Chapter 35: Recruitment (8)

A single precedent.

It was important.

Those who had watched Lucas's turn realized that using foul play was not a problem from then on.

And, of course.

People resorted to any means necessary to last for one minute.

“Gaaaaah!”

Thud.

The 72nd turn.

A towering man roared and swung his greatsword.

However, such a large movement was easily anticipated by Roman, and the man, seeing his sword slice through the air, picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at Roman's face.

A surprise and unconventional attack.

Roman turned his head to avoid the stone, then kicked the man's face as he charged to attack again.

Thud!

“Gah.”

Blood splattered.

The man's pupils dilated, and he fell face-first to the ground.

“Next.”

Foul play.

It was not a condition for disqualification.

But the moment the line was crossed, Roman showed no mercy.

In that regard, Lucas was clever.

If Lucas had not given up the sparring, Roman's sword might have broken one of his limbs.

The test continued.

The 80th turn.

The 90th turn.

And the 100th turn.

Despite the constant change of opponents, no one managed to last for the one minute Roman had mentioned.

Initially, people laughed at the rules of the second test, but at some point, they began to look at Roman with horror.

This situation.

It made no sense.

Roman had gone through 100 matches, spending over an hour.

At a time when his breathing should have been labored, Roman still maintained the steady breathing of the first sparring match.

There was no sign of physical strain.

This appearance instilled fear in the applicants, and the thought of the end approaching made them lose the will to win.

They did not know Roman.

Corpse Mountain and Blood Sea.

At the boundary of death, there is no enemy who will show mercy when you are exhausted.

If you cannot manage your breathing, your movements become sluggish, and you end up like a corpse on the ground.

Therefore.

Baek Jung-hyuk learned to fight to the end.

One breath in.

One breath out.

The natural mana obtained through this process circulated internally, appropriately recovering the physical fatigue.

Roman's body was still weak.

It was normal for 100 sparring matches to cause physical strain, but with the robust body strengthened by the transformation and proper management, Roman continued the sparring as if it were the first match.

This was a fight without using mana.

For Baek Jung-hyuk, who had fought for three days and nights during the era of subjugating the martial arts world, such a light battle would not deplete his stamina.

Therefore.

The applicants' judgment was wrong.

They thought delaying their turn would be advantageous, but instead, the fear that weighed on their hearts made their steps falter.

“Next.”

The last.

The 120th turn.

He ascended the stage with a resigned face, and as everyone expected, he could not even last 10 seconds, let alone one minute.

One strike.

The applicant knelt.

When the wooden sword broke in a single match, he declared his surrender.

The test was over.

With the conclusion of the 120 matches, people looked up at Roman in a daze.

“...What exactly are we seeing?”

Even witnessing it directly, they could not understand.

Roman Dmitri.

His transformation was beyond the realm of common sense.

All tests were completed.

Defeat did not mean disqualification.

Chris sent all the despondent applicants home and informed them that he would announce the results in two days.

And the next day.

Roman handed the list of successful candidates to Chris.

“This is the list of successful candidates. From now on, you will be responsible for training these 30 people.”

“Understood.”

Thud.

He received the list.

Flipping to the first page, a familiar name caught his eye.

‘His name was Bolkan, right?’

The first challenger of the test.

He boldly challenged and was immediately eliminated.

The content of the sparring was unremarkable, but he was a person who had the qualifications to be among the 30 successful candidates.

‘The lord must have highly evaluated Bolkan's courage. Despite the clear advantage of the 120th turn, Bolkan stepped up without hesitation for the first turn. He was thoroughly defeated, but his courage in taking the initiative and his physical condition made him an outstanding talent as a soldier.’

Rustle.

He turned the page.

Most of the names were understandable.

Even though they did not show remarkable performance against Roman, those with will and conditions passed.

And.

‘...Henderson?’

There was an unexpected name.

Henderson was an ordinary person by anyone's standards.

He barely passed the first test and showed a passive attitude during the sparring with Roman, ultimately failing.

So Chris thought he would naturally be disqualified.

Unlike other successful candidates, he lacked the will and conditions, so there was no reason for him to be on the list.

Still.

He suppressed his objections, thinking it was the lord's decision.

He knew that the Roman he had experienced would not select a successful candidate without any reason.

However.

The next page left him no choice but to object.

“Is Lucas also successful?”

“Yes.”

