Pain and soreness from severely overworking the body wasn’t an issue for Ega, well, not when he had black salamander’s soul mixed into his own. Rather than his body, his mind was beginning to suffer.

  A torrent of emotions was swirling around in his heart, so much so that it was beginning to leak out through his expressions and actions. Even Ella was beginning to notice, having stared at Ega as he stopped eating midway through his meal.

  “Is something wrong?” Ella asked.

  “Huh? Wha… Oh.” Realizing that he had been spacing out, he quickly brought himself back to the real world. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

  Ega continued eating with a blank stare, still trying to figure out the way to achieving his Absolute Path. Noticing that he didn’t seem to be getting better, Ella figured that she’d try to cheer him up.

  Standing up on the chair she was sitting on, she reached for the top of Ega’s head, patting it a few times.

  “Huh? Wha—” Utterly appalled by the sudden action, Ega was thrusted out of his own thoughts.

  “Does that make you feel better?”

  “Who taught you this?” Grabbing her hand, he moved it out of the way to stop her from patting his head any further.

  “Hela said that I could do this whenever you look down.”

  “Ah, of course she did.” It was something she used to do all the time when Ega had first joined the Order of Knights. He let Hela take care of Ella for the day, just to watch over her as Ega spent the entire day training, and for some reason, she had imparted this habit onto Ella of all people.

  “Did I… do something wrong?” It almost seemed like she was about to break out into tears.

  “No no, I’m feeling much better!” Ega tried to smile, only, it came out more as a grin than anything. “I just… didn’t expect you to cheer me up so quickly.”

  Despite his horrible acting, it seemed like Ella had fallen for it. Instead of breaking out into tears, her face lit up with the brightest smile that he had ever seen. Just what had gotten her into such a good mood?

  “I was just thinking about training. Your training, actually.” That was a lie, but it wouldn’t be bad to take his mind off of things for a moment.

  Ella seemed quite interested, wanting to learn something more than just how to see better. It was a useful skill, in fact, it had saved her life, but wouldn’t it be great to be able to achieve more?

  “Just finish eating first, we’re going out to the training field today.”

  Excited, she sat back down and started to eat even faster than before.

  “Hey now, you're still going to have to wait for me to finish.” Ega couldn’t help but smile at her energy.

  As the two of them finished their meals, they stepped out into the training grounds which were, again, mostly empty. Taking one of the wooden swords off a rack, Ega tried to find something for Ella’s size.

  Of course, there weren’t any swords fitting for a child, not in a fortress for proper knights. Looking around, he found something perfect for her. Walking up to a tree, he cut off a branch straight enough for Ella to use.

  As he walked back to Ella to give her the branch, she extended both of her hands out with her palms faced up like she was receiving some sort of great treasure.

  “This will be your ‘sword’ for now.” Playing along, he carefully placed it into her hands. “Just watch me and follow along.”

  The directions he gave were simple, too simple. Ega didn’t give her any directions in terms of posture, positioning, how to grip it properly, nor even how to swing properly. Without any other words of guidance, how would she learn the proper method?

  But there was something that he had noticed in his short time with Ella; her eyes. Wanting to put it to the test, he performed a simple downward slash. Perfect form, perfect posture, perfect swing.

  Looking over at Ella she performed the same swing, almost to perfection. She had even copied the little details in Ega’s posture and movement, one foot a little forward, hands just above the head, swing stopping just a moment away from the ground.

  “Good, but breathe while you swing. Always remember to breathe whenever you’re doing something.”

  Performing the same swing again, Ella mimicked him to perfection. Although she wasn’t even wielding a training sword, being able to copy him so perfectly was an incredible feat. Wanting to test her, he began to perform other strikes. A thrust, a few slashes, he even began to connect the string of strikes together.

  Each time she copied him, struggling here and there, but for her first training session, it was already an incredible feat. Ega couldn’t help but be amused, watching her follow along as he swung his sword.

  After an hour, Ella had finally worn herself out. Despite that, a fire continued to burn in her eyes.

  “Alright, go rest, we’ll continue tomorrow.” Seeing this, he decided to end it for today.

  “Wha—” she was stunned at the sudden end to their training. “I can still—”

  “No. We’re stopping here. Do you want to know what’s just as important as training?” Ella looked him straight into the eyes, unsure of the answer. “Resting. Now go bathe, eat, and rest up for tomorrow.”

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  With those words Ella walked away with a sullen expression. Walking up to one of the maids maintaining the fortress, she was guided to the bath house. They seemed to enjoy Ella’s presence, being able to care for a child rather than another middle-aged knight.

  Watching as she disappeared into the fort with that expression, Ega couldn’t help but understand her feelings. He felt the same way at one point, but he also understood the repercussions of overworking oneself.

  Despite telling Ella all of that, he was going to ignore his own advice and run his body into the ground yet again. He swung again and again, unknowingly throwing more and more kindling into the flame of his soul.

  He let his desperation and fear guide him, drowning in those emotions with each swing of his sword. Again and again he swung, slowly carving away at the wall that stood before him. Ega didn’t need any new training methods, he didn’t need to approach the problem from a new angle, he only needed to be himself.

