Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The First Command
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A short while later, twilight broke over the eastern sky.
In the training grounds of the ducal castle, where the Sachsen family's vassal knights were hard at work.
Clang!
The madder-red light of dawn scattered as it struck the sharp, blue-tinged blades.
No sooner had the tips of a stiletto and a rapier locked than they separated once more.
Dale, the prodigy of House Sachsen, kicked off the ground to close the distance, while Charlotte, the Divine Sword's daughter, launched a counterattack, anticipating his move.
Clang!
The shadow of a murderous blade whipped through the air.
Clang!
Once again, their flashes of steel crossed.
Shing.
Before he knew it, the sharp tip of the rapier was at the edge of Dale's neck.
But the stiletto in Dale's hand, held in a reverse grip, was also touching Charlotte's chest.
It was a draw.
"You've gotten quite good."
Dale smiled at the end of their duel.
"Hmph, you say that like it has nothing to do with you."
Charlotte replied, feigning a pout.
"You're the one who's already a 3rd-circle mage and passed the 20th floor of the tower's trial."
Charlotte continued.
"Ugh, you have no idea how much people talk about 'Lord Dale' all day long!"
And on top of that, he was personally leading vassal knights to subjugate monsters in the territory.
Although their pure sword-on-sword duels were beginning to end in draws, Dale was by no means just a swordsman. Moreover, in his duels with Charlotte, he wasn't using the power of his prized 'Shadow Cloak,' which was designed for fighting knights.
It was too dangerous.
Dale's way of the sword was purely the Killing Sword, designed to kill his opponent. If he were to go all out by adding the Shadow Cloak to the mix, it would be difficult to spare his opponent's life, even in a mock battle.
For that reason, what Dale had shown in this match was, at most, a generous thirty percent of his full strength.
Charlotte surely knew this as well.
The gap in their talent was insurmountable.
However, considering she was only ten years old, Charlotte's achievements were also far from ordinary.
The daughter of the Divine Sword—her talent for swordsmanship and her rate of growth were truly befitting of a genius.
Her potential was such that she could easily overwhelm ordained knights who had dedicated over a decade to the sword since before she was even old enough to reason.
And the boy before her was someone who could make even a genius like her feel insignificant.
Dale of Sachsen, the greatest genius in the Empire.
"Don't worry too much."
Despite this, Dale spoke.
"You'll get stronger too, Charlotte."
He spun the hilt of his stiletto before sheathing it.
"Strong enough to protect me."
"W-what! You're treating me like a kid again..."
At Dale's words, Charlotte puffed out her cheeks in a sulk.
"But you are a kid."
"So are you!"
"Me?"
At that, Dale gave a mischievous smile and tilted his head.
After a moment, he answered triumphantly.
"I'm already all grown up."
It was the most childish thing he could have said.
* * *
"In battle, if cavalry is positioned on both flanks or one flank of the army to act as the 'hammer'..."
On the large wooden table, pieces shaped like chessmen were arranged.
Lord Helmut moved the cavalry-shaped pieces positioned at both ends of the formation forward.
"The ideal is to break through the enemy's wings and execute a flanking maneuver to form an encirclement."
A situation where the army's wings, concentrated with cavalry, break the enemy's wings and encircle them.
In layman's terms, a pincer movement.
"In other words, the highly mobile and superior firepower of the cavalry breaks through the enemy's wings to succeed in an encirclement maneuver, and—"
"And in the meantime, the key is for the infantry holding force to halt the enemy cavalry's breakthrough."
"That is correct, Lord Dale."
Helmut smiled, pleased with Dale's answer.
It was a tactic only possible when one had guaranteed cavalry superiority. And in that regard, House Sachsen's prized 'Black Cavalry' was undoubtedly the best piece on the board.
"Based on this tactic, the ancient general Barca completely annihilated a large army of the Rom Empire, which had nearly twice the number of troops."
The dynamics of war are much the same in any world.
The hammer and anvil tactic, and Lanchester's laws.
Afterward, Lord Helmut moved the chess-like pieces to add a few more explanations.
About the decisions that had to be made depending on the terrain, the difference in troop numbers, the skill of the soldiers, and the ratio of troop types.
The right decision always changes with the time and circumstances.
"...Oh, by the way."
As Lord Helmut's lesson was coming to an end, Dale spoke up casually.
"How is Charlotte's training coming along?"
He recalled his duel with Charlotte from that afternoon.
"She is no match for you, my lord, but her progress is truly astonishing."
Lord Helmut replied, not hiding his pride as her teacher.
"She has already mastered the fundamentals of the sword forms. It is still early, but I plan to formally pass down House Sachsen's aura cultivation method and swordsmanship to her soon."
Dale nodded as if he had expected as much.
"Once she can properly utilize the power of aura through the cultivation method, she will likely become dozens of times stronger than she is now."
Not just ten or twenty times stronger. Dozens of times.
Charlotte's growth rate was beyond what she herself could imagine. It was just that she couldn't see it, overshadowed by Dale.
"...However, there is one thing that concerns me."
Just then, Lord Helmut trailed off, which was unlike him. Dale asked, as if he knew what was coming.
"The compatibility between Charlotte and our swordsmanship, right?"
Lord Helmut gasped, feigning surprise.
He had hit the nail on the head.
Dale had also kept this in mind, which was why he had checked Charlotte's skills and brought it up with Lord Helmut.
Just as a mage processes mana into magical power through the circles in their heart, a knight can process and accumulate mana in the form of 'aura' through a cultivation method.
