Leaving the armory, the General led the others back in the direction of his home.

"It's a bit early, but let's call it a day here." he insisted. "That was all I really needed to go through with you two, and there's nothing I need to do myself that I can't put off until tomorrow."

Nirou took a peek at the sun as it passed behind some light clouds. It was fairly early in the afternoon, and at least from the day prior it seemed like the older man tended to say out until the evening. Maybe he was using this as a chance to take half a day off. Either way, the three of them turned onto the road leading away from the palace and then towards the residential area. Taking the same route as before, they drew close to the house and Nirou could hear that same ringing from before. It seemed to be coming from the room directly behind the balcony. If he remembered correctly from what he was told the day before, that was Sahla's room.

The girl's behavior seemed to indicate she was acting as some kind of lookout for the house, coming down the stairs to tell her dad the coast was clear or making that loud ringing when someone was coming. Nirou thought it would be pretty weird to give your kid a responsibility like that, but he stopped to think about the person in question. He didn't know her all that well, but guessed that maybe it was her own idea. If she was feeling bad about not being able to contribute, what with her difficulty leaving the house, he could see it happening that way. He found himself sympathizing with his complete guess and put the brakes on it. Probably better to just try and get Laska to talk to her later.

"We're home!" Shilan announced, as he swung the door open and strode inside. "I'm sure you've already eaten, but I hope it wouldn't be too much trouble to ask you to fix some lunch for use as well, Tajau? Please?"

Wasting absolutely no time in making the request as soon as he stepped inside, the General pressed his hands together as he did so in a sort of mock begging manner complete with cheeky grin. He had voiced his displeasure with formalities before, but to Nirou this seemed like a formality he was happy to indulge in. The woman, who was seated next to her daughter watching her crawl around, simply returned the smile.

"Of course, Father." she said as she stood up. "But that means you all have to watch Hurua, okay?"

There were naturally no objections from the old man, who rushed over to dote on his grandchild. Actually setting his spear aside for the first time Nirou had seen besides meals, he laid down on his stomach next to the girl and interrupted her crawl with some tickling.

After entertaining themselves with the scene for a few moments, Nirou and Laska took a seat at the table. Upon sitting down, Nirou was a lot more winded than he would have expected. But given he'd had much more strenuous days since coming to this world, it was no doubt the stress of his meeting with the King. Even after having to briefly fight for his life earlier this week, this situation was something else. He'd never had his life hang on somebody else's whim so blatantly. The guy could have crushed him if he wanted. That was who the General wanted to overthrow? The man must be as powerful as he boasts to talk about doing it so confidently. Nirou could only hope he didn't have to face the King himself, because he's not sure what he could even do.

"So we have a few days until we head South for that mission." Laska stated, drawing Nirou back to reality. "You should keep up with your practice. That means reading, swordplay, your blessing, all of it. You don't have to really be able to help so much as not be a burden. But being able to help would be nice too."

"What are you going to do?" Nirou asks in return. "Do you feel like you're over having drawn all that blood at once yet? I mean, you looked fine against those bandits, but..."

"I feel plenty well enough to fight, though I still get tired quickly. Two weeks is not enough to make another tribute under normal circumstances, let alone these, so I will wait a bit longer."

"You can probably just tribute during the mission." the General says from his spot on the floor. "You'll be headed to the archipelago, which is a week away even making good time."

"The southernmost point of the continent. We'll have more than enough time to practice on the way and back as well." Laska muses. "In my case, I'll be practicing in my usual way. Though..."

She looked over Nirou. "It's a bit premature, but we could start doing sword practice together. There's only so much I can do alone, and you would catch up to me quicker with the help."

"You would do that?" Nirou replies, surprised. He had it ingrained in him from the week after he arrived that to others dealing with his training was more trouble than it was worth. But he wasn't going to refuse, of course. "I would really appreciate it. Thanks. I only survived that last fight because I was lucky. I'm not gonna make it if I have to go up against someone with real training."

While Laska put together a routine for their training in her head, Tajau brought four servings of lunch over to the table. Some simple breaded and fried vegetables to hold one over, nothing fancy. The General hauled himself up to the table from the floor and took note of the extra helping as he helped himself.

"Did Sahla not eat again?" he asked his daughter-in-law. "You could afford to be a bit more pushy, you know. She's only going to feel even worse if her health declines from skipping meals."

"I called for her, but she said she didn't need any." Tajau explains. "It's been a bit since then, so I thought maybe she would be up to it now that you all are here too."

Since Nirou was just thinking about this a bit ago, he figured now would be the time he could address the issue without it being weird.

"She spends most of the time up there playing whatever that instrument is, right? But from what's happened, it seems like you have her looking out for people coming and going to the house. Was it her own idea to help you out that way? Cause if it was, then I think she'll get better. It's not that similar, but I was a shut-in for a while too. Very recently. I had almost no initiative to do anything, so I had to get dragged here for things to change. Uh... anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that with some encouragement she should be fine. She's already taking the first steps in her own way."

