Lanius.
Having become a knight of the Leon Ducal House, one of only two ducal houses, he was a fairly promising knight.
The mere fact that he had become a knight of a ducal house meant his talent had been recognized.
What unfolded before Lanius, who had taken pride in being a member of the Leon Ducal House's knights, was not dazzling glory.
The Leon Ducal House had many people of far greater talent than him.
Realizing he had been a frog in a well, he sank into despair, and the one who helped him then was Deon.
A senior knight who had reached out first and helped him adjust to the Leon Ducal House.
Lanius respected Deon, which was why, when Deon was selected as Kalios's knight, he resented the Knight Commander for the first time.
Deon, a Mid-Grade Knight, was someone who could rise to great heights at any time, and Lanius was dissatisfied that such a person had to waste his time because of a good-for-nothing like Kalios.
Lanius disliked Kalios and resented him.
If not for Kalios, Deon's time wouldn't have been wasted.
Since he had never thought well of him to begin with, he couldn't look kindly on Kalios entering the training grounds.
The sight of Kalios nonchalantly picking up a wooden sword and swinging it even irritated him.
Ordinarily, Kalios would curse the knights as boring, inflexible bastards.
Who could possibly like someone who did nothing but drink every day and insult others?
On top of that, Kalios looked down on knights.
That alone was reason enough to view Kalios unfavorably.
If he could have had his way, he would have booted Kalios in the backside and thrown him out of the training grounds right then.
But there was nothing he could do as he pleased.
No matter how much he disliked Kalios, Kalios was the son of Luhaman, master of the Leon Ducal House.
As someone in their employ, he couldn't treat his employer's son carelessly.
Knowing that all too well, Lanius intended to make Kalios leave the training grounds on his own.
If he got on his nerves a little, Kalios would obviously peel away by himself.
Kalios was a spineless weakling without an ounce of perseverance.
That thinking was also why he had told Deon to leave Kalios alone.
However, the situation went in a direction he hadn't expected.
“You there, what's your name?”
Kalios, who normally would have ignored a knight like him, was asking for his name.
It was the first time Kalios had ever asked his name.
Though a little flustered, Lanius answered right away.
“I am Lanius.”
“All right. Lanius. How about a spar with me?”
What did this crazy Young Master just say?
For a moment, Lanius couldn't help but doubt his own ears.
Unless he had misheard, Kalios had just asked him for a spar.
A bastard who had never so much as held a sword, let alone trained, was asking him, someone who had trained his whole life.
It was a spar that couldn't even hold up as one, and Kalios's chance of winning was 0%.
It wasn't simply because he was a knight.
Kalios was practically a corpse.
As if to prove his usual aversion to exercise, his skin was pale white, and it was hard to find any muscle on his body, which had never been properly used.
Hadn't he just struggled after swinging a wooden sword a few times?
Lanius could think of Kalios's words as nothing but empty bravado.
“Do you truly mean that?”
Lanius doubted what Kalios had said and thought it was something blurted out on a childish impulse.
Otherwise, Kalios would never have asked him, a knight, for a spar.
Or did he think Lanius would let him win?
Judging from the situation alone, he couldn't rule out that possibility either.
He didn't like that one bit.
Why should he have to throw a match for a good-for-nothing like Kalios?
Lanius glared at Kalios.
If Kalios apologized and backed down even now, he intended to let it go quietly.
“I don't speak empty words with my own mouth.”
“...Hah.”
At Kalios's firm reply, Lanius sighed without realizing it.
“...Hah.”
Deon, who was standing beside them, also sighed, apparently dumbfounded.
‘I already didn't like him to begin with.’
His exasperation lasted only a moment; Lanius changed his mind, thinking that if he egged on that naive Young Master just a little, he could beat him up legitimately.
“Of course. The son of Duke Leon would never speak empty words. However, I need a guarantee.”
“A guarantee...”
“If you promise that no harm will come to me from the spar, Young Master, I believe I can accept it with peace of mind.”
“Lanius!”
Deon, who had been quietly listening, shouted in surprise at his words.
Deon understood the meaning behind Lanius's words.
Lanius was saying he would beat Kalios to a pulp.
That if he wasn't allowed to beat him to a pulp, he had no reason to spar.
It was far too dangerous a thing to do to his liege's son.
No matter what was promised, how could anyone just stand by after their liege's son had been beaten?
Besides, the opponent was none other than Kalios.
A good-for-nothing who cared nothing for honor and acted solely on his whims.
Saying such a thing to someone like that was a gamble in itself, and a foolish act at that.
“What? It's what the Young Master wants. I'm just trying to do what a knight ought to do.”
He knew what Deon was worried about, but Lanius had no intention of backing down even a little.
This was a chance to legitimately beat Kalios—how could he possibly let it slip by?
“You...”
“Stay out of it, Deon. I know you're supposed to look after the Young Master, but that doesn't give you the right to block his decisions.”
“...Haah.”
At Lanius's words, Deon heaved a deep sigh and stepped back.
He knew that no matter what he said, Lanius wouldn't listen.
“What will you do? It's fine if you change your mind, even now.”
Even if Kalios backed down now, no one would say anything.
It was just a good-for-nothing acting like a good-for-nothing—who could say anything about that?
