Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

"I just want to do my job at the church, and I think their liking me has nothing to do with me."

Joan of Arc combed her hair and said, "They only like me as a saint in the church, not as a person, so I will not give them my love."

"Is that right?"

"I only need the love of people who are truly good to me."

Before Joan could finish speaking, Aaron suddenly coughed, startling her. When Joan went to get some water, she saw Aaron pull a crumpled piece of paper out of his mouth.

"Do people still put love letters in croissants to express their love these days?" Aaron scoffed at this tasteless behavior. He unfolded the crumpled paper and sure enough, he saw a love letter with very cheesy and romantic poems, mainly praising Joan of Arc's beauty and virtue.

*

After dinner.

"Does the teacher also have to work today?"

"Yes, I have some social engagements related to the Duke, but I don't need to leave Esgard."

The matter from three years ago is naturally not over yet; Duke Augustine wants to be his father… and he is serious about wanting Aaron to be his son-in-law.

Although Aaron politely declined, the other party seemed not to understand his refusal, only saying that his daughter was too young and it was normal for Aaron not to agree, and that they could wait until his daughter grew up.

But recently, the Duke brought up the matter again and told Aaron that their daughter had grown up to be fifteen years old and was now of marriageable age.

Aaron wanted to refuse outright, but now it was too late to do so.

For three years, the Duke treated him like a woman in love, showering him with affection. Gifts would be delivered by carriage on every holiday, and the Duke was always enthusiastic towards him at the parties Aaron had to attend. After three years, their relationship had clearly progressed, and what was most problematic was that Aaron still owed the Duke a favor.

Not only with Aaron personally, but also with the White Tower Holy Church, Duke Augustine established contact with the entire Obsidian Knights.

So three years have passed, and Aaron seems to find it even harder to refuse. Today, the other party came to him, which may be related to personal favors, his daughter, or both.

Since that matter had nothing to do with Joan of Arc, and Joan of Arc was still young at the time, Aaron did not tell Joan of Arc about it, and instead said that it was the Duke's business.

As Aaron thought this, he took another sip of black tea. While he was thinking, his half-empty teacup was refilled. Throughout his breakfast, Joan of Arc watched him with a gentle, smiling gaze, occasionally handing him food or pouring him tea. The rest of the time, she would either prop her cheek up and smile at him or chat with him, as if doing so was a pleasure for her.

This period should have been a happy time for them, but when the Duke was mentioned, Joan of Arc's head drooped.

"The Duke..."

Joan of Arc whispered, "Is it still because of that matter..."

Joan of Arc certainly remembered that incident vividly. Three years ago, her teacher had injured 141 villagers and brandished his sword at the Duke for her sake, which had caused her a great deal of trouble.

The more Joan of Arc studied at the Holy College and the more she learned about Esgard, the more she realized the immense price her teacher had paid for her to wield the sword, and the immense price he had paid for her, all because she had held her teacher back.

Joan of Arc hated herself for holding her teacher back, and she also hated the corrupt Esgard. A person who did the right thing should not be in such a predicament, and should not have a gun pointed at her.

Therefore, she also disliked those powerful and wealthy people.

“Haven’t I told you many times? It’s not your problem.” Aaron sighed. “I’ve offended a lot of people over the years, one more won’t make a difference. And although this matter is a bit troublesome, it’s not a big deal. At most, I’ll just owe someone a favor.”

Joan of Arc remained silent. The girl, who had been cheerful, seemed somewhat dejected. Seeing her suddenly quiet down, Aaron patted her head and said, "Don't worry about it. This isn't urgent. Let's take advantage of the time and do some combat training."

"Is Teacher going to see the Duke this afternoon?" Joan of Arc asked.

Aaron had intended to gloss over the matter with training, but Joan seemed unusually concerned about everything he did, and asked rather inquisitive questions.

"No rush over there, we've finished breakfast, let's go."

The Omniscient Knights.

The Knights of Omniscience are holding an award ceremony.

The award was given to Sirio in recognition of his contributions to the Order of the Omniscient Knights over the years.

This was just a small-scale award ceremony within the Omniscient Knights. The ceremony was not complicated, but the atmosphere was solemn. Sirio looked solemn as the Grand Master of the Omniscient Knights pinned the medal to Sirio's chest. Afterward, everyone applauded, and the small award ceremony came to an end.

Sirio had been a member of the Omniscient Knights for nine years and served as their swordsmanship instructor for five. He also wore several medals on his chest, but since the one awarding him this medal was the Omniscient Sword, Sirio took it very seriously.

The usually carefree Syrio unusually put aside his usual nonchalant attitude, shaved, found the military uniform he wore to the ceremony, and accepted the medal very seriously.

