Building Merits (2)

The silence did not last long.

“… Pfft.”

“What is that commoner even saying….”

The knights snickered as if looking upon something laughable. The nobles were no different.

They knew it too—how insane it was to provoke a knight merely for having beaten down a few conscripts, even the outstanding ones among them.

When one noble pointed with his chin, a man who looked arrogant to anyone’s eyes—yet not particularly strong among the knights—strode forward and laughed loudly.

“Ha—, haha—. Teaching requires neither time nor place.”

He stripped off his armor and rolled his shoulders this way and that, like an animal puffing up its bulk, regarding me as something ridiculous.

“Why wait until tomorrow? I’ll give you a lesson right now.”

Teaching requires neither time nor place—. That much was true.

I had learned how to survive in the slums, and happiness from Sister Flora. In the crumbling church, caring for the children, I learned responsibility and love. On the battlefield thick with the stench of blood, I learned honor and duty from Baron Köln, and from the conscripts I learned camaraderie. From Lediche I learned the courage to step onto a battlefield knowing death awaited; from Rubiru, sacrifice.

Just where, and what, had you learned to stand so confidently?

Was the fact that Baron Köln died with honor that amusing?

What were those who fed on honor even doing under a noble like that?

“… The knight’s words are absolutely correct.”

I swallowed the rising questions with a single breath. Instead of questions, I parted my lips to calmly accept the spar.

“Since this is a precious time to receive teaching, I too shall do my utmost. Though my skill is lacking, is it not said that even a roadside leaf sometimes has something to teach? I only hope that Sir Knight may also take away even a small insight from me today.”

Lediche’s eyes widened. I only hoped she would understand that I could not stop.

Thud—, thud—.

I watched the man descending. He was larger than I, and his swordsmanship might well be superior. In truth, I had never sparred with anyone save Baron Köln’s soldiers and knights.

Even so, I would rank the knights of Rueshatia—and Köln—highest of all, and believe them the strongest. Those who had bid farewell to their families and stepped forward of their own will for the people of the territory. Those who had thrown even their lives to uphold honor and duty. They could not be weaker than these bastards.

I had sparred with men more proud and more honorable than anyone. For the sake of Köln and the knights who had sacrificed themselves to save us, I had no intention of losing to the likes of them.

“For a commoner, you have a way with words. Hmph, you must have learned it separately from someone. Who could it be—surely one of the nobles….”

I felt him glance toward Lediche. When I had been beating and breaking the soldiers, rage had wrapped around me; now calm reason settled into my mind.

Something brushed past my thoughts. The knight from my childhood memories who had given me the courage to protect Sister Flora ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had never been like this. He had always been humble, warm, weak before the weak and strong before the strong.

So this one was no human fit to speak of knighthood or honor. Yes—he was merely the same sort as the trash of the slums. Just luckier, only the environment different from the slums—trash all the same.

“… With noble lords present, people from every region staying here, and those gathered for the honor of the kingdom—what could a young one like me fail to learn?”

I gripped the wooden sword. At that the knight shook his head.

“We’ll do it with real swords. How can one gain true learning when survival is guaranteed?”

“A good idea.”

“Fetch a sword. It will be in Lady Lediche’s tent, I expect?”

Lediche covered her mouth and hurriedly stepped in the way. I could see her eyes trembling. Even she did not seem to believe I would win.

“W-wait—, r-real swords?!”

“… Are you worried over a mere soldier like that? He is only a commoner, young lady.”

The knight snickered as he spoke. I could endure him speaking down to me, but I could not endure him doing so while looking at Lediche.

“… It seems the knight’s honor does not include how to address a noble.”

The knight stopped laughing and looked at me.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

“… What?”

There was no need to say more. If he wanted real swords, I hoped the opponent would go all out. I pointed to the armor the knight had discarded.

“… While we are sparring with real swords, please put the armor back on as well. Do you know how to handle mana? Use mana too.”

“You really want to die, don’t you.”

“Who fights intending to die? I am merely curious how noble—and how outstanding—you truly are.”

“… Ri, Riel—, p-please stop!”

Lediche tried to restrain me, but another knight who had already entered her tent without leave threw me my sword. The act made plain exactly how Lediche was regarded.

Entering a noble’s tent at will and fetching a sword. Rubiru was in that tent as well.

It was rude, disgusting, and irritation surged, yet I showed none of it. I only smiled to reassure Lediche.

“It is only a spar, Lady Lediche. You remember the promise, do you not? Sir Knight will think the same.”

I took the sword and walked into the circle of onlookers that had become a makeshift sparring ground. Onto the ground still scattered with the blood and tooth fragments the squad leaders had left, the knight descended. He seemed faintly displeased at having come down into the soldiers’ space.

“… What is your name?”

When I asked, the knight kept his mouth shut. He seemed a breed that knew nothing of honor.

“… How am I to give my name to a commoner who only talks big without even knowing what honor is?”

I barely held back the snicker that nearly escaped. It was not merely because of the mouth that spouted honor.

