Chapter 397: Stopping the Punishment

The event started an hour later, just as Sana told us. While Tris and Eli watched the event from the top of the stairs, I went to the training ground to check on the female knights' punishment.

I had almost forgotten about them because of last night's incident. Thankfully, Lea and Natasha showed up on duty to protect the entrance of the church and told me that almost everyone in the training ground had fainted.

Only then did I remember that I punished the female knights by swinging wooden swords until they were tired.

'I need to apologize to them.' I thought as I decided to reward them with an iron sword from Horizon Online. That would be way better than the mass-produced sword they had.

Arriving at the training ground, I hid behind the large tree to observe.

I found only three people still swinging their wooden swords. They looked rather pale, with sweat falling like a waterfall from their bodies through the curves. The other female knights had retired and returned to their dorms to rest.

'Oh?'

To be honest, I expected only Rania and Sophia to last this long. It was 8 A.M. Twelve hours had passed since the first time they swung the wooden sword in their exhausted state.

'Who is the last girl?' I looked at the girl who stood a bit away from the two rivals. She had short indigo hair and modest breasts. Her abs were clearly outlined, making me interested in this hard-working girl.

So I used <Appraisal> even when I didn't really like peeking at other people's status.

Name: Sasha Mason (Restricted)

Race: Human

Lv: 39

Sins: 0

Virtues: 150

Status:

HP: 100/100 (MAX 100)

MP: 40/40 (MAX 100) -> 10

STR: 42 (MAX 100) -> 10

VIT: 44 (MAX 100) -> 10

AGI: 42 (MAX 100) -> 10

DEX: 38 (MAX 100) -> 10

INT: 37 (MAX 100) -> 10

LUC: 80 (MAX 100)

Skills:

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[Lv 5 Swordsmanship] [Lv 2 Holy Magic] [Lv 2 Water Magic] [Lv 2 Horse Riding] [Lv 2 Beast Instinct]

Titles:

[Castitas Church's Knight] [Former Kingdom Knight] [Earl Mason's Second Daughter] [Girl Loved by Sword]

When I saw her skill, I was both surprised and impressed. The status (Restricted) was from the effect of the wooden sword that limited their status to 10.

Still...

'She's a former Kingdom Knight? And that title and her Swordsmanship skill at her current Level... I want her in my squad.'

Not to mention, she was a noble. I wondered why a noble daughter was in this place and had such a high <Swordsmanship> skill.

No... I should question why the Kingdom Knight was willing to let someone as skilled as her go. I believe Grand Marshal Garland wouldn't let such an individual go from the Kingdom Knight even if they were a noble daughter.

'That's not important.' I thought. 'She probably has her own reason.'

More importantly, I should stop them. Any more than this would just break their mentality.

So I showed up from behind the tree.

"You can stop now," I said with a loud enough voice.

However... Those three had no sign of stopping.

'They can't hear me?'

Their concentration was incredible. So that was why those two rivals didn't say anything earlier. They solely focused on swinging the wooden sword at a certain rhythm. If their concentration broke down for just a second, they would definitely fall down and faint.

"It can't be helped."

I stretched my hands forward and activated my skill.

"<High Heal>."

Unlike a normal heal, this one also recovered a bit of stamina, precisely half of their maximum one. Their bodies were covered in light, and the three girls only stopped moving their swords in confusion.

"This..." Rania muttered and looked around. Her gaze landed on me, and she exclaimed in confusion, "Arthur?"

Sophia and the third girl also stopped swinging their swords and looked at me. The former breathed heavily in exhaustion while the latter saluted at me.

"It seems only three people managed to go this far," I commented as I approached them. "Well, this is a problem. No one actually wins, so how about we compromise about the reward?"

"Compromise..." Rania muttered.

"How?" Sophia asked curiously.

"First of all..." I started, turning at Sasha. "You can relax and introduce yourself. Besides these two monster-like girls, only you managed to go this far. You should be proud."

"Yes, sir!" Sasha replied and fixed her position in a resting pose, with her hands behind her back. "My name is Sasha Mason. It's an honor to serve as a church knight."

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My masochistic sister looked at her curiously and seemed to recognize her as she muttered, "Sasha Mason?"

"Yes!" The indigo-haired girl replied with a proud smile, "I've had the honor to serve under you for a month, former Commander Rania."

So she was Rania's former subordinate? It seemed like the person herself hadn't realized that.

'I remember she's among the girls who joined the Masochist Group.' I thought, 'She was the most quiet one at that time. Maybe she's a normal girl and only followed Rania because she was her former Commander?'

Sasha said she only served under Rania for a month. With how big the Kingdom Knight female corps members were, it was impossible to remember them all.

