Chapter 110
The livestock shed in the afternoon.
While I was working, the matter of the Black Knights ca to mind.
Although the ‘Black Knights’ I created followed with fervent loyalty…
I wondered how long loyalty and passion accompanied by danger could last.
‘Because effort without reward is bound to cool down eventually.’
Since they worked for , they deserved proper rewards as well.
‘Yeah, it would feel wrong if I just used their loyalty as an excuse to make them work for free.’
With that in mind.
I put a thousand gold coins into each pocket of their black coats.
As an activity support fund, it would be enough to last them comfortably for a few months.
Since there were five mbers in the Black Knights, I had spent five thousand gold.
It was a huge sum, equivalent to the annual salary of an academy administrator…
But I didn’t feel any regret at all.
‘Because I have plenty of funds.’
I drank milk taken out from my subspace and looked at the farm under the clear sky.
‘Fresh and delicious.’
This milk was directly milked from the farm’s cows, pasteurized, and stored in subspace.
After drinking the whole cup of milk, I felt as if my head had cleared up.
‘All my nutrition and daily life are perfectly managed by the livestock shed.’
After improving the fields and reorganizing the farm, I had completed a self-sufficient system to so degree.
‘The crops I grow myself are far more valuable than the food bought at the store.’
It wasn’t just milk.
Various vegetables from the fields and even unfertilized eggs from the chicken coop.
Goddess’s Premium Feed
Goddess’s Premium Grain
Goddess’s Premium Plant Nutrient
‘Thanks to these, I was able to obtain produce that surpassed top quality.’
Thanks to the plant nutrient, the grass in the pasture grew fast and with high quality.
The livestock fed with premium feed produced goods with special effects.
‘Just consuming them could affect one’s stats and make you feel more energized.’
Everything could be obtained from the farm.
‘Thanks to this, I have no lingering attachnt to money.’
If I considered it as rightful wages, I didn’t feel it was a waste to hand out five thousand gold.
Whooooosh…
I heard the sound of the wind.
A slightly chilly breeze brushed by.
It was early November.
‘Since winter is coming, I should close the pasture farm in December.’
Once the grazing ended, I needed to move the animals back into the livestock shed.
Of course, since the number of animals had increased, I needed to expand the existing shed and add heating functions as well.
‘But right now, all I need to focus on is Rubin.’
Currently, I had to concentrate on Rubin’s impeachnt.
I decided to postpone the livestock shed’s upgrade until after Rubin was impeached.
‘To restore the tiline, Rubin has to be impeached at the end of November.’
There was no need to prepare too early.
Waiting about a week should be enough.
In the anti, I needed to prepare the impeachnt plan…
I finished drinking the rest of the milk.
anwhile…
At the café ‘Delizioso’ near the Yggdrasil Main Building.
“That makes sense. The advice was to expand the order of the Knights.”
When Nixie first heard that cryptic statent, she was a little unsure what it ant.
But thanks to Eris, she realized.
“Eris, you understood it right away.”
What surprised her even more was that Eris, without knowing that Nixie was a mber of the Black Knights, had first tried to recruit her.
“Seeing how you tried to recruit first, it seems I’m quite trusted.”
“Hm? You seed discreet and reliable, that’s all.”
Eris’s eyes looked at her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I see.”
Nixie smiled faintly.
She felt proud that Eris recomnded her.
It was as if she had acknowledged her as a mber of the Black Knights.
“So, about that… could you help with the recruitnt too?”
When Eris asked, Nixie gladly nodded.
“Of course.”
“Great! If the two of us bring in around 10 to 20 people… that should be enough for the first recruits.”
Eris took out a notebook and began writing down candidate nas together with Nixie.
“Nixie. What about the Captain of the Blue Ivory Knights… Senior Kleinbert?”
“He does have the strongest power among Yggdrasil’s students, but he’s a bit rigid. He won’t swear loyalty to the Black Knight’s orders.”
“Hmm, then pass. What about this person?”
“Not bad. He’s sotis foolish, but that could work as an advantage. On that note, I know soone similar.”
“Who, who?”
Their discussion went smoothly.
Unexpectedly, Nixie was well connected, even knowing many students from the 2nd and 3rd years.
She provided considerable help in compiling the candidate list.
After a long discussion, they had written down a total of 20 candidates.
“Even if we send invitations to these people, how many will accept?”
It seed best to write the invitation letters in the sa wording as the letter sent by the Black Knight.
But how many would actually obey the letter’s contents?
Even though they carefully selected suitable individuals, they had to consider the possibility that less than half would accept.
“Then, after we recruit them… should we contact the Black Knight separately?”
“No.”
To Nixie’s question, Eris shook her head.
“The Black Knight already knows. Maybe he’s even watching us discuss this right now.”
Eris lifted her head and gazed at the café’s ceiling corner, where the CCTV was.
Nixie followed Eris’s gaze toward the sa spot.
“And… he told us that we are worthy of bearing the weight of ‘this mask’.”
Eris stared straight into Nixie’s eyes.
“The mask was ‘personally’ handed down by the Black Knight. It must an that the five founding mbers who are qualified to wear it are vice-captains.”
Eris did not look delighted. Instead, she seed calm.
The pressure of the position was considerable.
Though it ca with burdens and responsibilities…
She would overco the trials, grow further, and make herself worthy of the vice-captain’s seat.
“Surely… that’s what the Black Knight intended.”
Nixie nodded in agreent with Eris’s words.
She could not betray the trust given by the Black Knight.
“Once we have enough mbers… I plan to form an infiltration team to investigate Vice President Rubin’s embezzlent.”
Eris and Nixie discussed the operations that would follow recruitnt.
There happened to be a candidate on the list who specialized in infiltration.
