Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 40 : The Foundation Had to Be Set Right (5)

Chapter 40: The Foundation Had to Be Set Right (5)

A building used by the Ragnar Knight Order was in the middle of being set up with desks and chairs.

“Why are we suddenly being told to take responsibility for administrative work…….”

“Seriously, we’re just knights.”

At Akun’s sudden order, complaints among the knights began to surface in less than a day.

Even the knights who had been silently carrying desks and chairs nodded in wordless agreent at those words.

That said, not everyone was dissatisfied.

“If the territory is short on manpower, then of course it has to be filled. If we need people who can at least read and write, then it’s sothing that must be done.”

“We live on the territory’s pay. Instead of whining, hurry up and carry those desks and chairs!”

At the shout of a senior knight, the mid-ranking knights sluggishly began moving the desks and chairs again.

And as he watched that scene, Zero clicked his tongue.

“To call themselves knights with that kind of mindset—it’s really ridiculous.”

“I completely agree, Vice-Commander.”

At Zero’s words, Deni shook his head from side to side beside him.

“Why is that guy here? Shouldn’t he be carrying desks and chairs?”

“He’s been working for two straight hours and is just taking a short break. Don’t be so hard on him.”

Even at Deni’s response, Zero looked displeased as he stared at the man sitting on the floor.

Then Deni looked up at Zero with one corner of his mouth raised.

“Why are you looking at

like that? If you don’t like , shall we have a spar?”

“Forget it. You’re disgusting.”

“Then wouldn’t it be fine to let

win just once? You’re really straining yourself just to beat a single brat.”

“The fact that you call yourself a brat is what’s absurd.”

Deni had been pestering Zero to spar whenever he had free ti.

Having returned from Rak Territory and been forced to spar repeatedly without even getting proper rest, Zero glared at Deni with a fed-up expression.

At the sa ti, seeing how fast the kid was growing made it impossible for Zero to lower his guard.

He had won easily during the initial snow mountain training, but Deni was steadily growing stronger.

‘……He’s a monster.’

Feeling that he might be caught up to soon, Zero trained with his sword alone whenever he had ti, but even that had beco difficult.

Whenever he trained in a corner, Deni would stubbornly track him down and cling to him.

Shaking his head, Zero stared fixedly at Deni, who had just stood up.

“Vice-Commander, you carry so too. Don’t just stand there supervising.”

At Deni’s provocative tone, Zero clicked his tongue but put on his gloves to join the work.

“Everyone, move it!”

Even at Zero’s prodding, the knights who had been moving lazily didn’t pick up much speed, their faces full of discontent.

In the anti, Kyle, who had t Pramo and co to the knight order’s quarters, stood with his arms crossed, watching the knights’ behavior.

The difference between those who worked diligently and those who did not was obvious.

“Vice-Commander.”

Kyle appeared without a sound and called out to Zero, who was carrying a desk.

At the clearly audible voice in the chaotic scene, the knights flinched and turned their heads.

“Grand General, have you arrived?”

“Everyone looks full of complaints.”

“……I apologize.”

“It’s not the Vice-Commander’s fault. It’s my mistake for issuing such an absurd order.”

At Kyle’s cold voice and gaze, the knights visibly flinched.

For Zero, who was receiving that gaze head-on, cold sweat even ran down his forehead.

“To still be unable to rein in the knight order—there is so responsibility on you as Vice-Commander as well.”

“I will correct it.”

“Hm, no. If we recruit new knights, wouldn’t the Vice-Commander’s influence grow?”

Recruiting new knights also ant expelling the existing ones from the Ragnar Knight Order.

At the thunderclap-like words, the knights’ movents sped up.

“Separate the knights who are dissatisfied with administrative work. If they want to train, we should grant them that.”

“I will take action imdiately.”

Only then did mories of suffering under Acacia’s training thods surface, and the knights’ faces gradually turned ashen.

Perhaps handling administrative work might actually be rest for them.

Kyle swept his gaze over them once before turning his eyes back to Zero.

