Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: First Training at the Combat Division (2)
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I merely swung the sword lightly. But the blood of the Reinhardts, stirred by that brief swordsmanship demonstration moments ago, had sharpened all my senses.
The cadets' hushed conversations sounded as if they were speaking right beside me.
"Wasn't that weird just now? For Count Julian to swing the sword steadily all the way through without faltering. He definitely doesn't have the stamina for that."
It wasn't wrong. A heavy metal true sword, not a wooden one. Swung fifty times in perfect form.
It would've been fine if done sloppily. But it certainly wasn't easy.
"And not a single wasted motion—perfect posture all the way. No wobble in the blade even at the end. Honestly, every movement was superior to mine."
"No way! With your skills, Leif, you're the best among us, aren't you? What the Count performed wasn't the Imperial Swordsmanship but some bizarre technique I'd never seen before. Aren't you just mistaken?"
"Yeah, Leif, you must've seen it wrong. Anyone who's properly trained can keep their sword steady."
The cadets seemed puzzled by my swordsmanship. Some thought it was good, others bad—their opinions were divided.
Well, truthfully, I'd only picked up a sword again after a few days of various events since arriving in the capital. By the Combat Division's standards, it might've fallen short somewhere.
'Still, I don't think it was bad at all. The real judgment will come from Instructor Darren's reaction.'
I glanced at Instructor Darren. His stern expression was the same as before. But looking closer, his right eyebrow was slightly raised.
What did that mean? For now, I waited for him to quiet the cadets' murmurs. Sure enough, he bellowed at them.
"Quiet down, all of you! Focus!"
The cadets fell silent in an instant. Instructor Darren, the tiger of an instructor—everyone listened to him well.
"And Julian—or should I say Julian—I have a question for you. What were you thinking when you performed that swordsmanship just now?"
Instructor Darren addressed me directly. I was momentarily puzzled but answered calmly.
"I performed the basic movements of the first form of the Imperial Swordsmanship, as you instructed, Instructor. Was there a problem?"
"A problem? Yes, there was. What you performed wasn't the Imperial Swordsmanship."
At those words, the cadets buzzed with surprise.
"See? It was bogus after all. As expected. Even the Imperial Swordsmanship requires a full year of first-year training to master the first form. There's no way Count Julian, who hasn't properly participated in training, could pull it off."
"No wonder there were unfamiliar movements mixed in. The Count just swung it however he felt like, right?"
Another cadet immediately refuted that.
"No, that's not it. A sword swung wildly lacks power, and it shows. But Count Julian's strikes contained all the subtleties between the first and fifth forms. And the aura they gave off was even stronger than the Imperial Swordsmanship. It couldn't have been bogus."
"Aren't you overrating him, Leif? You always put too much faith in the Reinhardt family. It was some unknown swordsmanship, not even the Imperial one—there's no way it had those subtleties."
Instructor Darren raised his hand to halt the brief commotion and barked.
"You idiots! You all know one thing and ignore the rest!"
The cadets focused on him. Instructor Darren raised his voice and continued.
"It's definitely not the Imperial Swordsmanship. But calling it something you've never seen before is just as foolish—if your eyes aren't mere decorations. Then, Leif, as the Combat Division's top second-year representative, share your impressions."
Instructor Darren pointed to one cadet. Leif, the gray-haired commoner-born second-year representative of the Swordsmanship Division, stepped forward.
"Yes, Instructor Darren! Julian's swordsmanship was indeed different from the Imperial Swordsmanship."
"How was it different?"
"The basics embedded in it were the same as the Imperial Swordsmanship. The fundamental thrusts and slashes up to the fifth form, and variations thereof. The first five repetitions were identical, no doubt."
"Hoo. So you saw that far. And after that?"
"The next five were different from the Imperial Swordsmanship. Even the simple variations brimmed with a majestic aura... It resembled the Imperial Swordsmanship but felt a step more advanced."
"As expected of the grade representative—not appointed lightly. Leif saw it correctly. Now, I'll explain."
Instructor Darren pointed at me with his instructor's baton.
"The swordsmanship Julian performed was the Lion Heart Sword, not the Imperial Swordsmanship. No wonder it felt unfamiliar to you."
The mention of the Lion Heart Sword instantly shifted the cadets' atmosphere.
"Lion Heart Sword? You mean the White Night Knights' formal technique?"
"No way. The Lion Heart Sword is the pinnacle technique you only learn after joining the White Night Knights."
"Even for the Reinhardt family, that doesn't make sense. The Count could barely swing a wooden sword properly until last year. How could he know the Lion Heart Sword, which only Essenmont's sword ghosts learn?"
Instructor Darren shouted at the still-dubious cadets.
"You idiots again! No one but Leif could even see the swordsmanship properly. Listen carefully from now on."
Instructor Darren gave a simple explanation. The Lion Heart Sword of the White Night Knights was a technique constantly refined against high-level magical beasts right beside the continent's most ferocious gate, the Eternal Frozen Lands.
It was created by the Reinhardt family's ancestors.
At the time of the Great War twenty years ago, the Lion Heart Sword surpassed the techniques of any renowned knightly order on the continent.
"That's why the current Border Count of Essenmont, Count Wilhelm, adapted the Lion Heart Sword so even ordinary knights could learn it—that adaptation is the Imperial Swordsmanship. In other words, the Imperial Swordsmanship is based on the Lion Heart Sword. So it's only natural that Julian's swings just now contained its subtleties."
