Ch.4242. Every Procedure Comes with Side Effects.

*Clang!*

In the middle of the training ground, a clear sound rang out as two metal objects collided.

Sparks flew as a blade-killed sword clashed with a blunt-ended metal rod.

The two weapons competed with the sound of metal scraping against metal.

The winner of this contest was Amon.

“Ugh.”

Kathy stepped back.

When a sword and spear collide, the sword should be at a disadvantage, but the actual result was the opposite.

Amon’s strength was so overwhelming that it completely ignored leverage and weight.

This wasn’t much of a practice at this rate.

“Could you use a little less strength, please?”

“Sorry. It came out unconsciously.”

Amon acknowledged Kathy’s complaint.

The purpose of this training was to develop Kathy’s combat sense.

But overpowering her with brute force defeated the purpose.

Kathy parried Amon’s now slightly weakened sword strikes while marveling at his monstrous strength.

“I fought a Scavenger with reinforced skeleton for a job recently, but why are you so much stronger?!”

Kathy had undergone gene modification.

The effects included basic enhancements like increased strength, agility, and stamina.

It was a fairly high-grade procedure, so she was confident she wouldn’t lose to average opponents.

But Amon’s destructive power far surpassed this.

“I thought this when we first met too, but how can a vanilla human be stronger than beastkin or elves?”

The day she first met Amon.

He had stabbed a dagger into a building wall, used it as a foothold, and climbed through a third-floor window.

In other words, he had the strength to pierce a building’s exterior wall with a dagger and the leg power to reach the third floor with just two jumps.

What was more incredible was that Amon was in a vanilla state—meaning he hadn’t undergone any modifications.

There was only one way to explain this.

“Do you have a dragon ancestor or something?”

Nothing else made sense.

In fact, knights in England with dragon blood flowing through their veins were said to be about this level.

Of course, even if dragon blood flowed in his veins and he hit the genetic jackpot with a one-in-100-billion chance, it still wouldn’t fully explain Amon’s combat ability, but it was at least somewhat plausible.

Amon could only respond with a bitter smile and keep his mouth shut.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her about Divine Power.

‘Sorry, but we’re not quite there yet.’

While Kathy was certainly a good person, it was too early to share Amon’s secret with her.

It might even be better if she didn’t know.

Amon once again evaded her curiosity, as he had done countless times before.

And once again, Kathy had to let it go without answers.

But her mind was still filled with curiosity about Amon’s secret.

‘Could it be Mystic Power?’

She had wondered this at one point.

But she quickly dismissed the thought.

‘Why would someone with Mystic Power be here?’

A Mystic Power wielder could walk into any major corporation and demand a position, and they’d immediately set up an office for them. There would be no reason to work as a mercenary.

Besides, Amon had never demonstrated the miracles typical of Mystic Power wielders.

Compared to miracles like curing baldness, walking on liquid, or controlling blood, having exceptionally superior physical abilities seemed too mundane to be a miracle.

So she didn’t think Amon was a Mystic Power wielder.

Plus, she had another reason to think this.

‘Because of her.’

As if summoned by her thoughts, a visitor arrived at the training ground.

A beautiful woman with white hair and golden eyes entered.

A beauty wearing a nun’s habit modified for combat.

Her black veil and habit failed to conceal her voluptuous chest and firm buttocks.

The nun’s name was Sonia.

The strongest combat nun trainee at the seminary,

Known as the Saint of Gunpowder, a Mystic Power wielder,

And Amon’s lover.

The reason Kathy was certain Amon couldn’t be a Mystic Power wielder was because of Sonia.

The two had grown up in the same orphanage.

Considering the rule that there could only be one Mystic Power wielder per region, Amon absolutely couldn’t be one.

“A~~mon~~”

Wearing her combat nun outfit, Sonia immediately looked for Amon upon entering the training ground.

Having quickly found her target, she began running toward him.

Each time her feet struck the floor as she ran, her apricot-colored thighs were clearly visible through the side slits designed for mobility.

Bouncing her robust Divine Power pouches, Sonia ran to Amon.

Amon put down his sword and hurriedly wiped his sweat with a towel.

But before he could finish, Sonia embraced him.

“Hehe!”

Amon’s sweat-soaked shirt transferred to Sonia’s habit.

“You’ll get dirty.”

Amon tried to separate from her out of concern.

But Sonia was stubborn.

“I’ll get sweaty during training anyway, so what’s the difference?”

“That would be your sweat, and this is mine.”

“Why differentiate between your sweat and mine when we share the same blanket?”

“Sigh.”

Amon always tried to dissuade her, but always gave up in a similar pattern.

Sonia savored the smell of Amon’s sweat.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a fragrant smell.

It was the kind of smell that would naturally make someone wrinkle their nose if they didn’t know it was Amon’s sweat.

But when this sweat transferred to her habit, it carried Amon’s scent.

Since they lived in the same house and used the same detergent, adding his sweat to her clothes created the scent she loved.

She deliberately transferred enough sweat to her combat habit before finally separating from Amon.

After separating from her, Amon looked at Sonia with concerned eyes.

