Two days passed and Kai continued his training. Just like Pops had said, the training had indeed become easier on his body. After a few hours of training, he would have initially taken a whole day to recover. Now, however, he could exercise a few hours every day without having to spend a whole day recovering.
Once again, Kai entered the training room to continue the training, without the supervision of Pops. After the Baron had performed it once for Kai, the system from his bionic chip had recorded it all and Kai just replayed it in his mind as he continued to repeat those same tasks. This was why the Baron had let him practice on his own.
…
In the study of the Baron, the old butler was standing by the Baron's side as he leant forward and spoke softly.
"Baron, is it alright to not inform the young lord about it?"
"…Those two have been good friends for almost all their childhood. Who knows how he will react." Morgan Dread sighed.
"But Lord. They broke the engagement out of the blue!" the butler exclaimed as his usually calm face turned an unsightly shade of red with veins bulging on his neck.
"Sigh… It's highly likely that they were the ones behind the assassination attempt of Kai."
"Then why? Why are you so calm about it, Lord!!"
"…I just got word from Daron… It seems that a powerful mage had appeared near the Tulia Barony, and decided to meet with the Baron for a meal. Coincidentally, she saw Lucy and took an interest in her due to her 'talent'. The Mage will be taking in Lucy as her disciple and taking her away, which is why they broke the engagement."
"Mage…" This single word rendered the butler utterly silent.
"Haha~ That was the same reaction I had. What could I do? I just have to simply let go of my anger. In front of true might, such things are meaningless."
"But the young lord will need to be informed sooner or later. We won't be able to keep him cooped up here in the castle forever."
"… Yes. I have made my decision. I will successfully pass down the Five Elephant Palm to Kai before telling him about Lucy. And only if he seems to be in a stable mental state will I allow him to venture into the world and gain experience. My Barony title has no way of improving any further. In fact, if I don't participate in the next war with the Kingdom of Light, I will lose the nobility altogether. Instead of keeping him here, I'd rather let him explore the world once he is strong enough to defend himself." The Baron muttered to himself as a resolute expression crossed his face.
Seeing this expression, the butler simply took a step backwards and remained silent.
…
Kai spent the next year focusing on training his body. His originally frail body had become considerably better. However, it was still nowhere near to the level of the heavy armoured cavalry. Those guys would go to battle carrying at least 40kgs worth of armour, plus their weapons and shield.
In contrast, Kai could barely carry around the 2.5kg weights. From this initial struggle, after a year's worth of training, Kai could now easily lift 5kg weights in each hand during exercise sessions which would now last for almost half the day, split into two sessions; one in the morning and one in the night.
"Young Lord. Are you off to the market once more?" Rachel asked as she was dusting Kai's room when she saw him barging out of the bathroom fully dressed and already wearing the fur coat meant for the winter weather.
"Yeah! Bob is here again. Of course, I have to go meet him and his father!"
"Of course. Shall I get Arch to come along with us as usual?"
"That would be great!" Kai said with a beaming smile on his face.
…
In just a few minutes, Arch, the heavy armoured soldier who had rescued him from the assassination attempt and was later stationed as Kai's personal guard, as well as Rachel who was in charge of everything other than protecting Kai, were fully prepared as they got into the carriage prepared for Kai.
He would naturally not be travelling outside the castle since Pops forbade it. Instead, he would be going to the outer wall of the castle, where there were a few residencies for the heavy armoured cavalry and other staff of the castle to live.
Bob and his father were merchants who undertook the task of bringing regular supplies from the town to the castle. Bob had slowly become friends with Kai as they were both of almost the same age. They would come along to the castle once every 2 days, and Kai would always be sure to meet up with him.
The Baron did not have any issues with this since he wanted Kai to make some friends who were of a similar age to himself. Trying to mingle in the aristocratic world for Kai would be like sending a lamb to a den of tigers, and Morgan wanted to keep Kai as far away from those politics as possible.
That was also why he had made the decision not to pass on the Barony to Kai, and instead allow him to explore the vast world on his own after he successfully passed on the Five Elephant Palm to Kai.
"Young Master Kai!" A small tanned child waved his hand as the cold winter breeze rustled through his messy hair.
Kai stepped out of the carriage and rushed up to the horse-cart on which Bob was seated. Bob also followed Kai's actions and jumped off the cart. However, he instead turned around and began rummaging through the items inside.
On the other side of the cart, the normal soldiers in charge of security and regular maintenance of the castle were unloading the goods which were meant for the castle and its inhabitants.
"Bob! What did you bring me this time?" Kai asked eagerly, his crimson eyes sparkling in excitement.
"This!" Bob said as he pulled out a…
"Cabbage?" Kai asked, puzzled at what Bob was getting at.
"Huh? Oh sorry. Hold on a minute." Bob said as he chucked the piece of cabbage back into the wooden cart and jumped in himself in search of the item he brought Kai.
Generally, every time he came here, he would try to bring something new and strange which might be of interest to Kai. And every time, whether it was actually of interest to Kai or not, Kai would purchase the item from Bob for a few copper. This was not a lot, just enough to buy a single meal for an adult, but to Bob, it was indeed a lot. This was why he would always try his best to find something new for Kai.
"Here it is!" Bob exclaimed as he emerged from the cart like a hero returning victorious from the battlefield.