Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Ulstro Kingdom - Squire Life (3)
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"How's Valdes doing?"
I suddenly thought of him while working and asked Elza.
"He's doing well. He's got such a great personality that he hit it off with the other kids right away."
"Yeah? You too?"
"...Yes."
Elza's face flushed faintly as she looked shy.
Mercedes found it a bit odd but let it slide. She figured it was just because a handsome young guy had joined their daily routine.
The previous squire she'd taken on had talent disproportionate to his rotten personality—he'd even barged into her bedroom and gotten himself kicked out.
'Was that guy the son of a count? Nah, doesn't matter.'
She shook off the irrelevant thought that had popped up.
"Come to think of it, I haven't taught him a thing all week."
It had already been a week since Valdes became her squire, but she'd been too swamped with work to teach him anything. She'd basically left him to his own devices.
And it wasn't just her duties as vice commander of the knight order—she had princess responsibilities too.
The queen had cut her some slack compared to usual out of consideration, but lately she'd been buried in cleanup from the Hero Memorial Festival and wrapping up the martial tournament.
"He's focusing hard on physical training by himself, so you don't need to worry much."
"Physical training? Hm. Does he know his own weaknesses well?"
She recalled his performance at the tournament.
Stamina seemed like a chronic issue for him. But his swordsmanship was exceptional by comparison.
In her personal opinion, if the matches had stopped after the round of 16 and it had just been a one-on-one between Etilene and Valdes, it would've been a draw—or Valdes might've won.
"Work's wrapping up anyway, so I should check on him before my next mission. Where's Valdes right now?"
"Probably at the training grounds. He mentioned sometimes helping with Amy and Glet's training."
"Valdes is?"
It caught her off guard.
No matter how strong he was himself, teaching others was a whole different skill.
Her squires had decent ability and pride to match. They wouldn't accept help unless he was actually good at it. And from Elza's expression, it seemed like this had happened multiple times.
"Interesting."
Mercedes headed to the training grounds with a intrigued look. Elza followed nervously.
"Um, Lady Mercedes?"
"Yeah?"
"You're not mad, are you?"
Mercedes chuckled at that. What a ridiculous misunderstanding.
"No way. I'm just curious, that's all."
"Yes..."
Sure enough, when they arrived at the private training grounds, Elza had been spot on.
Valdes was drenched in sweat, fresh from his own stamina workout, and in that state, he was instructing Glet on swordsmanship.
"Ah, milady! You're here!"
Amy spotted her first and bowed. The other two followed suit.
"Yeah, looks like you're all working hard. Keep at it. Valdes, come over here."
"Ah, yes."
"I've been busy and haven't checked on you—sorry about that. Now that I have some time, let me take a look. First... hmm."
Mercedes paused, lost in thought.
'How should I train Valdes?'
He's not like the other squires. He's already at a high level, even among knights.
His swordsmanship had hardly any flaws to pick at. And she wasn't an instructor by trade, so teaching wasn't her forte.
She'd thought about training him during the tournament, but that had seemed impossible at the time. Now that it was real, she felt at a loss.
"Lady Mercedes?"
"...Oh, right. You're the one teaching the others?"
She stalled for time to gather her thoughts as he called out to her in confusion.
"Ah, n-no, it's not really teaching... just a little help."
"Hm."
"Really. I just pointed out a few obvious things and brainstormed fixes together."
"Yeah?"
She had no intention of scolding him, but with Valdes insisting it was nothing, pushing the topic felt pointless.
"Got it. How about a light spar, then?"
"Ah, yes!"
They tried to move to a corner to avoid disturbing the others' training, but the girls insisted it was fine and cleared out themselves.
Then they just watched instead of training, eyes sparkling with anticipation. Mercedes didn't stop them. Observing experts spar would teach them plenty.
"No holding back."
"Understood."
With that, Valdes's demeanor flipped 180 degrees.
'As expected...'
