Why did Hansen get so scared when hearing the name Maltive Kegen?
That was probably becauseâŠ
âMaltive is the best knight in the training center, having reached 4th-rank last year. Compared to him, IâŠâŠâ
The suffering that had continued for a long time.
Fear that only someone who got hurt could know.
It was because of a poisonous terror that was felt when he was stuck in that inescapable hell all by himself, where his body now reacted before his mind.
A way to defeat this could never be found by another.
All the problems were laid in his heart.
However, I knewâŠ
âYou can win.â
ââŠâŠM-me?â
âYeah.â
I knew how strong and brave Hansen could be in front of someone he needed to protect.
âHold your head high and walk confidently. From my view, youâre a much stronger person than those trash over there. Didnât you fearlessly draw your blade to save your sister?â
ââŠâŠâ
Hearing my words, Hansen nodded his head very cautiously, and Maltive, who was walking in front of us, reacted.
âThe more I hear you talkâŠâŠ What did you just say? And what? Hansen can defeat me? That commoner bastard thatâs just eating into my tax?â
ââŠâŠMaltive.â
âMaltive? Hah. This is infuriating. Do I look the same as you now just because I go to the same training center as you?â
ââŠâŠâ
That was definitely a will of resistance.
Yeah.
I knew.
Maltive Kegen
4th-rank knight â Apprentice Sword Perito
Potential: High
Hansen
3rd-rank knight
Potential: Very high
Because the Playerâs Eye told me so.
I couldnât deny the fact that currently, Maltive was stronger than Hansen.
Just because one killed a thug before, just because they were able to perform a feat that they didnât know they could do in a position of dangerâŠâŠ
It didnât mean that the person had grown to be as strong as a 4th-rank.
But didnât I see it with my own eyes?
âHansen is strong.â
When he was killing the leader of the thugs with the shortsword, I saw the blue aura that signified being a Sword Perito wrapped around Hansenâs body.
Hansen was already 4th-rank.
No, if we considered his very high potential, he mightâve even had skills beyond that.
But he just didnât know how to handle them yet.
This realizationâŠ
âKneel and call me Lord Maltive, you fucker!â
ââŠâŠâ
If he could defeat that fear that clenched his mind, shook his legs, and pushed down his shoulders.
If he could just break down that wall, Hansen could win.
That was why Hansen must fight.
Even if to just break away this messy relationship, Hansen needed to break down the wall himself.
ââŠâŠâ
Hansen looked at me, and I could see a small hint of determination in his eyes.
A sense of shame that he didnât ever want to show in front of his friend, humiliation from being denied his very existence, a sense of hopelessness, and the fear of never being able to retaliate.
Between these emotions, a drop of courage formed that might win over the rest.
The result from this drop of courage was quite big in reality.
After staying silent for a while, HansenâŠ
ââŠâŠN-no.â
âWhat?â
âI wonât kneel to you!â
For the first time, he had expressed his own will.
No.
This rebellion that sneaked out from his shaky voice was enough to make Maltive, who had lived and indulged in authority all his life, severely enraged.
âWhat? What did you just say? Did I perhaps hear it wrong? No? No?! â
âY-yeah! I said no!â
ââŠYou bastard. Youâre making me mad.â
Schwing!
âCome here, you useless commoner bastard. Iâll kill you today.â
ââŠâŠâ
He pulled out his sword on his hip without hesitation and stomped toward Hansen.
His sword?
A trainee knight who protects chivalry pulled out his sword for such a small thing like this?
ââŠâŠ!â
After becoming startled, Hansen took a few steps back and tried to hurriedly pull out his own sword, but I dissuaded Hansen.
âDonât pull it out.â
âE-eh?â
âArenât you different from that guy?â
Coming from a big family, that guy would be fine in the end.
But if a commoner like Hansen was to make a mistake, he might get kicked out of the training center.
Even if not for this, he must not pull out his sword for something like this.
âHansen, todayâs not the day to fight that guy. Pummel him good when the opportunity comes. For today, just leave it to me.â
I pushed Hansen back and stepped forward with clenched fists.
The reason I stepped up myselfâŠ
Damn itâŠ
When Maltive Kegen pulled out his sword, it reminded me of old times.
Wasnât this the same?
That bastard who pulled out his sword to cut Hansen, and that insane bastard who sent a lighting bolt flying during class to kill meâŠ
The faces of those two started to weirdly combine.
I had thought about repaying my debt to that guy who nearly killed me one dayâŠ
And that day was today.
âMove, you bitch!â
Instead of that guy who got expelled, I clenched my fist while aiming for Maltive as he ran toward Hansen behind me.
Crack!
Only three steps until he reached the range of my fists.
However, I couldnât attack.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator â Jreaming
Proofreader â Artethrax
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* * *
ââŠâŠUghk!â
No, rather than couldnât, it would be more accurate to say I didnât need to.
Smack!
Before I could attack, a steel stick flew in from somewhere and struck Maltive in the head, causing him to fall backward and roll on the ground.
It happened in an instant.
Maltive shouted, fully enraged,
âWhich punk dares!â
The steel stick was in actuality a scabbard, and everyoneâs eyes turned to the person picking it back up.
