Ch.1010. Rehabilitation (2)

My master, Sione Sianella, has been properly exercising for a month now.

When I first saw him, I thought this guy was no joke, but now I’m quite surprised in a different way.

Sione has been exercising consistently without missing a single day.

During the day, he does simple cardio or full-body exercises that can be done in his room at set times, and on his way to and from the shooting range early in the morning, he jogs, taking the long way around.

He’s also changed his diet, reducing his usual portions and asking the kitchen to prepare foods that help with weight loss.

Of course, he didn’t cut out meat dishes. After working so hard, he deserves at least a small reward.

Thanks to those efforts, Sione now looks distinctly different from a month ago.

Gone is the pig who would stuff a handful of cookies into his mouth whenever he was awake before the diet.

Now I can see him sitting in a chair, crunching on just an apple and taking a rest.

It’s truly amazing how a person can change in just a month.

I feel somewhat proud thinking that I helped bring about this change.

Knock knock.

I knocked on Sione’s door and slowly entered the room.

Sione, whom I thought would be sleeping, was sitting on the bed looking at me.

“You’re here now.”

“Yes, why are you awake so early today?”

“Perhaps because I moved less yesterday, my body feels energetic. I think that might be why.”

The Sione speaking to me now is not the same ill-tempered round boulder I met at first.

If I had to describe him, he’s like a boulder that a sculptor has just started to shape into human form and is beginning to properly refine.

In any case, he’s steadily becoming more human.

People who haven’t seen him much might not easily notice, but having been around him consistently every day, I can clearly see how he’s gradually but definitely changing.

Moreover, these days, as if aware of his own transformation, instead of just complaining endlessly, he’s taking initiative to do things without being told.

This kid, I feel so proud.

I let a faint smile form at the corner of my mouth.

“Then I should increase the intensity of your exercise so you can sleep longer and more deeply in the future.”

“…Stop talking nonsense. I think it would be good to keep it at a level where I can wake up refreshed like today.”

“Let’s do that after you lose a bit more weight. Since you previously trained with a sword, your body is burning fat quickly, so it won’t take long.”

“If only you had told me this a month ago, how nice that would have been…”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. I’ve already prepared to go out, so let’s get going.”

I followed Sione out of the room again.

We did some light stretching.

When Sione previously twisted his ankle while jogging, I thought he was going to die from the pain.

How could I have known I’d end up practically dragging his heavy body back?

Since then, we’ve made sure never to skip stretching to warm up our bodies to prevent such incidents.

“The weather has gotten quite warm. It’s not cold even at this hour, just pleasantly cool.”

“It probably won’t feel so cool once we warm up our bodies.”

“That’s true.”

We started jogging.

Running straight to the shooting range makes the distance feel a bit short. So we go toward the garden first, then turn back to head to the shooting range.

“Huff… huff…”

Sione’s breathing, which had been steady, began to grow rough.

“Would you like to rest a bit?”

“Huff… I’m fine…! Haa… let’s keep going!”

“Understood. Let’s slow down the pace a bit though.”

Sione, finding it difficult to answer, just nodded.

Matching his pace, we continued running for a while.

Before long, we arrived at the shooting range.

The cool dawn breeze soothed our rough breathing and the beads of sweat trickling down.

It took some time before our breathing eased and we felt refreshed.

When I turned my head to look beside me, I could see Sione’s expression of joy.

“My body definitely feels lighter. Finally, today I was able to run all the way here without stopping.”

“It was all possible because of your efforts, Sione.”

“I appreciate the words. And…”

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure what to say.

“Thank you for going through all this trouble following me around.”

Wow, is this really the same person who warned me not to bother him when we first met?

The more I see his clearly changed attitude, the more I like it.

“Don’t worry about it. As I always say, I’m just doing what I should as your personal servant.”

“Hmm.”

The atmosphere became awkwardly sentimental.

It felt uncomfortable to just stand there.

Sione seemed to feel the same way, as he hurried his steps and quickly turned toward the shooting range.

“Ahem, let’s go in quickly. We don’t have much time for archery.”

“Yes, understood.”

Sione and I entered the now-familiar shooting range and each picked up a bow and arrow.

Sione stood in front of the target, and I took the spot next to him.

Somehow, checking each other’s archery skills had become our daily morning ritual.

Sione stared at the target.

I also turned my gaze toward the target he was focusing on.

His target had recently changed from a wooden circular target to a scarecrow.

His accuracy on the circular target was excellent, and despite the reduced archery practice time due to our recent morning exercises,

his skills were growing noticeably day by day, which was quite admirable.

“Hmm…”

Sione drew the bowstring.

With a textbook pinch draw and dead release.

His gaze and arrowhead aimed at the target about 50 meters away.

He’s probably aiming for the head or chest.

Slowly following where his gaze and arrowhead were pointing,

I could tell that beyond just hitting the target, his ultimate goal was to pierce between the eyes.

Twang!!!

The bowstring returned to its position with a sound.

Then, as unnecessary tension left Sione’s arm, the bow tilted forward and his right arm bent back.

His sharp gaze followed the elegant arc of the arrow.

Thud!!

The arrow struck.

“Ah…”

A sigh of disappointment escaped Sione’s lips.

The arrow had missed the spot between the eyes, landing lower and piercing the neck area instead.

