"Who was Gerhard again?"
"He's that guy, the one who lives in a corner of the Gidol province."
"And where exactly is the Gidol province?"
"It's at the westernmost part of the empire… ah, what's the point? It isn't like we'll ever need to go to such a rural area."
Two children giggled mockingly as they gossiped about the new arrival. These two were Cyan and Ciel, fraternal twins born to the second wife of the main house.
Though their mother was the second wife, it was no secret that the Patriarch favored her over the official first wife. Such circumstances made these two thirteen-year-old children prideful enough to hold their noses so high in the air that they pointed straight at the sky.
"That bastard's name is…?" Cyan trailed off.
"I heard it's Eugene and that he's the same age as us," Ciel said.
"So what? It's not like we're going to be friends just because our ages are similar," Cyan declared arrogantly while giggling.
Looking at the annex in the distance, he continued speaking, "I heard that this is his first time in the capital. Gordon told me earlier that he couldn't take his eyes off the window the whole time he was in the carriage. Well, it's understandable. He comes from a nowhere location like the Gidol province, after all. Does that place have anything to see other than forests and fields?" Cyan asked his sister.
"How should I know, I've never been there before either, but that's probably the case since it's out in the country. Did you hear if he got motion sickness from the warp gate?" Ciel asked in return.
"I heard that he had a nauseous expression on his face."
"So it looks like he didn't end up vomiting. Ah, how disappointing. If he had ended up vomiting, I was thinking of making him clean the carriage," Ciel said with a mischievous smile.
At this prankish reply from his sister, who was younger than him by a few seconds, Cyan clicked his tongue and shook his finger at her.
"Idiot. If you want to order him to clean the carriage, he doesn't need to have thrown up."
"What are you saying?" Ciel asked.
"Since that brat came here from the countryside, then his body must reek of cow dung. In my opinion, he's probably lifted more pitchforks in his entire life than wooden swords," said Cyan scornfully.
"Aha!" Ciel exclaimed in enlightenment.
"Since he rode in the carriage for a few days, the smell of cow dung clinging to his body must have rubbed off onto the carriage as well," Cyan elaborated.
"Ugh, how nasty," Ciel said, her face twisting into a disgusted expression as she stuck out her tongue.
However, her disgust was isolated to her expression, as her eyes were instead filled with mischievous playfulness.
"The carriage he rode in is our family's property. No matter what our relationship, if the carriage was dirtied because of him, then he should be held accountable, right?" Cyan asked.
"Yep, that's right," Ciel agreed.
"I just so happened to hear that as soon as that brat arrived at the annex, he went straight to the gym and started swinging a wooden sword," Cyan said.
"What a show-off," Ciel burst into laughter.
The twins, who had been born on the same day, had always gotten along well.
"Well, it is his first time in the capital, and he's also arrived at the main estate. That's probably why he's putting on such a pretense," Cyan sneered.
"Putting on a pretense? Just say it like it is, brother. He's trying to show off."
Ciel kept on laughing as she slapped her brother's arm in amusement. However, in contrast, Cyan put on a stern look and straightened his back.
"Speaking of this stupid relative of ours, it seems that he must have come to the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony with high expectations of himself. It looks like he wasn't properly educated by his father."
"Yep, yep," Ciel agreed with her brother.
"First, he ruins the carriage by getting his smell everywhere, and now he's trying to show off to the adults by pretending to be training, how cheeky of him," Cyan said.
"Looks like he needs to be punished," said Ciel.
"Hey now, punishment is going a bit too far. Why don't we just remind him about things he should and shouldn't do? It's for his own good. After all, we wouldn't want him to get scolded by the grown-ups later."
"You're too nice, brother." Ciel gave her full agreement with a grin despite knowing her brother's true intentions. These young twins had long since learned that sneaky pranks like this were much more fun than outright bullying.
"Let's go!" Cyan led the way with a forceful cry.
Ciel skipped along behind him before turning her head as she felt a gaze observing her from afar. The twins had been practicing mana since their childhood and could sense even intangible things like gazes.
Within the majestic and splendid mansion, a young man stood in a window on the third floor. After exchanging looks with Ciel, he leaned back and pulled the curtains shut. Ciel smiled bashfully at this sight and stuck out her tongue.
* * *
Until the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony, children of collateral lines weren't allowed to wield sharpened weapons.
