Training (2)

At this hour when the sky had been dyed in darkness, I flopped down onto the bed.

"Nothing's working out these days."

I was a Saintess, yet I couldn't use any priest skills. I couldn't even reinforce my body with holy power.

All I could do was fire off big, beautiful beam bombardments.

...Was I even really a Saintess?

"This is seriously too much."

In truth, looking at my current situation, I had no real need to complain like this.

There were still five years left until the tutorial chapter of the Grand Fantasy DLC version. In terms of time alone, five years was more than enough to grow strong.

That is, if nothing happened during those five years.

And unfortunately, one major incident was scheduled to erupt within those five years.

"In the tutorial chapter, the Pope definitely said this: if the Holy See and the Imperial Capital hadn't been ambushed at the same time and suffered such heavy damage, humanity would have had a little more breathing room."

Right now the Holy See looked far too intact and magnificent to have already been ambushed.

So the ambush had to be coming sometime within the next five years.

And if that ambush did happen, who would be the number-one target?

"Obviously me."

Of course, they wouldn't leave a Saintess without any escorts. But what if, just in case, I ended up without one?

My safety was something I had to take care of myself.

Naturally, if I could prevent the ambush beforehand, I wouldn't need to worry about any of this.

If Grand Fantasy had explained the incident in more detail, it might have been possible.

But in the game, the only explanation was that they had been ambushed and suffered heavy damage.

It never said when or how the ambush took place.

"I get it. I understand."

Yeah, they probably decided there was no need to spell out a setting that barely affected the main story.

Even so, now that I was stuck in this situation, I couldn't help resenting the developers of Grand Fantasy for making that choice.

Anyway. As things stood, I had no answers. I needed to escape this glass-cannon existence, yet I was already cornered with no way out.

At this point I really wanted to ask the Goddess herself.

"Why have You always given previous Saintesses the Grace of Protection or the Grace of Healing, yet only me the Grace of Bombardment? And why, on top of that, did You make it so I can't use priest techniques or reinforce my body?"

As I spoke, emotion surged up and overflowed.

I didn't know why.

Maybe it was the excessive stress of being dropped alone into a strange land. Maybe it was because nothing was going the way I wanted.

Maybe it was the pressure of having to face the true ending of a DLC version I knew nothing about.

Anyway.

In the end, it all burst out.

"This is just too much no matter how you look at it! Is there even a reason for this?! Please, just tell me something! Please!!!!!"

The last part came out almost as a sob.

There was no answer.

I let out a hollow laugh. What the hell was I even doing?

I didn't even know for sure whether the Goddess was listening to my prayers, and here I was wasting energy for nothing.

Not a single one of my prayers had ever been answered before. And yet I was still hoping?

At this level, stupidity itself could be called an art form.

"...Just go to sleep."

"...I could die of embarrassment."

What the hell had I been doing yesterday? My face burned. I hadn't even been drinking, yet I'd made such a pathetic spectacle of myself. Thank goodness no one had seen it. If anyone had? Instant black history, locked in forever.

Pull yourself together. I had to steel my heart. I had no idea how many more hardships were waiting for me; I couldn't collapse here already.

"I really have been under a lot of stress."

From now on I needed to think about ways to blow off steam. Lately it felt like I'd been running nonstop without rest.

People needed proper rest, after all.

Thinking about the future like that, I arrived at the training grounds to find Andreus already waiting for me.

"Then first, let's loosen up the body a little."

And so we began a light warm-up.

...Huh?

My body felt strange.

How to put it—lighter than usual? Like I could do more than before?

I tilted my head, then put a bit more force into my legs and kicked off the ground. The wind rushed past me harder than normal. Something felt off, so I glanced left and right.

Huh? Huhhh? Huhhhhh?!

I had only pushed off the ground once, yet I shot forward in an instant. How many meters had I covered in a single bound? It definitely wasn't a short distance.

I could say with absolute certainty that yesterday's physical abilities could never have carried me forward this fast.

Even I was dumbfounded by what I had just done. Wondering if this was real, I pinched my cheek. It hurt, so at least it wasn't a dream.

"Saintess. Just now, that was—"

"...Andreus."

Even with only that single word, Andreus seemed to understand exactly what I wanted to say and immediately began testing my physical abilities.

The conclusion came quickly.

My physical abilities had skyrocketed. The reason was obvious.

"...Status window."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

She actually heard me?! For real?!!

"Is this the Goddess's blessing? ...Saintess?"

"W-Wait, please don't talk to me right now."

I curled up and covered my face with both hands. Why? Because I felt like I was going to die of shame.

More than any gratitude toward the Goddess who had answered my prayer, the sheer humiliation of knowing someone had witnessed my pathetic display was overwhelming.

I-I'm going to die of embarrassment!!!

Somehow I managed to suppress the shame.

No. If I hadn't prayed so pathetically, the Goddess might not have answered again, right? In that case I had actually made the right choice!

...If I didn't at least claim that kind of mental victory, the embarrassment would come flooding back.

"Alright! Then I don't need to learn body reinforcement anymore, do I?"

I said it loudly, trying to hide my embarrassment, but Andreus immediately shot me down. Politely, of course.

"It is true that body reinforcement has become far less critical than it was yesterday. Even so, if you ask whether there is no need to learn it at all, my answer is no. Should you succeed in reinforcing your current physical abilities with holy power, you will lag behind no one—at least in terms of pure physical capability."

"So don't give up completely, but push it down the priority list. Is that what you're saying?"

"Correct. As a Saintess who has received the Goddess's blessing, you will surely succeed someday."

The eyes with which Andreus spoke those words were filled with absolute faith that I would pull it off. So much so that it felt burdensome just looking at him.

So this is what it feels like when someone else believes in you, I thought.

Still, it wasn't a bad feeling.

"Then what do you plan to teach me now?"

"Hmm. I see. I never expected things to turn out this way, but given the situation, it seems we will need to adjust the curriculum a little."

...Why was it? The moment I heard Andreus's words, goosebumps raced across my skin. Was this what prey felt standing before a predator?

Instinct screamed at me. Run, even now. It's not too late.

But as I had said again and again, I had no other options. If I wanted to escape this glass-cannon existence, I desperately needed Andreus's help.

So I did not run.

"Saintess, would you care to spar with me first?"

And I immediately regretted it.

"...Excuse me?"

"If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it were up to me, I would have you use the full power of your Grace as well. But if you did, the training grounds might be destroyed again. Regrettably, it seems we must impose the restriction of pure close combat for this spar. Once your personal training grounds are complete, we can hold a spar that includes the Grace's power there."

Red alerts blared in my brain. I had to stop this somehow. I was going to die. I wasn't joking—I meant it for real!

"Uh, um. So you're saying you and I are going to spar? Won't I die?"

"Do not worry. This Andreus is quite confident in his healing abilities as well!"

He said it with a bright, carefree laugh. I stared at him in silence for a moment, then closed my eyes.

Everything before me was pitch black. Yeah. This was my future.