The irony was not lost on Nirou here, that he was so desperate to contribute himself that he gave his best attempt at an inspiring speech based on his own inferences. As soon as he was finished speaking he regretted not at least waiting to hear whether his guesses were right. However Shilan seemed to take his opinion seriously given his expression, so it seems he really was on the mark. Laska also seemed to be turning it over in her head, and quickly came to a decision. She stood up from the table and grabbed both her and Sahla's servings.

"I'm going to bring this to her and talk for a while." she said, as she headed towards the stairs. "I probably haven't been doing as much as I should."

After Laska leaves, the General and Nirou eat in relative silence. Nirou would have expected some conversation, but it seemed to be that the General was eating while in thought. He was eyeing Nirou over as if he was coming up with something to say. Sure enough, once the both of them were finished eating Nirou was addressed.

"Since it's just the two of us, why don't you join me outside?" the man suggested. "I want to see how you fare holding a weapon."

Nirou was obviously nervous, he had glimpsed what this guy was capable of and it was a completely different dimension from him. Laska was one thing, but at least he could see her moving. Shilan quickly noticed Nirou's anxiety building, and moved to reassure him.

"Relax my boy, I'm not talking about a spar." he laughs as he pats the young man's shoulder. "I'm just going to watch your moves and see how far you have to go. You're just a beginner, so I'm not going to hold your inexperience against you. Just take it as a chance to prove your determination. You can't expect to keep accompanying Laska without at least having the will for it."

Nirou let out a sigh, as he was just relieved to hear he didn't have to face the General. He actually had no problem with this otherwise, he had already spent over a week swinging his sword alone just because Laska told him to. This didn't seem significantly different. Though maybe it would be a good chance to ask the older man some questions.

Shilan led Nirou out of the house and down the steps, then turned left to an small open area. It was roughly a rectangle of dirt or sand that stuck out from the surroundings like a sore thumb. Nirou could only guess it was a personal training area that the General had put here to practice his moves at home.

"Alright, just give me a few good swings." the General insisted as he took up a spot on the edge of the rectangle. "Don't just toss 'em out, make them deliberate. I want to see your effort."

Nirou took up a spot on the rectangle and drew his sword. Standing with his knees slightly bent, he imagined a target in front of him and swung as if to hit it. He glanced at his observer to see if he approved, but the face he saw didn't give any sign of affirmation. Then again, he didn't come out and say he was doing anything wrong either, so Nirou kept going. He swung again and again, focused on that one spot. His arm started to get tired, but he tried not to let it weaken his swing. After a few dozen times, the call finally came to stop.

"Alright, that's good enough. You can stop for now." Shilan waved the boy down. "You've got potential from your build alone, but it's your will that really counts. If you have trained yourself to bring your weapon down without hesitation, your opponent will know. That uneasiness will no longer be there for them to take advantage of. You were attacked once on the road here, weren't you? I'll bet you came across as a big, easy mark. Don't give your enemy the satisfaction. An instantly drawn weapon makes you come across as a major threat, they'll think twice for sure. And then rather than your hesitation, it'll be theirs that gets exploited."

"But you're probably not the fighting type in general, am I right?" the General went on, his expression softening. "You were learning to be a healer, after all. I'd be more than happy to see you focus your efforts in that area. As long as you can defend yourself, adding medicine to your repertoire is more significant than being just another fighter. I'm sure Laska would see the wisdom in that too."

While Nirou didn't doubt that Laska would say something like that, he was a bit uncomfortable to hear encouragement based on an incomplete understanding. He failed his schooling, so he was never going to be a doctor. Could he really make up for that here? Was his unfinished degree enough to count as a doctor here? Particularly if the problem was his own inadequacy in the first place. Who's to say he wouldn't fail in his attempts here, too? The only real difference now was that he had some encouragement. But he wasn't exactly ready to believe that's all it took.

Nirou stewed in his thoughts as he panted a bit, tired out from the swinging. The General could see the young man was uneasy about something, but before he could breach the subject, Nirou himself shifted the topic with a question of his own. Though it may not be as unrelated as he intended.

"General, why do you still worship the old gods?" he asked, after calming himself with a deep breath. "Is it just tradition, you do it because your ancestors did it?"

Shilan was a bit surprised to hear the question, but not at all unwilling to answer. "Well, that's part of it, sure. But there are many that applies to, yet I'm still nearly alone in this. I suppose what it comes down to is that something about them appealed to me. There's an old story that God is the one that killed the old gods and came to power in doing so. Thus they were tossed aside and forgotten. But surely they worked hard too, didn't they? They protected my ancestors and eased their minds for countless years. I'd feel bad if no one recognized their efforts. Even a god would worry about such things, right? So even if no one else will acknowledge them, I will."

Nirou couldn't help but smile a bit at this guy. It wasn't something he expected to hear from such a boastful person. Even if it was said partly just to make him feel better, he couldn't deny it worked. Nirou wasn't sure he had the mind for politics and a revolution was far beyond his ability to critique, but he started to think that this man wouldn't be a bad leader at all.

"Alright, you're free to go." the General waves again, heading back for his house. "Remember to keep up your practice."

Nirou answered with an emphatic "Yes, sir" like he would a proper instructor before following him inside. It's the least he could do.