Asura in Arknights

"You're going to sell the whole estate?" Sarah gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.

Adele was a foreigner, so she didn't understand what Marna's sale of the estate really meant, but Sarah had lived in Kazimierz for a long time and knew very well what the word 'Near Light' represented in Kazimierz.

That knightly family, renowned for its military exploits and known to all, has fallen so low that it has to sell its ancestral manor.

Marner nodded and said, "It would be difficult for me to maintain this huge estate on my own."

Although she said that, Marna's true feelings were far from as calm as her face suggested.

For a manor of this size, the annual maintenance costs alone would be a considerable expense, which is simply unaffordable for ordinary wage earners.

Sarah had been thinking that if she became a competitive knight, she wouldn't have to sell the centuries-old manor, right?

However, thinking about what happened to the Lin Guang family three years ago, Sarah shut her mouth again.

She was also one of the witnesses to that incident. It all started because the eldest daughter of the Linguang family disregarded her family's advice and participated in the Knights Tournament three years ago as a competitive knight, which triggered a series of subsequent events.

Old Pegasus also breathed his last because of this incident.

After Old Tenma's death, the Rinko family, which could have managed to survive for a while, suddenly fell into an abyss. Their businesses were dismantled by a group of people, and now their heirs can't even keep their ancestral manor.

"You've worked so hard all these years, Ms. Kuhn."

"This...this is what I should do."

Sarah couldn't say anything more, but she needed to start thinking about what to do after losing her job.

“However, I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble you again during this time. I won’t ask too much about your sister’s affairs, as long as she does her job well.” Marna gave Adele a deep look and said.

Sarah was about to say something when the door to the room was suddenly kicked open with a bang.

A blond young man burst in from outside, shouting angrily, "Uncle! You're going to sell this place?"

"I'm sorry, you must have seen this." Marna subconsciously apologized to the two of them, then changed her previous amiable demeanor and sternly reprimanded the person who had barged in.

"Maria!"

"There are outsiders watching right now. Look at the state you're in!"

Chapter Seventeen Maria

Suddenly, a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, slightly younger than Adele, barged in. Her face still had a touch of childish innocence, and she looked somewhat similar to Marna. She was probably also a member of the Nearl family.

However... her current attire is really not flattering, no wonder Marna scolded her for her improper behavior just now.

Unlike her peers who wore brightly colored and pretty clothes, the girl wore a very plain gray-blue overalls, stained with a lot of black oil, making her look like a worker who had just crawled out of that machine repair shop.

It's hard to believe that this is actually the eldest daughter of the Lin Guang family, but considering that her uncle also looks like a corporate slave who works overtime, it doesn't seem so strange.

At this moment, the girl called Maria was brandishing a wrench and angrily arguing with her uncle about the manor, completely ignoring Sarah and Adele beside her.

However, this is in line with her age characteristics; children of this age don't consider the consequences of their actions.

"Uncle! This manor is the symbol of our Linguang family! How could you sell it?"

Looking at the girl in front of him, Marna suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Marner knew this would happen, and he never intended to tell Maria about his plans. He just didn't expect her to come back at this time and overhear what he had just said.

This is really... troublesome.

"A symbol of the Nearl family? Hmph, when did the Nearl family fall so low that it needs to be represented by something like this?" Marna sneered.

“But you can’t just sell it like that!” Maria argued, refusing to back down.

"Then what's the point of keeping this old house?"

Marna asked coldly, "Now, the entire Lin Guang family, including your aunt from a collateral branch, only has three people left. There's no use keeping this old house."

“Maintaining this kind of vain dignity is meaningless. The Light family has declined, that’s a fact. Perhaps the Light family will be stripped of its noble status by the Knights Guild soon, but even so, the family will not lose its honor because of such a thing.”

“Isn’t this all because we don’t have any long riders?” Maria wouldn’t listen to a word the other person said. “As long as the family has a long rider recognized by the Knights Guild, the guild won’t strip the Lightbringer family of their noble titles, and we won’t have to sell this place.”

"Vanity! The glory of the Linguang family... since when did it become a matter for those people to acknowledge it?"

Marna felt a throbbing in his head. He already had enough work pressure, and now he had to argue with a rebellious teenage girl about this. It was really taking a toll on his mental health.

