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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 4

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 4

It had been about a month since I entered Ars’s body. 

I was learning about this world through books.

‘As expected, there were many things not explained in the game.’

Notably, legends and history.

Lengthy background knowledge that wasn’t explained in the game. I was memorizing those and organizing the flow.  

The gist was simple.

In the past, there was a unified empire called Fensillon that ruled over this continent. That empire fell about 30 years ago.

The various kingdoms now were established by local lords who became independent from that empire. 

The protagonist is the last bloodline of the Fensillon imperial family, and fights for the revival of the empire and the unification of the continent, which was the core of the Athena War Tales story.

‘Come to think of it…’

My dedicated maid Yumir was from Fensillon.

When I asked about that part, Yumir smiled warmly.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m from the Fensillon Revival faction.” 

“Revival faction?”

“Yes, it was a faction that was started by the Emperor, Platon to revive the Fensillon Empire. It no longer exists now. I owed them in my childhood.”

“Can you tell me more about that?”

“If you’d like to hear it, my lord.”

Yumir was a person with many twists and turns in her life. 

Born to a beast warrior and a human slave, she had to fight for survival in the arena before joining the Fensillon Revival faction.

“That’s why my life in this Elaine household is like salvation.”

In the game, she was ridiculed for being just a maid with such good abilities, but it seems she’s not just a cliche character.

‘Could that be how it’s connected?’

The shocking incident she caused, which I thought was just a side character, pushed the story to its climax in the first act.

The incident that led to Ars’s downfall.

Many users were curious about why she caused that incident, but there was still no proper explanation.

‘It must have been the traitor’s trap, unless… Yumir was the traitor.’

But that’s just a possibility – the odds of Yumir being the traitor are extremely slim.

“Yumir. If you ever have any concerns, be sure to tell me.”

“Why so suddenly?”

“Just. It’s not a difficult request, is it? Promise me.”

“Heh, yes. I will definitely do so.”

If Yumir is the traitor, this promise isn’t meaningful, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

Regardless, if I expose the traitor first, it will all be resolved.

“Speaking of which, my lord? Shouldn’t you start preparing soon?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

The promised 2pm. 

The lance instructor who will teach me spearmanship was coming at that time.

On this continent, the renowned martial art of spearing had two major branches.

The Garland-style spearing techniques that originated and developed in the west. And the Chester-style spear-and-sword art independently developed by the mercenary Guderian.

Each martial art had its own characteristics. The Garland-style spearing, adopted as a court martial art, was strong in formalities, forms, and orthodoxy, while the Chester-style spear-and-sword art’s characteristic was infinite freedom.

As the name suggests, the Chester-style was not just spearing.

It was a martial art based on the special weapon grip of a sword in the left hand and a spear in the right – an extremely practical martial art.

Having to handle two weapons of different lengths simultaneously made it extremely difficult to master.

That’s why masters of the Chester-style spear-and-sword art were treated as rare beasts.

My father initially tried to hire a Garland-style spearing instructor, but that side seemed too snobbish – no ordinary amount of money would make them want to be a spear instructor for a baron’s son.

“Greetings. I am Ilya Anfei. I am ranked A2 in the Chester-style.”

“…Ah.”

The spear instructor who appeared was a burly woman.

About 180cm tall. Not exceptionally tall for a woman, but her physique was no less than a man’s.[1]

Her body covered in muscle looked as thick-rooted as an ancient tree, and the scars all over showed how harshly she had trained.

But the reason I was surprised was elsewhere.

‘Could it be Ilya Anfei herself!’

I felt something fateful.

Ilya was a character who appeared in the game, with the second highest rarity of SSR out of six ranks.

She commanded the spear corps and was nicknamed the Cavalry Blender for literally blending cavalry like a mixer.

However, her tier wasn’t particularly high because her individual combat power was only around 82, low for an SSR character.

That’s why I, who often posted free-to-play guides, frequently used her character.

“It was said her individual power was low because she was missing an arm…’

Ilya lost her left arm to someone from the ‘Continental Ten Masters’ in some past incident, which caused her individual power to drop drastically, according to the setting.

‘But she has her left arm now, so her individual power should be close to 90, if not higher.’

Since the timeline is about 7 years before the game, it might not be that high yet, but regardless, she was the best choice as an instructor.

“Please come in. I’ve prepared a reception room for you.”

“Rather than that, I’d like to meet the student I’ll be teaching first. I don’t want to waste time.”

“My, you’re impatient.”  

“I dislike unnecessary formalities.”

“If I may say so, that’s not a good attitude towards nobles. You may cause misunderstandings, so be careful.”

“My apologies if I caused offense.”

“No, I don’t care. Ars! Come over here.”

As I stepped forward, it felt like a gaze judging me was pressing down on me.

The gaze seemed to contain some kind of force like ferocity or aggression, and I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck.

But then.

“What…!?”

Ilya stepped back with a start.

