Vol 1 Chapter 1.3 (1/2)

39—Legend of Sun Knight Volume 1

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 1: In Training, Part 3—Sun Knight – translated by lucathia

Donation money had just come in the previous day. Judge was currently hard pressed for time. The ”donation money” turned in by the branch churches was not just cash: the majority was food, products from various regions, precious stones and jewelry, and weapons and equipment. They had to sort them as quickly as possible, prioritizing dealing with all the perishables, and then taking some to sell, while storing some as provisions. Since the prices of each region differed, they had to refund money or ask for a surcharge in case of any price discrepancies after the sale…

This year especially, the villages had had great harvests, so the items sent over by several branch churches were all food supplies and products. If they didn’t quickly finish processing these things, handing them over to cooperating merchants, they would rot, and that would be terrible.

This job was not actually difficult, just very time-consuming. In the previous generation, this was the responsibility of the Stone Knight and the Leaf Knight. In this generation, Elaro had given the responsibility to Judge and Valkyrs, the Earth and Metal Knights-in-training.

Valkyrs led several platoon members in delivering the checked off goods to the marketplace, while Judge stayed behind to continue making an inventory. Although the other person had only taken ten people, leaving more than thirty people behind, they were still scrambling all over the place.

“Captain, piiiiiiig!!”

“…”

Judge was a little speechless, but he had already heard the pigs’ cries, so he didn’t seriously think that his platoon member was cursing him. He reflexively cast the s.h.i.+eld of Earth, but then he thought that it wasn’t quite right, so he hurriedly dispelled the s.h.i.+eld and dodged to avoid collision. A drove of pigs brushed by his calves, rampaging through the open s.p.a.ces of the Holy Temple. Several sorry-looking holy knights chased after them.

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad he had dispelled the s.h.i.+eld in time. If those pigs had collided straight into it, breaking their necks, it would have been terrible. The prices between a live pig and a dead pig were very different. He would probably have had to take care of the discrepancy himself.

“Cows, sheep, and pigs have all arrived! It wouldn’t be strange if we get a fish tank next!” A holy knight said in frustration, “The items sent by the branch churches have been getting more and more outrageous, especially the livestock. Sending over horses would have been easier to deal with.”

Judge shook his head and said, “W-we are knights. The branch churches lack horses the most. It’s im-impossible that they would send us horses.”

“Captain is right.”

The person who had spoken was a member of Judge’s platoon. Actually, most of the current knights-in-training were only fifteen, and normally they did not need to choose their platoon members so early. Usually, they would choose them around the age of seventeen or eighteen. However, the circ.u.mstances of their generation were quite unique. Most of them had started their training between the ages of seven and nine. Now that almost eight years had already pa.s.sed, most of the current Twelve Holy Knights were slowly handing their jobs over to the next generation.

Judge did not belong to the “slowly handing over” side. His teacher had long since finished handing over all the responsibilities to him. The Earth Knight really didn’t like working much, but this was not his fault. After all, on one hand the current Twelve Holy Knights were already at the age to retire by normal standards. On the other hand, they were also the ones who had chosen such young children to succeed them.

In response, the Sun Knight often had a smile on his face while he looked at Elaro in front of everyone, regretfully saying, “In the blink of an eye, the child is already over twenty and can a.s.sume full responsibility, under the G.o.d of Light’s care. Yet the affairs of the world like to hinder us to no avail, for his teacher finds that, although he already has many years to his name, his hands still hold the Divine Sun Sword, unable to pa.s.s on the benevolence of the G.o.d of Light…”

At first, few could understand what the Sun Knight wanted to convey, but after hearing it more than a hundred times, it wasn’t possible not to come to some sort of understanding—the Sun Knight wanted to retire. Elaro was already of the age to take over, but unfortunately, the children chosen by the other Twelve Holy Knights were all too young. When Elaro had been twenty, the others had only been thirteen and fourteen, so of course they could not succeed their teachers back then.

The situation dragged on, and now Elaro was already twenty-three, yet no one knew when he would officially take over. After all, some of them were only fifteen and couldn’t possibly become one of the Twelve Holy Knights yet.