His breathing was a bit ragged from the stamina work, but his presence was sharp and undiminished.
'In terms of aura alone, he might match me. Or maybe...'
Was it the sword style he knew?
As that thought crossed her mind, Valdes lunged with a swift thrust.
A razor-sharp blade aimed precisely at her throat. But for its speed, it was too linear. Her sword met his. Even without mana, the impact was stunning.
Yet in that instant, his blade slid smoothly down hers.
The motion was so fluid, no scrape of steel could be heard.
"!!"
His upward blade instantly targeted her midsection.
"Hup!"
Claaaang!!
Mercedes instinctively channeled a bit of mana into her body and deflected his sword without even winding up.
"Hoo."
Valdes didn't flinch at the parry. He calmly swung again.
The clash of steel echoed through the grounds repeatedly.
Chaeng! Chaaeng! Chaeng!!
Bold yet composed, rough yet refined—a clash of masterful swordplay.
"Kinda... don't they look similar?"
Elza, watching their spar, blurted it out.
"...Huh? Yeah, they do?"
"What's going on?"
Glet and Amy agreed. The fine movements differed, but the broader motions shared striking similarities.
You'd believe they'd trained under the same master. It was like watching styles from related branches of the same school.
They weren't the only ones shocked.
'What the hell?'
Valdes kept a straight face, but inside he was reeling.
'It looks like she's mimicking my swordplay... but it's off somehow. Who the heck did she learn from?'
The Hero Pedro had no formal disciples, but he'd given pointers to plenty of people—basic moves, a few techniques here and there.
Not enough to call discipleship, but more than casual advice.
Knight Commander Serennia Banstead of the Pedro Knight Order was a prime example.
Eighteen years ago, Serennia had been Queen Beatrice's guard. And Beatrice often tagged along with Pedro. She couldn't follow him into real danger, but her fondness for him kept her nearby as much as possible.
Pedro saw Serennia often and occasionally critiqued her form. She'd observed his swordsmanship plenty too.
That's why Valdes could wield something akin to Pedro's style openly. He could claim his retired mercenary mentor had picked up a few tricks from Pedro in his prime.
'No one else comes to mind besides Serennia... Did she teach like this? Kinda disappointing if so...'
Ten minutes passed with fierce exchanges.
"...Think that's enough."
"Haa, haa. Good work."
"You too. ...Hoo."
Elza rushed over with water bottles for them both.
Lifestyle squire duties rotated daily between Elza and Amy, excluding mornings and evenings. Today was Elza's turn.
Valdes gulped it down like he was exhausted.
"Eek!"
While Elza wiped Mercedes's sweat with a towel, Amy did the same for Valdes.
"Ahh, don't chug cold water like that—you'll get brain freeze!"
"Hahaha..."
"......"
Amy gently toweling the boy's sweat, Elza stealing envious glances at her. Mercedes noticed the squires acting out of character.
'Already this close?'
They seemed tighter-knit than she'd expected—even stiff, shy Glet was sidling up naturally.
Her four squires bonding without her...
A twinge of jealousy stirred.
"...That's enough, all of you. I need to talk to Valdes alone—get back to your duties."
"Ah, yes!"
At Mercedes's slightly sharper tone, tense Elza hurriedly shooed Amy and Glet away. Oblivious Amy pouted regretfully; Glet fled to a straw dummy in the corner.
"You said you learned that sword style from the mercenary who raised you?"
"Ah, yes. I didn't believe it, but whenever he got drunk, my master bragged about learning swordsmanship from the Hero. Did he...?"
She nodded at the boy's cautious question.
"Yeah, probably true. The Hero was incredibly compassionate—he'd share teachings with anyone whenever he had time."
"Ahh..."
'Talk about romanticizing it.'
He'd done it purely to minimize war casualties and gain advantages. Stronger allies made his fights easier and spared civilians.
Not quite "compassionate" levels, in his view.
But she couldn't show that, so she exaggerated her admiration.
