Chapter 65: The White Silk Knight is Very Worried

“Is Hall really going to marry that Eastern woman?”

“Who knows? Keep your voice down. He’s not the same useless bum with a bad reputation from three years ago. My old man said he’s been biding his time and building strength these past few years, deliberately ruining his own reputation, all for the sake of this marriage contract.”

“Hah, what’s the logic in that? If he wanted to marry the princess of Great Xia, shouldn’t he have worked harder to maintain his reputation?”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Old Man Faxtius got to where he is today through military merit and marrying Mrs. Faxtius. He has no family background, yet he controls a full eighth of the Papal State’s military power. Do you think the great families of Saint Louis, whose ancestors fought alongside the Hero, can tolerate him?”

“That seems to make sense. If Hall were a good-for-nothing, the Faxtius family’s luck should have run out. I never expected this guy could even defeat Cateline’s female marquis.”

“He’s not useless at all, I’ve said it before. But the young masters of the other ducal families don’t like him. Who likes a nouveau riche? If Hall isn’t useless, his older sister was chosen by the College of Cardinals, and his younger sister’s mentor is also a renowned bishop in our Saint Louis with a chance of becoming a saintess candidate. Think about the Faxtius family’s power in twenty years. This family will have walked a thousand-year path in just one hundred years.”

At Holy Light University.

The rumors and gossip about Hall had been intensifying these past few days.

The minor noble families were gossiping, while the major nobles were considering the future prospects of the Faxtius family.

The Papal State hadn’t expanded for a hundred years. The cake was only so big. Old Man Faxtius was only prestigious in the military circle, at best a top-tier fighter who wouldn’t carve up their core political, religious, and commercial interests that had been established over a thousand years.

But if none of the three Faxtius children were useless, and with Hall, the only male heir, to hold up the family’s image.

It was hard to say.

Hall had a fiancée. Hall’s older sister had actually been proposed to many times and was of marriageable age, yet showed no intention of getting married.

His younger sister, Lorraine, was developing in the direction of a saintess.

This family, these old noble powers couldn’t even win them over.

They could only consider suppressing them.

Of course, among these old and established great noble families of the Papal State, there was one exception in their attitude towards the Faxtius family.

That was the Russell family, which ranked third in the College of Cardinals.

The lineage from which Hall’s and Himan’s mothers were born.

But the Russell family was famous for marrying off its daughters. The Russell Bridal Academy, founded by this family, was a place where almost all noble young ladies in the Western Continent would come to study before marriage.

However, to this day, the Russell family’s attitude towards the Faxtius family was merely ambiguous. They had been observing, but they would send special gifts to the three Faxtius children at the end of each year.

For example, Hall’s already broken Knight’s Azure was a birthday gift from the Russell family the year he had just entered the Black Knight Order.

As for these rumors within the school, Hall had endured them for a few days and had gotten used to them.

Anyway, no one dared to ask him directly about his thoughts on his fiancée. However, he was surprised to recently discover that Lenny was getting very close to the young master of the Howard family.

For Lenny to become the Howard young master’s dog at this point in time, he felt it was too fast.

Because the Howard family was also a ducal family, and their lineage was older than the Faxtius family’s. Their ancestors had fought alongside the Hero and the first Saintess to conquer the world from the Demon God.

At the same time, in Himan’s route.

After the player crushes Lenny, they would discover that it was the Howard family who had been secretly supporting Lenny’s actions.

Because the Howard family was also a major military and political family. The current Lord Howard, like his father’s generation, controlled one-eighth of the Papal State’s military power, guarding the north of the Papal State.

But the north was not a good assignment.

Because the south and southeast of the Papal State bordered the demon world, it was very likely to directly clash with the Demon Kings. The College of Cardinals paid more attention to it, and the military funding was higher.

The west, guarded by Old Man Faxtius, bordered the oldest Western Continent country, the Basel Empire, as well as the Kingdom of Cateline and the Kingdom of Gu’ai. It had the most extensive network of Holy Train rails and convenient transportation.

It was the place with the most complete defensive and offensive facilities. Due to the need for maintenance, the military funding was also higher.

The east, guarded by Himan’s father, was the hypothetical main battlefield of the future. The number of Holy Train rails currently being laid and various facilities being built was countless. With such large-scale construction, even the Papal State would find it difficult to pay for it all at once in a short period of time.

Many of the expenses were even covered by war bonds.

And the northern Duchy of Eire, a country of magic fanatics, although many advanced magic lamps and magitech vehicles came from this country’s inventions, its national defense was weak, and it bordered the territory of the northern Demon King.

So not long after its founding, it was garrisoned by the Papal State according to the articles of the “Holy Covenant” signed by the countries of the Western Continent back then to contain the actions of the Demon Kings.

The northern Demon King was also quite chill, and for the Demon King, the Kingdom of Cateline was more of a threat than the Duchy of Eire.

For a thousand years, there had been “All Quiet on the Northern Front.”

The funding was not much, and the Howard family had little to gain.

Three hundred years ago, they couldn’t even get a seat in the College of Cardinals.

If this continued, as an old noble family, they would be on the same level as the new noble families like the Faxtius or Von Braun families that had emerged in the past hundred years.

Could they tolerate it?

They couldn’t.

The family’s power was weakening step by step, all because other new families were taking away the power that originally belonged to them.

Hall knew that this Howard family was an old villain.

In Himan’s route, they were a mid-game villain. In Christine’s and Leticia’s routes, they were an optional villain that could be dealt with in a side quest to recruit Himan.

And once Lenny started to get in touch with the Howard young master, it meant that something big was about to happen.

So, when school was over that day, Hall called out to Himan, who was packing her books and about to go home.

“Hey, Himan.”

“What is it?”

“Be careful these few days.”

“Why are you suddenly concerned about me… you should be the one to be careful, shouldn’t you?”

She first turned her face away, not looking at Hall.

Then she said with certainty, “At the tea party a couple of days ago, the young lady of the Howard family seemed to have some complaints about you, saying her brother would find a time to teach you a lesson.”

Hall was a bit speechless. In the game’s plot, it was the Howard young master who continued to find people to set up Himan after Lenny was dealt with, and then was beaten up by the heroine.

But that Howard young master, as a mid-game mini-boss in Himan’s route, had a level cap of less than eighty, and his swordsmanship talent was only [A-].

“He probably can’t beat me.”

Hall said lightly.

This was the truth.

“Why are you so arrogant? Don’t underestimate your enemy, Hall. The Howard young master was also in the same batch of the Black Knight Order as you. If you lose to him, it might hinder your future promotion.”

“But what if it’s the other way around?”

Himan was stunned by Hall’s question.

If it was the other way around, it would prove that Hall was more capable than the Howard young master.

Then as the sons of dukes, in the future…

“Yes, you have to beat him!”

“You don’t need to tell me.”

The black-haired young man looked at her somewhat expectant expression.

He thought for a moment, he had to keep his distance.

But before he left the classroom, he still heard Himan’s admonishment from behind.

“I’ll say it again, don’t underestimate your enemy. He might challenge you to a Knight’s Rite!”

“That would be fine too.”

He replied, not looking back.

(A quiet warning: Something big is about to happen!)