Bertha

"Hey!"

"…"

"Hey! Wake up!"

"…"

"The instructor is calling for you!"

A sweet voice entered his ears.

"No… just five more minutes…"

Sai turned around without waking up.

Bertha restlessly pouted as she saw the young man turn towards her without opening an eye.

"Get upppp! I'll be late for the training!" She begged him.

"…*Snores.*"

"…"

"Sigh… I didn't want to do this, but—"

Bertha put a knee over the low bed, intending to be creative in waking Sai up. But at that moment, he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her towards himself as he turned to face the wall once again.

"Wh—Whoa!"

'Ah, now it's perfect…' Sai was heading off to a deep slumber once again, as he hugged a soft human pillow.

Bertha was shocked at first, then mad, and then confused.

"Is he perhaps.… still sleeping? But… release me, dang it!"

She quickly freed himself from his grasp, and at that moment Sai noticed something was out of place. He slowly opened his eyes, while massaging them, but as he saw the girl on his bed, he jumpscared.

"HUH! Who are you? Why are you in my bed??"

"You are finally awake! Instructor Luke told me to come wake you up and take you to the field…"

"You could have just called for me, though?" He was still groggy. "Oh, the training… right… It's already bright outside…"

Sai slowly turned and leaped off the bed while Bertha remained sitting on it, a lazy look in her eyes.

He poured himself some milk on a wooden cup and proceeded to drink it. After that was a hygiene routine. When he finished, he went to get the clothes Luke had given him the day prior.

He was about to take his underwear off, but he realized the young woman was still there in the bed.

Sai squinted and scrutinised her. Almond hair in a ponytail, brown eyes, trainee clothes— which were comprised of a black long sleeve, a black long skirt and high brown training boots. She was the mixture of a scout girl with the girl next door, and around 15 years old, Sai thought. He calmly asked:

"What's your name?"

She left her stupor and answered him.

"Bertha."

"Bertha? How unfitting…" The latter part was barely audible.

"Hm?" She tilted her head as she looked at him.

"So, Bertha. Why are you still in my tent, and in my bed, for that matter?" It was an invitation to lead her out. It would be weird for him to change in front of a teen.

"Hm? Ah, that's be—"

"Bertha! Sai! What's taking you so long?" Luke's voice could be heard from outside the tent. "I'm coming in!"

And with that, Luke shook the leather door aside and barged the tent, only to find Sai with his pants in his hands and Bertha absent-mindedly staring at him on the bed.

"…"

"…"

After awkwardly staring at each other for a moment, Sai took the initiative to speak.

"I… was putting the trainee clothes on…"

"Yea?" Luke intended to hear the rest of the excuse.

"Yea. That's it." He shrugged.

The instructor frowned and palmed his forehead in worry.

"And why is she in the bed like that?" He looked at her this time.

Sai thought Luke was over-thinking everything, but he staggered when he saw her state. Messy hair, messy clothes, and a blank look on her face.

'What the hell…'

Realizing she was being addressed, Bertha finally shook off her laz— ahem— her exhaustion, and answered:

"He pulled me over to the bed, and then I suddenly felt so sleepy…" She did look like she could doze off at any moment.

"You pulled her into the bed?" Luke looked at Sai with a questioning, suspicious look. But who responded again was Bertha.

"He was still sleeping, I think." She didn't look too certain, either, so she added: "It's fine."

Sai thought that his day wasn't starting too well, when a cold wind made its way to his naked legs, reminding him of his precarious situation.

"Uh… can I put my pants on?"

"Sigh… Forget it. I will be waiting outside. Come fast, we are already late."

Luke quickly left through the entrance.

Sai decided to just reuse the underwear they gave him yesterday for the training, so he just put the rest of the uniform on. Meanwhile, the girl was still there, staring at Sai, the exit, and the bed from time to time.

"Are you planning on staying there?" Sai was curious about her behaviour.

"Uh… I want to… but I have to train… but I could sleep a few more minutes, the instructor will take his time with the newcomer… but he will notice my absence…" Her voice trailed off to a series of grumblings.

Sai decided to help her a little, so he extended his hand and said:

"Cmon, we can't be late."

"Sigh…" Bertha looked at the hand, and then weakly grabbed it.

Sai then used a lot of strength to yank her out of the bed and to her two feet. Apparently, he miscalculated the strength, because she fell onto his chest and into another hug. She lost her footing and grabbed onto his chest to stabilise. Sai felt a little sorry but simply ignored what happened and left the tent, Bertha following behind with a blank face.

…

Luke glanced over them and took them to the training grounds, where a lot of other trainees were already stationed, some waiting and some already practicing.

Bertha took a place besides a group of teens lined and waiting for their instructor, while Sai simply followed behind Luke.

"Everyone is here, so I won't delay. You guys didn't do so badly on your first week, but know that it will only get harder from now on, so don't let it get to your head. Alright, a new trainee will join this squad for an unknown amount of time, present yourself." Luke was austere when he talked, for the first time since meeting Sai.

"Hey guys. I'm Sai, pleasure to meet you." He didn't know how to behave in front of those kids. Most looked 16, though he himself wasn't much older.

Their reactions varied, some girls retorted in mild excitement while some boys simply nodded. From a quick count, it looked like they were around fifteen people.

"Okay, you will have time to meet each other later. For now, everyone stretching." He looked at the trainees and then back at Sai. "Building a foundation is extremely important for greatsword users, since it's a heavy weapon and requires great strength. Since you also don't have it, you will need to build muscles first."

Sai nodded, Luke continued.

"Of course, building muscles is not everything we will do, but you need good stamina to start practicing with a weapon, so you will join them for a few weeks. As soon as the majority is ready for wielding it, we will jump into some more serious stuff."

"Thank you, Instructor Luke." Sai knew how to show appreciation.

And just like he said, the group of 15 spent the entire morning running and jumping around. At some point, they had a rest to eat and then returned for more training.

Sai was trying to figure out how a weird weight-lifting machine worked when a few boys approached him. One that had dark-red hair and a smug on his face spoke:

"You don't seem to know how that works. Let me teach you!"