The Fruits of Labor

More than a month had passed since I'd made my new resolution.

Nothing particularly special had happened in that time. I went through my rehab exercises like anyone else, drilled my bombardment, and once I'd emptied my shots for the day, I practiced imaginary bombardment on top of that. To keep up the Saintess image, I occasionally slipped into the prayer room whenever people were around and offered a prayer or two. I also wrote down every critical piece of information I could remember from Grand Fantasy and drilled it into my head over and over again.

And, unable to endure the Fairy of Bombardment's relentless nagging, I even went through the motions of finding a hobby. Honestly, she was worse than my own mother when it came to lecturing.

For now, I was thinking of learning an instrument. Not for any profound reason. Back in the military, I'd watched the chaplain play, and somewhere along the way I'd picked up the prejudice that a person of the cloth ought to know how to handle an instrument. And a Saintess who could play? That just had a certain presence to it. Who knew — maybe learning an instrument would even help keep party members' morale up once we reached the Demon Realm.

The leading candidate was the guitar. I'd dabbled in it briefly in the past, and it was portable, so it passed the test. Surely this world had guitars. And even if it didn't, there had to be something that looked close enough.

At any rate, I spent a surprisingly busy month, and at last the day arrived when my body had fully recovered.

The Holy Knights I'd outsourced the job to had returned.

"Thank you for your hard work. I will never forget your devotion, not until the day I die."

As I offered those words of praise for their labor, a few of the Holy Knights who had returned from the operation even shed tears. I took each of their hands in turn, never stopping as I told them how grateful I was.

It wasn't empty courtesy. I was genuinely, deeply thankful to them. If I'd tried to obtain those items alone, it could easily have taken a year. They'd gotten them for me in a single month — and I hadn't suffered for it at all. The moment I failed to offer even a word of thanks, I would have become the lowest kind of scum.

Once every Holy Knight had been dismissed from the hall, only Andreus remained.

"How is your body?"

"Fully healed. I could start training right away without any trouble. Still, you must be tired yourself today, Andreus. What do you say we begin tomorrow?"

"I am fine. If anything, I feel as though my body has not quite worked itself loose yet."

I'd figured as much. I'd been planning to start training today myself. So if Andreus insisted he was fine, I was more than willing to accept the offer.

"Very well. But would it be all right if we held off on the training just a little longer? I'd like to check the condition of what the Holy Knights brought back, use them immediately, and then train while verifying the effects at the same time."

"Understood. Then I shall go prepare in advance."

With that, Andreus headed off somewhere, and I carried the crate of items into my room. I opened it at once and checked the contents.

"Hermit Master's Leather Gloves, Lost Saint's Necklace, Hunter's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Artificial Eye… everything's here?"

Every item I'd asked for had been obtained, it seemed. I'd fretted a little that some of them might have vanished in the DLC version, but that worry had been for nothing. Good.

Time to equip them, then.

Without hesitation, I put on every item I could wear right away — and the status window responded at once.

I went straight to the mirror and looked myself over from head to toe with the items equipped.

"So that's what 'integrated' means."

Once everything was on, each item's design had been completely reformed to match the Holy Shroud — as if they'd been part of it from the very beginning.

"Nice. I like this."

Honestly, I'd been a little worried that stacking every item at once would turn me into a walking fashion disaster. Looking at myself in the mirror now, though, I didn't feel the slightest sense of dissonance.

"Well? Not bad, right?"

"Yeah, I think so too."

Hate to admit it or not, Maria's looks wore the Holy Shroud cleanly. Hell, with a face like this, she'd probably pull off just about anything. Not that I felt any particular thrill about it. It wasn't as if I could seduce a demon with good looks. Appearance only needed to be good enough to project the image of a sacred Saintess.

"That just leaves the consumable items."

I knew exactly what she meant. That peach radiating rainbow light. Anyone looking at it would assume a single bite meant death by food poisoning.

"Of course I'm eating it. Do you know how many people I put through hell to get this thing?"

Right. I had to eat it. …But damn, it really did look unappetizing.

After a brief hesitation, I picked up the rainbow peach. Who knew? Maybe it tasted incredible despite how it looked.

I took a bite.

An indescribable flavor flooded my mouth. If I had to put it into words: mint-chocolate ice cream dumped into a can of McCol barley soda, then slathered thick across a Hawaiian pizza, and then eaten in one go. The second it hit my tongue, I wanted to throw up on the spot.

But I swallowed. And took another bite.

I had to get stronger. And I was going to spit this out because I couldn't handle a single piece of fruit? Was the resolve I'd sworn a month ago really that cheap?

Don't make me laugh!!!!

Tears even pricked at the corners of my eyes, but in the end I finished the whole thing. The status window responded immediately.

Last of all, I only needed to drink the potion sealed in that elegant little bottle. Without hesitation, I tipped it straight into my mouth. My body convulsed for a moment, but somehow I managed to get it down.

I looked at the status window and smiled in satisfaction.

Then I went straight to the bathroom and threw up everything I'd just swallowed.

"Bleeeghhhhh…"

Say something. Anything. That reaction just makes it hurt more.

For the record, the Goddess's Tears tasted like mop water.

Why…?

Anyway. Having made such dramatic progress, it was time to put my growth to the test. Without hesitation, I started walking toward the training grounds.

This was a first. I never thought I'd look forward to a sparring match with Andreus this much. I'd obtained a full eight items. I could say with confidence that I'd grown by leaps and bounds.

"It's a little disappointing I didn't get anything directly related to bombardment, but that couldn't be helped."

A character who used a weapon that belonged in science fiction simply didn't exist in Grand Fantasy. So of course there were no items to support it either.

"Caring about my main skill is only natural."

I fired back at the cheeky fairy without giving an inch, and as I stepped into the training grounds, Andreus was waiting for me — a massive staff set beside him, unlike his usual setup.

"…You have changed."

I nodded in reply.

"Have I? When I looked at myself in the mirror, it felt like nothing had really changed, and yet the whole image was completely different somehow."

My voice was pitched a little higher than usual. Yes — I was a touch excited right now. And that excitement didn't seem likely to settle anytime soon. Everything had gone exactly according to plan. Honestly, if I did five aerial cartwheels right this second, wouldn't that be justified?

Hearing my answer, Andreus shook his head.

"That as well — but what I meant was that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the aura flowing from you, Saintess, has become distinctly different."

That was interesting. It sounded like something out of a martial arts novel.

"You can sense that sort of thing?"

"Once one reaches a certain level, it seems everyone comes to feel it naturally."

Of course. A setting befitting a fantasy world where superhumans existed. I nodded and decided to press a little further on something I was curious about.

"How strong do you usually have to become before you can sense it?"

"As far as I know, every knight-commander of the Empire is capable of it."

In other words, you had to rank among humanity's strongest. Which also meant that, as I was now, it was completely out of reach. How many more battlefields would I have to crawl through before I hit that level? Could I even get there before the tutorial started?

"At any rate, I would like to begin soon. As it has been some time since your last training, I thought we might take it lightly today — more of a warm-up."

I'd expected him to say that. Common sense said you didn't put a patient who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't even move through a full workout from the jump.

"No."

And I had no intention whatsoever of moving according to common sense.