Reincarnated as the favorite of an obsessive goddess: gave me a system-Chapter 45: Training inexperienced people.

The first day of travel after leaving behind the heavy gates of Akhan felt like walking on a razor’s edge. Although the sun shone with a deceptive intensity, the wind blowing from the north brought a biting cold that reminded everyone they were approaching the borderlands of Terminus.

Kai, mounted on Valira, led the march with a rigidity that did not go unnoticed by his companions. Behind him, the caravan stretched out like a wounded serpent.

The twenty two refugees walked with their heads bowed, their faces marked by the exhaustion of a night under siege and the fear of what lurked in the shadows of the road. Lint handled his wagon with trembling hands, while Nick glanced sideways at the sacks of salt as if they were gold bullion attracting all the demons in the world.

By late afternoon, the landscape changed. The open plains gave way to more rugged terrain, dotted with rocky outcrops and dense stands of pine. Kai raised his hand, signaling a halt in a clearing protected by a stone formation.

"We’ll camp here," Kai ordered, dismounting Valira with a fluid motion. "Thorne, help Keram with the perimeter of the wagons. Allice, I need you to do a wide patrol. I don’t want any surprises before the soup is hot."

Allice nodded without a word and began her watch. As the camp came to life, Kai stood watching the people of the caravan. They sat heavily on fallen logs, sighing with relief for the rest, but their eyes kept darting at every creak from the forest.

They were good people, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, but they were defenseless. The previous night in Akhan had proven that if the assassins managed to bypass them, these people would be massacred before they could even lift a hand.

"Keram, gather the most capable people,"

Kai said. "Right now."

Twelve people, eight men and four women, approached Kai, with Keram at the lead.

"Is something wrong? Are more of those assassins coming?" asked a young man named Han, clenching his fists.

"I don’t know, Han," Kai replied truthfully. "And that is precisely the problem. Until now, you’ve relied on us to protect you, but we still have a long way to Terminus. If we get separated, if there’s a massive ambush... you need to be able to defend your own space."

Thorne approached carrying a bundle of wooden poles they had collected around Akhan before leaving. They were straight, flexible branches, their tips hardened by fire during brief stops. He dropped them to the ground with the metallic clang of the axes that accompanied them.

"Take one each," Kai ordered. "Today we aren’t going to rest immediately. Today, you’re going to learn how not to die."

The training began. Kai stood in the center of the clearing, holding a wooden pole as if it were the finest spear in the world.

"Most mercenaries expect peasants to run or plead," Kai explained, adjusting his feet into a defensive stance. "They feed on panic. But a wall of spears, however rudimentary they may be, is a problem they cannot ignore. The key isn’t individual strength, but unity. If one of you retreats, the wall breaks and you all die. If you stand firm, the enemy is the one who has to take the risk."

For the next two hours, the clearing was transformed into a drill ground. Kai didn’t teach them complex fencing techniques, they didn’t have time for that. He focused on the basics, how to hold the pole so the impact wouldn’t break their wrists, how to plant their heels in the earth so as not to be overrun by a charge, and how to coordinate their movements. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"One, step! Two, thrust!" Kai shouted, his voice resonating with an authority reminiscent of his days leading armies in his past life. "Again!"

Thorne moved among the men, using his imposing physique to simulate the pressure of an attacker. He shoved their shoulders, struck their poles with the handle of his axe, and growled to test their nerves.

"Hold it, damn it!" he roared. "If I were a mercenary, I’d have already spilled your guts through that opening!"

Little by little, the refugees’ erratic rhythm began to synchronize. The men sweated despite the cold, their muscles protesting the unusual effort, but there was something new in their faces. It wasn’t mastery, it was dignity. For the first time since leaving everything behind, they felt they had a modicum of control over their fate.

A few meters away, near the supply wagon, Mira watched the training with a thoughtful expression. She had her recurve bow leaning against the wagon wheel, still wrapped in the cloth that hid its advanced technology. Three children, who had escaped their mothers’ supervision, surrounded her with curiosity. Little Leo, his face smudged with soot, pointed at the bow with a trembling finger.

