Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 16

A crisis was also an opportunity.

Roden already knew this fact from his past life.

Just as being excommunicated from the Penitudo mage tower and working as a librarian had completely changed Roden's life.

For that reason, when someone in the 3rd Infantry Platoon realized he had changed.

When the situation arose where the Glockner family might once again become aware of Roden's existence due to this.

Roden sought to use this crisis to his advantage instead.

That was precisely the reason he intended to pass on the method of increasing the aura absorption rate to Chevalier.

However, if the story were to unfold this way, someone might ask.

How this would benefit Roden.

But the reason was simple.

‘Because war is not something you fight alone.’

That was right.

Roden planned to take this opportunity to make the 3rd Infantry Platoon stronger and increase his chances of survival in the war.

When the platoon became stronger like this, his chances of survival increased greatly compared to when he was strong alone.

And for taking the first step in the platoon's growth, there was no one better than Chevalier, who was in charge of training.

It was for this reason that Roden had decided to teach Chevalier his secret method for raising aura proficiency.

Of course, he wasn't just going to tell him for free.

Roden intended to get a promise from Chevalier in exchange for teaching him the secret method.

Chevalier asked.

“For me to get stronger. Just what are you planning to teach me…. And what is this about a promise?”

Roden first explained about the promise.

“The promise is simple. Just keep treating me like a moron, just as you have been.”

“…What?”

Chevalier was flustered.

He had never expected to hear such a thing from Roden.

Moreover, to treat him like a moron as he had been.

Doesn't that mean he knew he had been treated like a moron all this time?

As soon as his thoughts reached this point, Chevalier instinctively denied it.

“I have never treated you like a moron, Platoon Leader.”

But of course, Roden did not believe him.

“Aey. What do you really take me for? I'm not an idiot. I told you. Turns out I was more talented at using my head than I thought.”

“…But it is truly a misunderstanding. I have never, ever treated you like a moron, Platoon Leader.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“For real?”

“……”

Chevalier, who was never good at lying to begin with, could no longer be so brazen and shut his mouth.

At this, Roden let out a chuckle, and said.

“Alright. I get it. Let’s just say that’s the case. I’ll change the terms of the promise instead. From now on, treat me like a moron.”

It would be one thing if he wanted to stop being treated like a moron.

But to ask to continue being treated like one.

Chevalier couldn't understand the intention behind this promise.

That was why he asked.

“Why do you want to remain a moron?”

But Roden did not miss this and picked on his words.

“Remain? Does that mean you’ve really been treating me like a moron all this time?”

Flustered again, Chevalier hurriedly made an excuse.

“That’s not it…”

“It is. You asked me why I wanted to ‘remain.’ Not ‘become.’”

“……”

In the end, Chevalier, at a loss for words, shut his mouth.

Watching him, Roden laughed cheerfully.

“Haha. It's a joke. I was just teasing you a bit. Anyway, to answer your question, it's because it's advantageous for me.”

“Advantageous?”

“Yes. That way, I won't be treated as a rival by my tremendous siblings. For becoming the heir of the family.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Chevalier understand why Roden wanted to remain a moron.

It was a relief that Chevalier's head wasn't bad, although he was somewhat rigid.

If it hadn't been, the explanation would have become unnecessarily long.

“So, Deputy Platoon Leader, you just have to treat me like a moron from now on. So that people think I'm still living in a drunken stupor. If you just make this promise, I'll tell you a way for the Deputy Platoon Leader to get stronger twice as fast.”

“……”

In truth, Chevalier did not really trust Roden's words that he would make him stronger twice as fast as before.

He acknowledged that Roden had changed from before.

But to acknowledge that he had figured out such a method was a separate issue.

But despite that, Chevalier nodded.

“Alright. I promise.”

It was because there was absolutely nothing to lose by making the promise.

‘Above all, if I think of it as a superior's order, there's no reason I can't keep the promise.’

After saying he would keep the promise, he became even more curious.

About what Roden would say.

“Good. Then I guess it's time for me to reward you for the promise. To get stronger twice as fast, you first need to know the principle by which aura accumulates in the body.”

Through Roden's mouth, the results of his research so far were conveyed to Chevalier one by one.

At the same time, Chevalier's eyes gradually widened.

***

There was not a single flaw in Roden's explanation.

For that reason, Chevalier couldn't help but become more and more engrossed in the explanation.

On one hand, he had this thought.

That perhaps his platoon leader, whom everyone called a moron, was actually smart all along.

Certainly, the intellectual ability Roden was currently showing could only be explained as innate.

It was definitely not an intellectual ability that could be obtained by reading books diligently for a few days.

However, that didn't mean that Chevalier completely believed Roden's words.

Even after hearing the flawless explanation, Chevalier was still half-convinced, half-doubting Roden's story that he could increase the aura absorption rate.

