Ch.103EP.27 – The Knight Doesn’t Want to Be Reinstated (2)

“Air-walking isn’t a technique you can do just by exploding your power. What you need is advanced concentration and sensitivity.”

Ihan explained it as clearly as possible.

He keeps his promises.

It was his unofficial motto, and once he decided to teach something, he would give it his all.

“Kicking off from the air isn’t important. What matters is quickly gathering energy at your feet and spreading it wide to create a foothold. Since you’re all skilled at handling battle energy, I thought it might be easy for you…”

However, despite his best teaching efforts.

“…Well, you all look pathetic.”

Ihan clicked his tongue as he looked at the knights sprawled on the ground.

“…Is this really possible?”

“Ughhhh!”

“I-I’m getting dizzy.”

Despite being a hundred elite knights whose skills were renowned even in foreign countries, they were pathetically rolling on the ground in pain.

The fate of those who failed at air-walking?

They weren’t dead, but they all looked terrible.

‘They even fail dramatically, these guys.’

The hundred knights failed in various ways.

Some jumped forcefully into the air trying to air-walk, soared 15 meters high, then plummeted.

Others flipped upside down when told to walk on air.

And the most ridiculous one…

‘The one who did a somersault and crashed into the cliff was the funniest.’

That guy provided enough laughs to last a year.

Sure, crashing into a cliff must hurt, but it was quite a spectacle for onlookers.

The others were mostly the same.

They showed similar failures and self-destructed. After watching all hundred knights fail, Ihan analyzed the problem and realized the reason for their failure within ten minutes.

“The battle energy technique is the problem…”

As mentioned yesterday, battle energy technique involves exploding the energy within the body to amplify it.

It’s like detonating a bomb inside your body and converting that energy into physical ability. The higher your level, the more powerful the explosion.

…But how difficult is it to handle that explosive energy with delicacy?

‘I thought they’d learn quickly, but this will take more time than expected.’

None of these knights had ever been called anything less than geniuses or prodigies.

So he thought they’d learn fast, but who knew such a challenge would emerge?

“…Are we unable to learn how to walk on air?”

A knight asked after observing Ihan’s expression, and Ihan shook his head.

“It’s not that you can’t learn. You just need to learn how to handle battle energy delicately. In other words, develop fine control ability.”

“I thought I had good control…”

Vale muttered, and the other members nodded.

They weren’t novices who had just learned battle techniques; they had honed their control to the extreme to enhance combat endurance.

So they responded with defiant objections, and to them…

“Damn it, that level of control? Even our kids can do that. The level I want is… Haa! It’s easier to show than explain.”

What good would a hundred explanations do? As mentioned earlier, none of these guys had ever been called anything less than geniuses or prodigies.

And geniuses and prodigies typically have such strong pride that they never listen to others.

Even as learners, they might not accept his explanation or might doubt him.

Unconditionally.

So Ihan gave up explaining and looked around briefly, noticing a tree with lush leaves.

“This should work.”

“?”

He picked up a fallen leaf from the ground near the tree and placed it on the lake.

The knights blinked in confusion, wondering what he was doing.

But then.

“Watch carefully.”

Whoosh!

Ihan did a somersault and dived into the lake as if demonstrating, and what followed was…

Tap…

“…?”

A sight that defied the laws of physics.

“W-what is that…?”

“Where does one learn something like that?”

“…Am I dreaming?”

The knights opened their mouths in astonishment, feeling as if they had been made fools.

They expected a splash when he dived into the water, but instead of splashing, the serene lake remained…

And on that lake…

“See? This is what I mean by controlling power.”

Ihan was standing on one foot, using a single leaf as his foothold.

Crossing a river on a reed leaf.

To cross a river riding on a single reed leaf.

…Unfortunately, with no reeds in sight, he had to substitute with a tree leaf.

Anyway!

What matters now isn’t the reed leaf but…

“What you need is delicacy and concentration. The delicacy to control even your body weight extremely precisely, and the concentration to maintain this state for over 30 minutes. Once you have these abilities, then you can talk about control.”

“……”

“If anyone still doesn’t get it, come forward now. If you can do this, I’ll call you ‘big brother’ right away.”

“…Hehe.”

As if that would happen.

The knights couldn’t even object, just staring blankly, wondering how such a feat was possible.

And they thought:

“For a while, we’ll have plenty of people falling into water.”

The Order would be full of people playing in water for some time.

Well, even Vale, who said this…

‘I must try it right away!’

His heart was overflowing with desire.

…But the story of the entire Order catching colds after repeatedly falling into water and making the Marquis lose his composure came four days later.

* * *

Ihan hadn’t specifically told them to practice crossing on a leaf, but he chuckled watching knights jumping into the river with leaves in hand.

Men seem to be similar no matter what world they’re in.

Well, he was similar too…

‘I practiced this a lot too.’

Recalling his past life, he had practiced various techniques after acquiring enlightenment, but he couldn’t count how much effort he put into crossing on a reed leaf.

…He almost died from drowning numerous times.

Don’t ask why he did it.

He just tried it because it came to mind.

But these attempts and efforts weren’t useless.

In fact, this reed leaf crossing was the foundation for his current techniques like Divine Archery Shadow and Diamond Body.

Both Divine Archery Shadow and Diamond Body might seem like they just require strength, but in reality, momentary power control and concentration were more important than anything else.

So Ihan didn’t stop the knights who kept plunging into the water.

He knew from experience that it would all be helpful eventually.

‘There’s satisfaction in teaching.’

They had both passion and talent.

They say there’s nothing more satisfying for a teacher than having intelligent students, and that was accurate.

Also.

‘There are benefits too.’

He wasn’t using that common expression about learning while teaching.

‘I like that they don’t avoid fights.’

