Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Swordsmanship Training
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A day passed, and morning arrived.
The leisure time before breakfast with Rafne.
The time for the training session I'd promised with Siegfried had come.
"You're here."
I arrived at the spot with a tense heart on the first day, and Siegfried was already there waiting.
The location was an open clearing on the outskirts of the academy.
It was surrounded by forest on all sides.
"First off, let me say this upfront: I can't teach you any special techniques."
"Yes! I know!"
Before we began training, Siegfried gave me that heads-up.
Of course, I wasn't expecting any.
Siegfried didn't have any secret manuals to begin with, and I didn't have the talent to learn them from him anyway.
All I wanted were two things.
Swordsmanship practice and dieting.
Move around a ton and shed some fat.
That's all it took for my stats to go up!
"S-So, what should we start with on the first day?"
There was a slight thrill of anticipation.
In the game, Siegfried's training sessions weren't described in detail.
But to reach the point of making it into the third-year rankings through sheer effort alone...
My heart raced at the thought of learning his training methods.
Swinging a wooden sword?
Or basic stamina drills?
Maybe blindfolded sparring.
All sorts of classic training methods flashed through my mind.
"Catch."
Without warning, Siegfried tossed a wooden sword my way.
"Whoa!"
I fumbled to catch it in panic.
So it was the classic thousand swings with the wooden sword, after all?
Brimming with excitement, I awaited Siegfried's next instruction.
And Siegfried slowly loosened up his body before speaking.
"Alright, I'm going to count to ten now."
Hmm, okay. Counting to ten...
"...Huh? What does that...?"
I couldn't grasp his intent, so I asked again.
In response, Siegfried—with sharp eyes—raised his wooden sword and pointed it at me.
"Run."
"......Pardon?"
His eyes were dead serious.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'This crazy, crazy, crazy...!!'
Siegfried's training method could be summed up in one word.
Brutal.
"Your legs are too slow! If you don't escape, you'll die!"
"Huff, e-even if, huff, you say that...!"
Already dozens of minutes into fleeing through the forest.
Running along the bumpy dirt path, my thighs felt like they were going to burst, and my breathing grew labored.
I ran for my life, gasping ragged breaths.
"...Got you."
"Gah!"
Bam!
A heavy thud of pain hit my back, and I was sent flying, rolling across the dirt ground.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [System: Proficiency of the Physical Resistance skill has increased.] "Counting to ten again."
If Siegfried caught me, I'd get a solid whack from his wooden sword.
Then he'd count to ten again, giving me time to run.
There was only one way to end the training.
Either I collapsed from exhaustion, or I landed a hit on Siegfried.
'Ah, you devil...!!'
I listened to the numbers spilling from the demon instructor's mouth and bolted at full speed again.
Thinking about it, it wasn't a bad training method.
Running like this was cardio.
Escaping Siegfried honed evasion skills.
And finally, landing an attack on him would be a lesson in itself.
But.
"...Footprints stop here."
'...Eek!!'
I clamped my mouth shut behind the bushes where I'd hidden.
His piercing gaze scanned the surroundings, like lasers shooting from his eyes.
'Is this a horror game?!'
It was effective training, sure, but way too scary.
A wooden-sword-wielding man seriously chasing me down to clobber me.
And one little piggy cowering silently in the forest shadows to evade the creep.
Classic horror movie trope, right?
"...Found you."
"Kyaaah!!"
Don't appear from above like that!
You gonna take responsibility if I die of a heart attack?!
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the end, the training wrapped up when I collapsed.
"Huff... I'm... gonna die..."
"Good work. Drink this."
Unlike me, sprawled on the ground gasping for air, Siegfried hadn't broken a sweat.
Even after chasing me that hard.
Incredible.
"Gulp... gulp..."
As I drank the water Siegfried handed me, I eyed the status window that popped up.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [System: Acquired 'Hide Presence LV 1' through repeated stealth actions.] At least the rewards for my hard work were solid.
'I was running my ass off, and I get a stealth skill...'
Probably because I hid from that ghost-like Siegfried so many times—it counted as extra credit.
The skill itself wasn't bad.
Perfect for ducking out in a pinch or sneaking past dangerous foes.
'Physical Resistance went up to 3 too.'
Even if Siegfried went easy on me, those wooden sword swings hurt like hell.
Thanks to that, proficiency shot up fast, hitting the max I could grind through training.
Today's gains were excellent.
Asking Siegfried to train me was the right call.
"Your stamina's lacking for now. We'll build it up gradually. ...That's it for today."
"...That's it for today? So, tomorrow...?"
"Obviously, once the pursuit training's done, we'll do swordsmanship drills separately."
"...Ha, haha."
No, maybe I picked the wrong teacher...
Isn't this a bit too Spartan?
I started worrying about tomorrow's hell...
"Zeke! You done?"
As I leaned against a tree to rest my weary body, a woman called out to Siegfried from afar.
A cute girl with pink hair fluttering in the breeze.
Elis Grandbel.
She'd probably come to fetch Siegfried for breakfast together. Spotting me as she approached,
"Oh!"
She flashed a bright smile and came over.
