Chapter 5: Where Dignity Takes Shape

“What, then, is good for me?”

Dande paused for a moment.

“You asked me what’s good for me if you fight only within the scope I taught you.”

Then he smiled like an adult.

“If the Young Master fights like a knight, the other knights will recognize him.”

“What sort of recognition?”

Dande’s eyes shone deeply as he answered.

“They will acknowledge you as one of us.”

The moment I heard that, I thought of my room.

A silence lingered there like a withered potted plant.

Even the only remaining maid did not stay by my side all day.

I passed countless hours turning the pages of an old book I had already memorized, out of habit.

Sometimes I watched my younger sister go on picnics to the mountains and rivers with young men from branch noble families through the window.

I swallowed loneliness and envy and pressed them down.

Not bad at all.

I do not know what expression I wore or what tone of voice I used.

But Dande bowed his head solemnly.

“I’m sorry. One with such pale blood as me would dare…”

“No. I mean it. ‘Us’—I haven’t heard that for a very long time. Yes. If men like you could become our ‘us’…”

“I can act that little play as much as needed. I promise.”

“If, by any chance—if, by some chance, I return to being a noble in the future, I will treat you as my tutor who worked to make me welcome into your circle.”

***

Liam drank beer at a tavern with his fellow knights.

“Liam. You’re dueling the Young Master tomorrow, right? How do you feel? Tell it honestly.”

“Disgusted, probably. That brat who would’ve wet himself if we met him on the battlefield suddenly asks to spar.”

“How much did you look down on him to do that? Put some weight behind your attitude from now on.”

“So, Liam, why on earth did you accept the challenge?”

One knight watched him and asked.

“What? What’s so curious?”

“No. I nodded along on the spot too, but honestly, whether you win or lose, you lose. If you lose even once, your reputation will sink, and even if you win, what do you get?”

“Right.”

Liam chewed on jerky and agreed with the knight.

“They won’t promote you, and there won’t be any prize money. You might just get scolded by the elders for making trouble. Why fight? Can’t you just let Dande teach the Young Master? It’s just a short game; we can ignore it.”

Every remark was reasonable.

But Liam shook his head and spoke firmly.

“Don’t say it like that.”

“Huh?”

“The Young Master has talent and passion.”

Liam recalled the scenes he had witnessed.

He had seen someone clutching a savage horse with everything he had.

He had seen him swing a wooden sword in the rain, soaked through.

He had seen him tumble across gravel while training unarmed, and crawl forward through mud.

“My words to the Young Master carried no other meaning. Literally. It is impossible to go from nothing to the real sword in a single month.”

If he advanced step by step, he could become an amazing knight.

He only hoped the rush for speed wouldn’t make him lose his talent and interest.

“Aha. A loyal knight has arrived.”

“Then if the Young Master loses, what happens? Will you actually teach him?”

“You already have two squires, don’t you? Aren’t you busy?”

“What else can I do? I simply can’t stand by and watch.”

“Then?”

“After giving him a sharp lesson, we’ll lift him up again. We’ll go step by step from the basics.”

Liam thought that was what a senior knight should do.

He secretly vowed not to let Dande’s flattery wither the green shoots.

***

The sky was full of dark clouds, as if rain could pour down at any moment.

“Perfect weather for sparring.”

I tightened the belt of my armor and took up the blunt sword.

A circle ten paces across had been drawn on the training ground, and off-duty knights crowded round the edge.

“I bet two silver coins that the Young Master falls in one exchange.”

“I bet one coin he falls in two exchanges.”

“I bet five coins he won’t even manage an exchange and will fall.”

Dande stood among them with a stiff expression.

“Young Master Anplus. Sir Liam greets you.”

Liam bowed theatrically with exaggerated motion.

The attitude of someone who treats the Young Master not as a comrade but as one to be protected.

“Today I, Anplus, challenge you.”

To match Liam, I introduced myself simply by name.

At my introduction, a murmur ran through the gathered knights.

I could not yet call myself ‘Lord.’

But in this situation I could not present myself as the Prince of House Intezeruto either.

A contest between lord and knight wouldn’t be fair.

So I introduced myself by name alone.

Anplus. Pretty fresh, actually.

Liam pushed his curly blond hair behind his ear and pointed his sword.

For a knight, his hair was long.

Honestly, I envied him a little.

I had lost the dignity and leisure that should accompany rank.

My unruly long hair had become a symbol of that lost dignity and ease.

“By the eighth rule of knighthood, I, Liam, accept your challenge.”

The moment he accepted, the match began.

Sir Liam and I pointed our swords forward and crouched so our chins almost touched our knees.

A silent tension hovered between us.

Sir Liam narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

Perhaps thinking about what would follow if he beat me, the tip of his sword trembled for a moment.

I lightly stamped the ground at that moment.

“Ha!”

I dashed forward boldly and drove the sword I had raised over my shoulder into him without mercy.

I aimed for the thigh, where the cuirass did not protect.

But his advance to that position was not just luck.

My move had slipped between Sir Liam’s breaths, but his reaction was quick.

Sir Liam stepped forward as if without a trace of fear and widened his chest.

The ribbing on his cuirass showed clearly to my eyes.

If I thrust straight in now, my sword would surely break through his cuirass.

Dande told me to just pretend to try my best.

I had no choice but to twist my wrist slightly so the blade glanced off.

Clang!

***

Sir Liam swallowed his shock and braced his belly.

The place where he had taken the Young Master’s blow throbbed as if a bone had been broken.

The force in the Young Master’s sword was far stronger than expected.

The impact sank deep, and if he was careless his posture would collapse from pain.

It was an acute thrust that one could hardly believe came from someone who had just begun handling a real sword a few days ago.

