Julius led everyone through a long corridor and pushed open a large door.
Julius stopped, turned to Yuno and Asta behind him, and asked, "Well, can you achieve more than they have?"
On both sides of the hall behind the door, Magic Knights and several captains, clad in various Magic Knight Squad cloaks, were already standing.
Ryoma looked around, only members from four Magic Knight Squads were present.
Golden Dawn with their golden cloaks.
Silver Eagle with their silver cloaks.
Crimson Lion with their red cloaks.
And Aqua Deer with their blue cloaks.
Julius stood in the center of the hall, his gentle yet charismatic voice resonating throughout the room.
"Now, let the War Merits Conferment Ceremony begin!"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over every Magic Knight present.
"This is your moment of glory!"
The Magic Knights of the Clover Kingdom had different ranks to display their strength.
With the Wizard King at the apex, below him were the Grand Magic Knights, which included the captains of the major Magic Knight Squads.
Below that, they were divided into three levels: senior, intermediate, and junior.
Each rank was further divided from 1st class to 5th class, from highest to lowest, making a total of seventeen ranks.
To advance one's rank, one needed to earn a sufficient number of stars.
In other words, advancing in rank wasn't solely based on strength, it also required sufficient achievements.
Ryoma and the others stood at the back of the hall, watching as Magic Knights whose names were called stepped forward to receive the medal, symbolizing honor and rank, before the Wizard King.
Asta's eyes gleamed, and his fists clenched.
Stars!
He definitely had to get more stars than Yuno.
Ryoma listened silently, pondering.
This system, seemingly fair, was in fact plagued by the drawbacks of class solidification.
Commoner Magic Knights were rarely assigned suitable tasks. They were either chores or extremely dangerous missions, making it incredibly difficult to earn enough stars.
"...And that concludes the War Merits Conferment Ceremony."
After Julius announced a series of conferments and commendations, the entire ceremony quickly ended.
"All right, everyone, you've worked hard. Now it's party time."
Julius clapped his hands, his serious expression instantly replaced by a relaxed smile.
"Everyone can relax and socialize."
He then specifically looked at Ryoma, Asta, and the other four in the back.
"Ah! Oh, right, I also invited special guests today."
His assistant, Marx, hurried forward and whispered a few words to him.
"Ah, I suddenly have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Julius waved goodbye, leaving Ryoma and the others to proceed to the banquet hall.
As soon as Julius left, the atmosphere in the banquet hall visibly changed.
If it had been solemn and harmonious moments ago, now, an invisible pressure permeated the air.
Dozens of gazes, like sharp swords, simultaneously pierced the six individuals standing in the center of the hall, who seemed out of place.
Those gazes were filled with scrutiny, disdain, and undisguised exclusion.
"Ugh..."
Klaus pushed up his glasses, a bead of cold sweat forming on his forehead. He could clearly feel the suffocating atmosphere around him, making him uncomfortable.
The others also felt more or less uneasy under these gazes.
Only Asta, that thick-headed fellow, was completely oblivious to the change in atmosphere. His attention was entirely drawn to the mountains of exquisite food piled on the long table not far away.
"Wow! So much delicious food!"
He began stuffing food into his mouth.
"Mmm! Delicious!"
Ryoma watched this scene, shaking his head helplessly.
He looked around, taking in the contemptuous expressions of the noble Magic Knights.
"Special guests?" Ryoma sneered inwardly.
Julius might have meant well, hoping that these newcomers, especially the commoners Asta and Yuno, could be accepted by the elite class. But he had clearly underestimated the deeply ingrained class concepts of the Clover Kingdom.
In the eyes of these self-proclaimed nobles, especially the three from the Black Bulls were simply blemishes that shouldn't be here.
Julius' departure was tantamount to throwing a few lambs directly into a wolf pack.
Ryoma could even clearly feel that this twisted arrogance, which judged status by bloodline and magic, was the fertile ground where the extreme ideology of the Eye of the Midnight Sun could rapidly take root and flourish in this country. This country was rotting from its very core.
"Filthy lower class person!"
Alecdra Sandler of Golden Dawn stared at Asta, who was wolfing down food, his brow furrowed in disgust.
"Why would the Wizard King invite such a vulgar person?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly echoed throughout the banquet hall.
"I can't feel any mana."
"They're really uncomfortable here, like smelly rats who wandered into the wrong place."
The surrounding noble Magic Knights burst into mocking laughter.
"Are you saying something bad?!" Asta, his mouth full of food, mumbled a retort.
"Hmph."
Another cold snort came.
Nebra Silva and Solid Silva of Silver Eagle walked over. They were Noelle's biological older siblings.
Solid's gaze fell on Noelle, filled with undisguised disgust. "Noelle, you disgrace to the Silva family, you actually have the nerve to show your face here?"
"A good-for-nothing who can't even control her own mana, you're truly an embarrassment to the royal family."
Nebra covered her mouth with a fan, letting out a "giggle."
"Oh, Solid, don't say that. She's not a good-for-nothing. She's just a useless failure in our family."
"Staying in a garbage dump like the Black Bulls suits you quite well."
The scathing words, like poisonous needles, harshly pricked Noelle's heart. Her body trembled slightly, and her face instantly turned pale.
"..."
Leopold Vermillion of Crimson Lion strode towards the Golden Dawn Squad.
"Don't you have lower class people in your squad too? Arrogant lower class people who are praised to the skies just because they possess a four-leaf grimoire."
Then he turned to look at Yuno, who was standing nearby.
"I could have done a better job in the dungeon capture mission."
Seeing this, Alecdra frowned and turned his attack towards Leopold.
"You're really full of yourself, little kid of Crimson Lion. We don't have any expectations for such lower class people."
He glanced at Yuno and said with disdain, "It is we who have been with Captain William for a long time."
Alecdra changed his tone and looked at Klaus and Mimosa.
He looked at Klaus, his tone full of sarcasm. "Speaking of which, Klaus, don't you feel ashamed to be here? Someone of your caliber can come here?"
Klaus's face instantly turned livid.
"And Mimosa." Alecdra's gaze fell on Mimosa.
"As a royal, and a member of the Vermillion family, to be severely injured and withdrawn at the very beginning of a mission, that's laughable."
Every word from Alecdra precisely hit everyone's sore spots.
He seemed to enjoy the pleasure of trampling on others' dignity.
The entire banquet hall had completely transformed into a courtroom filled with malice and mockery.