Nine Years Earlier – Wolfwood Castle, the Knights' Courtyard
The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the courtyard of Wolfwood Castle. Training for the knight apprentices had just ended; boys and girls scattered with laughter and heavy breaths, each rushing off to enjoy their free time. Dust still hovered around the wooden dummies, and the echoes of practice swords striking wood slowly faded between the stone walls.
Only two figures remained in the shadow of one of the training dummies:
Andras Wolfwood, the six‑year‑old young noble who had been training with the apprentices for a month now, and
Anita, the sixteen‑year‑old daughter of the blacksmith, herself an apprentice preparing for the path of knighthood.
Both of them plopped down onto the grass, leaning their backs against the wooden dummy.
"Training's over for today," Anita said as she exhaled. "Aren't you going to run off and have fun like the others?"
Andras squinted into the sunlight.
"No way. The weather's too nice. I don't feel like going back into the cold stone walls of the castle."
Anita laughed.
"Hahaha! I keep forgetting you actually live in the castle."
"And what about you?" Andras asked. "Aren't you heading home?"
"My father's a blacksmith," Anita shrugged. "If I go home, I'll have to help with the work. So I'm not in a hurry. I'd rather stay and relax a bit. Besides… knight training is exhausting. I've got no strength left to haul iron around."
Andras smiled.
"At least I've got someone to talk to."
Anita glanced at him, then suddenly grinned.
"By the way, did you know the other apprentices made bets on how long you'd last in knight training as a noble boy?"
"I didn't know," Andras shook his head. "Though I'm not surprised. And who won the bet?"
Anita puffed out her chest proudly.
"I did! I bet on three full days. The others said a few minutes, an hour, maybe a day at most. But three is my lucky number — there are three of us siblings. That's why I said three days. They all laughed at me."
She burst into triumphant laughter.
"But who laughs last, laughs best! I won a bottle of honey‑ale from each of them! Hahaha!"
Sunlight sparkled in Anita's eyes as she laughed, and Andras looked at her the way a little boy looks at a real knight for the first time — brave, proud, and overflowing with life.
Andras took a big bite of the still‑warm sweet bread in his hand and let out a satisfied sigh.
"I like training," he said as he leaned back against the wooden dummy. "Training makes you stronger. Not just physically, but mentally too. You can only get through the hardships of the world if you become strong. And food tastes way better after training. The maids packed one of my favorites for today's snack."
Anita leaned closer, curious.
"What kind of sweet bread is that? There's sausage on it… and cheese?"
"It's called pizza," Andras replied proudly. "It's really good. Try some — I can't eat all this by myself at six years old."
Anita's eyes lit up.
"I can have some? You're awesome, thanks!"
She tore off a piece, and the moment the flavors hit her tongue, her eyes widened.
"Mmm! This is insanely good! Is this one of those foods only nobles get to eat?"
"No," Andras shook his head. "I'm probably the first noble to ever eat it."
Pizza is actually a food from Earth. I'm the only one in this world who knows it, he thought to himself.
The castle cooks liked the taste so much that they started making it more often. By now even the maids were hooked on pizza.
Anita took another bite, then shook her head in disbelief.
"I've never eaten anything like this. I've never even heard of this… pizza. Who eats pizza?"
Andras looked up at the sky thoughtfully, then answered with a serious expression:
"Pizza was… the favorite food of the Heroes, long, long ago. Four Heroes ate it all the time. All four of them were turtle‑type beastkin. Great warriors who loved pizza."
Anita stared at him, mouth open.
"Really? I've never heard of these Heroes. Turtle beastkin Heroes, huh? What did they look like?"
Andras put on a solemn face, as if recalling an ancient legend.
"Let's see… They were green. All four of them. They had no hair — their bald green heads looked pretty strange. They had turtle shells, so they never needed armor. And they all used two identical weapons. One used two short swords, another used two knives. The third used two staffs, and the fourth used two of those chained weapons. The way they carried their weapons on their backs, crossed like that… it looked really cool."
Anita listened in awe, as if a whole new world had opened before her.
The sun slowly dipped behind the castle walls, and the shadows of the two youths stretched long across the grass — a six‑year‑old noble boy and a sixteen‑year‑old blacksmith's daughter, at the very beginning of a bond that would shape both of their lives forever.
Anita was still nibbling on the pizza when she spoke again.
"So the Heroes carried their weapons on their backs? Not at their sides like knights?"
"Yeah," Andras nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm going to carry mine on my back too. It looks way cooler. But since I'm more of a mage than a knight, one of my weapons will be a magic staff, and the other a short sword. Not exactly matching weapons, but they'll still look cool crossed on my back."
Anita stared ahead thoughtfully, then down at the slice of pizza in her hand.
"Maybe I should use two weapons too…" she murmured. "I never liked long swords — you have to hold them with both hands, and that slows me down. That's why I chose a short sword. I can swing it with one hand and keep my speed. If I want to be like those Heroes, do you think I should use two short swords or two knives?"
Andras leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and looked at her seriously.
"That's something only you can know — which weapon feels right in your hands. What if you try using a short sword in your right hand and a knife in your left? If you use both types at the same time, it'll be easier to compare which one suits you better."
Anita's eyes lit up as if a new world had opened before her.
"You're right! You're so smart! You know what? I don't like nobles. But I like you!"
Her voice suddenly shifted, carrying the bitterness of old frustrations.
"When nobles come into my father's workshop, they just bark orders: this many swords, in this little time. My father and my brothers have to work from sunrise to sunset, nonstop, every single day. If we're late, they yell at us like we're dirt. And if we finish on time, they can't even say a kind word… they don't even thank us for the hard work. I've always hated people like that."
Then Anita smiled and nudged Andras's shoulder.
"But you're different. You're not like the other nobles. You're kind, and you've got a good heart. You even shared your pizza with me."
The sunlight turned golden as it dipped lower, and something special vibrated between the two of them — respect, friendship, and the first threads of a bond that would one day become loyalty, devotion, and a lifelong vow.