How to Live as a Swordmaster of the Enemy Nation

Special Training

As Gregory returned to the knight order, he pondered what kinds of training he should assign to his comrades to efficiently build their strength.

The first was horseback riding.

To become a great general on the battlefield, one must have mobility. It was not feasible to run across those vast battlefields every time. Therefore, being able to ride a horse—quickly and accurately deploying to the desired position—was essential.

Fifteen horses had been supplied to the knight order. Thanks to Hemingway's timely support, they were able to practice horseback riding.

Brea and Elisabeth could ride without difficulty. They had trained enough to pass through the prepared practice course without issue.

"Waaah—! S-someone save me!"

The key was whether they could wield swords while letting go of the reins. Sure enough, as soon as the reins were released, the horse began to buck wildly. It was clear they would not be able to swing a sword while atop the unsettled horse.

One should certainly be able to fight with a sword while riding in war. Seeing this, perhaps it was fortunate that warfare had been postponed.

"Calm down. If you don't stay calm, the horse won't either."

Gregory looked at Brea as he explained the code of conduct. After hearing his words, Brea quickly leaned her upper body forward to maintain balance. In urgent situations, staying calm is often half the battle. Brea readily accepted Gregory's advice.

"O-okay. W-what next?"

"Smack the reins with one hand, and grip the sword tightly with the other."

"Smack the reins?"

"Yeah. Then the horse will probably..."

Hiiing—!

"Ahhhhh—!"

Gregory shook his head from side to side as he watched Brea. He then turned to see how Elisabeth was doing.

Perhaps because of her calm nature, Elisabeth was unexpectedly composed. She must have practiced riding regularly from the start, as she displayed excellent horsemanship.

Her unexpected charm stood out. Her gently swaying long brown hair, large brown eyes, and the faint blush that colored her cheeks and the tips of her ears only heightened her elegance. She stared steadily at Gregory.

Gregory, flustered, turned his head away.

"D-did I get something on me?"

"Hm? No, it's not that. What should I do now?"

She was simply waiting to receive her own instructions from Gregory, just as he had explained the code of conduct to Brea.

"A-ah. Can you try swordsmanship while riding?"

Elisabeth skillfully stretched her sword back, struck the reins one-handed, and set her horse off. She showed an experienced proficiency, as if well practiced in downward strikes.

"Stop. That's enough."

Elisabeth gracefully dismounted the horse. That appearance, with her classical air, made her seem all the more elegant. She then asked Gregory,

"Really? What should I do now?"

"Hmm... Go see Ernest now."

Ernest was also instructing the others. The reason Walter wasn't teaching directly was because Gregory's comrades had taken a dislike to Walter, saying he had an eccentric temperament, so Gregory had made a separate request to Ernest.

Kylas, Leonyx, and Amelia also judged it best for Ernest, who had recently broken through the third-rank barrier, to teach from experience rather than training them directly; so they agreed and went off to pursue their own training for a while.

Adrian and Alessandro, who had come over to Gregory after experiencing Ernest's rigorous training.

Adrian demonstrated strong riding skills without much trouble, but then Alessandro muttered in a crawling voice,

"H-hey, Gregory, can I not do horseback riding? I can't ride..."

Gregory thought his timid tone was just grumbling from being dragged into tough training, but that wasn't the case. According to Alessandro, he had fallen off a horse as a child and nearly been trampled, and the trauma from that incident left him unable to ride since.

It was truly regretful—a man who was skilled enough with the sword to join the knight order, but could not ride a horse. Gregory thought he must have consistently trained as a noble, but apparently not in this case.

He had considered situations like this.

"Really? I actually have a good idea."

Gregory himself hadn't been good at horseback riding in his previous life and had really struggled in training. To overcome that, he tried every method he could think of.

He brought over various materials and began crafting something.

Clack, clack—without hesitation, he constructed something, and soon it was finished. Alessandro couldn't do anything but watch Gregory's unexpected actions.

Gregory had built a dummy horse, the same height and size as a real one, to help Alessandro overcome his trauma. Outwardly, it looked perfectly acceptable. Even though it had been made in a short time, the effort put into it was evident.

"B-but this is too embarrassing. If the others find out I can't ride..."

"Then will you live in shame your whole life? Don't you want to be a great swordsman? Do you really think you'll become one with such a flimsy ambition?"

Gregory pressed Alessandro forcefully with genuine persuasion. It wasn't for himself but truly for Alessandro's own sake.

At the crossroads of choice, Alessandro hesitated. The trauma must have been intense.

"... That's true, but do you really think I'll overcome it with this?"

"If you wanna earn real credit when you win a war, don't you need to overcome this? What kind of commander becomes a great general without even being able to ride? Or do you really think that's possible?"

Alessandro had no choice and felt forced to choose. He began to think about what he truly wanted and what he needed to do to become a true swordsman.

Gregory's words made sense. There are many reasons—fear, anxiety, worry. But no matter what the reason, you won't move forward if you don't try.

And if you don't overcome it—being a swordsman and all that—surely, he'd be expelled from the knight order.

Thanks to Gregory, Alessandro gained confidence. Although it had always been a mountain he'd have to climb someday, now he had a comrade to help him up.

Still, no matter how much help you have, if you don't do something for yourself, nothing will change, and no one can really help you.

After much deliberation, Alessandro asked Gregory,

"T-then can I at least do it somewhere no one can see...?"

It seemed he was uncomfortable with others watching. Although each of his remarks was strong, Gregory worried, but figured there was nothing to lose by trying and tactfully stepped aside to give him space.

Even outside, Gregory kept worrying.

'Did I meddle where I shouldn't have? No—he can definitely overcome it.'

In his view, this was the most effective way to train riding, and since it had worked for him, Gregory believed Alessandro would soon overcome his trauma too.

***

Days passed with no progress. Gregory continued to help Alessandro until the end, and finally, Alessandro overcame his fear and became able to ride a horse.

He had worried that forcing the issue might have been the wrong method, but thankfully, everything turned out fine.

In the meantime, Gregory didn't neglect the other training either.

In strength training, everyone passed Gregory's standards without exception. Their swordsmanship still needed work, but as they learned from Gregory, one by one, they filled their weak points, and their postures gradually became as smooth as flowing water.

That day, after eating a meal prepared by Heln and taking a walk to digest, two letters arrived from the Radiant Light Order.

One was a reply concerning the letter about the necessity of procuring supplies to postpone the war, and the other requested once again for a subjugation, saying the Forest of Annihilation was behaving suspiciously.

"Uncle, look at this."

Gregory immediately informed Walter of the contents of the letters, and Walter ordered the knight order to prepare for departure.

Gregory had worried that after spending a month in the Blandi Kingdom, his comrades' skills would not have improved, but as he watched them eating and resting, their eyes were full of spirit.

Ernest said to Gregory,

"Is it our turn now?"

"For what?"

"To show what kind of training we've done so far."

He glanced at the others. They made the same expressions and nodded vigorously.

Gregory, watching this scene, could not quite grasp the situation.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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