Lastly, he looked himself over in the mirror, checking for anything that was amiss, making sure that his gear was tidy.

Any fault in Climb could potentially become a weapon to hurt his master, “Golden Princess” Renner.

That was why he must always be on alert. His reason for living wasn’t to cause her harm. It was to pledge his all to her.

Climb closed his eyes in front of the mirror and thought of his master’s face.

Golden Princess – Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself.

As kind as a goddess, a benevolent and radiant mind befitting her royal blood, and wisdom that devised many types of policies.

In the truest sense of the word, a noble amongst nobles, the greatest woman.

Possessing the brilliance of gold, nothing can be allowed to blemish such a flawless gem.

If one were to compare her to a ring, Renner would be akin to huge, brilliantly cut diamond. Then what was Climb? He would be the prongs that the jewel is set on. Even now, her worth was diminished because he was lacking, he could not allow it to grow worse.

Climb could not stop his chest from growing warm at the thought of his master.

Even a devout believer of his faith would be hard-pressed to outshine Climb as he was now.

After staring at himself in the mirror for some time, Climb, having determined with conviction that he would not be a hindrance to his master, nodded his head in satisfaction and stepped out of the room.

Part 3

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), Day 3, 4:35

The place he headed to was a large hall. An entire floor of the tower had been emptied to serve as a training area.

Normally the place would be radiating the heat of soldiers going about their training. However, it was deserted this early in the day. The empty space was quiet; one could almost hear the silence. Because there was stone in every direction, the sound of Climb’s footsteps rang out loudly.

The hall was brightly lit from the semi-permanent light of the magic fire.

Inside, there was armor mounted on stakes and hay dolls to act as archery targets. The walls were lined with weapon racks filled with various arms that were left unsharpened.

Ordinarily, a training area should be set up outdoors. But there was a reason that it was decided to have it inside.

The city of Ro-Lente was home to Valencia castle. Having the soldiers train outside would mean that they would be seen by foreign ambassadors. To avoid the risk of appearing low class, numerous areas within the tower were cleared out to serve as training areas.

A demonstration of strong soldiers dauntlessly practicing their drills would have diplomatic benefits, but the Kingdom did not see it as such. More than anything, there was a trend to be seen as elegant, splendid, and highborn.

With that said, there still were drills that were impossible to conduct indoors. They would either be done discretely in a corner or on a field outside the castle, albeit outside the capital.

Climb entered the quiet hall as if he was cutting through the cool air and slowly started to stretch in the corner.

Thirty minutes later, after a thorough stretching session, Climb’s face was reddened, his forehead was drenched with sweat and his labored breaths were heavy with heat.

Climb wiped the sweat from his forehead and approached the weapon rack. Checking the grip, he makes sure that it fits securely in his hands. His palms were already rough and hard from the numerous blisters that came and went.

Next, he filled his pockets with chunks of metal and buttoned them tightly as to prevent them from falling out.

The many pieces of metal that filled his clothes made it as heavy as full plate armor. Regular plate armor without any magical enchants provided an excellent defense at the cost of one’s freedom of movement. Keeping actual battles in mind, training with it equipped was the right course of action.

But even so, it was rare to bring out full plate armor for mere training, not to mention the white armor that he was given. That was why he was using the metal chunks as an alternative.

Climb gripped the iron weapon that exceeded the size of a greatsword and held it high over his head. He slowly brought down the sword, exhaling as he did so. Stopping just before it struck the floor, he breathed in and raised the sword to its original position over his head. He stared at the space in front of him with sharp eyes, completely absorbed in his training as he gradually raised the speed of his swings.

He had already finished 300 swings.

Sweat poured down Climb’s completely reddened face. His breaths were hot, as if he was expelling the built up heat in his body.

Although Climb trained arduously as a soldier, it was difficult to handle the weight of the large greatsword. Stopping the blade just before it touched the ground was especially challenging.

Such a feat required a great deal of strength.

As the count of his swings reached 500, his arms started to cramp and felt as if they were screaming out in pain. Sweat fell from his face like a waterfall.

Climb knew very well that this was his limit. Despite this, he showed no signs of stopping.

However—

“—Perhaps that is far enough.”

Hearing the voice of another, Climb quickly turned to the direction of the voice and his eyes reflected the figure of a man.

Calling him burly would have been an understatement. The man was like the embodiment of steel. The wrinkles in the face reminiscent of rock made him look older than he actually was. His bulging muscles made it evident that this was no ordinary man.

There was no soldier in the Kingdom who did not know of him.

“—Stronoff–sama.”

Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff, lauded as the strongest in the Kingdom and unmatched even in the surrounding nations.

“Any further would be overtraining. There is no meaning in pushing yourself so far.”

Climb lowered his sword and stared at his trembling arms.

“You are correct. I overdid it slightly.”

Seeing Climb’s expressionless face as he gave his thanks, Gazef shrugged his shoulders.

“If that is what you truly think, could you not make me repeat myself so often? How many times does this make it…?”

“I apologize.”

Gazef shrugged once more as Climb lowered his head.