Not a single scar visible, few traces of battle. One of those noble scraps who had grown up gently and become a knight as a matter of course. Indeed—no knight at all. Certainty settled in me.

“We begin.”

He spoke as if at ease, yet he did not look particularly at ease. The armor left off for pride’s sake; the way he had been pushed into stepping forward—no, the vanity of volunteering of his own accord, pretending it was free choice, for fear of being pushed. Above all, he seemed to feel a dissonance from the confidence I openly displayed.

A knight defeating a commoner was only natural. But if he lost, unlike me—who was expected to lose—he had much to lose. He might be treated as a bastard among the knights and forced onto the battlefield. Nobles would have no use for an escort who lost to a commoner.

I saw him examining me with a cautious expression, and at the same time glancing behind him.

I was certain of victory even before the spar began. The knights and mercenaries Baron Köln had taught—even the conscripts—had, in sparring, shaken off every distraction and pursued only victory. I had always struggled for survival and fought desperately. There was no way I would lose.

Thud-!

As I stepped forward with my front foot, the knight flinched and retreated. Sword and sword. As if trying to exploit the difference in reach between a youth not yet fully grown and an adult.

But such a difference meant nothing. The barbarians were sturdy and fast, and the knights of Rueshatia had always closed distance while accepting injury. The refined swordsmanship learned in a safe academy or fencing hall meant nothing on a battlefield.

Unlike that man who thought of this as a spar, I gripped the sword with true intent to kill. I knew better than anyone that reducing the enemy even a little faster was more advantageous for survival than exchanging long, drawn-out blows.

Paat-!

Using my front foot as a pivot, I dug in as if leaping a short distance. The motion of lowering my body and the short leap meshed naturally, like gears locking. Because of that I lowered and sprang short at once. Small motions that were already fast, connected simultaneously, doubled in speed. A motion that would look to the knight’s eyes as if I had vanished—one step that imprinted that my level was higher than expected.

Siiing-!

The knight brought his sword down along the path I was digging into. Because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was the first exchange he had failed to gauge the distance; the blade cut empty air. Digging into that gap, advancing a little farther, the knight raised the sword he had just brought down.

“Kyaaak-!”

Lediche turned her head with a scream, unable to watch.

Kagagang-!

At the same moment sword met sword and sparks flared. He was clearly different from the squad leaders in that he counterattacked—but that was all.

“Keuk-!”

A blade rising from below and a blade descending from above differ in power. The knight was an adult, yet even so he could not knock my sword aside. He tried somehow to recover it, but there was no reason to allow that.

Whiiik-!

I drew the dagger from my thigh and threw it. The anger and the various thoughts already held within me passed the knight before me and chased the hypocrites behind him. I deliberately aimed toward the rear.

In a single exchange I had already realized I was stronger than these knights in name only. Inwardly I hoped they would grow angry and charge me.

Kiiing-!

A knight behind knocked the dagger aside, and the man who still had not recovered his sword idiotically let his gaze be stolen by the dagger mid-spar.

“… You need to concentrate, Sir Knight.”

I stepped on the sword he could not free and drove forward—

Puhk-!

—slamming my shoulder hard into the knight’s torso and shoving him away. Only after confirming he had been pushed and fallen among the other knights did I take the next step.

Crack—, I laid the sword I gripped so hard the hilt seemed about to break, and—as if to cut them all—swung Cronian’s blade strongly in a horizontal arc.

Seogeok-!

A chilling sound rang out, yet it did not continue to the end. There was no sound of a head tumbling free, no spray of blood. I simply stopped the sword after severing roughly half of his left ear.

“Heok—, heok—, heok-.”

The knight who had nearly died could not even scream; he sat heavily and gasped for breath. The man who had lost his sword and nearly died while placed among senior knights. Yellow liquid ran from between his legs; red blood streamed from his ear. Sweat beaded on his forehead and slid down his cheek like tears.

I withdrew the sword and held out my hand. Had I never spent time with Köln, I would simply have killed him. But because my actions were the same as Lediche’s, I chose honor over revenge.

“… How is it, Sir Knight? Was there something to learn even from a commoner?”

Of course the knight would not answer. The revenge I had not taken would be taken by the knights or other nobles who had so insisted on standing at his side. I did not go so far as to tear even the pride that had already become rags.

If something had to be trampled, it should be the pride of the noble bastards or the other knights. Stepping back a few paces, roughly wiping the blood from the blade on my clothes, I spoke.

“… Among Baron Köln’s knights and mercenaries—even among the squad leaders—I was the weakest. I naturally thought I would lose, and expected it to be so…. Yet thanks to Sir Knight kindly enduring even being cut by an unlearned commoner, I received excellent teaching. As expected of those who bear more noble honor and duty than Baron Rueshatia. You must have wished to teach the joy of victory to a lacking and weak commoner?”

The moment every eye turned to me.

“… Last time I fled the barbarians in order to survive. But if I keep receiving teachings like this, I may yet face them and prevail. I truly look forward to what sort of nobility I may learn from which knight tomorrow.”

I set the nerves of the knights the nobles trusted most on edge.

