Chapter 10: The Demon Knights

That night, Jolene didn't go far. She wandered outside the town for a long time with the warrior as strong as a bull and the archer. Although both of her subordinates thought they should leave this unlucky place as soon as possible, Jolene seemed to have other plans in mind. There was a trace of hesitation in her eyes... With such an expression, she sat there with her knees hugged, looking at the moon all night.

Early the next morning, Dwayne and his group set off on their journey. However, this time, there was an additional oxcart behind the convoy. Inside the cart was the magician who was tied up like a dumpling. The poor magician looked listless and extremely tired, and his whole body was wet. Because the knight subordinates of Dwayne had well accomplished the task assigned by Dwayne: they poured a bucket of cold water over the magician at regular intervals, making sure that the magician had no chance to sleep or meditate to restore his spiritual power!

Young Master Dwayne, as was his habit, after setting off, sat in the carriage of the carriage holding a thick book and reading. It seemed that he had an extremely strong interest in reading. When the well-made carriage was moving, even on a bumpy road, one could hardly feel any jolts. Dwayne comfortably lay on the soft and thick swan feather blanket, curled up, reading and thinking at the same time...

But soon, he was interrupted. Someone knocked gently on the window of the carriage, and then came Mad's slightly embarrassed voice: "Young Master... Well, there's something that I'm afraid will trouble you a bit."

Dwayne opened the carriage window and saw Mad frowning. Mad was riding a horse today. He drove the horse to walk side by side with the carriage and bowed on the horse: "Young Master, those guys from the tavern yesterday have been following us from behind..."

Dwayne was slightly taken aback. He stuck his head out and looked behind. Sure enough, about a hundred paces behind their group, far away, the leggy girl from the tavern yesterday, along with her two subordinates, a warrior as strong as a bull and the archer, on a total of three horses, were following behind at a distance.

The other guard knights of the Rollin family outside the carriage saw this scene and all seemed to have ambiguous expressions, with suppressed smiles at the corners of their mouths. Yesterday... that girl had come out of the young master's room... Could it be that the young master had successfully conquered that girl, and the girl had fallen in love with the young master and couldn't bear to leave? Haha... However, the knights still didn't dare to show the slightest mockery of their master to his face.

Dwayne pondered for a moment and said in a low voice: "Stop the carriage. Go and call that girl over."

Jolene behind had been following Dwayne's convoy for a whole morning from a distance. Her mind was in a mess, and she didn't even understand why she was following them. Was it because she was worried about the poor magician who had been captured? It didn't seem to be the case. Jolene didn't care about that guy's life or death at all.

Suddenly, the convoy in front stopped. Then, two knights were seen riding quickly towards them.

"Miss, our master wants to see you. Please come over." Because they considered that this leggy girl might very well have a "relationship" with their young master, the knight who delivered the message spoke much more politely.

Jolene was a bit dazed, nodded, and subconsciously drove her horse and followed. Her two companions behind were a bit puzzled, and more worried, but they still followed.

"Why are you following me?" Dwayne didn't even get out of the carriage. He just opened the carriage door and sat inside, looking at the girl who rode up to him.

Jolene dismounted from the horse. She bit her lips. Suddenly, at that moment, the question that had been struggling in her mind all night found an answer! Why? Perhaps it was... because she saw that devilish smile reappear on this guy's face!

"I..." Jolene stood by the side of the carriage. She took a deep breath, and then suddenly knelt down on one knee, right beside Dwayne's carriage. Then she lowered her head deeply and said in a serious tone: "I, Jolene Moon, pledge my loyalty to you. I am willing to become your subordinate! In the remaining decades of my life, I will defend my oath today with my blood and life! However, would you, sir, be willing to accept my loyalty?"

Dwayne was silent for a while. He was examining the girl who was kneeling on one knee in front of the carriage. Then he slowly said: "You want to pledge your loyalty to me... Why?"

"I don't know." Jolene spoke her heart: "Perhaps you're right. I'm too tired. As a girl, I've felt that my ability is far from enough to maintain all this. Perhaps, I need to find a big tree to rely on. And I'm willing to be a vine that depends on the big tree to survive."

"Do you think I'm a suitable big tree?" Dwayne smiled.

"Yes." This time, Jolene answered quickly: "Although I still don't know your identity, the feeling you give me... You must be an extraordinary person! Or rather, you are destined to become an extraordinary person!"

"It's really troublesome." Dwayne sighed. He turned to ask Mad: "Oh, Mad, I forgot. Do I have the right to recruit my own honorary knights now? How many honorary knights can I recruit in total?"

