‘But I didn’t want to endure a few more years at the Atlante ducal mansion, so if I go to the academy––’
With various thoughts in my mind, I climbed the stairs and reached the second floor.
As I walked toward my room, I saw someone standing in front of the door.
‘…
Come on, there isn’t more trouble, right?’
I walked slowly due to a bad premonition, and then I could see the identity of the person standing in front of the door.
“Tev?”
Tev, who was standing with his head sunk on his chest, flinched at my words.
“Why are you standing like that?
Is your treatment over?”
Didn’t he recover too quickly from losing consciousness earlier in the day?
Looking at the bandages wrapped around his limbs, he didn’t seem to be in perfect condition, though.
“Are you alright?
Why did you come here instead of going to your quarters to rest?”
“…”
Tev still didn’t answer.
He remained silent with his head lowered even when I was approaching him.
And when there were about five steps between us…
“I…”
Tev’s half-muted voice was both unfamiliar and familiar.
It was different from the voice of the Tev I knew, which felt unfamiliar, but similar to the voice of the Knight Commander Tev from Sylvia’s memory, which was familiar.
Without realizing it, I stopped in my tracks due to the strange familiarity.
“I lost when I promised to win.”
I took a moment to consider what he was talking about.
‘Is he talking about the sparring match with Sir Joseph earlier?’
There seemed to be nothing else it could be except for that.
‘But what does he mean by he lost?
When Sir Joseph clearly told me he had lost.’
Did Tev not hear it because he lost consciousness?
Given the severity of his earlier condition, which rendered him motionless and unresponsive, it would be understandable if he was unable to hear Sir Joseph’s words.
Considering his earlier condition, which was so miserable that it was strange to see him standing still and intact, it would be understandable if he didn’t hear Sir Joseph’s words.
“You won.
You must not have heard it because you fainted, but Sir Joseph admitted it.
He said he lost.”
At my words, Tev shook his head.
“You know the truth.
I lost, and the bandit won.”
“But––”
“Even so…” Tev clenched his fist and contined, “I will never lose again.
I will keep my promises to you and not let anything go unfulfilled.”
“…
Tev.”
Only after calling his name repeatedly did Tev finally raise his head.
Although I expected it with the bandages wrapped around his limbs, his handsome face was also covered in wounds.
The expression on Tev’s face was filled with anger.
His frustrated feelings were conveyed through his slightly bloodshot eyes and tightly clenched lips.
What was he so angry about?
It was only natural that Tev, who had just picked up a sword for the first time, couldn’t beat Sir Joseph, the Knight Commander.
In fact, it was praiseworthy that he held on that long.
Hadn’t Sir Joseph admitted his defeat, knowing that?
But this boy didn’t seem to be satisfied with that either.
‘Should I comfort him?’
Should I tell Tev that he did well enough and that his performance was impressive?
‘No.
Let’s not.’
What he needed wasn’t comfort.
Instead, I asked something else.
“Alright.
I’m looking forward to it.
So from now on, you’ll never lose, right?”
“…
Yes.”
Tev nodded strongly as if he had been waiting for me to say that.
“I will never lose again.
And I won’t disappoint you again either.”
There was power in his words filled with strong determination.
I stared blankly at Tev without realizing it.
The boy who seemed young and in need of protection now felt solid and strong.
“…
Alright,” I responded belatedly.
“I’ll trust you.”
I didn’t hide the smile that naturally appeared on my face.
As I looked at him with a grin, the flames in Tev’s eyes flickered.
“…”
He seemed to want to say something, as he slightly moved his lips, but till the end, he didn’t say anything.
***
I woke up early in the morning and left my room, postponing my usual mana breathing.
‘Is it because of yesterday?
I’m worried.’
The image of Tev’s fiercely burning eyes and clenched lips as he vowed never to lose again was still etched in my mind.
“Hmm.”
That wasn’t the only thing I was worried about.
‘Will he adapt well?’
Before the sparring match, Tev had called Sir Joseph a ‘bandit’ and spoke informally to him.
I knew Sir Joseph’s personality, so his rudeness wouldn’t be a big problem.
But…
‘I don’t know about the other knights.’
In Sylvia’s memories, the knights, especially the Atlante House Knights, didn’t have a good image.
They always looked uncomfortable whenever they met Sylvia.
And their actions showed they didn’t want to get close to her even a little.
The Atlante House Knights were the ones who obviously gave off an atmosphere of ‘I don’t like this person.’
‘Will they welcome Tev, whom I brought with me, even though they disliked me that much?’
Moreover, Tev was a commoner, an orphan who lived on the streets.
