Hero King Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Here is Chapter 6 of Hero King!! To celebrate the start of this series, the first ten chapters will be available to all Patrons throughout all the Patreon pages owned by Re:Library.

I have already decided on where to put this novel. In the future, early chapters of Hero King will be available at Musubii.

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Chapter 6 - Inglis, 5 years old (2)

「Here I come! Uoooh!!」 

「I have no intention to lose!」  

Raphael and the Knight began to exchange blows with their wooden swords.

Raphael, a growing boy still in his thirteen, and a Knight, with a body tempered for years. One could see Raphael was on the weaker side.

However——Raphael had the agility to cover his lack of strength.

In addition to that, he also had the eye to observe the gaps in his opponents’ movement as well as tactics to make the best out of it.

Raphael kept locking swords whilst redirecting the inertia of his opponent’s strike.

In response to that, his opponent put more strength in his blows in order to break through Raphael’s defense.

As that exchange continued, the opposing knight’s swing became wider and wider.

That was what Raphael aimed.

When his opponent made a wide step to strike, Raphael used the chance to immediately deliver a blow onto the back of the knight’s knee, making him fall into the ground.

That was when Raphael placed his sword on the knight’s neck, ending the fight.

「Match over! Young Master won!」 

So declared Ryuk, father of Inglis.

「Mu…! Young master, you were splendid!」 

「No, I have my arms all numb. I’d be in a dangerous spot if it had dragged just a bit longer, you see.」 

Looking at her brother’s victory, Rafinha jumped with a big smile.

「Big brother~! You’re cool~!」 

「Your son is something else! To think he can win against an adult knight…!」  

「To be honest, I didn't really do anything special——」 

「This is what they call a child cut by a different cloth, sister.」 

「Ufufufu. That makes it two of us.」 

The mother pair was delighted with the development. Although, even Inglis had judged that Raphael was indeed outstanding.

In fact, Inglis assessed that there wasn’t anyone in this place that could win against him, excluding Ryuk as the order’s leader. But of course, Inglis wasn’t included in it.

It was always a good thing to have someone skilled as a relative, like Ryuk for one.

If that was the case, Inglis wouldn’t need to go out to find a good training partner.

「Young Master Raphael! Let’s have a bout with me!」 

「Okay! Please guide me well!」 

The next contender raised his hand and began to exchange blows with Raphael.

However, Raphael again showed who was the better of the two, cleverly using his wit.

Then the next one stepped up, and the next one after that. The knights took turn to fight him.

However, Raphael came out victorious out of all matches.

As Inglis had guessed, this boy’s ability was no joke.

(That’s quite the talent he has——If he was my among my retainers, he might end up at the top of imperial guards or even a supreme commander… either way, I want to test my sword against his.) 

Inglis watched over Raphael’s continuous victory with that thought in her head.

Then——

「Hello there, master Ryuk! I’m coming in!」 

Led by a man with a good physique, a group of men came pouring into the training field.

From what Inglis judged from their attire, they were something like mercenaries. However——

They were people of the Lambert firm, a group of armed peddlers.

As the world was a dangerous place, people who traveled from one city to another wouldn’t have any idea where or when Magic Stone Beasts would attack.

Therefore, many people brought their own Artifact to protect themselves. Moreover, that kind of conduct was approved by the surrounding Kingdoms and feudal lords.

The knights under Marquis Wilford and these armed peddlers had a good relationship with each other, as they were often holding a joint practice together.

As a part of that joint practice, today they were going to have a sword match.

With a smile decorated his face, Ryuk greeted back the well-built man.

「Oh, isn’t it Mr. Lambert. Thank you for coming. We’ll be under your care for today. Let us face-off and learn from one another.」 

「Of course! It’s an honor for us to be able to borrow some of the esteemed knights’ time.」 

Still with a smile, Mr. Lambert introduced a young boy about as old as Raphael to Ryuk.

「This one is my son, Rahal. Rahal, go greet him.」  

「Nice to meet you, Master Ryuk. My name is Rahal.」 

He was quite a skinny boy with a sharp glare.

His greetings sounded a little bit strained.

「Oh, best regards. It seems like Rahal is around the same age as young master Raphael, isn’t he? Why don’t you two polish each others’ skills then? Young master! Please say hello to them!」 

「Okay!」 

Raphael answered refreshingly and approached the group. With a smile, Raphael held his hand out to Rahal.

「I’m Raphael Wilford. I’ll be your under care for today. Please go easy with me.」 

「Me, me too——!」 

「Good, now let’s warm up a bit before we start the match!」  

With Ryuk taking command, the knights and the armed peddlers mingled together and began their sword practice. As far as things were progressing, the members from knights’ side were more skilled in comparison.

That was also the case for Rahal. Despite being quite skilled for his age, he held no candle against adult knights. 

As he was still in his growing period, that was something inevitable. It was Raphael who was out of common.

*If it’s like this, our knights will surely win all the match.*

Or so Inglis assessed—However, when the match actually started, something unexpected happened.