Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Leveling up

Three months had passed since the Appraisal Ceremony, and it was now July. No word had come from the feudal lord during this time. Allen’s family spending the night seemed to have done the trick in helping Rodin and Gerda reconcile. According to Theresia, the two of them getting into spats had been a pretty common occurrence ever since their childhood.

Summers here at this frontier village were hot, with the temperatures easily climbing above thirty degrees. Allen was careful to make Mash drink water frequently so that he would not get dehydrated. Now that he had turned two, he was capable of walking and followed Allen everywhere. Once he turned three, he would also be granted permission to go out into the garden.

Not much had changed with Allen’s training menu or his Status. He was close to reaching Synthesis Lvl. 3, but because he had to Create two cards first before being able to Synthesize them, it was taking quite a while. Sword Mastery was, of course, still at Lvl. 3. Leveling up in Hell Mode was no walk in the park.

“Allen, are you ready?”

“Yes, mama.”

Today was a big day—an order of knights would be visiting the village. Rather than summon Krena, the feudal lord had chosen to dispatch his knights to call on her instead. A herald had arrived a few days ago to inform the village chief, who had in turn visited Gerda’s house the next day to pass along the message that he was to bring Krena to the residential area that day.

The order of knights, huh. The authorities who rule this fiefdom. They’re practically gods in the eyes of us serfs. I hope they won’t cut people down just for meeting their gaze...

Although it had been Krena and Gerda who had been summoned, Rodin wanted to be there as well. He wanted to witness, in person, the moment that his childhood friend obtained success beyond his social class. And in turn, Gerda had also invited him to come.

“All right, we’re off, Theresia.”

Once again, Theresia was staying home to take care of Mash. It was too important an occasion to bring him along, as he might get startled by the horses or large crowd and start crying.

Soon, Rodin and Allen reached Gerda’s house. The large man and his daughter were both standing outside waiting. Mathilda was next to them with Lily in her arms.

The instant Krena caught sight of Allen, she started waving her arm vigorously. “Alleeennnn!” she cried in a loud voice.

She looks so happy today. Not that I don’t understand how she’s feeling.

For almost three years now they had continued to play knight. Every single one of those days, Krena had introduced herself as “Krena the knight.” Today, finally, she was going to meet real ones. Her excitement was palpable.

“I’m gonna become a knight today!”

“Ha ha ha,” Gerda chuckled, ruffling Krena’s hair. “We’ll still have to ask, all right? It’s not confirmed yet.”

Ah, I bet the two of them have been like this the entire day.

The group of four—Mathilda was also staying behind to look after Lily—struck off together. Krena talked nonstop until the residential area eventually came into view.

“Where’re we supposed to go?” Rodin asked.

“Deboji said the square,” Gerda replied.

“The square? Not his house or the gate?”

By the time they arrived, there was already a whole crowd gathered in the center of the residential area where the square was located. Murmurs of “the Sword Lord’s here!” rippled through the crowd like waves as people parted to make way. Apparently they had all gathered after hearing that the knightly order would be coming today. In a rare change of pace, the majority of the attention was not on Allen for having black hair and eyes.

No one approached Krena and Gerda. The general mood in the air was to simply await the knights’ arrival.

Hold on, we’re going to have to wait over two whole hours? Great, I’ve got nothing to do, so...might as well nap.

Allen started dozing off, not caring in the slightest about any looks directed his way. For him, this was the same thing as sleeping while riding the bullet train or on a plane. As a general rule, when he had nothing to do, he would sleep. And because he did so, Krena leaned against him and started nodding off as well.

Eventually, the bell clanged again, signaling noon. This incredibly loud noise—due to how close it was—caused both children to jolt awake.

“Bwuh?!”

“Hey there, sleepyhead. Looks like they’re here,” Rodin said in response to Allen’s sleepy gasp. The knights had arrived at twelve o’clock on the dot.

Oh? Are they already within sight? I can’t see from this position...

The villagers buzzed with conversation. During the time Allen had been asleep, the crowd had grown significantly larger. There were even quite a number of serfs who usually never came to this part of the village.

Before long, the clip-clop of horse hooves rang out.

They really are here! They seriously came all the way to this frontier village. How far away is the feudal lord’s city anyway?

