#10
To go back, he could either ask Lucas, who would be at the training ground, or tell any of the employees who were still pretending not to follow him.
“Ughhhh…”Â
A pained sound escaped Noah’s lips.
“Young master, it’s snack time.”
Noah quickly turned his head at the voice from behind. And with that sudden movement, he toppled over to the side.
At five years old now, he rarely fell over so pathetically anymore. This accident had happened because of the many layers of clothing he was wearing.
“Shall we have a snack and come back out later?”
As Elisa, who was also wearing a long fur cloak like him, picked him up, Noah looked toward the training ground instead of answering.
“What snack?”
“Egg tarts and apple pie…”
Noah’s wistful gaze toward the training ground suddenly changed. Though he was already being held by Elisa, Noah, who had been keeping his body somewhat separated from hers, now nestled into her arms like a magnet.
Noah rationalized to himself that his first exercise was successful, having walked all the way here.
* * *
The smallest figure—though technically the tallest if measured against the sky—was moving diligently. And the cheekbones of those following him were all twitching. Most were biting their lower lips to avoid making a sound, and some were looking elsewhere entirely.
The pace of those who had been running at a steady speed gradually slowed down.
And before they knew it, they were walking, but no one complained, and even the knight captain watching them couldn’t say anything.
Noah, who had proudly appeared at the training ground declaring he was now a five-year-old big boy, was truly dedicated. Unless the weather was particularly bad—which everyone advised him against—he “came to work” at the training ground every day.
At first, he would watch the knights train or play ball with Lucas. The knights, who now had an additional reason to come to work just to see the adorable Noah, were currently clutching their hearts.
They had been doing light warm-up runs around the training ground, but when Noah appeared, everyone’s attention shifted to him. Those who had been expecting to see what cute behavior he would show today were startled when Noah unexpectedly began to run after them.
At first, they thought he would run for a moment and then stop, but Noah continued to follow them, albeit wobbling. Even though they had drastically reduced their speed, there was no way a child could keep up with these adults who were physically in the top 0.1%. While Noah was clearly following the knights, after just two minutes, the situation had reversed with the knights running behind Noah.
Unable to overtake the young master who was running so earnestly, they were now slowly walking, enjoying the view of the adorable young master’s back.
It had been half a year since he first came out to play at the training ground.
When he first came, it was cold winter, but now it was summer in Austen, so Noah’s clothes were definitely lighter. At least he didn’t have to wear trailing fur cloaks anymore.
If Lucas were around, Noah would have had to play ball in a corner, but since Lucas wasn’t here today, Noah boldly joined the knights’ training.
But what is this?
He used to have excellent stamina. Front, back, both arms, both legs. He had been someone who could walk around with six or seven children hanging off him.
He hadn’t planned to run a full lap around the training ground from the start. He had intended to run about 1/6 of it, and looking at the distance he had in mind, he only needed to go a little further, but his legs were trembling. And the knights who had been running in front of him were nowhere to be seen.
“Hah… haah… haaah… so tireeed…”
I’ll just run to that spot ahead and stop.
Feeling his heart racing as if it would burst and his legs wobbling, Noah decided to run just until the corner.
You can’t eat a whale in one bite. So today, I’ll stop here.
He needed to stop now, but his creaking body wouldn’t listen. Why were his legs moving on their own?
“I… can’t… huff… haah… can’t…”
If he kept going straight, he would crash into the chairs next to the training ground. This is bad…
“Ah… ahh…”
Just as Noah was about to cry out “Stop!” he suddenly felt his body floating in the air and gasped.
“That’s dangerous, young master.”
Knight Captain Jackson, who had been watching the entire situation, swiftly caught Noah as he ran forward unable to stop.
“Huff. Haah… tha… thank you…”
Noah tried to quickly express his gratitude while panting. As his small chest rose and fell dramatically and he gulped for air as if he might pass out at any moment, Noah felt a large hand patting his back rhythmically.
“Are you alright?”
Having finally caught his breath, Noah nodded.
“Is there something you’d like to do?”
When someone visits the same place every day and lingers, it surely means they have a purpose there. The distance from the main castle to here was considerable, making it quite a tiring journey for a young child to walk every day.
Moreover, Noah would stare intently at the knights training and say something to Lucas, but Lucas always shook his head. Then Noah would always pout his lips.
“Yes!”
