After delivering a short message from Michaela, Sea played a
tune like “poron” on his lute.
“Well then, my job is done, so I’m going to go back to people
watching. Adieu,” he said, going back into the bushes.
It seemed like a very pretentious way to make an exit, but…
“In other words, you’re going to go watch couples flirting
again…?” I said.
“Well, Sea isn’t a fool, so he doesn’t want to get the
attention of the law… or so I’d like to think,” Jade quietly.
“I see…” I sighed.
Well, if he tries to go to a changing room or peek at people in
the bathroom, I wonder if Michaela will stop him…?
“By the way, Marshall, that was an interruption, but can we
resume training?” Jade asked.
“Ah, yes,” I said. “We can.”
Thanks to Sea’s intrusion, I got a bit of a break and am okay
to run again.
“Alright!” Jade said. “Well then, let’s run while singing once
more!”
“Please, not the song…” I said.
"
"
We resumed the hellish training of holding a Michaela doll and
chasing after Jade, him running at high speed even with a
sandbag in his arms.
By sunset when we arrived back at the castle, my legs and arms
were limp.
“Right! Now then, that’s it for today’s training!” Jade said.
“I… I thought I was going to die…” I said.
“It’ll be fine, Marshall!” Jade said. “Today was the first day,
so I made it a lot easier so you won’t die!”
Don’t screw with me!
… I don’t have the energy to yell that, so let’s just reply
politely for the moment.
“I… see…” I said.
“Indeed!” Jade said. “Let’s do our best tomorrow with these
conditions, okay?!”
“Tomorrow… all this again…?” I asked.
If we train every day at this pace, I might collapse before I
can master the Ultimate Magic…
“Fufufuh, don’t worry,” Jade said. “Tomorrow’s training is more
for your mental strength and concentration.”
“Is that so…?” I asked.
I want to be relieved, but… when I think about what happened
today, it can’t be good, I’m sure…
“Fuh-fuh-fuh, you don’t have to look so anxious,” Jade said.
“You’ll just have to set up dominoes in the entire reception
hall.”
“Huh. I have no idea what’s supposed to be reassuring about
that answer, but thank you,” I said.
“No, no!” Jade said. “Consider your training to be a very
rewarding pursuit in itself, Marshall!”
It’s no use, even if I say things sarcastically to Jade while
he’s in Demon Sergeant mode, it doesn’t seem to work…
“Well then, please rest up today!” Jade said.
“… Okay, I’ll do that,” I said.
For now, let’s do as Jade said and prepare for tomorrow.
I took a bath, had supper with a worried Gibeon, and fell
face-first into my bed.
Geeze, I can’t even lift a finger anymore, I’ll fall asleep
like this–
Doss.
“Uwah…?!”
–Is what I thought I’d do, but something fell on my back.
Umm, this is…
“Marshall! The Saint Of Light Has Always Loved The Marshall, So
Even If She’s Far Away, She’s Prepared!”
This line like the title of a web novel is… the Michaela doll?
I thought it wasn’t good to put it in a storage room so it’s
been leaned against my bed instead.
I managed to move my battered body and pull the Michaela doll
out from on top of me. Even so, if I take a closer look, it
only looks like Michaela has collapsed from exhaustion. What is
Michaela doing these days?
Additionally–
“The Lady of Light says it’s okay to leave everything to her.”
–What did Sea’s message mean?
Did she want to take care of everything in returning us to our
original world, after all?
But, I don’t want to put such a strain on Michaela…
“My daughter, is now a good time?”
Suddenly, I heard a knocking on my door and Gibeon’s apologetic
voice through it. I’m so tired, but I can’t just ignore him…
“Yes. Please wait a moment, Father,” I said.
I managed to head to the door while dragging my limp body
along. When I opened it, Gibeon presented a communication
device of this world that resembled a smartphone.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your rest,” Gibeon said.
“Ah, no. There’s no problem,” I said. “By the way, what’s going
on?”
“Right. Your friend is calling you,” Gibeon said.
“I’ve got a call from a friend?” I asked.
Gibeon held out the communicator to me. On the screen, I can’t
recognize the numbers displayed, but this is definitely going
to be…
“Ya-hoo! Saki! Is now a good time…?!”
When I put the communicator to my ear, I heard Michaela’s
energetic voice like I thought.
“Well then, Papa will go back to his throne,” Gibeon said as he
turned around and left. “When you’re done talking, please
return the communicator.”
