“Hah!” A pair of wooden swords clashed, emitting a clacking sound in the air.

“Put some more strength to it.”

“Haaah!”

“Try not to shout too much.”

“Hya!”

“*Sigghh*” Lotte let out a long sigh. It was his turn to be the defender to help Saul to polish his offensive capabilities. But it wasn’t showing much promise and he even lets out distracting sounds. Maybe he got too used to being in the defense due to Byrne who beat us without a break during our spar with him.

“What!” Saul protested in frustration. He really was trying his best to put out all his strength in each strike. The problem is…

“Junior… Why do you squeal when you strike?”

“You told me to do that!”

Saul shouted indignantly with red tinged cheeks amidst his rugged breath. He did tell him to shout with each blow to rev up himself, but instead, adorable squeals were coming out. Lately, his junior seemed to be even more of a trap.

“Ugh, my head…” For some reason, dizziness started affecting him. He was never this easily tired before.

‘Is he what they call an ‘energy vampire?’

Before it was Saul who always got tired first, but recently he would get dizzy whenever they sparred. Especially during unarmed combat and grappling lessons. Although he could recover quickly, it was annoying.

Maybe he needed to step up his training.

“D-dizzy again?” Saul sounded like he had a guilty conscience but he paid it no mind. The kid couldn’t be at fault, after all he was vastly weaker than him physically.

If he were to also catch up to him then he would go crazy and curse this ‘novel’ world for the power imbalance. Saul was already so good at parrying and countering, so his strategy most of the times is to use overwhelming speed and strength. There's also his superior senses he's been developing.

‘No doubt a major side character. Maybe one of Arlen’s allies?’

Such trap characters often stick with the protagonist of novels as an adorable comic relief role, Saul could be attributed to one.

“Shit, I’m really dizzy. Let's resume after a light rest.” He laid down in a grassy patch and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile Saul stared at him suspiciously. He knew that the charm's effect was assaulting Lotte more and more often, making him suspicious if he was having inappropriate thoughts. The charm effect is closely tied to the owner's desire so sometimes it produces unexpected results… Like this time.

It's causing Lotte to be dizzy, the only person around her and the focus of her attention.

While she didn't want Lotte to know she's a girl, she also didn't want Lotte to think of her as a brute. In fact she wanted to just appear as her usual self… but she was afraid that the way he treated her would change. And its too late to show it now.

She was fully aware that her own confusion is causing the charm to react towards Lotte more fiercely. Her screams of power sounds like squeals and Lotte would notice it, and so does the charm which will suppress Lotte ‘recognizing’ her as a girl. In the end it's a cycle.

‘Hmph, in the first place, he wouldn't be dizzy if he didn’t think of something inappropriate.’ The charm only reacts fiercely like that towards those on the verge of perceiving she's a girl. Or along those lines.

Because of that, she had to go home early everyday as the charm's energy was draining much faster than usual. Compared to before, the necklace had grown weaker over time due to the intense exposure and overuse during her days as a beggar and slave.

She stared at the red haired boy who closed his eyes while catching her breath. It's been more than half a year since they started training together. A lot has happened in that time.

At first, Lotte was just the boy who fed him bread. Then a displeasing guy who took advantage of Byrne. Before eventually becoming a fellow apprentice who supported her without complaints despite fainting all the time during training. He even cooked and fed her whenever she's sick.

Although he would rub salt in her wounds by talking nonsense about being weak and fainting all the time, or that Byrne will think he’s bullying me for pushing myself. She would rather hear his interesting stories he sometimes told when she's more sick than usual. Ironically, she liked those moments the most even if she was suffering.

He also introduced her to his sisters and his dad… And the people in the village received her kindly. Must be solely because she’s with Lotte and they trusted him that much there. Although there was that one rude girl she didn’t like.

After staring at Lotte for a while, an idea came to her mind as she took a leaf that had fallen on the ground. It's not an exaggeration to say that she’s had her fair share of experience with Lotte’s relentless pranks.

