Chapter 85: New Face (3)

The first test was target shooting.

Given that Rigrid had hit the center with perfect accuracy last time, one might think this would be easy.

But there was a world of difference between a noble’s sporting competition and the escort knights’ selection test.

‘…Even if I had archery skills from my past life, I wouldn’t be confident in this.’

In my previous life, I had some talent for archery thanks to my good genes.

But at best, my skills were only at the level of a traditional folk village experience.

To hit that target, I’d need a gun rather than a bow.

Not just a handgun, but something like a K2 rifle.

That’s how absurdly far the target was.

I couldn’t even tell if it was actually small or if it just looked that way because of the distance.

“First, we will evaluate your rate of fire and accuracy. You must hit the target with the ten arrows in this quiver. If you miss more than three shots, you fail.”

The person overseeing Rigrid’s test was none other than the captain of the escort knights, Elaine.

Normally, she treated Rigrid with polite respect, but now that they were facing each other as captain and recruit, she spoke in a cold, formal tone.

Rigrid nodded and immediately drew his first arrow. With the extreme distance and the small target, not to mention the strict conditions, the pressure must have been immense.

But he remained composed as he pulled back the bowstring.

Piiing!

As soon as the first arrow was released, everyone turned to look.
A blue flag was raised.
A hit.

Grace smirked.
“Oh?”

Lynel’s eyes widened in surprise.

Rigrid looked pleased with himself, his lips twitching upward— But he quickly reined in his excitement and prepared the next arrow.

Elaine was watching him with sharp focus, making it clear that this was no time for celebration.

He released the second arrow.

Another blue flag.

Then another. And another.

Even after pausing for two deep breaths, his shot still hit the mark.

He had already landed half of his ten arrows.

‘Did he secretly train for this?’

No matter how naturally talented he was at archery, he had only ever practiced it like a casual sport at his estate. With this sudden jump in difficulty, it would be normal to make mistakes.

But despite the tension on his face, Rigrid’s stance remained steady.
Even the weight of his equipment seemed familiar to him.

‘So he’s not just wearing that for show.’

Given his inferiority complex, it was easy to mistake him for a self-deprecating noble brat.
But he was actually a hard worker.

He had spent years perfecting his role as a friendly, kind noble in high society, deceiving everyone with his act.
Just imagine the effort it took to pull that off.

In the novel, his ambition had led him down the wrong path, which resulted in disaster.
But if he had directed his efforts properly—

‘He would have turned out like this.’

Seven arrows had already found their mark.
Three remained.
With just one more hit, he would pass.

Rigrid’s tense expression relaxed slightly.

“Mm?”

Elaine glanced at Grace, who gave her a slight nod.
They had exchanged some kind of signal.

I hadn’t been told anything, so I kept my eyes on Elaine.

The moment Rigrid fired his eighth arrow—

Swish!

“!?”

Elaine drew her sword in a flash and cut the arrow mid-air.

Rigrid’s eyes widened in shock as he turned to her.

“One failed shot,” Elaine stated coldly.

Lynel, just as startled, looked to Grace for an explanation.
But Grace remained indifferent.

That’s when everyone realized—
This was a hidden challenge.

‘Two arrows left. If he lands even one, he passes.’

But Elaine would almost certainly try to interfere with both.
Even if she didn’t, just knowing she might would be enough to shake his concentration.

Rigrid’s pupils trembled violently.

“If you take too long, that will also be counted as a failed attempt.”

At Elaine’s warning, Rigrid reluctantly pulled out his ninth arrow.
He drew the bowstring but hesitated, his eyes flickering toward Elaine, unsure whether to shoot or not.

Elaine stood directly in the path of the arrow with her sword drawn, her gaze pressing down on him as if she were counting the seconds.
The tension in the air was palpable.

Then—

“!?”

Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, Rigrid shifted his aim.
His arrow was now pointing at—

“Elaine?”

Piing!

