The Old Knight of a Frontier District

Loyalty

Nineteen times.

It is a new record.

Longa took a rough breath lying on the earth, feeling a comfortable sense of accomplishment.

It may be called the privilege of being fifteen years old to be able to recover health with a slight break.

When I got up after a while, I took the fine sword.

It is the shape of my father, unnamed but famous sword.

I pulled out my slender sword, but until earlier I kept hitting the practice sword the same weight as the knight sword on the practice tree, so my arm was completely powerless and I couldn't stand it properly.

But that's fine.

It is only when you are tired and can't shake the knight's sword properly that this fine sword has its turn.

Longa gauged the timing and jumped forward as the sword he had finally lifted in the middle was pulled down by the weight. The sword stood in a brilliantly targeted position.

Repeating this exercise five times, my arms really stopped rising anymore.

Lying on the earth again for a short break, Longa left the practice area.

Tiguerto awakens shortly. I have to take care of myself.

Longa. Longard Spendle's father was one of Zaifert's men.

But maybe Zaifert and his father had a bond that went beyond the relationship between his boss and his subordinates. After what my father looked like, Longa is so sure.

And the wounds of the battlefield began to fall on the floor, and he died of sickness, but at the time of his death there were words left unto him.

"Longa. Dear Zaifert..."

To Master Zaifert, what shall I do? Did you want to tell me something?

At my father's funeral, Zaifert came all the way here. And gently offered my mother a bag of gold coins. It was just enough money for my mother and son to live for a while.

My mother died two years after my father died. Zaifert spoke gently to Longa, who was on his way.

"Why don't you come to me? I have a son your age."

Longa nodded.

The nod was accompanied by readiness. From today on, I am his minister. And one day you will be grateful. The only eight-year-old Longa boy swore so in his heart.

Zaifert brought Longa to the city of Badoor, where he engaged Fermina and Tiguerto.

It was then twice that Longa met Zaifert in the six years leading up to moving to Rhode Van Castle to get a place in the Knights of the Borders. Those two memories are an irreplaceable treasure for Longa.

The first time was when I was ten. It was shortly after I started my somewhat early knight training.

Zaifert taught me how to practice swords.

"Look, Longa. Many knights think the sword is something to wield with full force. But full force means all the power you can have, and it takes dense practice to pull it out. And when you wield your full power, that knight is no longer left with the power to attack. But a battle on the battlefield doesn't end with a single blow. That's why it's better to increase the number of times you can attack with seven minutes of force than to go for a one-hit special."

I really thought so.

There is a limit to what is called power. No matter how many knights have forged out their flesh, they cannot continue to wave their swords indefinitely. There is a limit to the number of times a knight can wave a sword, just as there is a limit to the number of arrows an archer can bear on his back.

In the midst of the battle, Longa began to aim for a knight who could know exactly how many more times he could wave his sword.

The second time was when I was twelve. I was practicing my sword. Only twelve years old, Longa was able to wield a small practice sword seven times. After that, I took out my fine sword and practiced. It was seen by Zaifert.

The training of the fine sword is not in the knight's tutorial. Zaifert scolds me, I thought.

But Zaifert's words were gentle.

"That's a pretty accurate aim. It's natural. It's not something you practice and wear. Your father was also famous for his fine sword. You're inheriting my father's blood."

Longa's chest filled with pride.

And I finally tried to be loyal to this guy.

But after a while, I found out what I thought.

Zaifert is thirty years older than Longa. By the time Longa becomes a knight, she will have already retired from active duty.

In other words, Longa's loyalty is not dedicated to Zaifert.

Then to whom shall I dedicate?

There is none other than Tiggert, son of Zaifert.

What is it for that Zaifert is engaging Longa into Tiggert in the first place and letting her live with him? Ask for my son, what else does that mean?

Then, Longa began to serve Tiguarto as just one sword.

On the surface, it's no different than before. Tiguerto took it to Longa, a fit boy of the same year, a fellow mischievous, and a host child to look after around him. But in his heart, Longa began to offer his only loyalty to Tiguerto.

No, there was one more person to whom Longa offered allegiance.

That's Tiggert's fiancée, Leiria.

When Tiggert met Leiria, Longa also met Leiria.

—— It's the goddess Swen-Co-El!

With purity and intensity only possible for the age of thirteen, Longa worshipped Leiria. Leiria was the ideal girl, so divinely radiant that she could only think of her appearance from mythology, emitting a vibrant fragrance just before she blossomed her femininity.

Maybe Longa forgot to make a look for herself and asked Leiria.

But Leiria, seeing as Tiguerto, had forgotten about the rest of the world, and no one had ever read Longa's expression.

No.

Fermina might have picked me up.

But Fermina is the one who embraced the longa that suddenly appeared and treated me the same way as her son, and tenderly teach me when Longa goes the wrong way. It became fermina, and I could not care less to be enlightened in my heart.

Thus Longa fell in love.

It is a love that never confesses. Even if Longa becomes a knight, he will not give his sword to Leiria. For there is no way for anyone to understand this love.

And also, without having to go out in such an upbeat manner as to offer a sword, Longa had offered Leiria an unwavering loyalty in a much deeper part of her heart.

Protecting the life, happiness and honor of Tiggert and Leiria became the living meaning of Longard Spendle.

Longa fell in love with Tiguerto and Leiria.

And when Tiguerto finally confessed to Leiria, and Leiria accepted it, Longa wept with joy, in the shade of the tree.

Tiguerto and Longa, by the life of Zaifert, came here to the castle of Rhodovan to become knights of obedience, and a year passed.

Wonderfully, this castle is home to Zaifert, the Knights of the Borders.

Longa is in this castle, polishing up my sentences and my martial arts.

Now I've finally nourished the knight sword enough to wield it nineteen times.

The fine sword, too, is becoming more and more accurate.

You have to boost your strength.

There will always come a time when you need it.

It may be imminent at that time.

(Swallow)