"[Claude Benjamin (First Rank Bronze Knight): Talents: Advanced Knight, Low-level Cavalry Commander

Skills: Proficient in the Eight Knightly Techniques (80/500)]"

’Damn, is this for real?’

Robson stared at the panel, dumbfounded.

’Did I just hit the jackpot?’ he wondered.

Claude, standing before him, was rather puzzled.

"Sir, I think I need to see to my troops," Claude reminded him.

"You really like being a Knight that much?" Robson asked with a smile.

"Of course! It is the lofty ideal of a Frankish Noble!" Claude straightened up, a fire in his eyes.

"How about this: first, defeat the man behind me. If you win, I’ll make you the Cavalry Commander," Robson said with a laugh.

Of course, he had no intention of making Claude the Commander. No matter how talented he was, he was still just a naive youth, untested by the world. Robson couldn’t possibly hand over the core of his forces to him just like that.

"And what if I lose?" Claude asked curiously.

"Then you’ll become my Attendant. We’ll start with you learning how to serve someone. How does that sound?" Robson said with a smile.

"Huh?" Claude was taken aback, his expression turning grim.

He considered himself a genius. His clan had never given him many resources, yet he had still become an Extraordinary Knight on the strength of his own talent.

In his eyes, the work of serving someone was nothing short of an insult.

"If you can’t even agree to that, then you might as well..."

"No need! I accept!"

Claude shot back before Robson could finish. Compared to his dignity, he cared far more about the Cavalry.

"Then he’s all yours. Give the new kid a proper welcome," Robson said, turning to pat Bo Yang’s shoulder.

"Yes, my lord. Don’t you worry, he’ll be perfectly obedient when I’m through with him," Bo Yang chuckled.

"If you can’t handle him, you can get ready to start feeding the horses," Robson laughed.

...

After dealing with Claude, Robson received a letter from Valentino.

"Three million Gold Coins!" Robson’s eyebrows shot up at the number, and he fell into thought.

In Robson’s experience, this business of the Prince "impartially deciding" on the distribution of three million Gold Coins in aid was nothing more than political theater.

It was just a way for Prince Noah to curry favor with the military.

’He can’t possibly be expected to be truly impartial, can he? If that were the case, what would be the point of having the Prince decide at all? They might as well just pile up the Gold Coins and let everyone exchange them for Beastmen heads.’

The entire Siriel Defense Line, with its 31 fortresses and 9 defensive sectors... ’In the end,’ he thought, ’the funds will probably be divided based on everyone’s political clout in the army.’

At this thought, Robson felt a small sense of relief. As far as he knew, Valentino had inherited a portion of the Fengman Clan’s political legacy. Her influence in the military was decent, so she’d surely be able to secure a share of the funds.

Valentino had only just become a Countess. If she wanted to restore the Fengman Clan’s prestige in the military, she would first have to build up her own.

’Looked at that way, it’s very likely that a piece of that pie will end up with me, Lord Robson!’

’It’s true that Valentino has a decent amount of influence in the military, but her personal prestige isn’t actually that high. It relies more on her title as a Countess.’

’Her military influence is entirely due to the legacy left by the previous Count, as well as her maternal grandfather, the Marquis.’

’If Valentino wants to raise her own prestige, this military funding provides the perfect opportunity to establish an image of herself as an impartial arbiter.’

’This would also align with the Fengman Clan’s public image. Because the clan characteristically has few heirs, they need a great many friends. Therefore, generations of Fengman heirs have always cherished their reputations; after all, it is the very capital on which they stand in the world of nobility.’

Of course, this was all just Robson’s speculation. He had only known Valentino for a few days. What if she was simply greedy and decided to pocket all the money herself?

Still, it was nice to have hope. Besides, Robson already had the guaranteed benefit of gaining experience points from killing enemies, so he wouldn’t be at a loss no matter what happened.

Robson shook his head, driving out all these complicated thoughts. He realized he was overthinking things. The most important thing for him right now was to train his troops and increase his own strength. Thinking too much about matters he didn’t yet have the power to influence was pointless.

With that in mind, Robson headed to the training grounds, curious to see how Claude’s "lesson" was going.

But when he arrived, Robson himself was the one who got a shock.

