Is This the Main Story…?
Sunday. The day that marked both the end of the weekend and the start of a new week.
For some it was a day of quiet regret; for others, it remained a sweet stretch of free time.
“Hoo… hoo.”
And for Kyle, it was the day he did the two-hour run he never managed during the week.
He did not walk after he ran. He kept running—right up to the edge where his breath threatened to catch in his throat.
Anyone else would have collapsed before long, or at least slowed down to manage their pace. Kyle did not. He held a speed just a shade under a full sprint.
When his lungs felt ready to burst, he endured. He held on. He persevered. Then, at some point, his breathing steadied and a fresh vitality flooded his body. Feeling it, he ran on and on without ever stopping.
“Haa… haa…”
The run that had begun before dawn only ended after morning had fully arrived. Having hit his target speed and duration, Kyle gradually eased off. He did not stop cold; he kept moving, slowly bleeding the tension out of his muscles.
Man, cardio is pure hell while you’re doing it. But the second it’s over, it feels so damn refreshing you can’t quit.
Was that why his father always said that once you started running, you simply could not stop?
He had clearly fled the barony because he hated training, so why the hell was he doing this now? Was this the famous curse of the John Nassen bloodline? For a curse, though, it felt oddly off. Curses were supposed to be tragic and terrible, right? This felt less like a curse and more like a racial trait.
Thinking that, Kyle turned back toward his room to wash off the sweat—
“…Oh.”
—until he came face-to-face with Nell, who was staggering along ahead of him in a state that looked one step from death.
What the hell. Since when has this one been running?
Kyle picked up his pace again and drew alongside Nell, who was gasping for air like a bellows.
“What’s this? How long have you been at it?”
“Hwek! Heuk! K-Kyle-nim! Hweuk!”
He’d spoken to her while she was barely hanging on to her breath, so the result was inevitable. Nell collapsed on the spot and wheezed as though her soul might leave her body at any second.
“Hmm.”
Kyle tilted his head as he looked down at her. If she had been running from the start the way he had, he would never have failed to notice her. That meant she had started far later than he had.
“Haa… haa…”
Once her breathing settled, he waited for an answer.
“A-actually…”
“Actually?”
“I came out for morning exercise… and I saw you running way off in the distance, Kyle-nim!”
“And?”
“I thought about calling out, but you looked so completely lost in the run… So instead of interrupting, I decided I’d try matching your pace and run with you!”
For a split second Kyle nearly said the first thing that rose to his tongue.
Are you out of your mind?
He was a John Nassen—already tempered to the absolute limit. Nell was not. She was only a little better off than an ordinary person. And in that condition, first thing in the morning when her body hadn’t even properly warmed up, she had tried to keep up with him while he was running at a speed most people would call a full-out sprint.
“…At least it doesn’t look like you pulled anything.”
“I’ve been training my stamina pretty hard! Haa… haa… I have!”
She did look like she had put in the work. There were enough signs of effort that even Ian probably hadn’t told her to get lost with any real venom.
“But Kyle-nim… you’re honestly incredible. I gritted my teeth and ran for all I was worth, yet I never even got close—I just kept falling further behind. And you never slowed down once…”
Having finally recovered enough breath, Nell pushed herself to her feet. Then she looked at him and blurted, “Um—!”
“Kyle-nim! Please wait just a little longer!”
“For what, all of a sudden?”
“That fee you mentioned—I’ll gather it somehow! And once I do, you’ll really help me, right? A strong body that can reach even half of yours!”
“….”
Hearing that, he suddenly wanted to slap a time-attack challenge on her right then and there. A devilish little whisper brushed his ear, but in the end he stayed silent.
Standing in front of a John Nassen and shouting “I want to train my body!” was something that simply could not be ignored. The proof was that even Kyle himself could not bring himself to brush Nell off as a nuisance.
“Nell.”
“Yes, Kyle-nim!”
“You don’t have to answer that loudly.”
“But Ian-nim said that when you’re standing in front of someone you want to learn from, you should project a big voice.”
What kind of nonsense is that idiot spouting now?
Whether he was really the original protagonist or not was turning into one of life’s great mysteries.
“I have zero interest in that, so stop. Let me ask you one thing.”
It might have felt sudden, but it was also a genuinely important question. Depending on the reason behind anything, the outcome changed completely.
“You said you want to become a knight, right?”
“Huh? Ah… yes. That’s right.”
“Is that a dream? Or is it more like an obligation you absolutely have to fulfill?”
