The next morning, Azi was running atop the walls of the castle which fortunately were made in the shape of a circle and were as wide as the length of a carriage, so he had plenty of room to use for his morning routine. This ensured that he didn't get in the way of the patrolling guards who were at first surprised that someone would use such an area for training but fortunately they didn't mind his presence.
The guards eventually got used to the sight as they saw how he had a good sense of balance and kept to the inner part of the wall which made it somewhat impossible for him to fall off the tall castle wall. Unfortunately for the castle guards, the castle guard who saw this was the head of the basic training department and he made a note to follow Azi's example and incorporated the use of the walls for the soldier's daily training.
Moving onto Azi, the reason for his sudden need to run was due to his recent slacking on his morning training. With his work as a blacksmith and Shizu's recent clinginess, Azi had no chance to train or exert himself to keep up his routine. He didn't want his already amateurish skills to get rusty so he was taking precaution by ensuring that he was in tip top shape.
He first thought that he could run along the outskirts of the capital's walls as he liked the idea of challenging such a lengthy run, but after seeing how large the capital was from his room's window he scrapped that idea as it would have made it difficult for him to attend any of the events in the castle. His trip here was to convince Ozen about his application for a patent for his blood steel, and he hoped to meet Ozen in private during his stay so he needed to stay somewhat close to the castle.
After asking Shizu if she could schedule a meeting, he was surprised by how there was already a summons for him. He had been informed that it would happen a couple days after the ceremony tomorrow so Azi had some free time to himself.
An hour in and feeling that he had worked up a good amount of sweat, Azi ran back to where he started and grabbed the towel he had brought with him. After wiping the excess sweat off, he then reattached his toolbelt that originally weighed down his towel so that it didn't blow away from the high winds this far up on the castle walls.
It was quite cold up here, but Azi still felt somewhat warm as he had run at a quick pace to work himself up a bit more than usual. Seeing that he had all his belongings, he made his way down a set of stairs that he knew would lead back to the courtyard that he and the caravan had arrived in the day before.
He mentally thanked the servant who was kind enough to give him a tour of the castle yesterday. She was quite attentive but Azi felt that the servant eyed him like an oddity but had let the matter lie as it would have been too brash of him to ask. He was still only a peasant and while he knew that the servant was also a peasant, she had a mannerism that was somewhat upright and noble that made him think before saying anything that might make him seem uneducated.
After reminiscing about yesterday's tour to ensure he knew where he was going, he made his way through the enormous courtyard and noticed the sounds of people sparring. Wanting to see how the soldiers would hone themselves, he took a detour from his original plan to explore the castle.
As he got closer to the noise, Azi could hear a familiar voice bellowing out orders and…. "Encouragement", is what he believed it sounded like.
"Keep your shield up! Don't drop it by even a little! YOU! Tighten your grip! DO YOU WANT ME TO KNOCK IT OUT OF YOUR FEEBLE HANDS! COME ON!!! FASTER!!!! FASTER!! FASTER!!"
With a loud and harsh voice, Shizu was the one ordering the soldiers to train harder as they battled each other with wooden training equipment. This was somewhat effective as Shizu was using her newly enhanced support magic to invigorate her troops as they sparred each other.
This allowed them to push themselves a bit harder than usual and was already showing results. A woman in red armor quickly swung her large broadsword in a sweeping slash that knocked away three other combatants. Hefting her wooden weapon onto her shoulder, she then huffed a prideful harumph.
Seeing this, Shizu smiled as she was in a great mood this morning since she rather enjoyed training others as much as she enjoys honing her own skills. Yesterday was taxing for her as she had to attend meetings and do the needed paperwork for Touma's promotion, his subsequent future position, and the future posts for his students.
After recasting her support magic, Shizu sighed in content and took notice of Azi who had approached the training grounds. He looked somewhat sweaty and tired which concerned her a bit as she worried that he might have gone too far with his morning training.
"Good Morning Azi. It seems you are back to doing your morning runs, but are you alright? You didn't catch a cold, right?" As she asked her question, Shizu began to approach Azi but was summarily placated by him.
Holding his hand out in front of him, Azi assured her that he was fine. "I'm alright but I didn't get much sleep last night. Sleeping somewhere else feels somewhat disconcerting and… different, how about you? You seem somewhat fatigued which is odd since the day has only just begun."
Looking closely, Azi could see that Shizu's posture looked a bit slumped and that she had some minor bags under her eyes.
"Ummm well, I couldn't sleep well since I didn't have a .... You know what nevermind! Anyway, would you like to join me in today's combat training? You'll be able to meet my personal soldiers and I think you can teach them a few things."
