Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 211: The Bigger Stick

Aegis stood in front of her two main retainers.

Scarlett wore the legendary black armor, rolling her shoulders and adjusting various straps. Kanna had the legendary black sword, and she was currently twirling it around and making half-hearted swings with it.

Right, this was all legendary equipment Aegis had procured. Naturally, this was what she’d soon be relying on to look good during her military assessment.

"So, uh, what exactly are we gonna be doing?" Scarlett asked with an arched brow.

"We’ll have to wait and see," Aegis answered with a shrug. "But, if I had to guess, it’s probably gonna be a lot of posturing and posing and stuff."

A few steps away, Kanna’s swings were starting to pick up a bit of heart.

"Something up?" Aegis asked.

"You really discovered the location of all this stuff through... research?"

"Lots of it!"

Kanna shot her a dubious look but didn’t press the issue. At some point, she was probably going to have to find a better excuse for how and why she knew about all these items, but that time, hopefully, wasn’t now.

"How much longer are we going to wait?" Kanna asked.

"Should be soon."

Almost on cue, Aegis heard some distant rumbling, and soon, she spotted the incoming snobs.

A wagon so fancy that the word "wagon" somehow felt inappropriate was slowly pulled in front of Aegis’s manor. Knights slowly came and formed a human pathway for the people in the wagon, and maybe Aegis’s eyes were deceiving her but they looked like they were sticking their chests out a little.

[Well, this is a military assessment. Maybe they don’t wanna look worse than Scarlett and Kanna. Ah, alas, they lost that competition before they even showed up.]

Aegis glanced to her right. Kanna was an absolute statue. Scarlett was making her biceps dance for her own amusement.

Two pompous figures stepped forth.

"Ah, Lady Starcaller! Glad you joined the military assessment on such short notice!" Lord Hamilton said. He was the one organizing this assessment.

[Don’t let his friendly demeanor fool ya, Aegis. He’s probably been paid off by Evangeline.]

"Lord Hamilton," Aegis replied with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Thank you for accommodating me."

"But of course! When I heard House Starcaller wished to participate, well, how could I refuse?"

The woman beside him, presumably his wife, gave Aegis a once-over that lasted about two seconds too long.

"Shall we proceed to your training grounds?" Lord Hamilton gestured toward the manor. "I understand you have a courtyard?"

"We do. It’s modest, but it’ll serve."

The Hamiltons looked at each other and shrugged.

Aegis led them to the side of the manor, Scarlett and Kanna falling into step behind her. The courtyard in question was, indeed, modest. A squared-off patch of dirt and stone surrounded by walls on three sides, with a few weapon racks and training dummies set up along the edges. Evelyn had suggested adding some decorative touches for the occasion, maybe some banners or flowers, but Aegis had vetoed that idea. This was a military assessment, not a garden party.

Lord Hamilton and his wife positioned themselves near the manor’s back entrance, a servant materializing out of nowhere to provide them with chairs (because heaven forbid nobility stand for more than five minutes).

"Now then," Lord Hamilton said, pulling out a small leather notebook and a quill, "let us begin with the basics. How many soldiers do you have under your employ?"

"Thirty-two, currently. Most of them are former mercenaries."

"Mercenaries?" Lady Hamilton’s nose wrinkled slightly. "How... unconventional."

"They know how to fight. That’s what matters."

Lord Hamilton scribbled something down and then gestured toward the courtyard’s edge, where Captain Renn had lined up a selection of Aegis’s guards. They stood at attention, backs straight, hands at their sides. Not bad, actually. Renn had whipped them into shape over the past few weeks, and it showed.

"Let’s have a look at them, then."

The Hamiltons rose from their chairs, because apparently the assessment required a closer inspection, and made their way over to the line of soldiers. Lord Hamilton walked down the row, pausing here and there to examine a piece of armor or ask a question about training regimens. Lady Hamilton followed a few steps behind, her eyes sharp and her expression giving nothing away.

"Adequate equipment," Lord Hamilton murmured, running a finger along the edge of one guard’s breastplate. "Standard issue, I assume?"

"For the rank and file, yes."

"Mmhm." More scribbling. "And their combat experience?"