“But why is it that only Her Highness the Princess and Ren can carry out the impeachnt? I don’t understand.”
“Ah, I thought about that too. I think I know the answer.”
Eris glanced around for a mont, then whispered to Nixie.
“It’s because Her Highness the Princess holds the strongest practical authority in this school.”
Even if the academy claid that all stood equal before learning, it was a different story if the opponent was a Princess of the Empire, the strongest nation.
Nixie blinked, and Eris continued with her answer.
“If we try to impeach him ourselves, the issue of who the real Black Knight is could devolve into a muddy fight of truth and lies.”
Nixie nodded as if she understood.
Was the Black Knight concerned such a situation might occur?
“That’s why, for the sake of peace, only if Her Highness the Princess takes the lead will the undeniable truth be revealed.”
“Reasonable. Then what about Ren?”
“That… sorry. I don’t know either. But there must be so ingenious plan we haven’t thought of. That’s why Ren was nad too.”
Eris spoke with even more conviction in her voice.
“So, just as the Black Knight said, we must pass the information to Her Highness the Princess and to Ren.”
Could it be that the Black Knight had already foreseen countless moves ahead that we had not yet realized?
Nixie was convinced.
“You understood it well. If I hadn’t heard it from you, I would never have known.”
“……”
Hearing Nixie’s reply, Eris fell silent for a mont as if in thought, then spoke again.
“…Perhaps even this conversation between you and here was intended by the Black Knight?”
“Oh…!”
Realizing everything might be flowing according to the Black Knight’s design, both of them felt chills down their spines.
Midnight at the Academy Park.
Click, clack… click, clack…
In the deserted park, only Curio was walking.
On a nearby bench, she spotted sothing black.
Approaching, she picked it up.
‘…The Black Knight’s coat and mask.’
The very sa outfit she had seen within the barrier.
“Lady Curio. Did you find the coat and mask?”
Luga’s mana transmission reached her.
“Yes, Lord Luga.”
At the sa ti as her, Luga had also received an invitation to join.
Of course, they both knew who extended the offer.
‘Nixie Cheps.’
She had seen Nixie secretly slip the invitation letter into her bag.
Curio had once been in the sa team as Nixie back at Rekorox.
‘She was a student who could never stand injustice and always pursued fairness.’
It was clear Nixie had thought well of her and recomnded her.
Curio read the letter left on the bench.
It seed there was to be a gathering tonight at an abandoned building.
“Isn’t the Black Knight none other than Vice President Rubin? To think a group was ford of his followers. He could be plotting so sche.”
When Curio replied, Luga chuckled and spoke.
“Well, we’ll have to hear more details to be sure, but it is intriguing. The mask and coat too are quite amusing. Anyway, I’ll see you soon.”
…Click.
The mana transmission ended.
Curio put on the attire of the Black Knights and headed to the abandoned building.
Inside the building, about twenty people wearing black masks had gathered.
Among them, she spotted the one man who showed no signs of mana at all—Lord Luga.
Curio was moving toward Luga’s side when it happened.
Two Black Knights stepped up onto the altar.
“Welco to the ranks of the Black Knights.”
A neutral voice.
After the Knight on the left spoke, the one on the right, a woman, continued.
“This may be a bit sudden, but there’s sothing we must tell you first.”
As everyone focused, the woman on the right continued.
“Vice President Jed Rubin is not the Black Knight. He is an impostor who stole the Black Knight’s achievents… and an embezzler who committed countless corruptions within the Student Council. That is the truth.”
Though Luga and Curio had decided to infiltrate in order to monitor the Black Knights’ actions…
They were greeted from the start with shocking news.
‘Rubin… is not the Black Knight?’
Indeed, even Her Highness the Princess had suspected whether Rubin was truly the Black Knight.
“Our captain, the Black Knight, is… a hero who seeks no reward. We must find proof of the impostor Vice President Rubin’s corruption and deliver it to Her Highness the Princess.”
Even Her Highness was invoked.
It was said that in order to impeach Rubin, her help would be necessary.
“These are direct orders from the Black Knight. Soon, the Black Knight himself will stand on this altar and officially announce it. But before that, we have work to do.”
What they spoke of was this.
A concrete plan to secretly infiltrate the Student Council Building, extract information, and uncover every trace of corruption.
The Black Knights gathered there agreed with her words, and each was assigned a role.
…After the gathering ended, in the dawn of night.
Curio had infiltrated the Student Council Building using her shadow-hiding stealth ability.
She checked all the materials in the President’s and Vice President’s offices without triggering the security system.
‘Indeed. Even at a glance, there were holes in the accounting.’
It was surely the Vice President in charge of corporate cooperation and fund managent.
He had even manipulated the inco and expenditure statents to hide the embezzlent of public funds.
Just by doing a simple calculation from two years of records… the amount exceeded a staggering three hundred thousand gold.
‘Certainly, it was at a level that could be called an economic criminal.’
It matched what the Black Knights had claid.
Curio took out a blank sheet of paper.
Through mana, she briefly copied the docunts onto the paper.
After checking Rubin’s calendar and docunts, she found that a eting with a partner company was scheduled two days later.
‘If I follow him, I can gather additional evidence.’
Originally, her goal had been to infiltrate the Black Knights and observe their behavior.
Before she knew it, Curio had been dutifully cooperating with the Black Knights.
‘Rubin… I didn’t want to intervene in whatever embezzlent you were committing.’
She could not overlook the sin of deceiving my liege, Princess Arlhardt.
With a determination to catch Rubin at any cost, Curio was examining other papers when she found the docunt.
“Bomb Beetle Drop Plan.”
‘This is…?’
She widened her eyes upon discovering the ominous docunt.
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