Battle Race in the Fantasy World

Battle Race in the Fantasy World – 24

EP.24 The Free Part Has Ended. Now The Main Story Begins

With the new semester starting, Thomas entered the academy’s indoor training hall for the first time on the weekend. There wasn’t much to do on the weekend, and he had been feeling stiff from sitting at his desk too much lately.

So, he thought he’d loosen up his body with some light exercise.

As he entered, he saw a few male and female students.

They were exercising lightly, but it seemed they were more focused on talking than working out.

They were engrossed in conversation while casually holding onto a piece of equipment.

Almost all of the students in the indoor training hall were doing the same.

‘That person over there must be from a certain noble family. And over there is……’

Thomas also glanced around while exercising.

He was ready to respond immediately if someone spoke to him.

He knew all too well how important the connections he made at the academy were, no matter how many times it was emphasized.

So, he kept his ears wide open, focusing on the conversations around him.

It didn’t matter if most of it was trivial chatter. Even that chatter is important to the nobles.

– Creak. –

At that moment, the door opened, and a man entered.

The terrifying freshman who had recently shattered a sword with his bare hands.

It was Kyle, the second powerful storm to hit the academy.

“…..”

Perhaps it was because there were more people than he expected, but Kyle casually scanned the interior.

To the nobles’ eyes, his glance might seem like he was checking to see who was there, but that wasn’t the case.

The information Kyle was processing could be summarized like this.

That person probably has a limit of around 50kg for squats.

And that man over there looks like he could bench press 80kg.

Literally, his eyes were darting around, measuring each person’s combat strength.

“Over there, isn’t that the guy?”

“Yeah, that’s him. The insanely strong freshman.”

“Shh! Keep your voice down. What if he hears you!”

Next to them, Thomas wanted to shout, ‘He can already hear all of that, you idiots!’

This was Kyle, who had split a desk in two during the first general education class when he introduced himself.

At the freshman welcome party, he had shattered a sword with his bare fists.

To whisper in front of Kyle took courage as if one had about thirteen lives to spare.

“Hmm.”

Surely, the murmuring had reached Kyle’s ears as well.

However, he moved on as if he didn’t care about such trivial things.

What was important to him now was not someone’s whispering, but checking the equipment.

‘Tisha suddenly came last time, so I couldn’t check properly.’

He had looked around once before and, as expected of the academy, they had equipment as good as  ‘Jonathan’ Family.

Today, he planned to inspect the condition and types of equipment and recommend them to Tisha.

He confirmed that the machines responsible for single-joint exercises were made in the northern district.

Perhaps due to the influence of ‘Jonathan’ Family, the best exercise equipment comes from the north.

The ones from other places are too easy to lift, one might say.

‘There are quite a few power racks for free weights. Anyway, they have everything that’s needed.’

In the midst of this, Kyle found one disappointing aspect.

It was impossible to perform deadlifts on the ground here. That was truly regrettable.

Fortunately, the diameter of the plates was similar to the ones he used in ‘Jonathan.’

The plates were not bent, and there were enough of them to pass the test.

He even found dumbbells over 50kg tucked away in a corner.

And the fact that he even found kettlebells, which he thought would certainly not be there, elicited an involuntary exclamation of surprise.

After thoroughly inspecting even the minutest details, Kyle crossed his arms and nodded his head in approval.

‘The most disappointing thing is the lack of a shower room… Should I make a suggestion? If it weren’t for that, it would be passable… no, should I say good? Considering it’s not ‘Jonathan’ Family.’

According to what I’ve heard, this indoor training hall, which Kyle calls the academy gym, is always open.

On weekdays, weekends, holidays. Morning, night, it’s open all year round!

Even he think  he is quite mad to find this appealing, but then he remember.

His brother, who gets excited like a primitive man discovering fire whenever new exercise equipment arrives.

His sister, who even laughs in her sleep when she thinks about working out, and he conclude that he is the normal one.

‘I can’t not do it at all… I’ll really do just a little. Just a little!’

Thinking this, Thomas, who saw Kyle nodding and smiling to himself, shivered slightly.

He was becoming fearful of what schemes the stormy freshman might be concocting next.

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“Alright, let’s wrap up and get going. The festival is about to start.”

As one student said this, the others began to rise from their spots.

Thomas quickly lifted his behind and made a hasty escape from the gym.

Weekends are always special, but today was even more so.

It was because the Empire’s Victory Festival was being held this weekend.

It had been over thirty years since the Empire’s conquests had ended.

They had taken over everything except for a few small kingdoms in the west and some nomadic tribes in the east.

And it was today, decades ago, that the conquest wars were concluded.

Therefore, this weekend, parties and festivals celebrating victory are held everywhere in the Empire.

Nobles in their own way, commoners in theirs, all as citizens of the Empire, enjoy the victory.

And such events are naturally held at the academy as well.

– Whoosh. –

With the Victory Festival happening and the arrival of an intimidating junior, the students quickly left the gym as if the tide was going out.

They were not here for exercise, but for socializing, as it turned out.

Kyle was left alone in an instant. But he didn’t mind at all.

In fact, he felt quite relieved to be alone.

‘Okay. Now there’s no one unnecessarily hogging the machines.’

He has been wanting to use that machine for a while now.

But a female student has been sitting there for over 15 minutes.