âI dare!â
Clang!
The knight who was putting his sword back into his scabbard wasâŠ
The head knight of the Poldren Training Center, Sir Coulter Pirante.
He was glaring at Maltive with a serious face that I had never seen before, one so unlike the joking expression I had seen all this time.
ââŠâŠâ
As Maltive realized the one who attacked him was the knight captain Coulter Pirante, he couldnât say another word.
ââŠâŠD-damn it.â
He could only glare at us in fury.
Toward him, Sir Coulter asked,
âMaltive Kegen, what are you doing?â
ââŠTh-those punks started it first.â
Maltive pointed his finger at Hansen, and Sir Coulter didnât even bother to look and asked again,
âAnd so you pulled out your sword? To swing at someone?â
ââŠâŠâ
âYou are still just a trainee knight who hadnât taken the knightly vow yet. Have you forgotten?â
Just like how an academy student couldnât use magic as they wanted, it would be the same for a trainee knight.
It was definitely grounds for punishmentâpulling out oneâs sword in a situation like thisâeven if no one was hurt.
Sir Coulter spoke with an unwavering tone.
âMaltive Kegen, I am removing you from the position of Training Center representative. The position of representative will immediately be succeeded by the vice-representative, and youâll receive disciplinary action as soon as we return to the training center.â
âWhat? B-butâŠâŠ!â
âDo you have any problems?â
âI-if you remove me from my representative positionâŠâŠ My father wonât stand for it. I-Iâll make an official complaint.â
Again and again.
That father of his.
It looked like that was the extent of his threats.
But unfortunately for himâŠ
ââŠI am baffled.â
Sir Coulter wasnât someone who would get scared by a child who always brought up their father.
âYeah. Sir Bengrass Kegen wonât stand for this. If he learns of the fact that his one and only son pulled out his sword to use against another person when he was visiting the Academy as a guestâŠâŠ Heâd faint. Or he would break that unlawful sonâs legs.â
ââŠâŠâ
âMaltive Kegen, have you forgotten why you were kicked out of the Royal Training Center and came to Poldren? It was a request from Sir Bengrass. To fix up his foolish son into a righteous man in whatever way possible.â
Maltiveâs expression became icey.
And Sir Coulter Pirante dealt the final blow.
âDonât forget. He asked me to make a righteous man, not a good knight.â
ââŠâŠâ
Meaning, if he kept disobeying his orders, Sir Coulter was threatening to forever expel him from the training center.
I clapped twice in my heart.
This was a true threat! Not something weak like using your fatherâs name!
âKughâŠâŠâ
Thanks to this, Maltiveâs expression became pale.
If he was expelled here and ended up never becoming a knight, what would happen?
The answer was already set in stone.
âI-I apologize.â
Surrender.
After this, as if not wanting to look at Maltive any further, Sir Coulter Pirante turned his back.
âThis is disappointing. There will be a report to Sir Bengrass for this incident. Iâm curious as to what he will say about you.â
ââŠâŠâ
UuuuuaaaaahâŠâŠ!!
A soundless cry.
Maltive Kegen kicked the blameless ground and tensed his muscles, but he couldnât refute any of it.
He was probably scared of his father that he was so proud of.
âRuin.â
Sir Coulter immediately talked toward me and whispered something quietly so that Maltive wouldnât hear it.
âIâm sorry. The kids arenât that bad⊠Hmm, I really canât bring myself to say it.â
âItâs not something you need to apologize for, Sir Coulter.â
âNo, itâs my responsibility for not managing them properly. Iâll pay more attention so things like this wonât happen again in theâŠâŠ Huh?â
Sir Coulter looked between me and Hansen a few times and asked again,
âButâŠâŠ did you guys know each other?â
Hansen and I looked at each other and smiled, and I shrugged my shoulders.
âWeâre friends.â
âHoh, really? This is quite surprising.â
âYes. And heâs also my joint lesson partner this time.â
ââŠPartner?â
The one who asked wasnât Sir Coulter, but Hansen.
Hansen looked at me with a confused expression, but I nonchalantly replied,
âYeah. Partner. Weâll form a team together for the lessons.â
âW-with me? B-but I wonât be that helpfulâŠâ
âNo, it has to be you. We have a mutual enemy.â
ââŠA mutual enemy?â
In the lessons for the second semester where we would spar and work together with knights, you chose your own partner.
You learned how to work together and even had competitions against the other teams.
Well, now that I had my ally chosen, who would be my enemies�
Wasnât that already decided?
My gaze turned to face Maltive, who was looking at me in rage, and Jakil, who was observing all this from a distance away.
âYeah. A mutual enemy.â
ââŠâŠâ
Whether it be sword or magic, there were always influential people who only cared for themselves.
It wasnât like I had a particular thing against all authority figuresâŠ
But if these authority figures kept acting like animals while the country was in this state, then that was a problem.
In a situation like this, you needed to properly fix them up.
Not just the heads of those rotten bastardsâŠ
But the entire system itself, and the rotten bastards own personal kingdoms in which they resided.