The children were now tired and bored of the sword training they’ve done all day and went out to play and refresh themselves. Along with them, Vivian, the resident rowdiness representative, went with them, and Robert’s place suddenly turned quiet.

  During this time, the man usually went around the village to patrol the inside and around the perimeter of.

  For its size, it shouldn’t have taken him any more than half an hour to make his round, but he always took about a couple hours before returning home. The main reason being villagers that called him over every few houses he passed by.

  “Thank you for always doing this, Robert,”

  “It’s nothing, ma’am,” he said in reply as he put a stack of firewood down.

  “Oh, of course it's not nothing. That no good husband of mine is always in the kitchen making bread all day long, so I appreciate you doing this for us.”

  “Haha. well, it’d be a problem if the village doesn't have enough bread.”

  “Hahahaha. Everyone here do eat our bread afterall don’t they? You wait here, I’ll grab some for you.”

  “No need for that, I—”

  “Oh shush, you. You’ve been great help, so take some home with you. I’m sure my husband won’t mind neither.”

  Robert could only reply with a defeated smile and a word of gratitude.

  “Robert! Good afternoon,” some voices sounded from behind him.

  “Good afternoon. Out washing the laundry?” he asked after turning around and noticed the pile of clothes on a basket strapped behind the women who greeted him.

  “Yeah, just got back. Anyway, I heard a new kid came to play at your house today?”

  “You all heard already?”

  “We heard from the kids. They’re playing near the forest.”

  “They are? But yeah, a new kid came today. Gale was his name.”

  “That Razh’s son?” one of the women asks before bringing a hand to her cheek to show a degree of worry. “You know, my husband doesn't like the man very much. Said all he does is complain about his family, saying they’re all freaks or something.”

  Robert’s eyebrows rose upon hearing the gossip.

  “Freaks?”

  “Oh, that’s right. My husband said the same thing. Think he said something about his boy being too quiet and that it's his wife’s fault for giving birth to such a freak. He don’t know how nice he has it. I have 3 boys and they all just won’t settle down. The house is always so rowdy.”

  “My two boys are exactly the same. Wish they’d settle down a little actually.”

  “You know, I grew up with the boy’s mother,” the baker’s wife suddenly said from behind Robert. “We’re the same age, so we used to play together a lot, you know? She also always comes to my place to get their bread.”

  “Alise?” Robert asked.

  “That’s right! She used to be so cheerful, that one. And meeting Razh made her all flowery, like a proper girl in love, you know? But after their kid was born, I feel like she’s just been… sulking. Haven’t had a proper talk since then.”

  “You haven’t talked to her since that many years ago even though she buys her bread here?”

  “Oh yeah, anyway, here’s your bread. Thank you so much, Robert.”

  “Oh no worries. Thank you for the bread.”

  “You know, I think it’s her husband afterall,” someone then suddenly added from behind Robert. “Their place is by the forest, right? So I sometimes walk past to get firewood and I’ve seen that Razh beat up his son outside their house. I think I have rags treated better at my place than how that boy is treated by his father.”

  “That bad?”

  “I hear that too. I hear the same thing from one of the huntresses living near their place by the forest edge. But I also heard that their son is pretty odd. Says that when she helped during Alise’s childbirth, their boy didn’t even cry when he came out!”

  “No way!” the other housewives said collectively.

  After that, the gossip seems to keep going around and around, but the main thing to be said is how bad Razh was treating his family, how Alise seemed to always look like she’s sullen and depressed, and how Gale was actually odd.

  Robert was initially interested in what the housewives had to say about Gale’s family since he could confirm that the boy was somewhat odd. But at this point where they seemed to be saying the same thing over and over again while agreeing with each other, Robert was quickly growing bored of the conversation.

  After some time passed, having finally been freed from the constant housewives’ gossiping, Robert finally made his way home.

  Approaching his own house, he could smell the appetizing smell of something stewing inside. Smoke seeped through the thatched roof, rising into the sky above, and he could feel his appetite being whetted even though it was still sometime before supper.

  Entering through the door, he found a woman inside by the hearth—Kristine, cooking the stew he smelled from outside.

  “Welcome back,” she said when she noticed Robert walk through the door.

  “Right. I’m back.”

  “What have you got there?”

  “Ah, this?” Robert raised the basket in his hand, and brought it towards her. “I was given some bread.”

  “Hummm–you womanizer. Whose wife did you seduce for this bread huh?”

