Chapter 207 Matters of the Former Kingdom
The preamble is omitted.
After a brief stay in the kitchen, I successfully brought back the freshly baked tea and desserts, placing them one by one on the lab table with its elegant tablecloth spread out. Then, Alice and I sat down on opposite sides of the table.
The rich, sweet aroma tantalizes the nose, and the perfectly warm tea, illuminated by the magic stone wall lamp, shimmers with a clear reddish-brown color. The cookies adorned with nuts and the slowly bubbling tartare are even more enticing.
Before I could say anything, Alice reached out and deftly picked up a fruit-topped tart from the plate with just two fingers. Ignoring the heat, she peeled off the tin shell and popped it into her mouth with an excited shout.
"I knew it would be delicious!"
I looked at her with a helpless expression and tried to touch the tin shell with my fingertips, but after several attempts, I was still burned and immediately withdrew my fingers. So in the end, I could only turn to the cookies next to me, put them to my mouth and bite and chew them, in order to make myself not feel so embarrassed.
However, Alice didn't seem to notice my awkward attempt earlier. She ate several more, almost finishing more than half the plate, before finally taking a big gulp of half a cup of sweet black tea, which could be considered a pause in her eating.
"The way you drink it gives me the feeling that it's a bit of a waste to use this precious tea that we finally managed to get out," I said.
Alice waved her hand dismissively: "The original purpose of tea is for people to drink, so don't worry about it so much."
I shrugged.
It's fine to be casual, since everyone's used to being casual anyway. It's really hard for me to speak up when things suddenly become formal.
Thinking this, I turned my gaze back to Alice, who was leaning back in her chair with a satisfied expression that said, "Ask me anything, or I'll admit defeat." I asked her the same question again: "Alice, I would like you to tell me something about the [Knights of Dawn]."
"Oh! So this is where it starts!"
Alice smiled and said, "I didn't realize you had such good taste, Master!"
"I just think it would be easier to start by approaching things from a place you're more familiar with."
"Hmph, whatever, whatever." Alice snapped her fingers in a cool way. "But if you want to ask about [Dawn], then you've come to the right person."
“I can say with great confidence that among all the people here, no one knows this better than I do.”
I put down my teacup in surprise: "The entire miniature garden?"
Putting everything else aside, judging from Annie's attitude, she must know quite a bit about the [Knights of Dawn]. When she introduced them to me before, she talked at length about some of their more famous deeds, even though I had never heard of them before.
However, if the [Knights of Dawn] that Alice and Anne are referring to is indeed the same entity, then it is understandable that Alice, who claims to be the vice-commander of its first order, would consider herself more familiar with its existence.
But if that's the case, then new questions arise.
Suppressing the questions that kept rising in my mind like bubbles in water, I patiently waited for Alice's explanation.
With an elegant posture, Alice moistened her throat with freshly poured tea, nodded gently, and said in a leisurely tone: "Master, you should have already heard about Restalis, the one you call the former kingdom."
"Just as the rumors say, the First Knights of Dawn, to which I once served, was the first knightly order directly under the royal family in the former kingdom. Because of the high overall combat strength of its members, coupled with the strict selection and promotion rules, as well as the accumulation of many excellent combat results, its status was second only to the Royal Guard. It was also often ranked high in the list of places most desired by all warriors."
"If the Royal Guard is likened to a shield protecting the capital and the royal family, then our First Knights of Dawn will surely be the sharpest longsword, and every time it is swung, it will be able to hit the opponent's most vital point with every shot."
"Is it really that amazing?" I couldn't help but exclaim.
Alice swung her crossed toes triumphantly: "Of course. Although it's just a collection of swordsmen, everyone is still among the strongest. Back then, I worked incredibly hard to get to the position of vice-captain! It was much more tiring than what you guys are going through now."
"Those were the days."
I instinctively retorted, only realizing my mistake after the words left my mouth.
Well, I've gotten so used to my mother nagging me with similar words that I've almost developed a stress response.
Alice grinned, but didn't dwell on the point: "If we're going to make a comparison of combat strength... let's take the most intuitive example, like the bone dragon you fought before."
"When I was in the Knights, we actually teamed up with everyone to fight against an adult dragon that wasn't an ancient dragon yet. It was about the same size, and it seemed to be a bit stronger than the one you were fighting against. At least it could release dragon breath, use dragon's might and other dragon-instinctive weapons, and even cast dragon language magic. But that behemoth still fell to our swords in the end."
She paused for a moment, then looked around mysteriously, leaned closer and whispered, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear: "Guess how many of us were involved that time?"
I scanned the room with my senses to confirm there were no strange figures around, but even so, I still subconsciously imitated Alice's manner, pondered for a moment, then leaned forward slightly and lowered my voice: "Could it be... that you also sent five people?"
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