episode_0130

Maria runs towards me, clutching her fern-like hands.

But is it because it is an unfamiliar movement? The incoming steps are sloppy, and the thumb is on top of the fist. If you hit it like that, you may injure your thumb bone.

I clumsily grabbed Maria’s wrist as she rushed towards me. Maria lost her balance and stumbled and fell. To me.

width-.

“Uh, huh?”

He supported Maria’s shoulders to prevent her from falling, and pulled her wrists to keep her body centered.

Maria had a question mark on her face, unable to understand the situation.

“Maria has never made a fist?”

“Yes? ah… yes that’s right. I don’t think fists are for me… .”

“What if you say something like that without even trying it? It’s okay, just take it slow.”

“Ugh… Do you really have to do it?”

“If you don’t like it, we can spar later, regardless of whether I die or not. The choice is up to Maria.”

“… ! Ah, I get it! I’ll work hard!”

Ha, it’s so cute I’m dying. I want to bite it into pieces.

Of course, if you bite it when you’ve only known each other for less than a day, the relationship will be over.

“Yes, Maria. Let’s start by learning how to make a fist. Curl your fingers from the tips, and when you make a fist, try placing your thumb to the side rather than up. I think the remaining four fingers will help keep it steady.”

“Like this… Do you mean?”

Maria clenched her fists with her fair, white, unblemished hands. I can already imagine the day when I will get hit by that fist, my heart is pounding and I am excited.

“Okay, great fist. Now let’s hit it.”

“Yes, yes? Are you really hitting me?”

“Then should I fake it? Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, aligned with the number 11, and place your fists on your chin or at the end of your eyes. When raising your back hand, turn from your waist and transfer force to your waist, shoulders, and wrists in that order.”

“Yes… I’ll give it a try. But it’s really okay if you get hit… ? If you are enduring pain because of me… .”

What is our Lord’s daughter so worried about? I stroked Maria’s soft hair and calmed her worried mind.

“That can’t be possible. And it looks like you’ve been ignoring me since a while ago, but I really am. More than Aru. So feel free to hit me.”

I have a greater desire to be beaten by Saint Mary.

“Yes… Well, this time properly… !”

puck-!

A small fist jammed into my abdomen. It was blocked instead of stuck. Then it bounced off.

Maria is a bright child. If you teach them anything, they easily understand the principles and are also good at applying it to their bodies.

Her straight punches were quite good for a beginner. Even if my stomach wasn’t so hard from six bricks, it would have been pretty big.

“Ugh… !”

“Haha, how are you, Maria? Does your wrist hurt?”

“A little… It’s annoying.”

“It’s because Maria isn’t used to punching. Continue healing with divine power!”

Fortunately, Maria is a good listener. A white light erupted from her wrist, and after a few seconds Maria was able to spin her wrist without difficulty.

Maria pulls back her right hand again and throws it at me. I spread my arms and relaxed my abdominal muscles.

puck-!

My posture has improved, but my strength is half of what it was before. Maria closed her eyes, white as snowflakes, as if she was afraid of something.

I know why Maria does that. This is a common symptom seen in guys who have just started punching.

“Maria.”

“Yes, yes? Ho, were you sick?”

“No, it didn’t hurt at all. So you can stop worrying. but… .”

“Uh… Is there any other problem… ?”

“Maria, are you afraid of being hit?”

Shockingly, an expression that seems to have hit the nail on the head takes over my field of vision.

Pure white eyes looking up at me full of regret. It didn’t show any fighting spirit or competitive spirit.

“You may be afraid of being hit.”

“Ah… I-I… .”

“The pleasure of violence and the aversion to avoid violence coexist in the nature of all life. They say that even famous psychopathic killers panic when they kill for the first time, right? In Maria’s case, the hatred must be a bit greater because of the education she received.”

“Umm… .”

“But I think like this. Overcoming that discomfort is also a great courage. They say that a person who uses violence recklessly is a thug, but a person who uses restrained violence is a knight. Although it is a profession that is disappearing these days.”

So, overcome the fear in your heart. I will help you with all my heart.

There was no need to say those words out loud. Maria, who was brilliant, already knew everything I was going to say.

gulp.

Maria swallows her saliva anxiously. In fact, I am a thug, the exact opposite of a knight, but it is funny that I am pretending to be a good person and giving Maria enlightenment.

