Elkin Isla, the knight of the Pendragon Duchy, always gets up early. He gets up so early that his day already begins before the dawn bell signals for the maids and servants to do their morning stretch.

Today, Isla once again started his day before the bell rang. He sat on the hard floor undressed and meditated deep thoughts with his eyes closed. It was one of his old habits. He maximized his senses through meditation in order to engage his body and mind as if they were in action. It was all done to prepare himself for the morning training.

The morning bell rang, and Isla’s eyes opened.

“Whoo…”

Isla let out a long breath after a period of short, controlled breaths. His lengthy breath condensed into a small, misty cloud. A calm chill was soon expressed in his dark, blue eyes, which had been flashing sharply until now.

He slowly rose from the floor with leather armor and a sheath hanging over the shoulder of his topless body. After gathering his things, he left his residence.

“Good morning, Sir Isla.”

The servants and maids that ran into Isla greeted him before bowing politely and making way. But unlike the servants who immediately resumed their work after he passed, the maids continued to steal glances until he disappeared.

Isla was popular with the maids of Conrad Castle, and it was not just because of his long, handsome face, tanned skin, and cold, lonely black eyes. It was due to his down-to-earth manners and attitude. He was usually indifferent, typical of a southern man, but showed consideration for others, especially towards the weak and the women.

“You are up early today as well, Sir Isla.”

“Hm.”

Even now, Isla gave gentle nods to the maids who greeted him before moving aside for him.

“Haa... Isn’t Sir Isla just so wonderful?”

A rich, dark-haired maid gathered her hands with a hazy look on her face. She had been watching Isla’s back until he disappeared through the end of a corridor.

“That’s exactly what I was going to say. He is the most handsome of our duchy’s knights. He has a good body as well.”

A rather young maid responded.

“Right? I wish he would say something, but… when he walks so confidently without saying anything, especially when he greets us with his eyes… Ah! It just makes him look much cooler.”

“Right? Right? He’s like a... a lone wolf. He is completely different from a certain

who tries to hit on us around every corner.”

The dark-haired maid’s eyes grew bigger at the young maid’s words.

“Oh my? Hey! You should not even compare the two. Why would you even try to compare Sir Isla with the raving dog who tries to lift up the skirts of every woman he sees?”

“That’s true.”

“Well, anyways. You really can’t change someone, huh. He was quiet for a few months after getting his egg broken, but he has been back at it recently.”

“He’s been worse since Sir Vincent came here. Really! I’m telling you, Sir Ron should have tried harder and smashed the other egg as well.”

The young maid swung her fist through the air with a look of exasperation. The dark-haired maid covered her mouth and laughed at the sight, but soon shook her head with a long sigh.

“Whew! What’s the point of saying anything else? Besides, his fiancée, Miss Marilyn has been letting him loose lately. Every and any woman I know was rooting for Sir Ron when…”

“Hey!”

The loud voice echoed through the corridor and the two maids closed their mouths at the same time.

It was Killian, a broad-shouldered man with short hair. Killian walked towards them with a big smile and naturally took his place between the two maids.

“Haha! Both of you seem so energetic this morning, just like fish in the water! Ho? Jenny, you look like you are ready to be married off soon! Oops! Is it because of the cold weather? Look at Mirian’s hands. Let’s see, let me warm it up…”

Killian took a stealthy scan of the young maid’s waist and buttocks, before grabbing onto the brown-haired maid’s hands. But the maid had already worked at Conrad Castle for five years and caught on quickly, so she smiled brightly and withdrew her hand in a practiced manner.

“No, it’s all right, Sir Kilian. We have to prepare breakfast, so please excuse us…”

“E, excuse us.”

The two maids bowed before hurrying away.

Killian waved his hand while staring at the two maids’ soft butts with regretful eyes.

“Yes! Have a good day today! Soon, I will…”

The maids turned the corner of the corridor without glancing back before finally letting out sighs of relief.

“Ha! I really cannot live with that one-egged pervert.”

“I know. I saw him ogling at my body earlier, and I felt like I had snakes crawling all over me.”

“He even got to my hands. I really wish someone would take care of him.”

“I agree… Whew..”

Even though they talked about all the things they could do, there was only one person in the entire castle who could openly scold Killian, and that was His Grace Alan Pendragon. Since their status was non-existent to Alan Pendragon, the maids dared not talk to him, let alone make eye contact.

However, there was one other thing they did not know. That as of today, there would be another person who could openly ignore and admonish Killian.

***

“Lalala!”

Killian had been in a good mood lately. He had beaten Vincent Ron in front of everybody. Although the new knight’s skills were quite impressive, he could not stand up to Killian, the head knight of the Pendragon Duchy.

Above all, Killian was proud that he had imprinted his presence in Conrad Castle. In addition, an order of knights was established, and he was made leader of the order. He had only dared to dream about this his whole life.

Of course, the order consisted of free knights and existing soldiers who excelled in horse-riding and swordsmanship. One could not call it an excellently organized order. Besides himself, no one had been officially appointed as a knight yet.

Technically speaking, they were closer to a heavy cavalry than a knighthood.

Their training that was held for the past-few months allowed all of them to freely handle swords and lances, as well as maces. They could fight while on horseback, and they became accustomed to wearing 50 pounds of heavy armor into battle.

Although they numbered less than 50 for now, the number of applicants had been steadily increasing. By the end of the year, they would have more than 100 members. One hundred heavy cavalrymen would be an undefeatable powerful force that could take on a fight with 1,000 infantrymen.

