Chapter 253

Evan D. Sherden, Becomes the Knight Commander. (3)

"No, Evan! Please don't!" Serena shouted desperately as she grabbed onto Evan's clothes. The dress, made of fine, red cloth, was carefully wrinkled, giving the impression that it was winding up.

Yes, it was just like an octopus.

"I want to see the Kraken!"

"You know, the Kraken is a field boss that is super strong. It can even gulp down the Four Heavenly Kings. Do you want it to show up?"

"I'm much stronger than before! My chest is much bigger, too."

"Your chest size doesn't matter!"

Evan couldn't deny the fact that it had grown so big, but that didn't matter. Evan scooted Serena over, who was crying and clinging to his clothes, and handed it over to Belois. Belois set the cloth on fire without flinching once.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! Noooo!"

"Whoo, there goes the evil..."

This resulted in the incineration of the feared octopus clothes purchased from the royal Ottpah boutique, which made the wearer disaster-prone when worn to a marine party.

It had been bought a few years ago but was left untouched out of fear of unleashing the malice in it. Now, Evan finally decided to get rid of it.

"Oh, I wanted to see you wear it..."

"You want me to get eaten by the Kraken?"

"I was going to tame it. I was really confident..."

[Kyuuuu..]

[Kyu!]

Her slimes soothed the bummed out Serena. The slime stretched into four, the youngest having escaped Evan's necklace just a year ago and joined as a member, and his name was Louis.

The latest slime to be summoned was a metal slime elite; its ability was much more aggressive than any other slime.

"I hate you, Evan. If this was the case, you shouldn't have told me..."

"I was going to burn it right away without explaining, but you went and bothered me."

"But it was a really nice suit. It would have looked good on you."

"Everything about you is fine, but why do you have a bad taste when choosing clothes?"

Serena was still wearing a pink dress that only she could pull off.

Evan declared the end of the skit and stood up. In the room were Evan, Belois, and all the Knights' senior members, including Serena and Diona.

"Anyway, Rey and I are going to be at the ocean party. It's the Elto-Front Sea, which stretches from the northwest of the Royal Road. If you go straight up here, you'll see the famous northern continent, the Ice Forever."

"I'll never forgive the old Silk Line king for leaving me out on purpose, even though he must have heard of my engagement to Evan. Never...!"

"Try to understand him, Arisha. The old man must be on fire right now."

If the king was in front of her, Arisha would have poked a few shots into his abdomen, but Evan calmed her with a bitter smile.

In fact, he thought that the reason Evan was called was because of his engagement to Arisha.

"Think about it, first of all, I'm an aristocrat of the Silk Line. I don't know what to say, but the dungeon city of Sherden is now considered one of the most powerful cities, and it just founded Astray this time."

"Everyone knows there's no one left to rival your strength, Evan. Everyone knows you killed the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon tribe by dropping a meteor shower on him."

"I feel uncomfortable painting my face with gold. Anyway, in addition to that, he is the real owner of Brotherhood Corporation. So if I take a different attitude, it'll be complicated for the king."

Evan, of course, had no intention of doing so at all, but his strong power alone could be a source of anxiety. People were afraid of power they couldn't control.

"And in that situation, I suddenly became engaged to you, the aristocrat of another country, when Serena is still part of the Dungeon Knights. What did this look like to the king...? It's enough to wonder if they're protesting at the Silk Line Palace."

"Well, it does make sense."

Evan and Arisha's engagement was surprisingly completely devoid of any political purposes.

In his own mind, Evan liked Belois the most. Even Arisha knew this.

However, Belois' societal status and the fact that Arisha was already known to be Evan's fiancé could not be ignored. The reasons for her understanding and accepting Evan's situation in a comprehensive manner had been the result of the two's engagement.

Of course, Evan indeed liked Arisha. Even though the quality and quantity of the two's feelings for each other were not equal, their feelings were in harmony.

"Wait, Evan."

Arisha's expression from intently listening to Evan completely turned unusual.

"Then, the king's next course of action is obvious. Won't he try to entice you into engaging Serena as well?"

"Yeah, you're probably hoping for it in your head. Isn't that right, Evan?"

It seemed ridiculous, but throughout history, kings would pursue marriages that were politically and socially beneficial for them. It was selfish, but Evan had those desirable qualities.

"I should go, too. I'll meet the king and talk to him with my Rapier and magic, so you can relax, Evan."

Evan soothed Arisha with a bitter smile. Then she glanced at Serena. It was because she thought she couldn't help but intervene in the subject of the engagement between herself and Evan, but Serena was surprisingly calm.

"Are you all right, Rey?"

"Yeah... No, maybe I'm not going to be okay."

Serena's answer was also a little strange. When Evan raised his eyebrows, she stared at Evan, and her cheeks turned red.

"Hey, I don't think you two should engage..."

"What? Serena, are you crazy?"

Arisha and not Evan had asked in dismay. However, Serena was angry, puffing up her cheeks with a very different feeling from when she hung on to Evan earlier, saying, "Don't burn the octopus clothes!"

"Evan and I haven't even kissed properly yet, but it's weird for Dad to get me and Evan engaged. Evan and I are getting engaged, but I don't want anyone else to interfere."

