Work Prophet
Chapter 475 - 93: What Are You Looking At?

Chapter 475: Chapter 93: What Are You Looking At?

It’s no wonder Miss Rabbit looked like a country bumpkin at that moment—anyone seeing this city for the first time would have had the same expression on their face.

The eve of the grand martial competition was upon them, and outside the city gates, numerous outsiders like the Lady stood dazed.

It took Ireya a while to snap out of it before she remarked, "So this is the Royal Capital, huh? The stories the nannies told me as a child were all true; there really is such a majestic city in this world.

"No, the place called Flat Peak Mountain in the moving pictures that Prophet Merlin showed seems even more grand. Prophet Merlin said almost five million people live there.

"I can’t imagine what it feels like for five million people to live in one city. I’ve heard that nearly four hundred thousand people live in Lion Heart Castle, and that alone seems astronomical.

"There must be even more people inside now," Ferdinand said. "We arrived several days later than planned; I wonder if there are still rooms available in the inns."

"Don’t worry, I had someone make reservations for us in advance, but I hadn’t anticipated that we would have so many people with us," the Lady said, glancing at the group of refugees behind her.

"What did Merlin say?" asked the Family Head of the Batorris Family.

"The city is probably out of space by now; let’s have them settle outside the city for now. Monks from the Double Rest Sect have already gone into the city to buy food and tents. Fortunately, it’s just the start of autumn, and the weather is still quite warm, so living outside for a while shouldn’t be too much of a problem."

In fact, not only followers of the Double Rest Sect, but many tents had already been pitched outside Lion Heart Castle.

The Emperor’s decision to reopen the grand martial competition had attracted not only warriors from within the Empire and many spectators but also caused quite a stir among the Dwarves and Elves.

Especially since the current Empress herself came from the Elf Royal Family, the Elves also sent a large delegation, making the city even busier.

Forget about vacant rooms; now even bare patches of land suitable for sleeping were scarce, so some people had to live outside the city.

Ireya then spent some time helping the Double Rest Sect settle those refugees who had followed them.

At noon, they merely had some bread and dried meat, and it was only in the afternoon that she finally had time to enter Lion Heart Castle properly.

Although Miss Rabbit was full of curiosity, she couldn’t afford to wander and headed directly to the Second Knight Corps’ base.

Ireya told the guard at the gate that she wanted to see Torres. Before long, a man with long ears, just like her, walked out from the camp.

"Uncle Torres," the Lady said when she saw him, her ears perking up with excitement.

"Family Head," the man bowed to the young lady first and said, "You have finally arrived."

His tone was also filled with joy, "About the election matter before..."

"It’s all in the past, I know it was great-grandmother Ona who told you to switch your support to Blanco, and Ona and I have already reconciled, not to mention you," Miss Rabbit said generously.

Still, Torres was full of regret, "Regardless, my sudden change of heart brought you a lot of trouble, nearly causing you to lose the election. If that had happened, the Arias family wouldn’t be enjoying the prestige it has today."

"As I said before, that’s in the past," Ireya said. "Instead of dwelling on what’s over, we should look to the future. I read in your letter that you’re about to become a Knight, Uncle?"

"Yes, my mentor said I’ve completed almost all of the training and have also learned Knight’s etiquette, but to become a Knight in the Royal Knight Order, one must be knighted by the Emperor himself.

"And His Majesty hasn’t handed a sword to anyone for a long time, though that’s not quite right to say; actually, he has knighted someone recently."

"Who’s the lucky one this time?" Miss Rabbit blurted out, catching herself mid-sentence, "Wait, could it be..."

"Exactly, it’s you, and His Majesty even gifted you his own sword," Torres said, his smile tinged with both happiness for Ireya and a trace of bitterness.

He had been chosen by his teacher and left his hometown at the age of eleven to come to the Royal Capital, spending four years doing chores in his teacher’s house while learning to ride horses, practice swordsmanship, and shoot arrows.

It wasn’t until he was fifteen that he became a Squire Knight, a position he held for twelve years during which he barely returned home.

Just when he thought he could finally see the end of it, he learned that the Emperor had developed a belief in the Life Goddess, spending all his time with the Priest of Cornelia exploring the ways of life, completely forgetting about the knighting.

Theoretically, everyone from His Majesty down to a minor Lady like Ireya has the right to knight someone.

Torres wasn’t oblivious enough to hang all his hopes on one tree, but the problem was that he was a member of the Royal Knight Order, and as long as he stayed, he couldn’t seek knighting from any other Lord.

He didn’t know how much longer he would have to wait to become a Knight.

Torres then remembered something and said to Ireya, "This isn’t the place to chat, I’ve already booked a room in an inn for you; we can talk there."

The Lady heard this and said nothing more, ready to leave with her uncle.

Unexpectedly, several young men emerged from the barracks behind her and headed straight towards her.

Seeing those people, Torres’s expression shifted slightly, "Freckles, Young Wolf, Hercules, what is the meaning of this?"

"Nothing much," said the young man with freckles, smiling, "just heard that the Dragon Slayer Knight was here and came out to admire her prowess."

"She seems much more delicate than the rumors suggest. I can’t see how she could have killed a Black Dragon. I bet she couldn’t even take one of my punches."

The tallest and most massive of the three spoke up.

"It seems we could go Dragon slaying too," the last man added, "His Majesty would rather give his sword to such a woman than use it to knight us; it’s truly the Empire’s tragedy."

"Shut your mouths, you bastards," Torres snapped, "If I hear another insult towards the Lady of the Arias family, I will duel you."

"You can’t beat me, Torres, you and I both know that," Young Wolf sneered, "Besides, we haven’t insulted her, we’re just stating a fact."

"You go ahead to Da Bu Inn and just mention my name," Torres whispered urgently to her, "I’ll join you there once I’ve dealt with this."

However, he clearly underestimated his niece’s temper.

Far from leaving, Miss Rabbit instead took a step forward, her gaze sweeping over the three men.

"What are you looking at?" Freckles asked.

"Jealousy, arrogance, and pity—I see three utter failures who, unable to become Knights, resort to resenting the world and venting their anger on those superior to them," the Lady said coolly.