ocean-life Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 1. Dammit, to think I died there (2)Two years had passed.
Patrick Schneider, five years old.
Over the past two years, his body had grown, and he had learned to manage his heart a great deal.
“Young Master. Young Master!”
“Yaaawn…. What is it, Butler?”
“Young Master. You must train. Sir Erickson is looking for you.”
“Tell him I'm tired, so I'm taking the day off.”
“Didn't you say you were tired yesterday and took the day off as well?”
“You're wrong. Yesterday, my body was tired; today, my heart is tired.”
“Young Masteeeer!”
“Ah, whatever, I'm resting.”
It seemed I had managed my heart a little too much.
Patrick Schneider had turned five.
The little boy who, just two years ago, had lived with a sigh constantly on his lips had brightened up quite a bit.
But as his heart grew more relaxed, he also grew more slothful.
‘Right. What can't be helped, can't be helped.’
He was a five-year-old who had realized that there was no use in constantly agonizing over a problem with no answer.
In the end, it seemed time was the cure for most worries.
Thanks to this, his original personality began to slowly emerge, and the one who welcomed this change in Patrick the most was, of course, his father, Baron Schneider.
“The little fellow is finally acting like a child now.”
“My lord. You've arrived?”
“You've worked hard, Lawrence.”
“Not at all, my lord.”
Baron Jaycall Schneider.
He was the master of Baron Schneider's fiefdom and also Patrick's father.
Truthfully, he had been very worried.
After marrying his wife, he worried when they had no child for over five years, and this son was one they had with great difficulty.
But the condition of that precious son was quite strange.
Since he was a newborn, hadn't he just stared blankly into space, letting out deep sighs?
And then, hadn't he suddenly started shouting and getting angry about something?
Sometimes, he even looked at him, his own father, with a gaze that seemed to say, ‘It must be nice for you to have no worries.’
The feeling at that moment was truly….
In any case, no matter how he thought about it, it was not the behavior of a normal baby.
At first, he had even seriously worried if there was something mentally wrong with him.
Fortunately, the doctor and priest, who were invited at great expense, examined the child and found nothing wrong, and his wife advised that they should just watch over him.
As a result….
“Hahaha. The little fellow is quite child-like now.”
Even the sight of his son diligently running away, saying he didn't want to train, was just heartwarming.
‘My lord, that's not it.’
The butler, Lawrence, shook his head as he watched Baron Schneider.
But Baron Schneider simply wished for his son to grow up healthy and energetic like this.
“As long as he's healthy. I ask for nothing else.”
But he did not know.
That his son should absolutely not be raised with such a mindset.
* * *
“Stance number 1!”
“Haaat!”
“Begin!”
“Haap! Hap!”
Brian Erickson, the only knight of the Baron Schneider family.
Following his command, the soldiers swung their swords vigorously.
To be a soldier in Baron Schneider's fiefdom, which was crawling with monsters, even an ordinary soldier had to be able to beat down five or six goblins.
That was why, though their numbers might be small, the soldiers of the Baron Schneider family were strong elite troops....
“How cute. So cute. So adorable I want to bite them and chew them to bits.”
Or so the rumor went….
But to the eyes of five-year-old Patrick, who was lying askew on one side eating cookies and watching, they didn't seem to measure up at all.
Patrick had said he was taking the day off from training because he was tired, but for some reason, he had come to the training grounds.
The problem was his attitude, which showed not the slightest intention of training.
Brian, the only knight in the fiefdom, glanced at Patrick and frowned.hat could definitely be cured if one knew the treatment method.
Patrick earnestly persuaded his mother, the Baroness, and taught her an internal energy cultivation method, calling it a good health regimen for the body.
Of course, the biggest challenge was how to teach her.
What parent would obediently learn from their young son who had just started to toddle, when he said he would teach them something?
Still, the situation was urgent.
Patrick ultimately chose a direct approach.
He told her he knew a health regimen that could cure her illness and begged her to please follow it.
[A health regimen? Where did you learn such a thing?]
[…I just, picked it up.]
It was a truly poor excuse.
But what could he do?
No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't think of another way.
He thought he would just have to be shameless and push through. As Patrick was pushing forward, the Baroness gazed at him quietly, then spoke with a gentle smile.
“Tell me when you feel ready to tell me.”
“……”
The Baroness knew that what Patrick was saying was a lie.
Even knowing, she chose to believe that her son had his reasons for what he was doing.
The Baroness' attitude became an even greater burden for Patrick.
“So, what should I do?”
“First, the posture…. No. Your legs should be like this and your hands….”
‘Let's just focus on the treatment for now.’
Patrick decided to concentrate on the treatment.
And she faithfully did as her son instructed.
She held the posture as he told her and did the breathing method as he told her.
That was already a year ago.
And now.
‘Now, energy has gathered in her qi center. If she trains just a little more diligently, she can be completely cured.’
In Patrick's view, his mother, the Baroness', condition had improved a lot.
In the first place, her symptoms were not that severe among cases of Nine Yin Severed Meridians.
Even with Nine Yin Severed Meridians, it was rare for all nine meridians to be completely blocked.
Usually, it started with two or three, and the number of blocked meridians gradually increased until, in the end, all nine meridians were blocked, leading to death.
The Baroness had four blocked meridians when Patrick discovered it, which was why the treatment had been proceeding smoothly so far.
‘That's enough for today.’
Patrick withdrew his ki and removed his hands from her shoulders.
“You must continue to do the breathing exercises consistently from now on.”
“Of course, I must do as my son says.”
She had actually felt her physical condition improve significantly after doing the breathing exercises Patrick had taught her.
Breathing had become easier than before, and recently, her condition had improved to the point where she could take light walks.
Her physical condition, which had not improved no matter what the doctors did, had clearly gotten better.
She looked at her son with loving eyes and said.
“Will you stay with your mother for a while? I'll bake the cookies you like.”
“No. I'm busy today….”
“I see. Alright then.”
“Let's do it later. When you're a little healthier, Mother.”
“Yes. Let's do that.”
Seeing the Baroness' disappointed expression made Patrick feel conflicted.
Other than his Master, this was the first time he had encountered a being that loved and cherished him so blindly.
Could a being pour out such infinite love and trust for the sole reason that he came from her womb?
A mother….
‘This is difficult. Fighting is so much easier.’
For Patrick, this was a very difficult emotion.
He didn't know how to accept this feeling or how to return it.
As a result, whenever she approached, he would create distance and needlessly run away.
“I'll just focus on my own training.”
Apart from treating the Baroness' severed meridians, his own training was also important.
He had to get stronger as quickly as possible.
‘That bastard Brian is dead.’
A person with a goal becomes stronger.
Though it might be a very unfortunate thing for the person who becomes that goal.