Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Verdant Knight Order (3)
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“You bastard, you’re ignoring me to the end….”
Allen’s face twisted viciously as the wooden sword touched his temple.
He irritably swatted it away.
Then, channeling all his mana, he stubbornly pressed the attack.
“I’m gonna smash that ugly mug of yours today!”
A guy proud of his family’s techniques.
Thanks to that, he wasn’t fighting with the same unpredictable flair as before.
Instead, a pathetic sight, erasing his own strengths.
I punished him for it, dodging his strike and pressing the wooden sword right back to his throat.
“Slash.”
The moment he heard those words.
Allen’s eyes lost focus, as if his mind had snapped.
Then he charged at me like a wild beast.
Yeah.
Not in the imperial palace, so his biggest flaw shows itself.
Emotional instability.
Realizing I wasn’t serious, he came at me with everything he had.
Since my counter would just be a slash anyway.
But an imperial princess’s escort can never be emotional.
The instant you give in to emotions, the protectee is in danger.
I raised my sword again.
And the moment he ignored my attack and barreled in.
“Two-Handed Slash.”
I focused my whole body’s strength into my arms and smashed the wooden sword into his head with all my might.
Crack―――!!
“Must be ’cause your skull’s empty—the sound’s nice and clear.”
His face contorted comically from the intense impact.
The cadets watching it all clearly burst out trying to stifle their laughter, hands clamped over their mouths.
They’d been fed up with Allen’s obnoxious nagging all this time.
“Guh….”
He staggered backward.
But his mind was already gone.
Somehow, he mumbled on through sheer willpower.
“Use… mana….”
He spun his body, unleashing a sword dance.
Blade winds shredding the air, fast enough to whip his hair around.
“Use mana, you bastard!!”
‘His stubbornness is at least commendable.’
To prep him for the next level since he’d endured the Two-Handed Slash, I decided to give him a preview.
I clashed wooden swords with him.
Then, keeping them locked, smoothly rotated.
Allen, who’d taken multiple hits to the head, staggered after the spin.
Meanwhile, unscathed, I gripped my sword and thrust straight into his side.
“Urk…!”
Pain stabbing like a dagger.
He curled up like a worm from it.
Only then did his senses return.
He hurriedly called for a timeout.
“Hold up a sec… kuhk!”
No chance.
I raised my wooden sword.
Then, looking at the cadet kids, I declared firmly.
“You all saw that, right?”
The kids focused intently on my words.
Buoyed by their gazes, I brought the sword down.
On Allen’s body, all over.
“The most important thing in swordsmanship is the slash.”
“Stop…! I yield!”
Allen frantically reached out.
But I smacked his hand away, kindly planting it back into the dirt.
“No, no. You can do more.”
And to wipe away all his past obnoxiousness, I beat him soundly.
“The kids want to watch and learn more.”
“Your Highness…! Please make this lunatic stop!”
Only then did the brat call for his master.
The one he’d thought was a puppet imperial until now.
But.
Irina met Allen’s eyes and slowly turned her head away.
“It’s really pouring, huh.”
She pretended not to notice, gazing at the rain that wasn’t even heavy.
She’d been waiting for someone to rein in Allen too.
I smiled brightly in response.
And tenderized the next knight captain like ground meat, leading by example.
“Argh!!”
The cadets watching intently.
Among them, the girl who hadn’t fallen during Allen’s mana training caught my eye.
Looking about fourteen, she raised her hand toward me.
“Wasn’t that technique you used to knock down Sir Allen just now not a slash?”
“Excellent question.”
I nodded at the cadet’s passionate thirst for knowledge.
And while stabbing the writhing brat’s body, I demonstrated.
“Like just now, when the opponent uses an ’empty’ move. You can thrust with the sword to subdue them like this.”
“Ooh….”
The cadets nodded in agreement.
And one by one, they began asking questions with serious eyes.
“Then why did you keep avoiding clashing swords from earlier?”
“Swords infused with mana are too strong—keep clanging them, and mine could break.”
In the cadets’ eyes, Allen had devolved into a mere wooden dummy.
But thanks to that, the kids started taking my lessons seriously.
“Alright, blue-hair who asked first. What’s your name again?”
“Shia, sir!”
“Right, Shia. You call the commands and start from the basics with slash.”
“Yes, sir!”
Slowly learning slashes one by one from the start.
I nodded impassively at the sight.
The imperial princess did too.
She smiled faintly at the cadets learning step by step from the basics without face-planting anymore.
However, not everyone was happy with the situation.
Allen, who’d finally dragged himself up from the ground.
He shuffled off alone toward the captain’s office, utterly dejected.
I followed him slowly.
Time to toss him a carrot instead of the whip.
“Get it now? How low your level really is?”
Allen hung his head at my words.
And in a crawling voice, he muttered.
“Feel good humiliating me in front of the kids…?”
I elbowed his side, the spot I’d stabbed with the wooden sword earlier.
He let out a sharp yelp.
“You should’ve worked hard on the basics then.”
I slung an arm around such a guy’s shoulders lightly.
