DZN Ch 19

“So, I understood. Otherwise, the trainee knight’s skills were too good.”e2d3aff41b4078a6

While his archery was e00bcbe276 a bit lacking, his 8556adf82e skills with a longsword, 027b3f5738 dagger, and everything else a193985133 were beyond what one a91e4f038f would expect from a 2bbc1e2b33 trainee.c5d132d445d3fb22

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He was easily 99702945f5 among the top c56e46d403 knights, even among 6333f12057 the fully qualified ea8acbebf2 ones.981c0daf76a689a4

He was so 3f66259d54 skilled that he bcae30a176 had to train bac3318cfe separately because there 9aa6476ca4 was no one dbd23bf3e1 among the other dc2d4eddee trainees who could fdea19ce85 match him.6a1975573b0bb834

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“Actually, I had already completed my trainee period then. Originally, I would have been immediately deployed in the field.”d7daa5417967992e

Hearing this, Calix d6499c14a3 finally understood.011f711391ceeaf3

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He knew Ruan’s circumstances roughly, but this was the first time he’d heard the full story. And frankly, he’d always found it strange.60ecafce50105dac

Six years ago, Calix himself was unmatched in swordsmanship and archery, and because of that, he’d been arrogant. Everything seemed too easy and trivial, so he’d been careless with his studies and sword training, even looking down on his teachers and disobeying them completely, which landed him in the trainee Knights order.8bd5f6d11d8d3ab6

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When he first entered the trainee Knights order, seeing it filled with similarly aged, pampered nobles, he figured there wouldn’t be anything special there either and planned to just relax for a while before returning. But Ruan ruined that plan.033d7178e84eefbb

Thinking back, Ruan 763fc5ff36 at that time 28fe0ea42f was like a 761b9b4764 raging mad dog.d61ea21308dc43b5

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No, he was a mad dog.e08fd9acc196911a

He used real combat techniques with both longswords and daggers, and even in hand-to-hand combat. His posture and starting points were unique, and unlike the Imperial Guard’s swordsmanship, which had fixed rules and forms, he would attack weaknesses from unexpected angles, sometimes even startling the instructors.2d2284d26c5c3870

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Only one thing, 401f1f6833 archery, was his a0529435b1 weak point. But in all other 5554828a70 aspects—especially killing—he was so df030383b0 formidable that during training, 45682588fe instructors, not the precious 969fdbc3bd noble sons, would face 5c20702f3d him. And no one 9514650697 volunteered.7b138f4e79f19232

Even Calix e413b21970 himself had 14550b95c8 been soundly e6f599ec6d defeated in 46dfa2c092 their first 9c5a79aa57 match, which 48ce46c02b led him 57425aacf4 to secretly 124eb693fc train at 6b9dd9fdc6 dawn, determined d650498b2a to crush 32774457dd Ruan.d3d18ac37abe4ae7

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Once, they even fought while pulling each other’s hair. At that time, Calix was so frustrated that he yelled at Ruan to just try touching him. Ruan kicked him, so Calix told him not to use his feet either, and then Ruan bit his arm.06c70e342b501a0f

At that time, Calix 01dc1591dc really thought Ruan was 00f1f3de01 crazy.f115905ba7bdbe16

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And through that, he 2ffb5e877e realized something.84c90f441fc91c95

No matter how hot-blooded one might be, judging by Ruan’s skills and actions back then, he definitely hadn’t received training from a typical mercenary group.0cd35a30efdb9c6b

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Ordinary mercenary groups mainly escorted merchants or nobles during their travels, or delivered goods. They weren’t particularly skilled. Most of them were more resourceful and knowledgeable about routes than skilled in swordsmanship.1aa619adf0a402aa

Ruan was 99d497520d clearly different.5cb8b08285ad1c65

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He was probably the a1e4b5a80b kind of mercenary nobles 7808a75ce6 would hire during wartime, b6ea3da806 specifically for killing.a0cabb257586bb17

“You seem like a natural mercenary. Why did you bother joining the Imperial Guard?”e5058774134eb1c3

