Chapter 1: An Old Country Bumpkin Feels the Onset of Winter
“Okay, good work, everyone.”
“Good work!”
By now, I was completely accustomed to teaching at the order’s office. After bringing the usual drills to an end, I exchanged farewells with the knights. Currently, it was just a little after noon. I always came to the office in the morning, loosened up my muscles a bit, then brought things to an end around this time. There were knights who trained continuously from the morning onward and others who only showed up when the sun was high in the sky. Regardless, ever since Allucia had brought me here and had made me a special instructor, I’d stuck to this routine.
Training for too long actually made things less efficient. Frankly, I didn’t have the stamina for that to begin with. I’d kept this daily schedule ever since my childhood in Beaden, so I had no intention of changing it now. Allucia, Henblitz, and the other knights respected this—I was grateful I could do things the way I wanted to.
“Whoa, so cold...”
After I put away my wooden sword and stepped outside, a serious chill brushed against my skin. The oppressive heat of summertime had faded, and just when I’d gotten used to thinking it was now autumn (with autumn’s confusing temperatures), winter’s breath was already rapidly closing in. It didn’t bother me at all when I was sweating it out with everyone, but once I stopped moving and went outside, I was forced to notice the changing of seasons—whether I wanted to or not.
Summer and winter were perfectly normal in both Beaden and Baltrain. Things could be different farther to the north or south in Liberis, though. Anyway, this was my first winter in Baltrain, but from what I’d heard from those around me, it was pretty rare for snow to pile up or for a severe cold snap to sweep through the area. That said, the winters weren’t mild enough to casually ignore, so I had to prepare a bit to protect myself from the chill.
I’d brought my favorite coat with me from Beaden—the knights of the order were apparently supplied with coats. Even indoors, it got pretty chilly during winter, so people went through firewood at a tremendous rate.
If I’d still been living on my own, I could’ve just toughed it out, but I had Mewi with me now, so that wouldn’t work. I actually had quite the stockpile of firew
