You Called Me an Agent! (2)
The grueling training repeated itself every single day. It started with physical conditioning and went all the way to imperial martial arts—stuff I'd never even dreamed of trying in my life. And it wasn't beginner-level either. The trainees here had already shaken off their newbie labels back at the academy. As someone who'd started way behind, I was just scrambling to keep up with the imitation.
"I'm dyiiing......"
Lunchtime finally rolled around, and I shuffled to the counter in a total daze to grab my tray. Soft bread slathered with butter and a smooth, creamy soup. As expected from a place packed with elites, the food was damn good.
"Yufir, over here!"
Bina, already seated, waved me over. I trudged across the room and plopped down opposite her. Then I buried my face in the tray and wolfed it down like a starving animal. After all that hell, my stomach was screaming.
"Pfft, slow down."
"I... can't handle being hungry. Never could."
My gut was practically kissing my spine—no time for pride or manners. Eat now, live later, right?
"Where you from, Yufir?"
I crammed another hunk of bread into my mouth and jerked a thumb south.
"Melima."
"Ooh, the south. Pretty big city too."
"Worked at City Hall there."
"City Hall? Wait, a civil servant?"
I nodded, and Bina blinked in surprise.
"So you weren't even in this line of work. Explains why you're so shaky on the physical stuff."
I nodded again, looking sheepish. I'd dragged the whole group down that morning—I couldn't keep pace, and everyone shot us dirty looks.
"Sorry......"
It just felt like I had to say it.
"Didn't bring it up for an apology. I'm from the east. Went to the academy here in the capital."
"Bina's a total elite......"
I shot her my best starry-eyed look of admiration.
"Haha, won't deny it."
No wonder she breezed through training like a pro. Especially martial arts—she stood out even among the others. That innocent face paired with those long arms and legs... the way she demolished the training dummy had me freaking out.
"What you up to during personal time, Yufir?"
"Gotta... run through martial arts again, I think."
I'd looked like a total clown in class. Everyone else moved like black belts, and there I was, flailing around like a toddler.
"I'll spot you. Martial arts is my jam."
"R-really?"
Bina really is an angel. And she'd probably teach great too—those lanky limbs made every move crystal clear. Like she stepped straight out of the textbook.
We scarfed down the rest of our food and headed to an empty training ground. Even the dummies from class were still standing there.
"Lucky, no one's here."
"Bina, thanks... using your personal time to help me."
"That's what it's for."
Honestly, the more she helped me, the worse it'd look for her with the other trainees. But she'd been nothing but kind since day one.
"Here... yeah, like that. Thrust your fist."
Just like the manual, Bina corrected my form one-on-one.
"Spin once, lift your leg high, aim for the head."
Whish! I spun and kicked out.
Thud.
"Eh."
The dummy didn't budge, and my foot didn't even graze its head. My 145cm height suddenly felt like a huge embarrassment.
"Pfft."
"D-don't laugh!"
"Sorry... you're just too cute."
Bina giggled and patted my head.
"Again. For your height, maybe tiptoe here."
"Oh, like that!"
"Yep."
We repeated the motions, and bit by bit, I started picking up the basics of imperial martial arts. Turns out I wasn't totally hopeless—just out of practice. I was getting the hang of it fast.
"Hya!"
I spun, lifted my foot off the ground a bit, and lashed out.
Tik. My toe just barely clipped the dummy's chin.
"Whoa?!"
It wasn't even a real hit, and I lost my balance, tumbling backward.
Thud. I stared up at the dummy, mortified.
If this damn thing was designed shorter...
"It's fine—good direction at least. Keep at it. Textbook's great, but tweaking for your body is key in martial arts."
Bina extended a hand to help me up.
"Yeah!"
I grabbed it, dusted off, and reset my stance. I was about to go again when—
Tszzt. My nose twitched without warning.
Death's Scent.
I froze every motion and instinctively zeroed in on it.
"Yufir?"
It wasn't as thick as on the train—no chills this time, just faint.
Squeak. Someone entered the training ground.
"No, so that asshole was being a total dick, so I beat his fucking ass~"
"Dumbass, you get disciplined and you're screwed."
"Chill. No catch, no problem. Worst case, call Dad."
