119. The Frail Beauty from Hell
“By ‘making up for it with your body,’ you mean…?”
Seraphine looked around, bewildered.
“Hey, no slacking! Run! Anyone who can’t finish fifty laps gets extra training!”
“Yes, sir!”
Muscular men panted heavily, moving their legs without pause.
“Yes. This is exactly it.”
The heat and sweat radiating from the men made the place feel almost intoxicating.
Just standing there, one could almost feel energy coursing through their veins.
This was the Duke’s training ground.
“My request is that you train alongside the Duke’s knights.”
Something only Seraphine could do.
It was basic physical training.
[Well, I do want to help the young lady with anything…]
[Really? Then let’s go change your clothes first!]
I had brought her because it was fine, but it seemed Seraphine hadn’t expected it to go this far.
“Phew… training?”
A tall, burly knight stepped toward her.
“Have you arrived, young lady?”
“Oh, Sir Johnson.”
The training captain, Johnson, saluted lightly. Sweat dotted his forehead, probably from training.
“And this is the apprentice you mentioned before?”
“That’s right.”
“Perfect timing. The Duke’s knights have begun special training in preparation for the upcoming hunting festival. The apprentice will join the training immediately.”
“Me? An apprentice?”
Seraphine’s eyes widened as Sir Johnson studied her intently.
“I saw your swordsmanship talent the last time. I requested that you be accepted as a knightly apprentice for the time being.”
One of Seraphine’s hidden traits: hidden strength.
‘Not exactly obvious, but she’s hiding something…’
Whatever reason she had for hiding it, it was a shame to let such ability go unused.
‘I initially thought about teaching her magic first…’
But surprisingly, Kaien had objected.
[What are you planning to do with such a frail girl?]
[No matter how much natural mana she has, if her body can’t keep up, it’s useless.]
[Magic consumes both the caster’s stamina and willpower.]
‘So, to run complex software, you need solid hardware first.’
If you want to run high-end programs, you start by upgrading the graphics card.
First, build her physical strength, then teach her magic.
‘If she’s well-trained, she’ll be useful in some way.’
A human mana detector? Or a magic swordsman who can slay demons with a single strike?
Either way, awakening her powers would add to my strength.
Unlike my ambitious drive, Seraphine kept resisting.
“Talent? I don’t have any. It was just a coincidence.”
“Coincidence? Too modest. The day you fought the monster alone, I saw undeniable talent.”
“That really was just a coincidence…!”
Clap, clap, clap.
Sir Johnson applauded.
“A true strong person doesn’t flaunt their strength. Our apprentice already shows the makings of a fine knight.”
“No, really!”
“No matter how exceptional the potential, without grueling effort, it’s meaningless.”
“I really don’t have talent! You must be mistaken…”
“Now, no more complaints. Let’s start training immediately!”
A knight beside her pushed Seraphine forward.
Together with Sir Johnson, they drove her with relentless force.
“Since it’s your first day, we’ll start with just ten laps!”
“Eek! Help me!”
Watching her scrawny figure being driven like prey to the slaughter, I waved my hand gently.
Running was truly the best way to improve stamina.
Sir Johnson approached me.
“Won’t you join the training, young lady?”
“I’m not really into exercise.”
“But I heard you collapsed recently.”
“Yes, but that was from lack of sleep. Even you would feel dizzy after staying up three nights, wouldn’t you?”
“I’ve never had that happen, even after a week of overnight work.”
“…What?”
Is he even human?
“I believe it’s simply a lack of stamina.”
“Excuse me?”
“From now on, the young lady should run with us as well.”
“…What???”
“Huff, huff, huff…”
The afternoon sun blazed down.
Even the circular training ground, surrounded like a barrier by tall trees, was scorched by sunlight.
Inside, Seraphine ran endlessly, like a hamster on a wheel.
‘Can this even be called running?’
Her limbs flopped like a jellyfish.
“You’ll damage your joints like that! Run using your muscles!”
Muscle, muscle.
