"Did we... win?"
Sona stared at the trophy in her hand, which represented the Spring Major championship, feeling a bit dazed. Though she really wanted to be happy, she... just couldn't get excited. It felt as if this trophy had nothing to do with her. Although... it really didn't have much to do with her.
"Mr. Reeve... I... feel like I just picked up this trophy for free."
Lucas Reeve, however, laughed. "Actually, it's mainly because the Chamber of Commerce cheated. If they hadn't cheated, you probably could have won this championship too. Although the Whislash Knight is a strong opponent, if you had another month or two of special training, defeating her wouldn't have been impossible."
Sona knew Lucas Reeve was comforting her. After all, her own strength was indeed very weak. Especially after witnessing the battle between Lucas Reeve and the Nameless Knight from a first-person perspective, Sona realized for the first time just how tiny she was. Even... champion Knights were so tiny. This level of combat was just too high.
At first.
Sona thought the Nameless Knight's arrow, which pierced through who knows how many buildings, was already enough to make one despair. She didn't expect Mr. Reeve to be able to resolve it so easily. Immediately after, she witnessed a true miracle.
That golden brilliance that shot into the sky, pierced the clouds, and melted more than half of The Wastes.
It was too terrifying.
Compared to Mr. Reeve's strength, the Nameless Knight's full-power second arrow seemed almost trivial.
And...
This was Mr. Reeve using her weak body to execute it. If Mr. Reeve had his own physical body and used his full strength, how terrifying would that be?
For a moment.
Sona also completely believed what Lucas Reeve had said before: destroying a major city was easy for a god.
"The main issue this time was that your special training period was too short. The Knight Major Championship in six months will truly be all up to you. In the coming six months, I will also go all out to train you and raise your physical fitness to the absolute limit you can reach, helping you improve your strength as quickly as possible. Whether you can win the championship will be up to you."
"Mhm!!"
Sona nodded happily.
"I will definitely train hard, Mr. Reeve. I'll train twenty hours a day!!"
Lucas Reeve retorted, "No need to 'roll up' (compete) that hard. Only with sufficient rest can you train optimally."
"Also... Mr. Reeve, when you're training, can you include Justyna?"
Sona was a little apprehensive when she asked this. She felt her request was a bit much. After all, for someone as busy as Mr. Reeve, being able to train her was already taking time out of his packed schedule, let alone teaching an extra person...
But Sona still wanted to ask Lucas Reeve's opinion.
After all.
Justyna had never undergone any professional training, and the weapon in her hands was homemade with limited power, but she didn't have the money for a new one. So, Sona had already ordered a brand-new crossbow from Raythean Industries—Justyna's preferred type—planning to give it to her as a surprise gift.
"Sure."
Lucas Reeve didn't mind. One extra person didn't make much difference. He was bored anyway.
"Just... don't let Miss Justyna know about my existence, okay?"
"Mhm!!"
Seeing Lucas Reeve agree.
Sona broke into an incredibly sweet smile. This smile was caught by the photographers, who assumed it was because she had won the championship, and they immediately snapped a picture.
And so, the championship awards ceremony ended amidst the cheers of the crowd.
Although the competition was over.
Sona's popularity didn't decrease in the slightest. Videos of her various battles circulated wildly on the Kazimierz internet. Especially the final battle against the Nameless Knight—catching the arrow bare-handed, throwing it back, and the ferocious golden brilliance that swept away an entire building. Many professional bloggers analyzed all of Sona's battle videos, breaking them down from a professional commentator's perspective. Many of these bloggers felt that if she maintained the level of power she showed in the finals, she could probably win the championship in the main tournament in six months as well.
When Sona returned to Raythean Industries, it was a triumphant homecoming. Since leaving their old second-hand home, the family had already moved into Raythean Industries. And although no one had specifically requested it, the branch president had very thoughtfully arranged for outside tutors to come and teach Sona's several younger siblings.
Furthermore, her grandfather and her uncle, who had a physical disability, had specialized nurses to clean for them, cook, and so on.
None of this was requested by Lucas Reeve.
It was all the branch president's own initiative.
He was also curious as to why headquarters suddenly cared so much about this little Knight. This Knight had seemingly never left Kazimierz, right? Logically, she shouldn't know any big shots from headquarters. Could it be...
The president had also entertained some... slightly more reasonable explanations.
After all, who wasn't young once? Every man makes mistakes, especially highly successful men. Even the president himself had several mistresses in Kazimierz. Although none were married, the relationships between these mistresses were quite good, very harmonious.
Whatever trickled through the president's fingers was more than the entire net worth of many entrepreneurs outside.
His eldest child outside was already in college, and the youngest was in elementary school. If this mission was completed to the satisfaction of his superiors, he might be promoted directly to the core board of directors at the Columbia headquarters. When that time came, the president planned to bring his mistresses and children back to Columbia.
And the little squirrel Knight and her family were the key to his promotion, so he was working very hard.
"Sister Sona! You're back!!"
When Sona returned to the residential area where her family lived within Raythean Industries, Little Ella and her other younger siblings had long been waiting impatiently outside.
Actually.
When Sona won the championship.
The family had already celebrated happily at home.
Seeing Sona return.
Following Little Ella's shout.
