chapter_0005
by fnovelpiaMesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
5
Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
5
I asked the maid to tie my
hair and change into comfortable clothes, then warmed up in the Allen
Family’s training yard.
The knights and soldiers who
were originally training there looked at me with wary eyes, but I
paid them no mind.
It’s not like it’s the first
time I’ve been stared at like that.
No matter what they think of
me, I just need to do what I have to do.
The plan was already set.
I had already researched ages
ago how to efficiently boost character specs.
The first thing to focus on
was increasing stamina.
Stamina is useful no matter
what kind of character you are building.
The higher your stamina, the
more actions you can take in a day.
Whether it’s exploring
specific locations, meeting various NPCs, or training for what I need
right now, stamina is essential.
Unless you’re aiming for a
frail mage concept, stamina is a fundamental stat to build up at Soul
Academy.
So how can we increase
stamina?
It varies depending on the
game’s timeline, but usually, in the early stages, running is the
way to go.
Not some special skill or
unique method, but just plain simple running that everyone does when
they need to move around.
There are other methods, sure,
but those only become truly efficient in the mid-game stages.
In the early game, it’s best
to just grip weapons in both hands and run, increasing both stamina
and weapon proficiency at the same time.
So, from now on, except for
eating and sleeping, I plan to run with a mace and shield in hand for
about two weeks straight.
This is the most efficient
build for character development at Soul Academy.
After finishing my warm-up, I
immediately started running around the perimeter of the training
yard.
I already knew the proper
posture and breathing techniques required for running.
Anyone who has served in the
military knows how tedious jogging can be.
It had been quite some time
since I was discharged, but the habits I picked up back then were
still ingrained in my body.
The first lap was no problem
at all.
I was slightly out of breath,
but that was it. Considering that I’d just completed a lap around
the vast training yard, I was fine.
The two Stamina Boosting
Elixirs I had taken were working effectively.
However, after running for
about an hour, I sensed something was wrong.
I still had a long way to go
to reach my goal, but I already felt winded.
Could I really keep running
all day like this? No matter how hard I pushed myself, I felt like
I’d collapse after another hour or two of running.
By the time I lost track of
how many laps I had completed, I was still running.
The muscles in my legs
screamed in agony.
My overworked lungs felt like
they were tearing apart.
My arms, holding the mace and
shield, had grown so heavy that it was more accurate to say I was
staggering rather than running, but I didn’t stop.
The old me, before I was
possessed by this character, would have given up long ago.
I wasn’t someone who pushed
myself with such determination.
If I paid for a three-month
gym membership, I’d go diligently for a week, get exhausted, and
waste the remaining two and a half months—that’s the kind of person
I was.
So how could someone like me
endure this gruelling pain and keep moving? There was a part I could
guess.
Skills.
Just like how [Overcoming
Fear] activated and erased my fear when I consumed the elixirs
before, the skills I embedded when creating the character must be
working now.
In this situation, it’s
probably the influence of [Unyielding Will].
The skill description for
[Unyielding Will] said, ‘Not even death can break your will.’
In the game, it was just a
simple instant-death prevention skill, but here it’s proving to be
quite helpful.
Thanks to it, I felt
confident.
I could run to death just like
my character did in the game for weeks on end.
With a will that not even
death could break, how could I not manage a mere run?
Excited by this thought, I
forgot about the concept of pace control and recklessly increased my
speed.
That was a mistake.
What I overlooked was that
gaining willpower didn’t necessarily mean recovering stamina or
strength.
Willpower is willpower, and
the body is the body.
No matter how strong my will
was, if my body reached its limit, it would collapse.
As I lay sprawled on the cold
stone floor of the training yard, I felt this fact acutely.
So that’s why pace control is
important.
You wouldn’t know until you’ve
run yourself to the point of collapse.
Next time, I need to be more
mindful of my body as I run.
“Miss Lucy?!”
I heard the scream of my
personal maid, but I couldn’t move a finger.
“Are you alright?”
‘Yes…’
“I’m alright… Just… be
quiet, you’re making my ears ring… sloppy one…”
Since I’m just exhausted, I’ll
probably be fine after some time.
So, could you please stop
fussing around me? Your flustered behaviour is making me feel even
more disoriented.
As I kept quiet to avoid
saying something harsh, I heard footsteps approaching that didn’t
belong to my maid.
“Miss Lucy. If you wouldn’t
mind, may I move you to a more comfortable place to rest?”
I forced my stiff neck to turn
and saw one of the knights from the Allen Family.
I don’t know his name. I only
remember him leading the soldiers while running.
“Resting like this will only
slow your recovery. You need to rest properly.”
I never thought someone would
approach Lucy (me) first. It’s surprising.
Within the Allen Family, Lucy
(me) is treated like hazardous material.
Everyone, except for Benedict,
tries to avoid her (me), fearing her wrath.
My personal maid had no choice
but to stay by my side, but I never expected anyone else to approach
me first.
Hmm. The cold stone floor was
making my mouth turn crooked anyway, so this is fortunate.