"Most of them saw action before joining my house. A few campaigns in the border territories, some monster hunting, that sort of thing."

Lady Hamilton had stopped in front of one of the younger guards, a woman with a scar running down her cheek. She stared at the scar for a moment, then moved on without comment.

After what felt like an eternity of poking and prodding and note-taking, Lord Hamilton finally turned back to Aegis.

"Acceptable. Your regular forces are... serviceable." The word "serviceable" came out like he was spitting out a lemon seed. "Now, I understand you also have two personal retainers? Combat specialists, I believe?"

Aegis smiled.

"I do. Straight out of Rosevale Academy."

"Students?"

"Who fight like seasoned veterans."

She turned and nodded toward Scarlett and Kanna, who had been waiting off-screen. They stepped forward, and Aegis watched as the Hamiltons got to greedily go up and down and left and right on that legendary equipment.

Scarlett’s black armor made her look like a five-star character in a gacha game. Honestly, the armor was so flashy and imposing that it made Scarlett’s dopey smirk above it look out of place. Like her head had been photoshopped onto the armor. Kanna was less weird, with her letting Lord Hamilton gaze upon her long, big, black sword.

Lady Hamilton’s eyes narrowed. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Interesting craftsmanship," she said, her tone carefully neutral. "Where did you acquire such pieces?"

"Various sources." Aegis kept her expression pleasant. "I’m something of a collector."

Lord Hamilton exchanged a glance with his wife, then cleared his throat.

"Well, let’s see your specialists in action, shall we? A demonstration of their combat capabilities would be... illuminating."

Aegis looked back at them both. They nodded.

[Showtime.]

Scarlett and Kanna walked to the center of the courtyard and faced each other.

For a moment, nothing happened. They just stood there, maybe ten feet apart, watching each other. Scarlett rolled her neck. Kanna adjusted her grip on the sword. The Hamiltons leaned forward in their chairs, notebooks at the ready.

Then Scarlett moved.

She closed the distance in two steps, her gauntleted fist swinging toward Kanna’s midsection. Kanna sidestepped, brought her sword around in a wide arc, and Scarlett ducked under it so fast that Aegis almost missed it. The blade whistled over Scarlett’s head, close enough to trim a few hairs if Scarlett had any sticking up.

[Okay, so they’re not holding back. Good. Told them to go all out, within reason.]

Kanna pressed forward, her strikes coming quick and precise. Overhead, diagonal, thrust. Scarlett blocked, parried, dodged. Kanna’s sword connected at one point with Scarlett’s armor, and there was an almost animalistic screech that echoed off the courtyard’s walls.

Lord Hamilton was scribbling furiously. Lady Hamilton had stopped blinking.

Scarlett caught the next strike on her forearm, metal clashing against metal, and used the momentum to shove Kanna back. Kanna stumbled, recovered, and then they were at it again. Back and forth across the courtyard, trading blows that would’ve killed a normal person about six times over.

At some point, Aegis glanced over at Captain Renn. He was watching with his arms crossed and his mouth hanging slightly open. The guards behind him looked like they were watching a play. Which, honestly, wasn’t too far off. Scarlett and Kanna had trained together so much at this point that their sparring had this weird, almost choreographed quality to it. They knew each other’s patterns, anticipated each other’s moves.

Kanna feinted left, went right, and her sword came down in an overhead strike that should’ve split Scarlett in half. Scarlett caught the blade between her palms, grinning like an idiot, and then kicked Kanna square in the stomach.

Kanna flew back about five feet, hit the ground, rolled, and came up in a crouch with her sword already raised.

"Okay!" Aegis called out. "I think that’s enough of a demonstration."

Both of them relaxed instantly. Scarlett waved at the Hamiltons. Kanna stood up and brushed some dirt off her pants.

Lord Hamilton had stopped writing. He was just staring at his notebook like he wasn’t sure what to do with the information he’d just recorded.

"Well," Lord Hamilton said after a long pause. "That was... yes. That was certainly a demonstration."

"Adequate?" Aegis asked, not bothering to hide her smile.

"More than adequate, Lady Starcaller. Considerably more."

[Yeah. We probably did pretty well.]