RAW: http://ncode.syosetu.com/n8321co/7/
TL: MayonaizeShrimp
It took me 6 chapters before realizing that the novel aggregators don’t update the newer chapter using my version.
I felt stupid for applying hidden games inside the previous chapters…
Oh and I got an editor to made an ebook for this series, so I have to finish translating author’s new version of the old chapters.
I wonder if I can finish those before Karuma finished editing NF…
*THUD*! And along with that loud sound, her frail body collapsed. Her dirty face grimaced in pain on the sandy surface. Tonic, who was training her, sighed once more and pointed his blade towards the poor girl.
「Not enough!! Today is your last day! The hell are you doing lazing around like that?!!」
「I am sorry!!!」
She quickly apologized and got up, pointing her sword towards Tonic once more. Her name is Akizuki Rio. Tonic was tasked to teach this otherworlder minimal self-defense techniques within 20 days.
His first impression is 『mediocre』. He first rained her with a barrage of insults, just to show her who made the rules around and remove any sign of smugness from her face.
If he wasn’t asked personally by his childhood friend, the High Mage Reyfaras, he would have refused then and there. He thought that after she started her training, she would try to escape or refused to follow the training menu altogether.
Or so he thought.
She followed the training menu to the point where even half of this year’s rookie knights had dropped out.
Her lungs were gasping for air.
Her body must’ve hurt here and there after falling so many times.
Her limping leg could barely support her own weight.
However, she finished every training menu since the day she began.
Well, he did change her training menu into an easier one. But for a normal everyday civilian, that was still quite an impressive feat.
He truly admired her effort.
It was surprising that this kind of woman exists today.
But such gentle praises meant nothing for her growth. Even though she was already beaten up, Tonic continued vomiting abusive words and beat her without mercy.
“Another failure” he first thought, but life goes on.
That is how it was.
If she stopped coming the next day, then so be it.
But she still came on the next day.
Obviously, she must have sore all over her body.
Even though yesterday’s training had strained both her body and mind she still requested to be taught.
Looking straight ahead.
Pushing herself to death as much as possible just to stay alive longer.
Admirable.
That was his current impression towards her.
She couldn’t even be considered strong. She was only taught how to use one-handed sword, dagger, and bow. 20 days was way too short to teach her anything. To add to that, she didn’t have the talent for handling weapons.
Both her physical strength and stamina were just mediocre. Her motoric reflex was just average as well. There was nothing extraordinary about her. Saying that she was not suitable for combat was not too far of a stretch.
But still, she was admirable in her own way.
Just on her 5th day, she managed to run for 2 whole hours.
On her 10th day, she managed to join basic training with the other knights until the very end (even though her number of reps were reduced). On her 15th day, she was able to fight on par with the rookies.
And finally, she managed to survive after having a spar with me.
That doesn’t mean that she was special in any way.
It was all the result of her effort.
All of those accumulating effort that she spent every single day.
After she finished her morning training with us, she went to Rey’s place to be taught magic and this world’s knowledge. She used her spare time to practice swinging a sword.
She always jogged before it’s time for a bath. She tried to put in as much effort wherever and whenever she could. That was why the other knights didn’t treat her so harshly.
Instead, they cheer for her and praised her whenever she showed any sign of growth.
Even the rookies praised her after she beat them in a spar. Before he noticed it, she had inspired the rookies to trains just as much as her.
Admirable is the only word that could describe her.
Once it was break-time after the usual sparring session, the other knights gathered around her and gave her all sort of advises. She listened to those advises earnestly, asking questions every now and then.
And finally, on her last morning training with us, an unusual person visited.
「Yoー Good job guys」
「Captain!? Why are you here!?」
Anyone could see how well-built he was even though his burly muscle were hidden under his clothes. His long brown hair was tied into a ponytail, showing his small green eyes. He casually said that his age was in the later thirties, but he looked way younger than he actually is.
He looked a little bit scary because of his scar that spans from his right eye to his cheek, but he had a very gentle heart. That gap in appearance and personality attract a great number of young women to flock around him. He is the captain of Frontline Vanguard Corps, Cryhart Sharginal.
