He was relaxed, unlike Elise on top of her horse with shackles on her hands. The Traveler was in a wheeled cage with a wooden floor and ceiling, and a metal fence around it. It was made for transporting medium-sized monsters, the ones who arrested them had bought it from a merchant in the town. He was lying in there without care since they set out, under the disapproving looks of the Investigation Bureau officers. There was a total of fifteen of them; four in the front, four in the back, and five of them had spread around the cage and Elise. All were on top of their horses, except their captain who was driving the cage. He had already sent one of them ahead to inform their arrival.
They had lent a horse to Elise because she was still a noble, but she was under tight control. Two of the officers were at her sides all the time and her horse was tied to theirs. She could jump down and try to run for it. It would be a good opportunity for her to try out her current condition against the horses. Not like she would try to run, they were already halfway through the way, but there was no harm in thinking about it.
The past two weeks were fast. Summer was about to end, the sun was still burning in the daytime but the nights were getting chilly. They were using the fastest route, and only stopping when it was necessary. Northern Region's mountains and forest roads were a bit harsh but they had finally reached the main road.
After that, it was mostly the green moors of the inner lands. The road was filled with merchants and adventurers who were headed in the opposite direction. Every one of them was looking at the cage the Traveler was lying in. Thanks to him, no one was paying any attention to Elise. She was not expecting anyone to recognize her but there was always a possibility, like that Landa boy she rescued in Malargo forest.
Even though they were arrested, the Investigation Bureau members treated them well. They treated Elise well at least. They took her equipment but offered her warm food and let her sleep around their campfire. But they never let the Traveler out of his cage. They didn't let them speak with each other for more than a few sentences. Their longest conversation was on the second day of their arrest.
It was a cold morning in the forest. Their group was already on the road with the sunrise. Elise had not closed her eyes the whole night. She was still disturbed by the fact that they were arrested. She knew the Traveler was also awake, she had never seen him asleep before, but couldn't dare to speak with him in case of any misunderstanding. He must have also thought to same thing.
"Is something bothering you?" The Traveler had asked when they got on their way. He didn't even open his eyes to look at her. He was still lying on his back, hands behind his head and legs crossed.
"I don't know if you noticed or not but, we are arrested!" How could he be this carefree?
"Come on! It's not that bad. Not like we are sentenced to death or something," he opened his eyes and looked at one of the officers at his side "Right?"
The officer didn't meet his eyes but answered after a brief moment. "You are accused of insulting the Royal Family so, you will be taken to the Royal Court and receive punishment as they see fit."
"See!"
Elise had a visible irritation on her face, but he didn't stop there. Of course, he had to drag it out.
"I thought your back story was something like a family drama, so I let you keep it to yourself. But dumping the 'Heir of the Kingdom' right after the engagement... I was not expecting that." He laughed as hard as he could and drew some angry glances from their accompany. Ever since they got caught, he has been laughing about this topic occasionally.
"That is enough!" The captain of the Investigation Bureau hit the fence of the cage with his fist. "I will not tolerate any more insults towards the Royal Family. Keep your mouth shut or I will have to execute your punishment myself before we arrive at the court."
"Okay, okay," he said but it was obvious he was trying to hold himself. "That aside, let's both use this free time to our advantage. How about a thousand reps a day for each this time, with Energy of course."
"A tho... what!? How am I supposed to do that in this situation?" Was he out of his mind... again?
"You have mornings, noon breaks, and before sleep. You have plenty of time." He seemed he had already set his mind. Elise knew there was no escape. She wanted to complain, but that was not the time for it.
"So, how will you spend your time to your advantage?" Elise asked while grinding her teeth.
"I will lay down and rest, of course." He lay on his back and rested his head on his hands. That was the last drop.
"YOU..."
"DIDN'T I SAY ENOUGH!?" Their captain had raised his voice again.
After that, they didn't talk much for the two weeks they traveled, but she did what he said. At first, a thousand reps a day were looking doable. She had no equipment on her, only her gambeson and leather pants. The gravity was nothing compared to the other realm.
