Vivian sat in the carriage as she stared out the window, thinking of the events that had just transpired earlier.
[I'm still too immature huh...] Vivian admonished herself as she remembered the words of the rambling old man they met in Milan.
["I am Galleo La Vinsilica Diovanni Davinci! Philosopher-Candidate of Venicia"]
"The Philosophers, huh..." Vivian couldn't help but sigh at her ignorant attitude during their date earlier.
Despite the severe discrimination against her, Vivian, through her own hard work and perseverance, still managed to receive an extensive education in the Imperial Palace.
And if we were to compare her level of education to that of Earth's, then Vivian would be a Ph.D. by Earth's standards.
But compared to the Philosophers, Vivian knew she was nowhere close to attaining their level.
Many intellectuals from the different Academies, Universities, and Colleges of this world commonly bicker amongst themselves about who they considered worthy of being called a Scholar, an expert in a specific field of study. But the one thing that all of them could agree on, no matter where you came from, whether it was from the Imperial Academy of Brune or from the Mussani's House of Wisdom, was the fact that the Philosophers were in no doubt the highest pinnacle of Scholardom.
Magic Theory, Alchemy, Medicine, and Philosophy, there were only so few countable fields of study, but in order to achieve the title of 'Philosopher', one had to at least be at the top of one of them.
To even think of obtaining 'Philosopher' status, one is required to be the lead researcher and expert in a whole field or subfield of Science.
You couldn't be a Philosopher just by simply studying a lot of things.
No, to be called 'Philosopher' you had to be at the highest pinnacle of your field!
Acknowledged and respected by all your peers! Having no rival nor equal as you stood alone on top of the tallest point and of the highest peak!
And that 'old beggar' they met earlier was one of such 'candidates' of that highly revered position.
Realizing this, Vivian who was a scholar herself, felt as if she had just missed a golden opportunity.
Still regretful, Vivian thought to herself: [No use in beating myself over this, I guess. Besides, the probability of him being one is...] Vivian sighed as she rationalized that the probability of that old man being a candidate would be pretty low considering he was wearing dirty and baggy clothes.
Vivian knew just how in-demand the Philosophers were. Even if it was the Great Emperor of Brune He, The Central Crown himself were to meet one, even they would have to acknowledge the presence of the great mind in front of them!
This was why Vivian rationalized that there was in no way that a 'candidate' of such level would become a beggar!
[No way would they dress like that!] Vivian rationalized as she remembered the dirty rags Galleo wore this morning.
"You ok? You've been continuously sighing this whole time" Duke murmured as he had just woken up from his not-so-beautiful beauty sleep.
"Duke... did you know about the Philosophers? Was that the reason why you approached that old man?" Vivian asked as she hoped it was no simple coincidence that Duke approached Galleo.
Not many people were interested in the boring lives of Scholars nor their intellectual gossip. Most people in Brune would rather know about the latest Court scandals than listen to each one of the names that the Philosophers had.
But still, Vivian hoped that Duke might show even just a sliver of genius, as he was the first one to approach the 'Philosopher-Candidate' after all.
"What's dat?" Duke lazily murmured as he picked on his nose.
"... Never mind" On that day, Vivian realized that the word 'Intelligence' didn't really suit the man in front of her.
*Huff Huff Huff* Duke desperately gasped for air as he ran around the field, sweating like the fat pig he was.
"Hurry up, Duke! A fifteen-year-old boy can run faster than that!" Byran shouted as he encouraged Duke to run even faster.
After their carriage arrived home, Duke was immediately dragged by a group of old Knights as they forced him to run with them.
*Huff Huff Huff* "Huh... If only it was a group of cute girls in front of me… Maybe then I'd find the will to move forward!" Duke sadly mumbled as he saw the sweaty muscular old men in front of him.
Instead of running forward, the scene in front of Duke just made him want to run backwards instead! Away from the horrid yet oddly mesmerizing sight of sweaty and tight muscles that the old Knights had as if they were waving it right in his face!
[No! This is for Maine... And Vivian!] Duke thought to himself as he imagined Vivian's smile, greatly replenishing the motivation that was being drained by the sight of the sweaty old men in front of him as Duke once again ran at full speed! Impressing even the strict old Knights through his unwavering drive.
