Sword Pilgrim

It was interesting.

“Wasn’t any fun, though.”

Genos, who was serving as the referee of the spar, said exhaustedly as he lost interest in the result.

Callius didn't even show his swordsmanship properly. He just used basic swordsmanship. And only fundamental movements.

So Genos didn’t get to have much fun at all.

To be honest, he’d had no idea there was such a gap between the captain and the lieutenant.

Not to mention those minimalistic movements.

It wasn't that he’d never seen swordsmanship like this before, that could subdue an opponent with the least amount of power.

Among the many monsters sitting above him in the hierarchy, such swordsmanship wasn’t unheard of.

One of the kingdom's Masters, for example, wielded such a swordsmanship, although it had resulted him having a sly and sinister reputation.

‘Rumour has it that he uses Stella's swordsmanship. Is it true, or not?'

Of course, it wasn’t that there’d been nothing to see.

That leadership ability, insulting the troops and yet galvanizing them at the same time by preaching the logic of strength and weakness, was quite impressive.

But as a descendant of one of the four great noble houses, and one who’d gone through a war, it was only to be expected.

There was one thing that’d come as quite a surprise.

“I agree that the fundamental training method provided by the Church is garbage. But to realize that by yourself and carve out your own path has always been the tradition.”

Neither choice was wrong, though, in his view.

“The sixth squad will become stronger, it seems.”

The sixth squad was bound to become much stronger in the future. That was what Callius seemed to be aiming for.

Knock, knock.

– Come in.

Opening the door, Genos saw Bishop Milliman, whose full head of hair and voluminous beard had now been halfway shaved off in a very strange manner.

“Bishop? What happened to your hair?”

“I cut it.”

His long hair and beard had been cut in half. To be more specific, exactly one side of his hair and his beard had been shaved off. It looked hilarious.

Genos bit down on his lower lip to stop himself from laughing out loud, his actions natural as flowing water.

“The pope scolded me and told me to shave them off. But I’m pretty attached to my hair, so I compromised.”

“You look perfectly half young.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

But –

“What’s going on?”

“I have something to report.”

If so –

“He was better than you expected?”

"Yes."

“Then, did you find anything that could be a weakness?”

Weakness…

Genos recalled the application form.

For admission to the Royal Academy.

‘Didn’t he have a daughter?

‘Right.'

Genos batted his eyes in response to Milliman's question.

“To be perfectly candid… not particularly?”

Early morning.

The Jervain villa.

Bruns sighed as he watched Callius lean against the bedroom wall, holding his sword.

“Is that you, Bruns?”

“Yes, yes, I’m here.”

They’d been together for a while, and Callius always slept like that. Except when he got injured, he always slept without lying down properly.

He never let go of his sword, even while lying down.

That is how you have to concentrate on your sword, apparently.

When Bruns saw that figure, a lot of thoughts went through his head.

“How noisy.”

"Yes. They’re training as you instructed. It’s noisy.”

A panoramic view of the shining sun could be seen through the windows.

But along with it came the untimely smell of sweat, wafting inside Callius' villa.

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“Those bug-like bastards came here to get stronger even after hearing such insults.”

Members of the sixth squad were running near Callius' villa.

‘Not all of them came.'

He saw about a dozen people.

Since there were thirty in total, only a third of their number had come to train.

“It’s not a bad start.”

Callius watched them through the windows, and then quickly washed and changed his clothes, using the water Bruns had brought.

“The mountain is quite steep, so running at that pace will naturally build up stamina. But what’s with those two?”

At the end of the procession were two little kids, Rivan and Rinney.

They were keeping pace with the squad members, although they were still at the tail end.

“They want to be strong, too. Will something like that really make them stronger?”

“Where you start from doesn’t matter.”

The kingdom didn’t lack swordsmen.

But not all of them kept practicing. Was it because they didn’t wish to be strong?

No. Because they compromised.

Saying, this is enough. This much of hard work should be enough. You have to eat rice. You have to nibble on some snacks. You have to take a little break, now and then.