“Isn’t that too revealing today?”

Even to Amon, Sonia’s outfit seemed too provocative.

Not just the side slits, but if you raised your gaze slightly from her thighs, you could see red strings tied in knots.

It looked good, of course.

But he didn’t want others to see this.

As if understanding Amon’s feelings, Sonia smiled brightly and said,

“Don’t worry. I wear pants underneath at school.”

“What about when you came here?”

“I wore a long coat, so don’t worry.”

Hearing her words, Amon unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, the corners of Sonia’s mouth stretched to her ears.

“Are you jealous?”

She poked Amon’s cheek repeatedly.

Amon could only turn his head away as his earlobes turned red.

Sonia didn’t miss this and continued to press him.

Unable to bear it any longer, Amon blatantly changed the subject.

“Just go sit over there for now. I’ll help Kathy.”

“Okay!”

Smiling brightly, Sonia moved away from Amon.

As she headed to the corner of the training ground, she bowed her head to Kathy.

“Hello. Thank you for always taking care of Amon.”

Sonia didn’t show the slightest wariness toward Kathy.

Of course, Kathy was certainly beautiful enough for Amon to be distracted by.

But Sonia trusted Amon.

In this world, artificial beauties like Sonia or Kathy were common, but Amon had never even glanced at them.

Even when he stayed briefly in a brothel to infiltrate the Higgjen Group, there wasn’t a single instance of infidelity.

This was a fact proven by the unicorn horn stick.

That’s why she didn’t feel threatened by Kathy.

Moreover…

“Please take care of Amon’s back.”

Sonia understood better than anyone that while she was learning sacred magic at the seminary, Amon needed a comrade to watch his back.

Especially after the recent betrayal by a beastkin, the presence of a reliable comrade was even more crucial.

If she were to be wary of every female comrade, Amon’s urn might end up being delivered to their home someday.

Kathy awkwardly responded to Sonia’s polite greeting with an equally polite bow.

“Leave it to me.”

Hearing Kathy’s answer, Sonia retreated to the corner of the training ground.

Amon couldn’t take his eyes off her alluring backside as she swayed toward the bench.

Kathy watched this scene with a bitter expression.

‘There’s no way he’d be interested in me with someone like her around.’

With such a beautiful and kind girlfriend, Amon would have no reason to look at Kathy.

That’s why Kathy had long since given up any feelings for Amon.

It was barely even a crush to begin with.

Before she could develop feelings for Amon as a person, she learned of Sonia’s existence, so she deliberately kept her feelings at the level of mere attraction.

In the distance, Sonia could be seen openly sniffing Amon’s sweat-soaked towel on the bench.

‘I wonder what Amon’s scent smells like.’

Because of Sonia’s behavior every time she came to the training ground, Kathy was curious too.

But she had never smelled it herself.

Kathy gave a bitter smile that no one noticed, then quickly erased it.

She gripped her staff tightly, trying to forget the thoughts that kept surfacing.

“Let’s start again.”

She focused on Amon’s sword instead of his face.

And she thrust her staff at Amon, channeling a bit of her disappointment and dissatisfaction into the tip.

*

Clang! Clang!

The dazzling close combat between Amon and Kathy echoed throughout the training ground.

Before Sonia arrived and until now, they had been focusing on specific stances in simplified training, but the final part of the training was a sparring session that combined everything they had practiced.

Amon would randomly demonstrate the stances he had shown so far, and Kathy would respond accordingly.

Clang!

Her staff swung with enough force to break Amon’s sword.

But as always, Amon blocked the staff without changing his expression.

In contrast, cold sweat was streaming down Kathy’s forehead.

When practicing each movement separately and in sequence, she hadn’t realized, but when they were combined and unleashed in succession, it was hell for the one responding.

But she could feel herself growing in real-time.

The corners of Kathy’s mouth unconsciously turned upward.

Thanks to Amon’s handicap, they were engaged in an even match.

Even Sonia, sitting on the bench, was watching intently, captivated by the dazzling close combat.

Suddenly, the sword slipped from Amon’s hand.

Normally, Kathy should have stopped her attack, but that wasn’t the point of this training.

‘Practice like it’s real.’

Before starting this training, there was an agreement.

To treat it like a real battle in any situation.

Killing blows were forbidden, but they shouldn’t hold back for the sake of victory in any situation.

This was a condition set by Amon.

If she trained with the reassurance that she wouldn’t get hurt, there was a possibility she might not train seriously.

And this agreement applied in reverse as well.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Her eyes gleamed.

Not missing the opportunity, she thrust her staff at Amon’s thigh.

Though the tip was blunt, it could still cause considerable pain if it hit.

As she thrust the staff, she was certain of victory.

But seeing what happened next, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Thud.

The thrust staff cut through empty air.

And Amon’s foot landed on top of the staff.

With the sudden added weight on the staff, Kathy’s body involuntarily tilted downward.

Meanwhile, Amon recaptured his slipped sword in mid-air and swung it.

With the sound of air being cut, the sword stopped right next to her neck.

“Fell for it, didn’t you?”

Amon smiled triumphantly.

