Chapter 88
At Kallias's mansion, the squad members were throwing stones.
"Hap! Hah!!"
Taeng! Chaeng! Puk!
Eleven people were throwing stones at just one person.
The Inquisitor standing in the center was training by deflecting and dodging with his sword.
Deflecting and dodging stones flying from who knows where, and if he absolutely couldn't dodge them, he would block them with minimal damage.
Those who passed a certain level of physical fitness test were doing this kind of training.
"Argh! St, stop!"
An Inquisitor who had been hit by stones everywhere declared surrender.
Blood flowed faintly from his head.
"Treat him. Next."
"Huu... Come on!"
It was the Sixth Squad's vice-captain.
Kallias nodded with the feeling that he had been caught well.
"Throw."
"Heup! Hahat!!"
Taeng! Chaeng!
For the first five minutes, he blocked well.
Slashing, deflecting, and dodging the flying stones—not bad.
But after six minutes passed.
A stone-throw infused with Kallias's true divine power struck Diego's side hard!
Puk!
"Keuk!"
After that, he rapidly collapsed.
Puk! Pubeok! Puk!
"Keok! Which bastard! Stop throwing!"
"Throw more."
In the meantime, a stray stone hit the vice-captain in a very unfortunate spot.
The vice-captain, with bloodshot eyes, grabbed his crotch in agony.
"Aargh! You son of a bitch! Who is it!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs in outrage.
Kallias instantly threw a few more stones, hitting his forehead and crotch.
"Keuk! Fuck!! Who is it!!"
Kallias calmly raised his hand.
"It's me. If you feel wronged, dodge. Your enemies won't consider your circumstances and stop attacking."
"Damn it!"
Whether he felt wronged or angry, the vice-captain clenched his lips tightly and continued deflecting stones.
But soon he took a few more hits and came down from the training ground.
His whole body was covered in bruises.
They were training like this, limiting it to about 15 minutes per person.
But almost no one could last the full 15 minutes.
Kallias set the primary goal of the Sixth Squad members as physical conditioning, and the secondary as stone dodging.
It was still terrible, but he believed that if they kept at it, it would have an effect.
Every drop of sweat shed here would reduce the drops of blood shed later.
'That aside, this is fun.'
And it was definitely helping.
He could see with his own eyes that their stone-dodging movements and ability to sense presences were growing day by day.
From morning to noon, mountain running.
From noon to afternoon, they were focusing on stone dodging and sparring.
With this intensity, they couldn't help but improve.
"On the battlefield, these stones could be arrows, spears, or stray axes. Don't throw gently just because they're comrades; throw with all your might. That's how you won't die in actual combat."
"Yes sir!!"
Before long, the squad members were responding powerfully to Kallias's words, and even the vice-captain, though wearing a face full of complaints, did not disobey the orders.
On the first day, they couldn't help but be suspicious.
They just did as they were told and endured to spar.
But as one day passed and two days passed, their thoughts gradually changed.
"The vice-captain said to drink this."
"What the hell is this that you keep telling me to drink? Really."
"But when you drink this, your body tingles and feels good, right? Your body seems to get stronger too, so there must be something good in it."
"The taste is also kind of sweet and nice."
Kallias watched the squad members drinking the suspicious water with meaningful eyes.
They were changing little by little.
'It's working.'
That water was a potion combining the dragon blood and troll potion that Beatrice had brought.
Of course, it was water diluted to one-millionth of its original strength and was still a trial product.
He didn't know what side effects there might be, but he had tested it enough and figured it at least wouldn't affect their lives, so he was feeding it to them.
He believed it would regenerate their overworked bones and muscles and make them harder.
'It's incredibly diluted, after all.'
There didn't seem to be any particular problems.
It wouldn't have short-term effects, but it was a potion he was quite looking forward to seeing what kind of data would come out when consumed long-term.
Kallias approached the vice-captain, who was resting and applying medicine.
He was maintaining his sword.
"Dingo, you actually managed to get a soul sword. What's your inherent ability?"
