How to Live as a Swordmaster of the Enemy Nation

The Approaching War (3)

The Dawn Knight Order had several ironclad rules.

Among them, the most representative was this:
[It is rare to find someone who will point out your flaws, and the teachings of someone stronger than you are something to be grateful for. Therefore, accept and uphold the teachings of those who are strong.]

This was a tradition of the Dawn Knight Order, announced when Gregory's comrades joined the order for the first time.

There was no way Gregory would overlook such an opportunity.

At first, many people estimated that Gregory's abilities would be on par with Ernest's when they entered the order.

But now, things were different.

He had demonstrated overwhelming skill and won decisively in a sparring match against Ernest.

The senior knights were stronger than Gregory.
Therefore, the seniors could teach the juniors, including Gregory, but since they also understood how valuable learning was, they did not impart their knowledge easily.

The situation was unfolding just as he wanted.

The senior knights, in their hearts, were recognizing Gregory as a formidable warrior.

Still, Gregory did not act arrogantly to everyone; instead, he maintained humility as he calmly began to teach his comrades.

Adrian was stubborn and eccentric, contrary to his own will. Adrian kept deviating from the improvements Gregory pointed out to him.

And his swordsmanship was so poor that it was barely acceptable for a member of the order.

"I can't do it. I really can't."

"Then give up."

"Why do I have to train under you, of all people? This is way too hard."

"Have you forgotten the order's ironclad rule?"

"......"

"Are you going to show such weakness before the enemy as well?"

"......."

Gregory responded with a sharp retort. If one showed such weakness during training, they would undoubtedly collapse in actual combat. That harsh truth quickly made Adrian come to his senses and grip his sword again.

It wasn't as though Gregory couldn't understand—rebelliousness often surfaced unconsciously.

In normal training, Adrian probably studied swordsmanship in depth. However, in real combat, what mattered was strength and stamina. Without those, one would never be able to take on multiple opponents.

Gregory continued training him relentlessly, pushing Adrian hard enough to smash logs with a wooden sword. The seemingly simple repetition also offered the benefit of boosting strength and toughening the body.

Though Adrian genuinely respected Gregory and wanted to learn, his body instinctively resisted this extreme regimen. What noble child trains like this? Yet, if his desire was strong enough, he had to accept such training.

Watching Adrian grip the sword tightly once more, Gregory spoke.

"Become worthy of the effort. If only to protect everyone else."

There was a reason for training him this hard.

Some said mana was pure talent, but that might be a lie. In his previous life, no one had worked as hard as Gregory. Not that he possessed such powerful mana, either.

That was also the reason he kept dragging along comrades who wanted to quit. The difference in combat ability between a knight and a common soldier was like heaven and earth. In battle, if you ended up in a protracted fight against multiple enemies and collapsed from lack of endurance, that would be shameful.

On the flip side, his comrades could become a great source of strength. That was, in fact, a very useful method for Gregory to slowly devour the Blandi Kingdom from within.

Gregory quickly realized this. He had such intentions deep inside, but in the end, having stronger allies was to his own benefit.

"Hm... Next."

The next was Brea. Her mana purity was not good.

"No! I'll train on my own."

And yet, she was incredibly stubborn, so he had to use a different approach to raise her.

She had a unique personality. She could not stand seeing others succeed, and to grow herself, she needed feelings of rivalry and jealousy.

"Go ahead, then. But you'll just end up left behind."

One way to deal with such people was to suppress them with overwhelming force, but the easiest way was to apply the pressure of abandonment.

Unconsciously, Brea admired Gregory. He knew she wanted to emulate his overwhelming strength, and believed that, rather than lose her pride and be cast out, she would force herself to improve.

Sure enough, Brea panicked and raised her voice at Gregory's unexpected reaction.

"No, wait! I-I'll learn, just for a bit. Teach me!"

"Brea, this isn't a place where you can throw a tantrum and have your way."

"Okay."

"If your only goal is to become strong, then just quit the knights. If you can't even keep to the rules, what's the point of being here?"

"I'll work hard..."

He taught Brea what she needed to fix, then turned away. Meanwhile, another thought was growing in his mind.

'No matter how I think about it...'

To have the ability to teach in a given field, one had to be at least above a certain level, and even then, possessing knowledge and actually teaching someone were very different.

Would it be any different in other orders? By now, the other knight orders would have received new cadets for training. It was already clear that the strength of Arme was in decline.

There were too few in the Dawn Knight Order. Saying they would defeat the enemy with an elite few was just a joke. Even if other orders had more members, Gregory questioned if they were truly that effective when it came to offense.

He might have just been meddling, but the weak fighting power of the Dawn Knight Order would work against Gregory, who needed to take revenge on the Blandi Kingdom.

Gregory tried to estimate the odds if the Blandi Kingdom and Arme were to go to war. Looking around, he felt there might not be even a glimmer of hope in the coming conflict.

He sensed time was running out. If they went to war in their current state, they would be wiped out without even breaking even. The only way was to delay the war.

When he'd gone to war with Arme in his previous life, both sides had been at a stalemate. If the military was strong even then, how about now, before war had even begun? Even with notable talent appearing, things would barely be balanced.

