I listened to Gerik’s words and chuckled awkwardly.
Samuel, that man, also used to reveal his negative feelings toward the martial officers from time to time…
But compared to this uncle, he’s basically an angel.
He was a civil official who actually loved the martial officers.
“In the first place, isn’t the Squaret Family a household that values civil governance above all? Honestly, do you know how much money our Strategic Planning Office manages? It’s 5.5 million Gold! Do you think we earn and spend all that money just for our own good?”
His resentment was only just beginning.
“What kind of era do you think this is? This isn’t an age of war, it’s an age of peace! Honestly, those lazy Knights should be grateful and apologetic for getting that kind of salary while doing nothing!”
Uh, well… hmm.
“And yet, recently, the young Knights of the Order followed Lady Titania to the Helpion Duchy without a second thought! How dare they forget the grace of the Duke Squaret!”
Ha, you see, I’m actually the Consultant General of the Helpion Ducal Family, you know?
“We raised them up as Knights, fed them, clothed them, even gave them weapons! And yet they turn their backs on their loyalty and just leave! Don’t they even think about all the consideration the Duke showed them? This is why young people nowadays—! Back in my day!”
So, do you want the martial officers gone, or do you want them to stay?
Uncle, how about giving each of your two egos a weapon and letting them duel until one opinion remains?
I gave Gerik the appropriate nods and listened to him ramble on, but didn’t gain anything useful.
He spent the whole hour just badmouthing the Knights.
Phew, just listening to all that seriously, I might start hating the martial officers too.
But that can’t be.
Because the next place I had to go was exactly where those martial officers gathered.
The Order of Knights.
I returned to the Strategic Planning Office, greeted Lady Titania, then started making my way to the Training Ground with Mary’s guidance.
The Squaret Duchy is greatly divided into civil and martial officers, with the two sides locked in conflict.
The relationship between civil and martial officers has gotten as bad as it can.
But it’s not simply a matter of civil versus martial; within each side, the younger and older generations are also clashing.
On top of that, among the young martial officers, the Helpion Duchy has become a kind of hope, making things even more complicated.
Phew.
It’s all so complex and hard to figure out.
Hopefully, the Order of Knights will be more innocent than those people.
With that hope in mind, I made my way to the Order.
Thankfully, my expectations were met.
Only, the problem was that they were even more innocent than I expected.
“You’re from the Helpion Duchy, aren’t you?”
“Eh, but you’re the Consultant General, so you wouldn’t use a sword… oh! But you’re wearing one.”
“You wouldn’t be wearing that sword just for decoration, right?”
“No, the Knights who escorted Lady said the Consultant General was really skilled too!”
“You learned Swordsmanship, didn’t you?”
“They said it’s a Magic Sword?”
“And that you used Aura!”
“You idiots, do you really believe that? He’s the Consultant General, and you think it’s Aura?”
“He’s right. What do those guys know? They’ve probably never even swung a sword.”
“But they wouldn’t just make something up, right? They said the Duke Helpion doesn’t take anyone as a Retainer unless they have skill.”
“Skill is relative, isn’t it? So, even to be a butler or maid there, you’d need to be a Swordmaster?”
“Consultant General, could you swing your sword for us, just once?”
“You look a bit frail, though.”
“Maybe you never know. Maybe he experienced Change Body? They say there are a lot of Swordmasters in the Helpion Duchy.”
“Could you perhaps teach us the Swordsmanship of Helpion?!”
As soon as I entered the Training Ground, a swarm of young Knights rushed at me.
Piecing together the flood of voices, I soon figured out the reason—rumors about me had been spread by the Knights who’d gone out with Lady Titania.
Still, this was a bit much.
They’re rushing up like fans at the feet of a famous bard or dancer, and I have no idea what to do.
Please, don’t talk about the kind of stories you’d only tell at a drinking party right in front of the person in question.
“Quiet! What kind of disgrace is this before a guest!”
