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Chapter 25
The order was quickly decided, and the first challenger stepped forward before Dayton.
After bowing deeply, the knight suddenly pulled off his shirt.
His well-built muscles were revealed, and with a spirited shout, he declared:
“I’ll be taking off my shirt today too, just like the Commander!”
No one knew what significance that had, but the other knights seemed impressed.
One after another, they stripped off their upper garments, making the scene surprisingly dazzling.
Perhaps because training all day was their profession, not a single one of them lacked a well-developed physique.
“Commander, may we begin?”
“…Go ahead.”
The two men faced each other, holding wooden practice swords loosely.
This was Dayton’s first sparring match since returning from the war.
Dayton’s first opponent was Danny.
Before Dayton had left for the battlefield, Danny was the knight who had sparred with him the most.
Perhaps because of that, he looked like the oldest and most experienced knight present.
Though “old” only meant somewhere in his mid-thirties.
Considering most knights retired after turning thirty, it was still a respectable age.
Danny chuckled casually.
“The guys who aren’t here today are going to be pounding the ground in jealousy when they hear about this.”
“…”
“A lot of the newer recruits joined just because they wanted to see you in person, Commander.”
His words were proven true by the younger knights nearby.
Several knights who looked even younger than the rest stared at Dayton and Danny with eyes full of anticipation.
It was understandable.
How many people had joined the Colin Knights simply to meet him?
Dayton was a hero of the Empire.
The soldiers and knights who had survived thanks to him spread stories of his exploits like traveling bards.
As the silent contest of wills between Dayton and Danny continued, the excited atmosphere gradually settled into tense anticipation.
“I’ll make the first move.”
With a sharp shout, Danny launched forward like an arrow.
His wooden sword came crashing down.
Dayton blocked it heavily.
They said a dried fish was still a fish.
Apparently, skill never truly disappeared.
Dayton defended far better than anyone expected.
Danny’s relentless attacks came one after another without pause.
Yet every strike was stopped by Dayton’s practice sword.
His movements weren’t perfectly smooth.
They were stiff and occasionally jerky.
But it didn’t seem like a serious problem.
The issue was something else.
After blocking an attack, Dayton never counterattacked.
He only defended.
His expression remained rigid.
His lips stayed tightly pressed together.
Cold sweat formed on his forehead.
He looked completely unwilling to attack.
His hands trembled faintly.
But because his defenses were so precise, nobody else seemed to notice.
I knew Dayton wasn’t choosing not to attack.
He couldn’t.
The other knights seemed to interpret things differently.
Danny apparently felt the same.
“Commander, you don’t need to go easy on me just because it’s been a while!”
The more Dayton blocked, the sharper Danny’s attacks became.
The observing knights watched intently.
One knight clenched his fists and shouted:
“Commander! Danny has the fastest sword in the Colin Knights!”
“Why are you bragging when every strike is getting blocked?!”
Danny increased his speed even further.
So ‘too fast for the eye to follow’ wasn’t just an expression!
I stared at him in admiration.
I had always thought that phrase only existed in novels and comics.
I’d assumed he was just a fit middle-aged man.
Apparently he hadn’t retired because his skills were simply that exceptional.
“Hyaaah!”
“…!”
Grinding his teeth, Danny unleashed another powerful attack.
At first I thought this might be too much for Dayton in his current condition.
Yet somehow, his instincts had begun returning.
At the last possible moment, he blocked or redirected every strike.
Still, he never attacked.
When Danny brought down another heavy strike from above, Dayton shoved him back forcefully.
Danny stumbled several steps before regaining his footing.
I quietly sighed.
Standing there exchanging blows would eventually help Dayton regain his feel for combat.
But if he never attacked, none of it would matter.
No matter how well he defended, he’d eventually lose.
“Why isn’t the Commander attacking?”
“Because he’s worried about hurting Danny!”
“But this isn’t really sparring at that point.”
“Only defending is far harder. Especially against someone like Danny.”
“…”
“Relax. The Commander obviously has a reason. Just watch.”
“Y-Yes!”
Their whispers carried all the way to me.
It was time to intervene.
If this continued much longer, they might start finding Dayton’s behavior suspicious.
“Danny. Your name is Danny, correct?”
My sudden voice interrupted the flow of the duel.
The tension broke immediately.
Every eye turned toward me.
