“Morning, everyone.”
“Good morning!”
The day after Surena visited and informed me of her mission, I made my way to the Liberion Order’s office to fulfill my primary duty. Yesterday, I’d gone to the magic institute—today I would be training the knights. And though I was pretty busy, my days were extremely fulfilling.
After a full year of being the order’s instructor, I was able to put a name to pretty much every knight’s face. There were those who didn’t come during my training hours very often and those whom I simply hadn’t gotten many opportunities to meet, but I thought I’d still made some pretty good progress.
“Okay then... Guess I’ll warm up and join them.”
I’d loosened up somewhat during the walk here, but it was now time to warm myself up for battle. Stretching before combat wasn’t always a possibility on the battlefield, but it was important to get limber before training to avoid any unnecessary accidents.
As I stretched, Evans, the knight who’d been in charge during the newcomers’ exam, energetically hurried over to me.
“Ah, Mr. Beryl! I’ll get one hit on you...or maybe that’s aiming too high... Well, I’ll definitely last longer this time!”
“Ha ha ha, I’m looking forward to it.”
As Henblitz had once said, watching youngsters rush to greater heights was a great joy. Veteran expertise was a real thing—those who’d spent more time on their craft possessed greater techniques. However, this experience would go to waste if not passed on to the younger generation, so mentors were necessary for guiding the inexperienced. Even the techniques I possessed had come from my dad.
On the other hand, it was detrimental for those on top to flaunt their strength too much. I had no intention of ever growing arrogant, but even if I didn’t intend to, others could perceive me that way. I had to keep things in moderation so it never happened. Unlike back in the dojo, the knights I was teaching were all valorous warriors who’d made it through that strict entrance exam.
“Oh yeah, Evans,” I said. “Is Curuni here today?”
“She’s on patrol duty,” he answered. “She’s probably running all around Baltrain right about now.”
“I see.”
There were many knights, so it was easy for those who were close in age or skill to cluster together, even if they didn’t strictly form groups. I thought this was a good thing for their growth. Curuni and Evans, for example, were contemporaries who also happened to be around the same level, and they spent a lot of time together. They get along well.
That was why I’d wondered why she wasn’t here when he was, but it was apparently her turn to patrol the city. The knights of the Liberion Order didn’t spend every day cooped up in the training hall, after all. Today, Curuni was working instead of training.
The knights weren’t on the clock 24-7 or anything. They took breaks on rotation and were also allowed prolonged leaves of absence—much like I’d taken when I’d returned to Beaden.
However, some knights were a bit abnormal and came to the training hall when they were off the clock for a few hours—and some even on their precious days off. Like Henblitz... I worried about his health much like I did Allucia’s, though in a somewhat different way.
The knights’ schedules varied wildly—some frequented the training hall regularly, some didn’t, and others were somewhere in between. I wondered if that had to do with work-related matters. As an instructor, I didn’t have many opportunities to go anywhere else in this building. Well, once in a while, I found myself in the reception room or in Allucia’s office, but that was about it.
Allucia spent a lot of time holed up in her office, so there had to be piles of paperwork to do for the organization. The order had plenty of people working behind the scenes completing this work, and they were the ones who didn’t frequent the training hall or take part in missions on the front lines. After all, Allucia couldn’t possibly have been doing all the office work.
Knights were all definitely capable of fighting, but managing an organization required skills beyond the physical. As an extreme example, even if there were a hundred of me, it would still be impossible to run the place. I know how to fight, though.
The expedition to Flumvelk, Princess Salacia’s wedding escort, and the training exercise in Hugenbite had all been meticulously planned by such people. As someone whose brain contained nothing beyond how to wield a sword, I was endlessly grateful for all their work.
I continued warming up while pondering such matters, and before long, the commander herself entered the training hall. It was a bit unusual—she was normally swamped in work around this time.
“Good morning.”
“Hey, Allucia. Morning. Rare to see you here at this hour,” I said, curious about why she was out and about.
“Perhaps it is,” she agreed. “There’s been less paperwork lately compared to last year.”
It was a simple reason, but I was glad that Allucia’s burden was getting lighter. That meant she had more time for both leisure and exercise. Sitting at a desk all day is pretty bad for the body. This was just my opinion as a swordsman, though. I wasn’t denying the efforts of people who did work at desks.
“Hmm... Should I take that as good news?” I asked.
“Well, this time around, I’m not sure I could call it ‘good’ news.”
So the decrease in paperwork isn’t entirely a good thing? If I’d been in her position, I would probably have been delighted like some simpleton, but that wasn’t the case for her.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Sphenedyardvania’s delegation has been canceled this year.”
“Aaaah...”
Her words reminded me of the delegation that had taken place last year around this time. It was an annual international event to reinforce the friendship between our two countries. That was how I’d met Prince Glenn and Gatoga, and how I’d reunited with Rose. It wasn’t exactly an event full of happy memories, though. Anyway, Sphenedyardvania was in the middle of fixing their internal affairs, so now wasn’t the time for their leaders to be leaving the country.
“I guess they can’t really spare the time,” I said.