After returning from the spar with Lanius, Kalios had been checking his condition.
His body, which had no training whatsoever despite being nearly 17, needed to be trained, if only so he could live like a proper human being from now on.
The body itself could fairly be called the worst, but it wasn't so bad that he had to give up on it.
Someone else might have despaired at the state of their body, but Kalios was different.
After all, he had the know-how, experience, and tenacity of someone who had already set foot on the path of a superhuman once.
Even with a body like this, building a superhuman body again was not impossible.
‘I'll have to get this body back to normal first before I can do anything about mana.’
Kalios planned to move his mana only after training his body.
Mana and the body were connected.
With an abnormal body, properly moving mana was impossible in itself.
If he recklessly tried to wield mana, he'd set off straight down the road to the afterlife.
He didn't indulge in pointless bravado, nor did he rush himself.
After all, at 18, he had time to wait, whatever he did.
So early that not even a rooster had crowed.
Kalios went to the training grounds by himself, without anyone's help.
The training grounds were empty.
He smiled as he looked at the extremely well-kept training grounds.
No people also meant he could train without any interruptions.
Despite the darkness around him, he moved as comfortably as if it were broad daylight.
‘No matter how I look at it, this body isn't normal.’
For a body no different from a wreck's, its senses alone didn't fall the least bit short, even compared to a knight's.
His five senses, such as sight, smell, and touch, were at least twice as developed as an ordinary person's.
Since the senses were hard to improve no matter how much one trained, Kalios was satisfied that his were sharp.
Standing in the training grounds in his nightclothes, he stretched out his arms and legs to loosen up.
This was a body he'd have to keep using from now on, so if any part of it got damaged even a little, it would be a headache.
Only after warming up thoroughly did he start running.
He had planned on a moderate five laps or so, but he had briefly forgotten that his body was the worst of the worst.
He had only gone halfway around, yet his body was already breaking into a sweat.
“Huff... huff...!”
His breathing grew ragged, and his heart pounded as if it might burst.
However, Kalios didn't stop midway.
After all, he hadn't become a Sword Master simply because he had talent.
He'd had the stubborn grit to hone his talent to its absolute limit.
He kept running as though he didn't care if he died running.
Only after completing all five laps he'd set out to run did he come to a stop.
“Gah...! Huff...!”
Standing in place catching his breath, he looked like he might stop breathing at any moment.
Having built a body once before, he knew well what kind of exercise would produce the best results.
He trained, and then trained again.
Every morning, he ate breakfast with his family to take in the nutrients he needed, went to the training grounds to exercise, and then visited the study.
He needed to learn in more detail what had happened over the past 200 years and how the current political situation stood.
‘I heard the Young Master went to the study?’
‘What? Why would someone who'd rather die than study go to the study?’
‘No idea. According to the scribe, he's reading history books?’
The mere fact that he had visited the study caused a stir, but no one approached Kalios directly to speak to him.
Thanks to that, he could freely come and go from the study and gather the information he needed.
Aside from the scribe's eyes, there wasn't much he had to worry about.
Four days passed like that, and when he went to the training grounds at dawn, before the sun had even risen, he saw that Deon had come out ahead of him.
“Deon.”
Kalios met the eyes of Deon, who was standing in the middle of the training grounds.
It had been a week since he'd started coming to the training grounds.
This was the first time Deon had shown himself in person.
It would have been natural to be a little flustered, but Kalios looked at Deon as if he had expected this.
From his second day at the training grounds, he had sensed a gaze following him.
Since he had already noticed, there was no reason for him to be flustered.
“Is it not hard for you?”
“What is?”
“I mean coming out to the training grounds. You have come out every single day, have you not?”
At Deon's words, Kalios let out a faint chuckle.
Kalios could guess what he was thinking.
He must have been surprised that a guy who had lived like a wreck had suddenly started coming to the training grounds.
He could fully understand that feeling, and he now knew that the one who had been watching him all this time was Deon.
Kalios walked into the training grounds.
Until he picked up a wooden sword and began moving, Deon said nothing.
He stayed quiet, waiting for Kalios's answer.
“There's no way it isn't hard. It's hard.”
“Then why are you putting in the effort? Could you not just live comfortably, the way you have until now?”
“Because I think it's time I changed. I can't keep living like a wreck forever.”
He couldn't tell him that he was the first family head.
Kalios answered as best he could, and after hearing his answer, Deon looked lost in thought.
Kalios looked at Deon for a moment, then turned away.
He had no intention of waiting for Deon, who was lost in thought, to speak.
He raised the wooden sword and swung it slowly.
Without the slightest tremor, his sword looked firm and strong.
He focused all his attention on each swing of the wooden sword.
In his past life, these movements had been as routine as eating meals, but his current body was different.
Having never been trained at all, it was like a blank sheet of paper, which was why he had to build up slowly from the basics.
