Supreme Knight Ludovic

''Hey! What's up? I'm here !'' A voice rang out in their ears.

''So you see..'' he continued ''that's the imperial court. Well to sum it up the people here are annoying geezers that'll do their own shit while all we have to do is accept. But as this assembly is led by a young prince, we still have rooms for discussion - has he his obviously lacking a bit in experience. Still, don't underestimate him, each of the princes and princess is top-notch, either in power, status or intelligence. Just for you to know, I bet at least a hundred spells are protecting him right now''

'Oh fuck...' The fifth prince cursed. Behind Ludovic were all of his squires. And most of them weren't even knights!

''Knight Ludovic, you'd better be a little more respectful, so as not to bring more trouble to the Saint'' The corrupted duke, Diana said.

''Thank you, but my business is my own.'' He ignored her.

''Hey !'' Ludovic looked one by one at the few Knights present in the room, ''Aren't you going to say hello to Daddy?''

Receiving dark looks from these Knights, he laughed. ''I'm joking, I'm joking, calm down! it's, of course, my pleasure to attend this meeting where almighty Paladins are gathered. I'm sorry if I have in any way ever offended you.''

The faces of most people in the room soften.

'They don't know him enough I guess' I sighed. I wasn't the one choosing the participant. 'They probably wanted me to experiment it first hand'

''Attending this meeting where second-rate elites are invited and first-rate elites participate is an honor after all''

His words weren't wrong but unpleasant for most of the people here.

But he had the necessary backing. If in the beginning, his status comes from his relationship with the Saint, he grew up to be a supreme knight, a title who was even created for him.

In the world, no more than 5 knights can fight against a Demon, but he is even more of an exception as nobody other than Demons, Paladins, Angels, or primordial species can fight him.

Officially, he is considered with the same power as a High Paladin, but the truth is that he is at the top of that rank, and may surpass it soon.

Furthermore, he has a lot of influence on the saint, as the only squire still in service, and his influence may reach the level of a Sacred Paladin. If we add his status as the Director of the order of Knight, coupled with his position in the army, he is someone to be reckoned with.

If we consider the influence as a crisis, then he would definitely be in the top 10. And even in normal times, his power would remain in the top 30. And it was only growing.

His title of Supreme Knight is just a farce. He is already called the 'Strongest Knight in All History'.

While that may be a bit exaggerated, there was actually some truth in it. After all, he was only 29 years old, and his potential seems limitless.

''You may be able to insult us but you can't just disobey any rules that easily''

'He fells into his trap... I am sure Ludovic has a recording device on' I lightly shook my head. Well, as appearance is fundamental I didn't do it.

''Oh... his highness the high Paladin seems extremely respectful of the rules. But even so, so can't just randomly accuse me. It is my right to bring who I want''

''What's about the quota ?''

'' Well, I guess someone like YOU wouldn't know it, but '' he takes a moment to observe the fuming head of his interlocutor '' I've got a lot of them''

'Why does he always need to make up a situation where we have to choose? Tss. I swear if I got the chance, I'm gonna kick his fucking ass'

''What Ludovic said is right. Thank you for your loyalty to this empire's rules though, Lord Leandro''

Silence returns as they all wait for me to begin the plaid. Well, Ludovic still whispered something to his squires, that we all heard as he didn't try to put a sound barrier or anything(*1). But we all pretend not to hear it.

''You see? Classical example of a Paladin: cringe and tilted''

''Let's the plaid begin''

...

The plaid wasn't this interesting. To sum it up, there was 3 mains preoccupation.

The first one being preoccupations over the army. Each half-year they had to put a number of troops to fight against the demons. But of course, nobody would dare to record this moment, if not the imperial power. as it wasn't fixed, they just name some personality to gave news troops. as for the numbers... well it would mean the influence they would want to gain.

At worst, they could just fill the gaps with their power. But they hadn't need to do it in years.

The second one was the classic raids. Their raids. How could one get slaves and riches? By looting others of course. And the weak tribes were the best way to do it. In these times, there would be at least a war by years. It had been decades since the last peaceful year.

Lastly were the diplomatic affairs. A bit complex.

As for the demonic creatures? nobody cares. They just let Duke Pepin takes care of it. And if he tried to inflate prices, then a ''capitulaire''

(Ordinance of kings and emperors to change things) would resolve all that.

(*1) Although he isn't a Paladin, he is a genius who can easily manipulate energy. So creating a barrier spell, even in this place is still possible. Furthermore, he has lots of artifacts.