Ch.370What should I do now?

That’s how my life in Landenburg began.

It was an ordinary daily life, nothing special.

While I was the heir to Landenburg, I wasn’t in a position where I needed to perform any particular role here.

The castle’s administrative duties were handled by Ludwig Wilhelm von Landenburg himself, Sean, and their civil officials, while maintaining security outside the city was the responsibility of Landenburg’s knights.

If I stepped in, I’d only be taking away their opportunities to grow stronger without any real meaning. It’s not like I would become stronger by doing so either.

There was no reason to visit the wall until Ka’har’s army advanced.

Ludwig offered me successor training for territory management, but I declined.

It wasn’t knowledge I could acquire in just a month, and I wasn’t particularly gifted in that area anyway.

People have roles that suit their talents.

At the very least, management was far from my aptitude. My talents were specialized in combat.

Still, I had no intention of wasting the month doing nothing.

So.

—-

– BOOM!

A deafening explosion. Steel scattered like flower petals.

The sand caught in the impact created a dust storm.

Nigel, his breastplate shattered, flew like a kicked ball and slammed into the wall.

“Kuhak!”

Groaning, Nigel slid down the wall and slumped to the ground.

Though I had controlled my strength to avoid damaging his internal organs, he’d taken enough impact to shatter steel armor, making it difficult for him to stand up immediately.

I tossed aside the broken training sword and drew a new one from the wall.

“This brings back memories. We used to fight here until we were half-dead. Remember?”

“Cough, cough…! How could I possibly forget that…”

Yes. I was now sparring with Nigel again in the same place where we had dueled before.

—-

After contemplating what to do for a month, I concluded that I should train myself and my allies as much as possible.

It was an obvious conclusion, but there really wasn’t anything else to do.

So I went to Ludwig and suggested calling the swords of Landenburg to the lord’s castle to spar with me.

I persuaded him that fighting against opponents of higher rank would be a great opportunity for warriors to make significant progress.

And incidentally, I could refine my own techniques too.

While Landenburg did have Blake, I was more suitable for this kind of thing than someone who had just reached Hero rank.

In fact, that man had destroyed a training ground due to a mistake in controlling his strength.

Ludwig readily agreed, thinking it was a good idea.

He said he would summon Masters from the wall in rotation, and would appreciate if I could face them all.

Of course, as I mentioned yesterday, sparring with Blake was impossible. I didn’t particularly want it either.

We couldn’t risk clashing our most important military assets before a war.

However, I was confident I could face Masters without causing serious injuries.

I was a bit concerned about Heinrich, who was supposedly of Dane origin, but as a knight of Landenburg, he should be able to distinguish between public and private matters. He wouldn’t cross the line.

“How many can you summon at once?”

“Considering time, distance, and fatigue, I think three people every three days would be best.”

Three people. Well, that’s just the right number.

If it were more than four, it would be difficult even for me to control my strength while facing them.

—-

Once Ludwig gave his permission, things proceeded quickly.

Although the knights’ training ground had been destroyed, the family training ground for Landenburg’s direct line remained intact, so the sparring took place there.

Since this was just decided today, only Nigel, Jahan, Lena, and I were at the training ground.

“Can I just leave…? I feel like I might die from flying debris if I stay here…”

Ah, Minea was also here.

Having made up her mind, she came this morning, bowed her head, and asked me to take care of her.

I brought her along to watch, but… the battle between a Hero and a Master seemed to inspire more fear than awe in someone at the lowest level of an apprentice knight.

Judging by her pale face.

“With such cowardice…”

Jahan, who was waiting while protecting Lena and Minea, clicked his tongue and muttered quietly.

Since Minea didn’t know the Eastern language and Jahan didn’t know the Imperial language, they couldn’t communicate with each other.

I can’t leave her like this, so I’ll have to lend her a translation magic necklace later.

I don’t remember where I put it, but I can give it to her and order her to learn the Imperial language while she has the chance.

If I ask Sean, he’ll find a language teacher for her.

“…So, you don’t plan to end this after taking one hit, right, Nigel?”