At the very least, it would be far better than being seen getting beaten up in a spar with him.
“I promise. Whatever happens in the spar, I won't hold you accountable for any of it.”
Kalios did not back down.
“...Very well.”
Lanius barely kept the corners of his mouth from rising.
“Deon, you referee.”
“I'll do that.”
Now that Kalios had made his decision, Deon could no longer interfere.
“I'll concede you a move, Young Master. I won't take a single step from this spot, so do as you please.”
Lanius said this as he put his right hand behind his back and held his sword in his left.
Could that feeble good-for-nothing's sword possibly reach him?
With that thought, he watched Kalios draw near.
SWISH.
In an instant, a wooden sword was leveled at his throat, and he couldn't hide his bewilderment.
“I've won.”
With a single movement from Kalios, Lanius was defeated.
***
Kalios smiled as he watched Lanius burn with the will to win.
He could tell what Lanius was thinking.
How could he not, when Lanius wasn't even hiding the emotions in his eyes?
Looking at Lanius, Kalios didn't feel offended in the least.
To him, a former Sword Master, Lanius's behavior just seemed cute.
However broken his body was, could a former Sword Master not bait Lanius into carelessness?
As long as Lanius was not a Sword Master, Kalios could draw out his carelessness.
The title of Sword Master isn't born for nothing.
He watched Lanius's stance as he walked, approached naturally, and raised his sword.
While Lanius was off guard, his wooden sword had already moved.
Kalios's wooden sword, stopped and aimed at Lanius's throat.
He could see Lanius's eyes waver as he belatedly grasped the situation.
An attack that lured out carelessness.
Had Lanius not let his guard down, there was no way Kalios could have won, but going by the result alone, Lanius had lost.
“...I cannot accept this.”
As he turned and walked away, Lanius's voice reached his ears.
CRASH!
He even heard the sound of Lanius kicking the ground, apparently out of frustration.
Turning his head, he saw Lanius looking thoroughly aggrieved.
“What is it you can't accept?”
“This doesn't count! To begin with, this can't even be called a spar!”
At Lanius's words, Kalios let out a faint chuckle.
It wasn't that strange for a knight to be fixated on winning.
However, acknowledging one's defeat and striving to improve was also a virtue a knight needed.
“Why not?”
“That's, obviously...!”
“You let your guard down, and I took advantage of it. Is that wrong?”
Kalios had no intention of humoring Lanius's stubbornness.
It was Lanius who had let his guard down, and Kalios had never told him to do so.
At his firm words, Lanius faltered.
“Anything else to say?”
At his words, Lanius opened and closed his mouth like a fish.
Lanius was not a knight who acted on emotion.
At first, he had shouted out of frustration, but after analyzing the situation through his exchange with Kalios, he accepted his mistake.
“I acknowledge it. You won, Young Master.”
“You acknowledge it? Smart.”
Kalios hadn't asked for the spar to quarrel with Lanius.
It was to show him that his attitude was wrong.
He knew full well that, ordinarily, beating a knight with a body like this would be difficult.
“Yes. I acknowledge it. So, please spar with me just once more.”
“...What?”
“I won't deny that I lost because I was careless. But this time, I want to have a proper spar.”
At the change in Lanius's eyes, Kalios felt troubled.
He knew it would be hard for him to win if they sparred again, so accepting couldn't exactly be called a good choice.
Even if they did spar, he couldn't count on a fluke like the one just now.
After pondering for a moment, he looked at Lanius and spoke.
“I don't do rematches with guys who've lost to me.”
“...!”
Lanius's pride would be hurt, but Kalios couldn't just jump at the offer either.
“What kind of...”
“That's how it is, so go do your job. I'll go do mine.”
With that, Kalios walked off.
As he walked, thinking he needed to train his body even a little faster, Lanius stopped him.
“No. I can't accept that. Please spar with me again.”
“I told you earlier. I don't fight guys who've lost to me.”
“But!”
As Lanius was about to raise his voice, Deon, who had been standing nearby, blocked his path.
“That's enough.”
“Deon, stay out of this! This is between me and the Young Master.”
“No, you're the one who needs to stay out of it.”
At Deon's firmness, Lanius's face twisted sharply.
Unless Deon moved aside, it would be difficult for Lanius to get to Kalios.
Deon was a Mid-Grade Knight, and Lanius was a Low-Grade Knight.
GRIND.
Grinding his teeth as he glared at Deon, Lanius spoke to Kalios, who was leaning on his wooden sword.
“Young Master, don't you think this is cowardly?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean you, Young Master—winning by luck and then hiding behind a knight's back. If you're a man at all, you should spar with me once more.”
“Hmm... Why should I?”
“...Pardon?”
Kalios answered with utter indifference.
He was the one who had won the spar, and whether to spar any further was entirely his own decision.
Wasn't it Lanius who had been careless in the first place?
“And I think the coward isn't me, who won by luring out your carelessness, but you, who lost by getting careless and are still trying to beat me, practically a walking corpse. Don't you think?”
“...!”
“I have no intention of sparring with you any further. Deon, let's go.”
Handing the wooden sword to a nearby knight, Kalios left the training grounds with Deon.
Lanius stared blankly at the sight.