Ch.50It Feels Like I’m Just Rattling off Persuasion All Day Long

Seeing Millia’s warm smile, I could only fidget with the corner of my mouth.

I’d asked the question casually, hoping to break the ice before getting to the main point… but her answer turned out heavier than I expected.

In the end, I keenly realized that what I knew about her was merely a fragment of who she truly was.

Come to think of it, just because I knew some game settings, could I really claim to understand a person?

Of course not.

How arrogant my attitude had been.

The settings only provided fragmentary information at best.

That she was Demian’s childhood friend, that she aspired to become a knight out of admiration for him.

That she struggled due to lack of skill, and as Demian’s party grew larger, her expression darkened… until she finally fell to corruption.

And that she actually had more talent with a bow than a sword. That was it.

It was woefully insufficient to claim I understood a person.

Her inherently good nature, the depth of her admiration for Demian.

Her passion for knighthood.

These were things I only came to know after meeting her in person and conversing with her.

I felt something like guilt… a prickling of conscience.

And for good reason, since I’d frequently used it myself in the game.

That satanic strategy of using Millia’s suicide attack to quickly clear the early stages.

By sacrificing one low-level character, I could eliminate a future boss… and give the protagonist an early experience buff.

I subtly avoided Millia’s gaze.

It was awkward in many ways.

Even if I could dismiss it as just a game and something from the past…

Now I had to beat up Demian, whom she admired, in a duel, and advise her to pick up a bow instead of a sword.

After hearing her story like this.

What on earth should I say…

I couldn’t possibly say something as flippant as “A bow suits you better than a sword,” even if my lips were torn.

“Haschal?”

When I remained silent for a while, Millia looked at me again.

“Ah… that’s a nice story. Yes. So, you want to become a knight who fights alongside Demian?”

“Yes. I’m still far behind Demian, but… if I work hard enough, I’ll get there.”

No, you won’t.

Since this isn’t a game, there might be some way to actually become stronger with a sword.

But at least I don’t know of any such method.

Yet I couldn’t tell her that to her smiling face.

Let’s go with the next best option.

“Hmm… I might be able to help you with that. What do you think?”

“You, Haschal? How?”

Pick up a bow.

That’s the only method I know.

“First… ah yes, a knight is ultimately a warrior of the Empire, right? Then it makes sense to first acquire the qualities of a warrior.”

Good. A persuasive approach just came to mind.

“Qualities of a warrior…?”

“To be recognized as a warrior in Ka’har, you must possess three things: martial arts, horsemanship, and archery. Since riding on horseback while shooting arrows is our basic tactic, these are skills every warrior must naturally learn. So, Millia, how about you try practicing archery? You might unexpectedly have talent for it.”

“Archery…”

Millia seemed a bit reluctant. Well, Imperial knights don’t particularly practice archery.

They leave archery to the archers and spend that time honing their martial skills.

“It can’t hurt to learn it. Just having archery skills greatly expands your response capabilities and tactical options. When you’re traveling with Demian, who knows what enemies you might encounter? It would be quite helpful in many ways.”

I continued, slightly shrugging my shoulders.

Making sure my intention not to force her came across clearly.

“I’m not saying you should focus on it, just that it would be good to learn.”

If I can just get her to pick up a bow, the rest will be her choice.

Whether she’ll struggle with just swordsmanship or utilize her natural talent.

I had no intention of interfering with that choice.

It’s her life, and whatever she chooses is her freedom.

Even if she chooses only swordsmanship and fails to become stronger…

I can protect her. Keep her from dying, from going astray.

It might be a bit difficult, but still.

“If you insist so much, Haschal… alright. I’ll think about it.”

Millia nodded. She’ll think about it, huh?

Not bad. If she’s willing to say that much, I can let her try holding a bow during the next weapons class.

Doing it now wouldn’t work since she probably couldn’t draw my bow with her strength.

“Good. I’ll help you with swordsmanship too, so don’t worry.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I was glad Millia was the reasonable type.

For swordsmanship, I planned to help by pointing out her weaknesses during sparring.

Teaching her Imperial swordsmanship would be awkward since it’s based on longsword techniques that don’t match well with a thin blade.

“What were you two talking about?”

Demian, returning from his duel, looked at us curiously.

“Just this and that. Like how warriors should learn archery.”

“Millia, with a bow? Hmm… not a bad idea. Since both Millia and I are frontliners, we lack ways to deal with distant enemies.”

Well said, Demian. Truly heroic assistance.

This probably increased the chances of Millia practicing archery by about five times.

