Chapter 62
"The Fourth Prince knows that bastard?"
"Heup!?I mean—yes, His Highness even went out of his way to approach Ash first."
Veron shen Villas was throwing tantrums when he heard what happened. He trembled and hurriedly said, "What are you waiting for? Tell me every little detail!"
"Regarding that—"
Muker explained what he had heard while glancing at the brilliant red ribbon hanging from Veron's chest.
The child who introduced himself as Ash pen Frederick was bunked in the same room as the two retained students.
And finally, Muker spoke of how Ash and Prince Kaiser met up…
Veron’s face kept changing as Muker spoke. In the end, he gnashed his teeth and grinned before asking, "Is that all of it?"
"From what I've heard, yes."
Veron made a sidelong glance at Muker and noticed that the latter seemed confused.
"Did you even hear yourself? Didn't you just say that the Fourth Prince seems to know him? What happened after that? Did they talk?"
"..."
For a brief moment, Muker smiled wryly at Veron's next words.
Since that incident, his master had always been jittery and easily provoked.
'It's a good thing he didn't toss me away.'
The worst thing that could happen to a knight was their lord abandoning them.
Once they had chosen their master, it was a knight's duty to protect their master, even if it meant sacrificing their own life. In this country, it was unthinkable for a knight to change his liege after being sworn to one. Muker was thinking about what would happen to his honor if Veron decided to throw him away in the middle of this chaos.
"Yes. His Highness supposed to have muttered something in his ear, though it was just for a brief moment…"
"That's all you have to say? Useless bastard."
"I give my sincere apologies."
Muker immediately lowered his head, even though he hadn’t committed any mistakes.
Veron finally turned away after looking at Muker with a disgruntled look until now.
"There's something else…" Veron smirked. "No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a place with a ruler named Viscount Frederick anywhere in the Empire… I'm assuming that he's a fallen or an active aristocrat of another country, but if that’s the case, how did that insignificant guy even get the chance to meet the Fourth Prince?"
The more Veron thought about it, the deeper his brows furrowed together.
Ash clearly wasn’t a fallen noble. The child of a lowly fallen nobleman couldn’t possibly meet a prince—the country's noblest individual.
As such, the only possibility was…
'A nobleman from another country. In addition, he comes from a family close to His Highness.'
Veron muttered to himself, unable to believe that Joshua was a nobleman in his own nation.
‘I don’t want to admit this, but I had never heard of a nobleman with such remarkable skills in my own country when I was that age.’
The sons of several noble houses, including the five Dukes and the Twelve Families, appeared in Veron's mind.
"Ash pen Frederick!"
Veron clenched his teeth and growled. He was overjoyed when he heard that Ash got accepted into the academy where he was studying.
There were a plethora of ways to bully him within the academy. However, there was an unexpected variable. It was a variable that could never be bigger—His Highness the Fourth Prince.
"Damn it!"
Veron cursed and looked down at his hands. Was the aching pain from the Deon Ring adorned with the family crest just his hallucination?
Veron looked ahead after making up his mind.
“Muker!”
"Yes, my lord," said Muker.
"Immediately send a request to Moon Gate."
"What kind of request?"
Veron’s eyes brightened as he stared at the confused Muker.
Veron then continued. "Ask them to find out where the damned Frederick family is buried, even if they have to comb the entire continent. And just in case, ask them for information about Ash pen Frederick, that bastard himself."
"That…" Uncertain, Muker bit his lower lip. In the end, he revealed a determined look before saying, "Master, it is but my foolish suggestion, but if you breach your pledge, the people of the world will blame not just you but the entire Marquis of Villas."
"..."
Veron glared at Muker. Veron looked as if he wanted to murder the latter, but Muker remained steadfast. It was all because he understood the gravity of the vow he had made.
When Muker visited Ash on behalf of Veron at the request of Baron Provalum, Ash gave Muker a condition.
