Theo showed me to my cot, or rather, my new bed.
It was little more than a wooden frame topped with a thin straw mattress.
"This one's yours!" he said, pointing at it with a bright smile.
I stood there, staring at it for a few seconds. I knew I wouldn't have the luxuries I was accustomed to. I had prepared myself for that.
But this... Am I actually going to sleep on this?
I sat down slowly, dropping my small canvas bundle onto the mattress. The moment my weight sank into the straw, a heavy, nauseating stench of mold and rotting wood hit me right in the face.
I instantly wrinkled my nose.
...It reeks.
I tried to shift around and get comfortable, but something sharp poked me straight through my tunic.
"Ouch!"
I jumped, immediately springing to my feet. Theo chuckled and hurried over.
"Don't worry, that's normal!" he said, crouching in front of the bed. He ran a hand over the mattress, smoothing it out in several places.
"You'll get used to it. It's really not that bad."
I looked at him, completely at a loss for words. Theo stopped exactly where I had just been sitting. Then, he began smacking the mattress with the flat of his palm.
"When that happens, just do this."
...Why is he acting like this is the most normal thing in the world?
I stood there, staring at him. He was completely relaxed, even smiling.
And that was exactly why it felt so bizarre to me. He turned to look at me, tilting his head slightly.
"You're not... much of a talker, are you?"
I tried to avoid his gaze, tentatively testing the flattened spot on the bed with my hand.
"R-right... Thank you." I whispered, keeping my eyes glued to the floor.
He studied me for a moment, resting his hands on his hips.
"Mhm! You seem alright. I'll catch you later."
With that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door.
"Oh, wait, I almost forgot!" He spun right back around.
"The others will be coming in soon, so be careful. If they see no one on that bed, they'll steal your spot! And hey, if you have at least one change of clothes, take those off and hide them, otherwise... Well, you'll find out." He flashed me a grin and walked out, leaving me standing there.
"Hey! Wai—"
He's gone.
What did he mean, 'the others will be coming in soon'?
I looked around in confusion. There were indeed multiple beds, and that only meant one thing. This barracks was shared by a lot of people.
Wait.
I jolted upright, standing perfectly still. Theo's parting words echoed in my head.
"If they see no one on that bed, they'll steal your spot."
"Does that mean... someone else was already sleeping on this bed I just lay down on?" I whispered.
The thought utterly disgusted me, sending a violent shiver down my spine.
Then, a moment later, the image of Zoltan flashed in my mind. He was terrifying. I closed my eyes and swallowed my pride. I couldn't afford to act like a spoiled noble anymore.
Hesitantly, I forced myself to sit back down on the cot.
I changed my clothes immediately, just as Theo had advised. I pulled on the garments Hilda had packed for me and wrapped the ones I had been wearing inside the canvas cloth. Then, I shoved the bundle out of sight beneath the wooden slats of the bed. After putting on the new clothes, I instantly realized they were of a vastly inferior quality to what I was used to wearing—and to make matters worse, they were far too large for me.
Inside the bundle, I also found a rather sturdy leather belt, likely left there so I could properly secure the oversized tunic Hilda had packed.
However, I did notice that I could move much more freely. The clothes were incredibly light, but that only fueled a new wave of anxiety.
Winter was just around the corner.
Why didn't Hilda think of that? No, this is my problem now.
I have to survive this, no matter what it takes.
I lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I could already feel a dull ache creeping into my spine. The position was incredibly uncomfortable. I wasn't particularly tired, but I closed my eyes anyway, trying to sort through the chaos of my own thoughts.
I opened my eyes in the dim light of the barracks, shivering violently.
What... wasn't it just daytime?
The rock-hard straw mattress had left my muscles agonizingly stiff and my back in pieces. The air was suffocatingly heavy, saturated with a nauseating stench. In the pitch black, I could hear the rhythmic snoring of the others all around me.
I sat up, massaging my freezing arms. I looked around and froze in shock.
"Pfft!"
A half-stifled, whispered laugh sounded right next to me. It was Theo.
"Sleep well, huh?"
I rubbed my stiff neck.
"How did you ever get used to all this?"
I tried to speak as quietly as physically possible.
"It's only like this for the first few days, then you won't even think about it. Trust me."
I turned my head, scanning the other beds.
On the cot directly across from me, an incredibly skinny boy was sleeping. Half of his face was horribly disfigured. A little further down, another boy was curled up into a tight ball, his fists clenched tightly against his chest.
"Don't stare at them."
"Why?"
"The one with the scar? His parents were about to sell him off to slavers to pay their debts. That other guy survived by stealing in the city alleys until they nearly broke both his hands. If Captain Zoltan hadn't scooped them up, they'd both be dead by now."
