Bersia lay silently for a moment afterward, looking up at Usher. The longer that silence stretched, the more Usher’s expression grew troubled.
After the moment of bewilderment passed, he found some composure.
Finally, Bersia was able to respond logically.
“Do you like it?”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
“It hurts.”
“Ugh…!”
In other words, she was now able to joke around. Usher tightly shut his eyes and trembled.
It was quite a gratifying reaction, and as he’d said, the technique itself wasn’t that painful.
Should she be amazed that her body felt only faint pain even after being thrown to the ground?
Or should she be impressed by that technique, which seemed to surpass the limits of strength and body mass?
Bersia, claiming it was a joke, ended her pretense of pain and received a disgruntled look from Usher.
Then, she asked,
“What was that? That technique?”
“Oh, if it’s the technique, it’s from the East! It’s a technique that uses the direction of force against an opponent to subdue them…!”
Usher babbled on excitedly, but there were many theoretical parts Bersia couldn’t quite understand.
Of course, that was natural. After all, she had never lived a life involving physical combat.
However, one thing piqued her curiosity.
“How do you know martial arts from the East?”
As far as Bersia knew, the continent called the East was extremely closed off in terms of teaching martial arts.
Moreover, considering that this continent had almost no exchanges with the East, it was quite amazing that someone like him, who had likely lived his entire life here, had learned such an unusual martial art.
With a somewhat awkward and wistful smile, Usher replied,
“Oh, I grew up in the hands of mercenaries when I was young. One of them was an Eastern martial artist….”
Bersia understood.
This was a topic she shouldn’t dig further into.
Everyone has memories they’d rather not revisit, and Bersia was no exception.
So she responded only with a simple “I see.”
“Oh, anyway! Now that you know what the technique is, it’s time for you to learn it! It should be easy!”
Usher resumed his lesson with renewed enthusiasm.
While Bersia wasn’t particularly passionate, she participated in his lesson nonetheless.
Of course, with a bit of mischief on her end.
“Force is transmitted in a straight line. Once a punch is thrown, it’s difficult to control that direction. So, what you need to do is turn the direction of that force. You strike the side of the straight line and make it curve…”
“Where are you touching? That’s….”
“It’s your elbow!”
“It’s sensitive.”
“I know it isn’t!”
What he called grappling was a martial art in which Usher taught techniques to flip an opponent’s body by grabbing it.
Bersia found that, as he’d said, it was easy to grasp and learn the principle.
The first reason was that the theory was very simple, and the second was that Usher’s body was extraordinarily unique.
“Oh! That was well done!”
At the moment Bersia thought, ‘I should throw him,’ her body moved almost automatically, astonishing her at its responsiveness.
Bersia used Usher’s attack against him, spinning him around and quickly mastering the technique.
Of course, Usher didn’t just go along without resistance.
“If you’re going to say it like that, would you mind actually falling to the ground?”
“Haha, we can’t have the Saintess getting hurt, can we! That won’t do!”
What kind of skill is that?
Even when Usher fell backward, he twisted his body to land properly.
No matter how she tried to throw him—forward, backward, to the side, or diagonally—it was all useless.
He was like a fly.
He was terrible at anything emotional, yet he was exceptionally skilled with his body, which stirred a bit of rebellion in her.
So, she kept trying out techniques.
“That’s great! Just keep doing it like that!”
Bersia had to admit,
‘It’s not working.’
It didn’t look like this would work as is.
“Hah! At this level, you should be able to handle lowly thugs with ease!” Usher said, proudly puffing out his chest.
Bersia chose an easier approach.
“Thank you for teaching me how to use my body.”
“Hmm! It was possible only because you were an excellent student!”
“Then, would you mind teaching me another way?”
“?”
“You were feeling my body the entire time, weren’t you? So firm…”
“Oh, for real!”
Now was her chance.
Smack!
Bersia took a step forward and grabbed Usher’s wrist.
Usher, his face flushed and letting out a sharp squeal, quickly tried to pull away in realization.
That was the turning point.
They were close, close enough to exchange whispers.
Bersia turned her gaze deliberately.
“Wow, your chest…”
“Gah…!”
Usher flinched, pulling his shoulders back in surprise. His center of gravity wavered.
If she threw him now, she could pin him to the ground.
Her body followed through with the technique, tracing the optimal path as if on instinct.