What rescued me was a powerful shout full of intense energy.
There, standing like a lion, was a man.
His hair was wild and brown, like a lion’s mane, and the lower half of his face was covered in a thick, unkempt beard.
That beard—does it go all the way down past his jaw, almost to his collarbone?
Completely covered in hair.
He looked a bit over 180cm tall, and his muscles were so swollen they seemed about to burst right through his armor.
Just by his physique, you could believe he was half-orc.
Judging by his high status, the trainee Knights around him instantly backed away in terror.
Mary took the opportunity to quietly tell me who he was.
“That’s Sir Albert, the Knight Commander of the Second Order.”
Apparently, the Squaret Duchy has two Orders of Knights.
One is the First Order, dedicated to protecting Lady Titania.
The second is the Second Order, dedicated to protecting Teron.
It’s said there isn’t really a skill gap between the Orders.
Just in case, I had chosen to visit the Second Order.
After all, I had already been moving with Knight Commander Brunello up till now.
Albert glared at the scattered Knights with sharp eyes, then trudged over to me.
“Albert.”
“Raward Gordem. I’m currently investigating recent events in the territory under the Lady’s orders.”
“Understood. Want to help. But not good with words. Foreigner.”
Ah, so that’s why his speech was awkward.
“Sir Albert is from the North Sea. He’s fluent enough in everyday conversation, but I don’t think he can manage the kind of discussion the Count wants,” Mary added by way of explanation.
Of course, that foreign appearance covered in hair isn’t something you see every day.
“Then, could you recommend someone else? Ideally, a trainee Knight you trust and a veteran who’s served the Order for a long time.”
Albert, without much thought, called forward two people.
“Jean, Amin.”
Jean must have been in the middle of training, as he stepped forward with his top off.
His bare torso was lean but well-muscled, and scars from countless battles marked his skin.
Most notably, he had a shaved head—not bald, but with stubble growing in, which actually suited him well.
Full of passion, this one.
“Senior Knight Jean, reporting.”
As for the trainee called Amin…
“I’m Amin, um, please take care of meeee!”
She was the one among the trainee Knights earlier who’d openly asked if I could teach Swordsmanship.
I had a bad feeling that this interview would be exhausting.
And as expected.
After we moved to a new spot, Jean faced me with a grave expression and spoke.
“Count. You’re from Delphi Academy, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And yet you went to the Helpion Duchy…”
What is this, am I being interrogated?
“The great King of Swords, God of the Delphi Kingdom, eternal General of the Demonic War, Duke Helpion—he doesn’t just take anyone as his Retainer, I heard.”
King, God, General… you really stacked on all the fanciest titles, didn’t you? One would’ve been enough.
“Can you use a sword?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Still not sure yet.”
“What aren’t you sure about?”
Jean met my eyes and spoke with an intensely serious look.
“Count. Please curse out the civil officials.”
“The… what?”
“It doesn’t matter. The harsher, the better. Please, say something bad about the civil officials. Anything.”
So that bad feeling from before was about this.
“Civil officials don’t contribute anything to the world, they just spout difficult words only they know, strutting around in their pretentious way, leeching off others, right? That’s why we martial officers must unite and create a territory free from civil officials!”
His eyes were dead serious.
“So please, Count, say something bad about the civil officials.”
Seriously, these guys are just way too simple.
I half-heartedly joined in the civil-official bashing to appease Jean, but in the end, the interview didn’t yield any useful results.
If anything, what I learned was that the anger of the martial officers runs even deeper than the sarcasm of the civil officers.
Surprisingly, I was able to get more information from Amin.
Amin was a young trainee Knight, probably just past twenty.
She answered every question with such a sparkling gaze that it felt almost excessive.
“A month ago? I don’t remember exactly, but someone at a drinking party said this: the Duke Helpion doesn’t take disciples or Retainers, but if you use the excuse of guarding Lady Titania, you might be able to stay at the Ducal mansion and learn Swordsmanship from watching over his shoulder.”