Such as dangling a rat at her, putting extreme spice in her food, and smashing metal pots together to wake her up. She was annoyed to the core. If only he wasn't that annoying… Anyways.

Those were only the few of the torments she went through, there was even more during training time such as taunts. It was about time to get back at him.

Carefully, she approached him and crouched to take a fallen leaf from the ground. She brought the pointy edge of the leaf near Lotte’s nose. At first, upon light contact his face twitched. But then his face scrunched in irritation.

“Pft!”

She held back the laugh that was about to come out. It was nothing short of amusing and a new experience for her. She was always at the receiving end, but now it's different.

‘This… This is fun! Is this why he’s always pranking me?’ That day a dangerous discovery was made by the innocent young miss of the von Asher household.

Caught in the moment, Saul kept trying to tickle Lotte’s nose, her grin widening each time his face crumpled. But before she had enough, a hand shot up grabbing her wrist in a swift motion. With a firm tug, she was pulled off balance and flipped over.

Now she was underneath and facing Lotte who had a smirk on his face.

“Having fun huh?” he drawled, his tone laced with amusement. “When did you get so bold?” He was glad that Saul was finally daring to somewhat mess with him.

But to mess with him means that he’s prepared to be messed up in return. Just as he thought of what to do with the daring imp in front of him, he noticed something strange with Saul's gaze.

It wasn’t the first time that a particular situation happened with the grappling lessons from Byrne, they had wrestled against each other multiple times on the ground, even as it rained and they tumbled on mud.

At the time, Saul was focused and trying to win. But now, she was just innocently messing around. Her chest was beating violently as heat rose up to her face.

Hence.

Smack!

A sharp slap hit Lotte in the face.

He blinked, stunned, and his smirk wiped clean off his face as he registered what just happened.

Saul didn't wait to see his reaction. She scrambled out underneath Lotte and bolted, embarrassment filling up her face. She wanted to hide in a hole.

Lotte just sat there, one hand pressed to his stinging cheek, curious and wondering why he had to be slapped. Although it wasn’t very strong, a slap was still a slap.

It was a horrible feeling like he was rejected by a high school crush.

“What the hell just happened?”

He spent some time idling with those thoughts occupying his head.

At nighttime.

Light scribbling sounds rustled inside Lotte’s room. The flames of the lamp and shades of shadows danced in soft motion.

He’d been writing a diary, containing a few significant events that he found important. Even though seven years is a very long time, enough to make him feel distant from his former life as an earthling, he didn’t forget his situation and origin.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions and it looks like he was going to spend even more time in this world aside from the seven years here in this village. At this point he had come to accept that he, too, is a part of this world's story.

He still didn’t feel like a character in a novel at all. It felt more like he was just bound to die of boredom in this village. The good thing is, he’s not grasping at straws anymore. There's Rugner, Byrne and Saul, characters that will possibly lead him in the direction of the story.

Someday they will be part of the chapters that will take place. Coincidentally, he wondered if the no show village chief is going to play a part once he’s outside.

When he comes of age, it will also be the day that the countdown has passed. There must be some special condition that had to be met by then.

Halting his thoughts, he returned to organizing information in his diary. He was pleasantly surprised that he can write in two languages. Both his former language and this current world. It's an advantage he can make use of if he ever trains spies.

Since he wasn’t even at chapter 1 yet, the quarter of the book wasn’t even filled, taking notes of everything that happened since he came into this world.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

When the village chief opposed his desire to go out in the world and flipped his attitude over, and when Rugner appeared to chase after Yona’s single mom.

The likes and hates of Rugner and the chief. The day Byrne came to the village and lived in the abandoned manor. When he gave his potion to Saul and managed to convince Byrne to teach him how to fight and about the outside world.

Of course, he won’t forget the day that Saul suddenly became his junior, and the bits of information he gathered during their scuffle. Since then, he hadn’t asked since time was on his side.

