Chapter 9: The Lady of the Manor's Knight Selection

Finally emerging from the sea, Graham used magic to dry his clothes whilst observing the surrounding land. Noticing a clear path a few metres ahead, he waisted no time and quickly embarked along the path in hopes to reach the closest town.

He walked for quite some time until a town appeared before him.

After some consideration, he approached the gate, paid a silver coin to the guard, and successfully entered the town.

Having spent a long time swimming in the sea, his energy was depleted, and he was hungry.

Checking his pockets, he sighed with relief after confirming the amount of coins in his possession.

Having spent a silver coin to gain entry to the town, he was left with 3 gold coins and 5 silver coins, all obtained from the soldiers he dispatched and looted on the Gladiator Island Ginunhive during his escape.

The purchasing power of a gold coin was substantial, enough to cover a normal family's expenses for a year.

A single gold coin was equivalent to a hundred silver coins, and one silver coin was equal to a hundred copper coins.

"Hey there, traveler! Is there anything you need?" A vendor greeted him warmly as Graham walked by his stall.

"Give me three pastries," Graham replied.

"Alright. That'll be 12 copper coins. Choose any three that you see here..." The vendor smiled, stating the price and giving Graham an appraising look.

Seeing Graham's fair skin and handsome appearance, the vendor assumed he was a noble and treated him with respect.

After making his choice, Graham paid the vendor 1 silver coin, "Three pastries for 12 copper coins. Here's your change of 88 copper coins."

"Keep the change," offered Graham kindly.

"Thank you!" the vendor rejoiced as he pocketed the change.

"You're welcome."

Graham's kindness surprised the vendor.

"By the way, sir, do you know where this place is?" Graham asked while munching on one of the pastries.

The vendor enthusiastically replied, "This is a small town under the jurisdiction of the sacred Vollachia Empire."

"And who are the people over there? It looks lively, like they're hosting an event." said Graham as he pointed to the luxurious building at the town center.

The place was bustling with people, and something special seemed to be happening.

"Oh, you're in for a surprise, dear traveler. That mansion belongs to the Barielle family. This town is part of Lord Leip Barielle's domain. They are currently recruiting knights for the Lady of the Manor."

"Lady of the Manor?"

Graham's memory stirred at the mention of these unique names.

"Yes... Let me tell you a secret. That Lady of the Manor is no ordinary woman! Despite her young age, she has already been married seven times. Strangely, each time before the official wedding ceremony, her husband-to-be dies mysteriously. Hence, she is known as the 'Bloody Bride.' Our current lord is her eighth fiancé..."

"Ah, I see. Thank you for the information." Graham nodded, leaving a silver coin on the vendor's stall. Without looking back, he headed toward the area where knights were being recruited.

"Sir, this is...?" The vendor stared at the silver coin, taken aback, as he hesitantly called out to him, but Graham waved him off.

"Consider it a reward for enlightening me," Graham said, continuing on his way without hesitation.

Upon hearing these words, the vendor was moved to tears. This customer was truly a good person! The lord of this city is Leip Barielle. However, he is a vampiric noble who heavily exploits the people under his domain. This one silver coin is enough for the vendor to pay taxes and have a good year!

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Arriving at the recruitment location, Graham entered, signed up, and waited patiently.

Among the crowd, one individual caught his attention. This person had a missing arm but wore a familiar helmet that covered their face. If Graham wasn't mistaken, it was the helmet of the Sword Slave King, the one he had defeated. The obvious notch on the helmet confirmed it, after all, he had dealt that blow.

Graham paid no further attention to the helmeted man; knowing they were his competition was sufficient.

At the same time, the one-armed helmeted man noticed Graham's arrival, his pupils narrowing, 'This warrior is a ruthless man, still, I owe my escape from the Gladiator Island Ginunhive thanks to the chaos that he had caused. However, I'm not willing to give up the position of Lady's Knight...'

Anyway, there were four slots available, meaning he only needed to secure the fourth spot.

After a brief wait, the numerous applicants were led to a spacious combat arena.

As they entered, their eyes widened at the sight they beheld. Seated in the central position was a stunning woman dressed in fiery red attire. Her orange-red hair and red eyes accentuated her alluring figure.

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"Oh~ Is this the rumored Lady of the Manor? She's so beautiful!"

"I'd willingly die to become her knight!"

The candidates whispered among themselves, and even Graham was captivated. Indeed, this woman was exceptionally beautiful. Her confident smile, especially the curve of her lips, was enchanting.

Drawing from his memory, Graham identified her as Priscilla Barielle, one of the Dragon Priestesses of the Lugunica Kingdom and a candidate for the Royal Selection.

She possesses the 'Divine Protection of the Sun'. It increases the effects of buffs and the user becomes stronger during the day. Consequently, she was quite arrogant, believing the world revolved around her.

In other words, during daylight, she was exceptionally lucky. Meaning no matter what she does during that time, it will have a positive effect on herself.

However, her affinity weakened or disappeared entirely at night—after all, it was the 'Divine Protection of the Sun'.

As for the helmeted man, Graham recalled his information. His name was Aldebaran, a transmigrator with a cheat similar to Subaru's. Ultimately, he remained Graham's adversary...

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Graham had decided that he would surely become Priscilla's knight from the moment he laid his eyes on her.

'Anyway, I have nowhere else to go for the time being, so I'll stick around the beautiful lady and pretend to be a knight...'

'Moreover, the progress of awakening my special ability seems to be complete, yet it hasn't successfully awakened??'

No specific conditions are displayed, so Graham needs to try and figure out how to awaken it.

However, even without successful awakening, he appears to be able to use his special ability preliminarily.

There are times when he feels his vision becoming strange.

At a glance, the world is filled with various peculiar lines and dots...

Yet he can't touch them.

Every time he tries to reach out and touch them, the strange vision returns to normal.

He has some guesses about this ability, but he won't jump to conclusions until it fully awakens.

In any case, he'll take it step by step.

Even without the special ability, he still has the World's blessing, and the passive ability to Plunder targets!

He can continue to grow stronger.

....

[T/N: Finally! It seems the moment has arrived. I mean, all signs point to the awakening of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception no matter how I look at it, as that is how it usually plays out at first in the NASU-verse...]