They couldn't get any stronger because these thoughts were stuck in their heads.

Because once you start compromising, you’ll never stop.

“Yeah, people can’t become strong if they don’t train hard enough that they feel like dying. Right there on the verge of wanting to die, that’s the correct cadence.”

If you can train, it’s better to train with all your might.

That way, the efficiency of strengthening the body with divine power also increases.

On the battlefield, an instant can mark the difference between life and death.

So can a handful of divine power.

Since a drop of stamina can decide your life and death, if you don't want to die, you have to train.

“The lieutenant is here, too, I see.”

"Yes…"

“You’ve got something to say?”

“He might become strong and take revenge one day.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

The more they worked themselves to death, the more ways Callius could experiment.

“Fighting against a strong opponent is what I’m hoping for. I want them to be strong.”

“But would it work with just that?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just running, isn’t it?”

“It’s not for you to worry about. If you’ve got nothing to do, go and run.”

“Ha ha, no, no.”

“No? Oh? Why aren’t you running? You are of no use here.”

“Such ruthless words…”

“Run. If you don't want to die."

Bruns wept and started running towards the squad in the distance.

Orphin, giving him a strange glance as he ran away crying, came to greet Callius.

“Orphin.”

"Yes."

“Are the preparations going well?”

“Yes, I have submitted the applications to the academy in your name.”

If it was in the name of a count –

Getting into the academy shouldn't be a big problem.

“Then give this to Rivan and Rinney.”

"What is this?"

“It’s a list.”

A list of the ones they should become friends with.

Callius’ memory was sparse, but there were people in the academy who definitely needed to be befriended.

Academy alumni, and their parents, too.

Anyway, there was nothing wrong with building a network of connections in advance.

Of course, the same went for those who needed to be killed one day.

“By the way, Orphin. Did you come here as their governess?”

"No."

“Then why did you come?”

“Because you saved my life.”

Did she come to repay the favour?

Callius was far too cynical to take her word for it.

“The majority of the North owes me their lives at least once. You just had to pay me back by working in the North. You didn’t have to come here directly.”

Allen and Aaron, for example.

And the rest of the knight who’d fought with him in the North, too. They hadn’t followed him here.

After all, the North was the home he’d have to return to one day, so they were repaying him by protecting it.

“I want to be by your side. I want to offer my sword to only one person. You, Sir Callius.”

"Hmm."

Orphin du Liofen.

Originally, she was supposed to play a part in Callius’ death.

However, the idea of her wanting to become his sword was a bit fresh.

“Orphin.”

"Yes."

“Keep still.”

"Yes? Hhup!”

Callius put his hand on Orphin's lower abdomen.

Orphin blushed, wondering what was going on, but soon the excitement subsided and she began to get nervous.

“Have you practiced Jervain’s technique?”

“Ye-, yes? Ah… That's right."

Callius pulled his hand away and tilted his head in thought.

Unlike those other test subjects, Orphin needed serious consideration.

‘Should I do it properly?'

He’d only planned to beat up the others until they saw the light, but by teaching Orphin properly, he’d be able to accumulate much better data.

“Disperse it.”

"Yes?! But…”

“Physically speaking, you don’t fit Jervain’s training method. It must’ve been a long time since your growth has been blocked by a wall. Am I right?"

“… How could you know that?”

The Orphin he knew started as an ordinary knight, but she was one of those knights whose skills would suddenly improve later due to some sort of incident.

The reason for this lay in her practice method, and the day would come when she’d realize that Jervain's technique didn’t suit her.

In this way, Orphin would develop a new, unique technique; and change it all into a style that suited her.

“Let it go. And make a new one. A technique that suits you. I’ll help you with it.”

She had the talent.

Just a little help, and she should be able to make it work.

A knight who’d trained in the harsh environment of the North.

With the body of a woman, at that.

Her physique was already satisfactory.

“Change your sword style.”

“To what…?”

“Use a heavy sword.”

Her temperament was usually calm and even.