Regarding this matter, Judge didn’t care either way. In any case, he had already started doing the duties of the Earth Knight since a long time ago. There was no difference whether he officially took over the position or not. At most, he would just receive the Earth Knight’s weapon and room.

Judge saw around thirty people approaching from a distance. Elaro was likely the one who had sent these people over. The day before, Judge had asked him to send help. He had originally thought that since everyone was super busy right now, Elaro would at most send just one group of people, but this number meant it was likely that two groups had come. Judge was very happy… Wait, these two people were—Valica and Shuis.

His face immediately fell.

The two of them walked up to Judge. At the same time, the holy knights on each side—it didn’t matter if they had originally been there or if they were the ones who had followed the two over—all fell silent.

Valica smiled and said, “Judge, Big Bro Elaro told me to come help you.”

The moment Judge heard that, he knew that nothing good could happen. Told “me” to come help you? Then, where does that leave Shuis, who is behind him?

“Big Bro Elaro is not your brother!” As expected, Shuis immediately grew angry.

Valica snorted and looked askance at Shuis. “He’s not my brother, but does that mean he’s yours? Big Bro Elaro is an orphan just like me. He only has a younger sister.”

Shuis stated as if it was indisputable, “It goes without saying that Elaro is my big bro. Ever since before I was selected, I’ve been calling him big bro. You’re the one who b.u.t.ted in halfway and started endlessly calling him ‘Big Bro Elaro, Big Bro Elaro’!”

Elaro and Shuis had known each other longer than Valica had. This was a gap Valica could never fill, and it was also his most vulnerable weakness. So the moment he heard Shuis mention it, he also grew angry. “You have both of your parents and a bunch of brothers and sisters. I’m an orphan with nothing. I finally have a brother, yet you want to steal him away?”

“You’re the one who is stealing my big bro!”

“S-stop fighting…” Judge intervened somewhat weakly. He looked left and right and scratched his head, unable to do anything about the fight. The conflict between Shuis and Valica was one known by all of the Twelve Holy Knights-in-training—except Elaro.

Elaro often inquired after them with great concern, wondering why Shuis and Valica hated each other so much. No one wanted to tell him the truth: “It’s all because of you.”

Even though they didn’t all call him, “Big Bro Elaro,” the truth was, because of their age gap, Elaro was like everyone’s older brother. The eleven of them were all his younger brothers. He guided them, he loved them dearly, and they respected him deeply.

It was just that among younger brothers, there were those who liked to stick to their older brother, and there were those who didn’t like to do so. There were those who grew easily envious, and there were those who didn’t. Among them, the ones who liked to stick to their older brother the most, and who also grew envious the easiest, were Shuis and Valica. It went without saying that the two of them would argue endlessly.

When Judge saw them argue, to the point that one of them grabbed the bow from his back and the other stomped the ground hard with one foot, he couldn’t help but sigh heavily. He resented Elaro a bit for sending these two over to him at the same time. Sending them over separately would have been no problem, as both of them were very competent and could help him a lot, but sending them over together would only result in a row.

He stood between the two of them and said, “I-it’s fine if you argue! But don’t use violence. If you get h-hurt, Elaro will be super angry.”

Once they heard Elaro’s name, both of them hesitated. Valica took the lead and put away his bow, unenthusiastically saying, “Fine. For Big Bro Elaro’s sake—”

“You’re not allowed to call him Big Bro Elaro!”

As he yelled angrily, Shuis gave a kick toward Valica, who twirled the short bow on his back and conveniently used it to block Shuis’s foot. Valica snorted coldly and said, “Even your sneak attack failed. I really don’t know how you pa.s.sed Elaro’s inspection. Did you act like a spoiled child in front of big bro?”

Huge flames ignited in Shuis’s eyes when he heard those words, which were a bit excessive. Even the platoon members behind Shuis frowned, growing somewhat angry.

Seeing this situation, Valica fell silent. Inwardly, he was feeling a little remorseful for speaking so offensively. As a matter of fact, no one knew Shuis’s strength better than he did.