—The ring will be returned to you, but you have to apologize and pledge to the Rebrecca family that you'll never do such vile actions again, even incognito, on behalf of your sad boy master. Swear it on the Villas family name and reputation.”
Muker scowled at the boy's words.
‘That Ash pen Frederick…’?Ash’s name kept on repeating in Muker's head.
Yes, he had promised on the name of the Villas. On the honor of the family name.
It was a good thing that Count Rebrecca stood as a witness.
A promise made in front of a lot of people was sometimes a better tactic to ensure that the promise would be kept.
Veron flashed Muker a strange smile. Muker looked straight into Veron’s eyes with an apologetic smile.
"My pledge?"
"..."
"What do you mean? What does a promise you made with them have to do with me?"
"...!"
Muker's eyes widened.
"But my lord—"
"Aren't such flimsy pledges destined to be broken from the start?"
"..."
"Shut your mouth and hurry over to Moon Gate. Incompetent fools like you should just listen like obedient dogs,” Veron muttered while staring at the stunned Muker.
"I understand," Muker responded, and his fists were clenched so firmly that his nails dug into his palms as he looked at Veron.
Veron clicked his tongue in response. “Hurry up and move!"
Muker turned around upon hearing that.
"Useless trash."
Veron's final words pierced Muker's ears as he walked out the door.
***
The Avalon Imperial Academy’s welcoming ceremony, one of the Imperial Academy’s important ceremonies, had ended a few days ago.
The students had to discover their aptitude first before they could take specific classes for their chosen specialization. It was only when they became third graders that they could take specific classes for their specialization. As such, everyone had to take common classes until they were third graders.
Of course, because Avalon was known as the Empire of Knights, swordsmanship classes were prioritized.
It was time for some swordplay.
Joshua, Agareth, and Icarus were in the same class since they were roommates. The first, second, and third graders, which were the lower grades, gathered to take the 'swordsmanship' class together, which was unique.
The swordsmanship program also featured basic swordsmanship, which was widely considered a practical skill. As such, the Avalon Imperial Academy decided to expose the cadets to a wider range of opponents.
The Imperial Academy was afraid that the cadets’ perception of war and battle would get skewed if they only fought opponents on similar levels as them.
Today, they would learn swordsmanship theory.
Unlike Agareth, who had been sleeping on his stomach since morning, and Icarus, who was focused on class with glittering eyes, Joshua was completely immersed in thoughts for reasons unrelated to class.
'I have received your response… but I just couldn't give up on you… do you know why?'
Kaiser's face flashed in Joshua’s mind, and a twisted smile briefly appeared on his lips.
‘Now, I'm sure I know every bit of his personality.’
How many sharp teeth were under that pretentious mask?
Joshua didn’t have to see it in action to know, as he could clearly see it in Kaiser’s eyes.
'He requested that I visit the Imperial Palace at least once before graduating.'
Kaiser didn’t have to ask; Joshua had always been planning on doing it.
The Imperial Knights of the Empire… It was a place that held a lot of memories for Joshua. He pondered his plans long and hard before coming up with another step he had to take.
The Imperial Treasury. He had to find something in there.
"Agareth kun Douglas!"
The irritated voice of a middle-aged man interrupted Joshua’s thoughts.
The swordsmanship professor was over fifty years world with an intimidating figure, yet he was frowning like a child.
Icarus was surprised. He was listening to the class so closely that he never noticed that Agareth had already fallen asleep next to him. He hurriedly shook Agareth awake.
"Agareth! Agareth!"
"Ugh? Is it already time for dinner?"
"Pffft!"
A few students couldn’t hold in their laughter as they watched Agareth get on his feet and gulp a mouthful of his own saliva.
"What a trash..."
"What is he doing? That idiot."
"No wonder he retained a year."
"How did the Douglas family produce such a moron?"
"He's an illegitimate child, after all."
As the clamor got louder, the swordsmanship professor took a deep breath and scolded. "Agareth Kun Douglas, unless you really want to go home, I advise you to focus on the class!"
"Oh, yes!" said Agareth. "I'm going to concentrate!"