And just as mages build schools of thought in the form of 'magic towers,' knights pass down their swordsmanship in the form of 'knight orders.'
Knights serving lesser nobles often fail to master a proper cultivation method; at best, their skill level is raised only when their lesser lord submits to a great noble house.
Furthermore, it is these great nobles—especially a grand duke like Duke Sachsen—who build the traditions of their knight orders by passing down their own schools of swordsmanship, led by masters on the level of the Seven Swords.
Even if the great noble himself walks a path unrelated to the sword.
The Night Raven Knights of the northern House Sachsen, the Order of Saint Magdalena of House Brandenburg, the Iron Cross Knights under the direct command of the Imperial Family...
And as one could tell from Lord Helmut's title, the Mad Sword, the doctrine of the northern knights was the Strong Sword, based entirely on power.
The 'Black Cavalry,' which charged like chariots to shatter the battlefield.
In terms of skill alone, they were one of the most prestigious orders on the continent, easily ranking in the top five.
The problem was that the sword Charlotte had pursued was the Swift Sword and the Flowing Sword, which emphasized speed.
The cultivation method and the foundation of the sword are inextricably linked, and to accept House Sachsen's method meant to inherit the school of the northern knights.
Of course, it wouldn't restrict her to the point of forcing her to wield a massive greatsword instead of a rapier. For that reason, one might not think it a big deal at first.
But gradually, as Charlotte's skills improved, that subtle difference would begin to hold her back.
'Considering Charlotte's talent, she might somehow be able to reach the lowest seat among the Seven Swords.'
But that would be her limit. She would never be able to reach the rank of 'Greatest Sword.'
The pinnacle of the seven swords, the position her father once held.
The expectations Dale had for Charlotte were something she, in her current state, could not even begin to imagine.
"The Sword of Blossoms..."
As his thoughts reached that point, Dale murmured unconsciously. At his words, Lord Helmut's expression stiffened.
The strongest swordsmanship on the continent, once wielded by Charlotte's father, the Divine Sword, Lord Badel. It was so named because the aura processed through its cultivation method bloomed with a brilliant violet light, like plum blossoms.
"...A swordsmanship that was completely lost with the fall of the Knight Kingdom."
Lord Helmut said, sounding truly regretful.
Dale nodded silently. After nodding, he looked at the wooden chess piece on the table.
He thought of the man he had struck down with his own hands, Charlotte's father.
A piece shaped like a knight on horseback.
The Knight.
Could the Divine Sword, Lord Badel, truly have not foreseen that his country would fall and his swordsmanship would vanish completely?
'Has his swordsmanship truly vanished from this world?'
As a swordsman, would the noblest knight in this world have truly accepted the complete disappearance of his sword from the world without a second thought?
* * *
The time to prove the results of his learning came sooner than expected.
Learning the sword, learning magic, then more magic, and military strategy.
A schedule so packed that even ten bodies wouldn't have been enough.
It was around this time, while Dale was steadily raising his own stock by concurrently subjugating monsters within the duchy, that it happened.
One of the minor lords under House Sachsen requested aid from the ducal family.
"The neighboring Barony of Perker is claiming ownership of your copper mine and has declared a territorial war?"
Duke Sachsen asked again, unable to believe the absurd news.
"Y-yes, that is correct."
In this world, the 'borders' between nations or territories were less defined than one might think. Consequently, it was not uncommon for some to use this ambiguity to make forced claims.
However, daring to bully a lesser noble who was a vassal to a great house was a different matter entirely.
It was tantamount to a direct challenge to the great noble himself.
And what's more, the target was none other than the greatest lord of the North, House Sachsen.
'Even if Baron Perker was a former bandit knight who had lucked into his title...'
He wasn't so foolish as to be unable to see that far ahead.
"Yes, and furthermore, if I refuse to peacefully hand over the mine and accept the territorial war..."
Just as expected. After a moment of silence, the minor lord continued hesitantly.
"The great Count Brandenburg has sided with Baron Perker's claim—"
He produced a parchment letter from his coat, bearing the 'Holy Sword Master's handwritten signature.'
"A letter arrived stating that in exchange for a certain share of the copper mine, he will dispatch the 'Order of Saint Magdalena'."
The Order of Saint Magdalena.
The strongest knights of the war hero and Holy Sword Master of the Empire.
That name again. For a moment, the air in the room froze.
'Of course.'
Dale gave a bitter smile, as if he had seen this coming.
'So this is how he's going to play it.'
The Holy Sword Master, too, must have never forgotten the humiliation he suffered at the hands of Lord Black that day.
But he couldn't dare wage a territorial war directly against House Sachsen. That must be why he was attempting to get his revenge in such a petty way.
Moreover, the territories of the two parties involved in the battle were located in a border region where the northern and central parts of the Empire met. At the very edge of the North, Duke Sachsen's influence was not absolute.
And above all, a territorial war was not an all-out war aimed at the complete annihilation of the opposing force.
He must be confident of victory in a fair fight with spear and sword, under the restriction that the power of the Black Magic Tower could not be used recklessly.
"Father."
After piecing the situation together, Dale spoke.
"Please allow me to command this battle myself, alongside the knights of House Sachsen."
"...Dale."
"As Lord Helmut said, it seems the time has finally come for me to conduct a territorial war."
There was no need to say that a crisis was an opportunity.
This was the perfect chance to make him feel a humiliation even greater than the one his father had shown him that day.
It was a fight he could take on, and a fight he could win.