Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Knight Order Expansion (3)
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“How should I show you my skills?”
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to request a spar.”
“I didn’t realize the Purging Knights were such rough customers.”
“Are you scared?”
“No, I like it.”
Watching Madus bluster with his arrogant attitude, I spoke in a calm voice.
“If I can prove it in a spar, that’s fine by me. It’s quick and straightforward.”
“Quick and straightforward? You’re brimming with confidence.”
“Isn’t confidence the basics for a Holy Knight? They were checking for it right from the entrance exam.”
“I can’t wait to see if your confidence matches your skill.”
As I traded barbs with Madus, Edwin and Lieselotte, who’d been waiting behind me, urgently whispered.
“Um, Sir Sion. This is a bit…”
“Sir Sion, is this really necessary?”
Edwin and Lieselotte weren’t the only ones worried.
Gustav, who’d been watching from the side, approached me as well.
“13th Unit Leader, put this off for later.”
“Advisor Gustav.”
“That Madus guy is one of the most dangerous Purging Knights in the Inquisition. I have no idea why someone like him was assigned here.”
Gustav didn’t seem to realize this was Helena’s scheme.
“Madus is a 6-star knight who’s used to knight-on-knight combat. They say he uses dirty tricks too. If you spar him here and something goes wrong, it’ll mess up your command of the knight order going forward.”
After whispering that, Gustav pushed past me and stepped forward.
“As aide to the Independent Knight Brigade Leader—who’s currently away—I’ll say this. I can’t permit a spar in this format…”
“Advisor, I’ll do it.”
“13th Leader!”
“The other members are already looking forward to it. I can’t betray those expectations.”
Gustav scowled.
His expression said he’d told me plenty, so why was I being like this?
“The Brigade Leader would’ve said to go ahead if he were here.”
“How dare you presume to speak for the Brigade Leader…”
“Am I wrong?”
“…”
“No need to worry. Just trust me.”
After reassuring Gustav like that, I stepped forward.
“Madus, Grade 1 Knight… or should I say Ironclad Knight?”
“I’d be grateful if you did.”
“Very well, Madus the Ironclad Knight.”
Ironclad was the title given to knights who reached 6 stars and mastered sword aura.
Helmut, who’d trained us during the entrance exam, was also a 6-star Ironclad Knight.
“You won’t be able to show your full strength with training wooden swords. Shall we use real steel?”
“Are you serious?”
“Would I say something like this just to bluff?”
“You’ll regret it.”
“You’ll be the one regretting it.”
“Huh?”
“With real steel, you won’t be able to claim you lost because we used wooden swords.”
“…”
Madus silently drew the longsword from his waist.
It was a fine blade. More than sufficient for unleashing sword aura.
“It’s a Grade 1 Shario.”
“Nice sword.”
Shario was a fairly renowned swordsmith.
A Grade 1 Shario meant it was the highest grade among the swords mass-produced in Shario’s workshop.
It wasn’t on the level of true masterpiece blades that weren’t mass-produced… but among swords a regular Holy Knight could possess, it was top-tier.
For reference, the Holy Knight Order issued Grade 3 Sharios to 3-star knights—two grades lower. Edwin and the others were using Grade 3 Sharios right now.
“I took it from a knight captain who was purged a while back.”
“Is it okay to keep confiscated goods for yourself?”
“It was my reward. Helena Aleyas approved it.”
He’d openly dropped Helena’s name.
It was as good as admitting he was her man.
“Take me down, and you’ll get another reward.”
“Haha, we’ll see.”
I drew my own sword from my waist and faced off against Madus.
The others had backed away, watching with bated breath.
“…!”
Madus moved first.
A sharp overhead thrust.
A dangerous move that could pierce my throat if I wasn’t careful.
[He’s dead serious! He means to kill you!]
Even Igzard was startled by the killing blow.
‘Helena wouldn’t have ordered him to go this far…’
I barely dodged the thrust and studied Madus’s face.
Madus’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
‘It’s his own idea!’
If he was attacking like this on Helena’s orders, there might be room for mercy.
But if he was doing it of his own volition… no need to hold back.
* * *
‘Th-that bastard!’
Dietrich, watching from atop a tree in the training yard, was consumed by rage.
‘How dare he do that to my lord…! Is he begging to die?!’
Dietrich was currently hidden with magic, waiting on standby… but he wanted nothing more than to leap out and cut the guy down right now.
‘With my magic, I could turn a punk like that to dust in an instant…!’
His lord’s orders were to stay hidden unless told otherwise, so all he could do was watch.
‘To just stand by while my lord suffers this humiliation…’
It hurt his heart.
Back when he was Archbishop Hausel, no mere 6-star knight would’ve dared approach.
Archbishop Hausel had been that absolute.
But right now, Sion Aleyas still lacked strength.
‘I have to protect my lord from this disgrace…’
It was so infuriating he felt like crying.
He couldn’t actually shed tears without breaking his perfect stealth, but inside, he was weeping.
‘My lord, please… regain your former power. I’ll give you everything I have.’
As he steeled himself like that.
Madus’s dangerous thrust grazed the boy knight’s right earlobe.
‘Y-you wretch who’ll suffer heaven’s wrath…!’
Dietrich started seriously pondering how to kill the guy without his lord noticing.
