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39 - Legend of Sun Knight summary (1/4)
Alright, after speeding through the book, I'm now rereading it and summarizing it. Already noticing detail I didn't notice before! This book happens across the span of a week. Will be doing this in four parts. Ridiculously long summary/pseudo translation is hidden in the lj-spoiler tags. Click to open~. Next three parts will probably take a while. :3;; Section 1 here was shared in its entirety online, so that part might be repetitive.
Chapter 1: In-Training
Section 1: Vice-Captain-In-Training
The story starts with Elaro waking up when the sun rises. He's always been particularly sensitive to the sun, waking when the sun hits him even when he doesn't have to wake up early. His teacher has done experiments in the middle of the night and found that candles have no effect. It has to be sunlight. His teacher concludes that Elaro is a resplendent, sunlit type of guy, so he always has to sparkle a bit once hit by sunlight, which is why sunlight wakes him up. This confuses Elaro, but he doesn't pay it much mind since around two out of every ten things his teacher says confuses him. His teacher waves it off and says not to worry, otherwise a serious guy like Elaro might lose his mind. That would be bad since Grisia also forgot to choose a backup knight.
Also? This makes Elaro wonder who else also forgot to choose a backup, but he decides not to think about it since his teacher told him not to think about it too much.
Elaro likes waking up with the sun. It means he won't oversleep and can do a lot of things throughout the day. When he gets off his bed and takes off his shirt, we find out that he has a large, x-shaped scar on his chest despite the fact that it must have gotten treated before, so that means it's a fairly serious injury to leave a scar. There is also a deep-colored scar from his right shoulder all the way down to the area below his shoulder.
Elaro completes his morning routine: brushing his hair, tidying his appearance... but actually he had already steamed his clothes the day before and finished polishing his shoes, so he finishes preparing quite quickly. He feels a little guilty for this. He's always thought the Sun Knight has to have brilliant blond hair, so when his teacher wanted him to grow his hair long, he immediately agreed to do it. But when his teacher rambles off a bunch of stuff about how to take care of his hair (it's easier than preparing facials. First, he must prepare oils for his hair, must wash his hair every day, must massage with oil every other day, repeating it three times before washing the oil off, must brush his hair 100 times every morning...) Elaro tells his teacher that he's decided to cut his hair.
Grisia lets him, since he hasn't heard that the Sun Knight must have long hair. This makes Elaro feel that his teacher really spoils him too much.
Speaking of which, it's time for his facial. He's disgruntled over how it's really a waste of time not being able to do anything while steaming himself. At first, he was supposed to do his facial two times a week, one more than his teacher normally does, because he's always been darker than his teacher. However, because his salary isn't all that high and he's pretty tall, Grisia lowered his facials to once a week. Otherwise, Grisia might have to start paying for Elaro's facials too, considering Elaro is now over 180 cm tall.
Still, Grisia commands Elaro that he must not stay in the sun for longer than five minutes between 10 and 2, and he must not stay in the sun longer than 15 minutes at all other times. Otherwise, he must immediately apply a facial mask that very night. Elaro has never had to do it.
When Elaro leaves his room, thinking about how he's out of his extract, two holy knights from Elaro's platoon respectfully greet him. Both of them are holy knights already while Elaro is still "in-training," so Elaro feels that he is the one who needs to be respectful to them instead, but no one in the Holy Temple feels Elaro is still "in-training." He's been at the Holy Temple since he was eight, meaning he probably has more experience than a lot of holy knights who are older than thirty. Still, Elaro feels that things were a little awkward at first.
The two before Elaro are Dili (who Grisia calls Nag) and Ronalyn (who Grisia calls Ice Cube). Grisia has told Elaro to quickly choose a vice-captain out of the two and to tell him the results when he returns.
Dili is kind and good with people. He's 25. 70% of Elaro's platoon support him.
Ronalyn is quiet, the type to silently finish his work. He's 19. He joined Elaro's platoon at the age of 16 and has very good skill even though he didn't break the record of being the youngest to become a holy knight. Though less people support him, the ones who do are very strong.
Elaro thinks it's his fault that the platoon is divided. He hasn't been able to quickly choose a vice-captain. Elaro tells Ronalyn to report about today's mission, surprising both Dili and Ronalyn since this is usually Dili's job.
Ronalyn explains that the twelve Knight-Captains have gone out on a mission/trip today and will be away for one week. That means his captain is responsible for the Sun Knight's duty for the week, as well as leading the Holy Temple. The first task is to find Vice-Captain Adair to ask what jobs the Sun Knight has for the week, and also to retrieve paperwork.
Elaro is pleased with Ronalyn's precise answer, especially since Ronalyn showed that he knows what's going on even though he's not usually responsible for reporting. Dili is not too worried. He's sure his captain will give him a fair chance too. They head off to find Adair.
Adair is currently instructing Ed and three other holy knights. Whenever the Twelve Holy Knights leave the Holy Temple together and the place is overrun with overworked people, Adair always keeps his composure. The entire Church of the God of Light thinks of Adair as the best vice-captain in history, and oftentimes people from outside mistake him for the Sun Knight (though they immediately regret their foolishness when they see the actual Sun Knight). After all, there's a reason why the 38th Sun Knight is known to be the most perfect Sun Knight in history.
Elaro often compares his vice-captain candidates with Adair. He's discovered that Dili and Ronalyn together would equal Adair, but it's not like he can combine them.
Adair spots Elaro, tells him that his captain told him to support Elaro. Elaro is about to tell Adair that his captain wants him to make a decision about his vice-captain, but he realizes that both candidates are still with him. Still, he comes out and says it, surprising Adair that he hadn't made a decision yet.
Adair claps Elaro on the shoulder and tells him this means he has one week to make a decision. He tells Elaro that if he needs any help, ask. Although their ages are quite far apart, they are like friends since they had once combined forces to trick Grisia in the Demon King's Temple. Grisia has always held a grudge against them after that, so they kind of bonded over it.
Elaro calls Adair "Brother Adair" (not like how Grisia calls everyone brothers/brethren. Elaro thinks of Adair as an older brother). He asks Adair how long it took his teacher to choose him.
Adair reveals a nostalgic expression. "Around three-"
Elaro thinks it only took three months for his teacher to choose someone like Adair. He's taken too long! He's already taken three years. But Ed laughs and says it only took three minutes. Ed's personality hasn't changed even after he turned forty.
Adair reminisces about the time his captain chose him. (Translation of this part)
Adair was the only one who dared to ask Grisia to repeat his words when no one understood his question (Grisia's question: "May I ask, which among our holy knight brothers is most blessed by the God of Light when wielding a sword?") After hearing Grisia repeat the question, Adair understands what he's trying to ask. Who has the best skill with a sword among them? When Adair asks Grisia if this is what he's asking, Grisia stares at Adair. He asks for Adair's name and then immediately appoints him as his vice-captain.
After that, Grisia brings them to the top of a cliff and tells everyone to jump off. Adair thinks this command is absurd. He refuses. Grisia still doesn't tell them a reason. He then pushes Adair off with an icicle and says, "I told you to jump, so jump! Shut up already, you failure of a vice-captain!"
After Adair falls, more people fall after him. He tries his hardest to move them out of the way so that they don't get squashed by the next person who falls. In the end, a shadow lands. It turns out to be Grisia himself, who has followed them down. They return to the top of the cliff. Adair finds out he is the only one who was pushed. Everyone else jumped out of their own volition. Grisia commands Adair to jump, but Adair refuses.
Over and over, Grisia tells Adair to jump. Adair refuses. Grisia makes him fall and jumps off with him. He performs healing magic on both himself and Adair each time, but it's not enough to heal all of Adair's injuries.
Each time Adair falls, he thinks he's infuriated by Grisia just a bit more.
Adair falls again. Grisia jumps after him. Adair is ready to hear Grisia command him to stand up and return to the top, but this time, the command doesn't come right away. Adair looks over and sees that Grisia is on the floor, forehead beading with sweat, expression pale. It hits Adair that Grisia has followed him down each and every time, always performing healing magic for both of them. How many times has he done it already?
Grisia puts on his smile and commands Adair to return to the top of the cliff. This time, Adair calms down. He asks Grisia, "Why are you so intent on having me obey such an absurd order?"
Adair has realized that Grisia is actually more affected than him each time they jump off the cliff. Not only does Grisia fall with him, he also has to cast healing magic each and every time. At first, Adair thought it wasn't a big deal for Grisia to cast so much healing magic since he is the future Sun Knight, but evidently it's not so.
Grisia asks how Adair knows this is an absurd order. Adair answers that jumping off a cliff can't be a logical order. Grisia goes on to ask, if you can't even follow an order like this one where you know you won't die after jumping off the cliff, what will you do when I need you to accomplish a suicide mission for the greater good one day? He explains that he is the Sun Knight. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made. What if one day he's not able to explain the details of a mission to Adair, but can only give an "absurd order" in front of everyone? What he needs is a vice-captain who will follow him no matter how absurd the order is. He tells Adair that perhaps he's not suitable for being his vice-captain. He'll appoint someone else.
