Tower of Karma

The promotion ceremony ended and the hall was turned into a buffet. There was wine made with high-cla.s.s grapes, toasted bread, fresh meat and vegetables, and there was even high-quality fish dishes even though Arcadia didn´t have access to the sea. All people separated themselves into many groups and would eat, drink and engage on interesting conversations. The groups were composed by people that had a corresponding standing to the place. And so…

“There is nothing to do.”

“Yes.”

Willian and Karl didn´t have anything to do. To silently keep eating would give a shabby impression, and they didn´t know what to talk about either. Karl didn´t have enough status to mingle with other groups, and Willian was at most nothing more than a second-cla.s.s citizen.

“”However, there are people that are giving glances at us. Whether it is for vigilance, interest, or some kind of expectation.””

Willian was aware that sometimes eyes would be gathered at them. Let alone Karl, who was granted the t.i.tle of knight, it was Willian, who received the t.i.tle of second-cla.s.s citizen, which was something unprecedented in history. Once Willian got better status after raising a few more achievements, it would be him the leading actor in this place. Today wasn´t that day. That´s all there was to it.

“”There is no need to be fl.u.s.tered. There is the need to hurry up though.””

He would raise military achievements. Now that the Karl´s ten-man squad became Karl´s hundred-man squad, the variety of strategies that could be employed increased. The influence they could have on the battlefield was something that couldn´t be compared to the time they were still a ten-man squad. The amount of achievements would increase too.

“Karl, whity, can you come here for a moment?”

“Eh, Hilda?”

Hilda, who had been talking to a crowd of people before, came to where Karl and Willian were standing isolated. There were some people waiting at the place Hilda was pointing at. Karl caught his breath. Even though he made a face of not wanting to go, he was dragged by the ears.

““I see, it is the n.o.bles´ little young masters.””

It was the graduates of the school Karl couldn´t get in. They were sons of n.o.bles that swiftly made it through the elite course, and probably had already been given positions as centurions from the beginning. And also…

“”Comparatively, they are pretty good.””

From what Willian could see, the people Hilda was introducing them to had probably been gems she sorted out from the lump of raw ore in the past. They should be people that Hilda could put her trust at to a certain extent. Their aura were also reasonably good.

“Well, since he stood out before, you should know, but this feeble guy is Karl. The white one is Willian.”

Hilda gave a vague introduction. Hilda didn´t know about Willian to the point she could introduce him to begin with, and it probably wasn´t necessary to tell them about Karl either. But even so, two of the people were looking at them with their interest deepening, though one didn´t even look at their eyes.

“I am the centurion Anzerm Von Krulgar. Please take care of me may we meet in the battlefield.”

The black haired and blue eyed Anzerm. He was the eldest son of the household of Krugar and possessed the t.i.tle of knight. His father was a marquis, and by the Arcadian law, he automatically had the right to the t.i.tle of viscount. Noticeably embezzling his t.i.tle of viscount, he had the evidence of his merit in the battlefield by having the t.i.tle of a knight. His well-shaped body and his virile face would tell he had gone through many experiences.

“My name is Gregour Von Tundar. Because of the sudden death of my father, I currently have the position of count. Nice to meet you!”

Although it was inferior to the household of Krulgar, bulky Gregour had come from a distinguished family. Because of his father´s sudden death, he immediately succeeded his t.i.tle of count. Swinging his huge weapon by using his big physique at the battlefield, he trampled down many soldiers. Although he didn´t name himself as such, he was a centurion.

“I don´t feel the need to name myself to those people. I beg your pardon, Hilda.”

The man that didn´t name himself left without looking at neither Karl´s nor Willian´s face even once. Hilda sighed. Karl breathed out in relief.

“Sorry there, Karl. He had been that kind of guy since way back then.”

Gregour placed his arm at Karl´s shoulders in a friendly manner. Karl was shrinking away.

“His name is Gilberto Von Osvalt. His family is at the t.i.tle of duke. I guess he is probably the one with highest standing here in terms of family prestige if you take out the prince? He is a disagreeable guy, but… he is very strong.”

Hilda looked at Willian and explained. Willian expressed his grat.i.tude by saying “thank you very much”, but this was still something that was clear just by looking at. His aura was different. Well, the same could be said to the three people at the place.

“Is Lutogarde doing well? Let me meet her this time.”

The instant Gregour said that, Hilda gushed forward a huge amount of killing intent. Although Gregour evaded the topic, saying “It´s just a joke, just a joke”, Hilda kept glaring at him.

“”What a weird guy. Is that plain girl really any good?”” (TL note: Noooo Lutogardeee ;-;)

Willian didn´t know any good points about her at all, and there also weren´t many men that Lutogarde was able to properly have a conversation with. It might have indeed been a joke just like the person himself had said…

“I had fought against Haian once. I´ve wanted to meet you, who killed him.”

Anzerm extended his hand for a handshake. He had strength, and also seemed to the the type that would handle people without favoritism. That is, if the other party had strength.

“Please take care of me, Anzerm-dono.”

Anzerm´s fighting prowess could be felt by the grip on his hand. Probably it was the same for Anzerm from Willian.

“Although Anzerm is a viscount, he hates being called in that way. If you are going to use honorifics, you should use the “sir” used for the t.i.tle of knight, white mask.”

Now it was Gregour that extended his hand. Willian could feel the same amount of power he could see from his appearance.

“So, you were the one that defeated that Shulvester Niklainen? No, it is not that I am glorifying you, [White Mask]. The legends about that person spread not only to the bordering Arcadia, but also to distant countries. He was indeed a living legend. If this had been when you would had already become a ten-man squad leader, you would have got a set promotion of centurion and the t.i.tle of knight without any problems…. Such a shame!”

Gregour praised Willian´s military exploits of having killed Shulvester. However, his eyes weren´t smiling. Rather, a faint jealousy of having taken down the legend could be seen. This was probably the same thought Hilda and all the people from the military that were present at the party had as well.

To be lucky and have killed a legend after it had grown old.

“I would like to hear how you took him down for future references.”

Although Anzerm´s expression didn´t change, he was overflowing with interest.

“Then I may overstep the bounds a little. First, I had cooperated with the local centurion. And then, we planned to surround the….”

If this was so he could deepen his bounds with centurions that were truly strong, doing this was nothing. If he was to do large-scale strategies in the battles from now on, coordinating would be essential. Telling the general idea of the plan as it being something Karl had thought, Willian continued his story.

Looking like Hilda got bored out, she was using Karl to play around. It was Karl´s game of pulling his cheeks around. This was one of the reasons why Karl was bad at dealing with Hilda since his childhood.

“That´s bad.”

“たてたてよこよこまーるかいてちょん！” (TL note: Hilda is saying that while pulling Karl´s cheeks Romaji: Tate tate yoko yoko maru kaite chon. A rough translation would be something like: Up down, up down, left right, left right, draw a circle, chon. (Dunno what chon is -.-) This would be the directions the person is pulling the cheeks. Looks like this is used as “punishment” for games that have that. -> “Batsu geemu”)

“It hurds!?”

Despite all, this was still an exchange between two centurions.