What troubled him even more was that these rebellious kids wouldn't listen to anyone else. They would stubbornly believe that they were right in everything, that all adults who disagreed with them were idiots, and that they were the only smart person in the world.

Who hasn't gone through a period like that?

Let's try to appease them first, since there are other people present, and some family matters are best left unsaid in front of outsiders.

Just as Marna was about to soften his stance, he saw Maria suddenly throw the wrench in her hand to the ground and shout in a huff, "That's because you refused the association's invitation, Uncle! Otherwise, our family wouldn't be without a single knight."

"Since you're unwilling, Uncle, then I'll go! I'll win the knight's title in the competition, just like my sister!"

Maria shouted this, as if she was about to turn around and leave.

Upon hearing these words, a string of reason snapped in Marner's mind, and the negative emotions that had been building up for so long finally turned into anger.

"Enough!! Don't you think the Lin Guang family is shameful enough already?"

The surging malevolent energy transformed into a tangible storm, instantly engulfing the small room.

Everyone present felt as if a sharp sword was held to their throats, their skin stinging slightly from its sharpness, and they could hardly breathe in this overwhelming aura.

Fortunately, this situation only lasted for a short time, and Marna quickly realized her lapse in composure and swiftly regained her composure.

He spoke calmly to Maria as if nothing had happened, saying, "Don't forget what happened to your sister. The Linguang family doesn't have that many connections to help you clean up this mess now."

Maria seemed startled by Marner's sudden outburst. She silently picked up the wrench from the ground and stopped arguing with her uncle. Whether she had listened to Marner's words or not, only she knew.

"I've said it all. Before you do anything, think carefully about the consequences."

The argument between the uncle and nephew finally came to an end.

Throughout this process, Adele kept her eyes fixed on the girl. Although her face was a little dirty, Adele could still tell that her appearance was somewhat familiar.

Maria... Maria... Wasn't that the female knight she and Leon met in Kazimierz a while ago also named that?

What's even more coincidental is that the two people look extremely similar; the female knight's appearance is almost exactly what this girl would look like when she grew up. This is probably not a coincidence...

After thinking about it, Adele felt it would be better to tell them about it. Her intuition told her that this was a very important matter.

"I'm sorry, you must have seen me like that earlier." Taking a deep breath, Marna walked to Sarah and the others and said, "Let's do as you suggested, Ms. Kuhn. I can't sell this manor anytime soon; there are still many procedures to go through. I'll have to leave it to you for now."

“Yes, no problem, don’t worry. We’ll take our leave now… Eyjafjalla?” Sarah turned around, intending to leave with Adele, but saw Adele standing there, motionless, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

“Um… Mr. Marner.”

Adele said somewhat nervously, "Actually, about two weeks ago, when I first entered Kazimierz, I met someone who looked very similar to Miss Maria at a post station there."

She said her name was also 'Maria'.

Marner stopped what he was doing and stared intently at Adele, asking her question slowly and deliberately.

"What did you say?"

Chapter Eighteen: A Dilemma

What did the person you saw look like? And who was she with?

Adele was startled by Marna's intense reaction.

She had just been thinking that the knight she had met at the border was probably also a member of the Lin Guang family, and very likely the sister of this 'Maria'. She felt that she should tell her family about it, both out of courtesy and reason.

But I never expected... Marna would react like this.

“Well, the ‘Maria’ I saw was wearing full armor and carrying a knight’s shield and a warhammer,” Adele said, recalling the situation carefully. “She had a high golden ponytail and looked very similar to this ‘Maria’.”

"At the time... he was with two Sarkaz doctors, and they told him that they seemed to be planning to come to the Grand Knights' Territory soon."

Marna slowly clenched her fists, her brows furrowed tightly, her expression shifting between light and shadow.

Adele has already told him so many characteristics; if he still can't recognize who the person calling herself 'Maria' is, then he's wasted all these years.

But... why did she come back? Didn't she know how much the Nearl family had paid to send her away from Kazimierz?

Recalling what happened three years ago, Marna felt an uncontrollable throbbing pain in her heart.

"That must be my sister! My sister's back?" Maria jumped up in surprise, but after a moment, she felt a deep worry. "My sister's coming back at this time... I hope nothing bad has happened to her?"

Maria wasn't stupid; she was just a little naive. After the initial surprise, she realized how dangerous it was for her sister to come back at this time.

