Chapter 10 (2/2)

It was a change caused by the fact that he had taken to swinging around his sword every chance he got.

His stamina had also increased vigorously thanks to running everyday as well. He had barely lasted thirty minutes during the first few days, but Kurotan could keep up a decent pace without much effort now.

All of this was possible due to Luke’s guidance. Luke had accurately calculated the limits of Kurotan’s current body and had trained it right to the limits.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve trained Kurotan in everything that I learned as an apprentice knight.’

Luke stared at Kurotan, who was taking bites out of a piece of bread while sitting down. They had gotten fairly close during their journey.

‘Never in my life would I have imagined I would become this friendly with an Orc.’

On the outside, Kurotan appeared no different from a regular human. He was definitely different from one. He retained his almost stupid simplicity and honesty, and never doubted Luke.

No matter what Luke said, Kurotan would always take it at face value and believe it fully.

‘To be honest, it’s easier to deal with him than other humans. No need for me to calculate this or that.’

The thought startled Luke out of his amus.e.m.e.nts, and he vigorously shook his head.

It was a thought that he shouldn’t have, as a human.

“Your running training has pulled us ahead of the schedule. We should be able to reach the borders of the territory by tomorrow.”

“Do you mean Esteban Earldom?”

“Yes. A convoy sent by the House will be waiting for us.”

Luke turned serious as he said to Kurotan.

“From there on, we must be especially careful of other people’s eyes.”

“How so?”

“When it’s just the two of us, we can talk comfortably. You must absolutely refrain from talking in such a way in front of others.”

Kurotan frowned slightly.

“It’s hard to speak politely.”

“Then don’t speak at all. You remember the gesture I taught you?”

Kurotan took his fist to his mouth.

“You mean this?”

“Yes. Use the gesture when other people try to talk to you. They will understand if I tell them you are undergoing silent training. And additionally…”

Luke continued to stare at Kurotan for a while before speaking.

“I will introduce you as an apprentice knight I have taken under my wing. I was officially knighted five years ago when I was stationed at Fort Potellan, so there should be no problems.”

“All right.”

Kurotan nodded without second thought, but Luke still felt conflicted. He had not known that his first apprentice knight would be an Orc in human guise.

‘I suppose it’s my fault that I took him in in the first place.’

Luke smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Just as Luke had predicted, there were many people gathered on the borders of the Earldom that had come to gret him.

Luke’s face brightened when he saw the aged knight standing in the front of the crowd.

“Sir Benjamin.”

A va.s.sal of the Esteban Earldom, Sir Benjamin had taken care of Luke as a child. It had not been an unusual sight to see Luke clambering on to his back.

“It has been too long.”

“Young master. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Benjamin’s wrinkled eyes trembled. Benjamin smiled brightly and wrapped up Luke in a bear hug.

“Si-Sir Benjamin, there are a lot of people around us.”

As a startled Luke squirmed in his arms, Benjamin released him with a smile.

“I’m sure it has been hard, serving for five years. You are a man now.”

“I have grown a bit. Haha.”

“We should have gone to Potellan City to greet you, but the situation in the Earldom… It is good that you have made it back safely.”

“It wasn’t a big problem… The center of the Kingdom is well maintained.”

“Yes, young master. Who is…?”

Benjamin laid his eyes on Kurotan. When he had seen the convoy of people waiting, Luke had stopped Kurotan’s training and handed him the reins.

“He’s an apprentice knight I took at Fort Potellan.”

“You took in an apprentice knight at Fort Potellan?”

Benjamin’s eyes widened. This was because apprentice knights were usually chosen from young boys of n.o.ble Houses. Their ages were around thirteen to eighteen.

Boys of n.o.ble Houses that wished to become knights became servants to skilled Knights. They took care of the Knights’ equipment, groomed their horses, and ran errands. They learned of chivalry and etiquette, and advanced on to official apprentice knights to begin learning swordsmans.h.i.+p.

Luke had also gone through this process until he had been officially knighted.

Benjamin couldn’t help but be surprised by the commoner that seemed to be older than Luke, and seemed somewhat delinquent.

“Did you receive a lot of payment?”

It was common practice for apprentice knights to pay a fee as a show of sincerity to the knights they had been apprenticed under. Luke smiled and shook his head.

“Who do you take me for?”

“Th-Then why?”

“I just took a liking to him. It was just a light decision, so please understand.”

“Y-Yes, young master.”

Benjamin looked away from Kurotan.

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