The soldiers' quarters were located in a building in the center of a large open space. Because Griffenstein Castle was a large castle, it had a large number of soldiers.
There were three buildings: the dining hall, the armory, and the soldiers' quarters. There were three buildings next to each other.
The open space was large enough for thousands of men to practice military exercises at once.
Ahar approached the group of men and spoke, then ran to Aldeth.
"I've spoken to the drillmaster," he said, "and I want you to return to your rooms. You know where the room is, right? Good luck."
Ahar spoke briefly to Aldeth and left.
The four men approached Aldeth.
"Greetings. I'm Russo, the drill leader here."
Russo was tall and well-built. He had blond hair and thick, dark eyebrows.
"I've never met you before."
"You'll be training with three of the men here. Say hello to them."
"Hello. I'm Wallo."
"This is Dalbry."
"This is Vaivo."
"Yes. I'm Aldes."
Aldes struggled to remember names as he was introduced to four people at once.
"How long did you train in swordsmanship back home?"
Drill Leader Russo asked.
"Ever since I was a child, I've been training."
Aldes recognized Russo's tone and appearance as warlike.
"Well, then. You've got the basics. Let's warm up."
Aldes watched the men warm up and mimicked them.
"Now that we're warmed up, let's start training. Walo. You will duel Aldeth."
"Yes."
Wallo handed Aldeth the leather armor and wooden sword he had brought with him.
Wallo and Aldeth put on the leather armor.
Wallo walked away from the group. Aldeth went with him.
Wallo was taller than Aldeth. Aldeth was still a boy, and Wallo was a man.
"Go."
Russo, the drill leader, called out.
Aldes decided to let Wallo attack first. He was curious to see how good House Gerho's guard was.
Wallo slashed his wooden sword from top to bottom, keeping his distance just long enough for the tip to touch Aldeth.
Aldeth brought his wooden sword up, parrying Wallo's attack.
It was easy to parry, as the tip of the wooden sword only touched him.
Wallo used his long arms to keep his distance and attack.
Aldeth parried all of his attacks.
Aldeth had the opportunity to attack the moment he parried Wallo's attack, but he didn't.
Aldeth could see the gap.
"Wallo, you can't swing a wooden sword from that far away with any power, and Aldeth, why are you blocking? You had plenty of chances to attack."
Aldes felt that playing defense too openly was giving Russo the advantage. He decided to attack a little.
Wallo closed the distance a bit more and attacked, slashing his wooden sword diagonally from above.
Aldes parried with his wooden sword in the direction of Wallo's diagonal attack and stabbed him in the abdomen.
Wallo's mind was on his attack, but Aldeth's quick counterattack caught him in the abdomen.
The blow hit Wallo harder than he expected, and he let out a yelp and fell to the ground.
Aldes said he was controlling the force, but it must have been harder than he thought.
It wasn't easy to attack with a weak power control.
"What the hell. Wolo. A boy younger and smaller than you. You're going down from a single blow?"
I ducked my head at Rousseau's jab.
"D'Albri, you do it this time. Get ready."
"Yes."
Dalbry stood before Aldeth, clad in leather armor and holding a wooden sword.
Dalbry was shorter than Walo, but taller than Aldeth, who was the boy's age.
For once, Aldeth thought, he would control his strength and not let his opponent fall.
D'Albri and Aldes exchanged attacks and defenses.
Aldes had slowed down his speed and strength enough for D'Albri to catch him.
This time, Aldeth's control of his power was just right, and they traded blows for more than ten.
"Enough."
Russo, the drill captain, shouted.
"This is weird.... Bai Bo, what do you think of this fight?"
Baibo was short and plump.
"I think the duel between Dalbry and Aldes is a bit strange."
"Why is that?"
"Walo's swordsmanship is superior to Dalbry's. In the first duel between Walo and Aldes, Walo was knocked down by Aldes' blow, but in the second duel between Dalbry and Aldes, they were evenly matched. That's strange."
"Hmm. Vaivo watched well. He parried all of his stronger opponents' attacks, knocked them out with a single blow, and yet he's stuck against someone weaker than him. Aldes, are you kidding us?"
Aldeth had always given it his all in his sword training in Ranefels. But here, in Castle Gryffenstein, for the first time in his life, he was not at full strength, and when he tried to ease off, he made a mistake.
"I was fighting with all my strength. Strong and weak is relative, and I actually found Dalbry's attacks harder to parry than Wallo's. That's because Wallo used his long arms to keep his distance and attack, while Dalbry closed the distance and attacked quickly."
Aldeth had to hide the fact that he was watching and dueling. He rambles on.
"Strong and weak can vary depending on the opponent, you're not wrong. So, Aldes, duel me this time."
The duel between Drillmaster Russo and Aldes began.
Russo's attack lived up to his name. Aldes was unable to parry. Aldes' shoulders, neck, and thighs were beginning to bruise.
Aldes knew that if he was hit, he would be suspicious, so he took advantage of the opportunity and struck Russo's shoulder once.
