George was momentarily startled and then realized it was true, as he often found himself daydreaming!
Moreover, his buddy Rein had his… by a donkey.
The treatment of child servants at the Habsburg manor wasn’t too bad, at least they could scrounge a relatively “sumptuous” meal.
A piece of black bread, half a smoked fish, and a big bowl of vegetable broth—that was Rein and the other child servants’ lunch.
Looking at the food which did little to whet Rein’s appetite, his friends beside him were swallowing salivating, their Adam’s apples bobbing ceaselessly.
As a formal Attendant shouted, “Eat up!”
Everyone began to wolf down their food.
Rein felt the loaf of black bread the size of a brick, its coarse texture and hard crust—boy oh boy! This couldn’t really be a brick painted black, could it?
He glanced sideward, where his friends were already tearing the black bread roughly apart, crushing it into the bland vegetable soup, which soon thickened.
Rein nodded slightly, understanding this method which was similar to eating naan.
After doing the same, Rein also began to swallow eagerly.
“Ptooey! There are even wood shavings in the black bread! This stuff really isn’t fit for humans to eat!”
Rein was speechless for a moment, thinking back to his past life when he had no idea what kind of meat was in his delivery food—that was sad enough.
But this world was even worse, with no meat to be had at all!
Rein struggled to swallow while his thoughts drifted.
“This child servant training kind of reminds me of the military training in my previous life, just that it lasts much longer, a full three months, and then there’s the assessment that I’ve been so anxious about.”
“Although I have the panel, based on the current rate of progress, it’s still a bit slow. To pass the assessment and become a Blacksmith apprentice smoothly, I’ll need to find ways to speed things up.”
“As for becoming a guard? Of course, I want to! Holding a shield and sword, clad in armor, just thinking about it gets my blood boiling!”
“But… combining both my lives, I’ve never learned any swordsmanship or the like, so I’ll need to find an opportunity…”
“But I must change this current situation!”
Rein glanced at his buddy George, who was staring into space ahead, seemingly lost in thought about something.
Following his gaze, Rein saw a girl in a gray linen maid’s outfit bending over to clear the table, her slightly upturned posterior sketching an alluring curve.
So that’s what captured the young boy’s heart!
Immediately, related memories of the former body surfaced; the girl’s name was Sophia, around their age, also a child servant of the manor.
The difference is that the girls’ servant training is quite distinct from the boys’, usually starting with washing, cleaning, and laundry.
Girls typically develop and mature earlier than boys. By now, Sophia could be considered a bud ready to bloom!
Looking around, Rein noticed that Sophia attracted not just George’s gaze but that of several other young lads as well.
However, for the long-tempered Rein, the allure of a maiden’s maid outfit was nothing much!
But for teenage boys at the dawn of their hormones, it was a distraction that could make them forget to eat or sleep.
“George, what are you looking at?”
George startled, his face turned red as he held up half of the black bread, “No… nothing, Rein. Oh, you worked hard all morning, if you’re not full, here, you can have my half, too.”
“Are you sure you’ve got enough?” Rein looked up at George, asking in surprise.
“I’m almost full; you eat it,” George said reluctantly.
In fact, he could have squeezed that bit of black bread into his stomach; he wanted to use it to shut Rein up.
Besides, he felt that after Rein had been injured yesterday and had worked so hard today, he truly needed to replenish his strength.
Rein nodded, silently giving his best buddy George a “good guy card” in his mind, but as for the black bread mixed with sawdust, he could only decline politely!
After a while, Rein thought about it and felt that it was necessary to remind his buddy, so he said in a low voice without lifting his head:
“George, even if you look at her a hundred times, she won’t be yours! Instead of wasting time, think about how to pass the assessment. As long as you pass the assessment, she will be yours!”
Suddenly, George’s face turned bright red, and he looked around in panic before anxiously saying:
“Rein, even though we are best friends, you can’t just say anything, I didn’t peek at Sophia….”
“Hehe… I didn’t mention anyone; you’re the one who said Sophia.”
Instantly, George was dumbfounded, realizing his buddy had become much more perceptive after his brain got kicked by a donkey, as if he had become smarter than before!
“Getting kicked in the head by a donkey also has its advantages?!”
In the afternoon, a group of child servants continued to learn how to trim donkey hooves.
After eating lunch, Rein’s strength had mostly recovered; even though he still had back pain, he was motivated by the constant +1, +1 increase in Experience.
Rein was full of energy!
However, the child servants hadn’t trimmed many donkey hooves in the afternoon when they saw more than twenty young men and women, mostly men, arrive at the central yard outside the castle.
The newcomers appeared to be about the same age as Rein and the others, but the boys were tall, and the girls were youthful, beautiful, and exceptionally well-dressed, looking very much like the castle’s owners.
As the group came closer, memories from his original self informed Rein that these were the offspring of some lower nobility and wealthy merchants under Count Habbs, training as Knight Attendants at the Habsburg estate.
Since the Habsburg estate was only a half-day’s journey from County Town—a mere hour by horse—it made sense to hold Knight Attendant training there as it was the birthplace of the Habus family, continuing a tradition.
Rein glanced back at the rich kids beside him; it turned out they were all “faux rich second generations”!
The newcomers were the real deal—authentic “second generations”!
The outer courtyard was a large enclosed space, typically used as a training ground for Knight Attendants and guards, but sometimes a small section was designated for other purposes.
Meaning, these child servants were essentially interlopers occupying the training grounds meant for the true second generations.
“Snap!”
“Ouch!”
A child servant who was staring at the real second generations got slapped on the head by Baal.
Only to hear Baal say disdainfully:
“You little rascals, don’t be envious. They are born into a level you couldn’t reach in your lifetime no matter how hard you try!”
“You lot! If you learn a good craft well, you’ll be able to live comfortably in the future.”
Crude, but not devoid of reason.
Rein agreed with Baal; in such times, upward social mobility was nearly impossible. If the child servants could learn one or two crafts well, that would be enough to secure their livelihood.
Huh!
Rein’s pupils shrank; it seemed he had seen something unbelievable.