I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 126: The Night of the Royal Capital (1)

Even though more than half a day had passed since the end of the Royal Army’s triumphant return ceremony and it was now late at night, the night in the royal capital was still as heated as the midday sun.

The scene witnessed during the day had been so impressive that everyone would have fallen into various sentiments just by recalling the ceremony for days to come, but now an even stronger catalyst had been added.

The Royal Army, after completing the ceremony, had chosen to go out into the streets of the capital instead of retreating to the encampment outside the city or shutting themselves in the palace.

While the Royal Army included elite units like the Baltois Cavalry and the Omphalos Order’s Combat Priests, in truth, most were private soldiers led by lords from various regions.

And among those private soldiers, the majority were conscripts from the domains, so naturally, their level of military discipline wasn’t particularly high.

In other words, there were far more who would boast and laugh and talk loudly in front of the cheering crowds than those who would show self-restraint.

Though they all lacked the eloquence of the bards, they were the ones who had directly experienced the events.

The Royal Army’s tales of experience, which burst forth amidst the flowing alcohol and meat, were exaggerated several times over, but they contained vivid realism.

Of course, there was one major problem beyond their lack of eloquence.

The fact was that hardly anyone among the Royal Army had actually experienced the miracle at Galatein Fortress.

Most had only heard bits and pieces along the way, so many were more ignorant than the capital’s residents themselves.

However, they had stories of various battlefields shared with Lothian’s Black Knight, including the decisive battle of the Legion and the salvation of Lushen.

“The Black Knight, no, His Majesty raised his sword in front of a troll as big as a house, and flames as brilliant as the midday sun erupted from that sword!”

The soldier who had described the light emanating from the Black Knight’s sword as like the, um, morning sun, had now learned new vocabulary and could describe the scene with quite plausible words. The capital’s residents, now prepared to believe even if someone said Yoo Seong had beheaded a thousand goblins with one swing of his sword, showed an exemplary response.

“Woooooah!”

“And then? What happened next?”

“Is that the famous Sword of Fire?”

Having discovered the pleasure of storytelling from such passionate responses, the soldier continued his tale using what little skill he had, and the number of soldiers running their mouths like this exceeded hundreds, approaching a thousand.

In truth, things wouldn’t have gone this smoothly under normal circumstances.

It would have been normal for people to disapprove of the soldiers boasting and telling all sorts of tales or even pick fights with them.

But because the memory of Camelot’s light seen during the ceremony was so intense, such things didn’t happen.

The capital’s residents and soldiers alike were simply ecstatic about the return of the human king and the Royal Army.

Everything was going according to Count Carian’s plan and the nobles were showing the expected reactions as well.

“I wish to meet His Majesty the King.”

“Is there no way to greet him?”

Broadly speaking, they were similar to the lords who had sought out Yoo Seong in Lushen.

Because of this, Count Carian and the Crown Princess had already prepared a skillful way to handle them.

“A grand banquet will soon be held at the palace. His Majesty will attend in person, so you can greet him then. Invitations will be sent from the palace.”

The nobles perfectly understood the underlying message: we’ll formally arrange a place so don’t cause trouble before then, and if you do, you won’t get an invitation. Let’s all behave—and they chose to quietly return to their residences to wait instead of causing a commotion.

Of course, this method didn’t work for everyone because in the capital, there existed someone who, though neither noble nor royalty, possessed power and authority that couldn’t be ignored.

But neither Count Carian nor the Crown Princess worried about him because from the beginning, he had gone to meet the Saint, not the human king.

“Great Priestess Jillian, I heard you received a divine revelation from Omphalos and became a Saint. Is that true?”

Though he started with some dignity, his urgency was revealed by the end.

Cardinal Nathan, the man who could be called the leader of the Omphalos Order’s clergy residing in the Silatein Kingdom.

Tall and robust, he was sweating profusely with an awkward smile that looked artificially attached.

The reason this man in his fifties approaching sixty was begging in front of Jillian, who wasn’t even half his age, was simple.

‘Because I disrespected her terribly.’