He really wanted to tell her to move on, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

It would be one thing if she was working out hard, but she’s only doing a rep every few minutes.

This is why true gym enthusiasts avoid gyms with lots of women.

‘Just do enough, just enough.’

No one knows what ‘just enough’ actually means.

From Kyle’s perspective, he’s doing ‘just enough,’ but to others, it doesn’t seem that way.

He’s doing less than half of what he did in ‘Jonathan’ Family, but here he’s still seen as someone who’s too intense about working out.

“Huff. Huff.”

Contraction and relaxation! Contraction and relaxation! It’s as if he can hear Lea’s shouts from somewhere.

He has heard it so much that now he is starting to do it without even thinking.

Honestly, he prefer ‘Contraction and relaxation!’ over Lea’s ‘One more set.’

‘Today is the day of the Victory Festival.’

It’s one of the grandest festivals celebrated in the Empire.

It’s not limited to just one region; it’s a national holiday that takes place everywhere.

But to Kyle, whether it’s Victory Festival or any festival, it’s all utterly useless.

He hates working out to death, but he hates festivals even more.

At least with working out, you get something out of it, but not with festivals.

He can understand why the half-joking, half-serious term ‘muscle loss’ came about.

People should be doing productive work, not just constantly consuming.

He know for a fact that Tisha plans to be holed up in the library over the weekend, despite the Victory Festival.

She’s not like the other students who are busy enjoying the festival.

Thanks to that, there’s no one to pester me to go to the festival, and he can comfortably focus on lifting weights.

– Creak! –

But then, suddenly, the sound of the door opening.

“…Excuse me, is anyone here?”

A voice came from the entrance.

Suddenly thinking ‘What now?’, Kyle was about to ignore it and continue lifting the barbell.

However, shortly after, a ‘Kyaaak!’ followed by a loud crash was heard.

It seemed that the neatly arranged equipment had been disturbed; they should have been more careful.

Kyle sighed, put the barbell back in its place, and walked over.

Not far from there, he encountered a scene that he couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Grrrrrr!!”

Collapsed dumbbells. And in front of them, a female student who, in her own way, was earnestly trying to tidy up.

Her face had turned bright red, apparently exerting a lot of effort.

But the dumbbell in the girl’s hand was a mere 10kg.

Struggling with just that one dumbbell, she clearly had a serious lack of exercise.

It was beyond ridiculous, it was pitiable.

Could she even properly hold a spoon? Or carry her bag?

Even her mother would have scolded her if she saw this.

Kyle shook his head and quietly approached to take the dumbbell.

“I’ll do it. You could get hurt if you overexert yourself. It’s not light.”

It’s light. Really light. But it seems heavy to this student, so she could get hurt.

There’s nothing more disadvantageous than injuring oneself. So, Kyle decided to clean up for her.

“Ah! Thank you! Really, thank youuu!!”

“There’s no need to bow so deeply.”

“It’s only natural to show the utmost respect to someone you’re thankful for!”

If you say so. Muttering to himself, Kyle took a look at the girl.

He didn’t understand why she was wearing her hood up, but he had no intention of criticizing someone else’s attire.

Maybe she hadn’t washed her hair, or it was disheveled, or whatever the reason might be.

One thing was certain: her voice had a very bright and cheerful tone.

It was enough to lift the spirits of anyone listening.

“Excuse me, I’m actually looking for the banquet hall!”

“If you’re looking for the banquet hall, you need to go in the opposite direction.”

“Ahh… I see. That’s strange. I’m sure I followed the directions exactly…”

“How were you instructed?”

“From the academy entrance, go straight to the right until you see a large building, then turn left, walk for about 10 minutes, and you should see it on your right.”

…That’s actually very good directions? No matter how he think about it, there’s nothing wrong with the explanation.

Feeling the need to properly guide her to her destination, Kyle took the female student outside.

He then pointed out the directions one by one as he explained.

“See the road right in front of you? Turn left here and go up until you see a building right in front of you. That’s the library. From there, walk another 10 minutes, and you should see a lot of other students. It’s near there. If you’re still unsure, just grab someone and ask again.”

“Ahh! I see! Such a kind person! Thank you so much! May you be blessed by the gods!”

The female student, bowing deeply again, ran off with a happy trot.

Even her running off was so adorable that a smile naturally appeared on my face.

“Huh?”

No matter how he looks, the female student is going right, not left.

Did I accidentally tell her to go right? No, I said left.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!!”

“Yes?!”

“That’s the wrong way! It’s the opposite!”

“The opposite?”

“Not right, left, left!!”

“Ahh! Right! Yes! Thank youuu!!”

The female student quickly changed direction and ran off earnestly again.

Then, suddenly, as the wind blew, the hood she was wearing flipped back.

“Huh?”

Would a lake release such a color if silver were dissolved in it?

Silver-blue hair that gave off a serene feeling fluttered in the wind.

Was the sight appearing so noble merely an illusion?

‘…No, right? Yeah. It can’t be. How could it be?’

Ah, no way. Why would she be here? It doesn’t make sense.

There was no mention of her being a student, and how could she wander around without any escort.

‘Ah! No way! It can’t be! It’s not!’

Thinking this, Kyle turned back towards the academy gym.

Unaware that the free time in this world had ended, and the main story had begun.