The youngest is hiding a lot of things.

Chapter 29

Creating a barrier to protect this place together with Uncle!

“I want to take swordsmanship lessons!”

Uncle’s eyes went round, as if he’d just heard something completely unexpected.

“What?”

“I’m going to learn the sword! I’m going to get super strong too! That’s what it means to be a man of the North, right?”

Uncle frowned slightly, looking a bit taken aback.

“Th… that’s true, I suppose.”

Excited by the brilliant idea that had just popped into my head, I failed to notice his expression properly.

‘If I join the knights, going outside won’t seem strange at all!’

Most swordsmanship lessons were held at the training grounds, but Boyd often went out with the knights when they patrolled.

And he’d already visited the castle walls several times as part of his training.

‘It’s the perfect excuse to inspect the walls!’

Uncle didn’t seem very enthusiastic. Still, he didn’t look like he could find a good reason to object either.

After taking a sip of tea and thinking for a moment, he finally nodded.

“Alright. Do what you want to do. If you need other studies too, go ahead.”

“Okay! I like learning!”

I felt better instantly. Swinging my feet, I finished off the rest of the cookies.

“Then, Rubi… you’ll keep staying here…”

Uncle, who had been watching me quietly, hesitated in a way that didn’t suit him at all.

“Hm?”

“Here… you’ll…”

“What did you say, Uncle?”

“…Sigh. Never mind.”

What’s with him today?

It was strange seeing him start to say something and then stop. It even felt like he was carefully watching my reactions.

“First, I’ll need to look into finding you a tutor,” he muttered, leaning back as if giving up.

“Can’t I just take lessons together with Boyd?”

“That’s possible, but it might be a bit too difficult for you to keep up.”

“Oh, really?”

Boyd was already studying advanced elementary academy material ahead of schedule. Apparently, when the new semester started in spring, he was determined to take first place.

Well, that had nothing to do with me.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as I can take sword lessons from the knight uncles. I’m going to get strong! Power! Stamina!”

I clenched my tiny fist dramatically.

Of course, checking the castle walls was important, but honestly, I also wanted to train this weak little body of mine. Watching all those rock-solid people had given me a bit of admiration.

Uncle chuckled and ruffled my hair roughly.

“I don’t think they’ll go easy on you, though.”

“Huh?”

“Since you’ve made up your mind, you’d better prepare yourself.”

What did that mean?

Was he saying the knights might bully me?

‘Nah, no way.’

The knight uncles liked me quite a lot.

Whenever we ran into each other, they always smiled kindly.

Especially Sir Leon—he was always handing me snacks.

Suddenly, I remembered someone mentioning something about “the youngest knight.”

At that moment, a cold chill ran down the back of my neck. Wait… this doesn’t feel good.

“Uncle, I suddenly got curious…”

“Yeah?”

“Has anyone joined the Zebert Knights recently?”

I asked cautiously. Uncle rested his arm on the armrest and stared at the ceiling.

“Hmm…”

Gulp.

“No. Not in the past several years.”

Gasp.

“Boyd was the last one, a few years ago.”

No way! A new recruit after several years?!

That means I’d be fresh water thrown into a pool of old, stagnant water!

I could already see a painful future ahead.

The knight uncles had only been nice to me because I wasn’t actually part of the order yet!

“I—I think I’ll just settle for my current peaceful life…”

“A man never takes back his words.”

Thud. A plate of jiggly fruit jelly was set on the table.

A familiar voice came from beside me.

“Sir Leon…?”

Creaking stiffly, I turned my head—and there he was, Sir Leon, who had apparently entered without me noticing.

“Your Grace, I’ve brought some urgent documents.”

“Alright, hand them over.”

Uncle stretched out his hand with a faint smile.

While he looked over the papers, the blue-haired knight stared at me intently.

His eyes gleamed like a predator who had just found excellent prey.

“So you’ve finally made your decision.”

“Uuuh…”

“Welcome, rookie.”

Whoooooosh.

A dry wind blew. In the distance, a round tumbleweed rolled by.

The desolate training grounds.

