Chapter 95…
“What is this?”
Elliot blinked, staring at the old book Dante handed him.
“It’s swordsmanship.”
“…This thing, you mean?”
Suspicion flashed across the boy’s face.
Dante understood what Elliot was thinking.
The book looked like some useless swordsmanship manual abandoned on the battlefield—nothing more than junk.
If someone had handed such a worn-out book to Dante and told him to study it, he’d likely have reacted the same way.
But that was fine.
He had read it himself and judged that it was indeed a good style—one well worth Elliot learning.
“Study it.”
There was no need for further explanation.
Dante was the instructor; Elliot was the cadet.
If ordered to learn it, the cadet had no choice but to obey.
“Yes, sir.”
He was already pushing himself to the limits every day, and now he was told to learn a sword style on top of that.
He honestly thought he might die at this rate.
But still—
Elliot had no intention of giving up.
He could feel himself growing stronger day by day.
Yesterday’s self was different from today’s.
That wasn’t just a feeling; it was objective fact.
He could literally feel his skills improving, so there was no way he’d stop now.
Elliot obediently accepted the book and began reading it on the spot.
And soon—
Just like Dante had, he became completely absorbed, reading it from start to finish in one sitting.
“Ah!”
He came to his senses only after four hours had passed.
The book was barely a hundred pages long, yet it had taken him that long to understand the swordsmanship described within.
“Do you understand it now?”
“Well, not quite yet…”
Hearing his uncertain answer, Dante nodded.
He hadn’t expected much from the start.
Learning swordsmanship from a book was never easy.
Dante himself had only grasped it instantly because he had spent decades wielding a sword.
For someone like Elliot, it was only natural that he couldn’t yet comprehend it.
“That’s fine.”
Dante patted the boy’s shoulder.
“What you can’t understand in theory, you’ll learn much faster with your body.”
“…Sir?”
“Go and bring a training greatsword.”
If sighs could form mountains, Elliot would have already built a range.
Step by step, sigh after sigh, he endured yet another day of hellish training.
Evening Meal
It had been a long time since Kaizel last visited—actually, this was the first time since the training had begun.
Dante had been so busy teaching the cadets that he’d had no personal time apart from sleep.
“It’s become difficult to even see your face,” Kaizel said.
“My apologies.”
Dante looked somewhat embarrassed.
“I hear of you often, though. They say you’re teaching the cadets with great passion.”
“I’ve only done what I’ve always done.”
“What you’ve always done?”
Kaizel gave him a curious look, and Dante replied casually.
“There’s a knight order called Acrasion. I trained them for quite some time, so I’m rather used to it. I’m simply applying that experience to teach the cadets.”
Kaizel’s face froze.
“So you’re saying… you trained a knight order?”
“Yes.”
“Which noble house does this Acrasion order belong to, then?”
He stopped short of saying, How could a fifteen-year-old train knights?
He already knew enough of Dante’s skill to realize such a question would be rude.
“You don’t know of it, then.”
“What do you mean?”
Dante realized Kaizel was completely uninterested in worldly affairs.
Even a knight who wasn’t fond of rumors should at least have heard the name Acrasion once.
“It’s my order,” Dante said.
“What?”
“I’m the commander of the Acrasion Knights. It was founded to protect the duchy from monster waves and has remained active ever since.”
“Ha—!”
Kaizel let out a dumbfounded laugh.
“So you mean to tell me…”
At ten years old, he had gone to war.
Around then, he had awakened his stigma.
He’d become commander of a knight order.
He’d spent years on the battlefield until fifteen.
And now, he was a swordsmanship instructor at Rittergut.
It was an absurd résumé—almost unbelievable.
Had anyone else told such a story, Kaizel might’ve cursed them for spouting nonsense.
“I have no words,” Kaizel muttered, clicking his tongue at Dante’s calm expression.
“But I can’t exactly doubt you either.”
He looked at Dante as if staring at a monster.
“In any case, that experience must have helped greatly with your teaching.”
“Indeed.”
Between official knight orders and cadets existed an unbridgeable gap—skill, composure, experience.
