The knights were all senior knights and not many in number, and yet the Crown Prince and the others were having a picnic, and there was even a time when I thought we were here to do an exercise to prepare for the Daemons.
âYour Highness, the Second and Third Knights are all here!â
âIâm counting on you!â
Near the Demon Forest, many knights had already arrived and were waiting.
From what I could vaguely remember, the Second Order was the group of knights defending the area around the Royal Capital, with a total of 400 members. The Third Order of Knights was to guard and maintain the perimeter of the Royal Capital, with a total of 600 members.
The First Order of Knights protected the royal family and the royal castle, with a total of 200 members, so the 100 knights who were accompanying Julio this time must be from the First Order.
As for the strength of the nation, the nobles in each region had their own separate Knight Orders, so their numbers would be considerable, but the knights here would be the bulk of the Royal Army⊠all but the Fourth Order, which maintained the security of the entire country, and half of the Royal Guards.
There were about 1,100 knights alone. Including the general soldiers and logistical support, there would have been about 4,000 people.
âWow, look Carol-san, there are as many people as ants!â
ââŠ. Nn.â
No, Alice, you should choose your words carefully since you are the heroine of the story.
âIf this was the case, I should have come with the pretzel stall. I could have made a lot of money. Donât you think itâs a shame?â
Would you stop asking me to agree with you? The good thing about Alice was that she was not only obsessed with making a fortune, but she was also content with a profit of five coppers per pretzel.
âŠAliceâs presence ruined the atmosphere, and since Julio and Ian were going to give a speech to the Knights, Alice was left with me.
Just in time for me to ask her a few questions?
âAlice doesnât think anything of the attack on the Daemonâs?â
âIf Daemons were to attack and start a war, the cost of pretzel ingredients would go up and that would be a problem.â
âOh, rightâŠâ
Thatâs to be expected of her, I guess.
âAlsoâŠwhat if Spirits following Alice means that the blessings of the land will be lost?â
I wasnât going to ask, but I couldnât help it, and Alice looked at me for a moment, then looked around at the surrounding Spirits.
âThose Spirits are so kind to put me before themselves! If thatâs the case, Iâll respect whatever my friendsâ wishes are. Iâd be delighted if more Spirit became my friends.â
ââŠâ
Impossible. I couldnât see a future in which I could convince her.
âAnd even if that happened, if I went there, the problem would be solved, right?â
Please stop visiting them. I was afraid that if I told the truth improperly, they would go around the country and take the Spirits from various locations.
If that happened, not only would the people be in trouble, but even mine and Flareâs individual combat power combined would make it very hard for us to compete with Aliceâs large number of Spirits.
The people would have a very hard time, but I would also be desperate because my life would be at stake.
âOh, Julio and the others are back.â
âNn.â
Finally, I was relieved. The real event was yet to begin.
The guards were simply a bunch of boisterous knights, chugging alcohol-like beverages from small bottles and occasionally grinning or laughing at me in a mocking manner.
I was still not sure if they were really going to raid Daemonâs stronghold, even though I had followed the Crown Prince all this way.