"It's Diego. And I don't believe I have an obligation to tell you that. I don't really want to tell you either."
Kallias immediately picked up a stone.
Startled, the guy slowly drew his sword.
"This sword was my father. The sword's name was given after my father's name—Viego."
"Was he perhaps a fallen king?"
"What nonsense. He was an excellent Paladin. My father always said that a sword has weight. Perhaps because of that, Viego's sword can become either lighter or heavier."
It was an ability to increase the weight of the sword.
Depending on how it was used, it was a sword that could unleash both fast sword techniques and heavy sword techniques.
"An excellent sword."
In a way, it was a similar type of sword to the Tyrant Sword. Of course, it was a step below the Tyrant Sword, but if used according to the situation, there wouldn't be many Paladins who could block that sword.
"But why is your skill in such a state? You're letting your sword rust."
Perhaps because of the fact bomb he dropped, he started glaring with bloodshot eyes.
"What are you going to do by glaring like that. Your sword couldn't even graze the tip of my foot. Have you still not grasped reality?"
"...No."
"Dingo, do you know why you're weak?"
"It's Diego. I wouldn't know."
"Because you rely too much on your sword. Don't draw Viego for a while. I'll permit it when I think you've grown."
"What...!"
"It's the captain's order."
"...."
"Until then, use a regular iron sword or the sword provided by the Order."
Leaving the stunned Diego behind, he looked around the mansion courtyard.
The personnel who still needed physical training were running.
Brance and the twins could also be seen joining the ranks.
"Brance."
"Yes, yep! Sir!"
"Prepare the meals appropriately."
"M, me? I'm also training and it's too hard!"
"There was a report from a squad member that they saw you with a local girl yesterday. I guess you had time to meet women while whining about being tired."
"...I'll prepare it right away."
"You're not in heat, so do it in moderation."
"Yes."
On one side, Orphin and other squad members were having a gentle sparring session.
Kallias nodded with satisfaction as he watched the sight.
Orphin was steadily twisting the direction of his sword and swordsmanship.
It was still awkward and unnatural, but after trying it a few times, it seemed he thought it was a direction that suited him.
Even without being told, he threw himself into training and swung his sword all day long.
He was struggling a bit with the cultivation method, but that was something time would solve.
"I wish Brance would learn a bit."
Whiir-ing.
At that moment, a bug from the Death Spirit approached Kallias. When he received the bug on his index finger, Orkal's voice was heard.
-It's me. Orkal.
"Did you find out?"
-Yes, it was exactly as you said. The branch chief was unexpected, and that person was unexpected too.
"I see."
They were words with the front and back cut off, but Kallias understood and sent the bug flying.
He immediately called Lini.
From the two who had the bug from Orkal attached to them, contrasting results came out.
"M, me? You called me, right? That's me, right?"
She smiled for some reason.
"There's something you need to do. Do you remember what I told you before."
"To make connections?"
"Yeah."
"But I haven't entered the Academy yet, have I?"
"It's fine. We're in the same neighborhood."
"Same neighborhood?"
Looking at Lini, who tilted her head, Kallias pulled up the corners of his mouth.
* * *
A quiet afternoon.
At Flora's house, where she was reading a book, a boy who had been beaten up somewhere shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Captain, Captain! Come out! It's a big deal. All our guys got taken down!!"
"What? Where!"
"Hurry!!"
Flora, who was reading a book at home, grabbed the wooden sword her father had made and ran out in a huff.
After turning and turning around the alley entrance, an empty lot appeared. That place had already been swept by a storm.
Boys holding wooden swords were all fallen, and the girl standing in the center welcomed Flora's appearance.
"Is that her?"
"Captain, be careful. She says she moved here today, and she's no joke. She's really strong!"
The subordinate who added that already had black eyes.
Flora swallowed hard.
Black hair, uncommon in Kaladi.
And a distinctive ash-gray gaze.
She was a slightly cheeky-looking girl.
"Hi! I moved here too. They say you're the strongest here?"
Unlike the innocent wave of her hand that seemed delighted, the girl's eyes had an intense edge as if she had spotted prey.
