Chapter 161: Chapter 161

“Factional warfare, huh?”

After hearing the story from Cheryn, Shan passed it on to Roden, who clicked his tongue.

“Just hearing about it sounds like a headache.”

“Can I really solve a problem like that?”

Although Shan’s social skills had improved compared to the past as he grew older and gained various experiences, complex high-level political games were still far beyond his aptitude.

At best, all he could do was gather all the students, beat them up, and threaten them not to fight.

Seeing Shan’s agonizing expression, Roden smiled and spoke.

“Well, you don’t need to take it too seriously. In fact, isn’t there any warrior in this land who doesn’t respect you? It might be resolved surprisingly easily. If it were a problem so serious that it was hard to handle in the first place, Her Majesty wouldn’t have asked you so lightly; she would have drawn up a proper plan to solve it.”

“Indeed, I suppose so.”

“Strictly speaking, she was being considerate of your domain. After all, the Lord Protector oversees the military sector.”

Come to think of it, Cheryn had also said it could become a serious problem in the long run, but she hadn’t acted as if a disaster would strike immediately.

Thanks to Roden’s advice, Shan felt somewhat relieved and let out a sigh.

“The only thing I don’t really understand is why Master hasn’t done anything at all… Why don’t you consult him first? You need to know how things are going to make a move, after all.”

In truth, Roden didn’t know well how the academy was running either.

Not only did he have so many other duties to handle, but since Darkal, the headmaster, held nearly full authority in the first place, Roden had assumed he was taking care of it on his own.

Shan also felt it was a bit strange upon hearing that.

He could hardly imagine the Darkal he knew flustered and unable to handle snotty little kids properly.

“Right, I should go visit him and talk first.”

After finishing his consultation with Roden, Shan immediately left the palace and walked toward the western district of Hasra.

Although the kingdom’s most powerful knight and highest-ranking noble was walking down the street, no one paid him any attention.

Dressed in clothes a reasonably wealthy commoner might wear and hooded, people merely thought he was a tall, sturdy man.

After walking for about thirty minutes, a massive building came into view.

Built by tearing down several mansions previously used by nobles, high outer walls rose around it to prevent just anyone from entering freely.

This building was none other than the Royal Knight Academy of Pendia.

As Shan approached the main gate, the guards standing watch sharpened their eyes and asked.

“This is a restricted military zone. State your business.”

Satisfied that security was tight as befitted a cradle nurturing the kingdom’s knights, Shan smiled and pulled down his hood.

The guards who recognized his face widened their eyes in surprise.

“…Y-Your Grace, Lord Protector!”

“I may enter, right?”

“It is an honor to have you visit!”

Originally, outsiders without prior application were forbidden from entering the knight academy at will, but Shan, who oversaw all military affairs of the kingdom as Lord Protector, was strictly speaking an insider.

Shan stopped the guards from announcing his visit to the headmaster, told them to remain at their posts, and stepped inside.

Even though it had been built in just a few months, a large main building, dormitories, and a dining hall were already erected inside.

The buildings were all large and simple in appearance, as they were constructed using golem architecture, which had been trial-operated recently.

This was a magic that created and controlled massive stone giants using mana stones as a power source, but its movements were far too slow to be used for combat.

As for construction, as one could tell just by looking, it was capable of raising stone buildings of this scale in merely a few months.

Developing this technology further in the future to open a new chapter in construction magic was also one of Cheryn’s major projects.

“Hey, you there! Who are you to be snooping around here!”

As Shan was looking around, a middle-aged man, presumably an instructor, approached with a scowl.

Judging him to be a suspicious figure, one of the instructor’s hands rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist as if ready to draw it at any moment.

Moments later, upon seeing Shan’s face as he turned his head, the instructor snapped to attention just like the guards earlier.

“Forgive me, Your Grace! I did not realize you were visiting…”

“I came to meet my master… I mean, Headmaster Darkal.”

“I shall guide you.”

The instructor’s face was stiff with tension.

It was only natural, considering he had just yelled at a sky-high superior who had shown up unannounced on an inspection.

Of course, Shan had no such awareness and was merely looking around out of interest.

While moving along, he spotted boys diligently engaged in training at a drill ground some distance away.

The students were sparring with blunted swords; watching them quietly, while some were purely focused on sparring, others occasionally launched malicious attacks at each other.

Just looking at their contorted expressions and the screams of those getting hit was enough to tell that it was no joke.

‘I see…’

Since people gathered together, it was not unusual for one or two to harbor ill feelings toward each other, but having a significant number of them acting like that was clearly not a good sign.

As Shan silently stared at the drill ground, the instructor waiting beside him coughed again and guided him along.

A moment later, Shan faced Darkal in the headmaster’s office.

“Have you been doing well, Master?”

“What brought you here? If you came to play, get out! I’m busy!”

At his master’s thunderous voice, just like old times, Shan smiled and sat across from him.

As if saying he was busy was no empty statement, various documents were spread out on Darkal’s desk.

At a glance, they seemed to be about school supplies and equipment.

“Actually, Her Majesty the Queen asked me a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes.”