However, once the awarding ceremony was over and others came up to congratulate him, Cirio reverted to his carefree attitude. He started bragging to the others that if he taught in the Omniscient Knights for another seven or eight years, the entire Omniscient Knights would be filled with people he had taught. Wouldn't he then become a so-called swordsmanship instructor? At that time, he wouldn't need any achievements to have a high status in the Knights.

Although he hasn't achieved that level of accomplishment yet, many of the Omniscient Knights are already his students, making him practically a teacher with students all over the world. And to outsiders, someone who can serve as a swordsmanship instructor in the Omniscient Knights is treated as an honored guest anywhere.

A person who can serve as a swordsmanship instructor in the Omniscient Knights will be treated as an honored guest anywhere. Cirio is simply too lazy, and he always believed he possessed an artistic temperament, coupled with his own pride, so he was too lazy to interact with outsiders.

"Alright, alright, after the awarding ceremony, we can go on vacation." Cilio stretched.

"Going out drinking again? Don't let yourself become a hero only to be grabbed by a woman's belly," someone said to him.

Cilio glanced at the man: "No, no, no. I'm not going out for drinks, I'm going out to teach students."

"Teaching students? Didn't you stop teaching those young masters and ladies a long time ago?" someone asked.

Indeed, starting about two years ago, he gradually stopped teaching those young masters and ladies. He would teach them firstly because the tuition fees from nobles were often very generous, and secondly because he wanted to maintain good relations with the nobles. However, he found that although this job brought in money quickly, it wasn't very lucrative, so he gradually stopped doing it as well.

After all, teaching these young masters and ladies would not only make him go bald, but also waste his time drinking. Most importantly, he felt that teaching these young masters and ladies was an insult to his sword.

There was one teaching job that he never quit; on the contrary, he became happier and happier doing it, often telling himself, "I love this job!"

Therefore, he put on a very helpless expression: "There's nothing I can do. After all, it's His Majesty's request, and I have no choice but to comply."

"Oh, is that the girl who possesses three blessings?" Someone in the Knights had a remarkably good memory and still remembered this.

“Yes, yes, that’s her. She recently became a saint, and even I, her instructor, have benefited from it.” Cirio said with a smile.

In fact, Syrio liked this job because he hardly had to do any work himself. Who wouldn't like a job where they can get paid without doing anything? Moreover, the person working for him was the third seat of the Obsidian Knights. How could Syrio not be overjoyed? He even spoke well of him to His Majesty and did everything he could to keep the job.

Every time he taught, he would take the opportunity to go out and have a good time, and he did it all during "working hours." He even got paid for going out and having a good time. All he had to do was to regularly test her swordsmanship. After all, if her skills were too poor, or if someone found out that she hadn't learned anything, he would also be in trouble.

But because someone else was teaching him, and the other person's learning progress was satisfactory even to him, most importantly, he didn't have to teach, nor did he feel that the other person was insulting his sword. Could there be such a good thing in the world? This was simply heaven! He loved this job!

"By the way, Sirio, have you ever fought against knights from other knightly orders?" A voice, lacking interest and not particularly pleasing to Sirio, rang in his ear.

He turned his head and saw an annoying figure.

He was a handsome young man with gray hair and blue eyes. He was elegant in demeanor and taller than the old man, Sirio. He wore black boots and the robes of the Omniscient Knights. In addition, he had a gleaming golden sword and was covered with a layer of gleaming golden ring armor. Although he did not hold a very high position in the Omniscient Knights, his attire was the most dazzling among all the knights.

"Sivan'er." Sirio actually gave the other party a slight bow.

Although he disliked the young man, he still picked up the etiquette he rarely wore when he met him, because the man's full name was Sylvain Ofranc.

Ofranc is the current king's surname, and the other party is the king's child, the prince of Lucerne.

As a prince of Lucerne and a knight of the Omniscient Knights, this guy was top-tier in terms of status and position. Young girls would take him as the model for a prince charming, and as such a successful knight, he was naturally bursting with confidence.

However, when they drank in private and talked about this prince knight, they often sneered. The reason was that the prince was arrogant and complacent, and it seemed that he did not respect anyone in the entire knightly order except for the Omniscient Sword. However, although he was ignorant of his own limitations, it must be said that he did not get into the Omniscient Knights through back channels. He did have some skills, but this made Sirio dislike him even more.

He felt that the other party would insult his sword.

Sure enough, the prince approached Syrio in his characteristically leisurely tone and said, "I want to ask you something, Syrio. You've fought against other knights, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"What do you think of their strength? How do they compare to our Omniscient Knights?" Sivan asked.

"Of course, they can't compare to us Omniscient Knights. No one in this world can compare to us," Syrio said calmly.

Sivan nodded with great satisfaction and said, "Then what do you think of the third and fourth seats of the other two knight orders?"

"What do you mean?"