"I am sorry, but I can't really remember. But I will remember your name from now on. You are quite skilled."

"Thank you for your praise," Sasha replied with a rather stiff answer.

Well, that was enough introduction. I clapped my hands to get their attention again.

"Now, about the reward," I said, looking at the three of them respectively. They had high expectations.

"Starting from Rania. I will give you what I promised before, so find me in my mansion tonight." I smiled at her, and her face bloomed beautifully with a big grin.

Her breath quickened, and she began to rub her thighs together, "R-Really?"

"Yes." I nodded, turning to Sophia.

"As for your reward... Let's see. There is no rule that there shouldn't be two Vice-Captain. Do you want to serve as my second Vice-Captain? However, that only means you will be third in command. If you do pretty well, you can challenge Rania anytime to get the second position."

"Oh? So I get a free pass to challenge my rival anytime?" Sophia asked with a feral smile. "That's good enough for me. Thank you, Sir Arthur."

I nodded, acknowledging her words. Then...

"Lastly, Sasha Mason, is it?"

"Yes, sir!" She replied like an exemplary knight.

Too stiff... Her training as a Kingdom Knight seeped deep inside her.

"I will give you a sword and a chance to join my knight squad if you agree to it. Do you want to serve under me?"

"It's an honor, sir." She replied with a big smile. "I shall serve with all my heart."

I guessed that was an affirmative. Once again, I nodded and gave out an order.

"Alright! Good job, girls. Now you may rest. There will be a party in front of the church when the sun is about to hide in the west. So don't miss it."

"Yes!"

The three of them replied at once and walked to their dorm direction. As for Rania, she seemed to split from the two of them and entered the bathroom.

I pretended not to notice the love juice dripping from her crotch and chose to return to where Tris and Eli were.

As I walked back, a thought flashed in my mind, 'Rania wanted to be whipped, huh... Should I grant it? My sadistic side is tickled just by the thought of her screaming in pleasure under me.'

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***

I joined Tris and Eli after I returned from the training ground. Sana was also with them.

We were also under a small tent without any wall so we could observe the crowd before the foot of the staircase as they received healing from the nuns in a tent prepared for the event.

The sitting position was Tris, Eli, me, and then Sana. At first, the Archbishop asked Tris to sit beside me, but the latter refused and said she didn't want to stand out too much, so she chose to sit beside Eli.

This was just a temporary sitting position located near the angel statue. Eventually, we would also need to join the crowd to show our faces and greet the citizens.

The sky was full of clouds, casting shade on the area around the church. So even when it was summer, it wasn't that hot.

Besides, some nuns also prepared refreshments for the citizens who came to get healed. Some vendors put up stalls around the area, selling various food and beverages.

A donation box was also prepared near the stairs, and it seemed like many people had their hearts tickled to put at least 1 Gold inside to get thanked by a beautiful nun and handsome priest guarding it.

"The event seems to be running successfully," I commented as I drank an iced tea prepared by the nun for me.

"Indeed. It went better than we expected for a sudden event." Sana agreed with a nod as she sipped a similar iced tea.

"They also look happy," Eli commented, smiling softly. "But some of them are infected by the curse of that monster, right? Will they be okay until we cure them?"

"They will be okay," I assured her.

The red dots that appeared on my radar said otherwise, though. However, I didn't need to worry about her. I had already taken this possibility into consideration.

Some curses would pop up today, as many people definitely interacted with the cursed people yesterday and got infected. This was like a plague.

So... I quickly changed the topic.

"More importantly, should we greet them right now and rest inside the church?"

Tris looked at me suspiciously and sighed, "You..."

Eli blushed when she realized my intention and Tris' reaction. She glanced at me and nodded, "I-If that's what you want."

"Fufufu, that's a great idea, Sir Arthur. I also need to look at the preparation in the Capital City, so greeting the citizens right now is a good idea."

After everyone agreed, we greeted the nuns and the citizens downstairs. Naturally, Tris and Eli were both on my side this time, with Sana acting like our guide.

As we walked, Tris whispered, "The Archbishop is jealous. I won't join your rest and will join the church knight to patrol."

I looked at Tris and smiled, "You're a really good woman, you know that?"

"Naturally!" She replied smugly, "And I owed a big debt to her. So cheer her up, alright?"

"Yeah."

***

Author Note:

Write your story with lіght~nоvel~cаve~c~о~m as your canvas.

Sorry if I only upload 1 chapter every now and then. Now that it almost hit 400, it become a bit harder for me to write as I need to be careful not to create a big plot hole. The story will be moving faster after this.

I will do my best to deliver a longer chapter xD