Chapter 20

While making his way towards the library, Vince reflected over his first day of work as an attendant.

'Aaah… who would have thought I'd end up being a babysitter. At least my suspicions proved wrong, so I'm good on that front.'

'The best course of action right now is to teach that little girl. The stronger she is, the less probable it is for her to die.'

'She's pretty talented, so it shouldn't be too hard to get on a decent level. Even though she is a diamond in the rough right now, she's just turned six years old. There is still plenty of time to properly teach her how to fight.'

'Apart from that, the top priority is to keep on accumulating information. This library has way more material than the one I previously had access to. But it's still insufficient. I probably have to move to a more central region to have access to reliable historical sources. The recorded history for anything further than the Rosewaltz Empire is at the very least a millennium behind.'

'I hope I don't have to start over…'

After walking for a while, Vince finally reached the entrance of the library. The guards gave him their usual nod as they had grown accustomed to seeing him coming and going.

He walked to one of the shelves and picked up a book with a bookmark in it. The most impressive part was that, in that same bookshelf, every book to the left of the one he picked was as good as new, while every book to the right was completely covered in dust.

'So, we were left here, huh. History of the Rosewaltz Empire under the dynasty of the von Kraft.'

And like that, Vince started quickly moving from his left to his right. He went on reading books like his life depended on it for a while. One might even think his aspiration was to become a scholar rather than a fighter.

People who spent their time reading rather than training were commonly seen as people who had given up on the road of cultivation. That was the case, especially within the younger generation. Youths are a synonym of vigour, so most people think that any sane youth would spend all of his time chasing after strength. It wasn't uncommon to start reading books later in life, though the opposite wasn't true at all.

After reading for roughly two hours, Vince made his way back to the dormitory. He planned to go to sleep early to wake up earlier than all of his roommates and sneak away to train. He decided to practice before dawn when nobody was awake. In the previous days, he had already found an excellent unguarded spot where he could train without anybody seeing him.

As the library began closing, Vince slipped out and made his way towards his dormitory. The usually bustling paths all around the mansion were now almost completely deserted. A shining half-moon illuminated the entirety of the mansion, and a cold breeze had risen.

'The cold nights finally started, huh. It's autumn once again. The academy is about to start, just a few more months, and it'll be time.'

'I wonder how they manage education in this kind of world. I wouldn't be surprised if they allowed students to have as many bouts they wanted under the pretext of teaching them about strife and preparing them for life outside of school.'

'In a world like this where strength dictates right, they can only use a strength-based system. Humans show the biggest growth when in a very competitive environment after all.'

'Oh well, enough with me being lost in my thoughts. It's time for me to head back and see what that bunch of idiots is doing.'

As soon as he opened the door of his dormitory, what greeted him was a group of bickering men in their teens. They were arguing over who had to do what chore and whose turn it was. As soon as they noticed the door being opened, they first got a little embarrassed, but, after giving each other a quick look, they quickly turned to Vince with the same eyes a tiger would show to its prey.

Having caught the gist of what was going on, Vince tried to shut the door and leave, but the other guys caught the door with their hands before he could close it.

"Little Vince, didn't they teach you manners? You know you should listen to your seniors, right?"

"Please excuse my rudeness then."

"Good, I see that you understand things quickly. You should first make all the beds and then finish hanging those robes in order to dry them up."

"No, I think you got something wrong here. I have no intention of listening to seniors, as I am only a misbehaved little kid. Therefore, please excuse my rudeness. I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep. You guys can keep on doing whatever you were doing."

"Our younger colleague seems to not know proper manners. Should we teach him a little lesson? What do you think, Simon?"

"I completely agree with you, Fabian. Youngsters should learn how to show proper respect to older people. He's not a cultivator, so that much seems a given, am I right Hubert?"

"Hah, you guys never change. No matter what I say, you guys will do it anyway, so I may as well keep my mouth shut."

"You are always spot on, Hubert. So now, Simon, want to have the privilege of teaching him?"

"Oh, don't worry Fabian. The honour is all yours."