“Overcome… Is it like self-overcoming?”

“You could say it’s the growth of the mind. I can’t say that hitting people is a good thing, but there are good people among those who hit others, right? The so-called ‘hero’.”

“I understand. again… I’ll do it right.”

Maria puts her cute fist to her chin again and prepares to punch.

Eventually, Maria opened her eyes and pulled out a ticket. A soft shock was felt in my abdomen, but it was completely different from before. The fist went straight into my solar plexus.

“Great! Very well done! After all, Maria is a genius!”

“thousand… Ash? Me?”

“I’ve only taught you once, but you’re doing great! Just do it! I will always welcome you from now on!”

“Well, you don’t have to do that! I don’t want to be in debt to Mr. Evans!”

I was a little excited and started talking. Maria immediately waved her hand to stop me.

Still, Maria blushed and suppressed a smile, as if she didn’t dislike being called talented.

But apart from that, Maria’s hands were shaking, perhaps because of the feeling that she had hit someone. I held the little hand in my big hand and calmed it down.

“Still, I think I’ll have to work hard at this training from now on to control this trembling of fear, right?”

“Umm… Do I really have to… ?”

“I don’t like it? If you don’t like it, don’t. Instead, when I fight in real life later, my organs and brain energy flow out… .”

“Oh, no! I’ll do it! I will do it!”

Hey, this works well. If this happens, will I threaten to harm myself later? Like with Aru?

Why not set up a stage and make a show? My throat is cut and blood splatters? A surprise when Maria is sobbing! If I get angry again, maybe I can change Maria’s mentality?

It’s an exhilarating magic show that gives you goosebumps just by imagining it, but in reality, it’s a bit difficult. I don’t want my Maria to be ruined.

puck-! Puk puk!

Maria threw out her fist, then took it back and struck repeatedly. It was all just ticklish to me. This is even more so because it does not contain any sacred power.

Plop-! puck-!

“Ha, ha… Phew, ugh… !”

It is common sense that, unless hit properly, the person being hit loses more stamina than the person being hit. That’s why there is a concept of turns in martial arts.

Maria’s breathing quickly became rough. But it wasn’t a big problem. By the time I was out of breath, Maria had restored my stamina by granting me divine power.

Even though it is said that divine power has almost all-purpose physical recovery, it even calms down cardiopulmonary endurance. It is a wonderful power.

Of course, just because your physical strength returns, that doesn’t mean the sweat drops will disappear. Maria’s nun’s clothes and body gradually became wet.

Puff! puck-! Green onion-!

“Ha, ugh, ugh… Haha… !”

“That’s right, Maria. Doing well, doing well, doing well. Let’s do it ten more times!”

“Ugh… ! yes… !”

In the end, Maria punched until she was exhausted, and then collapsed due to complete exhaustion of stamina. My whole body was drenched in sweat. I picked her up.

The students stared at me and Maria with strange eyes. I don’t care about them. Rather, it was the other side that I noticed.

“Um, teacher? Is our sparring over?”

The purpose of this sparring is for Inwang, the physical education teacher, to understand each student’s skills. It’s not like Maria, who has never punched before, gets exhausted from trying so hard.

I was worried whether Nioh would accept this easily.

“Awesome grit! Hot passion! Hard work! Excellent!”

I was worried about that, but Nioh gave an unexpected answer. At the same time, he narrowed one of his eyes at me.

No matter how much time passes, once a friend is always a friend. I chuckled and wiped Maria’s sweat with a towel.

“Hehe… .”

As if the feeling of depleting stamina wasn’t bad enough, Maria smiled as she looked at me. A line like morning sunlight caught the corner of Maria’s mouth.

“Did I do well… ?”

It was a question that didn’t need to be asked. I brushed Maria’s forehead so that it felt cool.

“Yes, you did very well. How are you feeling?”

“A little… I feel guilty towards the Lord… I’m proud… .”

“Are you proud? What?”

“I have never sweated like this before… The church strongly discouraged me, saying that even if I ran a little, I had to behave neatly… .”

Oh, the Holy Hwangjeong Hall of the Holy Order where Maria grew up is a place where extreme modesty is required. It is obvious that young Maria would have required a depressing level of oppression.

The mature Maria of the night would understand the oppression and the reasons, but the current Maria is a teenage girl. It is difficult to understand the complex circumstances of such adults.