“The claim that they can protect lives from barbarians seems true, so I feel only relief.”

I showed mercy even though I could have killed the knights you trust in just a few exchanges. In truth, if you were truly strong knights, would you not have joined the main force on the eastern front? I am saying I was the weakest among Köln’s knights and mercenaries. You bastards are the ones subdued by someone like me in a single exchange. Who will spar with me tomorrow? No—leaving sparring aside, can those called knights protect your lives from barbarians?

Because so many questions were contained in the words, no one received them cheerfully as before. No one stepped forward offering to give a lesson. I smiled, bowed my head, and walked toward Lediche.

Passing between the knights, those who looked of similar skill to the one who had wet himself flinched their shoulders. They tried to avoid me, then, conscious of the nobles’ gazes, did not. They deliberately bumped their shoulders into mine. So I deliberately chose that one and spoke.

“… Tomorrow, please take care of me. It seems Sir Knight will be the one to spar with me.”

Some felt relief; others sank inwardly into fear that they might be next. The sight was amusing, yet I did not laugh. Lediche’s expression was dark to the point of turning red, as if she were about to cry.

“… Lady Lediche, today’s training is finished.”

I knelt on one knee before her. Even if it was because of those damned rumors, I knew I had to show this. Even if I was no knight, I was simply acting according to Köln’s final will.

“… Good work, Riel.”

Lediche, unlike her calm tone, almost sobbing, demurely held out her hand. I rose and walked with her toward the tents.

Lediche to her own tent. I to the one I shared with Rubiru.

Lediche lingered a short while in her tent, then came over to ours. And immediately she raised her voice. Because of that, Rubiru—who had been sleeping soundly, resting—woke.

“… Th-then if you really die, what are you going to do!”

After hearing everything, Rubiru ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shouted just like Lediche, eyes full of fear. The two of them worried over me and sobbed again and again, begging me not to do reckless things. So I offered a hollow excuse.

“… I…. No—I have to stand in the highest position among those men. Only then can I run away whenever I please. I thought it all through.”

Because we had promised to treat one another as friends when the three of us were together, I spoke casually and even smiled naturally. Yet no one believed me. Lediche said she knew it was because of her, and lightly tapped me with her soft hand. Rubiru cried so hard that I approached and lightly hugged her the way I would soothe Claudia.

“….”

Lediche looked at me and Rubiru for a moment, about to speak, then closed her mouth. She sat beside Rubiru’s bed and took my hand and Rubiru’s hand at the same time. An awkward atmosphere seemed to hang for an instant, yet Lediche, I, and all of us soon simply held one another.

We wiped away the worry. We wiped away the sadness as well, and simply kept the good memories. After talking for a long while, Rubiru suddenly asked,

“… Hey, Lediche. By any chance… couldn’t you find out how Riel’s family is doing?”

Family. Claudia, Ceria, Rhea. Rubiru had said that because I had family, I had to live. She seemed to have asked thinking that if she brought news of them, I might stop doing these things.

“How am I supposed to find out, Rubiru.”

News from a place a full month’s travel from the battlefield could not be heard. I only felt grateful toward Rubiru, and a faint regret settled—when Lediche spoke.

“… Once the family is stabilized, I’ll be able to look into it.”

I asked back without thinking.

“… R-really?”

“Th-that’s a relief, Riel….”

“… Lediche, thank you. R-really, thank you.”

After I said thank you several times, Lediche smiled bashfully, saying she was glad I was happy. Even while on the battlefield, having hope felt strange. Yet I did not erase even the hope I had gained.

The next day.

In front of Lediche’s tent lay foodstuffs and a few bottles of liquor. No—more accurately, because leaving them in plain sight would be noticed, they had been secretly pushed inside.

They came from Viscount Hummel.

A truly petty note had been left with them.

The spars continued.

There seemed to be a few truly strong knights, yet the nobles took fright in advance and refused to send them out. In the end, over three months—excluding the days when spars could not be held for various reasons—I thoroughly smashed two knights from marquis houses, five from count houses, ten from viscount and baron houses, and fifteen mercenaries.

In that time Rubiru recovered her body considerably and began to put on a little flesh. Lediche, through me, began to gain a voice among the nobles.

And a little more than a year after leaving the church, word arrived that the barbarians were preparing to advance.

Whether counts or marquises, the nobles came to me in the dead of night. They spat out requests that I leave Rueshatia and protect them from the barbarians.

The price of refusal was steep.

The nobles formed a Special Task Force and made me its leader. Even Rubiru—who was putting on flesh yet still could not run well—was included.

She was a hostage.

Lediche spoke with the nobles again and again, but because the fear of “barbarians” stood right before their eyes, they would not bend. They granted only a three-month grace period for Rubiru to recover.

I knew recovery within three months was impossible. Rubiru had discarded even her own lifespan to save me.

I have to build merits.

If I built merits—if I built them and had them reported—then even as a baron, Lediche could hold great power. Then I could pull Rubiru out of the Special Task Force.

I wondered whether everyone would worry. In the early dawn I slipped out of the garrison and headed outside.