"No no, you should be the one to do it, Simon. You are the one with more experience with educating children after all."

"Don't worry, my friend. If I think you are doing anything wrong, I'm going to tell you. You were the one who proposed the idea, so you should have the honour of seeing it through to the end."

"You two guys remember what happened when you last attempted something like this, right?"

"Worry not, Hubert. That girl last time was a freak of nature. This one is merely a child; it should be as easy as stealing candy, right?"

As soon as he completed his sentence, Simon noticed that someone as tall as his torso had walked up to him. As he looked down to see who this intrepid fellow was, he felt a stinging pain in his stomach. He had received a fist from the very same guy he intended to "teach a lesson".

Having understood what happened, Fabian came to the rescue and tried to avenge his fallen brother. But as he was dashing towards Vince, he tripped. Vince had pushed the chair Simon had been sitting on earlier onto the floor, making Fabian trip.

"You guys may have forgotten, but I came from a noble household. Neither of you received anywhere near close to the amount of training I received. You had no hope since the beginning. Well, now, I'm going to sleep."

However, the defeated duo had no intention of giving up. Having a new understanding of their opponent's strength, they prepared to lunge at him together.

"Don't even think of getting away. You defeated us thanks to your skill, but there's no way you can deal with two men twice your size unless you are a cultivator, which you clearly are not! Therefore don't even think of getting away without doing chores!"

"Well then, what are you guys going to do if I managed to become a cultivator one day? Are you sure that I won't look for payback and make you two my slaves?"

The two of them hesitated a little, but then Fabian spoke up.

"I doubt any family would give up on anyone with a little bit of talent. Even if you become a cultivator, you for sure would not become a powerhouse. And while we are not cultivators yet, it's not sure that we won't be in the future. The von Sideria allow mortals to take tests, and if they think you have some potential, they will nurture you and make you one. And don't forget that I come from a knight family. Even though for the time being I might be here to experience the world, it doesn't mean I'm complete trash!"

Having regained confidence, thanks to Fabian's words of encouragement, the two of them were now fearless. Vince didn't doubt right now they would even have the balls to try and assault a monster such as that young lady he has to serve.

'Those two have no sense of danger at all. Maybe I should make them open their eyes a little. I clearly hinted that they have no chance, but they are probably only thinking that I said that because I lack confidence.'

Sigh.

As the two started their simultaneous attack, Vince prepared his arms to intercept them. They were charging one from his left and one from his right. They both extended their arms to throw two punches. The two already sported two big grins on their faces, as if the victory was already in their bag.

Vince moved slightly backwards using his polished footwork, which, by the way, the two had no hope of appreciating because of their total cluelessness when it came to martial arts. And then he gave a little toss of his own to the incoming strike, which was by now not aimed at him anymore, and he made its trajectory vary slightly.

Puch.

The two hit each other in the face without even realising that their target had slightly moved. Only after looking at what they hit they realised that their combined attack was a total fail.

"You two must have slept through all martial arts lessons. You should know that attacking simultaneously requires coordination and a good grasp of the other's fighting style to avoid just ending up in each other's way. I just had to interfere slightly, and you two ended up punching each other as if I wasn't your target in the first place."

The two of them only now realised. The difference between a true, noble house and vassal houses such as knight houses wasn't to be underestimated. It was normal even for modest noble houses to at least have a dozen vassal houses as subordinates. There was no way their strength could be in the same league. Strength was the basis of status in this society and the ability to nurture future generations what allowed a noble house to stand. This was a truth clear to everyone.

"Now that I did my chores —teaching you martial arts, that is—, can you finally let me sleep?"

While still massaging their faces which had been hit by their two own punches, they answered dejectedly to the little child who was by now getting under the bedsheets.

"…Good night."

"Good night."

And thus, his first day in his new workplace came to an end. Vince quickly closed his eyes and started thinking about what strategies to use in any possible situation that would pop up in his head. It was a routine for him by now, as he always wanted to have a plan B in case things went horribly wrong.