When Grisia turns to leave, he sways. He hears a lot of people shout after Adair.
Adair jumped.
Grisia tells him that he has passed.
Back in the present after the flashback, Adair thinks that it was perhaps not helpful to recount this story, but Elaro tells Adair that he thinks he understands why his teacher wanted Adair to tell him this. Elaro comments that his teacher must feel that if even the most stubborn one was able to become the most obedient one, then there's no need for Elaro to hesitate over his choice.
Elaro turns around and announces that he will have two vice-captains. Dili and Ronalyn.
Adair is surprised, but Elaro tells him that it's not like the whole continent knows that the Sun Knight may only have one vice-captain. He explains that his teacher doesn't mind things as long as Elaro follows what the whole continent knows about the Sun Knight. Grisia has also said that he's about to retire anyway. Dili and Ronalyn are surprised to hear all this about the Sun Knight. To them, the Sun Knight is mature and graceful. Adair sees this, smiles, and tells Elaro that he should let his vice-captains in on some things. It will help lessen his work, and they can respond better to situations.
Elaro is happy that he no longer has to hide everything. His vice-captains feel a little worried about what he'll tell them.
In a nutshell:
The Twelve Holy Knights have left on a mission, leaving Elaro in charge for the week. Before leaving, Elaro's teacher tasks him with choosing his vice-captain. He has one week to do it, as the deadline is his teacher's return. Elaro goes to find Adair with Dili and Ronalyn, his two possible choices for vice-captains, to ask about the Sun Knight's duties for the week. Adair is surprised that Elaro hasn't chosen a vice-captain yet. He reveals that it took only three minutes for his captain to choose him, and he begins reminiscing about the time when his captain blasted him off a cliff to make him conform. After the story, Elaro realizes that if his teacher was able to make the most stubborn knight conform, then there's no reason for hesitation. He announces that both Dili and Ronalyn will be his vice-captains. It's not like the whole continent knows the Sun Knight may only have one vice-captain.
Notes:
-Elaro rises with the sun. He has short hair because he felt long hair takes too much work to maintain
-Elaro has scars. Where did they come from?
-Dili is 25 and good with people.
-Ronalyn is 19 and a strong fighter. (his original name sounds very similar to Ronalyn, but if anyone knows a similar sounding name that isn't a girl's name, let me know~).
-The Twelve Holy Knights routinely leave together all at once
Lucathia's thoughts:
I'd already squealed about this section when Yu Wo posted it up as the teaser to this book! I just... Adair, yesss. I'm just really happy we got to see Adair's story. I never would have thought Grisia also jumped off the cliff with Adair every single time! This section also introduces the structure of the book. It's set during the 39th generation's training days. Elaro is already 23 while the other knights-in-training range from 15~17. Although the story is set during the 39th gen, we'll be getting flashbacks and lots of mentions of past events. I can't believe Adair is already over 40... Elaro and Adair's relationship is really cute. :D Comrades in arms for betraying Grisia, haha...
Section 2: The Judgment Knight-In-Training
Later on, Dili leaves with Elaro's paperwork. We find out that Elaro does a lot of paperwork, and so does Shuis. Whenever the Twelve Holy Knights leave together, Elaro ends up with towering stacks of paperwork.
Elaro sends Ronalyn off to oversee the other knights in the platoon in their sword practice. He wants to test them next week. He expects everyone to pass. Ronalyn feels that it's unlikely that anyone will fail, since Elaro has high expectations of everyone's swordsmanship. Dili and Ronalyn's relationship already looks better than before. Elaro is glad he made such a decision.
Elaro plans on visiting each of his companions starting from Judge (the Earth Knight-in-training) who should be counting the donation money they received, but a Judgment Knight member stops Elaro.
The Judgment Knight member tells Elaro that Hungri has gotten out of control again. Even though he tells Elaro that the criminal has almost been beaten to death, he doesn't look all that hurried. Elaro asks what Vidar is doing. The holy knight answers that their vice-captain has taken the platoon out on patrol. There are only two knights left behind in the Judge's Complex.
Elaro goes with the knight to the Judge's Complex. The other knight isn't doing much to stop Hungri who is whipping the criminal without holding back at all. Hungri yells at the criminal and continues whipping him.
Elaro yells Hungri's name. Finally, Hungri stops and turns around. He deflates, knowing that he has lost control. If his teacher had been around, he would not have dared to lose control in the first place. Still, even though he's seen Elaro's disappointed expression, he yells, "Do you know what this bastard has done?" Elaro answers in the negative, that he has only seen Hungri do something he shouldn't have. Hungri doesn't admit he's wrong – it's the Judgment Knight's job to judge criminals!
"But have you ever seen Knight-Captain Judgment lose control? Even though he always looks scary during interrogations, his fury is only for the sake of making the criminal speak. He doesn’t lose control of his emotions. You told me this yourself, didn't you?"
Still, Hungri doesn't want to admit he's wrong. He explains that the criminal is rotten. The criminal raped three women and has hidden their corpses in graves he dug (he is a cemetery worker who abused his position). Hungri is currently interrogating him because he suspects the criminal to be involved with their other case of two missing women. He explains why he thinks so and shows that he did investigate the matter thoroughly.
However, when he turns to continue interrogating the criminal, Elaro stops him and says that the criminal's injuries are already too severe. If he ends up dying, they won’t be able to find those two women.
Elaro is right, and Lesus would kill Hungri if the criminal ends up dying. Hungri tells Elaro that since Elaro is here, he can use Heal on the criminal so that Hungri can beat...interrogate the criminal from the start again. He quickly changes his wording since he knows Elaro has always been a stickler with professionalism, just like Hungri's teacher. It sometimes makes Hungri wonder just who his teacher's student is.
When the criminal shouts that the girls seduced him, a pissed off Hungri whips him right away. Elaro shouts Hungri's name, but Hungri says that if Elaro had seen the women's corpses, he wouldn't be stopping him. Elaro looks around; the other holy knights don't have any intention of stopping Hungri. They agree with him and are discontent with Elaro.
Finally, Elaro tells Hungri to stop here for today; otherwise if something happens to the criminal, Knight-Captain Judgment will be very angry. Elaro is a little disheartened that he had to bring out Knight-Captain Judgment's name. When will he have as much authority as him?
Hungri snorts and commands his platoon to toss the criminal out. Elaro watches every step of the way to make sure they do it. After that, Hungri starts interrogating a second criminal.
Hungri is always serious about his job. Often too serious. He's very passionate about interrogating criminals, often giving Judgment Knight huge headaches. Whenever all of the Knight-Captains leave on a mission together, Judgment instructs his platoon to keep a close eye on Hungri, to find Elaro immediately if they can't stop Hungri.
No Judgment Knight member dares to go against Knight-Captain Judgment's words, but they often go and find Elaro slowly if the criminal is particularly bad. When Elaro leaves, he instructs Hungri not to overdo it, but Hungri just rolls his eye at him.
Elaro thinks about how they won't listen until he brings up Knight-Captain Judgment. He's already 23, yet is still unable to have people follow him. His captain had already become the Sun Knight at his age...
He meets Shuis in the corridors. Shuis calls him "Brother Elaro." As Shuis walks over, he winks at the female clerics around them because he has to, but his winks are more like glares. Still, the clerics find him very cool. Shuis has never understood how to wink, but he's very handsome, so it doesn't matter anyway. Elaro asked for his teacher's help with Shuis, to explain that his winks are fine. Grisia tries to make Elaro promise him not to make him correct paperwork for a year for this favor, but Elaro argues that those documents are his teacher's duties in the first place. He's already given a lot of it to Brother Adair and Storm Knight... When Grisia bring up the fact that Storm has picked a back-up knight, Elaro agrees to half a year but Grisia argues for seven months and tells Elaro not to look at him in disappointment.
In those seven months, Elaro is super busy that he often falls asleep with his facial mask on him, turning him into hardened plaster in the morning. His teacher finds a person to wink at clerics, comparing that person's wink with Shuis's. Shuis's is much more effective, so his winks pass.
We learn that Shuis is currently 15. Although he can't be called handsome just yet since he's still young, he has truly inherited his parents' (Awaitsun's and Alice's) appearances. Elaro's a little worried. Given how Shuis is growing handsomer and handsomer, in three years, he might have to add stopping "Shuis from kicking girls who won't let go of him" to his task of "stopping Hungri from killing criminals."
Shuis asks if Hungri has done something again. We learn that Elaro has had to oversee Hungri for several years already, and that the first time their teachers went out on their mission (they do it every half a year), Hungri had almost killed a criminal and Elaro had to rush over for the first time. When Judgment returned, he was so angry he threw Hungri into solitary confinement for three months.
Elaro thinks that perhaps he is in the wrong. The Judgment Knight Platoon seems to agree with Hungri. Shuis immediately claims that Brother Elaro is forever right. That everyone else is wrong. Shuis has always supported Elaro without holding back. Elaro is kind of touched, but he still thinks that he might be in the wrong.