* * *
“Haha!”
Seeing a drop of blood bead on Sion’s earlobe, Madus burst into laughter.
“You dodged every which way until now, but you’re finally reaching your limit?”
“…”
Sion didn’t even respond.
Madus laughed even louder at the sight.
‘He’s running out of room!’
The guy who’d been snapping back just fine earlier couldn’t even reply properly now.
Proof he was out of spare capacity.
‘Good thing I pressed him from the start!’
Madus wasn’t underestimating Sion at all.
Helena had warned him multiple times not to get careless just because he was a kid, or he’d regret it big time.
As Helena said, Sion really did have impressive skill.
In his mid-teens and already this strong—what a monster he’d become once grown.
‘Impressive skill, sure… but not enough for me!’
As a Purging Knight who’d dealt with traitors in the Holy Knight Order, Madus was seasoned in man-to-man, knight-on-knight fights.
Sometimes there were knights with bum raps… but Madus didn’t care and cut them all down anyway.
That experience meant he knew all the counters to textbook swordsmanship knights favored.
‘This kid’s swordplay is straight out of the manual!’
The Aleyas family must’ve drilled orthodox technique into him.
Every move Sion made was straight textbook—flawless and efficient, but lacking variety.
‘I can see through all this!’
Realizing Sion was tiring, Madus finally unleashed his sword aura.
Sword aura guzzled mana, so he’d saved it as a trump card.
‘And cranking up the intensity like this out of nowhere… a greenhorn like you can’t handle it!’
Boom! Kwang!
The moment Madus’s sword clashed with Sion’s, a powerful shockwave erupted.
Sion had sword threads on his blade too, but they shattered on impact with the sword aura.
‘This ends it!’
Madus swung for Sion’s torso.
He figured the Mana Armor would protect him enough to survive.
Making the knight captain half-dead on day one would mean punishment… but Helena would smooth it over.
‘Yeah, I’ll ask Helena for a nice reward…’
He was mulling bigger compensation when—
Slash!
Sion vanished from his sight.
A sharp pain stabbed his shoulder.
* * *
“Argh!”
Madus screamed and spun around.
But I was already gone.
Thanks to the Dialogue Church’s secret art that momentarily maximized physical ability… Crimson Lotus.
[You can use Crimson Lotus without anyone noticing now.]
‘I’ve reached 5 stars, so this much is baseline.’
Normally, Crimson Lotus made red mana flicker over the body like flames. Anyone could tell it was a Dialogue Church technique at a glance.
But with finer mana control, you could use Crimson Lotus with no visible changes. Just keep the mana from spilling outward.
While waiting for the new recruits, I’d kept up solo training.
That let me master this “Colorless Crimson Lotus.”
‘Dietrich’s advice made it easier.’
With Dietrich watching my mana flow and giving pointers, I’d perfected colorless Crimson Lotus faster.
“Over here.”
“…!”
I lured Madus and struck with a second attack.
A slash at peak Crimson Lotus speed.
The blade sliced across, drawing blood from Madus’s right cheek.
“Urk…!”
But not a deep wound.
The previous hit had been shallow too.
[You’re not going for lethal.]
‘Can’t cripple a subordinate in a spar.’
As I replied to Igzard, I attacked from all sides.
Minor cuts accumulated, twisting Madus’s face into an ugly grimace.
I’d stuck to textbook moves on purpose until now, but real varied attacks left him flailing.
[Crimson Lotus lasting longer too. But you’re nearing the limit, right?]
‘Yeah, spot on.’
I was nearing my limit.
But so was Madus.
“You little shit…!”
Madus finally spat curses at his superior.
He swung at me with ferocious momentum.
Unlike before, his moves were full of openings.
[He fought well until now, but he’s hit his limit.]
‘That’s what I was waiting for.’
Whoosh!
I dodged and swung for his face.
Not the edge or flat… the side of the blade.
“Gah!”
Thwack!
A direct hit to the face.
Nose crumpled, front teeth scattered.
Madus toppled backward and didn’t get up.
“It’s over.”
As I sheathed my sword.
Cheers erupted around us.
“Woooah…!”
Not just Edwin and Lieselotte.
The other members were cheering too.
They must’ve resented how Madus had hounded me.
[They got catharsis watching you turn it around after being one-sidedly pushed.]
‘Madus’s attitude was way over the top.’
His arrogant bid to dominate me from the start had swung the others’ sympathies my way.
In the end, his tantrum made winning their hearts easier.
“Anyone else curious about my skills?”
“No, sir!”
The members seemed to trust me now.
I’d figured I needed to show my strength somehow to earn that trust, and things had gone perfectly on day one.
[Helena handed you a golden opportunity.]
‘Pretty much.’
I glanced at Madus, sprawled and unable to rise, then addressed Gustav, who looked stunned.
“Advisor Gustav.”
“13th Unit Leader…”
“We’ve got an injured member mid-training. The church healers can fix him in a few months… but for now, the 13th Unit has a vacancy.”
“Whew, can’t be helped.”
Gustav shook his head.
“We were aiming for twenty strong, so we can’t lose one on day one. I’ll arrange a replacement.”
“Thank you, Advisor.”
And with that, Helena’s scheme went up in smoke.
I wondered what face she’d make when she heard.