“Sir Dante, I’m glad you look good.”
The moment Grid sat on the throne, the atmosphere of the palace turned 180 degrees. The loneliness of the throne was lifted and the s.p.a.ce was filled with an electrifying majesty.
Dante gulped and replied politely, “According to the words of Great Sage Sticks, the atmosphere of the Overgeared Kingdom is well suited to my const.i.tution. In particular, he diagnosed that Reinhardt’s excellent water quality had a positive effect on me, who has good affinity with water.”
“Is that your secret to regaining health and youth?”
Dante only met Grid at the end of his old age. He couldn’t examine Grid properly because of his vision that was clouded by the years. There was a dignity contrary to his frivolous words and deed, the age hidden behind the youth, and the insight in the provocative eyes. Dante just vaguely felt that Grid was a great man without seeing anything for certain.
“To be exact, it was Your Majesty’s grace. Thanks to Your Majesty’s generous welcome, I was able to become a citizen of the Overgeared Kingdom.”
Dante felt great when he was able to face Grid straight on because of his improved health. He was more courteous to Grid than even the old emperor that he admired. Grid nodded. “It is purely my virtue. Stick’s diagnosis was wrong. If you can be rejuvenated by decades just by living in a suitable place then who in the world would become old?”
“Hum hum.” The fl.u.s.tered Piaro coughed when Grid came out in a more pretentious manner than usual, but Grid didn’t care. He was imposing because he was just telling the truth.
“However, Sir Dante, the health and youth I’ve given to you has a huge side effect.”
“...?”
Dante and Piaro had thought Grid was half joking and were confused. They realized that their liege was serious and listened.
“The G.o.ds of the East Continent have become hostile to you.”
“...!”
They were absurd words. They couldn’t react quickly while Grid pulled out the skin mask and tapped the armrest. He was waiting for someone. Shortly thereafter, Sticks arrived and Grid’s story began.
“...Hah.”
“Such a thing!”
It was the story of how Grid killed Hangyeol and was seen by Pungsa. Dante and Piaro’s expressions became serious at the encounter with a myth.
“Do you think Sir Dante will receive divine punishment?”
Sticks replied to the concerned Piaro, “No.”
Sticks was resolute. “The G.o.ds who were cast out are forgotten beings of the West Continent. Few remember and wors.h.i.+p their myths so it is hard for them to have influence in the West Continent. As they’ve shown a few times, deceptively tempting humans to the East Continent is their limit.”
“So does that mean Sir Dante is safe if he stays in the West Continent?”
“That’s right. This incident is unconditionally beneficial to Sir Dante. You won’t be a target of the Hwan Kingdom as long as you don’t go to the East Continent. Meanwhile, you will live a long life without any disease due to the small divinity you’ve built up.”
“Ohh!”
Piaro’s face became rosy. Mercedes next to Grid was also relieved. However, Dante himself had a complicated expression. Grid read his anxiety and asked Sticks, “If Sir Dante became an object of faith, will he become a half-G.o.d like the yangbans?”
“It’s impossible. If you could become a half-G.o.d just by establis.h.i.+ng a small amount of divinity and becoming an object of faith then the world would be filled with half-G.o.ds. They will be G.o.ds of a pseudo sect.”
“Why isn’t it possible?”
“It is a matter of birth. Unlike the yangbans who were made by a G.o.d, Sir Dante is an ordinary human being and it is hard to gain the qualification of a G.o.d. Of course, it will be a different story if he has a great power like Your Majesty or becomes the protagonist of a myth and continues to build up his status, but this is actually very difficult. Your Majesty should be very familiar with this, right?”
Sticks’ gaze on Grid was warm. His tone and honorifics were more polite than before and he seemed to have a great respect for Grid’s accomplishments. Grid nodded and turned his attention back to Dante. “How is it? If you make achievements that become myths, you can become a half-G.o.d.”
“I am different, Your Majesty. I don’t think it is possible to build mythical achievements. I just want to be a human being. If I can live longer and a bit healthier than others... that alone is enough. No, I’m just grateful.”
Dante rose from his position and bowed to Grid. “Your Majesty, thank you. Thank you again and again... I don’t know how to repay your grace for giving me a new life after I was branded as a traitor and was living miserably.”
The Red Knights of Piaro’s era had lost everything. It was naturally the same for Dante. The empire had proclaimed Dante a traitor but his two sons, his daughter-in-laws, and his grandchildren became guilty by a.s.sociation and were brought to the execution ground. Dante had a new life and he felt a sense of duty to live up to his share. He vowed that he would stay in this world and leave behind his name in the stead of his grandchildren who died before blossoming.
[Affinity with your knight ‘Dante’ has reached the maximum.]
[In the future, Dante will be loyal to you for the rest of his life. However, if you give the wrong command then he will tell you, even if it means risking his life.]
A veteran—apart from the fact that his stats had fallen sharply due to the relations.h.i.+p with lifespan, Dante had outstanding skills among the Red Knights, and he was now reborn as Grid’s true knight.
Grid couldn’t control his joy and tried to stay calm. He held Dante’s hand and cheered before asking carefully, “Sir Dante, what is the secret behind the soldiers’ fast growth? Reinhardt’s soldiers have mostly grown to their limit so shouldn’t they be blocked by a wall?”
There was a limit to the stats of a normal NPC. The closer they got to the limit, the slower the growth rate. This was the complete opposite of a named NPC. They were normal NPCs who grew slower than players.
Of course, just because all their stats reached the limit didn’t mean they couldn’t level up. They were able to level up slowly and enjoy the synergistic effect of gaining attack power, hit rate, and all types of resistances through leveling up. It was just as slow as emphasized. Yet in just one month, Dante raised the soldiers’ level by an average of nearly 20.
