NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25
At the training grounds as dusk settled in, the day after the royal knights had finished their mental preparation.
Russell, a novice knight of the Three Swords Unit, quickly tidied up the pigsty-like quarters of the senior knights and headed to the training grounds.
‘Finally, the real start of knight life.’
Russell felt pleased at the situation he had long dreamed of.
Back in his hometown, Russell was known as someone with a bit of strength among the elders.
When a tax collector arrived with a knight who recognized his unusual talent, he made a suggestion to come to the capital, and Russell eagerly accepted it.
Zigfried, the guardian knight, was said to have been an ordinary boy from some small village.
He embarked on a long journey with his childhood friend and eventually became the greatest guardian knight by slaying a dragon.
Having grown up reading his life story since childhood, Russell harbored the dream of becoming a knight and set off for the capital with the lord’s knight.
In the capital, he saw a notice that the royal knights were recruiting a large number of new members.
With high hopes, he hastily took the test and passed it, becoming a novice knight.
He finally took the first step on the prestigious path of becoming a royal knight, but…
Life in the royal knights was different from what he had imagined.
Assigned to the Three Swords Unit, there were days when he did nothing but clean the lodgings of the senior knights without any teaching, only handling menial tasks.
‘Finally, my novice knight days are over.’
Russell entered the training grounds with his fellow novices who were burning with determination like him.
And the scene he saw there was…
‘…a child?’
He saw a young girl running diligently around the training grounds, covered in sweat.
Looking around in confusion, he noticed his fellow knights also staring blankly at the girl.
‘Who… Ah. That kid who came with the captain.’
The captain’s personal maid, now referred to as a lady-in-waiting.
Russell watched curiously as Rani circled the training field and then moved on.
‘It seems physical training is trending these days.’
The sight of the young lady-in-waiting running around the training grounds with the encouragement of the maids was all that Russell could comprehend.
‘But, why is she running right now?’
Holding a small doubt, Russell fell in line behind the senior knights and soon experienced the answer firsthand.
“Starting now, we’ll run around the training grounds at full speed!”
At the sudden shout from Captain Cain, which echoed throughout the training grounds, the novice knights looked at Cain in confusion.
However, the senior knights began running like mad upon hearing those words, and when the novice knights started moving slowly, following the atmosphere…
The words ringing in their ears prompted Russell and the other novices to dash like crazy.
“The first 10 to finish get a rest! The rest will run again!”
The sound of unexpected footsteps rang loudly across the peaceful training grounds.
After running for quite some time around the training grounds, Russell continued to move his body while forcibly suppressing his labored breathing.
“Huff! Huff! Huff… Huff! Huff! Huff…”
His chest felt like it was being pricked with a needle. Each breath in and out made his throat burn.
His thighs and legs felt as though they were on fire, and his neatly prepared training outfit was now soaked with sweat, clinging to his body.
‘How many laps have I done…?’
Russell forced himself to control his ragged breathing.
Though he wanted to give up and stop, doing so would only mean he’d have to run again.
‘Who knew running could be this painful?’
The joy he felt when he first entered the training grounds disappeared as the pain enveloped his whole body.
As the orders to continue running persisted, Russell’s head began to heat up, questioning what exactly he was doing here.
“Why’re you still fine…!”
Cain, who had ordered the run, was also running in full armor.
Even when the first 10 senior knights completed the course, he didn’t stop, running alongside the members and endlessly lecturing them.
‘A monster, truly a monster.’
When Cain briefly left to issue orders to the resting senior knights and returned even faster, Russell nearly lost his breath.
When Cain struck the backheads of the senior members of the Three Swords Unit, who were running beside him just moments ago, Russell momentarily forgot his fatigue and even felt refreshed.
“AAAAH!”
Russell fiercely dashed toward the finish line in sight.
Contrary to his usual harsh demeanor where he beat members with a wooden sword, Cain had promised that if they trusted him and followed, he would surely make them honorable knights.
‘I will definitely become a knight!’
At the sight of Cain running in armor, Russell summoned his last bit of strength as the finish line grew closer.
***
“Should we add some weight?”
Even after running in armor, Cain was merely a little out of breath with no other feelings.
‘I should make a sandbag or something.’
He flashed a thumb up to Rani, who lay limply between the maids with a grudge-filled gaze, and moved on.
Unlike the senior knights who had somewhat mastered the basics, the novices varied greatly in their abilities.
Especially in the royal knights, who are not just any group, recruits should have reached at least the empire’s military standard upon entering as novices, but many were not much different from average adult males.
‘What kind of entry test did they conduct?’
He started by having everyone run to assess their basic physical fitness and divided them into small groups accordingly.
Training members of varying skill levels the same way would be inefficient.
After confirming the basics, grouping similar individuals, and assigning optimized training schedules, the members could ascend systematically to quickly elevate their foundation.
‘Physical strength is national power.’
They would eventually fight wearing armor, so however much he taught them swordsmanship, what could they achieve with low physical fitness? As previously discussed, he left the management of the novices to Millene and moved on.
Having been resting after completing running drills much earlier, the senior knights.
The advanced members of the One Sword Unit were already well versed in the basics.
Though the Three Sword Unit boys ran with the novices because they were always playing around,
he simply instructed the others to continuously work on their stamina. The One Sword Unit was always doing the same it seemed.
Anyway,
he had decided to hammer mental fortitude into the senior knights for the next three weeks.
Whatever the task in this world, mental strength is fundamental.
However, knights must arm their minds more strongly than others.
Only the senior knights could be taken out during the ‘Black Rain.’
