Kiles looked at the children gathered on the training ground. Satisfaction sparked in his eyes.
‘All of them are wonderful.’
Although they were still children, their eyes were clear and their bodies were well maintained.
Kiles called Roziel onto the podium.
“Hmm. As you all know, this is Master Roziel Evelian. The future Marquis and commander of the Knights of Olodika.”
The children responded in a small voice.
(Roziel) “I was originally going to go through another training, but I’m going to attend this training session specifically to boost your morale.”
A boy asked a question. “Wow, wow. Can we have a match?”
“Yes, if you are a skilled enough student.” Kiles smiled affectionately, as he said so.
Of course, the hidden meaning behind those words is... ‘If you don’t have the skills, don’t even bother.’
Still, the children were excited that they might be able to fight the famous Roziel.
“Now, let’s start training.”
At Kiles’s words, the children each raised their swords and posed.
“Perform 1,000 swings.”
“What?”
“Are you disappointed because the training is so basic? But for the next three months, I will focus on the basics.”
“What, why?”
“It is extremely basic training, but Agrad swordsmanship cannot be learned unless you have strong basic skills.”
Kiles responded with a smile at the children who were clearly disappointed.
“You’re still at an age where you’re developing. As the body grows day by day, sometimes it gets better and sometimes it gets worse. The best way to offset that difference is to strengthen the basics.”
The children, who were still impatient, seemed unconvinced but nodded reluctantly.
“Let’s get started.”
As soon as Kiles finished speaking, the children shouted and started swinging. Kiles looked at the children. Even if everyone got tired of it, they were very talented, so their attitude was excellent.
When Kiles looked at the children with delight, a child wielding a sword clumsily came into view.
It was Yuria Zeos.
Kiles’s eyes were filled with energy. Yuria was not concentrating at all. He thought she was in shock.
‘It’s as if you lost your country.’
A gloom that could not come from an eleven-year-old surrounded her.
‘Is this the aftermath of the shock from being dumped last time?’
She was dreaming of becoming Roziel Evelian’s lover. The thought of dating in this great Agelisk, with the Roziel Evelian.
Kiles clicked his tongue. Yuria’s body trembled.
… It must have been quite a shock.
It looked like she was going to collapse at any moment.
‘Don’t pity her as a knight. Even the failure of love will be good nourishment for growth.’
Poor thing, she was dumped right away, but she was a knight. A knight must have a strong spirit. To be so distracted by personal matters was to forget the duty of a knight. Kiles couldn’t forgive this.
‘I will help you come to your senses and become my true disciple.’
Kiles coughed loudly and shouted at the trainees.
“Concentrate. A knight must not let go of his sword under any circumstances. Don’t you think so? Yuria Zeos?”
“Yeah?!” Yuria looked at Kiles in surprise.
As Kiles raised an eyebrow, Yuria smiled awkwardly and straightened her posture.
‘Indeed…?’
Yuria looked straight ahead. Whether she intended to wield the sword properly, her expression became serious. The old sword in Yuria’s hand cut through the air.
And for a moment, Kiles almost lost his dignity and almost screamed.
Yuria Zeos’s attitude could not be said to be good even with empty words.
However, ‘What is that power?’
You have to raise the sword in a straight line parallel to the body and strike the sword until it is at a right angle. This was the basic posture of wielding a sword.
It was not an easy exercise. It should not be disturbed by swinging 1,000 times. The angle and direction of the sword must not deviate even one inch to be a good example of a knight.
Yuria ignored all of that.
It was such a mess that it was impossible to predict what kind of training she received in her family.
The sword that was held high was too high, let alone a straight line, the strike sank beneath the sword. Nevertheless, the trajectory of the sword that Yuria created was anything but ordinary.
A strong striking force. The curve of the sword that smoothly bent with every swing, the flexible wrist, and the sword that flowed like water.
After a while, Yuria was the fastest to achieve 1,000 swings.
“…”
Kiles, who couldn’t take his eyes off her, then turned away.
‘It’s an illusion.’
