Surviving as a Knigh Chapter 32 : Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Having passed a sort of employnt test, I joined the group training session for the rcenaries the next day.

The training ground in the Burkden Domain was quite large and well maintained. Even with 50 rcenaries gathered, it didn’t feel cramped.

Considering that most rural domains had only a few dozen soldiers at best, a training ground large enough to accommodate around 200 people was unusually large in scale.

“This is Karl-nim, who joined us recently. He’s a Free Knight, and his skills are incredible. He took down Kirk with a single hit!”

“Kirk? In one hit? Aren’t you exaggerating a bit, Hob?”

“I swear it’s true! I wasn’t the only one who saw it. That administrative deputy and at least ten others witnessed it too!”

The rcenaries who had been sizing

up with suspicion were now looking at

with a trace of fear in their eyes.

“I’ve spread the word about your martial skill, Karl-nim. The rcs won’t dare ss with you now. Not bad, right?”

Hob thumped his chest, proudly claiming that thanks to him, I wouldn’t get into any unnecessary trouble. I let out a small sigh at his antics and simply scanned the surrounding rcenaries.

‘Nothing seems out of the ordinary.’

The people gathered here were purely rcenaries in every sense of the word.

“You’re the one they say is so skilled, right?”

A man who clearly had so ability approached . From what Hob had rambled endlessly like a broken radio, the rcenaries had ford two main factions, and this guy appeared to be the leader of one of them.

“I’m Tutor. You’ve heard of the Black Axe of Enterville, haven’t you?”

“?”

Tutor introduced himself with overflowing confidence, but my indifferent reaction bruised his pride.

“You’ve never heard my na? Anyone working in this area should know who I am.”

“Karl. Free Knight.”

I simply introduced myself, implying that I didn’t know much about the rcenary scene. But my tone ca off as arrogant in Tutor’s eyes.

“You must be pretty confident in your skills, judging by how stiff-necked you are.”

“What are you trying to say?”

My directness made Tutor frown for a mont before smoothing over his expression.

“Well… what do you say to joining us? It’s not like it would be a bad deal for you.”

“I appreciate it, but I prefer working alone.”

“You should know that keeping to yourself like that can get you killed, Free Knight. Our world isn’t like yours. We don’t have anything to fall back on. Every day’s a fight to survive.”

He shrugged and continued to ramble about the harsh reality of being a rcenary.

“I’ll manage.”

Having had enough of his chatter, I finally cut him off.

“…You’re rejecting my offer of goodwill?”

“I’ll take the sentint. Now stop talking.”

Just as Tutor’s face turned red and he was about to step closer—

Thud!

A heavy thump sounded, and soone approached and suddenly dropped to one knee beside .

“Teach .”

“….”

The murmuring around us reached a peak as a massive man knelt before . Tutor fell silent the mont he saw Kirk on one knee before .

He knew full well that he wasn’t a match for Kirk. And if that sa man was kneeling before … there was nothing more to be said.

“What are you asking for?”

“That punch. I want to learn everything that makes you strong. If you teach , I’ll, uh… I’ll serve you. Or whatever it’s called. I’ll help you.”

“I don’t take students. And I don’t need an assistant.”

“I’ll do anything you ask.”

Kirk now planted his forehead to the ground and grabbed my leg.

“Please teach .”

His eyes shone with a troublingly pure light. I let out the tiniest sigh.

“Don’t bother

elsewhere. Just attend the regular training. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

With those short words, Kirk stood up like a shot and thumped his chest with laughter.

***

Since that day, I had steadily attended training. At first, the rcenaries looked at

with suspicion, but after seeing my intense individual training sessions, they started acknowledging .

Once they accepted , they realized my skills were far beyond what they had expected. After that, rcenaries began hovering around , hoping for advice whenever the chance ca up.

For a rcenary who lived on the edge of a blade, even a fragnt of knowledge about battle and survival could an the difference between life and death. And being friendly with soone strong was never a bad idea.

Of course, anyone who wanted to approach

had to first get past a wall nad Kirk.

“Karl-nim, the rcenaries are desperate to learn from you. They’re practically circling you like vultures!”

Hob puffed his chest out again as if my skills were sohow his accomplishnt.

“Stop talking nonsense. Your strikes have no weight.”

“…I’ll work harder!”

As Hob swung his sword, Kirk stood nearby, swinging his massive axe incredibly slowly. So slowly that anyone might think it was frozen in place.

His face turned bright red, body shaking, and a puddle of sweat had ford beneath him.

“Um…”

Soone awkwardly stepped forward toward .

“What is it?”

My even voice and detached gaze fell on the man, making him flinch slightly.

“What is it?”

“…Forgive

if I’m out of line, but would you be willing to teach , even just a little?”

The man knelt and looked at

with desperate eyes.

“I’ve never had a proper teacher. I’ve just picked things up by watching others or learning from older rcs. But now… I’m not even sure I’m doing it right.”

His voice matched his small fra—lacking confidence. Seeing him reminded

of myself when I had no teacher and had to learn by scrambling around on my own.

“Draw your sword.”

“S-sir? Yes!”

The man gripped his sword tightly. Monts later, he lay collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted. But his face was glowing with satisfaction.

“What’s your na?”

“Paul.”

