Winning Them Over, Jealousy and Hatred (Thanks to Emperor Huangji for the Deacon Group Reward) (Typo-Corrected Version)

"So what I mainly lacked now was an imitation of Sir Davis Tevalin's habits. And although Bein Spencer sounded enthusiastic in his letters, he was actually jealous of Sir Davis Tevalin from the bottom of his heart."

Ergons Tevalin sat before the tower window, his legs casually propped on a low table as he drank plum wine from the windowsill.

With Elisa Adena and William Adena's help, he had learned many of Sir Davis Tevalin's habits and details.

Though he appeared to be drinking calmly, he was actually concealing the lingering fear in his heart.

He had expected there to be some problems with impersonating Sir Davis, but he had never imagined that he had so many obvious flaws.

For example, Sir Davis was left-handed and drank only year-old plum wine with aged ice. His baptismal name was David, given to him by his godfather, Turin Spencer.

Because he rejected the uncle he suspected of killing his biological father and usurping the family title, Sir Davis had always aspired to become a qualified clergyman. Before the age of twenty-five, he had never even considered joining the Northern Legion, taking pride only in his identity as a Church Foot Knight.

But after large numbers of troops from the northern duchy were transferred west, the Northern Knights began expanding their ranks. Only then did his godfather arrange for him to join the Knightly Orders, seeking an opportunity to control Tevalinburg under the identity of a knight.

Whether Bishop Dickens Anduin had been involved in the arrangement remained unknown, but Sir Davis Tevalin had indeed spent a full eight years in the Knightly Orders for this mission.

During that time, however, he had become a model figure among the younger generation of the Knightly Orders.

Who would have thought that someone like him would die in such a remote, impoverished place as Tervain Village? William Adena felt secretly indignant.

Relationship with William Adena: -3

Relationship with Elisa Adena: -6

"Do you know why he lost?"

Ergons Tevalin could see the shifts in their attitudes through the system. He knew that if he could not fool them, he would probably have to kill them both.

But keeping them alive would clearly benefit his next moves.

The Adenauer Siblings were also curious. How had this young man, whose combat strength was clearly inferior to William's, killed David, who had been far stronger than William?

But saying his strength was inferior to William's was not quite right either, because William Adena himself could not figure out how he had been knocked unconscious.

"That was because I am also a believer in the Holy Light. And my status within the Church is far higher than his."

That was obviously nonsense. He did not expect the siblings to believe him, but what he said next would prove his earlier lies.

"William Adena, are you willing to join my team? Since you are dissatisfied with Baron Tervain, and Sir David has been replaced by me, join my service. I can give you everything he could give you—and everything he could not."

William Adena knew that this was indeed the reality of the situation, so he nodded in agreement.

He had only intended to agree for now, thinking that he could betray him later if necessary, but the moment he agreed, a prompt appeared.

A Tervain Sergeant has joined the party.

At the same time, the data that had previously shown only a brief introduction became completely visible on the party interface.

William Tervain Adenauer

Class: Tervain Sergeant

Age: 41

Level: 28

Health: 61

Experience: 302740

Experience Required for Next Level: 303381

Attributes:

Strength: 21

Agility: 19

Intelligence: 4

Charisma: 4

Skills:

Power Strike: 4

Iron Bones: 5

Power Draw: 1

Running: 4

Power Throw: 4

Shield Defense: 4

Horse Archery: 0

Riding: 1

Weapon Proficiency:

One-Handed: 160

Two-Handed: 160

Polearms: 160

Bows: 160

Throwing: 160

Firearms: 0

Ergons Tevalin saw that he was only a little short of leveling up. Without worrying about the cost, he gave him a level-two privilege.

Of course, it would not be given for free. He had to fool him a little first. "Since you are willing to join me, let me show you why I said my status in the Church should be higher. Let me show you why he died by my hand."

Relationship with Elisa Adena has deteriorated. Intimacy: -10

Sure enough, because Ergons kept bringing up that dead Sir Davis, the flimsy relationship between him and Elisa plummeted.

But that did not matter, because Ergons was certain that in a few minutes, he would gain two new utterly loyal followers.

It could not be helped. People in this other world were just too ignorant.

"You said you also had talent for riding. But I have noticed that perhaps you neglected your training. Your mounted combat ability is actually very weak. But do you want to possess such ability?"