Since he’s offering help, I
should gratefully accept it.
‘Yes. Please do that.’
“Alright, Sloppy Knight. I
permit you to touch my body.”
“It’s an honour, Miss.”
The knight carefully
approached and lifted me up.
It was then that I noticed all
the eyes in the training ground were now focused on me.
Most of these stares were
filled with concern.
They weren’t worried about
me though. Considering all the trouble Lucy has caused, why would
they worry about me?
Those looks were directed at
the knight who picked me up, fearful of what Lucy (I) might do to
him.
That’s a bit over the top.
No matter how much of a troublemaker Lucy is, would she really lash
out at someone who helped her?
Did she send away a respectful
maid over a trivial matter?
Did she cause a ruckus in the
kitchen because she didn’t like the food the chef prepared?
Did she curse at a teacher
just for telling her to study?
Yes…
She did all of that.
Hmm. Maybe their worry is
justified.
Reflecting on Lucy’s past
actions, the fact that this knight came forward to help me seemed all
the more peculiar.
With such a notorious history,
why would he step up to help me first? Did his superior order him to
come and help me?
“Miss, may I ask you one
question?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you running with a
mace and shield?”
I was at a loss for words at
his unexpected question.
“I understand you’re
trying to build your stamina, but it seems like you’re pushing
yourself too hard from the start.”
Judging by what the knight
said, I realised I must have looked strange to him suddenly appearing
in the training ground carrying a mace and shield and running.
From an objective perspective,
it must have indeed looked odd. After all, a girl who never exercised
before was suddenly running for over an hour with weapons in hand.
But I couldn’t explain my
situation.
How could I possibly tell him
that running with weapons not only boosts my stamina but also
increases my proficiency at the same time?
I didn’t want to add another
conversation topic to the already spreading stories among the maids
about me, Lucy.
So, I couldn’t say anything
in response.
When I clamped my mouth shut,
the knight gave a wry smile.
“If you want to start
training, please ask us. This is what we do every day. We know better
than anyone how to train properly.”
His argument was convincing,
but I had no intention of listening to the knight’s advice.
I firmly believed what I was
doing was right.
After all, my skills were
actively manifesting in this world.
This meant that the game’s
system was in effect.
So, if I followed the build I
used in the game, I could become stronger faster than anyone else.
How could I give that up?
“Miss?”
‘I appreciate the concern,
but I’m fine.’
“Shut up, Sloppy Knight.
Don’t tell me what to do.”
This damn Mesugaki.
Where did the part about
appreciating the concern go?
Huh? Is there some disease
where you die if you say thank you?
The knight, taken aback by the
harsh reply, apologised and then kept his mouth shut.
That wasn’t my intention. When
translated into ‘Mesugaki,’ it completely loses the nuance of a
polite refusal.
Ugh. Damn it. Can’t I fix this
somehow?
It’s fine now since we’re in
the mansion, but if I continue like this at the academy later, it’ll
be problematic.
Am I really going to end up an
outcast?
Erin, Lucy’s personal maid,
watched her mistress running diligently in the corner of the training
ground.
For three hours today alone,
Lucy had been running around the outskirts of the training ground and
was soaked in sweat.
She seemed so weak and about
to collapse at any moment, tottering as though her body couldn’t hold
out any longer.
Yet, Lucy did not collapse.
She moved her feet forward as if she would die if she stopped.
Why is she working so hard?
It had already been three days
since Lucy started running, but Erin still couldn’t understand her.
The Lucy she originally knew
was not someone who would do such things. The Lucy that Erin knew was
a bratty kid who thought she was the queen of the mansion.
If even the smallest thing
didn’t go her way, she would throw a fit, pick fights over every
little thing, and boost her ego by insulting others.
Her personality was so
horrible that her personal maid position was constantly vacant.
Usually, becoming the personal
maid of a noble lady in another family was a sort of honour. It meant
you were recognized for having the skills to serve someone important
in the family.
Even if you were later
dismissed by a superior, it was rare for someone to voluntarily give
up the position of a personal maid.
But it was different at the
Allen Mansion. The position of Lucy’s personal maid wasn’t
considered an honour.
The term ‘recommended
resignation’ for the personal maid was commonly used, revealing
what people thought of serving Lucy.
When Erin was assigned as
Lucy’s personal maid, it felt like the sky was collapsing.
She thought she had been doing
a good job so far. Had she unknowingly earned someone’s hatred? Had
she offended the head maid somehow?
Was this a quiet warning that
she should leave?
The night she was assigned to
be Lucy’s personal maid, Erin couldn’t sleep, repeatedly
questioning what she had done wrong.
The thought of constantly
staying by Lucy’s side, someone she found unbearable even for a
brief encounter, was like falling into hell.
Erin had to continually endure
Lucy’s tyranny.
As a result, she spent her
days with her head bowed and her nights crying herself to sleep.
Then one day—on that
particular day, as the morning came again, making Erin’s heart
race…
Lucy had changed.
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