And indeed it was. Saul didn’t leave and Byrne trained him too. Most likely, when the countdown finishes, Saul and Byrne will leave just like him.

Time until Chapter 1: 1 year, 78 days and 3 hours.

Like before, the countdown hadn’t disappeared and is always by his side. It would be nice if he had an interface like system power similar to the the game protagonists.

‘Arlen, from a world of hunters and a system most likely have something similar.’

He has yet to meet Arlen but he recognized the trope where that guy belonged well. The words ‘F-Rank’ and ‘awakeners’ are basically a dead giveaway. Striving to be strong and being free of the ‘constraints’ of potential is common too, but sadly, even in this world he’s going to experience pain, with that ‘tragedy’ tag his author put in.

‘I’m included in that too of course. I guess we're comrades in arms now.’

First, the lectures with Byrne. This is where he benefited the most. And he realized one dreadful fact. Leaving the village might be far more difficult than he thought.

He asked for a map, but Byrne refused saying that he didn’t know how to draw one.

Which is strange. A knight is still a noble, and he should’ve had a few drawing lessons when he was young. Furthermore, he’s a strong knight, and he said himself that he used to lead a squadron.

If a commander can’t even draft out a simple map he shouldn’t be in that position. Meaning he was refusing it for some other reason. There’s something he didn’t want me to find out.

When asked where this village is located, he vaguely answered that it was at the edge of the continent. Meaning? It was in a nigh unreachable place.

A few things came to mind. Such as the village being separated by a wasteland difficult to travel. Or that it's located on a large island. Since there are rivers around the area, it has to come from a larger body of water.

‘That might be why the intervals of Rugner’s visits are four months.’ He had no doubts that a merchant could afford ships or boats to sail.

If that's the case, then running away just became an even more impossible task. Boats, or horses might be needed, but both of those were nonexistent in this village.

When asked how he knew of this place, he answered that he found this ‘peaceful village’ through a discovery of a rumor during his journey.

It is a peaceful village alright. But hearing it from rumors? So the people outside aren’t sure about the village’s existence either. That’s why, there’s hardly any contact. And the fact that the chief forbade anyone from going out contributed to that.

But then again there’s Rugner who’s a unique existence. Three years ago he appeared, a merchant who can go in and out of the village without the chief’s obstruction. If he could do that and no merchant competitors didn’t even feel suspicious to investigate… He might be monopolizing the information for himself.

And he’s doing really well hiding it. Although there’s not really much value the village can provide except from crops and produce.

‘Come to think of it, he never had an interaction with the village chief…’

He would only stare at me flatly, like he’s annoyed last time I questioned him. Rugner might be someone on the same standing, or even above the chief in that case. The true identity of that guy has a role to play in this village. Perhaps, someone who monitors all of us?

As for why Byrne came here, he already asked that question back when Saul was still not present.

‘To find peace.’ Is the answer he gave.

That can only mean that from this village, there is a danger or conflict possibly affecting him out there. The dangers could be monsters. Or else, how is the protagonist from a ‘system world’ going to level up?

What about the conflict then? This is where Saul comes in. They seem to be related in a vassal and lord relationship. And Saul… He was crying about killing me, Byrne and his brother before. Then maybe Byrne ran away from that very conflict. Seems about right.

‘Revenge is fueling Saul’s drive to train. Unlike me, who's doing it to survive in the future and deal with my boredom.’

Lotte didn’t know what Byrne did, but Saul can still coexist and even train under him so his involvement must not be that deep. Saul hated his brother the most. And his own self was unfairly included so that can be ignored.

Since they were both males and seeing that Saul ended up here away from home, it must be a succession dispute. There was several scenarios in his head that could have led Saul here, but in any case the conflict must not be far off from that.

‘A young master undergoing a training arc and coming back overpowered? Sounds like a classic to me.’

This also meant that the government model outside thankfully bore semblance on the ones in the novels he read. It won’t be too difficult to adjust when the time comes.