"You must be Ken! You look way puffier than I heard! Ahaha!"
Puffier...? Wait, who told her what?
"Ken, this is my old friend Elis Grandbel. Same year as me, third-year."
"Like a big sis to this tall, dumb, worthless kid!"
"...Basically like a little sister."
Siegfried calmly introduced her, unfazed by Elis's barrage of insults.
Truth be told, I already knew all about her even without the intro.
'One of the few couples fans rooted for in the game.'
Siegfried was super popular as a male route character, but surprisingly few players paired him with Emily.
The reason? Elis here.
As his childhood friend, Elis turns into a route-exclusive antagonist if you go for the Emily-Siegfried romance.
And in their ending, she puts on a heartbreakingly pitiful show before sadly exiting stage left.
'It even made me—the one romancing Zeke—feel guilty...'
Most players couldn't bear to see it, so tons rooted for this pair instead.
Thus, they became the game's unofficial couple celebs.
"Did Zeke train you well?"
Elis leaned down toward me as I sat in the tree's shade, asking with her trademark playful smile. It was charming.
"Y-Yeah! Super effective, I think!"
"Ahaha! Liar! As if this blockhead could teach anyone~"
Elis badmouthed him right to his face without a care.
And Siegfried, apparently used to it, just took the backhand to his head and her laughter in stride.
"Alright, training's over—let's grab food before it gets cold!"
"Mm. Right. ...Ken, wanna join us?"
"W-Wait, together?"
Elis, who'd been tugging Siegfried's arm to head back, stammered in surprise at his words.
Her tomboyish grin was gone; now she anxiously glanced between me and Siegfried.
Obviously, she didn't want some third wheel crashing their alone time.
I was once a fan who shipped this couple hard.
No way I'd ruin their sweet moments.
"I've got plans first. Next time for sure."
At my polite refusal, Elis's face lit up again.
"Y-Yeah! Inviting someone to eat out of nowhere—Zeke, you're so thoughtless!"
"Hm? Is that so? My bad."
"Totally! W-We'd better get going! See ya later!"
Dragging Siegfried along urgently, she waved goodbye to me as they left.
I waved back, cheering them on in my heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After the first training session, I headed to the dorms for a wash-up, then to Rafne's tower.
"K-Ken... You look more worn out than usual... Did you sleep okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Don't worry, I'm fine..."
Today I learned something new.
After intense exercise, your appetite tanks.
Rafne had laid out her usual feast, but it just wouldn't go down easy.
Sensing something off about me today, Rafne didn't despair when I ate less.
She just watched with worried eyes.
'Speaking of which, I should try prototyping the Goddess's Pendant soon...'
The tragic girl carefully eyeing me while nibbling bread.
I needed to craft the item to lift Rafne's curse.
Lately, making gear for Mary and Siegfried had bumped up my Item Creation proficiency a bit.
This level should be good enough to attempt a prototype.
'The issue's the materials...'
Goddess's Pendant materials.
As a late-game item, gathering them is tough.
I even asked Rafne, but even the Martinez Family couldn't source them easily.
What I needed most right now: two things.
[Pure Mana Crystal] and [Goddess's Token].
'One I can guess where to get...'
The Pure Mana Crystal should drop from an upcoming event.
The problem's the Goddess's Token.
No clue how to snag that one.
It's a treasure passed down in the Lillias Kingdom's royal family to begin with.
In the game scenario, Emily earns it as a reward after the war for her merits.
'Can't just barge into the palace and ask for it...'
I wanted to save Rafne ASAP if possible.
She was pitiful trapped in that tower, and visiting daily forever wasn't sustainable.
And Rafne surely wanted out too.
"Hm? What's wrong...?"
"Rafne, doesn't the tower get too stuffy?"
"No! As long as I have Ken, it's fine... Heehee."
She says that, but it must be tough.
Otherwise, she wouldn't tear up every time I visited.
'Maybe find some substitute...'
Lately, I'd spent more time pondering these materials.
But no obvious alternatives came to mind.
I'd hit a wall on all fronts.
But then.
'......Huh?'
An unexpected event solved that dilemma easily.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho."
"One, two, one, two."
It started while walking the academy main building's hallway.
'What the heck are these guys...?'
Sudden men appeared and kidnapped me.
"Mmph...! Mmmph!"
They swiftly bound my limbs, gagged me,
and hoisted me up like cargo for delivery somewhere.
"Huh, ...Ken? ...Ken!"
Mary spotted me being rocket-shipped away.
My hero, witnessing the kidnapping, instantly went into attack mode.
She charged the men with fierce eyes.
But
"What are you even—! Eh?"
One whispered something, and she halted her assault immediately.
'What'd he say...?'
No idea.
Mary just stared blankly at me getting abducted.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Phew~!"
The men opened a room door and set me down, finally removing the gag.
We'd arrived at what looked like a reception room.
I was plopped on the sofa at its center.
"You're Ken Fine Stein?"
A woman sat confidently before me, legs crossed, sipping black tea.
"I have a weapon to entrust to you."
She was the student council president of Dredis Academy.
Annet Nel Arnold.