Chapter 11

“Captain! You’re here?”, cried the knight, who had knocked the boy down. She was a tall, short-haired beauty with eyes similar to a cat. She looked a little older than Phaeon.

The boy called Regen jumped up as soon as he heard the sound. And when he found Phaeon, his face flushed red like a beet. Huh? Look at this oppa.

“But the little lady you’re holding…!”

I bowed in his arms.

“Hello, I’m Asha.”

“You’re the princess everyone is talking about! My name is Shellman Piart, the vice-captain of Veritas. What are you doing here?”

Oh, she’s the vice-captain? She must be really strong then.

“I begged papa. The training ground is so far away. There are so many knights here, it makes me excited.”

While we were talking, the knights stopped practicing and surrounded us in a circle.

“Papa? Hahaha!”, she laughed as if she had heard the funniest thing in the world.

“So what did I say, vice-captain? She really calls him Papa. I won the bet, so please give me the 10 tiums (a currency).”

A big black-haired knight approached and spoke vigorously: “Oh my, thanks to you, I lost my money. I thought my men were trying to beat me… Papa! Why are you calling him that, Princess?”

“It’s a nickname I gave him. We’re friends. And Parushi (Parciel) is too hard to say.”

When I spoke bluntly, she opened her eyes wide in bewilderment, and laughed frantically again: “Hahaha, boss! Be nice to the princess. When will the captain ever be called Papa again?”

Phaeon flinched at the sudden attack of someone, who didn’t know the truth. He glared at her for a moment and then dropped me on the ground: “Go to the edge over there. Just in case, don’t come too close. Sometimes the wooden sword will bounces off and fly around.”

“Woong, woong! Aratto!”

I nodded quickly when a strange groan came from one side: “Hui, so cute…”, “Is that a doll or a real person?”

These guys… are fools…? Well, they don’t seem too bad.

“Come to think of it, the princess doesn’t know the true skills of our captain yet. Wanna take this opportunity to have a match against me? Show her your skills in action!”, said Shellman cheerfully.

Oh, I like that unnie. They don’t know, but I wanted to watch him in the first place.

“You’re talking nonsense. A match is no joke…”

“Want to watch, Asha wants to watch, want to watch, want to watch, want to watch! Please do it”, as I clasped my hands and spoke earnestly, the surroundings became noisy.

“Yes, sir! Please show us!”

“Don’t tell me you’re refusing a match in front of the princess, are you? It’s against chivalry!”

After that Phaeon sighed and pointed to the center of the training grounds with his sword. Shellman ran excitedly to the direction he pointed to.

It was a match without the usage of divine power, purely relying on their swordsmanship. The match of knights was very exciting at first sight.

The two stood at a slight distance in the middle of the training grounds and politely saluted.

“Attack first”, said Phaeon while pulling out his sword. Shellman grinned and quickly pulled out her sword and stormed into Phaeon. Before he could have been surprised by what had happened in the blink of an eye, Phaeon dodged the attack by twisting his body to the right without moving his feet. At the same time, he aimed at Shellman’s left flank with the sword in his right hand, but she quickly turned around and attacked him instead.

The light metallic sound could be heard, and I could feel the strong vibrations even where I was standing and watching. It was amazing to have this kind of momentum without even using divine power.

Cling, clang clung. The swords hit dozens of times at such a fast pace that it was hard to follow with ones eyes alone. At first glance, I could feel Shellman was struggling because of how much stronger Phaeon was. Nevertheless, the fact that she countered his sword so many times showed that her skills were also great.

Clang! She was pushed back one step when she was hit with an attack so strong that it made her sword tremble. Phaeon did not miss the moment when Shellman’s sword stayed in the air and inserted it in a straight line. In an instant his sword touched her chest. People around me exclaimed excitedly: “Wow!” “You’ve got much stronger compared to before.”

“Haha! You didn’t try seriously, did you? To save me the embarrassment in front of the princess.”

“… don’t be rude and return to your work now.”

Phaeon inserted the sword into its sheath. I jumped and clapped while I glanced sideways, but Regen was so engrossed in Phaeon, that he couldn’t take his eyes off him.

That face with this sparkling eyes… even a sigh of admiration! Certainly, that boy was absolutely infatuated with Phaeon. I meanit in the sense of awe and worship.

“Papa, Shellman! That was so cool! Thank you so much for showing it to Asha.”

“Princess, I’m glad you had fun watching!”

“Shellman, Asha wants tolearn how to use sword. Yeah? Can sha learn swordmanship?”

Shellman smiled and pointed to Regen, who was still deep in thoughts of admiration: “Take care of the princess today, Regen. The princess would be perfect for your skill level!”

At Shellman’s words, Regen came to his senses and bowed his head.

Huh… Isn’t that’s too much? I liked her cheerful personality, but her rude remarks are no joke. He’s going to get hurt and become all depressed!

“Princess, let’s go over there!”

He got a small toy swoard from somewhere and took me to the corner of the training grounds. I looked closely at his side profile and quickly remembered where I heard his name.

He was Regen Tigris, who will became Phaeon’s best pupil eight years later, and be called the ‘ Lux’ Hawk ‘, because he roamed the battlefield like a bird! His outstanding horsemanship, the speed at which he rushed at his enemies like a hawk, and the great hawk-shaped divine beast he summons will become the legend of Santra.

