A man with dark brown hair and a full beard walked onto the practice grounds. His eyes scanned through all the kids, but Chloe's voice rang out almost immediately.
"Dad, dad! Did you see Nate--mmph...!"
Before she could continue any further, Nate rushed over and blocked his sister's mouth with his hands. "Shhh!"
Hushing her, he then leant down and whispered in her ear, "It was supposed to be a surprise for when I've mastered it...!"
His face flushed red, Nate withdrew his hand after a couple seconds, immediately flicking his gaze to his father, Abe, who smirked in amusement.
"Hahaha, Nate, was this your doing? ...Mmm, yeah, I'll have to call up Mason soon."
The dummy was rendered obsolete, and thus after deciding he would have to notify Mason―the village's primary tailor―to make a new one for them later on, Abe pushed the matter to the back of his mind and turned to the kids with a smirk.
"You kids interested in swordsmanship?"
"Yes...!"
Without a shred of hesitation, Ray ardently confirmed it―his previous speechlessness nowhere to be seen. A moment later, "Yeah!" Alex followed with the same answer.
"Haha, that so? Ray, your father would cry tears of joy at that enthusiasm. Say, do you kids want to have a look around the Village Guard Watchposts?"
A look around the watchposts; meaning, they would be able to see with their own eyes how the Village Guard does things?
The same Village Guard who so valiantly defend the entire Pine Village from external threats?
They would be able to catch a glimpse of their admirable actions with their own eyes?
""Yeah!!""
―Of course, they would never turn down such a precious opportunity.
"Hahaha! Well then? Let us not dilly-dally."
As they walked in a particular direction, he began the tour.
"Of course, you've already seen the first part―the practice grounds, located closest to the village itself for the safety of the Guard members; we can't have ourselves being too vulnerable in a place that could become dangerous at a moment's notice, after all."
If the village ever came under attack, the members of the Village Guard in the midst of practice would be critically susceptible to the appearance of an unexpected enemy if the practice grounds were located outside the walls.
What use are the fighters going to be if they're all exhausted and covered in sweat from training, after all?
For that reason, the practice grounds are inside the village. Additionally, their relative closeness makes them easier to maintain.
Leading the overzealous boys to the door he first came through, Abe introduced them as he stuck a key in the door's padlock.
"In here, we have the weapons storage rooms. There's a few of these storage rooms around the village perimeter, and other than the practice grounds, they're the innermost property of the Village Guard. This way, we can ensure that all the equipment we use is far from the hands of anyone who might pose a threat to the village, both internally and externally."
Naturally, the reinforced doors were all secured with locks to stop anyone from just waltzing in, and there were always one or two members of the Guard on lookout around the storage rooms during all times of day.
Today, that was Abe's job.
Due to his skills as the Captain of the Village Guard, there was no need for an additional member to stand guard with him, so he was on duty by himself.
If there was one caveat to this high level of security, it would be the fact the storage rooms have no windows.
Because glass is simply not a material the village can so easily get its hands on, the vast majority of windows in the village are simple casement windows―not much more than holes in the wall with small planks of wood you can swing between two positions; open or shut.
If there were those kinds of windows in the storage room, it wouldn't exactly be a challenge for someone to climb through, and that is why they are simply four walls and a roof with flooring.
Kachunk-!
"Have a look-see."
""Ooh...!""
The boys exclaimed the instant Abe unlocked and opened the door with a 'thunk'.
What reflected in their sparkling eyes was a room full of boxes and racks containing various steel weapons and armour pieces.
"Can we use them?! Please!"
"Can we wear the armour!?"
"Hahaha! Well, while I'm pleased by your enthusiasm, I'm afraid these friends aren't mere toys for children to wield. Not like you'd even be able to, though―their weight is not something to be underestimated!"
Abe patted a box of steel swords as he firmly denied their plea, to the disappointment of the two.
"Oh, it's sharp! Sharper than the sword Nate used!"
Bringing the others into the room, Alice commented on the quality of the weapons, to which Nate explained.
"Of course it is. I was using a practice sword; it's supposed to be blunt so as to not cut the opponent during a spar. It should be obvious that a real sword is going to be sharp."
Abe nodded at his son's words.
"That's precisely right. These are weapons; not things to be toyed with or used lightly. For you kids, a plain wooden sword is more than enough at least until you reach your Awakening."
He then took them back outside and walked them to a large gateway with huge wooden doors that appeared more like barricades than anything.
"This is the Eastern Gate, one of the two main gates of the village. The other gate, the Western Gate, is on the other side of the village, so I won't show you it today, but it's identical to this one. I'm sure you've seen them before, anyway."
Needless to say, both of the gates were always closed unless someone was entering or exiting the village.
At one side of the gate, there was a small box-like post with a seat inside.
"This is where we make records of everyone entering and exiting the village. It usually isn't busy there; only on occasions where someone is going on an outing, or days when a passerby like an adventurer or travelling merchants like Mike and Alicia visit."
It was fairly standard stuff, and they typically knew in advance what times the travelling merchants were supposed to arrive at the village, so there wasn't anyone at the post most of the time.
"Alright. Since most of everything else is either outside the gate, that's pretty much all in regards to what's inside the village."
""Awh...!""
Seeing Ray and Alex's exaggerated disappointment, Abe smirked.
"So, do you wanna check out a bit of what's outside?"