Fantasy Library.

Chapter 385 That's not how it works!

"You really did something big behind Hui Na's back, Your Majesty."

Inside the office, in the living room, Kiyoshuin Ena, who had already risen to bow to Aize, unusually complained.

"To actually take advantage of Ena's time to cultivate in the mountains to attack the Monkey God, makes Ena feel like she has neglected her duty, Your Majesty."

Seijuin Ena's cheerful face was filled with resentment, revealing how she felt upon learning of this.

The king she served abandoned the loyal priestess to kill the god; didn't that make her seem useless?

Kiyoshuin Ena would naturally feel resentful and dissatisfied about this.

"What?" Aize chuckled and said, "Do you intend to fight a god?"

“Ena isn’t that ambitious,” Seijuin Ena shook her head and said, “If the opponent is a god, even if I still have the Ame-no-Murakumo, I wouldn’t dare say I have a chance of winning, let alone a god as powerful as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.”

If it were a relatively weak god, Kiyoshuin Ena could still put up a fight against him with the Ame-no-Murakumo sword. However, her opponent was the unruly Son Goku, a powerful Steel Hero. Even with the Ame-no-Murakumo sword, Kiyoshuin Ena would definitely not be able to defeat him.

"But Eina still feels resentful. Can you understand Eina's feelings, Your Majesty?"

Ena Seikiin seemed to harbor a lot of resentment, and she started muttering to herself.

"Who told you to go into the mountains to cultivate? Who can you blame?" Aize shrugged, and seeing that Kiyoakiin Ena still looked upset, he said, "Alright, next time a god appears, I'll definitely take you with me, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Ena Kiyoshuu smiled.

"Then it's settled, Your Majesty!"

It seems that this was Seishuin Ena's true purpose.

"Welcome back, Ena."

Seeing this, Mariya Yuri whispered something to Ena.

“Yes, I’m back, Yuri.” Ena Kiyoshuin responded readily, then turned to Erica and Liliana, saying, “It’s been a long time, Miss Liliana, and this one too…”

“Erica Brantri.” Erica had been sizing up Seikiin Ena, and when she saw Ena looking over, she smiled and said, “You’re the King’s first knight, aren’t you?”

Upon hearing this, a subtle change appeared in Kiyoshuin Ena's eyes.

“I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that, Erica.” Liliana, who hadn’t planned to speak before, couldn’t help but say, “Although you are indeed the first knight to serve under the king, being the first to pledge allegiance does not mean that one can call oneself the first knight.”

Liliana clearly did not agree with this statement.

“But it’s true, Lily.” Erica said calmly, “Now that I, Erica Brantelli, have joined the King’s ranks, I will be the First Knight no matter what. It has nothing to do with the order, but it won’t affect the final result.”

"...You're as confident as ever." Liliana narrowed her eyes, looking at Erica with an unfriendly expression, and said, "Since you dare to spout such nonsense, you should also have the guts to accept my challenge, right?"

As she spoke, Liliana seemed to be preparing to draw the Silver Master.

Erica simply looked at Liliana with a strange, teasing gaze.

"Do you want to compete with me for the position of First Knight, Lily?" Erica said with a smile. "I don't mind, because I'm not afraid of any challenge, but before that, you have to be a knight first, right?"

"What do you mean by that?" Liliana frowned, glaring at Erica, and said, "You're saying I'm not a knight? Are you insulting me?"

“You’ve forgotten, Lily.” Erica said nonchalantly, unfazed by Liliana’s glare. “Right now, you’re not a knight under my king’s command, but a captured maid.”

Liliana was instantly petrified.

“A mere maid is not qualified to compete for the position of First Knight, Lily.” Erica said with a smile that could be described as deadly. “If you want to challenge me, you should first find a way to get the King to remove you from your maid status and restore your knight status.”

Liliana's mouth opened slightly, but she couldn't speak.

At this moment, Kiyoshuin Ena finally spoke.