Realizing she had been tricked by a feint, Kathy laughed dejectedly.

Once again, Amon was victorious.

*

After Kathy’s sparring ended, it was Sonia’s turn.

Sonia eagerly took out a gun from its case.

A long, beautiful black rifle emerged.

The stock of the rifle had the <Colson Atelier> logo engraved on it.

It was a prize she had won at a shooting competition long ago.

A gun made exclusively for her in this world.

Carbon fiber and alloy barrel, grip and stock tailored to her hand, sights adjusted for her face size, and more.

The list of specifications was endless.

She grabbed the rifle’s handle and inserted the magazine horizontally.

With the magazine inserted, the rifle resembled a cross.

“I’m ready.”

Amon nodded and picked up a training iron sword.

The two waited for referee Kathy’s signal.

“Begin!”

As soon as the signal dropped, Sonia’s finger pulled the trigger.

Dudududu!

Rubber bullets rained down, using her magic power as gunpowder.

The firing sound was as heavy as one might hear from a machine gun.

In fact, the caliber of the rubber bullets was quite large, and the rate of fire was considerable.

The design completely ignored recoil for a rifle.

But Sonia’s posture while handling it was incredibly stable.

She tracked Amon with the muzzle, her expression relaxed.

Moreover, when she fired the gun, her bracelet glowed as her Divine Power recovered, and then she consumed part of the recovered Divine Power to add firepower with sacred magic.

Boom!

An explosion created by sacred magic targeted Amon.

“Wow… Every time I see it, I wonder how such a thing exists.”

Kathy couldn’t help but mutter as she watched.

Perhaps Sonia was the only person in the world who could comfortably fire such a thing and call it a rifle.

She was the epitome of unreasonableness, simultaneously possessing a rifle shooter’s mobility, a healer’s recovery, a machine gunner’s firepower, and a magician’s explosive power.

The title “Saint of Gunpowder” wasn’t given for nothing.

But what was even more incredible was that Amon dominated such a Sonia.

He deflected bullets and dodged sacred magic.

It was difficult to hit him as he moved three-dimensionally using sky walk.

Before long, Amon had closed the distance with Sonia.

As if the cross-fire of magic and guns meant nothing to him, he forcibly broke through the fire network and approached Sonia.

With the distance closed, Sonia slung the rifle over her back and drew a dagger and pistol from her thigh.

She tried to resist Amon by drawing on her Divine Power.

But objectively speaking, Sonia’s close combat ability was inferior to Kathy’s.

Once the distance was closed, she had no chance of winning.

“Hmph. I was confident today.”

Sonia was disappointed after losing to Amon, following Kathy’s defeat.

Just as with Kathy, Sonia received feedback.

However, the feedback was about how to create an effective fire network, not about improving close combat skills.

It was simply too inefficient for a rear guard to develop close combat abilities in preparation for closed distances.

Humans have limited capabilities.

Just as Amon didn’t bother practicing long-range sniping, Sonia focused on her role.

The feedback time ended.

To summarize:

“So you’re saying that since my magic’s firepower is sufficient, I should focus on timing my shots with syncopation rather than on firepower?”

“Yes.”

What Amon pointed out this time was her unconscious rhythm.

If one could read this, they could break through even her cross-fire.

Sonia considered this feedback and revised her strategy.

However, she didn’t test this strategy right away.

“That’s enough for today.”

It was time for dinner.

Sonia and Amon finished their training and started packing up.

Kathy also began gathering her things before leaving the training ground.

“I’ll head in first.”

“Thank you for your hard work today~”

Eventually, Amon and Sonia left the training ground arm in arm.

Kathy also packed her things and was about to leave.

But before she could exit, something on the bench caught her eye.

‘A towel?’

It was a towel soaked with sweat.

She unconsciously looked around.

Amon and Sonia seemed unaware they had left the towel behind.

She called Amon.

“You left your towel.”

After receiving Amon’s reply that he would come back for it, Kathy picked up the towel.

She stood holding the towel, waiting for Amon.

The scent rising from the towel tickled her nostrils.

The more she smelled it, the redder her ears became.

‘The side effect of the procedure…’

Gene modifications always come with side effects.

Sometimes allergies develop that weren’t there before, or things that were fine before become toxic.

In Kathy’s case, she became intoxicated by certain smells.

The problem was that it happened to be Amon’s sweat smell.

As the intoxication rose, her cheeks flushed.

Her rational control began to weaken slightly.

Her nose moved closer and closer to the towel.

And just as the tip of her nose was about to touch the towel,

Bang!

“I came back for the towel.”

The training room door opened, and Amon returned.

Kathy startled and quickly pulled her face away from the towel.

She rolled up the towel and tossed it to him.

“Thanks!”

Amon caught the towel and left again.

Kathy remained in the training ground, quietly staring at the door through which Amon had disappeared.

Then suddenly she looked down at her hand—

Sniff.

She smelled the scent that remained on her hand once, and her face reddened even more.

She smiled with satisfaction as she grabbed the doorknob with her other hand.

After that day, Kathy stubbornly insisted on using her left hand for everything.