Devil Knights

Devil Knights

That night, Ruolin did not go far. She lingered outside the town with the burly warrior and the archer for a long time. Although both subordinates believed they should leave this cursed place as soon as possible, Ruolin seemed to have other plans. Her eyes revealed hesitation and uncertainty... With that expression, she sat hugging her knees and watched the moon all night.

Early the next morning, Du Wei's party set out. This time, however, an ox cart had been added to the rear of the convoy, carrying the mage, who had been tied up like a dumpling. The poor mage looked utterly dejected and exhausted, his entire body drenched. Du Wei's knights had carried out his orders perfectly: every so often, they poured a bucket of cold water over the mage, never giving him any chance to sleep or meditate and restore his spiritual power!

Young Master Du Wei, meanwhile, followed his usual habit. Once they set out, he sat in the carriage reading a thick book, as though he had an exceptionally intense passion for reading.

The finely crafted carriage barely jolted even over the uneven road. Du Wei lay comfortably atop a soft, thick velvet blanket, curled into a ball as he read and thought... But before long, he was interrupted.

Someone tapped lightly on the carriage window, followed by Made's slightly troubled voice. "Young Master... well, there is something that may require your attention."

Du Wei opened the window and saw Made frowning. Made was riding a horse today, keeping pace beside the carriage. He bowed from the saddle. "Young Master, those people from the tavern yesterday have been following us from behind..."

Du Wei paused slightly and poked his head out to glance behind them. Sure enough, about a hundred paces back, the long-legged girl from the tavern yesterday was following at a distance with her two subordinates—the bull-like warrior and the archer. Three horses in all.

The other Roland Family guard knights outside the carriage saw this and wore rather suggestive expressions, their lips twitching as they fought back smiles.

Yesterday... that girl had come out of the young master's room... Could it be that the young master had successfully conquered her? Had she fallen for him and could not bear to leave? Ha ha...

Still, the knights did not dare show even the slightest hint of ridicule in front of their master.

Du Wei pondered briefly, then said quietly, "Stop the carriage. Go call that girl over."

Ruolin had followed Du Wei's convoy from afar all morning. Her mind was a mess, and she did not even understand why she was following them.

Was she worried about that poor mage who had been captured? Apparently not. Ruolin did not care whether that fellow lived or died.

Then, the convoy ahead stopped, and two knights swiftly rode toward her.

"Miss, our master wishes to see you. Please come with us."

Since they considered it likely that this long-legged girl had "something going on" with their young master, the knight delivering the message spoke far more politely.

Ruolin was somewhat dazed. She nodded, then instinctively urged her horse forward to follow them. Her two companions behind her were puzzled and, more than that, worried, but they followed as well.

"Why are you following me?" Du Wei did not even leave the carriage. He merely opened the door and sat inside, looking at the girl who had ridden up before him.

Ruolin dismounted and bit her lip. Suddenly, at that very moment, the question that had tormented her all night finally found its answer in her heart!

Why? Perhaps... because that devilish smile had appeared on his face again!

"I..." Standing beside the carriage, Ruolin took a deep breath. Then she suddenly dropped to one knee beside Du Wei's carriage and lowered her head deeply, her tone solemn. "I, Ruolin Moon, pledge my loyalty to you. I am willing to become your subordinate! For the remaining decades of my life, I will use my blood and my life to uphold the oath I make today! But are you willing to accept my loyalty?"

Du Wei was silent for a moment as he studied the girl kneeling before the carriage. Then he slowly said, "You wish to pledge loyalty to me... Why?"

"I don't know." Ruolin spoke from the heart. "Perhaps you were right. I'm too tired. Maintaining all of this as a girl, I have already begun to feel that my abilities are far from enough. Perhaps I need to find a great tree to lean on. And I am willing to be a vine that survives by clinging to such a tree."

"You think I am a suitable great tree?" Du Wei smiled.

"Yes." Ruolin answered quickly this time. "Although I still do not know your identity, the feeling you give me... You must be an extraordinary person! Or rather, you are destined to become one!"

"This is troublesome indeed." Du Wei sighed, then turned and asked Made, "Oh, Made, I forgot. I should be qualified to recruit my own honorary knights now, right? How many knights can I recruit in total?"

