Early in the morning, Viktor leaned lazily against the carriage, bored, waiting for Gwen to come out of her house.
Gwen had just pushed open the door, holding a slender silver sword in her hand. She was about to begin her morning practice.
As soon as she stepped outside and looked up, she saw Viktor's carriage.
Gwen froze for a moment in surprise.
At the same time, Viktor, leaning beside the carriage, nodded slightly at her.
Gwen, "…"
'So early?'
It felt a bit rude to let him stand outside waiting like that, so after thinking for a moment, Gwen called out to him.
"Want to spar for a bit?"
"I'm a mage," Viktor said flatly, staring at the slender silver sword in her hand.
Gwen's face turned bright red, and she turned her head away with an embarrassed "Oh."
"Come in first, then," she said, and ran off toward the training field to start her morning drills.
Viktor, somewhat bored, stood by the training field watching her.
A knight's morning practice was nothing special, just swinging the sword and slashing to train the body, while occasionally practicing combat techniques, repeating them again and again.
After a while, Gwen felt a bit self-conscious under his constant gaze, so she explained awkwardly, "Knights have to train every day, day after day."
"I didn't ask you," Viktor said calmly.
Gwen, "…"
So one watched, and the other practiced, in silence.
After finishing her morning training, Gwen wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was just about to pick up the water flask beside her for a drink to rehydrate when a slow, lazy voice came from the side.
"Drinking water right after intense exercise isn't good for your body."
"…"
Gwen put the flask down again. She had the feeling that if she drank it anyway, Viktor would probably start nagging her again.
'What is wrong with him today? Is he sick or something?'
After morning practice came breakfast.
Gwen glanced at Viktor, hesitated, and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"
"No." Viktor answered succinctly.
Gwen, "…Then let's eat together."
The moment he heard her invitation, Viktor immediately got up and walked ahead of her into the house, face calm and steady.
Gwen, "…"
She tried to judge him with her sense of righteousness, but every word and action of his was perfectly honest.
"Weird," she muttered, shaking her head to toss away those unnecessary thoughts.
In the dining room, Viktor used his knife elegantly to cut his food and slowly brought it to his mouth with a fork.
Gwen ate while watching him eat.
She didn't want to admit it, but Viktor really was pleasing to the eye. Just sitting beside him and watching him eat made her appetite better.
His every movement and gesture was refined to the extreme.
If Viktor didn't count as a noble, then there probably weren't any true nobles in this world.
In contrast, she herself, though a girl, looked a bit rough when eating.
Gwen felt a little depressed, yet also puzzled.
'How could someone so elegant and dignified have done something so stupid and inappropriate?'
She was referring, of course, to that unwise incident where he confessed to the duke's unmarried daughter.
'…Forget it, it has nothing to do with me anyway.'
Viktor had said he'd take care of it himself.
After breakfast, Gwen put on her knight's armor.
The silver-white armor made her fair skin look even whiter and more delicate. Her exquisite, flawless face carried a cold, distant air, like a valkyrie stepping out from ice.
Viktor, watching her lead a white horse, asked, "Do I have to ride a horse too?"
Gwen suddenly remembered, Viktor was a mage. He couldn't possibly walk long distances.
She hadn't even considered that.
In her memory, Viktor had never ridden a horse before.
What to do? Did she have to share a horse with him?
She hesitated for quite a while, but before she could decide, Viktor had already asked one of her family's servants to bring out a horse suitable for long-distance travel from the stables.
A knight's family was never short on fine horses.
Just as Gwen was about to speak, she saw Viktor skillfully mount the horse with a smooth swing of his leg, landing perfectly in the saddle.
"So you can ride after all. You don't look like a beginner."
Viktor didn't respond. After all, Gwen could tell when someone was lying. The more you said, the easier it was to slip up.
Still, she wasn't wrong, Viktor really wasn't a beginner.
He was a "boosted" player.
In the game, he had even ridden dragons before.
The two of them set off one after another.
Gwen needed to report to the Knight Order first, so Viktor simply followed behind her.
Neither spoke along the way, but Gwen couldn't shake the feeling that something felt… off.
She turned her head slightly to look at Viktor. His expression was as calm and blank as ever, a poker face. But when he noticed her glance, he turned his eyes toward her, their gazes meeting.
Gwen quickly turned her head back around.
Seeing her avert her eyes, Viktor resumed admiring the scenery along the road.
When they reached the Knight Order, the knights assigned to this expedition were already assembled and waiting.
Dozens stood in formation, awaiting Gwen's command.
