My Ex-Girlfriend Was Appointed as a Knight Commander. - Chapter 5

It was the same as telling him to give up on being a knight. Anyone other than the current Maxim would have gotten very angry upon hearing such words. However, the Maxim who heard those words didn’t even bat an eyelid.

Maxim had already expected Christine to say something like that in the first place. And he knew well why she said those words.

“I knew you would say that.”
“…Then that means your answer is already decided.”

Christine grumbled. Maxim just grinned. She looked at his smile and slightly contorted her lips.

“Vice Commander, you know… overdoing it in your current condition…”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Then why…!”

Christine slightly raised her voice as if frustrated. Maxim only let out a hearty laugh at her attitude.

“I won’t die, you know? I’ll just be sick for a few days.”
“Sick, my foot…”

Christine shook her head as if she couldn’t agree with Maxim’s words. Her long blonde hair swayed like waves. She took a moment to compose herself. It seemed like she was choosing her words, unable to speak easily. While she was hesitating, he took the lead.

“It’s okay. I said I won’t overdo it.”
“You say that, but you’ll overdo it anyway. How can you not overdo it in a test held by the knight order?”

Maxim smiled as if troubled. Christine didn’t like his attitude.

“So that’s why you’ve been swinging your sword since morning. I wondered what was going on.”
“I won’t cause you any trouble.”
“That’s not the important part.”

Christine clenched her fists. It looked like she wanted to punch Maxim’s grinning face.

“I’ll pass without overdoing it. You don’t think I’m capable of that much?”
“Capable or not, you’ll stagger even if you use just a little bit of strength.”

Maxim raised one corner of his mouth and lifted his arm as if to show off his biceps. Christine held her head at the oncoming headache.

“I won’t stagger. I’ve recovered quite a bit.”
“…That’s all thanks to my help. Are you going to make my efforts go to waste?”

As Christine spoke with a sigh, Maxim’s expression changed a little. He must have felt sorry for her, and she felt even more frustrated by his quickly changing emotions.

“Don’t make that face. It makes me soft-hearted.”

Maxim quickly hid his expression upon hearing Christine’s words.

That guy shouldn’t gamble, Christine thought to herself.

“You won’t have to help me if I don’t give you a reason to.”
“…That’s the best conclusion, though.”

As if asking, “How about that?” Maxim shrugged his shoulders. Even if he pretended to be fine, he was someone who would have to risk his life if he used his strength.

“Even if you pass without overdoing it, you’ll have to use your strength anyway when you go to the frontline.”

Christine was practically whining at this point. Maxim felt both sorry and grateful for her worrying about him.

“In the first place, it was a decision I had to make at some point to remain a knight. I was just turning a blind eye to the problem until now.”
“There are other ways. You can go into instructing with your skills, Vice Commander…”
“Go back to the academy? I can’t do that. Even if I die, I want to die fighting on the frontline as a knight.”

Maxim waved his hand while boasting. It was meant to be a joke, but Christine’s reaction differed from what he expected.

“I… I had no idea. When you said, ‘They’ll take the useful ones,’ I thought your treatment, Vice Commander, was already confirmed.”

Christine looked at Maxim with a somewhat pained expression.

“Why do you keep doing this to yourself….”

Maxim felt truly sorry.

“Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing to me? In the end, you’ll be at a loss if you continue.”

Christine was about to turn and leave but suddenly stopped and returned to Maxim.

“…One last thing.”
“What?”
“Why are you going this far…?”

Upon hearing that question, Maxim raised his head and gazed into the distance. It was as if he wanted to find something invisible in his sight.

“Everyone has something they can’t give up on.”

Maxim’s determination couldn’t be swayed. Realizing that, Christine’s face turned gloomy. But before he could see that expression, she was able to change it back to her usual one. Looking up at Maxim’s handsome face, she declared.

“Don’t overdo it. Even if you collapse from overdoing it, I absolutely won’t help you.”

Maxim’s eyes widened and then curved into a smile.

“Okay. Got it.”

Christine suppressed the urge to smack that expression one more time.

==

“Phew.”

Maxim, who had finished bathing, stood in front of the mirror. His well-built, firm muscles, characteristic of a knight, glistened with water. However, he had one feature that was much more noticeable than the muscles that displayed his presence. It was a scar that stretched from his left chest to near his pelvis. The scar was deeply carved like a canyon crossing the land.

It was a curse.

The scar deeply engraved on Maxim’s body was literally a curse. The curse, filled with a vicious grudge that would normally drive a person insane just by feeling it, had been curled up inside the scar for three years, refusing to disappear from Maxim’s body.

Strangely enough, he couldn’t feel any pain. Maxim brought his fingertip to the scarred area with a calm expression. Forget pain, he couldn’t even feel the sensation of his fingertip touching it. The part where this wound was left was already dead.

Maxim tapped the wound with his fingertip. No sensation was felt in the affected area, and the fingertip felt like it was poking gravel, not human skin. Although it looked like a healed scar on the outside, the inside was already rotten.

“It’s like someone else’s body.”

Maxim muttered his impression as if talking about someone else’s business.

As long as he didn’t forcibly draw out strength and mana, this wound wouldn’t kill him. Originally, he should have become a cold corpse by now, but Maxim’s encounter with Christine in the Raven Knight Order had miraculously extended his lifeline.

Christine’s magic couldn’t lift the curse but could stop it from worsening. Even these days, he occasionally had her check the condition of the affected area and try to find a way to lift the curse. Although there was no significant improvement, Christine said she wouldn’t give up and kept trying. But for him, stopping the progression of the curse was enough.

Maxim carefully wiped off the moisture with a towel and wrapped a bandage around his upper body. The bandage probably wouldn’t have much effect on healing the wound, but Maxim was using it to cover the scar. It was to prevent the unfortunate event that the scar would be exposed to others if his top got torn during training.

