The Schneider Fief, without Patrick. There, the soldiers were training diligently as Patrick had ordered.
“Damn it, how is this supposed to be helpful at all?”
“This isn't some social dance...”
Well, though they were full of complaints. Patrick had instructed the soldiers to consistently practice the basic training of the horse stance, along with the Five Elements Steps, while he was away. The soldiers followed the orders for the time being, but in truth, they couldn't erase the doubt, 'What in the world is the point of this?'
Of course, that didn't mean they weren't doing it. Patrick had given the order, and the senior soldiers, including Sanson, were supervising, so they diligently trained by moving according to the footwork. However, the effectiveness of training greatly depends on one's mindset.
The number of those who trained while grumbling, distrusting the effectiveness of the footwork, gradually increased. They simply rushed through the footwork practice as if just to meet a quota, then tried to swing their swords in the remaining time. They judged that to be more helpful.
“Alright. A hundred times, done.”
“Now I should swing my sword a bit.”
“The horse stance is at least exercise. I don't know why we're doing this.”
“That's what I'm saying.”
The soldiers carelessly completed their repetitions of the footwork training and then swung their swords on their own. Sanson, watching this, frowned. 'What should I do about this?
If the young master saw...'
[Hooo, you've been slacking off on your training?]
The mere thought was horrifying. Sanson, who shivered, wanted to somehow refocus the soldiers' minds, but he couldn't find a way. 'It can't be helped.
For now, I'll just focus on my own training.' Sanson focused his mind and devoted himself to the training Patrick had ordered, performing the footwork with the most accurate posture possible. After the morning training ended.
The soldiers had to patrol the fief again. The youngest, Brian, was diligently handling the monster patrols and exterminations on the outskirts. Truly, if a person doesn't want to die, they'll do whatever it takes.
Watching Brian's recent actions, he looked like a loyal knight doing his utmost to protect the fief. Of course, behind that…
[If even a single hair on a fief resident's head is harmed, it's your responsibility, Youngest. Got it?] ...was Patrick, who had nonchalantly threatened him before leaving.
As a result, Brian was patrolling the fief diligently, even sacrificing his sleeping hours. Thanks to that...
“Captain Sanson. Patrols are much easier these days, aren't they?”
“That's right. The frequency of monsters causing trouble has dropped significantly.”
At Sanson's words, Oliver, who was patrolling with him, said with a smile.
“This is all thanks to the young master. To be honest, I can understand why the fief residents are grateful to him.”
“And you're not grateful?”
“No, I am grateful. I am, but...”
Hadn't Patrick done quite a lot for them? He exposed the embezzlement of the knight, Brian, normalizing their wages. He also taught them Aura Blessing, and while they were struggling with training, he went around the fief and wiped out all the monsters.
It was only natural to feel gratitude toward such a Patrick. They should, but...
“It's just that, to be simply grateful, the way we're ground down during training is a bit...”
“Ah, I understand that.”
“Honestly, tell the fief residents to get ground down just like us. See if they can stay purely grateful then.”
It was an ungrateful but true statement. That's how much the training Patrick ordered pushed them to their limits.
“Still, if we continue this training, won't we be able to become as strong as the young master? Then we should be grateful.”
“Actually, that's why there are some guys with complaints these days.”
“What do you mean?”
As Sanson said this with a sharp glare, Oliver hastily waved his hands and spoke.
“No, I don't mean me. It's not that I think that, but...”
“Speak. What kind of complaints are there?”
“Even though it's training taught by Young Master Patrick, it's just the horse stance for lower body training, Aura Blessing, and those strange steps, isn't it?”
“We spar too, don't we?”
“Calling that sparring is shameless.”
Indeed, it was composed of beatings too one-sided to be called sparring.
“Ahem, anyway, it's a fact that the young master is leagues stronger than us. You know how precious the teachings of a strong person are, don't you?”
“I know. In fact, the other guys know too. Just the Aura Blessing alone is amazing, right? But... the young master's teachings are just so peculiar, aren't they?”
“I can understand the horse stance. But those strange steps he taught us before he left this time... there aren't many who think they'll really be helpful. There are guys who think that if they fought like that in a real battle, their feet would get tangled and they'd fall over... That's what they think. Not me, the other guys.”
Oliver hastily changed his words because Sanson's expression had hardened to a serious degree.
“They've all grown bold.”
“No, from the guys' perspective....”
“Now that you've learned Aura Blessing and there are no knights in the fief, do you feel like you've become someone great? Do you think you'll be able to draw aura from your sword within the year?”
“The young master said it. He would make us into knights. But those who wish to become knights, instead of having loyalty to their lord, are voicing complaints?”
“Who are they? Those trash who don't even know gratitude!”
Seeing the genuinely enraged Sanson, Oliver spoke cautiously.
“Captain, please calm down. Once the young master returns...”
It was then. Suddenly, a bell signaling an emergency rang from the fief's outskirts.
“This is?”
“An emergency?”
Sanson and Oliver quickly ran to the scene. For the past few weeks, the Schneider Fief had been peaceful. Patrick had wiped out most of the large monsters, and Brian was dealing with any small monsters as soon as he saw them.
But that state of affairs was not meant to last. Wiping out all the large monsters meant that a temporary vacuum had been created at the top of the local ecosystem. Naturally, there were bound to be monsters from other regions coming in to claim that spot.
Such monsters had now set foot in the Schneider Fief.
“Damn it, it's a Troll.”
Sanson, having arrived at the scene, gritted his teeth as he saw a Troll pounding on the outer palisade. Seeing that it was acting alone and not in a group, it was likely an outcast exiled from its pack.
Trolls usually move together in groups of two or three, but among them, old and weak individuals are driven out of the group. That meant it was a somewhat weaker individual among Trolls, but…
“Kwooooargh!”
