Half a month passed quickly after Ziger contracted with Brynhildr and the Dragon Slayer System.
During this half month, Ziger experienced a period of relatively safe life, staying within the *Kriemhild*. Of course, this [safety] was by Ziger's standards. Previously, he had always slept in the open, at most finding some cave to stay in during winter. He could use fire anyway, so he didn't need to worry about freezing, and provisions could be obtained by killing dragons.
The internal environment of the *Kriemhild* was vastly superior to caves and the wilderness. Ziger also finally slept on a bed again after a five-year gap and had the rare experience of a truly peaceful sleep.
However, not everything was uneventful during the half month.
First, regarding the situation with the *Kriemhild*.
Its crash site wasn't far from a town, about five or six kilometers straight-line distance. As a result, some curiosity-driven individuals came to investigate. But this matter was resolved by Brynhildr before Ziger even noticed, likely by activating the [Optical Camouflage] function on the *Kriemhild*?
Ziger didn't understand these complex things, but the result was that those people completely failed to notice the *Kriemhild*'s existence, which was fine.
Secondly, regarding the *Kriemhild*'s damage and repair.
According to Brynhildr, the *Kriemhild* crashed because Alice, its previous contractor, suddenly reached her life's limit during the voyage and accidentally touched the console before dying, leading to the crash. It was a very accidental mishap. Thanks to this, while the *Kriemhild*'s interior was unaffected, its outer hull sustained 30% damage.
Following Ziger's contract with the Dragon Slayer System, one of its many functions, [Hyper-Speed Repair], could now operate at full capacity. Over the past half month, while taking care of Ziger's daily life, Brynhildr had also been repairing the *Kriemhild*.
As for Ziger—
...
[Lord Ziger, good morning.]
"Mmm..."
Internal time of the *Kriemhild*, 8:30 AM.
Inside Ziger's personal room.
Hearing the gentle voice beside his ear, Ziger, who was always a light sleeper, groggily opened his eyes.
[Good morning, Lord Ziger.]
"...Miss Brynhildr..."
Greeting his vision was Brynhildr's goddess-like smile looking down at him. Her silver-white ponytail now hung beside her ear, its end gently brushing his cheek.
Sitting up from the soft, comfortable bed, Ziger rubbed his eyes. "Good morning... thank you for waking me."
Brynhildr would come to wake Ziger at a fixed time every morning. Although Ziger initially said it wasn't necessary since he was a light sleeper anyway, Brynhildr insisted it was one of her duties. Ziger could only let her be.
[You're welcome, Lord Ziger.]
[Breakfast is prepared. Please enjoy it after changing and washing up.]
Brynhildr pushed a food cart over.
[After the meal, I will continue the *Kriemhild* repair work. The repair rate has currently reached 98%. Full repair is expected in 12 system hours. At that time, the *Kriemhild* will regain all its functions.]
[Until then, please conscientiously complete your daily physical training menu and knowledge learning course, Lord Ziger.]
"Gulp~~~~"
Hearing Brynhildr's last sentence, the remnants of morning drowsiness on Ziger's face instantly vanished. He became fully alert immediately, but then a pained expression appeared. "Miss Brynhildr, that... physical training is fine, but the knowledge learning course... isn't that unnecessary?"
Physical training and knowledge learning.
These were things Ziger had been busy with over the past half month. Although dragon slaying wasn't mandatory, and Brynhildr wouldn't urge Ziger to slay dragons—he could live inside the *Kriemhild* his whole life if he wanted—Ziger had a bit of ambition. After discovering the training room inside the *Kriemhild*, he started practicing on his own.
When Brynhildr noticed this, she considerately prepared a very scientific and efficient training menu for Ziger—that part was actually fine.
After all, [20 sets of 1000-meter round-trip sprints every morning], [100 simulated combat training sessions], [3 hours of fixed-target firearms shooting practice], [3 hours of impact resistance training]... though there were many training items, they were all genuinely beneficial. Even though he worked up a sweat every day, Ziger felt it was good.
The problem was... the knowledge learning course. That is, studying.
[Unfortunately, no.]
[For better dragon slaying, Lord Ziger needs not only excellent combat ability but also rich knowledge and wisdom.]
Brynhildr shook her head.
[Lord Ziger possesses relatively sufficient combat power, but in contrast, his knowledge is severely lacking—Please continue trying to fully grasp addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division within two-digit numbers today. Especially the multiplication table. You've been memorizing it for two days and still can't get it all correct.]
[After today's repair work is complete, I will prepare a simple test. Please be prepared.]
"Uh... a-again? More problems?"
Cold sweat broke out on Ziger's forehead.
"Then, at least use a language I can understand... Those curvy, twisty characters are really..."
[Those are the most basic numerical symbols.]
"Gulp..."
Studying.
For Ziger, it was a very difficult task. Although he wasn't completely illiterate—basic literacy was fine—he hadn't learned it through schooling. He simply remembered by rote. To be honest, his education level could be considered... preschool graduation?
Therefore, after realizing Ziger completely didn't recognize the text inside the *Kriemhild*, Brynhildr assigned him studying tasks. Coincidentally, the *Kriemhild* had a library filled with books collected by former contractors from various planets.
[Lord Ziger, I once heard this saying on a certain planet: 'It is never too late to start learning.' Even if your current knowledge level is inferior to that of seven-year-old children on some planets, I believe you can make up for this deficiency through effort.]
"...Is my intelligence that pitiful?"
[Yes.]
The straightforward evaluation made Ziger's chest twitch.
[Then, I will go continue repairing the *Kriemhild* now. Please—Hmm?]
"Huh? Miss Brynhildr?"
Seeing Brynhildr, who was about to leave, freeze in place, Ziger asked curiously.
[Detecting a life form rapidly approaching. Dragon Slayer System analysis result and *Kriemhild* observation imagery.]
Brynhildr waved both hands in the air. A light screen instantly appeared, showing a person moving swiftly, seemingly with traces of lightning? Their height wasn't great though.
Seeing this figure, Ziger, after a moment of surprise, couldn't help but give a bitter smile.
"Tch, this guy found me again?"
[Is this person an acquaintance of Lord Ziger's?]
"Not really, just... a karmic entanglement, that's all." Ziger scratched his head. "Miss Brynhildr, you continue repairing the *Kriemhild*. Training is suspended today. I'll go out and deal with this guy. I'll probably be back by evening."
[Understood. Have a safe trip, Lord Ziger.]