Baron Filer was very satisfied with Charlot's attitude and decided not to put on airs with him. Standing atop the city wall, he announced, "Mr. Charlot Mecklenburg, you have fought for the Empire and rendered great merit. You are hereby specially promoted to Thirty-Second Rank, Second-Class Civil Servant. By special decree, His Imperial Majesty permits you to establish a Private Knight Regiment of no more than five members, with its registration remaining valid until the moment of your death."
Charlot smiled faintly, gave an Imperial salute, and accepted the document Baron Filer handed him. He did not care much about being promoted over the heads of others once again. As long as no one obstructed him, his advancement was only natural. But he was greatly surprised, and rather delighted, to be allowed to form a Private Knight Regiment of no more than five members.
Only those with professional ranks above Twenty-Fourth Rank were qualified to possess a Private Knight Regiment. Such regiments were not proper Knight Orders maintained by great nobles, but private "assistants" hired by the Empire with salaries paid on behalf of meritorious officials.
Charlot was merely a Thirty-Second Rank, Second-Class Civil Servant and had no right to possess a Private Knight Regiment, which was why he required a special decree from His Imperial Majesty to grant him this honor.
Once one reached a position above Twenty-Fourth Rank, commonly known as the insurmountable class, one's salary became fixed. No matter how much one was promoted, it would not continue to rise.
Within the Empire, this was portrayed as "incorruptibility," with the powerful earning the same income as ordinary civil servants. In truth, however, positions above Twenty-Fourth Rank no longer derived their income from salaries.
For example, for those powerful figures who possessed Private Knight Regiments, each Knight received