Namgung Se-ga, the warrior, was reincarnated in Romance

Everything works like that. When the heart is troubled, it gets better by tormenting the body, and when the body is in pain, rest is the cure. After a good, deep sleep, I woke up with a smooth, radiant face, and realized I had been unnecessarily anxious over something trivial.

How long has it been since I’ve treated Fridays like a holiday, just because I attend the academy?

I shook my head at my own nonchalance and, as usual, headed toward the training grounds.

The endless marks left by the Infinite Footsteps were covered by the children’s footprints, making it hard to recognize, so I used my inner energy to firmly step on them again, restoring them to their original state, then walked around the grounds. After performing my breathing exercises and washing up, I knocked on Shaeden’s door.

When we sat down at the table, the usual chatter followed.

Today, the one chatting away beside me was Jenny, the blue-haired girl from the academic club, who had become quite friendly during the camping lessons. Shaeden and Jenny talked about their respective classes, shared stories about mutual acquaintances, and discussed rumors they had heard.

I silently listened to their conversation while eating.

Since the number of people eating together had increased, I greatly appreciated that I didn’t need to talk unless someone specifically addressed me during meals.

I was used to being alone and traveling like a swordsman, so talking constantly about everyday matters still felt awkward. Unless I had something necessary to say, or had to scold someone or ask for a lesson, I preferred listening.

The most common phrase I’ve said since coming here is “Why?” for that very reason.

In the Central Plains, I spoke very little. I used polite words when necessary, but especially in front of evil people, I was known to say nothing more than necessary. When someone begged for their life, I’d ask, “Why?” listen to their reason, and decide what to do. After long excuses and pitiful justifications, no one who returned alive survived for long.

Of course, the people in front of me weren’t criminals, but when faced with an impossible or inexplicable question, the first thing that came to mind was always “Why?” People really don’t change.

“Ernhardt, are you planning to train again today?”

“Why?”

“Well, I just want to go out with you. The night market opens every third Friday of the month, and there’s a lot to see and eat. Let’s give Professor Sanson a break today, shall we?”

Jenny gave a thumbs-up to Shaeden, who was backing her up.

Before enrolling in the academy, Jenny had spent a year in the capital preparing for the entrance exam. During that time, she never missed a visit to the night market, where she could relax her mind by seeing new things.

Hearing this, I was a little tempted. After all, I knew my body had been growing steadily, thanks to all the effort I had put in. My limbs were getting longer, and my inner energy was accumulating—time was the best remedy for such things, so there was no need to rush.

I hesitated before answering, and Jenny, seeing my indecision, pushed her tray inward to make space and leaned in eagerly, already excited.

“Let’s go with me, Mariann, Ivan, Damien, and Shaeden! We’ll see what’s worth adding to our camping bags, and you know, many people bring homemade preserved foods to the market! There might be new weapons or magical artifacts made by the Tower’s mages too!”

“Mm.”

“That was an ‘okay,’ right? Right, Mikael? Let’s go together, yeah?”

“Well, I suppose so.”

All the exciting things she mentioned left me no room to escape.

Jenny clapped her hands in excitement, saying she was looking forward to it, and quickly got up, grabbed her tray, and dashed off to tell the others.

So, when I told Maelro Sanson during our basic swordsmanship class that I wouldn’t be training in the afternoon because I was going out, he patted me on the shoulder, saying I had made a good decision, but his heavy hand was enough to make it sting a little.

He often said that children should act like children, but suddenly, that night when I had been startled by Douglas’s words came to mind, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

I had never learned what it meant to “act like a child,” so how could I be expected to act like one?

I just nodded vaguely, answering, “I suppose so,” before pestering Maelro for training until the afternoon.

* * *

Because of Shaeden, who insisted I couldn’t go out in my school uniform and rummaged through my wardrobe in a frenzy, I finally pulled out some old clothes I used to wear at home. After taking off the loose school uniform, I was already sighing as I tried on the perfectly tailored outfit.

The clothing in the Central Plains was roomy by comparison.

The warriors of the Namgung family, unless they were exceptionally tall or short, wore the same size clothes, and they would tie the sleeves, waist, and ankles with long cords to keep the fabric from dragging. This allowed the clothes to be loose enough that you could even fit a small pocket inside without feeling cramped.

But Siren’s clothing was different.