On the training grounds, Claude’s face was beaten to a pulp, yet he still held his Knight’s Sword in a ready stance, staring straight ahead.

"What’s going on here?" Robson asked.

"Well... my lord, the kid’s just too stubborn. He absolutely refuses to go down," Knight Boyang said with a sense of helplessness.

Robson raised an eyebrow in surprise and walked over to Claude.

"You want to be the Cavalry Commander that badly?" Robson asked.

When Claude saw Robson approach, he looked like he was about to cry.

"I don’t want it anymore! I don’t want it! But can I please not be an Attendant? A regular cavalryman is fine too!" Claude’s voice was muffled and unclear.

In the past, he had always considered himself a genius. Although he was only Bronze First Tier, he had seen his share of second and third-tier Bronze Knights.

He used to think that even if he couldn’t win against them, he would at least put up a fight. He never imagined he could be so completely dominated. Only now did he understand the gap.

What he didn’t know, of course, was that with his Proficient-level mastery of the Eight Knightly Techniques, he shouldn’t have been so thoroughly thrashed. His opponent, however, was Bo Yang.

Bo Yang had been with Robson from the start, training hard every day and charging into battle. He had absorbed an unknown amount of experience, making him completely incomparable to an ordinary Bronze Third Tier knight.

"Alright, fine. Go report to the Cavalry Team for now," Robson said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He’d met stubborn people before, but never anyone this bullheaded.

... 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Ding! Your cavalry has been trained. Experience +3."

"Ding! Your cavalry has been trained. Experience +4."

Listening to the continuous notifications from the panel, Robson grew suspicious. ’But I never put Claude in command of the Cavalry Team,’ he thought.

’And if his talent had this kind of immediate effect, he should have said so! I thought a talent was just potential that needed time to be developed. I never expected Claude to have this kind of ability right away.’

When Robson arrived at the cavalry training grounds, he saw Claude at the very front of the formation. He was on horseback, demonstrating various techniques to the men: how to mount, how to perform maneuvers in the saddle, how to control the horse.

’So professional?’ Robson felt a little embarrassed watching him; the whole routine looked far more professional than anything he could do.

At that moment, Claude was at the head of the formation, explaining the fundamentals of cavalry warfare to the brothers-in-arms he had just met.

"See this? You step right here to mount. Your horse... Hey, what’s with you guys? How are you supposed to learn anything standing so far away?" Claude asked in confusion.

"Claude? Where did you learn all this?"

A voice came from behind him. Claude jumped and immediately snapped to attention.

He hadn’t forgotten his earlier experience; he had been thoroughly beaten into submission. Especially after learning about Robson’s power and Bo Yang’s age, he had come to recognize the vast differences between people.

"My lord! It’s a rest period, so I was just explaining the fundamentals of being a Knight to the men!" Claude said.

"You know how to drill soldiers?" Robson asked.

"Reporting to my lord, it’s just some things I figured out on my own. Please excuse the crude display," Claude replied humbly.

"If you know how, you know how. If you don’t, you don’t," Robson frowned.

’Looks like I hit the kid a bit too hard,’ he thought. ’It’s not good for a young man to lose his edge.’

"Since you know how, you’ll be in charge of the cavalry’s training from now on. Do a good job, and I’ll let you lead a squad to get some practical experience," Robson said with certainty.

"Really!" Claude’s eyes lit up.

"Thank you for recognizing my worth, my lord!"

Robson gave Claude a strange look. ’Could just "figuring things out" on his own really generate this much experience?’

He had to remember that most of his "cavalry" were just recently requisitioned Peasants who knew how to ride a horse.

If this kept up, his Peasants would turn into genuine Frank Knight Recruits in no time!

’I never thought talents could have such a huge impact!’ Robson was genuinely shocked. He immediately turned to Bo Yang, who was standing faithfully behind him.

"Sir Boyang, do you ever, in your spare time, ’just figure things out’ on your own?"

"Huh?" Bo Yang was dumbfounded.

"I don’t think so."

"Well, you can start now. Spend more time figuring out how to drill soldiers. In that regard, you need to learn from Claude," Robson said.

"Yes, my lord!" Bo Yang declared.

Hearing himself praised, Claude fought to keep the corners of his mouth from curling up into a smile.