Chapter 220

“Yes.”
Revill nodded.
“I can’t believe it’s almost ready. I guess everyone’s embarrassed?”
Sigh
Alkan said, rising from his seat.
“It’s going to be… embarrassing.”
“I suppose. Hmm.”
At Revil’s words, Alkan looked at Ming Hu and smiled. Then he opened his mouth to speak.
“I’m ready, I’ll explain as we go.”
After speaking, Alkan began to walk out of the room.
“My lord?”
After staring blankly at Alkan’s back, Ming Hu was snapped out of his reverie by Revil’s voice, and he and Revil began to walk behind Alkan.
Jumbled
“I’m…”
Alkan spoke up as they walked down the hall.
“I’m thinking of granting you Baron Magnus’s estate today.”
Halt.
Alkan’s words caused Ming Hu to pause for a moment. What does this mean?” But Alkan was not finished.
“With the title of Earl.”
Ming Hu was speechless at Alkan’s next words. He was overwhelmed with embarrassment.
“Sure. This is a start.”
“…Start?”
A beginning? Ming Hu couldn’t help but question Alkan’s words. Alkan smiled at Ming Hu’s question and continued.
“Okay, here we go. You can’t stay an earl forever, you’ll always have more lands.”
“…all of a sudden, what the hell.
Ming Hu was taken aback by the suddenness of Alkan’s words. He had only been breaking the Emperor’s quest, and now he was suddenly being offered a title and a manor? And from the way he spoke, it seemed that this was not the end of it.
“So you’re ready to go now…”
Ming Hu asked.
“Of course it’s a knighthood ceremony.”
Alkan opened his mouth to answer with a look of disbelief.
“…”
Ming Hu was speechless at the look on Alkan’s face. Of course, he wasn’t offended.
‘Ganjira…’
Ming Hu could have been made a baron at any time by simply saying the word, but it was the manor that prevented him from doing so. However, he was not offended by the fact that the manor was given to him and the title of count, which was not even a barony, was given to him.
“You’ve arrived.”
Alkan’s words made Ming Hu stop thinking and look ahead.
“That’s huge.
It was even larger than the building that housed the emperor’s office.
“Let’s go in.”
With that, Alkan turned and walked into the building. Ming Hu and Revil turned and followed Alkan inside. Walking somewhere along the corridor, Myung Hu was soon able to reach the end of the corridor and found a door with a colorful sigil imprinted on it, indicating that they had arrived at the venue.
Swoosh swoosh
The soldiers guarding the gate recognized Alkan and bowed their heads in acknowledgment. And the old man standing at the gate with the soldiers also bowed, smiled, and opened his mouth to speak.
“Welcome, Your Majesty.”
“Yes. Open it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The old man answered Alkan’s question, turned around, and opened the door.
Profit
“Go.”
When the door was fully open, Alkan walked inside and said, “Come in. At Alkan’s words, Ming Hu followed him inside.
‘I think they’re all aristocrats…’
Once inside, Ming Hu saw the nobles bowing their heads in deference to Alkan, and he thought to himself.
“How did we get this many?
There were so many nobles gathered that one wondered if all the nobles of the empire were present.
Sigh
Ming Hu, a little surprised to see the nobles like that, stopped walking when Revil stopped walking and blocked his path with his hand. But Alkan did not stop walking. He continued to walk forward.
“…?”
Ming Hu looked at Revil with a puzzled expression. Revil opened his mouth to speak in a quiet voice.
“It’s going to start right away, so you can wait here with me and then you can leave.”
“The ceremony?”
“Yes.”
At Revil’s words, Ming Hu nodded in understanding and followed Revil to stand beside him, then looked at Alkan. Arriving at his seat, Alkan sat down and smiled at Myung Hu before opening his mouth to speak.
“Let’s get started right away.”
At Alkan’s words, the foreign minister seated next to him stepped forward and exclaimed.
“Minghui ball, please come forward.”
Squeak squeak squeak squeak
The moment the Foreign Minister’s shout ended, arrows began to appear on the floor. Arrows weren’t the only thing that appeared.
[Follow the arrows].
A message also appeared. Ming Hu began to follow the arrow. As Ming Hu followed the arrow, he soon saw a hologram of a human figure ahead of him.
“Are you asking me to take that pose?
The hologram in human form was down on one knee. It looked like it was supposed to be in that position.
Sigh
When he reached the spot where the hologram had been, it disappeared. Ming Hu walked over to where the hologram had been, stopped walking, and dropped to one knee. As Ming Hu knelt, Alkan rose from his seat and came down the stairs. Stopping in front of Ming Hu, Alkan lifted the jeweled sword in his hand, held it above Ming Hu’s head, and opened his mouth to speak.
“I am knighted an earl, and I grant you the manor of Asren.”
[You have been created an earl].
[Manor: You have earned Asren].
[The Manor window has been activated].
[From now on, you can manage your estates through the Estates window].
When Alkan finished speaking, a slew of messages popped up.
Sigh
When he finished speaking, Alkan turned and walked back to his seat.
whisk
Then Alkan, sitting down, opened his mouth and said.
“That concludes the ceremony.”
“What? That’s it?
I thought it was going to be something big for a knighthood ceremony, but it was actually pretty simple.
Woof, woof, woof
The voices of the nobles began to ring in his ears. Realizing that it was truly over, Ming Hu realized that he didn’t have to stay on his knees, and he stood up and looked at Alkan. Alkan was looking at him with a smile on his face.
“Congratulations. Count Minghu.”
Alkan said.
“Thank you.”