Glancing at her, I saw she was already nodding.

Well, a crush’s persuasion is naturally more effective than a friend’s.

With Millia’s persuasion seemingly successful, Demian was next.

“By the way, Demian.”

“What?”

You need to level up your skills.

If you’re going to stick with just a greatsword, you need to overwhelm with skill.

“Since we have free sparring this afternoon. Let’s have a match. You haven’t already arranged an opponent, have you?”

“Uh, with you, Haschal…?”

I challenged Demian, but it was Millia who seemed surprised.

“Me, with you? …I don’t think I can win.”

Demian smiled awkwardly.

Of course you can’t win. Did you seriously think you could beat me?

You don’t even have a holy sword yet, and you’re not even a master-level fighter, let alone a hero.

If I were to lose to someone like you, wouldn’t all my blood and sweat be in vain?

“So you only want to fight opponents you can beat? How will you improve that way? You need to fight opponents you can’t defeat too.”

“That’s true… alright.”

Demian nodded.

Millia looked worriedly between Demian and me, mostly at Demian.

“Um, Haschal… you’re not going to do what you did last time, are you…?”

She must be concerned about the first duel where I caused four moderate injuries and one severe injury.

Of course I don’t intend to fight like that this time.

Back then, I needed to make a strong impression without fully revealing my strength, so I was unnecessarily aggressive.

This time there’s no need for that. It wouldn’t have much effect now anyway.

After everyone has experienced life-and-death battles with kobolds and trolls, they’ve become accustomed to bloodshed.

Now was the time to properly demonstrate my strength.

Train Demian and prove my power. Two birds with one stone.

“Don’t worry. I’ll just rough him up a bit.”

Demian is a man of steel.

In the sense that he gets stronger the more he’s hammered.

It was time for some hammering.

—-

After finishing the morning lecture, I returned to the special building for lunch.

Since my opponent from the magic department had been reassigned to Demian, I ended up sitting out the morning duels.

There wasn’t really anyone among the remaining students who could be a worthy opponent for me anyway.

Frider, sitting in the dining hall, glanced at me before ignoring me and continuing his meal.

Still, his attitude seemed to have improved compared to before.

I spent the remaining time visiting Asha.

I needed to talk to her about silver plating.

“Silver plating? Well, it’s quick enough if you have silver, but why so suddenly?”

“I heard silver is effective against werebeasts and monsters. Wouldn’t it help to have some plating done?”

“Planning to fight such creatures, are you?”

Asha tilted her head but her eyes lit up at the mention of fighting.

“Well… I probably won’t need it until second year, but I want to prepare in advance.”

“You’re preparing for that already?”

Of course she’d ask.

Logically, there’s no need to prepare now for something needed next year.

I had already thought of a suitable excuse.

“…This is just speculation, but I think silver prices will rise significantly by then.”

“That’s quite interesting… why would silver prices rise?”

I raised my index finger and brought it slightly to my lips.

As if to say this was important information I was sharing only with her, to be kept secret.

“When I was in the east, I heard about werebeasts at the palace? Ka’har pays quite a bit of attention to developments in the northern snowfields.”

It’s not a lie that Ka’har is concerned about werebeasts.

When werebeasts become active, the Empire’s attention usually turns north, making it easier for us to operate freely.

“From what I heard, the werebeasts’ momentum is quite concerning lately, and they might attempt another large-scale invasion soon. I can’t be certain, but if that happens, the demand for silver will increase dramatically, and by then, prices would skyrocket.”

“Well… if that’s true, it’s good information… hmm… hoarding silver… hmm…”

Asha muttered to herself as if calculating money in her head.

Surely she wouldn’t invest all her savings in silver, would she?

“Alright. It’s not difficult, so I’ll do it for you if you bring silver or just pay for the materials.”

At least I got a definite answer.

The remaining problem is that I don’t have enough money to buy silver in bulk…

I wonder if there’s a generous sucker who would lend me money without asking questions.

—-

After finishing my conversation with Asha, I returned to the training field.

Unlike before, most students had expressed their willingness to participate in free sparring, so my turn with Demian was scheduled for much later.

Their skills were still mediocre, but it’s good if they’ve all developed a desire to become stronger.

That small improvement might determine life or death later on.

Soon it was my turn with Demian.

I applied hardening mucus to my black iron longsword to dull the edge and walked to the center of the training field.

I could hear people whispering about me, but I didn’t feel the same intense emotions as before.

Whether contempt or fear, it seems everyone has become somewhat desensitized?

Now it’s time to make them feel awe.