Chapter 73
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Swordran Training Camp, Admission (1)
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After finishing up the consent forms, almost all the other applicants had left.
Jerka's group seemed to have completed their procedures as well and hurried to get ready to go.
Jerka turned to Roin.
"You're done with the consent form already?"
"Yeah. It's just a signature. Doesn't take long, right?"
Jerka gave a subtle smile at his words.
"See you again soon."
With those words promising a future meeting, Jerka's group left first.
Now, Roin was the only one left in the waiting room.
No, there was one more.
Luem, the whiner who hadn't even managed to sign the consent form properly yet, was still there.
Roin was waiting here because of Luem.
"Hey, Luem. Just sign it already."
"B-but, Lord Roin! Doesn't this pen feel weird?"
"It's not weird. You're just too scared. So close your eyes and sign it quick. Dragging it out won't do you any good."
"."
He wasn't wrong.
The pain would only last a moment.
Signing didn't even take a full minute or anything.
"Hup!"
After taking a deep breath, Luem finally gripped the pen as if he'd made up his mind.
Electricity prickled through his body, but Luem gritted his teeth and pushed through the signature.
The receptionist across from him spoke up.
"Write gently. You'll tear the consent form at this rate."
Then he'd have to start over from the beginning.
At her words, Luem moved the pen as carefully as he could.
He couldn't even gauge how much strength he was putting into his hand because of the pain.
Still, somehow he managed to complete the signature without incident.
The moment he set the pen down, Luem looked like he'd just come back from the dead.
After pulling himself together a bit, Luem sat down across from Roin, his worries far from over.
"Even applying for the enlistment test is this hard. How brutal do you think the training will be?"
"Who knows."
Roin had no idea.
He wasn't even from Swordran to begin with.
Even if he were, it had been decades since he'd entered the training camp.
The training back then wouldn't be the same as now.
Like at Loud Swordsmanship Academy, it had probably changed dramatically in various ways.
And honestly, Roin didn't care much either way.
'As long as I pass, that's all that matters.'
He was confident.
After waiting about five minutes.
"Your enlistment test applications are complete. You can go now."
At the receptionist's words, Roin and Luem could finally stand up.
Just as they opened the door to head out.
A bustling noise started rising from below.
'Applicants?'
As one of the most renowned knight orders, Swordran was hugely popular among those aspiring to become Senior Knights.
That explained the steady stream of people coming and going here.
However, the group visiting the Swordran office this time didn't give off the vibe of applicants at all.
A woman with long emerald-tinted hair swept back, wearing a tired expression.
And standing beside her was a familiar face.
Nix Tayla.
Swordran's vice knight captain.
Which meant,
'The woman next to him must be the current Swordran knight captain.'
Their positions made it obvious.
A genius knight who had shown exceptional swordsmanship talent even before adulthood and begun making a name for herself.
Ilya Shult.
Her gaze locked onto Roin and Luem, who were coming down the stairs right then.
"Oh my. Are you here to apply to our knight order?"
Ilya asked Roin and Luem with a bright smile.
The weight of her position as Swordran knight captain was immense.
Yet Ilya was a woman who seemed utterly detached from that gravity.
She gave off the vibe of someone a screw loose.
Luem tilted his head at Ilya's smile.
Was this woman really Swordran's knight captain?
No matter how he looked at her, the image didn't match at all.
It was only natural to think that.
Ilya Shult was known as the coldestand even cruelestknight captain among all the Senior Knights who had served as Swordran's leader.
When she took office as knight captain, she had put up a slogan.
She would make Swordran a knight order where only the strong survivethe strongest of all.
Ilya extended her hand and said,
"You just came from applying for the enlistment test, right? Looks like you passed the gravity stairs and pain pen without issue. Hope you get good results."
She offered a handshake first.
But Roin didn't move.
He showed no intention of taking her hand.
Ilya just smiled silently at him.
"Take good care of the boy behind you."
Brushing past Roin, Ilya extended her hand to Luem.
Unlike Roin, Luem moved to take it.
But then,
"Better not shake it, Luem."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
Roin knew it was rude, but he deliberately avoided Ilya's hand.
And now he was advising Luem to do the same.
"If you don't want to lose an arm, don't."
"!"
Luem hastily pulled back the hand he'd been about to offer.
At Roin's interference, Ilya smacked her lips in disappointment.
"Lucky you. Thanks to your quick-witted friend, you get to walk out with both arms intact."
"A-ah, but why."
