Because we hadn't met for more than 10 days already, I decided to ask them how they were doing while putting myself to sit between Sophia and Isabelle.
The onyx-haired girl looked a bit displeased and frowned, but her aloof and indifferent expression returned. She put up a wall between us, trying to push the people around her at a certain distance, and didn't invade her private area.
This behavior was often found in the traumatized players in Horizon Online, and I was quite familiar with it. So I didn't push myself to invade Isabelle's area and only asked her when necessary or when she was brought up on the topic.
They told me about their training and how they had been officially recognized as Paladin Knight Squad, serving under me by Sana a few days ago when I was in Rose Barony.
"So this morning, the knight squad was given a mission to investigate the riverside in a fishing village located north of the Capital City because there is disturbing news?" I asked, and Rania nodded. "Isn't that the Kingdom Knight's job?" I added.
"Yes, well…" Rania scratched her cheek, smiling wryly. "It's the extension of the Kingdom Knight's duty. They asked us for help because they have something to investigate further north, in Lima Port City near the World-End Waterfall. As for the details, we will be given when we arrive." She added.
"World-End Waterfall, huh?"
"Yes." Rania nodded.
Just like its name, it was a waterfall located at the edge of the world in the north, often called the end of the world.
Unlike Earth, Sins Paradise's world had no planets. This land was also not round but flat with a rugged surface. The shape was similar to a rectangle with some uneven edges because of the terrain.
Naturally, the Virtue Kingdom had 3 different ends of the world. The north was a vast sea, and at the end of it was a large waterfall filled with a mystery.
No one had ever tried to cross or even took a peek at what lay over the waterfall or what lay below it. The reason was simple; it was really dangerous.
Many dangerous monsters lived in the sea near the waterfall, and the sky was full with dangerous Beasts over Level 70 living on the small sky island floating at the world's edge. Yes, there were floating islands too.
Until now, no one was able to tell a tale about what lay beyond the end of the world. According to the map, the history of Sins Paradise, and the lore I remembered, nothing should be present in those areas.
I was interested in those areas.
'And a disturbing thing happened in the north, in Port City called Lima near the edge of the world. And that disturbing thing somehow affected the riverside village near Capital City.'
"When will you go to investigate it? And will all of you go together?"
"We will depart tomorrow at the fastest, Sir Arthur," Sophia replied to me with an excited smile. "As for the members, it is me, Natasha, and Lea. Just the three of us. I believe that's enough to investigate and even protect the village in case there is a lurking danger."
"Just the three of you?" I asked, a bit uncertain if that was a good idea.
"Yes." Sophia answered with a nod.
"I also wanted to tag along, but I don't think that's needed. Besides, I also need to prepare for the Academies Annual Tournament too." Rania added. "So I can't really go on the mission with them. But don't worry, Arthur. Although I don't want to admit it, Sophia is strong."
"Hahaha, you're finally honest." Sophia laughed merrily. "Have you recognized my strength now?"
"It's hard not to after seeing how you did well in the training." My masochistic sister responded.
I knew that Sophia was strong for people and probably the fourth strongest person here. But she brought two inexperienced people with her, a rather shy one and an elegant girl who seemingly never saw blood in her life.
Judging people by appearance wasn't something I should do, but I was just worried about them. I meant… at least bring Isabelle, okay? The girl looked rather lonely because she wasn't in the group… or not.
When I glanced at her, she didn't seem to flinch and had the second helping of the soup.
And Rania was about to prepare for the annual tournament, huh? Good to know that it was close now.
"Well, you need to be careful then, Sophia. The two of you too." I turned to Lea and Natasha.
"Yes!"
Both of them answered at once. We then talked about their training, and I decided to give Lea some advice about defending herself at close range.
"I think you should learn <Hand-to-Hand Combat>. If you're afraid of getting hurt, I can give you a pair of gloves made from monster leather. It's durable and slash-proof."
When I told her that, she became interested in it. I asked her what her Level currently was, and she told me she had just reached Level 24 two days ago after eliminating some monsters outside Academy City as a part of their training menu created by Rania.
The choice of equipment would be a little limited now that I knew Lea was only Level 24. But she should be reaching Level 25 soon, and so…
"[Troll Gloves] seems to be a good choice. It slightly increases your DEX and STR statuses needed to be a good archer." I took out a pair of brown leather gloves with a red accent on the backhand and fur around the hole and put them on the table.
"You need to be Level 25 to wear it, but you will manage, no?"
Lea looked at the gloves with glistening eyes.
"They are for me?"
"Yeah." I nodded at her words. "I also have something else for the others."
Afterward, I asked Natasha's Level, and she replied that she was only Level 26. I gave her a [Red Tiger Short Sword], a sword made from the fang of Red Tiger, a weaker version of Black Tiger. It could light a flame around its edge and was a sharp sword and one of the best for Level 25 weapons.
As for Raina, I gave her the long sword I promised, called [Fairy Longsword], a Level 50 weapon. I had almost forgotten that I had destroyed her last sword. I felt really bad about it.
Sophia got [Flaming Claymore], a Level 40 greatsword that could also light fiery flame if MP was infused into it. The four female knights looked happy with their present, and I only needed to give the last gift to Isabelle.
"What do you need, Isabelle? Your sword is… a bit better than the others, so I don't think you need a weapon?" I asked, looking toward her short sword.
I recognized it as a Level 60 weapon from Horizon Online, [Night's Edge]. It was a rather rare magic sword created from the scythe of a monster called 'Shadow Mantis' and had the ability to create shadow swords.
That was why I asked her whether she needed anything other than a sword, as I didn't know what was inside her inventory.
"I don't need any gift." Isabelle replied as she turned toward me with cold eyes. "I have everything I need."
She made this difficult. I just wanted to be a good leader and give my subordinates some gifts to increase their power.
I only knew a weapon was useless as she got a good one already, so I just needed to gift her something else. I wanted to use this chance to make her interested in me.
"Alright then," I said as I pulled out a set of black armor, purely made from the material harvested from Shadow Mantis, similar to her sword, called [Night's Armor].
"This?!"
I noticed Isabelle's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the set of armor I put on the table in front of her.
If she was truly a survivor of Horizon Online who was stranded here by some kind of luck or any other means, she would surely recognize this armor, as this usually came in one set with [Night's Edge].
"It's your gift," I said as I stood up, looking around at the table. "Good luck with your training and mission, then. I need to meet with Archbishop Sana to talk about something now."
"Wai–"
Isabelle tried to stop me by extending her hand, but she was too late. I used <Blink> to get away and reappeared at the dining room entrance.
Getting Isabelle's attention was a bit hard due to my first impression of being someone who spanked Rania in an official duel. But with this, I was sure that she would be restless if she didn't know about me.
'Hopefully, she will be curious about me and will try to ask me about the armor.'
And I could use her curiosity to sate mine as well. I could ask questions that I couldn't ask if she still had that privacy hall around her.
Just like…
How did she arrive in this world? What happened to her in the past? Did she remember Horizon Online> And why was she in the church knight order?
I had so many questions for her. But now…
'I am more interested in this disturbing news around Lima Port City.'
And so I walked out from the dining room with a certain destination in mind.
Maybe, the plot was moving faster than I thought due to my influence and the next event after the prologue had already started.