Shuis goes on to say that Hungri is unprofessional, brash, and not at all like a Judgment Knight. How can he be right? This makes Elaro's head hurt. It's no secret that Shuis dislikes Hungri. Elaro's faction doesn't like Hungri's faction much, and the same goes for the other side. Although the whole continent knows the two factions don't get along, Elaro has seen that it doesn't need to be that way. His teachers aren't like that. He would rather they didn't match what the whole continent knew if it meant they could get along better.
At this time, Valica shows up, making Elaro lament over the fact that even Valica, the next Leaf Knight, and Shuis, the next Storm Knight, don't get along even though they are both from the good, warm-hearted faction. Elaro doesn't understand why they hate each other so much, and everyone refuses to tell him the reason when he asks.
Shuis's personality is rather cold but he doesn't normally get into grudges with people. Valica always greets people with smiles and is fairly good with people. Elaro doesn’t understand why they would hate each other.
Valica greets Brother Elaro and also Shuis (though he does it curtly) because Elaro has instructed him that he must not ignore Shuis. Shuis however, gives a cold snort. Elaro immediately reprimands him, startling Shuis a lot. He greets Valica and darts his eyes at Elaro carefully. Although Valica seems to delight in Shuis's unease, Elaro can't find anything to fault Valica for since he did follow Elaro's instructions to not ignore Shuis.
Elaro wonders how he can better their relationship. He thinks that perhaps if they spend more time together, they would understand each other more. He sends them to Judge to help him with organizing the donations they've received. This causes both of them to freeze because now they have to work together.
In a nutshell:
After assigning tasks to his newly appointed vice-captains, Elaro is about to visit the other holy knights-in-training when a Judgment Platoon member comes and tells him that Hungri has almost flayed a criminal to death. Elaro rushes to the Judge's Complex to stop Hungri who is at the height of his fury. Hungri feels the criminal deserved it, but Elaro tries to reason with him, telling him that although the Judgment Knight looks scary during an interrogation, it's for the sake of finding out information from the criminal. He never actually loses his cool. Hungri doesn't listen. In the end, Elaro has to use Judgment Knight's name to get him to stop. Even though the Judgment Knight Platoon members aren't too happy with Elaro either for speaking for the criminal, they toss the criminal out and don't interrogate him anymore. When Elaro meets Shuis in the corridors after he leaves the Judge's Complex, Shuis claims that Brother Elaro is in the right. Hungri must be wrong. Elaro laments over the fact that the two factions don't get along. Even Valica and Shuis don't get along, and they're from the same faction. When Valica shows up and immediately sets Shuis off, Elaro decides to send them both to Judge Earth.
Notes:
-Judge Earth: he's the kid that Grisia named in one of the volumes when Grisia made a pun on "Judgment didn't attend the meeting" when someone asked him to name three kids. One kid is named after "Judgment", one after "didn't come/didn't attend", and one after "meeting." Georgo chose him just to spite Grisia. Poor kid.
-Elaro is worried over not having authority
-the two factions don't get along
-but perhaps the worst offenders are Valica and Shuis
Lucathia's thoughts:
Can I just say how cute everyone is? I also really feel bad for Elaro. He has a lot of work cut out for him. As the oldest one out of them, and with the age gap, he's always had to be responsible, huh? The others all seem to look up to him though, especially Shuis and Valica. Shuis seems to blindly follow Elaro. (he has a bad case of adoration. Much worse than Chikus with Grisia!). I'm not sure what I feel about Hungri yet. He's reaaally brash. I wonder what kind of Judgment Knight he'll be. However, I'm super amused that Hungri and Elaro have done the "but he's evil and deserves it" "no you can't, he's already hurt too much" routine. It's not quite "the harsh God of Light will punish you" "the benevolent God of Light with forgive you" routine, but hey, Hungri and Elaro truly believe what they're saying. XD; Perhaps this generation, we actually have a Judgment Knight and a Sun Knight who match their image. Much fewer two-faced people this time!
Section 3: The Sun Knight-In-Training
Judge is super busy. Their donations came in yesterday and included more than just money. Food, local wares, jewelry, weapons and armor, etc. Judge must sort them all, especially the perishables, or else they will no longer be able to see them if they go bad. In the previous generation, Stone and Leaf were responsible for this. This generation, he and Valkyrs, the Metal Knight-in-training are responsible for donations. Valkyrs has taken 10 platoon members to the plaza to sell stuff while Judge has remained behind with the 30 other platoon members to continue doing their inventory check.
Suddenly, Judge hears his platoon shout out, "Pig, Captain!" He knows they're not swearing at him. Judge immediately puts up his Earth Shield but then thinks better of it. He dodges to the side. A bunch of knights run by, trying to stop a rampaging pig. It's a good thing Judge took down his shield. They would have crashed into it, and a dead pig would be worth a lot less. A holy knight exclaims that they've had cows, sheep, and pigs. It won't be strange if they even get fish in tanks next time. He wishes they were sent horses. Horses, however, are hard to come by.
The platoon member who just spoke is only 15. Normally, platoons aren't formed until the Twelve Holy Knights (in training) around 17~18, but this generation is a special case. Most were 7~9 when they were chosen. It's already been almost 8 years since they were chosen, so they're slowly getting more of their teachers' tasks transferred to them.
However, Judge has always done most of his teacher's jobs. His teacher had long since finished transferring all of the tasks to him. The Earth Knight doesn't like doing work, but he can't be blamed. They're already at the age to retire after all but had just chosen successors that are too young. The Sun Knight often smiles and addresses Elaro in front of everyone, lamenting in his "Sun Knight speech" about how Elaro is already old enough and experienced enough to take care of matters, yet his teacher must still hold on to the Divine Sun Sword and cannot pass on the God of Light's benevolence...
At first, people didn't understand his speech, but they soon understood that the Sun Knight wants to retire. Elaro is already at an age where he can succeed his teacher, but the others are still young. Now, Elaro is already 23 yet it is still unknown when he will succeed his teacher. There are still others who are only 15 at the moment.
Judge doesn't care too much about this though. After all, he's already been taking care of the Earth Knight's duties. The most that will change is that he'll receive the Earth Knight's weapon and room.
Judge sees people approaching him. He had asked Elaro for more help the day before. At first, he's happy Elaro had managed to spare so many people... until he sees that it's Valica and Shuis's platoons.
Everyone quiets down when they approach. Valica says, "Judge, brother Elaro asked me to come help you." Immediately, Judge senses something off. "Me?" not "we"? Right away, Shuis shouts that Elaro is not Valica's brother. Valica retorts that he's not Shuis's brother either. Elaro is an orphan just like him. Elaro really only has a younger sister.
Shuis replies that of course Elaro is his brother. Shuis has been calling him his brother since before the selections. Valica is the one who came out of nowhere. Valica becomes angry because Shuis has parents and a bunch of siblings while Valica is an orphan. Why is Shuis trying to steal his brother away?
Judge watches this and tries to pacify them to no avail. Everyone knows why they despise each other so much, except for Elaro. No one wants to tell him, "It's because of you."
Most people think of Elaro as their older brother because of the age gap, though not all of them call him "brother Elaro." The two "younger brothers" who get the most possessive over Elaro are Valica and Shuis. Judge sighs, wondering why Elaro sent them over at the same time. Apart, they can do their job well, but together they're a disaster.
Judge tells them that if they injure each other, Elaro will be very mad. Both begin to hesitate. Just as Valica says, "Alright, for brother Elaro..." but once he utters "brother Elaro," Shuis gets angry again and kicks at Valica. Valica retorts that Shuis can't even do a sneak attack correctly. Is he always going to depend on his older brother for everything? They begin fighting, though Valica already regrets his words because he knows that Shuis is in truth very capable, but he can't bring himself to apologize to Shuis of all people.
Both Valica and Shuis had put in a lot of effort into training to gain Elaro's approval. Then, afraid to be surpassed, they trained even more. Now they are at the top in skill level out of the next Twelve Holy Knights (excluding Elaro, who is on an entirely different level).
Valica is very capable even in close combat fighting while Shuis immediately uses his speed to his advantage. Judge watches all this and says, "Elaro, I've decided to hate you." Valica and Shuis's platoon members are angry on their captain's behalf after seeing them get hurt. Judge goes up to the platoons and tells them not to get involved. He orders them to do an inventory check, but no one listens. (They're all older than him, and they're not his platoon members). He only manages to stop them from joining the fight. Unable to join the fight, they start shouting, "Good luck Captain!"
Judge watches in worry, almost casting Earth Shield several times, but he refrains because he might end up making Valica's arrows explode and he might break Shuis's leg with the impact (both has happened before. Shuis broke his right leg, Valica's arrows buried into his lower body). Both didn't blame Judge, and Elaro threw them into confinement that time without blaming Judge either.
Judge wonders if he's gotten so good at Earth Shield (perfect marks) thanks to these two.
A hand stops on Judge's shoulder, and the crowd around him falls silent.