But I didn’t recognize him at first because he looked so different compared to his appearance eight years later. That soft little boy will be nearly four cubits (about two meters) tall? Starting today, he would have to grow by one arc (about three centimeters) every day.

As I was looking at him frantically, he stopped and said quietly: “Princess, please do not come here after today.”

Ehh?

“This is not a suitable place for the princess to visit. To be honest… it’s a nuisance.”

His angelic face turned cold.

Oh, my God. Why are you taking it out on me when you got scolded? I have to keep coming here and stick to Phaeon! How dare someone who doesn’t help me survive try to block my way?!

In addition, the training grounds looked perfect for practicing magic. In a small room, practicing magic is limited to certain things only. But the training ground is incredibly spacious and there are many large, beautiful trees around it, so it seemed that you could try various magic without getting found out.

I was furious, but I managed to keep my temper. The opponent is a twelve-year-old boy after all.

“Regen, you’re angry that Shellman left Asha to Regen, right? Shellman has no clue. You’re not that bad, you know?”

“You don’t have to take my side. The vice-captain is a very good person. I’m being scolded because I’m… hopeless.”

What are you talking about?

“What do you mean, hopeless? No! Regen is still young.”

“Among my peers, there are already many colleagues who are able to use swords excellently and even divine power. I cannot do either of it and my basic skills are just so bad.”

It broke my heart to see him calmly evaluate his skills. His self-esteem seemed to have decreased drastically.

“… But Regen is here at Veritas. Veritas is an apprenticeship and not a place where just anyone can come and join! It’s a big deal!”

“……I’ll be kicked out soon.”

W- why are you saying terrifying things like that?

“Honestly, it’s amazing that I’m still there. But I’m still curious. Sir Parciel… why did he bring me here?“

“Papa brought Regen?!”, asked I in surprise.

He’s Phaeon’s pick?! So that’s why he will become a great knight. There is no way he’s unable to get recognized by the grown-ups. But why is he unable to use his abilities now? I’m almost going crazy because I want to give him a spoiler concerning his future life…

Then, from somewhere, a boy with burning red hair and gray eyes appeared. He was smiling mischievously, but he looked like a young lord of a noble family. Unlike Veritas’s white uniform for their apprentice knights, he wore a black uniform embroidered with a gold thread – so he must be an apprentice of the Royal Knights Dignita.

“Hahaha! Regen, finally Veritas gave up on you. Now you’re practicing with a little girl like that! Are you looking for a place to hire you as a nanny?”

“… don’t be mean! This is the princess”, answered Regen with a stiff face at his sarcastic remarks.

They looked like old friends.

“Oh, you’re the princess who came to the royal family last month. It’s a great pleasure to meet you. I’m Ark Eleanor, the eldest son of the Count Eleanor.”

Eleanor? I’m sure I have heard this somewhere before.

“I understand now why they left the princess to you. You’re perfect as a playmate. You should have been a maid, not a knight. To be honest, I think Veritas has no eye for people.”

Ark’s provocation made Regen turn white. He shivered all over and lifted his sword.

“How dare you insult our captain! I can’t forgive you!”

“Ha! Are you going to cut me with that? You’re still practicing swinging?”, Ark was obviously sarcastic, “And don’t talk down to me. You’re a commoner, aren’t you?”

The members of the temple, to which the Holy Knights belong, tend to have various statuses in comparison to the Royal Knights, who are almost all nobles. However, no matter how low their status was, they were bound to be treated with courtesy once they belong to the Holy Knights Veritas. It’s not like the people do not ignore curtesy behind their backs… but it’s really rude to do so right in front of them.

Regen was furious and tried to jump at Ark, so I had to grab his leg and hang on.

“Don’t fall for such a childish provocation, Regen! If the knights fight, Papa will be angry!”

“Yeah, I don’t know what will happen if you, you who can’t even use divine power, attacks me. You’re gonna have to keep your face down for a few days.”

“I… I can use divine power!”, cried Regen while blushing.

You just told me you can’t use it, Regen! I understand that you don’t want to lose against him, but I was worried about whether you should bluff like that.

“Ha! Then compete with me. If you can really use your divine power, you’ll be able to defend my aura!”, Ark raised his sword with a sneer.

As a member of the 1st knight division, the Royal Knights, it’s a given that you can use aura. The Royal Knights Dignitas are a group of knights who know how to use an “Aura”, which is their mana wrapped around their sword. Even the apprentices are able to do so.

“…deal, it’s a duel.”

Wait a minute, you punks! What do you mean, a duel at your age? What if you get hurt?!

Ignoring my stamping, the two quickly started their duel. Even before he could make a few moves, Ark swung his sword gleaming with black aura and made a cut on Regen’s leg. Blood gushed from the spot.

“Ugh!”

“Damn! You’re bleeding! I’ll call Papa!”

“Don’t!”, Regen caught me, who was trying to run. He frowned because of the pain.

“You can’t even heal your own wounds, so what kind of divine power is that supposed to be? Haha! Is everyone in Veritas a liar? Veritas means ‘ truth ‘!”

I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I clenched my fist and shot at him with scorching eyes: “Ignis1.”

“What… what was that?”

“It’s called Ignis!”