As soon as Miguel left the training ground, Flora asked me as I lay there, “Can you get up?”

“No. No way.”

My arms felt ready to fall off, and my legs were trembling.

“Then climb on my back.”

Flora looked a little pleased as she carried me. What was she so happy about?

“Has it already been two years since you last let me carry you? You’re so unlike a child your age that my lady worries about you. I think she misses it, too.”

“Of course, it does make things easier for us,” she added quietly. But by then, I could barely hear what she was saying. No, my eyes were already half closed, and I could no longer make out her words at all. She seemed to keep talking, but I was already asleep.

My body recovered quickly. Before the next day was over, all the pain had vanished. And once I had recovered, my body was different from the day before—tougher and stronger.

I spent a full day resting with Mother. A warm bath, a massage, even tea and snacks. She had arranged it all to help me recover after I’d pushed myself until I fainted, but I was already fully recovered.

The following morning, after that leisurely day, Sir Miguel came to my room in person.

“I’ve been assigned to oversee your training from now on.”

I tilted my head. “Wasn’t it just a test?”

“Think of it as training and a test. Your ability isn’t something we can assess in a single day.”

The duke had come in person, and now a full knight was training a child who had only just turned six... Even if the test was continuing, could I take this to mean they expected something of me?

“And you needn’t speak so formally to me. Now that you’ve gained an inherited ability, there’s no need for it.”

I grinned. He’d told me to drop the formalities, so I decided to do it right away.

“Isn’t this a little early?”

“Pardon?”

“A squire doesn’t start proper training until fourteen. Even pages who just do chores aren’t taken on before seven, are they? I’ve only just turned six.”

Miguel looked uncomfortable.

“It’s not as if I’m starting out as a page. Even my wonderful brother Simon didn’t begin knight training until he was eight.”

What was more, our little second young master, who had inherited his ability from his mother’s side, still wasn’t training it. Apart from his electrical ability, he was an ordinary little kid. Training like this would be too much for him yet.

“I think it’s a little early myself, but... it’s the duke’s order.”

There was nothing I could say to an order from the duke. What did he want? My ability only strengthened my body; I couldn’t use mana. Was there some secret about it I didn’t know?

It was the duke’s order either way. I’d find out if I kept doing as I was told.

“I suppose I’ll have to follow orders. Are we going to the training ground out back again today?”

“Yes, sir.”

The knight answered at once, looking relieved.

He was a fairly innocent knight. Then again, no worldly-wise knight would be assigned to teach an illegitimate son like me. I studied his face. He didn’t seem like an outcast. Was he the type people walked all over?

Well, as long as he was skilled, it didn’t matter. I changed clothes at once and followed him.

When Mother learned that I would continue training, she glared coldly at Miguel. But once she heard it was the duke’s order, all she could do was sigh. Flora hurried to the kitchen to prepare my lunch, and Mother hugged me tightly before I left the room.

Miguel and I headed to the training ground alone. When we arrived a little later, we ran into someone I hadn’t expected to see. Or rather, I simply hadn’t expected him, though it made perfect sense for him to be there.

“Why are you here?”

The duke’s eldest son frowned at the sight of me with Miguel. He had been practicing swordsmanship with another knight. As he looked at me, a faint blue glow ran along the blade he held lowered at his side.

It was sword aura made from mana. A mere ten-year-old had given mana tangible form. Even seeing it with my own eyes, I could hardly believe it.

‘So this is the heir the House of Gresia is so proud of.’

The knight standing in front of Simon looked deeply displeased too.

“What’s this? This is the ducal family’s training ground. You can’t just walk in!”

The knight, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, was scolding Miguel. Great. This was going to be a nuisance. I could answer him myself, but I had no reason to. I looked at Miguel too.

Miguel answered uneasily. “His Grace ordered me to train Young Master Alex. The commander gave me the instructions at this morning’s roll call.”

“That can’t be...”

At the knight’s groan, Simon burst out, “Nonsense! I’ll check for myself.”

He abandoned his training and strode rapidly toward the mansion. He was apparently trying to maintain some decorum by not running, but the result looked worse than if he had. If only I’d had a camera. It was a real shame I couldn’t capture that sight.

Neither Simon nor the knight, who had said they would check, returned to the training ground that day. Meanwhile, Miguel worked me to the bone from the first day.

Unlike that initial day of training, Miguel kept me running. Not a distance suited to my age, either. Just like on the first day, he made me run until I fainted.