“Of course not. I haven’t shed a single drop of blood yet, how could I quit now?”

No, blood is streaming down. The wall you crashed into has turned red.

It’s not a serious injury, but your back seems all scraped and torn up.

Well, whatever.

Having such determination is a good trait.

“Good. That’s the kind of spirit needed to become stronger. Then let me use a bit more strength!”

“What? No, wait, there’s no need for that…!”

I charged toward Nigel, wrapping myself in murder karma that had grown more intense.

I didn’t intend to go all out like when facing Rurik, but this level of power should be fine.

“Here I come!”

A crimson energy enveloped the steel practice sword like a veil.

It was a technique from Aishan-Gioro Hersella’s art—Mangin—with only the sharpness removed.

The training sword was just an ordinary steel weapon, but used like this, the karma’s energy protected the blade from breaking easily.

Though it would eventually break after a few swings.

“Oh no…!”

Nigel desperately rolled to the side.

He chose to evade instead of parrying. A wise decision.

– WHOOSH!

When the karma-infused blade missed its target and struck the ground, fragments exploded like shotgun pellets in all directions.

The thick sand on the floor split like the Red Sea before Moses.

“…If I had been hit by that, even I would have died instantly—”

“I’m not done yet.”

I thrust my left arm toward Nigel, who seemed about to protest.

I wasn’t wearing Frosting, but my fist, enhanced by karma, was a deadly weapon in itself.

Nigel barely deflected it by twisting his spear shaft and was pushed far back.

“You seem worse than before. You used to fight well, but now…”

“Urgh… it’s because you’ve become too strong, Lord Haschal!”

Nigel protested as if wronged.

In truth, she was right.

Nigel had definitely become stronger than before. Her strength, speed, and reaction time had all improved.

If she had maintained her previous level of skill, she would have been knocked unconscious by that punch just now.

Yet she was being overwhelmed simply because I had become vastly superior to her. To the point where close combat wasn’t even viable.

And I was now familiar with her fighting style, unlike before.

Nigel’s style involved acrobatic movements with a spear and dagger to find openings, but to exert full power, she needed to fight in confined spaces or at extremely close range… attempting close combat against the current me was practically suicidal.

When she tried to stab me with her dagger like before, it just bounced off, and when she jumped into the air, her legs were caught by chains of murder karma and slammed down.

In reality, the current Nigel had no way to defeat me, even if I wasn’t using my full strength.

The only method with any possibility of inflicting damage would be to thrust straight at me with all her might…

“Haaaah!”

Yes, just like now.

Perhaps she noticed I was momentarily distracted.

Nigel charged at me with all her might and thrust her spear.

A lightning-fast thrust.

A strike with enough force to pierce steel armor like paper.

This is pretty good.

The chains of murder karma that I had extended toward her limbs broke under the momentum of her charge.

Since this was instructional sparring rather than a duel, I hadn’t put my full power into them, so they were weaker than expected.

Nigel’s spear tip shot toward my solar plexus.

I was wearing the armor Asha made for me, but a direct hit would still pierce through it with that much power.

However, a predicted attack poses no threat.

Just before the spear tip reached me, I twisted my body to the side and aimed the pommel of my longsword at Nigel.

– Scratch!

Sparks flew from the slightly grazed armor. The spear tip that barely missed pierced through empty air.

Nigel’s expression, filled with dismay, was clear.

– THUD!

A sound like a hammer striking meat.

The pommel in my right hand dug into Nigel’s abdomen.

“Kuhk!”

Her waist bent like a shrimp.

Without giving her a chance to counterattack, I grabbed her right arm and pulled, extending my left hand to grip her neck.

“Your unorthodox attack methods are impeccable, but you need more practice with direct approaches. You’re too straightforward, making it easy for faster opponents to read you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…”

To think that I, who once received sword training from Nigel, was now giving her advice. It feels strange.

The world really has changed.

After releasing Nigel’s neck, I called Jahan, who had been waiting, to begin the second sparring match.

It didn’t take long.

Jahan fell backward along with his shattered crescent blade.