“Uwaaah!”
“Hold it! The palisade can't fall.”
Watching the palisade shake as if it would collapse every time the creature pounded on it with both arms...
“Damn it, a weak Troll is still a Troll.”
In the end, it was a large-type monster. To ordinary people, there wasn't much of a difference. Sanson said to Oliver beside him.
“Oliver.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Take the soldiers at once and bring the Troll-fighting equipment.”
Long spears and iron nets, as well as crossbows that could pierce a Troll's hide, oil, fire arrows, and so on. Even before Patrick took the lead, such equipment was essential for the soldiers of the Schneider Fief to face a Troll.
“Understood. What will you do, Captain?”
“I....”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“Hold on! I said hold on!”
“If this breaks, we're all dead!”
Sanson looked at the men barely holding up the palisade that looked like it would collapse at any moment, hardened his resolve, and said.
“I'll buy some time.”
“Yes? What.... Huh? Captain. Captain Sanson!”
Before Oliver could stop him, Sanson opened a small side gate and ran outside the palisade. Then he drew his sword and shouted at the top of his lungs toward the Troll.
“Over here, you ugly monster!”
Kreeee...
The Troll glanced at Sanson, who was shouting at it, then ignored him and went back to pounding the palisade in front of it.
Bang! Bang! KABOOM!
Crack. Creak!
It was a sturdy palisade made of solid logs driven deep into the ground, but it was still difficult to continuously block the Troll. The sounds of wood breaking and splintering were heard, and the men desperately holding up the palisade from inside screamed.
“I said, over here, you bastard!”
Sanson rushed at the Troll and swiftly swung his longsword.
Slaaash! Kwooooargh!
Sanson's strike cut the Troll's hide and injured the muscle underneath to some extent. The Troll shrieked in pain, and Sanson...
“Huh?”
He was bewildered. In truth, Sanson had attacked the Troll to draw its attention; he hadn't thought his attack would actually work on it. A Troll's hide is tough and durable.
For an ordinary person like himself to pierce it, he had to use a thrust, not a slash. And a desperate, do-or-die thrust at that, putting all his weight into a charge. But now, a slash he had swung lightly just as a feint had left a rather deep wound on the Troll's body.
“It works?”
Toward the astonished Sanson, the Troll….
Kwooooargh!
It roared, expressing its rage without restraint.
“Ugh....”
For a moment, Sanson instinctively took a step back. This wasn't his first time facing a Troll. It was a monster he had faced several times with his comrades.
But when he fought a Troll, his comrades were with him. There were comrades beside him to keep it in check with long spears, and support from behind throwing iron nets to restrict the Troll's movements. With such support, they fought by stabbing the Troll, pouring oil, and setting it on fire.
But it was different now. Now, all Sanson had in his hand was a single longsword. He had to face the Troll with only this.
Just like a protagonist in a story.
“Ha... haha.”
The only thought that came to mind was, ‘I must be crazy.’ The Troll charged relentlessly at Sanson.
“Kwoooargh.”
It held no weapon in its hand, but the Troll's giant fist had enough power to turn Sanson into minced meat. That fist fell upon Sanson like a hammer.
KABOOM!
“Hyung-niiim!”
Oliver, who had hurriedly followed him outside the palisade, shouted urgently at the sight. In Oliver's eyes, it looked as though Sanson had taken the Troll's blow directly and been crushed.
But…
“Haap!”
From within the thick dust, Sanson's powerful shout could be heard. And the Troll's scream that followed was proof that Sanson had cut it somewhere.
“Sanson-hyungnim?”
And then Oliver saw it. The sight of Sanson, having dodged the Troll's fist, instead forcefully slashing the Troll's knee. And that wasn't all.
Kwooaaargh!
As the Troll swung its arm in a wide horizontal arc, Sanson retreated to dodge, then immediately moved forward again and thrust his longsword into the Troll's leg.
Kuhaaarg!
The Troll's pained groan echoed once more. And a counterattack followed. Sanson dodging it, and the longsword swinging again.
Right now, before Oliver's eyes, Sanson was fighting on equal footing with the Troll.
“No... no way.”
Oliver's jaw dropped as he watched the scene.
'It's working. It's working.'
Sanson was bewildered, yet intoxicated by the strange feeling of his heart pounding in his chest. The first time the Troll's attack fell upon his head. Without realizing it, the footwork he had been practicing so diligently unfolded.
He had intended to just throw his body to the side to dodge, but before that, his body, which had diligently learned the footwork, executed it and evaded the Troll's attack. And right after dodging like that, he realized something.
'Huh? This is....'
The Troll's balance was broken right after its attack, but he had maintained his center and only changed his position.
This meant… 'An opening?'
Simultaneously with that thought, Sanson's body thrust into the side of the Troll, which had left its flank unguarded.
“Haap!”
With the feeling of the blade sinking in, thwump!, the ferocious Troll's pained shriek could be heard. Hearing that sound, Sanson became even more certain.
“It's working. This is working.”
The Aura Blessing he had consistently practiced was spreading vitality throughout Sanson's entire body. His lower body, solidly trained with the horse stance, allowed him to put more natural power into his sword. The footwork of the Five Elements Steps he had practiced so diligently was protecting Sanson's body from the Troll's rough and violent attacks.
“Ha... hahaha.”
Sanson laughed.
He was fighting alone against a Troll that his past self wouldn't have dared to handle. What did this mean? 'I have grown stronger.'
The sweat and effort he had poured in were showing clear results. The sense of accomplishment from having his efforts rewarded, and the feeling of triumph from cornering a powerful foe he couldn't have dreamed of facing in the past. These feelings were drawing up an indescribable emotion from deep within his chest.
So much so that the corners of his raised mouth wouldn't come down.