Gritting his teeth, Rigrid fired his arrow with more force than any of his previous shots.
But his target wasn’t the distant bullseye.

It was Elaine.

Swish!

Even with Rigrid’s unexpected move, Elaine didn’t flinch.
She deflected the arrow effortlessly with a high-speed sword strike.

But then—

Flutter.

As the arrow was knocked aside, a blue flag was raised.
The signal for a successful hit.

“Haa… Haa…”

Rigrid’s quiver was empty.
And at some point, his bow had already turned back toward the target, not Elaine.

“Not bad.”

Grace smiled in satisfaction.

Rigrid had fired his ninth arrow at Elaine—
And in the exact same motion, without hesitation, had drawn and loosed his tenth arrow toward the target.
He hadn’t even aimed.

He had relied purely on his instincts, trusting the accuracy he had proven in his previous seven shots.
And his instincts had been correct.

“You pass the first test.”

“Haa…”

With Grace’s official declaration, Rigrid finally exhaled in relief, his shoulders sagging.

It was an impressive display of quick thinking.
He had neutralized Elaine by forcing her to react, then taken advantage of the brief opening to land his final shot.
But pulling that off required rapid-fire ability, precise accuracy, and above all, the boldness to take such a risk when only one arrow remained.

Rigrid had proven he had all of those qualities.

Most importantly, even if someone had the plan and the skill to execute it—
There was still the psychological barrier of shooting an arrow at a person.

But Rigrid?

This was the same man who had once been willing to betray the North for his own sake.
Of course, he had no qualms about it.

His mind was twisted in all the wrong ways.

“You didn’t block the last one on purpose, did you?”

“?”

Wait, what?

“This test isn’t meant to fail candidates unnecessarily.
And archery skill of that level is rare even among the Northern army.”

At Grace’s unexpected remark, Elaine answered calmly.

…Could it be?

Elaine had chosen not to deflect the final arrow?
She had recognized Rigrid’s skill and let it pass?

‘Hah. No wonder.’

I had been startled when Rigrid shot at Elaine.
But I hadn’t worried.

Normally, if an arrow were flying at your lover, panic would be the natural reaction.
But deep down, I must have already known.

For someone like Elaine, deflecting a direct shot was trivial.
And if she had wanted to, she could have stopped the final arrow as well.

At that moment, Elaine turned to me with a knowing smirk.
As if she were showing off her skill.

I sighed.

Yes, yes. You’re an amazing fighter, as always.

But next time, at least give me a heads-up.

Even if I wasn’t worried, that was still a hell of a shock.

The second evaluation took place outside rather than at the Dipsnow estate.

The test itself was simple once again.

Within the time limit, the task was to collect three different kinds of fruit from the forest and hunt one animal.

Seven arrows were provided, with up to three missed shots being allowed.

If the previous test had evaluated rapid-fire capability and accuracy, this one was meant to assess mobility and the ability to complete a mission swiftly.

Elaine accompanied him as a supervisor, while the rest of us waited for Rigrid to return.

“Did the head of the house know that Rigrid was this skilled with a bow?”

Grace, seemingly bored, asked Lynell.
In public settings like official gatherings, she spoke informally to maintain the dignity of a grand duke, but in private, she used polite speech out of respect for another high noble.

Lynell shook his head at Grace’s question.

“He used to shoot for fun in the past, but he hasn’t picked up a bow recently, so I had no idea.”
“Hmm, could he have been hiding it on purpose?”
“I don’t know the reason. That’s why I was a bit surprised when he said he would teach Sir Luke how to shoot.”
“?”

Grace turned her gaze toward me.

“You wanted to learn archery from Rigrid?”
“Yes.”

As the topic of archery came back to me, I responded immediately.

“When we met at the party last time, we exchanged greetings, and he mentioned that he was good at archery. Since I had always been curious about it, I decided to learn from him.”

Hearing my explanation, Grace gave me a knowing look before smirking.

“Ah, so that’s why you recommended Rigrid.”

