“May the Light of Day and the Dark of Night bless you, young master.”

Leko eyed the red-headed knight, who bowed to him in greeting. It was polite, if not for the stiff smile and the bow being a touch too high. A sigh slipped from his lips, and Lance twitched. He mentally cursed his shoddy charisma. Leko’s eyes dulled as he stared at the knight. The training hadn’t even started, and Leko had already felt tired.

“Don’t bother with the greeting unless there are other people around. You are known as the finest amongst the knights. As a captain, you have a lot of work on your shoulders. I’m sorry-” Lance jerked. His gaze met Leko’s for the first time. The man’s eyes were saucers as he stared at Leko, “-for the fact that my father dragged you from your work to play teacher with me. I’ll make an excuse and have him find someone else.”

Lance gaped at Leko, who waited for him to collect his thoughts. Lance was an excellent person to learn from and a fantastic knight. He was destined to become even better when he travelled with Calen. Lance was also a person of good nature. He was kind and cared a lot for his fellow knights and the people of Hosyn. Lance had a lot of pride in the duchy. It was no surprise that he had no affection for Leko. Leko’s attribute was not helping his case at all.

A shame, but Leko would find someone else. He didn’t have to have an outstanding teacher. Leko could get better himself. He only needed the basics explained to him. Leko didn’t need Lance. He tilted his head and indicated the entrance to the garden. The gates glistened in the sunlight.

“Leave. I’ll make sure this doesn’t affect you in any way.”

He turned from the redhead. Leko found the exact spot that Kurio and Faier had made him suffer with the early morning training. He took in the garden with his eyes. He blinked at the sight of a target range off to the left. The wood was splintered, and the paint seemed cracked. Leko started walking towards it, his curiosity getting the better of him. A few repairs, and it should work fine for his crossbow training. The age of the wood indicated that it was not newly placed. Why would a garden have something like this?

“Young Master.” Leko stopped and turned to face a fidgeting Lance. The knight hadn’t moved from the spot he occupied. Leko frowned. “As the captain, I must do any task the Duke gives me to the best of my ability. I apologize, but I cannot leave. I will do my task of training you in using any weapon you wish that I have the capabilities of helping you with.” Lance bowed again and kept the position. Leko’s lidded eyes stayed on him.

Leko held back another sigh. He didn’t want to learn from someone who didn’t like him. What if Lance taught him wrong in spite? He supposed the man was smart enough not to do that. The Duke would, at some point, want to test his son’s skill, and if he were not taught well, it would be on Lance.

“Fine, a crossbow is my preferred weapon. A sword is secondary, and I want to pick up daggers when I have the first two down well enough.”

Three weapons. Leko wanted to learn three fighting styles with them. He wanted variety when he fought. It was good to be unpredictable. Once he has all three down, Leko would mix them into one style and combine them with hand-to-hand combat. Creating something completely new.

People would have a hard time analyzing his style when it was chaotic. He wouldn’t master it in two years, but he could set the foundation at the very least as a person who planned things out as much as he could. He knew the danger of an unpredictable opponent. Doing things that were not expected was a surefire way to get the upper hand in any situation.

Their training started. Leko worked diligently. He kept his eyes on every move the knight made. Throughout the session, Leko made sure not to turn his back on Lance.

Holding a basic crossbow in his hands and aiming it at the old targets, Leko figured he needed to bunker down and work on his strength. The crossbow wasn’t too heavy, but keeping it up and holding it correctly for long periods taxed his arms. The recoil also jolted him quite a bit.

“You have a naturally accurate aim,” Lance commented. His eyes shone as he looked at the targets.

Yes, Leko wanted to grin. The targets had arrows mainly piercing the centre. He missed his mark sometimes due to his weak arms and the recoil, but it was a minority of the time. Leko was glad he didn’t lose his hand-eye coordination after coming here. At least one thing he wouldn’t have to re-learn. Leko nodded at Lance in thanks for the compliment. He lifted the crossbow and shot another round at the target that stood a few meters behind the one he’d first worked on.

They still had some time before Leko’s weapon training was done.

Leko Inhaled a deep breath before letting it out. Five seconds in, five seconds out. The training with Lance wasn’t straining his stamina, but Leko had problems with his breathing. Lance had noticed and judged by the look in the man’s eye. Leko sent him away without an explanation. Let the man think he was just that pathetic. This body just wasn’t good at handling the small amount of poison.

“Young Master!” Faier’s bright voice grated on Leko’s ringing ears. He brushed it off and nodded at the woman.

“I’ve managed to get the word out, young master. Kurio said that you needed it to reach the Camba Duchy. It will take at least a week. I can’t do it any faster without making it obvious that you’re focused there.”

A feeling of disbelief clawed at him. A week? In this world, the size of a kingdom was equal to that of a continent. Some are smaller, some are much larger, but on average, that was the size. Droitt was no exception to this. Hosyn and Camba were on opposing sides of the kingdom. Where Hosyn was at the bottom of the continent, Camba was at the top.

There were magical ways to communicate, but those were expensive. Leko didn’t want anyone to know who or what rank he was. If he used magical means, it would be obvious it was a wealthy noble. They also had to spread the information out in other directions. He didn’t want it to be evident that he was aiming at Camba. That flighty bastard would bolt if he thought it was a trap.

It was a trap, of course, but it wasn’t like Leko intended to kill the man, only use him.

“Are you sure it won’t come off wrong?” Leko asked concerned.

“I took all precautions. Please trust me,” Faier beamed.

Leko nodded reluctantly. It wasn’t like he had much choice. This wasn’t something he could do himself. He didn’t have the connections or the knowledge to spread the word himself.

“Let’s go then!” Kurio cheered, his tone dull. Leko raised a brow and started a light jog. He dedicated this hour to maintain his stamina. Leko planned on starting with running. He would add HIIT to it when his stamina improved. Kurio and Faier would join him, but it wouldn’t be for teaching this time. He didn’t need a teacher for this. He didn’t even need the company, but the two insisted, so Leko let it be. It wasn’t like it mattered. However, it seemed like Kurio was having second thoughts.

While running steadily, Leko concentrated on keeping his breathing even. He felt his chest rattle each time he drew a breath. It annoyed him. Leko was just glad it wouldn’t be this annoying all the time. The more his body adapted, the better off he’d be.

“The construction for this Parkour area has yet to finish. What will you do for the last hour?”

Faier’s question had Leko glancing to the side he knew she was at. The blurred edges of his vision made it difficult to see her.

Leko sent an exasperated and silent curse at the Duke, Tor, and himself. His body was annoying him.

“Study,” He answered back. He didn’t have the energy for a complete sentence.

“Young master.” Faier’s voice was tinted with worry. Leko huffed and pushed himself forward. The pace was becoming too easy. The body had good stamina. The running was more refreshing and only a little taxing. It was the poison that was making it more challenging.

While Leko was honest about studying, these were things that the original Leko should have known. Noble etiquette and world history were the main things he needed to learn. He knew some stuff from the hero’s start line. The shitty world-building made the information limited.

He was aware that monsters and creatures had invaded the planet. He knew the gods intervened and gave humans the system to fight back. That was about all he knew. Leko didn’t even know the history of Droitt as a kingdom. The author had skimped on details.

It would still be a while. Leko had stealth training after this, and only then would he be able to grab some books and curl up in his bed. Man, Leko wanted a break. Better yet, he wanted to sleep.

He was almost done. A little more, and he could rest.