The Sparring
Davie's soldiers had formed a ring around the clearing.
Joseph had half-expected them to start cheering the moment the two men squared off, but they simply watched in silence, offering nothing at all.
"……."
Jiren checked his weapons without a word, unmoved by the weight of so many eyes. Once he was ready, Davie stepped forward from among the onlookers. In his hand was a wooden practice sword, surprisingly well-kept.
"The rules are simple. When it looks as though the other man can no longer fight, we stop there. Any questions?"
"None."
"Quick on the uptake. I like that."
Davie nodded.
"Then we begin."
The moment the words left his mouth, Jiren dropped into a stance. He spread his feet, lowered his body, and eased his shield a fraction forward, angling his torso just enough to hide the axe in his right hand. Conceal the weapon's exact position from the opponent — and remain ready to swing at any instant.
"……."
Davie smiled faintly at the sight. The boy looked young, but the way he carried himself said he'd seen real combat.
"Cautious. Or is that fear I see?"
"……."
Davie's light provocation earned him nothing. Jiren didn't so much as twitch. No matter what was said to him, he wasn't going to move. Joseph had told him to fight. So that was all he needed to do.
The moment he comes in, I crush his skull.
This was only a spar, of course. But without that kind of resolve, Jiren didn't think he'd be able to swing his weapon at all. That was how crushing the knight's presence felt. Jiren had met Auger and Manir, just as Joseph had — and standing across from Davie now, he had a rough sense of what he was dealing with.
What kind of grip strength is that...?
Davie studied him in silence, idly rocking the wooden sword between his thumb and index finger. The blade hung toward the ground, swaying as lightly as if it were a feather. Even a wooden sword wasn't something you could twirl between your fingers like a stick. Not easily. Jiren, at least, couldn't do it.
"Scouting is fine. But you've no intention of coming to me first?"
Davie spoke. Jiren still didn't answer. Davie's mouth twisted into a smirk.
"Fine. Then I'll come to you."
In that instant, Davie kicked off the ground. Dust bloomed, and he closed on Jiren in a single burst.
"……!"
Jiren's eyes went wide. The distance between them had been roughly twenty paces. Davie closed it in two strides.
"Hngh!"
Jiren gritted his teeth and thrust his shield forward. He wasn't trying to bounce Davie off it. Living things tended to dodge when something came flying at them — especially when that something was a shield larger than a man's torso.
"Hm."
But contrary to Jiren's expectations, Davie made no attempt to evade. He simply stopped — abruptly, mid-charge — and Jiren's shield came to a halt right in front of him.
"The judgment itself isn't bad."
He took a single step back, then kicked the shield.
A thunderous crack. Louder than expected — and Jiren went tumbling backward.
"Guh!"
He rolled across the dirt, then slammed his shield into the ground and used the rebound to haul himself upright in one motion.
"You've got strength."
A flicker of curiosity lit Davie's eyes. Then he kicked off the ground again.
"Aaaah!"
This time Jiren roared and charged straight at him. After what had just happened, sitting back and waiting to counter didn't seem viable. So he would close in himself and try to land a blow.
Seeing this, Davie gripped the wooden sword at its midpoint and raised it like a short spear. And just before they collided—
"Hup!"
He swung the arm holding the blade and drove his elbow into the side of the shield. A vicious shock slammed through the hand gripping it, and in that instant Jiren lost the timing to thrust.
A hiss of air — Davie's sword came flying at his face.
"!!!"
Jiren froze for a heartbeat under the impact, then snapped his head aside and dodged. He hadn't been ready for it. The attack had felt just like the demonic beasts that had come at him in Malešov — strike the shield, then leap over it and go for the head. That experience was the only reason he managed to evade.
"Aaaah!"
Jiren bellowed and took a hard step forward. At the same time he yanked the shield back with his left hand and swung the axe in his right with everything he had — a wide lateral cut. Davie's arm was still raised from going over the shield. The range was close enough. If this landed, the axe would bury itself in his ribs.
Just one hit!
In that moment, Davie's face filled Jiren's vision. One eyebrow was raised. He was looking at Jiren — and there wasn't a trace of surprise on his face.
What?
Davie dropped the sword and stepped even closer — specifically, into the small gap that had opened when Jiren pulled the shield back to swing the axe. He slipped right through it.
"Wh—?"
Then he brought his fist down on Jiren's arm.
"Ugh!"
The impact was far stronger than Jiren expected. The axe's speed dropped sharply. A dull clang — the weakened blow bounced harmlessly off Davie's armor.
Immediately after, Davie seized the axe-arm with his left hand and drove his right elbow into Jiren's collarbone. At the same time he hooked one of Jiren's legs and kicked it out from under him.
"Ugh!"
