Chapter 87
Chapter 87
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Even a Treacherous Subject Has His Uses
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Alright, then we have no choice but to test your skills here. No matter how short we are on knights, we can’t just let anyone in.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing, Chairman.”
“Most of those in the ‘Black Uniforms’ are often squires or attendants, so it’s different, but if someone in a ‘Black Uniform’ wants to join as a knight, we test their skills to confirm them. We have an obligation to verify if those recommendations are genuine.”
“I have already verified that.”
“No. Even so, I believe it’s better to demonstrate his skills directly to everyone. Considering his… tainted origins… there’s room for internal discord. Confirming his skills should help lessen that.”
“…Understood.”
Though the Chairman spoke with thorough logic, he subtly provoked by casually mentioning ‘tainted origins’ and disparaging his father’s bloodline. However, Beonald, having been a traditional noble in his past life, actually agreed with this point, so the provocation didn’t affect him.
The Chairman, seeing Beonald show not the slightest emotional fluctuation in response to his provocation, was surprised but continued to scheme, determined not to let him join under any circumstances.
“Anyway, we must conduct a skill test, so please go down to the sparring arena. I’ll finish up here and join you shortly. Please get him equipped with armor and a weapon first. I’ll bring my own. Or perhaps, you’ll withdraw on your own?”
“If I had any intention of withdrawing, I wouldn’t have come this far.”
“Ha! Good spirit. Then I’ll see you downstairs.”
Having obtained Beonald’s agreement and thereby quelled the Crown Princess’s protest, the Chairman told them to go ahead first. With no other option, the Crown Princess reluctantly led Beonald downstairs and prepared for the spar as he had mentioned.
Then, with an expression of disbelief, she spoke to Beonald.
“What should we do? He’s not normally like this… He’s suddenly acting this way.”
“Ah… I understand. Don’t worry. More importantly, asking to equip armor and weapons suggests he intends to have a proper match, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right. And looking at it, it seems the Chairman himself will step forward. What should we do?”
“Well, as the chairman of the knight club, he’s likely no ordinary person. Please give me detailed information.”
“Yes. He is the heir of the ‘Cremel family,’ the family with the most knights in the Calleum Empire. The family head is currently Duke Cremel, a family firmly aligned with the Imperial faction, responsible for the northeastern part of the Empire.”
Calmly informing him about the opponent, the Crown Princess led Beonald to the armory where standard armor and weapons were stored, took his measurements, and provided him with suitable gear.
If the Valderian family was at odds with the Imperial family, this family was the opposite—a military family supporting the Imperial faction.
And the chairman of this club was the heir of that family; rumors said his personal martial prowess had already reached the level of a High Knight.
“To be at the level of a High Knight but not yet a knight… Ah~ it’s because he can’t pass the evaluation due to seniority, reputation, and achievements, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
High Knights and above, being the face of a family, territory, or nation, had strict and rigorous evaluations.
Up to Middle Knight, they might sometimes pass you considering future merits and honors you could establish, but for High Knight and above, especially Special Knight, it wasn’t just about martial prowess; you needed achievements and seniority commensurate with that prowess.
‘Thinking about it, Sir Malderov in the Callermain territory is truly remarkable. Even after becoming a High Knight, he remains loyal to the Callermain territory.’
“Do you use a shield, by any chance? What weapon do you prefer?”
“I’ll take one. And a long sword would be good. Phew~ Anyway, I’ve been getting into fights strangely often lately. I came to the academy to study, you know. And I’m not even a knight… Hahahaha.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. It’s fine. This is the fate of us lower beings, and besides, life wouldn’t be interesting without hardships. Hup… Hmm, this is what the knights use, right?”
“Yes. Is something strange?”
“No. It’s just a bit awkward because it’s not tailored to my body. Mmm……”
Clank! Clank!
Beonald felt the armor pressing heavily against his body. He could understand if it were the provinces, but here in the capital, and armor used by the knight club of the noble faculty at that—was this really the best they could make?
Still, he thought the forging technology might be a bit better in the capital, but knowing this, he smiled bitterly, thinking, ‘I should have brought armor made from Beonald Steel myself.’
Fully changed into armor and equipped with a helmet, he headed to the sparring arena guided by Crown Princess Zelsie.
‘Hmm… Roughly as expected.’
“…….”
“Woooaahh!”
Inside the sparring arena, hundreds of people were waiting for them.
From the nobles of this knight club to squires and attendants, they had all gathered, sitting in groups of threes and fives. When Beonald and the Crown Princess appeared, a huge cheer erupted, and all eyes turned toward them.
“I’ve never heard of such a test.”
“It’s common, Your Highness. No need to be too flustered.”
“This… is common?”
“So, please cheer for me here.”
Thinking she was still young with her bewildered expression, Beonald calmly walked to the center of the arena and faced the gazes filled with hatred and jealousy directed at him.
An ordinary person would have been unable to withstand this malice and fallen into fear, but Beonald instead felt a comforting familiarity, as if he had returned home.
‘That’s right. This is it. Mmm~’
‘Is that the guy recommended by Her Highness? That pretty face must have seduced her.’
‘The Chairman said he’d handle it! So we don’t need to worry, right?’
‘They say we’re short on knights, but why recommend someone like that?’
‘I hear he’s from the Callermain Earldom, but his father was a mercenary, so he’s a half-breed, right?’