Du Wei did not seem especially concerned about the question. "Well, my master..." Made, formerly a groom and now the chief steward, had fortunately done quite a bit of homework before his promotion. At the very least, he had worked hard to memorize the rules and traditions he needed to know. "My master, you are the eldest son of an earl. Even if you cannot inherit the earl's title in the future, Imperial law guarantees that you will at least receive the title of baron. The authority granted by Imperial law to nobles of your rank allows you to recruit ten honorary knights of your own."

"Thank you." Du Wei rubbed his nose. "Only ten slots... That is a little few. But knights can have squires too, right? A knight can have several squires. Counting the honorary knights under my direct command and each knight's squires, that would still make several dozen men. Not too few."

After receiving Made's confirmation, Du Wei rubbed his temples, then lifted his face with a smile and looked at the girl before him. "All right, I accept your loyalty. From this moment on, I grant you the status of an honorary knight under my command... Hmm, you are the first honorary knight I have ever bestowed a title upon, and you are even a female knight."

Ruolin seemed unable to look at Du Wei's smiling face. She lowered her head and said softly, "Thank you... Also, since I have already pledged my loyalty to you, please tell me my master's identity."

"Oh, my identity... I am Du Wei Roland, eldest son of Count Raymond, the current head of the Roland Family and vice commander of Imperial Command." Du Wei smiled and continued, "I nearly forgot. In the Imperial Capital, I also have a rather famous nickname... They all call me... 'idiot.'"

"An, an idiot?!" Ruolin's eyes widened.

Damn it! This boy was an idiot? If he was an idiot, then there were no geniuses in the world! If he was an idiot, then the vast majority of people in the world were mentally deficient!

She did not dare show the slightest trace of amusement. Hastily rising to her feet, she pointed to her two subordinates beside her. "Honored master, these two are my companions. Their names are..."

"No, no, no." Du Wei cut her off without ceremony. "Sorry, I have no great interest in their names. Besides, as you heard, the law only grants me ten slots for recruiting honorary knights. I will not waste those slots for nothing... I intend to save the remaining positions to recruit experts at the level of holy knights or great swordsmen."

Du Wei did not even spare Ruolin's two subordinates a glance.

What a joke! Those fellows were at this level? That bull-like warrior merely had a little strength, and as for the archer... Hmph, toss out a few hundred gold coins and you could recruit three or five men like him! Even this female knight... Well, if not for the fact that she was beautiful and had a pair of lovely long legs... otherwise, Du Wei would not have thought much of her martial skill either.

"Lady Knight Ruolin Moon, you are now my direct honorary knight. Let your two subordinates serve as your squires. As for your knight's badge and equipment, once we reach our destination, I will have the family servants outfit you properly. Now, bring your people into the convoy. If all goes well, we can reach home tonight."

Ruolin said nothing, but her two subordinates could not help feeling disappointed at losing their chance to be granted knighthood.

This was a genuine opportunity to become knights!

Generally speaking, there were only three ways to obtain the title of knight. The first was to possess powerful martial skills, then receive an assessment from the Knight Association and obtain an official knight's medal of the appropriate rank—such knights were considered the most legitimate knights.

The second was to devote oneself to the Temple of Light from childhood, serve the church, train in martial skills from a young age, and pass strict selection upon reaching adulthood to become a temple knight of the church.

The third was to pledge loyalty to a noble and receive from that noble the title of direct honorary knight.

As for these two fellows, they lacked the powerful martial skills needed to pass the Knight Association's examinations and evaluations. Nor were they members of the church, so they could not become temple knights.

Their only path to rising into the knightly class was to be noticed and recruited by some noble.

But only great nobles possessed the authority to recruit knights, and they would never take notice of men with such mediocre skills.

Seeing her two somewhat dejected companions, Ruolin could only offer them a few quiet words of comfort.

Ruolin herself was feeling conflicted. Once she had pledged loyalty to Du Wei, it meant she had lost her independence from then on. The small independent group she had painstakingly maintained would fall apart, and she would no longer be its leader, but a subordinate loyal to someone else.

What Ruolin did not know was that many, many years later, when people looked back on history, they would all speak of this day!

For on this day, the first official member of the ten Devil Knights of the later continent-shaking Devil Knights was born: Ruolin Moon, the female knight who had first pledged loyalty to the devil! Because of this special moment, her name would be remembered by history!