"...Is this the line of a woman who used her power to settle herself down in Sherden?"

Arisha said in alarm. Everyone in the room stared at her like one stares at a convicted felon. Evan, who couldn't stand the silence, spoke to her as a representative.

"Of all people, are you allowed to say that, Arisha?"

"So I ended up winning your fiancé spot, not paying attention to these kinds of things. My love was a battle I fought; in the end, I won. I'm absolutely proud of myself for being Evan's first."

"You think you're cool to brag about that shamelessly?"

"You're making me feel shy..."

The group fixed their eyes on Serena, leaving Arisha, who felt really upset. She followed the explanation hesitantly.

"If my dad tries to force Evan and me to get engaged, Evan might hate me."

"No, I won't hate you. I understand his position... Was Rey able to think of a thing like this?"

"You're so mean, Evan. I'm a delicate person."

"Ugh, sorry." However, while he apologized frankly to Serena, Arisha and Belois stared at Serena and spoke once more.

"What do you think?"

"...I think it's more dangerous."

"You think so, too?"

"I think there's less chance of an unexpected situation. But I think you're probably more vulnerable here."

"Because that worked for me..."

"Did it? I'll consider that."

Evan listened to the conversation between the two, but he didn't quite get a clue as to what they were talking about. However, he felt the need to organize the situation, so he clapped his hands to focus the party's attention on himself.

"Rey and I, aside from our own feelings, can't get engaged right now for economic, political, and social reasons. Perhaps the king won't bring it up in the open."

It would be odd if Evan, who recently became engaged to Arisha, fell for the king's words and became engaged to Serena. Arisha's worries were indeed excessive.

"So don't worry."

"Ahhh... Belois, since things turned out this way, you can keep up with Serena."

"...Ah."

In that part, Belois dropped her head with a truly miserable look. On the other side, Shine was raising his head with a depressed face.

"It's my turn this time. I understand you're having a hard time in your love business, but I can't make concessions, either."

"Oh, Shine, please."

"That's already been decided. I'm the one who's carrying out the drill this time."

As the existence of Astray officially launched and each knight became very important to the dungeon city, they could not leave the city at their own whims.

That was why only one of the senior members, outside of Serena and Evan, were allowed to accompany Evan. It was Shine's turn, as Belois already accompanied him the last time!

"Evan, is the travel member really fixed?"

"This is a critical moment when the Dungeon will be reopened. I can't have any more Knights out of the city. In fact, I don't want to go either. I don't know why I have to leave the city at this time."

"That's... that's right."

Because of what happened two and a half years ago, Evan had some trauma when he had to vacate the city on an external schedule. Arisha understood it, so she nodded feebly. Evan raised his head again the next moment.

"So, shouldn't vice-commander remain in the city even more?"

"Oh, I forgot to say it. When Astray was officially launched, I reorganized the hierarchy. In short, we have two vice-commanders. Shine is the first, and Arisha, you are the second vice-commander. Congratulations on your promotion."

"Thank you, I'm grateful, but I'm not happy now...!"

For reference, he also created a prime position, which was reserved for Raihan, who had an unrivaled position in the Order.

Other than that, there were regulars and apprenticeships, and the members who were now included in the Knights were all regulars, regardless of seniority. If anyone was to join the Knights' Corps in the future, they would begin with an apprenticeship.

"Please take good care of the kids while I'm away. Belois, you can help Arisha while I'm away."

"Dear Master..."

Belois looked a little dissatisfied at Evan's request, but then she held him by the sleeve and nodded slightly.

"Please come back soon. If you're too late, I'll go and find you myself."

"Don't worry, Belois. I'll make sure I keep him safe!"

"Shine, shut up."

"No, why? You have to say that you will trust me and leave it to me!"

"Shine, shut up."

"Even Lady Arisha!"

Shine, who stepped in without notice, was also criticized. Evan smiled and soothed the anxiety of the two women.

"Maybell is coming to this party with us. You think she'll just watch me and Serena exchange engagement rings?"

"Oh, even in front of the king."

"...No, I don't know about Maybell. She won't consider her position as Baroness if that happens."

The two women tried to start a serious conversation about Maybell. Evan clapped his hands at the thought that the desired goal had been achieved.

"Then let's talk about how to run the Knights while I'm away. And most importantly, how to communicate and deal with the Dungeon without me, or if an outside invasion has occurred."

"And that was the point. I'll listen."

"...Raihan, don't you think you're sitting on the sidelines these days?"

"Well, Master. There's something I..."

Raihan, who had been just watching their skit all along, declared with the same expression as a high priest.

"There's nothing different about what I'm going to do, so if I leave it all to them, it's all solved somehow."

"He's now making the worst comments without a hitch."

"He came to that conclusion after countless worries, struggles, and resistance. I hope you will live up to the flow."

At Raihan's words, which made him feel dizzy, Evan could not answer back and remained silent. Raihan has grown distant and mysterious these days.

Two days later, Evan and his party got into a carriage northwest of Royal Road, where an ocean party was scheduled to take place.

Evan, Maybell, and Serena received invitations to an ocean party. The short trip that would be taken with Dain and the bunny girl maid Diona, who would carry them out, and Shine, the vice-commander, had begun.