And whispered so only he could hear.
“Learn well. I’ll be teaching you a lot from now on.”
“…”
But Allen wasn’t satisfied with the vague promise yet.
I tossed him a clear carrot.
“Then someday, I’ll teach you Sword Aura too.”
‘Sword Aura.’
At those magic words, he lifted his head.
“You serious…?”
The guy who’d die before drilling basics.
Jumps for joy at the mere mention of Sword Aura.
“Yeah. If you’re gonna be captain someday, you’ll need to know that much, right?”
His eyes went wide at “knight captain.”
He’d assumed the captain spot was mine the moment I agreed to help the Verdant Knight Order.
“You’re handing captain to me?”
“Yeah. The territory the prime minister gave me is plenty for me.”
He cleared his throat, regaining some dignity.
And with his despair gone, he replied awkwardly.
“Well then… I guess I’m clearly the only one fit for it.”
‘Such an easy mark….’
My reason for keeping Allen in the knight order like this is simple.
His bloodline.
Not captain-grade, but he’d gained fame from that banquet duel.
Thanks to that, he can attend upper-class events, snag sponsors and connections.
What I need now is a figurehead like him—good blood, handsome face.
Plus, his nasty personality means great tenacity; teach him, and he’ll grow fast.
‘Looks like he’s all in. Time to wrap up.’
“Last, shall we sort the hierarchy?”
“Hierarchy…?”
“Yeah. I’m the one teaching now, so call me Master.”
I stared at him with unfocused eyes.
His lips clamped shut, pride wounded.
“Still got pride left after that beating?”
He scowled at my jab.
And chewed his twitching lips.
“Fine, whatever. I’ll go fetch Batsu and raise him instead.”
At “Batsu,” he squeezed his eyes shut.
And bellowed in true brat fashion.
“Master!! Masteeer!! Happy now?”
He finally spat out the title of submission.
Satisfied, I chuckled and patted his shoulder.
“Yeah, disciple. Let’s get along from now on?”
“Grrrr….”
Gritting his teeth.
He stomped off to the captain’s office to unpack his bags again.
“Haah….”
That should about set the foundation.
Feels like I orchestrated a ton in no time—tired.
“…”
As I prepared to head back.
My eyes met Irina’s, who’d been watching from afar.
I approached her and bowed politely.
“The duel’s over, so I was about to leave.”
The rain had stopped; I figured I’d walk back alone without a carriage.
But….
“Oh? I’m heading to the mansion too—wanna go together?”
Irina suggested tagging along with a girlish smile.
“I don’t see your usual maid around.”
“Yeah, I sent her off on an errand.”
Scouting info, maybe.
“Understood. I’ll call a carriage.”
“Nah, carriage is fine. Rain’s stopped—I feel like walking.”
The imperial princess said, standing at the knight order’s entrance.
Raindrops plinking from the eaves.
She held out her palm, feeling the cold drops.
“This much is okay, right?”
“Still, wear the raincoat. Someone might recognize you.”
The Verdant Knight Order was outside the imperial palace.
We might run into citizens on the way to the mansion.
“Eh, whatever.”
The imperial princess smiled and clasped her hands behind her back.
“Lately, rebels from defeated nations have been terrorizing the empire. Better to be cautious, just in case….”
At my words, Irina nodded and donned the raincoat.
It veiled her face in shimmering white silk.
“Got it—. But no need to worry.”
The imperial princess lightly stepped in a puddle.
And inhaling the fresh rain scent, she said.
“If they attack, it’d be Lydia or Lea—they’ve got nothing to gain from me.”
Maybe because the clouds hadn’t cleared.
Her face looked especially pale even outside.
“…”
More than anyone, she knew she still lacked power.
With a complicated expression, she walked ahead.
I drew up beside such an imperial princess.
And as we walked together, I gently smoothed her crumpled raincoat.
“You’re still an imperial princess of the empire, Your Highness.”
A light remark.
At those words, the imperial princess’s slippers halted abruptly mid-stride.
“So please value yourself a bit more.”
In her past life and this one, the imperial princess hadn’t changed.
Not treasuring her own life.
“…”
She said nothing for a while.
Then, as we neared her mansion.
“Got it.”
She finally parted her lips calmly.
“Thanks for saying that, Veil.”
Irina’s eyes rippled like they held rainwater.
Dodging that gaze, I turned my head away.
It’s just so she stays safe to stop the crown prince’s purge.
An awkward silence flowed briefly.
Then, with an embarrassed smile, the imperial princess asked.
“Hey, Veil?”
Her hands behind her back, avoiding my eyes.
In an uncharacteristically awkward voice, the imperial princess said.
“Wanna have some tea before you go, since you’re here?”
“Tea?”
“Yeah. Some nobles who sponsor me brought good stuff.”
She pictured her mansion coming into view over the hill.
But….
Her imaginings soon shattered completely.
The acrid smell wafting from afar.
And embers rising into the air.
Her modest mansion’s roof was engulfed in red flames.
“Ah…!”
The day after securing noble sponsors.
A fire broke out in the imperial princess’s mansion.