Why bother with it? Because almost every time the protagonist would end up in a web of political conspiracies in the early middle or late middle arcs.

‘Well, that ain’t me but better to be careful.’

There exists an empire on the continent. Two of them keeping each other in check. One in the northern lands where winter is cruel, and the other at the center of the continent, the Imperial Lands of Regalia.

Byrne considered them as the strongest superpower of the present era.

He briefly mentioned the existence of theocracy and religion too. His face scrunched upon hearing it at the time, those poor religious bastards were always painted filthy in every fantasy novel. The religions of every goddess always had that one corrupt official ruining everything, and saintess in distress.

Several events from those places will definitely pull the protagonist along.

There’s so much more information he learned. The confirmed presence of magic and mages, knights or warriors with extreme physical prowess and colorful aura, with Byrne as an example, and the everlasting threat of different monsters in mana dense areas around the world.

It wouldn’t be a fantasy without the monsters, mages and combatants. There's also adventurers, and the presence of different humanoid species too, such as beastmen. He couldn't wait to finally see a cat girl or elf in real life.

Despite being stuck in here, this world has so much more to offer that Lotte will never know of. As they say, if you can’t get rid of it, then enjoy it. In his case, since he got caught up in being sent as an extra in a novel, he might as well enjoy it.

There’s still the lack of history and information about how the goddess’s religion came to be, but he can inquire outside someday. Since this is an isolated village, it can’t be helped that there's a huge setback on information.

All the other information was still unanswered such as his background, why the village is isolated and so on… But all of this was enough to satisfy him for now.

Seeing that the lamp that he lit was about to run out, he flipped the notebook close and turned off the lights. It was the end of another day.

…

Time could be a fleeting moment, or sometimes an endless ordeal.

For Lotte and Saul, it was something they had stopped paying attention to. Two relentless years of training stripped them of distractions, turning them into formidable warriors that would not shame themselves in the battles to come.

The edges of the wooden sword they used were chipped and splintered. Each strike rang out in the forest with the rustling of leaves. Steps cracked the fallen branches as they danced in an exchange of blows.

Lotte attacked faster, heavier and direct with his blows, and Saul maneuvered his sword to turn those strikes into counters when an opening presented itself.

Saul opted for a thrust in an opening near Lotte’s stomach, only for his target to vault over and somersault midair to strike from above. Saul was ready, he had plenty of experience on Lotte’s acrobatic prowess when they sparred.

Twisting the sword from its handle to meet the incoming attack, he lowered his stance and deflected the strike over his head in one fluid motion as his feet slid away from where Lotte landed.

A visage of an edge flashed before his eyes along a gust of wind caused by the sheer power it carried.

As he expected, upon his landing Lotte followed up with a backslash. An opponent who didn’t know him would’ve been blown away. Saul himself was a victim of that dreadful strike countless times.

Throughout two years, dozens of wooden swords had been broken and replaced. They became familiar with each of their fighting style, and the banters in between the exchange disappeared.

The lighthearted spar became a whetstone that sharpened their attitude in combat.

Still, Lotte had the physical advantage. But, Saul had something to balance his lack of strength.

‘Talent.’

Byrne had told him that it is something he had over Lotte who relied on his physical power. For that reason, he was imparted with the secret technique of the von Asher family, albeit, partially.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to impart for Lotte, as Byrne said that his fighting style didn’t suit him. A more explosive technique with that kind of body as foundation would be ideal.

But Byrne neither had any techniques of the sort, as a knight serving the household, he learned the families designated swordsmanship for knights to the extreme, and gradually developed his own.

He had watched how his lord wielded the secret techniques when teaching his sons. While he didn’t master it, with his experience he could still impart the essences of the technique to Saul.

Presently, only the current patriarch, Saul’s brother, had complete knowledge over the technique and no one else.