Two guys and a girl—a trio. They strolled in casually and locked eyes with us.
"What're you doing here? Next class is ours."
"Sorry, just personal practice. We'll head out."
Bina hurriedly grabbed my hand.
"Let's go."
"Yeah......"
As we tried to slip past, the blond thug with his hands in his pockets turned back to us. Looked like the leader of the pack.
"You two from intel, right?"
"Kinda...?"
From his tone, same trainee batch but different track. Probably trainee knights.
"Then the shrimp behind you is her, yeah?"
"Ah! Makes sense. Friend said some parachute dropped into their barracks."
"Not some lost kid who wandered in?"
Bina didn't even register to them—their interest was all on me.
"What the hell you punks want?"
"Greenie, come here unless you wanna die."
The blond reached for me.
Smack! Bina slapped it away. The Death's Scent rolling off the blond thickened. Blue afterimages pooled at his feet.
"Bina, duck!"
She crouched, and his kick whistled right over her head.
Whoosh! Enough force to kick up wind pressure. No way that was casual—real power behind it.
"Huh, dodged?"
"What the hell was that?!"
"Talking back?"
Whoosh! Blond threw a casual jab. Bina leaned her head back to evade and slipped inside.
"Hmph, fancy footwork."
Like he saw it coming, he snapped a knee strike. Bina yanked back to avoid the counter.
Off-balance, blond closed in and hammered a combo—fists and kicks flowing smooth. Super skilled, insane physicals; the impacts echoed through the room.
Thwack!
"Ngh?!"
"Filthy intel creeps!"
Bina had her guard up solid, but damage was getting through.
Her technique's superior... but his power and speed win out.
Can't just watch!
I kicked off the floor and charged. Spun mid-leap, went up on tiptoes, and fired a high kick at peak height.
Whish! But he spotted me from the side and just tilted his head to dodge.
"Eh."
Guy had crazy peripheral vision.
"Pfft! Even a dog wouldn't hit that shit."
He grinned and whipped a roundhouse my way in reply. Blindingly fast—movements so seamless, you could tell he'd been in hundreds of scraps.
"What... even a dog wouldn't hit?"
Pissed off, I slipped into the grayscale world smooth as butter.
I did miss a dummy before, but still!
It slowed. It stopped.
Facts are facts!
In the grayscale, I saw it all. Every incoming attack, perfectly timed.
It was always like this in the moment. Felt like I knew everything. Sight, sound, smell, touch... taste? Untested.
All senses razor-sharp.
Just one thing.
No red lines...
I had a hunch why. No knife on me. Probably that.
Don't need 'em anyway. Not killing here.
Whoosh! The wind-whipping roundhouse grazed right past my nose.
"Huh, again?"
Blond scowled at the whiff. His recovery left a massive opening.
Even a trainee knight can't train that spot!
I slammed my hardest kick into his wide-open groin.
"Groinkick!"
Boom!
"Guhhuuuh?!"
His face went ghost-white. I snatched Bina's hand.
"Yufir?"
"Run, Bina!"
We bolted from the training ground.
"Haha, nyah nyah!"
We didn't stop laughing the whole way back to the barracks.
"Pfft, hahaha!"
"Eheehee!"
Leaning against the entrance, we caught our breath. One glance at each other, and the giggles bubbled up again.
"Ah... my stomach hurts."
"You hear that scream? Right as we bailed—kyaaaaak!"
"Duh. I was seriously impressed with you, Yufir."
"Ehe, just a little something~"
"For real. Ahaha... haa... for real."
Bina was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
"That last roundhouse? Dead serious. I don't think I could've dodged it, but you slipped it like nothing right in your face."
"Whaa... just one of my few tricks."
"Looked like a killer skill to me. Sure, the first kick whiffing was a solid gag."
"Hey, that was my full-power shot!"
"Pffft, Yufir. That's prime comedy material right there."
We caught our breath a few more times and headed back to the dorm.
"Huh, where's everybody?"
"Bina?"
The empty dorm made us stare at each other.
"W-what time is it?!"
"Next theory class for sure......"
We were at least ten minutes late. Faces paling, we snatched our textbooks and rushed.
By the time we hit the barracks classroom, Blackrose stood there waiting.
"Out!"
We got demerits together, thick as thieves.