"I'm Lini. You?"
"Flora. No surname."
Flora immediately gripped the wooden sword tightly with both hands. It was instinctive.
"Shall we test our skills first? I've only been training lately, so I was getting a little bored!"
Lini, kicking up the wooden sword at her feet and catching it, charged in.
Tak!
"Ugh!"
"You're holding up?"
She clearly struck with a wooden sword, but it had the heaviness as if struck with an iron sword.
She clearly looked like a peer, but the weight of her single strike was different.
"Oh, you block this too? Amazi...ne!"
Ttak! Tak!
Whiririk!
A wooden sword carrying rotational force while spinning in the air struck Flora's guard hard.
Taang!
With an upward strike from below, Flora's guard loosened and she dropped her wooden sword.
With Flora's arms spread open after losing her sword, Lini's spinning kick sharply pierced through her loosened guard.
Bbaak!
"Keuk!"
Kung! Kuung!
Flora, kicked in the abdomen, rolled on the ground and bounced back up.
"Wow! You're really strong! Normally, you wouldn't be able to get up like those guys. You have good endurance. You have sense too."
Usually, you couldn't get right back up after being hit like that.
With just the local kids, that is.
Flora clenched her lips tightly and asked while enduring the pain.
"You, what's your origin?"
"The North. I came from a place where it snows."
"The North...! The snowfields guarded by the knights of Zervan? You're from the North?"
"Yeah, that's right. You know too."
The children watching the fight widened their eyes at the word "North."
"Who wouldn't know! Zervan of the North! Luydren of the South! Gradas of the East! And Orbvid of the West!"
If you were a child born and raised in the country of swords, you couldn't not know the famous anecdotes of the Four Great Noble Houses.
And among them, the most famous was Zervan.
Flora, forgetting even that she was fighting, asked Lini in disbelief.
"Are you, Zervan?"
"That's right."
"Wow!"
"She's Zervan!!"
"Wow! A Zervan moved here!!"
The children, forgetting that they had been beaten, cheered.
The prestige of the name Zervan was truly great even among these little kids.
"Come to think of it, Lini's hair and eyes are black hair and ash eyes! It's real!!"
Then a barrage of questions followed.
Does the snow in the North really come up to your head?
Do Orcs really kidnap people at night? And so on—things kids would ask.
Lini answered a few of them, then headed toward Flora who was standing alone.
"You're the boss here, Flora. Right?"
"How do you know my name?"
"You're famous. The kids around here said they couldn't even use their strength against you?"
"Well, that's true."
Seeing Flora who still hadn't let her guard down, Lini's mouth corners curled up.
"Hey, want to come with me?"
"Suddenly? You and me?"
"Aren't you curious? Where I'm asking you to go. If it were me, I'd be reeeally curious."
She was curious.
A girl from Zervan who suddenly appeared and beat up all the kids.
She wondered why someone who looked like a peer was so strong, but if she was from Zervan, it made sense. The name Zervan made her feel admiration rather than anger, thinking that they were incredibly strong even at that age.
The name of Zervan, renowned as a prestigious swordsmanship family, carried that much weight.
"I'm going to enter the Academy. You know the Royal Academy? A place where you can receive a knight's title just by graduating."
The Royal Academy!
The elite of the elite course that grants a knighthood just by completing the 4-year curriculum was the Royal Academy.
Hearing that she was entering such a place, she thought as expected of Zervan, and it was so enviable that a gasp naturally escaped.
"But the Count who supports me said there was a little room left and asked if there was anyone he could recommend. He's a truly handsome and broad-minded person, so I told him I'd look into it and came out."
The explanation was a bit strange, but that was what Lini was trying to say.
There was an empty spot in the recommendation letter.
They were looking for someone to put in.
"Do you want to go to the Academy?"
Gulp.
Was this what temptation too hard to resist for a mere twelve-year-old looked like?
Flora nodded without realizing at the word "Academy."
"Can I go too?"
Lini's mouth corners drew an arc.
"Of course."