I, Reincarnate as the Leader of the Villainous Knight Order - Chapter 164: The Third Day of the Voyage

Chapter 164: The Third Day of the Voyage 

“I’m bored… There’s nothing to see but the ocean.” 

Simon rested his chin on the railing of the deck. He was staring out at the sea. 

He had heard that the voyage from the Kingdom of Rafios to the Kingdom of Eldrasia would take anywhere from seven to ten days by ship. 

This three-day variance depended on the ocean currents and wind direction. 

Now, on the third day, there wasn’t even a small island in sight. And perhaps because of that, not even birds were visible. 

“You can see fish sometimes, though. Look, right there by the ship… see?” 

“Huh!? Ain’t that a bird!?” 

What I pointed at was a fish, gliding just above the water’s surface like a flying fish. 

Technically speaking, it was a monster I had learned about in academy lessons. 

“Haha, Sir Knight, that’s a monster called a Paralyzing Flying Fish. It doesn’t attack sturdy objects like ships. But it’s a carnivore that slashes at birds resting on the water with its wing-like fins, paralyzing them before eating them. Be careful.” 

“Yikes, so even the ocean isn’t safe… Why the hell is a fish flying in the first place!?” 

A passing sailor overheard Simon’s muttering and explained. 

“If we fall into the ocean, it’d be questionable whether we could even fight properly. If it were summer, we could’ve trained before setting sail. But it’s still too cold to go into the water, so we had to give up on that.” 

“Ugh… Good thing it’s still spring. The only waters we could reach for a day trip were the same rivers we sailed past, right!? If we had to go upstream to a deep enough spot, a day trip wouldn’t cut it. Anyway, there’s nothing to do here, so why don’t we kill time at the training grounds?” 

“Sounds good, let’s go. What about you, Captain?” 

Simon’s suggestion was met with agreement from Arnault. It seemed Gaspard and Marius were also coming along. 

This ship had five levels. The third level from the top housed the stables and the knights’ training grounds. 

A door allowed direct access from the shore to the stables. It was so that horses could be brought in. And there were even windows since it was at a height safe from submersion. 

“Alright, let’s get some exercise before lunch.” 

Our Third Knight Order— or rather, the Justin Unit— was primarily tasked with handling monsters. So we had no regular escort duties. 

In other words, we had a lot of free time. 

Luckily, the First Knight Order rotated shifts. It meant we had plenty of sparring partners. 

As soon as we entered the training grounds, the knights already present turned their gazes toward us in unison. 

Was it because they didn’t like commoners like my subordinates joining a group of nobles? 

“Simon, was it? Spar with me!” 

“Then Arnault, would you spar with me?” 

Contrary to expectations, my subordinates were immediately challenged to matches by the First Knights. 

I knew our reputation had changed since the small-scale stampede in the royal capital, but this was more than I had anticipated. 

But wait a second— if they all got paired off, who was left for me? 

Among the First Knights, only a handful could actually match me in a spar… 

“Vandière, would you do me the honor of a match?” 

It was Ernest who approached me with the request. 

Well, that made sense. None of the others would be a proper opponent for me. 

“Alright, let’s head over there.” 

I had heard that since joining the knight order, he had been training diligently. 

We moved to a less crowded area, slipping through the sounds of clashing wooden swords. 

Facing each other, we raised our practice swords. Both of us were smiling. 

“It’s been a while since we last sparred, Vandière. Not since the academy’s knight training, right?” 

“Yes, let’s see how much you’ve improved over these past years.” 

“Yeah, watch closely. Here I come! Hah!” 

With a spirited shout, Ernest lunged forward. 

A straightforward strike— or so I thought, until he suddenly feinted and swung a sweeping strike from the left. 

—Clang! 

It was unexpected, but I easily deflected it. It forced Ernest to retreat. 

His eyes flicked toward my side as he raised his sword for a diagonal slash. 

His feinting technique was textbook perfect, making me chuckle wryly. 

“You’re still thinking too much when feinting. Instead of fixing your gaze on a specific spot, try to see the whole picture.” 

As I blocked his diagonal strike, he followed up with a series of quick attacks. 

After deflecting a few, I copied his movements up to a point— then abruptly relaxed. I redirected his force instead of stopping it. 

Ernest stumbled forward, momentarily losing his balance. 

In that instant, I lightly tapped the back of his neck with my wooden sword— my victory. 

“I thought I’d trained hard. But all I realized was that the gap between us has only grown…” 

“Your skill has improved. Compared to our academy days, at least.” 

“Hah, harsh as ever. But… I’m a prince, yes. But I’m also a knight. You, Vandière, are a knight commander. Even if you’re from a different unit. So there’s no need for you to use formal speech with me. Well, at least not in official settings.” 

Ernest had warmed up to me.

He used to glare at me with such resentment whenever I acted overly polite in a sarcastic way. Or when I occasionally dropped formal speech. 

He doesn’t seriously think that my past behavior was influenced by the minions of the Evil God, does he? 

………..I feel like I overheard something along those lines. 

It’s probably because the High Priest and even Ernest himself believe they had been manipulated that way. 

But in my case—Justin—it was purely my own bitterness and warped personality. 

If that’s what they think, I can’t help but feel a little guilty. 

Well, stirring things up by telling the truth wouldn’t do any good. 

So, I simply smiled and accepted Ernest’s proposal.