Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Himanshu02“Tsk, tsk, I was envious of him at first, you know.”

“I wonder what Cain did to make His Highness dislike him so much.”

The fellow knights looked at Cain with pity as he writhed on the floor like a worm after being beaten up again.

It seemed like a great deal at first glance, didn’t it?

He got to spar with the top three knights in the order, and even if he got injured, they used precious elixirs to heal him without hesitation.

But that was only for a day or two.

“Maybe it’s a new torture method that His Highness invented?”

Even those who knew Cain well started to sympathize with him in this situation.

“I want to see His Highness.”

“He didn’t grant you permission.”

Cain failed to meet Eurius again today.

The training had been going on for more than a week now.

It was amazing that he endured it with his personality.

If it wasn’t for the first prince who ordered this, he would have run away long ago.

But Cain was reaching his limit.

Eurius, from his previous life, knew Cain as someone who spent his whole life lazing around in his territory.

‘I can’t live like this even if it costs me my neck!’

Eurius didn’t answer him and the people who beat him up didn’t say anything either.

In this situation, he had only one choice!

Midnight

Cain was sweating coldly as he hesitated in front of the castle gate.

He had finally decided to execute his escape plan.

But it was natural that he wavered when he stood in front of the gate.

‘If I run away, I can live anywhere, but it would be a disgrace to my family…’

And he had lived comfortably as a noble for so long that it was hard to give it up. But he hated dying (or being beaten) like this even more.

‘Maybe I should just endure it for a few more days?’

As he was thinking about various things, he heard a voice from behind.

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Eek!”

He turned around and felt his heart drop.

It was Eurius who greeted him at a time when everyone should be asleep.

“Your Highness, what are you doing here at this time?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d take a walk around the castle. Did you do the same?”

“Ha ha… yes.”

Cain desperately tried to act casual. It was a matter of life and death for him if he got caught.

“I heard you’ve been looking for me for a few days.”

Eurius looked at him with a curious expression. But Cain didn’t care about that right now.

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to thank Your Highness for giving me such good training!”

Eurius smiled faintly.

“I have high expectations for your talent, Sir Cain. Please don’t disappoint me.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Cain couldn’t open his mouth that night and couldn’t sleep well either.

The next day, he had to suffer from the torture disguised as training again.

The problem was that this happened every time he tried to escape.

“You really like taking walks at night, don’t you?”

“Well, yes. Ha ha…”

He had some sense.

He realized after meeting him three times that Eurius had some reason for tormenting him like this.

But how could he ask him directly when it could cost him his head?

He had no choice but to agonize over it every night.

‘Damn it. This is driving me crazy!’

Another month passed like this.

“He really has an amazing talent. I can see why His Highness is pushing him so hard.”

Heinz sighed as he submitted the report for that month.

…

st – Bernard Cain (3rd Squad)

He had only trained properly for a month, but his rank jumped by 10 places.

Of course, part of it was because he didn’t try hard at first, but Heinz also felt that Cain’s skills were improving very fast.“Didn’t they say his personality was the problem? No matter how lazy he is, he’ll do something if you squeeze him hard enough!”

“But lately he looks so depressed. I’m worried something might go wrong.”

“I have an idea for that too. Don’t worry too much.”

If you force someone who hates doing something to do it, they will resist at first. But that’s only temporary.

If you block all the ways to escape, they will eventually give up and do whatever they can.

And the final step is…

‘It’s time for the last stage…’

***

Cain lay down on his bed like a corpse after receiving treatment today and thought hard.

“Why does His Highness care so much about me trying to escape?”

His situation was literally a dilemma.

He hated receiving this training any longer. But Eurius blocked his last resort, which was escape.

He got up abruptly.

“Let’s end this today!”

He tried to escape for the seventh time today.

Of course, as always, Eurius greeted him warmly in front of the gate.

“Did you come for a walk again?”

“…”

Cain shook his head silently with a determined look.

Then he knelt down and handed him something politely with both hands.

It was an envelope.

[Resignation Letter from the Knight Order]

“Please accept it.”

He knelt down and didn’t get up for a while.

The first prince must have had some reason for blocking his escape.

‘But I can’t live like this even if I die!’

He had reached the end of his patience.

He had nothing to say even if Eurius cut off his head right now for trying to leave the order without permission.

“Hmm…”

Eurius didn’t get angry or look at him coldly.

“But I like you, Sir Cain.”

He smiled slightly after thinking for a moment.

“How about we make a bet?”

“…?”

“A duel.”

A little later

“Are you really going to keep your promise?”

“I swear on my name. Don’t worry.”

The condition that Eurius gave him for accepting his resignation was this.

“If you can land a single hit on me, I’ll let you go from the order peacefully.”

Normally, Cain wouldn’t even imagine raising his sword against the royal family with his personality. But he was so fed up with the training for the past month that he couldn’t think rationally.

