Sir Hero, It’s Time to Train!

Aira, as confidently as she had spoken to Christian, did not let down her guard. Just how cautious had she been…

“I am from the Baron Nogia fami… Guh!”

She ignored the verbose self-introduction by immediately knocking down her opponent.

“My sword is endlessly gentle towards women…”

She destroyed the self-esteem of a narcissistic patient by turning him into a beaten mess.

“Surrender…”

For those who quickly realized the difference in skill and raised the white flag, she was somewhat kind and generous, not hitting them too hard.

“Is it because it’s the preliminaries? They’re all a bunch of nobodies.”

Watching it in silence felt like torture. Christian, not bothering to hide his yawn, looked around in a comfortable position.

Even the contestants who entered the martial arts tournament as sponsored participants were no different.

Their only advantage over other participants was having a respectable family backing them.

Christian began to suspect that perhaps the organizers had intentionally made the preliminaries easy to ensure a better turnout for the finals.

His suspicion was indeed correct. Since powerful and high-ranking officials had vouched for their identities and recommended them, the Aries Order had no choice but to consider their treatment.

To avoid any uneasy relations, the Order adjusted the matches so these participants could comfortably reach the finals.

“The tedious preliminaries are finally over. Ah, there’s still Caedwin’s last match, isn’t there?”

With Aira just finishing her match, all the preliminaries for their party, except Caedwin, were over. No surprises emerged, of course.

***

“Well done.”

“Hardly worth calling hard work.”

When Liber greeted Aira, who had returned to the waiting room for contestants, she casually waved him off and plopped down onto a chair.

Seeing her nonchalant manner, Liber chuckled and cautiously spoke while reading Aira’s mood.

“We probably should start clearing out soon.”

“Oh, yes. Let’s leave, then.”

Contrary to Liber’s concern, aira readily stood up, gathered her sword, and made her way out.

She looked like a debt collector who had just finished a day’s work.

Watching the two silently, Christian looked at Aira’s back with worried eyes, muttering softly.

“Hmm, straying more and more.”

“What? Oh, you mean Caedwin? But hasn’t he been quite calm lately?”

“Well, yes…”

Christian couldn’t say that Aira’s back overlapped with memories of her past life.

Taking into consideration the remaining time, he hoped to rehabilitate her slowly so she might turn into a somewhat kind master.

With that wish in mind, Christian rose from his seat and headed to Caedwin’s match arena with Liber.

“Why does that annoying fellow have to be at the far end?”

“Still, you and Aira seem to have a soft spot for Caedwin, don’t you?”

Christian had no hard feelings toward Caedwin from the beginning, and he hardly displayed his usually slick demeanor these days.

It seemed he had been significantly stimulated by Liber’s rapid growth.

However, it was impossible to look at everything in an overly optimistic light.

Christian clicked his tongue in regret.

“It’s probably his limit, isn’t it?”

“Seems like it.”

In previous matches, Caedwin’s opponents hadn’t realized the wave.

Thus, he managed to perform and got to the third round, but Christian judged this would be his limit.

With luck, he might again meet a similar opponent and manage to win… but.

‘The organizers aren’t fools.’

To uphold the martial arts tournament’s popularity, they wouldn’t bring someone who only knew body activation into the finals.

The audience would be looking for spectacular performances, and meeting that minimum requirement pointed directly to the wave. Surely, all finalists would be wave users.

“Caedwin knows this too. Yet, I believe he’ll give it his all without giving up,”

Like Christian, Liber also seemed to have grasped this situation. Christian grinned, showing his white teeth as he replied to Liber.

“He absolutely shouldn’t give up. Even if he has to cling to his opponent’s pant leg while crawling on the ground. But if he ever surrenders to save himself? Well, there’s a one-on-one special lesson waiting tonight.”

“N-No way! I would rather die on the training field than surrender. So even if I lose, don’t be too harsh on me.”

“If the opponent is strong, it can’t be helped. Losing isn’t bad, and we can’t always win, right? But Elder brother, you’re not already thinking you’ll lose, are you?”

“Absolutely not! I was just saying I’m ready to fight to the death.”

Liber flinched at Christian’s eerie stare, but he refused to back down.

***

“I am Caedwin from the Humbleton Barony, Rangar region.”

Caedwin briefly and concisely introduced himself, bowing his head slightly.

As a minor noble, he mentioned his family’s name hoping it would be remembered for a bit longer, but he couldn’t boast about his ancestors’ achievements.

Regarding Caedwin’s introduction, his opponent also seemed to smile unexpectedly, bowing politely.

“I am Ail from Vanadis.”

“Vanadis?”

Though not appearing to be a noble, it was unclear what region Vanadis referred to.

However, despite having no clue, the young man didn’t seem like someone who lived a rough life.

