Chapter 14

“I don’t think this place is shabby.”

“You don’t have to lie. It really is a shabby place.”

Lisa glanced around the Disciplinary Committee room.

“We gave up the one we used last year and decided to use this place starting this year. It’s a room that hasn’t even been properly cleaned yet.”

“I think what’s important isn’t the room itself, but what kind of activities take place here.”

“Activities… huh. Then let me ask you something. Why do you want to join the Disciplinary Committee?”

I thought for a moment at Lisa’s question.

Normally, I would’ve just made up something reasonable — something like, I want to serve the school or make it a better place.

But because I’d gone through various dating-sim content with Lisa in the game, I knew her personality well.

And because of that, I also knew what kind of answer would be best here.

“Because I want to succeed.”

“…Succeed?”

“To be exact, I want to restore my family’s name.”

“…Heh.”

Lisa let out a small laugh.

It was the first smile I’d seen from her since stepping into this room — no, it was practically the first expression she’d shown at all.

“You’re honest. Yeah, honesty is a good thing. Makes dealing with people much simpler.”

With that, Lisa returned to the sofa and sat down. Then she gestured to the chair in front of her.

I quickly went over and took a seat.

“Your name is Gideon Kyrgram. From what I heard from Jason… you’re from a baron family, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. But what kind of stories did you and Sir Jason…?”

“I work out every morning. Today, I happened to run into Jason during training, and we ended up talking a bit — about you.”

Lisa spoke casually, her face showing no particular emotion.

“I couldn’t help it, really. Sara losing was that shocking.”

“Was it?”

“It’s incredibly hard to beat a swordsman from the Isrinbloom Ducal Family in pure swordsmanship. But you did it — and fair and square, at that.”

Her tone was calm, but her eyes gleamed with curiosity as she looked at me.

“That alone proves you have talent. If you keep honing it, you’ll surely rise in the world.”

“Thank you for your words.”

“But that’s what makes me even more curious. Why join the Disciplinary Committee for that goal? From my point of view, it doesn’t make sense… Oh, wait. Do you perhaps not know the current state of the Committee?”

“I know roughly. Right now, Lady Lisa, you’re the only member…”

“Let me explain it in a bit more detail.”

Lisa didn’t take her eyes off me as she continued speaking.

“The Committee used to run under a three-person system — one member per grade. But last year, the second- and third-year seniors above me were expelled. Do you know why?”

“I heard they were expelled due to disciplinary action.”

“That’s right. Truth is, this organization had been rotten for a long time. Instead of stopping delinquents, they hung out with them. They even abused their authority to drive out students they didn’t like, forcing them to drop out. It was rotten in every way. But last year, after I joined, I tore all of that down.”

I silently nodded, listening to her words — which I already knew very well.

“I voluntarily cut down the Committee’s bloated budget, organized our activity records, gave up our overly luxurious office… There was a lot that happened last year. And now, this is what’s left of the Committee.”

Lisa pointed toward the damp, dust-covered room.

“With nothing left, I’ve been doing alone what three people used to handle. Rebuilding the Committee from the ground up is far more complicated than I expected. If you join, it won’t be easy.”

“Even so, I still wish to join.”

“…To be honest, I don’t understand.”

Her voice was calm for someone claiming she didn’t understand, but that was just the kind of person Lisa was.

“As I said, you have talent. If you polish it, you’ll go far. I don’t know what you’re aiming for, but if it’s something related to swordsmanship, you’d be better off joining the Swordsmanship Club. The current Committee might not help much with your ambitions.”

“I understand. But even so, I still wish to join. In fact, I believe joining the Committee is more advantageous to my success than joining the Swordsmanship Club.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“Because I think forming a connection with you, Lady Lisa, is more valuable than building ties with swordsmen or knights in the Swordsmanship Club.”

“…Hah.”

Lisa let out a half-amused laugh.

“You think forming a connection with just me is more valuable?”

“I believe there’s nothing more valuable than forming a connection with the next head of the Balmuth Family.”

“I’m not confirmed as the next head yet, though.”

“But you’re the most likely candidate, aren’t you?”

“…Heh, interesting.”

Lisa laughed, genuinely amused as she looked at me.

It wasn’t often she laughed out loud like that.

“So you’re not lying, meaning it’s not flattery?”

“Yes, I spoke truthfully.”

“Yeah. You’re not lying.”

She nodded slightly, then fell silent for a moment. Before long, she stood and walked over to the calendar nearby.

“Today’s Tuesday… Gideon.”

“Yes?”

“Come back here Thursday, at 5 PM.”

“Thursday, 5 PM. Understood.”

“That’ll be your entrance test. I’ll be conducting it myself.”

“May I ask what the test involves?”

“Hmm… no. I’d rather not say. What I can tell you is to bring one weapon with you. In your case, that’d be your sword.”

Lisa’s gaze drifted to the Mistcatcher at my waist.

“That’s a peculiar-looking sword. I’d like to cross blades with it someday.”

“If the opportunity arises…”

“That opportunity will come soon.”

“……”

I simply nodded silently.

Because I already knew what the entrance test would be, her words hit me harder.

