Warhammer Divine Throne

"Could it be?!" Alfred opened his mouth wide, directing his gaze towards the siblings.

The female knight revealed an exceptionally beautiful smile but remained silent, while Julius calmly responded, "He is my father, the current Duke of Winford."

"...My apologies." Alfred quickly apologized, yet the Antre siblings expressed that it was alright. On the contrary, they both felt proud of their father.

"Speaking of which, can I participate in the tournament?" Laine suddenly took an interest, having heard about the generous rewards of the tournament. It was said that the Lake God Witch, the Chosen of the Lake Fairy, would personally award the champion.

"Lord Laine participating in the tournament would be bullying, hahaha~" Jules chuckled, "The tournament rules state that participants must be under twenty-four years of age and Kingdom Knights or Holy Grail Knights are not invited. Don't look at me; these are the Lady's regulations."

"Oh, why is it like this? I was just pondering what rich rewards the champion might receive!" Laine complained discontentedly.

"Well, perhaps Julius can tell you as he's the previous champion." Jules maintained a constant smile, his words igniting the enthusiasm of the Ranger Knights.

"Her Highness Mogiana instructed me not to tell anyone, except for Holy Grail Knights." Julius shook his head amidst the expectant gazes, "If you're really interested, I can tell you privately, but not now."

"Alright, alright, I respect your privacy, I won't ask anymore." Laine shook his head with a wry smile. The reward wasn't that important anyway since he couldn't participate in the tournament.

The group entered Kulona, and Laine was accommodated in a luxury guest inn built by the Church of the Merciful Goddess. The newly appointed Holy Grail Knight received a small independent courtyard where he would wait for the Knight King to choose an auspicious day for his ennoblement ceremony.

Lops and Alfred also lodged in an inn within the city. The army was disbanded, each returning to their duchies. The Ranger Knights and Kingdom Knights were to receive a large amount of gold as a reward.

Then, these knights stingily divided a small portion of this gold into silver coins packed into small bags, which they handed over to the peasants. Many peasants weighed the money bags in their hands with joy and repeatedly thanked the Master Knights, as a full bag of silver coins was indeed the knights' generosity, which would make their year much more prosperous.

Witnessing this scene, Laine thought to himself that if it were the Empire, the Empire's generals would dare to present such meager money as military pay to the conscripts, those self-cultivating peasants would throw the small bags back at their faces and then file a lawsuit with the Imperial Court. A bag of silver coins serving as a small gift and bonus for soldiers who fought valiantly was another story.

However, if not for the presence of Holy Grail Knights and their missions abroad, the peasants would have received even less. Even this money was hard to retain fully, as damaged equipment and weapons needed repair and replacement.

Overall, though, the peasants gained quite a bit from this war. The bag of silver coins was equivalent to their normal annual income. Peasants on the battlefield looted many spoils of war, and each conscripted peasant would receive a piece of smoked meat, a bottle of inferior apple cider, and a basket of black bread. Many peasants beamed with joy and longed for war to the extent that they eagerly participated every time conscription was announced.

This might be their only chance to change their fate.

If the infantry could earn the favor of the Master Knights, they could be promoted to sergeants and rangers, receiving shelter in military camps with food rations. Although incomparable to a knight's castle and fine food, it was a top-tier experience among civilians, especially since rangers earned double pay and reportedly enjoyed meat once a week!

Just today, the Master Knights were somewhat stingy, promoting only five lucky ones to sergeants. A small bag of gold coins was handed to them, allowing these fortunate ones to move into the castle and find a new home. They would use this bag of gold coins to purchase a brand new set of armor and a sword and shield (or other weapons), all to better serve their Master Knights.

After watching a series of ceremonies, witnessing the envious gazes of other peasants and the euphoria of the newly appointed sergeants, Laine could only shake his head helplessly and then ask the Antre siblings with a wry smile, "What about you two? Will you leave as well?"

"Surya and I will both travel with you until you reach your fief." To Laine's emotional surprise, Julius replied, "You might not know many things being new here, and we will help you."

"Thank you very much." Laine knew this might be because they wanted to invest in him, but he still appreciated their willingness to help.

The long journey finally reached its end, and that night, Laine rested at the guest inn of the Church of the Merciful Goddess.

Kulona's night was silent as Laine walked alone in the inn's garden, with Amelia following him.

"Speaking of which, Amelia, it's quite strange that the Lady of Mercy chose to place the Church's headquarters in Kulona." Laine gazed at patches of dew-drenched roses, the bright red flowers proudly blooming amidst the garden alongside other blossoms.

It was indeed peculiar, as it was merely mid-March, a time when roses shouldn't typically bloom.

This was the blessing of the Merciful Goddess Shalya, as flowers of all seasons bloomed within her church and temple.

"It's not strange, Mr. Laine. The Lady of the Lake and the Lady of Mercy are allies, and... peasants are forbidden to worship the Lady of the Lake," Amelia spoke softly from behind Laine.

"Pfft~" Laine laughed. Indeed, Brittania's nobles believed peasants were unworthy to worship the Lake Fairy, and since Shalya was an ally of the Lake Fairy and could gather much faith here, it made sense to place the headquarters here.

This little maid had a knack for cutting straight to the point.

Yet, he said nothing more and continued walking deeper into the garden.

A new country, a new environment, everything before him was so complex. There was much he needed to think about and handle.

He did not know whether the current Knight King had the Lake Fairy's trust, nor how Brittania's great nobles viewed him. If he merely sought to be a Holy Grail Knight, these matters were trivial, as his identity meant it was unlikely for other nobles to interfere with him.

Actually, Laine had always been somewhat frustrated. This world was unlike his previous world, nor his father's world. Within this medieval setting, the jurisprudence for various punishments was quite vague. For instance, during the Aesthetic Society incident, the nobles did not want to set a precedent and thus vehemently opposed punishing Edmond. Even with such grave accusations, the Marinburg Upper House merely ousted him from his position and stripped his title, which felt far too lenient.

However, this was Marinburg's situation. This commercial city held autonomy, and even if Schultz was the Duke of Marinburg, he couldn't directly adjudicate the matter.

Thus, Edmond was inexplicably protected.

Yet when this young noble became deeply corrupt and accidentally exposed himself at a banquet, the nobles of Marinburg collectively resolved to condemn Edmond without any due process, distancing themselves from him.

Laine now found himself in a similar situation. As a Holy Grail Knight, he was beyond the king's authority. As long as he didn't act recklessly, many matters would be conveniently overlooked by the king and the great nobles.

In Brittania, the land of knights, no matter how hard a peasant tried, they remained a peasant, and no matter how destitute a knight was, they remained a knight. An insurmountable chasm existed between the two.

Historically, had peasants ever entered the nobility?

Yes!

From the First Knight King Arthur to now, over hundreds of years, peasants being elevated to nobility occurred only five times.

Yes, only five times.

Therefore, Laine had to tread carefully with every step he took.

Only he knew what he truly wanted.

Turning a corner, golden waist-length curly hair glistened amidst a cluster of fiery roses. Upon seeing Laine appear, this person was not surprised: "Mr. Laine?"