Ch.8Prologue (8)

The swordsmanship instructor, Leon, couldn’t quite grasp the current situation.

As an instructor for the lord’s guard—an elite soldier who had risen to a position so high within the domain’s military that few could approach him carelessly—he was one day unexpectedly ordered by his superior and lord, Baron Alzar, to conduct basic training for his son.

Traditionally, Baron Alzar would have personally taken his child as a squire and directly overseen his knight training, but being extremely busy, the baron lacked the time to personally educate him. Instead, he selected Leon as the teacher to train him in his place.

Leon, whose reputation was so excellent that it was said he could turn even the most incompetent soldiers who entered the guard through connections into elite troops.

And this Leon, as he always did, attempted to conduct a mock battle right away to assess the talent of the baron’s eldest son.

Of course, he was well aware that the child before him was only 8 years old, and furthermore, knowing that he was the baron’s only child, Leon wasn’t crazy enough to commit any cruel acts.

He merely intended to implement the training manual used within the lord’s guard, albeit with reduced intensity and simplified forms.

Naturally, he had absolutely no intention of seriously confronting an 8-year-old child. He was taking it relatively lightly, as it was merely to assess the boy’s aptitude for basic martial arts and his sense of movement.

This was especially true since Leon was not only an elite soldier capable of enhancing his body with mana but was also wearing a chain shirt under his clothes.

“Uh—”

But that thought vanished the moment he saw Camille, the baron’s son, move with a wooden sword.

Perhaps to make use of his small frame, the boy lowered his body, adjusting his stride appropriately to be able to rush forward or retreat at any moment.

Additionally, perhaps because he had calibrated the tip of his sword with extreme precision and sensitivity, Leon felt as if a blade was slowly approaching his neck.

How could this be an 8-year-old boy who was holding a sword for the first time today, without any prior training?

Leon felt goosebumps rising all over his body at this talent that surpassed his understanding, and he involuntarily shuddered at the unfathomable limits of the remarkable talent possessed by the being before him…

And this clever boy didn’t miss the opening that Leon had inadvertently shown.

In an instant, the boy lowered his stance enough to kneel, then used his feet to push against the ground with all his might to approach Leon.

Honestly, the boy’s approaching speed itself couldn’t even be called fast by any stretch of the imagination, but the problem was that the angle of approach cleverly targeted Leon’s blind spot.

As a result, Leon, who couldn’t even block the approach of a mere 8-year-old boy, was so startled by Camille’s approach from this completely unexpected direction that he reflexively swung his wooden sword with excessive force.

Naturally, this was a clear mistake.

A wooden sword swung by a full-grown adult, especially one with a well-trained body, could hardly be called just a training weapon.

It might be called a wooden sword, but frankly, it’s a well-made wooden club. If such a club were swung with an adult’s strength, and if an 8-year-old child were to be hit by it, what would happen?

‘—Oh no!’

But by the time Leon realized this, it was already far too late. His face turned pale as he considered the consequences of his mistake…

—THWACK!

Yet, the sight reflected in Leon’s eyes was utterly shocking.

Despite Leon having swung his wooden sword with all his might, albeit impulsively, Camille not only avoided being hit but demonstrated a level of skill that was impossible to believe came from a novice.

He held the wooden blade at a perfect angle, deftly deflecting the wooden sword, and then, taking advantage of the opening created as Leon’s center of gravity shifted to one side, thrust both his body and wooden sword forward.

And immediately after.

—THUD!

“—Guhk! Huh…”

“…Eh?”

Along with a voice that sounded somewhat dumbfounded for someone who had just displayed such terrifying skill, Leon felt the impact of the wooden sword striking his abdomen, causing him to expel air from his stomach and feel a chill.

If that sword had been real, Leon would now be feeling pink entrails and fresh blood flowing from his stomach.

If Young Master Camille had been just one or two years older, or if he had learned how to strengthen his body with mana, Leon’s internal organs would undoubtedly have been damaged.

Of course, the outcome would have been the same internal injury if Leon hadn’t learned to strengthen his body with mana or hadn’t been wearing a chain shirt under his clothes.

So, despite the throbbing pain in his abdomen, as Leon trembled at the innate talent of the person before him, Camille approached him and spoke hesitantly, in a manner that made it hard to believe he was the same person who had just demonstrated such skill.

“Um, excuse me… are you okay?”

“…Yes. I’m fine. More importantly, young master… you possess remarkable talent.”

“…Really? Oh, no. I mean, it seems that way when you look at what happened… but is it really that impressive?”

“Without a doubt, young master.”

To think that he had been defeated by a young boy who was so kind-hearted that he worried about the person he had just attacked, and who even now couldn’t stop fidgeting with concern—and after not even being able to withstand five exchanges before being overwhelmed.

Leon could not hide the deep sense of emptiness welling up from within at this ironic situation, and at the reality that he had become captivated by the young master’s beautiful swordsmanship.

※ ※ ※

That evening, in the lord’s office of Baron Alzar’s castle.

“My lord Baron, I have something to report.”

“…What is it?”

“The young master… Master Camille possesses a talent for handling the sword that surpasses anyone else.”

Leon, who had come to the lord’s office to personally report what had happened today, blurted out these words to the baron.

Of course, in normal circumstances, such a statement would be close to flattery or lip service, but Baron Alzar, who knew Leon’s disagreeable temperament well, didn’t think for even a moment that he was lying.

This was especially true because Leon was a man of such stubborn pride and dignity that he refused to accept the bribes and favors that administrators and those in power in this era inevitably became entangled with, simply because he felt it would lower his dignity.

And precisely because of this, the baron deliberately suppressed his feelings of satisfaction and joy, while voicing the question that had arisen in his mind.

“Are you saying that Camille’s talent is such that even you would evaluate it so highly?”

“Yes. The young master… the talent he possesses is overwhelmingly impressive. …Honestly, if we’re limiting it to swordsmanship, there’s nothing to teach him.”

“…To that extent?”

“Yes. …No, rather than words, it would be faster to show you directly.”

After finishing his statement, Leon immediately placed his hand on his upper garment and lifted it, revealing his split abdominal muscles marked with a clearly visible blue bruise.

“Camille did this…?”

“Yes. And this was done by someone who can’t yet handle mana and who touched a sword for the first time today, yet overwhelmed me with his skill.”

“…Well. It’s almost unbelievable. But I suppose a man of your character has no reason to lie.”

“That’s right. …It’s embarrassing to admit as someone who receives a salary from you, my lord, but I, a properly trained soldier, couldn’t keep up with the young master at all.”

Leon’s words seemed so outlandish that they might be mistaken for falsehoods if one were just listening, but precisely because of this, Hugues de Alzar could feel a kind of trust.

“So Camille is that good… Then how do you plan to educate him?”

“Yes. About that matter… For now, I plan to have him learn techniques for handling mana or the use of other weapons rather than swordsmanship.”

“I understand he has talent, but why won’t you teach him swordsmanship?”

“…There’s no point in teaching him clumsily. With that level of talent, learning specific methods of wielding a sword would only be a hindrance.”

The baron was about to suggest that at least basic swordsmanship should be taught, but then he recalled the clear bruise on Leon’s stomach that his son had supposedly left, and closed his mouth.

“I see. I understand. …Truly, who would have thought that such a tiny child would possess such remarkable talent.”

And Leon, too, inwardly agreed with the baron’s words, before suddenly recalling the appearance of the baron’s son at that time, causing him to shudder.

That ghost-like figure who concentrated solely on the act of ‘swinging a sword to kill the enemy’ without any extraneous thoughts, moving not as if wielding a sword but as if he himself had become the sword—that chilling sight.