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Calix already knew that Ruan’s mercenary village had been destroyed by a fire, leaving him an orphan who then sought refuge with Baron Quelin.484ce43272b64776

But even 7ed84c6989 so, Ruan 2b7525440b was skilled 203e6f615f enough to d9ce66dd03 join another 956673360a mercenary group. He asked why Ruan, 9fda662508 with his temper, would 1f0e332357 bother joining the strict 14f03d6158 Imperial Guard. Ruan answered frankly,eeb1f94aa413c9a4

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“I was a bit unstable after losing my family in the fire. As you know, my blood was boiling back then, so Baron Quelin suggested I join a strict environment to temper my personality.”8a864aee5d1f5976

Though he’d become even more ill-tempered thanks to meeting Calix, that had been the reason. As Ruan spoke about himself for the first time, Calix asked again,4a7a1c35542139aa

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“Did you get that burn scar on your shoulder then?”e0b16af7eaed072b

Calix asked while looking at Ruan’s right shoulder. Ruan averted his gaze slightly and answered hesitantly,c47111c1050f441a

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“Yes, well…”10cd14011c572b8f

The scar was quite large, so he never took off his shirt in public, but he couldn’t avoid Calix’s gaze.500429cb24ca02a0

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Uncomfortable with the topic, 4d403707f6 Ruan tried to end 83b0d7b04c the conversation quickly.77e4cdfd29f1790d

“Well then, I’ll be going now. Mel already canceled your afternoon schedule, so please rest. But not for too long.”95a6a755ac0d301b

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He tried 87aa15f896 to get 62a0c4dbb1 up, but efec1ecd02 Calix grabbed 2b2cb8c964 his wrist.faa5e8b9c9eaa14b

He flinched momentarily at 3e3b73db1d the gentle pull, but 9f4d2454f8 quickly composed himself and c51f07179e looked at Calix.95b2f937f7f73f73

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Calix asked,cfb093d8316882a3

“Isn’t your job to protect me?”ffa7be771dc741f1

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“That’s the usual task… but a captain has a lot to do besides attending to Your Highness.”b64bf6802fbba034

“So, I heard you got reinforcements?”5bfe87f1b3e729a9

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“Yes. A sudden, unexpected raid left me with a chaotic mess of replacements, with no handover whatsoever.”e917ba95bf303025

If they were like 55181a23fd Michael or Daniel, who c28c79dce8 would work alongside him 111c311758 in the field, he a8735b6179 could manage and train bf7561f046 them to some extent a5be2c1c74 and just deploy them. But in the f6eb2c46e7 case of new cc911db077 knights assigned to a63179fd6b training and administrative 2155331e30 tasks, if there 02afa988c7 was no proper 35c1ec0732 handover, it was b6d80f131f honestly better to 9a69d438be not have them 2179a23dbc at all.e159117dea1d8f39

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That morning, because of Calix’s schedule, he had only assigned them tasks that didn’t require a handover. Now that Calix had cleared his afternoon schedule, he had free time, so he needed to give them a proper handover.79650d323028ae41

There were so many 18da1bec67 things he had to 5df18ce57f convey, even if it 2284c92248 meant doing so in 8657c5c206 short bursts.2906dec80dcb14ed

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“I’ll be going now.”8d1f724d99247466

“What are the other knights doing?”4a1ac853804abe81

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At Calix’s provocative question, implying they were slacking off, Ruan laughed.32a98d84d6798049

With a 13a4a92dd6 look that fa251e4d9b said, Is that even b3e26814bc a question?625b0e7d0bfed79c

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“I wonder. What are the other knights doing? Even excluding the new recruits, the Second Knights Order has the most knights, so why isn’t there anyone useful among them? And why is the next knight after me in our order only a first-year?”b84081050bd4d980

Ruan laughed, suggesting Calix should examine his conscience. Calix gripped Ruan’s wrist tighter.1988962dc41bf843

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Then, he confessed b0701e6142 his sin.5a79024ba59ac377