When he first met Nell she had definitely said she wanted to become a knight. But the feeling that clung to those words had never been the simple sparkle of a dream. It had felt more like a promise made to someone—or a duty she simply had to carry out. In her eyes there had been far more desperate longing than bright hope.
“Of course I want to become a knight because…”
“If you’re not going to speak honestly, I won’t help you even if you pay the price.”
“Eh? W-why?!”
“Because I said there’s no point teaching anything to someone who isn’t sincere.”
Wanting to become a knight, and having to become a knight—those two things were worlds apart. The mindset was different, and so was the intensity of the training Kyle would choose. That was why he was asking. Nell, what is your true heart?
“…I made a promise.”
After a long silence, Nell finally opened her mouth.
“That I would become a knight. That I would become an excellent knight. I promised.”
She did not say to whom. She offered no further details. But that was enough. He did not need to hear more for it to land squarely in his chest. He could feel the fierce will—she would become a knight, she had to.
“So you’re working hard to keep that promise.”
“Yes.”
Nell’s eyes sank deep for a moment as she thought about something. Then she lifted her head again, and the gaze she fixed on him was even more intense than before.
“This is my true heart! So…!”
“Got it. So just make sure you properly prepare the fee.”
Touching stories were one thing; accounts still had to be settled cleanly. Some might call him money-grubbing or cold-hearted, but that was exactly how both sides developed a sense of obligation and gave everything they had.
“I understand your reason clearly now. Once you’re ready, come make a formal request. But think it through carefully. I’ll deliver what you pay for—but it will be harder than anything you can imagine.”
“Of course…”
“I’m not joking. You saw me running earlier, right? For me that’s nothing more than morning exercise. Beyond that—several times that intensity. That’s how hard it’s going to get. Still confident? Can you endure without ever saying you’ll quit, you’re done, you can’t take any more?”
This was a very important question—at least from Kyle’s point of view. If he finally steeled himself to teach her properly and she ran away, the whole mood would die. On top of that, he would never feel like teaching anyone else again.
At his words a flicker of hesitation crossed Nell’s face. Of course it did. Only moments ago she had been running far behind him and still falling further back. Now he was saying the real training would be even harsher. Worry was inevitable.
“…If I do everything you say, Kyle-nim, will I get closer to the promise I absolutely must keep?”
“I don’t know. You said you want to become a knight, right? But I won’t be teaching you swordsmanship.”
“Then…”
“Instead, I can guarantee a body that won’t collapse first no matter what enemy you face.”
A smile spread across Nell’s face as if that alone were enough. Being able to outlast the enemy was already an incredible advantage. No matter how brilliant your swordsmanship, if the body swinging the blade gave out first, it meant nothing.
“Don’t smile, Nell.”
“Eh?”
“This is not something to smile about. Absolutely not.”
She had no idea what was about to come crashing down on her. He planned to give her just a tiny taste of why people turned pale at the mere mention of the John Nassen name. He would bet money that from day one she would be screaming and begging for her life.
If she lasts even a month, I’ll acknowledge her.
Thinking that, Kyle clicked his tongue as he looked at Nell, who was still smiling. Following the old song lyric, she was about to be crushed by the disaster she herself had invited—so what on earth was she so happy about? He even entertained the idle thought that when vacation rolled around he might just drag her off to the John Nassen estate.
After sending Nell off, Kyle suddenly found himself wondering:
Come to think of it, is that bastard Ian doing okay?
Ian had thrown the first punch, but still—Kyle felt the tiniest bit sorry. He had thoroughly wrecked both of the shoulders that were a swordsman’s very life. Of course he had absolutely zero intention of apologizing. It wasn’t as if Ian couldn’t use his arms at all; with proper treatment and a few days of rest he would be fine, apparently. Still, as a bare minimum of conscience, Kyle figured he should at least check on his condition.
“Kyle John Nassen.”
Just as he was about to head back, wash up, and make his way to the medical ward, a woman’s voice called his full name from behind.
Seriously, why so many visitors first thing in the morning?
Sighing, Kyle slowly turned around. That voice, the deliberate use of his full name complete with surname, and that flame-red hair—there was only one person at the academy who checked every one of those boxes.
“Good morning, Lady Elga.”
“…Yes. Good morning.”
The young lady of the Litorio Grand Duchy approached at a measured pace. A faint flush still lingered on Elga’s cheeks.
…Did this woman just come from working out too?
It was an extremely John Nassen-style misunderstanding.