Chapter 4: Master-at-Arms

Dinner was served right at 8:00 p.m. By then, every candle and torch in the castle had been lit, illuminating the rooms and corridors without any trouble. Honestly, they had nothing to envy from the electric lights of my old world.

At the great table, surrounded by chairs and silver goblets, only Mother, Alda, and I were seated. No one else.

Gonzalo ate with the rest of the scholars in a separate room, and Sora could only eat once the family members had left the dining hall.

Those were the rules of etiquette, and as much as I wanted to eat with Sora, things could not be changed.

I guess the other chairs are for honored guests.

Today’s menu consisted of wild boar hunted yesterday afternoon, pieces of freshly baked bread, and white rice cultivated in the paddies located on the outskirts of the castle. Everything was locally produced and of the highest quality, with no preservatives or anything modern.

Even so, I had a hard time getting used to the dry, tough flavor of the food around here.

Going from fine cuts of meat to old-fashioned cooked chunks was a culture shock I would probably never get used to. Ah, how I missed my grilled carnitas.

“Family, your attention, please.”

I tapped my spoon against the silver goblet, which, for obvious reasons, I still could not use.

“Yes?”

Both Mother and Alda stopped eating at once and turned their faces in my direction.

“Now that I have mastered the basics of reading, I would like to use my time on something productive. Mother, could you please find me a master-at-arms? I don’t want to depend on my men to save my life. At the same time, a king needs to be a master of combat.”

Just like in my previous life, I refused to become an easy target to kill. After all, this new body had to be trained from scratch.

Losing to my sister at tag was definitely not the reason behind this request.

Seriously, it wasn’t…

Well, maybe it helped a little.

“Are you serious, my son?!”

Mother rose to her feet and nearly knocked over the goblet of wine accompanying her meal. Alda did the same, though with less intensity.

“Really, Brother? You’re finally going to train with me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Thank heavens! You have no idea how happy this news makes me.”

“Is it strange that I want to train?”

I asked that question, then turned to look at Sora. She simply smiled kindly, so I turned my gaze back to Mother.

“On the contrary. What was strange was that you didn’t want to train. You always said a king should not need to stain his hands with human blood. I will not lie to you, my son. I was truly afraid for your future…”

Mother’s expression grew serious.

“We are a martial society, and whether we like it or not, the fact that the reigning king or queen is a warrior is practically indispensable if you wish to earn the people’s support. After all, who would support a sovereign who does not fight alongside his own men?”

Mother’s explanation gave me a new perspective on this society.

So that was how things worked. Martial prowess was an important trait if I wanted to earn the respect of my vassals and count on them in times of war.

“I understand, Mother. That is precisely why I have changed my mind.”

In truth, I did not understand much, but it was better to reassure Mother and take that weight off her shoulders.

“Besides, I fear we will be at war before long. Our kingdom is a protectorate with few freedoms, and the current monarch of Apolo is an extremely belligerent man. By contract, our men are obligated to march to war whenever he orders it.”

I knew that part too.

Fifty years ago, our country lost the Etrica-Apolo War of Conquest, and as a result, we became a puppet state forced to hand over almost seventy percent of our feudal production.

And to make matters worse, we were obligated to fight their wars with our own soldiers.

A very disadvantageous position.

“I understand, Mother. That is why I need to become a skilled warrior, so I can lead this country when I turn sixteen.”

“My brother is going to be my partner!”

Alda exclaimed, completely oblivious to the conversation we had just been having.

“I’ve already been training for a whole year. Since I can’t inherit anything, I want to become marshal of the army and bring peace to the people of this kingdom. I’ll make it happen!”

Alda used her fork as if it were a sword, but Mother simply gave her a quick look, and Alda returned it to her plate.

“If you want to become a great warrior, you must finish everything on your plate. Less talking, more eating.”

“Fine, whatever you say, Lady Sunflower.”

“As for you, my son…”

Mother sat down again and sighed in relief.

“You will have the same teacher as Alda: the legendary Sir Marte Hogan, champion of the last great tournament we held six years ago, and also the last knight who had the complete trust of my late husband. Present yourself at the training yard at 10:00 a.m. for your lessons.”

“Understood.”

Sir Marte Hogan.

Was his name related to some kind of warrior god?

In my world, Mars was the Roman god of war, but here I was not especially well-versed in religion and mythology.

