Or at least, this was the excuse that Christina quickly cobbled together. And finally, she offered an answer to this question.
“So I was thinking, why don’t we have Master come watch our practice? That way, she can tell us what we need to keep doing, or don’t need to keep doing, or what we’re doing too much of. I just thought it’d be great if she could personally coach us and point out that kind of stuff for us!” Christina said, staring at the grim-faced Alfina.
Speaking as if she genuinely felt this way, Christina’s eyes sparkled almost as if to say that she was telling nothing but the truth.
But, in fact, the first half of what she’d said was a complete lie.
That was pretty impressive, immediately dreaming all that up on the spot…
It seemed as if she wasn’t just used to coming up with such excuses; she had a God-given talent for inventing them. Truth be told, the girl had the talent to become a prolific scammer. Shocked to learn this and yet excited to see how it’d all turn out, Mira didn’t say a word as she simply waited for Alfina to respond.
“It’s pretty unusual for you to take such an interest in training,” Alfina answered, as if to make sure of something, while staring straight at Christina. Her eyes had a sharpness to them that seemed to say they’d abide no falsehood, and they were such that no ordinary person could withstand them without confessing all their misdeeds.
However, despite being hit by this very gaze, Christina stared right back at Alfina and maintained a completely straight face. Her expression said that the excuse she’d only just come up with on the spot was indeed how she genuinely felt.
Or rather, the moment the words left her mouth, they’d become the truth.
To be fair, the last part of what Christina said had represented her true feelings. She did think it’d be great if Mira could point out what parts of their practice were unnecessary.
And so, what had started out as a lie had ended as the truth, thereby giving Christina an airtight defense.
Therefore, Christina’s expression didn’t change a single bit. This led Alfina to start thinking the proposal over, and she concluded that she did have a point.
“I see. I think Christina just might be on to something,” Alfina said, nodding enthusiastically. She continued that it did seem like Mira should take a look at their current training and see if it best served her present needs.
She said all this while wearing a steely gaze and yet, at the same time, she seemed to be in quite high spirits.
Not only would Mira be observing their training, but she would also give them personal instructions. Christina’s suggestion was like a dream come true for Alfina.
“How about it, Master? It isn’t very often that Christina thinks so seriously about training, so this would be for her sake as well.”
Or so the hopelessly devoted Alfina beseeched. Though she was normally hesitant to ask such things because she didn’t want to be presumptuous or bother Mira, her sister had been the one to make the suggestion this. So Alfina was now ardently imploring Mira, for her sister’s sake, as well.
After pausing for a moment, Mira answered, “Hrmm, good point. After all, it’s not very good if I don’t know exactly what you’re doing.”
She told them that she’d observe their training session the next day. So there stood Alfina and Christina, whose conflicting motives made for quite a confusing situation. But, truth be told, there were quite a few new tactics and formations that Mira had been wanting to try out. She began to think that it might actually be an excellent opportunity.
“Thank you, Master!” Christina said, visibly overjoyed, while her eyes seemed to be saying, “Please make her go easier on us.”
Alfina’s eyes filled with giddiness, though she didn’t let any of it reach her face. She said, “We very much appreciate it,” and bowed humbly.
And so, it was decided that Mira would observe the Valkyries during the next day’s training session. Having been allowed to use the sacred sword and having gotten Mira to oversee their next training session, Alfina strode off to her special technique training as if she were walking on air. Christina then quickly ran off as well, so as to avoid any undue suspicion.
Now then, what to do about Bruce’s training… Hrmm, well, maybe I should move things forward a bit. He is quite skilled, after all.
Closing the Encyclopedia of Skills and taking out a notebook, Mira started jotting down what tactics she wanted to try out the next day. Then, with a cocky smile on her face, she again ran through everything she’d written down.
It was the third morning since she’d arrived in Valhalla.
Now that it was time to begin training, Mira stood in the largest training ground on the island. Right alongside her were Alfina and her sisters, as well as Helknae and her sisters.
