will find it hard to hit her. She’s ridiculously fast, after all.”
“That’s just how it is. Chloe is exceptional.”
As I continued to teach, the men shouted their battle cries and charged at me again.
“Sei!”
I managed to dodge their spears just in time, feeling a rush of adrenaline. Their attacks were getting more coordinated, which was promising, but also meant that I had to stay vigilant and clear of their thrusts.
“Keep the pressure up! Don’t give them a moment to breathe!”
I pivoted and struck one of the trainees on the shoulder, sending him stumbling back. The rules were simple: if a hit was landed, that trainee would be considered knocked out for this mock battle.
“Ugh!”
“Watch your flanks! You need to support each other!”
I barked orders, guiding them through the chaos. They struggled, but I could see them improving, responding to each other’s movements more effectively. This made me feel a sense of accomplishment.
This was our training routine now, with me as the reluctant instructor and them as eager trainees. It was a welcome distraction from the village’s growing tension and the troubles brought by the Crusaders.
As the sun began to set, I called for a break.
“Alright, take five! Regroup and hydrate!”
The men collapsed, panting as they caught their breath. Training a self-defense corps was no easy feat, but it was necessary, especially with the growing presence of Crusader soldiers nearby.
I took a moment to reflect. So much had changed in the past month. The war had left its mark not just on the land but also on the people. But amidst the hardships, there was also a sense of unity forming in the village.
As the evening chill set in, we prepared for the next training segment. Life in the village was tough, but we were ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead together.
“You’ll be able to hit it. Keep at it.”
Lying down, I coldly retort to the members of the Self-Defense Corps who are grumbling like sulking children. Somehow, I had forgotten to use honorifics during training, and it had become the default to speak casually to the Self-Defense Corps members.
“By the way, Chloe, not only are you fast, but your power is insane, right?”
“Are you stronger than the construction Golem?”
“You’re not just taking down Ryan in one hit for nothing.”
But thanks to this, I feel like I can talk reasonably comfortably with the members of the Self-Defense Corps. Many of them are younger and close to my age, which makes it easier to interact like friends.
“Enough already, you guys, get up quickly. I’m using this precious work time for training after all.”
“Okay,” they respond without much enthusiasm as the Self-Defense Corps members get up.
This applies not only to the three I just knocked down but also to the dozens I took down earlier.
“Alright, then everyone, come at me again.”
I can’t watch over each one individually. So, mock battles are conducted either by grouping a certain number of participants or having everyone come at me simultaneously. It’s me alone against twenty members of the Self-Defense Corps. The total strength of the Self-Defense Corps in this village is forty-five, but I can’t expect everyone to participate every time. I’ve decided to set up a rotation system to some extent.
“Alright, this time I’ll definitely land a hit!”
“Leave it to me; I’ll brace myself to stop Chloe’s attack this time!”
“I’ll show you my spear technique!”
“Yeah, since there are girls watching!”
Thanks to using the plaza as the training area, this mock battle has turned into quite a spectacle. Even now, I can see teenage girls peeking from the edges, and there are other onlookers as well. Among them are Sariel and Ursula, who are intently watching from the church window.
Maybe because of that, everyone is fired up during the mock battles against me.
Being enthusiastic is good, but even if it’s just practice, I’m taking this seriously. I have no obligation to take hits on purpose, and above all, I personally need to practice group combat.
“Alright, here we go!”
The Self-Defense Corps members charge at me with their matching wooden spears, exuding considerable intensity. At first, everyone rushed straight at me, creating a tangled mess before they could strike, but now, they seem to understand their roles and beautifully spread out to complete an encirclement.
Their charge is well-coordinated now, and they rarely make mistakes by hitting or colliding with each other. They were definitely learning the basics of teamwork.
Thrusts from all directions come toward me like converging arrows. While I genuinely rejoice in their growth, I jump to escape upward first.
“Oh!”
