Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 342 (Part 1):

Luke Jaeger. A man officially known as the descendant of the Sword Saint.

Now, four years after parting with Helmut, everyone in Basor knew about him.

He had joined the Palma Knights with his brilliant skills, and shortly after joining, he achieved an incredible military feat.

His achievement was killing the new ruler of the desert, the Red Scorpion, who had appeared and disrupted the finals of the martial arts tournament.

That incident caused major ripples throughout Basor.

Furthermore, the subsequent revelation that he was the Sword Saint’s descendant sent another wave of shock across Basor.

Luke Jaeger claimed the position of Palma Knights Commander, which had been vacant since the previous commander’s death, becoming the youngest ever to hold the position.

Fortune and support were on his side. At the time, there were limited candidates qualified to become the Palma Knights Commander.

Of course, the Palma Knights were a group of knights with exceptional skills. Some knights were as skilled as the former commander or even stronger than Luke Jaeger.

However, such individuals were much older than Luke Jaeger.

Moreover, the position of Palma Knights Commander, which had become vacant twice in succession under questionable circumstances, gave an ominous feeling to those who were older and already had stable lives with rank and age.

The Palma Knights Commander not only had to handle numerous administrative duties but also had to lead the most dangerous missions in Basor.

While it came with honor, it was nevertheless a challenging position.

Additionally, there was the Second Prince’s strong argument for reforming the Palma Knights through young blood.

Having Luke Jaeger, the Sword Saint’s descendant, ascend to the position presented the ideal scenario and aligned with the prince’s implicit support for someone he wanted in his corner.

After the Red Scorpion incident, the First Prince had practically fallen from grace, while the Second Prince solidified his position as heir to the throne, making his influence incomparably stronger than before.

The King of Basor accepted the Second Prince’s opinion, and a public sword tournament was held within the knights to determine the position of Commander.

Luke Jaeger was able to win the tournament without much difficulty.

His skills were unrivaled. No one could contest his appointment as Commander.

Beyond his skills, he was a man who had achieved remarkable accomplishments and was the descendant of the Sword Saint, after all.

However, despite his impressive titles and fame, there was one issue where he still struggled even after four years.

“So, what went wrong this time, Commander?”

A knight asked with a grin. The young commander wasn’t an intimidating superior to the members of the Palma Knights.

Luke Jaeger’s relaxed personality and friendliness had changed the previously authoritarian atmosphere.

“Wrong? It just didn’t work out naturally, that’s all.” Luke replied, scrunching his nose.

Basor tended to reject outsiders. Luke Jaeger had faced such rejection initially, but being the grandson of Sword Saint Darien Deferth and ascending to the position of Palma Knights’ Commander quickly silenced any prejudice about his foreign origins.

He became Basor’s number one bachelor with a bright future. Noble families with daughters sent introduction letters in droves.

If he had to live in Basor anyway, it would be better to form ties with Basor’s noble families. But the results weren’t good at all.

Basor’s nobles marry at an early age.

Though he was at an age where most nobles would already be married, Luke Jaeger didn’t even have a fiancée.

His packed schedule and his oblivious nature, which often made his partners feel ignored, were the primary reasons for his lack of success—though he himself was unaware of it.

“There’s only one other bachelor left in the knights around your age, Commander. Are you planning to join him?”

“Join him? Just focus on the mission. Think about where that cute thing might be hiding.”

Though speaking lightly, when Luke Jaeger’s expression turned serious, the surrounding knights’ atmosphere naturally became serious as well.

They were currently dispatched to a desert village far from the royal capital.

The village had long been empty.

Due to a sudden attack by demonic beasts, nearly all of the hundred or so villagers were massacred, and only a few survivors managed to report the attack.

The Palma Knights had been consistently culling demonic beasts to control their numbers in the desert.

Therefore, this recent massacre of a village that had been in a relatively safe zone was extremely shocking.

The Basor King immediately dispatched the Palma Knights to the village in response to this incident that occurred after four years.

Half-destroyed houses and scattered laundry on the ground spoke to the urgency of the situation during the attack.

Black stains of dried blood remained in various places.

However, the corpses that should have been there were nowhere to be found.

To demonic beasts, humans were like the ultimate delicacy. It was likely that the ravenous creatures had devoured them whole, bones and all.

“It was an organized attack, they say. They blocked all escape routes from the village and herded everyone to one place before devouring them all. The survivors were either quick to escape from the beginning or happened to be outside the village when they saw it being attacked and ran away.”

As one knight muttered with a grave face, another knight continued.

“No matter how thoroughly we search, we can’t find any survivors in the village. Everyone’s dead.”

Luke Jaeger nodded.

“Yes, the method is similar to what happened four years ago. This doesn’t feel good.”

“Back then, wasn’t it revealed that High Priest Dolos was controlling the Red Scorpion? Could this be the temple’s doing again?”

“It’s possible, but unlikely. The temple claimed that it was an isolated act by that High Priest.”

Though Luke didn’t believe the temple’s claim, realistically, even among High Priests, the ability to control demonic beasts would be rare.

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