Caedwin nodded with an ‘Ah, there?’ expression, worried about offending the man named Ail who appeared to be a commoner yet was dressed in fine clothing.

Caedwin assumed the man had also been recommended and displayed a textbook example of a lower noble’s conduct.

‘No matter what, I have no intention of losing.’

However, defeat was not part of that conduct. Caedwin gripped his sword tightly and took his stance.

The swordsmanship of the Humbleton Barony favored a decisive blow.

Sacrificing one’s own flesh to gain the opponent’s bones was the strategy, aiming to finish the opponent in one strike.

Yet, whether ignorant of the Humbleton’s swordsmanship, Ail didn’t even draw his sword, standing defenseless in the training arena.

“Aren’t you going to prepare?”

Caedwin inquired cautiously. Ail, who had been distracted, replied with a troubled smile.

“Sorry. I’ll finish this quickly as I’m pressed for time.”

“What?”

Irritated by those words, just as Caedwin was about to charge, he flinched as the man’s body turned translucent and blurred.

Caedwin became paralyzed at the extraordinary phenomenon beyond his perception.

“It won’t hurt.”

The sudden voice came from behind.

Simultaneously, a sharp force stunned Caedwin from behind, causing him to roll his eyes and tumble forward unprotected.

If Ail hadn’t carefully laid Caedwin on the ground, he would have smashed his face directly on the floor.

The audience, unable to catch Ail’s movement, quickly dismissed the match as dull, similar to other preliminary matches.

***

“That was impressive.”

Even Christian, who had watched Caedwin’s and Ail’s match, was impressed by the impeccable performance.

Ail created a clone using mana right at the moment Caedwin blinked and instantly moved at high speed to seize the advantage from behind Caedwin.

It was so covert and agile that Caedwin, standing right in front, didn’t notice a thing.

Moreover, his unhesitating method of striking the vital point to knock someone out was something Christian couldn’t easily emulate.

‘High-speed movement would typically cause sound, mana activity, and an intense presence.’

High-speed movement involves the inevitable explosion of mana, bringing a strong presence. However, Ail’s swift movement left no trace.

Having once walked a similar path as Ail, Christian understood well how much effort and skill it took to reach that level.

‘He’s at least on par with Father.’

Even in the Earl Worden family, specializing in wind-related mana, such high-speed movement was quite challenging.

Judging solely on mana’s precise control, it was comparable to Roberto.

“Is it really that great?”

Unlike Liber, who couldn’t utter a word, aira seemed puzzled as to why everyone was fussing.

“You saw it, didn’t you? Only Father could manage such detailed mana control.”

“Well, sure. The control is good, but is there really a need to go through all that trouble? Couldn’t you just charge in and crush it?”

“Uh, well, that’s true…”

Christian momentarily agreed with Aira’s straightforward remark.

Admittedly, with eyes capable of tracking illusions and legs fast enough to catch up, Ail’s method, as Aira put it, ended up being ‘troublesome to use.’

Especially with sensitive mana detection abilities and physical attributes…

“It’s true. You’re making sense for once.”

“Right? Just watch. When I meet him in the finals, I’ll crush him.”

However, aira didn’t underestimate Ail for a moment; she acknowledged the formidable strength and seemed eager to clash head-on with it, fuelled with determination.

Responding very much like Aira usually did, Christian could only chuckle lightly.

“Umm… you two? I get that you’re excited, but shouldn’t we check if Caedwin is alright?”

Liber lamented over the fact that the unconscious Caedwin didn’t seem to exist in the siblings’ eyes.

‘Why didn’t you perform well every other time…’

***

Ail immediately walked toward a lavish guest room. Carefully opening the door, he bowed his head.

“I’ve returned, miss Rachel.”

“Great work, Sir Ail. You were amazing.”

“It was nothing.”

Ail responded nonchalantly, considering it genuinely nothing special. However, his face seemed to betray some dissatisfaction, causing Rachel to laugh.

“Still dissatisfied?”

“I can’t say I’m not.”

He couldn’t understand why he was here exchanging blows with young, inexperienced people.

“Even though it’s to avoid suspicion, it doesn’t feel right participating in another Order’s event and ruthlessly engaging with people from other nations.”

“Well, at least, they got to cross swords with the top Holy Knight of the Latima Order, so it’s not a complete loss for them. Besides, isn’t this also evangelism?”

“Lady Latima wouldn’t wish to see the weak being bullied.”

“Ha-ha. I just spoke with Lady Latima, and she said it’s amusing.”

“Holy Saintess, please don’t speak of Lady Latima so lightly.”

Rachel’s casual remarks about conversing with the Goddess caught Ail off guard. However, since it didn’t seem like a joke, he was unsure how to react.

Although he was sighing deeply, Ail soon sensed approaching presences and informed Rachel.

“It seems we have visitors.”

“Visitors? It’s not Lady Latima, is it?”

“Saintess!”