“And, the fact that I accomplished something on my own… I’m happy about that… .”

“I see. But what does it mean to feel guilty before the Lord? When did Mary sin?”

“No matter how much you hoped for… Because I hit someone… .”

The delicate voice that only a young woman can produce crawls into an anthill. It’s a feeling I don’t have, but if it were a man other than me, my protective instincts would have been greatly stimulated.

“The precious body that the Lord gave us was used carelessly to inflict violence on the bodies of others… How can I not be ashamed?”

Mary would be the only person in this world who would feel guilty after hitting someone who asked her to hit them without even hurting them.

That’s why Maria is special. She is a unique woman in the world.

“It’s okay. Because the main god is not so petty as to be criticized for committing such a sin.”

“Definitely… You speak as if you know the Lord… .”

“Actually, I have a wide network. We’re friends all the time. ”

“I take it as a joke, but… Please don’t say things like that in front of people from other denominations, even as a joke… I am truly worried.”

“It’s rather good, isn’t it? Maria’s worries. It’s like honey water to me.”

He took Maria to a corner of the gym and laid her down. The students were still sparring, taking their turns.

I massaged and applied pressure to her loosened muscles. The pure smell of flesh emanated from the soft skin.

“… Ssss… .”

“How about it, isn’t it cool? I also have a massage expert license.”

Not in this life, though.

The reason I worked as a masseuse in my past life was to build a relationship with Cheonwoong, but I never thought I would use it on Maria. Well, this is why you need to learn a lot.

A faint moan escapes from Maria’s mouth as she is being massaged by me. A gasping voice. I was absorbed in the massage while listening to it.

Meanwhile, Maria smiled brightly and pursed her lips.

“Ha, Mr. Evans is really a good person… I’m glad to be friends with Mr. Evans… .”

“… .”

I giggled without saying anything.

*****

The next 6th period class was a swordsmanship class.

Hosted by Beatrice Sensei, famous for being the Iron-Blooded Teacher.

Most of the students expected an exciting swordsmanship class. Beatrice, who inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Imperial Knight Commander a few years ago, might teach her something new and tremendous. Well, that was the expectation.

However, the first swordsmanship class was far from the students’ expectations. Its identity is ‘sword theory’. What trajectory should the sword be swung at for a natural movement of force, what is the compatibility between sword techniques, etc.

It was the class that students hated the most.

Besides, wasn’t the previous session of physical exercise exhausting one’s stamina? Beatrice’s class, where she explained the theory step by step to the exhausted students, was so burdensome and sleepy.

“Hmm… .”

“Mom… It’s strange here… The saint threw a punch… Dog bites person… .”

In the end, the students fell to their desks one by one and were taken over by the magic of a good night’s sleep. However, even in that atmosphere, there was one student who was the only one who maintained his senses and was concentrating on the blackboard.

square-.

The sunlight seemed to shine only on her. As if monopolizing all the light in the world, the girl showed off the nobility of her beauty.

Saint Mary. A model student holding a pencil in one hand and taking notes in class in a notebook.

However, Maria was now desperately hiding something from others.

Sagagagak-.

‘laugh… Why are my hands shaking so much from earlier? .’

Even though I didn’t have a miscarriage to begin with, my handwriting was a mess. Maria covered her trembling hand with her left hand. The trembling finally stopped.

‘I need to focus on class… I wonder what the Lord would scold me for seeing me like this… .’

My clear gaze landed on the blackboard. Maria tried hard to get the swordsmanship formula into her head. My hands were shaking so I couldn’t help it.

However, it seems like they can’t even allow the stray thoughts to rise up.

‘Huh… ! Also, I was thinking about it earlier… !’

The scene from before kept replaying in Maria’s vision, or rather, in her mind.

The thrilling sensation of hitting at your fingertips, the sense of immorality that you committed something you shouldn’t have done with permission, and the dizzying pleasure of hitting something hard.

Something I couldn’t even think of when I was in the church was taking over Maria’s white paper-like brain.

The sticky, wet, unfamiliar smell of sweat, the man’s hard body, and the dependability of the boy who didn’t let out any pain even though he hit hard and couldn’t control his strength because it was his first time.

Maybe it was because of that boy. Maria’s passion for learning wavered like a reed. The red-faced girl hastily lowered her head.