Mightiest Melee Magician

“Really? From th-that Sir Bolvar Patten? Ruin! Is that true?”

“Yeah. But he said to be prepared. It’ll be really hard.”

“I-I can do it! I can! I definitely will!”

Being able to learn swordsmanship from the legendary Bolvar Patten was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In the world of mages, it would be like if I was able to get one-on-one tutoring from Fire King Teron.

And Hansen knew this better than anyone else.

“Y-yahoo!”

“......”

He cheered without knowing what the future held for him.

He never could’ve guessed that his cheer of joy…

“U-uwek......”

“Euk.”

…would become the catalyst for making him witness what he ate for breakfast again.

The special lessons started this morning as we continued to go down to Ardell.

“Are you tired?”

“I-I’m fine!”

“Of course. You’re still young and spry, you can’t get tired already. Hehe…”

“......”

Hansen had to get off the comfortable carriage and march while carrying baggage from the provisions carriage, and sometimes even had to squat as he walked.

Maybe he ate his fill of breakfast…

“Eugh!”

…but you wouldn’t be able to know that now.

it didn’t take even an hour for Hansen to throw up everything inside of him.

Hellish special training while being in the middle of an already tiring march.

It was natural for this scene to draw the attention of some of the knights that sat comfortably on their horses.

“Who’s that knight? Is he from Ardell?”

“I-I don’t know… One thing I’m certain of is that he’s a devil. A knight just needs to wield his sword. There’s no need to put someone under useless training like that…”

The news about Sir Bolvar hadn’t fully spread among the knights yet.

These knights would’ve seen this old Knight Captain of Ardell as someone who couldn’t keep up with the times and subjected people to the physical and crude training methods of the ‘old way’.

However, even while this was happening, the news continued to spread.

“Wait a second. I think I heard that the Knight Captain of Ardell is Sir Bolvar Patten.”

“Who? The spearman Bolvar Patten?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if it’s for certain… but my nephew who goes to the Poldren Training Center said that.”

“Why is a retired knight in Ardell? There’s no way, right? Are you sure you heard it right?”

“It might be true. It is plausible. When Commander Bengrass sent the five elite assassins to Ardell, it’s said that a single knight from Ardell defeated all of them. And that person is said to be Bolvar Patten.”

“Nah, no way…”

The tiger that protects Ardell.

Only some people knew that this person was Bolvar Patten, and for the knights who were getting restless, this topic was enough to pique their interest.

And so, one of them asked…

“Excuse me.”

“…Yes?”

“Senior, could I ask you what your name is?”

“......”

Sir Bolvar Patten, who didn’t want useless attention, didn’t answer them,

“Doesn’t look like it. What did I say. It’s just a random rumor. He’s just an old guy.”

“…Really?”

And so, the knights withdrew their attention.

“C-Captain Bolvar! Hek, hwak… I’m done! I-I completed ten sets of squat walking.”

“5 minute break.”

“Th-thank you!”

That was… until the young knight Hansen said his name.

“…H-hey, kid. What did you just say? What’s his name?”

“Sorry?”

“Over there. That Ardellian knight who’s training you. What’s his name?”

“S-Sir Bolvar. Bolvar Patten.”

“......”

That was the beginning.

* * *

“Why are all those knights making a fuss together? There’s still a long way to go.”

“Tsk. That’s what I’m saying. Are they that bored?”

This was quite the unusual scene.

The entirety of the Golden Light Knight Order, who were famed to be the most elite troops of the Kingdom, who were wearing their shining armor and flaunting their nobility…

“Huek, gasp… Uwek!”

…got off their white horses, took up ration bags, and started to squat walk.

“U-uwak! This is my first time throwing up while breathing!”

“Hek, hwek… D-Don’t make a fuss about it. W-we just need to do as Sir Bolvar says… This is the training method he recommends, so don’t think about it and just do it.”

“Uraaaaaah! Aaaaaaah!”

“......”

Looking at what was going on, I had a thought that influence was truly a terrifying thing.

“Excuse me, Sir Bolvar?”

“Please speak, Young Master.”

“That method, is it really useful? From what I’m seeing, it looks a bit brutish.”

“......”

Sir Bolvar smirked as he looked at the knights who were squat walking.

“Of course, since it improves your fitness and strengthens your legs, it definitely is helpful. But it’s not too good, since if your form is off, you might have some health problems.”

“…Then why did you tell them to do it?”

“I never told them to do anything. They just willingly started doing it.”

“No, I saw you making Hansen do that.”

Sir Bolvar let out a sinister laugh, living up to the reputation of being the devil that they called him.

“Ehehehehe. Well while going down to Ardell, since there’s nothing special to do, I wanted to put some military discipline into the first junior I had in a while.”

“......”

Ah, was that so?

So just because a legendary knight told someone to do it, all these people were acting like this without knowing whether this was medicine or poison.

Influence truly was terrifying.

I considered giving them a hint, saying something like, ‘Everyone, this training is useless.’

But in the end, I gave up.

“Ehehehehe.”

“......”

After all, Sir Bolvar seemed to be enjoying this baffling situation.

“Th-this really is effective, right?”