“Limit... certainly, most of the soldiers have completed their ‘body.’ However, there is still a lot of room for development because their ‘skill’ and ‘heart’ are immature.”
“...?”
Body, skill, heart—this was a concept that Biban emphasized. Grid thought it was a hidden system that would only be mentioned by beings who had reached a special level. Now it popped up when talking about the growth of ordinary soldiers?
Dante explained to the perplexed Grid.
“There are definitely limits as most soldiers are ordinary young people. Even though they trained their bodies to the limit, they can’t lift large rocks. Additionally, they can’t run for long periods of time. However, if they learn ‘skill’ then they can temporarily pick up a big stone and learn how to not get hurt. If they acc.u.mulate the ‘heart’ then they can run with all their strength for a longer period of time.”
It was easy to understand. Skill literally meant technique and the heart referred to mentality.
“The thing I did was simple. I provided soldiers with a method to wield the sword with less power and taught them how to kill enemies more easily. If they are tired, I developed the tenacity to hold on for a while. It is the basics. For Reinhardt’s soldiers who have already completed the ‘body,’ these basics play a big role. In the process of balancing the body, skill, and heart, the soldiers are able to break the wall and grow rapidly.”
“Um...”
Teaching better skills and training the heart...
Dante said it easily but it was actually hard. Even Piaro and Asmophel hadn’t been able to raise the soldiers so quickly. At least when it came to training soldiers, the veteran Dante’s ability surpa.s.sed Piaro and Asmophel.
“Sir Dante, it is great to have you. Thanks to Sir Dante, I’m sure the Overgeared Army will be the best on the continent.”
Grid didn’t say anything about being the best in the world. The level of the East Continent soldiers was too high. Dante noticed this and his eyes became very pa.s.sionate. “I will try to show Your Majesty a performance that is better than you expect.”
He was really stubborn. Grid nodded and turned his attention to Piaro. Piaro had been looking at Grid with joy from the moment he learned of Dante’s youth and health. He started talking, “In the meantime, I’ve taught how to identify and manage soil so that all of Reinhardt’s soldiers can clear the fields anywhere...”
“Tell me once again about the origin of the Supreme Swordsmans.h.i.+p.”
“...It was swordsmans.h.i.+p that pa.s.sed down from generation to generation in my family. I don’t know exactly how the swordsmans.h.i.+p was pa.s.sed onto the family but we’ve speculated that it originated on the East Continent due to the fact that it is based on a record that no language on the West Continent can interpret.”
“Then your family mastered it because you were somehow able to interpret it?”
“It is hard to be confident that I’ve mastered Supreme Swordsmans.h.i.+p. It is a swordsmans.h.i.+p that has been developed by the family heads interpreting the formula their own way and pa.s.sing it onto future generations. It is a lot different from the original.”
“Are you from the same family as Sword Saint Biban?”
“Biban? He is a completely unrelated person.”
“Hmm.”
He was a figure from hundreds of years ago. Even if there was a deep connection between Piaro’s family and Biban, it might not be recorded for reasons or the records might be destroyed so Piaro wouldn’t know about it. Grid nodded and got to the main point. “There is something called the Matchless Heart Technique. It is a technique that was created by Biban.”
“Huh, it is a powerful heart skill just based on the name.”
“I’ve learned it.”
“...?”
Biban warned Grid that leaking the tower’s information was a serious problem. However, Grid wasn’t leaking the tower’s information. He was merely leaking Biban’s personal information. Even Biban himself had first leaked the information to a third party, Mercedes (although it wasn’t intended by Biban).
“I will teach it to you from now on,” Grid spoke meaningfully as he alternated looking between Mercedes and Sticks.
First of all, Great Sage Sticks had pa.s.sive skills in learning and education. If he had enough information then he had the ability to learn and teach it easily. Mercedes had also used Keen Insight to uncover the secret of the Matchless Heart Technique. If the two people joined forces then it wouldn’t be difficult for Piaro to learn the Matchless Heart Technique.
‘Additionally, if Supreme Swordsmans.h.i.+p is really derived from Biban’s Matchless Heart Technique then it might serve as a hint to complete Supreme Swordsmans.h.i.+p.’
Grid couldn’t help gulping as he thought up to here. Biban was a Sword Saint and he was now active as a member of the Tower of Wisdom. How strong would Piaro become if he absorbed the power of one of the world’s strongest people and sublimated it as his own. Grid got gooseb.u.mps just imagining it.
“Mercedes, from now on, cooperate with Sticks to teach Piaro the Matchless Heart Technique.”
“Yes.”
This wasn’t the act of leaking the tower’s secrets. It was Biban himself who took the lead to hand it over to a third person, Mercedes. It would be a ‘good deed’ to distribute the Matchless Heart Technique to more qualified people. Biban would be delighted if he knew this.
‘...Bulls.h.i.+t. Let’s keep it a secret.’
Grid was well aware that it wasn’t polite but he needed a stronger force. It was a powerful force that could be brought when he went back to the East Continent one day.
‘Biban, I’ll surely repay your grace later. Phew.’
Grid controlled his mind and suddenly rose from his seat. Then he withdrew the order he just gave. “Let’s put this on hold.”
Grid was going to visit the Tower of Wisdom anyway. It was right to seek Biban’s permission first. It was right to respect him and to prevent any danger in advance.
“Let’s separate here.”
Take a break. Meanwhile, he would visit the Tower of Wisdom in the capacity of the Pioneer. Grid made a plan and left. His footsteps were lighter than ever as he went to visit Irene and Lord.