And when his friend came in and asked whether it was a spear this time, it was Kagura, who wanted to know whether he had any hobbies besides training.
Cedo replied that he had watched shows about heroes as a child, and Kagura said he was actually talking about the present. "You're the best agent this country has. Don't you think you should take a break sometimes?"
Cedo replied, drinking, that he did not have time for that. He had too many missions that took him behind enemy lines. He was sent out empty-handed, and in such cases he had to make do with whatever came to hand. Therefore, no matter what weapon he ended up with, he had to master it and perfect it, to improve his chances of survival even if only by a small amount.
Kagura looked at him in surprise, then exhaled and said that he promised to create something that would rid him of his lack of weapons forever.
At that moment Cedo faced his opponent, who was trying to attack him. He looked sharply into her eyes, and their spears clashed. Karina's spear flew out of her hands, and she stood stunned as Cedo declared the match his. A total of fifteen defeats in a row.
She became enraged and shouted that she wanted to go again. The battle continued, and their spears clashed once more, after which Cedo saw that she moved quickly and had good reflexes. She tried to strike him again, and he registered that she had considerable strength, her blows clearly growing heavier with each swing. So that's the power of an evolved human.
But her spear flew off again, and she sank to her knees. Cedo said they would end it there.
She screamed that she was not finished yet, and Cedo replied that it was pointless to continue like this. Her stamina was at zero, and the longer she went on, the weaker she became.
She looked questioningly at his back.
"Your breathing is completely useless," he said. She merely masked the weaknesses of her technique with her innate abilities, and they lacked any precision. This was probably because the current era was built around spirit magic, while the warriors of his time had completely different requirements of their skills. Now they would start by strengthening her body.
"Will you not grumble any more?"
Karina was furious in her mind — and then she realized that he was not sweating at all. How was that even possible?
He offered her his hand and asked whether she could stand up. Karina understood that she would have to admit defeat, because he really was strong. Cedo looked at her questioningly, and Karina put her hand in his.
Then he said that in that case they would start with a jog. The knights looked at him in surprise and got to work.
When night fell, Tales walked through his castle with a lantern and opened the cell where Ledman was being held. Ledman said that a very important person had dropped in to see him.
Tales replied that he wanted to have a quick word with him — the instigator of all this unrest.
He replied that he had nothing more to say, and Tales was surprised. In this situation he was quite confident. Was he really up to something again?
Ledman replied that they would see, but only if he allowed him to say one thing. Even if they managed to save them this time, sooner or later the royal family would perish.
"Is that so?" Tales asked with a smile. "Then it all becomes clear. Maybe we should test the power of this pendant."
Ledman, stunned, looked at the pendant, frightened, and started screaming. "Where did you get this?"
"Did you really think it was your exclusive privilege?" Tales asked. "These are weapons of invasion. It seems this is an artifact that contains the power of the distorted ones, isn't it? Most likely the current commotion was also caused by this weapon."
"But how?" Ledman screamed.
Tales asked him not to panic. The interesting part was only beginning. He did not like the royal family, so wouldn't he like to join forces with him?
Ledman was dumbfounded, and Tales said that his father and Charlotte were too soft. If things were left as they were, sooner or later the kingdom would be taken over by other countries, and that would be the end of it.
Ledman blurted out that he, a member of the royal family, was planning to destroy his own dynasty.
He replied that this was precisely the case. This kingdom needed to be rebuilt from the ground up, to become strong and majestic. And to do that, he needed the power of their invasion weapons.
"Well, fine," Ledman replied. Only let him promise that he would have the throne in the new kingdom.
Tales replied that he did not care, but in return he must swear allegiance to him.
"What?" Ledman asked again.
"That's right," he confirmed. He would not want him to entertain any thought of betrayal.
This fool, Ledman thought. Is there any point in swearing oaths? He is simply using me, and in the end he will undoubtedly get rid of me. Well, fine. I never intended to leave any of the royal family alive anyway. So — he swore allegiance to him.
"Have you really decided to swear the oath?" Tales asked again.
At that moment a powerful magical force gathered around the pendant, and Ledman swore his allegiance through the magic. This artifact cast a powerful spell on anyone who spoke certain words. And even if it was a lie at the time, it would compel them to believe that they had spoken from the heart.
He lowered his gaze silently and said, "My lord. Command me. I will fulfil your every command."
Tales replied that this was simply pathetic. The very thought of them — pathetic upstarts of filthy blood — hoping to take the place of the royal family filled him with nausea. They were all just pawns serving his purposes. The one truly worthy of ruling this kingdom was not Charlotte, and certainly not Ledman. Only he was destined to lead this kingdom.
After a while Cedo ran with his students and said that it was still pleasant out. "All right. We'll call it a day."
When he turned around he saw that every one of them had collapsed without strength, and thought that they looked like characters from an old sports comic after a hellish workout. He muttered under his breath and apologized for going a bit overboard.
Argus said that everything was fine. On the contrary, it was good that they had immediately identified their weak stamina. They usually travelled on horseback and relied on quick victories with spirit magic in battle, which was why stamina had never received the attention it deserved. So for the time being they would focus on strengthening it.
Cedo replied that this was an excellent decision.