  …

  Hela let out a long sigh as she heard a knock at the door. Having counted the days, she was certain of who stood just beyond her office.

  “Commander Hela, I have a letter for you directly from Lord Elv.”

  “Come in.”

  As the door opened, her mood worsened at the sight of William, Lord Elv’s personal butler. He had been the butler to the previous Lord of Ashier as well, and anyone could tell from how long he had served just from his features.

  The wrinkles on his face were prominent, his hairs snow white, and yet, there was something about him which made it seem like you were standing before a fortress. As he strode toward Hela’s desk, there wasn’t a single hint of respect. Rather, it seemed like he was looking at her with a bit of scorn.

  Hela returned the gesture, and for a few seconds, they glared at each other. Breaking this needless quarrel, he placed the letter onto the table.

  “Court summons I assume?” Hela glanced at the red wax seal.

  “You of all people should know that you crossed a boundary. Seems like that hound of yours has rubbed off on you.”

  “And maybe for the better. I was able to bring an end to all of these disappearances quite quickly, no? Something your Lord was unable to do for months, or maybe he just didn’t care enough for his own citizens.”

  Though slight, Hela could see the change in William’s face. “I don’t question his decisions. I simply serve.”

  “And so do I, just not to a Lord who will let me live in a nice dog house once he’s leashed me.”

  Unable to hold it in any longer, William slammed his fist onto the table and began to lean in. “At least I’m not chained to a desk for the rest of my life. Look at yourself Hela, you’ve accomplished nothing. The Order is still as shit as always, the nobles are still the same, and look, even your hound has left you. Just what are you doing as all your hair turns white?”

  Saying all that he needed to say, turned toward the exit, but not before Hela said something.

  “My hair is already all white.”

  William turned back, unsure of what to take of that statement. “Have a good day.”

  Shutting the door behind him, he couldn’t help but be surprised at seeing a little girl standing outside. Was she a maid-in-training? But it seemed like she was standing outside Hela’s office for a while.

  Was she her daughter? No, she was too old to be having children. Not wanting to be distracted with needless thoughts, William quickly took his leave. Ella was stunned as she watched the man walk away, unsure of what to do.

  “Ella? What are you doing out here?” Having spotted her when the doors were opened, Hela stepped outside.

  “Oh, um, Ega is training again.” She looked at the ground, not wanting to burden Hela too much, especially after everything that she heard.

  “Of course he is. Why don’t you come in? I shouldn’t be getting any other visitors today.”

  “O-okay, thank you.” She lifted her face, meeting Hela’s gaze with bright eyes.

  “I should be thanking you.” Unable to stop herself from smiling, she let Ella in first. Despite everything that had occurred, she was beginning to feel better already.

  “Let’s do some more reading, okay?” Sitting down, she pulled out a document from her desk.

  Ella nodded her head as she pulled a chair next to Hela. Reading out loud, Hela couldn’t help but be slightly distracted from William’s appearance. Despite her straight face throughout the entire encounter, his words had gotten to her.

  She couldn’t help but think about them as she read to Ella, but something had suddenly snapped her out her thoughts. Feeling something touching her head, she turned over to see Ella patting her head.

  “Um, are you feeling better?”

  “Better?” Hela was shocked. “I…”

  Thinking for a second, she suddenly started to laugh. There was a bitter taste in her mouth ever since William had delivered that letter, but now, there was a strange sweetness. Ruffling Ella’s hair a little as payback, she looked at her in the eyes.

  “I’m much better now.” Her expression had finally lightened up. “Didn’t I tell you to give Ega a few headpats? Not me.”

  “I already did. And you seemed a little down, so…” Ella started to become embarrassed, realizing that her assumption that headpats cheered everyone up might have been a bit strange.

  “Oh? You did? And how’d he react?”

  “He seemed to get a little better.”

  “That’s great…” Hela turned her gaze out the window and toward Ega. There was a somber expression on her face, and as he turned back to Ella, she asked for a favor.

  “Ella?”

  “Y-yes?” She was surprised at the sudden shift in mood.

  “I know this might be a bit much to ask, but stay at Ega’s side, okay? That kid, he loves to carry the entire world on his shoulders. Just help him a little, give him a few pats on the head, make sure he eats well, nothing too grand.”

  Ella was unsure how to respond.

  “You don’t have to listen to me. If you don’t want to stay with him, that’s alright—”

  “N-no…” She suddenly spoke. “I… it’s nice being with him. But… I don’t think I’ll be with him for long.”

  “Why’s that? He wouldn’t just leave his daughter would he?”

  “I-I’m not—”

  “Oh please, don’t you feel that way?” Ella looked down, unsure of what to say. “I’m sure he feels that way toward you.”

  Hela looked out the window, towards Ega desperately training. Ella followed her gaze, unsure of what to say or how to feel.

  “Ah. What am I doing meddling in your affairs? Just forget everything I said, do what you feel is right. Shall we get back to reading?”

  Ella nodded her head, but she couldn’t just forget everything that Hela just said. It stuck to her, whether for better or worse.