The Marquis’s Prodigy, an Audience
In this world, swordsmanship is broadly divided into two schools.
One is the “Gouken-ryu”—a school specializing in offense, as if to say “power is everything.” This school, with many skills that rely on high attack power stats for direct frontal assaults, was the strongest school in the world of JRO.
The other is the “Juken-ryu”—this one specializes in parrying and defense. In JRO, you’d learn it to a certain extent because it came with parry and auto-evade passives, but unlike Gouken-ryu, it had few offensive skills and many skills dependent on the opponent’s actions, like counters, giving it a very advanced player-oriented feel.
And our family, the Dukeheart House, famous as a martial marquis house, is Gouken-ryu!
We do dabble in Juken-ryu up to the beginner level, but even so, about eighty percent of our swordsmanship training is practicing Gouken-ryu forms.
Incidentally, most of the remaining twenty percent is combat training, and for Juken-ryu, we only had a special instructor for a week and truly just dabbled in it.
And so, I started receiving swordsmanship training when I was two, and three years have passed. I’m already 5 years old.
My magical stats, physical stats, and “Growth Stat” should have maxed out long ago, yet my base stats still seem to be increasing.
It’s not like I’ve defeated any monsters, so my level shouldn’t have gone up, but…
“Teyaa!”
“Ugh!?”
I lunged forward, gripping my sword as tightly as I could, and shattered the wooden sword of the knight apprentice training with me head-on.
The thin “Magic Wall” around me shattered with a parin.
Sensing an attack from behind from that sensation, I spun around and struck another knight apprentice hard in the side with my wooden sword.
“Ugh!”
“Impressive, Height! It seems mere knight apprentices are no longer a match for you.”
“Mere knight apprentices… I’m a ‘Warrior,’ you know. Height-sama, could it be you’ve already been granted a Hero-class profession?”
“Perhaps! Height is a genius, so that might just be possible! Hahahaha!”
My father, Algeo, laughed heartily at the knight apprentice I had beaten, who was grumbling.
“Now then, Height. You’ve turned five, haven’t you?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Actually, your prodigious talent is the talk among the nobles! His Majesty the King said he wishes to see for himself the strength of a mere five-year-old who can overwhelm knight apprentices blessed with a ‘Profession’!”
“H-His Majesty the King!?”
No, I was aware that I’d been standing out too much in my obsession with aiming for the top.
Especially in the world of JRO, the bonuses from ‘Professions’ are immense.
Even for Warrior-class, physical stats other than agility get a 1.5x base stat bonus, and for Hero-class, there are ridiculous bonuses like all stats x3.
Due to such circumstances, it’s highly abnormal for a child who hasn’t even undergone the Job Assignment Ceremony to be able to fight on par with, or even better than, a knight, albeit an apprentice.
That said, it’s not like I’ve made my debut in high society yet, so I never imagined word would reach the ears of that king.
“This is a great honor! Of course, you’ll attend the audience, right!”
“Y-Yes! I’ll go prepare!”
This country practices absolute monarchy, so I basically have no right to refuse, but I had no reason to refuse anyway.
I’m not interested in the King, but among this country’s royalty, there’s one of JRO’s foremost beautiful girl characters. —Given that Irene hasn’t been born yet, she’s probably around my age, or possibly not even born yet, but still, if I can catch a glimpse of her, I’d like to.
And so, it was decided that I would have an audience with the King.
◇
The Hermenia Royal Family, whom the Dukeheart House—my family in this life—has served for generations, is the most martial royal family in this world.
Incidentally, the largest country in this world is the “Zanikia Empire,” and the largest kingdom is the “Koka Allied Kingdom,” so the Kingdom of Hermenia itself isn’t an incredibly large country. Furthermore, the King of Hermenia himself was just a chubby old man in JRO whose only role was pretty much to issue quests.
However, even if he’s such a chubby old man, Hermenia is a nation that has established an absolute monarchy through its “Profession-supremacy” ideology. Befitting a king, he also holds the highest warrior-type profession, “Marshal.”
