"Kaito, 12 years old, resident of a small village in the Land of Waterfalls. Got lost and ended up in the Land of Iron after encountering a blizzard while out hunting. Is that correct?"
In an office located inside the mountain, a tall woman adjusted her glasses, sizing up the boy standing before her.
He's so cute, she thought. Completely different from those boorish guys. I really want to dress him up in cute clothes.
"Yes, that's right," Kaito said with a nod. "Pretty miss, I don't want to live here for free. Is there any work I can do?"
'Pretty miss'... The woman with the glasses tried hard to suppress the smile threatening to form on her lips, maintaining a serious expression. "You want to work to pay for your stay? It's not out of the question, but it's not necessary. The Land of Iron is vast and sparsely populated. We have plenty of places to live."
"No, it's very necessary for me. My father always taught me to be self-reliant, to create value with my own two hands," Kaito said earnestly.
"...Your father is a respectable man." A look of admiration appeared in the woman's eyes. "Well then, little Kaito, do you have any special skills? Or any fields you're interested in?"
My special skills are currently under development.
He quipped silently to himself before delivering his prepared lines. "After spending a few days at the outpost, I think those samurai are so cool. Is there any work that would let me get close to them?"
"You want a job where you can get close to the samurai?"
Considering Kaito's age, it was normal for him to have such fantasies about them. The woman shook her head, not wanting to shatter his beautiful illusion. "Working alongside them is very tough," she said tactfully. "And you'll get yelled at if you don't do a good job."
"That's okay, I can handle it. Pretty miss, please, do me a favor and help me out."
"Sigh, I really can't say no to you." The woman couldn't resist Kaito's eager eyes. Her heart softened, and she reluctantly agreed to his request. After thinking for a moment, she said, "It's winter now, so there aren't many activities. I remember that only the Kenpu Dojo is still recruiting attendants. you can go and try your luck."
"The Kenpu Dojo?"
"Yes. The samurai of our Land of Iron are all trained in dojos, and the Kenpu Dojo is the most powerful among them. Countless people want to train there, so even the competition for an attendant's position is fierce. You should be prepared for the possibility of not being selected."
"No problem, pretty miss! I'm very strong!" Kaito said confidently.
"Hee hee hee, then I'll wait for your good news. Oh, right, take your temporary identification."
Afterward, the woman called over a young boy about Kaito's age. "Taji, take him to the Kenpu Dojo for an attendant interview, understand?"
"Understood!"
"Good luck, little Kaito!" the woman said, her voice turning sweet as she waved at him.
Taji, who had never seen her act so gently, nearly had his jaw drop to the floor.
"Yes, I will!"
"Oof!"
Splat. Another human-shaped crater appeared in the snow.
The corner of Kaito's mouth twitched as he pulled him out of the snowdrift. This guy, Taji, had a knack for falling in the most unexpected ways, so fast that Kaito didn't even have time to react.
"Ahaha, the snow is a bit slippery. You should be careful," Taji said, trying to hide his embarrassment with a smile, but his frostbitten red cheeks only made him look comical. If it were a girl, it might have a certain moe charm, but on a boy, it was just plain silly.
With great effort, Kaito controlled his facial muscles, pretending not to notice as he turned his head. "Thanks for the concern," he said flatly. "We can walk a bit slower."
They had come out from inside the mountain to the main street outside, heading for the Kenpu Dojo, which was located in the outer part of the city. There were few people on the street, and the doors of the houses on both sides were tightly shut, giving it a desolate look.
After Taji's seventeenth fall, they finally stood before the main gate of the Kenpu Dojo. A crowd of bulky figures in front of the gate highlighted the place's importance.
"See? These are all your competitors. Good luck."
"Thanks."
"You're welc—oof!"
"..."
The Kenpu Dojo existed even before the founding of the Land of Iron. It had been passed down from the Warring States period, cultivating generations of powerful samurai. Every single General of the Land of Iron had once been the master of the Kenpu Dojo. Therefore, any young boy who aspired to become the General saw entering the Kenpu Dojo as their first small goal. Even if they couldn't immediately become a disciple, they would fight for the chance to be an attendant.
Because at the Kenpu Dojo, which bore the great responsibility of training the future leaders of the Land of Iron, even an attendant was considered a preparatory disciple.
Kaito, along with more than twenty other boys, waited in front of the gate from morning until afternoon. Finally, the gates of the Kenpu Dojo opened, and a tall man with a serious face and a goatee walked out.
The man's appearance made Kaito freeze. It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?
The man stood up straight and said in a resonant voice, "I am Mifune, the Shihandai of the Kenpu Dojo, and I am in charge of this attendant recruitment. All of you, follow me."
"Yes, sir!"
It really is Mifune. It was the first time Kaito had seen a character from the original story in person. He couldn't help but stare, an indescribable feeling in his heart. This swordsman, now in the prime of his life, would one day become the General of the Land of Iron, leaving a heavy mark on the scroll of history.
With these thoughts in his mind, Kaito followed the crowd through the gates of the Kenpu Dojo. The dojo wasn't particularly large. There were a few ancient, temple-like buildings, and beyond that was a large, open area covered in white snow.
"Your test is to clear the snow from this open area. After two hours, the four people who have the largest area completely cleared, without a single snowflake remaining, will pass the test and become attendants of the Kenpu Dojo. Now, begin!"
After speaking, Mifune closed his eyes and said no more, leaving the crowd to look at each other in confusion.
"It's still snowing. How are we supposed to clear it completely?"
"And what about tools? How are we supposed to clear it without any tools? You don't expect us to use our bare hands, do you?"
"Yeah!"
A chorus of agreement rose from the crowd.
Mifune paid them no heed, not even twitching an eyelid.
Hiding in a corner, Kaito snapped back to reality and began to analyze the situation silently. Is this purely a test of strength? Unlikely. What's the most important quality for a samurai? ...Forget it, why bother with that? It's not like I want to be a samurai anyway. A swordsman was more his style.
As he was thinking, many of the boys had already resigned themselves to their fate and had begun to use their hands as shovels, scooping up the snow and tossing it aside.
Seeing this, Kaito shook his head. He looked over at a few boys who were trying to go inside one of the buildings. They pushed open the door, only to be thrown out less than a minute later.
So borrowing tools is out of the question. I guess I'll have to rely on myself. Kaito walked over to a set of steps, took off his outer coat, and tucked one side of it down against the vertical face of the steps until it touched the ground. Then, he grabbed the two bottom corners of the coat and pulled it forward with all his might, quickly clearing a patch of ground. He then spread the coat out on the cleared area.
Looking at the high piles of snow around him, Kaito's hands started to itch.
Estimating that the time was about up, Mifune opened his eyes.
To get a completely clear area while it's still snowing, you have to keep clearing it non-stop. The purpose of this test is to see if they can continue to perform such a tedious action. In other words, it's a test of perseverance.
His gaze swept over the open area, taking in the entire scene.
Huh?
An expression of surprise appeared on his face. At some point, a huge snowman had been erected in the clearing. Its body was made of five snowballs stacked on top of each other, and it was nearly as tall as the roof of the dojo.
Frowning, he walked over to the snowman. He saw the corner of a piece of clothing sticking out from the ground and roughly understood what had happened.
"Why did you build a snowman?"
"Well, I was bored anyway."
"You did this by yourself?"
"Mm-hmm."
"...You pass."
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