Chapter 18 – Training (1)
Water lily (1)
The next morning. Yuno came to the training center with Eliza for basic physical training as usual. However, today there were two people I had not seen before.
“Yuno~”
“Oppa~~”
“Huh? Sister? Marie? What happened this morning? Don’t you have other classes scheduled?”
Isabella and Marie would normally go to the classroom in the empress’ palace for other classes after breakfast, but for some reason, they ended up at the training center.
“Ugh, no matter how much it’s Catherine, I’m so angry that I lost without even being able to properly resist… I’m going to do some physical training together starting today.”
“Me too! If I train a little with my brother, I think I can make it difficult for the enemy to approach, and even if I allow them to approach, I can avoid at least one or two attacks, right?”
‘Well… The princess will never go to battle. I wonder how many times the two will have to fight like that… It wouldn’t be a bad idea to build up your stamina…’
Yuno thought so and after receiving assurances from both of them that she should never be caught up in her own pace, she started running with Eliza.
As Yuno began to run around the parade ground at an incredible speed, Eliza, who was trying her best to catch up with Yuno, fell behind after a while, while Isabella and Marie ran slowly and watched Yuno’s training.
“Wow~ He fainted and woke up, and he seemed to be faster?”
“Oppa, aren’t you still unable to use mana? Why are you so fast?”
“That’s right… Knights have to transmit mana through their bodies… Their method of use is completely different from ours, but it’s unique.”
It wasn’t just them who felt it, Yuno was also surprised by her body becoming much faster and stronger than before.
‘What… What is it? I’m clearly not using mana… But I can feel an incredible energy!! No matter how much I run, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired!’
Juno was so focused on his own training that he forgot that Isabella, Eliza, and Marie were around him.
Catherine and Richtenauer were watching from afar as Juno showed no sign of fatigue even after running on the parade ground for an entire hour without a moment’s rest, and was lifting a large iron block even after activating the weight bracelet.
“Kkkk for he… For you for teaching, you must be very sick to your stomach because you got taken away from me?”
“Uuuuu of the Prince’s Mana Hole is in such a place?… Teach that bastard properly!! Otherwise, my sword will not leave you alone!”
“Hmph!! Do you think that sword of yours is so scary? What will you do if I don’t teach you properly?”
In reality, if Catherine and Lichtenauer collided, there was a very high possibility that there would be no winner, so Lichtenauer just glared at Catherine. However, after a while, Lichtenauer seemed to think of a clever trick and spoke with a smile on his face.
“Heh! In that case, we have no choice but to drastically cut the education remuneration! I heard that you have a lot of debt in the capital’s bars… Let’s just wait… I’ll tell the Minister of Finance…”
“Chi… You shameful bastard! Threatening me with alcohol, the stigma of my life… Haha, why would the commander of the Knights of the Guard do this?”
Catherine smiled humbly for a moment, but after a moment her expression hardened, and she spoke to Rich Tena Wo.
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you properly even if you don’t threaten me like that. What chance can I get twice in my life to see a body like that? If anything, I should have asked to come in as a disciple.”
“Well… That’s probably true. I, too, have watched His Highness the Prince since he was young and wondered how strong he would become.”
“Then it’s a bit weird to say it’s a chicken instead of a pheasant… But what about her? She’s a princess from the Kingdom of Leon. I saw her yesterday, and she’s no joke.”
When Catherine suddenly pointed to Eliza, Richtenauer looked at her with an expression of surprise.
“Hmm? You mean Princess Eliza? What kind of sword would you teach the princess in swordsmanship? Moreover, teaching the princess of an enemy country the swordsmanship of the Imperial Knights, the sum of 500 years of empire history? If I go back to the Kingdom of Leon and teach it, my head will be cut off, right?”〈 Br〉
“Hehe… Speaking of that, it seems like the princess is really into our prince, right? When I tried to attack him for a test, she just rushed at me with an expression of frustration that she couldn’t kill me.”
“Hmm… I understand. I’ll make a suggestion to His Majesty the Emperor at lunch. The owner of the Knights of the Guard is definitely His Majesty, so I can’t do what I want without permission.”
Even as he said that, Lichtenauer’s eyes were focused on Eliza.
Although she could not compare to Yuno’s movements, Eliza also showed quite high athletic ability and was showing good movements as if the time she had spent training with Yuno was not in vain, so Lichtenauer wanted to take Eliza as his student.
‘Hmm~ It wouldn’t be a bad idea to teach a pretty princess rather than just sweaty guys. And it looks like your relationship with the prince is close… It wouldn’t be a bad idea to just hold off and teach him.’
In this way, Juno and Eliza were each given a teacher, and starting in the afternoon, they began taking lessons from Catherine and Lichtenauer.
Eliza broke up with Juno and headed to the knights’ training ground to begin receiving swordsmanship training from Liech Tenauer along with the trainees of the knights’ guard.
The knights’ sword training itself wasn’t that difficult to follow the basic movements thanks to physical training with Yuno, but when receiving personal instruction from Liechtenauer, I had to roll around a lot.
Liechtenauer used all kinds of applied postures and strange sword moves to exploit Eliza’s weak points, making it difficult for her, who was now at the basic level, to avoid, let alone block.
“After blocking the incoming sword, cut right back! Is there anything that changes if you just apply strength and hold on? Always focus on defense, but attack and defense must be done at the same time.”
“Haaaaap!!”
“Don’t move hastily! It’s important to feel the sword sticking.”
Liechtenauer’s teachings were harsh, and even if he didn’t like her movements for the slightest, he would immediately kick her and knock her out.
However, every time Eliza touched the floor, she was reminded of her failure to protect Yuno, and she gritted her teeth and got up from the floor and swung her sword.