Every time a piece of clothing was made, the tailor had to measure the chest, waist, neck, wrists, ankles, upper and lower arms, thighs, and calves—basically, every part of the body had to be wrapped tightly to ensure the clothing fit just right.

According to the tailor, who talked non-stop while measuring from my shoulder to my elbow with a tape measure, once I reached adulthood, I would have to get even more precise clothes to look proper.

It felt like such a distant thing.

The clothes Shaeden had chosen for me were among the ones with slightly wider sleeves.

The thin shirt didn’t have a collar and had a tight neck opening, but the front of the shirt was cut low, opening up from the collarbone to just below the Adam’s apple, making it comfortable to move my head. The cuffs were tightly wrapped with stiff fabric, but since the shirt itself was loose, it was meant to be tucked into the pants.

I then added a narrow vest over the loose shirt and fastened the buttons, which cinched the waist firmly like a fitted armor. Aside from the shirt, the rest of the outfit wasn’t brightly colored, but the vest was intricately embroidered with silver thread, making it look quite rich.

My clothes were a deep blue, like the sky just before dawn, while Shaeden’s clothes were a red hue, resembling the soft glow of sunset. Shaeden, wearing a shirt with a narrow collar and sleeves, seemed unbothered by the extra layers and wore a long coat over it.

“Don’t you think you might need something else? It’s still a bit too early for spring.”

“I don’t really feel the cold. I’m fine.”

Since my inner energy flow was free, I didn’t feel the chill, though it wasn’t enough to be immune to cold like some monks. Still, I wasn’t about to layer more uncomfortable clothing over my already tight outfit.

After strapping my leather scabbard and a pair of longswords to my belt, Shaeden teased me, asking if I really thought I’d need a sword for our outing.

“Do you expect to encounter some trouble on the streets?” he joked.

After some back and forth, Shaeden ended up strapping a sword to his own waist, but it wasn’t a regular one—it had a decorated hilt, and we both laughed for a while.

We ran into a group of upperclassmen near the academy entrance, and I was glad to see that, unlike Shaeden and me, who were dressed up like peacocks, the entire group was also well-dressed.

Especially the skirts of the girls here, which reached all the way to their ankles and seemed so layered that they looked heavier than the ones from the Central Plains, but both Jenny and Mariann moved gracefully, as though walking on clouds. Their posture was incredibly elegant.

As we passed by, I couldn’t help but think they looked like academy students out for a fun outing, but as we approached the night market—already bustling with people from midday—there were boys and girls of our age wandering around, holding food or toys in their hands.

Seeing hundreds of people, all beautifully dressed, made me once again realize, deep down, that I wasn’t born into a particularly wealthy family in this land, which oddly made me feel good. Just the fact that there were no beggars or children asking for alms on the streets put my mind at ease.

Pushing aside my reluctance, I followed my friends, starting to enjoy browsing the various goods. As Jenny had boasted, there were indeed many fascinating items. The first to catch my eye was a stall run by wizards, who seemed to be wearing large, dusty conical hats, as though they were intentionally trying to stand out.

I was drawn to a round, yellow, fluffy object on the stall that had two eyes stuck to it and asked in curiosity, “What is this?”

“This? It’s a doll. A chick doll. If you press the button here at the back—”

The wizard pressed a small protruding button on the side of the round object, and the chick’s orange beak opened and closed, chirping “peep, peep” in a cute sound.

I couldn’t help but laugh. It really seemed useless, with no wings or feet.

“Should I buy it for you?” the wizard asked.

“No, thank you. It’s fascinating, but not quite what I need.”

When I refused, the wizard, still smiling, took out other items and demonstrated each one by pressing buttons. One was supposed to be an elephant, a round, gray ball with two eyes and a long trunk that twirled around, and another was a similar shape but with triangular ears, pretending to be a cat, meowing.

We lingered at the stall for a while, playing with the dolls, and finally, as a token of my amusement, I pulled some coins from my pocket and bought the chick doll.

“You surprisingly like cute things, don’t you, Michael?”

“Would you like it?”

“No, just keep holding onto it like that.”

With a bright, flower-like smile, Marianne grabbed Jenny’s hand, and with each step, they both bounced up and down, their red and black skirts swishing in the air.

Their cheerful strides felt like something out of a dream, and I found myself absentmindedly squeezing the doll in my arms. The soft texture of the doll felt unexpectedly pleasant.