The Raven Knight's Challenge
“Are you really sure your body is fully recovered?”
The 1st Prince, Louis Ruard, was looking at his swordsmanship instructor, Arsen. Not long ago, Arsen had been battered and bedridden in the infirmary, but now he was back to teaching sword lessons with a perfectly healthy body, brazenly showing his face again.
“Yes. Thanks to His Majesty’s generous care and attention, I was able to recover quickly.”
“Good. Don’t push yourself too hard. Even if knights recover faster than most, it’s still winter. Better to be cautious.”
Arsen nodded and lightly swung the wooden sword through the air. Louis watched the motion, his brow furrowing. No matter how many times he received guidance from Arsen, the trajectory of the blade drawn by those arms remained difficult for his eyes to follow. The 1st Prince gave up trying to track the sword tip with his gaze, squinted, and looked at Arsen.
“Are you also looking forward to the upcoming martial tournament?”
Louis seemed more tense than excited about the tournament. Most knights participating in the main rounds of the martial tournament did so while affiliated with some organization. To ordinary citizens, the tournament was a contest between individual knights, but to those in high positions of power, it was essentially a proxy war fought by their loyal retainers. For a candidate in the line of succession, the New Year’s martial tournament was something that naturally demanded a sense of tension.
“Yes. His Majesty has already given his orders.”
“…I see. So you’ll be representing the Royal Guard after all?”
Louis asked as if probing, but Arsen merely shrugged as though he knew nothing.
“I can’t say for certain yet. There are seniors ahead of me, so it’s hard to tell how things will turn out.”
Arsen’s gaze sharply scanned the rear courtyard of the 1st Prince’s palace. No one was within his sensory range, but he couldn’t carelessly reveal the king’s plans. Louis noticed Arsen’s blatant search and clicked his tongue in resignation. The emotion born from that slight irritation transformed into an immense sense of helplessness about the current situation, drawing a bitter smile to Louis’s lips.
“What a damnable situation. Don’t you think? To be the 1st Prince of a kingdom, yet have to look around before asking even a simple question of my own vassal.”
Louis drove his wooden sword into the ground in irritation. The earth, soaked by falling snow, had frozen and refused to accept the blade easily. Arsen looked at him with apologetic eyes.
“My apologies, Your Highness. My personality is troublesome, and I’ve shown you an unseemly sight.”
“No, there’s no need to apologize. Your actions were correct. How could I blame you alone for my own lack of power?”
Louis gripped the sword as if whipping himself, pouring strength into his eyes as he pulled the wooden blade free. Right now, he needed to vent this frustration. He assumed the basic stance. The posture that Arsen had corrected time and again now looked quite convincing on the 1st Prince.
“Let’s continue the training, Arsen. Perhaps because it’s been a while, my body feels quite warmed up.”
Arsen nodded at the unusually enthusiastic 1st Prince. The feeling Louis was experiencing now wasn’t something a few words of cheap comfort could resolve. Clashing swords and drawing the cold winter air deep into his lungs to clear his mind would be far more helpful.
“Then let’s begin with the first sword form.”
Louis nodded. When one’s mind was cluttered with stray thoughts, the sword tip tended to waver, but now Louis’s blade stood steady and straight. As Arsen watched the 1st Prince reproduce the first form, he recalled in a corner of his mind the order the king had given him.
==
“I suppose there’s no need to say it, but Knight Arsen, you must participate in this martial tournament.”
The incident at the Magic Tower had ended in a half-victory. The Magic Tower, once an ally of the existing Benning faction, had been practically dismantled, but its core forces had not been completely eliminated. They had uncovered the fact that the Magic Tower was researching black magic and captured the black mages, but that alone wasn’t enough to bring Benning down. What the king had gained besides that were a blind knight who had been under Benning and a mage once hailed as a genius. It would be more accurate to call them the people of the black-haired knight sitting before him rather than the king’s people. Still, a half-victory was sufficient. The king considered the fact that he had been able to maintain parity with Leon Benning even in this localized conflict to be the greatest gain of all. Building on this, he had to win a little more each time. And the king firmly believed that this knight would be the key.
“I will obey your command… However, may I ask one question?”
“As many as you like, Knight Arsen. Ask freely.”
Maxim raised his head to meet the king’s gaze.
“Under whose banner will I be participating as a knight?”
The king’s lips curled slightly, as if he had expected the question. Maxim swallowed dryly, sensing something ominous in the king’s smile.
“I’d like to hear your opinion first. Who do you think you’ll be fighting for?”