That afternoon, Duke went home from the harsh training as he was happily greeted by Vivian, who was standing at the estate's front gate, waiting for him to come home.
"Mnn-mn W-what happened to… your face?" Vivian desperately tried to control her laugher when she saw Duke's severely bruised-up face.
Although she felt extremely guilty for laughing at his training injuries, Duke's face was simply too funny to look at, with the swollen bruises making his face look fatter than it already was. One could even call it double fat!
"Everything's a-OK!" Duke victoriously replied.
*Pffttt* [It's obviously NOT!] Vivian thought to herself as the laughter came gushing out.
The swollen face wasn't truly enough to make Vivian laugh, the real kicker here was Duke's confident smile despite him getting constantly beaten up by the old Knights!
A week before Duke and Vivian left for the Imperial Bank, Duke pleaded with Byran to:
"Please train me with the sword!" Duke proclaimed with strong conviction!
"Are you sure?... It would be really painful you know. And we also won't be using any protective gear either!" [Not that we have any…] Byran tried to scare Duke off with his warning.
"Yes! I'm sure! 100% sure!" But nevertheless, Duke was unfazed with Byran's words as he accepted Byran's condition.
"Fine then... Steel yourself, Duke!" *Hup* Byran lunged at Duke as he couldn't help but admire Duke's conviction.
[Not long now until another Pendragon Knight is born!] Byran was thrilled with anticipation as he dreamed that Duke would someday become a Knight just like his grandfather... for a shot five minutes.
Five minutes later,
Duke was already on the floor moaning in pain, crying out: "Owe~... It hurts so bad…" Duke was actually crying despite bragging early on how he could take it.
"..." Byran and the other old Knights stared in disappointment as they saw an 18-year-old Count larger than any of them cry from a small jab made by a wooden sword.
Byran didn't use a lot of strength in the jab that made Duke roll on the floor. He even tried to specifically target Duke's tummy so as not to hurt him! Duke was still his Lord and a future aspiring Knight of the Pendragons, after all.
Sadly, the reality was too painful for them to believe as Duke was already wincing from even just a little pain.
"Duke! Get up! I'm sure you can do more than this, yeah? Where is the Pendragon blood within you, DUKE PENDRAGON!" Byran tried to encourage Duke.
"I think all that blood has left my body... I am dying! The sword's strike was simply too sharp! As expected of the Knight Byran!" Duke said his final words as if he was a great swordsman who was bested by the legendary strike of a Sword Saint.
"No no no... It, it was just a wooden sword!" Byran was speechless as the judging stares of the other Knights looked at him, prompting him to explain: "Oh come on! Even I won't stoop that low as to hit a beginner with my full strike!"
"I see... so it was a legendary sword technique then... Sir Byran, you have grown…" Duke slowly closed his eyes as if he was the fallen hero who sacrificed himself during the final scene of an action movie.
[It was an average jab! And why are you acting like some defeated great swordsman or something?!] Byran and the other Knights shouted in their minds.
*Ting!* But while everyone was wondering how to get Duke to stand up once more, Byran suddenly had an ingenious plan:
He and the old Knights knew that Duke really 'really' liked his wife (Not really wife), Vivian, as he would always shout her name whenever he got too tired from training.
And so, knowing this Byran devised an ingenious ploy to get Duke to stand up and fight once more!
"Awe, that's too bad… Now that you're gone, who would take care of Vivian? I bet she would be oh so lonely! Maybe she'd even decide to remarry back in the Capital to fill that empty void left by her now-dead husband!" Byran sighed as he eyed Duke's reaction.
"Vivian? Lonely? R-REMARRY?!" Duke murmured the words he never wanted to hear in the same sentence.
The thought of Vivian crying for him made him angry for some reason, that and the thought of her remarrying really made Duke irritated.
"I guess I must still fight then!" Duke got up on one knee, feeling like a hero who had almost been defeated but then suddenly gained the magical and oddly well-timed power of 'love' to find newfound strength within him.
[No no like we said it's just a wooden sword!] The Knights felt like Duke was oddly overreacting as if he and Byran were now in a life or death situation... (Spoilers: they weren't)
"BYRANNN~! I'm ready!" Duke shouted as he charged at the old Knight Byran.