Teaching cadets with methods fit for knights naturally produced remarkable results, even if it crushed the cadets’ spirits in the process.
“No wonder your class is getting such praise.”
The cadets under Dante’s instruction outperformed all other classes by far—
not just in swordsmanship, but in hand-to-hand combat and endurance as well.
Especially Elliot—his growth was astonishing, even to Kaizel.
“Lately, his sword seems to have changed. Do you know why?”
“Of course.”
Dante nodded.
“I found a new sword style for him.”
“A new style?”
“It had no name, but it’s quite effective—particularly for cadets.”
Kaizel’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
He was a knight, after all; of course he was interested in sword techniques.
“Could I take a look at it sometime?”
“It wouldn’t be difficult… but not right now.”
After a brief pause, Dante shook his head.
“I’ll show you when the time’s right.”
“Why not now?”
“Because it hasn’t been fully mastered yet.”
Elliot hadn’t even absorbed 40% of what was written in the manual.
Even with Dante’s personal coaching, the style was too complex to learn quickly.
“Hmm, I see.”
Kaizel smacked his lips in disappointment.
“So, what brings you here today?”
He occasionally dropped by, but Dante had always been too busy to talk.
This time, though, was different.
Kaizel had waited until Dante’s training session was over—meaning he had something important to discuss.
“The outdoor training will commence soon,” Kaizel said.
Already that time of year?
At Rittergut, outdoor training wasn’t just field practice—it was actual combat experience against monsters.
Dante had gone through it several times in his past life, though he hadn’t done particularly well back then.
“I’ll need to make preparations.”
“This year, it will be held at the Mursiga Mountains, so prepare thoroughly.”
Dante froze slightly.
“Where did you say?”
“The Mursiga Mountains.”
Strange.
In his previous life, Rittergut had never gone there for outdoor training.
This year, they were supposed to head to the Targor Coast instead.
He remembered it clearly—it had been one of his fondest memories back when he was still called the “Genius of the Sword,” not the “Cursed One of the Empire.”
“…Understood.”
Though uneasy, Dante nodded.
“The Mursiga Mountains are treacherous, and the monsters there are vicious. Exercise extreme caution.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
“Then I’ll take my leave. Let’s meet soon and talk about swords.”
“It would be my honor.”
After seeing Kaizel off with a smile, Dante’s face hardened the moment he was alone.
When did things change?
He had no idea.
For the training location to change so drastically, there had to be a reason.
Frowning, he tried to think through the possibilities—but found no clear answer.
“I’ll have to ask him directly later,” he muttered.
If he showed Kaizel the swordsmanship he’d given to Elliot, the man would have no choice but to answer honestly—after all, to Kaizel, nothing was more valuable than the sword.
“Outdoor training, huh…”
Straightening up, Dante sighed.
If they truly were heading to the Mursiga Mountains, it would be a brutal ordeal.
Just as Kaizel said—the terrain was perilous, and the monsters savage.
A single mistake could lead to disaster.
To prevent that, Dante had to make sure the cadets’ safety was secured at all costs.
“…But he didn’t mention when it would be.”
Fortunately—or unfortunately—
Only three days remained before the outdoor training.
Preparing everything in that short time was no easy task.
Dante had to move quickly and decisively.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, sir!”
The cadets shouted back in unison, their voices strong.
Despite being worn down by endless training, the thought of finally going outside filled them with excitement.
“Don’t get carried away. Carelessness, even the smallest, can cost you and your comrades your lives.”
“We’ll remember that!”
Hearing their spirited reply, Dante turned his horse’s head.
Clip-clop—
With the sound of hooves echoing, Dante and the cadets began leaving Rittergut.
“Wow! It’s the Rittergut cadets!”
“They look so cool!”
“Be careful out there!”
As they rode through the streets, citizens’ cheers rang out all around.
Dante smiled and waved brightly at them, and even the near-dead cadets followed his lead, raising their hands weakly.
Their destination: the Mursiga Mountains—
a place known as the paradise of monsters.
