Chapter 56: The Paladin and the Slave

Hall of Sparks.

In pursuit of justice... Xia Mingyu wore a startled expression, a sudden warmth filling his gaze as he looked at the blonde youth.

Goodness gracious, so we are all comrades of justice! No wonder he is as handsome as I am.

Meanwhile, the giant who had been listening quietly showed a trace of fluctuation in his hitherto calm and placid eyes.

"You are mistaken; I am no deity, merely an ordinary human being."

Hesitating for a moment, Xia Mingyu ultimately decided to reveal his true identity, since companions were what he sought after all. Besides, to be honest, the identity blessing floating above his head might not necessarily seem inferior to a god in the eyes of people from another world...

In an instant, the torchfire that formed his body gradually transformed into flesh and blood, and a long string of emerald-green text emerged above his head.

"My name is Xia Mingyu, a man who wishes to let people live like actual human beings."

He looked at the two shocked figures before him and said calmly.

"14,096,702,920 citizens... That is more than the entire human race across the entire continent combined!"

The blonde youth muttered to himself, his face filled with sheer disbelief as his entire body instantly stiffened.

As for the tower-like giant beside him, he quite simply dropped to one single knee on the ground.

The moment his knee met the floor, it even caused the bronze ground beneath him to vibrate slightly.

"Greetings to you, noble Highness. I am Tamerlane Rhein, a devout paladin of the Solar Church. Please forgive my earlier discourtesy."

Roused from his stupor by that slight tremor, the blonde youth also quickly bowed deeply, his face filled with apologies.

"Rhein... Are you of the royal family of the Rhein Kingdom?" Xia Mingyu could not help asking upon hearing this.

Had he actually managed to pull a real prince into his circle?

"No, Your Highness. Though I share blood with the royal lineage, my branch severed ties with the royal family long ago and placed ourselves under the glory of the Sun God," Tamerlane immediately clarified.

Following that, the two of them turned their gazes toward the giant, for according to etiquette, it was now his turn to state his name and identity.

"I have no name..." After a long silence, the giant slowly spoke.

His voice was as raspy and weathered as a knife scraping against a throat, as if he had not spoken to anyone in a very long time.

"Then what do other people call you?" A trace of curiosity flashed through Xia Mingyu's eyes.

He was immensely interested in this giant; given this physique paired with oversized armor, he was practically the reincarnation of Lu Bu!

"...Butcher, mass murderer, humanoid beast, Thirteen..."

This time, the giant remained silent for an even longer duration before slowly speaking.

The next moment, almost in the blink of an eye, Tamerlane's figure darted between Xia Mingyu and the giant.

"Your Highness, please stand behind me. He is very dangerous."

"I possess the gift to discern lies from truth. Although it has been nearly suppressed to the point of uselessness by your authority, I can still barely confirm that what he says is indeed the truth."

"Moreover, my intuition tells me that he has killed countless people."

Tamerlane said with a solemn expression, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of the longsword at his waist.

Seemingly sensing the hostility, the giant also rose swiftly, clenching fists the size of an adult's head into a combat stance, letting out a beast-like roar from his throat.

In an instant, amidst the booming roars of artillery from the dome above, the atmosphere within the hall grew tense to the breaking point.

"Enough, stop immediately!"

Xia Mingyu snapped his fingers lightly, and the bronze floor beneath the two men shifted backward like modeling clay, widening the distance between them.

He certainly did not wish for his future companions to start brawling with one another.

While these two might be able to obliterate him with a single blow in the outside world, within this hall, he was practically omnipotent.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Hearing this, Tamerlane swiftly removed his hand from the sword hilt, and the giant likewise relaxed his fists.

Seeing this, Xia Mingyu raised his hand slightly, and a massive long table slowly rose from the bronze floor.

Twelve copper chairs connected to the floor were neatly arranged on both the left and right sides of the long table, with a master seat positioned right at the center.

"Standing all the time isn't great. Sit."

Xia Mingyu walked straight over and took his seat in the master chair, while Tamerlane and the giant seated themselves in the first copper chairs on his right and left respectively.

"Your Highness, may I ask you to tell us the reason why you invited us to this magnificent hall?"

The moment he sat down, Tamerlane asked impatiently.

His handsome face seemed to be filled with expectation.

"The candidates were not something I could choose; I merely used the power of my blessing to summon companions who share the exact same will as mine, and then... you arrived."

Xia Mingyu smiled faintly, his face brimming with goodwill.

"As expected, my intuition was right. Your Highness, you too pursue justice..."

Tamerlane's expression lit up with joy, and just as he was about to continue, he caught sight of the silent giant sitting across from him.

"Your Highness, are you certain he shares the same will as us?"

Recalling the other's earlier self-description as a butcher and a mass murderer, Tamerlane could not help but voice his doubts.

Not only him, but even the giant looked toward Xia Mingyu with astonishment.

Clearly, even he himself did not believe it.

"...Tamerlane, your family background must be quite impressive, right?" After a brief silence, Xia Mingyu spoke up.

"It's just an ordinary family, though my grandfather is the current Pope of the Solar Church."

Though puzzled, Tamerlane still answered honestly.

Xia Mingyu: "???"

You call this ordinary?!

"Mr. Thirteen, if I am not mistaken, you should be a slave, shouldn't you?"

Suppressing the astonishment in his heart, Xia Mingyu continued by asking the giant on his left hand.

The giant nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"I have been a slave since the day I was born." When he spoke those words, his eyes were filled with a dead silence, devoid of the slightest vitality.

As expected... A look of understanding surfaced on Xia Mingyu's face.

Whether it was the giant's body covered in scars from combat and severe beatings, or his tattered burlap shorts, both were more than enough to reveal his status.

He is a slave?!

Tamerlane looked at the giant with a hint of sympathy in his eyes; although born to extraordinary privilege, he was well aware that slaves across the entire continent led lives akin to living hell.

"Human beings cannot escape the environment of their birth. Just as if a household has an abusive, alcoholic father, the child will inevitably become violent and cowardly," Xia Mingyu said slowly.

"Mr. Paladin, if you wish to criticize someone, you would do well to remember first that not everyone is blessed with the exact same conditions as you."

"I believe in Thirteen. Perhaps, as you said, he has killed many people, but between heaven and hell, born a slave as he was, he simply lacked the power to choose in order to survive."

"A knight may pursue justice, and a prince may pursue justice—can a slave not pursue it as well?"

Xia Mingyu said calmly.

When he finished speaking, the hall fell into a profound silence.

Within the giant's perpetually dead eyes, a faint, inexplicable glimmer flashed.

Click.

At that moment, Tamerlane rose slowly with a placid expression, and under Xia Mingyu's shocked gaze, he walked over to the giant and slowly dropped to a single knee.

"I am sorry for questioning your will. I offer you my most sincere apologies, and I beg of you to forgive my arrogance," the paladin said, bowing his head deeply.