The day Alise received an invitation from Robert for her son to train under him, she hastily went through her tasks at home. Cleaning, laundry, and cooking a pot of stew for the day and the next.

  She also went on mending her husband’s work clothes quickly so that she could have the next day free. And now that she’d opened up her schedule, she wanted to encourage her son to socialize and interact with other children as much as she could.

  The next morning, Alise took her son to Robert’s house, where she found a sizable gathering encircling something, while cheering.

  Alise only caught sight of what it was when she got closer. It was a fight with Robert on one side against Vivian on the other.

  Vivian was fast on her feet, running around her larger opponent, just barely outside of his reach, while watching her opponent closely to look for an opening she could leverage.

  Meanwhile Robert stood still in place, and only kept his eyes on the girl. Until suddenly, his body leaned forward before he lunged and thrusted his sword in one swift motion. But his wooden blade only met Vivian’s.

  Parried, the man quickly pulled his sword back, and followed with yet another thrust, forcing Vivian to quickly bring her sword in to catch her opponent’s.

  She was able to get into a strong bind with the far end of her opponent’s blade making contact with her blade close to the hilt.

  After binding her opponent, she then quickly stepped in, sliding her blade alongside the length of her opponent’s, and he fell into her shorter range. She then angled the tip of her sword towards her opponent and pulled her arm back for a thrust.

  “No good!” Robert shouted with confidence despite the fact that he was being pushed by Vivian.

  But sure enough, it wasn’t unfounded.

  The moment he felt Vivian’s pressure weakened when she pulled her arm back, he immediately pushed through with brute force, and landed a clean, light hit on her head.

  “Should’ve moved in, and built for the attack in a single turn!”

  “Argh! Again!” Vivian shouted out loud. Refusing to end with that loss, she immediately backed away from Robert’s range and started circling around him once again.

  This time, Robert didn’t allow her to move much and gain any speed as he immediately went in for a thrust.

  Vivian caught onto the oncoming attack and immediately moved her sword to block his thrust, but just before their sword made contact for a bind, Robert pulled back. It was a feint thrust that then easily enabled him to tap Vivian with the tip of his sword, causing her to stumble forward a little before falling flat on her face.

  “Raaargh!” Vivian shouted in anger from the ground.

  Around them were a bunch of children that've been watching their bout since before Alise and her son arrived. In awe of the swordsmanship displayed by the former soldier, they let out a collective cheer when Vivian fell to the ground.

  The children then rushed up to the two.

  Some then started to eagerly ask Robert for instructions on the sword. Those more enthusiastic than others started swinging an imaginary sword around, demonstrating how they would do well with the sword. Some others checked on Vivian, helping the grumpy girl back on her feet before consoling her for her loss.

  It’s amidst all that, that Robert finally took notice of his newly arrived guests.

  “Alise! Gale!” He exclaimed to call out to the two. “You came!”

  Hearing this, Vivian was the first to react. After getting back on her feet, she pushed through the children around her and ran towards Gale.

  “Alright! Let’s Practice!” she said eagerly before grabbing the younger boy’s hand and dragged him over.

  “What? Need to wash down your loss?” Robert asked with a smirk as he stopped Vivian on her track with his sword. “Let’s not rush things, yeah?”

  “Eeehhh?” Vivian groaned, dragging her voice in complaint.

  “Why don’t you go grab a chair for our guest first?”

  Vivian then turned to look at Alise that had been left behind when she dragged her son away from her.

  “Ah, please don’t mind me.”

  “She said she don't need it!”

  “A knight needs to be chivalrous, no? Mrs. So-called War Goddess.”

  Pouting, Vivian then turned to rush inside her house after letting go of Gale.

  “You really don’t need to mind me,” said Alise as she approached Robert and her son.

  “Haha, it’s quite alright. It’ll do well for the girl to learn code of conduct if she really intends to be a knight.”

  Alise felt a little bad for being a nuisance when she just came to watch over the training session, but if Robert said it’s fine then there’s nothing more for her to say. And just then, Vivian came out of her house with a chair in hand, and she carried it over to where Alise was, before setting it behind her.

  “Please use this!”

  “Thank you, young lady.” Alise said as she took her seat.

  “Well then,” Robert went on to shift the topic. He then spun his sword around into a reverse grip and threw it into the air before catching it by the blade. Lowering the handle, he handed the sword to Gale. “Why don’t you get a feel for this?”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Gale looked at the sword’s handle before he grabbed it with both hands. For how hefty it looked, it was surprisingly light in his hands.

  The long stick made to mimic the weapon most common for soldiers to use was carved out of a single piece of wood. The dual edge of the blade along with the tip had been rounded and smoothed down to minimize injuries when it makes contact with flesh. The handle was about the right size for Gale when using both of his hands, but for what it actually is, a single handed sword made for Robert, it was actually too large for him.

  “Oh? Seems like you like it,” Robert said, drawing a conclusion from how Gale just stared at the sword after it was handed to him as if fascinated.

  Gale had to look up to face the former soldier and saw him with a somewhat smug look on his face.

  “Come, Vivi. You’ll help me teach him the usual.”

  “Alright!”

  “The rest of you listen up too! Can’t have you all forgetting this.”

  “Yes, sir!” The children all said in unison.

  Robert and Vivian got into position to face each other.

  The two made some distance between them and Vivian got into a middle guard stance. Being three steps away from each other, Vivian had a much larger advantage since she had longer reach with a sword in her hand while Robert’s was still in Gale’s hand.

