"Now, swing vertically!"
"Hrg—!"
*Fwoosh!*
"Horizontally!"
*Swoosh!*
"Thrust!"
*Swoosh!*
"Parry!"
*Clang!*
"Good!"
"Ugh…"
"Take a breather. Let's have a spar in one minute. This time, wield the stick using your left hand."
Damn it…
…
…
…
"It appears you've…mistaken 'p' for 'q'."
"…Zug."
"No, it's fine. Everyone makes mistakes; some are bad in areas but are good in other areas. For you, that's our language. But, from a different perspective, you're quite talented. At least in terms of your body."
"…Zug?"
"N-never mind! Le—let's go back to basics again, shall we? For the first character of our alphabet, we have […]"
Not again…
Give me a break!
…
…
…
"A day of leisure? That is indeed necessary for a stable form and mind…I'll allow it. I'll coordinate with Sir Silver and the physician to allow you to rest every 7th day, starting tomorrow."
YES!
I am free (tomorrow)!
*Whip!*
Ouch!
"Don't slack off. It's not your time to rest today."
*Whack!*
…
…
…
I woke up today feeling refreshed—I was free.
I didn't have anything to do, and I could lay in my bed all day, doing nothing.
Ah~
This is the life.
Lovely day~ Lovely day~ Lovely day~
Hm, hm.
…
…
…Well, since there's nothing to do today, how about I find something to do?
Yes, I said I could lay in my bed all day.
Key word: could.
Doesn't mean I want to.
After a bit of hard thinking, I realized that I haven't actually interacted with the people of the settlement all that much.
Plus, there's two little buggers over there that I've yet to see actually live as they should; as carefree children.
It's also about time for them to enjoy some relax time as well.
Accompanied by me, of course.
Who knows what kind of dangers lurk inside this human settlement.
Call me overprotective, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
I've already developed a bit of a bond with them, so I'd prefer to not see them in harm's way.
"Hrm."
"Yes, Sir?"
"Hrm."
"You would…like for us to join you on a walk?"
"Hrm."
"Well, if that is your wish."
I watched the girl give a small, eager nod, as the boy shuffled his feet, which I take as him agreeing.
Kids.
They never stand on ceremony.
I appreciate that about 'em.
And so, we set off house (can I call it my house now? I mean, I've been living inside it for a while…)
I kept my strides short so they could keep up—no point in asking them to join me for a walk if I'm just going to leave them behind, with them trying to follow me like a pair of frantic squirrels.
Compared to the past, the atmosphere around the settlement was…actually decent.
The aroma of fresh bread floated through the area.
Some livestock was here, but I've smelt worse in the forest.
The camp had definitely improved since the day I first saw it.
Back then, it was just a bunch of tents, and it gave off a weird smell.
Beside me, the little girl was chattering away, pointing out things, mostly dull stuff like a big pile of chopped firewood or a particularly muddy patch of road.
I'd give a simple grunt or a 'Hrm' in response, which seemed to satisfy her enough to move on to another topic.
The brother, on the other hand, kept glancing up at me every few steps, like I was going to turn into a man-eating monster any second or something.
Honestly, kid, if I was going to eat you, I wouldn't bother with the pleasant walk first.
It's about efficiency, kid.
You'd know that if you were living in the forest like I was.
It was about the time we passed a wagon wheel that had clearly given up on life as it proceeded to drop dead just as the owner jumped off that a truly stunning thought hit me.
I stopped dead in the middle of the road.
I looked at the kids.
Both of them.
"Hrm?"
"What is it, sir?"
"H…Hrm?"
I asked them what their names were, feeling like a complete idiot.
I had been living with them, eating with them, even risking embarrassment for them every time I brought them along to my training with Kael, and I still had no idea what to call them other than 'girl' and 'boy'.
As the girl translated what I said to her brother, the two of them exchanged a look that said, 'should we tell him?'
"Sir, we... we do not have names."
The sister's voice dropped a little as she spoke.
"Hrm."
I pushed her to explain—what do you mean you don't have names?
Even my axes have names!
Rest In Pieces Sasha, you were a good axe; unfortunately your stupid master tried to fight a being of pure darkness.
The little girl sighed, a sigh that carried too much weight for someone her size.
"In our land of Ayayurt, children were not named until they reached the age of twelve. The environment was harsh. Most of the time, children would die before they even reached five cycles. It was considered disrespectful to the spirits to name a child who might not survive the desert. After all, why name shadows when they'll only disappear?"
I frowned, hearing about their tradition.
Grim stuff.
For a game that loves its 'realism', it really does go to great lengths to show commitment to it.
Sensible, in a terrible kind of way.
But then, why were they not named?
Clearly they're still alive.
Or am I hallucinating them?
No, they're real.
Even Kael and Silver acknowledged them.
Before I could ask why they didn't have names, the girl went ahead and answered it without me even speaking.