“…From what Your Majesty has said, it seems I won’t be representing the Royal Guard after all. Will I be participating as the 1st Prince’s knight?”
The king nodded at Maxim’s cautious question.
“The knights of Argon and the border count’s knights are all excellent. But they would struggle against the hidden cards Benning is keeping and the knights of the Raven Knight Order.”
The king rubbed the armrest of his chair, his eyes gleaming.
“I plan to send Denis to Michelle. I’d like to call upon Knight Adeline if possible, but for now it’s better to let her continue operating independently as an adventurer.”
The king’s sharp gaze turned to Maxim.
“And you will participate as the instructor of the 1st Prince, Louis.”
“Won’t there be objections regarding fairness? Especially from Benning’s side…”
At Maxim’s question, the king let out a bitter sigh. Maxim couldn’t tell whether that sigh belonged to a king competing for the throne or a father forced to intervene in his children’s quarrel.
“It’s too late to talk about fairness now.”
The words “too late” were bitter. Maxim thought the king looked several years older in that moment. The king instantly erased the emotion that had briefly surfaced from his face.
“If Hugo doesn’t participate in the first place, Leon Benning won’t be able to raise the issue of fairness either.”
Maxim looked at Hugo Bern, the Commander of the Royal Guard, who stood behind the king even now. He had faced many opponents, but he couldn’t gauge that knight’s skill. Not only Maxim himself, but even Theodora, Adeline, or Leon Benning. Perhaps even his own master. When his thoughts reached that point, the commander also looked at Maxim. Maxim tensed under the pitch-black gaze of Hugo Bern and adjusted his posture.
“…Commander Hugo, what kind of person is he exactly?”
At Maxim’s question, the king let out a low chuckle.
“The strongest knight in the kingdom.”
The king’s words were simple, but the weight they carried was immense. The Commander of the Royal Guard didn’t even blink at the king’s praise. But it wasn’t arrogance. Hugo remained calm, as if it were simply an obvious fact.
“If I couldn’t be confident that I was the strongest in the kingdom, I wouldn’t be sitting in this position, Maxim.”
Hugo said this to Maxim. There seemed to be a composure in his eyes that only an absolute powerhouse could possess. The look that asked who could possibly replace him stirred a pure longing for the sword in Maxim that he hadn’t felt in a long time. His palms itched with a sensation he had forgotten. His eyes shone with fighting spirit, his muscles tensed as he assessed his opponent and calculated where he would move.
“An excellent posture, but don’t forget that you are currently in audience with His Majesty.”
At Hugo’s words, Maxim hurriedly suppressed his fighting spirit and straightened his posture.
“I have committed a discourtesy.”
“The fact that you can show such competitive spirit rather than fear toward Hugo is remarkable in itself. It seems your luck with knights is quite good.”
The king laughed, saying it was lamentable that the royal palace couldn’t be pacified by sheer individual martial prowess alone.
“This is a royal command, Knight Arsen. First, break through the preliminaries and advance to the main tournament. And,” the king looked down at Maxim and commanded, “ultimately, win this martial tournament.”
Maxim knelt and bowed his head. The victory the king demanded, Maxim could bring without fail. No matter who the opponent was, he could not break before defeating Leon Benning.
“I will make the wolves eyeing the royal palace tremble and tuck their tails between their legs.”
“As it should be.”
The king nodded firmly. Pointing his sword toward his son, the king’s voice rang out.
“Make it so that throughout this royal capital, the name of the 1st Prince resounds louder than the name of Benning.”
==
Louis was panting heavily, letting the tip of his sword droop toward the ground. He had swung his sword for quite a long time today. The winter courtyard no longer felt cold. Instead of the chill, his face, flushed with heat, was cooled by the cold wind blowing in. In contrast, Arsen, standing opposite him, didn’t have a single drop of sweat on him. Louis raised his head in frustration.
“You’ve made considerable progress.”
At Arsen’s words, Louis raised an eyebrow. Even though he had casually blocked all of Louis’s attacks as if dealing with a child, hearing him say he had made progress somehow felt like being teased.
“You didn’t even change your expression, yet you say that so easily.”
“But it’s true that you’ve truly made progress. You didn’t stop your sword training even while I was away.”
Louis sighed and nodded. Just as Arsen said, even in his absence, Louis had swung his sword every day. In fact, he had swung it even more diligently than when Arsen was supervising him.
“…How embarrassing. When it comes to the sword, you seem to know everything.”
“I still have a long way to go. Wielding a sword is ultimately a battle against oneself.”