One day, two days, three. Every day I ran until I passed out, then returned to the mansion on Flora’s back.

After that first encounter, this training ground effectively became mine alone. Simon never came back, and the duke never stopped by. I saw no other family members, knights, or mansion staff there either.

A week passed.

“Haah, haah. Is knight training normally like this? How does anyone survive it?”

On the first day I managed not to faint, I asked Miguel. He looked uncomfortable again.

“Of course not. If everyone trained like this, nobody would last. I’d have run away myself.”

“What?”

I tried to force myself upright at that absurd answer, but only managed a groan.

“Then why am I doing this ridiculous—”

“Because you’re growing quickly, aren’t you?”

I had no answer for that. He wasn’t wrong.

Even as I ran myself unconscious day after day, I could feel myself growing. At some point during a run, I would become a little faster, breathe a little easier, feel a little sturdier. It was distinctly different from getting stronger the ordinary way. Almost as if I were gaining a level in a game?

It didn’t happen every day, and the intervals between those moments grew longer over time. But each change was unmistakable.

‘I’ve felt it four times since the first day. Does that make me level four?’

The exhaustion had me thinking all sorts of things, but Miguel was right: my ability was definitely developing.

* * *

“I hear that child is receiving separate training at the family’s training ground.”

“Yes. His Grace and Young Master Simon are both using another ground.”

“And I hear His Grace even went to see him there.”

“Only on the first day.”

“The number of days isn’t what matters.”

“My apologies.”

“Why? What is it about that child that interests him? Being clever is of no use, and his inherited ability was nothing special...”

“Shall I look into the reason?”

The question earned a shake of the head. “No. There’s no need. His Grace’s protection ended on the child’s awakening day, after all.”

The plan had been to wait a little longer, but the duke was showing interest in the child. That could not be allowed to continue.

“More importantly, you said the family training ground is secluded?”

“Yes. It’s surrounded by forest. No one except the forest keeper and members of the ducal household can approach it.”

“Then if an accident happened there, others would be unlikely to find out.”

“I believe so, unless His Grace makes an unexpected visit.”

“Don’t worry about His Grace.”

A brief silence followed, and the room seemed to grow a little colder.

“Find someone. Someone skilled at ambushes. At the very least, someone who can kill one young knight with ease.”

“Understood.”

The man bowed and left. The beautiful room fell quiet again.

* * *

“Phewww.”

I let out a long breath and shook the sweat off. I could feel strength returning to my body. I’d run for nearly an hour, pushing myself to the limit, but I no longer fainted. It was still exhausting, of course, but a short rest like this let me recover somewhat.

Only a month had passed, yet even I could feel how much I’d grown. The rich scent of the forest surrounding the training ground reached me. The ground was small enough that I almost felt as if I were standing among the trees.

“Well done.”

Flora, who had been waiting nearby, handed me a cup of water. Once I’d drunk the cool water, Miguel spoke.

“Now let’s move on to sword training.”

Flora took back the cup and headed to the edge of the training ground. I drew the wooden sword at my waist. It looked like a toy made for a six-year-old, but it was as sturdy as the wooden swords adults used.

Miguel had a gentle face, hardly what you’d expect of a knight. But when it came to training, he pushed me so hard he reminded me of a military training instructor from my previous life. Back then—or even if I’d just been an ordinary six-year-old now—someone would have reported him for child abuse.

Until recently, even Flora had been so alarmed by my training that she’d fretted about telling Mother. Now she sat in the shade of a tree, watching at her leisure.

I steadied my breathing and swung the sword. Two hours of straight downward strikes, without a single flourish. It was an absurd number of swings, difficult even for an adult, but after a month of training I could endure it.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!”

As I struck downward, punctuating each swing with a short shout, it felt as though a breeze were stirring around the sword. There was no actual wind. The sharp force running through the wooden sword simply felt like it.

My training had consisted of nothing but running for the first week, but as time passed, sword practice gradually took its place. Now I spent far more time swinging a sword. It still wasn’t training I could call swordsmanship, but I was sure I’d learn that properly in time.

“Hmm. You’re growing faster than I expected. I’m pushing you hard, but you haven’t suffered any ill effects. Perhaps that’s a noble’s ability for you...”

Miguel murmured as he watched me swing the wooden sword. He sounded thoroughly surprised.

“Hah, hah. Glad to hear it.”

I had no one to compare myself with, so I couldn’t tell exactly how strong my ability was. But if a full knight was surprised, it couldn’t be bad.