Golden Legend

You have unlocked the Milestone System: First Battle Victory (You successfully won an armed conflict involving at least thirty people.)

Champion Knight (You have won a total of three knightly Tournaments organized by counts or nobles of higher rank.)

Chivalrous Knight (You punished evil and upheld justice, thwarting bandit forces from plundering civilians three times in total, or eliminated three bandit groups with no fewer than twenty members each.)

Exemplary Fief (Your fief possesses at least two thousand acres of land and more than two hundred people living above the subsistence line.)

Milestones were equivalent to an achievement system in a game. The rewards were fairly generous, but Lothar merely skimmed through them. Realizing that none could be completed anytime soon, he turned his attention to his first retainer.

Within the system, a card gleaming with brilliant golden light slowly appeared.

The card had an ornate golden border, with a black dragon poised to take flight coiled across its top.

At the center of the card was a young woman holding a massive black triangular shield. Its surface bore a Ghost Face Carving, its eyes blood-red and its fangs bared, as if it could spring to life at any moment and devour someone.

The girl had Black Long Hair and a slender figure. Dressed in a black leather Motorcycle Suit that left her pale arms bare, she stood with her arms folded, her expression cold and aloof, like the Frost Goddess.

The description below read:

This is Prajna, Hell's Gatekeeper.

The shield in her hand is Hell's Doorway.

No one can break this shield and strike those under her protection.

Congratulations on obtaining your first retainer. Develop your territory quickly, make it prosperous and strong, and join the struggle for world supremacy!

Lothar's mouth twitched.

I'd like to.

"Prajna" was the top-tier retainer given to every new player upon entering the game.

Though she seemed lightly dressed, she was a Heavy Warrior with exceptionally high defense.

The reason new players were given Heavy Warriors was that they were indispensable in the early stages of the game. Without one, players simply could not withstand damage, and they provided a safety net for beginners. At the same time, they did not increase a beginner's monster-farming efficiency. To grind monsters quickly, players could only pay up to unlock high-level damage-dealing retainers.

Otherwise, they could only rely on the draws earned by completing Milestones, using low-star damage retainers with abysmal output to contribute value to the game company through "daily activity."

The common name for this practice was: forcing players to spend.

"I wanted to fleece the players, but ended up fleecing myself instead."

Lothar felt a little regretful. Had he known this would happen, he would have made the beginner rewards more generous—such as giving away every six-star retainer for free the moment players logged in.

But he quickly swept that regret aside.

In its place came intense excitement. After all, Prajna was one of the very best retainers. Even without enhancement or leveling, her strength absolutely surpassed the realm of mortals, just like the Witches of this world.

If she were placed in the Three Kingdoms era, Boss Cao would definitely say, "I thought Lü Bu was already invincible under heaven. I never expected someone even fiercer than him. Whose general is this?"

After lunch, Count Werner was the first to leave the table.

Only then did Otto, who had remained silent beside him all along, speak. "Lothar, congratulations. Your long-cherished wish has finally been fulfilled—you've become a knight."

"Thank you."

Lothar thanked him.

His relationship with his older brother Otto was not particularly bad, but it was certainly not close either.

As long as Lothar existed, Otto had reason to suspect that Lothar wished for his death. And after spending years as Otto's backup, the original Lothar had indeed harbored considerable resentment.

Still, this was far better than in many noble families, where the eldest son and second son fought over the inheritance, turned against each other as brothers, schemed and poisoned one another, and battled to the death.

Before long, the two finished lunch one after the other.

Lothar did not go out that afternoon. Instead, he returned to his bedroom to prepare for a nap. It was midsummer, and the afternoon sun was scorching, making it truly unsuitable for training outside.

Inside the castle, however, it was cold and damp almost all year round, regardless of the season. It was not necessarily comfortable, but at this hour, staying in his bedroom was still better than braving the blazing sun outside.

The bedroom window was small, allowing in very little light.

Leaning over his desk, Lothar dipped a quill into ink and prepared to plan his travel route, along with the supplies and equipment he would need.

The Crusaders had two traditional routes. One was by sea: boarding a ship at a port in Venice, Naples, or Sicily, then sailing through Rhodes and Cyprus to reach the Holy Land.

This route took less time, but it was far from safe. The Mediterranean Sea was infested with pirates. If his ship were sunk, then no matter how brave he was, he would still end up at the bottom of the sea.

As for the overland route, which passed through the Austrian Marches, crossed vast stretches of the Eastern Empire, then went through Constantinople and across the strait into Asia Minor, it was not necessarily any safer.

Most of Asia Minor was now occupied by nations that followed Zoroastrianism. They revered the king of Sasanian Persia as the King of Kings and received investiture from the Persian king. Though they frequently fought among themselves, Crusader knights like Lothar would clearly face even greater hostility.

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Lothar frowned. "Come in."

A maid dressed in linen pushed open the door and entered.

She carried an old surcoat that had clearly been mended many times, covered in black and red crosses, and placed it on his bed.

"This is the surcoat the master wore when he fought in the Holy Land. The master ordered me to give it to you. I've already washed it; it's very clean."

Lothar nodded. "Put it on the bed."

"Yes."

The maid wore a faintly bashful expression, and the affection in her eyes nearly overflowed. But clearly, neither the original owner of this body nor Lothar himself had any interest in her.

Women of this era in the West—or rather, the vast majority of Western women—held no appeal for Lothar.

The same was true of the maid, and of the noblewomen Lothar had seen at Count Werner's banquet. They were all a motley bunch.

A few Noble Ladies were passable-looking, but they were also wanton women accustomed to keeping lovers. He could not be bothered to get involved with them.

In any case, they were nowhere near as attractive as the two-dimensional beauties in the system.

As the game developed by the team he had personally led, he knew all too well what divine looks the summonable characters possessed.

Especially the six-star cards—every single one featured lightly dressed young beauties.

More than half the team's budget had gone into the exquisite character art for those girls.

Even Heavy Warrior-type characters still followed the principle that the less they wore, the stronger their defense.

Battle skirts exposing great swathes of pale legs were simply standard practice.

The afternoon passed quickly.

At dusk, Lothar climbed Eagle Fortress's tower once more and gazed out over the mountains.

Eagle Fortress at night was the complete opposite of what it was at noon.

Feeling the sharp chill carried by the wind from the Alps, Lothar pulled the surcoat symbolizing a Crusader knight more tightly around himself.

For the time being, he did not intend to summon Prajna. Her origins would be difficult to explain. Even if the Catholic Church in this world was not like the one in his previous life, hanging people up and burning them at the stake at the slightest provocation—

He still had no intention of inviting such trouble.