"To be able to leave Miss Liliana speechless, Miss Erica must be quite strong." Kiyoshuin Ena said to Erica with her usual bright expression and tone, "Although I don't know when the king's men joined the European knights, Ena doesn't dislike the practice of determining status by force."

“Even if Ena is not the king’s knight, but a concubine, Ena still wants to challenge Miss Erica.”

"So, do I have that opportunity?"

Kiyoshuin Ena also showed a fighting spirit.

It wasn't that Kiyoshuin Ena couldn't stand Erika's confidence, nor that she felt threatened by Erika, but rather that years of education had taught her that everything she wanted was earned through competition.

When the struggle came, as the daughter of the Kiyoshuin family, Kiyoshuin Ena could not back down.

The Italian beauty before me, who claimed to be the king's first knight, was clearly not someone to be underestimated, judging from her appearance and demeanor alone. She might even be a favored concubine preparing to rise to power.

Since that's the case, Kiyoshiuin Megumi has no choice but to have a serious talk with the other party.

First Knight?

Is she here to compete for the title of First Lady?

This is not possible!
If the object of the order is Yuri Mariya, then Ena Kiyoshuin naturally has no objection, because she knows Yuri Mariya very well, knows that she is not the kind of person who likes to compete for favor, and knows that her abilities are very important to the king. Therefore, she has no objection to the king saying that Yuri should be ranked ahead of her.

But... this Miss Erica is not an option.

This person is clearly here to vie for favor; they are unwilling to be subordinate to others.

Whether she's a knight or a favored concubine, she wants to be number one. Kiyoshiu Inako saw this tendency in her.

Then she can't pretend she didn't see it!

“I’ve said it before, I’m not afraid of any challenge.” Erica accepted Ena’s fighting spirit and said with a smile, “Miss Ena seems to be a priestess of this country, just like Yuri, but you are different from the weak Yuri. You are obviously very strong.”

As she spoke, Erica glanced at the sword pouch beside Seikiin Ena.

She sensed an extraordinary spirituality within it.

Erica wasn't naive enough to think that the shrine maiden who would appear with that kind of thing was someone who was powerless.

Liliana's subsequent words proved this point.

“Don’t underestimate this girl, Erica.” Liliana seemed to have selectively forgotten what had just happened. Seeing Erica and Seijuin Ena arguing, she couldn’t help but say, “This girl is a necromancer. She can borrow the power of the gods. Even when she uses [Song of the Bow], I am no match for her.”

Erica raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"So, Lily, you've already lost to her?" Erica turned to Liliana.

"...Although I'm not entirely reconciled, you're right. The person who stopped and defeated me when the King and the Marquis were fighting was her."

Liliana seemed genuinely unwilling to accept this.

This was the first time she had lost so decisively among her peers, and the blow to her was considerable.

After all, she had always been called a genius and a child prodigy. In the past, only Erica could be considered her opponent. Now, she was defeated by an unknown priestess in this remote place in the Far East. Given Liliana's personality, she would naturally feel unwilling.

On the contrary, Erika quickly accepted the defeat of her childhood rival.

"A necromancer... I never imagined such a legendary being would appear in such a small country..."

Erica looked intently at Ena Kiyoshuu and said something.

"I originally thought that the disciple of Master Luo Hao that I met in Hong Kong, the young master of the Lu family, was one of the few scholars whose talent and strength were comparable to mine, apart from Lily. I didn't expect that there was a rare spirit summoning master hidden here."

Although it was just hearsay, Erica knew just how powerful necromancers were.

Putting aside everything else, their ability to borrow the power of the gods is an advantage that ordinary human warriors cannot match.

Even if only a small portion of the power of a god is borrowed, it can easily rival the most elite human warriors.

The shrine maiden before him, who was the same age as him, was perhaps the strongest opponent he had ever encountered, aside from gods and divine beasts.

