When we went to the training ground, the soldiers who had been practicing began to tighten their expressions all at once.

　My father would sometimes practice at the parade ground, and it was very strict.
　For this reason, when my father came to the training ground, there was a sense of tension.

'I didn't come here today to practice,' he would say. I'm going to test this guy now.

　The tension in the place loosened at my father's declaration that he would not practice.

　Then, the soldiers' gazes fell on Reetz.
　The soldiers' gazes were focused on my father, so it was as if they heard his words and noticed Reetz for the first time.

'You mean this Marka?
'Yeah, Ars says that this Marka has great talent. Well, if it were true, I thought I could at least hire him as a miscellaneous soldier.

　The soldiers begin to buzz as they hear their father's words.

'A talent for the Marcas?' No, you don't... and you say some pretty strange things.

　No one seems to have any faith in Reetz's talent.

　Well, we just need to let them know by their abilities.

'Take the wooden sword.'
Yes, sir.

　Rietz and his father picked up the wooden sword and faced each other.

'As a handicap, if you can take a single sword in a three-minute mock battle, you will win. You will not lose, no matter how many attacks you take until you surrender. Gratz, bring me the hourglass.
Ha!

　One of the soldiers, Gratz, moved with great agility and brought an hourglass that would fall off in three minutes from the storage room of the training camp.

　A halfway competent one would actually find it extremely difficult to take a swing at my father.
　In fact, there is no soldier here who can throw a sword at my father in a one-on-one battle.

　But if you are as brave as Leats, and also have an infantry aptitude of A, you could do that.

I'm sure you've never heard your name. We're going to have a mock battle, so state your name.
It's Leats Mises.
I am Raven Loebent, Lord of House Loebent. Let's see what you can do.

　Then Gratz turned the hourglass upside down and the mock battle began.

　It was my father who made the first move.

　He moved his huge body vigorously, yet quickly, and swung down the wooden sword held at the upper level.

　With that much power, if you hit your head, you can't avoid fainting. If it is done poorly, there is a possibility of death.

　A normal person would have fallen flat on their backside under the pressure of that pressure, but perhaps because of the fact that he or she has been through a fair amount of trouble, Leets calmly stepped back and avoided the sword.

　Rietz quickly turns to attack, but despite slashing with so much force, his father quickly regains his position and avoids Rietz's sword.
　As expected, Leats was surprised to see that as well, with his eyes wide open.
　My father was not a muscle idiot, and his skills were top-notch.

　Now my father would be the one to attack. Rietz was surprised, but he wasn't fazed, and accepted his father's attack.

　Then, with tremendous speed, the slashing began.

　The soldiers, who had been foolish at first, became silent when they saw the attack and defense.
　None of the soldiers here could compete with my father in a decent one-on-one match.
　My father is taking it rather easy on them so as not to kill or seriously injure them, but even so, most of the time he is quickly dropped with his wooden sword and loses. It's not just a matter of hurling a single sword at them, it's not even a proper match.
　What we have here is a soldier with a good amount of training, but even so, he's not my father's opponent.

　This time my father is fighting for real, as if he doesn't care what happens to his opponent.
　Rietz hasn't taken a step back from that.
　If he was one that knew how strong his father was, he had no choice but to watch and keep his mouth shut.

　But gradually, as a quicksilver, Rietz began to be pushed.
　At first they were able to attack, but gradually they were becoming more and more defensive.

　Half of the sand in the hourglass had fallen, but neither of them had hit the attack yet. Neither has Reetz, but my father hasn't been able to make a single move on Reetz either.

　If you think about it, getting attacked by the enemy in a real battle would mean dying, according to the point of hit.

　These two men, who would have plenty of experience in actual battles, might be unlikely to be attacked by the enemy.
　In that case, it's doubtful that this handicap is a real handicap, isn't it?

　I begin to think that this is a bit bad. I might lose this one.
　It's hard to convince him after he loses and is rejected by the quicksilver.
　In this fight, my father would have recognized Reetz's talent, but he's still a man who abides by his decisions once he's made them.
　He would never hire him.

　I watched the mock battle, praying that he would somehow take a swing at me, even if it was just a fluke.

　The sand has almost completely fallen away and there is only a few minutes left.

　My father, as usual, is starting to run out of energy, and his movements begin to slow down.

　As if he had been waiting for it, Reetz attacked his father, squeezing all his remaining strength and energy out of him.

　This would be his last chance, a prepared attack.

　It was at his feet that Reetz aimed.
　My father wasn't expecting it, his defense wasn't up to the task, and he was hit in the snare area.

　The soldiers watched the outcome of the battle with stunned expressions, unable to understand what had happened.

　Even though Sune was attacked, his father was not hurt and stood still. It was called Benkei's crying place, but it didn't seem to be my father's crying place.

　However, Konno Reetz succeeded in taking a swing at his father and won the mock battle. On the contrary, even in the actual battle, now that was a victory for Rietz. If they did it a few times, they might lose more often, but this time, Leets won.

''Well you won. I'll hire you as a miscellaneous soldier as promised.

　My father told him, slightly chagrined.