The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 72

The third examination proceeded swiftly, and soon, it was the turn of the First Knight Order. Naturally, knights like Jake and Pierce passed the examination with ease, leaving only the squires and Raul yet to be evaluated.

Among the squires, Alex was the first to step onto the platform for the guidance duel. Without hesitation, he put on his bracelet and activated his power armor.

Whooosh.

The moment a mana blade, amplified to about 50 centimeters by the power armor, revealed itself, an uproar of cheers burst from the audience, and a strange tension enveloped the spectator seats.

“Yes, I thought there would be a few more armor users.”

“Is this the tenth one? At least seven are newly appeared armor users…”

The nobles were even more keenly focused on the examination.

Understanding the knightly strength of other families was crucial. When discussing the power of a family, considerations like the size of their territory, connections, and influence mattered, but the most important was the magnitude of power they possessed.

And the most direct demonstration of this was through their knightly force, especially the number of armor users they had.

However, the emergence of a new knight order usually didn’t attract much attention since they were mostly formed by drawing members from existing orders. But what if a completely new order appeared with several new armor users?

It was natural for the watching nobles’ heads to start spinning. And their headache only grew as the examination progressed.

“This is no joke. We’re already at twenty. This cannot be taken lightly.”

“There are still more to go…. Surely not?”

“We’ve been too complacent. Just because they’re from a provincial area doesn’t mean they should have been ignored. The Count Ashton’s household… a prestigious family indeed.”

The continued success of the squires started to make the spectators’ area restless. While the citizens in the audience enjoyed themselves without understanding the implications, the nobles could not feel at ease.

Finally, when the last of the squires completed their examination, the spectator section was turned on its head.

“Hurry, send a message to the lord! Send a congratulatory envoy to the Count Ashton’s household for starters…”

“Who from the Ashton family is currently in the capital? Get someone, anyone, to set up a meeting!”

“It’s an emergency meeting! Call the vassals together at once.”

Thus, the nobles scurried about as if their feet were on fire. However, the examination was not yet over. There was still one last participant remaining, Raul.

“The First Knights, I knew it from the start.”

“My goodness. Were they all armor users?”

“A knight order filled with geniuses. Look at their ages! Most are in their 20s.”

“I love you~ First Knights!!”

“Kyaaak! It’s your turn, young master Raul~ young master Raul, please take a look over here!”

Even the citizens, who were generally clueless about such matters, knew that the situation was far from ordinary.

It was a rare occasion for even twenty armor users to emerge in a year, yet here was a single Order boasting over forty.

Moreover, if these knights were young individuals of prime age and came from common backgrounds?

It was as if all the elements guaranteed to excite the crowd were in place.

“Wow, this is quite the spectacle.”

Raul, who was up for the last examination, couldn’t help but let out a amused chuckle.

Even though he had orchestrated it, he hadn’t anticipated such a favorable response.

“Let’s just finish the examination first.”

Pleased with the successful inauguration ceremony, Raul approached the platform with a light heart.

On the white marble table, there lay a bracelet shining with a pristine gloss and an ordinary sword.

Raul picked up the bracelet and strapped it onto his left wrist.

Activating the power armor was no longer anything to him; after all, he had wrestled with the Regnator to the point of tedium.

Upon comfortably infusing mana into the bracelet on his left, the armor wrapped around his body with a satisfying ‘chyaruruk’ sound.

Cheers erupted from the stands, but it wasn’t over yet. As Raul grasped the sword and extended it towards the sky to unfold his mana blade, a golden blade gleamed brightly.

He just needed to endure another minute for this grand show to conclude. With that thought, he relaxed, but that’s when trouble brewed.

Regnator, which should have remained passive, reacted to something.

‘Why now of all times!’

Raul inwardly sighed trying to control the Regnator, but it was too late.

Phoof!

A sacred wave of light erupted from Raul’s body as ‘Radiant Aura’ was activated.

For some reason, giant white wings appeared and vanished from behind Raul’s back in an instant.

Most were blinded by the bright light and failed to see the wings, but a few definitely witnessed the scene.

Whooosh~.

The wave of light, more intense than when he first acquired it, spread out to envelop the entire colosseum before it vanished like an illusion.

Those who were stunned into silence soon came to their senses and blinked.

“Wh-What just?”

“What did I just see?”

Confusion lasted but a moment. Feeling the warm yet refreshing energy still enveloping them, everyone, without exception, clasped their hands together and silently recalled the name of the deity they worshipped.

“It’s, it’s a messenger of the gods!”

“The rumors were true. young master Raul must truly be blessed by the divine!”

“Oh, Almighty!”

The reaction of the citizens was explosive. As if everything until now had been nothing, the stands were a cauldron of enthusiasm, mixed with admiration for Raul and praises to the divine.

Some knights who remained in the coliseum began making the sign of the cross and knelt down to pray….