The order of knights soon came into view. Clearly it was not the entire order, as there were only ten or so knights, all mounted on horses. Their small number made sense, as they were only here to see Krena, not to fight against some terrifying enemy.

The village chief patiently stood in front of the crowd. Soon enough, the man who appeared to be the leader of the knights stopped in front of him. Allen could not hear what was being said, but judging by the village chief’s body language, he was probably welcoming the knights to the village. He then pointed toward Krena.

The knights’ leader removed his helmet—as did the rest of the knights a beat later—and looked directly at the pink-haired girl. She returned their gazes with glittering eyes, already wide awake.

The village chief beckoned with his hands, as if asking Krena to approach. Gerda looked at Rodin, who nodded back. It was time to meet the knights. Gerda walked forward, pulling his daughter along. Rodin and Allen stayed where they were and just watched.

Are the knights going to bring her back with them? It’s a bit strange thinking that I won’t have an afternoon nap buddy or a partner to play knight with anymore.

Allen stared at his childhood friend, feeling somewhat melancholic while also wishing her the best. Although she was now a fair distance away, her energetic “I’m Krena!” could be heard all the way back where he stood. The brawny Gerda was acting meek as a mouse. It looked like he chastised his daughter for being too loud.

The knights’ leader, who had a strapping body himself, stroked his mustache while talking with Gerda. As Allen watched on, however, Gerda jerked backwards in surprise and shouted, “What?! That’s unreasonable, m’lord!”

The conversation seemed to have taken a worrying turn. In order to hear what they were saying, Allen decided to get closer, weaving between the villagers who had started whispering furiously to one another in response to this unexpected development.

Gerda seemed to be in the middle of desperately making a case for something. “—rd, Krena is still a five-year-old child who has never held a real sword before. She ca—”

“Enough. She is a Sword Lord, is she not? Then there should be no issue. Or was the report of her Talent falsified?”

“N-No, m’lord, she was declared a Sword Lord at the Ceremony. But fighting against an actual kni—”

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“Vice-Captain Leibrand, into position,” the company leader barked toward a subordinate who had already dismounted, uninterested in listening to Gerda’s impassioned pleas any longer.

“Yes, Captain!”

The other knights moved their horses to the edge of the square. The village chief was quite flustered, not knowing what was going on, but complied with the order to show the knights to the village stable.

“Please, m’lord, Krena will die! Please show mercy!” Gerda fell to his knees and bowed so low he literally planted his face into the ground.

“It appears that you still don’t get it, so I will put it simply: anyone who submits a false reading from the Appraisal Ceremony will receive the death penalty. In this case, it would be both you and your daughter. If she does not fight against my subordinate right here and now, we will cut the both of you down for the crime of fraudulent Talent declaration. Make your choice.”

Gerda fell silent, despair emanating from his every pore. He watched as another knight drew a sword and handed it to his daughter. The naked blade, which resembled a medieval longsword, was double-edged and nearly as long as Krena was tall.

Are these guys serious?! That’s ridiculous! What’s going on here? Did the knights plan on doing this from the start? Is that why they designated the square as the meeting point?

As Allen finally understood the situation and furiously racked his brains for a solution, Krena adorably asked, “If I beat Mr. Knight, do I get to become a knight too?”

The knight captain looked surprised, then replied, “I...suppose if you can beat him, the path toward becoming a knight yourself would be opened, yes.”

“Okay!”

The pink-haired girl was the only person who was smiling at the moment. She stared at the very first real sword she had ever held with sparkling eyes.

The rest of the knights returned and proceeded to herd the gathered villagers backwards to create enough space for Krena and the vice-captain to fight in.

“Please, m’lords, we beg your mercy!”

Gerda could not help but beg for leniency once again, but he was summarily escorted to the edge of the square, with one knight even standing guard next to him.

“Enough, I said. Dverg the Sword Lord defeated a red dragon by himself when he was but ten years old. Your daughter is already five, is she not?” The captain’s point was that Krena should already be more than capable of fighting.

Allen and Rodin hurried to where Gerda was.

Is this really happening?! This has turned into one hot mess!