Valica senses something wrong, looks over, and sees a head of blond. Shuis lands a kick on the distracted Valica and immediately knows that something is wrong too. He knows Valica's strength and also knows that Valica isn't trying to trick him when he lowers his bow. Valica's not that kind of guy. Shuis looks over and pales.
Elaro is very disappointed in them and says so.
Valica pales. Shuis's eyes become red-rimmed. Elaro sighs and says that maybe he is wrong. It's not like the Storm Knight and the Leaf Knight have to get along.
The two of them try to apologize, but they don't even get past the first syllable of Elaro's name before they glare at each other. Elaro wonders if he has added oil to the fire in trying to improve their relationship.
Elaro orders Valica to stay and help Judge. He orders Shuis to take his platoon to find Ronalyn to train. Although Shuis relies on his legs, swordplay is fundamental for everyone.
Valica and Shuis look at Elaro with frightened expressions as they leave. Elaro wonders if his own holy knights are afraid of him.
After a scene change, we find Elaro in the gardens on a hammock under a tree. He loves the place and goes there when he needs time to himself. It used to be one of the Cloud Knight's haunts. His teacher often complains about how he has learned Storm Knight's kicking skill and has mastered archery fairly well too, but there's no need to also learn Cloud's "you can't find me skill." He would be fine with Elaro learning the Cloud steps, but must he disappear? During his youth he had to find Cloud, now in his later years he has to find his student...
Despite his teacher's complaints, Elaro thinks that his teacher probably knows his hiding place but just hasn't revealed it.
Elaro starts missing his teacher. He also thinks about how the Twelve Holy Knights follow the Judgment Knight and the Sun Knight, yet normally they can also get along together like friends.
It's only the first day the teachers have gone out on their mission, yet already so much has happened.
At this time, Elaro's sister Ludia shows up. Ludia knows this place too since Elaro never wants his sister not to know where he is. Elaro wonders when Ludia had gone and grown up on him. Ludia laughs and tells him to stop behaving like an old man. Elaro knows he is a bit mature for his age because his "father" has always had high expectations and he also had to take care of his "brothers."
His teacher once told him that his only request to Elaro is for Elaro to follow all of his requests.
Ludia asks Elaro what he's worrying about. He explains. Ludia smiles and says that she's always amused by how Elaro worries over Valica and Shuis. Elaro doesn't find it amusing, but Ludia claims that fighting doesn't mean they don't have a good relationship. She asks Elaro if he thinks they wouldn’t help each other if the other's life were in danger. Elaro immediately answers that they would of course help each other.
Elaro also laments that Shuis still refuses to write home. He has also started refusing to read the letters from home.
Ludia feels bad for her brother. All of the knights truly have hard to manage personalities. In the 38th generation, it was really only the Sun Knight who had a hard to manage personality while everyone else mostly went along with the flow. In this generation, it was just the opposite. Only the Sun Knight had the easiest personality.
Ludia starts feeling a little worried for her brother. But as she stares at him in worry, she instead exclaims, "Brother, you are truly too handsome!" She also reassures him that he will be fine. He's the best brother in the world even if he does have eleven younger brothers to take care of.
Elaro, however, wants to be equal with them. He wants to be friends, like how his teacher is friends with the others. It's his fault that his age is so far apart from theirs. However, Ludia exclaims that it's just the opposite. All of the current knights-in-training have prideful personalities and are fairly skillful. If not for the fact that they have a big brother to look up to, they would be even less unified. Elaro immediately says that they have the right to be prideful. They have the skills, and they're still kids too. Ludia smiles and thinks that Elaro truly thinks of his younger brothers a lot. Even she can't badmouth them!
Elaro is sure that Valica or Shuis asked her to come speak to him. Ludia asks him to guess which one. Elaro guesses Valica because Shuis would just lower his head, eyes red, apologizing until Elaro forgives him. He is correct. It's Valica who asked Ludia to come.
He also quickly tries to reassure Ludia that she'll always be his dearest sister no matter how many brothers he has. Ludia laughs and says that they're her brothers too (see, they come right to her when something goes wrong), and doesn't Elaro also have dearest Charsia? Or does he not consider Charsia a sister, since she's already stated that she wants to become his bride when she grows up?
Elaro immediately refutes this. Charsia is only 12, and isn't she afraid his teacher will hear? Ludia giggles and says that's why she's saying it now when he's not around.
This makes Elaro sigh. Only he knows the truth behind the teachers' "mission." It happens every half a year. All Twelve Holy Knights leave together. It's already made quite a few people suspicious, and Elaro thinks the others know that he knows. Elaro always denies knowing, but Hungri thinks Elaro must know. After all, Knight-Captain Sun trusts him a lot. Probably only Shuis has never doubted Elaro since he claims that brother Elaro is always right. Valica is more reasonable. He would look away, afraid that Elaro would see his suspicious gaze. Elaro still doesn't know why Valica and Shuis look up to him so much.
A Judgment Knight comes looking for Elaro. It turns out that Hungri has almost flayed the criminal to death. This alarms Elaro. He immediately picks Ludia up and runs towards the Judge's Complex. After all, Ludia is the Pope-in-training.
In a nutshell:
Judge Earth is responsible for doing an inventory check of donations they've recently received. Just when he thought Elaro has kindly sent him help, it turns out that his two helpers are Valica and Shuis who hate each other's guts. When they arrive with their platoons, they get into a fight over brother Elaro almost immediately. Valica doesn't understand why Shuis fights him for brother Elaro when Shuis already has a family. Judge watches all of this in worry but isn't able to stop them. Finally, Elaro shows up, causing both Valica and Shuis to feel very guilty. Disappointed, Elaro orders Valica to stay and help Judge while he sends Shuis to Ronalyn's place to train with his sword. Afterwards, Elaro hides in his special place in the garden to contemplate what a mess the day has been. Ludia comes to find him, asking about his worries. It turns out that Valica had asked her to talk to Elaro. After Ludia and Elaro talk, a Judgment Knight comes looking for Elaro. Hungri has almost flayed the criminal to death. Elaro runs off with Ludia, the Pope-in-training, because she will definitely be able to save the criminal.
Notes:
-Valkyrs is the next Metal Knight
-turns out Leaf and Stone of the 38th gen were responsible for organizing donations! This gen, it's Judge Earth and Valkyrs Metal
-Valica is an orphan
-Shuis refuses to write home
-Shuis and Valica are top in skill of the next gen
-Elaro is skilled with kicking and archery (and swords... just how skilled are you...)
-Grisia once commanded Elaro that his only request to him is for him to follow all of his requests
-first mention of Charsia
Lucathia's thoughts:
Stone and Leaf were responsible for sorting donations! *___* *is really happy we're learning more about their duties* We're finally getting to see how the Holy Temple normally operates. I guess Grisia never paid attention to this kind of stuff. Judge is adorable. ♥ How did Georgo manage to raise a kid like this? "I've decided to hate you, Elaro" is such a cute line. He also stutters fairly naturally with his other lines. It's pretty cool that Valica is also good at close combat despite being an archer. Shuis is just really adorable. I mean, come on, red-rimmed eyes? He sounds like he hasn't kept in touch with his family. Has he never returned home after Alice and Awaitsun shipped him off to the Holy Temple? D: Oh, Ludia is the pope-in-training. So the Pope actually plans on retiring now? XD; I never thought the day would come.
Chapter 1: In-Training
Section 1: Vice-Captain-In-Training
The story starts with Elaro waking up when the sun rises. He's always been particularly sensitive to the sun, waking when the sun hits him even when he doesn't have to wake up early. His teacher has done experiments in the middle of the night and found that candles have no effect. It has to be sunlight. His teacher concludes that Elaro is a resplendent, sunlit type of guy, so he always has to sparkle a bit once hit by sunlight, which is why sunlight wakes him up. This confuses Elaro, but he doesn't pay it much mind since around two out of every ten things his teacher says confuses him. His teacher waves it off and says not to worry, otherwise a serious guy like Elaro might lose his mind. That would be bad since Grisia also forgot to choose a backup knight.
Also? This makes Elaro wonder who else also forgot to choose a backup, but he decides not to think about it since his teacher told him not to think about it too much.
Elaro likes waking up with the sun. It means he won't oversleep and can do a lot of things throughout the day. When he gets off his bed and takes off his shirt, we find out that he has a large, x-shaped scar on his chest despite the fact that it must have gotten treated before, so that means it's a fairly serious injury to leave a scar. There is also a deep-colored scar from his right shoulder all the way down to the area below his shoulder.
Elaro completes his morning routine: brushing his hair, tidying his appearance... but actually he had already steamed his clothes the day before and finished polishing his shoes, so he finishes preparing quite quickly. He feels a little guilty for this. He's always thought the Sun Knight has to have brilliant blond hair, so when his teacher wanted him to grow his hair long, he immediately agreed to do it. But when his teacher rambles off a bunch of stuff about how to take care of his hair (it's easier than preparing facials. First, he must prepare oils for his hair, must wash his hair every day, must massage with oil every other day, repeating it three times before washing the oil off, must brush his hair 100 times every morning...) Elaro tells his teacher that he's decided to cut his hair.
