Chapter 234: Halberd Technique Manual

The halberd I’d received without quite knowing why was pretty hefty and heavy.

It wasn’t so heavy that I couldn’t swing it, but I was curious what they intended by giving it to me. His face was hidden behind the helmet, but Leto’s eyes were quietly watching me. Gedel spoke.

"..."

"He says that with your strength, sir, you’ll be able to handle this halberd well."

"..."

"It’s not high quality, so he asks that you use it for practice."

Up until now I’d thought Lily was the strangest one around, but these two Swiss guys in front of me seemed to take it a step further. A giant I’d never once seen speak, using a chatterbox as his mouthpiece.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t properly grasped their dispositions. Through the Manager Scouter, I learned that Leto’s disposition, at odds with his fierce courage and martial prowess, was compliant (good), and I nearly gasped out loud.

Gedel’s disposition was loyalty (good) too. This duo had remarkably unexpected dispositions. Gedel looked sly enough that anyone would assume he was out for his own advancement, yet he was Leto’s good friend.

So was that why he’d appointed himself spokesman?

To keep the taciturn Leto from being misunderstood?

"..."

"He says he’s sorry if he wounded your pride, sir."

"My pride is wounded, that’s true, but I’ll gratefully accept it."

Leto was still silent, but somehow he looked pleased. Were these guys, who’d looked like monsters on the battlefield, actually decent fellows once you got to know them? The halberd was meant as a gesture of apology.

There’s a saying that the distinction between good and evil means nothing on the battlefield, and I felt like I was only now understanding what it meant. That monster of a man was the type to obey orders without question, so the role of guard captain suited him far better than that of a mercenary.

The Executioner of Zurse quest was classified as a recruitment quest, which meant that if I met the relationship score the quest demanded, I could recruit him as a retainer rather than a mercenary.

What if the Executioner of Zurse were my subordinate?

Having fought him directly, no one knew his capabilities better than I did.

That martial prowess and courage made him an asset anyone would covet, but what was even more noteworthy was his good disposition. It was also a comfort that, luckily, not one of my men who’d fought him had died.

I found myself quietly curious about how my relationship with him would develop.

Back in my tent, I stood the halberd on the display rack and sank into thought. German swordsmanship and mounted combat were about the extent of the martial foundation I’d cultivated so far. Put that way, it didn’t seem like much.

I connected to the System shop and looked for a manual related to halberds.

I hesitated for a moment, then bought it in the end.

Three thousand points were deducted, leaving me with 25,480. There was no telling how many points I’d be able to earn during the civil war, but I planned to invest them where needed once it was over.

[Halberd Technique Manual]

[Stage 1 Training Quest]

[Master 4 basic stances (Pflug, Zornhut, Mittelhut, Nebenhut)]

[Proficiency 0/100]

[Basic stance correction]

[Reward - 500 points, 500 copper coins]

The Stage 1 reward really is dirt cheap.

It’d been a long time since I’d seen copper coins.

In truth, the Stage 1 rewards for the German Swordsmanship Manual had been around this level too. It only seemed so meager because these days I was earning gold coins and points in the tens of thousands.

It felt like going back to my beginnings.

So I swung the halberd with vigor.

The basic stances shared similarities with German swordsmanship. I’d be staying here for several days while we sorted out the battlefield and reorganized the units, so during that time I planned to use the halberd I’d been given to shore up my weaknesses.

Whoosh!

This uniquely shaped weapon, which combined an axe head, a spearpoint, and a hook into one, was generally known as an infantryman’s weapon, but you could find plenty of examples of similar weapons being used in Total War: Three Kingdoms.

It was very plain with no flair to it, but it brought to mind the crescent halberd or the great axe. The problem was that knights had a tremendous obsession with the sword, so using this weapon was likely to cause a huge stir.

If I, of all knights—the one called the Gale Knight and held up as every knight’s role model—used it, it would become a problem one way or another. Whether positive or negative.