In short, the Imperial Swordsmanship was a downgraded version of the Lion Heart Sword. All the cadets' gazes suddenly focused on me.
'Damn. I meant to perform the Imperial Swordsmanship. Was the Reinhardt blood too strong, overriding the Ordinary Knight trait?'
The Imperial Swordsmanship, as Darren said, was a formalized technique adapted for ordinary knights. That's why I could grasp it easily with the system's Ordinary Knight trait.
I'd prepared the Imperial Swordsmanship in advance. But in that focused state, the Lion Heart Sword emerged unconsciously.
"Of course, I instructed the Imperial Swordsmanship. But since its roots are in the Lion Heart Sword, it's actually praiseworthy."
He then harshly scolded the cadets.
"Clearly, Julian didn't waste his vacation. Unlike you lot who lounged around. Some of you have even gotten worse than before break!"
With the trait's help, sure. But preparing for the Military Parade meant frequent visits to the training grounds, so it wasn't wrong.
"Only Leif properly discerned the difference. If you're not idiots, memorize every bit of Julian's demonstration in your heads. Everyone except Julian and Leif—repeat the swordsmanship up to the fifth form ten more times. Begin!"
"Begin!"
Because of me, the cadets had to repeat fifty swings. I felt no sympathy.
'Even if they didn't know better, they looked down on me anyway.'
I watched with satisfaction as Instructor Darren glared at the cadets.
And unexpectedly, using the Lion Heart Sword just now brought a reward.
Titles were part of the game system denoting my status, like Heir to the Demon King, Son of the Saintess, or Heir to the Reinhardt Family.
In other words, accomplishing things related to this title would yield more game currency. In this case, it was probably tied to Pantheon's classes and training.
'Wait. Does that mean I wasn't even an official cadet until now?'
Well, considering what Julian got up to in his first year, it was a miracle he wasn't expelled. He avoided expulsion, but the faculty probably never recognized him as a proper cadet.
After confirming with the system, I leisurely watched the cadets' repeated training. Analyzing their weaknesses with the Inspector trait raised its proficiency repeatedly.
I felt myself drawing even closer to the Reinhardt bloodline.
The repeated training ended. Instructor Darren gathered the cadets again and shared important information this time.
"You've all heard by now from last week's division meeting that the reserve platoons were formed earlier than usual. The order came down to inform the reserve platoon members of the details."
Due to the Combat Division's nature, most cadets were assigned to the Imperial Guard reserve platoon. So Instructor Darren told them the truth openly.
"This fall, a massive mobilization order will come from the imperial palace. In other words, there's a nest to conquer."
A huge commotion erupted among the cadets. Even Instructor Darren let it slide, as if he'd anticipated their reaction.
'Nest, huh. So the information leaks at this point, as expected.'
A hundred years ago, gates and magical beasts appeared on the Iseland Continent. Soon after, the beasts absorbed parts of humanity's system.
They formed hierarchies and packs. Kings, knights, soldiers—a vertical structure.
Among them, beasts that turned an entire area into a dungeon based on a massive gate. The empire called those massive gates-turned-lairs "nests."
The beast king ruling a nest evolved into something more dangerous than its grade, feeding on the fear and submission of its subordinates.
"A nest...? For real? There haven't been magical beasts that dangerous near the old capital lately."
"Of all places, the old capital? It can't be imperial-grade, right?"
"Imperial-grade? No way. Even so, nothing that high has appeared recently. Kingdom-grade, maybe."
Fear crept onto the cadets' faces. Instructor Darren reassured them.
"No need to worry too much. The issue with nests is their numbers, not anything else. As you said, the nest to be conquered this fall is kingdom-grade. With the Holy Empire's current power, that's no big deal."
A kingdom-grade nest's king was rated one step above a Rank 1 beast. Nests rarely evolved to imperial-grade.
'Because they're usually exterminated before that. The most recent imperial-grade case was the nest near the old capital's gate twenty years ago.'
The reason for the mobilization order was obvious: a kingdom-grade nest had appeared near the capital, in the old capital region.
Instructor Darren continued.
"But since its location is the old capital, full preparation is essential. That's why you reserve cadets will be deployed early to gain experience beforehand. In a word, rear support."
He was right. Moreover, this nest conquest event was the most crucial in the first part of Demon King's Son Surviving in the Holy Empire.
'If the protagonist doesn't shine here, the second part turns into a tragedy genre real quick.'
Truthfully, the nest Instructor Darren mentioned was underrated. That's why many in the subjugation force would die.
Especially the cadets caught up in the event. Even among the heroines and key characters, there would be sacrifices.
Depending on playthroughs, casualties could be minimized. But even after 1000 hours, no one had fully cleared it. It was that difficult.
But since this world was reality for me now, I intended to make the fall conquest a perfect success, no matter what. Probably only I could do it in this world.
"So even though it's the first training after classes resumed, we'll start with sparring today. I'll balance opponents based on first-year grades, so fight hard enough to crawl out of the training hall!"
Instructor Darren called out names while checking his documents. As an official cadet now, I was assigned a sparring partner too.
"Julian von Reinhardt. Your opponent is Lucia May."
At that, one cadet flinched and looked at me. Our eyes met for a moment.
A female cadet with long pink hair. A very familiar face to me.
Julian, the protagonist of Demon King's Son Surviving in the Holy Empire. And Lucia May, the playable character you could choose if you didn't pick Julian.
As another protagonist, she would play a vital role in the fall nest event.