Noah raised one hand high and answered loudly to none other than Captain Jackson.
“What would you like to do?”
“That!”
A few strands of his curly hair, puffed up with air as if they didn’t know how high the sky was, were stuck to his round, cute forehead, wet with sweat. Noah’s chubby cheeks were flushed from the heat of exercise. The lively, adorable child stretched out one hand forward.
And following the tip of that short finger, everyone’s expressions changed subtly.
What Noah boldly pointed to was not a sword. As a place with diverse knights, everyone used weapons that suited them. Most used longswords, and depending on their abilities, some used daggers or spears.
Young master, that doesn’t seem appropriate.
Where Noah pointed stood Tom, the knight with the best physique and strength. Tom, who had been twirling his weapon with one hand as if in good spirits, suddenly stopped. In his hand was a blunt weapon that would be burdensome for an average adult man to lift with both hands.
“Young master?”
“That…”
Seeing everyone looking back and forth between him and Tom, Noah once again pointed precisely at the blunt weapon Tom was holding and spoke with certainty.
“How about a dagger?”
“That’s right. It’s convenient to carry, and for self-defense, learning to use a dagger well would be good.”
Captivated by the strong destructive power displayed each time Tom swung the somewhat brutish-looking blunt weapon with one hand, cutting through the air with a sound, Noah didn’t hesitate at all.
Though he had boldly asked for a blunt weapon, they suddenly started showing and recommending small knife-like items including throwing stars, which made Noah shake his head.
As soon as Captain Jackson put him down, Noah walked proudly to Tom. Then he reached for the blunt weapon Tom was holding.
It had looked large even from a distance, but up close, it seemed as tall as himself, with the head part appearing larger than his torso. Noah’s lips curled up at the cold feel of the rough, bumpy head of the blunt weapon.
A real man needs just one blow. What’s life about? It’s about one decisive strike.
So rather than stabbing and slicing multiple times, he preferred the blunt weapon that could cleanly knock someone out with one powerful hit, and touching it in person made him like it even more.
“This…”
Noah briefly glanced at the sharp, shining throwing stars, but what really appealed to him was the heavy, non-shining iron’s weight.
“What should we do?”
Tom, who had crouched down to let Noah examine and touch his weapon freely, looked at Jackson standing there with a troubled expression. Unfortunately, the Grand Duke wasn’t present at the moment.
Without the only person who could stop Noah, they were all just eyeing each other cautiously.
After being told to wait for a moment, Noah opened the small pouch he had brought attached to his waist when coming to the training ground. As he crunched on cookies and drank from a small milk bottle he took out, Noah stared blankly at what was placed before him.
“What’s this?”
“It’s for you to use, young master.”
Pushing the half-eaten cookie into his mouth, Noah blinked his large eyes and looked at Jackson. Then, after glancing at the inadequate thing in his hands, he turned his head to look for Tom.
Given his height and build, Tom was the largest, so finding him wasn’t difficult. All Noah had to do was look for the person sticking out among the crowd.
After confirming the blunt weapon in Tom’s hands and then looking again at what was placed before him, Noah crossed his arms.
‘Is this the Stone Age…?’
A stone that looked like a prehistoric artifact was tied with a string to the end of a thin, short wooden stick. Am I supposed to hunt dinosaurs with this?
With an expression that showed he found it unreliable and not at all to his liking, Noah grasped it. It had looked small and insignificant, but when he tried to lift it with one hand, it was quite heavy. However, with everyone at the training ground watching him, Noah proudly lifted it with one hand even though his arm was trembling.
“Wow!”
Following someone’s brief exclamation, thunderous applause and whistles spread in all directions.
Receiving such praise just for lifting this one thing, Noah proudly stood up and swung it with one hand. At the same time, the blunt weapon flew from Noah’s hand in a parabola and dropped to the ground with a thud.
Crack—
The thin wooden branch that served as a handle broke cleanly.
“…Young master! It’s time to go eat cake.”
The person who quickly defused the silence-filled space was the sensible Tom. And before anyone could say anything, he picked up the standing Noah and gave him a piggyback ride toward the main castle.
“…Is that really heavy?”
Forcibly given a piggyback ride, Noah sighed softly, lightly grasping Tom’s head as he mumbled.
“When you grow up, you’ll be able to lift it easily. You’re still a child, young master.”
“By the way, who made that thing earlier?”
“…”
Their conversation ended there.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