The fact that she was able to defeat Lily, who used David's Word of Power, is enough to prove this point.

Thinking of this, Erica felt no fear, but instead felt a surge of fighting spirit.

"It seems like it would be quite interesting to fight against a priestess who serves the gods."

Erica reached out, clenched her fist, and the immortal demon sword instantly appeared in her hand.

“Although Grandpa can still lend Huina his power, Huina is now serving not a god, but a king.”

Kiyoshuin Ena also stood up, picked up her sword pouch, and smiled at Erica.

The tension between the two immediately escalated, their gazes locked in a fierce and heated exchange, as if sparks were about to fly.

"wait wait wait!"

Yuri Mariya finally stepped forward and hurriedly tried to stop it.

"Miss Erica, and Ena, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly fighting?"

She truly hadn't expected that the two of them would immediately go into fighting mode on their very first meeting.

"Don't stop me, Yuri." Erika didn't look at Erika, but only at Kiyoshuuin Ena, and said with her smile unchanged, "This is a battle to decide who should be the first close advisor under the king. It concerns the dignity of knights. If you stop it, you will be punished by the heavens."

"Don't worry, Yuri." Ena Seikiin looked at Yuri Mariya and said considerately, "The number one position will definitely be Yuri's. Ena will defend this position for you."

"Oh?" Erica then looked at Yuri Mariya and smiled, "So Yuri also wants to compete for first place?"

"This position originally belonged to Yuri, but it was Miss Erica who wanted to compete for it?" Before Yuri could reply, Ena Kiyoshuin said to herself, "The king himself said that Yuri would be ranked ahead of Ena, so Ena will definitely help Yuri secure the position of the first favored concubine, so that Ena can become the second person to marry into the family."

“I see.” Erica nodded, and said to Yuri Mariya with a half-smile, “I underestimated you, Yuri. So that’s what you came to the King’s side with.”

"N-No, that's not true!" Yuri Mariya hurriedly denied, her face flushed. "I didn't want to be a favored concubine! And that's not why I pledged my loyalty to the king!"

At this moment, Liliana spoke up.

“Stop denying it, Yuri Mariya,” Liliana said. “The fact that the capital and the marquises went to war because of you has already spread throughout the world.”

"Now, every well-informed magic society knows that you, Yuri Mariya, are the woman by the new king's side."

“Even your country’s official institution… is it called the Official History Compilation Committee? They have already publicly acknowledged this matter, and for this, they have pushed the Wanli Valley family to the forefront.”

"I suppose your family is already starting to plan how much dowry to prepare for you?"

These words caused Wanli Guyu to freeze on the spot, unable to move.

At this moment, Yuri Mariya remembered that her parents had stopped asking her whether she would come home at night some time ago.

Even when they were going home, they cautiously asked themselves why they hadn't stayed overnight.

“It’s okay, Yuri. Your parents are very open-minded. You’re old enough now. If you want to stay overnight there… then go ahead and stay.”

"Yes, Yuri, Mom and Dad have no objections, but... please be careful, okay?"

Remembering the meaningful look on her parents' faces when they said those words, Yuri Mariya blushed instantly.

I remember her sister saying something similar, didn't she?
"Is my sister going to become an adult?"

Remembering her younger sister's curious yet surprised words, Mariya Yuri covered her face and squatted down.

"That's not how it works!"

The girl's cries went unnoticed by anyone.

"It's not suitable to operate here, let's go outside."

“Huina has no objection. Your Majesty, Huina will be right back.”

Erika and Ena Kiyoakiin left together and went outside.

"I'll go over and take a look."

Liliana naturally wouldn't miss this battle. After consulting with Aize, she immediately followed.

Aize, on the other hand, remained an observer throughout, acting as if it were none of his business and not caring at all whether Erika and Seikiin Ena would fight.

"You're really energetic."

As if watching two children arranging a fight, Aize leisurely sipped his tea, completely at ease.

(End of this chapter)