She glared at Yumir, who had somehow taken a protective stance behind me, with a look of caution.

“You…! What are you doing!”

“…”

Without letting go of her intensity, Yumir politely greeted her.

“I am Yumir, Ars’s exclusive attendant. Please provide good guidance to the young master.”

“But you don’t seem welcoming at all. Won’t you stop this threatening attitude?”

“My apologies. You threatened the young master, so I reacted instinctively.”

“…Hmph.”

The two exchanged sharp looks.

Indeed, the confrontation between these high-rarity characters was intense.

Father seemed to have anticipated this possibility and explained Yumir’s circumstances to Ilya.

“For such a skilled person to work as a mere servant in a baron’s household…? I hesitate to say this, but you seem to be deceived about something.”

“Hmm, that’s something for me to accept, not your concern. More importantly, how is my son?”

“Well…”

Without letting her guard down against Yumir, Ilya looked at me.

“I’ll have to teach him to find out.”

“I see. Then I’ll leave it to you. We can talk more details while you’re teaching him.”

Ilya nodded and headed toward the mansion’s training grounds.

I gripped a wooden sword prepared for practice and followed her.

***

The Chester-style spear and sword techniques were structured in a way that trained in swordsmanship and spear techniques separately, and then combined them into an independent spear and sword art.

As such, swordsmanship and spear techniques also existed independently.  

To that extent, Ilya could become the best teacher.

Because she could teach not only spear techniques, but also swordsmanship.

My father respected my desire to learn spear techniques, but judging that it was a child’s thought that could change at any time, he brought in Ilya who could teach swordsmanship as well.

“Before formally learning martial arts, I will check your aptitude for martial arts.”

“How will you check it?”

“It’s simple.”

Swoosh! Drawing a spear from its sheath, Ilya threw it to me.

The sharpened spear tip and the dull iron shaft. I had no choice but to put down the wooden spear to catch it.

“Attack me with that. With the intention to really kill me.”

“…”

I wasn’t fazed by such an obvious test.

Clamp! I gripped the spear and aimed it at Ilya.

“Oho…”

She lit up her eyes, saying it was interesting.

Usually, children are intimidated when they hold real weapons like this.

Not just children. Even adults feel psychological pressure when holding weapons that can easily kill someone.

But I, who had already experienced such pressure, could maintain my composure.

‘This was the feeling when I first received a gun.’

At the training center, I was also nervous before the first shooting practice.

But in the end, it was nothing.

Since I really wasn’t killing anyone.

It felt the same way now.

“Hah!”

Swoosh! Swoosh! The spear tip thrusts toward her neck.

“Hmm.”

Ilya lightly dodged the attack and muttered. “Your quality seems decent, but… You’re overlooking one thing.”

Then she struck my unguarded solar plexus with her knee, causing me to lose my breath from the thrust of the spear.

“Kuhuk!?”

My vision blurred for a moment. I had to kneel and cough dryly.

Looking down at me, Ilya said, “Why do you think you won’t be attacked when you attack? The attacker must keep in mind that they can also be attacked.”

It’s fundamentally different from one-sided target practice.

“Get up. Get up and try again.”

“Kwick…!”

That one blow had my legs wobbling.

I staggered to my feet and regained my stance.

‘This time, I’ll protect my solar plexus…!’

Since I had to protect my body while swinging the spear, I couldn’t go straight for her vital points like before.

I had to control the distance as if swinging a flail while watching my opponent’s movements.

Ilya said with satisfaction, “Remember. Matching your opponent. That’s the basics of martial arts. Swinging blindly without watching your opponent’s movements is just suicidal.”

After that, a training session followed where dust clouds swirled. I had to roll around, getting hit all over my body.

Finally, when my legs were shaking so much that I could barely stand, the training ended.

As I lay sprawled out, Ilya gave my father a passing sign as he watched.

“He seems to have considerable talent. Not just the mental qualities, but a decent sense for handling the spear as well. I will teach him.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll leave my son in your care from now on.”

“But before that, I have one request.”

“What is it?”

“During my teaching, please have that woman stay away. She emanates a murderous aura at me every time I teach, so it’s honestly quite difficult.”

It seems Yumir emanated a murderous aura every time Ilya struck me during training.

Extremely wary of Yumir, Ilya refused my father’s offer of a room in the mansion and took lodgings within the estate instead.

That’s how my formal spear training began.

 

Footnotes:

1] It is kinda weird how 180cm is not tall.

 

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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

Score 9.2
Status: Completed Type: Author: Released: 2022 Native Language: Korean
I ended up possessing Ars Elaine, a supporting character in the game. Struggling to prevent my death, I pave my way.

Comment

  1. Arlos says:

    Calling a martial arts that use a sword in one hand and a spear in the other “practical” is mighty funny.

    1. Ferhatch says:

      It’s probably 1 meter spear that really just short sword with long handles

  2. nockti says:

    have you not seen sword saint isshin? hesitation is defeat

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