The day before, perhaps frustrated by their defeat to him, the knights approached Ihan first and requested sparring matches.

Sometimes it was one-on-one, other times many against one, but Ihan welcomed any situation.

No matter how much one trains alone or practices techniques, one can’t build real combat ability.

Having opportunities to fight—no, spar—with various opponents continuously was a great opportunity.

Especially considering that in both his past and present life, finding suitable sparring partners usually required payment, yet these knights approached him first for sparring?

It was incredibly fortunate.

Perhaps thanks to this?

After nearly a week of coming and going to the Marquis’s residence, Ihan’s physical condition was at its peak.

If others had engaged in such indiscriminate sparring, their bodies might have been covered in bruises and damaged, but with potions available, few in this world would suffer bodily damage from excessive sparring.

This was especially true for Ihan.

‘They all have many interesting techniques. Especially that sword thread technique? That’s really tempting.’

A technique that spreads sword energy like threads…

In terms of versatility, it seemed far more useful than the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

‘I can’t manipulate plum blossoms at will.’

In contrast, sword threads could be freely controlled according to the swordsman’s will.

However, such techniques required extreme talent and enlightenment, so it would be difficult for him to learn right away…

‘It’ll be hard to learn immediately.’

Ihan swallowed his disappointment.

“Why that expression, Sir Ihan?”

“Worry about your own appearance rather than my expression. You look like a drenched cat.”

It was Vale, who had failed the reed leaf crossing six times in a row and climbed back to land looking like a drowned rat. Vale shook off the water and smiled bitterly.

“This is quite difficult. How do you float on a leaf?”

“I’m nothing. Among those who’ve done this, some have crossed rivers with just a single reed leaf.”

“Even if it’s a river…”

“For your information, it wasn’t just any river but the Nineveh Grand Canal.”

“…You might as well say they crossed the sea.”

The Nineveh Grand Canal.

A massive waterway managed by Galahad, and it’s said that people who see the Nineveh river for the first time might mistake it for the sea.

Literally a river so vast it could be mistaken for the sea.

And someone crossed such a river on a single reed leaf?

“Is that person a fairy or an aura user?”

“I don’t know if they’re a fairy or an aura user, just a monk, a monk.”

“A monk? …You mean a Monk? Hmm, perhaps a Saint-level Monk? If so, such a person might be capable of using such mysteries…”

“……”

Vale was making the shocking move of turning Bodhidharma into a cleric, but Ihan didn’t bother to correct him.

In a kingdom where almost all religions except the sole religion <Light of Radiance> were treated as heretical, mentioning Buddhism would only make him a heretic.

Not wanting to deal with Inquisitors, Ihan silently let him misunderstand and decided to change the subject.

“By the way, I’m curious about that sword thread technique…”

“—Sir Ihan! Is Sir Ihan Turtle here?”

“…?”

Just as he was about to ask about the sword thread technique, a servant from the Marquis’s residence suddenly called for him, and Ihan looked at the servant blankly.

But Vale stepped forward first.

“Why such a commotion? Don’t you know this is a training ground?”

“Ah, Lord Vale. I-I apologize. It’s just such an urgent matter…”

“Urgent matter?”

“Yes, well…”

“…Hmm?”

“Hehe, hello.”

“…?”

A royal maid.

A servant of the royal family greeted him with a bright smile, and Vale instantly forgot his anger towards the servant.

Somehow, his anger disappeared as soon as he saw the maid, Leira Winter.

Leaving the dumbfounded Vale, Ihan gave a puzzled look.

“Miss Maid?”

“Sir Knight~.”

At Leira’s appearance, Ihan blinked.

At this time, she should be napping in the hammock at the cottage.

Knowing her recent habit of napping in cool shade, Ihan wondered why she was here instead of taking her nap.

“It’s nothing else. This, I was asked to deliver it!”

“…?”

What the maid handed over was an elegant letter, with an impressive lion figure sealed in wax.

However, seeing the emblem of the lion—specifically, the Silver Lion—Ihan’s expression hardened.

It felt ominous somehow.

‘I want to burn it…’

Coming from the Order, his original workplace, it made him anxious in many ways.

But he couldn’t burn it with everyone watching, so Ihan just planned to receive the letter from Leira.

He thought he could put it in his pocket and deal with it later.

However.

“Ah, they said to read it as soon as you receive it. They were worried you might secretly burn it.”

“This woman really…!”

Mind-reading that seemed to catch all his actions.

Since only one person could do this, Ihan’s brow furrowed.

“…Tsk.”

Ihan opened the letter with an expression that clearly showed his displeasure and began to read.

A feast of language full of complex rhetoric.

The content was already making his head spin just from reading it, but after reading it carefully to understand…

“…What kind of nonsense is this?!”

Ihan crumpled the letter.

[Ihan Turtle is hereby ordered to temporarily return to duty.]

That was the summarized content of the letter, and Ihan was furious.

This woman isn’t training a mutt…!

When did she tell me to leave, and now she wants me back!?

It’s not even funny.

What does she take me for…!

‘This time I absolutely won’t let it slide!’

Ihan decided.

Sister or not, he was determined to settle the score today.

Just as he resolved to sharpen the hand axe sleeping in his possession…

“Ah, right. Sir Knight, the Princess also asked me to give you this!”

“……”

“Hehe, she said you’d like it, and it seems she was right.”

“…Miss Maid.”

“Yes?”

“…You should have given me this first.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it happens! Ahaha!”

Ihan laughed heartily.

After all, seeing the gift the maid pulled from her bosom, even his boiling anger cooled as if doused with cold water.

—Ambrosia.

The Ambrosia, more radiant than what he had seen the day before, emitted a golden light.

It was an irresistible radiance that melted away his anger.