She nodded with a sly smile.

Her gaze felt oddly chilling.

She didn’t say anything outright, but the way she looked at me carried a clear message:

“You again? How interesting.”

Grace then shifted her attention back to Lynell.

“Since he’s not here right now, I should ask this while I can. What do you think, Head of the House? Are you in favor of Rigrid joining my guard?”
“Hmm…”

Lynell pondered for a moment before answering.

“I’ll be honest with you. When I first heard about having him take the entrance exam for the guard, I was baffled. If it were Isaac, I could understand, but Rigrid had never shown any remarkable qualities. I couldn’t figure out why you wanted to recruit him. Of course, I knew you wouldn’t do something like this for political reasons, but I still had my doubts.”

“Hmm.”

“But even if that had been the case, it wouldn’t have been a bad thing. After all, if my second son were to join the guard—one of the most elite forces in the North—it would further elevate our family’s prestige, following his older brother, the captain of the defense force.”

Then, as if something had shifted in his thoughts, Lynell spoke even more candidly.

“However, when I looked into my son’s eyes as he prepared for the exam, I felt that, regardless of the reason, I should simply support him.”

“Why is that?”

“Rigrid has always worn a smile, but there was something hollow about it. This was the first time I’d ever seen his eyes burn with such intense fire. Even when he attempted the knight’s exam, I never saw him like that.”

Lynell’s gaze turned toward me.

“Sir Luke, was it you? Were you the one who ignited that fire in Rigrid’s eyes?”
“I…”
“Don’t bother lying. His change happened after you visited. He’s been mentioning your name frequently since then.”

Lynell was one of the most powerful figures in the North, a seasoned politician, and a high noble.

If he spoke with such certainty, there was no way for me to dodge the question.

“Yes. After seeing the young lord’s archery skills that day, I thought it would be a waste for him to let that talent go unused, so I encouraged him.”

“I thought so.”

Lynell nodded as if he had expected my answer, then continued speaking.

“That’s when I realized it. The one with an ulterior motive wasn’t the Grand Duke—it was Rigrid himself. He must have believed that he could finally spread his wings in the guard. He had always envied his exceptional older brother but lacked the talent to match him, leaving him unable to soar.”

So, that’s what it was. As his father, Lynell had sensed Rigrid’s lingering inferiority complex to some extent.

That would explain why, even in the novel, when Rigrid caused trouble, Lynell scolded him but ultimately couldn’t abandon him.

After all, no parent can truly win against their child.

“However…”
“?”
“I never imagined that his path would be through archery. Tch, the second son of a noble family using a bow like some commoner.”

Lynell grumbled in dissatisfaction, making Grace chuckle.

Despite everything, he was still a noble of deep tradition, a man of the North who wished for his son to rise through swordsmanship rather than archery.

“Head of the House, can you really say that after seeing his archery skills?”

“I admit that my son is indeed impressive. But still, if only he had carried himself like a true member of the Dipsnow family… No, never mind. He has already made up his mind, and there’s no point in an outsider meddling any further.”

Lynell snorted and crossed his arms, looking disgruntled.

Grace, amused, continued to tease him.

Truly, no parent can win against their child.

After a while, Rigrid returned, holding three different types of fruit and a rabbit.

Elaine, who had accompanied him, confirmed that he had hunted everything fairly with his arrows.

“That was remarkable. I’ve never seen finer archery than yours. With that bow, protect me. With those arrows, sever the throats of my enemies. From this day forward, you are a member of the Northern Guard. Together, let us carve our names into the battlefield of glory.”

Grace stood from her seat and walked up to Rigrid, personally patting his shoulder as she acknowledged his acceptance into the guard.

Faced with the radiant smile of the Northern Grand Duke, Rigrid saluted with a deeply moved expression.

Watching his second son, Lynell let out a small chuckle, as if he had no choice but to accept it.

With this, the guard gained a formidable new member, and the North eliminated a potential future threat.