Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 116 Children's Games 2
Siberon Anya Restaurant, a high-end restaurant from Blackrock Province, is most famous for its grilled dragon lizard meat.

As a hybrid subspecies containing a small amount of green dragon blood, the 'dragon lizard', like the green dragon, contains a large amount of toxins in its body. However, it is slightly different from the green dragon in that the green dragon's toxins are distributed throughout its entire body. In other words, every piece of flesh and blood of the green dragon is poisonous.

The inferior species of dragon lizard is different; it only has two venom glands in its body, which it stimulates to spray a strong and corrosive venom when attacked or about to attack.

Similarly, as a secondary species that has inherited some of the power of dragon blood, the dragon lizard also has the same personality as the dragon: proud, free and unrestrained. Therefore, when faced with the hunting of mercenaries and adventurers, most dragon lizards will choose to actively open their venom glands to allow the toxins to spread quickly throughout their bodies.

This makes hunting dragon lizards extremely difficult; however, the delicious flesh and various high-grade alchemical materials they contain still attract adventurers in droves.

"Havent, can you really eat this much?"

Seeing Haven order more than ten dishes in a row, Cuban began to ask questions, which made him uneasy.

"Relax, relax, this is nothing. It's just that Serena isn't here. If she were here, we would have to order at least three times as much food."

Okay, that's all for now. I'll order more later if I need more.

The waiter standing to the side bowed respectfully to the three of them before slowly leaving with the menu.

Who is Serena?

Upon hearing Havent mention a name, Cuban thought for a moment and realized that none of the noble ladies he knew in the North seemed to have that name.

"Ah~ Serena! Hmm~ Well, she's a companion I met on the way here, but she had to leave when we were almost at the capital. But she's incredibly amazing."

"Oh, I see~ By the way, I didn't have time to ask earlier. I only received a message from my father saying that you were coming to the capital to study, but he didn't say when you were coming or why you chose to come all the way from the North alone?"

While waiting for his food, Havent downed the special fruit wine served at the Siberon Anya restaurant in one gulp. It felt like he had just drunk a sip of juice, with no particular sensation. However, the small red berries in the glass, whose name he didn't know, tasted quite good. They were sweet and sour, and when he took a bite, the juice burst in his mouth.

"Oh, you mean this? After the siege of Whiterun by the dead army, your father, my father, and the Marquis of Charlton wrote a joint letter to His Majesty, saying that I had to deliver it personally. The original plan was to arrange for a White Lion Knights to escort me, but the day before I left, I was assassinated by a knight whose name I don't know."

Later, both your father and my father thought I might be being watched. There was nothing I could do, so I had to disguise myself and come to the capital from the North. However, I encountered many things along the way, which delayed me considerably.

At this time, Haven's special dishes were brought out one after another by the waiters. Seeing the meat steak that emitted a strange aroma, Haven's eyes lit up. He picked up his knife and fork and began to eat frantically. However, even with his mouth full of food, he could still clearly tell the story of what had happened in the past few days.

In contrast, Cuban and Lori ate much more politely. Facing the special grilled dragon lizard meat from Siberon Anya Restaurant, Cuban seemed distracted for more than ten minutes. Haven had already eaten four pieces, and Lori had eaten two, while half of the meat on his plate was still left.

"So, according to what you've said, this is indeed a conspiracy against our North! I knew it; a little over a month ago, those guys in the South were acting more aggressively than ever before."

"Really? What did they do? Oh, right, let's talk about Hildaman now, since we were only halfway through our conversation." (chewing sounds)
Looking at the half-eaten plate of sea cucumber-like things in front of me, who would have thought that these things would be so hard to chew? My cheeks were a little sore from chewing them. I'm blacklisting this braised stone mushroom dish and will never order it again.

"I saw you were enjoying your meal, so I didn't want to talk about those upsetting things."

