid competition! Do you want to be like Margaret, obsessing over that foolish sword!"
Hearing Zofia say that, Maria immediately showed her displeasure.
"Aunt Zofia, you're going too far! Both Uncle Mlynar and Grandpa, they are all trying their best to fulfill the will that Brother Ray left behind! Even Margaret must think the same! So what my sister wants is just to bring that sword back to make everyone in the family happy, right?!"
"Happy... happy, you say! And do you think after bringing that sword back, your brother will be resurrected! He's dead, Ray is dead! The Knight-Primarch is dead!! All he left behind were words that didn't make anything better! Only brought disaster upon the family! And upon you!"
"Aunt Zofia! Even if it's you! I won't stand for you insulting my brother like this!"
"Yes! I'm insulting him, but isn't it because you're never satisfied with anything! Why... isn't being an ordinary person enough! Don't you think your brother would have wanted that too! He used to be like you... like me, just an ordinary person who wanted to be happy like everyone else! Do you think he'd be happy knowing his sister is in danger! Have you ever thought about that!"
"..."
"But... you should understand me best, shouldn't you? Because you're the closest person to me. Everyone in the family is a knight, but I'm not! So how can that make me happy!"
"Maria—" Zofia's words stopped when she noticed the clear tears flowing from the young girl's eyes.
"My brother was the Knight-Primarch! The protector and savior of Kazimierz! Everyone's hero... He went to war at 16 to protect our family, while I'm 18 and still studying at the academy! With no training or honor at all. How could my brother be proud of me if I don't have the power to protect our family!"
"..."
"What I'm doing now is to repay what Brother Ray did for our family and our lineage... so why do you have to talk as if what I'm doing is wrong? Or in your eyes... is what I'm doing worthless to everyone?" Maria said through tears. She didn't want to argue with Zofia at all, but she didn't understand why the other woman had to try and stop her so much, when others in the family were supportive, but she wasn't...
"..." Zofia's lips pressed together tightly as she saw Maria crying sadly.
The woman reached out and gently touched Maria's face, then apologized to her guiltily.
"I'm sorry... I just wanted to tell you that the Nearl family doesn't need any more honor. What Ray did that time was more than enough to uphold the family's honor for hundreds of years to come."
"I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong, Maria. I just... want to say that if it were Ray, he wouldn't want his sister to be in danger just because of him," Zofia knew she had spoken too harshly out of emotion, so she tried to explain everything to the young girl before hugging her.
"I'm truly sorry. I just want you to understand that I'm just worried about you..."
"But I'm 18 now... I can take care of myself," Maria said stubbornly.
Hearing this, Zofia still shook her head and was about to reply, but at that moment, the uncles, who couldn't stand the atmosphere any longer, rushed in to help.
"Zofia, young Maria has a point... I think letting the kid try won't hurt," Marcin said in support.
"Yeah, yeah... you don't have to worry so much, little lady. With us here, I guarantee the Chamber of Commerce or any of those nobles won't be able to lay a finger on Maria!" Kowal puffed out his chest and shouted confidently.
"Besides, Maria is a direct disciple of Lady Hilde. Even she said that Maria is the most fitting person to be called a knight. So why don't we share some of that trust with her?"
Vogel spoke last, making the heartbroken Maria feel grateful and turn to look at the uncles who supported her.
"Uncles..."
Zofia, seeing this, fell silent for a moment before finally sighing and muttering what everyone wanted to hear.
"Fine... I'll let you compete this time. But only for this season!" As Zofia's reluctant confirmation ended, Maria, who was previously squeezing out tears, immediately changed her expression to a joyful smile and rushed to hug her.
"Yay!! I love you the most, Auntie Zofia!!"
"Hey now, you child... I told you not to call me Auntie. I'm only a year older than your brother!!"
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two had returned to that of a normal family, everyone felt relieved, especially Wang Fei, who in the end didn't intervene, though his heart was full of guilt because their argument was partly about him. After watching the two of them hug, Wang Fei couldn't help but wonder if his actions in the simulated world were right.
'Hopefully, after regaining Ray's memories and ideals, I will know the answer to that.'
Then Wang Fei saw Maria pulling the woman's arm towards him.
"Auntie Zofia, Auntie Zofia, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Wang Fei! He's a ghost who was a former Silverlance knight!"
"A ghost? Maria, you shouldn't call people that."
While Zofia was scolding Maria, Wang Fei was typing a greeting on his phone. But suddenly, Maria rushed over and pulled the helmet off his head.
"See! I told you he's really a ghost!" Maria turned to Zofia to see her reaction.
"!!!" Everyone in the group's eyes widened, especially Zofia's.
Wang Fei, noticing their strange expressions, was confused. Normally, if someone saw that there was no head under an armored helmet, they should show a terrified expression, right? But their expressions were as if they were seeing something shocking instead.
"Oh, I never knew the former Silverlance would be so handsome."
'Huh?' "Eh?"
Marcin's laughter broke the silence, surprising both Wang Fei and Maria.
Wang Fei glanced at a mirror on a nearby table and found that the reflection in it was his own face behind the armor!
'Why... do I have a head?' Wang Fei's eyes widened. He touched his face in shock, but the expression in the mirror didn't match his action. His face remained deadpan and expressionless, and his hand touching the skin felt like touching a rock, so hard he couldn't pull the skin.
And when Maria turned back, she was stunned to find that the face of the ghost, which she thought should be empty, now had the face of a handsome, deadpan, blue-haired young man.
"M-Mr. Ghost... you..." Maria's eyes widened when she saw that face.
'This is bad, my cover is blown!' Wang Fei tried to think of an excuse. He tried to make a sound to speak, but like always, no sound escaped his mouth, as if he couldn't control any part of his head except his eyes.
He could only stand and await his fate, but he was snapped back to reality by his sister's words.
"You... are so handsome!!"
'Huh...'
Wang Fei stared at Maria's face. Even though he couldn't show any emotion right now, he felt an itch in his hand to flick his dear little sister on the forehead.
'...My beloved sister, have you even forgotten your own brother's face?'
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