Chapter 45: The Saintess’s Strange Training Method Part 2

“Even if I don’t know about other things, what could possibly be wrong with my flawless training plan? If you’re that worried, just throw some bait.”

“If you’re so concerned, just give them a sense of purpose.”

“Is there a method for that?”

There’s no shortage of methods, of course.

“People only demonstrate superhuman strength when they have the will to do so.”

In that case, let’s give the nuns a little chance.

I turned to call the nuns carefully.

“Sisters.”

“The church knights like strong women.”

I know that all too well.

The nuns probably came in to earn money, or maybe they were raised as nuns from a young age.

Of course, they’re not here to be nuns out of genuine conviction.

Since I’ve scattered enough money around, not only members of the assassin guild, but quite a few regular girls have joined as well this time.

So, what’s their ultimate goal? Most of them are aiming to marry a church knight in the end.

Since a church knight is, after all, a ‘knight,’ he receives a stable salary.

Naturally, this makes him an ideal husband candidate for these women.

The ultimate goal of the nuns is to marry one of those knights and quit being a nun.

Anyway, there’s no obligation in religion, so it’s not impossible.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So, if you all want to secure a good husband, catch those harmful birds.”

Their eyes sparkled with interest.

That’s more like the nuns of the church.

Yes, I truly thought it would go well, at least up until that moment.

***

A few hours later.

I was disappointed.

Who would have thought they’d be this inept?

Before me lay the weak nuns, each panting heavily on the ground.

How could none of them hit even one bird?

“This is just unbelievable.”

I shook my head.

This is serious—way too serious.

I never imagined the women of the Empire would be in such poor condition.

Is there something physically wrong if they’re in this state despite having the willpower?

“If it’s so easy, why don’t you try, Your Holiness?”

“I showed you how, didn’t I?”

“With a different weapon!”

Some of the nuns were even showing resistance towards me.

‘Are they really reacting like this?’

‘Well, I have no choice. They say seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.’

“I really don’t understand. How can this be so difficult?”

I picked up an arrow and aimed it at one of the sparrows perched on the statue of the goddess.

“Chirp!”

A sparrow that had been mocking the nuns from atop the statue fell, pierced by the arrow.

‘Now, what excuse will they make?’

“Well, it’s hard enough just wielding a sword. How can we possibly hit something that high?”

“Then what about the ones with bows?”

“The birds just dodge.”

Of course, the birds wouldn’t sit still and wait to be hit.

At least be able to hit something that’s sitting still—I succeeded on my second try, after all.

And it wasn’t even a sparrow or a small bird; it was a tiny bat.

“What about those with maces?”

I asked the nuns wielding maces.

“The mace isn’t working well either.”

“And the flail?”

What about the nun with the flail?

Looking at the nun who was whining earlier, I saw, surprisingly, that she had taken down three of Claire’s favorite birds.

“Well, I managed to hit them by accident.”

“Oh, you’re quite good with the flail. How did you do it?”

It’s impressive even if they’re not moving.

“I just threw it randomly, and the noisy birds got caught in the chain and fell.”

A flower blooming on a withered tree branch.

The flail is supposed to be the hardest to handle, yet she managed to use it effectively.

“You used it quite well. The flail—could it just be good luck?”

“Um, I hit one with an arrow too.”

One nun raised her hand.

And it wasn’t even one of the sparrows I had conjured with mana.

“I hit one with my sword.”

Another managed to get one with a sword.

It’s only one bird, but still, it wasn’t a bird I created with mana—it was a real sparrow.

“Are there three with good combat instincts?”

A swordswoman, an archer, and one with a flail. Hmm, we could use some support, like a mage, priest, or cleric.

Finding a priest or cleric wouldn’t be hard, but not having a mage is a bit disappointing.

If one of the swordswoman or flail users were a mage, it would be perfect.

Then, we could form a proper nun warrior party.

If they could surpass Eugene, that would be ideal.

No matter how skilled they are, it would be hard for mere nuns to take down one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“So, what should we do now?”

That was Claire’s question.

“What is there to do?”

It’s clear that these three are worth training.

“I’ll train these three. As for the others…”

“Well, how about giving them a little more of a chance?”

“How?”

They need to be turned into warriors before the High Priest returns.

“I informed Priest Raffel that I’d send the nuns to the monastery for a while.”

“So then.”

Using the excuse of sending them to the monastery, they’ll be trained separately through the assassin guild.

“Yes, since we originally intended to train them as members of the assassin guild.”

“Hmm, understood.”

Then, I just need to take care of these three myself.

Claire took the other nuns away, while I led the three chosen ones through the corridor and into the backyard.

The nuns glanced around nervously before looking at me.

“So, what do we do now? Honestly, it was mostly luck that we managed to hit anything.”

Hmm, luck can’t be ignored either.

They say that luck is a skill too.

“Luck is a skill, and it means you have enough strength to throw at the bird. More importantly, you didn’t hesitate, did you? To kill the bird.”

“Yes.”

To be honest, if they were just ordinary village girls, they would hesitate to kill a bird.

But these three were different.

It’s obvious without even seeing it.

The way they casually picked up the bird carcasses showed that much.

“Men also hesitate when they first go hunting monsters. Killing is difficult. Women, who are generally more sensitive creatures, would find it even harder. But you handled it well.”