“Vice-Commander and Deni, arm yourselves imdiately and co to the Training Grounds.”

At Kyle’s order, Zero bowed his head crisply.

Deni, who had been carrying a desk, also set it down and imdiately ran toward the lodgings.

Watching Zero and Deni run off toward the lodgings, Kyle asked one knight,

“Where is the Commander?”

“He is checking the docunts coming in from the quarters’ administrative office!”

“Acacia will be returning soon. This kind of leisure won’t last much longer.”

Hearing Kyle’s muttered words clearly as he entered the quarters, the knights’ expressions stiffened in an instant.

Even though Zero, who had been supervising the site, was gone, the knights’ movents beca faster.

anwhile, Kyle entered the quarters, passed the knights running busily about, and headed for the administrative office to et Akun.

Inside the administrative office, which he reached shortly after, Akun was busy organizing docunts.

“Commander.”

“Grand General, have you arrived?”

“Leave site supervision to soone else, arm yourself, and co to the Training Grounds.”

“Understood.”

“And if there are knights who harbor complaints, select them separately.”

He could not simply leave the slackened knights as they were.

He intended to show them just how pleasant it was to handle administrative matters.

Dealing with knights through words was not Kyle’s style.

“Understood. I will exclude the dissatisfied knights from administrative duties for now.”

“Acacia will be returning soon, so compile a roster and hand it over to him.”

With those words, Kyle left the administrative office.

So ti later, Akun left the quarters as well, entrusting supervision to another knight and preparing his equipnt.

Zero and Deni, who had rushed to the empty Training Grounds in full gear, spotted Kyle already waiting and stood before him.

At the sight of the two standing at attention, Kyle nodded.

Shortly after, Akun also arrived at the Training Grounds.

“I summoned the three of you to pass down swordsmanship.”

Hearing Kyle’s words, Akun tilted his head in confusion.

“You do know that there are sword styles passed down within the Ragnar Knight Order, don’t you?”

“In your view, Commander, do you think the sword styles currently being passed down are complete?”

“……I am aware that two of the three sword styles passed down in the Ragnar Knight Order were each once lost and later reestablished. Of course, their completeness may be lacking, but I believe all three sword styles are important elents that carry on the lineage of the Ragnar Knight Order.”

It was not incorrect.

Since he was not saying that he would pass down an entirely new sword style, Kyle simply nodded in response.

At that mont, Zero interjected into their conversation.

“However, didn’t you lant that after it was lost once and the swordsmanship was restored, many parts were left empty?”

Before Kyle returned, whenever Akun drank, he constantly lanted the gaps in the sword manuals.

Each ti, Zero, who had been at the sa drinking table, pointed out Akun’s blind insistence on tradition.

Having been struck right at the core, Akun looked at Zero and lowered his eyebrows.

“That is…….”

“And I believe the Grand General knows more about the swordsmanship issue than you do, Commander.”

At Zero’s precise remark, Akun fell silent.

Kyle, of the Ragnar Family’s Pure Bloodline, could not possibly be unaware of it.

Even though he had left the family at a young age, Kyle was soone who knew most matters related to the Ragnar Family.

Changing his gaze, Akun t Kyle’s eyes directly.

Kyle then nodded and opened his mouth.

“The swordsmanship I passed down is not different from the swordsmanship you know. It is rely swordsmanship that filled in the empty gaps and reinforced them.”

“Ah…….”

“Commander Akun, have you ever thought about why the original sword manuals that had been kept by the Ragnar Knight Order disappeared?”

It had already seed strange.

He knew that the swordsmanship currently possessed by the knight order were copies.

He had asked Pan why there were no originals, and he had also asked Pramo for the reason.

But no one told him where the original sword manuals were.

“Could it be…….”

“Before I left the family, I took the original sword manuals with . My father wished for

to restore the Ragnar Knight Order’s swordsmanship.”

All of the Ragnar Knight Order’s swordsmanship had been derived from Frostfire.

