Four days had passed since I made Nimi my lover.
Various things had happened — the students' underwear was completed, Instructor Felica had returned to work, and so on.
Right now, I was standing in front of the students at the training ground.
Thanks to the new underwear, the students' movements had clearly improved.
Roy's movements had also gotten better.
That was probably because he no longer had to hold back out of awkward consideration.
He could now focus fully on training.
I decided it was time to move to the next step, so I gathered everyone before training began.
"I have a question for all of you. How many ways do you know to raise proficiency?"
The students looked at each other and started discussing among friends.
In this world, there was no such thing as personal "levels."
Instead, there was proficiency with weapons and attribute magic.
Raising proficiency increased attack power and vitality.
Checking it was simple — you just strongly thought "I want to see my status" in your mind, and a holographic display of your status would appear before your eyes.
It showed weapon and magic proficiency, as well as owned skills.
Various answers came from the students.
"Killing monsters."
"Going into dungeons."
"Becoming an adventurer."
"Killing enemy soldiers."
"Doing mock battles."
Hmm…
I turned to Roy.
"Roy, what about you?"
"Practice swings, I guess?"
"Instructor Felica, how about you?"
"Well… other than killing monsters or enemy soldiers, I can't think of anything."
I called out to Felica, who was watching from behind.
She smiled with a troubled look and answered.
Erika was standing next to Felica.
When Felica returned to work, the first thing she requested was to observe my training sessions.
Erika being beside her was also Felica's request.
Erika had been visiting Felica's residence every day to provide emotional support.
Thanks to that, she had earned Felica's trust.
Since Erika also seemed to enjoy spending time with Felica, I gave permission.
You have to enjoy yourself when you can, or life is a waste.
I told them I'd think about it more later and asked them to wait, since I couldn't give an answer right now.
…What were they planning to do if someone died in the meantime?
Only people who didn't think at all would do that.
I could forgive regret after doing everything possible, but regret caused by indecisiveness was something I could never forgive myself for.
My goal was to live in a way that left as few regrets as possible.
That's why I supported whatever the students wanted to do or enjoy, and I was always willing to listen and advise.
Of course, I would stop anything too dangerous. Depending on the situation, I was ready to help with everything I had.
Anyway, getting back on topic — what everyone said wasn't wrong.
Those were the commonly known methods for raising proficiency in this world.
But the exact reason why proficiency increased hadn't been properly understood.
…Why was that?
I turned back to the students and spoke.
"That's correct, but more precisely, it's attacking something with the weapon or magic you're good at."
The students started buzzing noisily at my words.
I smiled wryly at the scene and called out to Roy, who was also tilting his head in confusion.
"Alright… Roy, go punch the wall of the training ground. Use full strength, multiple times. Check your status every ten hits, and come back once your proficiency goes up."
"Eh? Yes."
"Everyone else, stay here and wait."
The students looked confused and continued murmuring.
Roy also looked puzzled but headed toward the wall and started attacking.
Dull thuds echoed, but since Croana had probably put up protective magic, it should be fine.
The students' proficiency was probably still around 10.
The reason they were confused was because they believed proficiency didn't rise easily.
They probably thought it was good if it went up by even one during normal training.
After thirty hits, Roy stopped attacking and ran back over with an excited, joyful expression.
"It went up!"
"Exactly. Those of you who specialize in weapons, do the same as Roy and punch the wall! Those who specialize in magic, fire your lowest-level attribute magic into the sky! Be careful not to injure yourselves or run out of mana… Begin!"
I watched with my arms crossed as the students happily scattered.
Was that Lucy going with Roy?
…Roy really does attract high-difficulty opponents.
"Why do you know that!?"
"Hey, Erika… It was just a coincidence. Oh, and I'll give you special treatment too."
"Coincidence…? Special treatment?"
I had told the students to fire basic magic into the sky, but in reality, you could raise proficiency just by repeatedly creating and erasing attribute magic in your palm.
The key was consuming attribute mana a certain number of times.
I explained this to Erika and had her try it.
This way, she could stay near Felica while still receiving special treatment.
"I heard about it from Erika, but this is quite an interesting training session."
"I think it's pretty normal compared to other years…"
"No, no. Normally, instructors don't teach ways to raise proficiency like this."
Felica smiled wryly and shook her head at my reply.
Well, I suppose that's true.
The basic idea of training students with the knowledge an instructor has should be the same, but…
Felica, who had been smiling wryly, suddenly turned serious.
"Um… calling me 'Instructor Felica' feels a bit too distant."
"Does it?"
"It does… So, could you just call me Felica?"
"Understood, Felica-san."
"Felica."
"…Felica. Then you can call me Raide too."
"Doesn't my 'Miss Erika' also need correcting?"
From beside Felica, who was smiling beautifully at my answer, Erika gave me a sharp, half-lidded stare.
…I had been calling her that because she was a noble, but…
She must have read my expression, because she said with an exasperated look,
"I understand the reason, of course. But at this point in our relationship, isn't it unnecessary?"
"…Got it, Erika."
"Good."
I let out a small sigh and called her by name.
She replied with a charming smile and went back to observing the training.
…Feels like I'm raising a lot of flags here.
Well, when the time comes, I'll deal with it.
This world has long accepted polygamy, and neither nobles nor commoners have any strong aversion to it.
If it happens, I'll just steel myself and accept it.
I focused my mind and continued watching over the students at the training ground.
By the way, in just one hour of training time, the students had raised their proficiency by 4 and were overjoyed.
[Profile]
*Croana Bauen
Height 140 cm Age 122 Black hair Extremely long hair that reaches nearly to the floor
Her face looks young, but her gestures, movements, speech, and aura are fully those of an adult woman.
Slender build with breasts slightly larger than melons.
Loli huge breasts.
Despite her appearance, she is the headmistress of the academy where Raide works.
A top-class mage whose knowledge and skills are so valuable that the kingdom refuses to let her go.
She uses magic to keep her long hair from touching the floor or getting dirty.
Her longevity is also thanks to magic.
Because of her youthful body and large chest, she has few good memories and thinks of herself as ugly.
However, after Raide's words, she is now in a state similar to a young woman.