"Lord Belius, the Marquis invites you to lunch."
Around noon, a maid came to the backyard and told me about it.
"Lord Bahod has returned. I was just about to say hello to him."
After saying goodbye to the brother and sister, I was led by the maid to the dining room.
"Lord Belius, please forgive my poor hospitality and lack of proper welcome. Please have a seat."
"Not at all, I know Lord Bahod is very busy. Seeing that you are in good health is the best thing that can happen to you."
Upon meeting, the usual aristocratic pleasantries were inevitable. I didn't have a deep relationship with the Marquis Bahod; it was neither particularly good nor bad, and he probably felt the same way.
I had heard that the Marquis Bahod was a man deeply rooted in aristocratic ideals, and frankly, inviting me to lunch was a real headache – how to find a topic to talk about?
Then a lavish spread of meat was laid out on the table, and as the maid poured me wine, the Marquis of Bahod brought up the topic first.
"Lord Belius, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to train my son in swordsmanship, but what do you actually think? Does my son have the talent for swordsmanship?"
As expected, the first thing they asked about was Robert.
"It's only just begun, so it's too early to say anything for sure. But there's one thing I'm certain of: Young Master Robert's desire to learn swordsmanship is genuine."
"Lord Belius, you don't need to hide it from me. With your abilities, you only need to demonstrate your skills to see if someone has the talent for martial arts. Since you didn't praise my son immediately, he must not be some precious rough gem."
"No, I believe a person's value should be judged by their efforts, not their talent. There are very few exceptionally talented soldiers in my unit. I have seen their hard work, which cannot be summarized by the word 'talent' alone. On the contrary, I also know some examples of talented people who did not work hard and ultimately wasted their lives."
"Effort is also a kind of talent. Unfortunately, before the age of 9, Robert was a child who had nothing to do with the word 'effort'. It's hard to imagine that he would practice swordsmanship to the point of exhaustion every day."
"Although I don't know what kind of child Robert was before, doesn't Lord Bahod think that people can change?"
"It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature. I've seen plenty of people who are determined to change things but end up giving up halfway. I doubt it would be so easy to change even my own son."
Marquis Bahod had absolutely no faith that Robert could make a name for himself in swordsmanship. In fact, I didn't entirely believe that Robert to could stick with swordsmanship for many years either; it wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly got tired of it and never touched a sword again.
"But this raises a question I must ask Lord Bahod: since you don't really believe Robert can master the skills, why did you specifically invite me to instruct him in swordsmanship? Doesn't that mean you have high hopes for him?"
"That's not true. It was Robert's own strong request to learn swordsmanship. I wrote to you with the assumption that you would most likely refuse, so if you refused decisively, I would have a reason to refuse Robert. But surprisingly, Lord Belius unexpectedly agreed to teach a child swordsmanship. I'm more curious about why Lord Belius, the commander of the Golden Lion Knights, the most prestigious army in the Empire, would accept my request."
"Haha, it's just a slightly famous and somewhat historically significant knightly order made up of a bunch of old men who are just retired. I've been thinking that maybe I should recruit some fresh young blood to add some vitality to the order. I plan to recruit talent all over the country, and Robelli is no exception. It's rare that Lord Bahod would write me an invitation letter, so of course there's no reason for me to refuse."
"Oh? So the Golden Lion Knights are actively recruiting talent? But I heard that your order hasn't had any new members for almost three years. On the other hand, many people are scrambling to get in but can't, complaining that your order's selection criteria are too strict. If it's a newcomer that can catch the eye of Commander Belius, I'd really like to see him."
Indeed, my group hasn't had any new members for many years, and there are many reasons for this.
First, the review standards are indeed slightly stricter than those of other knight orders, I admit that, but it's far from being outrageous.
Secondly, since the recruitment scope has been limited to the aristocratic circle so far, most of them are young ladies and gentlemen who have grown up in a greenhouse. Even if they want to join the group, it is only to bring face to their family. I will reject as many of these people as possible.
Third, in addition, there have been no major wars between countries in recent decades except for invasion of the Demon Kingdom 15 years ago. Even Cults have started lying low since that war. So, the number of martial arts families has gradually decreased, and the trend of learning magic rather than martial arts has spread among the nobles, making it even more difficult to find noble children who meet the requirements.
If things continue like this, the Golden Lion Knights may not perish but it's future will definitely be perilous. Therefore, I have no choice but to look to all social classes, not only the nobility but also the common people throughout the country to recruit. However, it will take time to convince the king to agree to this.
These reasons would offend many nobles in the country if they were to get out, so of course I won't say them.