Meanwhile, Raul, who needed to manage the situation, was distracted elsewhere. This was due to the system message that had appeared as the Regnator was activated.

[Regnator] has come into contact with the power of the pact.

The seal on [Regnator] has been partially lifted as it absorbs some of the pact’s power.

[Regnator]’s rank has been adjusted from B to B+.

A new special function ‘Phantasmal Wings’ has been unlocked.

Following this, the updated information window for Regnator appeared.

[Regnator: Power Armor]

Rank: B->B+

Status: Bound (to Raul), Partially Open, Sealed.

Output: 1.5->1.6 CP (Core Power)

Operational Time: 50 min/max

Operation Mode: Self-Charging.

Defensive Spells: 6th Circle. Mid-tier Mana Blade Defense Field. Elemental effect reduction 50%.

Special Abilities: Conviction (200% effect amplification against targets of the pact), Secretive Predation (can absorb lower power armors to mimic their functions), Phantasmal Wings (generates wings based on the infused energy type)

‘Was one of the conditions for unsealing divine power?’

It seemed that the divine power harnessed by Raul’s power armor had stimulated the Regnator.

Even though it was a stroke of luck, the upgrade of Regnator’s rank was indeed good news. The problem lay in the greatly misunderstood appearance revealed before the crowd.

A slight misstep could lead to issues with the order, and Raul certainly did not wish to be hailed as a saint or an apostle of the divine.

‘It seems it’s too late for that now.’

He hurriedly retracted the radiant aura, but a faint divine power could still be sensed from the golden mana blade formed on the sword.

Since it was during the contest, he couldn’t sheathe his sword. Embarrassed and bewildered, Raul had no choice but to stand still, raising his sword statue-like for a while.

“Raul!”

“Raul!”

The moment he passed the examination, the coliseum erupted with the voices of the audience chanting for Raul.

Thinking that he needed to retreat to the waiting room, he was about to lay down his sword and bracelet and step down from the stage when someone blocked his path.

“Brother, I did not expect to see you again so soon. It seems this was an unintentional incident, am I right?”

Knight Commander Medairos asked with a smile.

“Whew, you are correct, Commander. I never intended to display His power in such a manner.”

Raul slightly bowed and replied, to which Medairos nodded, as if he understood everything.

“I completely understand your astonishment, brother. Such occurrences are not uncommon among our order during training sessions.”

According to him, it was possible for someone, like Raul, to unintentionally trigger a holy spell when they are wearing a Holy Knight’s power armor for the first time or are not yet accustomed to it.

“I presume you, too, are discreetly following His will, brother? If you wish, I would like to offer some assistance.”

In the world of Connect, there were many seekers who practiced their faith in secrecy. These were often the characters who would later offer quests to players or join as temporary members of a party in the game’s scenarios.

While some orders persecuted these clandestine faithful, the Xenon Church, to which Medairos belonged, was supportive of them.

“I appreciate your offer to help, but do you think it will be enough?”

“Doing something is surely better than doing nothing, right? And don’t worry, there are many others besides me who are willing to help.”

Shortly after, an announcement was broadcasted in the Colosseum. It stated that the recent large-scale blessing phenomenon was due to the malfunction of overheated power armor and was harmless to humans.

This was guaranteed in the names of Knight Commander Carson, Holy Knight Commander Medairos, and Sage Gray, which seemed to alleviate some of the confusion.

Of course, it was uncertain how many people truly believed this official statement. Raul, for one, sighed in relief. He was lucky that Medairos had misunderstood the situation in his favor.

‘Or was it really a misunderstanding?’

After all, once players appeared, they were hailed as messengers of the gods. And since Raul was both a player and a resident, it wasn’t entirely incorrect.

Regardless, it was clear that thanks to Medairos, things had turned out well.

‘I should make a generous donation to the Xenon Church soon.’

Raul briefly contemplated learning some Holy Knight skills from Medairos, but decided to postpone it as there were still many issues to resolve.

* * *

With the third test concluded, the examination process came to an end. Out of the 1,500 participants in this ceremony, only 60 would be knighted.

Excluding the 45 members of the First Knight Order, the competition ratio was nearly 100:1, indicating the extreme rigor of this examination.

The last event was, of course, the knighting ceremony. It took place on a platform in the Colosseum, with dignitaries seated in the audience and a royal member officiating the ceremony.

‘I wonder who it’s going to be this time?’

The king hadn’t made public appearances for a while. In past ceremonies, it was usually the crown prince or princes who performed the knight order.

This time, too, Raul expected a prince, but then a familiar name was announced.

“For this knighting ceremony, we are graced by the presence of Prince Gerard, the 6th prince.”

‘That name sounds familiar.’

Indeed, Raul realized, that must be the prince who was once his classmate at the academy.

(To be continued)