Kiles had heard of such ‘swordsmanship.’ It was far from the standard, but it was a swordsmanship art that fascinated people. However, there was no way that a girl who had just turned eleven years old, an ordinary child who was not known to the public, could master it.
She was just a little bit unique. Compared to the other children, her strength stood out only three times.
It was when Kiles thought that she must have been bored to stay still. Yuria might have been swinging the sword again.
It was no ordinary swing. She held the sword in one hand and handled the sword by turning her wrist as if she were dancing.
‘Oh my god. What is that trajectory?’
It was a skill that could not come from an ordinary swordsman.
It wasn’t an illusion.
Kiles swallowed his saliva. As if the other children felt something strange, their gaze turned to Yuria.
“Hey, what is that?”
“Wow, that’s a strange technique.”
“That kid, that’s her.”
“Who?”
“The one who got zero votes.”
Then they giggled among themselves. Those same trainees were not aware of Yuria’s true value as if they were blind.
Yuria stopped the sword she was swinging and turned her head fiercely. The children who made eye contact with her grunted and turned their heads.
… It seemed like she didn’t know.
‘Maybe I should say I’m lucky.’
Such a talented child was like a blank sheet. It could be painted in any color.
‘I told you my mother was from the Grenta family.’
The Grenta family’s swordsmanship was, of course, good swordsmanship, but it was not suitable for a genius like Yuria. Kiles thought it was lucky she hadn’t mastered the sword art yet. Those with endless possibilities had to be given their own swordsmanship. Only then could you transcend boundaries. Like Roziel Evelian.
Kiles clenched his fist.
It was an unexpected harvest from Agelisk.
* * *
It was night.
I strolled through the garden with a troubled heart. A quiet night was perfect for a walk. The strict Agelisk controlled the lives of the trainees, but they were free to use the garden of the annex to their heart’s content.
I waited there for Roziel.
Will he come?
He might not come.
He seemed to hate me enough to dump me twice. I thought about his bullshit. At that time, why was I blankly listening to him?
‘I should’ve hit you…’
Fortunately, he didn’t hate me. Rather, he was sympathetic.
I held back my tears. Being dumped by a man twice. It was disgraceful. Besides, I never liked him, let alone want to confess to him. I had only been here for a week, and strangely, I felt that the end of the world was getting closer and closer.
‘Don’t lose your mind. Let’s get a grip on ourselves.’
I cleared up my regrets and mixed thoughts, and I thought about how to persuade him and resolve his misunderstanding.
‘But I don’t know if he’ll believe me easily.’
As soon as I approached, a white-haired person came to my mind. No matter what I said, I couldn’t imagine a scenario where he would believe me.
‘Am I, above all else, a trustworthy person…?’
Flop.
I stretched out on a nearby bench. I didn’t have any strength. It was time to sit and count the stars. A forest came into my sight. I did not feel it at all during the day, but the forest at night had a strange atmosphere.
Was it my mood? Maybe it was because I was very tired today.
‘Or maybe because it’s a villain’s house?’
It was highly likely that the forest of the Evelian family was not an ordinary forest. Legend has it that Evelian was the kingdom of Agrad a long time ago. It was said that countless people died in the royal palace of Agrad.
‘That place is probably the forest.’
It was just a legend designed to instill fear of Agrad.
‘Ugh. Still, it’s creepy.’
I suddenly got chills. It was when I was touching the goosebumps that had risen on my skin…
Rustle.
“Huh?”
Something was walking in the dark forest. It wasn’t the sound of human footsteps.
“…”
I turned to stone.
Are you… are you a ghost?
I instinctively touched my waist to pull out the sword. Damn it, there was nothing.
Rustle.
The sound was getting closer.
‘Okay, let’s scream. If you scream, someone will come out. For example, Leniana Mienda.’
She was a friend with a strong sense of justice, so she probably won’t pretend that she doesn’t know me when I’m in danger.
I took a deep breath.
Shout out, sound-!
It was then.
“You.”
A familiar voice echoed through the silent space.