Those words struck me like a physical blow.
I looked at the boys around me one more time. Every single one of them had something that marked them. A scar, an open wound, a look in their eyes that suggested they had seen far more than I ever wanted to imagine.
Who knows what happened to each of them.
For a fleeting moment, I wondered if we were really all that different.
A second later, a horn blared in the courtyard—a deep, earth-shaking blast that rattled the windowpanes.
It was absolute chaos.
I scrambled out of bed, but my stiff legs instantly gave out. I hit the floor with a heavy thud, scraping my knees against the wood.
My numb fingers fumbled uselessly with the laces of my boots while the other boys exploded out of the room with a terrified, practiced speed.
"What are you doing? Move it, or you're gonna get chewed out!"
"H-huh!? Wait for me."
I scrambled after Theo and the others, who were already marching in a single-file line toward some unknown destination. The sun hadn't even risen yet, it was freezing cold, and on top of it all, I didn't have a single piece of warm clothing. I instinctively hugged my shoulders, bitterly regretting not finding something to cover myself with.
"This way."
Theo didn't even look back as we squeezed through a narrow passage between two buildings.
A few minutes later, we arrived at a clearing I had never seen before. The ground was covered in coarse gravel, still damp from a recent rain. Lined up along the edge of the yard were heavy canvas sacks, thick ropes, and massive wooden posts. A little further out, wooden planks were stacked haphazardly near a row of low barricades.
I stopped and stared at them.
What kind of place is this...?
The others, however, seemed to know exactly what to do. They took their positions without uttering a single word. Some were still yawning, while others stretched their arms, entirely accustomed to this brutal routine.
I stayed close to Theo. A little further back stood two boys I hadn't seen speaking to anyone yet. For some reason, I kept glancing at them. Maybe I should at least try to introduce myself.
I turned slightly toward them.
How should I talk to them? Should I greet them first?
"How long have you—"
One of the two shot me a fleeting glance, took a few steps, and repositioned himself further away.
"A-ah... Um."
Maybe he didn't hear me. I'll try again later.
I turned my head. From the far end of the yard, the heavy crunch of boots approached. The ambient murmurs died instantly.
Zoltan stepped into the clearing and slowly walked the line. He didn't seem to be in any rush. And yet, as he passed, every single boy straightened their spine.
"Three laps."
"Yes, Sir!" They roared in unison and instantly took off.
Huh!?
"W-what... what am I supposed to do?"
I turned to Theo, the only person who could give me an answer, but he was already gone. He was sprinting far ahead of me.
I hesitated for only a second before moving.
Should I run? The others have already started...
Theo looked over his shoulder, looped back toward me, grabbed my arm, and physically dragged me into a sprint.
"Why are you just standing there? Move!"
I let him drag me for a few stumbling steps before I finally caught the rhythm and kept pace beside him.
"N-no... I don't understand, what—"
At first, I managed to keep up. The gravel crunched beneath our boots, and my breath plumed white in the freezing air. The cold slowly began to fade, but in exchange, my legs grew heavier and heavier.
By the second lap, I started to lag behind. By the third, I could no longer breathe normally.
I tried to push myself and speed up, but it was useless. Every time I tried to lengthen my stride, a sharp, stabbing pain flared in my side, and my lungs felt completely incapable of drawing in enough air.
I looked ahead.
The others had already finished their laps and reformed their lines. Some of them didn't even look winded.
I, on the other hand, dragged my feet across the finish line and collapsed forward, planting my hands hard on my knees.
How do they do it...? I'm... I'm completely destroyed.
The harder I tried to catch my breath, the more my lungs burned. I had never done anything remotely like this before, sure, but I never expected the physical gap to be this massive.
"Straighten that back, princess!"
Zoltan's booming voice forced me upright instantly.
"Ten push-ups."
I dropped to the dirt along with the rest of them.
One.
Two.
Three.
By the fourth rep, my arms started to violently shake. I tried to push up again, but I physically couldn't lift my own weight.
I stayed there, my hands planted in the gravel, gasping for air.
All around me, the others kept going.
Nine.
Ten.
Several boys instantly snapped back to their feet, but I remained collapsed on the ground, completely powerless.
Footsteps halted just behind me, followed by hushed voices. Even lowered, every word was perfectly clear.
"Is that the new guy?"
The voice was quiet.
"Yeah."
"Damn... how long do you think he'll last?"
"Before Zoltan rips him in half?"
A short chuckle.
"A week?"
"If he even makes it that far."
I didn't turn around.