It was just before she drove him into the ground.
“Really…!”
His voice trembled with resentment, yet the technique itself was flawless.
Whoosh—!
Another inexplicable thing happened.
Usher, who had been on his way to hitting the ground, was somehow standing with his feet planted firmly. Meanwhile, Bersia found herself floating in midair, spinning round and round.
Her vision stretched and her head grew dizzy.
Right after,
Thud—!
The impact this time was incomparable to before.
Well, it just hurt a bit more, though.
“…Ouch.”
“Reflect on yourself a bit! Did you really have to act like that until the last moment? It’s dishonorable! It’s vulgar! Even street thugs wouldn’t fight that way!”
Usher, clutching the front of his robe, shouted angrily.
Bersia, feeling the stinging sensation on her back, asked,
“What was that?”
“An advanced technique!”
“What? Teach me too.”
“No! I refuse to teach a student with such bad behavior!”
With heavy footsteps, Usher turned and walked away. Then, he suddenly stopped, whipped his head around, and said,
“Reflect on your actions! Write a reflection paper too! Until then, I won’t even speak to you!”
Was it just her imagination, or did his eyes look a bit teary?
Bersia waved her hand from where she lay.
“You did well.”
Well, as long as it was fun, that was enough.
Suddenly, she realized that Usher was bringing a bit of vibrant enjoyment to her previously dull life.
‘Maybe I made a good choice for a guard.’
At the very least, she had no regrets. For now, anyway.
Bersia slowly got up, brushed the dirt off herself, and returned to her quarters to rest.
The next day, as a show of sincerity, Bersia actually wrote a reflection paper and brought it to Usher.
After all, if he refused to respond to her, she wouldn’t be able to tease him, would she?
The contents were something like, ‘from now on, I’ll use more medical terms when mentioning body parts.’
She envisioned how it would play out.
He’d probably get annoyed and ask, “Why don’t you just not mention them at all?”
Then, she could counter with, “Isn’t it a bit oppressive to ban mentioning body parts altogether?” His reaction would be priceless.
With this plan in mind, Bersia arrived at what was originally her bedroom.
And there, she was greeted by an unexpected sight.
“What are you doing?”
“Hmph.”
Usher was lying face down on the bed with a hot towel placed on his back.
Looking down at him, she noticed Usher trembling slightly as he mumbled in a sheepish voice,
“…Pain.”
“Sorry, what?”
“…Muscle pain.”
That’s right.
Usher had been throwing himself around, performing high-level techniques with Bersia’s body, which had never exercised a day in its life.
And he’d been doing this against someone with the physical build of a trained knight.
Even though he could exploit the opponent’s strength, a minimal amount of his own force was still necessary.
Usher underestimated the strain it would cause, thinking it would be manageable, and now he was paying the price.
Bersia watched him for a moment, then smirked as a thought crossed her mind.
“Don’t underestimate me. I was skilled enough to be chosen as the Saintess’s guard.”
Twitch!
“Haha, we can’t have the Saintess getting hurt, can we. That won’t do.”
Twitch!
Each word seemed to elicit a vivid reaction from him.
Before she knew it, his neck and ears had turned red. His body was trembling.
Bersia sat down on the edge of the bed and tapped the towel on his back with her fingers.
Usher let out a gasp and squirmed in pain.
“You treated my body so carelessly.”
“I’m sorry…!”
“If this keeps up, we’ll have to postpone the final inspection.”
At that, she pressed firmly on his lower back. Usher jumped in surprise.
Bersia felt genuinely delighted, and a crooked smile appeared on her lips because of it.
It seemed Usher was so mortified that he didn’t even mention the reflection paper anymore.
Maybe she’d save that for later.
With that thought, Bersia delivered the finishing blow.
“If my body becomes a mass of muscle from overuse, how will you take responsibility?”
At that moment, Usher suddenly turned his head sharply.
Bersia was taken aback.
‘Uh-oh.’
Because on his face was an expression of severe, unwavering disdain.
“Saintess.”
“…?”
“Muscle mass doesn’t develop from just one day of hard work.”
“A well-defined, muscular physique requires years of consistent training and a grueling diet to achieve.”
His voice was completely flat.
Bersia’s mouth clamped shut.
“Don’t underestimate the effort it takes to build strength.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Bersia offered a sincere apology. It felt necessary.