I Became the Academy’s Weakest Strategist

A duel (決鬪).
Conventionally understood as a fight to decide victory or defeat, but a knight’s duel carries a different connotation beyond the ordinary meaning.
It was a noble act for a knight to dutifully challenge another to restore honor lost due to personal insults, misdeeds or slander.
A gallant act of upholding the honor befitting a knight.
However, medieval European clergy denounced duels as a barbaric custom, even excommunicating nobles who participated.
This was because the Catholic Church viewed suicide as a grave sin, and from their perspective, duels were a barbaric custom of throwing away one’s life for no reason.

Yet despite this, knights and nobles would challenge others to duels for the sake of honor, their houses, and to be true to themselves.
Unlike in medieval Europe where duels were considered sinful, in this world they were seen as sacred battles among knights.
Knight-to-knight duels were common practice, and even inter-house duels frequently occurred, making duels something of a popular spectacle in this era.
Like the gladiatorial games of Rome.

“Why hesitate? Does one aspiring to be a knight shrink from a duel?”
“No, it’s not that…”
I was quite flustered at the moment.
While fortunate to have escaped the clutches of the boorish Hans, the situation unfolding before me as the victim was equally disconcerting.

And another thing.
The girl who had just introduced herself as Edinburar Rose.
The blonde lady I met in the library had also introduced herself as Edinburar Rose, but this crimson-haired woman claimed the same name.
One of them was currently lying.
Why would they lie like that?
Why would they borrow the name of that noble house?
What did they want from me?
As such thoughts swirled in my mind, I began to break out in a cold sweat.
‘…Shit.’
I had tried to live a low-profile academy life, but ended up entangled in an unexpected mess.
Perhaps I had already become embroiled in some larger incident without realizing it.

To be honest,
I was experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance right now.

“Draw your sword, Lord Gorpin Hans.”
“Senior Rose…I…”
“You talk too much.”
“…”
In the midst of it all, the over 2-meter tall Hans was squirming before the seemingly under 160cm tall Rose.
“Come to the 3rd training grounds of the Knight Faculty by 11 am tomorrow. This is Edinburar Rose’s formal duel challenge to you, and an impartial witness will oversee the fairness of the duel.”

At Rose’s definitive words, Hans lowered his head, sweating profusely, as his double chin jiggled from his inability to read the atmosphere.
“I’m sorry!”
“What did you do wrong?”
“I committed actions unbefitting of a knight!”
“You understand well.”
Thunk.
Rose brought the wooden sword to Hans’s chin.
Had Rose been gripping a real sword instead, Hans would have been gushing blood from his neck by now.

“Ignorance is an unavoidable state, but for one studying the way of the knight to protect the weak to then bully the defenseless, that is an insult to all knighthood.”
“…”
Unable to retort against Rose’s harsh facts, Hans could only lower his head further.
“Can you still call yourself a knight after that?”
“I’m sorry.”
Whack!
“Ugh!”
The moment Hans finished speaking, Rose struck his face with the wooden sword.
A light swing, yet it was enough to make Hans crumple to his knees, clutching his face.
Fortunately, she had not channeled any mana, leaving Hans merely bleeding from his face.
Had that wooden sword carried mana, Hans’s skull would have already been shattered by now, likely sending him to the infirmary and keeping him away from the academy for some time.

“Apologize to this young man at once.”
Looking down at Hans with contempt, Rose ordered him to apologize to me.
With a resentful expression, Hans turned towards me, lowering his gaze before slowly opening his mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
“Louder.”
“I’m sorry! I committed actions unbecoming of a knight.”

Should I accept his apology or not?
Emotionally, I could refuse with the mindset of ‘go die’ and leave.
But rationally, it might not be a bad idea to let him owe me a debt.
Regardless, Hans was shaping up to be quite promising among the first-year Knight Faculty students.
His unruly behavior notwithstanding.

Then the blonde lady I had met in the library came to mind.
Without realizing it, I may have already become entangled in some larger incident.
To survive, I might need whatever power someone like Hans could provide.
Grasping at straws, I decided to forgive him.

“…I forgive you.”
“Thank you.”
Look at those eyes, he’ll probably come for me in secret later.
“And if you ever bully this young man again, you’ll answer to me.”
“I absolutely won’t! Yes!”

From a ferocious beast dripping with menace to a dog wagging its tail at its master, Hans had utterly transformed.
In a society with a strict class system, even human emotions could be controlled by status alone.
Thrilling, fresh.
Power truly was the greatest.

“Now get lost.”
“Yes!”
At Rose’s chilly tone, Hans swiftly left the area.
Once Hans had disappeared into the distance, Rose approached me.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“It looked like he grabbed you by the collar earlier.”
Rose’s crimson eyes turned towards my neck.
She must have seen Hans grabbing and shaking me by the collar.
“…This is nothing.”
“Well, that’s a relief. If that fool tries to retaliate against you, let me know anytime.”
“I am honored.”
Ah, she’s even offering protection.
Truly a kind soul.
Edinburar Rose, despite just meeting her, I had a sense of what kind of person she was.
A knight (騎士), who prioritized protecting the weak, safeguarding honor above all else – the embodiment of knighthood.
Edinburar Rose was a knight.