I had heard that knights from noble families looked down on knights from commoner backgrounds, even in general knight orders.
So, what about the Atlante House Knights, who were much more prestigious and difficult to enter than other knight orders…
‘There won’t be any discrimination, right?’
Would this be how it felt to leave a child at a daycare center for the first time?
‘I’ve never raised a child before, so I don’t know.’
I tilted my head and headed toward the training ground.
I didn’t have any particular plan, but I couldn’t spend the whole day filled with worries.
‘Let’s go and check on him first.’
The path to the training ground was as clear as if I had a map drawn in front of me since I had just walked it yesterday.
And maybe because of my long strides, I quickly arrived at the training ground.
“Where could he be…?”
It was difficult to find Tev among the knights filling the training ground.
Finding a small boy with a small stature and height among the adult knights who were all quite large wasn’t an easy task.
Besides, for some reason, Sir Joseph wasn’t present, and the knights were scattered around doing individual training.
It was already hard to find him in a straight line, but with people scattered all over the place…
As I scanned the training ground with my narrowed eyes, I stopped at one point.
“Eh?”
Unlike the other knights who were scattered doing individual training, a group of people was unusually gathered in one corner like crowds had accumulated around to watch something interesting…
‘No way.’
Feeling apprehensive, I approached the corner where the knights were clustered.
I had to sneak up on them so as not to be noticed, fearing that they would stop what they were doing if they saw me.
My footsteps were heavy because of that, and the number of knights gathering in the corner increased in the meantime.
And what came into my sight was…
‘Tev?’
A young boy was standing among the group of large knights.
‘Oh come on, they aren’t really bullying him, are they?’
My head and face heated up with anger at the thought.
But I didn’t step in right away.
‘I need to assess the situation first.’
If I jumped in recklessly, I might only isolate Tev even more.
Suppressing my rising emotions, I focused my eyes and ears on Tev and the group of knights.
“––Do it one more time!”
“Yeah, I didn’t see it!”
“Why don’t you show us again, huh?”
‘Just from the way they talk, it seems like they’re bullying him…’
My gaze at the knights grew fierce.
‘Where on earth do they find the heart to bully such a young and small kid!’
After bringing him to the mansion, I fed him well, but Tev was still smaller than the average for his age.
Not only was he similar in size to me, but he was also tiny compared to the adult knights.
‘If they bully a kid like that…’
I was determined to make a scene with the knights, regardless of the possibility of being insulted by them as nasty and mean, as I had been in the past.
However, Tev’s response calmed my anger.
“I already showed you.”
‘Eh?’
His tone was annoyed, but it didn’t contain any hostility toward the knights.
If the knights were really bullying Tev, he wouldn’t have responded in such a voice.
‘Are they not bullying him?’
I tilted my head in wonder and continued to watch.
Then, one of the knights pleaded as if begging this time.
“Hey, hey.
I just got here!
Please show me once, huh?”
“Geez.”
Tev sighed shortly and grabbed the wooden sword at his waist.
“Why do you want to see something like this for god’s sake?”
As Tev drew his wooden sword with the murmuring words, the knights stepped back a few steps, exclaiming “Wow!” They focused on Tev’s movements with sparkling eyes as if they were about to witness something amazing.
‘What’s going on?’
I also fixed my eyes on Tev.
Tev closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then began to swing his wooden sword quickly.
It wasn’t a flashy or complicated movement.
However, the simple basic movements became refined and powerful as they went through Tev.
‘He seems to be doing well?’
Maybe it was because I remembered his performance against Sir Joseph yesterday?
Tev’s swordsmanship skills, which had grown remarkably in just a day, felt extraordinary.
‘He’s indeed Tev Hiddleton.’
If he was this good in just one day, he would soon become a famous knight in the kingdom.
‘There’s no need to worry about.’
The faster Tev grew, the better it was for me, so I watched him with a proud smile.
“Is that enough?”
As Tev caught his breath and spat out those words, the quiet knights became noisy.
“Wow!
Is this really the skill of someone who’s only held a sword for a day?”
“It’s really unbelievable…
Hey, Hans!
I think he’s better than you when you first joined.
How many years had you been holding a sword back then?
Huh?”
“Hahaha!
It had been over four years.
Back then, I was considered pretty good for an apprentice, but this kid is even better?”
The knights reacted positively.
‘Thank goodness.’
It seemed that Tev appeared impressive not only to my eyes.
“What’s the big deal about this…”
Tev grumbled with an embarrassed expression at the knights’ praise, but the knights didn’t insult him for being cocky.
Instead, they looked at Tev with faces wondering where on earth such a little genius had come from.