“If you want to keep learning, co again.”

“…You really an that!?”

I answered with a nod. After that, rcenaries lined up to learn from , one after another. I didn’t turn anyone away and gave each a fair amount of instruction.

“Don’t swing your weapon to look cool. In real combat, the most important thing is simplicity and efficiency. Don’t expect to be standing on solid, flat ground during a group battle! You must be able to strike with power from any position!”

Roughly a month passed like that. As usual, I trained all day with the rcenaries and returned to my quarters.

“A month already.”

As I taught each rcenary, I made detailed notes about them. After about a month, my notebook was filled with information on all the rcenaries.

Among the roughly 50 rcenaries, I checked the nas of the three who hadn’t once sought

out.

“Blanky, Theodore, Mata.”

All three were quiet types, and it was hard to gauge their skills. They didn’t attend many training sessions, and when they did, they mostly hung around the edges.

‘Rember—what you see isn’t all there is.’

The old woman’s last words circled in my head. What was it that couldn’t be seen? I paid close attention to even the smallest things. That evening, I stepped out of the inn and walked the streets for a while.

***

“Did you hear? Another family’s son disappeared last night.”

“I’m telling you… at least one or two people go missing every month.”

Recently, the biggest concern in the Burkden Domain was the series of disappearances. Even though the domain had a relatively large population for a rural area, soone vanishing every week was a serious problem.

And the lord had effectively turned a blind eye.

He claid to be investigating, but the residents hadn’t seen any results. It seed rcenaries had been hired under the pretense of investigating and patrolling, but they just trained among themselves every day and did nothing else.

“Kekekeke. You think hell is far away?”

A familiar voice made my head whip around. The old woman I hadn’t seen in a month had returned. I quickly moved toward the sound of her voice.

“Looking for , were you?”

It had been a while since soone caught

off guard.

My body moved faster than my mind, swinging my sword behind . It was a reflex I’d developed over a decade of life on the battlefield.

“Oh my, are you going to kill a poor old woman?”

Of course, my blade didn’t touch her. I sheathed it again and looked at her.

“You weren’t the one I was after?”

“I was.”

“Will you be eating again tonight?”

“Of course.”

I brought her to a nearby restaurant. She devoured the food like soone possessed. People glanced at her strangely, but no one paid attention to the table I was at.

That, too, was likely one of her abilities. I didn’t speak while she ate—I just waited.

“So, why were you looking for ?”

“I was curious about sothing. Are you a witch?”

In this world, witches and Mages were similar, yet different. Both were rare for ordinary people to encounter.

Mages had a more neutral image. Witches, on the other hand, were associated with cunning, deceit, and darkness.

But they existed—just like Mages. And among them, one had reached the level of divinity: the one whose trace I’d found in the cave I explored with Isabel—Gullveig.

I was convinced this old woman was a witch. And perhaps she didn’t harbor ill will toward . I thought it might be a good opportunity to talk. Maybe I could learn sothing from this unkind system.

“Does it matter if I’m a witch?”

“No.”

“Then why ask?”

“Just curious. What is a witch in this world? What is a demon? Are you affiliated with Tarantula?”

I fired off a string of questions. Whether she answered or not was up to her.

“I’m not part of that Tarantula. Witches… kekeke.”

She paused and looked at . A rare fool among fools who could hold a proper conversation.

“Witches, Mages, demons… they’re all similar. The difference is what they desire.”

“What do they desire?”

“Yes. In the beginning, there were humans. The first evil began with them. Every demon was born from a human.”

I had read many books since falling into this world, but nowhere had I seen that demons were originally human. The common belief was that demons were inherently evil and corrupted humans.

But if her story was true, then demons had once been human too—at least, in this trash ga’s setting.

“Gullveig desired gold, wealth, and eternal beauty. Her wish ca true.”

“If becoming a Witch or Mage was just a matter of wishing, the world would be full of them.”

“Of course, wishing alone isn’t enough. You must wish intensely, offer the right sacrifices, and perform secret rituals in the right way.”

“Even so, how could the first demon have known to make a sacrifice or conduct a ritual?”

“They didn’t. So they devoured endlessly. They ate humans, fear, and dread. It’s hard to follow the right path—but easy to stray. As long as your belly’s big enough to swallow it all!”

She laughed madly again. I watched her, deep in thought.

In this world, there were several supernatural forces. Let’s assu what she said about demons, witches, and Mages is true. Let’s also say the Essus Order’s divine power is as they describe.

Then what about a knight’s power?

Conviction. Soone once said it. Qi is the power of belief, created by strong conviction and the training that follows.

‘But I have no conviction.’

I had no belief in this world. I simply swung my sword to survive.

“You’re a knight.”

“Yes.”

“Funny, how your strength is so great, yet so incomplete.”

Her observation was accurate.

“With that half-hearted mindset, you’ll lose everything.”

I turned my head for just a mont—and by the ti I looked back, she had vanished like smoke once more. No one even noticed her disappearance. I remained seated, slowly finishing another glass of alcohol.

The next day, as we trained as usual at the castle, a rcenary ca running in.

“Karl-nim! Karl-nim! We’re mobilizing!”

Viscount Julio had finally made his move. The rcenaries departed toward the vast forest behind the Burkden Domain—the Forest of Shadows.