Standing at the front, Gwen reminded Viktor of the powerful, perfect Grand Knight Commander he had once seen in the game.
Equally spirited and valiant.
Gwen began the routine drill for the knights. After it ended, she stood on the platform and addressed the group,
"The escort mage we applied for last time has been found. Some of you probably know him."
She stepped back and gestured for Viktor to come forward.
'Viktor Clavenna!'
At that moment, nearly every knight's mind flashed with that infamous name.
His evil reputation was known far and wide. There wasn't a single knight who considered himself righteous that didn't know it.
They all hated this scoundrel, and if possible, they'd love to challenge him to a duel.
But they couldn't deny the fact, standing before them was a third-rank mage.
If he suddenly went berserk here, who could stop him?
Maybe Knight Commander Gwen could try, but rumors said she was engaged to him…
The knights instantly became more respectful toward Viktor.
Seeing how respectful they were, Viktor kept his face expressionless, though he felt somewhat stifled inside.
He had expected a "face-slapping" situation, like the knights doubting him, arguing, and then him easily teaching them a lesson to establish his authority.
But clearly, he'd overthought it.
As a villain whose very name struck fear, his presence alone commanded enough respect.
Perched on his shoulder, Vega was silent for a moment before muttering, "You were really hoping for that ridiculous kind of development?"
"Just wanted to have some fun," Viktor replied.
"Otherwise it's too boring."
After confirming the headcount once more, Gwen was ready to announce their departure when a childish voice suddenly rang out.
A small boy, clearly young in both height and age, came running in wearing armor and clutching a sword.
"Big Sister Gwen! You forgot your sword!"
He shouted as he ran. The sword was nearly as tall as he was, and its hilt covered his eyes.
Because he couldn't see the road, he tripped over a rock and fell.
"Ah!"
The silver sword flew from his hands, its tip heading straight toward Viktor.
All the knights were startled. If that thing hit, it could be fatal.
Just as they were about to shout a warning, Viktor raised his hand.
What was he doing, using magic?
"No! It has strong magic resistance!" Gwen shouted anxiously.
But Viktor didn't move.
Under everyone's terrified gaze, Viktor stretched out his hand and caught the sword midair, his body twisting lightly.
In an instant, the silver sword that should have flown far away was effortlessly pulled back into his grasp.
The move was so smooth and fluid that every knight on the field froze.
Viktor casually twirled the sword in his hand, leaving the knights dumbfounded.
'What the hell?'
'That was Commander Gwen's personal sword, how could he just play around with it so easily?'
'Is he really a mage???'
Gwen also froze, her body still half-raised as if to stop him.
She blinked, staring at Viktor, speechless for a long while.
Viktor played with the sword for a bit before returning it to her and saying politely, "Sorry. It's just been a while since I touched one of these, so I played with it for a moment."
Gwen glared at him and suddenly remembered their conversation from the previous morning. With clear annoyance, she said, "You can use a sword."
Viktor spread his hands, expressionless. "I'm a mage."
Though inwardly, he added to himself, a full-class mage.
As the knights all collectively fell into shock, Vega glanced at Viktor from his shoulder.
It seemed to understand his intent.
Because… acting cool really did feel good.
Gwen snatched back her silver sword, sheathed it, and ignored him. She turned to the knights and gave her command, "All knights! Mount up! Depart!"
———
The day before was the first day of the magic shop's grand opening. Liya was quite excited, so she personally oversaw the shop.
At the same time, she had invited several "industry professionals" to help with promotion.
However, the results weren't very good.
She sat inside the shop, watching one mage after another pass by outside.
Some of them looked tempted when they saw the bottles of magic potion displayed on the shelf outside, but after seeing the prices, they couldn't help but frown and walk away.
"So expensive," nearly every passing mage muttered.
Liya wasn't in a hurry. As long as someone realized the value of the potions, everything would turn around.
But things weren't going as smoothly as she had hoped.
Instead, the shop soon attracted some unwelcome guests.
"This the place?"
Liya turned toward the voice and saw several burly, tattooed men standing at the door, looking fierce.
She yawned.
Here we go again, troublemakers.
Liya touched the magic ring on her hand, the one Viktor had given her.
For some reason, every time this happened, she would find herself thinking Viktor wasn't that bad after all.
At least back in his territory, no one ever dared mess with the Clavenna family's business.
From behind her came a cold female voice, "Should I drive them away for you, Miss Liya?"
"Don't," Liya said with a faint smile as she looked at the thugs approaching. "If we chase them off, who's going to help make our name known?"
Outside, a shout rang out, "Smash it up!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/XenosX
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