Even Allen had no idea what to do. He was equally powerless against the knights himself, being only Lvl. 1 and having Summoning only at Lvl. 2. He would not last a second in a direct fight.

Krena and Vice-Captain Leibrand both moved to the center of the impromptu ring, facing each other with swords readied. Whereas the former was a little girl barely over a meter tall clad in little more than rags, the latter was a fully armored man almost twice her height. Their difference in power was plain to see. The villagers all cast pitying looks toward Krena from where they stood at the edge of the square.

Despite the situation, Krena looked entirely unfazed. There was not a shred of worry on her face. Rather, it was as if she thought this was a game. Just as she always did, she named herself out loud using the line that Allen had heard more than a thousand times.

“I am Krena the knight! Let us fight with honor!”

The knight paused briefly, then replied, “I am Sir Leibrand the knight. Come at me.”

There was no referee or starting signal. The battle had already begun. Krena charged forward like how she always did when playing with Allen. She lifted the heavy metal sword as if it was nothing and brought it down in a flash. There was no hesitation whatsoever in her movements, despite this being her first time wielding a sword with a real edge.

The knight parried her attack with his own weapon, causing a loud metallic clash.

Considering how my Sword Mastery is Lvl. 3, Krena’s is probably Lvl. 5, right?

If Allen really was the only person in this world who was in Hell Mode, then the math could be done to figure out Krena’s skill level. Almost all her training had been with Allen, so he could assume the amount of Skill XP she gained was similar to his own. And because he had to earn a hundred times more Skill XP to level up, and because the amount of Skill XP required to level up a skill would go up by a factor of ten for each successive level, it meant Krena’s Sword Mastery should have been higher than his by two.

Even as Allen continued his analysis, Krena and the knight continued slashing at each other furiously, every attack powerful enough to be lethal. The air of the square was filled with the cacophonous clangs of metal on metal.

Most of the villagers had expected Krena to be killed as soon as the fight began. However, she had grown so much from the three years of “playing knight” that she apparently had the ability to stand her ground against a fully trained knight.

The knight captain watched silently with his arms crossed, his face unreadable. Several minutes and dozens of clashes later, the fight that had seemed equal up until now saw a sudden development.

“Kuh!” The air left Krena’s lungs as Leibrand’s armored foot landed squarely on her abdomen. There was no rule that they could only use their swords. The perfectly timed attack sent the girl flying through the air and crashing against a building. She crumpled to the ground, her head bowed. The wall had been made of solid wood, and yet the force of the impact had still left very conspicuous cracks on its surface.

“KRENA!!!” Allen yelled. He and Gerda tried to dash forward to help, but the knights closest to them wrestled them to the ground.

It really was too much for her! She is still only Lvl. 1 while that knight must have way more skills and experience from years of service. There was no hope of winning from the very start. What should I do?!

“What is—?! Stay still, kid!”

“Let me go, you asshole!”

Unfortunately, the man holding Allen down was far stronger than he was. The boy strained to get up, but could not budge an inch. There was no way for him to get free.

Leibrand stood still, choosing not to pursue Krena and deliver a finishing blow. The entire crowd’s eyes were on the limp figure of the girl. Seeing as how the knight had kicked with his full strength using an armored boot, many villagers even suspected that Krena was dead.

The knight captain closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “She couldn’t do th— Hm?”

Just when everyone thought it was all over, Krena slowly rose to her feet, still looking downward. The sword in her hand—which she had not let go of despite being sent flying—came back up as she adopted a fighting stance. Allen watched her with trepidation from his position on the ground.

Leibrand also raised his sword once more. However, he showed no intention of charging forward. Just as before, he was clearly waiting for Krena to attack him.

Krena’s head shot up. She and Leibrand stared straight into each other’s eyes for a while. As the villagers watched nervously, wondering if she was going to continue fighting, Krena suddenly shouted, “RAAHH!” That moment, the cracked wall behind her exploded into smithereens as an aura exploded from her body, enveloping her in a shimmering contour that looked like a heat haze.

Wait, what?!

In the same breath, Krena charged forward once again. She leaped high up into the air and rotated furiously to add centrifugal force to her swing before bringing her sword down. The powerful attack descended upon Leibrand’s head like a flash of lightning.

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