Gner's story

Kronos was only pretending to be sweet and naive; he wasn't actually a fool. Naturally, he already had his suspicions. He had asked that question to lead into the next topic.

"Then could you teach me? I'm really interested!" Kronos looked positively eager.

Gner gave Kronos a speechless look. "These techniques won't do you any good just because you've learned the movements. You have to turn them into habits through practice on the battlefield. If you still have to think about your moves when you're fighting for your life, you're asking to die."

Kronos pretended to wrestle with the problem, then said, "How about this? Use those moves when you spar with me. Just don't injure me, and I'll learn whatever I can."

Kronos wasn't much of an actor, and his feigned indecision was even more obvious. Gner caught on.

"Stop pretending. You struck up a conversation with me just to learn this stuff, didn't you?"

Kronos wasn't embarrassed. As long as he was shameless enough, the embarrassment belonged to someone else.

He dropped the act and said, "Yes. I'm a Beyonder called a Melee Scholar. I think your fighting techniques would be very helpful to me, so I'd like to learn more from you. If you want payment or need help with anything, just tell me. My family is fairly well-off, and we're on good terms with the Negan family."

Gner hesitated for quite a while. "Forget it. I don't need payment. From now on, get up at six every morning and spar with me for two hours. Just treat me to some good liquor every week."

Kronos had actually said that on purpose, hoping to hear Gner's story. In the end, though, Gner still hadn't told him. It wasn't something he could force, so he had to let it go.

"No problem. What kind of liquor do you prefer? My family might not have much of anything else, but we certainly have all the liquor you could drink."

As a soldier, Gner naturally preferred strong spirits. He wasn't used to drinking things like wine.

They agreed on a time for the following morning and parted ways. Gner naturally returned to his room, while Kronos headed straight for Philip's. It was still early, so visiting wasn't impolite.

"Gner's a real talent. Why is he stuck here as an instructor? What a waste." Kronos sighed the moment he entered the room.

"So you've taken a liking to his talents and come to me for information?" Philip wore an expression that said he had seen right through him.

"Yes, exactly. Now tell me." Kronos admitted it quite openly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"Gner really is talented. Eight or nine years ago, he was still serving in the Army. Even then, he wasn't just a skilled fighter; he was one of the rare soldiers who had a brain. Several generals had their eyes on him."

"But later, he broke his opponent's leg during a sparring match and was brought before a military court. If a general who appreciated his talent hadn't helped him, he might have been thrown out of the military altogether. As it stands, he can only remain here as an instructor."

Philip had glossed over plenty of crucial details, but Kronos still noticed something clearly wrong.

"Don't talk in riddles. Just tell me what happened. It's only the two of us here. Nobody else is going to know," Kronos said irritably.

Philip hesitated, then said, "All right, but don't tell anyone you heard it from me. The man he beat up was a noble with some ties to the Levett Family. It also happened to be right around the time Admiral Amyrius became a demigod, so..."

"So keeping him at the naval base was actually a way of protecting him? What was that noble's name?" Kronos pressed.

Philip shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even remember his surname. I think he was just a baron. His family only managed to buy the title because his sister was beautiful. As for his connection to the Levett Family, you know..."

Kronos understood. That sort of connection would only let someone throw their weight around for a year or two. "Then what about the general who thought highly of Gner? Why didn't he transfer him out?"

"He died. He was killed on the Southern Continent four years ago. After that, nobody paid any attention to Gner, so he's been here ever since."

Kronos rubbed his chin. "Does that mean I could just take him away without any trouble?"

"It doesn't work like that. The Levett Family might have forgotten him long ago. They might not even know about this in the first place. But once someone brings it to light, it becomes a matter of your family disrespecting theirs. To save face, the Levett Family would have to oppose yours." Philip understood the unwritten rules among nobles quite well.

He continued, "It's actually easy to resolve. Isn't your family doing business with the Levett Family now? Marquis Argyle only needs to put in a word, and it'll be settled. Transferring him back to the Army would be easy after that."

"Hm?" Kronos looked at Philip in confusion. "Why would I transfer him back to the Army?"

Philip was baffled too. "Weren't you planning to send him back to the Army and support him so you could regain the Argel Family's influence there?"

