Episode. 09 Ludwig’s right hand (1)
As if being polite, I heard an unprepared tone.
I narrowed my eyes and saw Leo’s genuine smile.
What kind of nonsense is this? Suddenly, my brow furrowed.
“What did you say just now? I think I heard wrong.”
“Dalian, why don’t you try it?”
The knight in front of him, Leo, must have lost a screw somewhere.
It was no different than an adult telling a child to spar.
“Why? Sir Leo will have nothing to gain.”
“Bocchan’s mana characteristics, and a completely different appearance from before. also… … .”
Leo folded his fingers one by one and enumerated the reasons for sparring.
To sum it up in a word, it was that I was curious.
Rather, it was Aaron who reacted to Leo’s excessively twinkling eyes.
When I saw him with his mouth wide open, I wondered why he would do that, but soon something came to mind.
That man with a big smile is so great that he is called the right-hand man of the household.
And he was the one who had kept his neutrality despite the many conciliations of his children.
If he gives power to one of his children, the scramble for the heir, which had been quiet, will heat up again.
“Sorry, but I have to train.”
“Do, young master… … !”
When he firmly refused, Aaron made a sound of pain. As if this was a great opportunity to capture Leo.
Of course that doesn’t happen.
He will always remain Ludwig’s loyalist.
I knew very well that the attention that was now shining on me was really just curiosity, nothing more, nothing less.
‘And I’m not interested in the heir either.’
You are busy making a living, what kind of successor are you?
“Could you please leave, Sir Leo?”
“Ah, why are you like that? Training is good, but there is nothing better than sparring to gain experience.”
Surely this person must be the captain of the Knights of Battenga, and it doesn’t look very dignified to laugh and flirt.
“It should also be about the same skill. If you sparred with Sir Leo for no reason and get injured, you won’t be able to train properly.”
This was the biggest problem. I have nothing to gain by sparring with him.
It would have been a hundred times better to compete with Aaron at that time.
But Leo doesn’t seem to want to give up easily.
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“Who am I! It’s not that I can’t even control my strength!”
He silently shook his head at his words.
Then, the child stamped his feet as if he had been burned. It seems that he sincerely wants to fight with me.
“I hate to say this with my own mouth, but knights who want to sparr with me have lined up.”
“Then you can fight against them.”
I’m not interested, so I want you to go quickly.
Did he know my heart?
“Then how about this? If you succeed in even one effective hit against me, I will help you practice for a few days.”
The same goes for getting injured because of me-, added Leo.
‘… … This is appetizing.’
It is certainly attractive to say that such super-high students help with training.
It’s not unusual for Aaron to gasp next to him.
However, the question is whether or not Leo can be given an effective hit.
It is said that you don’t know long and short until you see it, but you can tell the difference between a snake and a dragon from a thousand miles away.
“hmm… … .”
I looked down at the training sword in my hand.
A fine incontinence across the blade.
During the sparring with Moritz, I thought it sounded ominous at first glance, but it must have cracked.
He quietly hid the training sword behind his body.
“ha. Sir Leo wants it that way, so I can’t help it.”
“oh! Did you agree?”
He smiled at Leo, who smiled brightly.
“Sir Leo, would you like to start right now?”
◈ ◈ ◈
“Then please take care of me.”
bow-
Leo nodded his head once, and excitement filled his eyes. Hurry up and take out the mana.
As he wished, I wrapped the holy power around the sword.
“Oh oh!”
He kicked the ground ignoring Leo who was so excited.
Caan-!
The attack was easily intercepted.
Kigeek, sparks flew between the two swords facing each other.
“Compared to trained muscles, it is strong strength. Is this your mana trait?”
Even in the midst of a struggle, his mouth did not rest.
Watching him move his mouth more than his sword, somehow his stomach twisted.
After swinging my sword a few more times, I landed a low kick.
“Oops! Such an obvious number does not work.”
Leo, who quickly dodged back, dropped a cubic tablet.
I quietly lowered my sword and opened my mouth.
“What are you going to do now?”
“yes?”
“Sir Leo applied for sparring, so how come he came out like this?”
This wasn’t sparring, it was just low-level mockery. Or was it just to satisfy my curiosity?
Anyway, this is not the attitude a knight who values righteousness and etiquette would take.
When I pinched it sharply, Leo made a prickly expression.
“I’m sorry if you felt offended.”
“Please treat me properly.”
Only then did Leo raise mana.
The assortment is now complete.
Cagan! Kaga River!
Both swords were attached dozens of times and then dropped.
Skills perfectly suited to my level.
No more, no less. It was proof that he was fully in control of his sword like a top-notch sword master.
“It’s more amazing than I thought. The achievement of basic swordsmanship is beyond imagination.”
Leo said, widening his eyes. The basic swordsmanship with an S-level proficiency was flawless in my eyes.
“Slowly finish it. It takes a lot of effort to keep sparring in succession.”
gooh-
With those words, I drew all the divine power into the sword.
A bright light ran through the blade of the sword.
Mana Heart screamed.
In the first place, my mana amount was never too much. This was also a very difficult situation.
“My last blow. I hope you will receive it properly.”
“All right. Try your best.”
good night.
I grabbed my sword and ran at him.
The relationship between me and him narrowed in an instant, and we stepped into each other’s space.
The sword filled with divine power was swung towards Leo. Leo also swung his sword at me.
At that moment, the divine power completely ran out.
Absolutely perfect timing. The blade of the sword that had been covered by the white light revealed itself.
As if a spider’s web had been spun, the cracked blade seemed to break if struck.
