episode_0005

Five years had passed since then.

As expected, Prince Ellen had become a monster, and I had been striving relentlessly to keep up with him.

And the result?

“Princess Hestia.”

“…”

“You’re terrible at this.”

“Hey, you bastard!”

Watching Princess Hestia’s face crumple before she exploded in rage, I immediately fled.

Recent record: 5 matches, 4 wins, 1 loss.

This wasn’t a handicap match like before—it was a pure contest of skill.

The fall of Princess Hestia, who had once prided herself as the strongest among her peers.

Of course, it wasn’t that her skills had declined.

Rather, her talent had grown steadily, and she was still hailed as a genius of the sword.

It was just that she kept losing to me—a manufactured monster, forced to become one because of that monstrous younger brother of hers!

She was still a formidable swordsman, with almost no rivals among her peers.

“No wonder people resort to doping.”

Even she had lost to me, an artificial monster.

The Knight Commander hadn’t lied.

With full support, I had been able to grow at an accelerated pace day by day.

“Sometimes I wonder if I even deserve this much.”

Even if the prince’s instructor played a crucial role, it was unheard of for someone like me to receive more support than Princess Hestia.

But Prince Ellen the Fifth made it possible.

Prince Ellen, who improved at a terrifying rate, had reached a fifty-fifty win rate against Princess Hestia three years ago—and now, his victory rate had soared to ninety percent.

And naturally, I had been dragged along in the process.

I was so thoroughly outclassed that I couldn’t even complain.

Thus, a project was launched to at least cling to the coattails of Prince Ellen.

The kingdom’s elite swordsmen, including the Swordmaster Knight Commander, took turns training me.

Elixirs were a given, and the royal chefs meticulously prepared every meal and snack to perfect my physique.

Other instructors even whispered that I might be an illegitimate child of the royal family.

I didn’t need to prove those rumors wrong.

All it took was one sparring session with Prince Ellen.

“Already terrifying.”

Today, I had to face Prince Ellen again—the same prince who effortlessly crushed even the senior instructors in charge of other princes.

I already didn’t want to do it, but work was always something you didn’t want to do.

Still, the thought of the steadily accumulating deposits lightened my steps.

In just five years, I had managed to buy two buildings in the famously expensive area around the royal castle.

One was a mansion, the other a commercial property—my retirement was already secured.

On top of that, my reputation as a rising star in the kingdom had spread, ensuring I’d never be treated poorly anywhere.

“A business trip?”

Just as I was focusing on domestic investments, I was suddenly told I’d have to go on a long-term assignment.

A very long-term one—at least four years.

What was this about?

“The prince is too strong.”

That was stating the obvious.

“That’s common knowledge.”

“Right. And that’s the problem.”

The Knight Commander’s explanation went like this:

It was about time for the prince to attend an academy, and the default choice would have been the royal academy within the kingdom.

While the neighboring empire’s academy was stronger overall, when it came to knight training, the two were at least evenly matched.

Objectively speaking, our kingdom held a slight edge.

So there was no need to study abroad—except.

“A variable has appeared.”

Though the empire prided itself as the continent’s best, it lagged behind our kingdom in swordsmanship and behind the Dale Kingdom in magic.

The gap wasn’t huge, but for an empire obsessed with being first in everything, this was unacceptable.

“The Sword Emperor has been added to the imperial academy’s faculty.”

Next year, the swordsmanship department would be led by the Sword Emperor himself, while the magic department would be headed by the former Tower Lord of the White Tower.

“How?”

The Sword Emperor was the idol of all swordsmen, a figure who had influenced every notable swordsman of this era in some way.

To give just one example, even our king and the Knight Commander had crossed paths with him in their youth.

Despite repeated requests to lend his strength to the royal academy, he had always refused.

“Last time, we even offered him the position of academy head, and he turned us down.”

“Right.”

“Didn’t he say he had no intention of being tied to any particular nation?”

“He did.”

And now, that same man had suddenly appeared in the empire.

“What, did his only granddaughter fall ill or something?”

“…How did you know?”

The Knight Commander looked shocked, but as someone well-versed in web novels, this was a cliché trope.

A recluse breaking their seclusion to save their only granddaughter? Too common.

“To be precise, it’s not his only granddaughter. His youngest granddaughter fell ill, and the empire offered treatment in exchange for his position at the academy. That alone would’ve caused an uproar, but…”

“What else?”

“Incidentally, his grandson is also set to enroll next year.”

“The Little Sword Emperor?”

Whether commoner or royalty, children don’t always turn out as expected.

It’s the way of the world—a prodigal son emerges from a prestigious family, while a hero rises from the child of a violent drunk in the slums.

But bloodline is not something to be ignored.

And the inheritance of skills passed down through bloodlines is absolutely undeniable.

The Sword Emperor’s bloodline wasn’t special.

He was born a commoner, and even now, as the Sword Emperor, he remained one.

Countless nations had dangled titles before him, but he had refused them all—an eccentric.

And thus, a man even more revered.

His reputation was built solely on his sword, and his descendants could learn that sword without any conditions.

Of course, inheriting the Sword Emperor’s sword was no easy path.

In truth, none of his children had ever been said to have inherited it.

