Chapter 155
Summing up what Raiz-sama had said—or rather, even the unspoken implications—this was what it came down to.
Rosvel had caught Raiz-sama’s eye during the exercises the other day, and the doors of the Tenth Knight Order had now opened to him.
Rosvel had stood out among the soldiers who’d been accepted. Just as he had with me, Raiz-sama summoned Rosvel to hear him out.
Apparently, the eager Rosvel had opened with, “You can appoint me unit commander today!” That was certainly a bold thing to say. His audience was none other than Raiz-sama.
Yes, his audience was Raiz-sama.
Amused by Rosvel’s words, Raiz-sama said, “Then we’ll hold five trials. Let’s see... We’ll have three rounds for each. If you win more than you lose in even one, I’ll appoint you unit commander.”
And that was why we’d been summoned.
The trials were “mounted spear combat,” “swordsmanship,” “test of strength,” “archery,” and “board game.” They were practically tailor-made for us—or rather, it was obvious Raiz-sama had chosen them for our sake.
Given how Raiz-sama had set everything up, and the fact that Grants-sama and Lapiria-sama were both here but we were the ones summoned, did he expect me to take Rosvel under my wing?
Any of us could have handled those five contests without trouble, whether it was Grants-sama’s unit or Lapiria-sama’s.
I couldn’t tell if he intended to assign Rosvel to my unit, but for now, I had no choice but to go along with it.
“I understand what you want. But I think it might be a little unfair for five of us to go up against just Rosvel.”
It wasn’t Raiz-sama who reacted to my words, but Rosvel.
“Don’t worry! I can handle that much on my own!” he said. Wow, he was confident. But even so, the impossible was impossible.
“No, you may be confident, but shouldn’t a unit commander be someone who can entrust things to his subordinates?”
Rosvel was taken aback by my point. Then, after thinking for a moment...
“Then can I have a little time? I’ll go gather them!” he said, and ran off somewhere without even waiting for our reply.
The command room fell silent for a while.
“Um...” I was struggling to think of what to say when Raiz-sama spoke first.
“Well? Interesting, isn’t he?”
“Interesting...? I suppose he did use the long-handled spear in an interesting way during the exercises.”
“Yes. Someone with ideas that odd would do well with an eccentric commander.”
...Huh? Was he saying I was eccentric?
By the time I was about to object to Raiz-sama, Rosvel came rushing back in with, “Sorry to keep you waiting!” That was fast. Had he just brought along some soldiers who happened to be nearby?
Looking closer, all the soldiers Rosvel had brought with him were unfamiliar faces.
From their nervousness and slightly timid air, I could tell they were new recruits who’d been assigned this time. Then it clicked.
“Could you be the new recruits who charged with Rosvel?”
“Oh! You figured it out! They’re my first subordinates!” Rosvel said proudly, puffing out his chest.
The new recruits he’d called his subordinates looked a little dissatisfied, but they were cowed by the atmosphere and kept quiet.
So Rosvel had forced them into that charge during the exercises, too. Well, whatever. At least now they couldn’t complain that the numbers were unfair. We could give it our all.
“Then, on our side, the same person will compete in each trial. Your side can have the same person compete multiple times, or switch them out. Does that work?”
“Oh, in that case, could we make each trial five rounds? I think we’ll have a better chance if we can wear you down.”
“I don’t mind...” I looked to Raiz-sama, who replied, “I have no objection.”
Well, it wasn’t a bad idea, except that five rounds wouldn’t be enough to tire us out.
I was beginning to understand. Rosvel had a good eye for things. He just didn’t flesh out his ideas enough.
If I were proposing the same conditions, I’d ask, “Would it be all right to have twenty-five matches in total, and win three of them in any one trial?”
If they agreed, we’d have it made. We’d try each opponent once, then spend the remaining twenty matches against whoever seemed easiest to beat. That might actually wear them down, and if we were prioritizing our chances of winning, it seemed like the most efficient approach.
Of course, I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Then it’s settled. Let’s get started.” And with that, we all made our way to the Tenth Knight Order’s training grounds.
The first contest was mounted combat. Ryuzel would represent us.
For new recruits who probably weren’t used to riding, this was likely the hardest of the trials to win. If I were them, it’d be the first contest I’d give up on.
As expected, it was over without much of a fight. Only one of the new recruits, a tall one, put up a decent showing. Compared to the others, that was.
Next was swordsmanship. Frein would represent us.
Frein was a hardworking noble who’d studied various martial arts since childhood. He was an all-rounder, proficient in swordsmanship, spear techniques, and archery. He’d once said, “I’m a jack of all trades who never mastered any of them,” but I honestly thought he was amazing.
That one didn’t take long to decide, either. The only new recruit whose form looked polished might have been connected to a noble family.
Then came the test of strength. Naturally, Dick would represent us.
“This is a pain. You can all come at me at once if you want.” At Dick’s words, all five new recruits lunged at him together. He promptly tossed them all aside.
There was no need to say anything about the archery contest.
After all, their opponent was Azure Bow Wickhart, one of the ten greatest archers on the continent.
And then came the board game. The very one that had given Prince Zerand a bit of trauma.
I would be competing.
Well, I won without much trouble. Rosvel tried using an unconventional strategy, but it wasn’t much of a problem.
And so, after twenty-five matches, we ended with twenty-five wins—a result that was a little unsporting of us.
I was a little worried he might lose his confidence, but that turned out to be a needless concern.
“Incredible... So this is the Tenth Knight Order... Raiz-sama! I want to learn all sorts of things under Roa-san!” he replied, with admirable honesty and enthusiasm.
“I see. If you’re that set on it, I won’t stop you. Roa, what do you think?”
There was no question of what I thought. Raiz-sama had already gauged Rosvel’s personality to some extent and knew how things would turn out. I had no words to object.
In the end, I wound up taking care of not only Rosvel, but all five of the new recruits who’d participated.