For a doting father, he had shown remarkable patience. Ron had expected him to come within ten days. That was one reason he had begun using Eight Extreme Hells.
‘His intentions are obvious too.’
The Count's thoughts were as plain as day. Granting Ron a surname at the same time as his Promotion Exam had been meant to provoke conflict within the Knight Hall.
Ron knew that.
‘But I have no reason to play along.’
He did not care about a father's feelings or anything of the sort. The Count had issued the provocation, so the Count should bear the responsibility.
Even a count could not arbitrarily dictate the course of a knight's entire life. That violated the employment contract and labor law.
Unfortunately, the Labor Office existed only in his previous life.
In the end, he had no choice but to employ measures of self-preservation.
They said heaven helped those who helped themselves, so when the time came to act, one had to step forward.
“Here. Wipe off your sweat with this towel.”
“......Why are you acting like this?”
When Ron handed her the towel, Adelia regarded him suspiciously. For the past half month, Ron had been anything but kind. Rather than a Personal Knight who protected his liege, he had been a wicked knight who delighted in tormenting her.
“What bizarre training are you planning to put me through next?”
“That is a misunderstanding.”
“I don't believe you!”
“I am still your master in name. Should you not at least pretend to trust me?”
“Hmph. Can you empathize with my suffering, Sir Ron?”
“No.”
“......(SNAP!)”
Ron's expression said, Not my problem—how could he empathize with pain he had never experienced? Adelia felt as though the top of her head might fly off. She wanted to drive her fist into that infuriating face, but she had already learned that he was not the sort to let her hit him.
One futile attempt was enough.
“If you truly cannot trust me, you do not have to follow my instructions.”
“Are you saying you won't do it now?”
She should have welcomed that, but Adelia could not. Ron was always searching for an opportunity to evade responsibility. The instant she agreed, he would undoubtedly flee.
“As I have told you repeatedly, the choice belongs to you, my lady. I merely do my best under the conditions given to me.”
“So in the end, you're saying you won't take responsibility!”
“Responsibility has always belonged to those above. Are you perhaps the sort who passes responsibility down to subordinates?”
“...I am not!”
Adelia could not say otherwise. If she had, Ron would have thoroughly condemned her as an irresponsible person.
Ever since their master-servant relationship had become candid, her life had been an unbroken chain of suffering.
Moreover, she could not complain to anyone and had to suffer alone in silence.
Her body was becoming healthier, but her anger kept accumulating.
“Try to think positively. Look at the fine muscles forming on your arms. They are magnificent.”
“.........(SNAP!)”
When Ron praised her lean muscles, Adelia nearly lost her reason. Yet she could not deny that her body was changing. In only half a month, her physique had been reconstructed.
‘How does he know something like this?’
The results of the training were far too astonishing for it to be dismissed as merely inflicting pain. Moreover, she realized it was not training just anyone could administer. It required extraordinarily precise control and unwavering restraint. Otherwise, the balance could collapse and destroy both body and mind.
‘He truly isn't an ordinary human!’
Were knights who had reached Expert really this extraordinary?
Adelia knew little about knightly realms, so she used Expert as her standard. In truth, even reaching Master would not automatically grant this degree of control and restraint. One had to regulate aura more finely than the eye of a needle and control its intensity with nearly divine precision.
‘It was fortunate that I made someone this extraordinary my Personal Knight... right?’
And yet he treated her far too roughly, and his personality was not merely unusual but downright atrocious.
If only that personality could be corrected, he would be a flawless Personal Knight, but that did not seem likely to happen.
Had he been capable of changing, he would not have caused that uproar in the conference room.
“I would like us to have a serious discussion on sword theory.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“What do you mean, out of nowhere? I give you advanced sword theory that becomes your blood and flesh every day.”
What is a sword?
You simply cut and thrust.
That's sword theory?
It makes blood spill and flesh split.
He was also acting solemn, which was unlike him.
“Something is going on, isn't it?”
“If you know that, please play along.”
Her suspicions immediately became reality.
WHOOSH—!!
Without warning, the door flew open with a BANG—!
An uninvited guest.
Count Leonard.
He had suppressed his presence throughout the approach and scurried forward despite his enormous frame to ensure they would not notice him.
Despite his blatant rudeness.
As though insisting that a father had the right to inspect how his daughter was ordinarily treated, he glared at them to prevent anyone from objecting to his intrusion.
Hmm.
Not as a father... but as a swordsman, he activated his keen gaze.