“Lady Lisa, that sword over there…”

“That? It’s mine. Why?”

“No reason. I was just curious.”

I glanced toward the large greatsword resting in the corner of the Committee room.

The crimson-tinged blade was unmistakably Lisa Balmuth’s greatsword — just as I remembered it.

‘So I get to see it in person.’

Before long, I would be struck by that very sword.

Considering the nature of the entrance test, it was a fate decided the moment I applied to join the Disciplinary Committee.

After the brief meeting with Lisa.

Since I had nothing special to do for the rest of the afternoon, I went to the training grounds.

“Huff, huff…”

Countless practice dummies were set up around the training field.

Catching my breath, I swung my sword toward one of them.

“…Hmm.”

The dummy was sliced cleanly in half.

Yet something felt lacking.

‘…Too simple.’

It was literally just cutting.

The only attacks I could perform were this basic Slash, and an even simpler Thrust. Those two were all I had.

‘I need to think more about my means of attack.’

In the game, having simple attacks wasn’t really an issue — back then, my fingers as the player just had to work a bit harder, that was all.

But now, I needed to think realistically.

‘Relying solely on defensive swordsmanship will eventually hit a wall. I’ll need to come up with some offensive techniques that can work even against stronger opponents.’

But that was a tricky matter.

Because I wasn’t sure if I could even learn new sword techniques in the first place.

The defensive swordsmanship I used now was possible thanks to the skills I’d gained upon being transmigrated.

If I tried to learn new techniques, I wasn’t certain I’d be able to use them properly.

Even if my body was in good shape, I was originally just a shut-in. Could someone like that truly learn and apply proper swordsmanship?

“…Well, if it doesn’t work, I’ll just make it work. What else can I do?”

Since I’d decided to become a knight, I had no choice but to grow stronger.

Rather than questioning things, it was better to just do something first.

‘If I ask Luke, I might be able to learn something during class. Well, I’ll think about that later.’

After sheathing my sword, I picked up a dumbbell lying in the corner of the training grounds.

“…Let’s at least build up some more muscle.”

The entrance test for the Disciplinary Committee that Lisa would conduct two days from now —to pass that, I needed to maximize my strength.

‘Building muscle, huh… I used to work out before, so I can use that experience.’

I began exercising, lifting the dumbbell.

And the more I used this body, the more I felt it — its physical balance was incredibly well-adjusted.

‘Every aspect is above average. Strength, reflexes, agility… everything is generally excellent.’

That was both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Because while everything was above average, there wasn’t one area that particularly excelled.

‘Unless you’re overwhelmingly strong in every aspect… sometimes it’s better to have one ability that stands out the most.’

An all-rounder could easily become a jack of all trades, master of none. In this world, it would be more beneficial to focus on building one clear strength.

‘Like Sara with her technique, Jason with his agility, or Lisa with her strength… but for a defensive swordsman, which attribute is most important? Endurance? Durability?’

When raising a character in the game, all I had to do was distribute and adjust stats, but now that it was reality, I couldn’t quite grasp the feeling anymore.

So I kept working out, thinking about my future plans — and about Lisa’s upcoming entrance test.

Then suddenly, someone entered the training hall.

“Gideon, what are you doing here alone?”

“…Your High— I mean, Lady Layla?”

“Don’t you get lonely training by yourself?”

Just as Layla said, I was the only one in the training grounds right now.

The second- and third-years were probably in their afternoon classes, and most first-years were likely visiting club booths at this time.

I had only been thinking about the Disciplinary Committee, and since my business there ended early, I came here to train alone.

“Being alone isn’t so bad. It’s nice to quietly train by myself sometimes.”

“Mm, true. Having some alone time now and then is nice too. By the way, Gideon, have you checked out all the clubs you could join?”

“I already had one club I wanted to apply for, so I just went straight there, submitted my application, and left.”

“Oh, same here! I wanted to join the Potion Brewing Club, so I only visited that one and handed in my application right away.”

Layla dragged a chair over and sat near me.

“They said there’s an entrance test, but the club president told me I didn’t need to take it.”

“…Well, of course.”

If one had even a bit of sense, they wouldn’t dare make a royal family member take an entrance test for their club.

If anyone did, they’d have to be someone with incredible conviction — and guts.

‘Come to think of it, Layla was pretty interested in potion brewing, wasn’t she?’

Later on, her potion-making skill would sometimes come in handy.

But only sometimes.

Not often enough to make it a major trait.

“Gideon, you applied to the Swordsmanship Club, right? Sara and Jason said they’re joining that one — did you see them?”

“Ah, no. The club I wanted to join wasn’t the Swordsmanship Club, so I didn’t see them.”

“Really? Then which club did you apply to?”

“The Disciplinary Committee.”

“The Disciplinary Committee? Then… that means Lisa’s there…”

Layla tilted her head slightly as she looked at me.

Then, she suddenly asked an entirely unexpected question.

“Gideon, are you… by any chance, in love with Lisa?”

“…What?”

For a moment, I thought she was teasing me.

But the pure curiosity in Layla’s eyes told me she wasn’t joking at all.

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