Yuri hired Briol’s architects and engineers to oversee the construction work.
Instructors wearing red hats trailed behind, barking orders at the knights.
They rapidly built the training facilities.
At first, the training wasn’t very practical—mostly endurance drills meant to reshape their mindset.
But as Briol’s spirit gradually took root in Yohaim, the training began to change.
“Instructor #3, what exactly is the Briol spirit?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking, Instructor #2?”
“You don’t mean…”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
“By sheer grit and guts?”
“Train like it’s real combat, fight like it’s training.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah?”
Instructors #2 (Gonte) and #3 (Ena) exchanged glances.
“What do you mean by grit and guts?”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t get any strange ideas. Briol doesn’t rely on outdated notions like that…”
Before the conversation could go further, Instructor #1 (Yuri), who was overseeing the Owls, shouted out.
“It’s grit and guts! That’s Briol! And now it’s Yohaim! Got it?”
Hearing that, Instructor #2 looked at Instructor #3, who cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Well, uh, every instructor has their own approach.”
“Right.”
Regardless, the training quickly found its rhythm.
Now, the knights of Yohaim were climbing atop towering wooden structures, gripping the railings as they screamed in terror, facing the fear of falling.
Instructor #1 shouted beside them.
“Owl #57, do you have a lover?”
“Yes!”
“How old is your lover?”
“Se-seventeen!”
“What?”
Murmurs spread in all directions.
Even the instructor was taken aback, raising his foot to kick but stopping himself just in time.
“You crazy… Owl #57, how old are you?”
“I’m seventeen too!”
“Huh?”
Turns out they were the same age. Yuri withdrew his foot and took a closer look. His initial misunderstanding wasn’t such a big mistake after all.
Yuri offered some advice.
“After training, make sure to put on sunscreen. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Jump! Owl #57! Emergency!”
“Emergency!”
At the call, Owl #57 pushed off the railing and leapt into the air.
At first glance, it looked like a reckless jump.
But below the structure, three thick ropes were stretched out, spaced apart and crossing each other.
Owl #57 grabbed the first rope and held on, then the next, and the next, finally hanging on the last rope without touching the ground.
Below was a muddy pool of water.
Any knight who failed the stunt would fall in and suffer the humiliation of looking like a drowned rat.
“Excellent!”
Owl #57 wriggled along the last rope and safely escaped the pool.
To wage guerrilla warfare against the empire’s forces, they needed nimble movements, able to traverse the treetops.
Once this training was over, arrows flying from nowhere would strike terror into the empire.
“Next! Owl #58!”
“Yes!”
“Do you have a lover?”
“No!”
“Emergency then!”
“Emergency!”
“Not that kind of emergency!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The training was a success.
Yuri checked the notes in his hand. After the aerial acrobatics course, the real combat training would begin.
“Bows, huh…”
The knights didn’t favor bows.
Even if mana was infused into the arrows, the mana inevitably dissipated mid-flight.
So the arrows lacked the power to seriously harm knights of equal skill.
But Yuri had managed to recruit a master archer, a deadly expert who had slain countless knights with arrows in his past life.
Though still unknown now, when the entire continent was engulfed in war, his secret archery skills would become a source of terror.
Murray, the Shadowless.
To kill a person, you don’t need overwhelming power.
Just enough force to pierce flesh with a sharp piece of metal is enough to end a life.
So power isn’t the key.
It’s whether you can strike the enemy’s vital points.
Murray’s arrows made no sound, gave no warning.
Many knights were pierced through the neck before they could react.
“When this training ends, Instructor #4 will teach you. If you get even a little cocky, you won’t be Owls—you’ll be dogs. Understand?”
“Yes!”
Normally, such secret techniques wouldn’t be so easily obtained.
But Murray was just an unknown hunter.
He had no idea how powerful his archery could be in mountain warfare. He was simply focused on hunting beasts.
So when offered lifetime employment and a pension after retirement, he immediately decided to settle in Briol.
He was now a civil servant.
He would make history in Briol’s forestry department.
“Have Instructors #5 and #6 arrived yet?”
“They’re on their way.”
“I see.”
Yuri folded his arms after descending from the structure. They still had a long way to go before Yohaim’s knights became elite guerrilla fighters.
Trap setting and removal, ambush and tracking techniques, wilderness survival skills—there was still much to learn.
“Instructor #1.”
Instructor #2, Gonte, approached Yuri.
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
“Why now?”
“Look into their eyes.”
He pointed to the knights of Yohaim, their eyes blazing with intensity. Though the training had only just begun, their pupils already gleamed sharply.
“Isn’t that what real knights look like?”
Honestly, Yuri thought they were becoming something else entirely, but he was glad Gonte was pleased.
Nodding, Yuri said, “I’m glad to hear that from you, Instructor #2.”
“Meeting you, Prince—no, Instructor #1—in the Allied Army was a stroke of luck. For Yohaim’s future, really. Was it fate?”
Yuri chuckled softly.
“This is just the beginning. It’s too soon to celebrate.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Then let’s get back to training the Owls.”
“Yes.”
In the distance, Instructor #3 was already pushing the Owls hard. She rarely allowed them to rest—she was, in a word, a harsh instructor.
