Gabriel. (5)

"From now on, come here an hour before dawn. You'll do physical training for three hours, you'll get a break after that, but you must return again four hours before the sun sets, then you'll receive swordsmanship training for a further five hours."

Gabriel's entire body ached as Lawrence spoke. The training session just now had only lasted for a few hours, but it reminded him of his entire stay in boot camp. It seemed as if all teachers who were going to teach you how to kill thought the same thing, teach by engraving the lessons into the student's body.

Each strike was delivered with the intent to kill, each attack pried at even the smallest opening and continued without end. Only when Gabriel was about to fall over would Lawrence hold back and give him time to correct his stance.

But even so, there was really only one result that one could expect from this training. Gabriel was battered and bruised while Lawrence didn't have a single scratch on him. Well, a new scratch at least. He struck the legs, the elbows, the wrists, the groin, the inside of the thighs. Places that knights would hesitate to strike, places you would be shamed for attacking. He struck them all in succession and pointed them out without missing a single one, those were the places you should strike if you aimed to kill someone.

"Take this with you. You'll need plenty of energy to keep up."

Lawrence walked over to a sack that had been placed next to the training ground, undoing the knot and pulling out two sandwiches as well as a glass bottle that seemed to be filled with milk. The side of the glass bottle was engraved with a circular image of intertwining lines. It was a bit hard to see if you weren't looking for it, but those lines were actually letters, a sentence turned into an image.

Azui Co-ras.

The ancient language, from a time before recorded history. If his memory served correctly then it should translate to Ice, Keep Cold. And indeed, the glass bottle that landed in his hand was still cool and refreshing.

That was magic, one of the most powerful tools in this world. But not everyone could use magic. First, you needed to have a body that had an affinity for one or more of the elements. Then you needed to learn the appropriate phrases in the ancient language. Then you needed to form those phrases into an image like this which you would then fill with mana. The filling had to be done in order, from the first letter to the last, otherwise the spell could change erratically.

Naturally, if you were skilled enough, you could make tools like this bottle. They would only last for as long as there was mana in them, but more than a few people were willing to pay for a temporary luxury.

"You can eat the sandwiches at your leisure, but I need the bottle back so you'll have to drink it all here."

As expected, trinkets like this were never cheap, mages were far too proud of themselves to sell their creations cheaply. But looking at the bottle, Gabriel was reminded of something.

"Right… I'll have to write down the words…"

Azui, the ancient word for Ice, it preceded every spell that belonged to the Ice-family, from the Common-class to the Cataclysm-class. But was Ice the only element? No, of course not, there were multiple others. And in this estate, he knew of a Little Lady who would use magic none had ever seen before. He'd have to write down the words and phrases he still remembered so that he could teach them to her later on.

In the story, Alice didn't discover her talent for magic until the middle of the third season, when she had already celebrated her 24th birthday. It had been thanks to a groundbreaking discovery that altered magic as they knew it. But even then, discovering and learning the appropriate ancient words took another full season, she was already approaching her thirties at that point. If he could speed things up this time around then she would stand a better chance at protecting herself.

But just imagine, the villainess that burned the empire was already on her way to her thirties when she first discovered her actual prowess. If that wasn't a testament of her talent then he had no idea what would be.

"Ah, right, thank you."

He didn't forget to give his gratitude after receiving the sandwiches and the milk, quickly downing the entire bottle. He'd drank milk a lot in his past life, but it would be the first time this body had milk so he was a bit curious if it could handle it. If he turned out to be lactose-intolerant then it would be a bit of a shame.

With the milk downed, he started on the sandwiches. They didn't have the same luxury as the bottle so they were quite warm and damp after being stuck in the sack, the ham was almost unbearable compared to his past life. But compared to what he had eaten in this life it was basically heaven so he had no intentions of complaining, ravenously devouring everything.

"Good, people need to eat well to live well. You should scurry away after this, it's getting late so I imagine the Young Lady will start getting concerned if you don't show your face. The eastern side of the village that lies beyond the mansion, the dwelling assigned to the Young Lady are all there."