Taking the place of Bengrass Kegen, who was currently on the wanted list, was the newly appointed temporary Golden Light Knight Captain.

“What are you doing?! Even I, your captain, am doing it…! Don’t doubt and just receive Sir Bolvar’s teachings and… Uwoook!”

He was a big fan of Sir Bolvar Patten, holding a blinded respect for him.

He even stood at the front of all the knights as an example.

As such, the people’s mood about going into battle wasn’t too bad.

‘Unity under Bolvar Patten!’

He had become the pivotal point that combined all these soldiers into one unit.

And this training…

“F-finally… A-Ardell…”

…continued until the morning we arrived in Ardell.

I wanted to give a round of applause to all these people who completed this nonsensical training.

Clap clap clap.

“You idiots.”

“......”

Of course, I still fully agreed with Straang’s words.

* * *

* * *

The Ardell I returned to after half a year had undergone some major changes.

“Is this really the Ardell I know?”

“I-I’m wondering the same thing. This is quite shocking…”

It was just as Irene said.

Unlike the quiet countryside village of Ardell I knew, this one had a completely different atmosphere.

Although the number of citizens and the size of the village was still on the small side, the nearby once-unused wasteland was now cultivated, and a new building had been erected there.

The restaurants and inns that used to only serve flies now had many customers, and more than that, the faces of the people were bright and cheerful.

I could start to feel the ‘energy’ of the territory.

And I wasn’t the only one who was surprised.

“Hiek! It’s the young master! The young master has returned!”

“O-oh my…! What is going on here…?”

I, who had returned to Ardell after graduating, had brought over an unexpected army of over 3000 soldiers.

At their entrance, the citizens could only be shocked.

“Old-man Pison, have you been well?”

“Ah, Y-Young Master… Just what is all this…?”

“The princes have sent us soldiers.”

“T-the princes?”

If these simple countryside people heard the word ‘princes’, their mind would go to the highest point of authority they knew.

“W-why did those nobles send them for people like us…?”

Of course, they didn’t know how noisy and talkative the princes were.

“Because they had to. Because if they did this, they would obtain something much bigger.”

“What?”

“More than that, did you train diligently in your spearmanship?”

“Ah, yes. I trained in the spear every single night… But with all these soldiers, are we really needed?”

“Of course. We need every hand we can get.”

These 3000 soldiers weren’t enough to be fully certain.

The Red Plains were an unassailable fort that even my father and grandfather had failed to subjugate multiple times.

Because of this, I needed all the help I could get, and the preparations needed to be more perfect.

I needed to hire mercenaries from the trade city of Monzo.

And until everyone got used to the weapons I purchased from Eight Lake, the citizens needed to continue to train.

However, for now…

“…Should we rest up for a bit?”

“Yes! Let’s do that!”

It was only right to get everyone who wore themselves out with the long march and the stupid training to rest up.

Obviously, since there wasn’t enough room inside the territory for all 3000 soldiers to stay in, a camp was set up in a nearby forest.

“R-Ruin! What should I do?”

Asked Jason with an anxious look once I started to move around and busy myself.

Ehm, Jason…

So what you need to do here is…

* * *

“…Are you really going to make me clean?”

“You said it yourself. You’ll clean, wash the dishes, and help with housework.”

“That’s just a figure of speech! I’m still a high-quality, work-ready magician!”

“No, until you’re 4th-class, you’re not a magician. Get closer with the citizens of Ardell as you go around cleaning the territory.”

“…Tch.”

Jason pouted out of disappointment.

“Are you… I don’t think I’ve seen you before… Are you a magician?”

“Ahaha! Yes, that’s right. My name is Jason Damon, Ruin’s best friend.”

“Oh, you’re our young master’s best friend? I wonder how strong you are.”

“Ahem… If I were to introduce myself… I graduated 52nd from the academy and......”

He soon used his friendliness to bond with the citizens.

This could be said to be Jason’s main task.

And he wasn’t the only one. All the friends that had followed me down here got assigned a task.

Hansen.

“Yes. You can hold the sword like—”

“Like this?”

“U-uwah! It’s a real sword, so you’ll get hurt if you swing it around like that!”

“Hehe. Sorry young lad. I’m not used to something like this.””

“......”

He went to teach basic swordsmanship to the citizens who had only ever held steel in the form of pickaxes and sickles.

Seta Malkiri.

“…I don’t know why I came all the way here just to grill some meat.”

“Why? What’s wrong with cooking meat? Isn’t it a waste to not use those incredible cooking skills?”

“Ruin. I think you’re forgetting it just because I got beaten up by you a few times, but I’m the most promising magician of Oyota. The Great Emperor has a lot of expectations for—”

“Ah, is that so?”

“…You damned bastard.”

He used his incredible cooking talent to cook meat for the citizens.

Irene Prius.

“Irene!”

“Ruina!”

“Let’s go play!”

“......”

She did her best to play the part of Ruina’s older sister.

And so, as everyone did their best in their assigned roles and got used to Ardell…

What did I do?

“Are you ready, Straang?”

“Always.”

I fixed up my shoelaces.

Why?

Because now, I would need to run until I kicked up clouds of dust.

——