The relaxed knight's eyebrow twitched.Judging by his expression, his pride had been wounded.Forcing himself to keep a pleasant smile, the knight shrugged his shoulders.
"Ha-ha, you're quite good at jokes as well. I'm Hendrick, the one who personally taught you proper posture back then, Third Young Master.""Is that so? I don't really remember."
At those words—uttered with complete sincerity—Hendrick's face instantly crumpled.It seemed he had never imagined Lucian would truly forget him.To be precise, it wasn't that he'd forgotten—he simply had never met him in the first place.
"Ahem… anyway, what brings you here?""Is the training hall a place that requires a special reason to visit?""Well, not exactly, but I asked because it's surprising. It's been only a year since the Second Young Master scolded you so harshly. I didn't expect you to return."
At that tone—devoid of even a fingernail's worth of respect—Lucian's brows narrowed.What in the world had happened a year ago for a mere knight to act like this?Since he didn't know the details, he could only prod cautiously to uncover them.
"Not only a year—it's been as long as a year. Avoiding the training hall over something that happened ages ago would be ridiculous. From now on, I intend to visit often to learn sword techniques.""Sword techniques? The Third Young Master, you say?"
"Well, I have been neglecting my training until now, but I'm sixteen. That's hardly too late, wouldn't you say?"
The "mana pathways" in one's body fully closed around the age of twenty-five.Before that, anyone could learn sword techniques and rise again as a knight.Starting late simply meant the pathways had narrowed, making the process far more grueling.Even though Lucian was stating a simple, well-known truth, Hendrick let out an exaggeratedly loud laugh, as though showing off.
"Ha-ha, you truly are good at jokes! At the Third Young Master's age, it's far too late. And now you wish to learn sword techniques?""Too late? At sixteen?""Indeed. Sword techniques must generally be started before the age of fifteen to yield proper results. Starting at sixteen will do little more than make your body slightly sturdier.""How strange. As far as I know, the mana pathways don't fully close until twenty-five."
For an instant, Hendrick flinched—but only for a moment.He quickly plastered his smile back on and replied with feigned ease.
"It's true that the mana pathways close only after twenty-five, but by sixteen, they've already narrowed as much as they can. Claiming you only need to begin before that age—well, that's just the empty hope of those who've already missed their chance.""Is that so?""That's correct."
Nonsense.
Lucian swallowed the curse rising up his throat.Too late to learn sword techniques at twenty-five?Then what did that make his past life?He had torn through battlefields filled with knights using sword techniques he learned after twenty.
He didn't even need to draw on memories of his past life.History was overflowing with knights who had begun swordsmanship late and still left their names behind.So if this man dared to spout such drivel about sixteen being "too late," then there were only two possibilities:either this knight had never learned even the most basic common sense—or he was deliberately trying to lie.
If he wasn't someone who had never learned even the basics of sword techniques, then it couldn't be the former—it had to be the latter.
The real question was why he would tell such an obvious lie.Commoners might not know, but among knights this was knowledge bordering on common sense.Even if he did somehow manage to fool Lucian for a moment, the truth would be exposed immediately.Yet he still kept a straight face and pushed forward with such an unreasonable fabrication.
"It seems the knowledge you and I possess differ quite a bit.""What do you mean? This is something everyone knows. If you truly don't believe me, you may ask the Second Young Master.""The sec… no, my brother?"
The Second Young Master of House Valdeck, Jordi Valdeck.In his previous life, that man had fought fiercely with the First Young Master for the position of successor.Lucian had only seen him a few times, but his way of handling affairs had always been sly and underhanded.
He frequently hired people from outside, used them to exhaustion, then refused to pay them.
Back in his days with the guard corps, one of Lucian's jobs had been to physically block the charges of those abandoned men.They had done everything requested of them, yet were told to get lost instead of being rewarded—no wonder they lost their minds, noble or not.Jordi merely watched from behind, sneering, but for Lucian—standing in the way—it had been hell.Sometimes, even warriors as strong as seasoned knights had been mixed among them.
"That's right. Surely you're not suggesting the Second Young Master is wrong, are you?"
When Lucian did not immediately reply, Hendrick's lips curled, as if believing he had frightened him.And with that, Lucian finally understood what was happening.
He was trying to make me look like a fool.
Planting false knowledge on purpose so he could turn someone into a laughingstock.If that didn't work, he would invoke the frightening older brother to shut down any rebuttal.And if his own name ever got mentioned, he'd simply deny it, acting like he had never said such a thing.After that, all that remained would be the foolish Third Young Master who didn't even know basic common sense.
Unbelievable.
The pettiness of the scheme was laughable, but what was even more absurd was that the target was Lucian.To think a knight would pull such nonsense on the son of the lord he served.He must have had a strong backer—or orders from someone higher.But either way, it had little to do with Lucian.
"If what you say is true, then it's astonishing. Are you telling me my brother doesn't know what even a child would know? Was my brother always such a fool?"
