11: The first tasks of the system (3)

"Ha ah ha ah, finally reached the door, ha ah ha ah, it seems that it won't be this easy after all."

Maimoun now stood before a massive door, specifically for the outer courtyard. He struggled to catch his breath after running for some time at maximum speed.

"It was foolish of me to put myself in this state even before starting the mission."

Maimoun discovered that his new physical abilities were not exceptional, and to make matters worse, he discovered this the hard way and at an inconvenient time.

"Open the door."

The young man said to the palace guards after regaining some of his breath to the extent that he could speak coherently. He easily noticed the look of astonishment on them; they didn't even attempt to conceal it. Despite his appearance suggesting that something had happened to him, not a single guard approached him to inquire about the issue.

'What loyal guards... although there's no problem in the palace, but shouldn't they inquire about it? At least pretend you're interested in what's happening here. Act like you're doing your duty to the fullest.'

Maimoun sighed in frustration.

'What made the young master rush out in such a state? Shouldn't such a question be on their minds? I don't even know if the problem lies with them or with the former owner of the body, the one called Fayt, except that my intuition tells me that the latter is the correct choice. Anyway, I have a much bigger problem to deal with.'

As soon as he remembered the punishment for the mission, Maimoun cast aside thoughts regarding the loyal guards and prepared to run for his life. Despite the door being open, the boy was about to dash again if it weren't for a guard with an iron shield blocking his path. Signs of strength were evident in him, both in his height, which made Maimoun's head only reach his shoulder, and in the width of his shoulders, which were almost twice the size of Maimoun.

"Is there any trouble, young master? Has anything happened in the palace?"

Maimoun raised his head to see the only guard who asked about his condition.

"Such a concerned tone in speech and quick reactions without hesitation, surely it was genuine interest, not artificial."

Maimoun noticed the distinctive features of the guard, who seemed to be in his early twenties, with curly brown hair and dark skin showing signs of long exposure to the sun, making the bronze color stand out prominently.

Maimoun smiled happily and patted the guard's shoulder.

"There's no problem, guard. It was just a passing whim; I wanted to try walking barefoot and feel the ground under my feet."

"And was wearing pajamas part of that whim?"

Maimoun didn't have much time for conversation or explanations, so he decided to end the conversation.

"Trust me, there's nothing to worry about. Carry on with your good work, guard."

Maimoun wanted to ask for the guard's name, but he decided against it, bringing unnecessary suspicion. Besides, he knew that once he finished the task at hand, the answers would come to him automatically.

"Hah!! Ye... Yes, sir."

The loyal guard and the rest of the guards were surprised by their young master's unexpected kindness.

And with that, Maimoun continued his way around the palace, running.

"Should I follow the young master? Surely something significant has happened, otherwise why would he go outside in such a state?"

The loyal guard muttered audibly to himself, as Maimoun's words weren't logical, thus the guard remained concerned about what had happened. His companion, the guard, heard him and responded.

"It's better not to do it, Roudel. He might get angry with you again, and this time, demotion to gatekeeper won't be the end of it."

"But what if there really is a problem, Rayn? Shouldn't we as guards do our job?"

The loyal guard argued, expressing his willingness to take risks, which made the guard named Rayn sigh sadly as he spoke to himself.

'Roudel has always been so dedicated to his work, even if it brings him trouble. Anyone with such loyalty and dedication won't remain as a gatekeeper for long, but... this way, he won't be able to afford his mother's treatment at all... only if this useless one.'

Guard named Rayn felt the extent of the injustice inflicted on his comrade and could only try to persuade him again.

"It might make you lose your job altogether, and you're in desperate need of money, so don't take this step."

Rayn felt that this warning wasn't enough, so he reluctantly offered a compromise.

"If you really want to help him, then go inside and ask the servants if there's any problem. After all, the young master was running out of the palace, so if there's any problem, it must be inside the palace."

Roudel's expression brightened as if he had found a solution to the problem.

