The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knight’s Rampage Through Another World
Half a year has passed since then.
I trained relentlessly.
I trained like a madman, with all my might.
Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, running, and everything else.
I tried every training method I remembered from my past life.
Thanks to that, I went from barely managing a single push-up—like a newborn Chihuahua—to doing hundreds a day now.
At just twelve years old, achieving this in only half a year is clearly an astonishing feat.
Of course, it’s not just the upper body; legs and core are crucial too.
As for the most orthodox training method—running drills—there were no paved, flat roads in this fantasy world. So I was forced to do trail running around the estate.
Not just running, I incorporated parkour-like movements using the surrounding terrain. I also charged into thickets and scrambled up nearby rocks, simulating combat scenarios (?). Before I knew it, my movements had become lighter.
Seems I’ve got some monkey-like talent after all.
When I expressed wanting to get even stronger, Alissa and head butler Bernard readily agreed to help.
They seemed genuinely thrilled that their lazy son had finally gotten motivated.
Alissa, despite her knightly duties, even made time early in the mornings to spar with me on swordsmanship.
Well, every time we trained, she beat me to a pulp…
Of course, I didn’t neglect magic training either.
‘Divine Protection’ consumes magic power to wield its power, and even without it, I could temporarily expect an increase in physical ability.
Magic power is born from mental concentration.
To train my concentration, I persuaded the estate’s head chef to lend me a large number of ceramic plates.
I filled them with water, placed them on my head, shoulders, and knees, then meditated for about an hour while crouching, holding perfectly still to prevent them from falling or spilling.
If my body moved and even a single drop spilled, I had to start over.
I did this every other day, early in the morning.
Incidentally, I learned this method from Bernard, the head butler.
Bernard isn’t a knight, so he has no ‘Divine Blessing’, but I heard he was a mercenary in his youth.
He apparently served as a scout on the battlefield, sometimes lying completely still for three days and nights waiting to ambush enemies.
He said this training was what he did back then to cultivate his concentration.
At first, I thought he was teasing me, but it actually worked.
About a month after starting this training, I mastered the enhancement of physical abilities through magic power.
I never imagined that circulating magic power throughout my body would let me jump from my second-floor room to the ground—a height of about three or four meters—and land without my legs going numb.
Doing such things led to rumors spreading among the maids and members of my private knight corps who didn’t know the circumstances: ‘Young Master has lost his mind.’
Well, it wasn’t surprising that people thought I’d gone mad when a lazy brat who’d lived a life of sloth suddenly recovered from illness and began leading an ultra-stoic existence.
But I had no time to worry about such things.
Day after day, I devoted myself solely to training and studying.
To make up for lost time, I endured hellish days surpassing even my corporate slave days in my previous life.
In fact, there was a period when I slept less than two hours a day.
Was this some kind of popular celebrity’s schedule?
I managed because I had the boundless stamina of a growing boy, but I never want to do that again.
Or rather, what if sleep deprivation stunted my growth… Mainly my height, my height, my height.
Gerald was already on the short side to begin with…
Seriously, before he got his memories back, that Gerald guy genuinely believed that being born into a knightly family meant he’d automatically become a strong, respectable knight without lifting a finger. He seriously slacked off on both training and studying.
Even I find myself amazed at how incredibly stupid he was.
That said, thanks to that, everyone at home gradually started thinking, ‘Hey, maybe this guy is actually serious…?’ Their view of me changed, and even the folks who were initially suspicious of my eccentric behavior(?) became supportive of my training and studies.
Well, it probably helped that I have a young kid’s body, but this Gerald was surprisingly quick to pick things up.
Plus, Ih seemed to have a fair amount of talent for swordsmanship.
No matter how seriously I trained, it was simply impossible for a twelve-year-old who’d only been practicing swordsmanship for about half a year to suddenly take a point from the knight who was sparring with
—And so, another half year passed.
I turned thirteen.
“Come, Gerald.”
“Yes, Nee san. — Haaah!”
My piercing battle cry echoed through the mansion’s courtyard.
The distance between us was about five meters.
It was a bit wide for a swordsman’s maai, but with magic boosting my leg strength, it wasn’t too far.
Alissa wielded a two-handed greatsword nearly as tall as herself.