The hand he stretched out was rough, Gabriel could feel every crack and crevice in its dry and bumpy skin. He'd lived a hard life, his body was a testament to that fact. But he lived well it seemed, he wasn't someone the world had been able to break.

"…I wonder."

Had he lived for longer, would things have gone differently for Alice? He seemed as if he was someone who would be able to treat her as she needed to be treated, perhaps she too would have gotten a happier ending if he had lived longer.

But then again, there was rarely space for Buts and what-ifs. He died, she became a villain and died. That had been the truth of the world. Well, with Gabriel here, things might change a little. At the very least, he didn't feel like Lawrence was someone who deserved to die at Leonardo's hands.

"Then I will see you tomorrow, Teacher."

He picked up the wooden sword, as a trainee 'knight' he was allowed to bring the weapon that was assigned to him should the need ever arise. He retraced his steps and left the training grounds, dark orange and red hues greeting him as the sun made its way towards the horizon.

The sun set behind the grand mansion of the Vritara household so the colours reflected off of the pure white marble, the building coming alive with colours as it turned into a seemingly living piece of art. They were one of only three ducal households, second only to the crown, so it only made sense that they would turn even their home into something so decadent.

Gabriel took to the road and started walking, following the small side path that led to quite the roundabout detour that would take him behind the mansion. It was pointlessly long, but it was made so that the people of the ducal household wouldn't have to see the lower servants whenever they went or came from their dwellings.

Luckily, the path wasn't as long as the road from the gate to the training grounds was so he didn't have to walk for another two hours. Still, he had to walk for a little over one hour before he finally crossed the forest that hid away the village prepared for the lower servants.

The buildings weren't actually that shabby. They were simple, sure, but they weren't shabby or leaky, far better than the orphanage. Simple wooden houses, often no more than two or three rooms, slanted ceilings so that the water didn't pool, and thick windows so that the wind didn't sneak through. No matter how lowly their position, they were still people working for the Vritara duchy, they had to at least make it look good from the outside.

He followed Lawrence's directions and walked into the eastern section of the village. And indeed, he immediately noticed that this place should belong to Alice De Vritara. Why? Simple, this part of the village was almost entirely deserted, there wasn't a single soul wandering about. There were about 30 or so houses prepared, but there was only a single three-room house that actually had the lights on.

Naturally, this was the first house he decided to check.

"Good evening, is anyone here?"

The door was slightly ajar so he walked straight in after knocking, a room that was a mixture between a kitchen and a living-room greeting him. The light was on, but there was no one there. He heard some chatter from the room to the left however so that's where they seemed to be.

A plate had been put on the table that stood in the living-room section, a note with rather curly and unstable handwriting placed next to it.

I snuck away some food from the kitchen, don't tell Elder Brother!

He wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry as he read the note. From what he had seen so far, there was no way that Alice was getting treated well by just about anyone in this estate, it was to the point that he doubted if they were feeding her properly. And yet there she was, stealing food so that her new servants could have something proper to eat on their first day. Good intentions and a good heart, but the world didn't allow her to maintain them. How twisted.

"Ah, Tuesday Five? You're back!"

A voice came from the door that led to the next room, one of the four girls that had been brought along standing in the entrance. She had probably heard him call out and came to check who it was.

He could just barely see a bedroom behind the girl, four sets of two-story beds placed about, one in each corner. Two of the other girls also popped up behind her as she spoke, all three of them clad in very simple patchwork maid uniforms. But there were only three of them.

"Where is Monday One?"

Four maids were brought in, but only three were in the house. Looking at how it was already getting dark, Alice should have already gone to bed so there should be no need for a maid to stay by her side. The girls fiddled slightly, exchanging glances for a moment before leaning forward so that they could whisper to Gabriel.

"Don't tell Alice that we told you this, but Monday One was called in by a servant of the Second Young Master earlier. He said that it wouldn't take long so she should be back before long."

The girl spoke with a mixture of hope and conviction. After all, why would they lie to them? But Gabriel had a guess, and time proved him right. The girl had yet to return by the time the sun started to rise. They'd barely arrived there, but the older brothers were already starting to isolate their younger sister again.