But enthusiasts whispered:

If anyone could inherit the Sword Emperor’s sword,

It would be his grandson—Asran.

The Little Sword Emperor, Asran.

Already known as the “Small Sword Emperor,” he was one of the continent’s most famous swordsmen and one of the few the Knight Commander deemed a worthy rival for Ellen.

“Right.”

And now, this swordsman was entering the imperial academy alongside the Sword Emperor himself.

Naturally, the royal family had no choice but to reconsider.

“Well, a natural rival is better than a manufactured punching bag.”

“It’s not that you’re lacking.”

“I know. Didn’t I just humiliate Princess Hestia earlier?”

“…Again?”

The Knight Commander’s narrowed eyes made me sigh.

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to do it.”

It was none other than the Knight Commander himself who had ordered me to stop holding back and just win.

“No, that was because you were broken back then.”

True enough.

I had grown so accustomed to losing that defeat had become ingrained in my body.

After the shocking incident where I lost to a new instructor assigned to the youngest princess, I had to work hard to correct that.

I couldn’t afford to become an automatic door that lost to anyone—I was only supposed to lose to royalty.

Being called Prince Ellen’s rival meant I couldn’t lose to anyone except him.

So I had to learn how to turn defeats into victories, and in the process, defeating Princess Hestia became part of the equation.

Once Prince Ellen started beating Princess Hestia regularly, his rival had to crush her effortlessly to be taken seriously.

“Princess Hestia is royalty too. At least go easy on her sometimes.”

“That’s why I lose once every five matches.”

“No, it’s not about winning or losing! Every time you win, you rub it in! Lucia keeps threatening to resign because of it!”

“Senior Lucia… still hasn’t given up, huh…”

Despite getting torn apart three times a week, her determination to keep submitting resignation letters was admirable.

Ahem. “Let’s get back on track. After discussions between the royal family and the instructors, we concluded that studying abroad in the empire would be more beneficial for the prince’s growth.”

“And for various reasons, my assignment was confirmed too?”

“Right. Being alone in a foreign empire would be depressing. He should have at least one friend from home.”

As mentioned earlier, when it came to knights, our kingdom held a slight edge.

There was no need to study abroad—attending the royal academy alone was enough to become the best knight.

Of course, other departments like magic were lacking, but since most of our citizens aspired to be knights, it wasn’t an issue.

Thus, very few of our students studied at the imperial academy, despite its reputation as the continent’s top institution.

“If any go, it’s for education or administration—none for the knight department.”

“None of the other nobles are going?”

“They’re still hesitating. Even with the Sword Emperor’s name, nobles have their pride.”

“I see.”

The “Kingdom of Knights.”

That title was a source of pride, not just for the common people but for the nobility as well.

So even with the Sword Emperor joining the imperial academy, they likely believed the royal academy’s training was sufficient.

“They can think that. That’s how it should be.”

The royal family and the Knight Commander intended to reinforce that belief.

But.

“Prince Ellen is different.”

His potential was too vast to be confined by pride.

Frankly, our kingdom’s educational institutions couldn’t fill his cup to the brim.

“To be honest, even before news of the Sword Emperor’s appointment, we were considering sending him to the empire. We believed exposing him to a broader world and diverse people would benefit him more than just swordsmanship training.”

And then came the Sword Emperor.

Along with his grandson as a fellow student.

“That’s not all. With the former Tower Lord of the White Tower joining, even the mages will be reconsidering.”

Unlike knights, mages could study abroad anytime for knowledge.

Unlike our nobility, the magic nobles of the Dale Kingdom were likely already considering the imperial academy in droves.

“Knights can’t spend their lives only fighting other swordsmen.”

“True enough.”

In that sense, the empire was a good choice.

While their swordsmanship lagged slightly behind ours and their magic behind Dale’s,

That also meant the empire’s magic surpassed ours, and their swordsmanship overwhelmed Dale’s.

No matter how much we encouraged magic, the level of mages our age in the kingdom wasn’t particularly high.

So for Prince Ellen’s magical experience alone, the empire wasn’t a bad choice.

“Right, and one more thing—”

“Hold on.”

I could guess where this was going.

And I understood why the Knight Commander was dragging out the explanation.

Frankly, just the news of the Sword Emperor and his grandson attending the imperial academy would’ve been enough.

“I have a session with Prince Ellen this afternoon.”

“R-Right.”

“So cut to the chase.”

“…Ugh.”

At my firm tone, the Knight Commander’s face twisted as he pulled a document from his coat.

A new contract—with the business trip as a condition.

“Money over justification, huh.”

I casually raised the first figure on the contract.

The Knight Commander groaned and muttered,

“Damn it, at this rate, your salary will surpass mine.”

“If you’re unhappy, you can go yourself.”

“Can’t you lower it a bit?”

“I’m losing four years of investment opportunities here. I deserve this much.”

“It’s real estate! Land prices in the capital only go up!”

“But I’m missing the chance to make them go even higher.”

After about thirty minutes of back-and-forth, we settled on a slightly reduced figure—still higher than the Knight Commander’s salary.

“Adam, you’re here!”

With a light heart, I prepared to be thoroughly beaten by Prince Ellen’s bright smile.