Killian was captain over such a dominant force. It was only natural for the captain of knights to be chased after by countless beautiful women.

Even though he couldn’t show off his ‘potency and energy’ to the same degree after losing one of his eggs, it didn’t matter since he was to be married next year. He could not throw himself all over the place. However, surely his fiancée Marilyn would overlook two or three other women that fell head over heels for him.

Besides, the two maids he had run into earlier. Their eyes had been filled with affection as they looked at him.

“It is finally time for Captain Killian to shine through. Hahaha! Hahaha…. Huh?”

Killian laughed wildly while imaging his rosy future, then furrowed his brows.

The sharp sound of the blade cutting air and bright flashing lights could be heard and seen on the far side of the morning fog.

“Hmm?”

Killian walked towards it with his head tilted.

“You are here, Sir Killian.”

“Oh, captain, you are here.”

His troops greeted him. They had arrived early for personal training. It was an extra session they attended before heading off to train with all the soldiers of Conrad Castle.

“Sir Killian, you are here early today.”

A person of ordinary stature walked up to Killian and greeted him.

“Hmm? Sir Vincent. What brings you here?”

“I was thinking of doing some training starting today. There’s the thing you said yesterday as well.”

“Oh! Good thinking. If you train for a month or two, you should be able to last for around 50 exchanges with me. Anyways, who is that over there? He’s pretty good!”

In the dim light of dawn, the morning fog parted following the movements of a long spear. The sight was quite magnificent, and even men who had lived their whole life by the sword were dazed.

Vincent smiled and revealed the identity of the man who was being watched with admiration.

“Who else in this castle is capable of such actions besides His Grace?”

“Tsk, it’s Sir Isla.”

Shockwaves.

Isla appeared after literally separating the air with his weapon.

“Sua……”

After finishing his last move, Isla let out a long breath and held his spear by his side.

“As expected…”

“He’s even better than the rumors.”

Even the men were amazed and a little bit jealous of Isla’s appearance. He stood topless, his upper body painted with large and small scars; sweat fell in droplets from his body as it came in contact with the fog, emitting white steam.

The skills of the Valvas Cavalier was clearly demonstrated in his training. The number of scars strewn across his body seemed to reflect the many life-and-death scenarios he faced in the past.

But one man, Killian, frowned.

“So, what’s the big deal?”

Vincent, who was standing beside him, spoke in a subtle voice.

“Who would not know of your strength, Sir Killian? You are the captain of the duchy’s knights and the strongest knight. But Sir Isla also played a large part as His Grace’s right arm in Leus and Sisak.”

“It would have been the same if I went. It really is not that great to have dealt with a random pirate orc…”

Killian shrugged while muttering words he could never say in front of Karuta.

Then Isla spoke in a quiet voice while wiping his upper body with a towel.

“On the battlefield, it is better to trust in the enemy rather than an ally who do not know their place”

“W, what?” Killian glared. The men around them also opened their eyes in wonder. It was the first time they saw Isla speak in this way, as he would usually not open his mouth unless it was necessary.

“Hey, Sir Isla. What did you just say?”

Killian’s voice became somewhat agitated. Isla turned around after wiping his forehead and neck. The men were startled by the coldness in his eyes. Most of them had experience in killing people, but they recognized something else from Isla’s eyes. It was an aura of a warrior who was familiar with war and murder.

But Killian was unfazed as he faced Isla’s gaze. Rather, he glared back with bulging eyes.

“On the battlefield, the enemy is more reliable than allies who do not know their place. It is an old maxim known to every Cavalier of Valvas.”

“Ha! And the reason you are telling me is?”

Killian burst into dumbfounded laughter, and Isla replied in a colder voice than usual.

“I do not think you know your place.”

“……”

Killian’s expression hardened. The men surrounding them exchanged glances with nervous and perplexed eyes.

Among them was the strongest knight of the Pendragon Duchy, the one that everyone recognized. Alongside him was another knight, one who had been emerging lately and had been gaining fame for his nickname, Orc Slayer. Indeed, it was the confrontation between the duchy’s lion and tiger.

At that moment, Killian burst out into laughter amid the tense silence.

“Haha! I do not know my place? Then I guess I will need to find out today.”

With a menacing grin, he reached out to grab one of the practice weapons. He equipped himself with a knight’s long sword which weighed around six pounds.

Men nodded at the sight of Killian, who swung the heavy weapon through the air with only one hand as if it were a plaything. The weapon was something that even the strongest of men would use both hands for. Killian was unparalleled in power.

After swimming through the air, the blade stopped. The end of the blade, which was purposefully dulled, pointed towards Isla’s head.

“What do you think? As you say, why don’t you give me some insight as to where my place is?”

Everyone’s eyes headed to Isla.

After staring at Killian for a moment, Isla moved one foot.

The long spear, which was hanging on the armory, spun around in the air several times. With his eyes fixated on Killian, he put forth his hand and easily grabbed onto the spinning weapon. He straightened his posture before speaking.

“Since you and I serve the same master, I will make sure not to kill you.”

Everyone was stunned at his arrogant words. But Killian smiled in response while reversing his grip on the longsword and letting it point towards the ground.

“Well thank you then. Since you want to give me some insight, I will leave it to my hand as well.”

The rising sun finally shone through the mist and reached the two knights. Without any hesitation, the two knights clashed as their weapons glistened in the light.