  “Now then. Simple enough, sword fighting is about hitting your opponent while not getting hit yourself,” Robert said as he got into stance for unarmed combat. “Every complicated technique like the guard stance Vivian is using is used simply for that reason. But even with every technique in the world, a single mistake is all it takes for the worst to happen to you.”

  Vivian then raised her sword above her head. Once she got into position, Robert continued his lecture.

  “So the best way to win a fight—” He said as Vivian took a step forward. “Is to not fight at all,” He continued before sprinting in the other direction, leaving Vivian behind.

  Seeing this display, the children giggled even though they must have seen the same skit dozens of times over. Alise was a little confused watching the two, but also giggled along with the children.

  Satisfied with the result of his skit, Robert then approached Gale.

  “Now, you’ve been hit. Not particularly pleasant right? That’s why next time, you should just run. As long as no one is behind you, there’s no shame in running.”

  “What of a knight’s honor?” Alise asked, interrupting the man’s pace.

  “Honor is a dead man’s creed,” He replied in a lower voice.

  The grim tone he used to convey it sent chills running down Alise’s spine. She could feel it within her, behind those words were the heavy weight of experience built on the heated crucible of battle. An experience of loss and grieve, apparent in the empty sleeve hanging by Robert’s shoulder.

  “That’s right!” Vivian then chimed in from behind Robert. “I’ll teach you to stay alive!” She exclaimed vigorously.

  Afterwards, Robert instructed Vivian on what to teach him and left the two of them alone and went to teach the other children.

  Vivian had a sword she used when she was younger. Though it's been worn to the point that part of its edge had been horribly chipped, and obvious wear could be found everywhere on the sword with discoloration showing on the handle, it was still usable for use in training.

  This old wooden sword along with some other that used to belong to Robert were given to the kids. Though since there aren’t enough swords to go around, they had to take turns using it.

  As for Gale, since he’s new, he was given a full day with a single sword for himself so that he could get the feel for it.

  Now with a sword in his hands, Vivian taught him how to properly wield the tool. From ways to grip the handle, what part of his body should be worked when doing what, the very basics.

  Once he had a proper grasp on how to hold the sword, she then taught him basic defensive techniques. Dodging, blocking, parrying, and even how to catch an opponent’s sword with his hand.

  A cut to the hand is better than dying after all.

  For hours, Alise watched her son with Vivian. She gasped every now and then when he failed to guard against an attack, but relaxed when she realized the girl had held back to not cause any significant injury.

  The young girl also seemed to be focusing her attacks on places that would be easily dodged or blocked, and wouldn’t be dangerous in the off chance the hit landed—attacking parts like the upper arm instead of more vital parts like the head.

  Robert was also always around to occasionally check on how their session was progressing. If he deemed that Vivian had gone a little too harsh on the young boy, he immediately called her out to tone down the pace.

  The boy was still practically a toddler after all, and it was very surprising how long he lasted in training where he’s one-sidedly getting beat up while having to work his body like never before.

  The training itself was much more like a game of tag where Vivian would try to tag Gale who was actively repelling her advances, so it wasn’t particularly tiring—at least not as much as actual sword fighting.

  But when the children training with Robert had started panting heavily even though they had to take turns in rotation, Gale wasn’t showing any sign of fatigue despite being less than half the age of the others.

  But just as Robert started thinking about what a prodigy the boy must be, he suddenly dropped his sword.

  With a soft thud, it landed on the ground beneath his feet, and both of his hands went limb beside him.

  Robert immediately halted his lesson and went to check on the boy.

  Drenched in sweat, his arms were visibly trembling and even twitching at times while his fingers were spasming a little.

  Alise hadn’t thought much when Gale dropped his sword, but seeing Robert’s reaction worried her and she stood up from her seat to check on her child. “Gale?” She called out to him, the worry apparent in her voice.

  “He’s fine, just tired,” Robert said after inspecting Gale’s arm. “It seems he pushed through even though his body is exhausted.”

  After hearing that, Alise then picked the boy up and carried him in her arms. “Gale? You don't feel tired?”

  Gale looked at his mother with a flat expression before looking down on his hand.

  Although he had lost almost all strength in his arms, he was still able to raise them slightly to look at his palms while his fingers spasm slightly.

  “Tired?” He asked before turning his head slightly to face his mother.

  A sense of guild washed over Alise. “It’s fine if you don’t want to do it. I’m not going to force you. You can stop if you’re tired, dear.”

  “I’m sorry. It was my fault for not paying better attention,” Robert suddenly interjected and bowed his head deep.

  “Oh, no! Please don’t mind,” Alise said to put the man’s mind at ease, but it was apparent that guilt had also filled him.

  Not only him, Vivian also looked worried and apologetic as if it was her fault. The other children had also gathered around them filled with curiosity more than worry.

  “He should be fine after some rest,” Robert said after raising his head.

  When he saw how Vivian had such a guilty look on her face, he placed a hand on her head to console her.

  “I wanted to trust her with teaching him because she was eager to do so, and wanted to challenge herself. But I should have paid more attention to the two, as it falls under my responsibility to make sure this wouldn’t happen.

  “Please don’t mind it, Robert. I’ll let him rest at home.”

  Robert replied with a nod. “I’m sorry again for letting this happen. If you’d trust me again with teaching your son, I will make double sure such a thing won’t happen again.”

  “Right, I’ll ask him again after he’s recovered.”

  With that, Alise turned to leave.

  Once she got home with her son in her arms, she let him down on the bed, and left him to grab him some water, only to return to find her son had already fallen fast asleep.