Upon reaching the second floor of the castle, the walls were pockmarked and uneven, clearly the aftermath of last night's battle between the elves. Liszt's arrival was quickly sensed by these elves, and they began to crawl out of their boxes one after another, calling out to Liszt.
Jela seed to know she had done wrong, lying at the edge of her box, looking pitifully at Liszt and emitting a wronged cry, "Wuwa."
Liszt ignored her and scolded sternly, "Everyone co over here and line up on this table for ."
"Gurulu."
"Wuwa."
"Jigu."
"Ula!"
The little elves flew out from their respective Worm Rooms and gathered at the table designated by Liszt, standing in line. They touched each other in a friendly manner but also glared and bared their teeth angrily. The elves varied in color and appearance, as well as in personality and temperant.
"Quiet, no one move!"
After completely subduing the minor elves, Liszt then said to Butler Carter, "Mr. Carter, identify those who started the trouble last night, those who got into the fight, and assess the degree of each one's responsibility, big and small. Make sure not to cover for anyone."
"Although the minor elves are very cute, they indeed need to be taught a lesson, my lord, I won't cover for any of them," Carter said, his gaze fixed on Thorn Minor Elf Jela.
And Jela was glaring back at him.
But Carter was unfazed by the threat and directly accused, "All the strife was provoked by Jela..."
Jela cried out to stop Carter's snitching, "Wuwa!"
But Liszt quickly pressed her head down with his hand, signaling Carter to continue.
"Jela was the first to start the altercation, followed by the Coptis Minor Elf, who not only fought with Jela but also dragged the other minor elves into it."
"Ula!" The Coptis Minor Elf yelled to express her grievance.
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Carter pointed out each minor elf's responsibility one by one; apart from a few mild-tempered minor elves like Corn Minor Elf Mickey, the rest had all been involved in the brawl. After understanding the situation, Liszt's gaze swept over the line of elves on the table and finally settled on Jela.
"Jela, for instigation, violence, and continued use of force, the greatest responsibility lies with you. Your punishnt is to be grounded for a week, no, to be confined to your box for a week, it must be solitary confinent!"
"Wuwa!"
"Talk back again, and the confinent will be extended."
"Wu... wa..."
"Good, make it eight days of confinent!"
Jela opened her mouth but finally dared not make any more noise.
Liszt continued to announce, "Coptis Minor Elf, for fighting, continued use of force, and escalating the situation, you bear the next greatest responsibility, five days of confinent for you!"
The Coptis Minor Elf learned her lesson and didn't make a peep.
The other brawling minor elves varied from one to three days of confinent. Thus, the minor elf brawl incident was neatly resolved, and Liszt's authority was further consolidated. The confinents would likely serve as a lesson for them, especially the hot-tempered Jela, who needed it the most.
...
Having dealt with the affairs of Fresh Flower Town.
Before retreating to explore the thods of Dragon Knight cultivation, Liszt headed to the port town to summon all his followers to assemble at the Knight Academy's Knight's Square.
In the presence of the small town's residents, a grand celebration ceremony was held.
Knight and Magician alike, as well as standout figures from other professions, were invited to attend and watch, packing the vast Knight's Square to the brim.
In an office of the square's administrative building, Marcus was waiting for Liszt to check the list for this settlent of battle honors.
Liszt trusted Marcus quite a lot; he didn't question the list but was ready to increase so of the rewards. Rich and willful, he didn't mind sharing more profits with his followers, as these followers would beco the important foundation for his nation-building in the future.
"Okay, I've looked over the list. Is everything ready for the ceremony in the square?"
Paris, responsible for maintaining order, answered him: "My Lord, everything is properly prepared, we're just waiting for you to go and announce the start of the ceremony."
"Then let's go."
As he led everyone out of the administrative building, a thunderous applause erupted across the square, with many shouting slogans like "Lord Landlord," "My Lord," "May the glory of the knights favor you," and so on.
He was already accustod to such noise.
Liszt, without any reaction, walked up to the podium, took his place in the very center, swept his gaze over the excited, frenzied crowd, and lowered his hand to signal them to quiet down.
Suddenly.
All sounds ceased, leaving only steady or rapid breathing in the space.
This was the authority of the landlord: a word, a gesture, could control everything. Such a delightful sense of power made Liszt drunk with joy, unable to extricate himself.
"My subjects, welco to the Pioneer Mandate victory ceremony."
Instantly, cheers erupted once again, rolling like a tide, roaring for a full minute, until they completely quieted down upon Liszt's second gesture for silence.
Liszt spoke again, "My followers, welco to share with the joy of victory. I hope the glory of knighthood will always favor , my followers, my territory, and everything thriving within it."
He didn't give his followers ti to cheer.
He continued, "During this Pioneer Mandate, thirty-one knights perished on Black Horse Island. They were dear comrades, close partners, loyal followers. They were the children of Black Horse Island, and its knights. We must not forget what they have sacrificed. Let us observe a minute of silence for them."
For one minute all was quiet, save for the distant barking of dogs.
The minute of silence ended.
The ceremony continued, and Liszt, foregoing any more polite but unnecessary words, pulled out the prepared list and read aloud, "I've said it before—glory belongs to , and I am with you. Now is the ti to share that glory with you! The following nas are being granted the title of Honored Knight for their battle achievents..."
Whoosh!
All the knights in Knight's Square began to breathe rapidly, even though most knew that they didn't have enough battle honors to be knighted, their hearts still raced.
"Marcus Wheel..."
The first na on the list was Marcus. Liszt smiled as he watched his forr family tutor, now the leader of the Knight Order, climb the podium with trembling, excited steps.
He then kneeled on one knee, performing the knightly gesture of loyalty.
Liszt nodded slightly and continued to read nas: "Charles Trap."
Leader of the security team, a knight once down on his luck who drifted to Coral Island and volunteered to give up his noble title to follow Liszt. His eyes filled with tears, he strode onto the podium and kneeled next to Marcus, also performing the knightly gesture of loyalty.
Afterward, Liszt continued to read seven more nas, and the podium was a sea of kneeling figures.
Finally, he read the last na: "Griffin Straw Stack."
One of the first knights to follow him, born an orphan and only a Common Earth Knight. Relying on the spirit of fearless charge during knightly assaults, and the luck favored by knightly glory, he achieved battle honors not inferior to those of an Elite Earth Knight.
So it was.
Ten Honored Knights were officially ennobled, and Black Horse Island saw the birth of its first nobles.
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