“Who said that?”
“I’m not sure who first brought it up. Ah! But one thing’s certain—the one who started the topic was from our territory. And it wasn’t just any drinking party, it was a Feast.”
“A Feast of the Order?”
“It was a Feast for everyone living in the mansion. The Duke holds them sometimes so that the residents can get to know each other better. Um, honestly, we’re kind of…”
“I know about that already.”
“Oh, you do? As expected of the Consultant General of the Helpion Ducal Family.”
Is the Helpion Duchy some kind of model utopia in the minds of these young Knights?
Wouldn’t there be more smart, logical people here, rather than over there?
This is still the Squaret Duchy, after all.
It’s a territory led by a former Academy Principal and the Chancellor of the Kingdom.
“Back to the story. Was there anything else discussed at that Feast?”
“At first, it was just a joke. We all laughed and said maybe we’d become the first Helpion Order of Knights.”
“Do you want to become a Knight of the Helpion Duchy?”
To my question, Amin shook her head so violently that her wine-red ponytail swished back and forth.
“No!”
“Why? You asked me to teach you Swordsmanship.”
“Would you teach me? Ah, wait, that’s not it. That and this are different. I want to become stronger so I can protect the Squaret Duchy, not to become a Knight of Helpion.”
“Is that how the other young Knights feel too?”
Amin laughed awkwardly, dodging the question.
That was answer enough.
Now I understood why Sir Albert had recommended this girl as a trustworthy trainee.
“That’s all I needed for the interview. Thank you.”
“Um… you really can’t teach me Swordsmanship?”
A sword, huh.
Am I really able to teach that?
There are quite a few people who awakened because of me, but that was just luck and circumstances lining up.
I’ve never properly learned Swordsmanship myself, so how could I teach anyone else?
“You belong to the Squaret Duchy, right? You have good senior Knights—why ask me?”
“Well, the seniors are kind of… intimidating… They always say things like, ‘Just keep doing it,’ ‘Endure with willpower,’ ‘Back in my day,’ ‘Kids today have no grit’… stuff like that.”
I’d heard that from Samuel too.
Personally, I think that kind of mindless training isn’t helpful at all…
But I’m an outsider—can’t just barge in and criticize the Squaret Duchy’s training methods.
Besides, judging by my talk with Jean earlier, it doesn’t seem like the Order is all that friendly toward me.
If I say something weird and they misinterpret it, it could be trouble.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to teach you, after all.”
“Oh… okay. That’s understandable.”
But.
“Instead, wouldn’t it be fine if you just watched me practice?”
“Come again?”
I don’t dislike people who chase after any opportunity for growth, even a small one.
In fact, I rather like it.
Maybe it’s my old trauma from being holed up in the Library at the Academy, unable to do anything.
For some reason, I just can’t leave someone like that alone.
“I practice every day too. I feel bad using the Training Ground for myself, though—do you know anywhere I could quietly train alone at night?”
Amin’s face slowly brightened as she understood what I meant.
“When would that be?”
“Let’s see… I’m tired today, so how about every night from nine, starting tomorrow?”
“I’ll open the door for you at that time! I’ll lock up when you’re done! No need to worry about using the place—as long as you use it well and clean up after, it’s fine!”
“I see. Then, I’ll be in your care.”
And so, promising a secret meeting under the moon, I sent Amin away.
To be honest, this promise is a kind of test for myself as well.
Can I actually have an effect on a trainee’s Swordsmanship, someone who doesn’t know much about swords?
Could I perhaps inspire some sort of realization in the Knights of the Squaret Duchy as well?
No. Let’s not get cocky.
I’d just look like a fool full of pride.
There’s no way something like that would happen again, right?
For now, I think I’ve gathered all the information I could for today.
Now I just need a place to calmly organize it all.
Somewhere quiet and peaceful.
Of course, the Library.
Lady Titania confidently recommended it as well, so—should I give it a try?