The Saintess's Eight Seconds
What a relief. What a real relief!
This is driving me crazy. Completely crazy.
Kyle thought that as he crossed his arms.
First there was that student named Nell who had suddenly demanded he make her stronger. If he didn’t invent some reason to turn her down, she was going to keep pestering him forever. So he’d deliberately told her there would be a price to pay, forcing her to take a step back.
I named a pretty steep price, so she should be hesitating.
He’d heard Nell was a commoner, not a noble. That meant she wouldn’t be able to casually hand over the sum he’d proposed. Honestly, he just hoped she’d stick to hanging around Ian.
Fortunately, after a thoughtful hum, Nell soon disappeared.
Yes, please just go. Feel a little hurt that I asked for money. Stick next to Ian and learn swordsmanship. I can’t give PT to you too.
“Uuuungh!!”
Right now, just this Saintess alone was enough to overload his brain.
Haa.
He had no idea how many times he’d sighed inwardly. He wanted to grab his face and scream. But if he did that, the kind-hearted Saintess would get her feelings hurt.
Even so… this is just too much.
After afternoon lectures, he’d made time to come to the chapel. Fortunately there weren’t many students, so he could meet the Saintess right away. More precisely, the moment Kyle appeared they all fled as if escaping. Anyway, thanks to that, he had a proper chance to teach the Saintess real exercise.
The problem was that the Saintess’s body refused to accept any of it.
“Kiiing!”
The Saintess collapsed after failing to hold a plank for even ten seconds. Previously she hadn’t even finished the full set of squats before sinking down. He’d originally planned to include burpees, but even that seemed impossible now.
In novels, don’t saints usually travel and suffer alongside heroes? They walk just fine in those.
Some saints even personally punched people straight over to the gods’ side. In other novels they showed all sorts of fierce sides. He wasn’t hoping for that level, but he’d assumed she’d have at least basic physical ability.
“H-how long did I last this time?! It felt like I held it for over twenty seconds!!”
“…You held it for exactly eight seconds.”
“Eight seconds?! That’s impossible! I’m sure I lasted more than twenty!”
This isn’t the Room of Time and Space, Saintess. You really lasted exactly eight seconds. Where did twenty even come from?
He had no idea where to even begin. Taking her to the gym like Tisha and using various machines? Unimaginable. The conditions weren’t there at all. The Saintess used her body so little it was extreme. At this rate, never mind 10 kg, she wouldn’t be able to do anything even holding a 5 kg barbell.
Calm down, calm. Absolutely cannot get annoyed. This is the Saintess, not just anyone.
Kyle wasn’t overreacting for no reason. Living in the John Nassen family, he had always been the one worst at exercise. Around him were nothing but monsters obsessed with training. Then on the way to the academy he’d met Ian and Tisha. Ian was a swordsman, so of course he had physical ability. Tisha was a shamanist but had built basic fitness traveling around. Even Elga and Leto had at least minimal physical ability. Both had grown up as members of a grand duchy doing basic training. In other words, everyone he’d met so far had basic physical foundations. Suddenly facing a complete exercise-illiterate for the first time, of course he was about to explode inside.
“C-can’t we rest just a little? Brother Kyle?”
Already exhausted again, the Saintess made a teary face. Kyle sighed inwardly once more and nodded.
Think positively. Yeah, who in the world is good at everything from the start? Everyone builds core strength and grows muscle through effort like that. Encouraging himself, Kyle looked at the Saintess sitting on the floor.
“I feel so pathetic.”
Sudden self-deprecation?!
“Saintess?”
“I thought I was living a fairly rigorous life. Restraining myself, restraining myself more. I believed that was my life, but in reality I was nothing more than someone who couldn’t even take proper care of my own body.”
“Absolutely not, Saintess. There is nothing harder than training one’s own body. As you know, fighting yourself is the hardest battle of all. Exercise is precisely fighting yourself.”
“But I’m losing far too easily.”
“Everyone is like that. At first, everyone is. It’s natural. What matters is whether you overcome yourself from there and move forward, or lose and stay sitting where you are. That’s all that matters.”
He’d originally thought of this speech for Tisha once. Now he was suddenly saying it to the Saintess.
“You keep moving forward. You don’t need to make it harder or heavier. Even if it’s light, training every single day without skipping. If you steadily advance like that every day, one day you’ll see an improved version of yourself, gain greater confidence from that, and finally start advancing on your own.”
Whether dieting, bulking, or building muscle, it’s all like that. So please don’t say you’re quitting exercise. You have to work even harder. Especially someone like the Saintess!
“….”
At Kyle’s words, the Saintess Hilde was silent for a while. She simply stared at him with those mysterious silver eyes. It felt as if he were being sucked right into her pupils.
“Saintess?”
“Brother Kyle, you really are a mysterious person.”
“What do you mean?”
“In some ways you seem truly ordinary, and in other ways you seem more special than anyone.”