‘Just one hit… one hit and I’m free…’

He repeated that in his mind as he faced Eurius.

Swoosh!

At that moment, Cain swung his sword with the most concentration in his life. But his opponent was too strong.

Swish

Eurius dodged all his attacks with simple movements without even clashing swords.

But Cain didn’t chase him recklessly. What he needed now was not victory, but landing a single hit on the first prince.

‘Just one hit!’

At this moment, his concentration and talent, honed by a month of harsh training like a blade, created a miraculous feat.

Shiiik

Unlike the first time, Cain’s sword seemed to swing slowly, as if he was doing it casually.

“…!”

But Eurius felt the sword approaching his face in an instant.

Surprisingly, Cain’s sword had pierced through his superhuman senses and reached him.

Swish!

Cain’s sword barely grazed his face and passed by.

‘I heard it was tricky swordsmanship, but I would have been hit if I didn’t have any prior knowledge.’

He felt relieved, but Cain tried to keep swinging his sword in a trance.

‘I got what I wanted, so let’s end it here for today!’

Clang!

Eurius finally swung his sword earnestly and pushed Cain back.

“Your Highness?”

Cain seemed to snap out of his trance and realized that his face was pale. He had just pointed his sword at the first prince’s neck.

But Eurius asked him calmly.

“That attack was very good. Is it a secret technique of your family?”

“No, it isn’t.”

His family was not a martial one.

He didn’t even know how he moved his sword just now.

“It was a pity this time. But if you polish that skill well, you might be able to challenge me with your sword.”

“I’m sorry.”

Cain was trembling pitifully.

He thought Eurius was mocking him. But the result was completely different.

“Although you failed, it was a pity, so I’ll reduce your special training time by a third from now on. The intensity will also be much lower.”

‘Huh?’

“And the promise about leaving the knight order is still valid. You can go for a night walk anytime you want to quit.”

Cain couldn’t understand what the emperor was saying. Did he mean that he would let him go if he really hit him?

“I know you’re not very diligent.”

“…”

Eurius continued with a regretful tone.

“But I don’t like seeing people with good talent wasting it, so I deliberately made you do such training.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

Cain bowed his head deeply. He had been dancing on the first prince’s palm from the beginning.

“But I also understand your feelings to some extent. It’s not a bad thing to want to live peacefully.”

Eurius smiled brightly and gave him his last words.

“So if you want freedom, work hard and land a blow on me.”

“I have committed a grave sin.”

“No, this is not a joke, but a sincere offer. It’s also a virtue of a ruler to let go of a servant who wants to leave.”

He put on a serious expression this time.

“But your talent is too precious and the knight order hasn’t been established for long, so I’m asking you to think about it.”

“…!”

Soon after, Eurius disappeared in front of him like a ghost.

‘He mastered the swordless technique faster than I expected. His innate nature is unavoidable, but I have to win his heart before he grows more.’

The strike that Cain showed just now was his own original swordsmanship from his previous life.

It looked like he was swinging slowly without any form or technique, but it was an extremely difficult swordsmanship to defend against.

[Bernard Cain]

Job: Intermediate Knight

Strength: B+ Agility: B Intelligence: B+ Spirit: B+ Force Aptitude: A+ Force: B

Disposition: Lazy, Irresponsible, Kind

[Trait]

Swordsmanship (A)

Swordless: A free and formless sword style. It is hard to gauge the point of attack and it has the characteristic of confusing the opponent.

The enlightenment of the swordless technique could be solved by time, but there was also a high probability of awakening when the mental state was pushed to the extreme.

In his previous life, he had realized this swordsmanship while doing his usual morning exercise.

If he had trained harder because of his laziness, he might have achieved enlightenment much sooner.

‘But he might run away before that, and that would be troublesome for me.’

So Eurius tried to keep him by offering him a duel as a condition.

But Cain’s talent was much better than he expected, and he seemed to have grasped the sense of the swordless already.

“Then all that’s left is his choice.”

In fact, Eurius thought he knew Cain’s personality better than anyone else.

He was a lord who didn’t participate in the civil war even though he had such great power in his previous life.

He did it only because he was too lazy.

He didn’t think it would be a good result if he forced him to stay in the knight order.

***

Cain was also lost in thought.

His laziness was like a natural trait and it was not easy to change such a long habit.

But the generosity that Eurius showed him this time was too big for him to ignore.

The next day.

He visited Eurius’s office early in the morning and bowed his head deeply.

His purpose was simple.

“I’ll stay in the knight order.”

Eurius smiled and patted his shoulder.

“Good choice!”

Of course, even after that, Cain was basically lazy and Eurius made him do harsh training, though not as much as before.

But the important thing was that Cain volunteered to stay as his knight.

‘That’s enough for now.’

He would have to do a lot of activities with this knight order in the future.

Then he would have a chance to build trust with him.

Eurius had gained a lazy but skilled knight.