I involuntarily exclaim as I leap high enough to clear a person’s height, and at the same moment, several wooden swords come flying at me, slicing through the air as if aimed directly at me—well, they probably were aimed.
I’ve avoided the initial strikes by jumping a few times before, so they must have figured out a strategy. Throwing wooden swords as a secondary weapon is simple but effective.
However, as an aerial attack, it’s still lacking. If I slice through the wooden sword in mid-air, it’s easily deflected.
“Damn, it got deflected!”
“Raise your spears; he’s coming down!”
Their reactions are quite sharp. They have accurately identified the direction I jumped in and positioned themselves at what seems to be my landing spot, raising their spears to skewer me.
Normally, I would land and get caught in a chaotic melee, but today I decided to employ a different tactic.
I deflect one of the thrusts directed at me with my wooden sword and extend my feet toward the shoulder of the man holding that spear as I land.
Upon landing on his shoulder, I jump again. I broke through the encirclement formed by the twenty members of the Self-Defense Corps in a single leap. This was the famous overhead dash I used when stepping on the helmet of a heavy cavalryman.
“Whoa, seriously!?”
Having landed on the outside of the encirclement, I immediately turned to slice beginning with the members who were on the outer side.
As the formation is still circular, I dashed through and slashed while looping around the perimeter. I’m not allowing myself to be surrounded again, but with this many participants, it’s not impossible for them to split up and complete a re-encirclement—but demanding that level of skill from them would be a bit harsh.
“Damn it!!”
Thus, the Self-Defense Corps members are utterly defeated. No one can withstand direct combat with me from the front. With their encirclement and coordination broken, they can hardly defend themselves—though it’s not entirely impossible.
“Hey, the fight is not over yet, Priest!!”
A large heavy cavalryman clad in silver armor emerges in front of me with a roar. That’s right, it’s Ryan, the Captain of the Self-Defense Corps.
He raises the thick wooden spear in his hand high and shouts powerfully.
“Great Slash!”
Ryan does not bear the title of Captain for nothing. He is the only one in the village skilled in martial arts.
However, simply having martial arts isn’t enough to take me down. I have taken his “Great Slash,” unleashed by a trained heavy cavalryman, numerous times. I am confident I can deal with three released simultaneously now.
After lightly sidestepping Ryan’s fiercely delivered martial arts move, I sweep my wooden sword horizontally.
Usually, this is where it ends, but Ryan seems to have anticipated my counteraction and raised his large shield with his left hand to block it.
Even so, it seems Ryan is surprisingly accustomed to wielding a polearm and a large shield simultaneously. Unlike a single sword or spear, mastering this combination is quite difficult.
The reason he wears this heavy cavalry armor is simply that it is unnecessary for me. Since the Crusader’s equipment cannot be sold and it would be a waste to let it gather dust in storage, I handed it over to Ryan, who seemed capable of using it.
Even though he is most likely using high-grade heavy cavalry equipment for the first time, he appears surprisingly skilled at it. Hmm, perhaps he has experience.
With this suspicion in mind, I tackle the raised large shield and send Ryan flying.
“Whoa!?”
Even though he is fully encased in steel armor, Ryan’s total weight is not more than two hundred kilograms. With my power, I can easily knock him away.
Ryan, having floated momentarily through the air, managed to brace himself and not fall, which I can commend. However, his balance has been disrupted.
Without pause, if I launch an attack toward his now-exposed torso, there’s no way he’d be able to guard in time.
“Fire!!”
But someone appears who won’t allow me to finish him off.
Right behind me, an attack comes rushing in forcefully, slicing through the air aiming for my head.
“Not bad, great timing, Reki.”
As I turn around, I swing my wooden sword just in time to cross with Reki’s large wooden sword that was swung down heavily from above.
The familiar sound of “Kaaan,” typical of wooden swords, rings out, but immediately after, I feel an unsettling crack. My wooden sword seems to have exceeded its durability limit.