Ever since they were young, in order to please Big Bro Elaro, who had excellent swordsmans.h.i.+p, they had always striven to practice hard. Later on, when they developed animosity toward each other, they were deeply afraid that the other person would receive a crumb of praise more from Elaro, so they practiced even harder. In the present, their strengths could be said to be at the top of the Twelve Holy Knights-in-training. Of course, not including Elaro.

However, for Valica to lower his head and apologize was an impossible task. He could apologize to anyone and everyone, as long as he was in the wrong, but Shuis was the only exception.

Shuis was so angry that he grew calm instead. “Why don’t you come and test out how I pa.s.sed?”

When he heard this, Valica immediately nocked an arrow. He knew how fast Shuis was. Even though he did not have the Wings of G.o.d spell cast on him, the Storm Knight’s speed was just as his t.i.tle hinted at—never to be underestimated. Without advance preparation, Valica was sure he would be at a disadvantage from the start.

With a tap of his foot, Shuis rushed straight toward Valica in a flash, a twist launching into a roundhouse kick. Although the Leaf Knight’s speed was not as quick as the Storm Knight’s, when speaking of agility, he was definitely not in any way inferior. With a quick turn of his foot, he easily dodged the roundhouse kick.

However, the kicking skills of the Storm Knight had always involved consecutive attacks. An upwards kick closely followed the roundhouse kick, and then became a heel kick… The kicks rained down in quick succession, like a raging storm, not allowing his opponent time to catch his breath.

Valica used the smallest steps possible to dodge his opponent’s continuous attacks. If the attacks were not strong, he would directly use his bow to block them, or he parried it. As he dodged, he backed up at the same time. He was not losing or retreating; rather, it was more advantageous for an archer to be at a distance.

However, even in close combat, the Leaf Knight’s skills had always been among the quickest and most agile within the Twelve Holy Knights. Faced with an attack akin to a raging storm, he was still able to find an opportunity to shoot out two arrows. One of the arrows left a streak of blood on Shuis’s right arm, but Valica also suffered the price of a kick to the left cheek for it.

Once the holy knights to each side saw their captains getting hurt, their fighting spirit also rose, and both sides began mutually hooting encouragement. Even their hands found their weapons. They were waiting for the most impulsive person to draw his weapon first. Immediately after that, a huge scuffle would certainly break out.

Seeing the situation, Judge sighed and muttered, “Elaro, I’ve decided to hate you.”

Resigned, he walked forward and told the thirty or so people the two of them had brought, “Don’t interfere. G-go over there and help with the inventory.”

No one moved. The two sides continued to stare fixedly at each other. They were mostly all older than Judge, and they weren’t his platoon members either, so Judge’s orders weren’t very effective. All he could accomplish was prevent them from fighting for the time being, but if he were to turn his head and leave, he was afraid that the two platoons would immediately start a brawl.

Judge couldn’t do much about the situation. He could only stand between the two sides, using himself as a wall to separate them. Then, he stared fixedly at Shuis and Valica, who were in the middle of fighting, ready to cast the s.h.i.+eld of Earth to prevent the two of them from overdoing it in the fight and receiving severe injuries.

Unable to join the fight, the two platoons instead called out, “Go Captain,” to support Valica and Shuis. The current scene had turned into a scene of two extremes—one side was calmly making an inventory of the goods, chasing after pigs, and herding sheep, while the other side was lifting up weapons and shouting, “Go Captain!”

With their platoon members fanning the flames, sure enough, Valica and Shuis fought even more explosively. Several times, Valica’s arrow pointed directly at Shuis’s chest, and Shuis also repeatedly kicked toward Valica’s head. Luckily, both of them were very strong and did not let the other person’s attack succeed, or else the attacks would have most definitely brought about severe injuries.

It was instead Judge who was watching the entire battle in alarm. He nearly tossed out the s.h.i.+eld of Earth more than once, but luckily, he stopped himself in time. Otherwise, if Shuis ended up kicking the s.h.i.+eld of Earth with his full strength, the resulting leg injury would probably be severe. It was the same for Valica. If his arrow had hit the s.h.i.+eld of Earth and resulted in the arrow shattering, the splinters would have flown in all directions.

