Chapter 480

Day 109 – Morning, the Theocracy, the City

Representatives of nearby towns that had been arriving since the morning and envoys from the various sects who had retreated to the outskirts of the country crowded in, so the princess duo was getting swarmed. Even Stern-faced Beautiful Knight Lady-san was barely keeping. Despite the Maid Girl’s efforts to somehow manage the flood, the line of petitioners just never ended. I thought maybe attaching a handshake ticket would help sell more frontier pennants (the mushroom-shaped ones), but apparently just handshake tickets won’t cut it? The anti-papal factions had been searching for a banner to rally behind, and there is no better standard than Sister Girl, the princess of the Theocracy and now its archbishop. Which means Sister Girl will be targeted forever, no matter where she goes.

And since I had no idea the heck they were talking about with those noble bloodlines, the sects, the hierarchy, and so on, so I had no way to help even if I wanted to. The princess of Something-something Theocracy was negotiating policy with something-something faction’s So-and-so clashing with Baron Whatever in heated debate, then Princess of whatwasthenameofthatplaceagain cut in and son on, and meanwhile a baby racoon from whatwasthenameofthatschool again is being fed snack… Kinda chaos?

「Talking as if it doesn’t concern you at all. You’re narrating this like a totally unrelated observer, but halfway through those 『someones of something』you actually started talking about your companions. And besides, whatwasthenameofthatschool ? They’re your classmates! You went there too, right? How did you manage that without knowing anyone’s names!?」

「Oh, morning. But yeah, it is none of my business. If it were an invasion, sure, I’d be involved, but I don’t really care about the Theocracy. If they want to take back their country and govern it, that’s for the people of the Theocracy to argue, worry, and solve? So yeah, I’m totally a bystander? As for Whatever High School, all I had to do is get off at the right bus stop? The one right after the Something Hall stop?」

I don’t know about any of this, so I am an outsider. I don’t know what towns this country has, which rivers flow here, what songs they sing, what their specialty dishes are, or even the name of the country itself. Only those who know their past, struggle in their present, and look toward their future should get a say. Like, at the very least, memorizing the country’s name would be a good start for the exam prep?

「That’s not the point! You keep saying you’re uninvolved, but you made them the highest-grade, most top-secret weapons and armor at a discount, and Arianna-san and the others are clearly our comrades now, aren’t they?」

「Whether Sister Girl is or isn’t our comrade, we’re just the helpers. The choice and responsibility is theirs, so outsiders shouldn’t butt in with irresponsible advice. And anyway, if I’ve got no intention of living for this country, there’s no way I could understand its future, like, it’s name for example? Yeah, since I don’t know the name, I don’t know the future either. So I’m still uninvolved? Sort of?」

The secrecy around equipment is only to keep enemies from analyzing weaknesses, nothing deeper than that. It’s not a big deal if it leaks, but anything can be broken if you take the right steps, so it’s just a precaution?

My MP didn’t fully recover, the mana battery is still around ninety percent charge, I guess? Yeah, because the fitting process is brutal for a Highschool Boy and afterwards, he went full-on berserk, a wild runaway explosion. Aberrant Tentacle-san, Snake-san, and even Chicken-san joining in, a complete uproar with no MP spared, Dungeon Emperors crying in tears, screaming into the night until the morning… Yeah, that was refreshing.

And at last, after surpassing the Lv25 wall through Body Refinement, and finally getting accustomed to both combat and daily life with the new abilities, I finally understood. Instead of hoarding it, MP recovers faster when used. I get how the Arts of Bedchamber help recover MP at night, but even in everyday life, it seems that qi cultivation, movement and battle accelerate recovery too. I guess it’s the effect of Qi and Transcendents’ Techniques. Yes, last night, I pushed with every ounce of strength, poured everything into it, and Transcendents’ Techniques leveled up and MP recovery got faster… though Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san didn’t recover at all and stayed unconscious until morning?

So breakfast was laid out buffet-style, and we went outside for training. Starting with radio calisthenics then Taikyokuken, mixing in a bit of Systema, and rebuilding my form with Tongbei Quan, Bagua Zhang, and Bajiquan. Well, Wisdom-san did? Delegation is a wonderful thing.

Then switching to staff techniques, I do some practice, instantaneously shifting between kenjutsu and battojutsu, chopping, hacking, cleaving with the sword from kenjutsu and clean kind of pulling cuts from battojutsu, knowing when to use which is the key in group combat. Then, Fish Girl wandered over mid-walk to join in, as Nudist Girl waited as second challenger… These two are a bit tough for light morning exercise sparring partners! Both already carry the title of Sword King, recognized by Armored Pres-san as among the top five sword fighters in the group, and Fish Girl is at the top in terms of pure technique.

The silver flashes of her slashes gleam, way too beautiful and precise in their flow. No wasted force, no ragged breath. Every cut is optimal, every strike seamless. No openings, no chance to slip in, the body, movement, and blade in perfect unity, flowing like water, yet each stroke absolute. Unrivalled and unmatched in technique, rational to the point of overwhelming beauty. The true heir of Armored Pres-san’s swordsmanship, and according to Armored Pres-san the closest to reaching her level as Sword Saint. And yet her father and mother were just common fish? Such is the strange fate of this beautiful swordswoman!

「Don’t drag my parents into this! Stop narrating weird commentary to yourself! My mom and dad aren’t fishes or anything!」