Sif was a little nervous. Today was her first day working as secretary to the lord of the Red Tide Fief.
She had little fondness for Louis and was even somewhat wary of him.
In her eyes, this lord was merely an imperial noble beneath a mild-mannered facade, no different at heart from the vile nobles of the Ironblood Empire.
She arrived at the lord's room on time and found him sitting cross-legged in cultivation.
Louis was practicing his breathing technique to cultivate Battle Aura.
This was her second time seeing the young lord, but she studied him more closely than during their first meeting in the sickroom.
He had well-defined features, a tall, slender build, and an air of quiet composure.
Rather than the bloated nobles dressed in sumptuous finery, he looked more like a scholar. Even while cultivating, he exuded calm, unhurried concentration.
For a moment, that demeanor genuinely made it difficult for Sif to equate him with the scheming imperial nobles she knew.
But she quickly reined in her thoughts. He was probably just putting on a show. If he really worked that hard, he should not have been so weak.
When his cultivation ended, Louis opened his eyes and immediately spotted her.
"You're here early." Louis gave her an easy smile.
Sif nodded without speaking.
Today, she wore an ordinary leather coat made by the craftsmen's workshop, giving her a brisk, capable look.
Louis glanced casually at her, thinking that if supplies in the Northern Frontier were not so scarce, getting her a maid outfit might be nice.
But he reconsidered. Forget it. It's still pretty cold.
Besides, he was not accustomed to being waited on. There were no young maids in the entire Red Tide Fief dedicated to serving him, only a middle-aged woman who cleaned his room and did his laundry.
"I'm not criticizing you. It's just that I still have sword training in a bit, so work won't officially start for another hour," Louis explained.
Sif merely nodded again and said nothing else.
Louis then left the room and began his daily sword training with Lambert.
During training, Lambert held his sword steadily and attacked fiercely, every strike precise and powerful.
Louis focused more on technique, using nimble footwork to evade attacks and look for openings to counter.
"Keep your footing steadier," Lambert reminded him in a low voice, then brought his sword straight down.
Louis swiftly twisted aside, narrowly dodging, but Lambert changed moves in an instant and swept his sword sideways.
Forced to raise his sword to block, Louis staggered back several steps under the tremendous impact, his arm tingling.
Watching from the sidelines, Sif silently assessed him: Lambert was considerably stronger than she was.
As for Louis, his swordsmanship was decent, but no more than "decent."
Just flashy moves with no substance, as expected, she thought.
Yet she also noticed that no matter how Lambert attacked, Louis never let up, meeting every attack with full concentration.
"Again?" Lambert asked.
"Of course." Louis wiped the sweat from his brow and resumed his stance.
Sif frowned slightly. He did not seem to be going through the motions. He was genuinely trying to improve.
Swordsmanship was a mandatory part of Louis's daily routine. Ever since arriving at the Red Tide Fief, he had asked Lambert to teach him for an hour each day.
An hour of sword training passed in a steady exchange of blows and adjustments.
Louis lowered his sword, let out a long breath, and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, breaking into a bright smile.
Sif glanced sideways at him. He really was rather handsome.
"Come on. Time to start the day's lordly duties." Louis looked at her, his tone relaxed. "Don't be so nervous. A secretary's work is actually quite simple."
He casually explained a few key points, then concluded, "Your main task today is to accompany me and record my work throughout the day."
Sif nodded and replied flatly, "Understood."
Louis's first task as lord was to inspect the soldiers' training at the training grounds.
One hundred and twenty soldiers ran around the grounds in a large, square formation.
Their footsteps fell in perfect unison. Though they were gasping for breath, not one complained of exhaustion.
"Last five laps! Pick up the pace!"
"Move! Faster! Faster! Didn't you eat your fill?"
"Come on! Keep running! You're capable of far more than this!"
The Knight instructors ran alongside them, constantly shouting encouragement.
This training method was entirely different from those used in the other noble territories of the Ironblood Empire.
Other nobles trained their soldiers in physical endurance and individual melee weapon skills at most.
That relied on traditional master-to-apprentice instruction, but the training was often haphazard, leaving the soldiers with shaky foundations.
As a result, ordinary soldiers became nothing more than cannon fodder for bloodline Knights on the battlefield.
But Louis understood that this was a low-magic world. Even the strongest legendary Knight could not cut down over twenty-six hundred armored enemies with a single stroke.
The most common Apprentice Knights could take on only ten well-trained soldiers at most-roughly the equivalent of two Ip Mans.
Yet training one was over a hundred times harder than training an ordinary soldier.
Thus, drawing on knowledge from his previous life, Louis had designed a more systematic training regimen.
It was fully standardized, placing greater emphasis on teamwork and rapid responses, with particular attention to adapting to battlefield conditions.
Although these soldiers had no Battle Aura, he believed that this training could turn them into a capable fighting force.
"Attention!"
The soldiers abruptly halted and turned to face forward.
Louis walked slowly toward them, an authority in his every movement that instinctively made all the soldiers stand straighter.
"Good morning, my lord!" the soldiers shouted in unison, their voices deafening.
Louis nodded slightly and said evenly, "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's no hardship!" Their answer rang out firmly.
These soldiers went through physical conditioning, formation drills, simulated combat, and a series of other exercises every day.
Although their training load had increased, no one complained.
They had enough to eat, warm clothes to wear, and, moreover, their lord Louis had given them unprecedented respect.
Every one of them remembered their lord's kindness.
Louis swept his gaze over them, then fixed his eyes on a few soldiers whose movements had been sloppy. "On the battlefield, that kind of sluggishness will cost you and your comrades your heads."
Those soldiers immediately broke into cold sweats, hastily lowering their heads in acknowledgment.
"Five more laps."
"Yes!"
Without hesitation, the soldiers turned and resumed running, their strides even more forceful.
Sif stood to one side, watching the soldiers run in perfect unison as a complicated feeling rose within her.
She did not fully understand the purpose of this training.
But she could clearly sense that the soldiers' respect for Louis was genuine.
Although Louis neither barked orders nor made any exaggerated gestures, every word he spoke prompted the soldiers to obey without hesitation.
This young lord truly seemed different from ordinary nobles.
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