Time flew by faster than I expected after we returned. Before I realized it, a full month had already passed since we fought the Wrock brothers.
Training continued every day, just like before. But something had changed.
It was… bearable now.
Carrying water buckets no longer tore at my shoulders as it had during the first week. The wooden pole that once dug painfully into my skin now felt almost normal. My muscles still burned when we walked up the hill path toward the village, but the pain no longer made my arms shake.
We also reached the village faster now.
Our breathing was steadier. Our steps are more even. No one collapsed on the road anymore as we used to during the first days.
Back then, the moment we reached the village, we would fall to the ground and lie there like dead fish, gasping for air while the villagers stared at us.
Now we could actually walk around.
The village was bigger than I first thought. After exploring it little by little over several days, I realized it was probably twice the size of my old village.
Spiro once explained where we were.
"This is the southernmost region of the Empire," he said while we were walking along the outer road. "Francis Duchy."
To the south of the village, dark mountains stretched across the horizon like a wall.
"That's the Etendue Mountains," Spiro continued. "Natural border between the Empire and the Southern Kingdom Alliance."
Theo immediately raised his hand like he was in class.
"The alliance of fourteen kingdoms in the south," he added proudly.
Spiro nodded once.
The village itself was built beside a narrow mountain pass called the South Gate Pass. It was one of the main routes merchants used when traveling between the Empire and the southern kingdoms.
Because of that, the village was always busy.
Caravans constantly arrived from the mountains. Long lines of wagons pulled by thick horses, their wheels covered in dust from the rocky path. Some merchants were leaving for the mountains while others had just returned, their carts full of strange goods.
There were mercenaries, too.
Many of them gathered in the village before crossing the pass, sharpening weapons or drinking loudly in the taverns.
The center of the village acted like a market square. Merchants and peddlers set up temporary stalls made from wooden boards and cloth covers.
The air there always smelled different depending on where you stood.
Roasted meat. Spices. Leather. Iron.
Sometimes, even strange smells I couldn't recognize.
It was louder than my village had ever been.
But strangely… I didn't dislike it.
Maybe because no one here knew me.
From the villagers we often visited, I also heard more about the Wrock brothers.
"They weren't normal bandits," one merchant told us while arranging bundles of cloth on his stall.
"Strange bloodline," another man added. "Quarter giant, quarter human, half orc."
I didn't understand how someone could be all three at once.
But it explained their bodies.
Their skin had felt almost like stone when we struck them, and their strength had been terrifying.
"They were stupid, though," the merchant continued with a snort. "But strong people don't need brains. Most bandits followed them because they were scared."
He leaned closer.
"And because the name 'Wrock brothers' was useful when robbing travelers."
The villagers also told us something else.
"They were B-rank bounties."
The man looked at us with disbelief.
"Still hard to believe a bunch of kids finished them."
Every time someone said that, Spiro would quietly change the subject.
Still, things slowly became easier after that.
One afternoon, Spiro gathered us in the dormitory.
Without saying much, he handed each of us two small leather pouches.
Inside were gold coins.
"Pocket money," he said.
Theo's eyes widened.
"Gold?"
Spiro nodded.
"Spend some. Buy snacks or whatever you want. But don't waste everything."
He looked at each of us carefully.
"Learn to save."
So we did exactly that.
When we visited the village, I bought the snacks I liked the most: sweet honey bread and fried cakes. I also found a small metal ornament shaped like a wolf's head and tied it to the handle of my greatsword.
The sword was still too big for me.
But the ornament made it feel more personal.
Even after that, I still had many coins left.
So I hid the pouch under my bed.
I checked it every few days just to make sure it was still there.
I wasn't sure why.
But it felt safer that way.
Being around the other kids also started to feel… easier.
Before, every conversation felt like solving a puzzle. I had to think carefully before speaking, worried that I would say something wrong.
Now it requires less thinking.
Margaretha talked to me the most.
She always smiled when she spoke and seemed genuinely interested in whatever I said.
Sometimes that made me nervous.
It felt like I had to say something interesting in return.
One afternoon, we were assigned to clean the dormitory floor together. Margaretha was telling a story about her older brother.
"He used to steal apples from the orchard near our house," she said with a laugh.
Then she looked at me and smiled playfully.
"Just ask me anything, Rick. There are no stupid questions."
I thought for a moment.
Then a memory slipped into my mind.
"Why do people bleed so much when their head is cut off?"
Margaretha's cleaning cloth stopped moving.
The room became quiet.
For a moment, she didn't answer.
Then she gently tapped my forehead.
"You think about strange things."
I looked down at the wooden floor.
The pattern of dirt and water looked a little like the blood that sprayed when the Wrock brothers' heads fell.
My chest tightened slightly.
Margaretha noticed immediately.
Her hand rested softly on my head.
"You don't have to think about those things right now."
I nodded slowly.
But the image stayed in my head for a while.
Talking with Theo was… more difficult.
I tried several times, but conversations with him rarely lasted long.
He talked too much.
After a few minutes, my head would start to ache from trying to follow everything he said.
Still, Theo was very good at teaching.
Whenever I struggled with reading or writing, he would notice immediately.
Before I even asked for help, he would sit down beside me and start explaining letters and grammar like a patient teacher.
"Think of letters like sword stances," he once said. "If you repeat them enough, your body will remember."
Because of that, I ended up learning a lot from him, even though I avoided long conversations.
It felt a little unfair.
But even Margaretha sometimes looked exhausted when Theo kept talking.
Robert was different.
We rarely talked at all.
But we spent a lot of time together.
At night, after everyone else finished training, we would quietly go outside and practice sword swings under the dim lantern light.
Swing.
Step.
Swing again.
We repeated the movements until our arms were too heavy to lift.
Neither of us complained.
Robert felt more like a training brother than a friend.
And somehow that was enough.
Then there was Pritha.
Pritha was always kind.
Whenever we visited the village, she bought snacks with her own money and shared them with everyone after evening training.
Honey bread.
Chocolate milk bars.
Honey-coated apples.
Sometimes when we were assigned to clean the dormitory together, she would secretly give me snacks while we worked.
"Don't tell the others," she whispered once, smiling.
She even bought sugar and salt from the market and added them to our lunch meals.
"Our food should have flavor," she said proudly.
But to me, the food still tasted the same.
Even with sugar.
Even with salt.
Everything tasted dull.
I didn't know why.
But I couldn't tell Pritha that.
So I nodded and said, "It's better now."
She looked very happy when I said that.
And that made the lie feel… necessary.
The only person I didn't grow close to was Agni.
He wasn't mean.
But he felt empty.
He rarely spoke and rarely showed emotion.
Even when he used powerful fire magic during training, his face stayed completely calm.
Once I asked Pritha about it.
"Has Agni always been like that?"
She thought for a moment.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Even before the Empire attacked."
"Really?"
She nodded.
"He just keeps everything inside."
Even she didn't seem very close to him.
Strangely, she talked much more with Margaretha.
Margaretha had that kind of personality.
She made people feel comfortable without trying.
Sometimes I wondered if Agni also felt the same things we did, but refused to show them.
But when I looked at his eyes during training, they were always steady.
Like a quiet fire that never flickered.
And somehow, that made him feel even more distant than before.