When Shan conveyed Cheryn’s concerns, Darkal let out a small groan.

And the reply that came back was entirely unexpected.

“In fact, I was the one who encouraged the factions inside the knight academy!”

*

Around the time the knight academy was established, the royal court dispatched people across the kingdom to select youths under seventeen years of age.

Being older did not mean one could not become a knight, but training from a younger age increased the likelihood of awakening fighting spirit.

Of course, if they were simply told to come on their own, unless they hailed from a wealthy family, traveling a long distance would have been impossible.

Thus, the royal court sent selectors directly to various regions to pick out talented children.

The thousands of prospective students gathered in this way underwent grueling selection tests for several weeks at a camp.

Strength, agility, endurance, recovery speed, perseverance, fighting spirit, and even dexterity.

Checking every possible element, filtering and sifting through them again and again, the ones remaining were the two hundred or so students currently present.

Most of them were male, but a few females who possessed physically superior traits or special merits capable of competing with men also survived the cut.

Most women were too weak and sluggish to contend with men, but exceptions like Ravana always existed.

Those selected in this manner were trained with advanced educational methods based on textbooks authored by Darkal himself.

From the training methods that forged the renowned Count of Thousand Kills, Shan Barendil, to various magical potions and tools provided by the royal court.

Under the best environment, the trainees underwent hellish training to condition their bodies and hone their skills.

Of course, since they could not train all day long, they also interacted with one another during their free time.

The beginning of the split was a quarrel between two boys.

“You traitorous bastard!”

“Get lost back to your homeland, the Demonic Realm!”

The elder brother of Feyuv, a boy from an eastern Altoan village, was a soldier belonging to the Altoan Legion that served Cheryn.

He had participated in the Battle of Mount Aman and lost his life after being engulfed in the Purifying Flames cast by the Old Faith forces.

The other boy fighting him, Dike, hailed from a knight family in the western Melken region.

His father was a knight of Baron of Melken who followed Conrad into the Battle of Mount Aman, where he lost his life to the sword of a Palles knight.

While chatting lightheartedly about personal matters, the two boys realized the other was an enemy, starting with minor bickering that soon escalated into a fistfight.

As others acquainted with either of them or possessing similar backgrounds joined in, it quickly turned into a brawl.

Before long, the academy authorities confirmed the incident, disciplined the parties involved, and declared a total reassignment of the dormitory rooms, which had previously been mixed randomly.

From then on, students were allowed to choose their own rooms and roommates.

Thanks to this, the students selected rooms according to their origins and inclinations, dividing into several semi-official factions that growled at each other.

Since they only trained together and lived separately, daily conflicts decreased, but their sense of unity faded.

After finishing his explanation, Darkal shared the reason behind making such a decision.

“They needed motivation.”

Originally, knight training was an ascetic practice meant to transcend humanity.

It was something that ordinary willpower could never achieve.

And from his long experience teaching young knight apprentices, Darkal knew that jealousy and rivalry could serve as extremely powerful motivation.

Rather than teaching one person individually, instructing and pitting several individuals of similar skill against each other yielded higher efficiency in achievement, and it was even better if they harbored hostility toward one another.

“I see…”

Shan nodded at the realization that it was a matter of educational philosophy, but soon voiced a question that crossed his mind.

“But Master, you didn’t do that with me, did you?”

“That’s because you were a fellow who did things on your own! If you had whined and crawled around saying you couldn’t do it, I would have used some trick too! How easy it would be to teach if everyone knew how to exert strength without even feeling pain like you! If I didn’t do at least this much, those fools would blubber every day wanting to go home because of the pain!”

Though he spoke like this, in reality, when teaching Shan, Darkal had also poured out virtually all of his energy.

Even if he went back to that time, he likely wouldn’t have had the leeway to teach multiple students and pit them against each other.

In any case, hearing that the factional strife within the knight academy was not due to a lack of ability on the educators’ part but a difference in educational philosophy, Shan pondered for a moment before bringing up what he had heard from Cheryn.

“I mean, improving their skills is great, but all these students are going to become Pendia’s knights together later, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But if they hold ill feelings toward each other like this, it’ll cause trouble when they become knights in the future.”

In truth, the perspectives of Darkal and Cheryn diverged regarding how they viewed the knight class.

Darkal, a figure of the older generation, viewed knights as independent entities.

Whether one chose a lord to serve or roamed as a knight-errant to build fame, it was merely their own choice.

Interacting and cooperating with other knights was done if one wished and skipped if one did not; what mattered most was solely one’s skill as a warrior.

Conflicts based on region and status had existed from the beginning anyway.

Contrary to him, the knights Cheryn desired were high-ranking warriors who were loyal and obedient to Pendia and the royal house.

They had to be bound by the single identity of being Pendians; dividing and fighting among themselves was nothing more than a waste of national power and a risk factor inciting betrayal and schism.

Listening to this explanation, Darkal let out a low groan and muttered.

“Hm, if that is the intention, then this might indeed be my mistake. Fine. I shall settle it soon.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Nothing much. We just need to change the villain from the other factions to us. We will mix up the dormitories haphazardly, punish them severely if division occurs, and push them even more harshly.”