“Not just anyone can be an adventurer.”

“You have to have no hesitation about killing if you want to fight against monsters.”

“And that’s not all.”

“Adventurers don’t just earn money by exterminating monsters.”

“They need to dissect the monsters they kill to harvest materials.”

“I didn’t realize that was such a big deal.”

“Hmm, I understand what you’re saying, Your Holiness.”

“You might have skills, but you can tell just by looking. More than half of the sparrows you aimed at earlier were stationary ones I created. Yet you couldn’t hit them? It means you weren’t even resolved to kill in the first place.”

Without the resolve to kill, no matter how much talent they have, they wouldn’t be able to catch anything.

“Is that so?”

“You instinctively only went for the moving targets. That’s why I regard you highly. It’s not everything, but let me guess—your parents probably worked in hunting monsters or as soldiers, didn’t they?”

Judging by their beginner-level handling of weapons, it wasn’t like they had prior experience either.

“Well, my father is a hunter.”

“My mother was an adventurer.”

Two of them matched my expectations.

If their father was a hunter or their mother an adventurer, they would’ve seen such things nearby.

Naturally, they would find it easy to catch a bird or two.

“See?”

“My parents both passed away when I was young.”

The last one was orphaned.

If it’s not her parents’ profession, it would be the household environment that was the issue.

Perhaps someone died, or she had to live on her own, with no room to be selective—someone in a life-or-death situation.

In this era, being orphaned isn’t that unusual.

The war with the Demon King has continued, after all.

“That’s understandable.”

I patted the shoulder of the orphaned nun.

“Yes?”

“Kids who lose their parents often live tough lives, so they’re capable of doing almost anything.”

Surprisingly, that’s true.

Honestly, I’d hoped they would’ve caught more birds.

I had misjudged.

Just like the kingdom, I was overestimating the Empire.

The Empire has its own level of capability.

These nuns probably lived in harsh conditions as well.

So, I decided to officially train them.

***

“Thank you!”

Moreover, they listen well.

“You three have the willpower, so I think I can teach you easily.”

“Well then, shall we move on to the next step?”

Now that we’ve come this far, there shouldn’t be any difficulties.

In the end, mindset is what matters.

Now, these three just need to work hard, and they’ll handle the rest.

“So, introduce yourselves.”

I learned each of their names.

The girl with long brown hair was Casey; she was good with a sword.

The girl with short blue hair was Eri; she handled the bow well.

The girl with long red hair was Mari; she was skilled with the flail.

All of them were from villages outside the imperial capital.

“Alright, let’s move into practical training.”

“Practical training? Already?”

There’s a saying that life is all about practical experience.

Naturally, it’s best to start with real experience for those who show promise.

Even in the kingdom’s army, those who survived fighting the Demon King’s forces after being drafted became incredibly strong.

“You’re joking, right?”

Of course, this practical training is slightly different.

Even I wouldn’t send weak girls like these into a dungeon to die from the start.

So, I used a modified goblin summoning ritual based on dark magic.

With a clap of my hands, a small dimensional rift opened before the nuns, and three green goblins emerged.

“Kee-kik.”

“Gigi-kik.”

On the surface, these goblins look intimidating, but that’s just their appearance.

They’re specifically modified for training purposes.

I adjusted them to be just lethal enough to avoid killing anyone.

“Goblins.”

“Are you serious? Really?”

The nuns hesitated.

Understandably, goblins and orcs are notorious for favoring human females.

For women, goblins and orcs are among the worst possible opponents.

“Don’t worry. These won’t actually kill you. I removed their weapon edges, teeth, and claws.”

These are goblins I prepared in advance.

“Then.”

“Yes, these are martial arts goblins.”

They only use martial arts.

“A goblin that only uses martial arts isn’t much of a threat. I know this well, having tested it myself in battles against monsters and even against the Demon King’s army with the kingdom’s soldiers. Of course, if you keep taking hits, you could end up dead. But with a bit of resistance, a goblin that only uses martial arts can be subdued.”

“A… martial arts goblin?”

“They’ll strictly use only martial arts. I’ve programmed them that way.”

This was even part of the training program for the kingdom’s soldiers.

Back then, there were separate training instructors, so the only thing I provided was these training monsters.

“So, you’re saying we need to fight and beat them?”

“Yes. They say the best form of training is real combat.”

It was the same with the kingdom’s soldiers.

They were always engaged in wars.

“But we really don’t know anything, not even how to fight.”

“Well, you’ll learn by getting hit.”

“Yes, you really do learn by getting hit.”

“That’s how I grew stronger, after all.”

“When you take hits, you naturally learn to dodge, toughen up, or figure out ways to block.”

“It’s just a matter of how efficiently you apply what you learn.”

“I see.”

“For now, just win against those goblins. That’s your task.”

‘If they can even beat a goblin, they’ll make passable nuns.’

“And how much time do we have?”

“One day.”

For a healthy young lady to beat a goblin, one day is enough.

After all, it only took me a day to master elemental magic.

“So, during that time, what will you be doing, Your Holiness?”

“Me? I only have one job.”

“I’ll be watching over you.”

I replied with a bored expression.

“Aren’t you going to rest?”

“Why would I?”

“It’s a 24-hour training session, so there’s no reason for me to rest, is there?”

At my response, the three nuns’ faces twisted in despair.