I can still hear you, you know...
Those voices. Those stares. That way of judging me before even knowing my name, simply because I was different.
It's exactly like the palace.
I stared down at the gravel.
The location was different, the people were different, and the way they treated me wasn't the same. And yet, what I felt inside hadn't changed at all.
In the end, nothing changes.
Whether I was in the grand halls of the Stahl Eisenhart estate or in this place that barely qualified as a rat's nest...
The situation is always exactly the same.
"Get up. You can rest for a few seconds, but not like that."
Theo's voice called out from just ahead of me.
I forced myself back onto my feet. He was already in position for the next drill.
His eyes were locked dead on Zoltan.
In that exact moment, I realized he wasn't talking to me out of kindness. If I stayed down any longer, I would draw the Captain's wrath all over again.
A second later, Zoltan pointed at the heavy sacks lined up along the edge of the yard.
"One per man. Out and back."
I followed Theo's lead and tried to mimic his movements.
I walked over and grabbed one of the sacks with both hands. The moment I tried to lift it, my shoulder muscles screamed in protest.
It was heavy. Unbelievably heavy.
Theo hoisted his own onto his shoulder and started marching.
I tried to copy him as best I could. After just a few steps, however, the sack began slipping off my shoulder. I tried to adjust it, but I lost my balance and had to stop. The others marched past me without breaking a sweat.
I can't...
I gripped the canvas tighter and forced myself to take another step. I kept pushing forward for what felt like an eternity, the burn in my shoulders intensifying with every second. My fingers ached from the grip, and the coarse fabric of the sack chafed the skin off my neck.
When the order finally came to drop them, the relief was instantaneous.
"Finall—" I gasped.
I couldn't even finish the word.
I thought I would finally get at least a few minutes to rest. I leaned heavily against a nearby wooden fence, desperately trying to support my own body weight.
"Good! Now you're finally warmed up. Run."
No. Impossible.
I slowly raised my head. Zoltan had already turned toward me and was closing the distance.
I clenched my fists.
For a moment, looking at him, I felt almost the same fear I had felt during the test.
But what am I supposed to do? I can't even feel my legs.
I swallowed hard.
Theo shot me a frantic, subtle wave.
But Zoltan was already towering over me.
I just want...
"P-pleas—"
Theo's hand slammed onto my back, physically forcing me to bow my head.
"Hold on. Don't say a word."
"Wai— what are you doing?" I whispered, trying to straighten up.
"Do you want to make things worse?"
I fell silent.
Theo leaned in close to my ear.
"When he speaks to you, you answer, and you do exactly what he says. Nothing else."
"But I..."
"Trust me."
The deadly serious look in his eyes made it explicitly clear this was not the time to ask questions.
I carefully raised my eyes.
Zoltan was observing us in absolute silence. His gaze shifted from me to Theo, lingering on him for a heavy second.
Theo kept his head bowed.
"Captain, he just needs a second. I'll get him moving."
Zoltan remained completely silent for a few agonizing seconds.
"Tsk. Move it."
He scoffed, turned his back, and marched toward the center of the yard.
I stood completely frozen for a moment.
Theo gave me a rough shove on the back.
"Up. Let's go."
I slowly dragged myself upright.
"What..."
"I'll explain later. Just run."
I followed him.
I still had no idea why Zoltan had let that slide, but one thing was abundantly clear.
Theo knew exactly how to handle him.
And, in that moment, he was probably the sole reason I wasn't already being beaten into the dirt.
How long has he been here? He doesn't even look that much older than me...
"This is the second-to-last drill before the break. Come on, let's move."
I took a ragged breath and scraped together whatever miserable traces of strength I had left.
Some of the boys ran without slowing down once, vaulting over the wooden barricades as if they had run this course a hundred times. I tripped repeatedly, nearly eating the dirt multiple times, but I couldn't stop.
Not that I have a choice.
We kept running until the gravel beneath my boots stopped feeling real. Thick mud caked my boots, my hands were filthy, and every single breath felt like inhaling fire. At a certain point, I couldn't even distinguish one drill from the next. There was only Zoltan's roaring voice, the heavy thud of footsteps, and my body moving purely on brutal instinct.
When they finally called a halt, my knees were slathered in mud, and my hands were trembling uncontrollably.
I had no concept of how much time had passed.
And yet, the training continued.
Sprint after sprint. Heavy loads to haul. Obstacles to vault. Every single time, I tried to mimic the others, and every single time, I realized just how astronomically far I was from their level.
When I finally managed to lift my head, the freezing morning chill had completely vanished.
I looked up.
The sun was high and blinding in the sky.