29. Exercise

29. Exercise

The vast Academy of the Empire.

Four people are sprinting along its paths.

“Hhhuuuh, hhhuuuh…!”

“Hang in there, Priscilla. You can do it.”

My hair fluttered wildly in the strong wind hitting me from the front. Despite that, I didn’t stop, extending one leg and pushing off the ground with the other as I ran forward.

Priscilla’s face looked as if she were about to die. Sweat poured down her face like rain. I ran alongside her, wiping away her sweat.

“Come on, one, two, one, two.”

“Hhhuuuh, hhhuuuh…!”

Even though I was running quite slowly, considering Priscilla’s stamina, she seemed to be struggling immensely. It was probably because she lacked the technique for running.

However, this is a skill she must acquire herself. All I could do was run alongside her and support her pace so it wouldn’t falter.

The surrounding scenery flashed by in an instant. The sound of four pairs of footsteps pounding the ground. The princess gasped and shouted.

“Why, why are you running so fast… Hhhuuuh, huff!”

Even setting aside Priscilla, who had just started exercising, the situation next to me wasn’t much better.

The princess, her blonde hair flying in all directions as she ran. Due to her small legs, fitting her small stature, she had to try very hard to keep up with us.

Strangely, a faint golden aura emanated from the running princess, but I didn’t know what it was.

I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Is it some kind of magic?

“Princess, breathing is important for this. Try to concentrate.”

“I, I understand. Hhhuuuh….”

Meanwhile, the princess’s maid ran lightly ahead of me without a single hitch in her breathing. Her short black hair fluttered in the wind.

Her movements, which seemed like mere fast walking at first glance, were astonishing to witness, as her speed was no different from running at full capacity.

To move like that, one would need to have mastered martial arts beyond a certain level. Given her proximity to the princess, she didn’t seem to be a mere maid.

The maid, after comforting the princess, approached me and asked.

“Miss Lyra, aren’t you tired?”

“Of course. I’m practically walking at this pace.”

I was running very slowly to match Priscilla’s pace. It wasn’t a speed that particularly satisfied me, but I had no choice but to do so to accommodate Priscilla, who was new to exercise.

I continued speaking to the maid.

“You don’t look tired at all either.”

“Yes. I’ve run this much many times before. It feels like a stroll.”

“Is that so? Your movements are unusual. Did you learn some kind of martial arts in the past?”

The maid paused for a moment before answering.

“Yes, I received training from my family in the past. It wasn’t very… successful, though.”

“Considering this, you seem to be doing quite well. You say it wasn’t successful?”

The maid’s footsteps were simple yet precise. It was as if every muscle movement had been refined to aim precisely at the target.

I thought she was doing quite well.

However, the maid remained silent, not answering my question. It seemed to be a sensitive topic that she couldn’t speak about carelessly.

“Hhhuuuh, hhhuuuh… A little slower….”

“No, you can do it, Priscilla. Keep going.”

“Hhhuuuuuh!”

Sensitive topics are unavoidable. I averted my gaze from the maid and continued running, cheering for Priscilla.

And so, the four of us were now in a formation where the maid and I were running ahead, followed by the princess and Priscilla.

The cool wind blowing towards me. The scenery passing by in an instant. Watching the academy buildings approach and recede towards me….

I mentioned something that suddenly came to mind to the maid.

“Have you ever crashed into a rock while running?”

“Yes?”

The maid tilted her head as if asking what I was talking about. I provided further explanation.

“Hmm, well, as I was running like this, I suddenly remembered something from the past. When I was young, I was running with all my might and crashed into a protruding rock….”

There was a time when a rock the size of an elephant suddenly appeared before me as I ran through the snowy fields in the past.

Unfortunately, I was running at full speed, so I couldn’t avoid the suddenly appearing boulder and ended up flying like a missile, crashing into the rock….

“….”

The maid kept her mouth shut, as if urging me to continue.

“The rock shattered into pieces.”

“Yes?”

I pierced through the rock, shattering it, and then flew for several tens of meters before stopping by slamming my hands into the ground. As a result, a straight line was etched into the snow along the trajectory of my flight.

The maid’s expression was blank after hearing my story. Feeling somewhat awkward, I ended my story.

