Chapter 111
“Rather than self-defense, let’s think of this as hand-to-hand combat training. Give it your all.”
“…Yeah, that’s probably better.”
Jason responded with a hint of reluctance as he clenched his fists.
About 30 minutes later, Gallard judged that he couldn’t demonstrate self-defense techniques effectively and decided to call a few more knights into the training area. He selected only married men with great care.
“Now, I will demonstrate self-defense techniques for various types of attire.”
Amber was an exceptionally enthusiastic student. Her sparkling pink eyes made everyone uneasy, prompting them to clear their throats and tense up.
“Here we have a knight in full armor, one in just a shirt, and one who’s not wearing anything.”
“Okay.”
“The techniques for dealing with each…”
Today, no practical exercises were planned—observation was the priority.
Amber watched intently as Gallard demonstrated how to take down knights, and she noticed something.
“A tattoo?”
She muttered to herself, and perhaps Gallard heard, as he responded.
“Oh, do you mean the tattoo on his back?”
“Yes. It’s quite large. Is it a crescent moon?”
Gallard gestured towards the ‘bare’ knight, who turned around and showed Amber his tattoo.
“Hehe, it’s a tattoo representing my wife. She resembles a crescent moon.”
“I see.”
“I never knew how to retreat before, but after becoming married, my desire to win became even stronger. Thanks to this tattoo. I don’t want to die disgracefully while bearing the mark of my wife…”
It was quite a romantic gesture.
Amber complimented him with a touch of envy.
“It’s a fitting tattoo.”
To her surprise, other knights immediately began removing their shirts as well.
“My tattoo is more beautiful. My wife is more beautiful!”
“Oh, please. When it comes to beauty, my wife is the best!”
“But my tattoo is better!”
Amber watched the knights argue over whose tattoo was superior. One knight had an eagle in flight on his back, while another displayed a salamander breathing fire.
Both were impressive tattoos.
“Is it a trend to tattoo something resembling one’s wife?”
At Amber’s innocent question, the knights all looked at each other.
Gallard was the first to speak.
“Do you not know about this?”
“Know about what?”
“About the tradition of the Frost Giant Mercenaries. No, rather, the tradition of the knight order.”
Amber shook her head, showing she had never heard of it, either in her past life or this one.
Jason then spoke up.
“I’ve heard of it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Frost Giant Knights tattoos their back when they fall in love. Even if they die in a state where their face is unrecognizable, if their back remains, they can be identified and returned to their family.”
It was a chilling and sad fact.
To confirm this, Amber looked at Gallard, who cleared his throat.
“Yes, that’s correct. Many get their tattoos done upon marriage. A man with a tattoo symbolizing his wife wouldn’t want to die fleeing from a battle. That was the original meaning behind it. Ahem. As for confirming the body… well, that’s accurate. Mercenaries never know when they might die.”
Following Gallard, the other knights added their explanations.
“So, in the end, it means not only that you never know when you’ll die but also that you don’t want to die disgracefully. Ha!”
“The culture of tattooing one’s back spread throughout the knight order when the Grand Duke merged the mercenaries with the Niflheim knights to form the Frost Giant Order. Receiving a wound on one’s back is considered a major disgrace for a knight. It’s so shameful that having a tattoo symbolizing a loved one being damaged is considered worse than death.”
“So, knights who value not being wounded on their backs readily accepted this culture, and it has now become a unique tradition of the Frost Giant Knights.”
“Some women even think about what tattoo they’d want if they were to marry a knight from a young age.”
Amber’s eyes widened as she listened.
‘Then what about Igmeyer?’
He doesn’t love her.
There was no love between them, only a deep sense of duty or familiarity.
‘Then, even out of duty… would he have had it done?’
Or is his back still bare?
She had no way of seeing his bare back, so she didn’t know.
‘I wonder how it was before the regression…’
Back then, whenever their affair ended, she would always turn away and cry. She had never seen his back. She didn’t even know about this cultural tradition.
‘Now that I think about it, the only time I saw his bare back was on the first night of our marriage. At that time, there was definitely nothing tattooed on it.’
She was curious.
Yet, strangely enough, she didn’t want to ask him about it.
If she asked and found out his back was still bare, it might hurt her just a little, very slightly.
“There’s no reason for me to be hurt…”
She was afraid of getting her hopes up and being disappointed on her own. She didn’t want to burden Igmeyer with her concerns.
She wasn’t the type to directly ask for a tattoo for herself.
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