Chapter 20:
A Knight’s Talent
Camellia was stunned.
She had encountered all sorts of absurd events while playing the game, but she had never expected something like this.
She really defeated all the knights by herself?
Then why is she crying?
Unable to make sense of the situation, Camellia stared at Shushu.
Lohengrin immediately stepped in front of the girl protectively and hurriedly explained,
“You’re mistaken, my lord. This isn’t Shumel’s fault. Allow me to explain what happenedâ”
“Wait.”
Camellia interrupted him before he could continue and gestured toward one of the maids who had accompanied her.
The quick-witted maid hurried over, brought a chair from one side of the training grounds, placed it behind Camellia, and set a cushion on it.
Camellia plopped down into the chair before calmly declaring,
“Very well. Now explain.”
Lohengrin’s eyes wavered in surprise, but Camellia simply met his gaze with a shameless expression.
What? Why?
It’s better than listening while standing, only to suddenly collapse halfway through saying, “W-Wait a moment… my legs have cramped…”
“Aren’t you going to explain?”
She urged him confidently, as though nothing were wrong.
“Y-Yes. I’ll explain.”
Coming back to his senses, Lohengrin began speaking as if he had never been caught off guard.
In short, this was what had happened.
Since the girl had been entrusted to him by the lord, he had examined her thoroughly.
He tested her physical strength.
He had her hold a sword.
He tried everything he could think of.
His conclusion…
Nashu Shumel possessed talent so extraordinary that even calling her a genius wasn’t enough.
Even after spending the entire night confirming her aptitude, Lohengrin still wasn’t satisfied.
At daybreak, he selected one knight and had him spar with her.
The result…
Nashu won.
Not only that, she defeated him in fewer than three exchanges.
“Sir Ioâthe vice-captainâbecame interested and challenged her himself.”
“He lost as well.”
A girl who had been nothing more than a maid until yesterday had defeated a knight with over ten years of training.
It was astonishing.
The real problem was that it was too astonishing.
The knights became excited by the appearance of such an exceptional newcomer.
“Me too! I want to fight the rookie too!”
One after another, they volunteered.
“So they each took turnsâ”
“Wait.”
Unable to hold back anymore, Camellia interrupted him.
“You allowed that?”
“Every single one of them?”
“Without exception?”
Lohengrin’s ears turned red.
“…Yes.”
“And those idiots lying on the ground rushed in happily because they were given permission?”
“…Yes.”
The absurdity of it all was giving her a headache.
Camellia pressed a hand against her forehead.
If she tried hard enough, she could understand the reasoning.
Lohengrin looked like a refined nobleman, and in front of his lord he acted like a loyal puppy…
No.
A loyal hound.
But at his core, he was still a knight.
In the world of Dark Tower, knights were human weapons who charged into battle with smiles on their faces, living tanks that would happily run toward death if ordered.
Simply put…
Everyone who carried the title of knight absolutely loved fighting.
‘Still… enjoying your own fights is one thing, but getting excited over other people’s fights too, Lohengrin…’
She disliked scolding her companions whenever possible.
But this needed to be said.
These people made up half the military strength of the territory.
How could they all end up sprawled across the ground after sparring with a complete beginner?
“You call yourselves knights?”
“Did you all forget that the thing sitting on top of your shoulders is supposed to be a head?”
“Or did you remove your brains and replace them with rocks or chunks of iron just so your helmets would have something to rest on?”
“We’re sorry.”
“You as well.”
“You took someone who didn’t even know the basics and immediately threw her into sparring?”
“Do you possess even a shred of common sense?”
Lohengrin cautiously studied her expression.
It wasn’t that he had lost confidence.
Rather, he looked like he had something he wanted to say but couldn’t.
Exasperated, Camellia asked again,
“Do you have something to say?”
“If you do, then speak.”
“No… It’s just…”
“I thought it was strange that, even after Shumelâwho knew absolutely nothing about swordsmanshipâdefeated every knight here, you neither seemed surprised nor happy.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
Do you want me to praise you because you let a complete beginner knock everyone flat?
