I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 41

The knight-centered territory, Endis.

The training ground, as large as the lord’s mansion, is one of Endis’s prides.

One side of the training ground was filled with various training tools, and there were many servants dedicated to the training ground.

Even at a glance, it was clear that a lot of investment had been made.

However, the training ground was not always bustling.

Even though morning training was conducted collectively, after that, everyone was deployed to their respective duties.

Still, there was one person.

Rain or snow, morning or evening, there was someone who wielded a sword.

It was Manwellin.

“Hoo―”

Manwellin swept up his blond hair and let out a long breath.

Sweat dripped from his short hair, cut to his shoulders.

He was so engrossed in training that steam rose from his body in the cold late autumn weather.

“It’s not easy……”

Manwellin muttered as he looked at the wide training ground.

Manwellin, who had been holding a sword since childhood, had been told he had talent.

In fact, his swordsmanship skills also improved rapidly.

Already, there was no one among his peers in the nearby territories who was better than Manwellin.

But that was all.

What Manwellin wanted was not the position of a promising mana user.

A formal knight who could draw out aura.

In other words, the level of a mana expert.

So he devoted himself to training every day, but……

At some point, he felt that his skills were not improving and were just going around in circles.

“No, let’s not be impatient.”

Slap, slap.

Manwellin slapped his cheeks and steeled his resolve.

He instinctively knew he was at a crossroads.

If he overcame the wall before him, he would become a knight.

If he failed, he would wander for a long time.

There were many swordsmen who lived their entire lives as mana users, unable to overcome this wall.

For some, it was a life-devoting challenge.

It was never going to be easy.

“But why isn’t he coming?”

Manwellin grumbled as he sheathed his sword.

That rascal, Randell.

He said he would go on a short trip before entering the academy, but there had been no news from him since.

So naturally, he was worried.

Was he running away, or was he hurt somewhere?

‘His face isn’t to my taste, but will it change as he gets older?’

Still, he was someone he liked after a long time.

Especially the meeting with his younger sibling was impressive.

No matter how kind-hearted someone was, their expression would harden upon seeing his younger sibling who couldn’t walk.

But Randell was different.

Not only was there no wavering in his face, but he even had a sullen look when meeting the heir of the territory.

[Whether your status is high or you have a disability, what does it matter to me]

[I only see you as a human being]

That was the feeling he got.

‘So I wanted to talk a bit more… Hey!’

This made him feel like a girl falling in love for the first time.

But where would he find such a thing for himself?

He had decided to walk the path of the sword for his younger sibling and his own future.

It wasn’t the time to think about men.

Besides, the other party was just a kid, a kid.

‘Let’s continue training.’

Shaking off his idle thoughts, Manwellin approached the weapon display.

And what he chose was a shield.

It goes without saying that the shield was an important means of defense.

But at the same time, it was also an excellent means of attack.

One could only be called a true knight if they could freely switch between offense and defense with a sword and shield.

“Hoo.”

Manwellin resumed training in front of the scarecrow.

Imagining an imaginary opponent, he used the shield to check, then suddenly thrust it forward.

This would obscure the opponent’s view… and in that gap, he would stab with the longsword in his right hand.

Swish.

If the opponent was not dead yet, he would take a step forward.

At this distance, the shield was more advantageous than the sword.

Thud.

The series of movements flowed smoothly until the swung shield struck the scarecrow’s head.

If one practiced hundreds of times a day, even a fool could do this much.

Let alone someone as talented as Manwellin.

But the words he heard from behind said otherwise.

“Pathetic.”

“…What?”

Manwellin frowned and turned around.

This place was usually off-limits to anyone except knights and their squires.

But some crazy guy had trespassed and was mumbling that he was weak?

However, Manwellin’s expression soon brightened.

“Randell! When did you get here?”

Randell scratched his head and said.

“Just now. The lord is absent, so I came to greet Sir Manwellin at least.”

“Where on earth have you been that you didn’t send a single message… huh? What’s with your appearance?”

Manwellin asked, looking at Randell’s disheveled state.

Randell’s clothes were covered in dust, torn, and worn out.

He had been sent off in decent clothes and given ample travel expenses, so why did he look like this?

“Oh, there were some things that happened.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Alright!”

Maybe it’s because it’s been a while, but he’s strangely affectionate.

Randell looked at Manwellin with a peculiar expression, and Manwellin belatedly asked in disbelief.

“But did you say I’m lousy? Are you crazy?”

“Haha, I was just happy to see you after a long time. But it seemed like you were using the weapon incorrectly?”

“…That’s worse than calling me lousy.”

“To be precise, I felt like you weren’t adapting well to the one-handed sword and shield.”

“Stop right there. What do you know about swords? If another knight heard that, they would have already drawn their sword and swung it at you.”

Manwellin said, suppressing his anger.

How long has it been since I thought he was a good person…

Manwellin acknowledged that Randell was a genius of the century, but that was his talent as a wizard.

He didn’t have the right to speak so rudely.

But Randell seemed to have more to say.

“I don’t know much about swords. I specialize in magic. But when you master one thing, you can see the rest.”

“Ha. If you can see a bit of the sword at the 2nd circle, will you use aura at the 3rd or 4th circle? You, seriously…”

“Lightning.”

Instead of speaking, Randell cast a spell.

In about five seconds, an unbelievably short time passed.

Crackle!

On Randell’s hand, a white lightning crackled like a silver fish jumping on the surface of the water.