As Jiren's body lifted into the air, Davie threw his own weight on top of him. They slammed into the ground together.
"Hngh—!"
Agony tore through Jiren's body. He was already pinned underneath — and both of them were wearing metal armor, which doubled the impact.
"Urgh..."
His vision swam. The back of his head had been driven hard into the dirt. Davie held the pin for a moment, then released him and stood.
"That's enough."
"Wooooaaaaah!"
The watching soldiers erupted in cheers. Davie helped the fallen Jiren to his feet, then ordered an attendant to bring cold water.
"My apologies. I hadn't intended to strike his head."
He said this to Joseph, who had been watching the fight in a daze.
"...It's fine. He's not the type to be badly hurt by something like that."
"I imagine not."
Davie nodded in agreement.
"He's skilled. Frankly, if he weren't the mage's private soldier, I'd have conscripted him on the spot."
"...Didn't he just get beaten one-sidedly?"
Joseph asked. Davie shook his head. He seemed to mean it.
"From what I saw, he hasn't fought many people. Fill in that experience, and he won't lose to most opponents."
"Is that so?"
Joseph's mouth twitched at the corners. Davie's skill had exceeded anything he had imagined. The man hadn't even been fighting seriously, and he'd still toyed with the private soldier. Having someone like that seriously praise his retainer wasn't a bad feeling.
"Anyway — how about it? Shall we join the subjugation together?"
Davie gave a small snort of laughter.
"If a knight like you is there, I suspect the forest would clean itself even without me."
"Haha! The mage is better at buttering people up than I expected!"
He seemed thoroughly pleased by the remark, laughing heartily. Joseph had been half-serious. Having seen Davie's skill, he understood perfectly why the man was so overflowing with confidence.
Unless I keep my distance... winning would be difficult.
Joseph privately weighed whether he could beat him. His magic, as it stood now, could kill most demonic beasts outright. Given time to prepare, even Manir — who had once withstood Flame Bite — could probably be dropped in a single exchange.
But that's not the whole picture...
In the spar just now, Davie hadn't even used his full strength. He'd beaten Jiren one-sidedly. It wasn't simply physical power. The technical gap was on another level entirely.
So this is what a True Knight looks like...
In Joseph's memory, Davie settled into place as the most seasoned knight he had ever seen.
And so Davie and his soldiers would be joining the subjugation.
"I'll send someone before we depart."
Davie nodded at Joseph's words. He said he would wait along the road heading north.
Once Jiren was back on his feet, Joseph headed for Caladon again. Jiren had taken a blow to the head, so Joseph ordered him to rest in the wagon on the way back.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
He answered evenly, but his expression didn't match the words. Joseph started to say something, then closed his mouth.
"Why are knights so strong?"
Auk, who was driving the wagon in Jiren's place, asked instead. Derik was watching Joseph too, clearly wondering the same thing.
"Well..."
It wasn't a question Joseph could answer. He was a mage, not a knight. In this world, it was probably a matter of talent — and his private soldiers hadn't been born with it. That was what talent was, in the end. Something you held from birth, without ever having to learn it.
"They've been trained since they were children, I suppose."
Joseph didn't bring up talent. He was treated as a formidable mage now — but he'd only become one through sheer luck.
"...I see."
The private soldiers nodded, but their expressions didn't brighten.
Not long after they returned to Caladon, it was time to head for Harbert Forest once more.
"You've already heard, but this time a knight will be joining the subjugation."
Joseph addressed the mercenaries gathered in front of the wagons, just as he had before. They looked a little tense at the mention of a noble. Veteran Mercenaries were occasionally hired by nobles, which meant they knew exactly how exhausting dealing with nobility could be.
"So our role is to escort the knight, then?"
"No. We'll settle the details once we're there, but it shouldn't be all that different from last time."
Joseph intended to command the mercenaries himself this time. But this was a subjugation alongside a noble. If the other side decided they wanted to command the mercenaries as well, he couldn't refuse on the spot — not even later, once they were well away.
"I've prepared an additional wagon as well."
The moment Joseph finished speaking, Givra spoke up as if he'd been waiting for his cue. They'd prepared one extra wagon this time — they fully intended to haul back every demonic beast byproduct they could get.
"Master Dofnik sent it over this morning."
"Right. I'll have to thank him later."
Dofnik and Braham were going out of their way to accommodate Joseph, even in the middle of their busiest season. They just weren't coming anywhere near the mansion — apparently they had no desire to risk running into a noble.
"When it comes to nobles, the best policy is never to meet them unless you're doing business."
From a merchant's perspective, nobles were excellent customers — and at the same time, customers who could turn into nightmares at any moment. Nightmares who happened to carry blades. So they were fulfilling Joseph's requests while keeping themselves as far from the situation as possible.