In JRO, there was no particular depiction of this, and he was just an old man who issued quests, but according to Algeo, the King of Hermenia has a strict personality.
I was warned not to be disrespectful, as a misstep could cost me my head.
Even in my previous life, I wasn’t well-versed in etiquette, but I played JRO extensively, so I believe I have a decent understanding of this world’s culture.
I’m only five years old now, so I want to believe they’ll overlook the minor details.
And so, led by Algeo, I set foot in the Hermenian palace.
The Hermenian palace wasn’t that large, nor did it have dazzling decorations, and it didn’t even possess the robustness of a fortress.
However, as this country champions “Profession-supremacy,” the knights stationed at the central royal castle are quite strong. Therefore, it’s also a surprisingly formidable fortress that achieves impregnability solely through the strength of its people, including the royal family.
After a light body check by the knights stationed in Hermenia Castle, I was guided to the front of the throne room.
“Height. Knowing how wise you are, I’m sure you understand, but…”
“Yes. I shall conduct myself in a manner that will not bring shame to the eldest son of the Dukeheart House!”
Though I hadn’t been specifically taught, I performed the Hermenian noble’s bow, which I remembered from seeing it several times in JRO cutscenes, and Algeo nodded with great satisfaction.
◇
“Hoh. So you are the rumored prodigy.”
“Yes. I am Height Duekhardt, eldest son of the Dukeheart House.”
The muscular old man sitting on the throne with a dignified air… the King of Hermenia.
In JRO, he was a chubby old man, but come to think of it, the current timeline is more than 10 years before JRO.
The King in his younger days was said to have military experience, so naturally, he’s muscular.
“I see. …Hmm. I heard you were a formidable child of merely five years who overwhelms knight apprentices, but you are a surprisingly small child, Algeo.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. However, there is no mistake about his abilities. Would you like him to demonstrate them here?”
“Hoh, that is interesting.”
The King of Hermenia grinned belligerently, showing his canines.
Algeo also smiled confidently and looked at me as if to say, “You can do it, right?” Huh? Could this be… a fight against a royal knight?
No, no, no, I can’t win, you know? Right now, my stats are at best equivalent to a level 10 Magic Swordsman, you know?
There’s no way I can beat a Royal Guard who’s routinely over level 40!
I sent Algeo an eye signal saying “I can’t do it,” but Algeo wasn’t looking at me.
“Then, Sieg. You shall be his opponent for a bit. I wish to see this prodigy’s strength with my own eyes.”
“Yes, Your Majesty! If it is your command!”
Saying so, a handsome, silver-haired knight stepped forward and bowed.
Sieg? Did he just say Sieg? The Dark Knight of the Kingdom of Hermenia, Sieg?
…As far as I know, this character is over level 60. Since the timeline is much earlier now, even if he’s somewhat lower, he’s definitely at least level 40.
In contrast, I’m level 1. I’ve maxed out my Growth Stat, so I have stats comparable to a level 10, but honestly, when facing a level 40, level 1 and level 10 are pretty much the same.
Just the sleeve of his armor brushing against me could probably deplete my HP in one hit.
“My name is Sieg. Sieghardt Rubeltahl! I am a Royal Guard of the King of Hermenia.”
Sieg raised his practice wooden sword and announced his name. Before the King. The King was looking on with expectant eyes, and Algeo nodded while handing me a practice wooden sword.
The atmosphere was such that I absolutely couldn’t say, “I can’t do it!”
Overwhelmed, I raised my practice wooden sword and announced my name.
“M-My name is Height. Height Duekhardt. Eldest son of Dukeheart! I request a mock battle with Sieghardt Rubeltahl, Royal Guard of the King of Hermenia!”
“Accepted! Now, honorably—”
“”Begin!!””
Simultaneously with the shout, both Sieg and I stepped forward and readied our swords.
A desperate level difference. On top of that, I haven’t even obtained a ‘Profession’ yet, and I have almost no skills. To make matters worse, my opponent is a fairly famous strong character even in JRO. I can’t find a single factor that would allow me to win.
Still, as a player of JRO, I guess I’ll try my best to fight back, huh!