4. Practice Training – 01

The classes at Nineveh were more filthy and boring than Jean had thought.

To be honest, I thought the classes would focus on combat-related exercises, but when I opened the lid, I found that there were a lot of classes related to literature, mathematics, history, and art.

The battle-related classes that Jin expected were assigned only three days a week. Should I say that it is an environment that is not very compatible with Jin, who was a failure in liberal arts?

– It’s natural. Most of the students who attend this school are children of noble families. No matter how important it is to develop one’s abilities and nurture talent, it’s difficult only when the brains of those who have to work for the empire in the future are messed up.

Well, even if the contents of the class were filthy boring, there was one thing that had to be pointed out.

“By the way, where the hell do you wander around every break? I want to talk to you, but I just can’t.”

Yes. If you look for the root cause of Jin’s admission to Nineveh, it’s all to seduce Erekaya.

However, since Erekaya tended to leave the classroom and disappear somewhere else during break time, it was impossible to talk to her.

First of all, wouldn’t it be a law to make progress, whether it be death or food, by making friends with her in some form and talking to her first?

‘That’s why you can’t blindly follow Erekaya… .’

Jin also wandered around the school to find out where Erekaya was heading at his own time interval, but this damn school was so large that it was not easy to find out where Erekaya was.

Crucially, in a state where you can’t properly talk to her right now, on the day you recklessly follow her and get caught, you can’t even take it off and go stalker. In that case, there really would be no other option than suicide.

– Currently, I am working hard every break to solve my duties as student president. So don’t think about doing useless things, and first of all, just quietly enjoy your school life. Originally, a relationship is not artificially created. Do you think the phrase “the red thread of fate” came up for nothing?

“What nonsense are you talking about? He said that if he trusted you, he could lightly seduce at least one of you.”

-Anyway, you’re doing well by choosing only words that look like idiots. It is true that I can give you various advice about your relationship, but it is never possible to suddenly create a relationship that does not exist in one moment. Jin, do you know what is the most important factor in winning a girl’s favor?

“… How do I know that.”

If he had known such things well, wouldn’t he have been getting old without even dating a couple of times so that Jin would grow old in the first place?

– From ancient times, the animal called woman is weak to the word fate. A fateful encounter, a fateful crossover, a fateful kiss… Just as a man never grows old no matter how old he gets, a woman, no matter how old she gets, always wants her own prince on a white horse somewhere in her heart.

– And the moment you meet me one day by fate will be the timing for me to give advice in earnest. So please wait patiently. Are you in the same space, taking the same classes, and making eye contact every day, but don’t you think no chance will come?

Saying that, Erekaya threw a sneer at Jin.

– Of course, it is absolutely impossible with your own strength. It’s because you’re such a bad hanger man. Women also have eyes to see, so they like handsome princes, and don’t like guys with personality like you. The world is wide and there are countless people with different tastes, so there might be a girl out there who will like you, but at least I’m not that kind of girl.

“What the fuck.”

At Erekaya’s words, Jin ended up swearing. It felt like my heart was being torn by Erekaya’s ceaseless fact attacks.

– I don’t know how a man like this did in the past. Could it be that Altina von Rudel Serias from the episode you dated had a damaged brain or eyes?

“Isn’t it like that?”

Despite being furious at Erekaya’s words, Jin momentarily raised his voice. But that was only for a moment, and Jin let out a deep sigh. In a way, her words also made sense.

“… Well, in a sense, we didn’t have a normal relationship, so you’re not wrong.”

– You said you couldn’t have a normal relationship? What does that mean?

“It is literally. At the time, Altina and I were in a romantic relationship, but… It could never have been a normal relationship.”

At that time, Altina had lost everything due to the end of the world. Family, friends, precious people, and even the country.

The Altina Jin knew was a woman without a smile. When she was alone with Jin, she showed a small smile, but there was always a sad look in her smile.

Altina was always in pain. Because the pain was not from a wound on her body, but a wound on her soul, she was always suffering and struggling with the pain.

But paradoxically, because of that situation, Jin and Altina were able to become lovers. Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible to become a lover of an heir to one of the top five families in the empire and a wanderer whose status was unknown.

That’s why, between Jin and Altina, there was not even the slightest hint of something like a lover. As an analogy, it should be like a pair of wild dogs licking each other’s wounds.

