Battle Race in the Fantasy World

EP.118 Not Enough Effort! Not Enough!!

“Is this how I should do it?”

Unlike the other students who were in awkward postures.

Elga, standing in front of Kyle, assumes a squat position with a very natural appearance.

“Hmm. Should we try widening your feet a bit more?”

“Wider… Kyle. Is there a specific reason why we need to widen the feet?”

“If the hip joint gets pinched, it can put too much strain on the knees, and the back might also curl. This squat, if done with incorrect form, can injure places like the knees or back.”

The knees and back are areas that are almost impossible to fully recover from, truly terrible places to injure.

To injure such areas, and while exercising of all things, there could be nothing more unfortunate.

Even at Jonathan, if one feels pain in the back or knees during training, it’s absolutely stopped.

Training can be done anytime, anywhere, but if you get injured, it all becomes impossible.

‘This kind of question. Very good, my lady.’

It’s good to do as instructed, but it’s also good to be curious about why things are done a certain way.

Asking and learning makes it more firmly etched in memory, and if it’s in memory, it’s beneficial in one way or another.

Kyle could praise her just for showing enthusiasm for exercise.

“Good, Lady Elga. Now, from that position, slowly. Make sure your back doesn’t curl.”

“I feel like this posture might be strange… It, it seems a bit difficult.”

“No, no. You’re doing plenty well even now.”

Squats, an anaerobic exercise that’s worse not to do if the posture isn’t properly set.

While proper form is the basic of basics in all training, it’s especially so for squats.

The angle of the back and knees is really important, so you need to constantly receive posture corrections while doing it.

Because of this, most people, even Kyle himself, had quite a hard time at first.

As the posture needs to be slightly different to fit one’s own body structure.

Even at Jonathan, which is said to be full of experts, blindly following others could lead to big trouble.

‘But it really seems like she’s exercised before? Her form is coming out better than expected, and she doesn’t look tired.’

If it was her first time doing squats, her thighs would have been trembling not long after.

She should have looked like she was struggling just to go down and come up once.

But Elga is doing very well without showing any such signs.

It’s clearly different from those noble ladies in front laughing and chatting with no intention of exercising.

Is this the basic quality of a lady from the Grand Ducal family!

Inwardly applauding, Kyle urged Elga to do a bit more.

“…Ugh.”

But perhaps it was too much of a strain suddenly?

Elga’s expression stiffens slightly, and then her body leans backward.

Though there’s a mat laid out below, it’s best if there’s no impact at all.

Kyle quickly catches Elga and slowly lowers her to sit on the floor.

“Are you alright? Is something uncomfortable?”

“No, Kyle. It’s not that, I just suddenly felt my strength give out.”

“And there’s no pain in your knees or back? Feel carefully. Just in case…”

Had he been too greedy as a trainer?

He should have kept checking how far the member in front of him could go.

It seems he got too excited seeing her show a different side from the other ladies.

“I’m sorry, Lady Elga. I should have kept checking.”

“You were watching the whole time. Me collapsing from exhaustion is just something that couldn’t be helped.”

As she says this, Elga slowly reaches towards her knee.

“Is your knee uncomfortable?!”

“Huh? No. It just feels a bit stiff…”

Kyle’s face stiffens, and he quickly grasps Elga’s leg.

Then, with a truly careful demeanor, he gently handles her knee while asking questions.

“How is it? Does it hurt anywhere? You need to tell me if there’s even a little pain so I can know.”

“It’s fine. Yes, it’s perfectly alright even when you do that.”

As she watches Kyle earnestly checking her condition.

Elga once again confirmed that her prediction was not off the mark.

‘As expected, this was the right answer.’

This voice of Kyle’s, his gaze, and even his actions, are all firsts.

His whole body is filled with an apologetic and concerned air.

It was completely different from how Kyle had been looking at her until now.

“That’s a relief. It seems there’s nothing wrong with your knee at least.”

“Um, Kyle. Rather than my knee, it’s… my calf that feels a bit tight.”

“Your calf? Hmm, looking at it like this, it does seem like the muscle might be a bit shocked.”

It’s completely different from those people who would kiss her hand with creepy gazes.

Kyle isn’t looking at the ‘Lady of Littorio’, but at ‘Elga’.

He, who at other times treated her as a princess, at least in this moment, was doing so.

‘As I thought….’

As I thought, I want to have this person. I want to keep him by my side.

There are many impossible competitors, but I want to overcome them all and proudly win him over.

It’s not simply because he’s from Jonathan, or because he can be of use to me, that’s not all.

It feels like I could rely on him anytime when he’s by my side.

I could close my eyes and sleep beside him, forgetting everything, and nothing would happen.

I need this person. I want this man. I want to have Kyle.

“I’ll loosen up your muscles a bit. And then if we do some stretching in a while…”

Kyle, massaging her calf with careful hands, what is he so worried about?

I wish he’d have some ulterior motives, but there’s not even a hint of that.

That makes her feel very grateful, it’s new, and it also makes her feel good. Elga smiled.

She cautiously extends her hand. If she reaches out just a bit more, she could grasp it.

But she deliberately didn’t get close enough to touch. Yes, not yet.

Due to her own hesitation, she regrettably fell a bit behind.

Though disappointed, she was encouraged once again by Kyle’s words.

If she’s fallen behind, she just needs to work that much harder to get ahead!

‘Erase the second older brother from the Grand Ducal family’s succession structure.’

According to the rumors, he’s been showing signs of improvement, hasn’t he?

