“All righty—let’s start training!” said Sister Sensei, folding her arms and puffing out her chest.
For the record, at that moment I was kneeling on the ground. Why? After leaving the church, she’d said that we were going to train, and brought me to an empty lot behind the church. Though we were still technically on church property, it was apparently left unused because there had been a setback in designing the building, leaving this space undeveloped.
The ground was bare and deserted, so the area was quiet. It was honestly perfect for training.
“Okay—how about we get things started by having you show me your magic tools?” She asked me this as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And it should’ve been, but...
“Don’t got any.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t have any magic tools.”
Her face was frozen into a smile. Looking at me like that won’t magically put some into my possession, lady.
“O-Oh... I get it. You left them at home?”
“No. I can’t use magic tools. Why would I carry around things that I can’t use?”
Sister Sensei froze up again. This made it really clear that it was unthinkable for adventurers in this world to not be able to use magic tools. Maybe I should’ve kept the fact that I couldn’t use them to myself, but that probably wouldn’t have been a good move. If she was so hell-bent on being my teacher, then she would’ve found out eventually, anyway. In that case, it was better to be upfront about it.
“Wait... So you’ve been working as an adventurer this entire time, without magic tools? Oh— I guess you have Black Rose with you, so you’d probably never be in too much danger.”
“I’m a scout. I’m good at being stealthy and exploring. I use those skills to get by.” I don’t have to tell her about my Divine Blessing, especially since that’d instantly flag me as a hero. I can’t let that slip.
“I see... Hm? But wouldn’t that still put you in danger? You’d be going off on your own, without any magic tools or combat ability. That’s dangerous, especially in a remote place like this.”
“And that’s why I don’t go anywhere. I just stay inside and drink.” Not something I should admit so openly, I guess.
“But if you’re an adventurer, you have to go out every now and then, don’t you? Maybe you were okay those few times that you did go out, but at this rate you’re just asking for trouble. Who knows—there might be a situation where you’re forced to go it alone. Yeah, you’re definitely in danger. I need to make sure you’re combat ready.” Sister Sensei nodded, agreeing with herself, and leaving me no opportunity to interrupt. “So I’m gonna whip you into shape. Hm, let’s start with...”
Sister Sensei turned around, beginning to ponder how best to train me. “Wait... Am I allowed to train someone without magic tools? Our training as Holy Knights began with magic tools, but...” You might be trying to whisper, but I can totally hear you. “No, wait. If he’s gonna have to fight monsters anyway, I just have to make him strong enough to be able to hold his ground against them without magic tools.” Uh, no, you wait. “In that case, it shouldn’t matter if he uses magic tools or not. I can stick to my original training plan.” Wait, what? Are you crazy? “Kiri!”
“Yeah?”
“I know how we’re gonna train.”
“Cool. Can we do something different?”
“Huh? Why? You don’t even know what we’re gonna do.”
I know it’s gonna be a muscle-murdering training course. Do you understand what it means to not be able to use magic tools? Do you want me to die?
“Sheesh... That attitude is exactly what got you into this situation in the first place. If you tried to run towards your problems instead of away from them, you’d be a lot better off. As your teacher, I’m not gonna let you slack off.” This isn’t me slacking off. This is me listening to my survival instincts. “So with that said, we’re gonna start by sparring. I wanna see what you’ve got.”
I stared at her in disbelief. Seriously? Even that muscle-head Aegiana Itze had started with muscle training. This girl wanted to start by sparring with me?
“Okay, Kiri—here I come!”
“W-Wait— I— Oof!”
One hour later, I burst into the guild hall and ran to the bar. Spotting my drinking buddy, I joined him at his table.
“Hey.”
“Oh, it’s you.” The old man slowly turned to face me. His entire body was covered by a thin, dirty robe. Though his hood covered most of his face, it didn’t completely cover his unkempt beard. “Heard you got yourself a teacher. Shouldn’t you be training?” he asked, in a deep voice.
“You heard right. So about that— Oh, I’ll take the usual.” As I sat down across from him, I placed my order. Though I received a disapproving look, the server accepted it all the same.
No matter how much I protested, Sister Sensei did not budge on her training regimen...which was the exact same training we would’ve done if I’d had magic tools. How stupid was she? This wasn’t Sparta. She was asking for the impossible. I seriously doubted the guild lady’s judgment if she’d thought that Sister Sensei would make a suitable teacher.
Eventually, when she’d taken a bathroom break, I’d escaped.
“And that’s what happened,” I explained.
“Heh... Sounds rough.”
“‘Rough’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. I almost resigned myself to death multiple times today.” I probably wouldn’t have actually died, though, since she was holding back in her own way.
“Gotta say,” the old man went on, “I don’t really like how people just assume that fighting’s gotta be done with magic tools.”
“Oh? Whaddya mean by that?”
For some reason, everyone in the guild hated this old guy. No matter how packed the guild was, nobody would ever join him at his table, or even sit at the tables around him. That’s how much they hated him. When he approached the girl at the reception desk, she’d shoot him a death glare, so apparently the people running the guild hated him too.