Doggone Academy

Silveryn and I were at a lakeside early in the morning, before the mist of dawn had even lifted. From where we stood to the opposite horizon, there continued a stretch of white sandy beach.

What Silveryn handed me was an axe.

As I looked blankly at the axe she was offering, she spoke.

“What are you waiting for? Take it.”

“Ah, yes.”

I took the axe and gripped it tightly with both hands. It was quite heavy.

However, I had no clue what she intended for me to do with it. What did an axe have to do with swordsmanship?

“Go and chop down a tree. A big one. And don’t use that shiny sword of yours.”

I was sure I had heard that we were to train in swordsmanship.

Moreover, she hadn’t even brought a practice sword. While the situation was baffling, I refrained from complaint and headed towards the nearby forest filled with large trees.

There, I picked a tree of suitable size and began to chop.

The sound of the axe echoed in the quiet forest.

The tree was so thick that it would be insufficient to wrap two adult arms around it, and it was incredibly hard, making the task challenging.

My forearms, shoulders, and back quickly began to ache. After about twenty minutes of chopping, the tree finally groaned and tilted to one side. The branches snapped against other trees before the trunk crashed down with a thud, shaking the ground.

I regained my breath.

“Phew!”

The moment of small triumph was brief.

Silveryn, who had been standing behind me, nonchalantly gave her next command.

“You’re not done yet. Chop down another tree.”

After another period of time spent felling another tree, there wasn’t a part of my upper body that wasn’t sore. The muscles I hadn’t used before were stimulated, causing my arms to shake uncontrollably.

Regardless, Silveryn issued her instruction indifferently.

“You’re still far from done. Strip the branches off the trees that you’ve felled.”

With Silveryn’s magic, in fact, this task could have been finished in an instant. That she tasked me to do it meant this process was also part of the training.

After I stripped off all the branches, what remained were two long, round logs.

Silveryn stood next to the trimmed logs, stepping at regular intervals to mark them.

“Chop them to pieces at these intervals.”

By now, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh. I doubted I had the strength left to chop up all that.

“If you don’t finish today, no dinner for you.”

“……You’re joking, right?”

Our eyes met, and without a word, Silveryn just gave me a calm smile. Something about the way she smiled unnerved me.

I took the axe and approached the first mark on the log.

After swinging the axe for at least a dozen times.

Finally, with a snap, the joint gave way. Just chopping one segment had drained all my energy. Now my lower back and thighs were also starting to feel the strain.

I walked to the next mark and swung the axe again. Lacking strength in my entire body, I twisted and turned, trying to find some technique.

After trying repeatedly, a certain knack for wielding the axe seemed to naturally come to me.

It wasn’t just about putting strength in my arms.

When I used my waist and legs to apply weight and momentum to the swing, the axe cut far deeper than when I just hacked away with brute arm strength.

The work gradually became easier.

Once I understood how to minimize unnecessary force, I chopped wood as if in a trance.

After chopping the wood into five pieces and gasping for air, I looked up to find the sun high in the sky.

Silveryn clapped her hands sharply and shouted,

“Stop!”

When I turned around, two maids were standing next to Silveryn, each holding a bamboo basket. I was so engrossed in my work that I hadn’t noticed other people arriving.

“Eat and then continue.”

Silveryn led me and the maids to the white sandy beach by the lake. My muscles were so overworked that I trudged behind them slowly.

Silveryn and the maids had advanced a score of steps ahead. The maids spread a mat on the sandy beach and placed a basket at the corner to prevent it from being blown away.

Silveryn sat down on the mat first and waited for me. I plodded along like an elderly man nearing death and finally collapsed half-fallen onto the mat.

From the basket, sandwiches, salted pork, cheese, and milk appeared one after another. The maids served them on plates for Silveryn and me.

The daily fare here was more bountiful than the special meals I had back in Haman. I knew I had to eat as much as possible since I might miss dinner.

As I took a bite of the sandwich, cool breezes from the lake blew, nicely cooling my sweat. Silveryn too lightly brushed her hair and gladly welcomed the breeze.

“The weather’s nice, isn’t it?”

“……Yes, I think I understand why you boasted about it.”

Was this what a family picnic felt like? The hardship melted away, leaving my body and mind in peace.

With such sweet rest, I could endure any rigorous training.

***

After the meal, I dove back into work.

Only as twilight approached did I manage to chop all the trees into pieces.

“Finally, finally.”

I dropped the axe and flung myself onto the ground. By the skin of my teeth, I managed to secure dinner.

Silveryn had returned to the manor with the maids long ago after lunch.

I felt I would just fade away if I stayed put. Drifting to sleep with heavy eyelids, I was startled awake by the sound of someone nearby.

Lifting my head, there was a maid.

“Miss Silveryn asked me to check if you had finished the work.”

“Look, it’s all done.”

The maid glanced over the chopped wood and then said,

“It’s almost time for dinner; you should go before it’s too late.”

I struggled to my feet. My hands and legs quivered, and the maid looked at me with pity.

I was worried about tomorrow.

How would I handle the intense muscle soreness to come? Would I even be able to move?

I dragged my feet forward a few steps and had to lean against a tree, the weakness in my legs forcing me to rest.