“I acknowledge that Lucas is a B-class mercenary with sufficient talent. However, he is a cowardly and despicable person. During the sparring, he threw a dagger and sprinkled sand, committing foul play, and when he was judged to have lost, he declared surrender without fighting to the end. Such a person acts as a poison on the battlefield. You never know when he will abandon his comrades, and can other soldiers trust and fight with Lucas?”

Lucas was a typical mercenary.

A type who would do anything to survive, abandoning honor.

Chris disliked that.

He knew the honor of a knight and, if he were in the challenger's position, would not have declared surrender even if it meant death.

For the soldiers he would be responsible for in the future.

He hoped to exclude people like Lucas.

Roman said.

“That's why I passed him.”

“...What do you mean?”

“As you said, Lucas might be a coward who abandons his comrades. But in a situation where no one even thought of committing foul play, he thought of and executed a practical way to deal with me. On the battlefield, such people shine. They always look for a way to survive and will find a way to open a path. I ask you, does the fact that Lucas dealt with me in a different way from others mean he is a coward who abandons his comrades? He only committed foul play because it was not restricted, and he has not shown any behavior that betrays trust yet.”

He was speechless.

Roman was right.

Lucas had thought practically, but there was no basis to judge his character yet.

Suddenly.

He remembered the words of his teacher, Jonathan.

“Those who survive on the battlefield are not knights like us who can use auras. In the boundary of death, where blood and screams abound, those who can remain calm and make judgments will survive as human beings. So always remember. No matter how strong a swordsman you become, you can still be defeated by hyenas who lie in wait like corpses, waiting for an opportunity.”

He nodded.

As Roman said, it was too early to judge Lucas.

However.

He had a question.

“Is there a reason for recruiting 30 soldiers this time? 30 is a significant number, and a lot of money and effort are required to manage them. The Dmitri family already has soldiers and knights, don't they?”

Chris's question.

It was a matter of common sense.

In five months.

Roman will head to the battlefield.

But that was in the future, and there was no need to prepare by recruiting soldiers now.

The central government was not an extremely cruel group that would send noble soldiers to certain death just because they were conscripted.

Conscripted soldiers.

They were more of a reserve force.

They spent their time in a waiting area just below the front lines and supported the area when something dangerous happened.

So, in good luck, they could finish their service without a single battle.

Roman, too, did not know where he would be assigned, so there was no need to train soldiers.

And.

Dmitri was a border region.

Since battles were not common, maintaining 30 people at 8 silver coins per person for five months was a significant burden.

Chris.

He was a former deputy knight commander.

Knowing how to manage people and a bit of accounting, he understood that the 30 people were not a simple matter.

A question he had to ask eventually.

Roman said.

“As I said in front of everyone, I have no intention of settling in the border region. Step by step, I plan to climb the ladder, starting with what I see in front of me. So, who do you think is my immediate enemy right now?”

The first goal.

When asked this question, Chris had a sudden realization.

‘Surely not.’

He wanted to deny it.

He knew that Roman had become more aggressive, but he did not expect such dangerous thoughts.

“Yes.”

Roman's death.

The culprit of that death.

“We will prepare for a war with Barco from now on.”

* * *

At that moment.

The Barco family, with the approval of the central government, officially announced a declaration of war.

“We have waited for Lawrence's decision, believing in past promises. However, they have abandoned the honor of the nobility and betrayed our trust, and after a long period of patience, we have made the decision to draw our swords. Lawrence's crimes are clear. They have not repaid the debt left by their ancestors and have shown a stubborn attitude of not returning the land used as collateral. Therefore, through this declaration, we inform the people of the Cairo Kingdom. If Lawrence does not repay the debt or return the land used as collateral within one week, the Barco family will declare a territorial war against Lawrence with the approval of the central government.”

Territorial war.

A fierce battle where both sides put their assets on the line.

The Barco family, with the approval of the central government, gained the legal grounds to declare a territorial war.

In the world of nobility, legal grounds are important.

Because of the legal grounds, the nobles in the northeast of the Cairo Kingdom will remain neutral in the war between the two.

If.

If Roman and Flora's marriage had not been canceled, the Barco family might have been more cautious.

A marriage between two families meant a blood relationship.

In the world of nobility, blood relations provided strong legal grounds, so there would be strong legal grounds to intervene directly in Lawrence's affairs.

However.

The marriage was canceled.

And now, it was time to pay the price for a momentary mistake.

“We hope Lawrence makes a careful choice. If he remains silent to protect the family's assets, the Barco flag will soon be planted in the heart of Lawrence. We do not desire war. But we hope you do not forget that Barco can be more cruel than anyone if necessary.”

It was a one-sided notification.

Finally.

The war was imminent.