Life 2

After an unknown amount of time, he was woken once more by a burst of shouting.

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

"Hadn't I gone to sleep just like this?" Song Ye rubbed his eyes. He clearly remembered giving the blanket to Cecilia in the corner.

Suddenly, a tiny hand reached over from the left.

Song Ye looked in that direction.

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 his socks and outer clothes had been taken off.

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

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 orders, she had been sent over as a gift for Anglie upon his return from Candiya City.

This little girl came from nothing more than an ordinary farming family, so Cecilia was very sensible. She understood her own circumstances well. If she could win Young Master Anglie's favor, her parents could receive safer protection and better benefits. And she was not the only child in the family; she also had an older brother and a younger sister. Thus, she had willingly entered the castle to become Anglie's gift.

Song Ye knew all this from Anglie's memories. That was why he had guessed that Cecilia was the one who had removed his outer clothes and socks.

It was dawn. Threads of bright light streamed in through the window, while the air carried a slight chill.

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. The trousers between his legs bulged up into a large, straight tent. Clearly, this meant that the body had almost recovered. It was proof 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 her angle, she happened to see the conspicuous bulge in Song Ye's trousers.

Cecilia's cheeks reddened slightly. She sat half-upright on the bed, at a loss for what to do.

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

Seeing the lovely, beautiful fifteen-year-old girl on the bed say such words, Song Ye's blood immediately boiled. His head grew hot, and he nearly failed to restrain himself from pouncing on her.

"Can you do basic chores? If you can, hurry out and bring me water so I can wash up," he said in a low voice, forcibly suppressing the flames inside him.

"Y-yes."

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

Only then did Song Ye relax his body a little.

Although Cecilia was a gift from his father, she was such a young girl. By his own conscience and moral standards, he truly found it hard to make a move.

More importantly, it was far too early for him to be dealing with such things. He was only fourteen. Getting involved in this too soon could very well leave his body innately deficient and even weaker.

Therefore, although she could become an object for him to enjoy as he pleased at any moment, Song Ye still restrained himself under the pressure of reason.

After Cecilia left, Song Ye no longer felt such a powerful urge.

He had been too exhausted yesterday to wash up. For Song Ye, who had once washed his face and feet every day before sleeping, it felt extremely uncomfortable.

"It seems they only wash up once a day here. Water is nowhere near as convenient as it was before, so they can't possibly waste it like that. What a nuisance."

He walked to the open window, leaned out, and looked down.

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

"Eleven!!"

One of the leading soldiers shouted.

"Eleven!!" Everyone shouted together. Though they were somewhat uneven, their voices were loud and resounding. Clear birdsong was mixed among them.

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

"Now I should consider how to improve my physical condition." Song Ye stroked his chin and watched the soldiers below, thinking to himself.

"I remember that the Chip has two abilities: one is analysis, and the other is memory storage. Analysis requires a huge amount of data before it can produce a relatively reliable result. Like yesterday's scan of Father and Knight Audis's physical qualities, it wasn't precise, only a rough range. And it can only gather information through my senses. Storage, meanwhile, can serve as a database for the analytical ability and collect vast amounts of information. It can only exist like a hard drive; it doesn't mean that I gain the memories as soon as they are stored. That requires a process—a process of transferring information from the Chip into the brain's memory region."

Song Ye fell into thought.

"If I want to improve my physical qualities, then the only best method is training. The Chip's analytical ability should be able to help me correct my training methods and find the form of training best suited to my body."

After waiting for a while, Cecilia brought over a silver washbasin and a towel. Once he had washed up, Song Ye 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. Holding the wooden stair rail as he descended, the entire stairwell still appeared somewhat dim.

Descending from the fourth floor, Song Ye saw a small window at every turn in the stairs.

As he came down, he saw a maid laboriously opening these windows one by one to air the place out.

"Young Master Anglie, good morning," the maid greeted respectfully when she saw Song Ye.

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

Song Ye glanced at the maid. She was merely a young and delicate-looking girl, no older than twenty. All the maids in this castle had been personally selected by the Baron—ugly ones were unwanted, and those lacking sense were unwanted—so they were rather pleasing to the eye.

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

"It is Lord Anrui's cavalry unit," the maid replied 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 recruited into the castle only recently," the maid said quietly.

"Oh, I understand." Song Ye nodded, said no more, and continued downstairs.

Beyond the residential building area lay an empty stretch of open ground.

The entire castle had been built as a circle enclosed by connected buildings. The center was the activity grounds.

Beams of morning sunlight shone through the gaps between the buildings on all four sides. Each golden beam was like a pillar, falling across the edges of the grounds.

The activity grounds were a grayish-white area resembling a training field.

Many boys and girls, neither quite grown nor quite small, were already doing basic exercises there. Most of the children wore gray or white clothes, and scattered shouts of exertion sounded from time to time.

The boys held wooden swords and vigorously practiced basic movements such as downward chops and upward slashes. The girls, meanwhile, uniformly practiced with small wooden shortbows, continually shooting arrows at targets dozens of meters away.

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

Song Ye recognized him at a glance. He was a middle-aged man in a grayish-white shirt and black trousers, powerfully built and only slightly less imposing than Knight Audis. He stood with his arms folded across his chest, silently watching the children train. He gave off an air of steadiness and calm.

The moment Song Ye spotted him, the man also saw Song Ye emerge.

The man raised a hand and beckoned to him.

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

The children who had been training turned to look at him. One boy beside the man gave his wooden sword one last fierce swing, bringing up a whistling gust of wind. It immediately drew the gazes of several girls. A trace of smugness 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 gave a perfunctory reply, lowered his wooden sword, and lazily gathered over.

Once everyone had assembled.

Song Ye also walked over to the man. He said nothing and stood to one side.

"Starting today, we will be adding a new member." 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 during yesterday's welcome, right?"

No one spoke. Most of the boys looked utterly unconcerned, while the girls watched Song Ye with some curiosity.

For a moment, the atmosphere turned awkwardly cold.

Song Ye frowned. He had come here for morning training, not 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, then don't delay everyone's training. I was injured not long ago, and I want to start again from the basics with some recovery exercises. Could you demonstrate them for me separately?"

Arad was slightly taken aback. Whether Anglie had been in the castle before or had gone to Candiya City, he had received dedicated instruction in basic training methods. These were the most fundamental things, yet he needed another demonstration?

"Don't tell me he doesn't even know how to do basic training," someone muttered quietly.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Most of the children immediately revealed disdainful expressions. In this era, strength was revered, and unceasing self-improvement was what people most admired and respected. Those who failed to strive forward were often looked down upon.

A crowd of gazes focused on Song Ye as if they were looking at some strange animal. Song Ye tried hard to keep his expression unchanged and instead focused his attention on Arad. If his memories had not been blurry, if the original Anglie had not been a useless fool who only knew how to indulge himself, how could Song Ye have fallen into such an awkward situation?

"Arad, can you?" Song Ye emphasized once more.

"All right, all right." Arad hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "But I can only teach you the basics. If you wish to receive more advanced training, Lord Audis and the Baron's swordsmanship experience should be something they can pass on to you."

That was what he said, but everyone knew that combat strength in this era was not something one could gain merely through instruction. In all the rumors around them, no one had ever heard of someone becoming strong solely through being taught.