Chapter 1
A knight signing ceremony.
It was a rare event.
A once in a lifetime chance for young and fresh men.
To attend this rare opportunity, sponsors from all over the country sent endless letters before the academy graduation.
They’ll let you be part of their house, or they’ll give you a title. If either of those options work, they might even offer you a marriage.
They’ll burn everything that stands in their way to get their oaths.
Obtaining the best of the best knights is a symbol of glory and an indicator of their ability.
From now on, the war of sponsors trying to occupy the noble knights begins now.
Clash! A knight collector!
…
That’s right.
I was fooled by the concept of this untimely game.
The goal of the game was to win as many oaths from as many knights as possible, until the three years of sponsorship ended and until you’re the wealthiest and most powerful noble.
Since I possessed someone in the game, wouldn’t I go back if I finish it?
At first, I ran enthusiastically towards my goal with that simple train of thought.
But the ending I received was this.
You have received the oath of more knights than anyone else.
However, none of the knights with true honor made an oath to you.
Alas, their brilliance was just a reflection of light on the surface of the water, a glare you couldn’t catch.
You took the knights who followed you and returned to the land in a lonesome way.
For three years, your time and money in hoping for the best knights were just useless…
The bad ending came out because the quality of the knights was not good.
This was because I bought a lot of oaths with money if the knights were bad.
Through this ending I realized, to get a happy ending, you have to pay attention to both the quality and quantity.
Yes, the goal is to get the oath of the main characters!
In my second attempt, I was determined.
You got the oaths of the knights everyone coveted.
But it was just an empty shell of an oath. Their sincerity lay elsewhere.
The most they did was to be courteous to you. They never really showed any emotions.
You only got their bodies and not their minds…
The quantity and quality were both satisfied this time, but the bad ending still came out because it was not a true oath.
The root of the trouble was that they did not choose to do the oath.
Because I used various threats and committed fraud to get their oath, most of the knights hated me.
In the end, this game is a ‘Love Simulation’.
There would be no good ending when the knights hate me.
I decided to go all out when the first and second tries were absolutely ruined.
You gave up on your sponsorship and spent all your money on gambling.
The gambler’s blood flows within you.
You went after money instead of the oaths of knights.
I’m sure you’ll succeed in this cold-blooded world of victory and return to the land…
Then, I got the Gambling Ending.
The pressure to get a good knight and raise a family was no longer tolerable.
You decided to run away from everything and cross the sea to get a new identity.
As you climbed onto a boat in the middle of the night and became a stowaway, you decided to not look back.
You now have a new life to unfold…
I got the Escape Ending.
The conditions of your knights were below your expectations.
You could not entrust your family to these pretty dolls that pretended to wield swords.
You then decided to become a knight yourself.
You promised that one day you would become an amazing knight and went on an unprecedented trip to another country to become a knight…
Then, I got the Knight Ending and so on
After seeing all of those horrible endings, I changed my mind.
I’ll challenge myself to get the happy ending, and after I get the perfect ending, I’ll escape from this place!
***
“This academy, which produces knights for our proud kingdom, is run with the support of our generous sponsors, and all the knights are grateful for their sponsors that will be sponsoring them for the next three years…”
Blah blah blah.
The principal’s speech to win over the hearts and minds of people was boring no matter how many times I heard it.
I roughly listened to the principal’s words.
What mattered anyway was not the entrance ceremony, but the welcoming party after the entrance ceremony.
A welcoming party was just a party, but it was also a place to make connections.
A knight with no money can focus on their studies only after they get a sponsor.
Therefore, everyone’s attention was focused on the welcoming party and not the entrance ceremony.
The students also glanced at the sponsors instead of listening to the principal’s speech.
As we evaluate them, they evaluate us too by seeing who has a lot of money and who has a strong backing.
I wasn’t a favorable patron as I didn’t have a lot of money or power.
Therefore, in order to target the knights, you must first make money and become a popular supporter.
There were a lot of knights who wanted to be sponsored by a rich patron. Rising in wealth is an important factor in this game.
There are three ways to make money in this game.
Trade, gambling, and hard labor.
Of course, hard labor was difficult, so that was a no.
Gambling was kinda fun, but I don’t want to hold onto it because I might get the Gambling Ending.
This time I was going to be rich with the safest, trade. It was a game that I’ve played dozens of times anyway, and it was clear where I had to invest to earn money.
“Then, let’s all please move to the hall.”
The entrance ceremony was finally over.
I was caught in a crowd of patrons heading to the party venue, or hall.
“Princess, did you see any knights that caught your eye? I like the redhead in the front seat.”
“Well, I’m not particularly interested in any knights at the moment”
I could hear two people’s remarks that stood out of the crowd of patrons.
Walking together, the two people were the game’s strongest competitors, the country’s princess, Elisita B. Elman and the Duke of Dien Liz.
If I stood still and did nothing, all the good knights might be swept away by them.
If I were a knight, I would rather be a Princess’ or Duke’s knight rather than the other sloppy nobles.
“183 centimeters…Red eyes silver hair…Hometown is in Dimask Le…Next, 191 centimeters… Pink hair Pink eyes…Next, 179 centimeters…looks like there’s a dog in the house.”
A patron wearing glasses walked by while holding a notebook and muttering about how the knights looked.
This girl is a collector.
She was the daughter of a baron. She wasn’t very famous but was literally a true knight collector who devoted her life to collecting knights.
Colette knew the personality of every knight, and her knight had to be obtained by any means.
It was so resourceful when she helped me on my second try.
Every knight that Colette chose was random.
Usually, she chose general knights and not the main character.
However, it was quite a hassle to deal with when she chose the main character.
This is because Colette’s incomprehensible thinking often appeared to have no rhyme or reason.
Elisita B. Elman, Duke of Dien Liz, and Colette, I had to be wary of them all.
It was those three who were hardest to compete with among all of the sponsors.
I entered the large hall and looked at every supporter that passed by.
The white hall, built with the money of the sponsors, was the height of splendor from the outside.
Inside the hall, freshmen who could not take off their uniform wandered amongst the supporters.
It was strange for first-time knights to try to get a sponsor, but the outstanding knights were different.
“Hello, my name is Iriel Toz. If you don’t mind, may I please have your name?”
A red-haired knight, who Dien Liz took a liking to, boldly spoke first.
Iriel Toz.
One of the game’s main characters. He was a former typical knight from a commoner background.
The knights in <Clash! Knight Collector> were separated into two categories: former and escort.
An escort knight is literally a knight in charge of general escort.
Former knights specialized in positions where dignity was important.
Their main role was to make more difficult appearances than that of the escort knights and make the owner stand out in the aristocratic society. For this reason, they are also required to have high social skills.
Anyways, in view of the game, all knights were accessories to the nobles, but former knights were more treasured than escort knights.
“Huh… My name is Dien Liz. Please remember that from now on.”
He had a splendid look and a dazzling smile. However, he was confident not to cross the line.
Iriel Toz seemed to be made just for Dien Liz, who liked the flashiness.
For that reason, Iriel Toz might be Dien Liz’s knight early on this time too.
But that didn’t matter.
I couldn’t do anything right now anyway, because he was an expensive knight.
It’s only after I’ve been denied that I could have him.
I took my eyes off of Dien Liz without any hesitation.
Instead, I looked around the hall to find the other main characters.