Episode 167 ‘Is it today… It’s official training for the knights…’
Jorge went out to visit, breathing in the cool dawn air.
The buildings of McLane Town, which still felt awkward, came into view.
Meanwhile, people are busy moving around since dawn.
“Hey Jim! Come with me!”
“What’s wrong with you, Industrious One? You’re a little late today, aren’t you?”
“I lost sleep because my wife was ripped off…”
A smile appeared on his lips as he saw the bright faces of the farmers who started the morning earlier than anyone else.
‘It’s a nice place.’
It was a clear comparison with the Calia territory, which was pointed out as the main culprit of the civil war and fell.
– It’s McLine. Hehe, it was better. Go. Go and find freedom. Don’t follow your poor lord and live in a prison without bars.
Even though he felt sorry for the shabby smile of his master, Jorge could not refuse the offer.
It is not unreasonable to say that his age of 40 is the peak age for a top-class knight.
At this time, I did not want to waste time under surveillance and restrictions that could possibly last for decades.
Cowardly?
He only chose between the two options given by the king’s order.
He simply followed the orders of the king, the monarch’s monarch, that is, the true master of the knights of this country, and did not fail to follow the knight’s duty.
The excuse… didn’t work for me.
Although it is not the worst dishonor of surrendering to an enemy country.
‘The knight who changed the flag. Yes, that’s me. As such, I will definitely try to establish myself here.’
A top-class knight is a resource that can be treated preferentially no matter which territory or country you go to.
In fact, even in the McLane domain, which has emerged as a powerful force in the kingdom, the only top knights are the lord and his son, Logan McLane.
So that I can one day repay the favor to my former master who was considerate to me.
So as not to be ashamed of my name as the former Commander of the Knights of Calia.
Jorge pledged again to become the core of McLane.
‘Now is the beginning.’
It’s only been three days since I came to Macline Town from Calia Territory.
For the first time, I meet the people who can be said to be the real owners of this place.
McLane Knights.
“Aren’t you worried, brother?”
Before he knew it, his old confidant, Denmil, had caught up with him and expressed timid concern that was unbecoming of his size.
Jorge responded with a grin.
“Of course there will be territoriality. But what can we do from a merged position? We just have to put up with it.”
“It’s not a simple annexation; we were enemies who were exchanging swords not long ago. It may not be territorial.”
“Still, you have to endure it all. Never think about crashing or hitting.”
“But you still have respect, brother. If you think it’s too serious, I’ll take responsibility.”
“…What should I do if I come forward?”
“Even if I make an accident and get kicked out, the guy who treats you carelessly will disappear… Ugh! I’m sorry!”
“Don’t talk nonsense and just be patient. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes. So, this…”
Only then did Jorge let go of Denmil’s ears, who had been babbling nonsense.
For the time being, we need to be mentally prepared more than anything else.
‘I have no pride. This is the knight who changed the flag. ‘I have no pride…’
He promised himself over and over again as if he was chanting a spell, took a deep breath, and entered the knight training hall.
Sigh.
As soon as I entered, a knight bumped my shoulder.
“What are you doing standing at the entrance of Mr. Ai…”
Is it already starting?
Jorge sighed inwardly and saw the distorted expression of Denmil, who was in tears before him.
‘I told you to be patient. ‘It’s just the beginning.’
The moment when Jorge’s hand moves to block Denmil.
“Let’s keep our eyes straight… huh? That armor…? Wow! You’re new here! I was rude. I’m sorry.”
The driver in front of me lowered his head at a 90-degree angle and repeatedly apologized.
“uh…?”
“…?”
“I’m really sorry. I was in a hurry so I couldn’t see clearly.”
He looks like he’s really sorry and doesn’t know what to do.
‘what?’
Jorge and Denmil are momentarily confused by a situation that is completely different from what they imagined.
“Landon! I told you to bring a weapon, so how far… Huh? What’s there?”
A large knight approaching from afar.
The grimly distorted face clearly revealed the anger in his heart.
‘This is the real beginning.’
Jorge strengthens his resolve as he sees the approaching knight.
“Huh? Sir Jorge? Aren’t you Sir Jorge, Calia’s highest knight?”