Grisia lets him, since he hasn't heard that the Sun Knight must have long hair. This makes Elaro feel that his teacher really spoils him too much.
Speaking of which, it's time for his facial. He's disgruntled over how it's really a waste of time not being able to do anything while steaming himself. At first, he was supposed to do his facial two times a week, one more than his teacher normally does, because he's always been darker than his teacher. However, because his salary isn't all that high and he's pretty tall, Grisia lowered his facials to once a week. Otherwise, Grisia might have to start paying for Elaro's facials too, considering Elaro is now over 180 cm tall.
Still, Grisia commands Elaro that he must not stay in the sun for longer than five minutes between 10 and 2, and he must not stay in the sun longer than 15 minutes at all other times. Otherwise, he must immediately apply a facial mask that very night. Elaro has never had to do it.
When Elaro leaves his room, thinking about how he's out of his extract, two holy knights from Elaro's platoon respectfully greet him. Both of them are holy knights already while Elaro is still "in-training," so Elaro feels that he is the one who needs to be respectful to them instead, but no one in the Holy Temple feels Elaro is still "in-training." He's been at the Holy Temple since he was eight, meaning he probably has more experience than a lot of holy knights who are older than thirty. Still, Elaro feels that things were a little awkward at first.
The two before Elaro are Dili (who Grisia calls Nag) and Ronalyn (who Grisia calls Ice Cube). Grisia has told Elaro to quickly choose a vice-captain out of the two and to tell him the results when he returns.
Dili is kind and good with people. He's 25. 70% of Elaro's platoon support him.
Ronalyn is quiet, the type to silently finish his work. He's 19. He joined Elaro's platoon at the age of 16 and has very good skill even though he didn't break the record of being the youngest to become a holy knight. Though less people support him, the ones who do are very strong.
Elaro thinks it's his fault that the platoon is divided. He hasn't been able to quickly choose a vice-captain. Elaro tells Ronalyn to report about today's mission, surprising both Dili and Ronalyn since this is usually Dili's job.
Ronalyn explains that the twelve Knight-Captains have gone out on a mission/trip today and will be away for one week. That means his captain is responsible for the Sun Knight's duty for the week, as well as leading the Holy Temple. The first task is to find Vice-Captain Adair to ask what jobs the Sun Knight has for the week, and also to retrieve paperwork.
Elaro is pleased with Ronalyn's precise answer, especially since Ronalyn showed that he knows what's going on even though he's not usually responsible for reporting. Dili is not too worried. He's sure his captain will give him a fair chance too. They head off to find Adair.
Adair is currently instructing Ed and three other holy knights. Whenever the Twelve Holy Knights leave the Holy Temple together and the place is overrun with overworked people, Adair always keeps his composure. The entire Church of the God of Light thinks of Adair as the best vice-captain in history, and oftentimes people from outside mistake him for the Sun Knight (though they immediately regret their foolishness when they see the actual Sun Knight). After all, there's a reason why the 38th Sun Knight is known to be the most perfect Sun Knight in history.
Elaro often compares his vice-captain candidates with Adair. He's discovered that Dili and Ronalyn together would equal Adair, but it's not like he can combine them.
Adair spots Elaro, tells him that his captain told him to support Elaro. Elaro is about to tell Adair that his captain wants him to make a decision about his vice-captain, but he realizes that both candidates are still with him. Still, he comes out and says it, surprising Adair that he hadn't made a decision yet.
Adair claps Elaro on the shoulder and tells him this means he has one week to make a decision. He tells Elaro that if he needs any help, ask. Although their ages are quite far apart, they are like friends since they had once combined forces to trick Grisia in the Demon King's Temple. Grisia has always held a grudge against them after that, so they kind of bonded over it.
Elaro calls Adair "Brother Adair" (not like how Grisia calls everyone brothers/brethren. Elaro thinks of Adair as an older brother). He asks Adair how long it took his teacher to choose him.
Adair reveals a nostalgic expression. "Around three-"
Elaro thinks it only took three months for his teacher to choose someone like Adair. He's taken too long! He's already taken three years. But Ed laughs and says it only took three minutes. Ed's personality hasn't changed even after he turned forty.
Adair reminisces about the time his captain chose him. (Translation of this part)
Adair was the only one who dared to ask Grisia to repeat his words when no one understood his question (Grisia's question: "May I ask, which among our holy knight brothers is most blessed by the God of Light when wielding a sword?") After hearing Grisia repeat the question, Adair understands what he's trying to ask. Who has the best skill with a sword among them? When Adair asks Grisia if this is what he's asking, Grisia stares at Adair. He asks for Adair's name and then immediately appoints him as his vice-captain.
After that, Grisia brings them to the top of a cliff and tells everyone to jump off. Adair thinks this command is absurd. He refuses. Grisia still doesn't tell them a reason. He then pushes Adair off with an icicle and says, "I told you to jump, so jump! Shut up already, you failure of a vice-captain!"
After Adair falls, more people fall after him. He tries his hardest to move them out of the way so that they don't get squashed by the next person who falls. In the end, a shadow lands. It turns out to be Grisia himself, who has followed them down. They return to the top of the cliff. Adair finds out he is the only one who was pushed. Everyone else jumped out of their own volition. Grisia commands Adair to jump, but Adair refuses.
Over and over, Grisia tells Adair to jump. Adair refuses. Grisia makes him fall and jumps off with him. He performs healing magic on both himself and Adair each time, but it's not enough to heal all of Adair's injuries.
Each time Adair falls, he thinks he's infuriated by Grisia just a bit more.
Adair falls again. Grisia jumps after him. Adair is ready to hear Grisia command him to stand up and return to the top, but this time, the command doesn't come right away. Adair looks over and sees that Grisia is on the floor, forehead beading with sweat, expression pale. It hits Adair that Grisia has followed him down each and every time, always performing healing magic for both of them. How many times has he done it already?
Grisia puts on his smile and commands Adair to return to the top of the cliff. This time, Adair calms down. He asks Grisia, "Why are you so intent on having me obey such an absurd order?"
Adair has realized that Grisia is actually more affected than him each time they jump off the cliff. Not only does Grisia fall with him, he also has to cast healing magic each and every time. At first, Adair thought it wasn't a big deal for Grisia to cast so much healing magic since he is the future Sun Knight, but evidently it's not so.
Grisia asks how Adair knows this is an absurd order. Adair answers that jumping off a cliff can't be a logical order. Grisia goes on to ask, if you can't even follow an order like this one where you know you won't die after jumping off the cliff, what will you do when I need you to accomplish a suicide mission for the greater good one day? He explains that he is the Sun Knight. Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made. What if one day he's not able to explain the details of a mission to Adair, but can only give an "absurd order" in front of everyone? What he needs is a vice-captain who will follow him no matter how absurd the order is. He tells Adair that perhaps he's not suitable for being his vice-captain. He'll appoint someone else.
When Grisia turns to leave, he sways. He hears a lot of people shout after Adair.
Adair jumped.
Grisia tells him that he has passed.
Back in the present after the flashback, Adair thinks that it was perhaps not helpful to recount this story, but Elaro tells Adair that he thinks he understands why his teacher wanted Adair to tell him this. Elaro comments that his teacher must feel that if even the most stubborn one was able to become the most obedient one, then there's no need for Elaro to hesitate over his choice.
Elaro turns around and announces that he will have two vice-captains. Dili and Ronalyn.
Adair is surprised, but Elaro tells him that it's not like the whole continent knows that the Sun Knight may only have one vice-captain. He explains that his teacher doesn't mind things as long as Elaro follows what the whole continent knows about the Sun Knight. Grisia has also said that he's about to retire anyway. Dili and Ronalyn are surprised to hear all this about the Sun Knight. To them, the Sun Knight is mature and graceful. Adair sees this, smiles, and tells Elaro that he should let his vice-captains in on some things. It will help lessen his work, and they can respond better to situations.
Elaro is happy that he no longer has to hide everything. His vice-captains feel a little worried about what he'll tell them.
In a nutshell:
The Twelve Holy Knights have left on a mission, leaving Elaro in charge for the week. Before leaving, Elaro's teacher tasks him with choosing his vice-captain. He has one week to do it, as the deadline is his teacher's return. Elaro goes to find Adair with Dili and Ronalyn, his two possible choices for vice-captains, to ask about the Sun Knight's duties for the week. Adair is surprised that Elaro hasn't chosen a vice-captain yet. He reveals that it took only three minutes for his captain to choose him, and he begins reminiscing about the time when his captain blasted him off a cliff to make him conform. After the story, Elaro realizes that if his teacher was able to make the most stubborn knight conform, then there's no reason for hesitation. He announces that both Dili and Ronalyn will be his vice-captains. It's not like the whole continent knows the Sun Knight may only have one vice-captain.
Notes:
-Elaro rises with the sun. He has short hair because he felt long hair takes too much work to maintain
-Elaro has scars. Where did they come from?
-Dili is 25 and good with people.