Count Leonard swept his eyes over every corner of the room to determine what they had been doing, then furrowed his brow.
Despite the Count's discourtesy, Ron observed proper etiquette.
“I greet Your Excellency the Count. Had you notified us of your arrival, I would have prepared tea. Would you care to sit here for now?”
“I distinctly recall you saying before me that you would teach Ria swordsmanship.”
“I am teaching her.”
“You spend all day shut inside a room and claim you're teaching her the sword? You expect me to believe that?”
It was a relief that they were not doing anything improper, but rather than teaching swordsmanship, Ron appeared to be idling around the room with her.
Ria might have begun learning the sword late, but if Ron had made a promise, he should have provided training appropriate to it.
If they merely passed the time without producing results, there was no reason for her to have a Personal Knight.
“Teaching methods differ from person to person, so one cannot definitively say which is superior.”
“Oho. That sounds as though you have produced results.”
“Of course.”
When Ron displayed confidence, Count Leonard cheered inwardly. It would have been troublesome if Ron had bowed his head and then used Adelia as a shield. Instead, he was providing the pretext on his own.
Count Leonard did not lower his guard. A father could do anything if it meant protecting his daughter.
“Can you prove it?”
“If you wish, in half a month, I will have her defeat the First Young Master with the sword.”
“......Shut up! Do not try to win this for free!”
“The First Young Master I have observed is a kind and wise man. Is there perhaps some other problem?”
That is what I know. What do you think?
Count Leonard's head throbbed for a moment.
Within House Leonard, “weakling” was one of the forbidden words no one was permitted to utter, and the fact that he himself had established that taboo now bound his hands.
Nor could he say that the First Young Master was too weak to defeat his younger sister. No matter how frail he was, if he could not defeat a woman—his own younger sister, at that—the aftermath would be difficult to bear.
‘You cunning bastard!’
Whether Ron truly thought that way was irrelevant. If his firstborn were ever defeated by his younger sister, he might collapse under the emotional shock.
The thought that a mere knight dared interfere with the succession structure made rage surge within him.
GNASH—!
Just as he was about to erupt, Count Leonard lost the timing.
Ron spoke first.
“My apologies. I committed a discourtesy. Since the young lady has only just begun holding a sword, the First Young Master would not be a suitable match. In that case, how about the Third Young Master?”
“Shut up! That boy is a fucking id—no!”
Did they not say even a hedgehog found its own offspring adorable?
Count Leonard could not bring himself to call his own son a fucking idiot. Even so, he could not deny that his third son was peculiar and mentally abnormal. He could only console himself with the fact that it was not in a malicious way.
“My apologies. I briefly forgot that the Third Young Master is more interested in painting than the sword. If you insist, we will make it the Second Young Master.”
Perfect!
Count Leonard accepted at once. The bastard was more cunning and shrewd than he appeared, yet he had unexpectedly made a mistake. Afraid Ron might retract it, the Count seized the initiative.
“Your confidence is excessive. Do you truly think that is possible? If you said it merely to escape the present situation, you had better prepare yourself.”
“I will stake my position as Personal Knight and my status as a noble.”
“Sir Ron, what are you doing?”
Adelia, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward.
It was a proposal she could not accept. He was staking his entire life as a knight! It would be a lie to say she felt no burden, and they had little time.
“Though there has been a misunderstanding, this is a test His Excellency the Count has given me. If I maintain my position as Personal Knight and my noble status without resolving this matter, it will set an undesirable precedent. That will not benefit you either, my lady.”
“Even so, it's unfair.”
“His Excellency the Count is a fair man. If you display the swordsmanship you have cultivated without reservation before the Second Young Master once he completes his closed-door training, His Excellency will acknowledge you. Is that not so, Your Excellency?”
“Of course!”
He might be insolent, but at least he knew how to judge people.
Emphasizing his fairness, Count Leonard decided he would speak separately with his second son when the boy emerged from closed-door training in half a month.
A formal duel against Ria, who was not even training properly, could never have been legitimate in the first place. In truth, he felt the faintest pang of conscience.
“Which is why I ask this. If the young lady reaches a level you acknowledge, will you entrust all matters concerning her future training entirely to me?”
“Very well. I shall.”
“We will put it in writing.”
“Are you saying you do not trust me?”
“I have staked my honor and my life upon this duel. Those were not words spoken lightly.”
Count Leonard was inwardly flustered.