“Well, I just thought it was an interesting experience, so I told you. It’s nothing special.”

Actually, the rock was just a rock, but considering it shattered from a slight impact, it was likely a very weak type of rock. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been unharmed after hitting a boulder at that speed.

From that perspective, my story was somewhat exaggerated. But the maid didn’t know that, so she began to look at me with a rather astonished gaze.

It’s embarrassing to be looked at like that.

——

“How, how much longer… are we running… Hhhuuuh….”

After running for a few more minutes, the princess asked in a voice that sounded like she was about to suffocate. The golden aura emanating from the princess had faded and was no longer visible, and Priscilla, unable to even open her mouth, was staggering behind us.

“Hmm… Shall we take a short break?”

“Really?! Huff, huff….”

Priscilla was on the verge of fainting, so I thought it was time to stop. I stopped running and waited for Priscilla to reach me.

We stopped in a secluded part of the academy.

Priscilla’s body, gasping for breath, was completely drenched and soaked. The high-performance training clothes were diligently drying the sweat, but it seemed there was a limit.

The princess and Priscilla collapsed onto the ground. In contrast, the maid and I, both perfectly fine, approached the princess and Priscilla respectively to check on them.

“Priscilla, are you okay?”

“Hhhuuuh….”

She seems to be having a hard time.

Looking around, there were no chairs, so there was no comfortable place to sit. In the end, I sat on the ground and pulled Priscilla towards me.

“Here.”

“Eh…?”

Unable to resist my strength, Priscilla leaned against my thighs. It was the posture commonly known as a ‘lap pillow’ in my past life.

In my past life, it was known as a romantic posture for lovers, but in this world, it didn’t seem to hold the same significance.

I gently lowered my head and looked at Priscilla.

Her ruby-red eyes. The way they refracted and reflected light, sparkling dazzlingly….

This reminds me of when I was with my sister. The memory of us quietly looking at each other, with my sister resting her head on my lap. My tail swayed gently up and down. A smile formed on my lips.

Priscilla was still panting.

“Um… what is your relationship?”

“Huh?”

And the maid, who had been watching us quietly from the side, asked.

What was the intention behind that question? Puzzled by the question I couldn’t quite understand, I tilted my head and replied.

“We’re just friends?”

“… Friends?”

“Yes.”

I replied, wagging my tail. Then, I draped my tail over Priscilla, who was lying with her head on my lap, and for some reason, Priscilla’s face turned bright red.

“Really?”

“Yes. Why?”

So why are you asking that?

When I asked that back, the maid trailed off, saying it was nothing.

She was a truly hard person to understand.

Meanwhile, the princess, who was sweating profusely just like Priscilla, complained.

“It’s hot… I need an air conditioner, an air conditioner….”

“There are no air conditioners out here. Please bear with it.”

“There’s a cold wind blowing from this direction…?”

Muttering something, the princess suddenly crawled over to me and slumped down by my waist. Coincidentally, it was near where I had my sword.

“It’s cool….”

Then, the princess put on an expression as if she had lived a lifetime.

Suddenly, I found myself with women on both sides. Of course, the princess’s appearance was so small that I didn’t feel any romantic feelings towards her.

I slightly turned my head and looked at the princess.

Her golden hair, covered in sweat, her flushed cheeks. Her small chest rising and falling. And the beads of sweat running down her forehead and cheeks.

I slowly lowered my head and brought my nose close. And-

Sniff, sniff.

“Ugh?!”

Suddenly, the princess began to stammer and question me. Not understanding the reason, I could only tilt my head and ask back.

“Why?”

“W-why are you smelling me…!”

“Can’t I?”

Wolf-beasts often smell each other when they are close. In my past life, people often said dogs have a good sense of smell. It’s similar to that.

I looked calmly at the princess. Seeing my face staring intently at her, the princess broke out in a cold sweat and pleaded.

“Ah, I get it, so please don’t look at me like that. It’s scary….”

“…? Okay.”

What’s so scary all of a sudden?

I nodded as if agreeing.

After resting for a while in that state, I said to Priscilla and the princess, who had recovered their stamina.

“Shall we go wash up together now?”

As always, the end of exercise should be marked with a warm shower.