Bah, I would look into it later.

We finished dinner after an interesting conversation with Mother, during which Alda told her how we had played in the garden and how delicious the lemonade Sora had prepared for us was.

I wanted to talk to Sora. Seeing her standing there in silence, without so much as an approving gesture, was starting to make me nervous.

“That will be all. I will retire to my room to read for a while, then sleep.”

Becoming a warrior would not be easy, especially with a thin and small body like mine.

Before going to sleep, I fixed my gaze on the large mirror atop the dressing table. The red hair still felt very strange to me. I used to have black hair, and this drastic change was still hard to accept.

“I’ll figure out what to do.”

The next day, after breakfast, I presented myself at the training yard.

I came wearing a light doublet, black hose, and brown boots—the ideal clothes for physical activity. I would have liked to have sneakers and sports shirts, but here I had to make do with this.

The yard was a larger esplanade than our garden. Around it stood an enormous storage building where reserve weapons were kept in case of a siege. Farther in the back, I could spot another corridor leading to the royal stables, where all the castle’s horses were maintained.

The ground was flat, without rocks or obstacles. Right at the center stood a small dueling arena with no stands, though it was marked off by a wooden fence to imitate the distance of an official tournament.

According to my mother, the wooden barriers used during jousts were stored in the armory and were only set up for cavalry training in the front barracks—or here, whenever the nobility trained with the lance.

“You got here first, Brother! How determined!”

Alda arrived wearing the same clothes as yesterday, except for a little black cloth cap decorating her messy head.

“What’s with the cap?”

“I use it when I train because my head gets really sweaty.”

“That makes sense. Wouldn’t it be easier to tie your hair back?”

“No! I hate braiding my hair. It hurts…”

“Ah, so you’re one of those girls who hates braids.”

I supposed women in this world could also hate braiding their hair. Some things never changed, no matter what dimension you found yourself in.

“Good morning, kids.”

Finally, our master-at-arms arrived.

“H-He’s huge,” I whispered.

And how could I not react that way?

The man who was going to train us stood two meters tall. He had short brown hair and tan skin that reminded me a lot of my own when I was Mexican. His musculature resembled that of a high-performance athlete.

He wore a red tabard over a gambeson with no heraldry, and hanging from his leather belt was a sheathed sword that reached a little below his ankle.

A heavy weapon for such a human gorilla.

God, I would not want to fight this man.

I would not even want to cross swords with him.

The mere thought of angering this giant sent chills down my spine.

“Sir Marte, good morning!”

As if he were her favorite uncle, Alda quickly ran toward the titan with a big friendly smile.

“Will you teach me your best sword techniques today?”

“You’re still too green, little one. Today, I’ll teach you how to improve your sword stance.”

Then the giant turned toward me.

“Greetings, Your Highness. I am glad to finally have you here in this training yard. I shall be your teacher on this long, yet rewarding path of the warrior.”

“Of course. It will be a pleasure to be under your care, Sir Marte Hogan.”

“Just call me Sir Marte, Your Highness. It is shorter, and besides, a king like you should not show so much cordiality to a mere knight like me.”

“Nonsense,” I replied seriously.

“I may be the king of these lands, but within the training yard, you are the law. Do not show consideration for me just because I am a monarch. If I truly want to become strong, then I must overcome these trials without special treatment. I do not want to pretend to have power. I want to be powerful.”

My speech threw him off balance.

The giant’s smile disappeared for a few moments. Then he smiled at me again, but this time, it looked far more natural than before.

“I see. I hardly recognize you, Your Highness… They said you would only train for a while so as not to embarrass yourself. I suppose the rumors were wrong.”

Sir Marte’s voice grew firm.

“Very well! I swear upon my title as Master-at-Arms and Royal Guard that both of you shall become formidable warriors.”

“I am at your command, mentor.”

When I said that last word, the bodyguard’s chest swelled with pride.

Receiving words of respect from a king must have been a great honor for a knight like him. After all, when it came to rank, mine surpassed his by a wide margin.

“Isn’t it amazing, Sir Marte? My brother seems like a completely different person.”

Ugh.

There was no way Alda could find out about this change. No one in this world seemed to have any idea what had happened to me when I reincarnated.

And honestly, neither did I.

“Let’s train!”

I shouted as I raised my right arm, full of energy.