Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Another peaceful morning in Bellark, just like always.
“If you’ve taken up a sword or spear, then sharpen your senses.”
My gaze drifted toward the knight outside the window.
“On the battlefield, a single moment of carelessness is enough to lose your head—!”
The man was an old knight with graying hair.
The last loyal retainer remaining in this pitiful territory.
Sir Rekun Rochester, a junior baron.
There were quite a few soldiers under his training too.
At the very least, around a hundred.
Thanks to that, watching Sir Rekun passionately drill the troops was honestly pretty impressive.
But…
At the end of the day, they were still just a militia made up of commoners.
So could the old knight’s efforts truly sink into them?
To be blunt, expectations probably shouldn’t be too high.
It felt ridiculous saying this while freeloading off the territory myself, but…
I was seriously worried about the security of the land I lived in.
A declining territory.
A land destined either to be seized by some tyrant after the lord’s death or abandoned altogether.
The people weren’t exactly prosperous either.
Bellark was a doomed land with a future already written.
So expecting high morale from the soldiers might’ve been too much to ask.
Still, there was one saving grace.
This was a remote border territory with a small population.
If the residents themselves didn’t become somewhat capable, public safety would collapse and their livelihoods would be threatened.
Meaning the soldiers weren’t exactly lazy.
So the conscripts’ attitude was… average, maybe?
A sort of “we’ll do just enough” mentality.
Still.
That old man was incredible.
He looked absurdly healthy for someone well over eighty.
“Grip the spear properly! Put strength into your hands! What the hell is this!? Back in my day—!”
He was definitely a bit of an old fossil, though.
But the veins bulging beneath his neck.
The sturdy physique beneath them.
And the booming voice that shook the ground.
Sir Rekun looked more energetic than most young men.
Were knights in this world just naturally that durable even at old age?
Then if I became a knight too…
A hundred-year-old strongest being in the world?
Maybe that fantasy wasn’t entirely impossible.
“….”
No.
Probably not.
Age catches up to everyone eventually.
No matter how high my stats became, physical decline probably couldn’t be ignored forever.
At some point, aging might reduce more stats than I gained.
At the very least, chronic injuries would probably pile up.
Still, it wasn’t bad to keep it in mind.
…Though honestly, the thought itself was pretty pathetic.
A hundred-year-old strongest being in the world?
What was I, some stat supremacist?
Lately, I felt like I’d become way too optimistic.
At this point, why not imagine becoming the strongest at a thousand years old?
I’d started thinking whatever suited me best.
Maybe it was the influence of having a younger brain.
Of course, positivity was good.
A positive mindset was good too.
But if it went too far, you stopped seeing reality properly.
You had to set limits for yourself.
Humans fell apart easily when expectations and reality didn’t match.
Anyway, Sir Rekun had definitely been even stronger in his youth.
After all, he used to be called the “Champion of Bellark.”
There was no doubt he’d once been an extremely powerful knight.
Maybe I should ask him to train me someday?
Of course, I had zero intention of becoming a knight of Bellark.
Their salaries probably sucked.
What kind of knight works for pennies?
At best, you’d get honor.
“…Though considering this family’s decline.”
Not even honor remained anymore.
Still, I couldn’t spend my entire childhood loafing around until adulthood.
Once I left the territory and entered the wider world, enemies would be everywhere.
And considering I currently had a female body, I’d probably attract even more unnecessary trouble.
That was simply the harsh reality of the medieval era.
And among those people, there would definitely be monsters I couldn’t overpower with stats alone.
That meant I needed skills, knowledge, and actual combat experience.
Otherwise I’d never survive, escape bad situations, or overcome disadvantages.
The problem was that a stubborn old man like Sir Rekun probably wouldn’t accept me.
How would he react if some peasant girl said she dreamed of becoming a female warrior?
There was a high chance he’d reject me outright.
He looked macho as hell.
Expecting a positive answer would probably be unrealistic.
I’d likely need to cry, throw tantrums, and roll around on the floor.
Still, asking him wouldn’t happen for a long time.
Considering Sir Rekun’s age… he might even retire by then.
Besides, my current interest lay elsewhere.
I was curious about the actual combat ability of Bellark’s one and only knight.
It wasn’t because I had grand ambitions or worried about the territory’s future.
Even if I was just a baby right now, I still had the mind of a former fighter.
And in a medieval fantasy world, strength was obviously one of the most important things there was.
Who was stronger than whom.
How strong they were.
Their strengths, weaknesses, how to overcome disadvantages.
If that person became my opponent, how would I deal with them?
Those thoughts naturally came to me—not just for survival, but because of my own curiosity as a martial artist.
And that old man probably used to be pretty famous around here in his prime.
That explained why he was still so vigorous despite his age.
Just looking at his sharp eyes told me he was experienced.
In this place with barely any proper soldiers, he was definitely the strongest.
But outside this territory?
How far could Sir Rekun’s sword reach?
He might become my first teacher someday, so I couldn’t help being curious.
Apparently his level as a knight was fairly high, and recently he’d single-handedly taken down seven bandits who infiltrated the nearby forest.
Barehanded, at that.
And that was everything I knew about him.