The first hundred went fast, but when she got close to the two-hundreds her whole body started to burn from inside. She had never used Energy this frequently before. She used bursts of Energy to boost her movements and tried to finish every battle as fast as possible. Now she realized none of her battles lasted longer than a hundred reps. Maybe that was the whole purpose of her training. To set her body up for continuous usage of Energy.
At noon she started burning after a hundred, and at night she couldn't even reach a hundred. It was embarrassing, especially while all the Bureau officers were around. She saw some of their disapproving glances, 'a Lady shouldn't be doing these kinds of things' they were saying with those looks. But the most disturbing thing was the fact that she felt inadequate. She thought she had improved a lot, but apparently, it was not enough.
After the past two weeks of traveling and training, she managed to reach six hundred reps at the end of the day. Which was way below and way harder than what she expected. She still had a long way to go, and only ten days left to work with. After all that humiliation, she was not going to give in. It was not about her self-esteem, and definitely not about the approval of the Traveler. She needed to show everyone how strong she had become since she left. That was the whole point of her going back home. To convince her father and to shove it on her mother's face.
Going back home was triggering all kinds of memories. The loving smile and kind eyes on his father's dignified face; and the disapproving looks of his beautiful mother's cold eyes. The relaxing training sessions with the house guards and their captain, her master; and the distant looks of gossiping housemaids, laughing after her every move.
She shook her head and tried to focus on the road. It was empty, it had been a couple of hours since they last saw another group. Her eyes wandered on the Traveler in his cage and that made her think about her training. While she was at it the past two weeks, she sometimes questioned the routine. Why was she doing these moves? Even though he could be a bit annoying sometimes, there was no denying it. The Traveler's methods were working, that is why she never questioned and did what he said. But what exactly was behind her extraordinary growth? So, she decided to ask this time.
They camped on top of a hill next to the main road. The area around them was filled with grassland hills. Their camp location made sure they could see anyone getting close. When it was time to do her training, she went next to the cage and asked the Traveler.
"What is the point of this training exactly?" When she got close, the guards who were stationed there tensed up and started to watch them closely. "Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining or anything, it works really well for me. But I just realized I never asked the reason for these specific moves."
The Traveler got up to sit and crawl on his buttocks to come close to the iron bars of the fence. He doesn't seem to be disturbed about the guards next to them. "The main goal is to ready your body for the difficulties of 'Traveling'. I needed to find the fastest way that would suit you at the same time."
"You're a sword fighter, right? And an agile one at that. So, you need speed, mobility, and strength. The push-ups are for the upper body strength, to let you swing your sword with more power. The squats are for your leg strength, to let you run and dodge as long and fast as possible. Also, a sword's strength comes from the legs too, not with only your arms and chest. Am I right, Luisey?" He turned towards one of the guards. He didn't answer.
"Lastly, the crunches are for the lower body, the place where your body does all kinds of rotational movements. Again; speed, mobility, and strength. These attributes are essential for not only a sword fighter but anyone who goes against physical hardships."
He finished his lecture with a wide smile on his face. Once again, Elise was impressed by this mysterious man's knowledge. Does he know everything about the human body? Maybe she should ask for some lessons about the thing he called 'anatomy'. But should she really do those things a thousand times every day? The continuous Energy use was burning her from the inside. If she stopped using it her muscles were giving up instantly.
The Traveler continued like he heard her thoughts. "You already have some basic sword skills. I wanted you to focus on continuous muscle and Energy usage. Your body is still unrefined, you need to get used to hard work and temper your body with Energy."
He looked to his right. "And I think you will get to practice it sooner than you think." Elise followed his gaze and looked to her left. There was nothing at first, then a man on his horse showed up on top of the closest hill in that direction. He had a crude half-armor on his muscular body and a helm that covered his face. More people followed him after. They were on foot and had one or two pieces of armor part on some rags. Almost everything about them was screaming like bandits. She looked at the closest officer to warn but it was not necessary. The officer on watch was already alert.
"BANDITS!"