Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Unexpected Route
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"Talent or whatever, my body is just too weak. I don't have anything going for me."
No one knows better than I do how trash-like my body is.
It's not just that my frame is small and I'm lacking in strength. Because of the poison Jess had me taking over a long period, my stamina and endurance are abysmal too, and I'm not nimble and small like Didi either.
In the end, when it comes to physical abilities, I'm rock bottom in every single aspect. But Dabi shook his head and refuted me.
"Your Highness's innate talent isn't in that area."
"If it's not in that area, then what is it? Magic, maybe? You're not talking about talent for becoming a knight right now, are you?"
"You're right. Your Highness's talent is in combat sense."
"Combat sense?"
"I've heard the rumors about Your Highness's recent exploits. You repelled the undead army that invaded the Elstone Earldom, you drove off the sea serpent pack at Yoton Bay, and you resolved the ogre rebellion in the Jairut Mountains."
"I did all that with magic. Not by tanking hits with my body."
"Of course I know that."
Dabi emphasized his point with an intense gaze fixed on me.
"But like that night a few days ago, fighting such powerful enemies must have been your first time."
"It's not necessarily like that..."
"The opponents were monsters I'd never even heard of, even as a Knight Master. And there was a former Knight Master mixed in too. No matter how ferocious the undead army or ogres are, they weren't as overwhelmingly strong as those two monsters that night."
No, that's not right?
Excluding my past life, in terms of rank, Crock the Necromancer Lord was stronger?
Of course, since he was undead, I could take him down with one Turn Undead...
"So?"
"And yet Your Highness didn't panic at all and fought back precisely. Of course, I didn't see everything when I arrived later, but Your Highness instinctively understood how to fight against those worst-case enemies you'd never faced before."
Ah. Is that what you mean?
Of course. I've faced those kinds of worst enemies to death in every regression.
The problem is that this guy... is perceiving the things I gained from 90 years of experience—counting just the years—as simply innate talent.
"On top of that, Your Highness used flight magic and wind spells to maintain mobility in combat. I have connections with mages, and I know that ordinary wizards, no matter how strong, don't fight like that."
Of course not. This is a tactic I created from scratch.
Even if you have the power of both an Arch Wizard and Arch Priest, it's inefficient to just block every incoming attack from outside with magic.
So you have to maximize mobility and dodge whatever you can. Especially to endure long wars like the otherworld waves.
"It's not something that shows on the surface easily, but it's the most special and absolute ability. For example, look at someone like Phiren."
"Why him?"
"Even after reaching the realm of Knight Master, he didn't even realize that changing his body might shatter all the combat sense he'd built up."
"He was still insanely strong for that. Wasn't it just because his opponent was you?"
"Of course that's part of it..."
Dabi gave an awkward smile and shook his head.
"The important thing is that without combat sense, no matter how much raw power you have, it's hard to utilize it in real battle. And combat sense is a collective term for various abilities. So..."
Dabi paused for a moment to organize his thoughts before speaking.
"It's the 'self-awareness' to grasp how to most effectively use your own abilities in combat. The 'boldness' not to falter in life-or-death real battles, the 'insight' to instantly grasp an enemy's abilities, and the 'judgment' to decide in every moment what you need to do to overcome crises and corner the enemy."
His explanation was so grandiose that all I could do was sigh.
Hey! None of that is innate!
It's just pure experience points from experience! It's habits that naturally ingrained into my body after regressing more than nine times since coming to this world!
But I couldn't refute him like that, so I decided to just quietly listen to what he had to say.
"So Your Highness was born with the most crucial ability needed for a knight."
"......"
"Even if your body is weak and it's hard to wear high-grade magic armor, you'll be able to overwhelm most knights who judge solely by armor grade in an instant."
No, that's not as easy as you're making it sound.
It's not like I haven't tried it for real. In my 5th cycle, I went all-in on knight training, but even at the moment the otherworld invaded, I couldn't equip mid-grade magic armor.
Of course, like you're saying, I could use knight skills above the level of the armor I wore.
But that didn't mean I could easily handle knights stronger than me.
Why?
Because my arms are short.
"...I get what you're saying."
"Oh, so you understand my point?"
"Yeah, I understand, but I can't really empathize."
"Pardon?"
"Stretch your arm out like this."
"Why the arm...?"
Dabi stretched out his arm with a puzzled expression. I brought my arm next to his and said curtly.
"See?"
"......"
A flash of bewilderment crossed Dabi's face. I retracted my arm—which barely reached past his elbow—and let out a sigh.
"It's not just about having a small frame. Short arms mean most knight techniques don't activate properly. Right?"
"That's..."