Rather, the very eloquence of the explanation instilled a sense of aversion in Chevalier.

As if he were watching the tricks of a swindler.

If Roden had known his inner thoughts, it would have been a truly unfair situation for him.

Roden's eloquence was only because, in his past life, he had to explain his logic for his hypotheses to cranky mages and refute their counterarguments.

But to be treated as a swindler just for being well-spoken.

It was bound to be unfair.

But Roden had that much experience, so he could tell at a glance.

That Chevalier couldn't easily believe his words.

For that reason, Roden, who had been excitedly conducting a simple academic presentation for the first time in a long while, stopped any further explanation and said.

“Just three days. For just three days, do as I say. Then you'll come to believe my words.”

It was always better to show once than to explain a hundred times.

It was always like that in the past when he presented his magic hypotheses.

Only after Roden finished his explanation and Yusupa directly showed an experiment to prove it did admiration and applause follow.

And so, Chevalier followed Roden with the thought of being deceived for just three days.

First, he did stretching before the regular training began.

At that, the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, who were gathering late in the training ground with yawns, saw the scene and murmured.

“What's that? Isn't that the ridiculous dance the Platoon Leader was doing?”

“What's with the Deputy Platoon Leader all of a sudden? Did he eat something bad?”

As befitting the 3rd Infantry Platoon with its lax discipline, they spoke openly as if they wanted everyone to hear.

Because of that, Chevalier, who was stretching his body following Roden, felt his face flush for no reason.

But he endured it and proceeded with the stretching.

It was a relief that the stretching time was short.

However, perhaps because the aftereffect of the stretching was greater than expected, the expressions of the 3rd Infantry Platoon soldiers looking at Chevalier were quite insolent.

They were treating Chevalier as if he had been infected with the ‘Moron Contagion(?)’ that Roden was suffering from.

In the end, Chevalier, unable to bear it, flared up and raised his voice.

“Everyone, prepare for the run! Today's run will be accompanied by taking off your shirts!”

As autumn officially began, the weather had become much colder.

The daily temperature range was so large that the temperature sometimes dropped below zero at dawn.

It was for this reason that Chevalier had not been doing the shirtless run during regular training recently.

But the angry Chevalier was merciless, and thanks to him, the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon had to pay dearly for their careless fooling around.

Chevalier thought as he watched the soldiers run while grumbling.

‘Yes. I am just a soldier following a superior's order. Let's just endure for 3 days, just 3 days.’

And so, Chevalier did as Roden told him, even doing stretching and massage after the regular training was over.

After that, he went straight to the river and performed a cold water compress in the guise of a shower.

Since he had emphasized that it was more important to soak his body in the water for a long time than to wash cleanly, he followed this instruction as well.

Moreover, Roden's demands did not end there.

Roden forced Chevalier to sleep for nine hours.

“Do I have to force myself to sleep even if I wake up? My usual sleeping time is six hours.”

“Six hours is too short. Even if you wake up in the middle, somehow fall back asleep and complete the nine hours. It'll only be a little hard at first, but you'll get used to it quickly. Sleep is the most important, so be sure to keep that in mind.”

In the end, Chevalier did as Roden told him and filled the nine hours of sleep time.

Towards the end, he almost couldn't fall asleep and just lay in bed for an hour, but he did his best to follow the order.

***

The next day.

Chevalier, who had forced his eyes shut, got up from the military cot and, before going to wash his face, performed his meditation in a prayer-like posture as usual.

Knights usually observed the state of their bodies through meditation like this.

It was to check how much aura had accumulated compared to the previous day.

Of course, an exact confirmation was a bit difficult.

In the first place, it was difficult for knights to see mana in its natural state, unlike mages.

Later, around the 5-star level, their Aura Sense would develop greatly, and this would also become possible, but until then, they could never see mana in its natural state.

Fortunately, the aura, which was refined mana, was somewhat visible, so it was possible to check the state of the body through meditation.

But even with this, if not much aura had accumulated compared to the previous day, he couldn't feel much of a change.

So, Chevalier usually felt that his aura had accumulated once every three days.

It wasn't anything special.

The cycle in which Chevalier usually felt the change in his aura was about 3 days.

Originally, the race of knights was accustomed to performing training that felt like it yielded almost no results, over and over, and making gradual progress.

For that reason, Chevalier focused on his meditation without great expectations.

But then,

‘Huh?’

Not long after starting his meditation, Chevalier felt a change in his aura.

He couldn't help but be surprised.

It was because Chevalier had felt a change in his aura just yesterday.

In other words, it meant that it was normal for him not to feel any change in his aura today, no matter what.

‘But I can clearly feel a change. Aura has definitely accumulated. Don't tell me, was that method from yesterday effective?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find any other reason.

For that reason, Chevalier's expression was colored with shock.