Perhaps William Adena also felt that the atmosphere had built up to that point. Ergons Tevalin's mystical behavior had left him unsure whether he should say yes or no.

Ergons was in no hurry to state his position, but Adam beside him was frantic. "You ungrateful fool! My young master is favored by the gods. Being allowed to become his vassal is a blessing you could never earn in several lifetimes. What are you hesitating for?"

"One favored by the gods?"

"One favored by the gods!"

Both siblings felt that this development was a little off.

But before they could think further, Ergons assumed an attitude of having originally wanted to interact with them as an ordinary person, only to receive distance in return—so he would stop pretending now—and asked amiably.

"If I gave you an opportunity, what would you be willing to exchange for it? Loyalty? Your souls?"

He could not let the atmosphere continue growing so strange, so Ergons simply put on a generous act. "I grant you stronger bodies, longer lives, greater wisdom, and the experience and techniques needed to become outstanding knights."

While in party status, selecting a party member and pressing CTRL+X could grant that member experience, rapidly upgrading them into elite troops.

With that single click, one use of his level-two privilege vanished with a puff.

+1000 Experience

A gong sounded, audible only to him and his subordinates, and William Adena leveled up.

William Tervain Adenauer

Class: Tervain Sergeant

Age: 41

Level: 29

Health: 67

If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author—it may have simply been renamed!

Experience: 303740

Experience Required for Next Level: 326571

Attributes:

Strength: 21

Agility: 19

Intelligence: 4

Charisma: 4

Attribute Points: 1

Skills:

Power Strike: 4

Iron Bones: 5

Power Draw: 1

Running: 4

Power Throw: 4

Shield Defense: 4

Horse Archery: 0

Riding: 1

Skill Points: 1

Weapon Proficiency:

One-Handed: 160

Two-Handed: 160

Polearms: 160

Bows: 160

Throwing: 160

Firearms: 0

Weapon Proficiency Points: 80

Golden light that everyone could see enveloped William Adena, then vanished in an instant. The Adenauer Siblings were both stunned.

Elisa Adena was stunned because she vaguely remembered seeing Ergons Tevalin radiate golden light once before—when her brother had been knocked unconscious.

William Adena, meanwhile, was completely immersed in the blissful sensation of leveling up. During the upgrade, his cells seemed to leap with vitality, and his body felt flexibly purified.

When the golden light faded, he truly felt at least five years younger. That illusion of renewed vitality even made him believe that his lifespan had increased.

With an excited thud, William Adena dropped to his knees before Ergons. He lowered his head and kissed Ergons's shoe tip, babbling incoherently, "My lord, from now on, you are the lord of William Tervain Adenauer. It is my honor to become your vassal!"

Ergons was very satisfied with his attitude. At the same time, he saw through the system that William Adena's loyalty had jumped to eighty-seven points.

"It is not over yet. I have granted you a youthful body and a longer lifespan. I will also give you wisdom, along with the experience and techniques of a knight!"

William Adena grew even more excited. In a fluster, he used his sleeve to wipe Ergons's shoe tip, so grateful that he could not even speak.

He added William's free attribute point from leveling up to Intelligence, gaining another skill point. He put both skill points into Riding, then allocated the eighty free Weapon Proficiency points to polearms.

The feeling of leveling up completely drowned William's thoughts.

The reason Ergons dared to believe he could fool the Adenauer Siblings was because of this.

Adding one point of Intelligence did not noticeably improve a person's intellect, but in that instant of allocation, the feeling of mental clarity—of seeming able to remember everything from childhood—would absolutely make someone blindly confident.

Adding two points to Riding brought William's Riding skill to the minimum requirement for riding military horses and warhorses.

But the process of skills and experience being poured into his mind, while his body changed according to the nature of those skills, would absolutely terrify these ignorant natives who had never seen such things.

On top of that, the eighty free points effectively increased his polearm proficiency by thirty points. The vast amount of polearm experience poured into his mind, as well as the strength increases in his arms, waist, and core, made William Adena seem almost like a different person.

When the entire process ended, William Adena looked seven or eight years younger. He had even grown five or six centimeters taller, his arms longer, his muscles firmer, and the muscles in his waist and core far more powerful.

The physical changes were visible enough to shock Elisa Adena, but what truly made William Adena pull his sister down to kneel was the change within him.