“…It’s not going well.”

Today, Maxim was diligently wrapping the bandage so it wouldn’t come loose. The scar on his body kept reminding him of one person.

Theodora.

Maxim thought of her face, his ex-girlfriend and current commander. The scar, which shouldn’t have felt any sensation, seemed to ache a little.

‘I’m really hopeless.’

He was forcibly staying with the knight order with a body that wouldn’t listen to him properly. When he finally managed to support his body after meeting Christine, he became greedy to live as a knight once more. And now, hope had arisen. The hope of being able to go to the frontline. The hope that he could still hold onto his sword.

And Theodora, who had been appointed as the commander… if Maxim came forward saying he wouldn’t take the test because of the curse, Theodora would surely pity him. She might even waver. And Maxim never wanted that. Rather than that, letting her despise him by acting pathetically would be a hundred times better.

Maxim only wished for Theodora to remain as she was now.

Because he had no intention of letting her know that the cause of this scar and curse was her.

Maxim cut off the flow of thoughts and forcibly opened his frowning expression.

“Let’s go.”

Maxim whipped himself and began to put on his uniform. The hard texture of the armor felt unfamiliar today. Maxim, fully clad in armor, picked up his sword. It was just a cheap sword commonly sold at blacksmiths, far from being called a cherished sword, but the blade that Maxim had sufficiently maintained shone sharply.

‘Is it going to rain?’

The weather was cloudy. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, giving a little light through the gaps. The herd of dark clouds huddled together, twitching with a low sound like a crouching dragon.

“Look, a knight from that loser knight order is passing by.”
“I heard they got a new commander this time?”
“I bet it’ll be the same as always, my friend.”

The citizens whispered in low voices. Since the notoriety of the Raven Knight Order was widely known in this area, it wasn’t strange to hear such words. For Maxim, the gossip of the citizens was like background music he listened to every time he went to work. Those who couldn’t endure it and fought were the ones who got kicked out, even from the Raven Knight Order.

Before long, Maxim climbed the hill leading to the headquarters of the Raven Knight Order. Even while walking, Maxim kept circulating a little mana inside his body, loosening his body and checking the scar.

‘It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong.’

It wasn’t that he had no anxiety about the scar. If it weren’t for Maxim’s swordsmanship relying less on Aura Blade, the curse would devour his body every time he fought.

‘The goal is not to unleash an Aura Blade.’

It wouldn’t look strange. In the first place, Maxim rarely used Aura Blade unless it was an important moment. He clenched and unclenched his hand repeatedly to compose himself.

Maxim arrived at the training ground exactly on time. The vice commander did not exist in this place right now. There was no sharply refined spirit. His atmosphere was very quiet. Quiet but very deep, like the sea before a storm hit.

“You’re here, Vice Commander.”

Christine had already arrived at the training ground. Maxim nodded, accepting her greeting, and looked around. Including him and Christine, there were seven people. The remaining twenty or so had given up on even taking the test.

Theodora was standing on the podium of the training ground. Her obsidian-colored eyes, resembling today’s sky, lingered on Maxim momentarily. Maxim didn’t avoid her gaze. He thought he saw a very small ripple in those eyes.

Behind Theodora stood four knights. Maxim could feel a completely different air from the soldiers she had brought with her when she visited the knight order last time. They were probably real elite knights. It was clear that they were the replacement personnel to be assigned to the Raven Knight Order.

“Looks like everyone is here.”

This time, Theodora spoke without using mana. Her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear since such a small group had gathered.

“Then, let’s begin the selection test.”

As Theodora spoke, the four knights stepped forward simultaneously. Although four of them stepped, only one footstep was heard.

Thud!

The knights stood majestically in front of Theodora. Once the knights finished lining up, Theodora began to speak again.

“They are the knights assigned to the newly reformed Raven Knight Order.”

At this point, everyone seemed to have figured out what the test would entail.

“If you can endure for 15 minutes or more against these knights, you pass.”
“Don’t mess around!”

There seemed to be a loser with a will mixed in. But this knight order no longer tolerated losers.

Shing.

“Commander. Your order.”

Before anyone knew it, two blades were placed under the chin of the knight who had cursed. Looking at the member with disdain, the two elite knights awaited Theodora’s response.

“Please lower your swords for now.”

The knights lowered their swords. Theodora declared in a cold voice to the member who was profusely sweating.

“You are disqualified. Please leave.”

The targeted member, unable to withstand the spirit exuded by the knights, ran away and descended the hill of the headquarters. Following him, another member declared his surrender and went down. Five members remained. Theodora looked at the training ground as if asking if anyone else would give up, but no one else left.

“If there’s no one else giving up, please prepare for the match.”

At Theodora’s words, a tense atmosphere enveloped the training ground. It was a tension that could never be felt in the Raven Knight Order until now. The members and knights faced each other.

Maxim assessed the strength of the knights he was facing. Two were male knights, and two were female. From what Maxim felt, one of the female knights was a mage. She would probably be Christine’s opponent. Maxim glanced sideways to confirm where Christine was standing. As expected, she was looking at her would-be opponent indifferently.

‘There’s no need to worry.’

“Christine Watson, step forward.”

Breaking the silence, Theodora ordered Christine. She stepped forward according to command.

“Lione Becker, step forward.”

The female knight Maxim had guessed to be a mage stepped forward. Centered around the two mages, a huge flow of mana began to swirl. The knights and members quickly stepped back to create space for the match. Theodora, who confirmed that they had all retreated, spoke in the same indifferent tone.

“If you’re ready, please begin.”

At the same time as those words were uttered, the two casted magic collided in midair, dyeing the training ground with light.