WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: Abood
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Friedrich's Battlefield
Chapter 15: Daily Training (1)
“Haah… haah… damn it…”
It was agony. He really wanted to quit. He didn’t want to join the military.
No, it wasn’t as if he truly wanted to give up on enlisting, but it was hard enough that such weak thoughts kept creeping into his head.
Gasping for breath in the middle of training, Friedrich couldn’t help but think that.
“Friedrich! Who said you could rest? Stand up!”
The one shouting as he approached from behind was Sir Gregor, the captain serving under Count Hosenfeld. To Friedrich, now a squire, he was both superior officer and drill instructor.
“Y-yes… just… let me catch my—”
“And what, you’ll say the same thing when the enemy’s charging at you? ‘Wait, let me catch my breath first’? Don’t be ridiculous!”
Gregor’s voice alone had the force to shove him in the back. It struck with enough intensity to feel like a blow.
Even so, Friedrich couldn’t get up. He had always been a soft person, used to using his head more than his body. It had only been about ten days since training began, and that wasn’t nearly enough time to build real stamina.
Yesterday’s drills were brutal too, but nothing like this. Those must have just been a warm-up. Now, Friedrich was learning the hard way what true training meant.
“Friedrich, are you okay? Here, take my ha—”
Just as Yurika stepped toward him and reached out her hand, Gregor snapped his training sword up and pointed it directly in front of her face.
She flinched and took a step back, then glared sharply at him.
“…What do you think you’re doing?”
Even under Yurika’s piercing gaze, like a wild beast ready to pounce, Gregor didn’t flinch in the slightest.
“If this were outside of training hours, I wouldn’t care what you and Friedrich do. But right now, I will not allow you to coddle him. Do not offer him your hand, unless you want him to die young.”
The moment the word die was spoken, Yurika’s glare wavered just slightly.
“Neither His Excellency nor I ever expected this one to be useful in combat. That’s exactly why you were accepted as his escort. But even if you’re meant to protect him, there are limits. Sure, you might be capable with a blade, but you can’t fight while dragging him behind you or carry him and run at the same time. This run is training to build at least the bare minimum of stamina. It’s so that if he loses his horse, he won’t fall behind the unit. So that even if the regiment is forced to retreat, he has a chance to avoid capture. If he’s already breaking down from a run like this and relying on others to lift him up, he’ll die easily.”
Gregor lowered his wooden sword as he spoke, his tone cold and steady.
“You care about him, don’t you? If you’re fine with watching the man you love die on the battlefield, then go ahead. Lend him your hand.”
Even after hearing that, Yurika didn’t move.
“…I’m fine. I can stand on my own.”
Friedrich, who had managed to steady his breathing just a little during that brief moment, pushed himself up as he spoke.
“I can still run. I’ll keep running.”
His legs wobbled, but even so, Friedrich spoke directly to Gregor.
“Anyone can say the words. Prove it with your actions. I don’t care how slow you are, just don’t stop until the very end.”
“Sir!”
Saluting with what little strength he had, Friedrich started running again, his pace barely faster than a walk.
Yurika ran beside him. From time to time she glanced at him with concern, but her hands never reached out.
“......”
Friedrich was running along the inner perimeter of the Hosenfeld estate.
About two weeks earlier, he and Yurika had arrived in the royal capital together with the Ferdinand Regiment.
The capital, Sankt Waltrude, was a vast city and home to thirty thousand of Edelstein’s roughly six hundred thousand citizens. It was the kingdom’s heart economically, culturally, politically, and militarily.
As court nobles without any land of their own, the Hosenfeld family had their residence in the noble district of the capital.
That said, the estate wasn’t particularly large. The number of retainers was nothing compared to what landed nobles maintained. The household was overseen by the steward, who managed affairs in place of Matthias, often away from home. A handful of senior servants. And Gregor, who accompanied him as aide-de-camp on the battlefield.
Friedrich’s inclusion in this small group wasn’t because he was expected to serve as a proper retainer. Rather, it was due to his background as a former orphan, someone without any real backing. He understood that Matthias had taken him in as an act of protection, not obligation.
“Just a little more! Don’t let your feet stop! …That’s it! At ease!”
Spurred on by Gregor’s shout, and with Yurika by his side, Friedrich finally made it to the end. This time, he collapsed completely, sinking into the neatly manicured grass.
“…ugh.”
“You really are weak. A proper soldier of the Royal Army could run five times this distance.”
Gregor spoke with a tone of exasperation as he looked down at the breathless Friedrich. Friedrich, however, could only think that some things were simply impossible. At least for now, they were beyond him.
“His Excellency intends to have both you and Yurika officially join the regiment in time for the enlistment ceremony next spring. By then, you are to be able to run three times this distance without slowing your pace. That’s the bare minimum.”
Next spring. Since it was early autumn now, that left about half a year. Could he really manage that?
Lying flat on the grass, staring up at the sky, Friedrich felt unease rise in his chest.
“Only half a year, huh... I could run that much right now without breaking a sweat, but for Friedrich, it might be... difficult, don’t you think?”
Struggling with the still-unfamiliar formal speech, Yurika posed the question. Gregor gave a short snort of laughter through his nose.
“If it’s just running, he’ll manage. He’s still young. Run every day and the stamina will follow. In fact, if all it takes is building up his endurance to join the army, then I’d say he’s got it easy.”
Casting a brief glance at Yurika’s doubtful expression, Gregor continued.
“Normally, those who join the Royal Army must first pass an entrance exam. For regular soldiers, that’s followed by roughly a year of training even before enlistment. A certain level of stamina is simply expected. From there, they learn to march, move in formation, and handle spears and swords. Knights who serve as officers spend years training in swordsmanship and horsemanship before they even think of joining. As for noble sons, unless they’re utterly incompetent, they’re rarely refused entry, but even then, almost none go in without putting in serious effort. Their own lives and their family’s honor are on the line.”
Gregor shot a sharp glare at Friedrich as he spoke.
“And yet here you are, entering the army by His Excellency’s personal decision. He saw promise in your success during the bandit subjugation, and you’ve been granted the expectation of appointment after only six months of training, not as an ordinary recruit, but as part of the command staff from the start. There are certainly precedents in Royal Army history where those with talent were brought in with special treatment. But none of them had an easy path afterward. Without proving yourself as a soldier, you will be forced out eventually. That’s precisely why His Excellency ordered me to train you. Because to build a record, you must at the very least be capable of keeping up with actual military operations.”
Hearing all that, Friedrich sat up. Deep down, he still wanted to lie there a while longer, but he pushed himself to his feet.
This was a rare opportunity. For someone like him, an orphan raised in a rural city. This was the chance to change his life. He wasn’t about to waste it. That thought drove him forward. If he missed this opportunity just because he lacked the stamina to keep up with the others on the battlefield, he knew the regret would haunt him forever.
“You’re getting up already? You could stay down a bit longer, you know.”
“…No. I’m fine now. I can do this.”
Gregor’s provocation met a firm answer from Friedrich.
“Hah. Let’s see if those aren’t just words. Next up, practice swings.”
Gregor walked over to the back corner of the garden where two wooden swords were propped up. He grabbed both and tossed them down in front of Friedrich and Yurika.
“Fifty swings for Friedrich. One hundred for Yurika. No stopping. Finish it in one go. Begin!”
At Gregor’s command, Friedrich began his practice swings.
Beside him, Yurika swung her wooden sword with sharp, powerful movements. Friedrich planted his feet firmly, doing his best not to falter under the weight of the sword, and forced himself to keep going with one swing at a time.
Footnotes:
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