“Good weather, gentlemen.”
Recently, the training ground, which had been muddy with melted snow, was relatively dry because the sun had been shining every day.
Carlyle, who wanted to start by talking about the weather to lighten the mood, felt skeptical about doing so himself and quickly got to the point.
“The reason I called you all here today is to announce that you will be training together from now on.”
Instantly, a tense atmosphere was detected from both camps. Of course, this was expected.
“You used to look at each other like cats and dogs, so it must be frustrating and annoying to suddenly train together. ……Just the day before yesterday, you even got into a little scuffle.”
Everyone felt the sharp sarcasm in his words and lowered their gazes. However, it was clear that they were dissatisfied inside.
“However, this is the conclusion that I, Countess Pervaz, and the leaders of both sides came to after much deliberation. You all haven’t forgotten the Ingram tribe surprise attack incident last year, have you?”
When he brought up the Ingram tribe surprise attack incident, the dissatisfaction in the eyes of the Haven Knights deepened.
This was because they felt that the Pervaz army was weak and that they had done ‘free service’.
Carlyle, who knew exactly what they were thinking, shook his head.
“At that time, the Pervaz army had put up a good fight, but they were too few in number to hold off the rear guard. And if the Pervaz army had been defeated, there is no way that our knights would have suffered less damages.”
Carlyle slammed the sword he was holding on the ground and said.
“In the end, we are in a symbiotic relationship. We need a single unified system.”
As expected, both sides began to glare at each other.
This was because the Haven Knights believed that the ‘single unified system’ would be their way, and the Pervaz army was determined not to follow that way.
Carlyle and Asha sighed deeply.
They had expected it to be difficult, but the animosity between the two sides seemed to be worse than they thought. Just thinking about what they had to say next made them sigh even deeper.
“The system will be based on the Pervaz method, but we will add useful elements from our knightly order.”
At those words, the atmosphere on both sides changed completely. Even some of the higher-ranking knights of the Haven Knights openly showed their displeasure and protested.
“How can the Pervaz method be the basis? They are not knights in the first place, and they are not a proper army!”
“Shouldn’t it be based on a more advanced method?”
They had a point.
At first, Asha had expected this kind of backlash and had suggested that the Haven Knights’ method be used as the basis. However, Carlyle and Isaac had different thoughts.
“Do you know more about the barbarians of the abandoned land and the demons there than the Pervaz warriors?”
“There is no war that starts with knowing exactly who the enemy is! You will learn as you fight.”
“That’s only if the enemy is within your common sense.”
Carlyle recalled the stories he had heard from Asha and the Pervaz warriors and shook his head firmly.
The barbarians and monsters of the Abandoned Land were completely different from those found in the southern part of the empire.
“Barbarians are disorganized. That means they fight individually. If we follow our complex command system against them, we’ll surely be caught off guard by their speed.”
That was what I felt when I watched the battle between the Iggram tribe and the Pervaz army when they invaded.
Both sides fought at a tremendous speed.
Before the battle, they would decide on their movements based on the predicted battle pattern, and during the battle, they would use short codes to communicate the direction of movement or the battle method.
And within that, they respected the autonomy of each individual soldier. They were each and every one of them a commander who commanded themselves.
Perhaps that was how they cultivated the pride and loyalty of the Pervaz warriors.
“Those who know how to fight against an unknown enemy are already here, but are we going to follow a sure-fire way to defeat just to uphold the pride of being the prince’s army? If we lose, that pride will be nothing but a laughingstock.”
At Carlyle’s sharp pointing out, the voices of discontent that had been erupting from the Knights gradually subsided.
However, the discontent itself had not disappeared.
That was because the atmosphere of the joint training that began that day was a complete mess.
“If I had been the supreme commander, the problem would have been much more serious, Your Highness.”
Asha looked down at the knights and soldiers who were reluctantly continuing the training and said to Carlyle.
Carlyle, who had once suggested that it would be better for her to be the supreme commander, tasted a bitter taste.
“My opinion that the veteran who knows the enemy best should be the supreme commander has not changed, but well, I think it was a good thing that I didn’t insist on it.”
If the Haven Knights had been told that their supreme commander was not the prince but Count Pervaz, there might have been a lot of refusals to train.
In any case, the training continued. However, the morale of the soldiers did not rise at all.
And then, Carlyle took control of everyone, as if to prove once again that he was born with the blessing of the gods.