The incontinence that had occurred in the sparring with Moritz had grown to the point where it could not handle the continuous sparring.
“uh… … ?”
Leo’s eyes widened.
He desperately tries to stop the sword, but well.
‘late!’
Kwadeuk-
My training sword is shattered in an instant.
“Gagging… … !”
Even then, Leo’s sword hit my collarbone.
The heavens and the earth turned upside down several times with a thundering noise.
At least it was a blow that would have seriously injured Leo if he hadn’t stopped the sword.
“Do, young boy!”
Aaron, who was watching from a distance, jumped in surprise.
“Ugh!”
As I tried to get up, an intense pain pierced me.
“Mister Richard, are you all right!”
Leo, who had been stunned for a moment, asked in a cold sweat. Of course, this couldn’t be his fault.
Because training swords are often broken and injured in Dalian.
But now the story is different.
“Ah! It’s like a broken bone! This is why I didn’t want to engage in sparring!”
There won’t be any injuries-, it will be a very embarrassing situation for Laden Leo.
I looked at him with a resentful look, with a tearful face as much as possible.
Leo’s face, with no curiosity anywhere and only bewilderment, was quite worth seeing.
“after… … Sir Leo, what were the terms of the Dalian bet?”
“I, when you succeed in attacking me… … .”
“Hey. Not that.”
momentary silence.
Somehow he seems to have forgotten, so I decided to kindly inform him.
“I think you said you would take responsibility even when this kind of misfortune happened.”
“Ugh… … !”
Suddenly, I remembered the proverb that curiosity kills the cat.
You shouldn’t make fun of your mouth like that.
The throbbing pain was painful, but for some reason a smile came out.
“Aaron, did you hear that?”
“yes. I heard. I heard you carefully.”
Although Leo, the commander of the 1st Knights, might have noticed, Aaron nodded his head honestly.
On the contrary, Leo’s eyes began to shake a lot.
“Sir, you must have been aiming for this from the beginning… … .”
“What are you talking about? It was just an accident.”
That’s right – I can’t honestly say that.
I took off my pretense and grabbed the wound.
“oh my! I will leave it up to you. Sir Leo.”
Two months until leaving for the Elven Forest.
I got a very good tutor.
◈ ◈ ◈
Tok, tok-
The sound of fingers tapping on the desk broke the silence.
Standing in front of him, Leo looked at his lord in silence.
“What did you just say?”
“As I am impressed by Master Richard’s accomplishments, I would like to briefly help him with his training.”
Even Leo himself, who said that, couldn’t help but feel sluggish.
Hopefully things will turn out like this
A bet I made to satisfy my hungry curiosity.
I was unintentionally caught up in it.
Richard, who was grinning as he clutched at his broken collarbone, couldn’t be so mean.
But what can I do?
A promise is a promise.
“Do you really understand the meaning of that word?”
Ludwig’s solemn voice echoed through the office.
The position of leader of the 1st Battenberg Knights had considerable influence.
No, it wasn’t a level that could be described as not a small amount.
How hard did Battenga’s children work to win him over to their side.
Nevertheless, Leo, who had always been neutral, offered to teach Richard.
“Can I take this as meaning that I will become Richard’s person?”
“Oh, no. He is a doctor who has nothing to do with the succession plan.”
Ludwig furrowed his eyebrows at the resolute denial.
Then why did he claim to be a teacher to Richard?
Even if you know full well what the aftermath it will cause.
“Could it be that his curiosity was piqued again?”
30 years ago. Ludwig, who had just finished his coming-of-age ceremony, found an ore in a slum in a remote kingdom.
I could tell at a glance. that he has great talent.
So I took it as my own.
He fed them rice and gave them a sword.
Eventually, as time passed, he became the head of Battenberg, and the gemstones he collected became jewels and were still guarding his side.
As such, Ludwig knew Leo’s personality very well.
“Many years have passed, but you haven’t changed.”
really didn’t change.
Especially his morbid curiosity.
It is said that a soldier dies by nothing and lives by nothing.
To the point where it was much more appropriate to say that the Leo in front of him died of curiosity and lived by curiosity.
“hahahaha, I also tried to kill this guy’s curiosity. I couldn’t stop getting interested.”
Leo, scratching the back of his head shyly, remembered what happened yesterday.
The sparring of Richard and Moritz. The sword attack that I saw directly after that.
It was by no means a lie that he was interested in Richard.
Although the decisive factor in helping with training was betting, Leo’s interest in Richard had not faded yet.
Even if it became a little cumbersome and cumbersome.
“The aftermath will not be so great for me to act out of curiosity.”
Battenberg dominates the North Continent. The 1st Order of Knights, the elite group of that family.
The position of leader of such an order of knights was a position where numerous eyes could not help but follow.
If Leo got involved with Richard, it was certain that rumors would spread among his vassals.
– The 1st Knight Commander Leo supports Richard as the next successor!
Moreover, since he was neutral, it was obvious that the repercussions would be considerable.
But Leo wasn’t the kind of person who cared about such things.
“Mister Richard needed my guidance, and I became interested in him.”
That’s all-” Leo added, his eyes twinkling.
Tok, tok-
Ludwig’s fingers tapped the desk.
As if he was lost in thought for a moment, he didn’t speak, but soon opened his mouth.
“Permission.”
There is no reason to stop it.
The owner of Battenberg judged so.
Even if rumors spread as fast as they could, and the battle for power intensified.
Even if it upsets my family.
Isn’t that also natural?
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Battenberg was no different from a battlefield driven out by endless competition.
Also, no one knows what the future holds.
One day Leo might really come to support Richard.