As a battle-hardened veteran, he had seen murlocs, heard of sirens in the sea, and fought alongside Priests with sacred healing powers.

But he had never heard of an ability that could directly pour another person's experience and memories into someone's mind, turning them into instinctive knowledge without any rejection.

After those allocations, William Adena's class changed as well. A slash appeared after Tervain Sergeant, followed by Tervain Knight.

Ergons remained seated and did not refuse the siblings' shoe-kissing. Their loyalty was already nearly maxed out.

Especially William Adena, after receiving the enhancements, had jumped directly from the eighties to ninety-seven. Unless Ergons told him to kill his own sister, William would probably do anything.

"All right, it is getting late. There is only a little over an hour until three in the morning. Let's rehearse and see whether there are any flaws when we meet Bein Spencer."

At the small chapel of Tevalinburg, atop the tower, Bein Spencer chatted with the leader of the deacon group who had come to provide support, yet his gaze kept sweeping back and forth across the square before the chapel bell tower.

Pastor Alphons, the leader of the deacon group, had clearly noticed what he was searching for. He smiled gently. "Is there anything about your upcoming meeting with Brother David that could make Captain Bane so nervous?"

"Or have you still not recovered from that unfortunate incident?

That makes sense. Who could have imagined that six Temple Foot Knights, two Sergeant Majors, and six or seven armored infantrymen would be slaughtered like vegetables within a quarter hour—and by only one person!

And that person somehow took away weapons and armor prepared for five hundred men. It is truly unimaginable!"

Bein Spencer withdrew his gaze, still genuinely shaken.

"Yes! If it had not been about to rain and I had not returned from the armory to the chapel to close the windows, I might have died in that slaughter too!"

Thinking about it was truly terrifying!

After a joint investigation by experts dispatched by the Baron's chamberlain and the chapel, they discovered that the man's movements had been terrifying. At first, they could not even determine how he had entered the castle.

But after entering the castle, he no longer concealed his footsteps. When attacking the Foot Knights and the Sergeants guarding the prison, he first knocked them unconscious and only slit their throats after they had lost the ability to resist.

That was why he had killed so many people, stolen so many things, set fires, and released prisoners without being discovered.

After the situation escalated, even when he encountered elite infantrymen on duty, he slaughtered them as easily and smoothly as chopping vegetables.

Not a single person who had seen him had survived.

What made everyone uneasy now was that no one knew how he had entered.

Nor did anyone know where he had moved all those weapons and equipment in such a short time.

"Speaking of which, if the bishop did not want to further provoke the Count's sensitive nerves, things would be much easier if we simply killed this Baron and let Brother David take over our affairs."

Pastor Alphons looked amiable, but he was actually a smiling tiger. Every word he casually uttered had its purpose.

Bein Spencer was truly getting annoyed, but he still had to act as though he was not jealous of Davis Tervalin at all. "It is not time yet. Baron Tervain is still useful. After all, he will have to bear responsibility for the collapse of the entire north in the future. It was his dereliction of duty that allowed the army of the County of Tervain to march brazenly across the border without anyone knowing."

"Yes! When the time comes, Brother David will turn the tide and stabilize the situation. Naturally, he will be able to inherit Tevalinburg and make it an important territory for restoring the Northern Knights' glory."

Every word from Pastor Alphons was like a knife stabbing deep into Bein Spencer's heart. As so-called brothers, Bein Spencer differed from Davis, who was a noble with inheritance rights yet devoted himself wholeheartedly to becoming a Church lackey.

As the descendant of a traditional Priest family, Bein Spencer wanted even more to become a noble with real power, ruling a territory and living above others while taking whatever he pleased.

On the night before Davis was assigned to the Northern Knights at the age of twenty-five, Davis had felt that the assignment ran contrary to his ideals. He sought Bein out for drinks to ease his worries, and at that time, Bein Spencer had wanted so desperately to trade places with him.

He could not even remember when he had begun to hate this brother of his so deeply.

Perhaps it had been destined from the very beginning.

A nobleman's son wanted to become a Priest.

But a Priest's son wanted to become a nobleman.

"Let us meet, David. In truth, you are not as outstanding as they make you out to be. Eight years, and you do not even have a single fief. If it had been me back then, I would probably be a viscount already, wouldn't I?"