Breathing heavily, Dayton looked at me a moment later.
“I’m Danny Pollan, Your Highness.”
“Sir Pollan.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Danny bowed respectfully.
“Dayton and I made a wager.”
“A wager…?”
Instead of answering, I pointed toward Dayton’s feet.
Everyone looked down.
Even Dayton himself.
The unpaved dirt ground clearly showed the marks of his movement.
Or rather—
The lack of it.
There were footprints everywhere.
But every single one belonged to his left foot.
“My goodness…”
“So you’ve been fighting without moving from your spot this whole time?”
“…”
Danny and the other knights erupted into murmurs.
Judging by his expression, even Dayton hadn’t realized it.
He stared thoughtfully at the ground.
In truth, it was probably because tension had frozen him in place.
But it made for a perfect excuse.
“The wager was that he wouldn’t move one foot or attack.”
“That explains it…”
“So that’s why he was only defending.”
“The fact he can do that against Danny proves he’s still the Commander.”
“He’s gotten even stronger.”
Fortunately, none of them questioned it.
The younger knights looked at Dayton with even greater admiration.
Their respect was practically overflowing.
Looking around at them, I continued:
“So if any of you can force Grand Duke Colin to make even a single attack, your side wins.”
“Ooooooh!”
“And if Grand Duke Colin never attacks until the end, then he wins.”
One knight immediately raised his hand.
I nodded.
“My name is Ethan Murston, Your Highness.”
“Sir Murston.”
“If the Commander only defends, couldn’t the match continue forever? Doesn’t that make the wager unfair to him?”
“Good point. Then we’ll add a time limit.”
And so the rules were established.
Each match would last five minutes.
The challenger’s goal was to force Dayton to attack.
Now that there was a clear objective, the knights became even more enthusiastic.
The sparring continued for nearly an hour, including breaks and changes of opponents.
In the end—
Dayton won the wager.
“If you’d twisted your body a little more to the left there, the Commander would’ve had no choice but to counter.”
“Ethan, your wrist twisted slightly during that final strike…”
“I think your stance was too low. Next time…”
After the matches ended, the knights enthusiastically reviewed their performances.
Some regretted missed opportunities.
Others discussed ways to improve.
The one thing they all had in common was how inspired they were by the sparring.
Everyone except the man who had defeated all of them.
Sweeping his sweat-soaked hair back with one hand, Dayton didn’t seem even slightly out of breath.
“I wonder how much basic training I’d need to become like the Commander.”
“I should add two extra sets of fundamentals starting tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? We should start today!”
The knights clearly thought it looked cool.
But knowing the truth, all I could see was stubborn foolishness.
No matter how intense your conditioning was, how could someone sweat that much without breathing heavily?
It was impossible.
At least right now, Dayton was simply so tense that he couldn’t even breathe properly.
Leaving the excited knights behind, he subtly guided me toward the main gate.
“…I’ll escort Your Highness back to the annex now.”
“I told you, I’m not going.”
“Your Highness.”
“Before telling me to return, don’t you have something else you should say?”
After a brief hesitation, Dayton quietly confessed:
“I know you’re upset because I broke my promise and stopped coming to the annex.”
Just as he said.
After the day he’d nearly attacked the butler, he’d spent several nights there.
Then suddenly, he’d stopped coming altogether.
“I’ve been busy.”
“It seems Grand Duke Colin will continue being busy today as well.”
To be fair, he really had been busy.
The day after visiting Caleb and me, he’d immediately left to inspect construction sites in Ine.
But even after returning, he never came back to the annex.
“…I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re the one suffering, not me.”
“I’m sorry.”
After apologizing again, he continued:
“Those few nights I spent sleeping in the annex… my symptoms improved. So I thought I was fine.”
He lowered his gaze.
“…I was mistaken.”
I clicked my tongue.
His expression darkened further.
There wasn’t much point in scolding someone who was already reflecting on his mistake.
So I simply nodded.
“Finish your work and come to the annex.”
“I will. Please return there first.”
“Fine.”
Only then did the tension leave his shoulders.
He called over one of the knights.
“The carriage has already been prepared.”
Dayton excused himself to wash off the sweat, while a knight escorted me to the carriage.
I boarded and waited.
A short time later, movement could be heard outside.
Hurried footsteps approached.
Then someone called out to Dayton.