Judge had already learned his lesson. There was one time when he had cast the s.h.i.+eld of Earth and Shuis ended up with a fractured right leg, while Valica ended up with splinters from the exploded arrow pierced into his body. It alarmed Judge so much that he kept apologizing after the incident even though neither of them blamed him. Once Elaro learned of the matter, he even tossed both injured parties into the confinement chamber, and didn’t bother looking into Judge’s involvement.

However, Judge didn’t ever want to see that kind of scene again, so he no longer dared to casually cast the s.h.i.+eld of Earth to stop them. Still, this also made it so that their chances of receiving heavy injuries increased greatly.

This didn’t work. That didn’t work. The only thing Judge could do was pay even closer attention to their conditions, hoping that he could find a better time to cast the s.h.i.+eld of Earth—perhaps the reason why his s.h.i.+eld of Earth always received full marks during inspections was actually thanks to these two people.

He was concentrating so hard that when a hand suddenly rested upon his right shoulder, Judge jumped in shock. But after he turned his head to look, he meekly retreated and continued taking stock of the goods. He no longer paid any attention to the two people who were fighting.

Valica was the first to notice something was off, because the platoon members shouting by the sides had suddenly fallen silent. He twisted his body, dodging a sweeping kick from Shuis, and in the midst of turning, he glimpsed a streak of brilliant gold, stunning him. Thus, he did not manage to dodge Shuis’s next attack, and his left shoulder received a heavy kick.

Once he landed his kick, Shuis also discovered something was off. He and Valica had fought for many, many years. He knew the other person’s strength very well. This kick of his just now shouldn’t have landed, and once it did, not only did Valica not retaliate, he even frantically looked in a certain direction. Even the arrow nocked on his bow was drooping toward the ground.

Shuis also stopped his attacks, not worried that this might be a scheme for him to lower his guard. Valica wasn’t that type of person. Then, he followed the other person’s line of sight. His face immediately paled.

Elaro stood where Judge had originally been. His expression was neither angry nor strict. It was more expressionless than anything as he looked at them, but that was more than enough.

Valica gulped and put away his bow. Shuis lowered his leg. Both of them approached Elaro apprehensively, and then they stood straight with both hands pressed against their thighs. Their stances were fairly similar; even their heads were lowered to the same degree. If someone did not know them, they might think that these two people were such good friends that even their actions were very similar.

“I…” Elaro breathed in deeply and said, “am very disappointed in the two of you.”

For Shuis and Valica, this one sentence probably has an attack power of 1000%, Judge and the other holy knights thought to themselves, immediately feeling sorry for them.

As expected, once these words were spoken, Valica’s face turned deathly pale, and the rim of Shuis’s eyes even turned red. Seeing this, Elaro gave a light sigh.

“Maybe it’s my fault. The Storm Knight and the Leaf Knight do not have to get along with each other.”

Even though Elaro said it was his fault, Shuis and Valica felt even more ashamed instead. They hurriedly opened their mouths, wanting to apologize, but the moment the word “Big—“ sounded at the same time, they froze. Then, they glared at each other.

Seeing this, Elaro’s heart plummeted even further. He had always wanted them to be able to get along, but the more he tried, the more strained the situation grew. Could it be that since I had forcefully tried to improve their relations.h.i.+p, it created the opposite effect?

The two of them still had their heads lowered, not daring to look at Elaro. They seemed rather apologetic, but even so, they refused to approach the other person. Even though both of them stood in front of Elaro to apologize, the s.p.a.ce between them was wide enough to fit another three people.

“Valica, stay behind to help Judge take stock of the goods. Shuis, take your platoon members and go to the training grounds to find Rhonelin. Together with him, lead the platoon members in practicing the sword. Even though you mainly rely on your kicking skills, swordplay is fundamental. You can’t slack off there either.”

Heads still lowered, the two of them nodded and then left to do their own jobs. En route, they were afraid to even look at Elaro, afraid to see his harsh expression.