Xue La subconsciously tugged at the hem of her skirt, watching the duel on the training grounds.
In her previous life as a speedrun player, Xue La had rarely thought about Bali Saihe’s subordinates. In the past, she only saw Bali Saihe as “the NPC cheat grandpa who gives tons of easy-mode resources.”
After all, back then, she needed to empathize with the Brave.
But now, the situation had become a bit more complicated.
Although Luo Yi had been retained for now and temporarily become a member of the Linde family estate, what was Luo Yi’s future?
He still needed to learn those things, become the Brave, and defeat the Demon King.
And what Xue La needed to do was help raise his affection in advance, and even lend a hand.
This way, they wouldn’t end up in the bad ending of the original game world line!
But just keeping Luo Yi in the estate wasn’t enough—who would provide those key resources?
At least Luo Yi still had a grandfather who was once a subordinate of the old general, right?
It’s never wrong to learn more.
As a player from her previous life, Xue La knew the early game plot: Rodrick was Luo Yi’s grandfather, the provider of early resources, and the guide who would recommend him to Bali Saihe.
So of course she hoped that the future Brave, Luo Yi, would carefully watch this duel.
On one side was a retired Royal Capital Guard.
On the other side was an old man who had farmed the land for many years.
Who would win?
The instructor brought by Lady Catalina was named Kargon.
He wore a neat set of knight plate armor, and before the match, he first took off his helmet and bowed to his opponent.
“Roderick… glad to fight you.”
Since it was a peaceful match, the knight’s etiquette could not be neglected.
Roderick returned the bow.
He had also once been a subordinate of the old general Bali Saihe—he couldn’t afford to lose face!
Kargon put his helmet back on and armed himself.
With a round shield in one hand and a longsword in the other, he strode forward.
Roderick, however, had no armor.
He wore a freshly patched set of linen clothes, over which he had put on a layer of white wool soft armor and an apron.
He looked more like a servant than an instructor.
Vulgar fellow!
That might be the reason the lady disliked the grandfather and grandson.
The Linde family was indeed a rural noble of the Northern Kingdom of Norsenia, but it was also a local power with thousands of acres of fertile fields, ten thousand acres of pasture, mining rights in the mountains, and forest logging rights.
Could the people serving the Linde family be those dirty roadside knights, sporting an unknown family crest, leading a skinny old horse, and tying a rusted sword around their waist with hemp rope?!
Don’t even think about it!
On Linde land, the minimum requirement to serve the lord and lady was a well-spoken knight with property.
The kind who rode a tall horse and kept their armor and weapons in good condition.
Taking in a grandfather and grandson casually—that wasn’t good.
The lady frowned, watching Roderick brandish his only weapon.
A wooden staff?
Xue La, however, saw more clearly.
She opened her panel and clearly saw what weapon Roderick was wielding.
[Iron-headed Long Staff Bludgeoning Damage 18-24]
[Description: A weapon wrapped entirely in iron plates, with small iron balls attached at both ends for better balance. Those who are not skilled in using or dealing with it will end up with a bloody head]
Who said that staff was bad?
Xue La knew it in her heart.
Before her transmigration, on Xue La’s Earth hometown, there was a legendary tale of a monkey wielding a staff that beat the gods in the heavens.
‘Adaptation is not random editing; drama is not nonsense!’
The duel finally began.
The longsword was not longer than the long staff.
Xue La saw that at a glance.
In any martial art, the principle is: one inch longer means one inch stronger; one inch shorter means one inch more dangerous.
And the advantage of the long staff over the longsword lay precisely here.
The striking part of a sword is fixed.
However long the blade is forged, that’s how much striking area it has.
But not the long staff.
In the hands of someone who knows, by changing posture and technique, one can constantly shift and rotate the point of force, making it long or short, unpredictable.
In fact, that was exactly what Roderick was doing.
The tip of the staff poked lightly at first, just testing.
But soon, it attacked frenziedly like a viper flicking its tongue, the tip striking like a dense rain.
The retired Royal Capital Guard elder, Kargon, used a light round shield.
The body was made of oak, with only a slight layer of iron plating on the outside.
The nails were still new, without a trace of rust.
Such a light shield was easy to deflect.