Ming Hu smiled in response to Alkan’s comment.
That was the moment.
Jabber jabber jabber
Ming Hu’s ears began to hear footsteps. The footsteps were of different heights and overlapped, suggesting that they were not the footsteps of a single person. Ming Hu turned his head toward the source of the footsteps. When Ming Hu turned his head, he saw the source of the footsteps and was a bit puzzled.
“Congratulations. My lord. Oh, should I call you Countess now?”
“Finally… you’ve been knighted.”
“Congratulations, hehehe.”
The footsteps were the leaders of the Imperial Palace Magic Troupe.
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Ming Hu smiled awkwardly in gratitude.
“Excuse me. Myung-hoo.”
Just then, the second-in-command, Reim, called out to Ming Hu in a quiet voice. Ming Hu looked up at Leem, and Leem continued.
“That… I need to ask you a favor…”
“Please?”
Ming Hu couldn’t help but wonder at Reim’s words. What kind of favor does he want from her?
“I hear Karot has become an Arc Reach, and I was wondering if you could show me around.”
“…”
Ming Hu said nothing to Reim’s next words, simply turning his head to look at the First Lord Crime.
“Ha-ha-ha, it’s… it’s… it’s… accidentally…”
Crime trailed off with an awkward smile, then turned away from Myung-Hoo’s gaze and stared at the ceiling of the hall.
“Huh.”
Ming Hu let out a short sigh at Crime’s reaction and turned his head to look at Reim. Lime was staring at Ming Hu with a gleam in her eye that was unbecoming of her age. He wasn’t the only one staring at Ming Hu with a gleam in his eye.
“We’re…”
“Can you see…”
Standing beside him, Third Master Pax and Fifth Master Torden also looked at Ming Hu with intense eyes. Seeing the three leaders’ gazes, Ming Hu opened his mouth to speak with an expression of helplessness.
“I’ll show you later.”
At Ming Hu’s words, the three captains smiled broadly, expressing their delight. Seeing their smiles, Ming Hu turned to look at Crime again. Crime, who had been staring at the ceiling, suddenly lowered his head to look at Ming Hu, and when their eyes met, he smiled awkwardly.
“Congratulations. Count.”
“Yes, thank you, but…”
At Crime’s words, Ming Hu smiled faintly, glancing at the three leaders talking amongst themselves, then back at Crime before continuing.
“Crime saw the old Arc Reach and said–”
“I’m sorry, it was tricked by Lime…”
“…?”
Ming Hu was about to say something, but was puzzled by Crime’s words, and then he realized what Crime had said and laughed heartily. This time, Crime looked at Ming Hu with a puzzled expression. Ming Hu looked at the puzzled Crime and said, “I’m sorry.
“…Not that, I was just wondering how much research has been done on it that you mentioned earlier.”
“Oh… I’m not…”
At Ming Hu’s words, Crime glanced at the three leaders with a look of understanding.
“It’s in the past, it’s not a big deal, and I’ll need the help of the other captains to complete it anyway. Never mind. How far along is the research?”
“We’ve got the framework. We’ll see you soon, hehehe.”
“I’ll wait for that.”
Ming Hu smiled at Crime’s words. Crime smiled at Ming Hu’s words.
“Well, I guess I’ll have to go and do some research. Heh, heh, we’ll leave you to it, and one last time, congratulations.”
With that, Crime disappeared from the hall, leaving the three talking heads still smiling.
Jumbled
The footsteps began to sound again, as if the captains were afraid to disappear. This time, it was not the footsteps of a single person. Ming Hu turned his head back to the source of the footsteps.
“…?
Turning his head, Ming Hu couldn’t help but wonder. Several nobles were approaching with Revill.
“Congratulations. My lord.”
Revil stopped walking in front of Myung Hu and smiled.
“Thank you. Mr. Revill.”
Ming Hu responded to Revil’s words and looked at the nobles standing behind Revil. Revil smiled at Ming Hu’s gaze and opened his mouth.
“He said he wanted to speak with you…”
“With me?”
“Yes, I hope we can have a nice chat.”
With that, Revil walked past Ming Hu and went upstairs to Alkan’s seat. As Revil walked away with the nobles, Ming Hu turned his head to look back at the nobles.
“Hmmmmm.”
The man in the front, a man in his late thirties, coughed to clear his throat and approached Ming Hu to shake his hand.
“My name is Poppen, lord of the Marquisate of Lamas, and captain of the Knights of the Black Bear.”
“…You must be the Marquis of Poppen. I call you Ming Hu. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Ming Hu thought as he shook hands with Pofen.
“Knights of the Black Bear? I think I’ve heard of them before.
In addition to holding the title of Marquis, Poppen was also the head of an order of knights, and I thought I recognized the order from somewhere.
“Is this a quest?
The quest was clear. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known about the Templars.
“I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for good quality equipment anymore. I guess I’ll have to make do with what I have now, hahaha.”
Ming Hu smiled at Pofen’s next words. He recognized the name: Quest.
“Uh. Wait. That reminds me…
Then a sudden thought struck Ming Hu, and he couldn’t help but panic.
‘The forge is… What’s going on?
He was a blacksmith in the imperial forge, to be sure, but he now held the title of count and even had a manor.
“Can you do blacksmithing…?
Poppen had the title of Marquis and was the leader of the Knights of the Black Bear, but the blacksmith was a different story. It was unlikely that a count would be able to work as a blacksmith.
“I’ll have to ask him later…
Ming Hu decided to ask Alkan or Revil later and began talking to the nobles who came to him.