The Deputy's Humiliation
Hans left the inn like a zombie, wandering the streets. "I'm going crazy... I'm really going crazy..." Why on earth had Karen suddenly suggested a threesome? "I should head to the security office and ask around." Karen would be off duty by now, so he decided to quietly question her deputy, Leo. Men understood other men, after all.
At the security office training grounds, Leo was running his men ragged. "Look at that form! Your minds are rotten! Faster!" He was clearly taking out his frustrations on them. The root of his anger lay in something he'd overheard that morning—Karen muttering to herself as she finished her shift. 'I need to go see him.' There was no need to ask who 'he' was. The outsider. Hans. Ever since that man had set foot in town, the chief's attention had been entirely fixed on him.
"Damn it... damn it all!" Just then, Hans appeared hesitantly at the entrance to the training grounds. Leo's eyebrows twitched. Speak of the devil. Gripping his wooden sword tighter, he approached. "Outsider. This area is off-limits to anyone but authorized personnel."
"Ah, Deputy. I had something I wanted to ask you." Despite Leo's menacing expression, Hans gathered his courage. "Um... does the chief happen to have any interest in nighttime training?"
Leo felt something snap inside his head. 'How the hell does this bastard know about that?' Had the chief asked someone else besides him? Of course she had—she must have gone to this man too, asking about 'mental discipline.' Maybe... was this guy also after the chief? No—had she already gone to him for 'mental training'? Jealousy flared hot in his chest. How dare this stray pebble covet the noble chief, something Leo himself had only dared to imagine?
Leo clenched his teeth. But if he lost his temper here, his own lies might be exposed. "Ahem." He forced his expression under control. "The chief must have... heard some nonsense about a man's mental discipline somewhere." He couldn't bring himself to say the word 'masturbation,' so he gave a subtle signal with his eyes. "Men... alone at night... you know what I mean?"
Hans finally understood. Ah! So 'mental discipline' really did mean masturbation. Someone had lied to the chief, and the innocent woman had mistaken it for actual training. That was why she'd come to him asking to do it together. "Ah... hahaha..." Hans let out a hollow laugh. All the misunderstandings had been cleared up. At the same time, he realized just how ridiculously dense Karen was. 'Cute, our security chief.'
But to Leo, that relieved laugh looked like mockery. 'This bastard... is he laughing at me?' Blood rushed to Leo's eyes. It was time to teach this outsider some manners. He might act like a docile lamb in front of the chief, but in truth he was just an arrogant stray who didn't know his place.
"Outsider." Leo tapped Hans's shoulder with the wooden sword. "Since you're here, how about loosening up a bit? Show us what you've got." "Huh? I'm an archer, you know? I'm terrible at close combat..." Hans waved his hands. "It's just a wooden sword. Don't tell me you're scared? And you graduated from the Academy, too." Leo smirked. "The rumors say Valhalla graduates can beat orcs with nothing but a broom. Was that just talk?"
It was an obvious provocation. The security officers watching from the sidelines snickered. Hans's expression shifted strangely. He had no pride in being an Academy graduate, but he did carry the inferiority complex of having been dead last. Now this backwater deputy was mocking the Academy, and something stubborn stirred in him. 'Even if I was the lowest-ranked student...'
Comparing the local amateur soccer club to a Premier League bench player—who would win? Hans sighed and nodded. "Fine. I'll take a lesson." "Huhu. Good. Hey, someone bring a wooden sword!"
At the center of the training grounds, Leo and Hans faced each other. The officers formed a circle to watch. "Crush him, Deputy!" "Flatten that outsider's nose!" The cheers were entirely one-sided. Leo spun his wooden sword lightly, feigning ease. "Don't take it too hard. I'm just teaching you what real combat is like." "Yes, yes. Please go easy on me." Hans held his sword awkwardly, his stance sloppy.
Leo rejoiced inwardly. 'Full of openings. He's no better than a beginner.' "Begin!" At the signal from the officiating officer, Leo kicked off the ground and lunged. "Hah!" His wooden sword shot toward Hans's shoulder. Fast. It was a strike swift enough to draw admiration from the watching officers.
But to Hans, the world seemed to move in slow motion. 'Huh?' Leo's charge looked like it was happening in slow motion. The placement of his feet, the movement of his shoulder muscles, the trajectory of the sword—everything was crystal clear. 'Why is he so slow?' During his Academy days, the sword strikes of his peers had been too fast to follow with his eyes. He'd bled and rolled for three years just to adapt to those monsters' speed. Hans didn't realize his own eyes had been calibrated to that level.
