The next morning, Noah greets his father, bowing down in respect. The emperor is proud of his son for handling yesterday's situation gracefully. Noah is taken aback, not understanding how his father knows. Though Noah doesn't think what he did was something great. It was basic human decency.
According to the emperor, what comes naturally doesn't come easily. There are many slick tongues out there who know how to use flattery. Not many people can do the right thing with natural ease.
Patting his head, the emperor asks his son to stand up, noticing his Leviathan, which looks pretty small. The idea that Noah has fully mastered that magic sword, considering its dark history, is something truly remarkable. The emperor believes that it would serve Noah well to learn the technique to wield it. Hence, he has summoned an instructor of swordsmanship. The kingdom's greatest swordsman, Damian Noble, is at Noah's service now.
To observe Noah's aptitude, Damian wants to start the training right away. When the emperor allows it instantly, Noah realizes that his father really trusts the man. Taking an attacking stance, the swordsman tells Noah to come at him whenever he is ready.
With trembling hands, he charges forward and strikes at Damian, who dodges the attack with his sword. While wielding Leviathan, the memories of its past owners flow into Noah's mind. Keeping all of it in mind, the sparring continues, and within a few minutes he is able to throw the sword of the greatest swordsman of the empire aside, with the help of his treasure, Leviathan.
Damian faces the emperor and apologizes to him. Moreover, he explains that he has nothing to teach the prince. As his strength and speed are indeed those of a child, he used technique alone to disarm his opponent. Noah already possesses the swordsmanship of a master. It would be presumptuous of Damian to try and teach him. Having heard this, the emperor can't help but laugh, as his son is really something at the age of six.
He declares that he will make Noah head judge in this year's knight selection exam. Noah agrees to see this task through.
The knight selection exam is an annual event involving participants from all corners of the empire. For this empire, a nation of warriors that treasures its military, it is said that the way of the warrior is the only path to success by merit. In the exam, the fighters who win their regional preliminaries meet in the capital for their final battles. The one who emerges victorious earns the title of knight, and immediately joins the upper ranks of society. The first job of the new knight is to become a subordinate of the head judge. With a talented knight in his service, the head judge could become even stronger.
The emperor wants to know from Damian how Noah should judge this event. The greatest swordsman explains that he should do it either round robin or elimination. That is the first thing that the head judge must decide.
In that instant, Noah states a request. He wants to do away with the regional preliminaries and do all the judging here in the capital, before his own eyes. The empire is vast, and he can't observe all the preliminaries in every region. He wouldn't want any strong candidates to be excluded for arbitrary reasons, as he doesn't want to overlook any talents.
Later on, Noah asks Zoe if there are any knight selection exam participants in her village. She informs him that there is one, who is their simple village's lone gateway to glory, and the only one their village sends to the exam every year. Noah explains that he did away with this year's preliminaries, so they can send more if they like.
Conversely, Zoe reveals that the reason they send one challenger is that they can't afford the travel and lodging expenses. It takes donations from all of them just to send one. That wasn't a big issue for him, as he announces that he will cover all the expenses.
Additionally, he asks Dylan to find out the number of vacant houses in the capital, instructing him to buy them all. If there aren't enough, they will build dormitories of a sort, since people will be coming to stay. Simultaneously, Dylan has to talk to all the merchants they have connections with about meals.
Some time later, Noah leaves to meet the merchant. Upon reaching the location, Byron shows Noah the estimate for the food, which is very low. Noah realizes that these merchants definitely want something from him. The way he judges the situation correctly leaves the merchants stunned.
The merchant informs him, without hesitation, that there is a palace employment exam, run on roughly the same scale as the knight selection exam. Thus, he was hoping Noah would know what sorts of people are hired. Noah grasps that the merchant wants to put a girl in the palace. If she has the support of someone in the palace, and if she were to be ordered to spend her nights with the emperor as a consort, the profits would be immeasurable. Noah promises to help if the girl is good.
In the carriage, Noah is happy, as accepting Byron as a subordinate increased his stats. However, his eyes widen with shock when he spots one of his stats going down. Panic slashes across his face. Something definitely happened in Almaria. Instantly, he instructs Zoe to ask the driver to head to the castle quickly.
Without wasting any time, Noah arranges a meeting with the emperor, explaining to him about the change in Almaria. The emperor is cool about it, as if he knows something, though he claims that he merely noticed a few signs. Right then, one of the emperor's men comes and informs them that there has been a rebellion in Almaria, which means his guess was right.
Considering that Noah's SS just dropped to S, it might look like it dropped by half, but the reality is that it only went down by one rank out of several. He believes that whatever happened is small in scale at the moment. His guesses prove true, as the reports identify five thousand rebels. Their numbers are low, and it is in his fief.
Still, Noah thinks that he cannot put himself forward, as he is young and unfamiliar with combat. He isn't sure if the soldiers would listen to him. Thus, he thinks his older brother should be the one who controls this situation. Upon hearing it, the emperor is impressed, and admits to standing by Noah's judgment in choosing someone else. Without even giving it a second thought, Noah names Henry.
With such low numbers, the orthodox approach is to suppress them head on. Just like that, Noah, Henry and the team are on their way to stop the chaos. On the way, Noah's eyes widen with shock as Leviathan senses something. It turns out that the Almarian rebels have blocked their way. Getting out of the carriage, Noah uses his sword, and with multiple strikes he knocks the rebels out.