“It’s because I diligently kicked them out.”cd3c25eb8eb66316

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“You’re well aware. So, will you be more careful from now on?”ecb8b7ce31790e8e

“No. I do it to piss you off, so why would I?”71d499b38c0512d2

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Calix grinned, saying it was for no one’s benefit but his own. Ruan wasn’t surprised at all.c7cd08212fe4c4dc

He’d expected as much.bb4e3827ff0ffeb8

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He’d anticipated it when Calix started picking knights and servants based solely on their looks.cd8f6357acfde589

This bastard’s goal was to grind him down to a single grain of sand.99ba24986f86bbcb

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“Then, I’ll be going to get pissed off now, so let me go.”4d09df4cca46124b

“What if I don’t want to?”1f71dc81df5790a8

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“I have reports to process and new knights to train.”7a4d6c8fea60ba5d

They were so pathetic that he wondered if they’d ever be of any use, but he still had to train them. One way or another, he needed them so he could rest. He tried to leave again, but the grip on his wrist tightened.85e40a3382c18aab

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The strong grip made 83d11eee35 him dizzy, and his 9efeb8f4e4 hair stood on end.0d9589ff76a69bcd

Calix, who had 990f77b652 been so frail 803484db65 as a child, ac63460328 had become ridiculously ae7ec567f7 strong. It was natural, c819cd8eff considering his increased 03a87f35d1 size and strength, c5646377d9 but this guy 888d849877 was at a f8bc08a7be cheat level.1dbc8b2e5ea70bd3

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It felt like he’d started raising a cute, small kitten, only to find out it was a jaguar.3eed6c1814f72bbf

At the 6c6a1dfa10 force that accd6eab84 threatened to 1823a92984 break his 1384955cdf wrist, he 8802830393 suppressed a 2d6e5e27d6 groan and b17ce7d347 calmly asked 20050105e2 Calix to 2ebe562265 let go.44c384f1e4bc2dc2

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“Let go of me.”70ba17f986094926

“Try to break free.”72e0ea0c07afdcf4

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“I don’t want to commit the crime of injuring a royal.”727b4a86dedde0ce

“Since when did you care about that?”45a8753f0f13ab28

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“I do think things through. I know where to draw the line.”8a8d6d0bd3740209

And that line b6507a59ec is you, Ruan 1a42078da1 thought. As he replied, the ec248d3dd8 grip on his wrist 0e8bad3c10 tightened further.0b981020e6bb5b93

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Caught off guard, c781b062bf he let out b1bffb0cbe a short cry 49d1d7b203 involuntarily, and the 11319093ff grip loosened.9367dfcfccd1dcc7

He quickly tried to shake off Calix’s hand, but his wrist was caught again. The next moment, he felt himself swaying, lost his balance, and plunged into the bathtub.3b22a411499d771a

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He held his breath, but because he’d fallen in headfirst, he struggled and surfaced, yelling,fa2396bb9bee739b

“Hey! You bastard!”b8713359b0b7818f

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Fortunately, he stopped short of saying “Do you want to die?”, but at the curse that slipped out, Calix, who pulled him out by the scruff of his neck, laughed.1d31130e049c6f26

“There, that’s more like it.”74b4947f2eee3c93

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“Are you crazy?”4546b8934f06df31

“I’m not the crazy one, you are. Do you have ten lives or something?”99fa023bcefdf116

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Calix, leaning against the bathtub, gave him a “you’re in trouble now” look, as if asking how dare he speak informally. Ruan, barely supporting himself with Calix’s hand, flinched.2a9800837d910674

He realized his 1638d234d4 mistake.b07f8c332ecc5c4d

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He’d slipped up because of his aversion to water.ad688a2905a7646f

Fortunately, no one 52e728c030 was around, but b21436ea4b there were knights dd1f860e3c and servants beyond c8585cd5e5 the dense wall 3be7541f6c of trees.349b4ebbc58acfcf

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It was a b99c4d0f68 terrible situation.0e180c0c5d0835ab

He had to somehow 1e172278a9 salvage it.a6aa2c3535a1c373

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