How to Live as a Genius Knight in a Fantasy World

13.

For a while, Rohan couldn’t open his tightly shut eyes. After steeling his mind, he checked the skill.

“Oh…”

The first thing that caught his eye was the golden border wrapping the synthesis result window.

Gold, a precious metal valued in any era or culture.

It could be considered an auspicious sign by anyone.

Closing the synthesis window, he eagerly checked the skill list.

“Wow…”

Starting from the grade, it was a different R grade from before.

Finally breaking free from the monotonous letter N.

– Ancient Warrior’s Swordsmanship (R) / 30%

‘Ancient warrior?’

As he checked the name, doubts arose.

If it was a technique from the past to the extent of being prefixed with ‘ancient,’ could it have superior aspects compared to Charles’s swordsmanship?

Of course, if it was a technique used by exceptional beings from the past, it wouldn’t be unreasonable, but he felt a bit uneasy.

As if to answer Rohan’s doubts, a pain that seemed unbearable, one that he could never get used to, engulfed him.

“Ugh…”

Perhaps due to the high grade, the most intense pain he had ever experienced surged like a fierce wave.

Despite writhing in agony, he felt new knowledge being engraved in his mind.

Just as the receding seawater leaves, the pain ceased as knowledge was fully imparted.

“Ugh… I feel like I’m really going to die…”

Rohan, exhausted of all energy, slumped down.

Although he worried that the surrounding soldiers might look at him strangely, perhaps due to seeing several comrades dying in agony, they seemed surprisingly indifferent.

Due to the late hour, many were asleep, and those awake were engrossed in their own tasks.

After lying down for a while to calm his mind, he sifted through the knowledge etched in his mind.

The grade R seemed insignificant; the content of the swordsmanship itself was nothing special.

In fact, the level of techniques was much higher in Charles’s.

Some stances seemed almost impossible for a human body to execute.

However, the true value of this swordsmanship lay not in the movements themselves.

It was in the unity of this ‘Ancient Warrior’s Swordsmanship’ with a single breath.

When movements and breath aligned, the primitive method of accumulating ‘mana’ in the body was precisely the ‘Ancient Warrior’s Swordsmanship.’

Rohan, who was on the verge of bursting into cheers, barely held back, his eyes trembling slightly.

It was almost pitiful that there was no one to share his joy with, and he felt so good that he wondered if he could feel such joy on the battlefield.

After calming his excited heart for a while, Rohan read the skill description again.

‘Mastery 30%…’

Indeed, as the grade increased, it seemed that mere knowledge did not lead to a high mastery rating.

In fact, the difference between just knowing something and it being ingrained in the body was immense, especially for deep and intricate techniques like this.

The slightly cooled emotions, perhaps due to the recent events, were simmering down.

Suddenly, Rohan felt a chill in the passing breeze.

He looked around once more.

The soldiers were still scattered around the square, each in their own way.

However, there was a slight difference from before; there were scattered bonfires among the soldiers.

Those who couldn’t bear the cold had gathered wood and cloth scraps to start a fire.

There were as few as three and as many as six huddled around the flames.

‘Is this even allowed…?’

Even though it was a situation that made heads turn awkwardly due to the lack of better options, no one reprimanded them.

Passing knights glanced at their behavior, but chose to ignore it.

In times of war like this, maintaining the soldiers’ combat readiness was far more important than observing trivial formalities.

Rohan, seeing this, realized that there would be no proper rest for him tonight.

“Well, dawn is approaching anyway.”

After enduring intense battles and lingering around for quite some time afterward, a lot of time had passed.

Before his body grew colder, he carefully chose a small bonfire and nestled himself close to the warmth.

Even so, he didn’t give any special treatment to his comrades who fought alongside him.

He took out a blanket from his backpack, covered himself, and briefly closed his eyes, relying on the fire’s warmth.

Worried that someone might take it, he hugged his backpack tightly.

He wondered how he would fall asleep in such a poor resting place, but the urge for sleep was stronger than the thought of a bath.

Once a somewhat warm environment was established, sleep quickly overtook him.

In the end, Rohan woke up when the sun had fully risen, and people were starting to be active in earnest.

Although it was a battlefield, when daytime arrived, people coming out of their homes and moving around was the same.

Moreover, due to the fierce battle yesterday, there were many people moving supplies and equipment.

The soldiers who had been awakened by the noise slowly opened their eyes one by one.

Rohan, overcoming his drowsiness, got up, feeling stiff and sore from sleeping on the cold, hard ground.

Due to sleeping late, a slight sense of fatigue still lingered.

“Ugh… so stiff…”

Rohan, struggling to clear his mind, scanned his surroundings.

He saw soldiers like himself who had just woken up and were still groggy.

Each of them grabbed their blankets and began to tidy up their spots.

“Soldiers from Ezel Castle, over here!”

A familiar voice reached Rohan’s ears.

Rohan reflexively turned his head and felt a sense of relief in his eyes.

It was Charles, the instructor who had turned Rohan into a proper soldier and taught him practical swordsmanship.

The joy of meeting someone he held in high regard from a foreign land was even greater than he had anticipated.

Especially because he was concerned about Charles.

He wanted to shout “Instructor!” immediately, but he knew it wasn’t appropriate to show personal closeness with a commander during a campaign, so he quickly got up and stood before Charles.

“Rohan.”

Recognizing Rohan, Charles called out his name softly.

There were many things he wanted to say, but for now, they exchanged greetings with a simple nod.

There seems to be no place where they’re hurt? Thank goodness.