‘I remember criticizing her harshly for how a woman who couldn’t even use holy magic got the position of Great Priestess.’

‘I even asked if she had sold her body or something.’

The priests accompanying Cardinal Nathan each recalled past events and watched Nathan and Jillian with interested eyes.

What would happen?

Normally, Nathan would have scolded Jillian for committing blasphemy by calling herself a Saint, but this time was different.

It was a situation where no less than the human king had appeared and vouched for her as a Saint.

A Saint.

Moreover, a Saint selected through Omphalos’ direct divine revelation.

This position could be considered equal to or perhaps even higher than the Pope’s, so it was certainly higher than a Cardinal.

Most priests expected Jillian to deliver some satisfying comeback, but those who knew her well had long given up such expectations.

What revenge could that gentle soul who couldn’t even curse properly take?

Even just glaring at him once would be a major development.

And as expected, instead of saying something sarcastic or threatening, Jillian smiled genuinely and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. Omphalos granted me a divine revelation.”

It was thanks to her need for validation being tremendously satisfied by seeing the Cardinal, who had always treated her as deficient, now squirming.

Most people would have given the Cardinal some grief, but Jillian was just happy and couldn’t go that far.

She just smiled brightly at the Cardinal.

But as the saying goes, a thief is suspicious of others, and the Cardinal, imagining all sorts of things upon seeing Jillian’s smile, continued with a very unhealthy complexion.

“I-I’ll contact the Order headquarters. It’s joyous news that should be delivered as soon as possible. Leave it to me. Then I shall take my leave.”

After speaking rapidly, almost spilling the words out, Cardinal Nathan quickly made his formalities and left the room, almost like he was running away.

“Car-Cardinal.”

Following the Cardinal’s disconcerted exit, his close priests also hastily paid their respects to Jillian before leaving the room.

But not everyone did so.

Because there were quite a few priests who had merely followed the Cardinal but weren’t necessarily on his side, or who wanted to change allegiances on this occasion.

“Congratulations.”

“Congratulations, Saint.”

“I’ve always believed you were special.”

There were some making transparent remarks, but Jillian didn’t mind much and just enjoyed the moment.

And a moment later, as the atmosphere settled somewhat, one of the priests carefully posed a question they had been holding back.

“Saint, what kind of person is His Majesty the King?”

The bards’ songs were ultimately just stories from those who had watched from afar.

But what about the perspective of the Saint, who could be considered a close associate?

As everyone’s attention focused on her, Jillian, feeling a new kind of satisfaction, took a deep breath to calm herself, then spoke with an elegant smile.

“His Majesty is a luna… no, no. He’s a truly magnificent person.”

What? Did she just almost call him a lunatic?

The eyes of some priests became subtle, but Jillian deliberately ignored it and continued her story.

At the same time, Morgan, who had been looking out the window with crossed arms, frowned at the strangely clear sky, then turned her gaze back to the room and narrowed her brows with a different meaning.

If the previous expression was due to the subtle foreboding and anxiety felt from the sky, this one was due to bewilderment and absurdity.

“Hey, after such a splendid ceremony, you end up locking yourself in a room to train alone?”

“Training is important.”

Yoo Seong was slowly swinging the Silver Sword, correcting his posture, in his room.

It was a training method called the Ten Thousand Swords, which involved moving very slowly to find out what was wrong with the movements, how they could be improved, and at the same time, imprinting them on the body.

“Besides, today I lost my chance to use the training room.”

Yoo Seong, who had been going to the training room once a day to train intensively, couldn’t do so today.

Since he couldn’t enter the training room again until the day changed, the only option left was to train in his room.

“But couldn’t you rest just for one day? Do something fun and enjoyable where time passes quickly with Rene?”

“I don’t know what that game is, but you know well how important the continuity of training is, Morgan? Training is something that you need to do every day.”

“Wow, you really sounded like Kate just now, you know that?”

“Hmm, should I take that as a compliment?”

“No way! I’m saying you sound like a really stubborn old fogey!”

