Chapter 5: Conditioning

It wasn't easy to start training.

For the first few days my mentor asked me to just run around the yard, as I had to have some physical conditioning before I could start with the technical stuff.

Sir Marte seemed a little nervous on the initial assignments; he probably thought I would refuse to be trained in the traditional way.

For a whacky, ill-mannered kid, running was a very bad way to start any discipline. Fortunately, I loved running, I had done it many, many times in my past life and in a way, it relaxed me.

However, this body wouldn't allow me to run more than 3 laps without stopping. That frustrated me a little, as I used to be able to jog for more than 40 minutes without stopping to walk.

“You are doing well, your highness.” Sir Marte rotated his attention between my sister's sword strokes and my running around the courtyard.

I hated the feeling of sticky sweat running down these fine fabrics. How I missed my sporty, specialized moisture wicking jackets; this world was missing so many comforts that I was unfortunately unfamiliar with in terms of fabrication.

I spent 6 whole weeks of pure jogging without any technique or armament talks.

Little by little my endurance increased, I didn't get tired so easily and my pace became steadier. After each practice I returned to my quarters and immersed myself in theoretical or cultural studies with Gonzalo as my tutor.

I learned more of the history of the kingdom and also memorized the duchies that made up my domains. Each of the dukes owed me loyalty and in case of war, I could call them as standard bearers to march into battle.

Ah, I hope I never have to fight a war.

“Mentor, shall I follow the turns today?” The tenth week came and at last the giant's face shook his head.

“No, today I will teach you the basics of fencing. “ The knight handed me a small wooden sword, ideal for children.

“Oh, is my brother ready for the guard?” asked Alda, as he approached me with his own little sword in his hands.

“That's right, it was a surprise that he didn't complain about the circuits. All my other apprentices usually leave my tutelage because they can't stand too much jogging. “

“Did you make my sister jog too?” I asked out of pure curiosity.

“Of course I did, there's no special treatment for anyone here. “

“Well, mentor, how shall we start?”

“Ok, let's see... The first thing you have to master to be a great swordsman is the stance; no matter how fast and strong you are, if your base is bad then you won't be able to chain attacks. I will teach you first to use the sword because it is the weapon of the nobles, but I will also train you in the use of all the armory of the kingdom. A good warrior knows how to use all the weapons and you will see which one to specialize in. “My trainer placed his left leg in front and his right leg behind, bent slightly forward at the waist and held the wooden sword between his strong arms.

The blade lay facing forward and his oak-strong shoulders did not look at all tense.

“The standard guard. “Alda imitated Sir Marte's pose with her own sword. “It is my favorite.”

“Imitate my position, your highness.”

“At your command. “I had no trouble using the standard guard, in fact I had seen it on television many times in my past life.

“Excellent, now stay like that for a while. Alda, continue with your repetitions of the side cut.”

My sister took a little step forward and then threw a slash into the air that made her weapon sound, then resumed her initial guard and again struck to the same side. This process was repeated 10 times until Sir Marte asked her to change the position of her legs; change of guard, as it was called in the martial arts of my world.

“Ugh...”

My legs began to ache, as did my arms and shoulders. Staying in this position for 2 minutes straight became a real martyrdom.

“Do not give up, your highness, it is normal for your muscles to ache at the beginning. You have to stand firm so that your guard does not falter no matter how tired you are, in a fight the carelessness produced by lowering your guard is usually lethal.”

“S-Sure.” I whispered, as I screamed inwardly.

Sir Marte Hogan wasn't lying, in any martial art the fighting stance and guard were very important to achieve victory. My old gym coach used to tell me the same thing.

I was alternating the two guards (left and right) for a full hour, then my coach ordered me to run around the yard a bit to loosen up and we finished the class with sit-ups and push-ups.

Despite having a small body I didn't feel cramped or short of breath. But I was far, far from the level of endurance I had reached before I died.

On the other hand, my intellectual lessons also advanced. Gonzalo never ceased to be surprised by my progress in the area of Spanish and reading comprehension. However, there was one subject that was too complicated for me: Economics.

I came from a capitalist world, where neoliberalism was doing its thing left and right. The feudal economy of this kingdom, however, was a different kettle of fish. There were no banknotes, no free trade, everything was composed of tribute, gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as payments for food, wheat, rice and so on.

How could I learn all that?

Contrary to popular belief, simplified economics could become a real headache.

“Gonzalo, why do we pay tribute in money to the Kingdom of Apollo, in theory a tributary or subjugated state should only give a small contribution, but I have read in the reports that we give up to half of our income. “

“You seem to be confused, your highness, the tributes are declared at the time of signing the protectorate state treaty. When we lost the war 50 years ago we were forced to give in, for it was either that or be destroyed. The Kingdom of Apollo is very warlike, they worship the God of Conquest with too much fervor. “Another aspect of the culture that was not clear to me was religion.

Like my original world, there were too many religions in this one, and their followers differed from each other.

“The predominant religion in Etrica is the Earth God, right?”

“That's right, your highness, we pray for good crops and favorable weather. But the earth is also powerful, so our warriors are inspired by the hardness of the rocks and the strength of the tremors. Our symbol and your family's heraldry is a red lion, for the Earth God is represented by that animal.”

“It sounds complicated... But sooner or later I will master it, don't worry.”

I had no illusions about theology, especially since in my past life I was an agnostic.

However, whether I wanted to or not, I had to become a public professant of the local religion to avoid unwanted problems. For the time being, though, I was totally indifferent to divine matters.

“With your intelligence you will master it in no time. I consider it prudent to focus your efforts on the subjects you are least proficient in, so you can catch up and move forward with new lessons. “Gonzalo handed me two religious books and a parchment with the taxes of each duchy.

I sighed in resignation at the enormous workload.

How I wished I could go to my room and sleep for a while to get rid of the laziness. But a king could not rest, not when his knowledge of economics was identical to that of a knight.

Whether it was training in the parade ground, or fighting with the economics books, my conditioning was going great. Sora and Mom always cheered me up and Alda's carefree smile also offered some peace in my heart.

Maybe this part of my reincarnation wasn't so bad after all. Despite the busyness and responsibilities, I had kind people who cared about me.

A luxury that unfortunately I no longer had in my original life....