133 – advance(1)

A gymnasium located deep inside the imperial palace.

Two members of the royal family are running around in an orderly manner in the gymnasium built deep inside the imperial castle, where only members of the imperial family or ministers who have been personally permitted by the emperor can enter and exit.

As befits a place made exclusively for the royal family, it was not at all awkward to see the royal family training here, but there was one person who, in the eyes of others, did not fit in with this place at all.

Orcus Estelia.

As the first prince of the empire, he was running through the gymnasium with a painful face on his face, with his younger sister, Noel, as his running mate. It’s only natural that he’s having such a hard time since he doesn’t train regularly, but why is he running in the gymnasium?

Even if he was aiming for a knight like Noel, he was already an excellent wizard.

It’s not that wizards don’t have to train their stamina, but that doesn’t mean it’s considered essential either. Orcus, who usually spends his time in his room with housework and magic training, was quite foreign to see Orcus running around like this.

“Huh!… Heh!..”

“What if you’re out of breath already? Oh! And you just tried to raise your holy power!! That’s no way! You say your body has to get used to it? After running two more laps, let’s train the lower body. Brother.”

“Joe, take a break…”

“Because you say that, you are directing Elena with your fist.”

“Ouch!!”

At Noel’s words, Orcus, who had been dying until just now, began to speed up. Orcus was quick to admit his shortcomings, but that didn’t mean he had low self-esteem. Noel’s words were enough to become a catalyst for him.

In the first place, the training he was doing now started at the request of Orcus, so no matter what Noel said, he was in no position to complain. Even though Noel continued to provoke him, he couldn’t say anything, so there was only one outlet for his feelings toward him.

Leading his wobbly legs, Orcus ran through the gymnasium.

I thought I wanted to quit right away, but Noel’s provocation stopped it. After running and running with Noel’s horse as fuel, Orcus eventually succeeded in making it back and forth across the gymnasium up to the number of times Noel had set for his goal.

As soon as he crossed the line, he collapsed to the ground, but the sense of accomplishment of completing the race brought a smile to Orcus’ face. Of course, that didn’t make it possible to hold on to the forced breath.

“Uhhhhh!

“Hey!! Completed 100 rounds of the gymnasium! You’ve succeeded!!! Brother!”

It feels shabby to say that it is a record of a person who is called a superman who has surpassed a criminal, but becoming a superman is only by strengthening one’s body with energy like mana or manipulating one’s special abilities. It was a big deal, at least for Orcus.

“Heh…it’s hard…”

Orcus said that it was difficult without being able to answer Noel’s words, but a smile of success hung on his lips.

At first, it was only for entertainment because of one pride, so I could quit at any time, but after feeling this success, I thought it was okay. I never thought that it would be possible to complete the race without using magic or divine power.

If I continued to train like this, I wondered if at least there would be no such thing as showing the same ugliness to others.

“Joohohhhhh! Then let’s move on to the next one!!!”

“That, that’s really unreasonable…”

Even so, it would be unreasonable to follow the training right now as Noel said.

Noel didn’t say anything more when he saw Orcus, who was motionless in place. Instead, she sat down next to Orcus, sat cross-legged, and started talking to him in a low voice.

“Older brother, don’t you have no strength in your body?”

“Okay. So, please watch me go straight to the next training session. I’ll recover soon and move on.”

“Would you like to close your eyes and leave the divine power alone for a while?”

“Eye?”

“Quickly.”

At Noel’s urging words, Orcus closed his eyes. Still, it wasn’t a demand to get up and run right away, so there was no reason not to comply. Orcus closed his eyes, and Noel continued.

“Don’t move mana, divine power, or any kind of energy. Just feel the state where the power is completely drained from your body right now. My brother has enough sensitive senses, so you can feel it. How your body moves.”

It was a bit of a puzzle, but Orcus immediately followed Noel’s words.

His breathlessness still prevented him from concentrating, but Noel had no particular time limit, allowing Orcus to take a few breaths and contemplate his body in a relaxed state.

Contemplating one’s own body like this was like eating a meal while breathing mana as a wizard, but this time it was a little different. It wasn’t intentionally moving the energy and blowing it into the body, but observing the breathing that a person naturally does, so it took Orcus a longer time to feel it than to move the energy.

However, once he first got the strands, extending this sense was not too difficult for him.

Breathing, heartbeat and blood movement.

His sensitive senses, enough to be called a superman, began to catch the movements that make his body move one by one. Suddenly, a lot of information started pouring out, and it was understandable to be embarrassed, but Orcus’ face was still the same. Because he wasn’t a criminal either.

Knowing what Orcus was feeling, Noel, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth again.

“What I’m going to teach you this time is how to breathe. It’s not just about breathing in a lot of air. I have to breathe in a way that suits my body. In fact, my older brother should already know. You ran so hard.”

“…”

Orcus said nothing.

Just repeating the inhalation and exhalation. Already he seemed to be finding the right breath for him even without Noel talking.

After some time Orcus opened his eyes again.

Noel was looking at him with a smile as always and didn’t say anything to him like before. Orcus said to Noel.

“I’ll run a few more laps for a second.”

***

“Is that why Orcus is running so hard in the gymnasium?”

“Yes! It seems like you’ve completely caught on. If we keep going like this, it’s only a matter of time before my older brother gets the sword in his hand.”

“Well…if that guy seems to be doing something, there’s a side to him that you’ll fall in love with right away. I came here because he said he was training, but I thought he was a little out of the blue because he was running in the gym… Is it because of what happened last time?”

“Well, that’s right? No matter how much Elena was the opponent, my older brother gave up too quickly at that time. If you act the same in the Holy Ghost Festival, His Majesty will strike a jingle.”

At first glance, the appearance of Orcus running through the gymnasium seemed possessed by something, but it still looked better than before. Should I say it’s the same as when I was hooked on archery in the past? Even though people came, Orcus didn’t seem to know I was there.

It seems that a lot of concentration is required to keep breathing, so Orcus, a beginner, must not have time to turn his attention to other things.

Even after returning to Luden from the south, he continued to practice archery, so it is very likely that physical training will follow the same route. Well, when it comes to physical training, it’s a good thing for everyone, so it can be said to be a good influence. As long as you don’t overdo it.

Apparently this guy is overworked today, so I should come back next time.

As I was thinking about that, Noel spoke to me.

“By the way, did Damian come because he has some business for his brother? Ah! Is it wrong for me to listen?”

“No. Nothing else, but this.”

“Gloves? Why?”

“These seem ordinary gloves from the outside, but take a good look at them?”

I handed the glove to Noel for a moment, then reached for it just as Eltman had shown it to me. The glove immediately flew to me and was worn on my hand, and it was painted in a dark color with a slight change rather than a plain appearance like before.

It’s been like this since Elena touched it, so it must be one of the new features. Anyway, Noel has a lot of boyish sides, so after seeing this, Noel’s reaction was not much different from when I first saw these gloves.

“Wow ah ah ah !!! What are you?! Just?

“Uh…I think it’s impossible since this is the current owner.”

“Eh…”

“Well, maybe I’ll get one for you, Noel, sooner or later.”

“Yes? Is that true?!”

“What if the talk goes well with Orcus?”

“Older brother hee hee hee hee!!!! Stop running and come here quickly!!!!”