“…And, just like Christina requested, Master will be observing our training today, so let’s put even more of our all into it than usual.”
Needless to say, the whole thing felt almost like they were at a track meet or something. “Yes, ma’am!” the Valkyries all responded in unison.
Hrmm… They seem pretty happy to have me here.
Or so Mira felt, beholding the scene in front of her and feeling relieved to see how happy all of the sisters looked. It was always a bit tough to have one’s boss show up at the office, but none of the Valkyries seemed very concerned about it. If anything, she got the vibe that they were actually happy that she was there.
And so, while Alfina was explaining what training they’d be doing that day, Mira and Christina locked eyes with each other. Though Christina’s expression seemed to say that she was listening intently to what Alfina was saying, she was also shooting looks at Mira.
Her eyes kept saying the exact same thing: “Please help with what I mentioned last night.”
She wanted help toning down Alfina’s hellish training. This was why Christina had invited Mira, the sole person in the world who could accomplish such a thing, to their training session.
It sure seems like…she isn’t the only one who wants me to put in a word…
Before long, Mira realized that all six of the sisters seemed to have their hopes pinned on her. They’d kept occasionally looking over at her, as if praying she would save them. Their training sessions up until then must’ve really been quite grueling.
With this in mind, Mira observed their training.
Meanwhile, far away, Bruce, who had planned on receiving a lesson from Mira, was instead trying to escape from an ashen knight he was facing off against. Mira had announced that she’d be observing the Valkyrie sisters’ training before giving Bruce his assignment.
The assignment in question was to defeat the ashen knight by using only partial evocation. However, Bruce had only recently learned how to use it, and so this was his first time actually employing partial evocation in combat.
What’s more, while he’d become somewhat decent at using the shield partial evocation, he still didn’t quite have the hang of using the sword one. And yet, he was only allowed to defeat the ashen knight by using that very sword.
The ashen knight was equipped with a wooden training sword, but it was still quite painful if it hit. Asclepius was waiting nearby to heal him in case he did get really hurt, but that didn’t make it any less painful.
While his odds were slim, he had to attack if the training was ever to end. And so, running around so he wouldn’t need to defend himself as often, he regenerated as much mana as possible to use offensively. Thus, battling with the heart of a lion, Bruce fought to complete the task Mira had given him.
This is way beyond what I expected…
After about a couple of hours, they finished their thirty thousand practice swings, which they’d begun as a kind of warm-up. When she heard about practice swings, Mira imagined something like the sort of thing you’d see in kendo or baseball, and yet the Valkyrie take on this was a whole different beast.
The sight of them swinging their swords multiple times a second was truly impressive, and the sound of them whistling through the air resembled the whipping of storm winds.
What’s more, while Alfina and her sisters started every training session this way, thirty thousand really was quite a lot, and so they all looked fairly exhausted.
On that note, Helknae and her sisters were down for the count after about an hour of this practice. Alfina was rather forgiving of them and said that it couldn’t be helped since they’d only just started doing this. Of course, she was still Alfina, and so she made them resume after taking a ten-minute break.
This is pretty extreme…
Before moving onto the next portion of practice, they were given a break. Of fifteen minutes. Christina and her sisters rested their bodies, looking much like corpses as they did, while looking at Mira imploringly. Their eyes were telling Mira that this was the first area they wanted addressed.
Meanwhile, Alfina looked quite satisfied with herself. Judging from her demeanor, it seemed as if it really was just a warm-up session for her.
Even among such talented sisters, Alfina was exceptionally powerful. This particular scene made that quite evident. And this was why there was a clear difference during their training in who got fatigued when.
Christina might’ve just been complaining, but it actually seems like I might need to take a careful look at their training.
Or so Mira found herself feeling once more. She then took out a notepad and jotted down her observations. Perhaps the sight of Mira doing this inspired some hope, because a look of relief washed over the sisters’ faces.