-Ronalyn is 19 and a strong fighter. (his original name sounds very similar to Ronalyn, but if anyone knows a similar sounding name that isn't a girl's name, let me know~).
-The Twelve Holy Knights routinely leave together all at once
Lucathia's thoughts:
I'd already squealed about this section when Yu Wo posted it up as the teaser to this book! I just... Adair, yesss. I'm just really happy we got to see Adair's story. I never would have thought Grisia also jumped off the cliff with Adair every single time! This section also introduces the structure of the book. It's set during the 39th generation's training days. Elaro is already 23 while the other knights-in-training range from 15~17. Although the story is set during the 39th gen, we'll be getting flashbacks and lots of mentions of past events. I can't believe Adair is already over 40... Elaro and Adair's relationship is really cute. :D Comrades in arms for betraying Grisia, haha...
Section 2: The Judgment Knight-In-Training
Later on, Dili leaves with Elaro's paperwork. We find out that Elaro does a lot of paperwork, and so does Shuis. Whenever the Twelve Holy Knights leave together, Elaro ends up with towering stacks of paperwork.
Elaro sends Ronalyn off to oversee the other knights in the platoon in their sword practice. He wants to test them next week. He expects everyone to pass. Ronalyn feels that it's unlikely that anyone will fail, since Elaro has high expectations of everyone's swordsmanship. Dili and Ronalyn's relationship already looks better than before. Elaro is glad he made such a decision.
Elaro plans on visiting each of his companions starting from Judge (the Earth Knight-in-training) who should be counting the donation money they received, but a Judgment Knight member stops Elaro.
The Judgment Knight member tells Elaro that Hungri has gotten out of control again. Even though he tells Elaro that the criminal has almost been beaten to death, he doesn't look all that hurried. Elaro asks what Vidar is doing. The holy knight answers that their vice-captain has taken the platoon out on patrol. There are only two knights left behind in the Judge's Complex.
Elaro goes with the knight to the Judge's Complex. The other knight isn't doing much to stop Hungri who is whipping the criminal without holding back at all. Hungri yells at the criminal and continues whipping him.
Elaro yells Hungri's name. Finally, Hungri stops and turns around. He deflates, knowing that he has lost control. If his teacher had been around, he would not have dared to lose control in the first place. Still, even though he's seen Elaro's disappointed expression, he yells, "Do you know what this bastard has done?" Elaro answers in the negative, that he has only seen Hungri do something he shouldn't have. Hungri doesn't admit he's wrong – it's the Judgment Knight's job to judge criminals!
"But have you ever seen Knight-Captain Judgment lose control? Even though he always looks scary during interrogations, his fury is only for the sake of making the criminal speak. He doesn’t lose control of his emotions. You told me this yourself, didn't you?"
Still, Hungri doesn't want to admit he's wrong. He explains that the criminal is rotten. The criminal raped three women and has hidden their corpses in graves he dug (he is a cemetery worker who abused his position). Hungri is currently interrogating him because he suspects the criminal to be involved with their other case of two missing women. He explains why he thinks so and shows that he did investigate the matter thoroughly.
However, when he turns to continue interrogating the criminal, Elaro stops him and says that the criminal's injuries are already too severe. If he ends up dying, they won’t be able to find those two women.
Elaro is right, and Lesus would kill Hungri if the criminal ends up dying. Hungri tells Elaro that since Elaro is here, he can use Heal on the criminal so that Hungri can beat...interrogate the criminal from the start again. He quickly changes his wording since he knows Elaro has always been a stickler with professionalism, just like Hungri's teacher. It sometimes makes Hungri wonder just who his teacher's student is.
When the criminal shouts that the girls seduced him, a pissed off Hungri whips him right away. Elaro shouts Hungri's name, but Hungri says that if Elaro had seen the women's corpses, he wouldn't be stopping him. Elaro looks around; the other holy knights don't have any intention of stopping Hungri. They agree with him and are discontent with Elaro.
Finally, Elaro tells Hungri to stop here for today; otherwise if something happens to the criminal, Knight-Captain Judgment will be very angry. Elaro is a little disheartened that he had to bring out Knight-Captain Judgment's name. When will he have as much authority as him?
Hungri snorts and commands his platoon to toss the criminal out. Elaro watches every step of the way to make sure they do it. After that, Hungri starts interrogating a second criminal.
Hungri is always serious about his job. Often too serious. He's very passionate about interrogating criminals, often giving Judgment Knight huge headaches. Whenever all of the Knight-Captains leave on a mission together, Judgment instructs his platoon to keep a close eye on Hungri, to find Elaro immediately if they can't stop Hungri.
No Judgment Knight member dares to go against Knight-Captain Judgment's words, but they often go and find Elaro slowly if the criminal is particularly bad. When Elaro leaves, he instructs Hungri not to overdo it, but Hungri just rolls his eye at him.
Elaro thinks about how they won't listen until he brings up Knight-Captain Judgment. He's already 23, yet is still unable to have people follow him. His captain had already become the Sun Knight at his age...
He meets Shuis in the corridors. Shuis calls him "Brother Elaro." As Shuis walks over, he winks at the female clerics around them because he has to, but his winks are more like glares. Still, the clerics find him very cool. Shuis has never understood how to wink, but he's very handsome, so it doesn't matter anyway. Elaro asked for his teacher's help with Shuis, to explain that his winks are fine. Grisia tries to make Elaro promise him not to make him correct paperwork for a year for this favor, but Elaro argues that those documents are his teacher's duties in the first place. He's already given a lot of it to Brother Adair and Storm Knight... When Grisia bring up the fact that Storm has picked a back-up knight, Elaro agrees to half a year but Grisia argues for seven months and tells Elaro not to look at him in disappointment.
In those seven months, Elaro is super busy that he often falls asleep with his facial mask on him, turning him into hardened plaster in the morning. His teacher finds a person to wink at clerics, comparing that person's wink with Shuis's. Shuis's is much more effective, so his winks pass.
We learn that Shuis is currently 15. Although he can't be called handsome just yet since he's still young, he has truly inherited his parents' (Awaitsun's and Alice's) appearances. Elaro's a little worried. Given how Shuis is growing handsomer and handsomer, in three years, he might have to add stopping "Shuis from kicking girls who won't let go of him" to his task of "stopping Hungri from killing criminals."
Shuis asks if Hungri has done something again. We learn that Elaro has had to oversee Hungri for several years already, and that the first time their teachers went out on their mission (they do it every half a year), Hungri had almost killed a criminal and Elaro had to rush over for the first time. When Judgment returned, he was so angry he threw Hungri into solitary confinement for three months.
Elaro thinks that perhaps he is in the wrong. The Judgment Knight Platoon seems to agree with Hungri. Shuis immediately claims that Brother Elaro is forever right. That everyone else is wrong. Shuis has always supported Elaro without holding back. Elaro is kind of touched, but he still thinks that he might be in the wrong.
Shuis goes on to say that Hungri is unprofessional, brash, and not at all like a Judgment Knight. How can he be right? This makes Elaro's head hurt. It's no secret that Shuis dislikes Hungri. Elaro's faction doesn't like Hungri's faction much, and the same goes for the other side. Although the whole continent knows the two factions don't get along, Elaro has seen that it doesn't need to be that way. His teachers aren't like that. He would rather they didn't match what the whole continent knew if it meant they could get along better.
At this time, Valica shows up, making Elaro lament over the fact that even Valica, the next Leaf Knight, and Shuis, the next Storm Knight, don't get along even though they are both from the good, warm-hearted faction. Elaro doesn't understand why they hate each other so much, and everyone refuses to tell him the reason when he asks.
Shuis's personality is rather cold but he doesn't normally get into grudges with people. Valica always greets people with smiles and is fairly good with people. Elaro doesn’t understand why they would hate each other.
Valica greets Brother Elaro and also Shuis (though he does it curtly) because Elaro has instructed him that he must not ignore Shuis. Shuis however, gives a cold snort. Elaro immediately reprimands him, startling Shuis a lot. He greets Valica and darts his eyes at Elaro carefully. Although Valica seems to delight in Shuis's unease, Elaro can't find anything to fault Valica for since he did follow Elaro's instructions to not ignore Shuis.
Elaro wonders how he can better their relationship. He thinks that perhaps if they spend more time together, they would understand each other more. He sends them to Judge to help him with organizing the donations they've received. This causes both of them to freeze because now they have to work together.
In a nutshell:
After assigning tasks to his newly appointed vice-captains, Elaro is about to visit the other holy knights-in-training when a Judgment Platoon member comes and tells him that Hungri has almost flayed a criminal to death. Elaro rushes to the Judge's Complex to stop Hungri who is at the height of his fury. Hungri feels the criminal deserved it, but Elaro tries to reason with him, telling him that although the Judgment Knight looks scary during an interrogation, it's for the sake of finding out information from the criminal. He never actually loses his cool. Hungri doesn't listen. In the end, Elaro has to use Judgment Knight's name to get him to stop. Even though the Judgment Knight Platoon members aren't too happy with Elaro either for speaking for the criminal, they toss the criminal out and don't interrogate him anymore. When Elaro meets Shuis in the corridors after he leaves the Judge's Complex, Shuis claims that Brother Elaro is in the right. Hungri must be wrong. Elaro laments over the fact that the two factions don't get along. Even Valica and Shuis don't get along, and they're from the same faction. When Valica shows up and immediately sets Shuis off, Elaro decides to send them both to Judge Earth.
