The First Day
When I woke up, it was still early morning. A layer of morning mist covered the scenery outside my window, making it dim. Even so, waking up at this hour was a lingering habit from my time in the Knights Order… After all, I had been doing self-training at dawn for over ten years.
My new post in the Abbott region would likely offer fewer opportunities to wield my sword, but that didn’t mean I could abandon my training. In fact, I needed to be even more diligent to keep my skills from dulling.
I wanted to avoid drifting too far from real combat experience… but for that, it would have been nice to have at least one colleague around. Given that this region was the farthest from the capital, it was unlikely that anyone would willingly transfer here.
Grabbing my sword, I stepped outside—only to be met with a surprising sight.
"Huh? There are already this many people up…?"
Despite the lingering darkness, villagers were bustling about.
As I stood there, puzzled, an elderly woman noticed me and approached with a warm smile.
"Good morning, Sir Knight. Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yes… Everyone here wakes up early, don’t they?"
"We have farm work to do."
Now that she mentioned it, I recalled that this village's primary livelihood was agriculture. Most villagers cultivated crops, while some ran ranches. A few also ventured into the forest to hunt, setting traps and now heading out to retrieve their catch.
"Your work as a knight doesn’t start until later, does it?"
"I was planning to do my morning training."
"Oh, I see. It’s still chilly, so take care not to catch a cold."
"Thank you."
Her gentle words stuck with me. I had no family that I knew of, but if I had a grandmother, maybe she would have been like this.
With those thoughts in mind, I headed behind the house for training. Swinging my sword out in the open road wouldn’t be ideal, so I needed a bit of distance.
The house provided for me actually had a backyard. There was even a small vegetable patch left by the previous resident. Maybe once I settled in, I’d try tending to it myself.
For a while, I went through the same drills I used to do in the capital.
As the sun rose higher, the villagers began returning from their early farm work. Among them were small children, chatting happily with their parents as they headed home. It seemed like most families were about to have breakfast.
"So, they were just checking on their fields."
The real work was likely about to begin.
I was starting to feel hungry myself and was thinking of heading back for breakfast when—
"Sir Knight! There’s trouble!"
A middle-aged man came running toward me, clearly flustered.
He looked extremely agitated… What on earth had happened?
What do you think about this chapter?
