Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Spar with the Captain
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This world fundamentally follows the laws of fantasy.
In other words, it's a world where mystical powers like mana and aura exert their influence.
And knights are those who wield weapons like swords by harnessing aura.
That's why not only Winterguard, but any group with knights or a knight order constructs their training grounds to withstand even greater forces.
Of course, the Winterguard training ground was no exception.
But.
KABOOM!!
"......"
Even that training ground couldn't hold up against Cassius's power.
Unfortunately, this wasn't due to shoddy construction by the architect in charge of the training ground, nor was it because Cassius had gone all out.
'I just swung it normally.'
Yet the floor stones, which could easily withstand a single aura-infused strike from a knight, had shattered.
The spot where the spear tip had landed squarely wasn't merely cracked—it was gouged out.
This meant one thing.
Cassius's power far surpassed that of any knight who wielded aura.
Of course, knights themselves had ranks like Swordmaster and Sword Expert...
Even so, the core point was that it could easily overpower a Sword Expert and match—or even exceed—a Swordmaster.
'...No way, is this why Cassius never came to the training ground?'
If so, it made a certain degree of sense.
Because if someone like me tried to train even lightly like this and slipped up just once, there wouldn't be any floor stones left.
I could accept it if Cassius had kept that in mind and trained separately.
But judging from his memories... he had never trained apart like that.
"Th-the training ground floor..."
"Hmm..."
I could feel the members of the Storm Knight Order swallowing hard as they looked our way.
Panicking here would only invite needless suspicion or cause internal unrest.
For now, I kept any change in my expression to an absolute minimum and pointed at one of the nearby knights.
"Pass on the order to fix the training ground floor."
"Y-yes, sir!"
One of the sharply disciplined members darted out of the training ground.
By the end of the day, those floor stones would probably be restored spotless, as if nothing had happened.
With the cleanup ordered, the mishap could be roughly swept under the rug.
But this meant I couldn't gauge Cassius's full power in advance or warm up as I'd planned.
'Should I head to the mountain we'll subjugate tomorrow ahead of time? Or find some deserted plot of land...'
At that moment, someone appeared who could help me out.
"My lord, what in the world is this?"
Slightly disheveled hair, a face flushed bright red. And to top it all off, a massive beer mug clutched in his hand.
An uncle of a man appeared—slightly taller than Cassius and far bulkier to boot.
He looked like nothing more than your everyday drunken lout from some northern tavern...
"It's been ages since you showed up, and you go smashing the training ground floor... Did the knight brats do something to set you off?"
"Captain Kind."
He was none other than the captain of the Storm Knight Order.
In Until the Ice Flower Melts, the male leads each naturally have a number of capable aides.
After all, they represent their own factions, so it's only natural they'd have talented people around them.
For instance, the main male lead, the 3rd Prince, has a chamberlain and imperial knights at his side.
Likewise, Cassius in the original story was backed by several competent figures, the most prominent being Alf and Kind.
'Winterguard's brains and brawn.'
Alf was the one who supported the mad duke and kept the territory and family from collapsing right up to the final arc.
And Kind was the man who, following the mad duke's orders, achieved great results in checking and attacking the other male leads' factions.
'The one whose image clashes most with reality.'
He might look like a drunken slob right now, but this guy was the captain of the Storm Knight Order—a married man with a wife and kids, no less.
He doted on that wife and raised his children right, which landed him in the top ranks of the story's most baffling characters on a regular basis.
"If the brats did something to ruffle your feathers, my lord, please forgive them just this once. In exchange, this body—Kind—will take the punishment!"
Even now, it was the same.
He sounded like he was drunk and bluffing, but in truth, he was trying to shield his knights from fallout caused by the mad duke.
That's exactly why he'd risen to become captain of the Storm Knight Order.
"No, I broke it by accident. No punishments, so rest easy."
As I withdrew the spear and spoke, Kind's eyes widened slightly for a moment.
But he soon broke into a hearty laugh and downed his beer.
"Gulp, phew! Is that right! A man's allowed to make mistakes, so don't take it too hard! That's how we grow, isn't it!"
With that, Kind approached amiably, reaching out to clap my shoulder.
I raised a hand slightly to stop him.
"Captain Kind."
"Y-yes?"
"I said I have no intention of punishing the knights. So... you might want to get a little more serious."
"......"
"This is duty time, after all."
"......Understood, my lord. My apologies."
