Training

Ingrid panted, running through another set of drills and exercises. She had already done so three times already, and she felt exhausted but she knew this was for the best. If she wanted to be one of the greatest knights Fodlan had ever seen, she needed to train harder than anyone else, which is why she found herself training even though their **** driver of a professor opted to give them a free day for once. She was definitely feeling accomplished. It was still relatively early in the day, likely just past noon, and she had already trained more than some of her fellow students did in a week. Or in a month, Ingrid thought, a certain pink haired noble coming to mind.

Ingrid still couldn't believe that lazy golden deer had the audacity to imply she trained too much and that maybe she would be "a little less uptight" if she trained less. What would she know? Ingrid thought in a huff. She doesn't even train! She was sure to report to Professor Hannemon about his student's lackadaisical behavior, even going so far as to suggest making Hilda run through the training regimen a few times extra to make up for her not training at all. He said he would consider it... which Ingrid was pretty sure was a polite way of saying no. Ingrid sighed, using her sleeve to wipe away her sweat. It didn't help much. Her uniform was already coated through with her sweat. "I guess now is a good enough time as any to call it a day," she told herself. She dutifully returned her equipment where it belonged. Then, she filled her canteen with some water from water bucket the Church provided for the trainees. It was a recent development, only having been there about a week now, but Ingrid appreciated it. She took it as a sign that the Church recognized the effort she and the other students were putting in, and it saved her a trip to fill her canteen before training, too. She drained and filled her canteen twice before leaving the training grounds, seeing a few other students milling about, smiling at some of them in passing on her way to her room. She planned to bathe and then hit the dining hall. Both things sounded wonderful at the moment. And, after all that training, she felt she earned a nice, big meal.

In the past, she would have just ate at the dining hall and then bathed, but she found herself thinking it wasn't worth the hassle anymore. Could anyone blame her, though? You work up an appetite training diligently, go to the dining hall for a relaxing and delicious meal, and then you're beset by Lorenz, or Ferdinand, or Hilda (or any combination of the three) about how unbecoming of a noble or a lady your behavior is, simply for trying to eat before bathing. And no matter how much you tell them you don't want to hear it, they'll lecture your ear off the entire time you're there. No, she would save herself the hassle. She made her way to her room, grabbed a change of clothes and headed off to the bath house, thoughts of what kind of meat the kitchen has prepared today filling her head, a happy grin and a little drool on her face. She was too distracted to notice the pink-haired noble who watched her retreating form with her own, much more mischievous, smile.