「Am I not allowed to be here, Tonic?」
「Ah, no… I don’t mean it that way…」
「 Fuuunー So you must be young lass that everyone’s been talking about」
「Eh? Ummm……?」
Cryhart went past the knights, who were still dumbstruck by his sudden appearance, and approached Rio.
「You looked… average」
「……」
He observed her from top to bottom then passed his judgment. Just looking at the wrinkles on Rio’s forehead, Tonic knew that the captain had crossed the line.
「Is it wrong to be one?」
「Hm?」
「Average, mediocre, standard. I thought those words mean something normal in the community. Apparently, the people in this world prefer to use it as an insult」
「……」
「Are you also one of them? Telling me that I can’t do anything but submit to their will?」
「……Has anyone said it to you?」
「Your king did it. Loud and clear. He said it when I asked him for an access to the royal library. And so… are you the same?」
Tonic hurriedly came over to Rio before she did something too far. Even though she didn’t know who he was, it was quite an attitude especially against someone twice her size.
Cryhart was not the type to take things personally, but it was hard to say whether he would punish Rio for it.
「Oi, Riー」
「Wahahahaha!! This kid is the best! Let me introduce myself. I am Cryhart Sharginal, the current captain of these Frontline guys. What is your name, young lass?」
Tonic was about to warn Rio when suddenly Cryhart’s laughter cut him off.
「Cap… tain…?」
Rio’s jaw dropped as she realized how badly she just messed up.
「Rio, your name」
「He? A-ah yes! My name is Rio Akizuki. I am sorry about… before… I didn’t know… Please forgive me!」
She finally introduced herself after Tonic nudged her about it, with a polite bow at that.
「Don’t mind about it. It’s also because I phrased it badly, so… Even so, that made me understand why Tonic and Reyfaras took so much interest in you. Your eyes are much stronger that Goddess-sama’s eye」
「……sir?」
She appeared to not understand what Cryhart just said. Tonic quickly regained his senses and broke in between them.
「Speaking of which, why is Cryhart-sama here?」
「Why do you keep asking “why” over and over again?」
「Please don’t return the question… Didn’t you said that you were going to Gizant Fortress alone and we can’t slack off while you’re gone?」
Gizant fortress is one of the forts that was located nearest to the borderline. It had direct contact with the opposing demon army, which was why the fort was entrusted to the Frontline Vanguard Corps in the first place.
「Ah yes… Maybe I did say that…」
「Good grief…… You went as far as to seclude yourself in the middle of nowhere just to avoid being the “exclusive guard” to Goddess-sama, so why did you come back now? Are you finally going to escort Goddess-sama from now on?」
Words couldn’t describe the amount of disgust that Cryhart felt from Tonic’s remark.
「What kind of nonsense are you talking about? There’s no way I would degrade myself to babysit some random kid from another world.
The idea of a random person from another world will solve all of our problems in a flash is an absurdity in itself. If it really happened, for what reason did we fight so far? For what purpose did our knights die?
If those people in the top-brass really wanted to beg to an otherworlder for salvation, they should’ve done it before our people die. If not, then they shouldn’t rely on random strangers in the first place.
Asking 『Goddess-sama』 for help is basically a sink or swim. It is either we fight the demons until either one of us surrenders or we stop fighting altogether and push everything to the Goddess.
They realized that we had more loses and realized that their lives were also in danger, so they basically call backsies and smudge over our sacrifices like some footnote in their page. They are making fun of us」
「Cryhart-sama, we have Rio over here」
Tonic tried to warn him, even though it was way too late since Cryhart had finished his hearty sermon about how much he didn’t like the idea of summoning otherworlders. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, Rio was technically an 『Otherworlder』.
She wouldn’t like it when she was hated for being summoned while she herself didn’t want to be summoned in the first place.
That was what he thought but…
「I don’t mind it, Tonic-san. I think the same way myself. I think I said the same thing towards Rey-sama as well. Something along the line about not involving the lives of people from another world in their own crisis」
The person herself was quite indifferent and laughed about it.
「Hahahaha!! This young lass is so interesting! No, no, the only reason I came back is to see this young lass」
「To see me?」
「Of course! How can I not? When I heard that Reyfaras and Tonic took an interest to a girl from another world, I just have to ditch everything and come here in person. I rushed here on horseback just to see what kind of a person you are. I thought it was the summoned Goddess-sama, but apparently, it was an average looking girl that got mistakenly summoned instead」
「……And how is your opinion after you met her?」
Cryhart laughed at her question.
