“As expected, it was all new recruits this time too.”
“Last year we were the ones being punished as well.”
“I remember having to jump into the sea as punishment at the time. I drank so much salt water, I was full afterword.”
The senior knights were all gathered in the field above the cliff, giggling as if they were having a good time. The watched at the riverside as the water fell .The seven people who were to be punished, were grabbed by the other knights and being dragged to the river side.
“They probably didn’t know there would be a surprise training like this, right?”
“We didn’t tell them on purpose, just like the senior knights didn’t tell us last year either.”
It was almost like an annual event where surprise training took place and the new recruits were penalized. Usually, senior knights were more skilled than the new knights who had just joined the team. Therefore, when this type of training took place, it was usually the new recruits who were the victims.
Anyone who joined Philres, would definitely improve their skills significantly. Due to the nature of the knights, there were many opportunities to experience actual combat, but more than anything, it was because the person who trained them was Asher de Phillion. Naturally, the longer a recruit was a part of the knights, the more their skills improved day by day. In addition to the high salary, that was another reason why many people dreamed of joining the Knights of Philres. Of course, Elaine was not among the seven being punished.
“Oh, those two seem quite competent, don’t they?”
“You’re talking about Sir Cezanne and Dame Elaine, right? I saw them earlier, and they looked pretty good, didn’t they? Congratulations on avoiding the penalty.”
Several knights passed Cezanne and Elaine, lightly patting them on the shoulder. There were seven people selected by Ash, and a total of 9 new knights. So, among the new recruits, the two who arrived first were able to avoid becoming victims. Those two people were Elaine and Cezanne.
“Haha, well I barely escaped with some pull ups. Still, thank you for the complement.”
“Thank you.”
Cezanne responded with a cheerful smile, and Elaine politely bowed her head. Then, she made eye contact with Sophia, who was passing by with a group of knights. Although she was not a new recruit, she still had to participate in the training. Sophia looked at Elaine with a disapproving look on her face and then jerked her head away.
“Why is she like that?”
Cezanne frowned slightly. However, soon the two stopped paying attention and watched their comrades being dragged to the waterfall. Among the comrades being dragged away was Able. Cezanne looked at the scene as if looking at strangers and chuckled. Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, he asked Elaine.
“Oh, by the way, what place did you arrive in? I thought you were here quite a bit before I was, but I couldn’t tell for sure.”
Immediately after Ash has sounded the start of the race, she had left for the forest path. Unlike her, Cezanne was too busy climbing up the cliff that he didn’t see when Elaine had arrived. By the time he was at the top, she was already there.
“Well, I’m not sure. I didn’t count.”
In fact, with skills as good as hers, she could have easily come in first place. However, she thought it would be more appropriate to blend in with the other knights, so she arrived at the destination later. She didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention because she was a newcomer by coming in first place. That was why she chose the forest path instead of the cliff.
‘Volunteering as an escort knight already attracted a lot of attention, but it was a necessary action.’
She didn’t have intentions of hiding her skills when necessary, but she was not going to flaunt them either. If she had to, she would reveal some, but not everything. If she showed everything she could do, it would be revealed that she was more than a mere human.
Elaine thought about it and shook her head. This was just the beginning.
“One, two, three!”
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, seven knights were thrown into the water, one after another.
The days were still quite chilly, so the river was very cold. Those who were thrown into the water were soaked from head to toe. Seeing them dripping wet, the knights around held their stomachs as they burst into laughter. Elaine could also hear Cezanne laughing right next to her. He soon joined the knights teasing the victims. Able, who was offended by the way he was jeering at them so openly, grabbed him by the collar.
“Huh? Wait a minute!”
Cezanne then lost his balance for a moment and fell into the water. Just like before, when the knights saw Cezanne coming out of the water, they burst into laughter again. Cezanne protested with an aggrieved expression, but the knights only intensified their teasing at the sight.
Ash, who watched the scene with crossed arms, clicked his tongue as if he pitied the new recruits. Then he decided to end the commotion. They had to finish hunting for food and setting up the barracks before the sun set. There were no servants accompanying them on the training camp. Whether it was meals or laundry, they had to do everything themselves.
After setting up their respective barracks, the knights went hunting to find food for the evening.
“This should be enough food to last a few weeks.”
When Elaine had returned from hunting, most of the knights was almost done. Seeing the large number of wild animals piled up on one side of the camp, she knew they were all hunted by the others.
Ash glanced in that direction.
“Its only natural since each of them are master-level knights. Even if it looks like weeks’ worth of food, it will all disappear by the end of the training camp.”
He spoke with confidence, recalling previous years. Elaine asked back, in a surprised voice.
“They’re going to eat all of that?”
“They have big appetites, so they have to eat a lot.”
Ash replied as if it was no big deal. Well, they were training hard, so their food intake would be quite remarkable. Elaine thought so as she walked with Ash to the center of the training camp.
Darkness fell earlier in the mountains than normal. Before everyone knew it, it was getting dark, and a large bonfire was lit in the center of the camp. The knights all sat together around the bonfire.
They were all hungry due to the all the activities in the day. The knights grilled the barbecue in excitement, drooling at the thought of tearing into the meat. When the seasoning was sprinkled onto the meat, it smelt even more appetizing. Once it was finished cooking to a certain degree of brownness, they began to dig in.
“As expected, delicious!”