For the weathered, battle-worn Lucian, such cheap harassment was so old and tiresome he felt like yawning.
At his words, a heavy silence fell over the training grounds.Even the knights who had been focused on their drills stared with wide, shocked eyes.Hendrick gaped at Lucian, wondering if he had misheard.
"W-what… what did you just say?""I asked whether my brother is truly a dimwit who doesn't even know common sense. Saying sixteen is too late to learn sword techniques—how could such nonsense come from the mouth of a noble?""Are you… denying the Second Young Master's words?"
Hendrick glared, his eyes sharp like axes, but Lucian didn't even blink.Instead, he let out an exaggerated groan and covered his face as though in despair.
"How can this be? Then my brother truly said such a thing? Ah, what am I to do? For the seed of Valdeck to be this foolish! Truly, a disgrace to the family!"
As his tone grew more dramatic, Hendrick's mouth opened and closed like a fish.He had never imagined Lucian would openly insult Jordi, so he had no idea how to respond.After pretending to weep for a while, Lucian suddenly looked at Hendrick as if a revelation had struck him.
"Wait. Now that I think about it, something feels strange. Sir Knight, don't tell me—you plotted something?""P-plotted? What do you mean?""I'm asking whether you tried to frame the blood of House Valdeck as someone who doesn't even know basic common sense. Surely you weren't acting on orders from another house, using my brother's name, were you?""What nonsense is that…!"
It was absurd.
Why drag other noble houses into something like this?
"Stop speaking such nonsense, Third Young Master! Are you insulting me right now!?""Insulting you? You'd better make yourself clear! Who said such idiotic words? Was it my brother? Or was it you who made them up? Which is it!?"
With a sharp thud, Lucian struck the ground with his cane.Hendrick felt like he was going insane.If he kept insisting it was true, then the Second Young Master would be branded a fool.If he admitted it was false, then he would become a traitor.And if he claimed it was just teasing, he'd be marked as a knight who dared mock the son of his lord.
Ridiculous. The coward who used to shake just hearing the Second Young Master's name—why is he suddenly so bold?
Cornered, Hendrick's eyes darted through empty space.Lucian was about to shout at him again when—
"What is going on here?"
"T-Second Young Master!"
Hendrick immediately bowed his head toward the newcomer.Unlike the way he had behaved toward Lucian, his attitude was nothing but reverent.
Jordi Valdeck.
Twenty years old this year, four years older than Lucian.A handsome young noble—an image befitting the term young lord—but the sharp, upward-slanted eyes gave his face a naturally harsh impression.Among the sons of House Valdeck, he was the one Lucian had seen the most in his previous life.Most of those reasons were far from pleasant, so Lucian held no fondness for him whatsoever.
Jordi swept his sharp gaze across the area before fixing it squarely on Lucian.
"You again, Lucian."
Again?
Lucian tilted his head slightly, and Jordi's lips curled into a mocking sneer.
"You fled the training hall a year ago because you couldn't withstand my instruction, yet you dare show your face here again? Just how thick-skinned are you to skulk around here?"
At the word instruction, Lucian narrowed his eyes slightly.He could guess well enough what had happened here a year ago.
So he humiliated him under the guise of training. Or perhaps he simply beat him outright.
If that were the case, it made perfect sense why the past Lucian had never wanted to come near the training grounds again.Of course, to the current Lucian, none of that mattered anymore.
"Someone like you shouldn't even—"
"Perfect timing, Brother. I actually had something I needed to confirm, and you arrived at just the right moment."
Lucian cut Jordi off before he could continue spouting nonsense.There was no reason to let the other side control the pace of the conversation.Jordi's expression twisted in irritation at having his words interrupted.
"Where did you pick up such a rude habit—cutting people off at whim? You truly never cease to disgust me!""That's not what's important right now. We need to confirm first whether or not you are a disgrace to House Valdeck, Brother.""What rubbish are you—!""I'll ask only one thing. Did you truly tell someone that learning sword techniques becomes impossible after the age of fifteen?"
Lucian moved straight to the point, and Jordi fell silent.A moment later, he glared at Lucian with eyes sharp enough to kill.
"And if I did?"
A threat, no doubt—laughable at best.What did it matter if some brat who had never risked his life on a battlefield tried to glare at him?Lucian let out a faint snort and tilted his head slightly.
"What do you mean, if? I'd simply have to ask Father to send you to a monastery.""What?"
"For someone who never learned sword techniques at all, ignorance might be understandable. But you—who have trained for years—don't even know the most basic of basics? That suggests not a lack of talent but a defect of the brain."
"—!"
"For now, it may only be a matter of forgetfulness. But what happens if it worsens and you end up soiling yourself in public? That would become a weakness for the entire family. So yes, Brother—you must go to a monastery. You'll need to live quietly from now on, out of the public eye."
The moment Lucian finished speaking, the training grounds fell silent—so silent that even the sound of a falling feather would have been heard.