Haven finally swallowed the large mouthful of braised rock mushrooms he was eating, and hesitated as he looked at the remaining half plate of rock mushrooms. After all, he had already come all this way and ordered them, so it would be a waste not to eat them. With a determined heart, he forked another piece and ate it.

"Go ahead and say it. It's just the same old stuff anyway, it won't affect my meal." (chewing sounds)
"Let's talk about Brother Hildaman first. As I mentioned earlier, a legendary secret realm appeared in Mount Garland during their year. Because this legend sealed it with a magic spell according to its own rules, the academy's principal, Lord Delan, and several other officials at the time attempted to break the spell to a limited extent without damaging the secret realm."

The solution at the time was to teleport ten people of rank no higher than fourth rank into the secret realm. These ten individuals would then explore the realm independently, find the Heart of the Realm, and once a connection was established with it, the effects of the legendary curse would weaken. This would allow the waiting officials to work together to unlock the secret realm.

Having finally finished the plate of hearty braised rock mushrooms, Haven pushed the empty plate far away with a sigh of relief.

“Let me guess, no, there’s no need to guess, Lori, tell me what those bards wrote in their stories in this situation.”

Little Lori, who was sipping her soup, quickly looked up, wiped the soup off her lips with a towel, thought for a moment, and said:

"Hmm~ According to the biographies I've read, the selection process will probably be held for these ten spots. Those who meet the requirements will fight tooth and nail for these ten spots. In the end, the protagonist will go through all sorts of hardships to finally get one of the spots and win the final reward through his courage and ability."

"leak!"

Lori was getting into the conversation when Havent interrupted him with a single sentence, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"Leak? Leak what, Brother Havent?"

"The 'leaky' part means 'incorrect.' What you're talking about is the protagonist's script. Since Brother Hildaman has already passed away, he should be in the supporting role's script. However, what you said earlier is still quite correct."

So, according to this logic, those guys in the South must not have gotten a spot, right? That's why they set their sights on Hildaman, who did get a spot. Did they ultimately receive the prize?

After saying that, Haven shook his head slightly.

"It's unlikely. We'd be lucky to get a share of this kind of thing; the lion's share will definitely go to the empire, the royal family, and all the major powers."

Kubant, sitting opposite Havent, looked at the White Lion heir with some surprise, as if he were meeting him for the first time.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Isn't that how it is?"

Seeing Haven's hand wave in front of his eyes, Kubant, recovering from his daze, still looked incredulous. "It was roughly like this. At the time, it was said that there were ten spots, but the royal family and various other forces had already taken six, leaving only four spots. The strongest students from each academy competed for these spots, and in the end, the Royal Academy got two spots, the Natural Academy got one spot, and the Halecha Academy got one spot."

After Hildaman's unexpected death, the spot was ultimately given to someone from the Southern Province. However, the one who finally gained the recognition of the Star of the Mysterious Realm was none other than His Highness the Second Prince, Prince Henry.

During this time, the noble scions of the western provinces, who had previously maintained close ties with us, began to suffer attacks from the southern provinces. We, who should have offered assistance, failed to act due to the loss of our leader, ultimately forcing most of the noble students from the western provinces to transfer back to Helcha Academy.

By this time, the sky was gradually darkening. Seat, sitting in the window seat, watched as the magical streetlights along the roadside lit up one by one, then turned back to look at Kubant, who was talking animatedly.

"I still have a question. Shouldn't any conflict between individuals or groups be due to a conflict of interests? So what are we fighting over in the capital?"

Faced with Haven's rather philosophical question, Cuban fell into deep thought for a long while before slowly answering:
"I don't know. Actually, I've thought about this question too, but I can't figure it out at all. I can only offer some of my own superficial opinions. The real answer will probably have to wait until you start your life at the academy to find it."

In my eyes, we should strive for more things that we can compete for, from small things like a better seat in a class or better living conditions, to big things like applying for various school resources, completing tasks with higher grades, and getting better holiday travel destinations.

