Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Raising Fish
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“A squire, huh. But you were a stable hand?”
“Yes. I mostly took care of the horses.”
“They had a twelve-year-old looking after horses? More importantly, don’t you know your exact age?”
“I was born in Zagura. No one there ever told me my age, so I’m not sure.”
“Zagura. Yeah, that tracks.”
Dabi nodded as if he understood.
On top of that, Didi’s height had been similar to mine, but after feeding him well for the past month, he’d shot up so fast that there was now a slight gap between us. Damn it all.
Anyway, he looked cute overall, but his stoic expression made him seem unapproachable. The unusual thing was his deep brown skin, which was smooth like satin of the same shade without a single blemish—unlike what you’d expect from a slum kid.
Dabi stepped closer to Didi like that and began kneading both his shoulders with his hands.
“Hmm, yeah. As expected, the muscles are…”
“……”
“Didi? Sprint to the far end over there and back right now.”
Dabi stepped back a pace and pointed to the opposite end of the clearing. Didi immediately shot back with an expressionless face.
“Just run slowly?”
“No, full speed.”
“Understood.”
Didi nodded calmly, then bolted off in the direction Dabi had pointed.
Wait, but this kid is… way faster than I thought?
How can a twelve-year-old be this quick? Didn’t the appraisal show his strength at E-rank before?
“I’m back, Captain.”
“Good. Now let me check your body for a bit.”
Dabi bent down and began palpating Didi’s knees, hips, and ankles several times.
“Even accounting for your growth phase… your joints are incredibly flexible. Great elasticity too. And your body heat didn’t rise much.”
“What does it mean if my body heat didn’t rise?”
“It means your body uses energy efficiently. But in your case, on top of that… factoring in your frame and build, the growth potential of the strength your muscles can output is unknown. We can’t expect sky-high numbers, that’s for sure. Even securing the minimum strength needed to become a knight will be tricky.”
Ouch.
From my perspective, with my own small build, this was heartbreaking.
Yeah. Being small makes it damn hard to become a knight. I know from experience.
“So for you… instead of blindly raising the grade of your magic armor, we’ll prioritize developing skills that leverage your physical traits.”
Dabi said as he straightened up. Didi glanced toward the direction of the shattered tree from earlier and asked.
“You mean skills like that one just now? I don’t think I can do it. I’m too weak.”
“No, not just knight skills like Gale Blade. More importantly, there’s something in your movements even I can’t quite understand.”
“Huh?”
Didi blinked. Dabi circled around him once before returning to his spot.
“You walk without making a sound. And it’s not on purpose—it’s completely natural.”
“I don’t really get it…”
“When you move, your spine flows flexibly in sync. Like a wild animal walking on all fours.”
“Is that an advantage?”
“A huge one.”
As he answered, Dabi gave Didi’s shoulder a light shove.
He expected him to topple backward in one go. But surprisingly, only the upper body on the pushed side swayed lightly, then returned to position with some kind of slinky, eerie motion.
“As I thought.”
Dabi smiled and retreated to his original spot.
“There are countless people born with the ‘strength’ you mentioned. You can even force it to grow if you want. But people born with movements like yours? Almost none. And you can’t just make it happen through training.”
“……”
“So I plan to train you by linking techniques to that innate movement. It’s not my specialty, but I’ve worked at the border and seen plenty like you, so I’ve picked up some insights. It’ll be fine.”
“Didn’t you just say there are almost no humans like me?”
“Humans, no.”
“...?”
“I’m talking about elves.”
Dabi stretched one of his ears demonstratively and grinned.
“Elves move just like wild animals. You’ve got that same feral instinct.”
“Elves…”
“Actually, you’re more wild animal than elf, but anyway—you’re small and skinny, but your base stamina is weirdly good. You sprinted full-out and back without even panting. In terms of stamina alone, you could wear low-grade magic armor right now and move naturally. But your absolute muscle power is still lacking.”
Dabi tapped his own armor, then clenched a fist in the air.
“So before any other training, for the time being, we’ll focus on building the minimum strength needed for a knight—without overstraining your body. It might hurt at first, of course, but please trust me and follow the program.”
“I…”
Didi looked my way, his face asking for permission first. I just smiled and nodded.
“Do what the captain says. You’re part of the knight order now.”
“Understood.”
“You heard the prince, right? Your ultimate goal is to become a knight expert who can take down a knight commander. Keep that in mind and strive always.”
“Wait, is that even possible?”
Kyle, standing beside me, cut in with a shocked face. Dabi nodded with an amused look.
“More than possible. My master wasn’t a knight master either, but he could suppress me right after I’d just become one.”