While Eugene had absolutely no respect for such a ridiculous tradition, his father Gerhard would never dare to ignore a Lionheart family tradition. There were too many eyes in their mansion to keep it a secret from the main family.
'It's too light.'
Eugene's brow furrowed as he looked down at the wooden sword. He had wielded a wooden sword with an iron core ever since he was seven, and at the age of twelve, he had begun practicing his swings with an iron bar that barely resembled a wooden sword. It might be covered with a thin layer of wood, but the 'wooden sword' that Eugene had been wielding for over a year now was heavy enough to crush bones with a casual swing.
However, it wasn't a sharpened weapon, so that was alright. Even if a greater amount of iron had been added to increase the weight, and it had grown to a size that few could even lift, it was still just a wooden sword.
To perfectly control his body, Eugene had been training every single day, not wasting even a day lying around.
Since he'd gotten a second chance through reincarnation, he had to make the most of his new life. But funnily, it wasn't his reason for working this hard.
Eugene had been like this from the very beginning. Even when he'd been traveling with Vermouth and his other companions, he never missed a chance to train unless it was unavoidable.
'Despite that, that fucker still had the nerve to say that I wasn't working hard enough.'
Vermouth, that disgusting bastard; Eugene ground his teeth as he recalled that guy's dreary gaze.
Eugene had come to realize that he was pushing his body far harder than he had in his previous life. Each time he pushed himself physically, it felt like his body was breaking through its previously imagined limits.
He still couldn't be sure whether the body he had been born with as Vermouth's descendant was superior to Vermouth's own. However, it was clear that this body was far superior to that of 'Stupid Hamel's.' He hadn't even begun to dabble with mana. So, as a thirteen-year-old with a body that still wasn't fully grown, did it really make sense that he was able to wield such a heavy piece of iron?
"Don't you have any wooden swords that are heavier than this? It would be good if they were a bit bigger as well," Eugene asked.
It felt like he had already swung it hundreds of times, but he was barely sweating. Eugene frowned and turned his head towards Nina.
"Also, I told you to stay in the shade over there. Why are you standing out here in the sunlight?"
"I-I'm fine," Nina replied.
"As if you can be fine when you're sweating like that. Stop being so stubborn and go sit in the shade. No, hold on. Before that, do you have any other wooden swords?"
Even as Nina was sweating profusely, she had a perplexed look on her face. The person in front of her was a thirteen-year-old child from a collateral line. Still, as a junior servant of the main family, he wasn't someone that she could disregard. Although it might only be temporary, she had been assigned as his personal attendant, so it was impossible for her to rest in the shade while her master was training.
"The wooden swords are… the gymnasium's storeroom should have all the ones available. Any other wooden swords would probably be in the main gymnasium…."
"Can you get some here?"
"That's… I… I'm afraid that I can't be the judge of that. If you wish, I could go and ask, but…."
"If that's the case, then it's fine. You don't need to go."
Eugene shook his head without any reluctance. He had heard from her earlier that Nina was only sixteen. She had only just gotten her apprenticeship qualifications, so he didn't want to make things difficult for her by making unreasonable demands.
'This is just too blatant.'
Eugene suppressed a grin as he put down the wooden sword. Why did they assign him a maid who was fresh out of her apprenticeship? Wasn't it obvious? If he were to take his frustrations out on her when the clumsy attendant made a mistake or caused disrespect, he'd be setting himself up to be punished instead.
'I don't know whose idea this was, but they sure are underhanded.'
If he were to keep swinging this wooden sword, he wouldn't even be able to warm up. Casually swinging his arms, Eugene headed over to the storeroom. This caused Nina to immediately try and catch up to him.
"Master Eugene, if there's anything you need, please instruct me instead."
"If it were anything else, then maybe, but if I'm going to use it to train, then I need to pick it myself. What would be the point if I told you to fetch something, but it didn't suit me? Should I just waste both our time by sending you over repeatedly until you get something I can use? Instead, if I fetch it myself, then it'll be over in a snap."
The warehouse showed that it hadn't seen regular use in a while because everything was covered in dust. Nina felt a cold sweat break out on her back as she saw the dust billowing in the wind. In fact, she had wanted to clean up this place for a few days now, but the maid in charge of the annex had rebuked her, saying it wasn't necessary, so it had been left like this.
"M-my apologies," Nina said.
"What for?" Eugene didn't pay any attention to Nina bowing her head in apology behind him. He wandered through the dust until he found what he had been looking for — sandbags that could be worn on the body. He also found something useful on a shelf.
