58: Flynn's test

Over at Initial City, they were unaware that the Orcs would arrive in just one day. They were simply doing their utmost to make final preparations, such as adding another layer of magical protection to the city walls.

In fact, the magical protection could be handled by the Earth Element Masters under Arthur's command.

However, previously, they had considered that setting up a magical protective shield was much more expensive than paving with obsidian. Furthermore, the defensive power of obsidian was only slightly inferior to the shield, so they avoided wasting money.

Now that the various lords were mindful of potential danger even in times of peace and were willing to pay for the Materials, Arthur was happy to set up another layer, as it would increase Initial City's defense.

Here, it must be mentioned that the strongest subordinate of another Duke's son, Dennis, was a Fire Element Magister.

Corresponding to the Earth Knight level among knights, that Fire Element Magister was also capable of setting up Protective Magic Arrays. He teamed up perfectly with the three Earth Element Masters summoned by Arthur, with each person responsible for the Protective Magic Array on one wall.

The four of them were expected to set up four simple Protective Magic Arrays on the four walls within a day. This 'simple array' didn't mean the Protective Magic Array lacked defensive power; it merely meant it was a defective product with a short lifespan.

But since all the lords knew the Orcs were likely to arrive soon, they couldn't afford to worry about wasting Materials at this point.

Furthermore, because the Royal Sky Knight Flynn had come to Initial City specifically to contain the Minotaur Chieftain of the Orcs.

Therefore, Flynn was originally not involved in any of the arrangements within Initial City.

Arthur, David, and the others shouldn't have had much interaction with him after the initial reception.

However, Arthur had done too many incredible things recently. The arrangements made by the Royal Family combined with Flynn's own curiosity prompted him to seek out Arthur on the morning of his second day there.

He wanted Arthur to give him a tour of Initial City and introduce him to the current composition of the city's forces, hoping to discover any clues.

Arthur was slightly surprised by Flynn's visit, but he also felt it was reasonable.

After all, as the controllers of the Kingdom, the Royal Family naturally wanted to grasp all situations within the realm. Arthur's sudden rise over the past half year had baffled them, so they naturally wanted to investigate.

Subsequently, under the astonished gazes of David and the other lords, Arthur and Flynn began touring Initial City.

Since Arthur had nothing to hide from Flynn—apart from the Sky Knights Victor and Wilson who were already hidden—he accompanied him on the stroll with a clear conscience.

Petro had gone to protect his parents.

On the other side, Flynn was carefully observing Arthur's expression. Noticing that Arthur didn't show any particular reaction after he asked for a detailed tour of Initial City.

Flynn felt reassured, knowing that this inspection would likely yield no results.

Afterward, the first stop for the two was the residence of the Mountain Giants within the city.

Considering the impending Orc attack, the Mountain Giants had also moved into the city over the past two days.

Upon seeing the two Mountain Giants, Zog and Zoffy, Flynn couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of creatures like Giants, exclaiming:

"Given the Mountain Giants' defense, even I would probably need several moves to severely wound and defeat them!"

This was extremely high praise, considering it was Sky versus Earth.

The two then went to see Arthur's 20,000 crossbowmen and the 300 golden sharp lion cavalry regiment.

The story of how Arthur acquired the Mountain Giants had long been widely circulated, claiming it was by chance, so Flynn didn't inquire about their origins.

However, the 20,000 gale repeating crossbows and the 300 golden sharp lion cavalry regiment had appeared suddenly.

Especially the latter, the 300 golden sharp lion cavalry regiment.

It should be noted that while Arthur's father, Abergh, also had a golden sharp lion cavalry regiment numbering nearly 300,

The strongest among them was only a Gold Knight, and most were Bronze Knights.

Yet, Arthur's cavalry regiment contained three Earth Knights, and the weakest members were Silver Knights, making them far superior to his father Abergh's forces!

This was extraordinary!

This prompted Flynn, upon seeing these troops, to seize the opportunity to inquire about their origins, hoping to uncover a hint of the secret behind Arthur's sudden rise.

"Arthur, I see that your gale repeating crossbows are excellent items. Where did you obtain them?

If permitted, our Royal Family would like to purchase some as well.

And your cavalry regiment, composed of 300 experts who are Silver Knights or above, looks incredibly formidable.

Where did you find so many experts? Why haven't I heard their names before?"

Arthur had long prepared his explanation for this.

"Duke Flynn, the gale repeating crossbows were purchased from a mysterious merchant I encountered in the Barren Plains.

He has visited twice over the past six months, and I'm not sure if he will come again.

As for those 300 members of the Knight Regiment, I'm not entirely sure where they came from. They all claimed to have heard of my reputation and came to pledge allegiance, and since I saw their strength was good, I accepted them."

In summary, Arthur's speech amounted to saying nothing at all.

After hearing this, Flynn knew Arthur was unwilling to tell him, so he didn't press the matter further.

Firstly, Arthur had not done anything to harm the Kingdom—at least nothing they had discovered.

Secondly, although Arthur's current strength was equivalent to that of a top Marquis, in the eyes of the Royal Family, he was still too weak.

It wasn't worth breaking the rules to forcibly interrogate a junior like Arthur.

On the contrary, through this inspection, Flynn gained a new level of respect for Arthur.

This was because Arthur managed to remain neither servile nor overbearing during their conversation, something many people could not achieve when speaking to a Sky Knight like himself.

Not even Arthur's father, Abergh, could manage it.

His admiration for Arthur made Flynn secretly pray that Arthur would not become an enemy of the Royal Family in the future, lest they be forced into conflict.

Flynn did not know that the main reason Arthur was so confident was actually due to the legendary ring of protection.

With the ring, Arthur didn't have to worry about Flynn suddenly attacking him.

If he hadn't drawn this ring, and without the protection of Sky Knights like Victor, Arthur truly might have had to speak to Flynn with extreme caution.

After all, when someone can kill you with a casual strike, you have no choice but to be careful!

Flynn's sudden investigation also made Arthur realize that the Royal Family was beginning to pay attention to him.

This made Arthur suddenly feel that it was time to find some trouble for the Royal Family.

Thinking of this, Arthur had another idea: summoning some experts to "rob the rich and give to the poor" targeting nobles with bad reputations within the Kingdom. He decided to implement this after the Orc war was over.

After spending the morning with Arthur, although Flynn didn't get any useful information, he didn't mind.

After thanking Arthur for his company, he left alone.

Arthur also quietly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, spending too much time with a non-allied powerhouse like Flynn was somewhat unsettling.

Following this was the agonizing wait for the Orcs to arrive.

"Screech!"

Early the next morning, the flying Demonic Beast sent north to scout for information let out a mournful cry above Initial City.

This was a warning to the people of Initial City that the Orcs were not far away.