Akeru almost broke his poker face when he heard the comment from one of the individuals.
He clenched his teeth as he tried to locate the person who had made that remark.
However, before he could do that, he saw some familiar faces and waved at them.
'Is the war over or something? I guess it got extended due to my pursuit of Takuma. I could see most of the generals here. They'll probably be given awards in this ceremony.'
The ceremony started without any interruption, and Akeru just heard a number of people getting stars, some familiar, some unfamiliar to him.
"Next up is Kaiser Claymore. You are awarded 17 stars and promoted to First Class Senior Knight. I really like your diligent attitude and how you have honed your magic to reach this point. However, I think you should take a break to reorganize your thoughts."
'I wonder if his words had double meanings. He seems to know the knights in great detail,' Akeru wondered as he looked at the Wizard King giving advice to Kaiser.
He then saw Leopold getting 21 stars and promoted to Third Class Senior Knight.
'How the hell did he get more stars than Kaiser who was active on the warfront for a while now? I need to grill him for the details later.' Akeru made a mental note to do that.
Leopold flashed him a grin which he returned.
'After getting a grimoire, the last 6 months seem to have treated him well. He's already first-class in power. I wonder who would win if he fought Kaiser.'
Next was Erza who got 23 stars.
"Your magic is really wonderful, especially with your creativity involved. I believe that it would be your biggest strength going forward."
'Creativity, huh? Well, her magic does say "Gun Creation Magic" in the first place, so I guess if she could think of complex properties of bullets or guns, she could achieve that...'
Akeru's thoughts wandered back to the Erza in the vision.
For a moment, her image was replaced by that, making him take a step back instinctively.
"Hmm?"
"It's nothing." Akeru shook his head as he focused his gaze back to the Wizard King.
'It's been nearly a week since that dream and yet I can't forget it. Let's switch to the strategy I used that day.'
Akeru focused internally inside his body and used lightning to shock himself.
It was done in such a way that he wouldn't get much damage but rather was targeting his pain receptors.
Also, everything happened inside his body, so nobody noticed it.
'Pain is better than fear.' He focused in front of him.
"You didn't tell me that you were stationed at the border, though that does make sense, seeing how you guys were chasing Mars," Mimosa brought Akeru out of his musings.
"Yeah, you won't believe it, but he infiltrated the Diamond Kingdom too and caused a lot of trouble there," Noelle said as she had gotten the details about his mission from his own mouth when she and other members of her squad were asking for the details.
"So, you should also be called out for awards, no? From what I could remember, she called you 'boss', so you must be in a higher position, right?"
"Yeah, you will see." Akeru shrugged. He was also curious about the number of stars he would receive.
It was Ren's turn this time and he got 33 stars.
Ren had contributed heavily not only to the mission in the Diamond Kingdom but also as the rune array expert on the base, so it was natural for him to get this many stars.
Akeru could hear a lot of murmurs talking about how receiving this many stars in an award ceremony is very rare.
"Your skills are awesome, along with the fact that you use them to their maximum potential. Though your current stars and skills are not enough to give you a promotion, your request for the position you asked for is approved. Congratulations! You are now the Vice-head of the Rune Array Research Department."
The Wizard King's words elicited gasps from many people in the hall.
Getting such a position is quite hard normally, and unheard of for a young man like Ren who is in his early twenties.
'I am not even surprised by that. He deserves it. Not only are his skills at the higher tier of the Advanced realm but also his intelligence and how he executes his strategies is ridiculous.'
The hall soon returned to its tranquil state.
'If he existed in the original, then it would have taken him longer to accumulate achievements. I suspect that the conflict with Diamond Kingdom was not as blown up as in the canon. Otherwise, Aqua Deer wouldn't have had so few stars... But what if any other squad was appointed in the original and my existence caused a Butterfly Effect not to the happening of this conflict, but rather a change of the Commander?' Akeru's confusion about the canon events only increased.
Akeru blinked as he saw Langris's name being called out.
His achievements started getting called out, which hadn't happened till now for any of the people getting stars.
'Something is going to happen.' Akeru could feel it, seeing his achievements leaving the people in the hall speechless.
Langris had been appointed as the Vice-commander longer than Akeru and had his own share of events even before that.
It was also announced that he had clashed with many Grand Magic Knight-level individuals on equal grounds, which was the main thing.
After his achievements were called out, the number of stars he was given was 51!
"Your spatial magic is really something, especially after the recent development you have made in it. I would advise you to start trusting your comrades more."
"I will try," Langris said with a casual expression.
"And for your promotion, your achievements till now do qualify you for it. Congratulations, you are awarded the title of Grand Magic Knight."
Akeru didn't think that the hall could become even more silent than it already was.
And then the silence broke.
People cheered as the emergence of a Grand Magic Knight individual is a very rare event.
"What's a Grand Magic Knight?" Asta, ever the ignorant one, asked.
Noelle explained the ranking system to him.
"Wait, so that guy is the same rank as Captain Yami?"
"Yeah."
The cheers died down after nearly a minute.
"Though I already know the answer, I would ask for the sake of asking. Now that you are a Grand Magic Knight, are you interested in creating a new squad?"
"No, I will pass. I am satisfied with my current squad." Langris immediately rejected.
He was going to become the captain of the Golden Dawn.
'Creating a new squad would be too bothersome. Not only would it take time to establish themselves, but finding capable magic knights for the squad would be pretty hard, as not only would the recruits rather join an established squad, but the ones who would be willing to join that new squad wouldn't be worth that much.' Akeru analyzed the trouble that would come with a new squad.
'Moreover, I think there's an unwritten rule of having only 9 squads. Any new squad is created from the remnants of a dissolved squad, as that makes the previous process pretty easy. To support this fact, some squads have been existing as it is for a long while, like Blue Rose which has existed since before the time of the 11th Wizard King, which just shows how rare is for a squad to dissolve.'
Akeru blinked as his name was called out.
He walked calmly with an elegant aura.
It was all thanks to the etiquette training he had gone through during his time in the Vermillion Estate.
The Wizard King started announcing his achievements.
'Oh, is he also considering the fight I had with the mid-ranking devil half a year ago? Well, it was a one-sided beatdown. Though, from a third-person perspective, it does make sense to give stars for it.'
He blinked when his achievements of fighting multiple Grand Magic Knight realm people were called out.
He, along with everyone in the room, could guess what was going to happen next as it mirrored the previous announcement.
Even so, the tension in the room had increased.
"With your achievements, the total number of stars you are given is 69!"
***
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