Knights took tremendous pride in being the knights of Christ and warriors of Saint Peter they’d sworn to become at their investiture ceremony, and they especially regarded the sword as the holy knights’ weapon because it resembled the cross.

Most became devotees of the sword and developed their swordsmanship accordingly. Their obsession was so severe you could call knights slaves to the sword. The lance was the one exception they acknowledged.

Every other weapon they refused to recognize.

The lance was the cavalry’s most powerful impact weapon, handed down since ancient times, and since it was a consumable anyway, knights treated the sword and the lance as entirely separate things. But this love of the sword had gradually begun to waver.

As plate armor developed, the sword’s standing slowly started to shrink. That’s why armored combat, which could deliver blows like a blunt weapon, emerged. This wasn’t a world where sword auras existed.

In most of my fights with knights, I’d relied primarily on armored combat and gotten results, so it had certainly proven effective. But on the flip side, it also meant you couldn’t counter plate armor without armored combat.

And fighting Leto, I’d keenly felt those limits.

Sure enough, to crack armor open cleanly you’d need something like this halberd or a poleaxe. The sheer might Leto displayed as he tore through the dragoons’ cavalry armor like paper still sends chills down my spine.

Whoosh! Thud!

The halberd’s weight was concentrated at the head, so it was going to take a little time to get used to. The moment I started training with the halberd, word spread fast. Soldiers passing by began to gather and watch.

Whatever they thought, I’d come to find considerable enjoyment in handling a new weapon. I did my basic training every day, but going forward I’d need to focus on upper body conditioning.

After swinging the halberd for a good while, my arms gradually started to go numb. The weight alone was considerable for an ordinary person, and with the different center of gravity, it wasn’t easy to master. But it was all the more fun for it.

Benjamin came hurrying over, having heard the rumor from somewhere.

He seemed startled to see the rare sight of me training with a halberd.

"My lord, what’s with the sudden halberd?"

"I felt my shortcomings down to the bone, so I’m training with a new weapon."

I’d been outmatched even after using a Courage 200% scroll, so as I am now, I don’t stand a chance. But the decisive battle with Leto had reawakened the competitive spirit and drive of a knight in me—someone who’d been operating purely as a lord.

"Is it because you struggled against the Executioner of Zurse?"

"Next time I won’t be pushed back so badly. Hup!"

Whoosh! Bang!

Now that I’d bought the Halberd Technique Manual, I intended to reach at least Stage 4. Maybe it would even create synergy with German swordsmanship—I held that kind of hope too. After all, all paths in the martial arts converge in the end.

The basic stance Pflug is one where you grip the halberd with both hands and angle it forward, so the head aims at the opponent’s face. It’s similar to yet different from the Pflug stance of German swordsmanship.

A defining feature is that most veteran Swiss mercenaries who use halberds slot into the pike formation in this stance, and their role is to break the enemy’s pike formation so their allies can attack easily.

Zornhut shares the same concept as German swordsmanship’s wrath cut (Zornhau), an extremely aggressive stance where you rest the halberd on your shoulder and transition into a powerful diagonal strike or a spinning blow.

Leto frequently used that brutish technique of slamming down diagonally from this stance—that’s the Zornhau technique that originates from Zornhut. Its drawback is that it leaves a wide opening, but its power more than makes up for it.

"You’re more skilled than I expected. Your form doesn’t waver at all. Are you sure this is your first time handling a halberd?"

"It is my first time. I’m just training the way my body tells me to (stance correction)."

Benjamin, who’d been watching, wore a subtly shifting expression, as though he were looking at some kind of monster. He probably regarded me as a heaven-sent genius. A noble blessed with the Lord’s grace?

The foundation of my abilities came from a transcendent helper called the System.

The reason I’d been able to grow strong was that I could rapidly acquire swordsmanship by applying the manuals I bought through the System shop, and I’d navigated countless feats and seen through countless schemes thanks to the various kinds of Scouters.

They were all precious achievements obtained through the System.