So it came to be that the training regimen for the squires began.
Much like a normal school, the squires sat for the earlier half of the day in a classroom, learning about various subjects such as history, mathematics, and languages. It was the principle and general direction of the Orstoll Royal Knights to not only train the body, but also hone the mind — in addition to training its squires on social etiquette and manners.
Currently, the bespectacled instructor was teaching the squires about the history of Orstoll, and how it came to be a Great Kingdom.
“Gormus... You mustn’t sleep!”
Fie shot glances at her friend, finally pinching Gormus on the cheek in a futile attempt to wake him. It had been barely ten minutes since the beginning of the lesson, and Gormus was already sprawled out on the desk before him.
“Don’t wake me... Heath... I don’t care about stuff like this... It’s boring and pointless and I don’t get it... I’m going back to sleep...”
“You can’t! Captain Yore said that to be a good knight of Orstoll, you have to familiarize yourself with its history!”
“That’s all you keep saying... Yore Yore Captain Yore, Captain, don’t you ever get tired of it?”
“What the Captain says is true!”
“Hey... Your voice is too loud...!”
“Heath, Gormus, be quiet!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Pardon us...”
In the end, the two of them were roundly reprimanded by the instructor.
“It’s all your fault, Gormus...”
“More like it’s because you didn’t shut up...”
Fie and Gormus were, once again, having a whispered conversation across the space between their seats.
For the period before noon, Fie and Gormus happened to have been assigned to adjacent seats. Fie’s small body struck a vivid contrast against Gormus’ large stature, and it seemed like it somehow made sense to position the two in such a way.
The two of them did not know this, but Fie was actually one of the few squires who was not afraid to speak to Gormus on a daily basis. With that strong-edged face and large stature, Gormus cut an intimidating figure — and it was perhaps to be expected that quite a few squires were afraid of him.
“Show me your notes later, Heath.”
“Take your own...”
Slad and his compatriots could only watch over Fie tensely as she exchanged carefree comments with Gormus.
“He pinched Gormus’ cheek... He’s quite something, that Heath...”
“Yeah... Heath is pretty awesome...”
Inevitably becoming aware of the whispers surrounding her, Fie thought to herself:
(While it is true that he has a bad mouth and can seem kind of rough... He really isn’t that scary. I guess I can’t really take the moral high ground here... After all, when I first met him, I just thought he was terribly bad-natured...)
Fie had become aware that Gormus had lived amidst the misunderstandings and misconceptions of others — her own included.
Training for the squires started at noon.
“AAALLLLLLLRIGHT! It’s time for training!”
Gormus was happy about the turn of events, but Fie was on fire.
(All right, let’s do this! I’ll catch up with everyone all at once!)
And soon noontime training began.
“I’m the one in charge of training up you guys. Name’s Heslow. I’m gonna train you up real good, so prepare yourselves.”
With his arms crossed, Heslow seemed strict and somewhat rigid, casting his gaze over the squires assembled in front of the north dormitory.
“Ugh, our instructor is Heslow, huh...”
“He’s taking the north dorm this year... We got really unlucky...”
A wave of whispers spread out amongst the gathered squires. It seemed like he had quite a reputation as an instructor. Amongst those who had aspired to become knights, it appeared to be common practice to gather information on the Royal Knights as an organization.
In the week before training had formally started, many squires spoke to their seniors, receiving insider information as a result. As such, someone like Fie, who had absolutely no idea what she was getting into, was comparatively rare.
Fie, in turn, had spent her week speaking with the various individuals of the 18th Knights. In particular, Fie sought out Knight-Captain Yore on several occasions, spending cherished time speaking with him about various matters.
Due to the fact that the 18th Knights were comprised of members specifically scouted by Yore, there were no other squires other than Fie — and as such, Fie had no opportunity to ask a more senior squire for assorted tips and tricks. On the other hand, Crow wasted no time in regaling Fie with how many cute servant girls he had dated as a squire, as well as a romance with the eldest daughter of a noble family.
(His habits with regards to women are truly terrible... If it wasn’t for that, he would be a really good guy...)