"But before either of us reached that age, our tribe was destroyed by wandering knights. They took us away. We were sold and passed around…until we were brought here. We were never given the rite of naming."
My stomach churned a bit.
I wasn't unfamiliar with children or even babies dying—nature was cruel and equal to everyone, regardless of age.
But at least for them, their ends were swift; lasting at most around a minute or so.
It was out of necessity that they died, for the survival of the beasts who ate, who also had their own children to think and worry about.
But this?
To treat life as a commodity, to be sold and used like tools?
It was simply infuriating.
Hoo…
Calming myself down, I looked at the poor siblings and, unprompted, asked something I resolutely wanted to do.
"Name."
At my request, the girl's eyes went wide.
"Sir Grul? You? You…You would?!"
She nudged her brother, who had been staring at the ground, and whispered some words to him, which caused him to instantly look up at me, his jaw dropping in utter shock.
I pointed at the brother first, my mind racing to look for a name that suits him, and I came up with one on the spot.
"You, Khovor."
And then, I pointed at the girl.
"You, Farida."
For a moment, they were silent, then the little girl—Farida, now—let out a squeal that could probably shatter glass.
She immediately spun around, grabbed her brother's hand, and started bouncing.
"Khovor! Khovor, we have names! I am Farida, you are Khovor!"
"! …N…a…me…s!"
The boy, Khovor, was trying to smile and cry at the same time, giving a jerky, delighted nod.
He kept repeating his new name under his breath like a chant.
"Khovor... Khovor."
Well, that was a better reaction than I expected.
Feeling much better about the whole situation, we picked up our walk.
Having proper names seemed to have done something magical to them.
They were suddenly full of energy, running ahead a few paces, then waiting for me, and then running again.
The difference was night and day.
We walked up to a baker lady, who was, fortunately, not afraid of me and didn't seem to hold as much of a prejudice against the kids as others did.
The latter was quite common now, after the whole sing-and-dance that the guards did back then, but it's a pleasant surprise the kids weren't being unilaterally ignored or hated.
"How are you doing, Grul?"
"Hrm. Smell bread good, zug."
"Thank you! Actually, this bread was made with the new farm wheat the Pliny family had. Seems like soil quality here is better than even Serana."
"Serana?"
"Oh, that's the kingdom south of here; they're famous for their soil quality because of how closer they are to the world tree than any other nation."
Huh, didn't know that.
As I chatted with the baker lady, Farida went up abruptly and spoke to the lady.
"Ms.! Can we buy some garlic bread?"
"Garlic bread? We did just make them today…"
The baker lady went inside and brought out garlic bread from who knows where.
It looked fresh, crunchy, and tasty.
"Since you're so cute, I'll let you have these for free; we're not really selling them yet, so they've just been sitting and waiting for someone to eat them."
"Thank you!"
The woman smiled and handed over the basket of garlic bread.
After thanking her, we left.
Farida hopped along, her face beaming as she carried the basket.
Damn, I really wanted to have some garlic bread, too.
But being the adult here, it'd be pretty embarrassing for me to beg to have some when these poor children really like it.
"Grul!"
As I was lamenting the fact that I couldn't get garlic bread of my own, I was handed some by Farida.
"For you!"
…This child…is too good for the world!
After that interaction, we continued on our merry walk.
Along the way, I also had a couple of my interactions with the settlement people.
The blacksmith; a huge fella who reached my shoulder-length that had an apron on and a perpetually soot-covered face, gave me a respectful nod as we passed his shop.
"Grul, how's the axe working out for ya?"
"Hrm,"
I replied with an 'ok' sign.
A group of guards I was with on that day of animal extermination were lounging near the main gate.
They gave a wave and a cheer as we passed by.
I quickly ushered the kids to move past them, feeling embarrassed at being cheered on that much.
But all in all, it was actually…pleasant.
This whole 'being a respectable, named figure and walking around in the town' thing wasn't so bad after all.
It's a step-up from being avoided like the plague.
We walked to the main square, and there, we heard what seemed to be the excited noise of a crowd.
What's all that?
Looking over the crowd, I could see…a bunch of performers.
A traveling troupe, perhaps?
I look down at the kids; they're confused as to what's all the ruckus about.
Have they ever seen something like this before?
I mean, without in chains and being treated like slaves and such.
…Hm.
"Farida, Khovor."
The two gazed at me, wondering why I called them.
I kneeled down in front of them, offering my wide back and shoulders.
"Up. Show."
At first, they hesitated, but after I kept egging them on, they finally sat down on my shoulders.
It was a bit awkward, trying to shuffle them so that they don't fall, but after I lock their legs with my arm, and they used my (unfortunately) bald head as support, they were finally able to see the show.
"Woah!"
"M…m!"
The two were entranced and delighted by the showing of all sorts of things, their faces showing everything.
Today was a productive day, despite it being a rest day for me.