Chapter 15

It was just three days ago that I first saw the protagonist.

And until that day, I had been diligently training with Ria.

“What! This is so heavy! There’s no need to lift this at all!?”

I’m pretty sure I was shouting something like that to Ria back then.

Sweat was pouring down my body as a few nuns circled around, sneaking glances at us from a distance. Many of them were people who didn’t get along with me, and obviously, smirks were plastered on their faces.

To them, it probably looked like Ria was giving me a serious lesson.

Well, they’re not wrong about that.

After all, I was holding a giant riot shield.

No matter how much fantasy mixed with monsters and hunters were rampaging in this world, the foundation was still modern.

The swords wielded by those hunters were made of ultra-light and sturdy alloys thanks to modern material science. It’s a lot tougher to manufacture them through corporate mass production methods like pressing or CNC machining than relying on artisans hammering away at metal.

It makes sense that they’d have accessories on rails for practical use on the sword sheath, or maybe some innovative technology to draw the sword with less effort—something like that.

It’s not like there aren’t any artisans in this fantasy world, but in this case, we’re talking about handling special materials infused with magic instead of just mass production.

Thanks to that, the sword Ria wielded was ruthlessly strong. Though it was just a training sword without any edge at all, I figured it must also be a ‘light and sturdy’ kind of item.

But you know what?

“Why is the shield so heavy!?”

I shouted out my grievance.

“Of course it’s heavy. It needs to be thicker than the blade to block attacks from all directions, and it has to cover your body properly!”

The shield I was holding was a riot shield that police use against demonstrations.

But its material wasn’t some plastic nonsense. It looked like a modern riot shield, painted tactical black, but the content was basically ‘metal plate’.

“B-but I clearly said I wanted to learn marksmanship…”

“If you’re holding a rifle, it’s only natural to have armor to protect your body.”

“But people with rifles—”

“You don’t have a rifle license.”

No!

“If I just hold a smaller shield, it won’t block any of your attacks! Why are you saying this after trying it out?”

That was true.

When I complained about how heavy it was, Ria actually went out and retrieved a smaller round shield. It was a bit lighter than this one, but it couldn’t block Ria’s sword attacks at all.

Only with the size I had could I barely manage to deflect Ria’s attacks, however.

What’s more annoying was that Ria didn’t even swing her sword with genuine intent. If she had been serious, I wouldn’t even be standing here.

Somewhere in my mind, I understood that this training method was somewhat rational, which just made me even angrier.

It was frustrating to be taught by Ria, yet I couldn’t even come up with a counter-argument!

“…If it really bothers you, why not use your Saint Power? It’ll help you recover stamina, and more than that, any pain will heal in an instant.”

Even without bruises, the spots that turned red from being hit could be expressed as ‘wounded.’ That kind of pain and the small damages to the body would be cleared up neatly by using my Saint Power.

But still, I was someone who wouldn’t use this power, at least not for myself. I certainly didn’t plan to use it just because training with Ria was slightly tough.

As I gritted my teeth and glared at Ria, she chuckled before raising her sword again.

“Well, good. That kind of tenacity is acceptable. Then let’s go one more time—”

Ugh.

Seeing Ria smirk at me only made me more frustrated. It was like she was now fully embodying that teacher-student vibe.

Alright.

No matter what happens today, I will land at least one good strike on Ria’s body.

Even though I was almost too exhausted to hold a weapon in my other hand and was barely lifting the shield…!

Just as I steeled my resolve and was about to charge forward, forcing strength into my legs—

“Injury! We have an injury!”

I heard someone shout while rushing toward us.

I immediately tossed the shield aside and dashed towards that voice with all my might. I could hear Ria calling me from behind, but I had something more urgent to deal with.

…It’s not like I wanted to mess up training on purpose.

*

As evidence of that, I ran with everything I had left, even though my legs felt like they were about to give out. Ria came by and grabbed my arm, saving me from potentially tripping over or rolling down the stairs on my way to the basement.

The moment I got down to the basement, the vile smell of blood hit me.

It wasn’t that I had never smelled blood before, but this time it was especially strong.

After standing in front of the patient, I finally understood why that smell was so intense.

Typically, patients that came here had deep wounds, but they often had some strange substance caked on top. That was why they came to seek my help since no one else could treat them.

But in this case—

I know it’s rude to think this way in front of a patient, but internally I couldn’t help but think it was really fortunate for me.

This patient really was fortunate.

There wasn’t a single intact limb. Flesh was torn off in chunks, and the right arm was completely exposed with broken bones protruding.

The right leg had rough flesh ripped off above the knee, exposing torn muscle and white bone, and the left arm and leg were in a similar state.

His chest and abdomen also had deep holes, as if something had eaten through them.

The face was virtually unrecognizable. It looked like some huge beast had bitten it off and shaken it around.

However, whether I should call this a coincidence or not, neither limb was completely severed. He was even still breathing. Under normal circumstances, given how much holy water I poured over him, he would only last a few minutes in this state.

Yet he was still alive. Having him in front of me really was ‘fortunate’.

Next to him, a woman around my age was kneeling, weeping. She had injuries, but nothing urgent enough that she had to be treated before the man.

Perhaps because she had a close bond with the man, she was holding his right hand, which was also covered in blood.

Without asking anything, I knelt beside the man.

Placing my hand on his exposed ribcage, I closed my eyes.

And as always—

I knew you were there, and I wasn’t about to deny that, so please let this person live.

As usual, a bright light covered my vision.

“…Ah!?”

The woman holding the man’s hand gasped in surprise, and the comrades who had brought him here also voiced their astonishment, but there was something I needed to check first.

I confirmed the torn parts of his clothing and the wounds that were plainly visible beneath.

To be honest, I had already exhausted my body enough rolling on the ground, and having leaped here with excessive effort, I didn’t have time to think about anything else but checking for remaining injuries.

Both arms were about to break, and both legs had significant muscle loss. The abdomen was exposed, and his face was barely recognizable. After thoroughly checking everything, I finally stood up.

“…Ah.”

Only then did the woman look up at me.

If it were any other day, I would have said something comforting to put her at ease, even if it was just superficial.

And I would have waved away the light shining on my face.

“…Anna?”

But before I could even wave my hand, I felt my vision slowly darkening. Ria, who was next to me, called my name a bit frantically.

Seeing me topple backward, the priest and Sister Warden rushed over to me. I felt someone catch my back with their arm.

Only when I saw my trembling hands did I remember how tired I had become every time I called upon my Saint Power. Normally, at times like this, I would quickly return to the dorm, wash up, and sleep to regain my strength.

That was the last thing I remembered from that day.

So, at that moment, I truly used up every ounce of strength I had and fainted right there.

Ah, man, even thinking about it again is a bit embarrassing.

Anyway, that’s how it was.

Typically, in harem stories, the heroine sometimes stumbles upon the naked male protagonist—but conversely, there are moments when the protagonist sees the heroine’s nakedness too.

But I went a step further and ended up seeing what was beneath the protagonist’s skin even before the official beginning of the story.

Well, I saw the girl next to him too, so it wasn’t just me.

If I had to order it, I guess I’m a bit behind?