Looking at what appeared to be a truly ecstatic Crow recount his memories of youth and the women he had been with, Fie decided to just let it slide, not retaining very much of the information at all.
It was also worth noting that Crow did mention something along the lines of: “All instructors teach squires with their best interests in mind. Just listen to what they say and it’ll work out.”
Yore, in turn, had advised Fie to learn as much as she could from the squires around her.
“Stop whispering amongst yourselves! From this moment on, you will be taught the ways of the sword, your body will be honed, and you will undertake various training regimens! But all that means nothing if you have no stamina. That’s why you are all going to be building stamina from now on, for a solid month. Start running!”
At the mention of the word “running,” the squires collectively expressed a sigh of distaste. After all, the youths readily took to swordplay training and other more flashy regimens, but balked at the idea of aimless running.
Slad, as well as the squires around him, all shared an expression of disbelief.
Unexpectedly, Remie enjoyed running — although this could perhaps be attributed to his easygoing nature.
Gees’ expression, on the other hand, did not change very much at all.
“I’ll be first!” was what Gormus had to say as he eagerly performed his warm-up exercises.
“I’m going to do all I can to catch up to you, Gormus!” Next to him, Fie was doing the same exercises.
Gormus poked Fie square in the forehead.
“Are you a fool? You don’t have any stamina at all, to the point where it’s a bit sad. You know this from the test. Run at your own pace!”
After all, Gormus had become very aware of Fie’s lack of stamina after witnessing her muscle cramp during the test. It was true that Gormus had attacked her savagely, and that she had, in turn, performed a series of reckless actions. Honestly speaking, however, Fie’s stamina was indeed problematic for a squire. Her ill-conditioned body and her disproportionately large courage (for her small frame) made for a particularly bad combination.
“Ugh...” Fie could not help but acknowledge Gormus’ words. After all, he was right, and so Fie gave up on following in Gormus’ stride. However, Fie had still wanted to do her best for Yore, and her inner fire still raged on — so she promptly forgot her resolution to restrain herself.
The one piece of advice that both Yore and Crow had given to her: “Don’t overdo it.”
It was perhaps worth mentioning that Fie had the least amount of stamina amongst all the squires. This was to be expected, however. In comparison to the youths who had aspired to be knights from a young age and trained in the ways of the sword, in addition to martial arts; Fie, who had lived as a princess, and had up until recently been taking classes in social manners, could not hope to compare with any of her fellow squires at this point in time.
The squire’s running regimen was meant to build up their physical stamina and tolerance — it was an exacting activity even for those who were used to such exertions.
Leading the pack was Gormus. Following up close behind was, unexpectedly, Remie. In addition to him not hating running, Remie also seemed to be particularly good at covering long distances. He stayed close to Gormus, clinging to his shadow and easily matching his pace.
Gormus, on the other hand, was not very good at long-distance running at all. This was to be expected, however, given the size of his body, as considerable input was required to move his bulk.
Gormus thought to himself:
(If memory serves... this guy hangs around with Heath. He has the face of a sheep, without a care in the world. His running speed is really something else. But I won’t lose!)
Gritting his teeth, Gormus kept up the lead.
Slad, Gees, and the other squires stayed in the middle of the bunch, with Slad looking like he wasn’t exactly having a great time. Gees, however, had his usual stoic expression on.
Coming in dead last was Fie.
Panting and claiming that she would catch up between breaths, Fie kept going as far as her legs would carry her. At around the halfway point, Fie’s face had turned an unpleasant shade of blue — however, nary a single complaint rose from her lips.
“Hey Heath, are you all right?”
Even the one colloquially known as the “demon coach” to the other squires continuously asked after Fie, a tinge of worry evident in his voice.
To begin with, Heslow only ever yelled at squires who could evidently do more, but were slacking off out of laziness. Perhaps it was a phase, but lazy squires were a common sight in the Royal Knights. However, the student squire before his eyes had long reached his limit — and yet still insisted on moving.
“Heath, if you feel unwell, you may stop.”
“I’m... fine... I’m... sorry... can’t... breathe... Can’t... talk much...”