“Instructor #3 is scary, even to me.”
“That’s on purpose.”
“Huh?”
“Instructor #2, you have to play the nice instructor.”
“What…?”
“Our training ends here, but you’ll have to lead them back in Yohaim. So leave the tough role to us.”
“Such deep meaning behind it…”
Of course, Instructor #3 acted without much thought, but Yuri gave her credit.
“Understood.”
Yuri looked up at the sky. The sun, once high overhead, was beginning to tilt.
Another day at the guerrilla training ground was coming to a close.
Yuri stared into the distant sky with a heavy expression.
A day passing meant tomorrow was coming.
Time was rushing forward.
At its end awaited the inevitable war.
He wanted nothing more than to storm the palace and slay the monsters wielding dark magic, but that was impossible.
All he could do was prepare thoroughly and wait for good news from Hernando or Asana.
Yuri sighed.
“I wish something unexpectedly good would happen.”
Since the orcs were defeated, Valshad had enjoyed peace.
In the past, people feared orc raids and rarely left the city.
Now, only a few orcs wandered aimlessly.
The residents expanded their farmland and increased trade.
Strangers coming and going in the city became common.
Because of this, the guards no longer raised alarms when people approached the city.
“Wait a minute.”
Two guards stood watch at an outpost outside Valshad’s walls.
One, looking through a telescope at the horizon, tapped his companion on the shoulder.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“People are coming.”
“So what?”
The other was sitting, reading a magazine imported from the empire—Nights of the Imperial Capital. The empire’s magazines, setting continental trends, were popular even among non-Imperials.
“I said people are coming.”
“So? That happens every day.”
“They’re coming from that direction.”
“Why that direction?”
“East.”
Valshad was located at the eastern edge of the continent.
So even if people came and went, all trade routes were from the west.
The east was where the orcs had been—nothing but wasteland.
“Huh?”
Only then did the guard reading the magazine sit up.
“People are coming from the east.”
“Maybe they’re settlers looking for farmland?”
“Their clothes don’t look like that.”
“Then?”
“Looks like people who’ve been wandering for a long time.”
“Really?”
“And some of their clothes are unfamiliar.”
“Unfamiliar?”
“You know… like…”
He raised the telescope again.
“If people came from the Eastern Continent, wouldn’t they look like that?”
“What?”
His companion took the telescope and scanned the horizon.
In the distance, a group approached, leading several wagons.
Their attire was rare—flowing garments, riding horses—clearly not ordinary continental folk.
“Should we report this to the lord?”
“I heard he’s been really busy lately…”
Marilose, the mage lord who ruled Valshad, had been holed up in her underground workshop, engrossed in some research.
Most affairs were handled by her steward, following her orders.
“Let’s report it anyway.”
“Right.”
“I’ll go.”
He hurriedly left the outpost and rode his horse toward Valshard.
The lone guard left behind raised his telescope, swallowing hard as he watched the unidentified group approaching.
They all had swords strapped to their waists.
There were rumors that people from the East were skilled in martial arts, and if that was true, perhaps Lady Marilose herself would need to intervene. If she unleashed Valshard’s magical barrier, no one would be able to breach it.
“Why aren’t they coming?” he muttered.
The strangers moved quickly, and there was still no sign of his comrades.
Before long, they were closing in on the outpost where he stood.
He clenched his fists.
He had a duty to fulfill.
Trying to steady his trembling hands, he forced himself to walk down from the outpost with a confident stride, lifting his chin as he greeted the visitors.
They exchanged glances among themselves before one stepped forward.
The guard spoke up.
“Who are you? If you want to approach Valshard, you need to identify yourselves.”
The stranger replied, “We’d like to rest here in Valshard for a day.”
She wore a red hat and had her face covered with cloth, revealing only her eyes. He couldn’t tell her gender at first, but the voice was unmistakably female.
“We’re merchants.”
“Merchants? Hmph…” The guard scoffed, but a chill ran down his spine.
They were clearly suspicious, trying to hide their true identities. Gripping his sword, he stammered, “M-Merchants should come from the city, not from the barren wasteland. Do you take me for a fool?”
“There’s a city to the east, you know.”
“What?”
The woman pulled off the cloth covering her face.
The guard blinked in surprise.
Before him was a strikingly beautiful woman with sun-kissed skin, radiating health and vitality.
She smiled brightly. “We’re on our way back from a trade trip. See these goods?”
“Then which city exactly…?”
“I’ve been to so many places, I can’t quite remember…” She glanced back over her shoulder. One of her silent companions finally spoke up.
“The city we traded with the most was Sacheon.”
“Right, Sacheon.”
“Sacheon? What’s that?”
“It’s a city on the Eastern Continent. You probably haven’t heard of it.”
“The Eastern Continent?”
Only then did the guard notice the fluttering flag.
At first, he hadn’t understood its meaning, but in the lower corner, small letters were written:
“Irein Trading Company.”
It was the very trading company known throughout the continent.
She gave a refreshing smile.
“I’m Irein Wood of the Irein Trading Company, and these are my companions. We’ve just returned from establishing trade with the Eastern Continent.”