Notes:
-Judge Earth: he's the kid that Grisia named in one of the volumes when Grisia made a pun on "Judgment didn't attend the meeting" when someone asked him to name three kids. One kid is named after "Judgment", one after "didn't come/didn't attend", and one after "meeting." Georgo chose him just to spite Grisia. Poor kid.
-Elaro is worried over not having authority
-the two factions don't get along
-but perhaps the worst offenders are Valica and Shuis
Lucathia's thoughts:
Can I just say how cute everyone is? I also really feel bad for Elaro. He has a lot of work cut out for him. As the oldest one out of them, and with the age gap, he's always had to be responsible, huh? The others all seem to look up to him though, especially Shuis and Valica. Shuis seems to blindly follow Elaro. (he has a bad case of adoration. Much worse than Chikus with Grisia!). I'm not sure what I feel about Hungri yet. He's reaaally brash. I wonder what kind of Judgment Knight he'll be. However, I'm super amused that Hungri and Elaro have done the "but he's evil and deserves it" "no you can't, he's already hurt too much" routine. It's not quite "the harsh God of Light will punish you" "the benevolent God of Light with forgive you" routine, but hey, Hungri and Elaro truly believe what they're saying. XD; Perhaps this generation, we actually have a Judgment Knight and a Sun Knight who match their image. Much fewer two-faced people this time!
Section 3: The Sun Knight-In-Training
Judge is super busy. Their donations came in yesterday and included more than just money. Food, local wares, jewelry, weapons and armor, etc. Judge must sort them all, especially the perishables, or else they will no longer be able to see them if they go bad. In the previous generation, Stone and Leaf were responsible for this. This generation, he and Valkyrs, the Metal Knight-in-training are responsible for donations. Valkyrs has taken 10 platoon members to the plaza to sell stuff while Judge has remained behind with the 30 other platoon members to continue doing their inventory check.
Suddenly, Judge hears his platoon shout out, "Pig, Captain!" He knows they're not swearing at him. Judge immediately puts up his Earth Shield but then thinks better of it. He dodges to the side. A bunch of knights run by, trying to stop a rampaging pig. It's a good thing Judge took down his shield. They would have crashed into it, and a dead pig would be worth a lot less. A holy knight exclaims that they've had cows, sheep, and pigs. It won't be strange if they even get fish in tanks next time. He wishes they were sent horses. Horses, however, are hard to come by.
The platoon member who just spoke is only 15. Normally, platoons aren't formed until the Twelve Holy Knights (in training) around 17~18, but this generation is a special case. Most were 7~9 when they were chosen. It's already been almost 8 years since they were chosen, so they're slowly getting more of their teachers' tasks transferred to them.
However, Judge has always done most of his teacher's jobs. His teacher had long since finished transferring all of the tasks to him. The Earth Knight doesn't like doing work, but he can't be blamed. They're already at the age to retire after all but had just chosen successors that are too young. The Sun Knight often smiles and addresses Elaro in front of everyone, lamenting in his "Sun Knight speech" about how Elaro is already old enough and experienced enough to take care of matters, yet his teacher must still hold on to the Divine Sun Sword and cannot pass on the God of Light's benevolence...
At first, people didn't understand his speech, but they soon understood that the Sun Knight wants to retire. Elaro is already at an age where he can succeed his teacher, but the others are still young. Now, Elaro is already 23 yet it is still unknown when he will succeed his teacher. There are still others who are only 15 at the moment.
Judge doesn't care too much about this though. After all, he's already been taking care of the Earth Knight's duties. The most that will change is that he'll receive the Earth Knight's weapon and room.
Judge sees people approaching him. He had asked Elaro for more help the day before. At first, he's happy Elaro had managed to spare so many people... until he sees that it's Valica and Shuis's platoons.
Everyone quiets down when they approach. Valica says, "Judge, brother Elaro asked me to come help you." Immediately, Judge senses something off. "Me?" not "we"? Right away, Shuis shouts that Elaro is not Valica's brother. Valica retorts that he's not Shuis's brother either. Elaro is an orphan just like him. Elaro really only has a younger sister.
Shuis replies that of course Elaro is his brother. Shuis has been calling him his brother since before the selections. Valica is the one who came out of nowhere. Valica becomes angry because Shuis has parents and a bunch of siblings while Valica is an orphan. Why is Shuis trying to steal his brother away?
Judge watches this and tries to pacify them to no avail. Everyone knows why they despise each other so much, except for Elaro. No one wants to tell him, "It's because of you."
Most people think of Elaro as their older brother because of the age gap, though not all of them call him "brother Elaro." The two "younger brothers" who get the most possessive over Elaro are Valica and Shuis. Judge sighs, wondering why Elaro sent them over at the same time. Apart, they can do their job well, but together they're a disaster.
Judge tells them that if they injure each other, Elaro will be very mad. Both begin to hesitate. Just as Valica says, "Alright, for brother Elaro..." but once he utters "brother Elaro," Shuis gets angry again and kicks at Valica. Valica retorts that Shuis can't even do a sneak attack correctly. Is he always going to depend on his older brother for everything? They begin fighting, though Valica already regrets his words because he knows that Shuis is in truth very capable, but he can't bring himself to apologize to Shuis of all people.
Both Valica and Shuis had put in a lot of effort into training to gain Elaro's approval. Then, afraid to be surpassed, they trained even more. Now they are at the top in skill level out of the next Twelve Holy Knights (excluding Elaro, who is on an entirely different level).
Valica is very capable even in close combat fighting while Shuis immediately uses his speed to his advantage. Judge watches all this and says, "Elaro, I've decided to hate you." Valica and Shuis's platoon members are angry on their captain's behalf after seeing them get hurt. Judge goes up to the platoons and tells them not to get involved. He orders them to do an inventory check, but no one listens. (They're all older than him, and they're not his platoon members). He only manages to stop them from joining the fight. Unable to join the fight, they start shouting, "Good luck Captain!"
Judge watches in worry, almost casting Earth Shield several times, but he refrains because he might end up making Valica's arrows explode and he might break Shuis's leg with the impact (both has happened before. Shuis broke his right leg, Valica's arrows buried into his lower body). Both didn't blame Judge, and Elaro threw them into confinement that time without blaming Judge either.
Judge wonders if he's gotten so good at Earth Shield (perfect marks) thanks to these two.
A hand stops on Judge's shoulder, and the crowd around him falls silent.
Valica senses something wrong, looks over, and sees a head of blond. Shuis lands a kick on the distracted Valica and immediately knows that something is wrong too. He knows Valica's strength and also knows that Valica isn't trying to trick him when he lowers his bow. Valica's not that kind of guy. Shuis looks over and pales.
Elaro is very disappointed in them and says so.
Valica pales. Shuis's eyes become red-rimmed. Elaro sighs and says that maybe he is wrong. It's not like the Storm Knight and the Leaf Knight have to get along.
The two of them try to apologize, but they don't even get past the first syllable of Elaro's name before they glare at each other. Elaro wonders if he has added oil to the fire in trying to improve their relationship.
Elaro orders Valica to stay and help Judge. He orders Shuis to take his platoon to find Ronalyn to train. Although Shuis relies on his legs, swordplay is fundamental for everyone.
Valica and Shuis look at Elaro with frightened expressions as they leave. Elaro wonders if his own holy knights are afraid of him.
After a scene change, we find Elaro in the gardens on a hammock under a tree. He loves the place and goes there when he needs time to himself. It used to be one of the Cloud Knight's haunts. His teacher often complains about how he has learned Storm Knight's kicking skill and has mastered archery fairly well too, but there's no need to also learn Cloud's "you can't find me skill." He would be fine with Elaro learning the Cloud steps, but must he disappear? During his youth he had to find Cloud, now in his later years he has to find his student...
Despite his teacher's complaints, Elaro thinks that his teacher probably knows his hiding place but just hasn't revealed it.
Elaro starts missing his teacher. He also thinks about how the Twelve Holy Knights follow the Judgment Knight and the Sun Knight, yet normally they can also get along together like friends.
It's only the first day the teachers have gone out on their mission, yet already so much has happened.
At this time, Elaro's sister Ludia shows up. Ludia knows this place too since Elaro never wants his sister not to know where he is. Elaro wonders when Ludia had gone and grown up on him. Ludia laughs and tells him to stop behaving like an old man. Elaro knows he is a bit mature for his age because his "father" has always had high expectations and he also had to take care of his "brothers."
His teacher once told him that his only request to Elaro is for Elaro to follow all of his requests.