At my words, Kind instantly wiped the grin from his face and handed his beer mug to one of the knights.
There was actually a reason I was being so strict with him.
He was currently in a state where he wanted to leave the Storm Knight Order.
'He said all his loyalty had worn thin because of Cassius.'
Of course, in the original story, he'd stick around to the end, but it probably wasn't by his own choice.
The reason his loyalty had frayed was simple. Over the past decade or so, he'd watched the Winterguard family—whom he'd sworn loyalty to—slide toward ruin, and it was blatantly clear Cassius was the cause.
From my position, I needed to turn his heart around quickly.
And to do that, I'd adopted a stricter demeanor toward him.
'Of course, this alone won't change his mind.'
But it would plant seeds of doubt.
Based on that doubt, if I gradually showed him Cassius improving, Kind would eventually commit fully.
"Captain Kind."
"Y-yes, my lord."
"It's been so long since I visited the training ground that this accident happened."
"I'll take measures."
"No, I already assigned one of the knights to that. That's not what I want. What I'd like is for you, Captain Kind, to assist with it."
"With what?"
"Training."
"......"
"Tomorrow, before heading out on a monster subjugation after weeks off, I want to warm up with some training... But whether it's the training ground or the Storm Knights, it's obvious it won't go properly."
This request could only be made to Kind.
Because he was one of the only two Swordmasters in the entire northern region—not a Sword User or Sword Expert.
Given that Cassius possessed power on par with a Swordmaster, Kind was necessary for any proper training.
"My lord, may I ask one thing?"
"Go ahead."
"Why the sudden interest in training? Over the past few years, subjugations went smoothly without it. I can't understand why you want it now."
Kind's doubt was perfectly natural. The original Cassius never trained—not even up to the day of his downfall.
But I had my reasons for doing it anyway.
"To carry out more efficient subjugation operations with the Storm Knight Order."
"......Pardon?"
"The previous operations were successful, but hardly efficient. I want to try training to change that."
In truth, up until now, there hadn't even been anything worth calling an 'operation.' It was just Cassius rampaging wildly to kill monsters, with the Storm Knights following behind to finish them off and collect the remains.
No matter how you sliced it, the Storm Knight Order was one of the north's premier forces, yet they'd been wasted in the most inefficient way.
'Just fixing that would dramatically improve subjugation times, byproduct yields, and operational range.'
To avert the future downfall, we couldn't keep half-assing these subjugations like before.
We had to kill as many as possible while we could, to prevent ruin down the line.
"I also thought that to sync up with the Storm Knight Order, you first need to understand me. So, I'd appreciate your help with the training."
"........."
"For the record, this isn't a request—it's an order."
"......Understood. Then we can't do it here in the training ground."
With that, Kind set off ahead with a stern expression.
I followed slowly behind, spear and sword in hand.
What in the world had happened? The Winterguard wastrel lord wanting training—and mentioning subjugation efficiency, no less.
Kind's head was spinning from the earlier events.
'What could have happened?'
It felt like the man had flipped completely, making Kind briefly wonder if the person before him was some imposter disguised as the Winterguard lord.
But no matter how well you disguised everything else, there was one thing impossible to fake that proved his identity.
His presence.
That wild, ferocious, icy presence—like a northern blizzard—could only emanate from the lord of Winterguard.
In short, it was an indisputable fact that the wastrel Cassius wanted training and teamwork.
"My lord, training here on this plot of land should be no issue."
"Is that so."
Cassius promptly stabbed his spear into the ground and buckled a one-handed sword to his left waist.
"Do you have a preferred type of training?"
"Anything that lets you gauge my power and consider efficient tactical placements based on it."
Know your own power.
At those words, Kind unconsciously tensed up.
This was a phrase that every captain in the Storm Knight Order, including himself, invariably emphasized when training their knights.
[You must clearly know your own power. Only then can you achieve greater feats and save more lives from greater dangers.]
For the owner of the Storm Knight Order, Cassius, to mention it...
His actions over the past few years made it unthinkable, but Kind found himself viewing him favorably despite himself.
But he quickly withdrew that gaze and thought coldly.
'The lord's power can't be tested with ordinary training.'
The strong have their own training and battles.
Thus, Kind had only one method in mind.
"My lord, take up your weapon."
The moment Cassius lifted his spear again, Kind gripped his wooden sword and closed in, swinging.
Clang-!
"The strong require training fit for the strong. From now on, my lord—use all your power and strike me down before sunset."