Only Kyle, the Successor of the Frostfire—the swordsmanship at the very top—could restore the Ragnar Knight Order’s swordsmanship.

That was why Rai had not hesitated to place the sword manuals into Kyle’s hands when he left.

“The swordsmanship that will be passed down to the three of you follows a different lineage from the existing Ragnar Knight Order’s swordsmanship, but many parts have been revised and reinforced. You should approach it as if you are learning sothing entirely new.”

At Kyle’s warning, the three nodded simultaneously.

Even the three who displayed top-tier talent within the Ragnar Knight Order swallowed their dry saliva, tense.

In the anti, Kyle took a step closer to Akun, the Commander of the Ragnar Knight Order.

“And once the Iron Mine matter is resolved, the knight order’s structure will be reorganized.”

“May I ask how the structure will be reorganized?”

“Administration and combat.”

“Administration, you say……?”

“I will tell you that later.”

Having inferred what Kyle was planning, Akun’s expression hardened rapidly.

“Are you perhaps preparing for war?”

“Why do you make such a face? Ragnar has waged countless wars.”

“Those were wars against monsters, were they not?”

Akun, having imdiately grasped what Kyle intended, questioned him in return.

At present, Kyle appeared to be preparing not for war against monsters, but for war against humans.

“The pact with the Daon Family has been annulled. You know what that ans.”

He knew at least why Kyle had gone to the Royal Capital.

In truth, no one had told him directly, but it was easy enough to guess.

Kyle was the Successor of the Frostfire who appeared once in a hundred years.

Biting his lip, Akun looked straight into Kyle’s eyes.

“……Lastly, I wish to ask one question. Grand General, are you planning to organize a military supply branch?”

“That is correct. However, it will not only be responsible for military supply, but for the overall administration of the territory as well. As you know, the territory lacks administrators. I thought that active involvent from the knights would be necessary to fill that gap.”

“Then does that an the knights who move to the administrative branch will not receive the transmission of swordsmanship?”

Hearing Akun’s concern, Kyle let out a faint smile.

“Of course not. It will be taught to every knight without exception.”

“Understood.”

At least here in Ragnar, Kyle did not wish to heartlessly drive the knights away.

The knights assigned to administration were to be trained with the purpose of residing permanently in Ragnar Territory, not moving outside.

Conversely, the combat branch was intended to maintain forces that could move outside at any ti.

“As a prerequisite, the expansion of the knight order is necessary. However, there is a high chance that the branches will be decided after the swordsmanship transmission is completed within the Ragnar Knight Order. For now, strengthening the knight forces could place a significant burden on the family.”

The cost required to raise a single knight was beyond imagination.

A force numbering close to a hundred knights was possible only because Ragnar concentrated its military power.

Even Rak Territory, said to be the wealthiest in the north, did not reach a hundred knights.

Conversely, the ti and astronomical expense required for training only increased the value of knights.

Despite knowing this, Akun shook his head with a worried expression.

“After losing the Iron Mine, the knight order hasn’t even been able to take in squires.”

Usually, each knight kept anywhere from two to as many as ten squires.

But as Ragnar was currently reeling financially, the knights did not even have the leeway to keep squires.

Kyle understood what Akun ant, yet his expression remained firm.

“It will be different now.”

“Your words have rit, Grand General, but restarting the Iron Mine may take longer than expected.”

“That is not sothing the Commander needs to worry about. It is a matter that Pramo and I must handle and deliberate over.”

From the start, Akun neither suited administrative matters nor was he soone Kyle intended to entrust with operating and designing such systems.

Kyle placed a firm hand on one of Akun’s shoulders.

“The part the Commander must worry about is the direction in which to grow the Ragnar Knight Order.”

Guiding the first steps down an untraveled path—that was Kyle’s role.

And what Akun had to do was ensure that the knights’ direction did not stray from the path Kyle guided.

“I will keep it in mind, Grand General!”

“Good. Your questions should be mostly resolved by now. Then, from this mont, we will begin the transmission of swordsmanship.”