Even so, Saul didn’t believe that it gave him an edge. For two years, he still hadn’t managed a win or draw, with or without the technique. To him, the raw strength, speed and stamina of Lotte were their own kind of talent.

At the end of each day, he’s still the one who will be left tired, while Lotte would spend the rest of the day with spare energy to train.

They silently stared at each other, waiting for someone to take the first move. He could feel their tension tightening and saw in Lotte's eyes that it was time to end this. He braced himself at the incoming attack.

At first Saul wanted to take on Lotte defensively like he always did. To endure and look for openings, and counter at that opportune moment.

But training together like this won't last forever. Soon, Lotte will come of age. As he always said, he’s going to leave the village once that happens. It was the same for them.

He wanted to show Lotte how much he’s grown. That his strength that had been meager at the start of this training is now plenty enough to face him.

Before Lotte could begin, Saul took the first step.

‘Von Asher Family Technique’

‘First Style, Shadow Flow’

What unfolded before Lotte’s eyes is the sword technique that had been the cause of his frustrations.

He didn’t know if it was really their difference in talent, but the technique just made no sense to him. He couldn’t learn it even by watching.

The image of Saul and his overlapping strikes filled his view. The steps his opponent took were few but rapid, Saul’s meek figure made it look weak. But just like how Saul who knew his attacks, it was the same for him.

He had something like a trump card too.

Calmly sensing his surroundings, his eyes became unfocused. His sense heightened and the skin of his body tingled even at the wisp of wind.

It couldn’t be called his own secret technique, but his senses were sharper than ever. Besides he knew in general how Saul’s attack worked.

‘It's a quick succession of three strikes on one side, then the last one from behind my neck.’

In front of him, Saul phased to his side like a ghost. A total of three strikes. All three parried and the only one left was the strike from behind.

But this time, the fourth one didn’t come. His guard didn’t feel anything.

With hurried steps, he turned to see Saul with his sword pulled back, as if in preparation to deliver a blow.

‘Third Style’

Saul, remembering the training he took and committed to memory.

‘Cutting Drift!’

He shot forward with great force and met Lotte, the sword drawing a horizontal arc.

Saul was no longer the same weak kid back then, using his weight and trained body to exert force, the dash pushed back both of them by a distance.

Lotte managed to avoid getting his sword destroyed. Had that happened, the battle would’ve ended again without conclusion. And he refused to let that happen.

In a week or so, he’s going to turn fifteen, his coming of age. That meant the countdown would run out, and he had to leave by then.

He knew that Saul felt the same. That’s why he’s going all out to respond in kind.

Enduring the blow, he used Saul as a propeller to step back and gain his footing. He hated how techniques could work in sync. If not for his tight grip he might’ve let go of the sword with that strike.

‘It's time to rampage.’ Lotte’s demeanor took a complete change as he took a deep breath.

Saul stiffened as he saw a smirk curl up to Lotte’s mouth.

Taking a deep breath, Lotte brought his sword all the way back, for a downward strike. At first Saul sidestepped easily, but he didn’t carelessly counter despite the seemingly slow attack.

An upward blow came rapidly, then a horizontal slash and so on.

Lotte was the only one who could endure the strain of rapid but equally powerful blows and be fine the next day.

‘Second Style, Riposte!’

Saul followed up with a quick thrusting attack only to have his counter deflected again by one of Lotte’s rapid swings. His wrist tingled as the blow connected and he pulled back instantly.

“Is that it, Saul?” Breathing roughly, Lotte dashed towards Saul. Straining himself like this has been occurring more and more during their spars.

It meant that Saul was managing to endure his onslaught. Eventually, he will be able to completely bridge the gap between them. After training tirelessly, he learned that he could exert his body to be in its constant strengthened state.

All thanks to his years of mindless physical training, his body could bear the strain. Controlling elaborate attacks became harder, but it was the only thing he could do. In order to keep up with Saul, as absurd as it sounds.

One time he almost lost, then he came back the next day with this newfound power. But even that was being eclipsed right this moment.