At Morgan’s words, Yoo Seong withdrew the sword he had been slowly swinging, then said with narrowed brows.

“Morgan, if you’re going to disturb my training, just go back.”

“If I leave, will you call Kate to train?”

“Probably?”

“…I’ll do it. It’s better if I do it.”

“But Morgan.”

“What?”

“It’s really random, but can I ask you something?”

“Are you asking what that fun and enjoyable game where time passes quickly is?”

“No, not that.”

“Then?”

“Do you have some kind of connection to Morgana?”

The Celestial Witch, Morgana, the most powerful archmage in human history, superior even to Merlin, the king’s wizard, in the field of combat.

At the sudden mention of her name, Morgan didn’t narrow her brows or tilt her head, but laughed bitterly and said.

“I thought this question would come up eventually. It’s because of the name, right?”

Morgan and Morgana were names that could be considered one despite differences in pronunciation and spelling.

When Yoo Seong nodded, Morgan put a pipe in her mouth, took a long drag, and said.

“It’s nothing special. I come from the same clan as Morgana. We just recycled similar names within the clan and accidentally overlapped—just something like that.”

It really was nothing special, so Yoo Seong blinked and said.

“That’s it? No story or anything?”

“Yeah, nothing more. Just that I’m a distant relative of Morgana. Why? Disappointed?”

“No, not disappointed exactly. But it is interesting. A clan that produced both the most powerful witch in human history and a knight of the Round Table who’s among the 13 strongest humans.”

Now that he said it, it really was an impressive fact.

But at Yoo Seong’s words, instead of boasting or playing it cool, Morgan suddenly burst out laughing.

“What now?”

“Actually, I’m kind of the black sheep in my family. Our clan has traditionally practiced magic for generations.”

So she was a sword genius born out of nowhere in a family that had been producing powerful wizards for generations.

“That is interesting.”

“Right, right. It’s an interesting thing. But maybe because we’re from the same clan, Morgana and I have quite a few things in common.”

“You’re trying to say you’re both beauties, right?”

“Oh, correct answer. Have you finally reached the realm of Scáthach-style insight?”

“I don’t think this particular case required much insight.”

“Heehee, is that so?”

Seeing Morgan laugh pleasantly, Yoo Seong chuckled and assumed his stance again.

Morgan urgently said.

“Wait, wait. Shouldn’t you ask about Morgana now, given the flow of conversation? Like what other similarities we have besides being beauties?”

“I asked before, and you said you don’t remember much. And I’m not curious about the other similarities. It’s probably just that you both have good figures or something.”

“Really, has your Scáthach-style insight reached a higher level?”

“No, it hasn’t. Stop talking nonsense and let’s train. You know time is money.”

As Yoo Seong took his stance again, Morgan smiled bitterly as if she had no choice, put away her pipe, and drew her sword.

Two hours later, after finishing training, Yoo Seong washed off his sweat, changed clothes, and headed to the first floor of the annex.

There, the Crown Princess who appeared to have just arrived, her guards, Rene and Jillian welcomed Yoo Seong.

“I apologize for the late hour.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not that late yet.”

“Thank you for saying so.”

In fact, this meeting had been arranged even before coming to the capital.

Holding it at night was also because of the shared opinion of Count Carian and the Crown Princess that it would be good to avoid others’ eyes.

“Then I shall escort you.”

“Please do.”

The group wasn’t very large.

There were only six in total: Crown Princess Elizabeth, her two guards, Yoo Seong, Rene, and Jillian.

After leaving the annex, the Crown Princess guided the group through one of the many secret passages within the palace, and before long, they were able to reach the most important place in the main palace, the bedroom of the King, who was said to be bedridden due to illness.

At the appearance of the Crown Princess and Yoo Seong, the royal guards protecting the bedroom swallowed hard and stepped aside to make way.

The Crown Princess gave a small smile to such guards, then turned to Yoo Seong with a calm face, and Yoo Seong nodded.

He looked at the King’s bedroom beyond the door opened by the Crown Princess’s guards.