Her family, grandfather, and uncle rushed out excitedly. Her uncle, who had been a Knight, was especially moved to tears. As a former Knight, he naturally knew how dangerous the Knight Major was. He had been an uninfected Knight, whereas Sona was one of the Infected.
But Sona had still won the championship as one of the Infected, her name renowned across several mobile cities. Even though this trophy had little to do with him, the uncle's face was filled with pride.
"Sona, you did it!!"
Beside them, Justyna was also extremely excited. She hadn't expected Sona to actually win the championship.
"Mhm!"
Sona nodded firmly.
"Justyna! We still have half a year. Let's work hard together and make the name of our Pinus Sylvestris Knightly Order resound throughout Kazimierz!"
Sona's eyes sparkled with hope. This championship was given to her by Lucas Reeve. But the next one, the World Championship, she would use her own full strength to compete for the trophy symbolizing the highest honor. For a moment, Sona felt dazed again.
In the past, she felt the Radiant Knight was very, very far away from her. The distance between them was like a river of stars, so far she couldn't even see her.
But now...
Sona suddenly felt that... the title of Champion Knight... perhaps wasn't so unattainable after all.
Justyna smiled as well, linking pinkies with Sona. "I'll work hard too. I won't fall too far behind you, Sona!!"
————————
Because Sona won the championship.
According to the contract with Raythean Industries, winning the championship came with a reward of twenty million. The branch president also thoughtfully added an additional twenty million from his own pocket as a bonus. For a branch president, twenty million was like twenty bucks—he could pull it out whenever he wanted.
And just after the competition ended.
The branch president received another order from a mysterious big shot at headquarters: to use public opinion in Kazimierz to promote that Lucas Reeve, the director of the documentary "The Infected", had donated a large batch of supplies to the Infected across Kazimierz. Upon receiving the order, the president immediately delegated it to his subordinates. And thanks to the incident with the delayed championship announcement for the Flametail Knight, the user base of Raythean Industries' social media app had exploded by an unknown multiple.
And with this intentional and unintentional promotion.
Within a few days, many uninfected and Infected learned that the famous director who filmed the documentary had donated a large batch of supplies. And this wasn't a lie; it was true. On the very day this news broke, large transport vehicles arrived in the slums of many mobile cities and distributed supplies in the names of Lucas Reeve and Sona. Although the supplies each person received were simple and cheap—instant noodles, compressed biscuits, a cheap cotton blanket, etc.—these simple supplies moved many of the Infected to tears.
Especially the Infected in other cities.
They naturally knew that an Infected girl named Flametail Knight had won the championship in her competition zone, but because it was a different zone, they hadn't paid much attention. They never expected the Flametail Knight and that documentary director to actually send them supplies.
For many of the Infected, this was the first time they had felt the warmth of help since contracting the disease. They held the supplies, too moved to speak.
And in the Grand Knight Territory.
The Blood Knight was astonished when he saw the transport vehicles filled with supplies.
The Blood Knight was one of the Infected... However, to secure a place for the Infected behind him to live, he had bowed his proud head to the Chamber of Commerce, fighting only for a place for the Grand Knight Territory's Infected to survive.
A few days ago.
After watching the battle between the Flametail Knight and the Nameless Knight, even the Blood Knight felt immense pressure. Because... the strength the Flametail Knight displayed was just too, too strong. Even the Blood Knight himself wasn't confident he could win. And if he couldn't win, he couldn't get the championship, and if he couldn't get the championship, he would lose his value to the Chamber of Commerce.
And today...
Seeing the supplies delivered by the Flametail Knight and that director.
The Blood Knight seemed to understand something.
He thought of Raythean Industries behind the Flametail Knight, thought of how Raythean Industries applied pressure when the Chamber of Commerce intentionally delayed the award ceremony. The Blood Knight seemed to get it. Both of them were working hard for the Infected, just in different ways. He chose to compromise with the Chamber of Commerce, while the Flametail Knight chose the path of confronting the Chamber of Commerce head-on. The Blood Knight, who understood the Chamber of Commerce extremely well, could easily guess that the Nameless Knight, the Swift-Sword Knight, and the Brute-Force Knight were all sent by the Chamber of Commerce to intercept the Flametail Knight.
However, the Flametail Knight still defeated all obstacles and won the championship...
Thinking of this, the Blood Knight felt a sense of relief.
Even if he lost, as long as the Flametail Knight was still there, someone would still be carrying the torch for the future of the Infected.
Lucas Reeve's wave of publicity was clearly effective.
These days, Lucas Reeve had Sona wander around while he raked in the Prayer Power from behind, overjoyed. Harvesting from different city districts, he gathered a full 250,000 Prayer Power. He was now just 150,000 short of the two million needed to condense a physical body.
Besides this.
Lucas Reeve also received news from Jessica over at Raythean Medica.
The first batch of [Purification] 1.0 was finished and had already been sent via unmanned drones to Reunion Movement and Chernobog. The second batch of medicine was already in the factory's production queue.
It seemed that he just needed to wait for the second batch of medicine to be produced, and he would have enough to condense his physical body. He never thought this thing he had longed for for so many years was already within reach.
However.
Condensing a physical body was just the beginning.
He would need a lot of Prayer Power for many things afterward.
Exchanging for various abilities—a complete ability exchange started at a million Prayer Power.