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Chapter 6
Erica didn’t even know what a mercenary was, but she was simply excited.
At that time, there was no one around to watch them and stop them.
The Empire’s sword, who had once been a member of Teneuarha, becoming a mere mercenary?
A high-ranking noble becoming the leader of a mercenary group, something usually associated with commoners?
These were things anyone would normally question.
But Petchenik never thought about them, and Erica didn’t know enough to question them.
The girl was simply happy to experience a sense of belonging for the first time in her life.
After leaving the Count’s mansion, she was filled with nothing but positive feelings.
She didn’t even notice how physically exhausted she was.
“Don’t your ankles hurt?”
“I can run now.”
“You adapt quickly. Let’s stop at a blacksmith in the next village. We need to double the weight of the iron bars.”
Training Erica’s strength was simple.
The thick steel weights attached to her wrists and ankles became heavier day by day.
Anyone who saw it might have been horrified and called it abuse, but Petchenik believed it was the best way to train her.
Erica ate a lot.
Then she ate some more.
And then even more.
But she didn’t gain much weight because the intensity of her physical training was so high.
She hadn’t even learned how to use a sword yet.
She hadn’t even been allowed to properly look at one.
Even so, Erica obediently followed everything her Master told her to do.
For example, when they were camping in the mountains—
Erica was hanging upside down from a tall tree.
“Use your abdominal muscles to pull yourself up. Don’t flap your arms around.”
Petchenik lay beside the campfire and yawned.
“Just do five hundred and then go to sleep. Wake me up when you’re done.”
“My head is filling with blood.”
“Lift your upper body so that doesn’t happen. Your legs are tied firmly, so you won’t swing around.”
“If wolves come, you’ll save me, right?”
“That sounds fun. Should I go bring some wild animals from the mountains?”
“……Master, you’re really a bad person.”
With her legs tied to the tall tree, Erica continued doing sit-ups.
Sweat poured down her body like rain.
After several months of training only her stamina and physical strength, her progress was quite impressive.
Even Petchenik, who had very high standards, nodded in satisfaction at how quickly she was improving.
Even after Erica became physically strong enough, Petchenik still didn’t teach her swordsmanship.
Instead, he made her repeat simple hand-to-hand combat movements hundreds and thousands of times.
Honestly, Erica found it boring.
No matter how hard she trained, she still didn’t develop thick muscles like Petchenik’s.
“When will I become strong?”
“Hm?”
“My arms aren’t getting any thicker. Look. They’re so thin. Am I progressing too slowly?”
“No. You’re doing well.”
Petchenik smiled and messed up Erica’s hair.
Even though he fed her plenty of food, she didn’t gain much weight.
But her internal muscles were extremely strong, and she was already physically superior to an average adult.
Erica had become especially skilled at light and agile movements because that was how Petchenik had trained her.
She was incredibly tough.
And fast.
There was no doubt that she had been born with exceptional physical abilities.
“Do you remember what your parents looked like?”
“What? P-Parents?!”
“Your parents. The ones who sold a tiny little thing like you to the Count’s mansion.”
“Th-that… I don’t know. I was so young that I… I don’t remember.”
“I could believe your father was a member of Teneuarha.”
“Yes… Whaaat?!”
“I mean you were born with a great deal of natural talent. Looks like I was lucky enough to find an incredible raw gem.”
It was a compliment, but Erica wanted to hide inside a mouse hole.
She nervously clenched and unclenched her hands, looking this way and that.
Petchenik enjoyed looking at her tiny head, but sometimes he couldn’t tell whether he was enjoying teaching his disciple or raising a daughter.
Petchenik and Erica traveled from village to village.
During that time, they became quite close and shared a great deal of knowledge with each other.
Erica also learned how to read whenever they had free time.
“Ch… cheese?”
“Chijeong. That’s pronounced chijeong.”
“Chijeong…”
Erica learned very quickly.
“Chijeong… Nobles involved in a chijeong incident cut off their connections and abandoned the people involved.”
