Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Six: Visiting the Knight Order 3
“Of course, I intend to marry Mr. Julius. By the way, as someone who will become his’ wife, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you refuse Mr. Julius’ offer to instruct? He’s the strongest person in Ehlertt right now.”
Karen smiled brightly at Gottfried, who frowned.
Noble knight orders were organizations that fought monsters for their territory, but it was commonly known that they were overwhelmingly weaker than high-ranking adventurers. She hadn’t heard of the knight order conquering the Ehlertt capital’s dungeon before or after Julius, either. Karen’s sarcasm—that, despite being weak, what were they being picky about?—surely got through.
“You said Mr. Julius’ swordsmanship isn’t what knights should learn, correct? His swordsmanship is indeed unique, but knights basically fight monsters. Since monsters don’t use swordsmanship based on chivalry, shouldn’t you learn what you can learn?”
Karen let her anger show implicitly, saying that Julius had kindly offered instruction, yet they had treated it coldly.
Gottfried’s eyes widened slightly.
“—I see. So you know about Master Julius’ swordsmanship.”
“Of course. It’s unconventional, but it’s a fighting style that’s rarely common among adventurers.”
“Indeed, your younger brother is an adventurer.”
“A B-rank adventurer!”
When Karen puffed out her chest as if it were her own achievement, Gottfried smiled wryly.
“As the family of a high-ranking adventurer risen from common birth, perhaps you don’t see how abnormal it is.”
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No, I didn’t intend to criticize you. Nor your brother.”
If the sharp edge of those words wasn’t aimed at Karen or Thor, then the only target could be Julius.
When Karen finally lost even her smile, Gottfried cleared his throat.
“There seems to be some misunderstanding, so let me explain. Master Julius’ swordsmanship is established on the foundation of his blessed physical abilities, natural sense, and enormous magical power.”
“…Excuse me?”
When Karen looked puzzled at Gottfried suddenly beginning to praise Julius, Gottfried explained as if breaking it down carefully:
“For example, we have knight apprentices from noble families of the Ehlertt territory. If they admired Master Julius and tried to imitate that style, they would quickly break themselves. Their bodies couldn’t keep up—and neither could their magical power.”
Karen recalled the battle between Julius and Thor. Their fighting style looked almost like acrobatics. Both of them were moving beyond the range of human motion. If asked whether it could be imitated, the answer was absolutely no.
“Master Julius’ swordsmanship is established on the premise of making maximum use of the exceptionally rare talents he was born with. It’s utterly impossible to master. But even if I ordered the young apprentices not to imitate it, I couldn’t stop their admiration for dungeon conquerors. Reckless youths would try to become like Master Julius and end up permanently disabled. As a knight captain, I cannot overlook that.”
“I… see…?”
“What’s suitable for the knights’ swordsmanship is the Royal Swordsmanship, where one becomes strong by mastering basic forms that even small children can imitate. With this, even if young apprentices whose bodies aren’t fully developed imitate it and strain themselves, the possibility of permanent disability is low.”
“Indeed…!”
“Therefore, I stated that Master Julius’ sword wasn’t suitable as a knight’s sword, and I declined having him observe training. Do you understand?”
“Yes…! Very much so…!”
Karen felt mortified. She had felt Julius was being treated badly, but explained this way, it made sense.
“Because Mr. Julius is a genius that no one can imitate, yet if they saw Mr. Julius’ sword, they’d want to imitate it. So you can’t show it. That’s what it was…!”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“And yet I misunderstood, thinking Mr. Julius was being treated poorly… Um, I’m sorry for being confrontational…!”
“It just shows how much you care for him. I don’t mind. My first cousin once removed will have a loving wife, it seems.”
“Ehe, ehehehe…!”
To Karen, who could only laugh wordlessly from the embarrassment of her misunderstanding and shyness, Gottfried said:
“…Besides, it’s not as if you have no reason to criticize me.”
“Knight Captain?”
“Well, that swordsmanship still can’t be called pleasant to look at. So naturally, I also have feelings of not being able to introduce it to the knight order for that reason. Even among knights, some find it repulsive. It’s often feared. Especially by women.”
“…True, perhaps I’m just desensitized from being used to adventurers.”
Karen hadn’t thought anything of it. But Julius had thought Karen would fear it. There were probably many people who actually did fear it.
“By the way, Lady Karen, I have a favor to ask of you.”
A request, perhaps? Karen straightened her posture and waited for Gottfried’s words.
“Before the New Year’s Festival, could you help those of the former earl faction—the Winfried faction—who have been mistreated in Ehlertt because of Horst Brahm? I’m not part of that faction myself, but I have many relatives among them.”
“…Um, that doesn’t seem like something to request of me as an alchemist?”
To Karen, who tilted her head, Gottfried nodded.
“Not as an alchemist, but as a personal favor from me to Lady Karen, who will become Master Julius’ wife.”
Karen had promised Horst to protect people with little magical power from discrimination, but she hadn’t promised to protect his family, relatives, or their associates. To begin with, Karen and Julius had nearly been killed by Horst.
So why should Karen, just because she would become Julius’ wife, have to listen to such a request to help those on his side?
Seeing the expression that completely revealed Karen’s inner thoughts, Gottfried said with a wry smile:
“If you would listen to my favor, I will tell you a secret about Master Julius that he would never tell you himself. An important secret that, once known, might give you reason to reconsider your engagement to him.”
Julius’ secret.
At the sound of those words, Karen gulped.
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