Subduing seven armed adults with your bare hands…
In modern terms, that was an absurd feat.
Back in my previous life, someone capable of that wouldn’t just be an MMA champion.
They’d practically be the strongest primate alive.
But as a knight in this world?
Was that considered exceptional?
Apparently knights here were divided into eight ranks depending on skill.
But I had no idea where the old man stood among them.
Still, eight ranks…
That was a lot.
Seeing things like this, people in this world really seemed obsessed with hierarchy and rankings.
Nobles, knights, all kinds of classes and status systems…
…Or maybe not?
Thinking about military ranks from my past life, maybe this world was actually simpler.
Anyway.
How strong was Sir Rekun really?
How many armed men could the fully-equipped Champion of Bellark handle alone?
And weren’t knight ranks determined not only by skill, but also by honor and the influence of the lord they served?
Maybe the child of a high-ranking noble could become a high-class knight immediately.
Thoughts kept branching endlessly inside my head.
And the conclusion?
I had no clue.
I gave up mentally.
This was a rural territory with limited information.
No matter how much I thought about it, everything was just speculation.
There was only one noble here and one knight, so topics like this rarely even came up.
And on top of that, I was only two years old.
An age where even studying and self-improvement had limits.
The only things I could do right now were being cuddled by my nanny or wrestling the teddy bear Ethan kept forcing on me.
Or venting my frustrations at the bastard who named me “Sera.”
So in this frustrating situation, the only thing that truly comforted me was—
< Trait Selection! >
—the precious annual gift that appeared every year.
Though it’d be perfect without those annoying exclamation marks.
Still, the traits themselves were amazing enough that I should just be grateful.
Without them, this life genuinely would’ve been hopeless.
“Ooh!?”
A gasp escaped me instinctively.
I’d literally just been thinking that Sir Rekun must’ve been stronger in his youth, and now this trait appeared?
Could the options somehow reflect my thoughts?
But seriously, why the hell was Cold Resistance appearing now?
“Uwaaaaah—!!!”
When I actually needed it, it never showed up, but now it decided to appear!?
That pissed me off so much.
So naturally, I started considering the first and second choices.
Especially the second one.
Recover stamina every time I land a hit?
There was a condition that the attack had to connect, but if I used a lightweight sword and developed fast swordsmanship while improving my technique…
…Wouldn’t I basically have two hearts?
Anyway, I’d become an unstoppable berserker.
And I already possessed the “basic attacks hit twice” trait.
The synergy between the two would obviously be insane.
Of course, swinging a sword still consumed stamina, so eventually I’d tire out.
And if I got critically wounded or instantly killed, none of it would matter.
But later, I could simply earn money and buy good equipment to compensate for my weaknesses.
Plate armor was heavy and exhausting, sure, but its defensive power was incredible.
I planned to train my endurance too, so as long as I worked hard, there wasn’t much to worry about.
The vitality stat I’d set while creating this body was also pretty high.
No matter how I looked at it, this felt like a trait made specifically for me.
With this trait, I could solve a huge portion of stamina-related issues.
And against multiple enemies while wearing armor?
The effect would probably be incredible.
The aging trait was tempting too.
Especially since I’d literally just been thinking about aging.
But it was too early.
I wasn’t merely young.
I was a toddler.
There was no reason to worry about aging right now.
Leaving a trait unused for nearly thirty years felt wasteful too.
And I already had proof that unselected traits could appear again later.
So I could slowly look for aging-related traits after reaching my teens.
There might even be better anti-aging traits.
The timing for it existed.
But the timing for choosing it did not.
Unlike the “gain one stat point every year” trait from last year, this one didn’t grow stronger over time.
Naturally, that pushed it lower in priority.
Vwoong.
The moment I made my decision internally, blue energy wrapped around the back of my hand.
I immediately rolled my eyes around, searching for an enemy.
I wanted to test my new ability.
But who should I target?
“Look, Lord Ethan, Sera’s staring at Sir Rekun again.”
“Haha, maybe our Sera wants to marry a knight in shining armor someday?”
How insolent.
Marry a knight in shining armor?
I might become the knight in shining armor myself someday!
And yet you dare say something so ridiculous to me!?
Fine.
You’re dead today.
I glared at him with burning fury.
“Ethan bastard.”
“Haha, thank you, Sera. Are you congratulating me for turning ten?”
“Ethan bastard.”
“Aha, so Sera likes the number ten?”
“……”
Not today.
Today, I would not endure this.
He might technically be the lord, but he was still just a kid.
And when words failed, proper education became necessary.
The crime of failing to understand the profound intentions of a former top contender was severe.
A debt was a debt.
A crime was a crime.
The two had to be separated clearly.
“Uwaaaaaah!!!”
With a battle cry, I charged toward my mortal enemy!
For the sake of proper education!
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
And then came the fierce barrage of double-hit punches!
Even if I was tiny, this had to sting at least a little!
Serves you right, you bastard. You always tease me like I’m harmless—!
“Hahaha! Sera, stop! That tickles!”
“Hoho, Sera really loves you, Lord Ethan.”
“……”
…When I grow up, you’re seriously dead.