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🕑 Added 2025-08-02 21:18:11 +0000 UTCEP.18 Training (1)
The next morning. As usual, Yuno went out to the training grounds with Eliza for basic physical training. But today, there were two people present whom he hadn’t seen before.
“Yuno~”
“Oppa~~”
“Huh? Sis? Marie? What brings you here so early? Don’t you have other classes?”
Normally, after breakfast, Isabella and Marie would have to go to the classroom in the Empress’s palace for their other lessons, but for some reason, both were at the training grounds.
“Ugh, even if it’s Catherine, I’m so frustrated that I lost without being able to put up a proper fight… so I’m going to at least do physical training from today.”
“Me too! If I train with you, Oppa, maybe it’ll be harder for enemies to get close, and even if they do, I’ll be able to dodge at least one or two attacks, right?”
‘Well… it’s not like princesses will be going to the battlefield. How often would they actually need to fight… But there’s nothing bad about building stamina…’
Thinking this, Yuno made them promise not to get caught up in his pace, then started running with Eliza.
As Yuno began running around the training ground at an incredible speed, Eliza tried her best to keep up but soon fell behind, while Isabella and Marie jogged slowly, watching Yuno’s training.
“Wow~ He seems even faster after waking up from that fainting spell.”
“Isn’t Oppa still unable to use mana? Why is he so fast?”
“Right… Knights channel mana through their bodies… but his method must be totally different from ours. It’s unusual.”
They weren’t the only ones who noticed; Yuno himself was surprised at how much faster and stronger his body felt.
‘What… what is this? I’m not using mana, but I feel an incredible energy! I feel like I could run forever without getting tired!’
Yuno soon forgot that Isabella, Eliza, and Marie were even there, focusing solely on his training.
After running nonstop for an hour around the training ground, Yuno showed no signs of fatigue. Not only did he activate his weighted bracelets, but he also started lifting huge iron weights, all of which Catherine and Lichtenauer were watching from afar.
“Kukuku, that kid… You said you were eager to teach him? Bet you’re pretty jealous that I got him.”
“Grr… Who would have thought His Highness’s mana hole would be in such a place… You’d better teach him well! Otherwise, my sword won’t let you off easy!”
“Hmph! Like I’m scared of your sword? What are you going to do if I don’t teach him right?”
If Catherine and Lichtenauer actually fought, it was unlikely there would be a clear winner, so Lichtenauer just glared at Catherine. But then, as if a clever idea struck, Lichtenauer smiled.
“Hmph! Then I’ll just slash your teaching fee! I heard you have a lot of debt at the capital’s taverns… If I tell the finance minister…”
“Y-you dirty cheat! Threatening me over my love of booze… Hahaha, why’s the commander of the royal guard being so petty?”
Catherine grinned sheepishly for a moment, then straightened her face and spoke to Lichtenauer.
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach him right even without those threats. When else in my life will I get to train a body like that? Honestly, I should be begging to take him as my disciple.”
“Well… I suppose that’s true. I too have been curious to see how strong His Highness would become since he was little.”
“In that case, it’s not exactly a substitute, but… what about her? The princess from Leon. She’s got some serious talent too, you know.”
When Catherine suddenly pointed at Eliza, Lichtenauer looked at her in surprise.
“Hm? Princess Eliza? What would I teach her? And you want me to teach the swordsmanship of the imperial knights a culmination of 500 years of the Empire’s history to a princess from an enemy kingdom? If she goes back to Leon and teaches it, I’ll lose my head!”
“Heh… For all that, she seems totally smitten with our prince. When I tried to attack him as a test, she looked like she wanted to kill me.”
“Hm… Alright. I’ll suggest it to His Majesty at lunch. The royal guard belongs to the emperor, so I can’t do anything without permission.”
Even as he said this, Lichtenauer’s eyes were fixed on Eliza.
Though Eliza couldn’t match Yuno’s movements, she still showed impressive athletic ability, proving that her time training with Yuno hadn’t been wasted, and Lichtenauer found himself wanting to take her as a student.
‘Hm~ Teaching a lovely princess sounds better than just sweaty men. And she seems close to the prince… Even if I hold back on the secrets, it wouldn’t be bad to teach her.’
Thus, Yuno and Eliza each ended up with a master, and from the afternoon, they began lessons with Catherine and Lichtenauer.
Eliza parted from Yuno and headed to the knights’ training ground, where she began swordsmanship training with the royal guard trainees under Lichtenauer.
Thanks to her physical training with Yuno, following the basic movements of the swordsmanship drills wasn’t too hard, but during Lichtenauer’s personal instruction, she had to roll on the ground constantly.
Lichtenauer attacked her openings with all sorts of advanced stances and tricky swordplay, and as a beginner, she found it hard even to dodge, let alone block.
“After blocking a cut, immediately counter! Just standing there bracing yourself won’t change anything! Always focus on defense, but attack and defense must happen together!”
“Haaaap!!”
“Don’t move too hastily! You have to feel the sword sticking to you.”
