I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 67: The Test

Chapter 67: The Test

Before that meeting, Irene hadn’t been able to properly greet her father because she had been deeper towards the forest with some of the other apprentices and Sir Gunnar as they made sure there were no early signs of goblins.

She felt particularly burdened that part of the reason that the monster culling wasn’t finished to completion was because of her injury, but each time they went out and there was no sign of goblins yet for the season, she felt relieved that she hadn’t messed something up for the order in only the first year she had been there.

Irene approached her father in the dining hall once everyone had settled into their midday meal.

His face lit up at the sight of her, having never seen her wearing armor until then. It reminded him of when he was a child and memories flowed in as he watched her. He scooted over so that there was room at the table between him and one of the other knights.

She placed her food down and got comfortable, certainly leaning closer to her father who wasn’t wearing any armor but welcomed her all the same.

"Iro." Arthur spoke her false name affectionately even though he wished he could call her something else. "You survived your first winter in the Duke’s Tower."

Despite how morbid the words may seem, a smile spread across the girl’s lips and she grinned up at her father proudly. It certainly had been an achievement.

"It wasn’t that hard because there weren’t any monsters," she insisted. "But I did shoot a dire wolf with an arrow and Sir Sven allowed me to keep her fur. It’s the warmest fur I have so far."

The knight smiled even though there was a tinge of worry within him. Never did it get easier to know his daughter was facing such violence even when he wasn’t beside her. The life he always pictured was the two of them drawing their swords together and protecting their home rather than the entire duchy.

He wanted to gush about how brave she was and how she had already broken down the preconceived notions of her life. She was already strong even if she wasn’t the strongest.

"How wonderful," the knight responded as he ruffled her hair. "Your hair is getting quite long. We ought to cut it down since it isn’t as cold outside any longer."

"Okay, dad," she responded with a pleased grin.

She wasn’t allowed more of a response than that because she had already felt eyes on her since she had gone to the knights’ table and sat down. Did they think she looked like a girl with her hair growing past her collarbone? She had been trying to tie it back a lot during those days so it wouldn’t get in the way but she had worn it down that day, not insecure about anything because the others were so used to her. However, it was clear the knights were far from it.

"Now you need to eat," Arthur insisted. "I will do the same."

They were the words of a hungry man who hadn’t yet eaten that day. Luckily the midday meal tended to be the heaviest so he was relieved to smell it already cooking the second he stepped into the Duke’s tower before the disaster of a meeting with Duke Arlin.

Since there wasn’t a moment to speak to Sir Gunnar privately about what had happened, he decided to focus on his daughter for the time being.

The opportunity was afforded to them when Sir Gunnar sat down on the bench across from them. He ate for a while as well but soon stopped and crossed his arms.

"Your child has done well this winter," the knight admitted to Arthur, but then he turned his attention to the apprentice. "However, there is something you ought to be working on more now that the snow has melted and none of us will be going far while the floodplains and streams are overflowing into the valleys. You know what it is."

Irene lifted her head and widened her eyes at the knight. They then turned to her father who had begun to observe her with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Ah," she muttered. "Right. I shall get better at shooting arrows on horseback this spring."

"I’m surprised to hear you’re a bad aim on horseback," Arthur responded, assuming something other than what Sir Gunnar was implying.

"Not aim," Gunnar insisted. "Inability to multitask. As an archer, it will be one of the most valuable skills you can have if you ever have the misfortune of facing battle. Even Sir Sven has tried to teach Iro but it’s something that can only be mastered with continued practice."

However, Arthur stroked his beard thoughtfully and he gently shook his head.

"That isn’t quite true," he admitted. "My mother, of all people, would be a wonderful teacher to Iro. She was the one who taught him how to shoot a bow in the first place and it certainly wasn’t merely practice. She will be enthused to hear that you have kept up with this skill."

"Then how can we get your mother in this direction?" Gunnar asked, genuinely interested.

"I will go when the flooding lessens since I only just beat it. It ought to only be a few weeks," Arthur insisted. "She hasn’t been to the Duke’s Tower in quite some time as well."

"The Duke will not be the way she remembers him," Gunnar spat, his tone seemingly venomous and anyone could understand why.

"Everybody gets old," Arthur relented, deciding to be more optimistic as if they hadn’t all witnessed the same thing. "We will have to address him in a more casual setting. Being in front of an entire order of knights could have certainly put him under unnecessary stress."

"A meeting that he himself called," Gunnar continued under his breath.

All it took was Sir Arthur’s eyebrow raising for Gunnar to cut himself short of what he really wanted to say.

Irene, in the meantime, was trying to avoid their gazes, but it was unavoidable when her father gently elbowed her and said, "Now I suppose you ought to show me where you are on horseback. Perhaps there are suggestions I could make."

The girl was already full of dread. He wouldn’t be overly critical because her father wasn’t necessarily a perfectionist but he was looked up to by so many because of his innate and unbelievable skill. All she could do was lift her head and accept the challenge.

"Let’s go, father," she responded, taking on a serious tone that caused the redheaded knight to smirk proudly.