I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 97: A Lot To Get Used To

Chapter 97: A Lot To Get Used To

One day was enough rest for Arthur. He hated maids having to bring him meals. He also hated that the healers checked on him around the clock.

Why should he be forced to feel weak when his hand was sealed and he was no longer bleeding? It was time to get back on his feet.

After realizing his daughter wouldn’t return, Arthur took his last meal for the day and went to sleep. The ale Gunnar brought him along with the herbs provided by a mage were a potent concoction in allowing him to forget the world for a while.

However, a knight who was accustomed to only a few hours of sleep here and there went to sleep easily but woke up just as easily.

It was still the middle of the night when he left the room and looked down the hallway. There was no one around to fuss over him and he decided he would go back to his barrack.

The room was unbelievably cold and he started a small fire inside with hard wood that would hopefully maintain it for a while.

He was finally able to change into clothing that wasn’t covered in blood and didn’t have the right arm torn to shreds. After removing it, he left it on a pile of linens, giving the maids a silent message that said ’Do with this shirt as you please’ because he had no use for a shirt stained in blood and lacking a right sleeve.

For the first time in a while, he didn’t get into traveling clothing, but clothing that would be more suited for practice. He thought it was about time he got to swing a sword once again.

It pained him to switch the side of his belt that his sheath was attached to. Where he normally wore it, the belt was worn and it would be obvious to anyone who observed him even slightly what he was having to do—the adaptability of a knight never ceased.

When the man was in the practice yard, he went to the building where practice items were kept and he found dummies he could stand up as well as wooden swords he could use.

After bringing out the necessary items, he also went to posts where unlit lanterns stood. He brought a lantern from the building that was already lit and lit up the space so he could practice even in the darkness.

At first, it was enough for him to warm up with the wooden practice sword. However once he began a relentless attack on the practice dummy, he found no satisfaction in his clumsy movements. The longer he practiced, the more his anger grew.

Eventually, he threw the wooden sword quite a distance away and unsheathed his sword with his untrained left hand. He supposed he would need to practice drawing the sword with his nondominant hand anyway.

However, his frustrations only came to a head and what was once a good effort to practice evolved into a way to vent his frustrations.

He began to see red as he started slashing uncontrollably and he let out a shout of frustration before throwing his sharp blade as well.

It was a hard enough throw that it sank into one of the other sheds on the property.

"Father!" Irene shouted as she ran out onto the practice yard. "What are you doing? You should be resting."

He turned to see his green-eyed child rushing forward, her expression only holding concern.

Irene wouldn’t go into sword safety and all she had been taught about making sure those around you were never hurt by accident—he was the one who taught her those things after all.

The girl simply ran to his sword and returned it to her father.

"I have rested enough," he insisted, his voice a bit cold as he took the sword and sheathed it. However, he was certainly thawing out since Irene wore such a miserable expression. "It is better if I get used to this as quickly as possible. The duchy is in shambles. Who knows when the next wave of monsters will appear?"

Irene wanted to vent her frustrations to her father. The past couple of days he had been more irresponsible than she had ever seen him, but his responses to the situation were more than understandable. How would she take it if she was never allowed to wield a sword with the hand she had practiced with her entire life?

"Then..." Irene racked her brain for a different solution. "Start slow, dad." Her voice came out soft. "I don’t want you to get hurt further."

Beyond his own frustrations, he saw a child who, while braver than any other child he had ever met, was still a child. She didn’t fear monsters, she feared the reality of losing the father she knew. The way he was behaving made him unworthy to seek comfort from.

That alone caused his perspective to shift. He was worried she had grown up too quickly but then he was behaving in a way that was going to force her to do so regardless.

The man did what he knew was the right thing and retrieved the wooden sword before he went to the shed and got one for her as well.

After she warmed up and he did the same alongside her, they were ready to face each other in a more calm manner than the way Arthur was behaving before.

They took turns on the offensive or defensive. One would move the wooden sword randomly in front of them, giving the other person a new angle to strike. It helped Arthur get a better grasp on how he would have to control his sword with his left hand. Then they would switch and he would be able to practice his block or parry in a way that was so much unlike what he was used to.

Their practice not only helped Arthur approach the situation with a bit more of a level head, but it also helped the two of them bond more considering all the time they had to spend apart.

Irene had missed her father. She hadn’t even been able to ask about her grandmother yet before all of the tragedy befell them.

However, as the sun rose more, Sir Gunnar and Stanley stood at a window in the Duke’s study and watched what was unfolding on the practice field.

"I will be back in a couple of weeks," the mage told the knight. "I fully believe this will make a difference."

"Hurry," Gunnar responded. "We can’t lose more knights."

Stanley nodded.

As the mage understood, the healthiness of the knighthood was what allowed him and his fellow mages a place to stay that was safe and out of reach of the monsters.

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