Sir Johnson, whose brain seemed packed with muscle, forcibly corrected Seraphine’s posture.
Sweat poured like rain; the world turned a blinding yellow-green.
“Please, stop! I taste blood in my throat!”
I gave up first.
Though I wanted to stop, my legs, running on inertia rather than strength, refused to halt.
“You still have energy to speak, so you can keep running?”
“Why are you deciding that, Sir Johnson! I feel like I’m dying!”
“You have a good voice. Two extra laps.”
“I can’t! I really can’t!”
“Run as if a beast were chasing you. If I catch you now, three more laps.”
“Yes, yes?”
Dada-dada-dada—
Sir Johnson’s fierce gaze chased me like a hyena.
I dashed wildly, suddenly feeling like prey being hunted.
“Ahhh!”
This is insane!
Huff, huff…
Cursing under my breath, I finally finished fifteen laps.
Seraphine collapsed onto a chair; I sank to the ground before reaching one.
“My, my throat…”
“Water, please.”
“Here, young lady!”
I gulped down the life-giving liquid as Sir Johnson approached.
“Rested enough? Then it’s time for the main training.”
“Isn’t that enough for today? We ran fifteen laps!”
“Nonsense. That was just a warm-up.”
I protested, but he looked at me as if I were an alien.
“What?”
“You haven’t even held a sword yet?”
“That’s impossible. How could that be?”
“Here it is. Let’s go train!”
Dragging me in despair, Sir Johnson led the way.
“Good work! You may now dismiss!”
The afternoon sun slanted lazily across the training ground.
Sir Johnson finally let us go after completing basic swordsmanship.
I was completely drained, melting like wax.
“My whole body feels useless…”
“Mine too…”
Seraphine, utterly exhausted, dragged her legs.
Sweat-soaked hair clung to her cheeks.
“Still, young lady Seraphine is so kind. She could have cursed me for dragging her to the training ground.”
“I don’t have the energy…”
I was relieved she had no strength left to curse me.
Shivering, we staggered out of the training ground like two shaky café buzzers.
Reaching the mansion entrance, the waiting maids greeted us.
“You’re back, young lady. Did you enjoy your training?”
“Shall we prepare refreshments for the guest?”
I ignored the chattering maids and looked at Seraphine.
Her body was about to collapse; the light in her eyes had faded.
I could tell exactly what she wanted without her saying a word.
“Forget the refreshments. Prepare a bed in the guest room; she’s going straight to sleep.”
I sent the nearly collapsing Seraphine ahead and returned to my room.
But at the door, I ran into a man.
“You’re back, master?”
It was Kaien.
Dressed neatly in servant’s attire, he greeted me politely.
Since returning from the Garrett estate, I had deliberately avoided him.
‘He shouldn’t remember what happened in the dream…’
I felt awkward knowing I had seen too much of him.
A faint guilt lingered for peeking into his private self.
I tried to act normally around others but avoided situations where we’d be alone, like today.
Yet here he was, waiting at my door.
“Why are you here…?”
“Your clothes are soaked. You need to change first.”
He stared at me, expression unreadable, neither smiling nor angry.
“Uh… I exercised a bit. I’ll change myself.”
I tried to move past him, but he stood firm like a statue.
“Changing yourself is the servant’s job, isn’t it?”
“…Suddenly speaking informally?”
At some point, he had begun dropping honorifics when alone with me.
Just like his night persona.
“You’re not… the night persona, are you?”
I thought I was joking, but his face stiffened.
[Why? You’d rather it be him?]
…Telepathy?
“Did you just send this?”
But his day persona couldn’t use telepathy.
This had been a contract made only with his night persona.
‘System window: peek at character keywords.’
I hurriedly opened the Luck Point Shop. Some instinct told me to do it.
[#DarkMaleLead #WoundedMaleLead #MageMaleLead #DualPersonality #OP #HiddenRoutePioneer…]
After revealing familiar information, hidden keywords appeared:
[#TraversesSystems #□□□]