"Even the Vibrating Sword you showed earlier proves it. It shakes the space between the elbow and wrist massively, but if that space is short, the resonance doesn't work well, so the power doesn't come out right. Am I correct?"
"How did you figure that out...? Yes, of course, but... um. Excuse me for a moment."
Dabi's eyes suddenly gleamed as if he'd spotted something, and he grabbed both my arms, spreading them left and right like he was tailoring a suit, meticulously checking their length.
"What are you doing right now?"
"As I thought. Your Highness's limbs are short in absolute terms, but relative to your body type, they're actually on the longer side."
"So?"
"It means your limbs are quite long compared to your torso length. That changes everything. It'll take more effort, but if we modify knight skills to fit your body type, we can achieve sufficient power."
Really?
That's something I've never heard in my life. Dabi closed his eyes tightly and opened them with a serious expression.
"It's no lie. Though it's not the usual case... So please, give me a chance. It'll take time, but I'll turn Your Highness into a proper knight before your eyes."
No, of course it'd be great if that worked...
Isn't this guy getting overly heated? In the last regression, he didn't obsess over me like this.
I furrowed my brow and calmly laid out some general points.
"No, it's not that it's bad, but wouldn't it be better to focus on others instead of me? Let's be frank—Meredes is just straight-up amazing without all the caveats."
"Miss Meredes is indeed amazing."
Dabi nodded as if he couldn't deny it.
"But I want to make Your Highness a knight too. Absolutely."
"Even though I'm already an Arch Priest and an Arch Wizard?"
"Yes."
"Even though in a few more years, my body will still be like this?"
"It doesn't matter. In fact, the reason I'm being so persistent is exactly..."
"Your Highness!"
Right then, the head maid came running from the mansion, holding a vial.
"It's time for your elixir, Your Highness!"
What Lania brought was none other than the Growth Elixir. The timing was so perfect it almost made me laugh.
"Sorry to interrupt. Whew, I rushed over because I wanted you to take the freshly made elixir right away."
"It wouldn't make much difference if I took it a bit later..."
"No, this time it does matter."
Lania, catching her breath, took a deep one and shouted.
"I've finally figured out why the elixir's effects haven't been working properly all this time!"
"Eh? Really?"
"Yes. So I slightly changed the elixir's ingredients. But more importantly, it's you, Your Highness."
"Me?"
"Yes. For the Growth Elixir to have its full effect, the consumer's body needs strong stimulation."
"......What?"
"It means you need intense exercise. Just sitting in your room or taking normal walks isn't enough. You have to push your body to the limit so the stalled growth organs get stimulated and respond to the Growth Elixir. Now, take the elixir first. You can exercise after."
"Uh......"
I took the elixir vial in a daze, then felt a chill run down my spine and turned to Dabi.
"...Dabi?"
Dabi, meanwhile, was staring at Lania with wide eyes.
"You're the head maid of the mansion, right? So you're saying that if His Highness does 'intense' exercise along with that elixir, he'll grow taller?"
"Yes, exactly. What His Highness needs right now is exercise. The kind that feels a bit excessive."
"That's exactly my specialty."
Dabi exchanged glances with Lania, then turned to me with a smile spreading across his face.
"Did you hear that, Your Highness? This solves everything. What you need is intense training—no, exercise."
"No, wait, don't look at me like you've spotted prey and lick your chops."
"When did I ever lick my chops? Now, since the head maid has given permission, shall we start training today?"
"Oh my, you're going to personally train His Highness? A Knight Master is the empire's top knight—such a relief."
Lania beamed happily too. I felt the escape routes narrowing and swallowed dryly.
"No... like I said earlier, no matter what, I can't give much time."
"Three hours a day—no, two is enough."
"Perfect. Then I'll go grab a ton of Stamina Elixirs and Recovery Elixirs right away!"
Lania grinned brightly and dashed back toward the mansion. I reflexively reached out to her and yelled.
"Wait! What does that mean! Why Stamina Elixir? I don't need that! And why Recovery Elixir on top of that......"
I felt another chill and turned to Dabi again. He was rolling his shoulders, doing warm-up stretches like he'd been waiting.
"No, you'll definitely need them. The head maid has great instincts."
"......"
In other words, 'you're dead now.'
Ah, damn it.
How did things end up like this? Is there no way out? Should I just use Stealth and bolt?
* * *
In this 10th cycle, I had zero intention of pursuing the knight tech tree.
It wasn't just that the ceiling was low so I gave up. The knight tech tree itself is a form of body modification, and the process is so agonizing that I judged the mental strain would be too much.
It's more profitable to advance other routes in that time.
But right now, I'm running.
Why?
Who am I? Where is this? Why does it feel like I'm dying, but I keep running and running?