Life 2

He did not know how long had passed before he was awakened again by a burst of shouting.

Opening his eyes, Song Ye slowly pushed himself up from the bed. The white silk blanket slid off his body.

"Didn't I fall asleep just like that?" Song Ye rubbed his eyes. He clearly remembered giving the blanket to Cecilia in the corner.

Suddenly, a tiny hand landed on him from the left.

Song Ye followed it with his gaze.

The little girl Cecilia was actually lying on her side beside him, her small body curled up as she slept soundly.

Only then did Song Ye notice that someone had taken off his socks and outer clothes.

It was probably this little girl. Song Ye immediately guessed the truth.

Song Ye had met Cecilia during an outing hunt, on a hillside.

At the time, Cecilia had been herding sheep on that slope. Anglie had taken a liking to her at first sight, and under the Baron's instructions, she had been sent over as a gift for Anglie after his return from Candiya City.

The little girl came from nothing more than an ordinary farming family, so Cecilia was quite sensible. She understood her circumstances well. If she could win Young Master Anglie's favor, her parents could receive greater security and benefits. And she was not the only child in the family; she also had an older brother and a younger sister. So she had been willing to enter the castle and become Anglie's gift.

Song Ye knew all this from Anglie's memories. That was why he guessed that Cecilia had helped him remove his outer clothes and socks.

It was early morning. Strands of bright light shone through the window, and the air was slightly cool.

Outside, the orderly sounds of the guards' morning drills drifted in wave after wave.

Song Ye sat upright and got out of bed. He immediately looked down at his lower body with some embarrassment. His trousers bulged conspicuously between his legs. Clearly, this meant that this body had mostly recovered. It was a sign of vigorous energy.

Perhaps Song Ye had made too much noise getting out of bed.

Little Cecilia over there rubbed her eyes as well and climbed up. From where she sat, she happened to see the prominent bulge in Song Ye's trousers.

Cecilia's cheeks flushed slightly. She sat half-upright on the bed, at a loss.

"Young Master Anglie, how should I serve you?" she asked softly.

Seeing the adorable, beautiful fifteen-year-old girl on the bed say something like that, Song Ye's blood instantly surged. His mind heated up, and he nearly failed to stop himself from pouncing on her.

"Can you do basic chores? If you can, hurry out and bring me water to wash up." He suppressed the fire within him and spoke in a low voice.

"Y-Yes."

Perhaps his expression had frightened the girl. Her face turned slightly pale as she hurriedly climbed out of bed, opened the door, and ran out of the bedroom.

Only then did Song Ye relax slightly.

Although Cecilia was a gift from his father, she was such a young girl that, judging by his conscience and moral standards, he truly could not bring himself to touch her.

More importantly, it was far too early for him to deal with such matters. He was only fourteen. Getting involved in that sort of thing too soon could very well leave him constitutionally weak and even more frail.

So although she could become an object of his enjoyment whenever he wished, Song Ye still restrained himself under the control of reason.

After Cecilia left, Song Ye's impulse was no longer as strong.

He had been too tired yesterday to wash up, and that made Song Ye, who used to wash his face and feet every day before sleeping, feel very uncomfortable.

"It seems they only wash up once a day here. Water is nowhere near as convenient as it used to be, so they can't waste it like that. What a hassle."

He walked over to the open window and leaned out to look down.

In the clearing before the woods outside, a squad of black-clad soldiers was jogging in formation. They wore heavy black iron full-body armor and carried cross-shaped greatswords on their backs, each as wide as a palm. They were conducting morning drills. Fine yellow dust scattered from beneath their feet as they ran.

"Eleven!!"

One of the leading soldiers shouted.

"Eleven!!" everyone shouted. Though not completely in unison, their voices were loud and powerful. Crisp birdcalls mingled among them.

Song Ye suddenly felt refreshed. The last traces of sleepiness quickly faded away.

"Now it's time to think about how to improve my physical fitness." Song Ye stroked his chin, watching the soldiers below as he pondered alone.

"I remember the chip has two abilities. One is analysis, and the other is memory storage. Analysis requires a large amount of data to produce a more reliable result. Like when it scanned Father and Knight Audis's physical attributes yesterday, it wasn't precise. It only gave a rough range, and it can only gather information through my senses. Storage, meanwhile, can serve as the database for the analysis ability. It can collect a large amount of data and information, existing only like a hard drive. It doesn't mean I gain the memories as soon as they're stored. That requires a process, a process of transferring them from the chip into the memory region of my brain."

Song Ye fell into thought.

"If I want to improve my physical fitness, then the only best method is training. The chip's analysis ability should be able to help me correct my training methods and find the exercises most suitable for my body."