Whoosh. Hans tilted his head lightly. The wooden sword grazed past his ear and sliced through empty air. "What?!" Leo's eyes widened. It should have landed. Hans took half a step back after dodging. Leo attacked again—horizontal slash, thrust, upward strike. The barrage continued, but Hans slipped away by a hair's breadth each time, moving as if dancing, without effort.
"Y-you bastard! Stop dodging and attack!" Leo growled. He was swinging with everything he had, yet his opponent was strolling around with his hands behind his back. The officers' laughter died down, replaced by murmurs. "Did you see that? How did he dodge?" "The deputy's attacks aren't landing?" Hans scratched his head. "Ah, attacking? Sorry. You're moving too fast for me to time it right."
Leo saw it as blatant mockery. "Die!!" Losing all reason, Leo raised his sword high overhead for a powerful downward strike—the strongest technique, but also the one with the biggest opening. Hans's eyes gleamed. 'Now.' The voice of his Academy instructor echoed in his mind. [Stick to the basics. You don't need flashy techniques. The fastest, most accurate strike at the shortest distance.]
Hans stepped forward with his right foot and thrust. It was the First Form, Basic Thrust—the very first technique taught in the first-year swordsmanship class at the Imperial Valhalla Academy. Crack! A sharp tearing sound split the air. Leo's vision blurred as Hans vanished from in front of him. No—he hadn't vanished. He had closed the distance in an instant and slipped inside Leo's guard.
"Guh...?" Before Leo could bring his sword down, the cold tip of a wooden sword stopped right in front of his Adam's apple. A little deeper and it would have crushed his throat. "......" Silence. Not even the wind could be heard in the training grounds. Leo couldn't breathe. A bead of cold sweat rolled down his temple. Hans withdrew his sword with a blank expression. "Is that enough?" He'd asked out of genuine curiosity, but the words only deepened Leo's humiliation.
Thud. Leo's legs gave out and he collapsed. The wooden sword slipped from his hand and rolled away. "This... can't be..." He had lost. And overwhelmingly so. In that moment, the second-in-command of this rural outpost felt the wall of the Empire's greatest elite institution.
Hans looked down at Leo and tilted his head. 'What? Why's he like that? Did I go too hard?' Completely unaware of what he had just accomplished, the oblivious prodigy simply stood there looking bewildered.
Karen stripped the moment she entered her house. After stopping by Hans's inn right after her shift, fatigue weighed twice as heavily on her shoulders. It was finally time for bed, but first she needed to wash off the sweat and dust clinging to her skin. She removed even her underwear, standing naked. Her steps toward the bathroom halted abruptly. Her gaze drifted to her lower abdomen, to that secret place.
Until yesterday, when she'd glimpsed Hans's 'mental discipline,' she had never paid it any attention. It was merely an organ for expelling urine, and occasionally one that caused pointless cramps and bleeding—nothing more, nothing less. But now it was different. Curiosity rose like a gathering cloud. What did it look like? Karen sat on the edge of the bed and spread her legs. She tried to look down, but the angle was awkward and she couldn't see properly. After a moment's hesitation, she fetched a hand mirror from her vanity.
With one hand gently parting the petals, she held the mirror with the other and peered inside. Reflected in the glass was a thin, delicate membrane nestled shyly within. Karen didn't know what it was or what meaning it held. She simply regarded it as part of her body and shifted her gaze slightly upward. There, a small protrusion like a bean had emerged cutely. 'Men have something so enormous sticking out, yet women only have this tiny bean?'
Curiosity getting the better of her, Karen spread the flesh with her fingers so the shape would be clearer. Between the plump folds, that small nub stood out vividly. 'So it's with this part...?' Unable to resist, she lightly touched it with her fingertip. "Hnn...!" A strange thrill shot through her entire body. The unfamiliar, tingling sensation racing up her spine drew an involuntary moan from her lips. Women must train using this spot. Convinced, Karen carefully rubbed it once more. Each stroke sent an odd feeling spreading through her limbs. Thanks to Hans, Karen was experiencing something similar to masturbation for the first time in her life.
After rubbing a few more times, she came to her senses. Doing it so recklessly couldn't be the proper training method. She stood up and set the mirror down. Until she knew the correct technique, she resolved not to touch it carelessly, then headed for the bathroom.