“Sir Solon! The atmosphere is getting gloomy, so why don’t you take off your rank insignia and spar with me?”
“Even if I take off my rank insignia, I’m still going to lose, so why don’t you just leave it on? It’ll be less embarrassing that way.”
Isaac said with a crying voice, but he still took out his training wooden sword, and a strange tension hung in the air in the middle of the empty training ground.
“You must have a lot of things pent up inside of you, so where else can you get revenge without being caught?”
“If I can win, that is.”
“You’re going to lose if you think like that. Are you going first?”
“No, Your Highness, please go first.”
“You’ll regret this.”
Carlyle smiled broadly and immediately rushed at Isaac.
Clang!
The wooden swords made of solid wood clashed so hard that they buzzed.
“Ugh! How can you do this from the start?”
“I told you, you’ll regret it.”
Isaac, who barely blocked Carlyle’s sword, distanced himself while clenching his aching hand.
“Ha!”
Perhaps learning from the first attack, he charged at Carlyle without holding back.
As Isaac was known for his quick swordsmanship, the sound of clashing swords soon filled the training hall.
In that short time, Isaac’s skill in finding the opponent’s gaps and swinging and thrusting his sword caught everyone’s attention, but Carlyle, who leisurely blocked all those amazing attacks, seemed to be out of the human realm.
“You’ve improved.”
After a brief compliment, Carlyle gradually pushed Isaac’s sword wider and wider, eventually creating an opening in the center of his body.
Isaac knew what Carlyle was doing but couldn’t help it.
“Ugh, what… the strength…!”
“You must have been busy with administrative work. Your swordsmanship itself has improved, but your strength has decreased compared to before.”
Then he casually stabbed Isaac’s empty chest. It was a perfect victory, with no room for refutation or excuse.
“Sigh, sigh…! That’s why I hate sparring with Your Highness.”
“You shouldn’t be ashamed to acknowledge your shortcomings and improve them, Knight Commander.”
Isaac, who had been told the same thing by his knights, blushed and laughed awkwardly.
“Thank you for your teaching.”
“Good sparring, thank you.”
As the two exchanged greetings, exclamations erupted around the training hall.
“Wow!”
“Is that even human?”
“I’ll probably die without even knowing what hit me.”
It wasn’t just the knights who were amazed. The warriors and soldiers of the Pervaz army were also dumbfounded by the ‘noble swordsmanship’ sparring they had never seen before, whispering to each other that it was amazing.
Decker, who was watching from behind, whispered to Asha.
“I’m grateful that His Highness Carlyle is narrowing the gap first like this.”
“Indeed.”
Asha nodded and quietly watched the back of Carlyle handing Isaac the wooden sword.
Since the training that day was a little more relaxed than before, there was hope for both Carlyle’s and Asha’s sides.
***
As the day drew to a close, Asha and Decker found themselves still engrossed in conversation, discussing various matters concerning the Order. Only when the castle had fallen silent and everyone had retired to bed did they stir from their seats, their necks stiff from sitting for so long.
“Let’s call it a day and look into that part further tomorrow.”
“Agreed. You’ve worked hard today, Lord.”
“You too, Baron Donovan.”
Asha turned to leave, her face etched with fatigue. No matter how strong her stamina was, she was still human and could not escape the accumulation of tiredness.
Decker watched her go, her figure disappearing into the darkness. Unable to hold back any longer, he called out to her.
“Asha, wait.”
“Yes?”
“Are you… okay?”
The question came out of the blue, unprompted and unexpected.
Perhaps it was because of the silence that had descended all around them, but Asha’s back, which seemed so strong and unwavering, looked a little lonely.
Asha, who had been turning around, hesitated at the sudden question and fumbled for an answer.
“Well…”
Even as she gave that ambiguous answer, Asha knew she had made a mistake.
There was no way Decker would let such an answer pass. Even though she knew it perfectly well, Asha still tried to muddle through.
“Ah, you mean the joint training? Don’t worry, it’ll be fine soon.”
“Is that what I asked?”
Of course, Decker did not let it go.
The joint training between the Perbaz army and the Knights of Heaven was bound to improve over time. Carlyle would surely make it so.
So if Decker’s question was about whether she was okay with the joint training, then she could confidently answer that she was not okay right now, but she would be fine soon.
However, if the question was about her own feelings… well, she didn’t know how to answer that.