Standing in front of me were muscular, intimidating knights. Compared to them, I was nothing but a pitiful little herbivore.

“As your senior, I can be either an angel or a devil depending on your attitude.”

That line sounded awfully familiar.

I swallowed nervously.

Heh heh heh. For some reason, I felt like I could hear villainous laughter coming from all directions—but that must just be my imagination.

“Ho ho… it’s been a long time since we had a new recruit.”

“He’s so small and cute, it makes me want to train him properly.”

“We’ll turn you into a fine man of the North.”

“My blood is boiling…”

Definitely just my imagination.

‘Still… isn’t it a bit too cold for short sleeves?’

I stared blankly at the faint steam rising from their bronze-colored bodies.

“This is the Zebert Knights. Here, a strict merit-based, hierarchical culture prevails. Therefore, inside these grounds, no honorifics are used. Any complaints?”

You never used honorifics with me in the first place…

The knight standing at the very front stepped forward. Nearby, Boyd watched with interest, holding a wooden sword.

“None, sir!”

I answered sharply.

Somehow, it felt like that was the only acceptable response.

Clink.

As I moved, the decorations on the knight uniform rattled. The dark-blue Zebert Knight uniform was heavier than I expected.

Of course, since nothing fit me, everything had to be custom-made from scratch…

The gathered knights’ gazes burned into me. Sir Leon, for some reason, had his hand over his mouth and was staring into the air.

“I am Oberon, vice-captain of the Zebert Knights.”

“Ah, yes sir. I’ve heard a lot about you!”

I remembered Boyd talking about him.

The vice-captain had short, bristly hair and a long scar near his left eye. He didn’t look like someone easygoing at all.

“Then, we will begin initiation training.”

“Yessir!”

His deep, commanding voice naturally made me tense up.

The senior knights moved in perfect unison.

Seeing their disciplined motions made my body stiffen on its own.

“First, two laps around the training ground!”

Two laps?!

“For children!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

I answered frantically.

I ran two laps around the tiny practice field attached to the main one.

Huff, huff—so tiring! The road to becoming a physical knight was long and harsh!

“Next, practice swinging a wooden sword!”

“Yessir!”

I replied, catching my breath.

“But since it’s still dangerous, just observe for now!”

“Yessir!”

Sir Oberon pointed toward the armory with a thick finger. Just as I started walking over, someone grabbed me by the collar.

“Wh-what’s going on, sir?”

“Hmm. A knight must know how to ride. You’ll ride a horse over there.”

Ah! Riding horses—I was confident in that!

“Hey, you passing by!”

“Yes, Vice-Captain!”

“Become the rookie’s horse! Execute!”

“Execute!”

“…….”

I blinked slowly. My field of vision suddenly shot upward, and the wind hit my cheeks before my mind finally caught up.

‘Huh?’

Isn’t this just me getting a piggyback ride to go look at wooden swords?

In any case, once knight life became part of my daily routine, a strange energy started to fill me.

“Huff huff. Two laps, holding a wooden sword, dodging balls, talking with horses—mission complete!”

Senior Oberon smiled in satisfaction.

“Good. Excellent work. Tomorrow, we’ll tour the castle walls.”

My head shot up.

That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

Noticing the sudden change in my eyes, Oberon’s lips curled slightly.

“You wanted to see the walls that badly?”

“Yes, sir! I really wanted to, sir!”

“Hmm, good attitude. The Captain will be pleased.”

“The Captain…?”

“Of course—His Grace the Duke.”

“Ahh.”

I nodded.

Right. If we’re talking about the leader of this knight order, it had to be Uncle Leviathan.

Oberon gazed off into the distance. On his chest shone the blue lion emblem of the Zebert Knights.

“To avoid bringing shame to His Grace, we must always grow stronger and hone ourselves. Only then can we become true—”

“Um, what happens if the Captain is the one causing trouble?”

“Excuse me?”

The knight, who had been drowning in loyalty, snapped back to reality.

I raised my arm and pointed to a corner of the training grounds.

“He’s been sleeping over there this whole time…”

“…….”

A heavy silence fell over the area.