I’m Just a Background Character, But I Used to Be a Delinquent, So Why Are the Girls Falling for Me?! - Chapter 10

Giles looked truly confused. “Young master… She’s the one training Young Master Inzo. The one who replaced the last master-at-arms who was dismissed. Inzo trains with her almost every day. He has improved so much, much faster than we expected.”

A heavy wave of embarrassment hit me. I had left something this important to Giles, trusted the short reports he gave me… and then completely forgot to check on it. I allowed a stranger to become the biggest influence in Inzo’s training for months, without even meeting her myself.

“Giles,” I said quietly, trying to stay calm, “are you telling me I’ve never met Inzo’s new trainer?”

Giles nodded “That is correct, young master. You have been very busy with estate matters and your recovery. But she has been here… almost three months now. She’s quiet, reliable, and very good at what she does.”

Three months.

That’s how long she had been training Inzo, starting almost exactly when I first arrived here. The realization hit me hard. I had been here the whole time, yet I never once checked, never once met the person teaching my own brother how to fight.

“Tell the trainer that I will join Inzo’s practice session this afternoon,” I said firmly. “I want to see his progress myself. And starting today, I want her to train me as well.”

I didn’t wait for his answer. I turned and headed straight to the bathroom instead.

The fear from my dream was gone, now replaced with a sharp, steady focus.

If I wanted to protect this dukedom, myself, and my brother, then I had to stop ignoring what mattered. I needed to train seriously, sharpen my skills, and finally learn real swordsmanship with no more time to waste.

*****

The afternoon air was sharp and cold, carrying the faint, earthy smell of the training yard. I felt ridiculously exposed, wearing simple training clothes a tunic, breeches, and worn leather boots. This was the first time I’d worn them for anything more than a gentle, medicinal walk in months. I was thinner than I should be, and the scrutiny I expected from a new trainer made my skin crawl.

I walked onto the pitch. The crunch of the gravel under my boots was the first loud noise in the yard.

I saw Inzo immediately. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, holding a light wooden sword, his face alight with energy.

And then I saw Vara.

I stopped. My breath hitched, a faint memory of the suffocating air from my dream flickering in my mind. She was not what I expected. Not the burly, shouting master at arms I was used to. Vara was lean, perhaps a head shorter than me, and moved with an almost unsettling, minimal economy of motion. Her dark hair was tightly braided, and she wore simple, practical leather armor.

In her hands, she held only a gleaming, real steel dagger.

She turned, her movement fluid. Her eyes, a startling shade of gray met mine instantly. They didn’t lower in deference like a servant’s they assessed me, head to foot, like a predator sizing up prey.

“My Lord Callen. You are punctual,” Vara stated, her voice clear, low, and completely devoid of flattery. She gave a quick, precise bow that lasted barely a second.

I walked closer, forcing myself to project the authority I currently felt I lacked. “I apologize that it has taken me this long to introduce myself,” I said, extending my hand. “I am Callen Verdan.”

Vara briefly met my handshake. Her grip was firm, her palm rough with callouses. “I am Vara. I do what I was hired to do. Inzo is an exceptional pupil. He is quick and smart.”

“Indeed,” I agreed, glancing at Inzo, who was grinning proudly. “He says you taught him how to use his speed against the heavy blows of his cousins.”

Vara’s expression did not change. “I taught him to dodge and repurpose momentum. That is the only way for a smaller frame to defeat a larger one.” She then looked pointedly at the light wooden sword Inzo held. “The boy was using a heavy wooden practice sword when I arrived. I broke it. And I gave him this.”

She gestured toward the small steel dagger tucked into Inzo’s belt.

My internal alarm bells rang. This was reckless. “A real steel dagger? Isn’t that… too risky for a child?”

Vara stepped forward, her posture challenging, her gray eyes unwavering. “Risky? No, My Lord. Practical. A heavy sword taught him to be slow and reliant on weight, skills he does not possess. The dagger forces him to be faster and smarter. It demands commitment and precision. He is not allowed to use it offensively yet, only defensively. It teaches him to value his life, My Lord. I will not train him to be strong. I will train him to be alive.”

Her words hit me with the force of the phantom truck from my dream. Alive. That was what I failed to be in my last life. That was what I was afraid of failing at now. Her philosophy speed, smarts, using the enemy’s strength against them was exactly the practical, brutal logic I needed.

“That is sound logic, Vara,” I conceded, nodding. “I missed three months of this training, and now I have only two months before a major commitment. I need to resume my full, rigorous training. I need to regain my full strength, quickly. I need you to train me.”

Vara crossed her arms, her gaze sweeping over my tall, still slightly thin frame. She was utterly blunt.

“The reports suggested you were formidable before the fever,” she stated. “But you are currently not formidable. You are weak, My Lord. You would be easy to defeat.”

The honesty was a cold slap, but I didn’t flinch. She saw the truth I saw in the mirror. “Then I need your help. I need to be ready.”

“My methods are not gentle,” she warned. “You are tall, but you must forget about reaching for strength. You must fight with the speed and cunning of a man half your size. You will learn to use your size as leverage, not just mass.”

She then did something completely unexpected she took the steel dagger from her own belt and tossed it, handle-first, onto the gravel near my feet.

“If you are serious, My Lord Callen, pick up that dagger,” she challenged, her voice low. “Forget the heavy sword. Your training starts now. You will learn the lesson I taught Inzo speed, smarts, and survival. We will strip away the reliance on strength you once had and build something better.”

I looked down at the gleaming steel. It was a commitment to danger, a complete rejection of the polished, ceremonial life I was meant to lead. It was a choice between my father’s expectations and my own survival.

I bent down, picked up the dagger, and felt the familiar, empowering weight of true steel in my hand.

“Begin, Vara,” I said, my voice firm with a new, fierce resolve, echoing the determination of the man who ran into traffic long ago. “Show me.”

Inzo, standing nearby, gasped in quiet excitement. The self-reproach for neglecting my duty was still there, but it was now overshadowed by the urgent need to become formidable.

To be continued….