It was a chainmail vest that hadn't been properly greased and left covered in dust. Although it was much bigger than Eugene's torso, he liked the hefty weight he felt when he tried it on. After that, Eugene pulled out a large spear longer than his height.
"...Um…Is there anything I can help you with…?" Nina asked.
"Try stepping on this," Eugene said as he gestured at the spear that he had just pulled out and placed on the floor.
Following his order, Nina stepped onto the spear. This kept it from rolling around, allowing Eugene to tie sandbags onto the spear.
Nina watched on with an overwhelmed look in her eyes. Eugene was currently wearing a large chainmail vest several sizes too big and sandbags hanging from each arm. But on top of that, even more sandbags were being hung onto the spear.
'There's no way.'
Just from the looks of it, the spear alone had to be double Eugene's own weight. However, Eugene waved her off with a satisfied expression.
"You can move now."
"Y-Yes.
Eugene bent his knees and lifted the spear with both hands. Although he clenched his teeth for a moment at its dizzying weight, the way his muscles tensed and bones trembled filled him with joy.
"Get back… No, even further… Just keep going until you reach the shade!" Eugene instructed.
"Y-yes!" Startled, Nina stepped backward.
After checking that Nina wasn't in the way, Eugene swung the spear in a wide arc.
Whoosh!
The spear was heavier than him, but because he had placed even more weight on himself, he didn't get dragged around by it. This was the secondary purpose of putting on the vest and hanging sandbags onto himself.
While taking heavy steps, Eugene kept swinging the spear fiercely. Each time he swung, it felt like his arms were going to be pulled out of their sockets, and his waist, which controlled the rotation, screamed in pain. At this sight, Nina covered her mouth with a gasp. She felt that this exercise might cause a catastrophe beyond the means of recovery for such a young body.
However, even as it seemed like Eugene would collapse at any moment, he stayed standing. Whenever his body seemed like it would falter, he instead swung the spear even faster. Then Eugene would force himself to arrest the increased momentum of the swing and immediately transition into a stabbing motion.
Pop!
He felt the calluses on both hands tear apart. This pain! He couldn't help but feel grateful that he wasn't wearing any gloves, as otherwise, he wouldn't be able to feel this pain.
Eugene continued to swing the spear, giggling from pure joy. He compensated for his blood-soaked hands slipping on the spear shaft by holding on with even greater force. His eyes had turned red and bloodshot, and he was breathing rapidly from exerting too much strength.
"Hey."
As Nina looked at this scene in awe, she was startled by a voice coming from beside her.
"What is that bastard doing?"
It was Cyan and Ciel. The evil twins had caused countless maids to soak their pillowcases with tears. The two had crept right next to her, and their eyes were twinkling with curiosity.
"Y-young master, young lady, what brings you here…?"
"I asked you what that bastard was doing," Cyan spat out with furrowed brows.
He was displeased by the fact that this nameless servant hadn't immediately answered his question. Under the usual circumstances, he would have torn into her so thoroughly that she would never dare make that mistake again. But currently, he was far more curious about what the villager was doing.
"Can't you tell just by looking?"
This reply didn't come from Nina. Taking a deep breath, Eugene stopped and lowered the spear onto the ground.
"Do you know what this is?" Eugene asked as he kicked the spear.
What was this bastard thinking? Cyan didn't answer immediately and instead narrowed his eyes, but Ciel, standing beside him, grinned and answered.
"You idiot, it's a spear, of course. Don't you even know that?"
"That's right, it's a spear," Eugene said.
"So what?" Ciel asked.
"Since you know it's a spear, don't you know what swinging a spear is?" said Eugene.
"I do know!"
"Then why were you asking her what I was doing?"
"I wasn't the one who asked that. It was my brother who asked."
"Then why don't you try and explain to that stupid brother of yours. Tell him, 'that bastard is swinging a spear,'" Eugene said.
Ciel's eyes widened into circles at this insult.
In contrast, Cyan's eyes became even thinner.
"Stupid? Me?"
"Seeing as how you didn't know what was going on when you were looking right at it, you don't seem all that smart."
"Brother, that bumpkin is calling you an idiot."
Ciel giggled and poked Cyan in the side. Rather than being enraged like her brother, she instinctively knew that she could make the situation more interesting by arousing her brother's anger in this way.
This weak goading from his younger-by-few-seconds sibling was enough to make Cyan cry out, "You dare!"