‘That’s why he came in as a ‘Black Uniform.’ Must be ashamed of being a half-breed.’
‘He should just go to the Garden of Swords!’
‘I hope the Chairman kills him.’
He could hear them.
Even if the words didn’t reach his ears, he could see the malice just from their lip movements.
And it felt nostalgic.
The memory of nobles not treating him as a proper heir due to the Neumel family’s succession methods back in his earldom days.
The gazes of nobles who tried to check and kill him as he swiftly rose to the center of power by the Emperor’s side.
Even after 500 years, the world hadn’t changed, and human wickedness remained the same.
“You didn’t run away. Well, you wouldn’t have had the guts to lay hands on Her Highness if you weren’t at least that much.”
And from the opposite side, the Chairman, also clad in armor, appeared.
A splendid armor harmonizing green and brown, with flowers and leaves intricately crafted. On the chest, a coat of arms depicting a sturdy tree full of leaves was visible.
An armor proudly displaying him as the heir of the Cremel family. The roughly two-meter-long Zweihänder beside him was also lavishly decorated, with the hilt and guard gilded in gold and engraved with patterns.
‘Somewhat plain. Not even using jewels… Weren’t they supposedly the top among the Imperial faction? Anyway, shall I play the villain for a bit?’
A young knight’s appearance straight out of a fairy tale or legend. To most commoners and ordinary soldiers, his imposing presence alone would be overwhelming, but to Beonald’s eyes, he seemed endlessly plain.
He answered the Chairman’s words with the most insufferable smile he could muster.
“Ah~ I haven’t laid hands on her yet. I haven’t been ‘working’ on it for very long, you see.”
“…You bastard! Finally showing your true colors!”
“Isn’t that natural for a man? Wouldn’t leaving a Crown Princess as beautiful, charming, and talented as Her Highness untouched be dereliction of duty as a man?”
As he skillfully played the part of a lecherous scoundrel eyeing the Crown Princess, the Chairman’s eyes turned bloodshot, and a deep green aura began to emanate from him.
Since the opponent had already defined him as an ‘enemy,’ Beonald thought it was better to play the image of the ‘enemy’ he wanted, making him emotional, rather than clumsily making excuses.
“You baastard……!”
“Why are you so angry? No, I suppose you have reason to be angry. You must have been eyeing her too, Chairman.”
“You think I’m the same as scum like you?”
“Are you different? I can understand you using the test as an excuse to teach me a lesson, but look at all those people gathered heeere~ It’s clearly full of people intending to humiliate me, isn’t it? Showing such vulgar jealousy means you harbor the same feelings toward Her Highness, doesn’t it?”
“Shut up! How dare you insult me? If you utter another word, this won’t be a test but a duel!”
‘Now, now, shall I stop here? He doesn’t seem like an ordinary opponent…’
Putting aside that he was easily provoked, sensing that the intensity of the aura and fighting spirit emanating from him was extraordinary, as befitting a knight from a renowned family, Beonald subtly backed off at this point.
Just psychologically unsettling him was enough to gain an advantageous position.
Soon, the two took their stances and faced each other.
Externally, it was under the pretext of a ‘test,’ but the burning eyes of the Chairman showed he had no intention of ending this as just a test. It was no exaggeration to call it actual combat.
“My name is Lloyd Cremel. Heir of the great sword family, the Cremel family, Ogre Slayer, Chairman of the Imperial Academy’s ‘Sword and Shield’! I swear upon my honor to test you!”
“Beonald Callermain. I shall receive your instruction.”
“Here I come!”
Kwaaaaang!
The stone floor of the arena cracked, and leaving a green afterimage, the Chairman, Lloyd Cremel, charged at Beonald like an enraged bull in an instant.
However, Beonald had anticipated this since he was the one who provoked him, and seeing the Chairman’s Zweihänder raised high, he had already discerned what kind of attack was coming, planning to immediately turn his body to evade and then counterattack.
‘Kids are indeed simple.’
“Cremel Family Sword Style, ‘Final Form—The Leaves Shall Bloom Again’.”
‘Huh?’
The green aura that had been boiling over the Chairman’s entire body began to gather into the Zweihänder, shining brilliantly.
Only seeing it happen right before his eyes did Beonald realize something was wrong.
The unusual amount of aura and the meaning of the word ‘Final.’
That’s right. As soon as the spar began, the Chairman had drawn up his aura and unleashed the most powerful swordsmanship technique he could perform.
‘Is this guy insane? From the very start… Or could it be?’
Within the approaching wave of green aura, Beonald noticed the Chairman giving a slight smile.
Yes, the guy had seen through his strategy of unsettling the opponent to make him extend a simple hand.
And while it seemed like the opponent had been provoked by Beonald’s taunts and charged in having lost his reason in anger, he had calculated one step further within that.
‘…I’m screwed!’
Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!
Beonald tried to escape somehow, but the wave of green aura had already spread in a fan shape, engulfing him.
The martial prowess of someone who had reached the level of a High Knight was fully displayed, and the stone floor of the arena swept by his attack was all shattered, leaving traces as if struck by a typhoon or tidal wave.
“Cough! Cough! What is this?”
“Chairman, why use a finishing move from the very start…?”
“Ow, my butt.”
“That definitely hit just now… Will he be alive?”
And as the students caught in the aftermath brushed off dust or got up from their seats, they waited for the stone dust to settle to see Beonald’s condition, but within the dust cloud, a black shadow was already moving.