He seemed to enjoy it too much.
「You are way more interesting than I thought. The reason why Reyfaras and Tonic took interest in you is glaringly obvious. You are able to keep up with the training that my guys had. You had to nerve to reject things that you didn’t like. You don’t even care about your surrounding and spout whatever you want non-stop. With all of those combined, how can I not like you? I want you in my unit. How about you, Tonic?」
「Please don’t pass such questions to me… well, not like I would oppose it though」
Tonic didn’t mind when it comes to it. If she were left in their corps, she would surely become stronger. Even though she lacked the talent, she can close the gap with hard work. Those kind of people were capable to be even stronger than those talented people.
However, Tonic knew that it wasn’t what the girl wants.
「But no matter what Rey or I said, this girl will eventually leave us」
「Hoo… And why is that?」
「This girl is not such a cute little kid that we can tie down. She will gladly leave the rules covered in sands behind her while she runs amok doing whatever she wants. I don’t know what kind of mess she would cause if she join us」
Freedom suited her the best. Doing whatever she liked regardless of titles or duties. Having someone to dictate what she should and shouldn’t do didn’t exactly suit her nature.
「Tonic san sure knows me well. As expected from the one who taught me sword」
Rio joyfully confirmed Tonic’s opinion.
「I admit that I am a quite self-centered person. Even back in my world, I was often told that I was stubborn. I am the type that sees things that I do until the very end. Saying that I can’t do it will incite me even more. And I’m not the type to be motivated to do things that have been done before either.
If I were properly summoned and asked to be the “Goddess-sama”, I think I would refuse it then and there. So I felt glad when they denounce me as a mistake. I… don’t want to sound happy about it but… but it was my honest opinion.
It will be quite foolish if I join the knights and protect those people, don’t you think so? I apologize, but I have to pass that offer, sir.
But I don’t mind fighting for Rey-sama, Tonic-san, and the people in the Frontline Vanguard Corps, though……」
Cryhart joyfully smacked her shoulder again, happily telling her that she has no obligation to fight for this country.
「Well said, young lass!! I will definitely support you from the background! It’s nice seeing something better than the royalties and “real genuine goddess-sama”. Call me if anything happens, okay? I will rush there at once! Ahahahaha!!!」
Cryhart was still gleefully bashing the poor Rio’s shoulder.
Apparently, she seemed to attract weirdoes. Both people that first helped her, Reyfaras and Cryhart, were powerful enough to change the course of this country and popular enough to have their own followers, despite the fact that they were labeled as “Oddballs”.
They could even repeatedly disobey the King’s imperial ultimatum that no one dares to defy before them. Even so, they received no backlash whatsoever. The reason was that if they resigned from their position, the whole country would fall, even without the help of the demon invasion.
Their influences were that powerful.
And Tonic, who chose to serve Cryhart as a one and only master, knew well that he was one of the human beings that could be considered as an “Oddball”. As a captain, he was way superior from the other corps in every aspect. From swordsmanship, tactical ability, to commanding charisma.
In fact, if every soldier were put in a free-for-all battle, Tonic was sure that the only one that could beat him is Cryhart. Although he himself was that strong, he refused to serve under anyone except Cryhart, no matter how favorable their offer is. There was no way that Tonic would quit his command.
No matter who ruled the country, Tonic would only serve under Cryhart. If the King gave an order and Cryhart refused, Tonic would refuse the King as well. And thus, Tonic was labeled an 『Oddball』.
But it also applies to everyone in the Frontline Vanguard Corps.
The 『Oddballs』 in this corps was fairly known to the public, one of the reason was that most of the members were scouted by captain Cryhart himself. The new rookies who survived the hellish purgatorial training session were also the ones who were scouted by the captain. And by doing so, the number of oddballs were increasing by each year along with the member of 『Captain Cryhart Baka』 squad.
Since Rio seemed to attract oddballs for some reason, Tonic thought that she would fit in just fine.
It’s been a long time since I read the older chapters.
I forgot that Rio bites.
Anyway, this is author’s new chapter http://ncode.syosetu.com/n8321co/23/ so please open it and give him/her some love.