Dwayne didn't seem to care about this question. "Well, my master..." Mad, the former coachman and current chief steward, fortunately, had done a lot of homework before his promotion. At least, he had painstakingly memorized some of the necessary rules and traditions: "My master, you are the eldest son of the count. Even if you can't inherit the count's title in the future, according to the imperial law, you can at least obtain a baron's title. And according to the imperial law, for a noble with your title, you have the authority to recruit ten honorary knights of your own."

"Thank you." Dwayne touched his nose: "Only ten spots... Although it's a bit few. However, knights can also have attendants, right? One knight can have several attendants. Calculated in this way, the direct honorary knights plus the attendants of each knight will add up to dozens of people. It's not that few."

After getting Mad's confirmation, Dwayne rubbed his temples and then smiled at the girl in front of him: "Well, I accept your loyalty. From now on, I confer on you the status of my direct honorary knight... Hmm, you are the first honorary knight I've given a title to, and you're a female knight at that."

Jolene seemed a bit shy Dwayne's smiling face. She lowered her head and said in a low voice: "Thank you... Also, since I've pledged my loyalty to you, please tell me your identity, master."

"Oh, my identity... I am Dwayne Rollin, the eldest son of Count Raymond, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial High Command and the current head of the Rollin family. That's me." Dwayne smiled and continued: "I almost forgot. I also have a resounding nickname in the imperial capital of the empire... They all call me... 'the idiot'."

"An, an idiot?!" Jolene widened her eyes.

This was ridiculous! Was this guy an idiot? If he was an idiot, then there would be no geniuses in the world! If he was an idiot, then most people in the world would be imbeciles! She didn't dare to show the slightest smile and quickly stood up. Pointing at her two subordinates beside her, she said: "Honorable master, these two are my companions. Their names are..."

"No, no, no." Dwayne interrupted her unceremoniously: "Sorry, I'm not very interested in their names. Also, you heard it. The law only gives me the quota to recruit ten honorary knights! I won't waste these spots in vain... I still plan to keep the remaining spots to recruit some paladins or grand swordsmen of a high level."

Dwayne didn't even glance at Jolene's two subordinates. What a joke! Guys of this level, that warrior as strong as a bull was just a bit stronger in strength. As for that archer... Humph, one could recruit three or five of them by casually throwing out a few hundred gold coins! Even this female knight... Hmm, if it wasn't for the fact that she was a beauty with a pair of beautiful long legs... Otherwise, with her martial arts skills, Dwayne wouldn't have taken a fancy to her either.

"Lady Knight Jolene Moon, now, you are my direct honorary knight. Your two subordinates will be counted as your attendants. As for your knight's badge and equipment, when we reach the destination, I will have the servants of the family equip you completely. Now, please lead your people to join the convoy, and let's set off. If everything goes well, we can arrive home tonight."

Jolene didn't say anything. However, her two subordinates couldn't help but feel a bit dejected about losing the opportunity to be granted the title of knight. This was a real opportunity to become a knight!

Generally speaking, there are only three ways to obtain the title of knight. The first way is to have powerful martial arts skills, and then be evaluated by the Knight Association to obtain official knight medals of different levels - such knights are considered the most formal ones. The second way is to dedicate oneself to the Temple of Light from a young age, pledge loyalty to the church, be trained in martial arts from a young age, and then grow up and pass strict selections to become a temple knight of the church. The third way is to pledge loyalty to a noble and obtain the title of direct honorary knight granted by the noble.

And these two guys, first of all, didn't have powerful martial arts skills and couldn't pass the assessment and evaluation of the Knight Association. Secondly, they weren't members of the church and couldn't become temple knights either. The only way for them to be promoted to the knight class was to be favored and recruited by a certain noble. However, those who had the right to recruit knights were all some powerful nobles, and they wouldn't take a fancy to guys with their mediocre martial arts skills.

Looking at her two dejected companions, Jolene could only comfort them in a low voice.

Jolene herself had a complex feeling at the moment. Once she pledged her loyalty to Dwayne, it meant that she would lose her independence from then on. The small independent group that she had painstakingly maintained before would be disbanded, and she would no longer be the leader but a subordinate who pledged loyalty to others.

However, what Jolene didn't know even more was that when people looked back on history many, many years later, they would all mention this day! Because, later, among the ten Demon Knights of the famous Demon Knight Order that shook the continent, the first official member: the female knight who pledged loyalty to the "demon" earliest, Jolene Moon! This name, because of this special moment, was also engraved in history!