In other words, Fie had pushed herself to the point where even speaking was becoming impossible. However, she displayed no signs of wanting to stop.
Heslow didn’t know if he should stop this particular squire or not. While it was true that Heslow was enthusiastic and passionate as an instructor, he was young and did not have much experience himself.
Eventually, all the squires but Fie started to approach their goal.
“Hey... is he okay?”
Gormus glanced at Fie, who was currently continuing to run even though her body was swaying from side to side. Gormus was the first squire to reach the goal in the north dormitory. Remie, who had been following Gormus all this time, was next — Gormus had shaken him off in the final moments of the course.
“It’s a little worrying...” Remie, who crossed the line shortly after Gormus, made a worried observation.
As the other squires all made it to their goal, only Fie remained, struggling along.
“Don’t push yourself.”
“I... I can do it...” Fie had a definitive answer to Heslow’s voice. Drenched in sweat, she continued to run.
However, Fie had used up all her strength in her muscles and body — her legs could no longer move. But she felt a clearly observed gap between herself and the other squires, so she thought she should at least see through the training that was provided to her.
“If... I am taking up your time... please go ahead with the rest, instructor... I... will finish up on my own...” Fie gasped, between painful breaths.
“Heath... Do your best...” Witnessing his friend’s struggle, Remie clasped his hands, as if in prayer.
“Ahaha, told you so. That tiny runt can’t possibly become a knight.”
“Yeah that’s right! That’s what happens to peasants who try to become knights!”
The youths from last night, seeing Fie’s troubles, wasted no time in ridiculing her efforts.
“Shut up, you punks. If you don’t shut up I’ll friggin’ kill you.”
“I won’t let you get away with insulting Heath.”
“You can count me in on that.”
“Me too...”
It wasn’t just Gormus — the combined stares of Slad, Remie, and Gees promptly silenced the dissenting youths.
Although Fie was beginning to lose consciousness, her legs continued to move. She had to catch up with everyone else. The first people who needed and valued her existence since her birth. To become a useful knight to Captain Yore.
The other squires could not wait for Heath all day — and so they moved on to their strength training regimen. However, Gormus and the rest stayed behind, watching over the still-running Fie.
And eventually, Fie reached the goal, having taken more than twice the time of the slowest squire in the northern dormitory. Covered in sweat, she looked like she was in bad shape.
“You did it, Heath...” Remie, in particular, seemed like he was ready to cry upon seeing her poor state.
The other three were also acutely aware of Fie’s pallor, and had apprehensive expressions on their faces. Unfortunately, it was as they had expected — a few seconds after reaching the goal, Fie collapsed, like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Heath!”
Heslow, Gormus, and the others rushed to Fie’s side in a panic.
Roy, the King of Orstoll, was speaking to his officials.
Crow picked that particular moment in time to show up.
“Oi, Roy!”
“What is it?”
Although they were in front of officials, Crow’s attitude hardly changed.
“Oh my, if it isn’t Marquess Harbald.”
The officials who had been speaking with Roy greeted Crow in a reverent manner.
“Haha, stop that. While it’s true that my father is quite something, I’m just an ordinary knight.”
“Oh no, no, that would not do at all...”
(It would probably take a lot more to anger these magistrate types. Well, not like I’m going to suddenly change how I act.)
Crow hailed from a noble family that wielded considerable power in the Kingdom of Orstoll, and he was also Roy’s childhood friend. He never did quite get used to the formalities showered upon him by Roy’s officials — after all, in his own eyes, he was just a knight.
However, Crow was aware that he had an informal tone with almost everyone. He eschewed formalities, even speaking with the King this way on account of them being childhood friends. As such, no one could really complain about that part of him.
“So? Did something happen?”
“Well... you told me to watch after Heath. That boy... he immediately overdid it in training and collapsed.” Scratching his head, Crow relayed the news to Roy, sighing all the while.
“I see.” Roy nodded once, before turning to his officials without hesitation. “Something came up. I’ll be going now.”
“Y-Your Highness? There is a meeting in five minutes?”
“Yes. About that meeting, I have more or less assigned and instructed you on the direction it will take. I will now leave the rest in your capable hands.”