Lichtenauer’s teaching was harsh, and if he didn’t like her form, he’d immediately kick her to the ground.
But every time Eliza hit the ground, she remembered failing to protect Yuno, gritted her teeth, and got up to swing her sword again.
“That’s it! Grit! Grit is the most important thing. Even against an enemy you think you can’t beat, if you grit your teeth and hold on, you’ll find a breakthrough.”
Lichtenauer was very pleased with Eliza, but kept pushing her harder.
While Eliza was being run ragged by Lichtenauer, Yuno headed to his personal training room in the basement.
Catherine was already there waiting, and as soon as Yuno entered, she greeted him with a booming voice.
“Welcome, Yuno! As I said yesterday, from today I’ll be teaching you Catherine Aragon. Before we get serious… let’s have you attack me with everything you’ve got. Any technique or weapon is fine!”
Boom!!
No sooner had Catherine finished speaking than Yuno, eager to redeem himself from yesterday, charged at her without hesitation.
“Is this all your fists can do? Every move should be compact! Move faster!!”
“Grr!! Haap!!”
Every so often, Catherine would check Yuno’s open arms or legs, kicking and correcting his form bit by bit.
Whoosh!! Bang!
“That was good! Your form’s much cleaner. But what if your opponent does this?”
As Yuno pressed her toward the wall, Catherine threw sand from her pocket in his face, and caught off guard, Yuno closed his eyes.
Thwack!!
Immediately, Catherine’s fist struck Yuno’s jaw. Even though she didn’t use mana, the force was enough to knock Yuno out.
When Yuno collapsed, Catherine splashed a bucket of water on his face to wake him up.
“Wha ! Ack, ack… Master?”
“From now on, we’ll spar once before every lesson. As you just saw, I’ll attack you with every dirty trick in the book. So forget about fighting fair. Got it?”
“Yes! Understood!”
Until now, Yuno had trained alone, and when he sparred with the royal guard, the senior knights went easy on him, and with the trainees, he had to hold back. He’d never had an opponent he could go all out against.
That’s why he liked Catherine’s straightforward teaching style.
Her personality showed in the rest of the lesson too.
“Your body is already almost fully developed. So with me, we’ll focus on specific combat moves, using terrain, and mana training.”
“Um… how do you train mana? The knights combine their sword forms with breathing techniques, but since my mana hole is… well, it doesn’t really work…”
“Don’t worry about that. Our school’s training method doesn’t care where your mana hole is. Now, watch what I do.”
Catherine brought over an insanely thick, heavy chunk of iron and punched it bare-fisted.
Bang!!
A fist-sized dent appeared in the iron, crushing it.
“See? What do you think of my fist?”
“Huh? It’s fine… But didn’t you use mana? You’re a master… If you used aura…”
Flick!
“Hey~ You think I’d show off just for that? What is mana? It’s the force that pervades everything in the world. All living things have mana. And when a living thing gets hurt, mana naturally flows to help heal.”
“Yes… that’s true, but…”
“So if you keep stressing and injuring your body, mana will keep circulating, making you stronger, right? For example, your daily training has brought your stamina and strength to near-superhuman levels even without using mana.”
“So you mean…?”
Yuno hoped it wasn’t true, but Catherine’s next words crushed that hope.
“That’s right. From today, you’ll hit this steel sandbag with every part of your body. For parts you can’t hit yourself, I’ll hit them with this iron ball, so don’t worry.”
“B-but if I do that from the start, won’t I get injured and have trouble training every day? Shouldn’t I start slow…”
Yuno tried to cling to the last shards of hope, but Catherine ground them to dust.
“Hahaha, don’t worry. After the stimulus, I’ll use breathing techniques to stabilize your body, and you’ll feel yourself recover naturally. If you keep repeating this, your mana will grow, and your body, which you thought had reached its limit, will improve even more. You know muscle growth is based on repeated stimulus and nutrition. We just make it a bit more intense and supplement with mana.”
‘Aaaah, what is this!! I reincarnated to live an easy life, but this is too much!! If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn’t have trained and drawn attention!!’
Yuno was filled with regret, but it was already too late.
“Well, just suffer a little more. I’ve been through this training myself, so I know it’s tough. But if you endure it, you’ll be able to do this!”
Catherine pulled a dagger from her martial arts uniform and stabbed her own arm repeatedly.
“Huh!! Master!! What are you… ah?”
Yuno rushed over in shock, but Catherine calmly stretched out her arm. To Yuno’s eyes, her arm was unscathed, and the dagger was bent, leaving Yuno wide-eyed.
“See? This is the result of Aragon-style training. That’s why I can fight armed knights bare-handed and why I’m called a Fist Master. Of course, I’m the only one who’s reached this level… but Yuno, you could go even further.”
‘This… this is amazing… If I can get a body like that, I’d be immune to assassins! Even if it’s a bit painful, I have to learn this properly.’
Seeing the results of training right in front of him, Yuno couldn’t help but believe. His eyes began to burn with the passion for training, and Catherine smiled with satisfaction as she watched.