"Yes, you're right, rayn. Thank you for the advice. You're my dear friend, and I truly appreciate your constant help. It will surely pay off for you."

Rayn smiled sadly in return. "No problem, and now go... and don't eat anything when you enter the palace, understood?"

"Yes, don't worry, I can control myself."

Roudel smiled satisfactorily and hurried back to the palace, while Rayn looked at him with a worried expression as he walked away.

"....I really doubt the truth of what he said in his last words."

'You deserve better than this, my friend. If only people were rewarded according to their efforts, you would be in the royal guard. Someone like this would be useless in one of the alleys, thrown away there, but the winds blow as the ships do not desire.'

.

..

...

After approximately an hour and a half since the mission began.

[Preliminary Mission: This body needs a lot of work: 

Three laps around the palace (done)

Go to the training ground 

And do one hundred push-ups (100/0)

One hundred squats (100/0)

One hundred lunges (100/0)]

"Ha ah ha ah , oh, who would have thought it would be this difficult, just three laps, ha ah, only three laps, and now I feel like I'm about to vomit."

As he finished speaking, Maimoun placed his hand over his mouth. He was truly about to vomit... after a while, and after making sure he wouldn't vomit, he managed to gather himself and think about what to do next.

"Now I must return to the training ground or complete the rest of the exercises, but the problem is my strength has depleted at the moment. If I go on like this, it will take a lot of precious time. However, if I rest here while sweating like this, nothing awaits me but a cold."

'What should I do? Which option is better?'

Maimoun thought for a moment and then said, "What if I consider this place as the training ground? Will they count the exercises I've done? Let's try and see."

Maimoun lay on his stomach on the ground, then placed his palms on the semi-clay ground and raised the rest of his arms to the sky until they formed a sharp angle.

"Now."

Maimoun began transferring his strength to his arms and palms as if trying to push the ground. But instead of pushing it, he found himself rising from it. Consequently, the sharp angle formed by his hands began to widen, until it became a standing position, and eventually straightened. Once his hands were completely flat, he looked at the screen to see the result of his small experiment.

[Preliminary Mission: This body needs a lot of work:

 Three laps around the palace (done)

 Go to the training ground and do:

100 push-ups (100/1) 

100 squats (100/0) 

100 lunges (100/0)]

"Good, it's really counted. This means any place can be considered a training ground, so I won't waste my time, and I'll continue the mission here."

"Two.. Three... Four... Five.... Six..... Sssseven."

After completing six push-ups, Maimoun's elbows started trembling as if they were fragile jelly about to collapse, but he didn't give up and decided to continue. As soon as he finished the seventh one, he collapsed on the ground.

"Ha ah, thank you, Fayte. Or should I call you Fat for making this body so fit? You really make it too easy."

Such words coming out of Maimoun's mouth didn't at all match his angry expression. If the previous owner stood before him, he would surely know how satisfying mud tasted for people like him.

"Damn it, now I have to endure with this body... If only I could meet that Fayte just once."

As Maimoun lay on the ground, the smell of damp earth after rain entered his nostrils.

"It seems that this world and my original world have some commonalities, including this bacteria that causes this smell."

He really loved this smell, but he couldn't ignore the muddy ground that might soil him or make it difficult for him to do exercises. The ground where Maimoun stood was relatively dry, although it had rained today. The reason why that area of the ground wasn't wet was simply because it was under the tree that Maimoun chose to continue his exercises.

As he was recovering some of his strength, a carriage drawn by four horses approached the place where Maimoun was. As he rested and looked at the carriage, which was strange to him since he was from the modern era of cars, it quickly reached him and then left him behind.

"It's really like the Middle Ages. I wonder if there are supernatural powers like those in novels... Stop thinking like a child, Maimoun... But who am I lying to? It would be really amazing if there were supernatural powers."

Lost in dreams, Maimoun didn't notice that the carriage that passed by him didn't move away from him much before stopping, and a voice came from within it.

"Is that you, my dear Faty?"