"The idiot of ... still won't let go of the money," he said with a smile while looking down at me. I don't remember who they are, but they're surrounding me, making it difficult for me to escape this situation.
"Come on, we're running out of time; give it to us quickly," said the guy on my left.
There are three in total; they all look too tall, but I can't distinguish who they are; their images are fading more and more, making them somewhat blurry.
"Please, I have nothing; I already gave you everything last time," that voice was similar to mine, but I haven't moved my lips to say anything.
Searching for the source of that voice, I can see someone lying on the ground surrounded by three figures; I was watching myself beg on the ground, hurt and in tears. That image was painful to see.
"Fine," was the only thing one of them said before putting a hand on the shoulder of the crying boy, helping him to stand, but an instant later, they beat him mercilessly.
I felt every blow as if it were my own; after all, it was me who was receiving that beating. Unable to bear this situation any longer, I lunged at them to make them stop and...
I woke up with a start; I don't remember what I dreamed, but my heart was racing. I tried to calm myself as quickly as I could, but I still felt that unease.
"Hero, I have come to find you," a voice called from outside the door of my room.
With the feeling of unease still present, I prepared to go out and see the person calling me. Upon opening the door, I could see a soldier, though he didn't look as old as the commander; he seemed a bit older than me.
"Where are we going?" I asked the soldier in front of me.
"Commander Sergej has instructed me to assist you with your training today," he said while maintaining a firm posture in front of me.
"Alright." After those words, he quickly headed towards the training area, which had been brutally attacked by Sergej the day before.
"Finally, you've arrived!" I could see the old commander shouting in my direction.
Once positioned in the center of the area, the commander approached both of us and handed each of us a wooden sword. He stepped back a few paces and then began instructing us on how to move.
Every time our swords clashed, the feeling of discomfort with which I had woken up overwhelmed me; I didn't know why, but as time passed, I could tolerate it less and less. Until my exhausted self from this training took a direct hit, but it didn't feel the same as the ones I had received the day before. With all my strength, I countered against the young soldier in front of me, the impact was such that his arm seemed to have broken at the spot where my sword struck.
"Arrgh!" A loud groan escaped the soldier.
"Stop right now!" The commander's strong voice echoed throughout the place, but that didn't matter.
Forgetting the feeling I had woken up with, I struck the sword against the soldier, who was barely standing in front of me.
"I told you to stop!" Sergej shouted as he advanced toward me, nearly charging at me.
"I just did the same thing we did yesterday."
"We will continue in the afternoon, so get ready, boy; I won't be as lenient as yesterday!" he shouted, as always, before turning to help the dying soldier.
With nothing else to do here, I decided to take a walk around the castle grounds. There I found myself in front of the entrance to the garden where I had spent some time before meeting the king.
In the center of the garden stood a statue of a man that was quite broken. In front of it was a beautiful young woman accompanied by a maid. The young woman waved at me to come closer.
Since I didn't have much to do, I decided to approach the young woman and her maid. Once I was by her side, I realized that this maid was the one who helped me yesterday.
"Sir," the maid said nervously, bowing.
"So you are..." the young woman said, looking at me analytically.
"I am Eden."
"I knew it," she said with a small smile.
"Do you need anything from me?" I asked the young woman.
"Keep me company for a while."
"Alright."
"How are you doing with Commander Sergej's training? I heard it was tough yesterday," she mentioned while glancing at her maid.
"I... I'm sorry," said the maid, bowing her head repeatedly in apology.
"Well, it was a tough day, but it was because all of this caught me off guard, and that's why I couldn't give my all."
"Do you think you would do better now?"
"Yes."
"I trust that will be true," she said, showing me a small smile.
"Can I know your name?" I asked the young woman in front of me.
"I am Siel, the princess of this kingdom."
"So, the princess."
"Tell me, Eden, have you learned anything about this world?"
"All I know is that I must defeat a demon king."
"The demon king is a threat that, no matter how many years pass, never disappears," she said, worried, looking at the statue.
"Who is he?"
"He is the first hero who was summoned; he saved the world when the demonic army was about to exterminate us. He defeated all he could and freed the humans who had been enslaved."
"So, he was summoned like me."
"Yes, although no one remembers his name anymore; only battered memories remain from time."
"No one will forget me; after all, I am the best hero that was never summoned," I said with the confidence I gained in training.
"Let's hope that is true," she said with a soft laugh, moving closer to me. "It was a pleasure to meet you, hero, but I must take my leave now."
"Ah... goodbye, hero," said the maid as she walked away with Siel.
After this encounter with the young princess, I continued exploring, but I didn't find anything that caught my attention.
Time passed, and it was already time to return to where Sergej was waiting for me to train.
"Get ready!" he shouted in my direction, as he always did.
"Alright," this time we weren't going to use wooden swords; they were iron swords, but they had no blades.
He took the initiative to attack me first; the metallic sound of the swords clashing showed the anger that the commander felt for what had happened in the previous training. His blows were fluid and heavy; it was hard for me to block them, but I could keep up with him.
"Damn kid!" Sergej shouted, giving me a strong hit on my left arm.
I still couldn't find the rhythm to stay in the fight, so I decided to stop protecting myself so much and throw as many punches as I could. My hits seemed to carry much more weight than the ones I delivered yesterday; Sergej's groans of pain grew louder with each blow he received, but I was suffering more and more trying to keep up with the aggressive pace we had.
Exhausted, neither of us could continue throwing punches; injured and bleeding, neither of us let go of the training swords; we could only remain alert to each other's movements and respond; that was the only thing we could do.
"Are you alright?" I heard the princess's maid shout.
I heard a small crack coming from Sergej.
"Take him to his room," Sergej said to the maid.
This time I managed to stay on my feet; the maid helped me to my room. There was some food, which I finished, and exhausted, I went to sleep.