A week had passed since the first battle.
The Undead Army divided its forces and launched simultaneous attacks from the east and south.
Perhaps they had seized nearby bases, as large and small battles frequently erupted near the city.
From the castle wall, when surveying the surroundings, Undead could be seen no matter where one looked.
However, the city had not been isolated.
If it had been isolated, one would have needed to devise a way to escape within a month.
Fortunately, Harfen was a harbor city and could receive supplies by sea.
The army selected the most skilled soldiers from among the troops.
A unit was formed to deal with the Undead roaming outside the castle.
The soldiers would handle the average Undead, while any appearance of a commander would be immediately reported to the Knight Order.
The military decided that commanders would be difficult for soldiers to deal with.
Though in a state of war, it was a relatively peaceful time.
Harfen had many parks created as green spaces throughout the city.
As there was no separate training ground, the soldiers would find parks to train both individually and collectively whenever they had time.
Simply having the ability to train in a dedicated space was a considerable privilege.
I hadn’t realized it until now, but a training area had also been provided for our Knight Order.
It was not because the lodging was close to the city hall, which served as a meeting and temporary command center.
The location was a spacious open area behind a building.
Though occasionally used by Jie and Iwaf, the one who used it most was Ricky.
From the rooftop where I was, I could overlook the back of the building, where Ricky always planted a single sword into the ground and glared at it.
He only picked up the sword once a day.
I had recently come to believe that this was the Demon King’s magic sword that I had heard of.
Even when viewed through my mana, no special aura emanated from the sword itself.
I went down to the open area to take a closer look at the magic sword.
“Is that the magic sword?”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct.”
Aside from the fact that the blade was slightly shorter compared to regular swords, there was nothing particularly different about it.
“Can I take a look?”
“Of course.”
When I gripped the handle of the magic sword and lifted it, it felt quite light compared to other swords.
Ricky watched me with a worried expression.
While testing, I swung the sword a few times and experienced a peculiar phenomenon.
My body automatically swung the sword along a hazy trajectory in front of me.
I executed an unfamiliar swordsmanship as if I were accustomed to it.
“What on earth…?”
“Doesn’t the sword speak to you?”
“No, such phenomena…”
A voice like a feeble old man echoed in my mind.
It was a very small and faint sound, barely audible unless I focused.
“…One… time… three…”
“I can’t hear you! Speak up!”
As I looked at the sword and spoke, the voice became clearer.
“One hundred. Do as I say.”
Compared to the usual practice, it didn’t seem that difficult.
After performing a simple sword technique about ten times, I began to familiarize myself with it.
After more than twenty times, my body moved automatically without thought, and after surpassing fifty times, the sword spoke another word.
“When finished, swing backward.”
Not understanding that at the moment, I decided to move in order to fulfill the one hundred swings.
With one swing left, the images of the sword techniques I had executed floated clearly around me.
Not magic, but merely images being created in my mind.
My figure swinging the sword repeated, gradually rewinding.
The hundredth swing concluded by descrambling the sword techniques I had executed backward.
“Congratulations on your initiation.”
Startled by the sword’s words, I instantly dropped it.
“Are you alright?”
A surprised Ricky hurriedly approached me.
“I feel like I just learned an incredible sword technique, didn’t I?”
“Yes?”
I immediately created an iron sword on the spot and tried to replicate the same sword technique.
Just from swinging it a hundred times, I could execute it as smoothly as a well-fitting suit.
“Ricky! How long can you hold the magic sword?”
“Very briefly.”
“Have you considered holding it longer?”
“The side effects are too severe…”
The magic sword had taught me swordsmanship; clearly, if I held it, I could learn.
“And these side effects… They limit physical capabilities, right?”
“Yes. If I keep holding it, I feel like it would interfere with my duties, so I haven’t held it more than once a day.”
“Hold it.”
The magic sword didn’t just limit Ricky’s physical abilities.
“We’re in the middle of a war.”
“Don’t worry, just hold it.”
There was power capable of filling Ricky’s absence.
This was the optimal time for training!
“I can’t take responsibility for what happens afterward!”
“Understood.”
With the magic sword in hand, Ricky briefly stared blankly at the sky.
“I hear a voice. I must swing the sword.”
Like someone half out of their senses, Ricky started swinging the sword from his position.
Whoosh! Swish!
The sword, flailing weakly, continued to carve the air.
I sat down for a moment and observed Ricky’s condition.
It looked similar to the swordsmanship I had used, but the form was slightly different.