Rousseau had won, at least on the surface.
Rousseau didn't know what was real about Aldes's swordsmanship. The more he looked, the more he couldn't tell.
He seemed to be hiding his skill, but he also seemed weak.
Rousseau was confident in his own swordsmanship. Rousseau was confident in his own swordsmanship.
'Then so be it. If the boy's swordsmanship is strong, how strong can he be?
Rousseau concluded.
After today's three wooden sword battles, Aldes had learned how to disguise his skills.
"That's it for today. You've been training hard in your hometown, Aldes, and you've done well for a boy. Tell me, Aldes, what you think of your training today."
"I saw how hard the soldiers train, and how good your swordsmanship is. I've gotten a good idea.
I've been training hard in swordsmanship since I was a child, and I thought I was strong, but after training at Castle Griffenstein, I realized I was a frog in a barrel of horse food. From now on, I'll do my best to learn from you and your men."
Aldeth's life at Gryffenstein Castle had gotten the better of him, and the buttery words slipped out of his mouth without thinking.
"Aldes, your swordsmanship is still lacking, but you speak well!"
Rousseau had expected Aldes to be arrogant because of his noble birth, but his demeanor and words showed nothing of the sort.
Walo hadn't forgotten Aldes' fierce wooden sword attack on his stomach today. It had been a moment, but it had been no ordinary attack; it had taken his breath away, and it had felt like his stomach had been pierced.
Walo thought Aldeth was trying to hide his skill.
Aldes finished training and returned to his room. There was a bath running in the room.
"You must have worked up a sweat training today, Aldeth, take a bath."
Ahar said.
In Arenberg Castle, baths were only taken a few times a year. It felt nice to have a bath prepared for him to wash off the sweat from his training.
Aldes bathed and ate dinner.
Aldes ate dinner and sat at the table, reading the book Aris had given him.
He heard something on the window sill. Aldes quickly looked at the window, hoping it was the aroma pigeon.
Sure enough, it was the aroma pigeon he had been waiting for. It was a small, blue aroma pigeon. It was sitting on the window sill and had a piece of paper tied around its ankle.
Aldes walked over to it. The aroma pigeon squawked and cried in a small voice when it saw Aldes.
Aldes untied the paper from its feet.
Aldeth opened the door slightly to see if anyone was outside. There was no one.
Aldeth unfolded the paper. It was in the familiar handwriting of a bachelor, Wintry.
Aldeth sat down in his chair and read the letter.
"Dear Aldes, I hope this letter reaches you safely.
Castle Arenberg is doing well, having survived a financial crisis thanks to you. The people of House Boldo and our vassals are very worried about how Aldes will fare at Castle Griffenstein.
The lord says he doesn't know when Aldeth will return to Arenberg Castle.
Heaven help us. We can only hope that Aldeth will return to Arenberg Castle soon.
Now that Aldeth is gone, the lord has decided that you are the next best thing.
So you've been training to be his successor.
I'm sure Aldeth will be sad to hear this, but we don't know when he'll return, and we can't wait forever for him, and we need to have a successor in case something happens and he's unable to fulfill his duties.
I hope you understand this, Aldeth.
I have taught you since you were a child in Castle Arenberech, and I thought I would spend the rest of my life by your side, teaching, learning, and advising you, but that is not the case, and I am deeply saddened.
Aldeth's room has been left untouched. The bed, the table, the bathroom, none of it has been touched.
I just keep it clean and tidy.
I'm worried that Aldeth is living under the thumb of the Gerjos.
We all look forward to hearing from you, Aldeth.
'From Wintry '
It had been so long since she had left Arenberg Castle that Wintry's handwriting seemed to smell of it.
Finally, Aldeth wiped away the tears.
Aldeth picked up a feather quill to write a reply, first to be sent by aroma pigeon.
"I received your letter safely, and you need not worry about me. House Gerho treats me better than I expected.
I don't work here like I did at Arenberg Castle - I don't go to the farm, I don't roam the forest to hunt, but I can't leave the castle at will.
I have a routine, so I can't sleep in. I share my education with the children of House Gerho, and a bachelor named Aris treats me well.
I also train in swordsmanship to keep fit.
Now that I'm gone, my brother should be my successor, because we don't know when I'll be able to return to Arenberg Castle.
I wonder how everyone is doing.
I miss the songs we used to sing while picking olives in the olive groves.
There's a place called Waleibach, southeast of Zirnewald, where the orcs have been causing trouble.
The people there have suffered quite a bit, and I think they're planning to organize a raiding party to fight the orcs.
Am I supposed to side with the orcs?
Don't worry about me. I bathe often here, and I eat a lot of food, things I never had in Arenberg Castle.
And I'll be sending you a separate letter through post letter, which will arrive later than the Aroma Dove.
The post letter is deliberately written to conceal the exchange of correspondence via the Aroma Dove, so you know that.
From Aldes .'