"A small fry like you won’t be taken in by any order of knights," Jude said.
"I’ve been eating well every day, I will grow taller, and I’ll beco stronger!" Abus imdiately retorted.
Ferdinand’s advisor Lorraine said, "Better to avoid trouble than to seek it out. I should hand this child over to the Marier family and explain the situation as much as possible."
"They will kill him," Thomas said, "No matter what we say, you’ve just seen how they deal with those they suspect."
"Take him with us; we’re leaving Lake City tomorrow anyway," Redio also spoke up.
Ireya looked at Ferdinand, whose expression remained unchanged, "But whatever decision you make, I will support you."
"Then let’s take him with us," the Lady said without further hesitation, and asked Abus, "Can you ride a horse?"
Abus’s face turned red, "I can’t ride yet because Angi won’t let ride the guests’ horses, but I will definitely learn in the future. Besides, I won’t be going with you. My ho is here in Lake City; my parents are here, and I won’t leave unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless a Lord Knight takes notice of and wants as his Attendant." Abus said this with his chest puffed out, his eyes filled with hope.
"What a coincidence, I am a Knight," Miss Rabbit said.
"What tall tales you tell, you’re a woman, how could you possibly be a Knight." Abus said, halfway through his statent, he saw the Lady removing her hood, revealing a pair of long ears underneath.
Abus was taken aback, "Rabbit ears... wait, you, you are Ireya, the Dragon Slayer Knight of the Arias family!"
Abus’s voice trembled with excessive excitent as he spoke the last part.
Just like a little fan who finally saved enough money to et his idol.
"You single-handedly killed that Black Dragon; they say you are the strongest knight in the west now, it’s my honor to serve you!!!"
"It’s not as exaggerated as that... don’t rush; I haven’t agreed to take you on as my Squire Knight yet."
Ireya put on a stern face like Ferdinand, "My requirents are very strict; you need to pass my test first, and you’re also a bit too young right now."
"I will definitely pass the test and grow up quickly!" Abus assured.
He was nearly overwheld by the joy that seed to have fallen from the sky, still unable to believe everything that was happening.
Abus felt today was simply his lucky day.
However, the looks the others in the room gave him were still sowhat strange, filled with a hint of pity and sympathy.
Abus was dancing with joy for a while until he finally sensed sothing amiss and looked again at the Lady.
"The first challenge of becoming a Knight’s Attendant," Ireya said, "is that you need to beco strong enough not to be easily brought down by pain and sadness."
"I can do it!" Abus said without any hesitation.
"No, it’s much more difficult than you think," the Lady paused and then continued, "I’m sorry, but your father and mother, they... are no longer with us."
"What do you an ’no longer with us’?" Abus was sowhat bewildered.
"Not long ago, they, along with a few others, attacked a convoy of the Marier family that was transporting prisoners," the innkeeper Angi said, struggling to get the words out.
"Were they caught?"
"No, they were killed by the guards,"
Upon hearing this, Abus’s body shook violently, his fists clenched tightly. He was silent, clearly struggling to contain himself. Montarily, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
"It seems your future squire knight isn’t as strong as he thought himself to be," Jude said to Ireya.
"That’s normal; after all, he’s just eleven or twelve years old. Do you rember what you were doing at that age?"
"By then, I was already living alone in the forest, and I had killed a rcenary who wanted to claim the bounty on my head," the man with the ugly face said indifferently.
"Well, I guess I asked the wrong person."
The Lady didn’t take the matter too seriously. The reason she had intervened to save Abus was firstly because she felt the actions of the guards from the Marier family were a bit excessive.
Not only had they killed the person in question, but they were also trying to eradicate all his family and friends. Secondly, perhaps because she had lost her own mother and father, she felt a sense of empathy for the young boy nad Abus.
However, the talk of a squire was, of course, just to appease Abus.
Ireya, being a Dragon Slayer Knight and the head of the Arias family, would certainly not choose a child as her attendant if she truly wished to find one.
Now in the Western Lands, countless people were lining up to beco the Lady’s attendant.
At least a dozen noble families had expressed this intention, hoping to send their own children or nephews to serve Ireya.
This was, in fact, a tradition in the Bratis Continent. Many famous personages started as attendants, including the current Army Commander of the Empire, and it is recognized as a conventional route to advance in status.
But the Lady had never agreed, not because Ireya looked down on the candidates, but mainly because she felt it was unnecessary.
After all, she didn’t fight on horseback and didn’t need soone to frequently armor her up or down or take care of her horse. She had Thomas for protection when traveling and Ruby for her daily care.
Most importantly, keeping an attendant also ant an extra payout that was not small, seed a waste of money, and so the Lady left the position vacant for the ti being.
What she was pondering at that mont was another matter. Earlier, when she was in Green Field, she had received quite a bit of information from her great-grandmother.
She knew the Western Lands were not peaceful, but she hadn’t realized until she ca out how much Hirodod and the Blood Moon Association had escalated matters.
Even Lake City, which had been managed by the Marier family for over two thousand years, had beco unstable. Most troubling was the viciousness shown by these nobles, who were arresting so many people but still had no good solution for dealing with the Blood Moon Association lurking in the shadows.
Rather, their extre thods had incited widespread public anger, leading to a shift in the attitudes of the civilians, who originally did not support Hirodod.
Despite the Western Lands recently celebrating a bountiful harvest, Ireya noticed neither excitent nor joy on the faces of the farrs and common folk in the towns and along the roadsides.
Instead, she saw many tragedies similar to those in Lake City.
The Silver Moon Church, which should have stepped forward to protect its followers during such tis, was showing great lethargy due to historical issues.
The newly elected seven High Priests were also negotiating with noble families and making efforts everywhere, but the results were diocre at best, further accelerating the loss of public trust.
Ireya had a premonition that sothing significant might happen in the Western Lands, and she said to Ferdinand,
"Why don’t you also convert your people to Saturdayism? We’ve fought side by side, and you’ve seen Prophet rlin’s miraculous techniques.
"Look at my lands. Embracing Saturdayism won’t decrease your inco; in fact, you would earn more. Plus, you wouldn’t have to constantly worry about the infiltration of the Blood Moon Association."
The young head of the Batoris Family didn’t reject the suggestion outright but didn’t imdiately agree either, simply responding, "Let think about it."
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