"A butler? You? And for the Young Lady no less?"
Lawrence looked down at the kid beneath him with a dumbfounded expression. He was already training twice a day to become a knight and now he had to be a butler at the same time? How were you even supposed to get any sleep with a schedule like that?
"Yes, things sort of ended up… falling in place like that. That's why I'm… afraid that I'll need to move the morning training and do it alone later in the evening. I need to attend my Lady during the… morning and afternoon from now on."
Gabriel released a heavy breath with each sentence. He was currently bare-chested and on all fours, struggling to do push-ups. Normal push-ups were relatively easy, but Lawrence was standing over him and holding a cold metal pipe against his back. Every time Gabriel pushed back against the pipe and finished one set, Lawrence would put a little more force into it, continuing until he collapsed.
"That's true. In a situation like this, your duties towards your master will take precedence over your training. It'll be tiresome, but it seems like we have no choice but to do some strength training a few hours after the normal training. Since you should be allowed to sleep in the mansion now this will save you some time on the walk so we should be able to squeeze it in if we cut down the training time by an hour or so."
Lawrence did the math in his head as he increased the power in his grasp, Gabriel finally collapsing to the floor. Their eyes met as he looked down, the gaze he could only consider uncomfortable at times looking up at him.
"Why do I feel like you just ignored me saying that I would do it alone? People need to sleep, especially geezers."
Lawrence was complaining that Gabriel wouldn't get much sleep, but Gabriel knew that Lawrence had it just as bad. He was in charge of training all the new knights, as well as overseeing the training of the other knights. This was one of only three duchies, the number of knights it had just on this estate alone was massive. Even if he didn't personally oversee every minute of training, just the number of reports he had to read and planning he had to do would take at least a couple of hours.
"Because I did, in fact, ignore it, brat. If I leave you to do your own training then you'll be too stupid to know when to stop, and too stubborn to stop when you know you should. And don't go worrying about my beauty sleep, the old worry about the young, not the other way around."
Lawrence snorted and kicked some dust at Gabriel before he could stand up. He'd already helped Gabriel with his training for a handful of days so he was confident that he had a semblance of an understanding when it came to the kid. He looked a bit frivolous, but he was serious about the training and about improving, he'd pushed himself to the limit without Lawrence doing anything on more than one occasion.
And that was why Lawrence was afraid. This kid, if he left him on his own, it wouldn't be too long before he broke himself. He already felt like a cracked mirror, a small push away from shattering into pieces that would never fit together again. So he couldn't leave him alone, too many small kids had come to the army with a dream, only to either leave as husks or never leave at all.
"Your arms have given out, but your legs should still work. Get up and run."
Lawrence kicked Gabriel's shin so that he would stand up faster, slapping him on the back when he finally got to his feet. He remained in place, his eyes following the young child as he ran around the training grounds.
Run boy. Run for survival. Run for tomorrow. Just keep on running, only like that will you ever be able to leave.
——
"All tuckered out?"
Lawrence almost smirked as he looked down at Gabriel, who was lying on his back while heaving, a bit of vomit mixing into the dusty dirt at his side. Arms, legs, back, chest, stomach, legs again, arms again. Lawrence helped him push the limit time and time again, and this state would always be his reward.
"Don't even have the energy to flip me off, that's how you know it's done properly."
He could see that Gabriel was trying to either curse at him or extend his finger, but he wouldn't have the energy to do even that before he got to catch his breath a bit. Seeing his chance, Lawrence walked to the edge of the training grounds and dug into his sack. He pulled out a package wrapped in paper and returned, dropping it at Gabriel's side.
"You're the Young Lady's knight, you can't keep coming here in the same old rags. Consider them a belated birthday gift if you don't want to accept them out of the blue. They're not up to the standard of a butler, but you'll have to buy your own uniform for that, my pockets are only so deep."
Gabriel had been here for a bit already, but he hadn't actually received a new set of clothes yet. After all, he was just working for Alice, what point would there be in giving him anything? So he could only wear the same ragged shirt and pants he used in the orphanage, he really stuck out like a sore thumb even among the other servants.
Gabriel caught his breath for a few minutes before he could finally turn over on his side and just barely sit up. The package was quite thick, a few sets of clothing revealing themselves as he unwrapped it.
White shirts and jackets made out of leather so brown it was almost black, buckles rather than buttons adorning the centre of the jacket to hold it together. Black pants made out of a similar sturdy leather-like material, a belt for a sheath on each one. The boots were also made out of leather, their right side adorned with buckles for when they were too loose. And finally, a couple of simple gloves that came in both white and black.