Ricky stopped swinging when the dark night arrived.
He panted heavily, drenched in sweat.
“Ah.”
As if coming back to his senses, Ricky lightly planted the sword into the ground.
“I think my strength is coming back a bit.”
Ricky drew another sword from his waist and began to swing it.
His movements were far steadier and more powerful than when he had flailed with the magic sword.
“So this is how the magic sword is used.”
The former Demon King had once discussed how to handle the magic sword.
He said if it didn’t listen, just break it.
Aside from that, the sword would choose its master, thus not placing much burden on the user.
Ricky had been chosen by the magic sword but hesitated to use it.
Consequently, the magic sword gradually limited Ricky’s physical abilities.
In a crisis situation, it forced him to eventually grasp it.
One question remained: when I held the magic sword, such phenomena didn’t occur for me as they did for Ricky.
I speculated that perhaps merely borrowing it briefly wouldn’t activate the sword’s curse.
Starting the next day, Ricky volunteered to go outside the castle with soldiers to hunt down the Undead for the training of the magic sword.
I wanted to go out as well, but I had tasks to attend to.
Since Ricky was absent, I entrusted the responsibility to Iwaf.
When I had left it to him for a day, Iwaf’s expression was not bad.
However, after a few days, Iwaf’s expression turned seriously gloomy.
“There’s too much work!”
“I have a lot too.”
I spoke while staring at the mountain of paperwork piled on my desk.
What in the world does paperwork have to do in a war situation?
The contents of the documents were mostly about supplies and salaries.
There were many details about whom to reward and from whom to distribute prizes.
I doubted whether the work I was doing was meant for a Knight Order Commander or a Division Leader.
Amid the busy days, Frey came to visit our lodging.
“Aren’t you busy?”
“Other than training hours, I have some free time.”
I was curious why Frey could afford time while I was so busy.
“You seem to finish your work super quickly?”
“We don’t have such things.”
“Why not…?”
“Well, we are a newly formed Knight Order with very little authority.”
It seems that the Second and Seventh Knight Orders were founded at very different times.
More than I expected, the authority given to me was quite powerful.
One of those was the audacious right to request leave even during wartime.
No one seemed likely to take such action without losing their mind, yet I desperately wanted to.
Instead, I had numerous other tasks.
The cause of this was the former commander of the Second Knight Order, Aila, who usually took on work from various places.
“If I have authority, what’s the point? I can’t use it because I’m too busy!”
“It seems that usually, the Division Leader of the 2nd Knight Order handles things, but I don’t see him today.”
I could understand why Ricky often complained about having too much work.
After Frey left, I slowly examined a document envelope I had.
The envelope was sealed with wax, and it was addressed to the intelligence department.
Carefully breaking the seal, I looked at the contents inside.
Inside the envelope was a letter, each with a different sender.
One was sent by Solche, addressed to Aila.
Perhaps the letter was sent before I took on the role of temporary commander.
There was nothing special in the content and mostly written about the movements of the Knight Commander.
It appeared Solche was checking on whether there were any issues regarding the Knight Commander at Aila’s request.
Since it was largely unrelated to me, I skimmed through it and unfolded another letter.
Given the content written, it seemed to be very recent information.
The recipient was precisely addressed to me.
The sender of the letter was Alium from the intelligence department.
He lightly wrote about his current situation, detailing where and what he was doing.
He was currently battling the Undead Army in Latnia.
One of the officers there had been concerned and wrote to me, according to Alium.
The contents of the letter were shocking.
It revealed that an unbelievable individual, Juan, was among the officers of the Undead Army.
Since Alium had no reason to lie to me, this information must be true.
I recalled that Juan had once mentioned he was the twelfth.
His condition back then was remarkably similar to the Undead now.
Could it be that the soldiers of the Undead Army were once living beings?
Alium’s letter detailed how Latnia was dealing with the Undead Army.
In Latnia, Holy Knights dispatched from the Diana Order were fighting on the front lines.
The battles against the Undead were mostly handled by Holy Knights, all of whom were magic swordsmen.
The Holy Knights, accompanied by priests from the Diana Order, were dedicated to exterminating the Undead.
The leader of the Holy Knights was the head of the Diana Order, known to the world as the Holy Lady.
The Holy Lady possessed exceptional abilities, allowing her to contend evenly with Undead commanders.
However, it seemed that currently, she had sustained severe injuries in battle and the situation had turned significantly unfavorable.