"Do you ever think before you speak? How far could a thirty-year-old soldier get, no matter how much support he received?" Kronos rolled his eyes at Philip. "I just think he's quite capable, so I could recruit him as a bodyguard. If he's smart too, he could become my right-hand man."

"Uh... that should work. Gner's pretty capable and clever." Philip had no answer to that.

Marquis Argyle really had no intention of meddling in military or political affairs again. All he wanted now was to establish good relations with more people and receive more information from various quarters. That was all.

Kronos had even less interest. What good was influence in the military? Once he became an Angel, he could wipe out an entire army himself. If he became a god, he could even put someone else on the throne.

There was no hurry to deal with this. His father, Marquis Argyle, would attend his commissioning ceremony tomorrow. He could mention it to him afterward and leave the rest in his hands.

After leaving Philip's room and returning to his own, Kronos didn't rush to bed. Instead, he went through a strength-training routine he had once seen online, then held a horse stance for a while.

A Melee Scholar couldn't just be a scholar. The body was the foundation of combat. No matter how well he understood fighting techniques, he still needed a strong physique.

Early the next morning, Kronos arrived at the training grounds on time to meet Gner.

Seeing Kronos approach, Gner tossed him a bag. Kronos caught it casually without giving it much thought, then nearly strained his back. It was incredibly heavy. He couldn't even lift it without using all his strength.

"What's in this thing?" Kronos asked as he opened the bag.

Inside were a pile of black sandbags and a vest with sandbags attached.

"This is your training gear. Once you can perform the movements properly while wearing all this, you'll be doing all right. As for lethal fighting techniques, just learn whatever you can."

Kronos felt rather helpless. As a Melee Scholar, he wanted to learn techniques, but now he was training his strength instead. Still, it would help him either way. He might as well work on both.

Without dawdling, Kronos put on the vest and strapped the sandbags to his arms and legs one by one.

This sparring session was completely different from the previous night's. It was simply a one-sided beating for Kronos. Gner no longer pulled his blows; every punch landed solidly, though they didn't hurt all that much.

Breakfast at the base was at eight, and Gner had to train the soldiers afterward, so they could only practice until then. Those two hours were a real "treat" for Kronos. There wasn't a spot on his body that hadn't been hit.

But Gner taught Kronos a great deal with genuine dedication. He explained why each hit had landed, what he had been thinking when he attacked and why, and the flaws in Kronos's movements. He pointed out every detail.

A scholar might not be a student, but he still needed to learn. Learning from Gner fit that identity perfectly, so his potion digestion accelerated considerably.

After breakfast, Kronos had nothing else to do, so he plunged into the Ship Research Institute and discussed ironclads with the scientists and engineers there.

Afternoon soon arrived, and Kronos attended his commissioning ceremony in a blue naval uniform. He was only receiving the rank of lieutenant commander, so the ceremony should have been very simple. However, two important figures had come.

The Loen Kingdom's only duke outside the royal family, Admiral Duke Negan.

The father of the man receiving his commission, Marquis Argyle.

As a result, the commissioning ceremony was moved to the auditorium. The naval base's senior commanders and the Ironclad Project's managers all attended, making Kronos rather nervous.

It wasn't actually all that complicated. The commander of the Royal Navy Base announced Kronos's appointment as a technical adviser and his rank of lieutenant commander. Then Kronos went onstage to receive his rank insignia, followed by a short speech.

Kronos completed his commissioning ceremony without a hitch. Giving a speech was simply too easy for him. What descendant of Yan and Huang couldn't rattle off a few platitudes and official niceties?

But while he was onstage, Kronos noticed that his father and Duke Negan kept talking. They seemed to be getting along very well, though he couldn't tell whether that was genuine or merely for show.

After the commissioning ceremony, Duke Negan took Philip back to Backlund. Although Philip was now employed at the Royal Navy Base, his position was only a sinecure.

After graduating from the Naval Academy, he had served as the head of an enforcement squad aboard a warship. He had loved life at sea and pitting himself against nature, but his family had only arranged it to help him act as an Arbiter.

Later, after advancing to Sheriff, he needed a jurisdiction of his own, so he came to the naval base to oversee its training grounds. Last year, he had successfully advanced to Interrogator and was originally due for another transfer.

But the Ironclad Project offered a good opportunity to build his record of achievements, so he stayed on in a nominal post. Most of the time, however, he remained at Duke Negan's side in Backlund, learning politics.