Do You Wear Panties Under Leggings?
Meanwhile, in the dark forest along the Holy Kingdom's border, a chase had broken out without warning.
"Catch him!!!!"
"Hmph. You lot need to work on your muscular endurance. You think a three-minute pace is going to catch me?"
"Huff... hah! You damn 'roider...!!"
"Well. Even with the drugs, you still couldn't beat me."
The pursuers were a swarm of powerfully built men. The pursued, however, was just one.
"Luman!! You betrayed the Holy Kingdom, threw in with a criminal syndicate, and turned your blade on your own nation! That crime will never be forgiven!"
"Hmph."
The commander of the Holy Armor Unit rebuked Luman, Sixth Finger of Redanis, at the top of his lungs.
"You're all weak. If you want to get stronger, you use whatever forbidden methods it takes — even drugs."
"Shut up! We'll arrest you right here, you disgrace to every Natural alive!"
The 3-Lift 500 Holy Armor Unit, dispatched by Saintess Elia herself, had come to put Luman down.
Qualification I: 100 goblins felled in a single battle
Qualification II: 200 EXP dungeon clears
Qualification III: 200 whirlwind-spin breakthroughs
They were the strongest the Holy Kingdom had to offer. The elite of the Saintess's personal gym, rumored to break down their targets as thoroughly as a prepped chicken breast.
"Well. Looks like I've been run to ground."
Thud!!
Sensing the net closing in, Luman planted his sprinting legs and turned around.
"Take this! Leg Raise!!"
"Dumbbell Curl!!"
"Bench Press!!!"
The Holy Armor troops flexed hard and poured every technique they had into the man who had come to a sudden stop.
He did not so much as flinch. Iron-hard muscle tanked every blow.
KRAAAAAAAAAANG!!!
"Khuhuhu... how do you like our favorite routine?!"
"Chest today! Thighs tomorrow! Then tris and bis!!"
"This is natural muscle — no drugs involved."
Through the thickly rising smoke, the Holy Armor troops couldn't keep the swagger off their faces, crowing as if the win were already in the bag.
"Soft."
"?!"
Luman hadn't budged an inch.
"Poor form. Poor breathing. Poor balance. All of you need to start your training over from scratch."
"What?!"
Even under a barrage from the Holy Kingdom's finest, he dusted himself off like he'd walked through a light breeze.
"My turn, then."
The ground began to growl. The moment he drew forth his power, thick slabs of muscle and ropey veins surged across his chest and forearms, radiating a fighting spirit so dense it was hard to breathe.
"Hah...!!"
"Th-that's impossible. A human body can't have muscle like that..."
"My body... I look like a damn anchovy next to him..."
Faced with the majesty of a man who had once stood at the very peak as the Holy Kingdom's gym director, the Holy Armor troops felt their will to fight drain away.
"You haven't even mastered the basics."
Slowly, Luman lifted his leg.
Squat
KRAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!
The instant his foot slammed into the earth, a violent quake ripped through the battlefield.
"Hwaaaaaah?!"
"Th-this can't be! A simple movement, and we're...!"
The Holy Armor troops staggered in shock as Luman's next motion seized the field outright.
Push-up
KUUUUUUUUUNG!!!
Both both arms into the dirt, he drove the ground down into depths that had no bottom.
"Uwoooooh?!"
"Th-the ground is collapsing! Nothing can support that man's weight!!!"
One technique after another, they crumbled helplessly before him.
"Hmph. That's all you've got?"
"..."
The Holy Armor troops lay wretched on the ground, their once-glorious uniforms torn to rags.
"Yo! Look who it is — the gym-rat old man."
"Arin. Your arms are far too thin. Have you been training?"
"...I don't particularly want to be a jacked woman, thanks."
Luman strode back into the Redanis stronghold like he owned the place, and Arin greeted him with a lazy swing of her legs.
"Oh my. Did you overdo it again? Your body is already falling apart as it is."
"Hecate, do not worry for me. This, too, is a trial bestowed by God."
"It's not a trial, it's just the side effects of the drugs, I'm telling you."
Hecate looked at him with genuine pity as his body grew weaker by the day.
"Heh! Hey, lady! The way you're fussing, people might think you're his wife."
"This kid, I swear..."
Arin snickered from the side, thoroughly enjoying herself, and Hecate shot the girl a look that could curdle milk.
"...Hecate. Forgive me. I still have a cause I must see through."
"..."
Luman held her back, breathing hard, each inhale a labor.
"Well done, Luman."
"Dyer..."
Moved by that stubborn will, Dyer stepped into view, his footfalls heavy on the stone.
"Arin. Is Tarkan all right?"
"Dunno... she's fine. Some spiny lizard showed up and I figured I'd go a round with it, but yeah, that wasn't happening. Hauled ass out of there real quick."
"Black Iron Dragon. Overwhelming. Therefore, defeated."