Thus, I walked and rested, alternating every few steps.

“Let me assist you.”

Seeing I would likely miss the dinner time, the maid eventually had to support me.

I had to admit. Even without swinging a sword, this was extremely effective for building stamina and basic muscular strength.

But what weighed on my mind was that this was still ‘only the beginning’. The more I thought about it, the scarier it became.

I only returned to the mansion after the sun had set. Fortunately, my share of the meal was still on the table even though dinner time had passed.

After finishing my meal, I took a bath and settled into the armchair in my room. I had some time to spare and thought about touching the meteoric iron but watching my arms shake uncontrollably with the slightest effort made me reconsider.

While I was massaging my tightened muscles, someone knocked on the door.

“Excuse me.”

The maid entered the room, carrying a tray with three smoking potion bottles.

As soon as she entered, the strong scent of herbs hit my nostrils.

The maid placed the potions on the table and said,

“These potions are made from herbs that help with physical fatigue, muscle pain, and muscle growth.”

“….”

I never dreamed that she would even prepare something like this. I would have been thankful for just timely meals and a place to sleep.

I picked up a bottle and smelled it. The fragrance of herbs I remembered was faintly discernible.

It was Gallia herbs and the scent of Verosia flowers. Where on earth did she find these valuable ingredients?

Moreover, various other herbs seemed mixed like a medley, making it difficult to distinguish anything else.

Knowing that these herbs were included, I assumed the taste wouldn’t be too far from what I had imagined and brought the potion to my lips.

“Yeck. Huff!”

But after taking a single gulp, I almost spat it all out. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought someone was trying to poison me.

“…Is this really made from herbs?”

It tasted like dirt mixed with rotten pork and raw fish entrails.

The maid looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and said,

“…You will need to drink it daily.”

***

The next day, we ventured into the forest as soon as the morning sun rose.

Perhaps due to the repulsive potion’s effectiveness, the muscle soreness was minor and I almost felt no fatigue. However, I didn’t have the luxury to marvel at the miraculous effects of the potion. As soon as I had recovered, I had to push myself again right from the morning.

“Roll it.”

“What?”

“To that clearing over there.”

The clearing in the forest she pointed to was about a hundred paces from where we stood.

The instructions were to roll the tree stumps, as big as wild boar bodies, using brute strength to the clearing.

How was I supposed to move all these? A sigh naturally escaped.

The diameter of the logs was awkwardly between the height of my knee and thigh, making it impossible to comfortably stand and push with my hands.

“Can’t we use tools?”

“No.”

This was going to be difficult. Pushing with my hands required bending low, putting a strain on my back, and kicking them was out of the question as the logs were too heavy.

The only option was to grasp the lower part of the log while seated and flip it over upside down as I stood up.

At least the path to the clearing was slightly sloped downhill, which was the only thing I could consider fortunate.

Thus, I began to roll each tree stump one by one.

After I had pushed out a dozen or so, I had gotten the hang of it, but the strain on my back, abdomen, and thighs was much worse than the day before, even with the proper technique.

By the time I had moved about a dozen, it was already lunchtime. I devoured my food without leaving any crumbs and immediately returned to training.

By the time the evening settled, I had managed to move all but the last stump.

I stood there, hand on my side, catching my breath and looking at the last piece of wood.

It wasn’t a maid that awaited me this time, but Silveryn herself. I thought she had left after lunch, but when did she come back?

Silveryn sat on the last stump, legs crossed, wearing a straw hat and a beige dress. With one hand casually holding a book, she seemed quite dignified as she read.

She gave me a puzzled look as I stood motionless before her.

“…Why?”

“That’s the last one.”

She glanced at the stump she was sitting on and immediately closed her book.

“Leave this one. I need somewhere to sit while I wait.”

Then she stood, put her hands behind her back, and walked ahead with light steps.

“Let’s go, I’m hungry.”

With that, she hummed a little tune and moved away.

Somehow, Silveryn appeared to be enjoying herself more than me. It should be me happy about finishing the day’s hard work.

We left the forest and made it back to the lakeside. We walked along the sandy beach in the direction of the manor.

Silveryn maintained a steady pace, gradually moving further ahead.

Due to the strain I had put on my leg muscles, I could only walk at half my usual pace. It was impossible to walk alongside her.

Our distance continued to widen. It made me wonder why she had bothered to bring a book and wait for me.

“Teacher.”

Silveryn didn’t turn around as she answered.

“Why?”

“Let’s go together.”

“No.”

“…”

It seemed as though Silveryn had no concern for me staggering around all day.

Come on, even the maid had offered her support yesterday.

She stretched her arms out to her sides for balance, trying to leave straight footprints in the sand as she walked.

The wind blew and the hem of her dress fluttered lightly.

She made a small fuss when she lost balance and displaced her foot in the wrong direction.

“Aish.”

Then she continued on her way again, arms stretched wide, trying to mark a straight line with her footsteps.

The formidable magic professor, who could spit flames from her hands, was nowhere to be seen; instead, there was a naive young girl playing in front of me, resembling someone my age.

I looked at the footprints she had left and followed, stepping in time with them.