This was quite an advantage in the heavy sword style, but Orphin used a thin long rapier and had learned swordsmanship that emphasized speed.

Due to the differences in the basic skeletal structure and average physical strength between men and women, most female knights tended to use quick swords.

It might’ve been an unavoidable choice for most of them.

But Orphin was better suited to the heavy sword than the quick sword.

“Don’t be fooled anymore, and do what I say. It's better for you to switch to defence rather than offence, and aim for counterattacking at the flaws in your enemy's defence."

It’s tremendously difficult to change the sword style you've been training in for your whole life.

However, she would change it anyway, one day.

Since it was supposed to change anyway, be it now or later, it was better for her to change it now. Because she still had time.

There was still time before the civil war would break out in the kingdom, and Callius was slowing it down even further by capturing and killing the corrupt nobles.

“If it’s difficult, you can go back. If you're not going to be my knight, but Jervain's knight, you don't have to do it."

But –

If you want to be my knight and mine alone –

If you want to be by my side, you have to do it.

Otherwise, you’ll just be killed.

A knight protects their master.

But right now, she was more in the state of having to be protected rather than protecting others.

Callius couldn’t trust his back to someone like that.

“Are you going to give up?”

Orphin bit her lip.

Then she clenched her fists and answered.

"All right. I'll do it!"

The corners of Callius' lips curved up.

Bump! Tap! Thud!! Crrrackk!

“I lost, I lost.”

“Just try it one more time. Then it won't end with just this."

A girl holding a wooden sword spoke dignifiedly to a crying boy.

A gang of boys were running away in the distance.

And –

"Wow! Captain won again!”

The girl's gang celebrated the victory with shining faces.

Carpe is also known as the land of swords.

So kids brawling each other with wooden swords are bound to be everywhere.

And the girl called Captain, too –

Was one of the young buds that dreamed of one day blooming into a knight.

Her name was Flora.

“What’re you doing there, Daughter!”

“Oh, Dad!”

And she was the only young daughter of a lonely father.

“Did you fight again?”

“I had a duel! A duel! Of course, I won! I didn’t even get hurt this time, you know?"

She smiled, showing her hands and arms.

Flora's father hugged his daughter tightly with a proud face.

“Oh, isn’t that great? Is my daughter really going to be a knight when she grows up?”

"Of course! Absolutely! I’ll become a very strong knight! I’ll become an incredibly strong knight like that pilgrim with water-coloured hair, and I’ll buy you delicious food!”

“Hey~ Dad will be comfortable in his old age because of his daughter. Thank you~ Let's go home now."

"Yeah!"

However, the girl's father abruptly stopped while walking down the street.

His expression hardened for an instant, but Flora couldn't see her father's face.

"What is it? Aren't we going home?"

“Dad left something behind. Run home first, Daughter.”

"What? Let's go together, then."

"No. Flora. Daddy will go and come back soon, promise. Can you go first?”

"Yes… okay! Come back fast!"

"Okay. I'll come home soon."

The father's expression, waving his hand as he watched the child disappear, quickly cooled.

And immediately afterwards –

At the entrance of the alleyway, a man who’d been hiding in the shadows appeared and spoke to him.

“Your daughter has grown a lot. It's been over twelve years since you came here, hasn’t it?"

"Yes."

“Your daughter wants to go to the academy… She seems to have a lot of talent, just like you.”

“… What did you come here for?”

“There’s some business you have to deal with.”

“As always. I'll take care of it.”

“You've already made contact with the target, as it happens."

“…”

“It’s a shame, that business with your wife. But I had no choice. I couldn’t risk her getting captured by the Inquisition.”

"I know."

“I’m glad you understand my position, my friend.”

When the father opened the document, the personal information of the assassination target came into view.

[Callius von Jervain].

“So it’s the count.”

“He’s a troublemaker. It doesn't matter if you choose to return to your home country once this job’s done. Your daughter should also go to the empire and get a proper upbringing instead of staying in a ruined country such as this.”

Don’t you think so?

"Peter?"

Editor's Notes:

None for this chapter.