Chapter 21

Swaeeegh!

There was not a single flutter in Rohan’s eyes as he stared at the slashing sword.

He naturally swung his sword forward, deflecting his opponent’s attacks.

Kaang!

The opponent was shocked enough that the hand holding the sword was pushed back, but they clenched their teeth and held it in, thrusting their shoulders towards Rohan and leaning their upper body forward.

Then they raised their forearm and tried to press Rohan’s back.

Swish!

Rohan lowered his body to get out of the opponent’s attack trajectory, and at the same time, he lowered the sword handle and aimed it towards the opponent’s lower body, where the loophole was exposed.

Pok!

“Kukk!”

This time, the body of the opponent who could not stand it fell to the floor.

“I told you to change the habit of merely attacking blindy.”

When Rohan reached out his hand to the person and said that, the person moaned, barely leaning on him to get up.

“S-Sir… Let me do it myself.”

Nodding his head, Rohan looked over his opponent’s shoulder.

“Next.”

“I will start the battle with Hein Remote, the Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Knights.”

Hein, who had been muttering to the point where it was hard to hear if anyone didn’t deliberately try to listen, put his still mumbling mouth aside and faced Rohan.

The defeated one went to the corner of the training ground where six or seven of his colleagues were already crumpled on the floor.

They were all miserable, but Rohan, the person who made them all in that shape, was clean and didn’t shed a single sweat.

“How long is Hein going to last?”

“He should be able to hold up for a while, right? The mana rod of the Remote family and the fast-moving swordsmanship are techniques that even the Empire acknowledges.”

“So the opponent is our commander now.”

“… He should last more than five, right? Even this crazy ogre bastard lasted five minutes.”

Most of the group nodded at the words of the knight who finally joined the group of losers. However.

Kakakaang! Kang!

Swiiish!

The sound of the clash of swords resounded in the middle of the training ground made one think that the space would be divided into several parts…

Hein soared into the air and dropped over Rohan’s head with his sword stretched out horizontally.

“Whoa! Hein, that bastard must be going crazy again!”

Miller, who is called ogre by his comrades, mumbled with his mouth wide open.

Hein’s sword seemed to have exhausted his powers as mana flew out of his sword.

Hein is usually quiet, but when he raises her sword, his personality changes.

Rohan sighed and raised the sword over her head.

Kwaaang!

The two swords crossed and the vibrations spread out in all directions.

Instead of deflecting Hein for fear of being seriously injured by his repulsion, Rohan scraped off the crossed blades to relieve Hein’s pressing force.

Kakakakk!

The blades rub against each other, and yellow sparks bounce off. Hein’s sword trembles.

Rohan slammed his sword hard and kicked the ground as soon as Hein’s grip on the sword reached its limit.

Hein’s body that was thrown into the air and Rohan’s soaring bodies collide.

Rohan grabbed Hein to support his body and put him on the floor.

Koong!

As Hein looked up at the sky, his limbs drooped.

Rohan looked down at him.

“Hein, if you want to become a commander at the forefront of the battlefield rather than the Imperial Knights Order, it doesn’t matter if you fight bravely like a lion but lose your mind. It would be troublesome if the knight serving the master only counts on instinct alone to swing his sword when he is chased by the enemies. If you continue like this, you should consider leaving the Knights Order.”

“… My apologies.”

“This is the second time. There is no next time. Remember it.”

The training and battles of the 1st Knights Order are renowned for being harsh.

In Atien, where there are not a lot of knights who look down on physical fights, it was actually a huge thing for the knights, who could be called the best and most acknowledged of the Imperial Palace, to roll on the ground and get thrown away with a sword.

As training and mock battles continue, it is inevitable that the inside of the hand becomes rougher, and the wound on the body increases.

But running wild after instinct is a completely different story, indeed.

Hein bit his lower lip and stood up.

Miller approached to help him, but was pushed off hard.

Rohan took his eyes off Hein who was moving away, and walked out of the training ground himself.

“Let’s wrap up today’s mock battle here. A guest has arrived.”

The eyes of the 1st Knights chased after Rohan, only to find a small doll-like figure, making them all surprised.

“Why is it the 3rd Prince?”

They looked around trying to find an answer, but didn’t find any.

“There will be a test today, so I thought it would be nice to watch it together with Sir Rohan. Sir Rohan, do you remember?”

Rohan nodded as he looked at his blue eyes that were sparkling.

“Hihi!”

He was worried that it might cause trouble, so he was very happy when the other party accepted it willingly, and thanked him for agreeing with him.

Leon smiled brightly, his fair cheeks blushed.

Because he’s such a cute prince, there was a soft smile on Rohan’s lips.

Do you have the courage now?

“That… Sir Rohan, are you friends with Mother?”

Leon asked what he had been curious about.

The question was more random than the sudden visit of the 3rd Prince itself, so Rohan stopped walking.

However, he didn’t want to just say no to the 3rd Prince whose face was looking at him with open friendliness.

“Why do you think so?”

So, Rohan also checked the reason.

“I’ve never seen anyone so comfortable with Mother.”

“Do I seem comfortable?”

Rohan looked back on his meetings with the 2nd Empress.

He couldn’t find anything from the things that came to his mind, so much that she wondered where the 3rd Prince could have misunderstood.

However, the 3rd Prince came closer to him as he accepted Rohan’s silence as a positive answer.

“Yes. I know when I see it. Ah! That’s right, Mother even joked with Sir Rohan!”

… Not knowing which part was a joke, Rohan bit his entire mouth.

Leon wiggled his short, round fingertips, then stretched out and tried to grab Rohan’s cuff, but he failed.