“There have been more students like that lately. Those who bully the weak, believing their strength makes them superior to others.”
Adding that they were selfish brats, Rose glanced at the Knight Faculty building for a moment before letting out a deep sigh, seeming to lament the waning spirit of knighthood in this age.

“What can be done about what the times demand?”
“Even as the times change, there are values that should not.”
To my words, Rose responded with a resolute gaze.
‘Truly, a genuine knight.’

Knights, admirable.
But the times are cruel.
If the times no longer require knights, they must fade into the past.
For new eras emerge from the shedding of the old.
Yet there are values that transcend any age.
The spirit of knighthood, embodying moral virtue and universal values, has endured to this day.
An unwavering adherent to the universal values pursued by humanity.
Rose before me was such a person.
Destined to become a hero, with unshakable convictions.

“What do you think?”
At that moment, our eyes met.
Armed with a stalwart spirit, Rose’s gaze seemed tinged with a hint of sorrow.
A knight fortified with noble ideals is fated to be alone.
This was just my speculation, but perhaps I was mistaken.
At the moment, Rose appeared to be struggling with loneliness.
Wavering.
But this was an ordained path.
There is a saying that the goddess of fate deliberately sends trials to test heroes.
Rose was currently enduring the waves of a trial sent by the goddess of fate.

“You are correct, senior.”
I rose from my seat and dusted off the dirt from my backside.
“Upholding values that transcend any era is of utmost importance.”

Rose was questioning her own values.
Like the saying that in a village of the blind, the one person with sight is considered abnormal.
Surrounded by so many knights who had abandoned the way of the knight, Rose may have felt like the odd one out.

“Though I am no knight, allow me to offer some words, senior.”
I decided to quote a line from a famous novelist for Rose’s sake.
Nod.
Rose quietly looked at my face and nodded.

Whoosh.
Darkness had already fallen over the academy grounds.
The stars were revealing themselves, the moonlight faintly illuminating the earth.
The breeze blowing in from the coast carried the starlight and moonlight as it wafted towards us.
Weeds sprouting from the streets swayed this way and that, carried by the wind filled with light.
They embraced the stars, gazed at the stars.
And dreamed of the stars.
The way of the knight is the same.
Like those commonplace weeds on the street, it dreams impossible dreams.

“Dreaming the impossible dream.”
I murmured, gazing up at the now deeply darkened night sky.
The line I had just recited was from Don Quixote by the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes.
Cervantes wrote the novel to satirize the spirit of chivalry that was prevalent in his time.
But the more one reads it, the more one doubts the author’s intent.
Did Cervantes truly write this to mock and satirize the way of the knight?
For the many famous quotes from Don Quixote set our hearts ablaze.
Perhaps Cervantes…
Perhaps Don Quixote…
Was written to show the knights of that era what true, sincere knighthood was?

“To run where the brave dare not go.”
My gaze now slowly shifted from the night sky to Rose’s face.
Rose was trembling all over, enveloped in some indescribable emotion.
With a hint of a smile, I looked at Rose.
“To right the unrightable wrong.”

With each verse I recited, Rose’s eyes seemed to subtly, ever so slightly, but unmistakably quiver.
“To love, pure and chaste, from afar.”
I paused to catch my breath before continuing the passage.
“To try, when your arms are too weary.”
And then,
I raised my arm, gesturing towards the stars thickly blanketing the night sky.
“To reach the unreachable star.”

Clang.
At that moment, Rose dropped the sword she had been gripping.
“This is the quest, the knight’s calling, no, not a calling but a privilege.”

After a brief silence, I posed a subtle question to Rose.
“Senior, no – are you a knight?”
“…I am…a knight…”
A trembling voice.
But in contrast, eyes brimming with steadfast conviction.
Like flickering flames, her crimson eyes gazed straight at me.

“Are you truly a knight, senior?”
“I am a knight. To protect the weak, I shall rightly raise my sword high.”

From the depths of her heart, I heard Rose’s sincerity.
Smiling brightly, I declared to Rose,
“Then you are a knight, senior.”
“Ah…”
Rose began trembling all over.
Her eyes were filled with reverence and joy.
“You must go on, even if criticized or reviled by others, you must forge ahead.”
“…But what if everyone calls me mad…?”
“Who is mad? The senior who envisions a world yet to be realized, or those who only see the world as it is?”
“…”
Unable to answer my question, Rose could only tightly clench her fists.

“Overcome the trials and press onward. As Rose, you can surely walk that path.”
With those words, I turned and began heading back towards the dorms.
To be honest, I had nothing more to say.
And it seemed Rose had reaffirmed her own convictions as well.
As a third party, an extra offering advice, it was fitting for me to exit the stage here.

“Wait, hold on…”
Rose’s voice, swallowed by the darkness.
Though her voice seemed to beckon me to stay, I deliberately ignored Rose and kept walking forward.
I would rather not become further entangled with the main lead.
Having already been caught up in the matter with the blonde lady who introduced herself as Edinburar, my life was hanging by a thread, so becoming more involved would endanger me further.
It would be better for us both if I extricated myself here.

Attachment, troublesome.
Human relations should flow freely, not fixated on a single person.
So make more friends going forward, Senior Rose.
Whoever the real Rose was.

After inwardly offering that advice to the person who may or may not be Rose, I swiftly left the area.