Novices were too inexperienced and lacking in skill. As for senior knights being overwhelmingly superior? Not exactly, but there was still a difference.
To face the monsters, the first thing to overcome is the forced confrontation with their fear.
These monsters emit peculiar waves that disrupt the emotions of sentient beings.
This was the core element that made dealing with them difficult. Most who faced the monsters were swept away, paralyzed by panic after being hit by the waves and unable to respond adequately.
Thus, his plan for the senior knights was to correct habits and postures while concurrently focusing on elevating their mental fortitude.
From wherever he was, he watched the senior knights slowly rise from their seats.
“Senior knights will train with live swords from now on.”
Today was about hammering in the desperation to struggle even at the threshold of death.
He exposed them continuously to the fear of death to dull that emotion as much as possible.
This way, individuals would have varying levels of resistance, but they should still be able to move their bodies even when affected by the waves.
Even if they couldn’t overcome the waves, it didn’t matter. As long as he ingrained the subconscious reaction to counter danger immediately upon detection, that would suffice.
There would be fewer instances of them becoming rigid and helplessly enduring an attack. Somehow overcoming that single peril would be enough because the knights would naturally hunt down the monsters thereafter.
‘Of course, it’s easier said than done.’
After checking the sword at his waist, he continued addressing the tense knights.
“Let me inform you in advance, the black rain is expected to fall soon.”
“Black rain…”
“I heard it from the guards…”
At the news of the impending black rain, the senior knights began to talk among themselves.
“We need to increase the number of guards defending the inner wall.”
“We should revise the patrol routes. Try to overlap with other areas as much as possible, and, if possible, patrol in groups of three.”
With the knights discussing the inner wall defense plan as he suddenly interrupted.
“We will head to the outer wall when the black rain comes. The destination is the northern area. Our mission is to exterminate the monsters.”
At this, the knights who had been discussing stopped their conversations and stared blankly.
The senior knights with wide eyes stared at each other.
“Outer wall… extermination…?”
The knight commander, Lunia, suddenly cried out after tilting her head.
“What, what did you say? Extermination? We’re going directly outside the inner wall?”
Her words made the senior knights jump.
Meanwhile, the gaze of knight commander Cruel, who had been silently observing the scene with one eye, turned toward him.
“Captain, the knights have no experience hunting these creatures.”
Cruel, who seemed to be looking for someone, pointed somewhere.
“If there were experienced individuals, they’ve all left. If not…”
Following the finger pointed, everyone turned their gaze, revealing Panray fanning his face as he approached.
“Um, what’s the matter? Why?”
Looking confused and staring at Cruel, the figure turned his gaze.
Upon making eye contact, he promptly looked away.
It seemed the three-day beating he had received had left an impression.
Turning his head quickly, Panray picked up his pace.
“What were you guys talking about?”
“Palmer, weren’t you lurking around somewhere again?”
“Oh, Ms. Aisilin, your interest has increased lately, hasn’t it? Would you like to have dinner?”
“I already told you not to call me that.”
“Ouch.”
Responding casually to Lunea holding her sword, Palmer glanced back at Cruel.
“We’re expecting black rain soon, and we’re heading out to exterminate those creatures.”
“Oh, really?”
Taking out the sword hanging from his belt and planting it on the ground with a thud, he addressed the knights who had been observing him tensely.
“Commander Palmer, I’ve heard you have experience hunting those beasts.”
“Those beasts? Yes… a few times when I was in the south…”
“That’s also why I came from the south to the palace.”
The thought seemed to have crossed his mind as he continued his sentence.
“So, in your opinion, can the current Royal Knights handle these monsters?”
At his words, the senior knights scanned the surroundings before shrugging.
“Um, excluding the Captain, with the senior knights alone, we should be able to handle it without any problems. Regardless of which rank appears, knights, unlike soldiers or civilians, can deliver effective strikes. However…”
“However?”
“As long as it’s a fight we can actively engage in.”
Panray, whose demeanor suddenly turned serious, looked at the senior knights.
“They’re fundamentally different from wild beasts. If you can’t overcome the forced terror when you face them, it doesn’t matter how strong you are. That’s why former senior knights perished while hunting monsters.”
A silence fell among the senior knights.
The words of an experienced person about potential death complicated the expressions of the senior knights.
“Thankfully we have an experienced person around. Palmer.”
“Ah, no, Captain. What could I do? And I’m not the only one with experience.”
Following the direction of Palmer’s gesture, the knights’ heads turned.
It was pointed towards Vice-Captain Milline, who was shouting at the struggling novices.
Seemingly sensing the gaze, she looked up.
Looking around at the senior knights with a puzzled expression, she quickly noticed his eyes and was startled before shouting at the novices again.
The laughter that spread among the senior knights observing her passionate efforts warmed the atmosphere.
“She may have taken the position by coincidence…”
“But, it wasn’t a mistake to appoint her as a vice-captain.”
As he observed the relaxed conversation among the senior knights, he drew his sword.
The refreshing ‘swish’ of the sword echoed, and the cold metallic sound caught the senior knights’ attention.
Smiling at the knights who looked at him, he spoke.
“Just as Palmer said, no matter how strong you are, if your spirit falters, it’s meaningless. For the next three weeks, I will instill an unyielding spirit in all of you.”
The mouths of the senior knights slowly opened.
“Conquer fear. Move your hands and feet forcibly. Even if your mind stops, your body must not.”
He brandished his sword, sparkling in the light, and pointed it at them.
“Everyone, draw your swords. If you want to survive…”
With those words, he lunged first at Palmer, who was sneaking away.