"A knight, no matter the age, should look the part if he has decided to protect someone."
Lawrence couldn't hold back the small smile as he looked at Gabriel unpack the things. It had been a pain to find them in his size, but when he thought about how that ragged kid would look in them he felt that it would be worth it. It really was just a very standard knight uniform, but it was miles better than his rags, probably better than anything he had been given so far.
Gabriel couldn't help but tilt his head as he held up one of the jackets, it reminded him of the uniforms he occasionally saw in his past life, whenever a commercial for the yearly renaissance fair came on. He would be lying if he said that he hadn't thought about his clothes, he was just wearing what basically amounted to dirty rags after all.
But he also knew the situation. He couldn't afford clothes, Alice couldn't afford clothes, and no one else in the Vritara family would give him clothes, simply because he worked for Alice. So he had come to terms with the fact that he would have to wear these rags for at least a little bit longer.
But now… this.
"…"
He was a bit speechless to be frank. Knight Trainer Lawrence, a man who never got to appear in the show because of his execution. When they first met, Gabriel had no idea what sort of person he would be, he had next to no information on him. But this, coupled with the previous days, made it clear what sort of person Lawrence was, it also made it clear why he was executed. Knight Trainer Lawrence, who was supposed to one day teach Alice a little bit of swordplay, was a good person.
"Thank you. I will treasure them."
Gabriel took off his shirt and slipped on one of the new ones, following it up with one of the jackets and one of the pants. It was thick and sturdy. It wouldn't stop a blade, but a knife should see some trouble with it. They were also a bit too big for him so it seemed like Lawrence also accounted for his future growth.
"No need, they're just clothes. Just make sure to wear them with pride and keep your head up as you protect your lady."
Lawrence only snorted, rubbing his finger beneath his nose a few times when he was faced with Gabriel's gratitude. He then stretched out his arm, offering his hand as he helped Gabriel to his feet.
"Follow me."
He pat away some of the dust that clung to Gabriel's legs and then beckoned for him to follow along. The two made their way across the training grounds, weaving between the circular fields until they reached the outer walls where the weapon racks were neatly lined up.
Lawrence scrutinised the weapons as they walked along the racks, his one eye sharply looking for something. In the end, his gaze settled on a sword that looked completely new, the edge without a single chip and the blade completely clean. He drew the sword from the rack and gave it a closer inspection, eventually giving it a satisfied nod before he picked up its sheath. The sword entered the sheath and was then presented to Gabriel.
"Any knight worth his salt needs a good weapon. Originally, you would have to wait until you're 15 before you can get your hands on a real weapon. But well, I'm the Knight Trainer, I can make an exception here and there. Take it, may it serve you well."
The weapon was a standard longsword, black leather wrapped around the hilt. It looked to be a bit on the longer side, and when Gabriel grabbed it he realized that it was quite a bit heavier than what he read in his past life. With his current body, he could forget about swinging it as he pleased, it would be like trying to swing a dumbbell. Well, then again, that might be good training in its own right.
He fiddled with the weapon a bit, trying to attach the sheath to the belt that came with the new pants. But it was quite a bit more difficult than he expected, he figured it would just be like buckling a belt. In the end, Lawrence had to intervene.
"Here, let me show you."
The aged knight bent down slightly and helped Gabriel fasten the sheath, tilting it more than usual so that the tip didn't end up dragging because of Gabriel's short stature.
"There we go, now you're starting to look like a proper knight. The morning training has finished so you can go to your Lady now, show off to your hearts content and get some nice praise while you're at it."
The old man pat Gabriel on the shoulder a few times as he spoke, a grin adorning his face. He'd met more than a few soldiers who couldn't wait to run home and show off their uniforms. It would be nice if Gabriel could be childish enough to do that, but Lawrence had the sneaking suspicion that would sadly not be the case.
"Alright. I'll see you later tonight, make sure you get your afternoon nap, old man."
Lawrence had no idea how to respond to the way Gabriel spoke sometimes, it was more reminiscent of the soldiers who fought with him in the war than it was a kid. It was comfortable because it was familiar, but uncomfortable because it came from such a small kid.
His gaze lingered on the kid's back as he walked away. There was a slight limp to his step, he was probably still sore from the training. But he was still going to head to his Lady, and then he would come to do more training later. And then he would repeat it for days on end. Looking at him, Lawrence couldn't help but spit out a breath as he smiled, it seemed like there was finally someone who could make him say these words.
"Thank you, Kiddo, for not abandoning the Young Lady."