Manwellin stared blankly at the sight and asked.

“Li, Lightning? Isn’t that a 3rd circle spell?”

“Yes.”

“No, no. Weren’t you at the 2nd circle just a month ago? And a month and a half ago, you were at the 1st circle.”

“I’ve been diligently gathering mana.”

“Is that something that can be done just by gathering mana!? Even I, a knight, know that enlightenment is needed to increase circles!”

“I don’t know about that. I just did it, and it worked.”

“…That.”

At Randel’s brazen words, Manwellin opened his mouth, trying to say something.

But soon, as if he had lost his strength, he walked to one side of the training ground and sat down with a thud.

He had lived thinking he had talent, but seeing the overwhelming Randel, his motivation seemed to disappear.

Randel watched him quietly and then spoke.

“A two-handed greatsword.”

“…A two-handed greatsword, what about it?”

“Try using it. Ditch the shield.”

At the sudden words, Manwellin jumped up.

“That’s ridiculous! Can’t you see my physique?”

“I can see it well. You’re 170 cm tall and weigh… about 55 kg of muscle?”

“How do you know my weight? Anyway, with my physique, a two-handed sword is too much. I was even thinking of switching to a lighter weapon…”

Randel asked as if he didn’t understand.

“You can strengthen your body with mana and wield it, so what does physique matter?”

“You can’t strengthen your body with mana 24 hours a day!”

“Why not? Everyone just says they can’t.”

“No! Even our knight commander can’t do that.”

Then Randel asked something else.

“If you’re a 3-circle mage, you’re about the level of a lower knight, right?”

“Y-yes?”

“Then can the commander, who is outstanding, become a lower knight in three months after picking up a sword for the first time, self-taught?”

“The commander is exceptional, but… not to that extent.”

“But I did.”

“I know…”

“Then trust me once. If it doesn’t work out, you can go back to using a one-handed sword and shield.”

“It’s not that easy…! Sigh, fine.”

Manwellin wanted to shout, ‘A knight is much more delicate than you think!’

A knight was like a sword that had been tempered thousands, tens of thousands of times.

If any foreign substance got in, the sword wouldn’t just be damaged, it could break completely.

But Manwellin couldn’t bring himself to explain that.

Because the expected answer was obvious.

[Why not?]

[I can do it, so why can’t you?]

Even though he thought it was nonsense, a part of him was intrigued.

‘Three circles in three months!’

Even if you poured thousands of gold into teaching magic from a young age, reaching three circles at Randel’s age was impossible.

Just that alone would make him a genius… Moreover, Randel learned magic on his own.

And what about his casting speed?

‘If a genius like him says so, there must be something to it, right?’

Randel delivered the final blow to Manwellin.

“Trust me. Aren’t we the ones who will protect this territory together? Why would I deceive you, Sir Manwellin?”

“Alright. …I’ll give it a try!”

Randel nodded as if he had made a good decision.

* * *

Of course, Randel knew nothing about one-handed swords or two-handed greatswords.

He had learned swordsmanship, but it was only to survive and endure while casting slowly.

He was quite good with a one-handed axe, but there was no guarantee he would always have an axe in hand on the battlefield.

If he lost his axe, the most common weapon around would be a sword, so he learned to use it.

Even then, he didn’t learn it formally; he just paid a friendly mercenary to teach him a bit.

But he could confidently say that a two-handed greatsword suited Manwellin the best.

‘Because he told me so himself.’

Manwellin said that to survive among the big male knights, who were at least 190 cm tall, he had to increase his speed.

So later, he even replaced his shield with a smaller and lighter buckler than the current iron shield.

But as Randel just mentioned, knights fight by enhancing their bodies with mana anyway.

So men can use delicate daggers, and women can use two-handed greatswords as tall as themselves.

Mana.

A mysterious power that allows humans to surpass their limits.

In front of it, gender or physique is meaningless.

‘Contrary to expectations, the weapon that suited Manwellin the best was the greatsword.’

However, Manwellin realized it too late.

When the territory was attacked and he had to escape, his sword broke, and he had no choice but to use the enemy’s two-handed greatsword.

That weapon, which he held for the first time, fit him better than the combination of the one-handed sword and shield he had trained with for over a decade.

Manwellin always said it was a shame.

Because he was still a mana user at that time.

If he had known earlier…

‘It’s a pity to reveal the 3rd circle, but oh well.’

He actually pondered a lot about that part.

Should he reveal that he was in the 3rd circle?

Was there no way to wield the greatsword without revealing it?

But no matter how much he thought about it, nothing came to mind.

Except for making people recognize that he was a genius on the level of an unshakable, immutable truth.

‘I would have done the same.’

[That’s not how you use magic.]

If a mere knight trainee who couldn’t even use mana had given him such advice?

‘I would have roasted him with a fireball right away.’

But what if it was a sword master who said the same thing?

One of the few on the continent who dared to claim they had seen the end of the sword.

He would have checked his magic, wondering if there was really something to it.

‘Hey, know that you have a good friend. Although you probably don’t remember now…’

Randel left the training ground with a satisfied yet somewhat bitter smile.

One of the especially good things after returning was this.

Being able to repay the kindness of the past.

But the biggest drawback of returning is also here.

That he alone knows this fact.

‘Let’s go home now.’

Randel headed towards the mansion, into the city.

It was time to see his family after a long time.

Thus, before leaving for the academy, Randel began to tidy up his surroundings one by one.