Louis couldn’t yet fully accept Arsen’s words in his heart. All he could do was nod along, murmuring agreement.
“It seems choosing to learn the sword from you was truly the right decision.”
Louis gauged the weight of the wooden sword in his hand. The wrist gripping the sword trembled slightly. The sword was ever-changing. Sometimes it felt as light as a feather, and sometimes as heavy as a boulder.
“I mustn’t neglect the world I don’t know. Lately, I’ve been thinking that.”
“I’m simply glad that the sword seems to have a positive influence on Your Highness.”
Louis chuckled and rotated his throbbing wrist. Before they knew it, the morning had passed, and the sun was looking down on them from directly overhead.
“Then let’s do it one last time and call it a day.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Arsen raised his sword at the 1st Prince’s request. Just as Louis tensed his body again, Arsen suddenly scattered his presence and lowered his sword. Louis frowned in confusion at Arsen’s sudden change.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your Highness, it seems we have an uninvited guest.”
When Louis turned his head, a familiar knight was lingering at the entrance to the courtyard. Louis recognized the face immediately and narrowed his eyes. The middle-aged knight was being blocked by the attendants guarding the palace courtyard, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
“That person…?”
A half-involuntary sigh escaped Arsen’s lips. What on earth was Paola doing there alone? Louis looked back at Arsen.
“He’s definitely one of Kyle’s knights, isn’t he? I believe he was with Kyle the last time he visited. His name was Paola Simon, if I recall correctly.”
“Yes. That’s correct. I believe he’s the Vice Commander of the Raven Knight Order.”
Louis watched the attendants continue to block the knight, then shrugged.
“Well, let’s at least hear what he has to say. It looks like he really came alone.”
At the 1st Prince’s gesture, the attendants who had been watching him intently withdrew, and Paola slowly walked into the rear courtyard of the 1st Prince’s palace. His eyes, free-spirited yet filled with a knight’s spirit, stopped before the 1st Prince.
“I greet the 1st Prince, Your Highness.”
“What brings you all the way here? Surely you didn’t come just to pay your respects.”
Paola let out a laugh and shook his head.
“No, Your Highness. Coming to pay my respects is exactly why I’m here.”
At those words, Louis frowned in surprise instead.
“You’re quite the free-spirited knight. What about Kyle? Why did you come here?”
“I’m off duty today. Can’t we just let this one slide?”
Arsen, who knew Paola’s personality well enough, stepped forward, finding it awkward to just stand there.
“This is before His Highness. No matter how generous His Highness may be, please show proper courtesy first.”
“…Oh dear. This humble one is uneducated and has committed a discourtesy.”
Watching Paola belatedly bow his head like a sly old fox, Louis subtly raised an eyebrow. Though he hadn’t shown proper courtesy from the beginning, Paola’s attitude wasn’t particularly offensive.
“If you wanted to become my knight, I wouldn’t refuse, but…”
At the 1st Prince’s jest, Paola burst into hearty laughter.
“No, I’m sorry, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that offer.”
Paola turned his head toward Arsen, who was looking at him with a displeased gaze. Without realizing it, he felt a sense of familiarity with the black-haired knight.
“Have you been well? I was wondering where you’d gone for a while, but it seems you handled things well at the Magic Tower.”
Come to think of it, the Raven Knight Order hadn’t been mobilized for the subjugation of the Magic Tower. Arsen nodded as he retraced his memories.
“Yes. Fortunately.”
Arsen didn’t elaborate. He wondered how the former members of the Raven Knight Order would react if they learned that Christine, who had been treated as a casualty, was now alive and had joined the Royal Guard.
“I see.”
Paola turned his gaze back to the 1st Prince.
“Your Highness.”
“Speak.”
Paola’s voice had hardened with seriousness, unlike before. He was probably about to state his real reason for coming here.
“I would like to spar with Your Highness’s knight.”
This time, it was Arsen who frowned. To think there would be two people today trying to vent their frustrations on him with a sword. On the other hand, Louis seemed rather intrigued by Paola’s proposal, raising an eyebrow as if pondering for a moment.
“A spar, you say.”
Louis muttered, then immediately handed his wooden sword to Paola. Paola accepted the sword with both hands and bowed his head.
“Go ahead. However, Arsen is currently injured, so you’ll need to hold back.”
“There’s no need to hold back.”
The voice belonged to Arsen. Arsen had already drawn his wooden sword and was loosening his shoulders and wrists. Since he had been designated as the target for venting frustrations, this level of provocation should be acceptable.
“Whether you hold back or not, I don’t think it’ll be that much of a burden anyway.”