With that, Roy left his officials behind, making his way to the northern dormitory. Following after him was Crow, wearing his usual wry smile.
“Where is Heath?”
“Currently resting on a bed in the sick bay.”
(How pathetic... I have to do much better next time...)
That was what Fie thought as she lay on a bed in the sick bay, staring up at the ceiling.
“Ahh. Look at this guy. You have the face of someone who’s done a little too much, again.”
Out of nowhere, Crow had approached Fie’s bed.
“Huh? Sir Crow. Wah! What are you doing?!”
Crow approached Fie and promptly swept her up in a princess hold. Upon seeing Fie’s embarrassed expression, Crow could not help but laugh.
“I’ve come to deliver you to a lecture for silly platoon members who overexert themselves. Captain Yore is going to give you a hell of a scolding, just you wait.”
“The Captain is...?”
A lecture... Fie wondered if she had done something bad. Oh, it must have been because something as simple as running had caused her to fall over. It was true, after all, that her performance at training had been pathetic. Perhaps it was a given that the Knight-Captain would be angry.
That very same Fie that was stewing with worry had been scooped up by Crow with just one arm — after which Crow proceed to flick Fie on the nose with a free finger.
“Ouch!”
“You idiot. That isn’t it.”
“But I haven’t even said anything yet...”
“I can tell from your face. You are very easy to read, you know that?”
So it seemed that Fie was wrong in her assumptions about something. Then, what was the Captain upset about? Fie tilted her head to one side.
“You’re light, you know. Like a girl.”
“L-Leave me alone...”
Escorted along in Crow’s arms, Fie was delivered into a small, quiet courtyard at the back of the castle. No one else was in it or around it — except for Yore.
“So you came...” Yore observed, in his typically quiet manner, after observing Fie’s arrival. Crow motioned for Fie to sit in a chair that had been prepared for her in advance. Without a word, Yore placed a hand on the hilt of a sword sheathed at his waist.
(Eh...? He’s... going to cut me in half? Is he that angry...!?)
In the face of Yore’s serious expression, Fie realized she was being a little silly. After all, there was no precedent or reason for Yore to just slice her in half on the spot. That was obvious, but...
Around Yore were about five wooden dummies.
“Observe, Heath.” Yore drew his sword.
In a flash of silver, the wooden dummies around Yore were felled, all five being cut down by the same single stroke.
In Fie’s eyes, Yore’s movements were all but invisible.
“What do you think, Heath?”
“Th-That’s amazing, Captain.”
It really was amazing. The speed of the sword was one thing, but the level of swordplay was notable in its own right. Although the dummies were scattered around in odd positions, they were all cut in the correct places.
(This amazing technique... Such a thing would be unthinkable in Daeman...)
Fie was silenced by the sheer show of force and skill in Yore’s swordplay.
“Heath... Do you think you could copy what I just did in, say, a week...?”
“N-No... It’s impossible...”
There was no way she could do something like that. Even if Fie had trained for her entire lifetime, she was unsure if she could ever do something like that.
“That’s right. After all, I had trained in the ways of the sword for eighteen years.”
“Eighteen years...”
(Even for someone as skilled as Captain Yore, it took that long...)
Fie gulped involuntarily, still paralyzed in awe by what she had just seen.
“This applies not only to you, but to all the squires around you. For five, ten years — all the way up until now, they had been training to condition their bodies.”
(That’s right... Then I have to work even harder...)
“You’re wrong.”
Just as Fie was about to respond, Yore interrupted her, shaking his head as he did so.
“Listen to what I said. This took eighteen years. Imagine this — if you could simply wake up one morning and have a strong body and knowledge of technique, no one would train for five to ten years. In fact, if you think you can catch up so easily, you are making light of the efforts of those around you. Do you not remember? I told you to learn from those around you. And that means holding those around you in high esteem, while also respecting their strength.”
With that, Fie suddenly came to a realization.
“Let me phrase it this way, Heath. Don’t think about catching up to those around you. You’d have to train for five years to catch up — ten years once they have trained for another five. That is how much time, blood, and effort they have put into this. And as for you, aren’t you doing the same, aiming to be a knight with the adequate training and process, from this point in time?”