The result clearly didn’t satisfy him.

“Today again, I aimed for the head but it slipped. It’s even more disappointing because it felt so good.”

“No need to be so disheartened. Didn’t the scarecrow offer its neck instead of its head? If that had been an enemy soldier instead of a scarecrow, he would have lost his life instantly.”

“The problem is that I need to aim for an enemy soldier’s head just to have a chance of hitting the neck when I’m lucky.”

“Time will solve this. The fact that you, who only picked up a bow a month ago, are complaining about this is already impressive.”

“I suppose it is quite impressive, even to myself.”

“…You’re so annoying.”

“Hehe, I know.”

While Sione chuckled at his own joke, I set aside two arrows and slung the quiver with three arrows onto my back.

Since he had taken his shot, it was now my turn.

I grip the bow.

Rather than gripping it, I use the thumb muscle above the life line in my palm to push it outward.

Then I immediately nock an arrow on the string and draw it.

With a Mediterranean draw, the arrow held with a split finger grip flies through the air without hindrance in a sliding release.

As soon as the arrow left, I shot the remaining arrow in my hand in the same manner.

Thud! Thwack!

The arrows struck the scarecrow’s philtrum and the area near the right eye.

“Now for the other parts.”

I took out one arrow from the quiver.

Nocking, drawing, and releasing in one fluid motion.

With three movements, three arrows were embedded in a single scarecrow.

In order, they pierced the forehead, chest, and abdomen.

Each one a lethal hit in a real combat situation.

These were skills I had honed against gate murderers and humanoid monsters who committed atrocities inside gates.

“…No matter how many times I see it, your skill is unbelievable. Are you really a man?”

“Of course. Should I unbutton my shirt to prove it to you?”

Whoosh!

At my bold joke, Sione’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

I suppressed a smile and bowed my head.

“I’m just kidding.”

“…What a nasty sense of humor.”

After that brief moment of teasing, we returned to our practice.

Sione and I each shot arrows at different scarecrows.

Twang!!

After Sione shot his arrow, he spoke.

“I have a question.”

I nodded readily.

“Is it really possible to take down an expert knight with just one arrow?”

Sione looked down at the arrowhead in his hand.

“The edge of the arrowhead is small. It seems like the mana engraved on this small piece of iron would break before it could penetrate a knight’s mana.”

“You got thoroughly beaten a month ago and you’re still asking that?”

“…I don’t know, sh-shut up. And I’m not an expert but a sword user…!”

Sione’s face turned red.

When he’s embarrassed, it really shows in both his speech and face.

That makes teasing him quite fun.

I answered Sione’s question.

“You just need to pack the arrowhead and fletching with mana more concentrated than a knight’s aura, and shoot from a distance where the knight’s sword can’t reach you. What’s so difficult about that?”

“But this…”

“You just need to shoot with enough speed that the knight can’t deflect the arrow properly. Eventually, after shooting enough times, the knight will be hit by an arrow they failed to deflect and end up in tatters.”

This was from my own experience.

I had once eliminated an expert-level hunter who was a murderer using this method.

“…”

“Just focus on becoming stronger than a knight. What determines victory or defeat is the skill of the wielder, not the type of weapon.”

I shot another arrow.

The arrow embedded itself in the scarecrow’s heart.

“If a sword can cut down an arrow, an arrow can pierce the sword’s owner.”

“Well… you certainly have a way with words.”

Sione seemed to be mulling over my words, nodding his head and falling into thought for a while.

Then he slowly picked up his bow again and quietly began shooting.

His actions became more resolute.

How much time passed like this?

As the cold breeze gradually subsided and the wind of late spring and early summer began to be felt,

I started to sense something unsettling.

Though subtly concealed, something strange was definitely happening to us.

“This doesn’t feel right.”

I immediately circulated my mana to heighten my senses.

The vague oddity began to take shape.

And as it became clearer, my expression darkened.

“Oh no.”

I sensed what seemed to be a human presence outside the shooting range.

At this hour? Coming all the way to this shooting range to watch us?

Until now, we had never encountered anyone else practicing here at this time.

This was the quiet hour when everyone should be asleep, not a lively time for training with swords or bows.

Soldiers who had been drilled and trained to exhaustion yesterday should be sleeping so deeply now that they wouldn’t wake even if the world ended.

I quickly drew an arrow and moved to Sione’s side.

“Hmm? Why the sudden change?”

As his voice echoed through the now-quiet shooting range,

the sound of someone’s heavy footsteps came from the entrance of the range.

And as the sound grew closer, what appeared to be the hilt of a sword at the waist came into view.

“…Do you have any visitors expected at this hour?”

“Visitors? You know well there couldn’t be any.”

“Is there anyone who holds a grudge against you that comes to mind?”

“…Not particularly.”

“Are you sure?”

Sione nodded slightly.

“Stay close to me just in case.”

I drew the bowstring and aimed at the spot where the unidentified person would appear.

Just in case.

Honestly, Sione’s reputation isn’t great, though it has improved somewhat, so it wouldn’t be strange if there were one or two people who harbored ill will toward him.

After all the work I’ve put into making this guy more human.

Even if it’s not about my return to Earth.

If he were to die by accident, I’d have nightmares for the rest of my life.

“I’ll protect you.”

I should protect him first and figure things out later.