He’s an older brother who still has many supporters. If she waits until he returns, it will become difficult.

The fortunate part is that he hasn’t officially returned yet.

And in that interval, there are plenty of opportunities for her to step up.

‘The Three Heroes of the Alliance have come to the Empire at just the right time. First, I need to meet that man and find a channel for dialogue with the moderate faction of the Alliance, then figure out where Littorio should focus and take action.’

Just then, from Kyle’s mouth, as he was diligently massaging her calf, came a rather interesting topic.

“Lady Elga will find out soon enough, but I hear those Alliance hardliners have headed south. Somewhere in the southern Empire. The independent lords? That place with lots of islands? There, I mean. Ah, really… It’s so frustrating. How could they let that slip? We should just tear those monsters to shreds and chase after them.”

Tearing monsters to shreds? Is that possible? It doesn’t seem like it would be.

Ah, no. That’s not what’s important. The south, the south is what matters.

The southern Empire, the independent lords situated in a place overflowing with islands.

It seemed she needed to approach that place faster than anyone else and dig out information.

===

**

===

To be honest, Kyle had a lot of doubts about whether this was really okay.

After proposing a ‘situationship’ with Tisha, now he was creating an ambiguous atmosphere with Elga.

If he were to be strict about it, it might be okay since Tisha and he weren’t really in a romantic relationship.

But he had no intention of getting deeply involved with Elga, so his hesitation was quite significant.

However, seeing Elga approach so actively, he couldn’t bring himself to push her away.

She tries to show that ‘I’m a bad woman!’ emphatically, but she’s not bad at all.

It’s just an ‘act’ to appear that way, to prevent anyone from looking down on her.

As a bonus, her claim about physical training wasn’t a lie, but the truth.

When someone asked to be taught exercise, how could Kyle coldly refuse?

Unlike her position as the daughter of a grand ducal family, Elga followed various bodyweight exercises without difficulty.

Kyle could feel the effort she had put in, and Jonathan was inevitably weak to such effort.

Before he knew it, Kyle found himself exercising together with Elga.

‘This is really serious. I didn’t intend for it to go this far.’

Kyle had only thought of Elga as a partner, or rather, a collaborator.

It wasn’t just him; she also seemed to want that aspect of their relationship.

Because she wants to become the head of the Littorio Grand Ducal family, not just end up as its daughter.

If her brother fell because of Jonathan, she intends to soar with Jonathan.

Knowing this, Kyle gladly cooperated, and they continued to give and take.

Just now, didn’t he receive quite a sweet reward in the form of an indoor training ground expansion?

But as for being lovers, well… he wasn’t sure. To be more honest, it felt a bit uncomfortable to him.

He had already become very close with Tisha, and the princess kept pressing him to marry her.

If Elga officially entered the fray as well, it seemed like an incredibly difficult future lay ahead for Kyle.

‘Should I distance myself now? Cut her off coldly?’

He thought, but soon he could only answer himself with ‘Is that even possible?’

To be frank, he was the one who caused this situation in the end.

With Tisha, and with Elga, he stepped in just when they were about to approach.

If he were to back out now, would the protagonists just give up and understand? There’s no way that would happen.

“Yeah. It’s your karma ^^ Deal with it yourself.”

Kyle recalled something he had written once.

He never thought he’d actually accumulate such karma. He didn’t know he’d have to endure this.

“Thank you for today, Kyle. Can you help me again next time?”

“…Yes. Next time, let’s work with equipment as well, Lady Elga. Oh, and!”

Meanwhile, the Jonathan spirit was manifesting itself again, oblivious to the situation.

For instance, babbling things like ‘When you get back, do some more stretching, and in the morning when you wake up, your body might feel a bit stiff, so it’s good to loosen up with a light jog right away!’

‘Come to think of it, earlier I was too naturally supporting her body, loosening her muscles, and doing all that.’

What was he thinking at the time? What was there to say? It was all just concern for her body.

Not concern for Elga as a woman, but concern for the member’s physical condition.

What if she hurt her knee? What if she injured her back? And so on and so forth.

If only he had felt the emotions a man should naturally feel, it would have been different.

If that were the case, he could have at least pretended to be crazy and said, ‘This body wants a harem! It can’t be helped. This isn’t my will! I’m heading for a harem!!’

But the only thought that came to his mind was ‘If she gets hurt, how will she exercise!’ How absurd.

Sighing, Kyle returned to his room and immediately hung from a bar installed at the doorway.

He positioned himself and started doing pull-ups with almost no momentum.

When worries arise, it’s best to just sweat them away so they don’t come to mind.

After doing pull-ups for a while, Kyle suddenly had a look of realization.

“…Ah, right.”

He had almost forgotten. Kyle got down from the bar and sat at his desk.

He picked up the pen lying on top and began writing a letter of greeting.

Although he was told it would be better not to inform the Emperor, he really couldn’t do that.

Because when the moment comes and he’s asked, ‘Youngest, why didn’t you say anything?’ he’d have nothing to say.

‘But if the Jonathan people come flocking again, our poor Emperor will be in a cold sweat….’

The Emperor had promised to entrust him with the management of the Academy’s gym.

He wondered if he should just consider this a small gesture of gratitude for that.

Scratch. Scribble-.

The contents of Kyle’s letter to his hometown were very simple.

There’s a slightly concerning matter, but don’t worry too much about it.

The youngest will take care of it, so everyone there should rest assured.

“…Hmm.”

Thinking it would be good to have some insurance, he added this at the end.

If things don’t go as planned, he’ll contact them separately.