After waiting for a while, Cecilia brought in a silver basin and a towel. Once he had washed up, he instructed her to stay obediently in the room.

Only then did Song Ye leave the room and head down the spiral staircase.

The morning sky was not yet very bright. As he walked down holding the wooden handrail, the entire stairwell still seemed somewhat dim.

From the fourth floor downward, there was a small window at every turn of the staircase.

As Song Ye came down, he saw a maid laboriously opening those windows one by one to let in air.

"Good morning, Young Master Anglie." When the maid saw Song Ye, she greeted him respectfully.

The sounds of the guards' morning drills outside drifted in from afar through the windows.

Song Ye glanced at the maid. She was merely a young, delicate-looking girl, no more than twenty years old. All the maids in this castle had been personally selected by the Baron—ugly ones were not wanted, nor were those who lacked sense—so they were quite pleasing to the eye.

"What guard unit is training outside?" Song Ye asked.

"It is Lord Anrui's cavalry unit," the maid answered respectfully.

"Lord Anrui?"

"Lord Anrui is Lord Audis's first adjutant. It is only natural that you do not know him, Young Master. He was only recently recruited into the castle," the maid said softly.

"Oh, I understand." Song Ye nodded, said nothing more, and continued downstairs.

Beyond the residential building was an empty open area.

The entire castle had been built as a circle enclosed by a continuous ring of buildings. The center was an activity ground.

Beams of morning sunlight shone through the gaps between the buildings on all four sides. Golden shafts of light, like pillars, fell around the edges of the grounds.

The activity ground was a grayish-white area resembling a training field.

Many boys and girls of various ages were already doing basic exercises there. Most of them wore gray and white clothing, and scattered shouts of exertion occasionally rang out.

The boys held wooden swords and vigorously practiced basic moves such as downward slashes and upward cuts. The girls, meanwhile, were uniformly practicing with small wooden shortbows, repeatedly firing arrows at targets dozens of meters away.

A burly male figure stood at the edge of the field.

Song Ye looked over at once. The man was middle-aged, dressed in a gray-white shirt and black trousers. He was broad and sturdy, only slightly less imposing than Knight Audis. With his arms crossed over his chest, he quietly watched the children practicing, giving off a calm and steady air.

When Song Ye noticed him, the man also saw Song Ye emerging.

The man raised a hand and waved him over.

"Hey, hey!!" the man shouted loudly. "Everyone, stop for now! Come over here!"

The children who had been practicing turned to look at him. One boy beside the man gave one final fierce downward swing of his sword, stirring up a whooshing gust of wind. It immediately drew the attention of several girls looking over, and a smug smile appeared on his face.

"I said stop! Gelu, didn't you hear me?" The middle-aged man's face darkened.

"Yes, yes, dear Lord Arad." The boy replied dismissively, lowered the wooden sword in his hand, and lazily gathered with the others.

Once everyone had assembled.

Song Ye also walked up to the man. Without speaking, he stood to one side.

"Starting today, we have a new member joining us." Arad clapped his hands several times, producing crisp sounds. "Young Master Anglie. He returned from Candiya City not long ago. Everyone should have seen him yesterday during the welcome, right?"

No one spoke. Most of the boys looked unconcerned, while the girls looked curiously at Song Ye.

For a moment, the atmosphere turned awkwardly quiet.

Song Ye frowned. He had not come here for morning training to waste time on introductions.

"Lord Arad."

"You may simply call me Arad," the middle-aged man said humbly.

Song Ye nodded. "All right, Arad. If there is nothing else, don't delay everyone's practice. I was injured not long ago, so I want to start over with some basic recovery exercises. Could you demonstrate them for me separately?"

Arad was slightly stunned. Whether back when Anglie had been in the castle or during his time in Candiya City, he had received specialized instruction in basic training methods. These were the most basic things, yet he wanted another demonstration?

"He doesn't even know how to do basic exercises?" someone whispered.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Most of the children immediately showed disdainful expressions. In this era, strength was revered, and striving to improve oneself was what people admired and respected most. Those who did not seek progress were often looked down upon.

A whole crowd of eyes focused on Song Ye, as though they were looking at some strange animal. Song Ye did his best to keep his expression from changing and instead focused his attention on Arad. If his memories had not become blurred, if the original Anglie had not been an incompetent fool who only knew how to indulge himself, how could Song Ye have ended up in such an embarrassing situation?

"Arad, can you?" Song Ye emphasized again.

"All right." Arad hesitated for a moment before nodding. "However, I can only teach you the basics. If you wish to study and train further, Lord Audis and the Baron should be able to teach you their swordsmanship experience."

That was what he said, but everyone knew that combat strength could not be gained through instruction alone in this era. Among all the stories circulating around them, no one had ever heard of someone becoming strong simply through being taught.