Compared to that, I wielded a perfectly ordinary, standard wooden sword.
By any normal measure, the gap in reach left me with little chance.
But the Zweihänder, precisely because of its length, swung slower than a longsword.
Therefore, I steadily closed the distance, accelerating from the very edge of her magic-enhanced reach.
Lowering my stance, I drove my fastest sweeping strike toward her torso.
――GAIN!
“Guh…!”
The shock of two wooden swords clashing made my hands go numb.
I thought I had her! But… she easily parried my strike with her sword.
“Hmm, your fighting spirit isn’t bad! But save the loud intimidation for before you attack!”
Alissa’s stern voice rang out as her sword swept toward my face, forcing my blade into a winding trajectory.
But I saw this coming.
I’ve been beaten by this move countless times before!
Instinctively, I pulled my sword back, preventing it from being swept away.
But retreating now would guarantee a follow-up strike.
So instead, I closed the distance even further, pressing myself against her.
Or rather, this distance is her weakness.
The Zweihänder has a wide reach, but that very reach makes it cumbersome to handle.
Once you get inside her guard, she has no choice but to let go of the sword and try to counter with punches or kicks.
But I’m not slow enough to give her that opening.
“Nice move!”
Alissa, who had already anticipated my action, launched a knee strike, but I twisted my body and narrowly dodged it.
By then, my wooden sword was already pressed against her neck.
“One point for me.”
“…I surrender.”
Clang. Alissa dropped her Zweihänder to the ground and said this in a tone of surprise.
“…Yes!”
I finally got one point off Alissa!
…Or so I thought, until a heavy thud hit my head.
“Ouch!”
Looking up with teary eyes, I saw Alissa’s fist had landed on my head.
It wasn’t magic-enhanced strength, but she did look a bit angry.
“Gerald, you’re forgetting the zanshin. I’ll concede you scored a hit. But you only celebrate after confirming your opponent is silent or retreating beyond range.”
“S-sorry, nee san.”
I drew my sword and bowed my head hastily.
Alissa is usually kind, but she’s strict about swordsmanship.
“You’ve likely never seen it, but some creatures in this world don’t die even when beheaded. Undead are prime examples. You must never let your guard down until their bodies are completely destroyed.”
That was certainly true.
I haven’t left the mansion yet, but this was the world of Blaze of Glory.
In other words, a fantasy alternate world overrun by beasts and monsters.
For now, the Demon God’s forces were stationed at the opposite border, so direct confrontation wasn’t imminent. Still, the mountains and wilderness within the domain were home to beasts more vicious and colossal than any on Earth. Bandits roamed lonely roads, and neglected graveyards sometimes spawned undead.
And just the other day, Alissa challenged the Sword-Forged Dungeon and successfully received a blessing from its core.
Now fifteen years old, she is set to enter the Royal Knight Academy this spring. Currently, she belongs to the Vader family’s private knight order, working day and night to maintain order within the domain.
It is from this real combat experience that she is giving me this warning.
“…I’ll take it to heart.”
So I bowed my head obediently.
“But well done, Gerald! Who’d have thought you’d take me down with a sword?! You truly are my pride and joy of a brother!”
The next instant.
A shadow suddenly fell over my head… and I was abruptly enveloped in warm darkness.
In the pitch black, Alissa’s cheerful voice reached me from above.
And on my face… a warm, fluffy sensation, even through the leather armor…!?
I’m not a child anymore; I knew exactly what that was.
“Ah, nee san!?”
I frantically pulled away from her embrace.
I mean, even accounting for my past life’s age, I’m practically in my teens now.
Even if she is my real sister, that was way too intense.
“Mmm… Sorry, did I smell sweaty?”
“No, it actually smelled nice… No, wait! I’m not a kid anymore, so please refrain from that sort of thing!”
“W-What…!?”
Like struck by lightning, my dear sister froze solid.
I knew she was the type to initiate physical contact pretty often… but she didn’t have to look that devastated, did she?
Anyway, I think this made me a bit stronger.
Plus, this should give me enough leverage to convince Father.
Specifically, the conditions needed to challenge the Vader family’s ‘Sword-Made Dungeon’ and earn its ‘Blessing’.