Ron had staked his position as Personal Knight and continued noble status, but the Count had not intended to take them back. There was too little time to expect Ria to accomplish anything against his second son, regardless of her aptitude.
He had intended for a small number of people to enter a closed space and make the decision privately.
If the promise became a formally documented agreement, then even if it was unfair, he would be unable to reverse it.
‘Does he truly intend to go through with this?’
It had been half a jest. Taking back the Personal Knight position and noble promotion so soon after granting them would also be dishonorable.
However, no matter what, once he had spoken the words, he could not retract them.
“One should not make promises one cannot uphold.”
“I need only take responsibility.”
Count Leonard's gaze grew fierce.
Setting aside his personal dislike, Ron was a promising knight who would bear responsibility for House Leonard's future. For such a man to engage him in a battle of pride was reckless beyond mere courage.
‘He is dangerous.’
It was even harder to tolerate a man who enjoyed reckless wagers remaining near his daughter. Moreover, Count Leonard never avoided a fight brought to him.
“Very well. I will put it in writing. However, if the result is unsatisfactory, you had better prepare yourself!”
“I will remember that.”
Ron drafted the document and showed it to Count Leonard. Its contents reproduced exactly what they had just said.
Hm?
Count Leonard had nearly passed over it without thought, then looked at the clauses again. Unlike the other clauses, the font here was conspicuously small. He was old enough to be developing presbyopia, but fortunately, he was an Expert.
“What is this 400 gold?”
“The monthly cost of the young lady's training.”
Properly raising a single knight required no small expense. If spending 400 gold allowed someone to reach Expert, it would still be a profitable bargain.
‘Something feels wrong.’
Four hundred gold when they merely loafed around in a room was absurd. Ron might have written the clause in small letters because he intended to pocket the money himself.
The intention was deeply improper.
“Make it 200 gold.”
“I cannot reduce it from 400 gold.”
“250 gold.”
“400 gold.”
Count Leonard frowned at the bizarre negotiation. Did this make any sense? It had been the same in the conference room. This bastard appeared to listen while simultaneously refusing to listen.
Yet it was difficult to become angry.
He might have been strange, but he had staked everything as a knight. The Count could not act petty over money in front of that.
Besides, the matter would end once his second son handled Ria appropriately.
“Fine. We will make it 400 gold.”
“House Leonard will produce the greatest swordswoman on the continent.”
“......I look forward to it.”
He could not bring himself to deny it.
After signing the document, Count Leonard immediately left the room. He had promised not to interfere until the Second Young Master's closed-door training ended.
Siiigh.
Adelia released a deep sigh.
She had found herself facing a reality that made her wonder whether this was truly acceptable. Even so, she was not bewildered.
She knew what the current situation was.
“Should I say this went according to plan? My second brother is a genius!”
“You can do it, my lady. And as for the two of you, neither qualifies as a genius. You both think far too highly of yourselves. A true genius becomes stronger without being taught and develops on their own after receiving only the fundamentals.”
“Where in the world does someone like that exist?”
“Hehehe.”
“Do not pretend you're talking about yourself!”
That did not work.
Ron laughed it off, but occasionally, beings existed who grew stronger without being taught.
And those were called monsters, not geniuses.
In any case, this was the flow he had wanted.
Whether it was the Count or anyone else, so long as they remained within a controlled domain, Ron could manipulate them as much as he wished. Considering age, experience, and history, no one could compare to him.
Now that the Count had joined the scenario as planned, it was time to proceed to the next stage. Scenarios that made no progress were no longer popular these days.
“From now on, after physical training, we will conduct basic swordsmanship and practical combat training in parallel.”
“How are we supposed to train in swordsmanship inside a room? If my expensive ornaments and furniture are broken, will you compensate me, Sir Ron?”
“Only the incompetent allow themselves to be constrained by location or make excuses.”
“Who says that?”
“Hehehe.”
Adelia clicked her tongue.
There was also the fact that he had expressed his opinion before her father without wavering and extracted 400 gold from him.
It was difficult to dismiss his claims as empty words, bravado, or delusions of grandeur when events were unfolding according to Ron's plan.
Had his prediction gone astray, she might at least have had room to intervene.
For now, however, the two of them were master and disciple.
“I'll ask only one thing. Is this truly possible?”
“Of course. Trust me.”
Adelia decided to trust Ron.
She hoped there was a basis for that confidence.
‘There is a basis.’
-Progress Rate: -68%
-Reward: 6 Coins
How many packets of ramen was that?
Even if this was impossible, he had to make it possible.