A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

“Did you enjoy being a recruiter? Did you find any good recruits?”

The rapier swordsman nodded at the question of his old friend.

“There were some.”

“...Really?”

Someone who would say such a thing wouldn’t be one to praise ordinary talent.
Who was the last person his friend called a good recruit?
It was someone with exceptional ability, even among the highly talented individuals of the Empire.

Even in an empire full of geniuses, this particular individual was one of the few who could acknowledge others as exceptional.

So to suddenly hear this now? That piqued his interest.

He had just returned from traveling through the kingdom’s lands, hadn’t he?

To the man sitting before him, this whole recruitment affair was nothing more than a break, a sort of vacation.
He had become nearly addicted to work, so this was a chance to rest.

Thus, for him to say something like this during his vacation was a rare and unexpected event.
It wasn’t the kind of answer one would expect from such an offhand question.@@novelbin@@

The two sat in a small room in the inner castle of a border estate, furnished only with a round table and a few wool cushions.
One was the estate's lord, the other a training officer just returning from his break.

The rapier swordsman spoke simply about what he had observed, presenting only the facts.
Even though his words were plain, there was a certain intensity in his eyes.