“I’ve been a member of the Omniscient Knights for five years now, but I’m still only the seventh seat. I think I can move up a bit.”

“I think our sixth seat in the Knights Order is roughly equivalent to the third or fourth seat in other Knights Orders. If we defeat them, the Grand Master should agree to promote me. What do you think?” Sivan asked.

"The other three or four seats in the Knights are Dennis Gautier, Enzo Laland, Aaron Brando, and Lisette Sheron. Some of them have the opportunity to compete for the future Grand Master of the Knights. None of them are ordinary people."

Xiwan'er was very satisfied and asked, "Then which one of them do you think I can beat?"

"The commander said that our knight order cannot bully each other, so I might as well cause trouble for other knight orders."

“None of those who can become candidates for the future Grand Master of the Knights are ordinary people. I advise Your Highness to think twice before acting.”

Chapter 18: Aaron's Strength?

"Oh? But judging from your tone, it's as if Cilio has fought them before, and you seem to think you could beat them?"

“I’m not absolutely certain I can defeat them, but I believe my sword is at least among the top twenty in the kingdom.” Syrio looked into Sivan’s eyes and said, “If Your Highness is interested, why not come and try me? I’m a sword instructor, and sparring with me wouldn’t be considered infighting.”

Meeting Sirio's sharp gaze, Sivan shrugged: "Fighting you won't get me promoted. I don't want to do something thankless."

Cilio smiled, didn't press further, and left with his sword.

Two people are practicing swordsmanship in the field.

"Summon the blessing, treat this as a real battle, and attack with all your might."

As the man finished speaking, he put one hand behind his back and held a beautifully carved wooden sword in the other, turning to face the enemy in front of him.

His enemy is a blonde girl.

Although she was a young girl, he faced her as if she were a Valkyrie; at least her majesty was comparable to that of a Valkyrie.

Unlike the men, the girl had three different weapons with her: a gun, a sword, and most notably, a huge military flag in her hand.

The military flag is white with gold patterns, and the flagpole emits a faint dark gold hue in the sunlight. When the flag flutters behind her, it seems to instantly pull people back to the battlefield.

The girl was fighting with a huge military flag in her hand. She held a sword in her left hand and gripped the flagpole with her right hand, which was tucked under her arm. A black spear was stuck behind her, pointing straight to the sky. It was as if she alone represented the battlefield. She was majestic and imposing. Two long ponytails swayed behind her, and the military flag fluttered behind her. She was like a majestic Valkyrie on the battlefield.

Indeed, that was the case. Her military flag was enormous, and she could wield it with ease in battle with one hand. One could imagine that when she swung her weapon, even twenty wooden swords would be cut in half.

But she kept delaying, waiting for the right moment, waiting for that decisive instant.

A few orioles landed on the branches behind the man. The grass was lush and the birds were singing. He held a wooden sword in his hand. A gentle breeze blew the hem of his clothes. He did not look imposing. Instead, he looked warm and gentle, full of the spirit of spring.

The girl seized an opportunity; in an instant, the military flag and the long spear all came to life, and the dark golden flagpole rushed towards Aaron with a whistling sound.

That was pure battlefield tactics. It was hard to imagine that a 16-year-old girl could wield a weapon to such an extent, exuding an overwhelming and destructive aura, as if she were facing a thousand-strong enemy army, and she was waving a military flag, forming an army all by herself, ready to break through the enemy lines.

The man's trench coat billowed as if by a gust of wind, and in an instant, the girl had charged in front of him, the tip of her gun pointed directly at his throat.

The oriole took flight in fright, completely shattering the springtime beauty of the grass. Before the spear tip could pierce the man, the man moved first. Three consecutive "bangs" echoed as all the weapons were struck by the wooden sword. The next moment, the girl lost her balance, and the Valkyrie's imposing aura vanished completely. The girl charged forward and fell into the man's arms.

Falling into the enemy's arms, it seemed the battle was over, but she still didn't give up. She tried to draw the shortest sword, only to find that her wrist had been grabbed. Joan of Arc's eyes instantly changed from being full of murderous intent to being as soft as a little white rabbit.

"The fastest she's ever lost so far, she didn't even last three seconds." Aaron frowned, looking at Joan of Arc in his arms, clearly dissatisfied.

“I can’t beat my teacher in a protracted battle, so I want to try a dangerous method,” Joan of Arc said, looking up from Aaron’s arms.

"I'm not criticizing you for choosing a dangerous tactic; battles are inevitably dangerous, but you weren't prepared."

"Since you've chosen to kill me in the blink of an eye, you must think more than anyone else, make more thorough preparations than anyone else, anticipate situations that no one else can foresee, and be faster than anyone else—faster with your sword and faster with your mind. While others are still hesitating, you, who are already prepared, will have already struck."