The giant whose face changed into a smile in an instant lowered his posture and quickly approached and held out his hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Henderson, leader of Team 4 of the McLane Knights. I’ve heard a lot from you. I look forward to your continued support!”
Jorge’s eyes were shaking like a storm, even more than the violently shaking hand he had suddenly held out.
‘What on earth? ‘Why are they like this?’
Denmill, standing behind him, was also unable to say anything as he looked back and forth between Henderson and Jorge in confusion.
‘omg? Top rated article? that?’
Landon, the rank-and-file knight who first bumped into Jorge, turned pale at the words of his leader, Henderson.
It wasn’t just a mistake made by a high-level driver.
This was because the words of Captain Henderson, who was holding and shaking the hand of the top knight over there, came to mind.
– Are you tired? But do you know when our knights had the hardest time? It was when the Tethron Knights had just been merged. In the beginning, the atmosphere was a bit bad due to territoriality and sabotage.
– Isn’t that obvious? I almost got killed by my lord when I did that obvious thing. Not to the enemy, but to our lord!
– Have you ever seen a magic light while training?! Compared to back then, training now is like gymnastics!
– But now, the higher-ups have even held a meeting regarding issues of ‘discrimination’ and ‘equality’ within the Knights Templar. Do you know what this means?
– This means that if we become territorial towards the knights who have transferred, we will all be screwed. never! You should never say things like being territorial or sabotaging your business! Even when we didn’t have a family meeting, the lord seemed like a devil.
– If something goes wrong this time, not only the lord but also the archduke will tear us apart. You don’t know who gave us that damn horse riding training, do you? If the lord, father and son all turn into demons, we could actually die during training.
– If territoriality comes out of the mouths of transferred knights, and if it is because of you, know that your life will explode in the future. Do you understand?
A truly terrifying threat.
The members of Group 4, who had already suffered as much as they could from that ignorant leader, accepted the threat deep in their minds due to the fear that seeped into their bones.
But even now, while he was shaking hands, Henderson’s eyes glanced towards him, and he felt like his life would be at stake if he continued like this.
The moment his thoughts reached that point, Landon approached the knights in front of him.
“Wow! I’m sorry for not understanding that you are a top-class knight. Please teach me well in the future. I ask for your help!”
‘We were cutting each other not long ago.’
‘Have you all forgotten about it?’
The barrage of incomprehensible kindness that continued from left and right drained the spirits of Jorge and Denmil.
Their strange hospitality continued even after that.
“Oh, Sir Jorge. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Faces that clearly have memories of cutting each other in war speak of glory.
“Does the food here suit your taste? There’s an inn I know well, and it has barbecue…”
The driver, who was cutting down his subordinates with a devil-like face, recommended a good restaurant.
In the end, they had no choice but to return to their lodgings with a cultural shock that was contrary to their initial intentions.
And they weren’t the only ones who had that experience.
“What’s your intention?”
“That’s right. Isn’t this too strange?”
“It’s clearly a trap. The moment we fall for this trick and feel free to do so will be the moment they set off the trap.”
“What are they doing?”
Each of his former subordinates, who had raised their voices, fell silent at one word from Jorge.
Why do the owners bow down and come in when they have no choice but to bow down even if they leave them alone?
They could never know the answer to this question.
All we can do is guess.
– There are only about 30 people here who are pure members of the McLane Knights, including me and DeGrom. It is also strange that they are now becoming territorial towards other knights.
Just the words of Henderson, a large knight who was particularly friendly.
“Maybe this is why the McLane Knights are so strong.”
At those words, the heads of those who were once McLane’s enemies nodded simultaneously.
* * *
“No one had an accident, right?”
“I’m most worried about you, Henderson.”
“What are you talking about? I’m controlling it perfectly.”
Henderson snorted at deGrom’s words.
When conveying the decisions made at the team leader’s meeting to the members, he even added his own threats, and the members of the group were moving in an attitude to serve the knights who had transferred.
DeGrom nodded and looked around at the other leaders.
The main purpose of this collusion, which was created excluding only the young geniuses of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd groups who were closely related to the Archduke, was to control public opinion within the Knights Templar.
Everything for their own survival.
