I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 42: Change of Schedule

Unlike days before, Sir Gunnar presented himself in front of his apprentices and squires more exhausted than they were used to seeing him in.

Even when he finished telling them his plans for their study session that day, he didn't sit down as he had the day before. Instead, he paced around the library knowing he would start to nod off if he got too comfortable.

Irene subtly observed him from where she wrote down her notes. She wondered what he got up to when he couldn't sleep. Was he as affected by the monsters as the others were? Was there truly no getting used to seeing such a thing?

It wasn't the business of an eleven-year-old, she imagined.

The first book she had gotten into regarding wyrms was informative enough to cover all the points she would need to answer the questions Gunnar required in their research. Even the stories of the north helped her paint a picture of how she would track a wyrm or kill one if she was ever faced with it.

Irene found herself hesitant to get into the second book. There was a hint of guilt within her as she thought of not keeping up with her grandmother's teachings and being more fluent in her father's mother tongue. There was a time she could write the alphabet quite well but, by that point, she was only able to do random words that didn't string together anything of importance.

At the top of her page, she wrote her name in the tall, thin Sünstoian glyphs. The alphabet reminded her of pine trees and arrows.

However, she quickly scribbled out a bit of it, realizing her name wasn't Irene there, but she was only slightly certain about how to spell Iro.

She glanced around, silently laughing at herself. As if anyone else would know that she wasn't referring to herself by the correct name.

Visit freewёbnoνel.com for the best novel reading experience.

Rather than push off what was inevitable, she opened the book and slowly turned the pages. Whoever wrote the book in the first place had drawn illustrations as well.

It was all about the northern territories—the lawless lands that existed to challenge anyone who dared step foot up there.

Her ancestors used to travel in large ships on the icy seas but the line she was from was frozen in and decided to settle in the area. When the areas weren't frozen, there were rich hunts and magical beasts. They moved further inland and moved closer to the northern mountains that surrounded Chemois.

However, something shifted and monsters chased her closer relatives into Chemois for good. With them came her grandmother, father, and uncles.

Had they ever seen wyrms? she wondered.

Even though she didn't recognize quite a few of the words, Irene found the pictures intriguing. When she finally started seeing illustrations of monsters, she sat up straighter. That was what she was after.

She pressed on, slowly turning the pages until she saw the snakelike body of the monster she sought.

To her, it seemed to be made up of mostly ribs that suited its slithering body. The illustration was detailed as if the author had torn open a wyrm themselves.

She then got to the point about a magical orb. The heart of the animal was made entirely of mana. It helped it breathe fire and be able to live in such blistering cold environments.

Irene remembered to write this bit down but she soon settled into the table with her head resting on her arms as she finished a final couple of sentences, making sure her script wasn't too tight and ladylike.

Before she knew it, Irene had fallen asleep with a quill in her hands.

The lack of sleep the night before was surely hitting her hard.

The girl was unaware of the passage of time until she felt a large finger tapping her shoulder. She was up with a startle and met with the brown eyes of Sir Gunnar who looked as exhausted as she felt.

"The others have gone back to their barracks," he explained.

"I'm sorry I—"

The man raised his hand as he stood back up to full height.

"There is a change of plans," he began. "We need apprentices more adept in night watch. Only Felix has had to go through the process, but now I believe the three of you are exhausted enough to sleep now and stay awake during the night. In what's left of the southern ancient wall, I believe you will be able to practice with your bow more often. What do you think of that?"

Irene felt groggy to be having that conversation, but she forced herself to seem attentive. Even though she had the mind of what felt like a twenty-year-old, her exhausted body was certainly that of an eleven-year-old. She needed more sleep and more food than she had ever remembered.

"If it can help us avoid what happened last night, I think that it's a wonderful idea," she responded. "I will do my best."

"Of course you will," Sir Gunnar agreed with a faint smirk. "Now get something to eat and head to your barracks. I will send someone to wake you when it's time. Sir Phillip and I will be the knights on night patrol."

"I am grateful," Irene responded with a bow of her head. "Thank you."

She had permission to leave her writing behind once again and she departed the library, realizing just how heavy she felt.

As she ate a quick meal, she thought she was going to fall asleep again so she quickly cleaned her meal up and left out of the back entrance of the Duke's Tower. Putting off sleep was no longer an option in her eyes.

When she made it to the barrack, she fell heavily into her bed and was happy to have dreamless sleep. It also helped that it was daytime and there was a bit of light coming in from the window even though the thick curtains were drawn.

Once the apprentice woke up again, she was confused at first to see darkness having fallen over her room.

When there was a knock on her door, she remembered what she had been assigned to do.

She needed armor and warm clothing because that night was going to be the first of many tests as an apprentice.

Determination not to fail filled her soul and moved her forward with more certainty than before. She had survived so much compared to the life she saw. What else lay ahead?