"Be quiet, brute." The general smirked and walked closer. "I see that a few broken bones aren't enough to shut that smart mouth of yours."
He sat up and looked at her with irritation in his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you expect me to thank you after fracturing a few of my bones?" The general leaned down to his eye level.
"You should be thanking me for not killing you then and there, princess."
"Shut up already. I hate it when stupid people talk." She straightened her back and looked down at him. "Stupid? Next time I'll break your jaw to shut you up!"
"There won't be a next time, brute. I said all I wanted to, so leave already. The headache I'm getting from you is starting to get worse than the pain from my fractured bones."
"Hah! When we get to sword training, expect a few broken bones—if you survive, that is!"
The general turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her. After a moment of silence, Reiji looked down and spoke to himself.
"This feeling of being humbled is important, but I still hate it. I need to learn how not to let success get to my head."
…
After a total of three weeks of recovery, Reiji finally stepped out onto the cold, icy training field.
There were a bunch of new faces along with Kurogane and Reina. Reiji also caught wind of the fact that the Royal Knight entrance exam wouldn't be happening in one week, but in two months.
This was a trick to try and make him train even harder when presented with a shorter deadline. In reality, some of these special criminals would only train for a few days, putting any potential talents to waste.
So many new criminals. I wonder what they're guilty of. Reiji entered in the middle of the day because of his long final tests to see if his body was fully recovered.
He was also in a good mood, having proper rest and his body not being completely wrecked for once. He also heard that there would only be physical tests of strength and skill, nothing related to education.
He did have a good education before becoming homeless, but not having a job meant he forgot almost all of it.
"Ah, look who it is! My favorite clown has arrived from his recovery—or should I say that you finally manned up and stopped being a little bitch over a few broken bones?"
The general spoke in a mocking tone with a grin that stretched ear to ear. It was as if he was staring at a serial killer with the look she had on her face.
He looked around and counted fifteen criminals, some doing push-ups, others sparring with wooden swords. A few were lying on the ground, destroyed from training.
His gaze returned to the general. "Come on, we've got way more than a week to train. That means I've got more time to beat you."
"Hah! As if! You beating me is the highest form of egoism I've ever seen." Reiji's expression darkened.
The general seemingly didn't care that he knew the entrance exam wasn't happening in one week.
She was in a great mood and excited for the reaction of everyone after realizing that training wouldn't stop for another two months.
Reiji, on the other hand, was not having it. He hated it when people called him an egoist because he said and did things that he thought were perfectly normal.
"It's called the truth, you dumb brute. Even if it might not happen yet, me beating you is all but certain."
Her grin didn't waver. "Then let's get started, princess." She turned and started walking.
As Reiji followed her, he got a few curious glances from other trainees taking short breaks from sparring.
Reiji didn't pay them any mind because his focus was on the general. They got to a good open space with two wooden katana replicas on the ground. She picked them up and threw one at Reiji.
He grabbed it and took up a stance with a grip he believed was correct. "Your stance is all wrong."
"Liar. If it was all wrong, then I'd have to be doing a handstand." She wasn't too happy with his response. "Fine, you do you."
Without any warning, the sparring session started.
She delivered a diagonal strike that Reiji parried. She stepped back and thrust her sword at his stomach, stopping before the tip hit him.
"You'd be dead, congrats." He swatted her sword away. "Don't be a bitch about your victory." He readied his sword and made a horizontal cut. She leaned back and used the same strike, aiming for his head.
Reiji ducked slightly, the sword going over his head. She twisted the sword in her hands, and when he looked up, he saw the blade approaching in a diagonal cut. He quickly parried and stepped back.
She pressed on, pushing him back. After an exchange of strikes, she delivered a vertical cut with such force that both her and Reiji's swords snapped on impact.
She stopped and looked at the sword in her hand. She then glanced at the ground, seeing the snapped pieces.
She looked up and met Reiji's eyes. "If it was an actual katana, I would have cut straight through it," she told him.
"Oh, and if I wanted to, I could beat you with one hand behind my back—but I guess we'll never know who's speaking the truth."
Reiji knew that what she said was probably true, but he'd take any chance to irritate her.
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, but the truth is that you need to learn the basics. We'll use these broken swords because your ego needed to prove something to itself."
The rest of the day was spent teaching Reiji the basics.
By the end of it all, when the sun was setting, he was sitting in the snow, looking down and resting his arms on his knees.
He looked up when he heard snow cracking. It sounded like footsteps approaching, and sure enough, there was a man walking over.
He had long, dark, tousled hair pulled loosely back, with strands falling around his face.
He had a darker skin tone, and one side of his face and neck was marked by jagged scars that looked healed but severe, running across the cheek and down the neck.
He was wearing a thick, light gray scarf wrapped around his neck.
His eyes were half-lidded, and he had a calm expression with a soft smile.
"Hello, I'm Kuroha Ren. You made quite the show, sparring with the general and saying you could win."
"Huh? And what's your deal?"
"I'm a special criminal. Are you one too?" Reiji slowly pushed himself up and brushed the snow off his kimono.
"Yes, I am. My name is Reiji Kurozuma." Ren laughed. "I see you're not too formal."
"I have a bad rep with other special criminals, so I'll ask you something. Are you an asshole, or genuinely a good guy?"
Ren's smile widened at Reiji's question. "I do regret my actions. Do you?"
"Oh, I have plenty of regrets," Reiji answered. "...Well, it's getting quite late, so I'll get going, Reiji Kurozuma."
Ren Kuroha turned and walked toward the door leading inside the mansion, leaving Reiji alone in the snow.
He just leaves? Like that? He didn't even ask me what I regret. I didn't even ask him what he regrets.