Roin knew the reason.
Swordran had a special privilege granted to the knight captain.
During their tenure, the knight captain could establish one internal regulation.
The one Ilya had set upon taking office was this:
"No one shall touch the knight captain's body. Violators must accept any punishment That was the special internal regulation of the 17th knight captain, right?"
The 17th knight captain was the Ilya Shult standing before them.
Roin knew the exact wording of the special regulation she'd established.
"Not bad, kid."
Ilya had tested them in that brief moment.
Anyone seeking to join Swordran had to know every regulation Swordran knights were bound by.
However, the knight captain's special regulation only lasted during their tenure, so it could be confusing.
In fact, one of Roin's old acquaintances had been unfairly expelled from the knight order over one of these internal regulations.
That's how Roin had learned all about this system in Swordran.
She must have wondered if these applicants knew the special regulation set by the 17th knight captain.
Ilya had wanted to test it.
And in the end,
"You pass. Good job."
They did.
However, this didn't mean they'd passed the training camp admission.
"Well, we'll be going then."
With no more business, they decided to leave.
Ilya stared long after the direction Roin and Luem had gone.
She turned to Nix, who had been waiting silently beside her.
"Do you know that blond kid's name?"
"Yes. Roin Leyden. The youngest son of Baron Lucas."
"Oh? Didn't expect an immediate answer."
"I learned from Jerka. Apparently, he graduated at the top of the swordsmanship academy, matching Jerkano, honestly, a step above him."
Interest gleamed in Ilya's eyes.
The Tayla family had sky-high pride.
Not just her father Kern Tayla, but Nix here, and Jerka too.
Nix had never once said anyone was better than his younger brother.
That drew Ilya's attention even more.
"Roin Leyden. Interesting kid applied this time."
A thick smile crept onto Ilya's lips.
"Hope we don't have a repeat of last year's tragedy. Maybe Roin can do something about it."
Nix's response was this.
"I wouldn't know."
With about a month left until Swordran training camp admission.
Gillion finally got to spar with Roin again after a long time.
Gillion's sword thrust in from the side.
Even long after retiring from active duty, he unleashed a flawless, no-frills thrust.
But it was useless against Roin.
The thrust was the attack form with the longest reach among sword techniques.
It had the advantages of a long attack range and being tricky for opponents to defend against.
But it had clear drawbacks too.
Namely, it was easy to dodge.
Especially for someone with a small build like Roin.
Whoosh!
Roin successfully evaded Gillion's thrust by stepping back.
Then, holding his sword in one hand, Roin swung wide toward Gillion.
Dodge followed by counterattack.
A very basic combo.
But Gillion wasn't easy prey either.
He pulled his sword back and met Roin's strike head-on.
Clack!
Their practice swords clashed hard.
A test of strength continued.
Yet Roin showed no sign of being overpowered.
Gillion, who backed off first, lowered his sword.
"Impressive, Lord Roin. Your skills have improved leaps and bounds since last time."
"I'm a Mid Knight now, after all."
In truth, he was far beyond Mid Knight level.
This was him holding back to some extent.
Without that restraint, their spar would have ended much sooner.
Of course, Roin would have won.
"By the way, I never expected Lord Roin to request a spar with me first. You know how many times I asked Emilia to confirm after she passed on the message? If it was really true. Haha!"
Roin used to not even mention the word "spar" before because his skin was too delicate.
But this time, Roin had approached Gillion first with a sparring request.
"Looks like the baron's prediction was spot onthat sending you to the swordsmanship academy would make a man of you."
For a moment, 'No, you're wrong' nearly slipped out of Roin's mouth, but he barely swallowed it.
He still hadn't grown up.
Even now, all sorts of cosmetics that Lucas didn't know about were tucked under Roin's bed, waiting for him.
'Better not mention that.'
No point volunteering info that would get him scoldedit would only hurt Roin.
Better to let Gillion stay blissfully deluded, like now. It was better for both of them.
The real reason Roin had requested the spar with Gillion first was something else.
"I have a question."
The Swordran knight captain he'd met recently.
Ilya Shult was nagging at him.
"Do you know anything about the current Swordran knight captain?"
Swordran operated around its knight captain.
Knowing their personality.
Their policies.
Would help a bit with the enlistment exam.
That's why he'd asked Gillion.
"You're talking about Captain Ilya Shult?"
"Yeah."
"."
Gillion held his tongue for a moment.
His first words were
"Haa."
A deep sigh.