I wake up early in the morning and quickly go to the barrack, where I can see many people already there. I can see my father talking to the captain of the unit. As I get closer, I can see him notice me and smile.
"Gwyn! Good, you are here."
I get close to him and say.
"What will we do, dad?"
"For now, we will have some warm-up."
I nod and see my father walk forward.
"Attention! We will start the warm-up in five seconds! Make two lines!"
I can see the young men and women quickly get up from the ground and make two lines.
"I need you to go in the middle of the line. You will be the one leading them."
"Okay."
"Ah-Ah! Yes, sir. In this barrack you are not Gwyndolin the heir but rather Gwyndolin the trainee just like the others."
I smile a little and give him a nod.
"Yes, sir."
I stand in between my soon-to-be unit and wait for the next instruction.
"For today's warm-up, I need you all to run around the training ground for thirty minutes without stopping! Anyone who stops will be punished! They need to do a push up fifty times with a sandbag on their back. Go!"
At his command, I'm the first one to start the run, and the others follow me from behind. While jogging for a minute, I notice that my men cannot keep up with me. My 'jogging' run is too fast for them.
I slowed down and let myself run next to the other trainee. A young man with golden hair and eyes looked at me with wide eyes.
"Good morning."
"Ah! Good morning, young master."
"Please call me Gwyn. We are all trainees in this exercise."
"We can't do that, young master!"
I release a sigh and decide to let him be.
"What is your name?"
"You want to know my name, young master?!"
"Of course. You will work under me and I need to know the name of the people who will work under me."
His face lit up when I said that, and he quickly said.
"My name is Jullian, young master. It is an honor to meet you."
"Jullian, huh? How old are you, Jullian?"
"I've just reached the age of thirteen, young master."
So young. This world has a very different view of the age of adulthood than my previous world. In my previous world, adulthood is at the age of eighteen, and here, thirteen is already considered an adult and can work in many places.
Noble children, on the other hand, can be considered adults when they reach the age of awakening, which is fifteen. When they reach this age, they can be married to another noble house.
"I see. Do we meet somewhere? My mind tells me that we will meet somewhere but I cannot remember where."
"Ah, I'm the boy who you healed, young master. We are a family of farmers to the south of this city."
"Oh! Now, I remember. You are the one who asked that question, right?"
"Yes! I'm glad you remember me, young master."
"How is your family?"
"We are getting better, young master. With your help and blessing, our farm yields a lot of food!"
"Blessing?"
"En! All of us see it! You are standing in the middle of the field with your staff in hand and floating cards spinning around you as rays of light descend from heaven, I know you ask the Goddess to bless our land!"
I want to say that it was not a blessing, but when I see the people who heard his words nodding their heads, I can only sigh. Dammit. Do the other people outside think the same?
"I see… Anyway, it is good to hear that. Are they still eating healthily? There is a reason why I grow an orange tree for every house, you know?"
"Of course, young master! We eat healthily and my little sister likes the orange you give us!"
"Then I'm glad."
For all the villages near this city, I give a gift in the form of an orange tree for every family house. I tell them to eat some fruit because most of the sick people I encounter have scurvy. I may not be a doctor, but I read many books in my hospital bed, one of which is a medical book.
I was curious about my sickness and decided to search for it.
Jullian and I continue to talk while jogging around the training ground, and without us knowing, time flies by, and father tells us to stop.
"Good job! You have a minute of rest before we go to the next exercise."
Jullian and the others quickly fall to the ground with their bodies full of sweat. I decided to sit down as well, even though I did not feel tired just yet. The break did not last long before father got back and asked us to get up.
"Now, for the next exercise, I need you to pair up. One lucky person will pair up with me."
I can see the people around me shiver at my father's smile. What have you done, dad? They look like they just went through a war. I look at Jullian and say.
"Do you want to pair-up with me?"
"Of course, young master!"
I nod my head, and both of us stand in front of each other. I hear sobbing from the young man standing in front of my father, but I decide to ignore it. I also can see the knights giving us a training sword, a steel sword that has been blunted.
"All of us will spar for two hours! Anyone who did not fight will be punished! They will spar with me!"
When the punishment is announced, the others quickly attack each other with new vigor. Or is it fear? Same difference.
"Shall we start, young master?"
"Yes. Please don't hold back."
"I understand."
I take the basic stance my father taught me when I was young and prepare for battle. Jullian is the first one to attack, and I can see him coming. My eyes can see his movement as he looks like he moves in slow motion.
Our swords meet each other as we start the fight. Jullian continues to attack me, but I easily block all of his attacks because of his slow movement. After a minute of blocking and attacking, Jullian jumped away from me.
"Young master."
"What is it?"
"You want me to go all out but you only aim at my sword and never me. Please don't treat me like this, young master. I want to grow. I want you to give the effort to defeat me. My body can take it! Please don't look down on my determination!"
I look at him with widened eyes. I only see this on TV and on the internet. A determination of the protagonist. Heh. It was something else to see with my own eyes.
"Very well! Here I come!"
I appear in front of him, and he barely manages to block my attack. When my sword hits him, I can see his legs already shaking. Oi! Oi! Are you sure you are okay?
I want to ask him that question, but when I see his eyes, I know the answer already.
I continue to attack him while still holding back a lot. Even though Gwyn in Second Life is a magic build, my STR is still high. I don't want to kill him.
I keep swinging my sword as he just barely blocks it. However, it changes when he suddenly makes a weird movement. The next thing I know, I get disarmed.
I look at my hand in shock before looking at Jullian, who smiles at me while panting.
"I-I… Win… the first round."
"How?"
"M-Martial Arts lord Cunniham teaches us. Use the opponent's strength against them. I'm sorry to say this, young master, but you did not have enough foundation to block people who will exploit your strength."
"I see."
I take the sword from the ground and walk toward Jullian. I use a healing spell and see his bruise disappear.
"What? My bruise is gone and my stamina is back!"
Oh? Is his stamina back? Hmmm, I can use this. [Canis Minor: Procyon] is a low-level healing spell that gives a burst heal to the player and clears a low-level debuff. In Second Life, Fatigue is a debuff, but I never thought it could be used like this.
"Good. That means we can continue, right?"
Jullian smiles at me and takes his stance.
"Yes! Come at me!"
I grin at him and dash forward.
~Two days later~
"You call for me, dad?"
"Yes, take a seat."
I nod my head and take a seat. I can see him take out something from the drawer and place it in front of me.
"A letter?"
"Yes. It was a letter informing us that some noble daughter will come to our territory."
"Really? Which one? Is it the Lionheart family? I heard about their little princess the same age as Rachel."
"No. It is not from them. It is coming from the north."
"What? Are you serious?"
A noble daughter wanting to go to the south is like asking a virgin whore. There is a possibility, but it is rare.
"Yes. She is the daughter of a new Baron in the northwest part of the kingdom. Their territory is located on the coast of the kingdom. They are a merchant that involves in moving goods from one place to another and they are recently joining the Merchant Guild under Duke Velqur."
"What is her name?"
"Catharina von Xenotra"
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