"Is it true that bow can shoot through a tree?" Leo asked in a whisper.

Mira looked at the boy and then at Kai, who was still correcting stances in the clearing. With a sigh, she sat on a log and gestured for them to come closer.

"But the bow is useless if the eyes don’t know what to look for. Do you want me to tell you a secret?"

The children nodded enthusiastically, forgetting their constant fear for a moment. Mira began to explain how to read the ground, how to distinguish a rabbit’s trail from a predator’s, and how the forest always warns when someone strange approaches. She taught them to listen to the silence of the birds and to understand the language of the wind.

"If you learn to observe, you’ll never be caught by surprise," Mira told them, patting a little girl’s head. "And if you’re never caught by surprise, you’ll always have a second’s advantage to run or warn the others. That second saves lives."

Roshia watched the scene from the campfire while serving the soup. A sad smile played on her face.

"Mira has always had that protective instinct," she commented as Kai approached for his bowl, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I think seeing herself reflected in those children reminds her of why she fights."

"We all need a reminder every now and then," Kai replied, watching the children laugh for the first time in days.

After dinner, the camp drifted into a deeper calm than usual. Those who had trained, exhausted, fell asleep almost immediately, but their spears were placed carefully within reach. Lyla moved among the fires, lightly healing the aching muscles of the elderly and offering words of comfort.

Kai, unable to stop keeping watch, moved away from the circle of light and climbed a rocky elevation overlooking the clearing. The air up there was pure and sharp as glass. He sat on the cold stone, looking north where the shadows of the mountains were beginning to devour the horizon.

"I knew you’d be up here, staring into the void," a soft voice said behind him.

Lyla sat down beside him. The brush of her shoulder against his was an instant jolt of warmth.

"I can’t help it," Kai admitted, letting out a sigh that formed a small cloud of mist. "I can’t stop thinking that one mistake of mine, one bad tactical decision, and all these people will disappear."

Lyla took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his.

"That’s because you aren’t a capricious god, you should be glad for that," she replied with a light laugh, trying to ease his burden.

Kai couldn’t help but laugh back and rested his head on her chest, letting her stroke his hair.

"You really always know what to say, you’re incredible," he finally replied. "I’d like to make it up to you somehow."

Lyla smiled, a mischievous grin.

"I don’t need compensation, you idiot. I need you to survive. I need you to look at me the way you are right now. And maybe, when all this is over and we’ve kicked the asses of all those arrogant gods, you’ll owe me a very long vacation, just you and me."

Kai let out a soft laugh as she continued to stroke his head. They stayed like that for a long time, simply enjoying each other’s company.

"Tomorrow we’ll reach the foothills," Kai said, breaking the silence, his voice regaining its determination. "They’ll likely try something at the narrow pass."

"We’ll be ready," Lyla replied, pulling back slightly to look at him with pride.

Kai smiled. "Truthfully, I’m grateful to have recovered my memories. If I hadn’t and I were here anyway... I most likely wouldn’t know what to do; I wouldn’t even know the terrain."

Lyla let out another small laugh.

"I would have guided you, sweetheart," she replied, lifting her head so their eyes met. "Though it’s not bad seeing you lead, I’ve always liked it."

The tension in the air was clear, but Kai cleared his throat and looked away, remembering her words. After another while in silence, they climbed down from the rock and returned to the camp. Thorne was finishing his rounds, Allice had just reappeared from the darkness to report no movement within three kilometers, and Mira was sleeping with her bow under her arm.

Kai settled onto his blanket with Lyla by his side. With the rhythmic sound of Lyla’s breathing and the crackle of the last embers, Kai finally closed his eyes. His rest was brief, but deep.

Dawn arrived with a cold wind that offered no rest. Once everyone was awake, they continued their journey toward Terminus.