Axel
patreon
Chapter 60: The Empire’s Youngest Knight King
🕑 Added 2025-01-09 21:46:34 +0000 UTCCharlot let out a long sigh and said, “I still haven’t thanked you, Venie!”
Venie Arsenault whispered, “I initially wanted you to offer some cash as compensation to the families of those detectives and resolve this matter peacefully. I didn’t expect Aubrey Tildon Atwood to have already sent assassins. In the end, we still had to settle it with a duel.”
Charlot asked, “Who are my likely opponents in the duel?”
Venie paused for a moment before asking, “Mr. Mecklenburg, can you tell me honestly—are you a low-rank, mid-rank, or high-rank Transcendent?”
Without hesitation, Charlot replied, “Rank Four!”
On the Old Continent, ranks one to six are classified as low-rank Transcendents, ranks seven to twelve as mid-rank, and ranks thirteen to eighteen as high-rank. Above rank eighteen, special titles apply.
Venie Arsenault shook her head and said, “Then you had better avoid this duel!”
“To my knowledge, your challengers include at least two mid-rank and one high-rank opponent!”
Charlot couldn’t help but curse in frustration, “Aubrey Tildon is such a scoundrel. How could I possibly defeat mid-rank challengers, let alone a high-rank one?”
Venie Arsenault couldn’t come up with a solution either and suggested, “I heard you practice Blood Glory. Perhaps you could purchase a Vampiric Weapon at a high price.”
“However, Vampiric Weapons are extremely rare. If you intend to buy one now, you must hide your intentions, or people will drive up the price maliciously.”
Charlot didn’t think this was something worth hiding and said, “I already have two Vampiric Weapons!”
Venie Arsenault let out a sigh of relief and said, “With Transcendent weapons, you might stand a chance against two mid-rank Transcendents, but that high-rank…”
“He’s Addison’s older brother. There’s no way to bribe him.”
Charlot thought to himself, “I’ll have to pick Machubi as the duel site, so these avengers will have no way out.”
He had originally intended to ask Venie Arsenault for help, but now there was no need. He stood up to leave, saying, “Thank you, Venie. I’ll head back now. Please take care of Sylvie in the future!”
“She’s too upright and too… kindhearted!”
Venie Arsenault nodded and said, “Sylvie is a good detective. I’ll look after her.”
Charlot pushed open the door and saw Sylvie Martin standing outside. He smiled faintly and said, “I’m off now.”
Sylvie asked anxiously, “What about the duel?”
Charlot froze for a moment. He hadn’t activated Eye of Insight and hadn’t realized Sylvie had been outside the entire time. He could only reply, “I’ll deal with it.”
As he brushed past Sylvie Martin, he left her with the words, “It’s not so easy to kill me.” He then strode out of the Cat Detective Agency with composure.
After Charlot left, Venie Arsenault said softly, “Come in.”
Sylvie entered the director’s office, still looking anxious. Venie smiled faintly and said, “Your cousin still has cards to play. Don’t worry too much. Get back to work.”
Sylvie left the director’s office and returned to the records room. As a newly inducted apprentice detective, she had spent the past few days reading case files to broaden her knowledge. She thought to herself, “Am I really too upright and too kindhearted?”
“Bah! Charlot has no right to say such sacred words.”
...
Charlot felt much more relaxed. He returned to Elysée Avenue, first stopping by the Cat and Four-Leaf Clover Café to pick up his three kittens.
The three clever kitten cubs were fluffy and not the least bit afraid of strangers. Their small eyes were filled with energy and curiosity about the world. Even after being taken from their mother, they hardly struggled and instead snuggled contentedly into their new owner’s embrace.
For the sake of these kittens, Charlot even bought some goat milk. Although cat milk would have been better, the semi-grown mother cat clearly couldn’t endure the “milking” process.
While at the café, he also ordered another batch of coffee. During his recent “search and seizure,” everything in his house had been taken, and items like coffee and fruit wine, which are easy to pocket, had been thoroughly looted—even the empty bottles were gone.
The older lady who ran the café sent him off with a few cheerful blessings, which put Charlot in a good mood. He left an extra centime as a tip.
No sooner had he returned to 58 Elysée Avenue than Annie Bretagne came to visit. Their relationship had been progressing quite well lately.
Charlot was overjoyed and asked, “I just bought some coffee. What flavor would you like?”
Annie replied, “Cappuccino!”
As Charlot brewed the coffee, he asked with a smile, “What shall we eat later?”
Annie took a deep breath and said, “You’re about to duel someone, yet you’re still this calm.”
Charlot was slightly surprised. He wanted to ask how Annie knew about the duel, but he wisely decided against it. Instead, he smiled and said, “It’s just a duel, nothing serious.”
Annie stole a glance at him and said softly, “In the Fars Empire, you can hire helpers for such group duels. I can contact a high-rank Transcendent for you—my cousin. He’s a rank seventeen knight. Aubrey Tildon is only a rank fourteen knight, so you’d be guaranteed to win.”
Charlot knew the Bretagne family was one of the Empire’s top noble families, but he hadn’t expected Annie to have a cousin who was a rank seventeen knight.
Across the entire Empire, high-rank Transcendents were incredibly rare, and each was a prominent figure of great status.
Even Menielman Soumet, the Empire’s foremost “Rose,” was merely a high-rank Transcendent.
Knights were the most widely practiced Transcendent path and the easiest to achieve, but they were also the hardest to advance to high-rank.
Once battle energy reached rank ten, it could no longer be improved through training alone. No matter how profound the breathing techniques, how refined the meditative arts, or how talented and diligent the knight was, they could not advance further without experiencing the “Knight’s Proof” in combat. Only by obtaining the Knight’s Proof could they ascend.
A rank seventeen knight was just one step away from collecting all eight Knight’s Proofs.
Any knight who collected all eight Knight’s Proofs could prefix their title with “Saint,” achieving unparalleled status.
Years ago, Zimourman Axel Robin conquered the Seven Seas and slew the Pirate King, earning the title “Saint” and becoming known as the youngest Knight King in the Empire!
Annie’s cousin was undoubtedly a heavyweight in the Fars Empire’s political scene.
Charlot hesitated for a moment before saying, “This is such a big matter. Should I explain it to your cousin in person?”
Charlot wasn’t foolish enough to refuse her help. He definitely needed someone to assist him. A high-rank Transcendent was simply unbeatable for him. Even with the Machubi labyrinth, success wasn’t guaranteed—unless he summoned the evil god again, but that would be a death sentence!
Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.
