1101 – Intermission: Lunamaria’s Trainer

Royal Capital of Symphonia Kingdom, the residence of the Albert Duchy. On the coaching facility behind the mansion, the Head of the household, Lilia Albert and her shut buddies Sieglinde and Lunamaria have been coaching.

They’d a number of mock battles with completely different combos, and after a certain quantity of repetitions, the three of them took a break to replicate on their coaching.

[……Even so, you sure are getting stronger and stronger, Sieg. Your training has really been paying off, hasn’t it?]

[Yes, thanks to Kuromu-sama and Funf-sama, I can feel myself growing. I feel like I’m making steady progress, little by little.]

Sieglinde’s latest common coaching with Kuromueina and Funf had improved her skill by leaps and bounds.

She was just under Peerage-holders, however she has improved significantly since then, and is now at a degree the place she could be as sturdy as Peerage-holders.

[On the other hand, Luna seems to be in a bad shape. How should I say this…… You seem to be moving more stiffly than usual…… Are you sick?]

[Ahh, no, it’s just, I’ve been struggling a bit with my assignment.]

Opposite to Sieglinde, who was in a fine condition, Lunamaria’s actions have been lackluster, and to Lilia and Sieglinde, who knew Lunamaria nicely, she gave the impression to be in a lot worse form than regular.

Listening to Lunamaria’s reply to Sieglinde’s query with a wry smile on her face, Lilia requested with a curious expression on her face.

[Assignment?]

[Yes, well, I’ve been receiving some guidance like Sieg, but I’m finding the assignment given to me quite difficult.]

[Fumu, what kind of assignment is it?]

[……To put it simply……. “It was to keep on thinking”.]

[ [ Unnn? ] ]

Lilia and Sieglinde tilted their heads at Lunamaria’s phrases, nevertheless it doesn’t look like Lunamaria had no intention of speaking additional, as she continued chatting with them whereas dodging their questions.

Lunamaria doesn’t stay in Lilia’s mansion, however is commuting from her house and would go house after work hours.

Usually, she would have headed straight house, however just lately, as soon as a month……  On the day that they had designated, she was to go the place the being that turned her instructor is.

A card, delivered to her via some particular technique, had the placement written on it, and Lunamaria heads for the designated place via the again roads.

When she arrived on the designated place, she discovered it to be unusually quiet and eerie, with a dimly-lit environment.

Swallowing her saliva upon such an environment, a card flew in direction of Lunamaria. It wasn’t very quick, so Lunamaria caught the cardboard, and instantly afterward, she heard a voice.

[……How many different patterns did you imagine now?]

[15……]

[Not quite yet there then. You should be able to think of at least 10,000 different things that are written on the card before you catch it.]

Showing from the shadows on the finish of the alley, Alice continued.

[That aside, how did you do with your assignment…… Well, you’re most probably ending up stopping as usual, aren’t you?]

[Yes. To be honest, I couldn’t move at all as I wanted to. It’s quite difficult, keeping on thinking……]

[Well, I’m the same case in the beginning. I mean, I think you’ll stay like that for several years. But even so, you need to keep on thinking. Your opponent’s next attack, your possible options, the situation around you…… Just keep on thinking. You won’t be able to move well in the beginning…… but if you keep doing it all the time, before you know it, your thoughts will eventually connect like flashes of light. Your thoughts will overtake your actions.]

Talking in a lightweight tone, Alice recovered the cardboard Lunamaria caught earlier than persevering with.

[That being the case, you must now expand the variety of your thoughts. Consider all possibilities in everything you do, including the possibilities that people would normally dismiss as improbable, even if they are less than several decimals below zero percent. In this way, your thinking ability will someday get stronger to the realm of what can be called as Precognition. By that time, you will have gone from a weakling to someone who’s relatively strong.]

[Yes. It feels annoying being left behind by Lili and Sieg all the time.]

[Good. Well then, let’s see you move around a bit…… I’ve already taught you several times, and I’m sure you’re well aware of this, but I’m not as gentle as Kuro-san, so you need to stay focused…… else you can get hurt.]

With a snap of Alice’s finger, the again alley hidden behind a Spatial Isolation Ward they have been in earlier than modified to an unlimited empty house, wherein Lunamaria quietly assumed her battle stance…… when she seemingly considered one thing.

[Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve asked…… but why did Phantasmal King-sama decide to train me?]

[Well, Lilia-san is getting stronger and stronger even when self-taught, while Sieg-san was getting instructions at Kuro-san’s place, so I thought it was a pity that you were falling behind…… but well, most of all, I think that you’re the one…… who resembles me the most, so I just wanted to take care of you a little.]

Saying this, Alice barely smiled. As she felt like Lunamaria, who was scuffling with the task she gave her, was like how she was again when she was weak, Alice someway discovered herself smiling……

Severe-senpai : [Eh? You’re doing that? Moreover, with a couple of monthly training sessions, you’ve been training her for quite a while now?]

? ? ? : [Well, I started teaching around the time Kaito-san just returned. As for Sieg-san, I was going to recommend her to train with Kuro-san, that is if they didn’t talk about it back at the beach.]

Severe-senpai : [You started training her…… Aren’t you afraid you’re gonna turn her as buggy as the others?]

? ? ? : [As long as I haven’t trained them from scratch, it will be alright.]