Chapter 1-5:
Training
“HEY, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” RICHARD CRIED. “Hang in there!”
He was calling out to Lewis, who had fallen to the ground. The orphans were tasked with running laps around the garden to build their stamina.
It had been a few days since training had started. The garden of the duke’s manor was vast, and they were running around a forest the size of a small village. Not only had they been ordered to do ten laps, but they were also required to carry sandbags that were precisely weighed so that they could barely manage to lug them around. Naturally, those who lacked stamina couldn’t keep up. At their age, there wasn’t much of a physical difference between boys and girls, and the rotund Lewis dragged behind everyone.
“Richard…” Lewis panted. “I can’t do this anymore… I can’t keep up with you guys.” He just barely eked out the words, his hands on the ground as tears streamed down his cheeks.
“Don’t say that, you idiot!” Richard shouted. “Are you gonna give up here?! That shitty woman will kill you without hesitation! She’s a demon! In fact, she’s so nasty that other demons will flee from her! To her, our lives are like the vegetables on the side for her dinner!”
“But if I’m around, I’ll only cause trouble for you guys…”
Normally, Richard despised weaklings like Lewis. When they were at the orphanage, the former would throw a punch or two every time he walked past the latter. But in this manor, there was a terrifying heiress who ruled with fear and violence. The problem children of the orphanage were slowly uniting against the tyrannical Serena.
Their fearful ruler slowly approached Richard.
“Oh dear,” Serena said. She flashed a smile like a serpent tormenting its prey. “Did I schedule nap time around now? What do you think, Richard?”
“Sir, Lewis is already at his limit, sir!” Richard shouted. He hoped for at least a smidge of mercy from her.
“Is that so? Very well, he can stay asleep if he wishes. One mustn’t push oneself. But while Lewis is asleep, the other students must keep running.”
Of course, no such mercy existed in Serena’s heart.
Damn it! Richard internally spat. She’s just a demon wearing human skin! She probably forgot her emotions in her mother’s womb.
The fact that he didn’t dare vocalize his thoughts was an improvement. The many burn marks he had received from Serena’s magic had taught him that lesson.
“Sir, I have a request, sir,” Richard said.
“Excuse me?” Serena asked. “Listening to humans’ requests is the gods’ role, not mine.”
“Sir, I ask that I be allowed to run while carrying Lewis on my back, sir.”
Serena’s eyes widened, but then she gave a joyful smile.
“What a wonderful idea, Richard!” she beamed. “Very well. I shall allow it. You must carry Lewis’s sandbag as well.”
“Don’t, Richard,” Lewis replied. “You might be strong, but you can’t carry me around.”
He tried to stand up to stop his friend, but the weight of the sandbag made Lewis’s knees buckle.
“Shut up!” Richard shouted. “You’re my luggage from here on! Luggage shouldn’t talk!”
He forcefully slung Lewis over his shoulder and carried a sandbag under each arm. He slowly tried to run ahead, but even as confident as the boy was in his strength, he struggled to carry a person and two sandbags. His legs refused to move as nimbly as he wanted.
“Goodness,” Serena said. She seemed to be enjoying herself. “I don’t remember saying that we’re having a leisurely stroll. If you don’t run faster, I won’t count it as a lap.”
That damned wench! Richard thought. I’ll freaking kill her one day!
He had mentally clobbered her countless times, but in reality, he didn’t stand a chance against her. He tried to move his legs faster, but his feet sank deep into the ground. He couldn’t move very quickly.
Is this all the power that I have?
Richard was cursing his powerlessness when Oscar and Emma, who were also doing laps, approached him. They each silently took a sandbag from under Richard’s arms and continued to run ahead. They now had two sandbags each, but they managed to keep running. Isabel and Alice also extended their arms to support Richard from behind as they ran alongside him. Richard began to move once more, encouraged by the unexpected aid he received.
Emma and Alice might have been kinder, but Oscar and Isabel weren’t the types who normally offered their support. They’d often ridiculed other kids in the orphanage who fell short at their tasks, and they definitively crushed those who dared to obstruct their path. When they spotted Richard carrying Lewis around, Oscar and Isabel flashed cold smiles, their voices filled with scorn.
“He’s such an idiot.”
“It’s foolish to attempt something that he can’t possibly do.”
Yet, despite their icy words, the two had offered Richard and Lewis a helping hand; Oscar and Isabel derided themselves for being idiots as well.
The servants of the duke’s manor were moved by the orphans’ actions. They had mocked Serena’s squire candidates for being dirty orphans and were always confused by the puzzling training regimen that Serena had drafted for them. But when they saw the orphans’ friendship beginning to blossom, they drew their own conclusions.
“Lady Serena is teaching humanity to these lowly orphans!” they assumed.
Serena, on the other hand, was rather confused. The butler hadn’t said anything about assassins working together during training. She had failed to notice that she had gone a little—no, way overboard. If the butler had seen her training regimen, he would have surely stopped her.
“My lady, you’ve gone too far,” he would admonish. “Even we didn’t go through such arduous training.”
In reality, one would adopt a strategy of rewarding positive behavior at times and encourage a sense of competition between trainees. However, Serena did no such thing and continually pushed the orphans. Her squires felt no need to compete with each other and instead banded together as comrades. Unfortunately, Serena did not realize her mistake and only considered how she could possibly handle the situation.
What do I do? Serena wondered. Do I push them to even harsher conditions?
The orphans began to work together to overcome the unreasonable training. Hellish obstacles awaited them, but they supported each other and cleared each one.
“Nice job, Lewis!” the other orphans shouted. “One more rung! Once you get through that, we just need to head back down!”
Lewis was afraid of heights. He struggled to clear the log ladder, but he finally reached the highest rung and descended on the opposite side. The orphans cheered with joy as though they were the ones who had accomplished the impressive feat. They were all growing mentally and physically.
Ultimately, they turned out just how Serena had wanted, but it felt very different from a normal assassin training regimen. Serena’s program was so harsh that instead of raising insidious assassins, she had nurtured respectable humans who knew hard work, friendship, and willpower.