The swordsmanship professor shook his head upon seeing Agareth’s feigned determination.
"Now let us continue, the 'sword' is frequently referred to as the king of all weapons and the master of death… it is the most powerful weapon in the world. As such, Knights prefer to use a sword in battle."
The surrounding commotion started to fade away as the swordsmanship professor resumed his lecture.
"The reigning emperor attained the highest level of mastery of the sword while governing the entire empire. His Majesty. The empire's pride, one of the continent's nine greatest stars, Duke Aden von Agnus, also wields a sword. The five Masters of Avalon are in the same boat as well."
"..."
"Why is the sword said to be the best weapon?" asked the swordsmanship professor.
Someone quietly raised a hand in response to the question.
"Ah,?yes, Amaru bron Sten. I'm looking forward to your answer. Let us hear it, then."
The swordsmanship professor stared at Amaru with curious eyes, and the latter quietly stood up in response.
'My father is one of the Empire's most powerful swordsmen, so of course, he would think of it that way.'
Joshua had been observing what was going on around him for quite some time now, but it seemed as if he had gotten bored and was about to dive into his thoughts once again.
"It's simple. All weapons other than the sword are garbage. Nothing more, nothing less."
"..."
Joshua's brows twitched in response to Amaru's words.
"All weapons aside from the sword are worthless."
"Yes, no other weapon can 'ever' beat the sword, even if you have the same skill as your sword-wielding opponent."
"I will not refute your words, but your remarks aren’t clear, Amaru bron Sten." The swordsmanship professor shook his head before continuing. "Most troops in conflict utilize the spear rather than the sword as their primary weapon; this is a phenomenon that can be witnessed in any country, and we train soldiers with an emphasis on spears at the national level."
"..."
"Shouldn't the soldiers be taught mostly swords rather than spears, as you suggested?"
Amaru shook his head without hesitation in response to the swordsmanship professor's question.
"What I said was in regards to people with similar abilities to each other. Unfortunately, disposable soldiers aren’t among them," Amaru said with pride. He had grown up thinking that soldiers who use spears were disposable manpower during wartime.
"..."
The swordsmanship professor could only keep his mouth shut at Amaru’s reply. After all, the latter was a nobleman to the bone. However, most of the cadets nodded as though sympathizing with Amaru's statements for the same reason. Soldiers meant little to the Avalon Empire's aristocrats, who considered commoners as livestock.
"Without the ability to match, a weapon's range is not a considerable factor. Those people don't know how to dodge a blind weapon charging toward them, and even if they know, they aren’t capable of doing so."
"..."
"However, trained knights in the sword are different. Distance? That's not a problem when you're using a sword, but when you're using a spear? The longer its length, the greater the movement one has to exert. If you simply moved faster than a spear wielder and thrust your sword at them at the same speed, it will be an effortless victory."
"..."
"Moreover, wars aren't limited to the plains. The spear’s length will be a devastating disadvantage in combat on mountainous terrain or places with a lot of cover. Unlike the spear, the sword doesn’t suffer much of a disadvantage when it comes to terrain."
Amaru vigorously repeated his previous comments as he stared at the swordsmanship professor calmly listening to him without saying anything.
"I may have exaggerated, but I believe the sword is the best weapon—"
"That's hilarious."
A voice echoed from the corner of the classroom, making Amaru close his mouth.
"..."
After a few moments of searching, Amaru eventually saw the owner of the voice, and he couldn’t help but feel bewildered.
Wasn't that the man often hung out with those two idiots?
"All other weapons are useless except the sword?"
"Yes, the sword is—"
However, Amaru was interrupted by Joshua.
"The sword, in my opinion, is the greatest piece of rubbish ever, especially—"
"..."
"—Especially those rapiers used by girls."
Amaru was rendered speechless by the truly astounding remark. What did that boy just say? Had he misheard?
Amaru doubted even his ears.
"Rapiers…"
Amaru's beautiful eyes gleamed in shock.
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