The most effective way to unite scattered people was precisely to create another formidable enemy.

Having Darkal and the academy instructors play that role would break apart the factions.

Draining all the energy they could use to fight was a bonus.

Water was needed to bind scattered sand, and in this case, it would be blood, sweat, and tears.

As Shan nodded in understanding, Darkal looked at him and asked.

“Since you’re here anyway, will you give us a hand?”

“Me?”

When asked how he could help, Darkal snorted.

“The thing you do best!”

*

“Everyone, assemble!”

“Gather at Training Ground 1!”

At the instructors’ command, the students ran quickly despite wearing tired expressions.

This was because if they were late for assembly, their comrades from the same faction had to undergo penalties.

There were several exercises that were terribly grueling and humiliating in themselves, but above all, they could not stomach the mocking glares of other factions watching them.

“Squad 1 assembly complete!”

“Squad 2 has assembled!”

While the quickly gathered knights aligned in ranks and files, Vivian, a girl who arrived slightly late, turned her head at the sound of her name being called.

“Vivian! Hurry up, you’re late!”

“Sorry! I was taking a dump!”

Having thrown away female shyness long ago while tumbling around in the knight academy, she shouted nonchalantly and immediately took her place in the back row.

Vivian belonged to the female faction, the smallest faction in the knight academy.

They occupied a somewhat floating position within the academy because other factions did not want to earn the bad reputation of fighting girls.

Apart from being looked down upon like that, their grades were actually quite good.

After all, being selected as a student of the knight academy in the first place meant they had the capability to compete with men despite being women.

Standing in her spot, Vivian stood on tiptoe and looked around.

‘The other kids are all here too.’

The first to catch her eye was the Palles clique.

As the strongest supporters of Queen Cheryn and mainly comprised of the noble class, their leader was Blois Barbelka.

As the son Count of Palles and cousin to the queen, he received special treatment even among fellow cadets.

Although speaking informally regardless of status was the rule inside the academy, the gap was so vast that quite a few students were penalized for using honorifics toward him.

Surprisingly, for a noble faction, their relationship with the Altoan faction was quite good; word had it he had an Altoan lover undergoing mage apprenticeship training.

A count marrying an Altoan was something no one would have believed a few years ago, but in times like these, when the queen’s fiancé was an Altoan, it was a believable story.

Next to them stood the Western Old Faith.

A faction consisting of children of nobles or knight families who had previously followed Conrad, as well as commoners from devout Old Faith households.

Although they were politically ruined, their numbers were large since the region was originally the most populous and prosperous in Pendia.

The better fed they were, the easier it was to possess a sturdy frame, and with large numbers came a plentiful supply of talent.

Dike, who had instigated the fight on the first day, became their leader thanks to a build larger than others and superior physical capabilities.

He was renowned for having the finest dueling skills in the academy.

And standing opposite them was the Altoan faction, who had fallen into the worst terms with them after the dispute on the first day.

Regardless of region, all those with a strong Altoan identity belonged over there.

Their leader, Feyuv, always stood out because the tips of his hair flickered like shimmering heat waves; although his swordsmanship was slightly inferior to Dike’s, he was well-versed in various skills such as jousting and horsemanship.

Besides them, the students divided into several groups, such as the Southern Faction and Capital Faction, looked like a miniature version of Pendia.

Watching the sight, Vivian let out a soft sigh.

‘Is this really okay?’

Hailing from a village near Hasra, Vivian had lost her family to marauding troops raging during the turmoil of the civil war.

Those troops, who likely belonged to Conrad’s or Elvin’s forces, hanged Vivian’s parents, brother, relatives, and neighbors, displaying them in front of the village.

She had become a knight to ensure that such things would never happen again.

But seeing the state of the knight academy these days, doubts arose as to whether this was truly acceptable.

It was because of the anxiety that those who graduated after learning combat skills here might focus on wielding them against each other rather than slaying monsters and foreign enemies to protect the people.

Of course, even so, there was nothing Vivian could do.

In any case, just keeping up with the knight academy’s curriculum was overwhelming enough.

Her gloomy thoughts lasted only a moment; once everyone assembled, the instructors stepped forward and spoke.

“Today, a special guest has made time for you all! Consider it an honor and listen carefully to his words!”

Who could the special guest be?

As everyone wondered, an exclamation burst out upon seeing the person stepping forward.

A handsome man with black hair, green eyes, tall stature, and an impressively well-toned physique…

Just as she thought he was quite good-looking, gasps erupted from beside her.

“the Lord Protector!”

“It’s Duke Velakar!”

Recognizing the identity of the person, the students’ eyes widened.

Coming from all over Pendia, most of them had never seen the Lord Protector in person, so they had not recognized his face.

A few of their faces contorted as if seeing an enemy, but most opened their eyes wide and bright, as if looking at an object of admiration.

To think that the hero who had swept through the lands of Ajun just recently to rescue Princess Cassia had come here.

Receiving everyone’s attentive gazes, Shan spoke with a smile.

“Nice to meet you, trash.”