After a moment in the snow Reiji slowly pushed himself up. He looked around, seeing no benches or anywhere to sit.
"So this is your definition of shoving years of training into a month, old asshole."
"What the hell are you mumbling to yourself?! Are you insane?" The general yelled at him. Reiji turned and saw her sitting comfortably in a chair, the only chair.
She was dressed in her usual uniform with extra pieces of clothing to help her stay warm in winter.
"I could ask you the same thing!" Reiji yelled back. He started walking over to her.
She wasn't pleased with the way he was talking. She was about to pop a vein. "I guess you only need ten minutes of rest with that fiery spirit of yours."
"And you need to be studied because I don't know how someone can get so mad over nothing. You'll look like a hellspawn soon enough."
Reiji's words were met with silence. She slowly stood up and looked him dead in the eyes. "Screw your rest, drop down and don't stop!"
"I refuse. My fingers, ears, nose and toes are getting frozen. I am in my regular kimono after all."
"Well, we found you in that kimono in these exact conditions, so you're making up excuses."
"Yeah, but I actually had movement to keep me warm. I did kill a Frostgnasher after all."
The general laughed. "Just one? I killed five at a time with no struggle while you got destroyed after winning against one."
He was taken aback by that. Five? Five?! I barely killed one and nearly got killed like…three times! That's why her kicks actually hurt.
After a moment, Reiji's surprise turned into determination. He wanted to show her that he was stronger than her.
"Fine, I don't need anything to keep me warm except this kimono. You'll go insane from the fact that you won't be able to break me."
"Yeah, yeah." She grabbed the back of his head and smashed his face into the snow. "Start doing push-ups again, peasant. You might be able to do a crazy amount of push-ups and other body-weight exercises, but your combat ability is definitely lagging behind the amount of strength you've got."
Reiji growled. After a moment he started doing push-ups. After doing two hundred he collapsed again. "Ugh, you know, I never got your name. This is the second time I'm pointing it out."
The general looked down at him, thinking he was pathetic. "I'll tell you if you beat me in a sparring match." He could hear the disdain in her voice.
The whole day was spent like this. He rested only to do more push-ups. His arms and chest were on fire by the time the sun went down. He finally walked inside with noodle arms. He was constantly sneezing and had a runny nose.
He made his way to room one. On the two beds were Haruto and his butler. The butler was telling Haruto stories when Reiji rushed through the door. He didn't even close it after walking in, rushing straight into the bathroom.
The two of them stared at the bathroom door. "Shall we give Mister Kurozuma a bit of privacy?" The butler asked.
"One more walk around the mansion?" Haruto asked. The butler nodded, which made Haruto smile. He jumped off the bed and the both of them left the room, closing the door behind them.
Luckily for Reiji, something called toilet paper was invented just a year prior. He took his time getting himself together in the bathroom. He stepped out with one of his nostrils blocked while the other one was barely letting air in.
He used both hands to open the door, closing it behind him and leaving to go to the feast hall. Previously he ran past it; one of the servants yelled out that his food was ready, but he simply had…needs and kept rushing to his room, more specifically the bathroom.
Now he pushed open the doors with his shoulder and walked through. He saw that there were two strangers sitting at the table. They were sitting in the seats where he and Haruto sat yesterday.
One was a woman with long, black hair styled into a braid. She had golden eyes. She wore a dark, military-styled coat with an ornate gold fringe on the shoulders. The coat had red trim on the inside of the sleeves. Underneath, she wore a black shirt with an open neckline.
She had multiple leather belts, which were probably used to secure things around her waist. A large round emblem hung from one of these belts. She was dressed in short, black shorts and wore black gloves.
This woman was sitting right next to the Lord, where Reiji sat yesterday. To her left, where Haruto sat, was a man with a powerful build.
A vertical scar ran down the left side of his face. He had short, dark hair. He wore a fine tunic, hose, and leather boots.
"Ah, Kurozuma. Your food is here." Lord Fujioka pointed to a plate opposite the woman.
Reiji walked towards his seat and pulled the chair back, sitting down. He was sitting opposite the woman.
He looked at her, still leaning back in his chair with his hands resting on the table. This caught the attention of the other man. Reiji noticed he was much bigger than he was.
"Is there a problem?" The woman spoke. It was clear she wasn't some harmless lady.
"That was my seat, you know?" "Do I look like I care?"
"Please, let's not start a fight. Kurozuma, I tried to tell them but they wouldn't listen. The least I could do was put your food in front of an empty seat."
"It's fine, oldy." Lord Fujioka let out a sigh of irritation at the nickname. Reiji turned his attention to the two of them.
"You know, taking things without asking is bad manners. Even stealing, I dare say."
The woman smirked at him. She proceeded to talk in a mocking tone. "Oh? Well, you're a special criminal as well. So what gives you the right to criticize me?"
Reiji thought for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. I did steal a lot of stuff. But I wonder, did you steal because you needed to live, or because you felt bored?"
"Oh, of course I stole because I was bored. The despair on people's faces when they lose something dear to them is simply beautiful."
"And to think that Akihiro Sato saw something in you."
The man suddenly stood up and all eyes turned to him. "To me, it sounds like you're just a frustrated little boy acting like a man. But don't worry, you can come with me to my room and I can make that frustration fade~"
The man said with a grin. He looked at Reiji like a piece of meat. Reiji's irritation went through the roof as he heard the disgusting words.
"I'd rather kill you, scar-face." "Hah! You kill me? Good joke."
"I bet I could kill both of you, actually."
"That's quite enough! Please, sit down, Mister Kurogane. Such words coming from both of your mouths are not to be uttered!"
Kurogane looked at the woman next to him and sat down after she signalled that he should listen to the lord. Reiji was quite surprised by the firmness of Fujioka's voice.
"Thank you, gentlemen."
Reiji got to eating. He had to grab the fork with both hands and tear the meat using his teeth. After taking a few bites he turned to Fujioka.
"I want to talk to you about some stuff, oldy."