Rohan is not the type of person with a lot of muscle, but he was one of the tallest among knights with a good physique, and Leon was a small child even though he was six years old.

Rohan stretched out his palms to Leon, who was trying not to get caught feeling sad for not succeeding,

Leon hesitated for a moment, then placed his small hand on top of the large one.

Rohan held Leon’s hand and lowered his body so that Leon did not have a hard time walking.

When Rohan, who was already eye-catching and attracted people’s attention, acted like that, it drew more attention, but Rohan didn’t care.

Leon’s cheeks became even redder, but Leon didn’t take his hand away from Rohan.

Are His Majesty’s hands also as big and warm?

He suddenly had a question like that.

Elisha was worried because Leon, who was going to come to the 2nd Knights’ training center, which would become the testing ground, had not arrived.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason her face was colder.

Still, a smile sprung up on her face when she saw Leon approaching from afar.

She was surprised by the unexpected party’s arrival with her child, but that’s all.

Someone who will surely be beyond the line someday in the future, but…

As long as there was no crack in the empire and the emperor’s orders had not been issued, Rohan was a person who could be trusted by Elisha.

Even when he was actually an enemy, Rohan was a great person.

The battlefield where he was located was more violent than any other place, but it was a place where the most innocent death coexisted.

This is because the cause suppressed the madness and revealed the reason for death.

People who were not soldiers were not looted or killed, and those who were wounded were taken prisoners and their lives were saved.

So, the only ones who died before him were the only ones who had to die for his cause.

“I didn’t know that Sir Rohan was coming.”

Elisha wiped the smiling face she had towards Leon and said to Rohan.

Leon whispered to Rohan.

“Look, Mother is very pleased with you.”

“… Yes.”

After Rohan answered, he turned his attention to the 2nd Knights’ training center.

He was worried about the new selection of the Crown Prince’s knights.

However.

“Do they want to become the 2nd Knights with this level of swordsmanship?”

“It’s only because the mana isn’t so pure. There’s no way that a knight belonging to the Capital Guard would have mastered the proper mana rod.”

“Last time, the 2nd Knights were full of low-quality bastards, but this place is worse than that. It stinks.”

The training ground should have been the place to verify that they were able to join the 2nd Knights, but there was a lot of one-sided scolding and criticism.

“Will you let this be?”

When Rohan asked, Elisha answered.

“It’s gotten a little less. I’ve stepped in before, so the insults they’re getting right now is already less than before.”

It was only natural that the procedure was strict as it was to bring people into the Imperial Palace.

It is also ambiguous if someone from the fellow Knights Order comes forward and evaluates, so there is nothing unusual about the fact that, given the circumstances, the captain of the Guard who is in charge of the Imperial Palace Guard and has a high rank comes out.

But what happened right now wasn’t anything like that.

Elisha caught Rohan moving forward.

“It may make you feel uncomfortable.”

Nobles are intertwined with complex interests.

To the extent that it is not easy to predict what kind of bad relationship one action will lead and what the cost will be.

“I knew there was a problem with the previous 2nd Knights, but I couldn’t intervene without reason at that time. However, isn’t this something I can step up to? If I can go on the right path, I can bear the losses.”

Rohan approached the training ground.

Count Johansel, the commander of the Guard, and the knights of the Imperial Guard leading the soldiers of the Capital Guard were seated above the training ground.

“Oh, Sir Rohan. Nice to see you again.”

The sweaty Dell greeted him.

As soon as a whistle blew, the bright voice and eyes glistened with resentment.

If it wasn’t for the 2nd Empress, it looked like he would have already bit off and killed everyone here.

Rohan said to Count Johansel, who greeted him with a wink.

“What’s the matter?”

“That…”

Johansel, whose hair was already gray with a stubborn mouth twisted, licked his lips.

He didn’t know Rohan was coming.

Even if he knew it, there were actions he had already done, so it wouldn’t have changed much.

“I noticed that the duration and intensity of mana wasn’t bad. You don’t like them because of their background, not their skills.”

This is the decisive reason for Rohan to come.

Johansel was a pure, rigid person.

He had considerable dissatisfaction with this event, as he regarded the guards of the Capital Guard as defective products and despised those who inherited only half of the noble blood.

“I…”

“They are people who might become knights of the Crown Prince, so it is worth worrying. So I’m here to help. Or are you doubting my ability?”

Sreung!

When Johansel could not refuse, Rohan drew his sword.

As he went to the center of the training ground, the guards, who had been thrown into the mud with their swords in their hands, went back and emptied the space.

Dell’s heart raced as the Sword Master, one of the best in the Empire, looked at him.

He wanted to rush ahead and compete with the sword at any moment.

He saw Elisha outside the arena.

Hey! Hey!

His face was asking permission, like a dog rubbing its nose against its master’s shoes.

“He really likes fighting.”

Mumbling as she thought about the past, Elisha nodded her head.

Since your opponent is Rohan, even if you get hit, you won’t die or become severely wounded.

After the fight, Rohan will also deal with the other guards, so Count Johansel couldn’t mess things up anymore.

Elisha grabbed Leon’s hand and looked down at him, who was looking at the training ground.

It was not intended, but thanks to Leon bringing Rohan, the situation was resolved as smoothly as possible.

If only that’s the only reason the child brought him…

“Leon seems to like Sir Rohan.”

“I want to be like Sir Rohan in the future, Mother.”

Elisha paused for a moment at Leon’s words, then gently curved her eyes.

“Yeah, that would be great.”

He was a boy who looked like the adult he wanted to be like.