Arin gave the sword on her shoulder a few lazy taps. Tarkan, stroking the bandages wrapped around her chest, added her piece in that clipped, broken cadence of hers.
"And Luman?"
"I completely destroyed the Holy Kingdom's core facilities. On top of that, I annihilated the Holy Armor Unit. A weakening of their forces is inevitable."
Dyer nodded, satisfied with the after-action report.
"Hecate. What of the undead army?"
"As you know... we still had considerable numbers when we launched the surprise attack. But the moment the Black Iron Dragon appeared, they were wiped out to the last. Recovering our forces will take a good six months at the least."
"I see..."
Dyer listened to each Finger's report in turn, nodding as the picture assembled itself. The Holy Kingdom's Holy Armor Unit and core facilities: destroyed. The Dragon Empire's Ragnarok Fortress: collapsed — though the Black Iron Dragon had intercepted them. On the Redanis side: Hecate's undead army annihilated, Luman and Tarkan wounded.
Dyer, First Finger and master of Redanis, murmured it quietly to himself.
Vrooooom.
A bus rolled along a road of pale white stone, headed somewhere in particular.
"So where are we going, exactly?"
"The Holy Kingdom's 2nd Central Gym!"
Jinwoo, Ryushia, and the rest of the party were bound for the Holy Kingdom — a nation led by Saintess Elia and the Pope, with the Knight Commander and the Holy Armor Unit beneath them. The regular army consisted of gym members, and a small army of priests managed their health and meal plans.
"...What a bizarre setup."
"Yes. Apparently during morning worship they recite the Gains Prayer for ten minutes in a plank position."
"Those aren't priests. They're just gym rats."
Jinwoo stuck out his tongue at the Holy Kingdom's dizzying internal logic.
"What's the matter? Morning calisthenics followed by a run and physical training is wonderfully refreshing."
"Nah... I'm good..."
"Me too! Running makes you sweaty and it's hard!"
Elia kept circulating her workout gospel with missionary zeal, while Arkis and Iflata made faces and refused on the spot.
"...There's no point in me exercising."
"Don't put limits on yourself!"
"No, I mean I'm literally a doll made of wood..."
"Shut up!! Don't say can't — say can!"
"..."
Maestro shut her mouth, looking thoroughly wronged by the Saintess's overbearing shout.
Screech.
"All right. We've arrived."
"Thank you~"
After that whole exchange, the driver finally announced they had reached the Holy Kingdom.
"So... we changed, I guess, but still."
"Mm."
Saintess Elia had insisted — relentlessly — that anyone setting foot in this country had to wear the gym uniform. Jinwoo and the rest of the party had finished changing in the locker room and now stepped outside.
"Wahaha! These are comfy!"
Iflata, in an adorable pink uniform that suited her youthful frame perfectly, was radiating pure cuteness.
"Ugh... I hate the smell of sweat..."
Arkis shuffled out in baggy shorts and a loose T-shirt, looking deeply uncomfortable in her own skin.
"..."
Maestro had managed to find something in a small enough size, but the sour look on her face said she was not pleased about any of this.
Then Elia appeared, having swapped her Saintess robes for the gym kit.
A crop top strained around her considerable chest. Short shorts put her long, solid thighs on full display. The abs she left uncovered were cleanly split, radiating the kind of physique that belonged on a poster. And with every step, a peek of underbutt flashed into view, tracing a pretty line along her hips that pulled every eye in the room.
...Terrifying.
Jinwoo took one look at Elia's aggressively revealing outfit and felt fear, not anything else. Just how hard was she planning to work them, dressing for war like this? They'd come on a support mission. Was there any reason they had to change into uniforms the second they walked in the door?
"Ah. Everyone's changed, I see?"
A soft, unhurried voice arrived last of all.
"Hah..."
"Oh, come on. These are so tight it's embarrassing..."
Ryushia had changed into workout clothes, and she was staring awkwardly at the body the fabric left with nowhere to hide, a flush of embarrassment on her face. A white sports bra squashed her ample chest with every breath. Those smooth, pale abs... well, he'd gotten a generous look at those last time, honestly.
"These are insanely tight, huh?"
The real problem was everything below the waist. Black leggings clung to her like a second skin, tracing the long, clean line of her legs — and the plump swell of her ass, wrapped in nothing but a single thin layer of fabric, was putting on a frankly violent display.
"...Her ass is so big it's going to get in the way of working out."
Arkis muttered it in a daze, like she couldn't believe what she was looking at.
"H-hey, Ryushia...?"
"Yes? What is it?"
And even that wasn't the real problem. Down at her groin, a plump mound of flesh was pulling the leggings taut, the fabric sinking into every contour.
"Oh my. It's doing that again. Should I just put on panties?"
"...You're not wearing any?"
"Huh? Don't people normally not wear panties under leggings?"
"..."
Jinwoo's soul left his body. He had nothing left to say.