“Y-Yes...!”
That was true. Fie was going to continue training. Even if she could not catch up with her peers, over time, she would surely walk in their footsteps over the course of her own journey.
“If you continue to overexert yourself and get injured in the process, the days where you can work to better yourself will be greatly reduced. Is that acceptable to you?”
“N-No it isn’t! It’s not acceptable, Captain!”
“Yes. If you push yourself too hard and overdo it, the actual time you can spend training is in fact, reduced. That isn’t a good thing. Do you understand, Heath?”
“Yes, Captain! I won’t overdo it ever again!”
Still seated, Fie performed a salute that she remembered from her etiquette lessons. Crow watched over her diminutive form with his usual smile.
Seemingly satisfied, Yore nodded at his charge.
“Then, I shall be going. I have matters to attend to.”
“Yes! Thank you very much!”
As Yore turned to leave, Fie straightened up and bowed deeply.
Fie carved those words into her chest. Amazing swordplay aside, those were the words of guidance that Fie really needed.
(It is as I thought! The Captain really is an amazing person!)
Fie was truly grateful for having been assigned to the 18th Knights, and for becoming Knight-Captain Yore’s subordinate.
From then on, Fie no longer overexerted herself. The day after collapsing, she attended her studies as usual.
“Seems like Yore has prepared a special training plan for you, Heath.”
“The Captain did...?”
Without saying much more, the training plan that Crow had handed over was silently implemented the very next day. The implementation itself was left to Heslow, and as such Fie herself did not have to do very much other than follow instructions.
Fie stood out, of course, now having been separated from the rest. While there were people like the two bullies who made fun of her, Fie herself did not pay it much heed, and they were eventually silenced by Gormus and Fie’s companions’ stares.
The plan was full of notes and special instructions, but it mainly focused upon stretches and other flexibility exercises.
It was organized in phases, with the aim of matching Fie’s bodily stamina. To build stamina, Fie was assigned certain regimens, including running, strength, assorted acrobatics, and how to adequately protect oneself when falling. The stretches and acrobatics alone filled up half the activities.
However, Fie was able to execute said stretches and acrobatics with ease, jumping straight to the highest level.
“That guy sure is something... What is he, an invertebrate?”
“Actually, that’s a little disgusting...”
The strangely-dressed Fie, who was rolling around in a corner of the sporting grounds, was regarded as a strange life form by the other squires doing their running — and even Gormus and Fie’s companions regarded her training with mystified expressions as they ran past.
Witnessing Fie perform these feats that they themselves could never do, without raising a single complaint, the squires who ridiculed and belittled Fie eventually thinned out, and finally disappeared altogether.
Fie always ate a lot of food at dinner time.
“It’s delicious! So delicious!”
“Is it that good, to the point where you have to announce it every time? I mean, it isn’t bad...”
“Yeah! It’s delicious!”
When Fie had lived her life as a princess, she had hardly expressed much interest in eating, but nowadays she had developed quite the appetite. Her near-starvation survival experience in the back pavilion struck quite the contrast to her current life as a squire — and perhaps that had taught her the joy of eating.
Dark recollections and unfortunate circumstances aside, it was true that Fie honestly found her food delicious. However, today Fie only had one bowl’s worth of food, and then stopped unexpectedly.
“Huh? Is that enough for you?” Remie asked.
Usually, Fie would be pining for more after the first bowl.
“Yeah, it’s because Sir Crow said that I should maintain my body shape as much as possible.”
Although she wanted to eat a lot more, Fie was willing to undergo this trial for the sake of Yore and the others.
“I see.”
“It does seem like they’re training you quite differently after all.”
After all, squires were usually encouraged to eat generously and build themselves up. Although there were some exceptions, the basic direction promoted a build centered around power — and so bigger was better. Gormus was a good example of this.
“Pretty strict, aren’t they?”
“Yeah...” Fie responded.
Slad nodded, pretending that he hadn’t seen Fie staring at his stew enviously.
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