‘You might not know Saul…’

“Urgh!”

‘But the one you’re facing, has been training for seven years. Seven. Long. Years.’

“There!”

‘I’m losing the tempo though.’ His strength and speed might be augmented, but he paled in comparison to technique.

Saul deflected Lotte’s sword as it pivoted upward. From there, he found an opening. In his eyes, it was like seeing a ray of light. The result of his effort that will break the wall in front of him. The wall that is Lotte.

But to Lotte, it was like being draped in a veil of despair.

Was that all his training amounted to? The days when he would almost go crazy, doing the same thing, or doing nothing at all fueled the despair and loss he felt. Was all of it meaningful?

He wished to keep his position as an untouchable senior to Saul but…

‘Is it because Saul is a more special character than I thought?’

He had no benchmark in terms of how strong his peers are in this world but… He must be pretty strong himself with all that mad training. Then Saul, who’s about to defeat him right now…

‘Damned kid. You’ve grown strong.’

He might despair, but he’s lived enough to be down in the dumps because of just one loss. One loss out of seventy nine battles. He was still way ahead.

Although he might need to cool off later. Losing isn't exactly pleasing especially when you tried your best to improve.

Lotte’s eyes followed the sword of Saul that had stopped, just enough to touch his cheek.

There was a moment where only their breathing could be heard.

Both swords then dropped on the ground. It was the end of their training. The last they'll ever have.

Lotte was already preparing to leave. Of course, he didn’t expect to grow as an unbeatable existence, but he still took a hit from this loss. Imagine spending seven years training only to lose against someone who trained for two. Knowing that it's someone, possibly one of this novel's main characters doesn’t help.

He looked at Saul, curious what his expressions are, finally winning after two years.

“I won...” A sweet voice he'd never heard before muttered.

There he could see a girl with a bright smile. It was just enough to show joy, but her moist eyes made it apparent how significant this moment is.

The world stopped for a moment. Or is it just his gaze that stopped?

Even his brain stopped working and couldn’t make out this situation.

Saul already had plenty long hair reaching his shoulders, so he tied it up. But now, that hair unfurled itself and reached beyond the waist.

The wind seemed to remind Saul of her current state as her unfurled hair scrambled on her face.

“N-No! Lotte!… this is!..” Realizing her mistake, she hurriedly looked around. Meanwhile, Lotte finally comes to his senses…

“Saul… All this time. You weren’t a trap?” But how come he didn’t notice? It’s been two years, some signs were supposed to show at least. But he saw none of that towards Saul. Although now her voice sounded different.

Saul, who was looking for something on the floor, suddenly turned around. She felt that irksome irritation at the word trap and found out today what it meant. Even so, it wasn’t the most important thing right now.

She flashed the necklace that had somehow fallen on the ground to Lotte’s face.

“Today, you didn’t see me as a girl! After I won and we left on good terms like always after my sword touched you!” She’s been numbed to Lotte’s taunts whenever she lost that it can be called ‘good terms’ in her book.

The rusted necklace gleamed like it was new for a moment as it swayed in Saul’s hand.

Meanwhile Lotte stared into the air. Seeing that he’s still, Saul waved her hand in front of Lotte a few times before wearing the necklace and sprinting away.

In a minute or so, the necklace’s power will take effect. Alas, by using it like this, she no longer had enough stored power to maintain its previous effects. She had to conceal herself before Lotte came to. Luckily, the sun was about to set, so Lotte wouldn’t have any reason to look for her.

The last time she tried to skip training, Lotte hunted him like a beast and dragged her despite crying that she needed a break.

She didn’t want to show her true self to Lotte yet. Somehow, the thought of it brought great shame and fear at the same time. Furthermore, there is a goal she’s trying to achieve. Any distractions would be detrimental until then.

But maybe, once her revenge is complete.

‘Maybe I can tell him then...’

The girl ran in light steps towards the manor where she lived, her ears red tinged and hair waving along the breeze.