“Huh…?!” Michaela cried. “Sakiii! Can you hear me?!”
“Yes, sorry,” I said. “I can hear you.”
“That’s a relief!” Michaela said. “I wanted to talk to you a
bit, so I called my father-in-law!”
“Is that what happened?” I said.
Incidentally, she’s close enough to exchange messages with
Gibeon, but not enough to even give me her number–
“Oh, right!” Mika said. “I already got your contact info, Saki,
but I thought you’d be surprised if I called you out of the
blue!”
–But why didn’t I know her contact information? Oh, that’s
right, the other party is Michaela, isn’t it…?
“Huh?” Michaela asked. “Saki, you sound tired, are you okay?”
“Ah, yeah,” I said. “I’m okay.”
“I’m glad to hear that!” Michaela said. “Oh, hey, hey, has my
present already arrived?!”
“Yeah, it got here this morning,” I said. “I’ve got plenty to
say, but… for now, it’s thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” Michaela said. “If you’re happy, Saki, that’s
the best!”
“Yeah, thanks…” I said. “By the way, how are you doing?”
“Good! Thanks to you, I’m full of energy!” Michaela replied.
“It’s tough to train for the Ultimate magic, but I’ll do my
best for you, Saki!”
She’ll do her best for me? So it seems that message was for
Michaela to bear the duty of using the Ultimate Magic and
sending us back to our original world together. However….
“About that, Michaela, I just want to ask something,” I said.
“Oh, what’s wrong?” Michaela asked.
“You’re trying to use the Ultimate Magic to return us to our
original world, right?”
“Yeah! That’s right!” Michaela said.
“If that’s the case, could I help you, too?”
“… Huh?”
What? It seems she’s lost her enthusiasm all of a sudden…
“Why do you want to help?” Michaela asked.
“Ah, right,” I said. “I think I can use the Ultimate Magic, so
I’d like to help you cast it and return ourselves to our
original world. See, I think it’s bad just to put the burden on
you, Michaela…”
“Hmm… I see…” Michaela muttered.
What do I do? She still sounds so quiet all of a sudden…
“I’m sorry, Michaela,” I said. “I wonder if I was doing too
much…”
“Ah, no!” Michaela replied. “That’s not the case at all! But,
I’ve put a burden on you, Saki, and I can’t do a thing about it
anymore…”
“Oh, come on, we’re like each other,” I said. “I don’t want to
put the burden on your alone, because we’re both going back to
our original world.”
“… That’s right!” Michaela said.
“Yeah! That’s right!” I said.
“Fufufuh,” Michaela said. “Then in that case, I’ll have to work
harder so I don’t end up being a drag on you.”
“I’ll do my best not to fall behind, too,” I said.
“Then, let’s do our best together!” Michaela cried. “But, it’s
encouraging to know that there are people working hard for the
same goal even if they’re physically apart.”
“Yeah, it is,” I said.
On a related note, what kind of training is Michaela doing?
Will it be like mine, running with a weight in your arms–
“Fufufuh,” Michaela chuckled. “Starting tomorrow, I’ll be able
to easily do the ‘Running, up-and-down stair climbing, and
crawling exercises with body weights and a hypoxic mask!’”
–And it doesn’t seem similar at all.
Jade wasn’t kidding when he said it was light training…
“I feel you’re going to have a hard time, but let’s get over
this together!” Michaela said.
“Y-Yeah! That’s right!” I said, my pitch rising for how guilty
I felt.
“Then, that’s all for today!” Michaela said. “Thank you for
taking my sudden call!”
“Ah, no, don’t worry about it,” I said. “Now that I’ve heard
from you again, I’m thinking I can give my all again.”
“Really?!” Michaela asked.
“Yes,” I said.
For the moment, Jade’s suggested training was mercy and I
shouldn’t complain.
“Ufufufu, I’m glad to hear you say that,” Michaela said. “Well
then, good night… oh, that’s right!”
“Hmm?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, sleeping with my doll won’t count as cheating, so if
you’re feeling lonely, you can hug it while you’re in bed!”
“Thanks for that, then…” I said.
“No problem!” Michaela said. “Well then, goodnight!”
“Yeah, goodnight,” I said.
I hung up the call, the room felt extremely quiet. It was
refreshing… and I think it’s especially true after speaking to
the energetic Michaela.
I feel lonely, but… I’ll have to consider sleeping with the
Michaela doll after holding it and squatting about 100 times.