The knights of the Temple of Light order were quite affected by such a rude welcome. They were just about to say something when Reinhardt stopped them.
The elf who introduced himself earlier spoke again "It is like this. You and the other knights aren’t welcome in this village. Tell His Majesty that we don’t want Solaris’ help. For so long, we hoped for salvation from this. However, now we have accepted it as our fate and are accustomed to it. We don’t want any more outsiders meddling in our affairs. Please show yourselves out".
One of the chiefs of the Toto village directly told them to get out without mixing any words. The knights of the Order of the Temple of Light were extremely enraged. However, since their commander didn’t say anything, they did not step out of their place.
"I see, in that case we will camp outside the village. Will it be alright if we use the neighbouring water source?" Reinhardt questioned.
"Suit yourself" Seeing that the knights had no intention to leave, Elmond said in an extremely displeased tone.
Reinhardt led his order and set up camps not far away from the village.
.
Later that day, the knights of the Temple of Light gathered around a huge bonfire, chatting and discussing about the day.
"I can’t believe they won’t even let us enter the village. Do they even know that this is a blatant revolt against the crown?"...
"This is the first time I have seen such a peculiar village. To think that they would look down on us, the knights who protect them. Hmph, let’s just forget about this village and head back. If they don’t want us meddling, then they can resolve their own problems themselves as they said"...
The high ranking knights were pissed. Usually, wherever they went, they would be welcomed and showered with gratitude and reverence. This was the first time that they were treated so coldly and apathetically. Naturally, some of them didn’t like it.
"Commander, what should we do?" Bob asked, sitting near Reinhardt.
Given that they did not go back and instead set up camps near the village, he knew that the latter had some plans.
"The situation is worse than I thought. At first, I believed the Toto village being a settlement of multi cultural demi humans and all refused the help of Solairs because they wanted to protect their autonomy and culture"...
"We humans have far different culture, beliefs and values from the demi humans after all. It is only natural for them not to like the knight orders who come here in the pretence of help, but instead impose their own views and behaviours on others"...
"It is more so for other knight orders, which are mainly made up of sons and daughters of nobles. There is no way they could understand, much less acclimate to the culture of these races which had been passed down since the ancient times".
"But why not? I admit that they are strong. However, their kingdom has already been razed by the forces of the demons. Their best option for survival is to integrate with us" Grey, one of the holy knights alongside Bob, asked.
"It is precisely because of that. Think about it, how would you feel if Solaris fell one day and some other country came to you offering cooperation in the form of annexation? Won’t you be mad too?"...
"It’s the same for them; these people are proud warriors and citizens of a once powerful kingdom. However, due to the forces of the demon, they had been forced to flee and accept asylum like that".
When Reinhardt put it like that, the knights were finally able to understand some of the suffering and grief the demi humans were feeling and why they were so apathetic to them.
It turned out that they were trying to do the same as the other knight orders who came here before them did.
"But Commander, why did you say that the situation is worse than you thought?"
All the knights focused their attention on Reinhardt; his voice and presence had the natural ability to draw others in.
"The reason I said that is because the moment I came here, I felt it... the faint ominous energy that surrounds this village" He narrowed his eyes and slowly looked in the direction of the village.
"There is no doubt, there are demons behind the problem plaguing the Toto village".
As a frontier land, Toto village was constantly in the danger of being overrun by demons. However, this was different; rather than the forces of demons, the ominous energy came from the village itself.
It was so faint that not even a peak level 10 knight would notice at first glance. However, Reinhardt was not your ordinary human. Both his stats and skills have touched the divine; as such, he was extremely sensitive to evil energy.
"Demons!! Commander, are you telling us that the village is hiding some demons?" As expected, the knights were shocked.
"Unlikely; however, it is possible that some demons are masquerading as demi humans to plot something. We need to find out what that is".
Demons have already started to infiltrate their society and were even able to show up at the heart of their kingdom, their capital Solaris during the Magic Knight Entrance Ceremony.
It wouldn’t be surprising for Reinhardt that Toto village was teeming with demons or demonically possessed demi humans.
Seeing that the atmosphere around the camp had shifted, he used [Voice of Providence] and released the effects of his many Titles. Immediately, the aura of fear surrounding the new recruits was immediately dispersed, replaced by a divine energy that was teeming everywhere.
"Listen up you all, other than some knights who had been with the order for some time now, this would the first time for you all to be facing the demons. I know what it’s like to face something far more overwhelming than you. It’s okay if you are afraid, it’s alright to make mistakes or even run; however, before you do, I want you all to look around you".