"Hmph, you are not the first person to say that to me. What? Even you think that I should wait for the kingdom’s reply when I know very damn well what will happen?"
Gerard was fully aware of the corruption that had infested the council and the capital aristocrats. As such, he did not hold much hope about the kingdom shielding them.
It was because of this reason that this man came to the very hard decision of fighting his own kingdom to protect his family.
"I am not saying that. In fact, if I were in your place, I would no doubt do the same". A knight protects the kingdom so that his family and loved ones can live in peace. If you take that away from a knight, all you will end up with is a villain with superhuman prowess.
"You are doing the right thing, but you are going about it wrong. Lord Gerard, you should know how much the council hates me. If you go against their orders, which knight order do you think they will order to clean this mess up?"
Gerard furrowed his brows. Knowing them, he was sure that they would use a contemptible method. And what more contemptible than assigning the knight order that his daughter belonged to, to capture them.
Pitting friend against friend. There was a high possibility; no, he had no doubt that it would be Reinhardt and his Order of the Temple of Light who would be assigned to bring him down should he decide to revolt.
Gerard believed himself to be a powerful true knight who had lived while killing demons his whole life. However, even he cannot think of going against the one they called the Divine Paladin and hope of winning.
Seeing that the Earl of Odessa was hesitating, Reinhardt pressed forward, "Can Lord Gerard guarantee that Gwen will not come to any harm if she stays in your territory?".
The other party had no answer.
"My words still stand. Any and all who join my knight order regardless of their background or race, become a part of the family, and families are meant to be protected. I can give you my word, as long as she is a member of the Temple of Light, no harm shall come to her"...
"In fact, after listening to you, I’m planning on sending a letter to Her Majesty explaining the situation, and if need be, head to the neighbouring kingdom for the trial with all of you to appease the situation".
Reinhardt spoke, his words absolutely serious. At this moment, there were finally some changes in the eyes of the stoic man who cut a similar figure to his father.
"You would..." Gerard wanted to ask, ’You would go so far for my daughter?’ but in the end, did not. These words were spoken by the Divine Paladin himself, their value was as precious as gold itself.
"Do not worry, she will be safe with me. Not even the council can touch a single hair on her person".
"Sigh, if you say so. However, as a father, I still worry" That is a parent for you, no matter how much one tries to convince them that their child is safe, they would still nonetheless worry.
"Sir Reinhardt, I would like to purchase some land in your city".
"Oh?"
"If that daughter of mine is so unwilling to come back home, then I can only build a new mansion here and visit her myself on every other occasion".
The earl was talking about building one of his mansions in his city. It need not even be mentioned how much benefit a powerful and influential noble moving into his city would bring. It would be like a giant leap forward towards the development that he was trying to achieve.
Reinhardt agreed.
.
The two of them walked towards the mansion’s courtyard, where a fierce clash was currently underway. Usually, the place was sight of clam and peace with maids tending to the garden, servants mowing the lawn, and the fountain in the middle making a continuous splashing noise.
However, today, that peace was broken by two people who were locked in the middle of an intense fight.
CLANG...BOOM... swords clahsed, intense sparks generated and the resulting shockwave from the two sword colliding, set a fierce breeze to assault the courtyard. The garden was destroyed in seconds, and the maids rushed in to take cover.
"Kyaa~" Gwen, who was pushed back for the umpteenth time, fell on her butt.
Across from her was Cadence, still standing in her place with her blade resting casually on her shoulder. She had no armor on nor did she use any guard. Just a worn cloak and the quiet confidence of someone who had already surpassed the edge of sword mastery.
"This is getting nowhere. Young miss, use your skills or else it will become night before you can even put a scratch on me," Cadence taunted, her voice was calm, almost bored.
Gwen did not answer, she stepped forward. At that instant, water sprang out of the ground like a fountain. At the same instant, she executed a movement skill that covered her legs in spiralling water, reducing friction and allowing her surprising burst of speed.
Whoosh... the next instant, she appeared, she was already behind Cadence. Her sword moved in a beautiful arc, creating a high-pitched whistle like wind slicing through water.
Just as it was about to slice through the Knight, the latter blocked her attack effortlessly. However, Gwen was not done yet. At that very instant her sword was blocked, she activated a skill causing water to burst out of her sword like a stream.
At first the stream was small, but in the blink of an eye, it became dozens of feet wide.
Snort... "Who do you think helped you train those skills? I know very well about the weakness of all your skills," saying that, the high ranking knight changed the grip on her sword.