– In the end, to sum it up, it’s that I’ve never had a relationship like love. Somehow, I wondered why he would say such an asshole that he had never held a woman’s hand once in his mouth, even though he had experience in dating.

“Yes, I hope you have a lot of experience.”

Jin, who heard Erekaya’s words in one ear and let them out in the other, moved to the gym prepared exclusively for class A.

– Why are you going to the gymnasium? Today is the first day, so wouldn’t it be nice to just go to the dormitory and rest?

“Wouldn’t it be great if I could do that too? My life is also really miserable, miserable.”

There are still 10 years left until the first end comes, but if we wait idly for 10 years with our eyes open, humanity will face the end of annihilation as it is.

In other words, in order to defeat the first demise without suffering any damage, it is necessary to make preparations in its own way, and for this, it is essential to first train one’s physical strength and prepare one’s body.

It has been a long time since Jin’s body, which Jin trained hard for the past 10 years, has gone through a regression and returned to a body full of softness. If you go out with a body like this, you will be beaten to death somewhere.

In the end, a simple conclusion was drawn that in order to recover the former fighting power as soon as possible, there was no choice but to train in advance without being lazy.

So Jin entered the gymnasium dedicated to class A, but no one was there. Well, it’s only the beginning of the semester, and there can’t be many crazy people who focus on self-discipline after school as if their lives were at stake.

Jin picked up the training sword that was lying in one corner of the gymnasium. It’s been so long since I’ve held a sword, the feeling of holding it feels strange.

– You don’t normally use a sword?

“I am not good at swords. And it doesn’t sit well with me.”

The teacher who once taught Jin also said so. You don’t have any talent for anything other than swords anyway, so train in a direction that interests you.

‘You’re an idiot anyway, so just shut up and try. You say you’re a regressor anyway? If you try for hundreds of years, won’t you be able to follow my toes?’

Although her tone was very rough and unkind, it could be said that it was the result of her own insight into the person Jin. As he said, after working hard for about a hundred years, I have seen progress in martial arts as much as the tears of ants.

Well, as the teacher said, even though he worked tirelessly for over a hundred years, he finally came, but he didn’t realize it.

– Why are you holding on to the training sword if you say you are not good at swords?

“Why why? Have you already forgotten that when you entered Nineveh, you lied about being a swordsman’s disciple and denied admission? At least while you are in Nineveh, you might have to act as a disciple of the Sword Saint, but what will happen if it is revealed that the disciple of the Sword Saint is a half-penny who can’t even wield a sword?”

In short, this could be said to be the karma of Jin’s admission to Nineveh after hitting Gura.

– … Hmm, you mean Pendragon’s swordsmanship? I had something to tell you about it anyway.

“What.”

– Pendragon’s sword is not a type of swordsmanship that can be learned simply by practicing. No, in the first place, Pendragon’s swordsmanship was-

But that was the time.

“… Well? Were there any passengers?”

A figure appeared in the gymnasium, where there had been no signs of popularity until now.

And the identity of that person was someone Jin knew as well.

No, should I say a woman who can’t be known in the first place?

“… Altina.”

It was Altina von Rudel Serias, herself.

In fact, this was the first time Jin looked directly at Altina’s face.

Because just before, when we were in the same classroom, I forcibly averted my gaze and tried not to look at her as much as possible.

Altina’s face was identical to the one Jin knew from a few years later. If there is a difference, if the face that Jin knew showed a little more mature energy, is it only that the current Altina has yet to get out of her youthful t-shirt?

In addition, the current Altina was not in a school uniform, but in simple sportswear, probably for training, and her long straight hair that reached her waist was pulled back and tied up tightly.

It was the first face to face, the first outfit to see. As Jin stares at Altina with a blank face without realizing it, Altina, who notices Jin’s gaze, begins to slowly change her expression.

And, unfortunately, it wasn’t an expression of good feelings toward Jin.

“… huh.”

Altina looked at Jin and didn’t say anything. He just glanced at him, clicked his tongue lightly, and walked past Jin.

However, the place where she stood in front of the scarecrow with the training sword was the farthest away from Jin. No matter how you look at it, it was clear that he wanted to keep as far away from Jin as possible.

Jin also sighed at the sight of Altina voluntarily keeping a social distance from him without saying anything.

“Eww, fuck.”

In the first place, I didn’t expect the affection of long-lost lovers to see each other again, but isn’t this a bit too much?