Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Jorge stepped out of his room, breathing in the cool dawn air.

The buildings of Maclaine Town still felt unfamiliar to his eyes.

Among them, he caught sight of people already busily moving about since dawn.

“Hey, Jim! Come with me!”

“What’s with the early bird act today? You’re a bit late, aren’t you?”

“Had to deal with my wife’s nagging and I lost sleep...”

A smile crept onto his face at the sight of farmers who started their mornings earlier than anyone else.

“A good place.”

It was a stark contrast to the fallen Kallia territory where he was branded a culprit behind civil strife.

– Maclaine, huh. Ha, perhaps it’s for the better. Go, go and find your freedom. Don’t live trapped in a cage without bars, following a useless Lord.

Even as Jorge felt pity for his former Lord’s rueful laughter, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse the suggestion.

At the age of forty, he was at the peak age for an elite knight.

He did not want to waste his years under surveillance and restrictions that might last for decades.

Cowardly?

It was not cowardice; he simply chose one of the two options given by the king’s command.

He had followed the orders of the true sovereign of this land’s knights—the king. This was not a failure to uphold a knight’s duty.

...At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself.

Not as disgraceful as surrendering to an enemy nation.

“A knight who has changed his banner. Yes, that’s me. As such, I will make sure I find my place here.”

An elite knight’s skills were valued and esteemed in any territory, in any country.

And in the rising power that was the Maclaine territory, there were only two elite knights—the Lord and his son, Logan Maclaine.

To someday repay the kindness of his former Lord.

To not bring shame to the name of the former Captain of the Kallia Knights.

Jorge reaffirmed his determination to become integral to Maclaine.

“The beginning starts now.”

It was only the third day since he moved from Kallia territory to Maclaine Town.

Today, he would meet the real masters of this place.

The Maclaine Knights.

“Brother, aren’t you worried?”

Old subordinates like Denmil, who had unexpectedly joined him, voiced their timid concerns that belied their substantial figures.

Jorge replied with a wry smile.

“Of course there will be territorial disputes. But what can we do in our merged state? We just have to endure.”

“It’s not just a simple merger. We were enemies slashing at each other’s throats until recently. It might be more than just a little territorial dispute.”

“Nevertheless, we must endure. Don’t even think about causing trouble.”

“But you have your dignity, Brother. If it gets too intolerable, I’ll take responsibility and make a move.”

“...And what will you do?”

“I’ll... I’ll just cause a scene and get kicked out, but anyone who dares disrespect you...”

“Aaagh! Sorry!”

“Stop your nonsense and just. Endure. It. You got that?”

“Yes, yes, just... could you please let go...”

Finally, Jorge released Denmil, who he’d grasped by the ear for spouting rubbish.

Mental fortitude was what was needed most now.

“I have no pride. I’m a knight who changed his banner. I have no pride...”

He muttered to himself repeatedly like a prayer as he took a deep breath and entered the training ground of the knights.

Whack.

The moment he set foot inside, one knight bumped into his shoulder.

“Ah shit, what are you doing standing at the entrance...”

Was this the beginning?

As he inwardly sighed, Jorge saw Denmil’s twisted face flush with anger.

“Hold back. It’s just the start.”

As Jorge’s hand moved to hold Denmil back.

“Look us in the eyes when... Oh? That armor...? Gasp! You must be the new arrivals! My apologies, I’ve been very rude. I’m sorry.”

The knight before them bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, apologizing profusely.

“Uh...?”

“...”

“Really sorry. I was in a rush and didn’t see where I was going.”

He looked genuinely apologetic and clueless.

‘What’s going on?’

“On average, we die before that.”

“That’s why it was just luck. I almost died in that Aegis fight... ah, just thinking about it... Anyway, those three geniuses will reach it soon enough, and Henderson over there isn’t far behind.”

As the rest looked at Henderson in surprise, he gave a nonchalant shrug.

The excellence of the maclaine-steel blades and the successive wars had certainly raised the overall level of Maclaine knights.

“Still, I would prefer Sir Digrom to be...”

“Enough nonsense. It’s up to our Lord and the Grand Duke.”

Dismissing the few voices of support, Digrom proclaimed:

“All for the Maclaine family!”

“For the family!”

Just as they were about to conclude their meeting.

“Crikey, we’re in big trouble!”

Bang!

“The Grand Duke himself will lead this regular training! With the Lord overseeing!”

The disastrous news was brought by a knight who burst in frantically.

In that instant, the leading knights of Maclaine started directing murderous glares at their peers.

“Who’s responsible?!”

“It wasn’t me, definitely not!”

“Drag out whoever screwed up!”

“Which bastard...”

The knights’ coalition, formed for survival, became tumultuous once more.

* * *

“Many new faces, I see. Welcome. I am Logan Maclaine. Surely there is no one here who does not know me?”

“Yes!”

After delivering a short introduction from the stage, Logan captivated the attention of the 300-plus knights before him.

‘Definitely a large number.’

About 200 knights had transferred over from the newly acquired Kallia territory.

With Maclaine’s growing fame, several freelance knights had approached to join in the past few weeks.

Most were lords who had lost their territories during the civil war. Originally, freelance knights often got driven away due to misconduct, so verification was needed.

Even though his father had excluded more than a dozen who had serious disqualifications through interviews and the Knox information guild, a total of twenty-two freelance knights had joined Maclaine.

The sense of Maclaine’s increasingly dignified stature seemed palpable, judging by the expressions of the knights gazing at Logan, filling him again with pride.

However, the extra tense atmosphere of the existing knight order lingered on his mind, but it was something a short announcement could solve right now.

“Let’s start! This is the regular training for the newly reborn Maclaine Knight Order. Considering the many new faces, we’ll have a slightly different format than usual.”

“...?”

Curious glances turned toward Logan.

With a smile, he announced the decision made at the meeting.

“Our knight order’s training is famously hard. Therefore, the original Maclaine knights will act as instructors to help the new faces adapt to our training.”

Upon hearing this, the knight order began to buzz.

Most visibly shaken seemed to be the original Maclaine knights, stiff with anxiety.

“What? So we’re not rolling?”

“We’re the rollers...?”

“Did nobody mess up?”

The confused feelings eventually converged into one thought.

‘This is a test.’

At once, the same idea popped into the minds of the Maclaine knights.

“Feeling nervous?”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“If we’re too harsh as instructors...”

“...Then we’ll be the ones rolling.”

“Alright. With equality. Keep it equal. Exactly the same.”

As they tentatively kept each other in check amid their excitement.

The transferred knights felt dark clouds looming overhead.

“They’re set on giving us a hard time.”

“That explains the warm welcome.”

“It’ll be even tougher then.”

“But we have to withstand it.”

“Of course.”

Amidst these mutual misunderstandings.

The first regular training of the reborn Maclaine Knight Order began.