Even if they were skilled soldiers from the mercenary background, it was safe to assume that there was no one who could guarantee safety on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, even the pinnacle of human weapons, the knights, would easily perish, wouldn’t they?

Of course, such monsters wouldn’t appear on this small battlefield, but the reality was that just being targeted by the enemy knights meant death.

After meeting Charles, the faces of other comrades one by one came to mind.

From the soldiers encountered during duty to the comrades who had shared rations for quite a long time.

Except for oneself, all the comrades had probably experienced several fierce battles already.

“I hope everyone is doing well…”

As Roan thought of the faces he missed, a fairly long line formed in front of Charles.

Though it was roughly over fifty in number, Roan’s heart, seeing them, became even more somber.

When leaving the castle, the number had exceeded a hundred, but now barely half remained.

Of course, the number of people with visible faces was just a handful, but they were people who shared a sense of camaraderie just by being from the same easel.

“It was indeed a big surprise to be ambushed at the end.”

For a moment, Eli’s face flashed in and out of Roan’s mind.

“Follow me!”

As guilt began to prick his chest, Charles gave timely instructions.

The place he led to seemed to be shabby buildings scattered with straw fragments that were originally used as warehouses.

“For now, this is your temporary lodging. It may be cramped, but it’s better than resting outside, so divide the personnel and rest adequately.”

Though they were built with cheap lumber, the old and dirty buildings were a hundred times better than facing the cold winter winds directly.

With a well not far away, it was no issue to wash lightly and moisten the throat, so compared to sleeping in the square, the environment had greatly improved.

While others quickly chose buildings to settle in, Roan shared a conversation with Charles, lagging behind with his backpack.

“It’s fortunate that there doesn’t seem to be any injuries.”

“Yeah, apart from a few scratches, I’m fine. I thought you would continue to stay in the castle…”

“I thought so too, but suddenly they gathered soldiers and sent us this way. Isn’t the situation quite unfavorable?”

“Yeah. In fact, at first, it wasn’t this bad. Guarding the bridge over the river flowing outside the village, there was no sense of falling behind at all. But at some point, the enemy numbers increased significantly. Slowly falling behind, eventually all the residents were evacuated into the castle. They even attempted a siege from that side once, but we weren’t falling behind even with the castle. The problem is… the numbers increased more than back then. Those weird weapons looked even more ominous…”

“Ah… Are my comrades… are they alive?”

Roan asked with a slight nervousness.

In truth, what he wanted to ask was if they were unharmed, but feeling it was too much of a wish, he subtly changed the question.

As Charles heard Roan’s question, his expression momentarily faltered before returning.

“…No, they aren’t…?”

After hesitating for a moment, Charles answered as if he had made up his mind.

“Alun, Haidin, and Ort are dead.”

At Charles’ response, Roan’s expression hardened in an instant.

Passing through training together, eating meals, lying in the same lodging, their figures flashed by.

Though the fact that they had died didn’t feel real, even the possibility, hinted at by the serious Charles, was denied from deep within his heart.

“Ah…”

All Roan could do was let out a deep sigh.

Understanding that Roan needed that, Charles patted his shoulder and spoke again.

“You and your comrades are staying near the blacksmith. Take your time to calm down and join us later.”

As if having nothing more to say, Charles turned and left Rohan as he was.

Even after Charles had left, Rohan stood there for a while before entering the building.

Though much later than others, Rohan could still find a narrow spot to lie down without any cluttered walls, all spaces merging into one.

The joy of acquiring a skill was nowhere to be found; he just felt drained, leaning against the wall, slouched.

“I haven’t even gotten my shoes back…”

He remembered Hyde, who promised to make a great effort and return them with much better shoes.

In reality, he wouldn’t mind borrowing shoes ten times over if he could return safely.

He had heard enough about how terrifying war was, and he was well aware that people he lived with as comrades could die.

However, like knowledge, the gap between what was in his mind and what he actually experienced was far too wide.

What made Rohan move again after sitting dumbfounded for a long time was hunger.

His friends had died, but his empty stomach relentlessly sought something to eat.

Feeling harsh towards himself, he couldn’t skip a meal not knowing when he would need to wield a weapon.

He went outside, picked up a pot with water and pemmican someone had put by the fire, and added meat and grain powder. The mixture boiled into a porridge-like substance.

The sudden spread of a savory smell caught the attention of the soldiers next to him, but they only sent envious glances towards Rohan; no one dared to try to take it away.

Crimes against fellow soldiers were severely punished, and it was also because they had witnessed Rohan’s valor in the past battle.

Feeling burdened by the many eyes on him, Rohan neither left his spot nor urged others to have some food.

Not only was there not enough food to fill everyone’s stomachs, but he also knew all too well that there was no law of reciprocity, especially among them.

Far from reciprocity, it was obvious that they saw Rohan as a mark and would try to exploit him in any way possible.

Rohan had learned something for sure since arriving in this world.

The notion that poor people are kind is a blatant lie.

Of course, there were undoubtedly kind people among the poor.

But from his experience, the poorer people were, the more they coveted others’ belongings and used others for their own gains.

Amid the persistent stares longing for the pot, he filled his stomach with the warm broth, cleaned the pot briefly, and put it back in his backpack.

After a proper meal that warmed him up for the first time in a while, he felt his strength returning.

“I shouldn’t leave my backpack unattended, after all.”

Seeing greedy eyes, he realized that even a moment of carelessness could result in losing his belongings that he had gathered diligently.

Rohan put on his backpack again and walked in the direction Charles had left.