“The captain’s master…”
“Knight Quental. Former captain of the White Knight Order. He’s retired now and serves as their advisor. Satisfied?”
“Sorry. I overstepped without knowing anything.”
Kyle bowed his head and stepped back. Dabi shook his head like it was no big deal.
“Curiosity is always good. As long as it’s not in combat. Next…”
Then he moved toward Linen, who was last on the right.
Linen, looking tense, started introducing himself before Dabi could even ask.
“I-I’m Linen Griff! I’m fifteen, born in a small village called Dalton in the Elstone Earldom! Last year, when the village was turned into a fortress, I learned how to use a spear from a soldier there for about a month!”
“Hmm, a spear. Spears are good weapons.”
Dabi nodded and went behind Linen, pressing on his back with his hands.
“Ugh, i-is enduring this without getting pushed training too?”
“No, just stand naturally. You wouldn’t budge from this much force anyway.”
After pressing for a while, Dabi returned to his spot and sighed.
“Yeah. I figured as much when I first saw you at the mansion.”
“Ugh… S-so, as expected, I lack talent as a knight…”
“No way.”
Dabi shook his head and got serious.
“I’ve seen a few knights like you. Not many, but talent? Yours is the most practical and easiest to develop.”
“Me?”
“You’re born with muscle power.”
Dabi clenched both fists and grinned.
“That’s a huge strength for a knight. Like that girl earlier.”
“B-but I can’t break rocks with my bare hands?”
“Of course there are differences. Same strength, but some are specialized for explosive bursts, others for enduring sustained loads. You’re completely built for the latter. At an insanely high level.”
“Oh…”
Linen’s anxious face lit up in an instant. Just watching his expression change told me his personality.
Man, born with endurance. I’m jealous. My arm goes numb just holding a spoon too long.
“So Linen, if you follow training well, you’ll blow past low-grade magic armor to mid-grade—no, even high-grade—in no time.”
“W-wow! Then I can use skills like Gale Blade too?”
“No. Not that.”
Dabi shook his head coldly.
“On the contrary, we’ll skip learning techniques for now. Just focus on raw physical conditioning to raise your magic armor grade as fast as possible. Do that, and you could become a knight master younger than me.”
“Knight master!”
Linen staggered backward, dizzy. Dabi gave a wry smile and corrected himself.
“Precisely, you’ll be able to wear ‘top-grade magic armor’ and earn the knight master title.”
“Oh…”
“You won’t be able to use actual knight master techniques—a half-baked one. But I believe that alone has plenty of meaning.”
“O-of course it does! Wow! Me, a knight master! I could become a knight master!”
“……”
Right then, I caught jealousy leaking from Kyle’s eyes on my left.
Oh, that’s new.
I’ve known him a long time, but I’ve never seen that face before. Still, if it spurs him to grow faster, that’s a win.
Linen as a knight master, though.
In my nine previous regressions, I didn’t even know he existed, and now he could actually become one?
Without even factoring in Holy Lance or whatever… How insane is his talent?
Race: Human
Current Strength: C
Potential Strength: A
Current Holy Magic: D
Potential Holy Magic: B
Current Enchantment Magic: D
Potential Enchantment Magic: B
Gah.
The appraisal eye showed a ton.
Let’s check strength first. Meredes’ potential was A+, and mere A can reach knight master?
No, that’s not it.
Like Dabi said, just wearing top-grade magic armor gets you the title.
So the strength in the appraisal is a comprehensive score. Break it down, isolate ‘endurance,’ and it exceeds that.
This appraisal eye is more complex than I thought. Judging by the visible stats alone risks missing the point. Gotta be careful from now on.
What bugs me more are the extra abilities tacked on.
Holy magic, fine, but why enchantment magic?
For reference, humans can’t use enchantment magic. In all my past regressions, I never saw a human wield it.
Enchantment magic is a special type mainly used by elves and such.
It works by infusing your magic into tools—usually adding elemental magic like wind to arrows to boost power.
Ah, that clicks.
So Linen’s ‘Holy Lance’ is probably enchanting his spear with his holy magic.
Elves can’t use holy magic, so I’d never seen that kind before.
Anyway, after so many regressions, finding a new ability like this. The world’s full of surprises—you gotta live long to see them all.
“Everyone understand their abilities now? Alright, dismissed for today. Full training starts tomorrow. Back to the mansion, all of you!”
“Yes, Captain!”
They answered in unison and turned toward the mansion. But as I turned too, Dabi suddenly blocked me and shook his head.
“Now it’s the prince’s turn. Please stay here a moment.”
“Me? You’re appraising me too?”
“Of course. You have the highest talent of anyone I’ve ever seen.”