“That’s right! That’s it! Guts! Guts is the most important thing. Even when it seems like you can’t win, if you grit your teeth and persevere, you will somehow find a breakthrough.”
Liechtenauer was very happy with Eliza, but he drove her away again.
While Eliza was being rolled around by Lichtenauer, Yuno headed to the private training room built on the first basement floor.
Catherine had already arrived and was waiting there, and as soon as Juno entered, she welcomed him with a loud voice.
“Welcome, Yuno! As I said yesterday, this is Catherine Aragorn, who will be teaching you from today. Before the actual class… Let’s attack this teacher with all our might. It doesn’t matter what technique or weapon you use!”
Kwaang!!
As soon as Catherine finished speaking, Juno attacked Catherine without any hesitation, as if she wanted to make up for yesterday.
“Is this the only way your fist can move? Make all movements concise! Move more quickly!!”
“Ugh!! Haap!!”
From time to time, Catherine checked Yuno’s open arms and the movement of her legs, kicking them with her hands and feet to correct Yuno’s posture little by little.
Whiik!! Kwaang!
“It was good just now! My posture has become very simple. But how will I respond if my opponent does this?”
Catherine threw sand from her pocket on the face of Juno, who was pushing her against the wall, and Juno closed her eyes in embarrassment at the unexpected surprise.
Pow!!
Immediately afterward, Catherine’s fist hit Juno’s chin. It was a fist without mana, but its power was enough to knock Yuno unconscious.
When Juno fainted, Catherine threw the water she had prepared on Juno’s face and forcibly woke him up.
“Uh! Uh, uh, uh, uhuh… Master?”
“From now on, we will spar once a day before class. As you saw just now, I will attack you with all kinds of cowardly tactics. So, you too, should spar with fairness and fairness. Do you understand?”
“Yes! I understand!”
Until now, he had been training alone, and when he occasionally had bare-handed sparring or wooden sword sparring with the knights of the Royal Guard, the high-ranking knights treated him with too much regard, and the trainees were opponents whom he had to control, so Yuno had no one to give his all to. Br〉
That’s why Juno liked Catherine’s refreshing teaching style.
Her personality was clearly revealed in her subsequent classes.
“It is safe to say that your body is already almost complete. Therefore, classes with me will focus on specific fighting movements, how to use terrain features, and mana training.”
“Um… How do you do it when it comes to mana training? The knights swing their swords according to the prescribed sword path and practice mental techniques at the same time… I have a mana hole in my dick… So I don’t think that’s right…”
“If that’s the case, don’t worry about it. Our school’s training method has nothing to do with the location of the mana hole. Now, watch what I do carefully.”
Catherine ignorantly brought a thick and large piece of metal in front of Juno and threw it away with her bare fists.
Kwaang!!
Then, a fist-sized groove was created in her piece of iron, and the piece of iron was crushed.
“Now look! How are my fists?”
“Huh? Are you okay? Didn’t you use mana anyway? Since you’re a master… If you’re wearing a badge.”
Takkong!
“Uh huh~ Do you think I was just trying to show you that as a demonstration? What is mana? It is the power that resides in all things in this world. All living things contain mana. And when living things are injured in their bodies, they naturally send out mana. Helps with treatment”
“Yes… That’s true, but…”
“Then, if you continue to intentionally abuse your body and injure it, won’t the mana continue to float around your body and make you stronger? For example, as a result of training your body every day, your cardiorespiratory endurance and strength are almost at a superhuman level, even though you cannot use mana. We reached”
“Then really?”
Yuno was skeptical, but looking at his teacher’s mouth, he believed it was not true. But the words that came out of Catherine’s mouth shattered Juno’s hopes.
“Yes. Starting today, you will hit this steel sandbag with all parts of your body. I will hit the parts of your body that cannot be hit with this iron ball, so don’t worry too much.”
“Well… If I do that from the beginning, wouldn’t it be difficult to train every day due to injuries? It would be better to take it easy at first…”
Juno gathered the remaining fragments of her hope and brought them to Catherine, but she completely crushed them.
Haha, don’t worry. After stimulating it like that, I will stabilize your body with mental techniques, and then you will naturally feel your body recovering. If you repeat that, your mana will gradually increase, and your body, which you thought had already reached its limit, will As you know, muscle growth is based on repeated stimulation and nutrition, which can be replaced by strengthening it a little and supplying mana.”
‘Aaaaah, what’s going on!! I was reincarnated like this to live comfortably… But this is too bad!! If it’s going to be like this, then there’s no need to train and attract attention!!’
Yuno was deeply regretful, but it was already too late.
“Well, you just have to suffer a little bit from now on. I know this is a difficult process because I have also experienced it. But if you just endure it! You, too, can become like this!”
Catherine took out her dagger hidden under her dancing clothes and stabbed herself in the arm.
“Oh!! Master!! What are you doing now… Ah?”
Juno was startled and ran to Catherine, but she spread her arms as if nothing had happened. Yuno’s eyes widened because her arm, as far as Yuno could see, was unscathed and the dagger she had stabbed was bent.
“Well, what do you think? This is the result of our Aragorn-type training. This means we can fight knights with weapons even with our bare bodies, and that’s why I’m called a Fistmaster. Of course, I’m the only one who has reached this level, but… Yuno, you will be able to reach a much higher level than me.
‘This… This is amazing… If you can have a body like this, you’re really immune to assassination, right? Even if it’s a little painful, I must learn properly’
As the results of his training were revealed before his eyes, Yuno had no choice but to have confidence. Juno’s eyes began to burn with enthusiasm for training, and Catherine smiled happily as she looked at it.
*Catherine’s class illustration