Shizu then indicated the pair of gauntlets on his toolbelt which made Azi question what she meant by teaching them. He was still a amatuer when it came to combat but looking deep into Shizu's expression, it soon clicked in his mind and he understood what she meant.
"Sure, but what was that about not having something for sleeping?"
"Oh, it's just a certain item I… forgot to bring with me to bed. It's really no issue."
"Well? Alright, but if it's something I can help with just let me know."
Shizu nodded somewhat hesitantly for a moment, but she soon changed gears as she began gathering her personal soldiers and introduced Azi to them. In all, Shizu had quite a few soldiers under her personal command. There were so many that she could have easily protected Rulu's carriage with the number she trained.
One thing that Azi noticed was that the majority of Shizu's soldiers were female and looked to be about Shizu's age. There were only one male to every three female soldiers which was a disparity that Azi could not ignore.
"Why are there more women than men in your ranks?"
As if on cue, the woman of the gathered group of soldiers began to direct a glare at Azi which made him somewhat flinch back a bit as he felt as if 20 Shizu's had bore their killing intent on him.
Clapping her hands, Shizu got everyone's attention to cease their release of killing intent. "Alright, alright! There is no need to glare at him. This boy will be joining our ranks soon, so be sure to get along with him in the future."
The woman in red armor then walked up to Shizu and got into an at rest position a couple feet away from her. The woman's somewhat shining armor and well kept equipment made it easy to tell that she was likely in a commanding position in the group. Directing a somewhat hateful glare at Azi, she asked.
"Lady Shizu, could you tell me who exactly this child is?"
Answering with a grin, Shizu thought that it was funny that Azi was again being treated like a child. Coughing to stop herself from laughing, he beckoned Azi to her side.
"This is Azi. He is the one I have told you about in my letters these past few weeks."
Annoyed by how he was being treated like a child, Azi complained as he walked up to Shizu. "Shizu! Come on! Don't tell me you haven't told them about my age yet?"
Through somewhat gritted teeth that contained a hint of a laugh that tried to escape her lips, Shizu explained. "No, hahaha, I did. But, haha, it seems that everyone here just can't believe their eyes. Hahaha."
Azi sighed in admonishment as he had hoped that Shizu would at least introduce him properly. He knew that she was getting a laugh out of this situation, but he nonetheless forgave her as he knew that this was more of her harmless teasing.
While not physically damaging to his pride, he had grown somewhat numb from her verbal jabs. He did vow in his heart to get back at her later but to do so in private to spare his knight from public shame.
"Alright then, In any case, I'll introduce myself. My name is Azi, age 27, and I am Shizu's apprentice and …..ummm well."
Not able to say the next part, Shizu cheerfully added in a gleeful voice.
"HE IS MY FIANCE!"
She then happily snuggled close to Azi as she began to hug him from the side, this somewhat confused him as he thought that she didn't like showing this kind of affection in public. Looking at the group of gathered soldiers, he soon realized why Shizu felt no shame as he saw that the soldiers were giving them wry looks as if they were used to seeing Shizu like this.
Others had expressions that were similar to Kajima's air of nonchalant or being fed up with their antics.
The group of soldiers soon started muttering and chattering amongst themselves about this revelation. Some thought it was a joke, while others started to size up Azi with their eyes.
Blushing a bit from all the eyes on him, he felt as if he wanted to crawl under a rock to hide himself away but the clingy cat at his side made it difficult for him to move.
Unattentive to his distress, Shizu grinned with a victorious smile on her face as she was content with the results of her impromptu teasing.
The atmosphere became somewhat upbeat but it didn't last long because the woman in red armor sized up Azi with eyes full of serious intent.
"Lady Shizu?! Are you sure this….young man? Is worthy? He seems too small and weak to be your fiance, let alone a soldier."
"Your initial assumption is true. But looks can be deceiving. While I could tell you about his past feats, it's best that I show you instead."
Releasing Azi from her hug, she made a request of him. "Azi? Would you be up for a demonstration of your capabilities?"
"Sure, but didn't you ban me from using all of my magic? I can understand why you let me use it against the Uzuruans but are you sure I can use it for a simple demonstration?"
"Yes. In fact, from today on I'll be lifting that ban. According to Touma, you should be alright to use magic now since you were ok during the recent battle we had with the Uzuruans."
With raised brow, Azi wanted to ask about what Touma had told her but was unable to as Shizu's attention was drawn quickly away from him. Turning her head to the side, she saw that Touma and his students were approaching and grinned as if she knew that they were coming.