If he let it go on indefinitely, he might be humiliated in front of his comrades.

Sir Liam swung his sword decisively.

He aimed at the Young Master’s cuirass collar.

He probably intended to give a scare by pretending to aim for the neck.

Matching the rhythm of breaths, he moved his steps in time.

He could have avoided it, but that would seem too unnatural.

Better to go boldly here.

I charged my left shoulder forward and rammed into Liam’s chest.

Liam’s sword sliced through the air, and my shoulder struck his cuirass.

In a clinch it is hard to deliver a clean blade strike.

“Bold. Brave.”

“Brave? I’m just following what Dande taught me.”

“We agreed to call it brave when we can move as we’ve been taught even in front of another knight.”

“Aren’t we just throwing away money?”

Even during the duel, comments from the knights watching reached my ears.

I knew I shouldn’t, but my shoulder puffed out a bit.

It wasn’t praise for my true skill, but oddly it felt good.

Was I that thirsty for praise?

I had promised Dande, so I had to keep it to the end.

Feigning a breath, I let Liam take a step back.

Having regained his stance, Liam felt the fine hairs on his neck rise.

The strike that had just been brought down had real power and speed.

Among the knights gathered here, only four besides Dande might be able to stop such a blow.

But the Young Master had avoided that strike and even counterattacked.

I had not purposely dodged the shoulder ram.

Perhaps if I had tried, I could have avoided it.

Liam remembered a rumor that had circulated among the knights a few days ago.

They said Young Master Anplus had carved down a wooden post in three days.

So it was true after all.

With the pride unique to knights, Liam raised his sword.

Although he knew he should not, he could not help wanting to honestly test his blade against mine.

He was excited.

What else was the Young Master hiding?

“Try to dodge this too!”

Liam’s sword descended with the force of splitting the sky.

From the trajectory it seemed aimed at my shoulder.

…Was he planning to cut off my arm?

Until a month ago, I had never even lifted anything heavier than silverware, yet the force was beyond what I could stop easily.

If I dodged now, suspicion would fall upon me.

I braced to block.

I treated what I held not as a sword but as a cuirass.

I stepped boldly forward and, before Sir Liam’s sword could fully accelerate, I laid my blade horizontally and swept it across.

Kaang!

Blade met blade, and the edge nicked.

My arm and shoulder cried out, and my legs trembled.

I still could not win by power.

I had to redirect the sword’s path.

Giving and taking power was just the same as swinging a wooden sword.

On an inhale, the force loosens; on the exhale, power tightens.

When Sir Liam inhaled, I pushed to drive his sword; when he exhaled, I twisted and let the strength flow out.

I slightly altered the direction of the bovine strength.

Kaddd-d-d, Thunk!

In the end, I pushed the sword that had been falling toward my shoulder completely past my body and out.

That was enough.

I had blocked it in a knightly way.

Now I should step back and prepare to press the attack.

But petty pride and a bit of competitiveness held me.

Before I realized it I shoved my right shoulder in and plunged.

I wanted my skill to be acknowledged.

Sir Liam’s gaze flickered like a candle in the wind.

I pushed his sword down to the lower left, twisted my wrist, and hooked his leg.

It was a technique I’d once experienced during unarmed training with Dande.

Back then it was done barehanded, but it worked even in a blade-on-blade situation.

For a brief second my eyes met Dande’s.

He wore a smile filled with astonishment and admiration.

I grabbed Sir Liam’s forearm tightly.

Thank you, Sir Dande, for teaching me the sword.

Sorry for using such a flashy move in the first spar.

Still, this much should be allowed, right?

With a thud, Sir Liam flipped lightly like a beetle.

“Ha ha.”

I laughed out of sheer delight.

I held the blunt sword to Sir Liam’s throat.

“Sir Liam. Do you admit defeat?”

Sir Liam blinked at me in bewilderment.

Then he opened his mouth wide and burst into laughter.

I felt a little embarrassment and a brisk freshness in his laugh.

“Aren’t we all doomed?”

“I guess I won’t be able to drink for a while.”

“You said he couldn’t even match one exchange, and yet he won…?”

“Did he really carve that post in three days?”

No one among the knights sneered at him.

Only looks of admiration were directed at me.

Sir Liam laughed awkwardly.

“I will apologize as well. Sir Dande provided Young Master Anplus with an appropriate education and acknowledgement.”

“I see.”

At last he dropped the sword he had been holding.

“At the next regular report I will tell the House Head of the Young Master’s skill. May he receive treatment befitting his ability.”

“May that be so.”

I bared my teeth in a satisfied grin.

Dande helped Sir Liam and me to our feet and raised my hand.

One by one, the surrounding knights applauded.

“Young Master! That was splendid!”

“I’m sorry! Excellent!”

“Truly knightly!”

Thus I won, and I gained a reward more valuable than victory.

At last I was bound to them; we became an ‘us.’

***

A month passed, and autumn arrived.

Many knights left the castle to collect overdue taxes from villages.

The days themselves had not changed.

I went out with the morning star and returned with the evening star.

I trained riding and crawling, practiced unarmed combat, and swung the sword.

I ran in heavy armor, swam across rivers with weights attached, and climbed high walls.

“He’s relentless.”

“Yes. Even if his blood is said to be deep, I thought his stamina might not hold up.”

“It seems he is different from us from birth.”

“More of a sword-mage than a knight?”

“Slowly it’s getting scary.”

The knights looked at me with peculiar eyes.

One evening, soaked in sweat and collapsed, a retainer came to me.

“The House Head wishes to see you tomorrow morning.”

A strange relief came before surprise.

“Yes. I will prepare so as not to bring shame to the House Head’s honor.”

My father, House Head Argantius, sought me out.

It had been three years since I had become a wreck cast out of succession.