The moment he heard that, Kyle’s mind began spinning madly. When you hear that kind of line, it’s great to respond with something cooler. What should he answer here? What reply would make the Saintess happier?
“Everyone is special. That’s why God loves us all.”
For something he just blurted out, it was a really good line, Kyle thought. It served as bragging that he was special, and casually mentioned God leaving room. At least 86 out of 100, he figured.
And as Kyle expected, the Saintess went “Ah!” in admiration, then suddenly clasped her hands together. After reciting a prayer in her pure voice, she sprang to her feet.
“Saintess? Why are you….”
“I’ve heard such wonderful words—how can I, as the Saintess, just sit still!”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll try harder! Just as Brother Kyle said, even if I can only take one step, if I firmly move forward, I’ll eventually reach my goal!”
“That’s a great attitude. But why did you stand up… Saintess? Where are you going?!”
Before he could even grab her, the Saintess suddenly vanished somewhere. Thanks to that, Kyle even thought for a second, Is she running away after saying all that?!
Nah, no way. She’s the Saintess, after all.
Let’s wait a bit. I’ll figure out the situation soon, he muttered. Kyle stood quietly in place, then glanced around.
The space prepared at the back of the chapel, reserved solely for the Saintess. On the walls was a sky painted with pure white clouds and soft light. Standing in the middle felt almost like standing above the heavens. It seemed made for offering prayers to God. To be able to create such a warm, bright space… Anyone who came here would unconsciously offer prayers to God. A place where a reverent heart naturally bloomed. Where faint holy power could be felt….
Working out with weights here would probably go even better. This background isn’t bad either.
Even in that moment, Kyle was imagining exercising. He even planned to suggest building a gym with this kind of atmosphere when he returned to John Nassen later.
How many minutes had he waited?
“Brother Kyle.”
At the Saintess’s voice from behind, Kyle turned his head.
“You’re ba… ck…. Saint… ess.”
“Yes! Just as Brother Kyle said, I changed into the most comfortable clothes possible. Did well, right?”
“Ah… yes. You did well, but, um… as the Saintess, standing in front of a man who has nothing to do with the Holy Order, dressed like this… I’m a bit worried whether that’s okay….”
“Brother Kyle is a good person, so it’s fine!”
Well. The Saintess might be fine, but I’m not fine at all. Especially my heart health is under strain. Wow, this heart rate feels like I just sprinted 5 km full speed. If my heart bursts and I die from this, will there be a war between the Empire and John Nassen?
The reason Kyle was reacting like this. Until just a moment ago the Saintess had been wearing extremely baggy clothes. Now she had appeared after changing into clothes that exposed a very large area of bare skin. Slender bare arms that struck at a man’s heart, smooth bare legs, and even pure white bare feet. The danger level had skyrocketed beyond increase—it was about to ascend to heaven.
“Ah… is my outfit a little strange?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“That’s a relief! Actually, these are the clothes I wear when the weather’s too hot!”
So even the Holy Order, which he’d thought only wore baggy clothes, told them to wear things like this. If anyone thinks I like this, that’s oh yeah… no, a misunderstanding.
Calm down, Kyle. Right now this situation is like a trainer and a client. Whatever a female client wears, what I need to look at is form, movement, and whether the body is overloaded. After thinking that a few times, his heartbeat naturally returned to normal. What a relief! A real relief! The thought came unbidden.
“Then I’ll try again! I changed clothes, so maybe I’ll do better now!”
“I’ll be looking forward to it, Saintess.”
“Yes!”
With a vigorous reply, the Saintess got into position again. Looking at it this way, changing clothes seemed to have some effect. Her plank time had gone from 8 seconds to 9 seconds.
…Wait a second. Can I really call this an effect?
That question arose, but Kyle didn’t show it outwardly. He didn’t want to interrupt the Saintess who was delighted that she’d improved by one second.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
At Kyle’s words, the Saintess went “Kiiing!” and collapsed in a heap.
“You worked really hard today, Saintess.”
“What did I do…. Brother Kyle worked harder.”
“Your body might ache and feel sore quite a bit when you sleep.”
“It already aches and feels sore now…?”
“That’s a good thing. You have to repeat that process so you don’t go back to square one.”
Saying that, Kyle was about to greet her and leave when—
“Brother Kyle.”
The Saintess suddenly stopped him.
“Yes, Saintess.”
“Do you happen to have time this weekend?”
“I don’t have any special plans, but why do you ask?”
“I want to invite Brother Kyle to the Holy Order!”
“To the Holy Order…?”
“Yes!”
At first he was of course going to decline. He wasn’t a fervent believer, so what would he do going to the Holy Order? In that time it would be more beneficial to run through his routine one more time. Those thoughts floated around in his head.
But soon, Kyle changed his mind.
“…If you’re inviting me, I would be honored.”
Wanting to check the physical condition of the Holy Order’s priests was the reason.