Lex’s large hand is covering mine on the bow grip. His broad, armor-covered chest is pressed up against my back. And most disconcerting of all is how he’s so close that I can see the finer details of his long eyelashes. My heart can’t help drumming a noisy beat. Yesterday’s close-encounter after the zombie bird made me more aware of him as a man—it’s doubly embarrassing now.
“M-My humblest apologies!” Finally realizing it, Lex jumps away from me as if I’ve turned into a zombie. His reaction is enough to tell me his close proximity was purely out of an innocent desire to teach me. I understand he has no ulterior motives, but you can never underestimate the feelings of a high school girl with zero dating experience.
“Please try shooting as I just showed you!”
“O-Okay!”
We both raise our voices louder than necessary. I’m overly conscious of people staring at us, but decide to shove it out of my mind for now. My face is burning—the sun will set before my heart shuts up. I take a deep breath and release the arrow from my hand.
The arrow zips through the air with a whoosh. But it quickly loses its momentum and falls awkwardly without striking the ground. It went about 130 feet at a glance. Even if I was aiming for the log, it wouldn’t have made it.
“I-It’s nowhere close… Embarrassing…”
“It takes practice, m’lady.”
“I might’ve been a little scared that the arrow vein was rubbing the string too.”
I don’t have superhuman strength like Lex, but I’ve always been confident in my physical ability. So I was positive I would do better on my first try, which only makes this result even more frustrating.
“Please cheer up, Big Sis. You did better than me. When I tried it, the arrow dropped right at my feet,” Cia says woefully.
“You probably need a little more muscle to shoot further,” I reply with a wry smile.
“You think so too?”
Cia doesn’t have any health issues, so she could do with a little more exercise to build up her stamina. Then again, I would prefer if she didn’t overdo the muscles.
Sir Oden arrives at the training grounds while I’m having fun taking practice shots. Seven Lucors, including Theos, are with him. Sir Oden calls over the training soldiers and introduces them to the Lucors.
“The Lucors are going to put on an archery demonstration for us today. You men better pay close attention! There have been reports of zombie bird attacks in the capital. Burn the Lucor technique into your brains so you can face enemies at any distance!”
After Sir Oden’s introduction, the Lucors promptly take up their bows and shoot at the logs without an ounce of nervousness. Every single arrow strikes its target.
“Wow!” I exclaim. “They never miss!”
“I have heard stories of their skill, but it’s even more impressive to see it.” Lex is glued to their demonstration as well.
If they can shoot like that, then they shouldn’t have any problem taking down the zombie birds, even with the way they zoom through the air. They can easily pass for archery specialists. And Theos stands out as a master of the masters. Every arrow he releases pierces right through the cross carved into the log.
“Your dad is amazing, Nady. I can see why he’s the chieftain.”
“Y-Yeah. The best archer tends to be chosen as chieftain,” she explains.
Is it just me or are Theos’s arms bulging abnormally? His muscles look like they are going to rip right out of his skin. Is that normal? Should they be larger than his head? Am I the only one bothered by it? I search the area for anyone else sharing my concerns, but I only find people awed by his skills. Maybe that’s a Lucor thing?
I shake my head and decide to forget about it since I doubt I’ll get a logical answer. I’ve learned how to adapt and move on quickly since coming to this world.
“Are you just as skilled, Nady?” I ask, secretly hoping she doesn’t share her father’s bulging muscles.
“I’m nothing compared to the others...”
“I would love to see you do it anyway!”
“Um…” Nady looks away and says nothing more. She doesn’t seem up for it.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“No, I don’t mind,” she answers with a small smile after a slight pause.
I think I might have pushed her into something she doesn’t want to do, but she did agree to it. It almost feels like it would be worse to tell her not to now, so I’m going to gratefully accept her willingness.
“Excuse me, are there any larger longbows?” Nady asks shyly after looking through the bows propped up at the end of the shooting range.
I expected the Lucor bows to be too small because of the good foot size difference between them, but it appears Grantz soldiers also use the wrong size bow for her.
“We only have two sizes—”
“You can use mine,” Sir Oden says over the soldier in charge of handing out the bows and arrows. He is holding a bow that’s almost one whole size bigger than the rest. It’s likely his personal bow given how much larger he is than the rest of his men.
“Thank you for letting me borrow it.”
Nady accepts the bow, stands at the end of the archery line, and takes her stance facing the target. She releases the first arrow with practiced ease. Unfortunately, it misses the log, but that seemed to be a practice shot.
She resumes an open stance after running her hands over the bow, string, and arrow, getting a feel for its kinks. Holding the bow, she seems completely different from the timid girl I’ve come to know.
I hear the string trembling before the arrow zips through the air. It cuts through the wind without deviating from its course and strikes the center of the cross on the log. Wood splinters with the impact that was louder than anyone else’s shot, causing everyone to stop what they are doing and stare.
“Oh my!” I shout with glee, forgetting to say “gosh” because I’m too wowed to finish my sentence.
“…I wasn’t expecting that,” Sir Oden marvels.
“I didn’t think we had such a skilled archer in our presence,” Lex praises.
The stunned soldiers begin lavishing Nady with praise. But all the attention is too much for her. She quickly returns the bow to Sir Oden and runs back to me in escape.
“You’re incredible, Nady! The others are nothing compared to YOU!” I exclaim.
“Big Sis is right! Your speed and thwack were the best yet!”
“Th-Thank you. It was just a coincidence...” Nady blushes from our enthusiastic praise.
She reacted the same way when I told her she’s cute. Maybe she’s not used to being complimented. But her tail is softly flicking back and forth, so I think it’s safe to say she’s happy.
“Hmph. Doesn’t matter if you’re good at hitting immobile targets.”
“Yeah. What matters is if you can take down living prey!”
“Nady can’t hit animals even if her life depends on it. I seriously doubt she’s Chieftain Theos’s daughter.”
I hear several disgruntled voices on the range. At first I thought it was jealous soldiers, but when I look around it seems to be coming from some of the younger Lucors. They’re keeping their voices just quiet enough for Theos not to hear. They are literally talking behind his back. I can’t believe they are badmouthing someone from their own tribe. It ticks me off hearing them belittle my friend.
“Excuse me, can you please cut the crap?!” I snap.
“I hate to burst your bubble, but we are only speaking the truth, Miss Priestess.” one of the young Lucor males responds with a shrug. He’s trying to be as polite as possible with me, but the effect was lost the moment he mocked Nady.
“How can Nady not hit a moving target? Did you see how much better she is at archery than everyone here? Tell them off, Nady!” I say, looking over my shoulder at her for support. She’s looking at her hands, her ears and tail drooped like a sad puppy. “Nady...?” I repeat.
“…true…” she mutters under her breath, trembling.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“What everyone says is…true. I haven’t had a single successful hunt. That’s why they call me useless…” Nady turns and runs away from the archery range.
“Ah, Nady!”
Calling her name won’t stop her now—she’s so fast, I doubt she can hear me. She’s already out of sight.
We haven’t been friends for long. And yet I had to go and get a big head thinking I knew more about her than the people of her tribe. I think my actions just now may have unknowingly hurt her.
…This sucks.