Slime Reincarnation

The knight order’s training grounds erupted in thunderous cheers. The mock battle against the so called hero. Nine promising young knights had been handled with ease, and then, facing the tenth challenger, Commander Gracia Spelcio himself, he had brilliantly knocked the hero’s sword away and won the mock battle.

"That’s our commander for you!" "Magnificent!" "I’ve fallen for you all over again, commander!"

...Some of those remarks sounded a bit concerning, but the commander’s dignity and the knight order’s pride had been preserved. Watching the knights cheering for their commander, I felt like I might have even contributed a little to their sense of unity, which wasn’t such a bad feeling.

"Yabe, are you alright?"

Irina called out to me as I returned to the group.

"Yeah, of course I’m fine. The commander was impressively strong."

"Didn’t you use any magic, my husband? Something amazing like when you defeated Garuard..."

I dashed over and clapped a hand over Fileontina’s mouth. Why was she being such a sore loser on my behalf?

"Never mind that! It was just a mock battle with the knight order! Magic would be dangerous, so let’s not mention it, okay?"

I whispered this while stepping to the side so as not to dampen the knights’ celebratory mood.

Still, that sword art from earlier bothered me. The Hundred Strike Combo before it had felt like a technique built purely on volume of strikes, with a bit of a chuunibyou flavor to it, honestly. But that Dragon’s Jaw sword art he unleashed afterward had carried magical power in a way distinctly different from simple body reinforcement.

(Could that have been... a skill?)

In truth, I’d fought against magical beasts plenty of times, but I had very little combat experience against humans, aside from a few bandits here and there. It was possible that high level humans possessed techniques in the form of skills. ...Though of course, being the no cheat type, I didn’t have a single skill to my name!

Damn my luck!

Hm? Was Subspace Compression Storage a skill? ...No, that was just my own grit. A new door that opened at the end of my circulating energy. Yeah, that’s it.

Even so, I really ought to learn more about skills. But it would feel rude to ask too much of the commander. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a man of quite high rank I already knew? Zoria, guild master of the Adventurers’ Guild in the town of Sorenarini. A former A rank adventurer would probably have sword skills of his own.

(Alright, I’ll bring another souvenir along and ask him for a mock battle using skills instead.)

Once I got back near Kaso Village, I’d visit Zoria and ask him to train me.

As training resumed, I called Commander Gracia over to exchange information.

"How much do you know about your sister Krelia being pushed toward removal?"

"Well, I’ve confirmed that Sandric von Pleasure, the third son of the Pleasure ducal house, is the one pulling the strings..."

"They seem to be quite persistent about it. As a countermeasure, like I mentioned before lunch, if we watch the assignment map alongside where these ruffian incidents keep happening, and pin down their connections early, we should be able to act before the public starts losing confidence in the capital’s safety."

"It’s frustrating. We can’t exactly go marching into the capital’s streets ourselves."

"If we can identify where the hired thugs are likely to show up, could the knight order handle catching them under some pretext, on their way home, during outdoor training, that sort of thing?"

"Yeah... let’s cooperate as much as we can. Though if we get too involved directly, it might invite criticism that the capital’s guard alone can’t handle things, so it’ll have to be the kind of help that can pass off as coincidence."

"Then I’ll pass along as much detail as I can about where the thugs are likely to appear. When a chick brings you a letter, please check its contents."

"A chick delivers letters for you?"

"That’s right, it’s basically one of my tamed creatures. Krelia seems like a genuinely hardworking, sincere person, so I want to support her. If someone as rotten as Sandric ends up as captain, the future of public order in the capital looks pretty grim."

"I appreciate the support, but could you please spare me from making Krelia one of your wives? I think you’ve already got quite enough wives as it is."

"Can’t argue with that! But don’t worry, I’m not trying to court Krelia or anything, I promise."

"Alright, I’ll count on you then."

I asked for his continued cooperation, my smile twitching slightly at Commander Gracia’s refreshing grin.

On the carriage ride back to the Coluna Frontier Count’s residence after leaving the castle, I made a suggestion to Fenberg.

"Lord Fenberg, before we get back, let’s go pick up however many of the sasumata the blacksmith’s finished so far."

"The sasumata... quite the weapon. I’m planning to have our own guards keep them on hand as standard equipment too. Though you ordered quite a large number, didn’t you, Sir Yabe?"

"I passed the idea along to Krelia Spelcio, captain of the capital guard, as well. But I imagine budget constraints or pressure on the blacksmiths might keep things from going smoothly on her end. So I want to have a large batch made on our side and hand over a decent number tomorrow. After all, there’s no need to temper a blade, it’s just iron rods bent and joined together."

"True, and it’s a weapon specialized purely for restraining an opponent. Being non lethal is remarkably convenient too."

"Let’s go pick some up right away."

We decided to stop by the blacksmith’s shop before heading back to the residence.

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[A/N: Hope everyone’s liking the story so far! The pace will stay balanced, not draggy or not too fast, just a good enjoyable balance! Please leave feedbacks if you have read this far! Thanks for reading :D]