Chapter 2. Encounters and Opportunities (2)

It was only three days ago that I met the protagonist face-to-face.

And for those three days before that, I had been consistently training under Ria.

“This! There’s no need! To carry! Such a heavy thing!?”

I probably shouted that at Ria at the time.

Sweat poured from my body like rain, and several nuns were glancing at us from a distance, circling around us. Many of them were nuns I didn’t get along with, and naturally, a smug smile was etched on their lips.

Perhaps, in their eyes, Ria was teaching me a lesson.

No, to be precise, it was the truth.

What I was holding was a large riot shield.

Even with fantasy elements and a world overrun by monsters and hunters, it’s still based on modern times.

The swords wielded by those hunters are also made from lightweight and durable alloys using modern materials engineering. It’s a world where things pressed by large corporations with a lot of money or milled from a single block of iron using CNC methods are much sturdier than those made by craftsmen hammering away.

Naturally, the scabbards of those swords might have rails for practical accessories, or innovative technologies might be developed to draw the sword with less effort- well, something like that.

It’s not that there aren’t craftsmen with a fantasy sensibility, but in that case, it’s about handling special materials imbued with magic, not mass production.

And thanks to that, the sword Ria swung was also relentlessly sturdy. Although it was a training sword with no sharpened edge, it seemed to be a ‘lightweight and durable’ item.

But then.

“Why is the shield so heavy!?”

I shouted that, filled with indignation.

“Of course it’s heavy. To be able to block swords from all directions, it naturally has to be thicker than the blade, and that thick iron plate must be able to reliably cover your body.”

The shield I was holding was a riot shield, like those used by police when facing protesters.

But its material isn’t like plastic. It only looks like a modern riot shield, and it’s painted a tactical black, but the content was simply ‘iron plate.’

“B-but, I said I wanted to learn marksmanship…”

“If you’re holding a gun, you naturally have to hold protective gear to cover yourself.”

“No, people holding rifles-“

“You don’t have a rifle license.”

No!

“Besides, if you hold a small shield, you can’t block my attacks at all, can you? You’ve already tried holding it, so why are you saying that?”

That was true.

When I grumbled that it was heavy, Ria had actually found a smaller, round shield. It was a bit lighter than this one, but it couldn’t block the sword Ria swung at all.

It was only when it reached this size that I could barely block Ria’s attacks.

What’s even more infuriating is that Ria wasn’t exactly swinging her sword with full force. Well, if she had truly hit me with full force, I wouldn’t be standing here like this.

A part of my mind understood that this training method was somewhat reasonable, which made me even angrier.

It’s frustrating to receive instruction from Ria, and I can’t even come up with a logical counterargument!

“…If you’re really annoyed, how about wrapping that divine power around your body? Your stamina will recover a bit, and most importantly, any pain will be healed instantly.”

Even if there were no bruises, the red areas from being hit could be described as ‘injured.’ That pain, and any small damage to the body, would be cleanly healed by using divine power.

But, you see, I’m someone who decided not to use this power on myself, at least. Naturally, I had no intention of using it just because training with Ria was a bit difficult.

As I gritted my teeth and glared at Ria, she chuckled and raised her sword again.

“Well, good. That fighting spirit is pretty decent. Then, once more-“

Grrr.

Ria’s smirk at me was even more irritating. Now she had the look of a teacher viewing a student.

Good.

Today, somehow, no matter what I do, I will land at least one effective hit on Ria’s body.

Even though my body is weak and I can barely hold the shield without holding any other weapon…!

Just as I was gathering strength in my legs to charge forward with that firm resolve-

“Injured person! It’s an injured person!”

I heard someone shouting like that and running towards us.

I immediately dropped the shield and ran with all my might towards the voice. I could hear Ria calling me from behind, but there was something more urgent.

…It’s absolutely not that I wanted to escape the training.

*

As proof of that, I ran with all my might, even though my legs felt like they were about to give out.

It was fortunate that Ria came near me and grabbed my arm, otherwise, I probably would have fallen over midway, or rolled down the stairs while going down to the basement.

The first thing I felt upon descending to the basement was the strong smell of blood.

It wasn’t that I had never smelled anything like it before, but this time it was particularly intense.

Only after standing in front of the patient with trembling legs did I understand the reason.

Usually, patients who come here not only have deep wounds but also often have some strange substance covering them. That’s why they can’t be treated and are brought to me.

However, in this case-

I know it’s a terrible thing to say in front of such a patient, but I thought that in my heart.

This patient was truly ‘lucky.’

There wasn’t a single healthy spot among his arms and legs. Flesh was torn off in chunks everywhere, and the broken radius bone of his right arm was completely exposed.

The flesh above his right knee was roughly torn, revealing severed muscle tissue and white bone, and his left arm and leg were in a similar condition.

His abdomen and chest also had deep holes as if something had gnawed at them.

His face was unrecognizable. It looked like a large beast had bitten his entire face and shaken it around.

However, whether this should be called a coincidence or not, his limbs were not completely severed. He was even still breathing. In a normal situation, even pouring holy water diligently would only keep him alive for a few minutes.

Still, he was alive. It was truly ‘lucky’ that he was placed in front of me in such a state.

Next to him, a woman of similar age to us was kneeling and sobbing. Although she had some wounds, they weren’t severe enough to require treatment before the man.

Perhaps she was in a loving relationship with the man, whose appearance was unrecognizable, the woman was holding the man’s right hand, which was also covered in blood.

Without asking anything further, I immediately knelt beside the man.

Placing my hand on his chest, where the bone was exposed, I closed my eyes.

And as always-

I know you are there, and I have no intention of denying that, so please save this person, I thought.

As always, a bright light obscured my vision.

“…Ah!?”

The woman holding the man’s hand let out a startled cry, and the colleagues who had brought the man here also made surprised sounds, but there was something I needed to check first.

I carefully checked the parts where the clothes were torn and revealed.

To be honest, my whole body was already exhausted from rolling on the ground, and I had used too much energy running here, so I didn’t have time to think about anything other than checking for remaining injuries.

My arms, which were on the verge of being severed, my legs, where much of the muscle had been lost. And then, after carefully checking my abdomen, where my internal organs were visible, and my face, where the bone was exposed, I stood up.

“…Ah.”

Only then did the woman look up at me.

Normally, I would have said something about God, even if it was just for show, to reassure her.

And I would have dispersed the light that kept reflecting on my face by waving my hand.

“…Anna?”

But before I could even wave my hand once, I felt my vision slowly turn black. Ria, who was beside me, called my name somewhat urgently.

Seeing my body fall backward, the Priest and the Nun Superior also hurried towards me. I felt someone’s arm supporting my back.

Only then, looking at my trembling hands, did I recall that I had been quite exhausted whenever I summoned a large amount of divine power. Whenever that happened, I always went back to the dormitory, washed up, and slept to replenish my energy.

That was the last memory I had that day.

…In other words, at that moment, I had truly used up all my energy, and I fainted on the spot.

Ah, damn, it’s still a bit embarrassing to think about.

Anyway, that’s how it is.

In typical harem stories, heroines often see the male protagonist’s naked body-

Conversely, there are also moments when the protagonist sees the heroine’s naked body.

But I went further than that, and before the main story even began, I saw what was beneath the protagonist’s skin.

No, the person next to me saw it too, so it wasn’t just me.

If I had to be precise about the order, am I a bit behind?