Revenge? More likely, the bonds he'd painstakingly built with those around him would go up in smoke.

Gregory kept reminding himself of what only he could do as a reincarnated man.

'Who was the mastermind behind the war in my previous life...?'

After much deliberation, Gregory muttered aloud.

"Radian."

Suddenly, a name and epithet flashed in his mind. Battle Maniac Radian. According to Gregory's memories, Radian was the main culprit who started the previous war.

Rumor had it that Radian incited the war simply to have an excuse to fight over fertile land and to revel in the conflict—a true psychopath and sociopath.

However, this time, he might be the key to postponing the war.

If he could just persuade Radian, then at least for a while, war would not break out.

'But if it's me, I have a way to persuade him.'

To meet him, Gregory would have to cross over into the Blandi Kingdom, and for that, he would need his father's help. Walter's simple permission would not suffice.

He needed to meet someone with a higher rank—Hemingway.

For now, Gregory decided to see Walter.

Gregory threw open the door to the Dawn Knight Order' base and entered. Walter looked clearly surprised by the sudden interruption.

Next to him, Leonyx and Amelia were enjoying a gambling game together.

'So the officers of the order are slacking off, tsk tsk.'

Walter shouted out in a loud voice.

"How dare you come in without knocking!"

If gambling had boosted their morale, Gregory had to accept it. They were stronger than he was, so he couldn't blame them. For now, he figured it was best to bow his head and play along.

Gregory disliked bowing to anyone, but figured it was necessary to get things moving, and apologized insincerely.

"I'm sorry. I have something urgent to discuss."

"No matter how urgent it is, you little punk, barging in without knocking?"

Walter's extreme reaction suggested it was an awkward and sensitive issue for him as well. No wonder—after putting the knights through hard training, he and the others were having fun themselves. He would feel awkward, too.

Walter shouted loud enough to shake the base.

"What's the matter! Not only did you skip your own training, but tell me why you barged in here!"

"This is something sensitive—I would rather not discuss it here."

Seeing the seriousness in Gregory's face, Walter realized the gravity of the matter. He was about to order Amelia and Leonyx to step outside with a wave of his finger.

"Commander! No way. We want to hear it too!"

"Yeah!"

But from his experience, Walter sensed this was likely related to the war, so he told them off firmly.

"Step outside for a moment."

Reluctantly, Amelia and Leonyx got up to leave.

"Tch, oh well. The game was just getting good. Don't touch my cards!"

"Right! I memorized them all. If you do, I won't let it go!"

After Amelia and Leonyx left, Gregory finally prepared to explain the responsibility he intended to take up.

If he couldn't persuade Walter now, war would break out and everyone would be slaughtered.

"We must postpone the war."

"That's it? Who doesn't know that? Is that all you barged in here for without knocking?"

"No. I will postpone the war."

Walter assumed Gregory had rushed in recklessly, merely to declare that the war must be delayed, and waited for him to continue.

"And yet you barged in? Wait, no? This means you actually have a plan?"

Walter spoke with brash confidence.

"Hey, kid, the other knights do cut you some slack because they like you, and you usually speak sense, but stop the war? How, exactly?"

He was full of doubts at Gregory's confident attitude. Since he was aware of how things were going, he knew that for Arme, war was inevitable, and no amount of scheming seemed to offer a solution.

"Please send me to the Blandi Kingdom."

"That's nonsense..."

Gregory cut him off and replied,

"What if I have a concrete plan?"

Walter looked at him with interest but was inwardly annoyed by being cut off.

"You interrupted me. Are you aware that's overstepping your bounds? Do you think you can survive on the battlefield with such arrogance?"

"Better than gambling when the war is about to start. At least I haven't neglected my training."

Gregory pressed assertively.

His energetic nephew coming at him with such force made Walter curious.

"All right, let's hear it. How exactly are you planning to persuade my elder brother?"

"Well..."

Gregory revealed his plan to Walter. Walter's expression changed by the second as he listened. The startled incredulity on his face faded slowly into seriousness, and, as the story reached its climax, transformed into deep thought.

"I can't guarantee to end the war. But I can delay it."

When Gregory finished, the room was silent. He and Walter locked eyes. Gregory's face was calm.

There was no hesitation or wavering. He spoke as if he were one-hundred percent sure.

"Huh."

The uncomfortable silence was finally broken by Walter's laughter. When Gregory looked at him, Walter burst out laughing.

"Puhahahahahahahah!"

Walter thought, 'He really is an interesting guy.' It was written all over his face.

Gregory's crazy plan was truly enticing—more so because it actually had a chance of succeeding.

He almost found himself persuaded by Gregory for a moment.

"This is more interesting than I expected. All right, I'll send you. Try persuading my brother. But don't expect it to be easy—you'll need to account for every variable."

"I've considered that as well."

"Go ahead."

With dismissal granted, Gregory bowed politely and said,

"While I'm at it, I'll borrow a horse as well."

Walter quietly nodded. A silent agreement. Having confirmed it, Gregory turned and stepped out of the base.