  “I’ve done no such thing,” Robert said calmly.

  When he took his seat on the table, Kristine followed suit after setting the basket of breads on the table. “Anything interesting in the village?”

  The man brought a hand to his chin as if falling into thought and a somber expression showed in his face.

  Seeing how the man got serious, Kristine let out a soft sigh, and leaned in to prepare herself for what she expects to be unwelcome news.

  “You know a new kid came in today?”

  “The one that Vivian said she hit?”

  Robert nodded.

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  “I actually didn’t believe the girl. I even went to the kid’s house but saw that he wasn’t harmed anywhere. Definitely nothing serious enough to leave a blood stain. There’s also no way a kid so young could take a hit and just walk away like she said.”

  “But the girl’s never lied before right?”

  “That’s why I doubted myself. I invited the kid for practice and it turned out Vivian was telling the truth when she said the kid’s strange. He didn’t flinch when I swung a sword his way and didn’t even say anything during practice when he’s tired until his arms gave out beside him. We even had to tell him to not get hit before he tries to not get hit.”

  “The kid’s tough then.”

  “No kid should have been that tough.”

  The way Robert had phrased that, it was as if he’s hinting at something. And it’s not hard to piece together what the man was thinking about.

  It’s a common enough story, a child beaten for discipline. Just about everyone must have gone through it. But some children would have it harder than others. And these kids either turn up to be so scared of everything. Or numb to both pain and fear. These children are usually not beaten for discipline, but for venting—or worse, pleasure.

  “Poor kid,” Kristine said, with her eyes locked on the man’s before her. “Robert… me and Vivian are both grateful you took us in. When my husband died that day you lost your arm, the two of us only had ill fate waiting for us, had you not reached out to us. But you can’t meddle in other people’s family.”

  “I know… so long as they don’t ask for help, I won’t stick my nose into their matter. Though since the kid didn’t even say anything when his body is screaming from fatigue, I doubt I’ll be doing anything anytime soon. Some of the women in the village said the kid didn’t even cry the day he was born.”

  “Hahaha. you know those women like to over exaggerate everything,” Kristine replied to stop the man from worrying. But despite what she said, she can’t help but think about it herself.

  “What’s wrong? You’re just looking at me.”

  Realizing that she had fallen too deep into thought while her eyes stayed on the man, Kristine quickly fixed her posture, and shifted her eyes away from him. “Nothing, just thinking. You reckon he’ll come back?”

  “Not for a few days at least. The kid should let his arms rest for a while. After that? I don’t know. Maybe not. I might have worried his mom.”

  Just as Robert said it would, Gale’s arms recovered after a few days.

  When he woke up the day after his first day with the sword, his small hands struggled to hold anything with any weight to it, but now he’s back to helping his mother with her work at home.

  He’s already in a state where he could go back to Robert’s place for more training. Though naturally, Alise was reluctant to let his son go again.

  Knowing that her son would go if she asked him, she hadn’t the heart to ask him. That is, until she’s visited by a couple of guests.

  Vivian had come to visit after hearing from Robert that it was about time Gale recovered. Accompanying her this time though, was not Robert. He had apparently mentioned that they shouldn’t pressure the mother and son. Instead, Vivian’s mother, Kristine, came along to accompany her daughter.

  “Good morning, Alise.”

  “Oh, good morning. Vivian, and…?”

  “I’m Kristine, Vivian’s mother. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “To you too. But, uh… is there anything I can…?”

  “Oh, no. We just wanted to see how your boy is feeling.”

  “Gale?”

  When he heard his name called, the boy approached his mother from behind just as she took a step to the side to let him see the guests they had at the door.

  “Gale! Let’s practice again!”

  “Vivian, you need to ask how he’s doing first.”

  “Ugh, but I wanna teach him again.”

  Her mother replied with a smile, but ultimately ignored her to quickly shift her attention to the boy standing behind his mother.

  “Has your arm got better?”

  The boy turned his head to look at his mother.

  “Yes, I think he’s fine now.”

  “ Then let’s practice some more! Don’t worry, I’ll make him tougher so he won’t get exhausted like before!”

  “Uhh… that is…”

  “Come on!” the young girl said as she suddenly lunged forward to take the boy’s arm, and drag him out of the house!

  Confusion took over Alise’s mind, and she froze on the spot. Kristine on the other hand, was quick to stop her daughter, but was also quick to stop herself from doing so when he noticed that the boy had offered no resistance whatsoever.

