Training

After safely teleporting everyone to Tree Village, I decided to first go check on the close-combat group together with Nadja.

“Woody-sama, please take care even without me…”

“You don’t have to talk like this is a farewell for life. We’ll be joining up again soon anyway…”

“Woody-sama, you simply don’t understand! Do you have any idea how lonely I feel being left behind!?”

I ignored Aira as she pounded the ground dramatically and moved on.

“Hey, Woody, isn’t it kind of cruel to ignore her like that…?”

“Nadja, take a closer look at that.”

Where I pointed—around Aira, the ground was faintly damp, and if you observed carefully, you could see a thin film of water covering her clothes so they wouldn’t get dirty.

She’d gone to great lengths with her acting, but being too careful not to dirty her clothes gave her away.

When Nadja realized it, Aira let out a frustrated “hmph…” and stopped acting.

“So, I’m counting on you.”

“…Very reluctantly, I accept.”

I had Aira guide the magic-oriented group first.

Unlike Sandstorm, they would effectively become Aira’s direct disciples, so I planned to have their seniors—Fiona-chan and Makurei-kun—help look after them.

“Alright, let’s go!”

The destination we headed toward with everyone brought over from Guinea was the dormitory used by Sandstorm.

The dormitory was located near the eastern edge of Tree Village, built in a spot that didn’t draw much attention.

One reason was that they used dangerous fruit-based weapons like Element Fruit, so it was built a bit away from others to avoid causing trouble.

The second reason had to do with public sentiment.

Aside from those with aptitudes, most of the soldiers in Sandstorm were former bandits who had repented (though there were some volunteers, they were a tiny minority).

I trusted them, and they were gradually being recognized by the villagers as reliable soldiers and hunters, but… they still hadn’t earned complete trust.

Someday, I hoped they could live wherever they liked, but for now, it felt too soon.

Rushing things like this and setting everything up too quickly never led to good outcomes, so I planned to take a long-term view. Nadja seemed to share that opinion as well.

“For now, I’m planning to have them undergo the same training Sandstorm does.”

“I said this earlier, but don’t go too hard on them, okay?”

“Of course! I already learned the right balance from training those guys!”

Nadja said that with a bright, cheerful smile.

In my heart, I pressed my palms together in prayer for the soldiers who’d been used as test subjects for that ‘learning.’

“It’s been a while, Woody-sama!”

“Please feel free to observe!”

When they spotted us, the Sandstorm members welcomed us warmly.

“Then first, let me see what you can do. You’ve been training on your own, of course?”

“Yes, of course!”

In response to Nadja’s challenge, the group from Guinea puffed out their chests confidently.

Seeing that, Nadja gave a wicked grin.

“Alright… Kadin!”

“—Yes!”

“Give them a proper workout.”

“Gladly!”

Drawn in by her tone, Kadin stepped forward with a grin of his own.

They proceeded to a mock battle, and to summarize the outcome—

It was a crushing victory for Kadin.

The aptitude holders were almost completely helpless and were defeated one-sidedly.

“““Hah… hah…”””

The villagers lay sprawled on the ground, having been soundly beaten.

Kadin didn’t possess any combat-related aptitude.

He didn’t use Element Fruit either—this was a pure mock battle using wooden swords.

And yet, not only did he fail to lose ground against aptitude holders, he completely shut them down without letting them do anything.

Nadja walked over to the villagers, some kneeling, others lying on their backs on the ground.

With a firm expression and chest held high, she declared:

“The Kadin you just fought has no combat aptitude! Do you understand what that means!? —It means that with thorough training and the will to fight, you can become a proper soldier even without an aptitude!”

At Nadja’s words, they sprang to their feet, startled.

They were still immature, but they already wore the faces of soldiers.

At this rate, there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Above all else, what matters most is running! To make sure I remember your faces, you’ll do ten laps of the running course! Follow me!”

Led by Nadja, the newly recruited aptitude holders began to run.

As she left, Nadja glanced back and gave a quick wink.

It seemed to mean, Leave the rest to me.

In that case, I’d take her at her word and head over to Aira’s side next.