I am Savis Nav of the Nav Kingdom Black Dragon Knights Commander.
Ten years ago, at the tender age of 17, I attained the rank of Knight Commander.
Normally, this would be an impossible age, but my status as the king's younger brother meant that I was forced to sit in the commander seat without any say in it.
The commander's chairs were heavy.
As the head of the Knights, I was responsible for the lives of all the knights.
If I gave the wrong orders, the surviving knights would die.
I should not be arrogant and think I could save all lives.
I was calm and cool-headed. No matter how intense the battle, a part of my mind was always cool, and I gave orders while determining the minimum pain. My job was to keep my comrades alive. However, I wondered if the minimum pain I had to cut off feels the same way...
I must not hesitate. I must not waver. I could not apologize.
It was my role to suppress my fear and impatience, stand at the front with a calm expression, and encourage the knights.
The initiation ceremony for new recruits into the Knights took place on a beautiful sunny day.
Strangely enough, the same coincidence continued to exist between joining days and the weather, and when the joining day was sunny, talented new recruits joined the team.
I entered the initiation ceremony venue full of anticipation.
Looking around at the new knights from the podium, they all stared at me with sparkling eyes.
The induction ceremony always went like this: young people full of hopes and dreams joined the order, embracing the ideals of knighthood.
——Keep that feeling in mind, and you'll become a fine knight.
After finishing my greeting, I looked over the new knights once more, and among the excited and elated group, there was one person who was calmly staring back at me.
——Who is that?
The person didn't get carried away by the atmosphere of the place, but calmly observed and analyzed the situation. That person was... a person of a ruler.
When I came down from the podium, I called the person in charge of the examination.
"There is only one new red-haired female knight. She is Fia from Ruud knight family and had been assigned to the First Knight Order." (PIC)
"Speaking of new female knights of the First Knight Order, is that the one in question...?" (Savis)
"Yes" (PIC)
I see.
The First Knight Order, who guarded the royal family, would soon be in need of some young female knights. Was this the reason for her placement?
But it's interesting that it's a knight with the eyes of a ruler.
"Nominate her as your opponent in the demonstration match. I'll be her opponent." (Savis)
"……………………………………hah?" (PIC)
The knight in charge of the exam was frozen with his mouth open for a full ten seconds.
We'd known each other for years, but this was the first time I'd seen him look like this.
Although he didn't show it on his face, I was secretly watching with interest, and the knight in charge of the exam began to rush me in a flustered manner.
"I'm sorry to contradict what Commander said, but your opponent is a new knight! She absolutely cannot be a match for Commander, who boasts the greatest skills among our knights! I can't even cross swords with you! Besides, I've never heard of a case where Commander himself would be the one to take on someone!" (PIC)
"Well, I suppose so. I have never participated in an exhibition match at an initiation ceremony. However, the purpose of this match is for me to compete against the female knight who will be her bodyguard. If I choose a knight whose strength I have personally verified as her bodyguard, then the church should be happy with that."
"...I see! I was unable to understand Commander's deeper thoughts and made a thoughtless remark, for which I apologize!" (PIC)
Yeah, there's no way he could read it. I just blurted it out as I thought of it.
The truth was, I just wanted to match swords with a knight who possessed the eyes of a ruler.
——You shouldn't be in a position where you need to give everyone a convincing reason every time you take action.
When I came face to face with Fia Ruud, my first thought was, "She's small."
Compared to the female knights who belonged to the Knights' Order, she was clearly small and thin.
——But why? I felt the same pressure as when I faced the captain class.
I couldn't believe my senses were dulled. Was there more to it than her appearance?
"I'm unworthy Fia Ruud! I'll be relying on you, _SOUCHOU_!!" (Fia)
She announced in a high-pitched girlish voice and came towards me.
However, about five meters ahead, her speed suddenly increased.
With speed I'd never seen before, she unsheathed her sword and swung it down on my left side.
When I received her sword, I was surprised at how heavy it was. What the hell is this sword?
Instantly, strength filled my body.
Fia stepped back once, then attacked again, to my left. Left, left, left, left again.
The last blow was particularly heavy, and I instinctively put in more force and deflected the sword.
——Who is this girl?
No———..., was it the sword that's strange?
When I looked at her sword, I realized it was an incredible piece of equipment.
It was a magic sword imbued with multiple magical effects.
Weapons endowed with magical effects were rare, as they were scarce and could not currently be crafted.
And most of the weapons that currently existed with effects only had one effect.
It had two additional spells added to it, increasing speed and attack power.
Furthermore, in order to hide the fact that it was an effective weapon, a concealment spell had been cast on it to reduce its glow.
The problem was, what effect would it have…
When I tried it out against the First Knight Captain, Cyril, it was... national treasure level.
Although the exact contents would need to be confirmed with the Third Magic Knight Order, both speed and attack power were likely to be increased by more than 300.
It should compare favorably with the highest-level weapons currently in existence, even when compared to works from the "Super Golden Age" 300 years ago.
When I asked where it came from, she said he inherited it from his father, Lieutenant Captain Dolph.
Although it was a very suspicious story, Dolph himself had confirmed it. Even if I doubt it here, I wouldn't get any good results.
I changed my mind and asked another question.
"Why did you keep hitting my left side during the mock battle?" (Savis)
The knights were generally aggressive. They would do what was best to win no matter who their opponent was, and if the opponent was me, they would charge to the right where my visibility was poor.
Or, they would attack left and right in a balanced way. Fia's attacks, which only aimed at the left side, were unnatural.
"It's chivalry. I didn't think it was right to attack in a direction that was poorly visible, when Commander had declared that he would never attack." (Fia)
Fia answered with a suspicious straight face.
Those who had the eyes of a ruler appeared to have strong will.
To think that she would so blatantly lie to me.
The only thing that's a shame was that she seemed satisfied with what she'd said, and the corners of her mouth twitched as if she's about to burst out laughing.
When I pressed her further, Fia seemed to have resigned himself to the fact that she had aimed at the left side because I had injured my left leg.
…It's true, my left ankle hadn't fully healed from the injury. Even if I received the same blow from the sword, I would have a harder time with it if it hit me on the left side. Aiming for the left side was the best course of action.
However, the location of the injury was kept secret, as it would be a weak spot if revealed.
The injury itself was more than 10 years old and was considered to have healed completely; only the captains and vice-captains knew about my old wound on my left leg.
So, when the captains and vice-captains heard what Fia said, they stood up in anger, probably thinking that some information had been leaked.
But that was only until we heard the explanation from Fia.
She gave an explanation based on a careful observation and she said that she had deduced the cause of my injury.
……interesting.
Those who possessed the eye of the ruler seemed to have the insight to see into many other things as well.
Author's Note
This marks the end of this chapter.
Thank you for reading.
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