“Maria, remember… don’t get involved in this. Just go back to your workshop and pretend you never heard of this. Do you understand?” Marna said calmly, but his attitude sent a chill down Maria’s spine, and she couldn’t help but shiver.

She knew that Uncle Marner was really angry this time, and if she dared to cause trouble at this time, Marner would not go easy on her just because she was his niece.

Even more than a decade ago, when the Lightbringer family had not yet declined, Marna was one of the top experts in the family. Now, no one in the family can match her. Even her older sister, Margaret, who won the Knights Tournament and was known as the 'Radiant Knight,' is no match for Marna.

However... very few people know about this.

“…I understand.” Maria obediently lowered her head, not daring to say anything more.

"call……"

After dealing with Maria, Manna turned her attention to Adele. "Miss Eyjafjalla, have you told anyone else about what happened earlier?"

“No,” Adele shook her head. “I only thought of it after I saw Maria just now.”

"...That's good. However, this matter involves the secrets of the Linguang family, so could you please not tell anyone else about it?"

When Marner showed that expression, Adele had anticipated this outcome, so she nodded without surprise, "Don't worry, Mr. Marner, I won't tell anyone else about this."

"..."

Actually, the most effective way to truly ensure that this matter is not leaked is to place all those who know about it under house arrest, but the problem is... who can blame them when the people who know about it are people he knows?

Marner glanced at Sarah and Adele without leaving a trace, and sighed helplessly in his heart.

If they are placed under house arrest, things might get out of control, and it could even alert the Business Federation and the Knights Association prematurely.

Now... all we can do is gamble on whether they can keep their promise.

Just then, Marner's cell phone rang in his jacket pocket. He casually put the phone to his ear, but what he heard when he answered was a string of curses coming from the other end.

Marner's expression froze instantly. "Minister?"

"What? There's work I need to go back to resolve?"

"But today is my day off... I still have things to take care of at home..."

Before she could finish speaking, Marna heard the other end of the phone hang up. The other party's meaning was quite clear: if they didn't come, she should be prepared to pack her bags and leave.

Damn it... We have to work overtime at such a crucial moment? Marna gritted her teeth.

But he still couldn't not go.

It took Marna three years to lower the guard of the Business Alliance, but even so the Unarmored Alliance only slightly reduced its vigilance, and there were still assassins secretly watching his every move.

If he dares to ignore the minister's orders now... all his efforts over the past few years may be in vain. It is truly a dilemma.

Margaret... you've really come back at the worst possible time. For the sake of the Nearl race, for the future of Kazimierz, whatever your purpose in returning this time, I hope you can stay hidden for a while longer.

-------------------------------------

Let's rewind to an hour earlier.

After thoroughly crushing Ryan's confidence on the training field, Ryan, as previously agreed, sighed and led Li Ang toward his company.

Renn is a contracted commercial knight. Although his knight rank is not high, he is quite popular among certain groups of people, which is why he is able to support a family.

Being a competitive rider can be very lucrative, but maintaining that form is also very expensive.

Daily training requires consuming large amounts of food to replenish energy, and worn-out equipment also needs maintenance. Post-competition treatment is of paramount importance; if any incurable injury is left behind, it's tantamount to saying goodbye to a competitive career.

Another factor is the upgrading of weapons. If there is a generational gap between the weapons and equipment possessed by the opponent, it will be difficult to close this gap with individual strength alone.

Renn had personally witnessed how an ordinary person who couldn't even hold a weapon properly possessed strength comparable to a high-ranking knight under the armament of Glorious Shield Industries... although the price of that equipment was astronomical.

Each of these items, taken out individually, is an insatiable money-devouring beast. As Renn remained at the fifth-level knight for too long, he gradually found himself unable to sustain such consumption.

He has two choices: retire or try a risky promotion.

"We've arrived. You don't need to do anything now. Just let me talk to the boss."

Directly above the two of them, a plaque bearing the words "Bell Health Products Co., Ltd." emitted a faint glow in Li Ang's perception.

Chapter Nineteen: Not Wanting to Be Famous

A health supplement company... well, it was a small company whose name Li Ang had never heard of.

This is not surprising. Apart from the lower-ranking knights who are ignored, only small and medium-sized enterprises are willing to pay these mid-level companies to advertise.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Brother Ren."

As we followed Ryan into the company, many people greeted him warmly, indicating that he was quite popular within the company.