In short, all sorts of things are available; everything you can imagine and everything you can't. And for us nobles, these superior things are both a reflection of our status and our position.

After listening to Cuban's explanation, Haven nodded silently. Cuban was mostly right. If there was anything wrong, it was that Cuban, not being particularly competitive, seemed to suffer greatly when faced with these matters. In Haven's view, the things Cuban said that he didn't understand weren't anything special; they were simply about greater profits. After all, everyone in the world is driven by self-interest.
"Actually, there's nothing special about it. The things we've been talking about lately are just a replay of what happened with Brother Hildaman. After all, it's better for me to be full than for everyone else to have a good meal. We have nothing to say to those people in the South. It's a life-or-death struggle all along."

Now that I'm here, you can relax a bit. You don't have to force yourself to do things you don't like; I'll take care of that.

Looking into Havent's sincere eyes, Cuban's eyes reddened. For someone of his personality, the daily struggles that began the moment he opened his eyes were unbearable. The only reason he could persevere was that he carried the burden of the North on his shoulders and could not fall.

In the dead of night, Cuban had cried countless times in secret under the covers. This time, someone finally told him that he didn't have to bear it anymore, and Cuban felt the heaviness in his soul slowly disappearing.

"Hmm~ Thank you, Haven. You'll have to work hard from now on. The burden of the North's reputation will fall on your shoulders."

Inside a private estate in the aristocratic district of the capital.

"So even the six of you couldn't beat him alone."

A young man with effeminate features and long, dark brown hair sat on a sofa meticulously tanned from earthworm hide. He rhythmically swirled a wine glass in his hand, the scarlet liquid clinking against the glass and emitting a mesmerizing glow under the crystal chandelier overhead.

"Brother Ron Sina, you don't know, that guy is very fierce, his attacks are extremely swift, and you know how strong Raymond and Ihoral are."

He was taken down the moment they met.

"That was due to my carelessness!"

With half a circle wrapped around his head, Ihorar retorted in a muffled voice, his neck stiff.

Seeing that Ihorar was still very unconvinced, Allah, with a big bump on his forehead, rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky.

"And the second time, why did you retreat? You retreated for so long, but you still got knocked to the ground by someone's knee."

"I was just... I was just... You're not trying to pick a fight, so why don't we go practice now?"

Seeing the two about to start fighting, Ron Sina, sitting on the leather sofa, slammed his wine glass heavily onto the snow-white table, the spilled wine scattering in tiny specks.

"You two!!!!"

Look at you all! Have you been scared out of your wits?

Seeing Ron Sina get angry, the two who had been arguing instantly fell silent, cowering like children who had been scolded by an adult.

"Alright, now that it's already happened, there's no point in saying anything more. This little lion cub really came at the worst possible time; we were just a few steps away from completing the plan."

The pure-colored crystals produced by the Kanma mine are extremely dense. Despite Ron Sina's violent slamming, they remained unharmed. He picked up the remaining liquid in the crystal glass, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp.

"His arrival is just in time. He's the only one among the heirs of the upper-class nobles in the North who hasn't shown up yet. So what if he's powerful? Hildaman was once hailed as a leading figure of the younger generation, but in the end, he still ended up drowning in the river."

"Let Haven run wild for a few more days. No one can escape our organization's net. This is the fate of those people in the North. They should disappear into the long river of history along with those corrupt systems."

Seeing the calculating glint in his eyes, Adachi fawned over him and asked:
"Brother Ron Sina, what do we do next?"

Ron Sina tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his eyes flashing with an unreadable light. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something happy, a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

“You’ve been hanging out with that idiot Frey lately, so we…”

After listening to Ron Sina slowly explain his plan, Anda and the others couldn't help but gasp. Their gazes towards him changed, filled with admiration but also a deep-seated fear and dread.

"Okay, Brother Ron Sina, I'll get right on it."

(End of this chapter)