She learned to read sentences in such a short time that even Petchenik was surprised.
“I’d better show you books instead of cheap newspapers.”
When they visited a large city, Erica even got to see a sophisticated shop called a bookstore.
“This is a book.”
Erica simply nodded.
She learned how to read books, but she didn’t particularly enjoy reading.
It was boring.
Petchenik always insisted that a true romantic should carry at least one book of poetry in his backpack, but Erica completely ignored him.
Instead, she listened carefully only when Petchenik told her all sorts of random stories.
“There is a place called the Rkankan Great Forest. It’s made up of dozens of forests, and in the middle is a place called the Phantom Forest. There, terrifying…”
Petchenik knew a great deal because he came from a high-ranking noble family, and he was also quite talkative.
He freely shared all kinds of knowledge with Erica.
Scratch, scratch.
Whenever he drew pictures on the dirt with a branch, they became excellent visual aids for Erica.
“Look. This is the symbol of the temple. If you add a shield shape behind it like this… it becomes the symbol of the Holy Knights.”
“Are the Holy Knights as strong as Teneuarha?”
“They have many limitations on their abilities. I’ve never fought them seriously, but they’re definitely one level below Teneuarha. Still, you should show proper respect when you meet them.”
“How do you show respect?”
“Put your hands together like this. Try it.”
“May the mighty justice of God dwell within the righteous sword.”
“May the mighty justice of God dwell within the righteous sword.”
Erica didn’t need to read books.
To Erica, her Master was her book, her bookstore, and an even greater storehouse of knowledge than the Imperial Palace’s Grand Library.
Every day, that was enough for her.
Erica felt that she was living days far beyond what she deserved.
Sometimes, those feelings overwhelmed her so much that she secretly cried.
Exactly one year after her training began, Erica held a sword for the first time.
It was only a wooden sword carved from a piece of wood.
But the moment Erica held that crude sword, she shivered with excitement.
“I feel like I’ve become a Sword Master.”
“Stop talking nonsense and get started. Watch me carefully and copy what I do.”
“Yes!”
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind passed by.
But that was all.
Petchenik stood completely still.
He didn’t move at all.
At least, that’s how it looked to Erica.
“Did you watch carefully?”
“……?”
“Now copy me.”
“Wh-what do I copy?”
“Just do exactly the same thing.”
“……Yes!”
Erica followed his instructions and stood completely still.
Silence.
Petchenik frowned.
Even after waiting for quite some time, Erica didn’t move.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you doing anything?”
“I’m standing still just like you showed me, Master.”
“……”
Swish.
Only then did Petchenik move his sword at a speed about a hundred times slower than usual.
Whoosh.
“Now, did you see it?”
“Yes!”
“Repeat it five thousand times.”
“Five thousand… repetitions!”
After five thousand repetitions, countless other movements followed.
Erica absorbed everything like a sponge.
She took the sword techniques and made them her own.
Some days, she repeated the same training over and over.
Other days, she learned completely new exercises.
Even when Erica had lived at the Count’s mansion, she had been bruised and covered in blood.
But back then, she had gained nothing from all that suffering.
Now things were different.
Every injury and every fall brought real improvement.
It was normal for her to tear ligaments or dislocate a shoulder during the brutal training.
But just as the ground becomes harder after rain, Erica became stronger after every injury.
One day passed.
Then another.
And then several more months went by.
Erica’s sword became faster and faster.
By the time she could knock away leaves that Petchenik casually shot toward her with his wooden sword, they stopped at a blacksmith’s weapons shop.
As Erica entered the shop, her heart pounded.
Am I finally graduating from this lousy wooden sword?
Is Master going to buy me a strong, shiny steel sword?
That was what she thought.
But Petchenik handed her a different weapon.
“This is where the real fun begins.”
“This?”
“It’s incredibly exciting to hide far away and attack your enemies from a safe distance.”
“……?”
After hearing his explanation, Erica thought that sounded pretty good too.
“I’m already getting excited.”
And that was how Erica learned how to use a bow and arrow.