Honestly… this knight is hopeless.
Suppressing the urge to sigh, Camellia flicked her fingers, signaling him to move aside.
After a brief hesitation, Lohengrin stepped away.
With her shield gone, Nashu startled and instinctively tried to hide behind him again.
Camellia was faster.
“Nashu Shumel.”
Her low, steady voice froze the girl in place.
She hiccupped from crying.
She was clearly trying desperately not to cry anymore, but tears still shimmered in her green eyes, and her nose was bright red.
Seriously… why is she crying so much?
Camellia was still wondering how to phrase her words so the girl would stop trembling when Nashu spoke first.
“I-I’m sorry, my lord!”
“I’m sorry for hitting the knights too hard!”
“I-I really tried to hit them gently…”
“But I still knocked them all down! I’m so sorry!”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“It was only a sparring match between knights.”
“…H-Huh?”
“I said you did nothing wrong, Nashu Shumel.”
Nashu stared at her with wide, round eyes.
“…You’re… not going to scold me?”
“Really?”
Why would I?
Honestly, what had Shushu done wrong?
The ones at fault were the overeager senior knights who had rushed to challenge her…
…and the knight commander who had happily arranged the matches.
Camellia softened her voice as much as she could.
“Weren’t you frightened?”
Nashu blinked in confusion.
“Huh?”
“Y-Yes… I mean…”
“I don’t like getting hit because it’s scary…”
“But hitting other people is easy…”
To a modern person, it sounded like something a psychopath might say.
Lohengrin clearly didn’t see it that way.
Instead, he proudly added,
“My lord, Shumel possesses the heart of a beast.”
“She doesn’t tremble before a drawn sword.”
“She doesn’t hesitate at the sight of blood.”
“Talent like this is extraordinarily rare.”
It was almost unbelievable.
Yesterday, this same man had looked at Camellia as though she were a wicked noble tormenting an innocent maid.
Now he sounded like an elite athletic coach enthusiastically telling parents,
“Your daughter absolutely has to pursue sports! She has national-level potential!”
The change was rather ridiculous.
Still…
Camellia didn’t dislike it.
If even the Knight Commander was making such a fuss, then the soul-bearing Shushu’s talent truly was exceptional.
“If you’re willing to guarantee her ability…”
“I’ll trust your judgment.”
She lightly tapped the armrest of her chair.
“So…”
“Exactly how much longer would you need to train her before I can take that girl into the Tower?”
Lohengrin hesitated.
But perhaps deciding he couldn’t lie before his lord, he answered honestly.
“In my opinion…”
“If we’re talking about the first or second floor of the Tower…”
“She could go immediately.”
Camellia quietly looked at Nashu.
Unable to understand why her lord was staring at her, Nashu fidgeted awkwardly.
Lohengrin leaned over and whispered something into her ear.
Only then did she realize what Camellia’s gaze meant.
Flustered, she hurriedly replied,
“I-If my lord orders me to go…”
“…then I-I have to go…”
Everything about her expression screamed that she absolutely did not want to.
Unfortunately, there was no helping it.
Just like Camellia, Shushu desperately needed to level up.
‘If neither of us levels up, we’re both going to lose our souls.’
From that perspective, it was fortunate that Nashu was already battle-ready.
Of course, she still needed proper equipment.
Her build needed to be optimized.
Her resistance to mental magic had to be tested.
The mechanics of her personal trait, Troublemaker, also needed to be reexamined.
‘Ideally, we’ll also practice coordinating as a party before entering… Huh. There’s actually quite a lot to do.’
But the most urgent matter was ensuring that nothing would go wrong while exploring the dungeon with her party.
To accomplish that…
She needed those pathetic knights who were still lying on the ground groaning, unable to stand up despite their lord standing right before them.
Sighing inwardly, Camellia turned to the maid waiting behind her.
“…Go and bring Nathaniel.”