As he concentrated on each swing like that, a voice broke his concentration.
“Young Master.”
“...What?”
Lanius and someone who appeared to be his squire were standing beside Kalios, addressing him.
At their interruption, Kalios let out a long sigh and lowered his wooden sword.
Having been interrupted at a crucial moment, his eyes and voice were on edge.
If they couldn't provide a valid reason for interrupting him, things might not end very well.
“You said it back then, Young Master. That you had no intention of a rematch with someone who had lost to you.”
“I did.”
“Then how about sparring with my squire? My squire has never sparred with you.”
He looked indifferent as he listened to Lanius.
Kalios had no reason to accept Lanius's proposal.
He had already sparred once, and the other side's intent was plain to see—so why would he accept a proposal that offered him nothing?
“What do I get if I accept your proposal?”
“You said so back then, did you not?! That you would not spar with someone who had lost.”
“I said I won't have a rematch with a guy who lost to me. That doesn't mean I'll spar with your squire, does it?”
“That's….”
He saw Lanius bite his lip at his words.
He had plenty he wanted to say, but couldn't say it.
Kalios wasn't wrong.
Lanius knew that well, too.
“If you want to make a proposal, you should offer something of equal value in return. Not just show up and whine like a kid.”
Lanius's face turned red at Kalios's words.
But embarrassment aside, Lanius had no intention whatsoever of backing down.
“What do you want from me?”
“That's for the one making the proposal to figure out. I don't want anything from you.”
“But, I...!”
Lanius stopped mid-sentence and shut his mouth.
He seemed to know there was nothing he could say.
Watching him, Kalios tapped the ground with his wooden sword.
Judging by Lanius's state, it seemed he would have to wait quite a while for an answer, but he didn't want to waste his time over something this trivial.
“Then let's do this.”
“How so?”
“If I win, you become my dog. If you accept that, I'll gladly agree.”
It was a proposal he made hoping Lanius would back down.
A knight would find it hard to accept a proposal like that.
That was what he had thought, but it seemed he had underestimated Lanius.
“Very well. Let's do that.”
Lanius was a man with a remarkably strong fixation.
It even seemed he didn't mind becoming a dog if it meant a single victory.
Or perhaps he simply believed his squire couldn't possibly lose.
“Hah… You're one crazy bastard yourself.”
Kalios shook his head as he watched Lanius crawl into the jaws of death on his own two feet.
***
Deon had seen Lanius approach Kalios with his squire.
Lanius had swaggered up to Kalios and proposed that he spar with his squire.
Watching Lanius make his unreasonable demand and Kalios answer him with an annoyed expression, Deon fell into thought.
Recently, he had watched Kalios's change from closer than anyone: when Kalios had lost his mind to the point of not knowing who he was or where he was, when he spent a week doing nothing but gathering information, and now, as he came out to train at the training grounds.
‘Has he really changed?’
Deon's gaze deepened as he looked at Kalios.
Going by his conduct over the past two weeks alone, it was clear he had changed from before.
Just seeing him train for over four days was enough—his former lazy, listless self was hard to find.
He had even stopped drinking the wine he once drank every single day without fail.
On top of that, he had even won a spar against a knight.
Even if it had been an absurd victory born of carelessness and coincidence, he had beaten a knight.
“If he's truly changed…”
Deon swallowed the rest of his words.
He couldn't be sure yet.
After all, Kalios pulling crazy stunts had always been a common occurrence.
He might be working this hard now, but he could give up before long.
It would probably be better not to get his hopes up, but given everything Kalios had done until now, Deon decided to hold off on judging.
“Deon.”
“Ah. Knight Commander.”
Just then, the Knight Commander came up beside him and spoke.
He was the Knight Commander of the Leon Ducal House and one of only fifty High-Grade Knights said to exist in the entire kingdom.
“It has been a while.”
“Yes.”
“Is the Young Master still training these days?”
“Over there. He is training even now.”
“Hm…?”
The Knight Commander's expression turned odd as he looked where Deon was pointing.
Lanius, demanding that Kalios spar with his squire, and Kalios answering him.
“Lanius, that boy needs to fix his short temper too.”
“Yes.”
The Knight Commander and Deon fell silent for a moment as they watched Kalios and Lanius.
When Kalios ended up accepting Lanius's proposal, the Knight Commander was the first to speak.
“Should you not stop him?”
“My opinion is not needed in matters the Young Master has decided.”
“Is that so?”
“...”
“What do you think? The squire and the Young Master. Who do you think will win?”
“The squire will win, I expect.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. The Young Master has shown diligence recently, but it will be difficult for him to beat a squire who has followed a knight around for a long time. The Young Master only began training properly a few days ago.”
“Hmm...”
The Knight Commander stroked his chin at Deon's firm words.
Kalios and Lanius's squire faced each other, wooden swords in hand.
Under the gazes of the Knight Commander and Deon, the spar between the two began.