"Come milord! I'll take you ON!" Byran gleefully accepted Duke's enthusiasm as he hit him with the same jab as last time, expecting that this time Duke would last a little bit longer…
But…
*Bonk*
With a sudden *Plop* Duke was instantly down once again!
[[[Bruh…]]] The Knights thought to themselves after seeing Duke fell exactly the same way as he did the last time.
But this time, however, Duke didn't stay down as he stood back up and lunged back at Byran eventually leading him to get beaten back down.
Duke stood back up, then down again, stood back up, and then down again in a merciless grind.
At first, Byran was ecstatic as he thought to himself: [Truly a Pendragon never gives up!]
But over time, even he who was a grizzled old Veteran suddenly felt guilty at what he was doing as Duke didn't stand down no matter what he did.
Byran: "Uhh, Duke? Maybe you should try a tactic next-"
*Bonk* *Plop*
"Use more force!" Duke shouted as he charged Byran once again.
"E-Eh?! A-Are you sure?" Byran hesitated as he looked at the bruised-up Duke.
"Yes!" Duke confirmed as he gave Byran a shaky thumbs-up.
The Knights around Byran laughed at him as he looked like he was feeling guilt by doing something evil.
Duke only gave up when he was accidentally knocked out by Byran.
The next day, Duke couldn't even feel his body when he woke up...
While Vivian was sorting some papers in the study that morning, she suddenly heard Duke shout: "For Vivian~!" as he ran outside despite his heavy bruises.
[Awe~] Vivian couldn't help but feel somewhat touched that Duke thought of her as his motivation
... And also extremely embarrassed.
[Stop shouting my name throughout town!] Vivian cried in her head.
[But... I guess if it keeps you motivated] Vivian sighed as she let her name be used (And embarrassed).
And now, today was a new day, and Duke's training had been improving... somewhat.
His sword skills might've still been severely lacking but his sheer endurance and mad rage impressed even the old Knights as Duke endlessly swung his sword like a mad man.
Although the swings were a bit weak... and didn't really hit anything, the Knights still knew that it wasn't easy to swing your sword countless times, especially if you're as fat as Duke.
But nevertheless, "Again!" Duke ran towards Byran with full vigor as he swung his sword left and right.
"Aghain! (Again!)" Duke ran towards Byran once more, this time with slightly less vigor.
"Augin~ (Again!)" Duke tried to run towards Byran...
"Argh (Again?)" Duke crazily charged Byran nonstop despite the bloated bruises he had all over his body.
Duke felt proud of his training 'accomplishments' (from getting beat up).
And even Byran, who was against Duke's mindless charging at first, now thought that getting beat up like that was a good way for Duke to build up his stamina... and endurance.
Okay, maybe Byran was just rationalizing at this point so that it didn't seem that Duke's mindless charging was all for nothing.
But even with Byran's disapproval, Duke started to order even more impossible training for himself!
Duke: "Whan enmy isno nough (One enemy isn't enough...) *Huff Huff* Tack meoll atonce (Attack me all at once!)"
The Knights felt worried that they could suddenly understand Duke's words as he spoke in the foreign language called 'Butt-hurt', but they were even more worried at how things would go!
[Will this be okay?...] They thought to themselves as they followed Duke's orders and attacked all at once.
But contrary to their worries, Duke was surprisingly holding up!
...for Duke's standards.
He was still huffing around as usual, but the interesting part about Duke was that his training with one Byran didn't really change much when it turned to training with more than one Byran and a few Knights.
He was still getting beat up for sure, but at least he still kept dodging at the same rate as he did when he was training with one person... although it did only happen occasionally... as an accident.
And so, just like that, the old Knights continued to train (Beat up) Duke as he developed his endurance, stamina, and the occasional dodge he would accidentally make.
If anybody walked in on them right now, it would've looked like a group of old men mercilessly beating up some fat kid...
That day, the old Knights sighed as their infamy rose within Maine.
Rumors began to spread that if you were a fat kid traveling to Maine, you better watch out for the old Knights there, that is if you didn't want to become the next victim of police brutality...