DeGrom, recalling past memories, shivered once before continuing.
“Well, I’m glad that everyone seems to be doing well. But don’t relax. This has to continue until regular training.”
“Understood, Lord deGrom.”
“But haven’t the instructions for the next knight commander been given yet?”
“Well, there was no word about that.”
“We would like Sir deGrom to be the leader…”
The leaders nodded, but deGrom shook his head.
“I think that will be difficult given the Archduke’s personality. Once the minimum level of trust is secured, he will only consider your skills.”
“Still, weren’t you the first among pure McLane graduates to reach the level of advanced rank?”
“I was lucky. You guys are lucky enough to overcome the danger of death ten times in a row.”
“I usually die before that.”
“So, I was lucky. When I was at Aegis… ugh, just thinking about it… Anyway, those three geniuses will reach the top level in no time, and that Henderson over there doesn’t seem to have much left either, so it’s no big deal.”
The rest of the knights looked back at Henderson with wide eyes in surprise at deGrom’s words.
In response, Henderson silently expressed his approval by shrugging his shoulders.
It was clear that the excellent intermediate swordsmanship of the Iron Blood Sword and the subsequent wars had raised the overall level of the Macline knights.
“But I, Sir deGrom…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Everything is up to the lord and the archduke to decide.”
DeGrom lightly dismissed the minority opinion(?) that favored him.
“Everything for the family!”
“for!”
That’s how I want to end the meeting.
“We’re in big trouble!”
bang!
“The Grand Duke is leading this regular training! The lord is observing!”
A knight rushed in and delivered despairing news.
At that moment, the top knights of McLane began to scream their murderous spirit toward their colleagues.
“Who on earth are you?!”
“Not me, absolutely! ”
“Catch the guy who made a mistake!”
“What kind of guy is this…!”
The arena of sexual intercourse that the knights had created to survive quickly became noisy again.
* * *
“There are a lot of unfamiliar faces. nice to meet. My name is Logan McLane. There’s no one who doesn’t know, right?”
“Yes!”
A brief introduction after standing on the podium.
The eyes of well over 300 knights were all focused on him.
‘There are definitely a lot of them.’
About 200 knights were transferred from the Calia territory that was acquired this time.
In addition, as McLane’s name became famous, there were free knights who requested appointments and joined in the past few weeks.
Most of them were people who lost their masters in the civil war, but the original free knights were not killed. Verification was necessary as most of the cases were kicked out for striking.
Even though my father filtered out more than ten people with serious disqualifications through interviews and the information guild Nox, a total of twenty-two free knights joined McLane.
Status of the family Logan felt proud once again because he could feel that his rank had improved just by looking at the expressions of the knights looking at him.
For some reason, the sight of the existing knights being very nervous bothered me, but that’s all I can say for sure. It was going to be resolved.
“Come on! This is the first regular training of the newly born McLane Knights. Since there are many new faces, it will take a slightly different format from the existing training.”
“…?”
When everyone’s curious eyes turned to Logan.
Logan smiled and informed them of the decisions made at the meeting.
“Our knights’ training will be It is famous for being a bit difficult. So, the existing McLane knights will become instructors and help new faces adapt to our training.”
At those words, the entire knights began to stir.
The one whose expression changed the most was the existing McLane knights, who were frozen.
” what? Are we not rolling?”
“We are rolling…?”
“Who wasn’t at fault?”
Those confused minds eventually converged in one direction.
“What on earth is going on…?
” You’re giving preferential treatment to knights?
Since when has our knights had such a good practice?
So this
is… ‘a test.’
A strange thought occurred in the minds of the MacLine drivers at the same time.
“Are you anxious?”
“Huh. Me too.”
“If we treat ourselves too harshly as instructors….”
“…we’ll get into trouble.”
“Let’s go to sleep. Equally. Equally. Same. Same.”
As they carefully controlled each other in the midst of their excitement.
Dark clouds were hanging over the faces of the knights who had moved.
“They said they were going to make a plan and do it.”
“They treated me well.”
“It was that much harder. “I guess I will.”
“But I have to endure it.”
“Of course.”
Amidst misunderstandings,
the first regular training of the newly born Knights of McLane was conducted.