"The Hero really was amazing! What about you, Lady Mercedes?"
"...No, not me."
"Huh?"
"Commander Serennia did get some personal instruction from the Hero, but my swordmaster was someone else. My style's just... imitating those people."
Valdes's eyes lit up.
'Interesting. Mercedes respects Pedro more than I thought.'
"Ahh, so that's why it felt like the shell and core didn't match."
"...What?"
Mercedes shot him a sharp glare. Valdes flinched a little but pressed on stoutly.
"I-I know I shouldn't say this, but... your swordsmanship felt off somehow. Like the substance and surface didn't align—a bit disjointed, inefficient. Like... yeah! Wearing ill-fitting clothes forcibly mended!"
"......"
Mercedes's lips parted slightly in stunned silence.
"Uh... did I make you mad?"
"...Ah. No. Not mad. Just... surprised. You're right. Yeah, right."
She was so shocked she dropped her usual stiff tone with him.
She corrected herself late, but her neck was already flushing red. Not from the spar—Valdes had seen her fine moments ago.
'Cuter's than expected.'
"Um... could you share the advice you gave the others?"
"Sure? Well..."
Valdes recited the pointers he'd given Elza, Amy, and Glet over the week.
Swordplay, stamina, footwork, posture, mindset, tricks—his explanation ran longer than Mercedes expected. She listened silently at first, then her face filled with astonishment. Not just the volume, but the quality.
'Every bit spot-on.'
He even nailed subtleties she might've overlooked.
"...Something like that, I think."
"Impressive... It's the eyes. Yeah, the eyes."
Mercedes chalked it up to his gaze.
It made sense now—dodging and blocking Etilene's attacks with minimal movement despite fatigue. Eyes that perceptive? Totally.
'...The commander said it too. The Hero's 'eyes' were especially sharp.'
The Hero himself ranked those eyes among his top strengths.
In the split-second gaps amid superhuman clashes, they analyzed foes and read attacks—a transcendent vision.
Finding another link to the Hero thrilled her.
Electricity coursed through her body.
"...Come to my room for a sec."
"Yes."
Mercedes beckoned him with newfound seriousness. What she had to say was too embarrassing and vital for others to hear.
"Elza, you train here. ...Actually, take the rest of the day off as squire duty—come back after dinner. I'll handle Valdes."
"Y-Yes! Got it!"
"Let's go."
Curiosity lit Valdes's face as he trailed her.
Back in her room, Mercedes locked the door. She sat him on the sofa by the table, taking the seat opposite.
"Let's continue that talk. ...You're right—my swordsmanship is imitation. Of Hero Pedro's. Well, I've never seen him use it myself, just referenced people he taught."
'As I thought...'
"To be frank: I want to recreate the Hero's sword. Not some diluted secondhand version—the true Pedro sword style."
That explained it.
She'd probably studied countless styles and pieced together her own answer. Like cross-referencing documents. But no one knew the real answer—not even the knight commander fully replicated Pedro's.
She could only check approximations. Reconstructing on faith like that had inevitable limits.
Pedro himself hadn't known a fixed "answer"—he'd refined his style on the fly through endless wars and battles. As it evolved, so did what he taught, inconsistently, with gaps.
Like stitching mismatched fabrics— no wonder it didn't fit.
'Who named it "Pedro Sword Style," though?'
He'd never named his own techniques. Felt a bit unfair. Such a bland label.
"From what I saw, your style resembles the Hero's more than you might think. Please—help me restore it with you."
Valdes paused, then nodded slowly.
"Sure. I've always been interested in the Hero too. And... heh."
"Yeah?"
"Heh heh, I'm happy I can help you, Lady Mercedes."
"......"
His innocent, bashful expression froze her for a moment. Then heat rose in her cheeks; flustered, she hurriedly shooed him out.
He chuckled at her adorable reaction and headed back to the training grounds.
'Sword restoration, huh... A bit off my original plan, but this could be fun too.'