Splintering into pieces, my wooden sword breaks halfway, and I barely dodge the fierce oncoming attack that howls toward me by a hair’s breadth. If a master martial artist had pressured me into this situation, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge without using “Thunder Demon King.”
“Shit!”
Reki lands with a dissatisfied voice for the missed blow, having slammed her wooden sword against the ground hard as a significant opening is created. However, remarkably, she quickly recovers, swinging her sword for a second strike. The fact that it’s not martial arts likely contributed to her avoiding post-technique stiffness.
The swift upward slash grazes my nose, but I kick her extended torso as she regains her standing position.
Kicking the abdomen of a girl who was still in elementary school is not permissible legally or morally, but Reki has already evolved beyond requiring such gentle consideration.
My toes that should have pierced through her abdomen are barely caught by her hand, which comes in at a phenomenal speed. Without a second thought, she instinctively relinquished the wooden sword and transitioned to guarding.
This response certainly surpasses that of ordinary swordsmen. However, as a guard, it is insufficient.
I continue with the kick, sending Reki’s small body flying.
She soars a considerable distance, but just before crashing down, she manages to straighten herself out. Her movement is reminiscent of Nino the cat beastman, who gracefully landed despite being blasted by Dortus’s horn.
It’s astonishing that a human can maintain posture control comparable to a cat beastman.
Landing firmly on her two feet, Reki displays her readiness for another attack with her large wooden sword—but she’s slow.
In an instant, the broken wooden sword I hurled at her strikes her body.
“Yow!?”
With a cute, dog-like yelp, Reki toppled over onto the snow.
“Ow, ow… that hurts…”
The voice that leaks out is from Ryan, positioned on the opposite side from Reki.
Ryan, who was merely thrown off-balance by my tackle, is still in a state of not having received a death count. Therefore, I picked up the broken wooden sword again, catching it by the blade in mid-air before tossing it toward him.
Perhaps trying to look cool or simply disliking having his vision obstructed, Ryan, who is bare-headed, displays an exposed forehead with a bright red mark left behind.
A headshot. In a real combat situation, it would be an instant death without question.
“Damn, I thought I was doing pretty well this time.”
“Indeed, teaming up with Reki was the right choice.”
As can be seen from the results of this mock battle, Ryan and Reki are now the top two powers within the Self-Defense Corps. Compared to the other members, they stand out above the rest, that much is evident to the villagers watching from the sidelines.
“Come on! Quick, let’s do the next one, Chloe! Come on!!”
Realizing it, I see Reki energetically recovering from her position in the snow, brimming with fighting spirit as she strides toward me with big steps.
“Don’t you think you should rest a bit?”
“No way! I’m just starting to warm up!”
With her crimson eyes gleaming like a wild beast, Reki casually throws off her apprentice sister’s habit, which serves as her everyday attire, tossing it aside.
Underneath, she wore shorts-like undergarments and a thin white shirt. Dressed like an elementary school student running around the playground in summer gym class… yet, Reki, with her good development, has quite a noticeable bust.
She certainly boasts a size that suggests she should be wearing a bra, but given that it is just a thin shirt that is starting to become slightly transparent from sweat, it’s clear she isn’t wearing anything.
Even though she is still a child, wearing such an outfit mixed in with the male-dominant Self-Defense Corps surely disturbs the decorum. Reki’s figure is already eye-catching enough for any boy to take notice.
It may be time to prepare proper training attire for her.
“I’m going! Fire!!”
While thinking about such things, I face off with Reki, who charges at me without a shred of feminine modesty.
Honestly, I was surprised by how much rapid growth Reki has shown. Even considering her excellent physical abilities, it’s something I would call abnormal.
It’s as if her way of fighting has been instinctively ingrained into her.
Still, it’s commendable that she is genuinely getting stronger. It was I who said she should get as strong as she can.
However, there is one concern I have. Reki, recently… have you become a battle maniac?