Then Roderick pried it open, applied force with a backhand, and thrust the staff toward Kargon’s chest.
Thud—
Since the staff also had an iron ball at the tip, this strike was quite heavy.
Although Kargon wore excellent plate armor, Roderick’s arm strength was clearly extraordinary, still leaving a visible dent.
Xue La smiled.
She wondered how much of this excellent fighting style Luo Yi could learn.
Meanwhile, Catalina’s expression was clearly unpleasant.
Kargon slowly retreated.
At least he still had his plate armor to protect him, allowing him to temporarily endure the risk of being struck repeatedly by Roderick.
If his longsword could just touch Roderick, he would win.
For that purpose, a proper retreat to create distance was an acceptable choice.
Kargon repositioned his shield in front of his chest and tried to step back.
“Coward! For the honor of the Linde and Lyoncourt families, charge forward!”
Lady Catalina reminded him.
Her voice was not loud, but it was full of threat.
Knight tournaments had always been a pastime for nobles, popular in the cities of the Four Kingdoms… especially the arenas in the royal capitals, which were incredibly lively.
Although Count Briang Lind was a rural count and rarely had the fortune to spectate (occasionally there were dueling exams when recruiting knights, but that was a different matter entirely from the arenas), his wife, Catalina, was a different story.
The Lyoncourt family was a marquis family one rank above the Lindes.
Many of her siblings were established in the royal capital.
The lady had seen many knight tournaments.
However, the phenomenon of laymen watching the thrill and professionals watching the technique happened time and again.
So Lady Catalina would impatiently urge Kargon not to retreat, to press forward and hack the opponent to death with random swings—what would that accomplish?
Such blind orders would cause great harm to her subordinates.
Kargon knew this well, but he could not go against the oath he had sworn to the family he served, so he could only steel himself and advance.
Roderick couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth.
He saw through the haste in his opponent’s steps.
Hit the snake at its seven inches.
This old man made the same move Luo Yi had.
Only more mature.
He lowered his center of gravity, then swung a crucial, fatal strike.
An experienced sweeping staff!
It directly hit the shin of the fully armored Kargon.
Thanks to the speed of the swing and Roderick’s arm strength, this blow toppled the enemy’s center of gravity.
Kargon stumbled, trying to regain his balance.
But Roderick wouldn’t give him that chance.
He immediately followed up with the staff.
Turning unstable into unable to stand straight, then unable to stand at all!
He made Kargon fall to the ground in the end!
In the end, the proud armor had become a burden!
This was the kind of soldier Bali Saihe trained!
The old man had never forgotten.
“Grandpa won!”
Luo Yi jumped up joyfully.
“I’ll study this technique well!”
Catalina said nothing, pursed her lips, and swept away with a flick of her sleeves.
The stone in Xue La’s heart finally landed—at least Luo Yi could still stay.
Unexpectedly, Roderick’s next move was to drop his staff and help Kargon up.
The old man removed the helmet for the other old man.
“Old brother, are you alright?”
Roderick asked softly.
The other was silent, eyes closed.
“Damn it, you can’t have gone to see the Sun God Helong just from a fall, can you?”
Roderick cursed.
“The Sun God doesn’t accept incompetent warriors.”
Kargon opened his eyes, grinning widely.
“Good brother!”
The two old men shook hands.
???
Xue La’s heart was full of question marks.
She couldn’t help but step forward and ask what had happened.
Luo Yi too… he also wanted to know why this old man he had never met before hit it off so well with his grandfather Roderick.
“Well… Miss Xue La.”
Kargon looked at the girl before him, who bore a striking resemblance to the lady.
“First time meeting. I’m Kargon, currently serving the Lyoncourt family… Before, I was a guard in the Royal Capital Valnas—back in the day…”
“Only the best warriors could join General Bali Saihe’s ranks—I couldn’t. Back then, I was outdone by an old scoundrel named Roderick!”
Kargon recounted.
“And we were old friends who shared a rental in the royal capital, a couple of poor lads. He got into the general’s corps… I stayed to serve in the royal capital.”
“So you got to keep the honor of a knight!”
Roderick said ruefully.
“Not like me, who ended up as…”
“With me here, I can protect you—after so many years, I still lost with all my heart!”
Kargon laughed heartily.
So there really were true feelings in this world.