  Thus, Alise's reluctance to send her son back to sword training ended up being irrelevant, as her son was forcibly dragged away to do so anyway.

  Since then, a couple of seasons have passed. It's the time of year when insects are buzzing in the air and the sun scorches so that working outside feels like a punishment.

  It's the height of summer.

  From early morning, loud thunks of wood hitting wood could be heard from Robert’s house.

  “Come now! You keep that up and the boy is going to catch up in no time!” Robert said, taunting the young girl he’s teaching.

  In response, Vivian then picked up her pace to press her mentor harder.

  Closing the distance between them, she put all of her strength into a swing. While her hit became harder to take, especially with one hand, the fact that she’s putting her all into offense meant that her attack became much more straightforward.

  Robert went around his opponent’s blade for a counter attack, but Vivian quickly parried and sent Robert’s sword to the far side, rendering him unable to protect his torso.

  Vivian’s own sword rebounded off the parry, but since she had shorter reach, she wasn’t thrown as far as Robert was.

  Seizing the opportunity, one of her hands let go of her sword’s handle and she swayed the tip of her sword to face Robert. With a straight thrust, it threatened to pierce the man’s body—had it been sharp steel.

  Unfortunately, her straightforwardness was again read by her opponent and he quickly twisted his body out of the way of her thrust.

  Truth is, the only reason he had lost the parry earlier was because he had put less strength into the exchange, precisely to bait this reaction out of her when he showed the deliberate opening.

  Now safely out of the way of his opponent’s thrust, he had a clear opening for a swing since Vivian had committed into the thrust.

  Or so he thought.

  The thrust reached him far slower than he thought it should have. Thinking that she had committed fully into her thrust, Robert seized the opening that should have been there for a wide swing, but Vivian was able to take a swift step back to dodge the tip of Robert’s sword by a hair’s breadth.

  She had baited him by making use of his own bait.

  Now fully committed to his strike that went wide, he left himself open for real. And Vivian’s eyes hadn’t missed the fact. She went in again, now actually fully committed to use both her hands for a sharp, swift thrust.

  But at the moment Vivian was supposed to claim her victory, the gap of physical strength between a young girl and an adult man came into play.

  Pulling every muscle in his arm and shoulder, Robert forced his hand back to strike Vivian’s sword just before her thrust could reach his body.

  Her momentum forward is altered by the sudden strike and her thrust went astray along with her body, sending her stumbling beside Robert before she fell face first into the ground.

  “Aaaarrghh! I was so close!” She exclaimed with frustration after getting her face off the ground.

  “Come now, Vivian. What’re you going to do in a couple years when Gale’s muscle firmed up? He’s going to surpass you, you know?” Robert taunted her while poking at her back with his wooden sword.

  “I’ll get you next time!” Vivian said in retaliation as she rolled away to get away from his poking.

  “Years too early, young lady!”

  In the past few months, Vivian seemed to have gotten more and more motivated, and Robert made sure to keep adding wood to the flame burning inside her.

  Taunting her was one effective way to do so, but even though he put up a show of strength to push his mentee, the truth was that his arm was aching horribly after their short bout.

  No matter how light a wooden sword is, sharply cutting the momentum after he put all his strength into a swing and forcing his arm to move the other way had fatigued his muscle and he could feel his arm screaming in pain. Not that he would voice nor show any sign of it.

  Lately, he had to go all out in order to win against Vivian. He had to put his all into a swing despite the risk of injuring her because the moment he let his guard down and held back, Vivian was more than likely to turn the table on him.

  One loss is all it takes to chip away at her motivation to learn from him and he wanted her to learn as much as she could while he could still teach her.

  After getting up and dusting her clothes, Vivian ran towards a window in her house.

  Behind the window, underneath the frame is a barrel full of water. She removed the lid and grabbed the dipper inside for a drink. Once she refreshed herself, she put everything back and turned to face Robert.

  “Robert! One more time!” She challenged him, while pointing the tip of her sword towards him.

  “Hahaha,” Robert laughed at the challenge, but was screaming internally

  His arm was still throbbing, and while it should be fine after just a few moments passed, he definitely couldn't take a fight now.

  The man frantically looked around for excuses to turn down the fight, and his eyes landed on a boy approaching their house. “Look! Gale’s here.” He said, unable to hold back the slight cheer in his voice.