Ludia asks Elaro what he's worrying about. He explains. Ludia smiles and says that she's always amused by how Elaro worries over Valica and Shuis. Elaro doesn't find it amusing, but Ludia claims that fighting doesn't mean they don't have a good relationship. She asks Elaro if he thinks they wouldn’t help each other if the other's life were in danger. Elaro immediately answers that they would of course help each other.
Elaro also laments that Shuis still refuses to write home. He has also started refusing to read the letters from home.
Ludia feels bad for her brother. All of the knights truly have hard to manage personalities. In the 38th generation, it was really only the Sun Knight who had a hard to manage personality while everyone else mostly went along with the flow. In this generation, it was just the opposite. Only the Sun Knight had the easiest personality.
Ludia starts feeling a little worried for her brother. But as she stares at him in worry, she instead exclaims, "Brother, you are truly too handsome!" She also reassures him that he will be fine. He's the best brother in the world even if he does have eleven younger brothers to take care of.
Elaro, however, wants to be equal with them. He wants to be friends, like how his teacher is friends with the others. It's his fault that his age is so far apart from theirs. However, Ludia exclaims that it's just the opposite. All of the current knights-in-training have prideful personalities and are fairly skillful. If not for the fact that they have a big brother to look up to, they would be even less unified. Elaro immediately says that they have the right to be prideful. They have the skills, and they're still kids too. Ludia smiles and thinks that Elaro truly thinks of his younger brothers a lot. Even she can't badmouth them!
Elaro is sure that Valica or Shuis asked her to come speak to him. Ludia asks him to guess which one. Elaro guesses Valica because Shuis would just lower his head, eyes red, apologizing until Elaro forgives him. He is correct. It's Valica who asked Ludia to come.
He also quickly tries to reassure Ludia that she'll always be his dearest sister no matter how many brothers he has. Ludia laughs and says that they're her brothers too (see, they come right to her when something goes wrong), and doesn't Elaro also have dearest Charsia? Or does he not consider Charsia a sister, since she's already stated that she wants to become his bride when she grows up?
Elaro immediately refutes this. Charsia is only 12, and isn't she afraid his teacher will hear? Ludia giggles and says that's why she's saying it now when he's not around.
This makes Elaro sigh. Only he knows the truth behind the teachers' "mission." It happens every half a year. All Twelve Holy Knights leave together. It's already made quite a few people suspicious, and Elaro thinks the others know that he knows. Elaro always denies knowing, but Hungri thinks Elaro must know. After all, Knight-Captain Sun trusts him a lot. Probably only Shuis has never doubted Elaro since he claims that brother Elaro is always right. Valica is more reasonable. He would look away, afraid that Elaro would see his suspicious gaze. Elaro still doesn't know why Valica and Shuis look up to him so much.
A Judgment Knight comes looking for Elaro. It turns out that Hungri has almost flayed the criminal to death. This alarms Elaro. He immediately picks Ludia up and runs towards the Judge's Complex. After all, Ludia is the Pope-in-training.
In a nutshell:
Judge Earth is responsible for doing an inventory check of donations they've recently received. Just when he thought Elaro has kindly sent him help, it turns out that his two helpers are Valica and Shuis who hate each other's guts. When they arrive with their platoons, they get into a fight over brother Elaro almost immediately. Valica doesn't understand why Shuis fights him for brother Elaro when Shuis already has a family. Judge watches all of this in worry but isn't able to stop them. Finally, Elaro shows up, causing both Valica and Shuis to feel very guilty. Disappointed, Elaro orders Valica to stay and help Judge while he sends Shuis to Ronalyn's place to train with his sword. Afterwards, Elaro hides in his special place in the garden to contemplate what a mess the day has been. Ludia comes to find him, asking about his worries. It turns out that Valica had asked her to talk to Elaro. After Ludia and Elaro talk, a Judgment Knight comes looking for Elaro. Hungri has almost flayed the criminal to death. Elaro runs off with Ludia, the Pope-in-training, because she will definitely be able to save the criminal.
Notes:
-Valkyrs is the next Metal Knight
-turns out Leaf and Stone of the 38th gen were responsible for organizing donations! This gen, it's Judge Earth and Valkyrs Metal
-Valica is an orphan
-Shuis refuses to write home
-Shuis and Valica are top in skill of the next gen
-Elaro is skilled with kicking and archery (and swords... just how skilled are you...)
-Grisia once commanded Elaro that his only request to him is for him to follow all of his requests
-first mention of Charsia
Lucathia's thoughts:
Stone and Leaf were responsible for sorting donations! *___* *is really happy we're learning more about their duties* We're finally getting to see how the Holy Temple normally operates. I guess Grisia never paid attention to this kind of stuff. Judge is adorable. ♥ How did Georgo manage to raise a kid like this? "I've decided to hate you, Elaro" is such a cute line. He also stutters fairly naturally with his other lines. It's pretty cool that Valica is also good at close combat despite being an archer. Shuis is just really adorable. I mean, come on, red-rimmed eyes? He sounds like he hasn't kept in touch with his family. Has he never returned home after Alice and Awaitsun shipped him off to the Holy Temple? D: Oh, Ludia is the pope-in-training. So the Pope actually plans on retiring now? XD; I never thought the day would come.
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Grisia's eyes are still blue even though he can't see. His hair is white, but he gathers holy light to cover his hair using magic. He used to be able to do it with ease, but later on he needs to hold on to the Divine Sun Sword to be able to do it. (though I recall the holy element is supposed to be white... but anyway, using it to cover his hair makes his hair turn golden).
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haha, so many things for hair-care (it that's easier than preparing the facials....)
I agree with Elaro, long hair is too much of a hassle, I like it short too
Elaro's and Adair's relationship sounds cute. lol, did they bond over the fact that they tricked Grisia, or over the fact that Grisia's got a grudge against them... scary....
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Shius and Valica really have it bad....
Grisia and the names..... didn't know it was because of a pun, and it amazes me Lesus actually skipped a meeting (don't tell me the reason, I do want to have some surprises)
Little Earth seems to be quite responsible, and Georgo is so lazy...
sounds like the church is doing well with donations
lol, no one's had the heart to tell Elaro that those two are fighting over him.
it also sounds like they are quite on par; and even being an archer, Valica sure has to be good at close-range to be able to stand against Storm's style...
and poor Judge not being able to really stop them. sounds really dangerous, trying to stop them (earth shield or not)
oh... the reactions of the two when Elaro appears.... Shuis is about to cry there...
serious big brother adoration issues there...
Hammocks are really comfortable (once your on, getting on and getting off aren't quite comfortable)
Elaro's sister sure is wise.
wow, she's the next pope
Charsha seems to know her father's personality well enough
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Oh man, if hair care is easier than preparing the facials... I'm guessing it also costs a bit less, since he only has to wash and massage his hair. But with his facial, he has to apply that all over his body! Must cost a lot of money... I like my hair around medium length. Long hair is indeed hard to take care of. Hungri's hair length is the length I like to keep my hair. Maybe a little shorter. Long enough to tie up, but short enough so it doesn't take too much to maintain... oh but Hungri likes maintaining his hair...
I'm loving Elaro and Adair's relationship. :D I'm guessing they got to know each other pretty well when they had to combine forces to bring Grisia back, but goodness, being on the receiving end of Grisia's grudge must not be fun!
Shuis and Valica are so... XD;; I feel Shuis has it worse than Valica. Or perhaps Valica just feels a little more grown-up than Shuis to me. Haha, Lesus skipping a meeting. Who would've thought? (I really liked that chapter).
It sure sounds like the Church is faring pretty well. Peaceful times!
Valica and Shuis must have fought countless times over the years. I bet their fighting has helped honed their skills too, haha.
Shuis... red-rimmed eyes, ahhhh!
Ooooh, hammocks. They're super hard to get onto and get off... I find my rocking chair (rocking...bench?) in the backyard hard enough to sit on. XD;; It must feel pretty comfortable though, once you're on a hammock. :3
I can't believe the pope has chosen a successor! 0____0;; Thought he would forever be the pope, haha.
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how ironic that Hungri dislikes to be called girly, yet takes so much interest in keeping his hair well
yes, Shuis does feel younger (more childish, at least)
probably, more than just 'Peaceful times' 'Peaceful times thanks to the church'
spars are good way to train and hone skills *nod-nod*, ........ maybe fighting for one's life (or one's brother - in their case) helps too (not so sure....).... though they do seem to hurt each other quite a lot...
Hammocks are indeed comfortable, I once got to take a mid-afternoon nap on one, it feels nice... then I fell to the ground while trying to get off while half asleep
guess the pope's had enough excitement in his life... having to be the pope of both Neo aaaannd Grisia.... (and who knows how many else)
summarys
(Anonymous) 2012-09-02 01:33 am (UTC)(link)Re: summarys
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(Anonymous) 2013-02-08 01:10 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-07 11:36 am (UTC)(link)Rounalin?
Rhonalin?
Lonarin? keke
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-07 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2014-01-01 01:43 am (UTC)(link)no subject
Hungri
(Anonymous) 2015-06-16 09:44 am (UTC)(link)Re: Hungri