Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Until Hinterlea met a mounted scout.

The term "riding scout" is, as the name suggests, similar to a talent scout.

One discovers knights, the other discovers stars.

not much differences.

"Miss Heartlea, would you be interested in participating in our company's knight selection?"

She hesitated when an employee from the Guibao Media Group handed her a business card.

knight.

In Kazimierz, who wouldn't want to be a knight?

Who wouldn't want to be surrounded by hundreds or thousands of fans, enjoying their praise and substantial profits?

Although scandals involving knights occur from time to time, and some knights even disappear from the public eye overnight, what does that have to do with me?

I am good at archery, and my appearance is not bad. Most importantly, I am willing to follow the company's arrangements.

Even if you can't defeat your opponent, becoming a knight and eventually living like the Knights of the Moon, singing and dancing, making as much money as you can while you're young, and then retiring early might not be a bad choice.

Young Hinterlea had already grasped the true meaning of life; she didn't have such grand ambitions or concern for the country and its people, she just wanted to make money.

Ultimately, she won second place in the Rose Newspaper Group's knight selection that year and successfully obtained the contract she had always dreamed of.

It seems to be going very smoothly, doesn't it?

But like many who blindly enter the equestrian arena, reality has dealt them a heavy blow.

Maria today, Margaret in the past, and the unknown Hinterlaya.

Regardless of their reasons for entering the Knights' Tournament—whether it was to preserve their family's title, for the country, or simply to make money—it doesn't matter.

The harsh realities of life never fail to deliver.

"You can rest assured, Miss Hinterlea, you really can get the title of knight this time. I have confirmed with headquarters that you are now the highest priority contracted independent knight."

"Your number of matches may be reduced in the near future, but we will arrange for you to appear in the media extensively. Just wait a few more months, and once you obtain the title, you will be one of the Roses' newest batch of titled knights!"

Hinterlea: "Okay, thank you."

177 Have you eaten?

I'll be able to get the knight title after a while.

Hinterlea has heard this phrase countless times.

To be honest, she was starting to get tired of being a knight.

Although I haven't received the knighthood yet, I've already encountered every problem a formal knight would face in their career.

Expecting someone to throw the game is the bare minimum. The only tiring part is making it look like a match-fixing game. Otherwise, it's not too bad.

At least he hasn't been discovered yet, and therefore hasn't lost his knighthood.

Dealing with baseless gossip and being forced to accept arbitrarily changed event schedules is just too exhausting.

Of course, it would be fine if it were just tiring, but the most crucial thing is that there is never any reward.

That unattainable knighthood was like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey's head—desirable but unattainable.

"What exactly is a knight? A commodity? At least with commodities, once the purchase is made and the transaction is complete, that's the end of the story. But what about me?"

At some point, this idea popped into her mind.

After enduring a period of hardship, his long career as an independent knight was finally drawing to a close.

The application for the knighthood of Hinterland has been publicly announced by the Censorate.

No one has ever been eliminated at this stage before, which means...

After finishing this match, she can wait to receive her title and become a full-fledged knight.

Although the outcome of this match for Independent Knights Hinterlea was already decided.

It was a defeat.

Ugh......

But in that match, Hinterlea encountered unprecedented trouble.

She had pretended to be exhausted and signaled her surrender, but her opponent acted as if he didn't see it at all, chasing her around the field and humiliating her at will.

"If it weren't for... if it weren't for the fact that I didn't want the audience to discover that I was pretending to be injured, I would definitely..."

In a daze, she remembered what her father had once said.

"Being a knight means going to the field to be humiliated, because those who refuse to be humiliated either smash all their enemies under these rules with a warhammer, or disappear without a trace after a news report."

Although I was extremely angry, what could I do about it?

For the sake of the future, we have no choice but to swallow our anger.

One day, when the independent knights signed by the Rose Newspaper Group were appearing on a variety show, a group of men in black carrying bows and arrows barged in.

They took all the knights to a corner and questioned and searched them one by one.

Under their stern rebukes, the knights huddled on the ground like withered flowers and grass, fearing being targeted by the Unarmored Alliance.

Even the few knights with bad tempers were not as arrogant as usual, but instead lowered their heads and fully cooperated with the Unarmored Alliance's investigation.

This is... the Knight Slayer.

Hidden among the crowd, Hinterlea did not see the fear in the eyes of the knights around her.

She simply stared thoughtfully at the bow and arrow in Wu Zhou Meng's hand.

I also use a bow and arrow, so why is there such a big difference?

Even after becoming a knight, does one still have to be subservient?

Look how impressive they are.

Once such an idea emerges, it grows wildly like weeds.

Then one day, she received a phone call.

"It seems you don't love your job; your voice is full of weariness."

“I can offer you a job that’s a better fit for you; you can get it by passing a simple test.”

Hinterlea hesitated.

"The arena is too narrow, isn't it? With just a slight flick of your wrist, you can send an arrow flying from one end of the arena to the other."

"The job I'm offering not only offers a salary comparable to that of the knights, but also a greater degree of freedom. If you wish, Miss Hinterlea, your arrows can pierce the night of the Great Knight's Territory."

"Looking forward to your response."

This sounds much more interesting than shooting an advertisement.

Then, without looking back, Hinterlea picked up her bow, abandoned the knighthood she had worked so hard to obtain, and disappeared completely from the public eye.

She killed a disgraced noble knight as a test for herself.

The military-grade triangular arrow, without a manufacturer or serial number, drew an arc, made a hole in the French window, passed through his brow, his sofa, and finally disappeared into the expensive wooden floor.

Looking at the file in his hand, which listed the Independent Knight's numerous misdeeds—

He disobeyed company arrangements, privately collected withdrawal fees, yet still defeated his opponent on the field, humiliating the company's board of directors.

Each of these actions could have led to his public legal judgment, but because of his surname, no one will do so.

No one wanted to offend a spoiled brat from an ancient family.

That's probably why Kazimierz needs the Knight Slayer.

I was so naive back then, thinking I had found my tribe.

But it turned out to be a trap.

Soon, she regretted it.

The so-called Unarmored Alliance, like the Knights, is merely a pawn of the Commercial Federation.

What knights, what armorless alliance? In the end, they're just employees of the Business Federation, no different from those guys sitting in offices, bowing and scraping, writing documents and making phone calls.

It's just that our work is harder, but we get paid more.

That's it.

In her opinion, it would be better to be a knight.

At least be a knight. If you don't want to continue, you can leave gracefully after handling the relationships, and live a carefree life with the money you earned on the field.

But after joining the Unarmored Alliance...

Ugh.

Although the salary is generous enough, I guess I'll earn it but not live to spend it.

It's all tears when I talk about it; I regret it so much.

Every time she thinks about this, Hinterlea wants to slap her past self.