Chapter 143 - Chapter 140: Golem Training ②
"Huff... huff..."
"Gustav, if you're losing focus, take a short break. Noein-sama told you that it's not just about the number of repetitions, right?"
"Y-yes."
Told so by Pence, Gustav sat down on the spot while exhaling. The golem, which had been thrusting its fists alternately until then, collapsed limply as the supply of magical power was cut off.
Pence, the Deputy Captain of the Retainers, visited Gustav and the others from time to time like this to act as a supervisor. Technically, there was nothing he could teach them, but he checked to ensure that Gustav's training wasn't becoming a mere formality, and if necessary, he instructed them to rest as he did now.
The seven puppet mages were tackling their training with sincerity, but they did not know how to put in effort. The more fatigue accumulated, the worse the efficiency of their mastery became; Pence's job was to have them take appropriate breaks in such cases to restore their concentration.
"Sigh..."
"Hahaha, you look quite mentally exhausted."
"Yes, well... we haven't produced any results yet."
Pointed out by Pence, Gustav answered with a powerless laugh. While remaining seated, he looked at the other puppet mages.
Six people were focusing their consciousness and desperately moving their golems. However, the fists of the golems standing before them were slow, as if they were underwater. If they thrust such fists at an enemy, they would be easily dodged.
The walking training was the same. With the pace of Gustav's golems, they couldn't even keep up with the very general walking speed of an ordinary person.
Even so, Gustav and the others were superior to other puppet mages to the extent that they had been hired as Royal Mages and became military personnel. Still, the ability of a puppet mage was originally only at this level. The more they realized their own actual strength, the more monstrous Noein seemed.
"It's only been two weeks. I don't understand magic, but... Noein-sama decided to go with this training method. You should just follow silently and continue your efforts."
"Of course, I intend to understand that... it's just, it's still miserable. The people in the territorial army probably think of us as useless eaters, right?"
The puppet mages' training was being conducted in a borrowed corner of the training ground at the territorial army barracks. In the eyes of the retainers and soldiers coming and going from the barracks, they likely appeared as incompetent money-wasters who achieved no results.
"Don't put it that way. Those territorial army soldiers don't see you like that."
Pence asserted in a tone that was slightly admonishing, yet gentle.
"...Until last year, those guys had a level of proficiency barely above that of peasants, and yet Noein-sama gave them sufficient wages. Everyone trained desperately to become soldiers who could protect the Arqvist territory in a way that matched those wages, survived wars and monster attacks, and now they've become like a proper army. Because they are those kinds of people, they won't make fun of you. Got it?"
"...Yes. I'm sorry."
"As long as you understand. Rest a bit, and once your concentration is restored, do your best again."
Lightly patting Gustav's shoulder as if to encourage him, Pence left the training ground.
As the Deputy Captain of the Retainers, he had various other jobs. He couldn't spend all his time only on them. To avoid troubling him, they had to learn the proper way to put in effort and produce results. That was what Gustav thought.
.....
Another two weeks passed. For this one month, Gustav and the other seven had continued to move their golems from morning until night without a single day of rest.
Repeating simple movements an dizzying number of times. Just like yesterday, the day before, last week, and the week before that, Gustav simply thrust the golem's arm forward. The right fist, then the left fist, then the right again, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left...
"..."
There were moments when he wondered what on earth he was doing. The moments when he thought that all of this might be meaningless increased.
His gratitude and loyalty toward the lord, Noein, who had hired them and given them a possibility, did not waver in the slightest. Rationally, he knew that continuing this training was important, and he believed he must approach it seriously.
Even so, when continuing the exact same movement for many hours every day, moments arrived where the emotional part of his mind pleaded that it was tedious, that it was meaningless. This was likely inevitable as long as he was human.
Still, Gustav repeated the same movement with the golem. He unleashed a sluggish thrust, not knowing if it was the thousandth or the ten-thousandth time.
Gradually, his head became blurred, and the boundary between his own body and the golem's body became ambiguous—
"...Hm?"
Inside Gustav's head, something connected.
And in the next moment, the golem's right arm, which had been thrust with a sluggishness that seemed easy to dodge until then, moved smoothly.
The following left arm remained sluggish. However, next, the right fist was thrust smoothly again.
When he tried moving only the right arm, the golem repeated thrusting and retracting its fist rapidly, just like a human.
"Oh? Whoa?"
The other six looked toward Gustav, who was making strange noises. Then, they were stunned to see the golem's right arm being thrust quickly and repeatedly.
"...I did it."
"Whoa!"
"That's amazing, Gustav-san!"
"He actually did it! Are you serious!"
His comrades rushed toward Gustav, who had muttered with a blank expression, and patted his shoulders and back while praising him one after another.
Gustav had proven that they could change, and that there was meaning to this training. The puppet mages rejoiced in his growth as if it were their own.
Furthermore, in the evening, during the walking training, a change visited Cecilia this time.
"Oh?"
When the other six looked toward the source of the voice,
"Oh my..."
There she was, letting out a voice and looking stunned herself as she walked side-by-side with the golem. Walking side-by-side—meaning, the golem was advancing its feet at a speed comparable to a human.
It was different from the golems of the other six, which looked as if they were being made to walk while suspended by strings from the sky. Although there was some awkwardness in the movement, Cecilia's golem was walking steadily at a speed incomparable to before.
"N-next, Cecilia did it!"
Someone shouted, and once again, the puppet mages gathered to share their joy.
.....
That night. Matching the end time of the training, Yuri, the Captain of the Retainers and Commander of the Territorial Army, came to the training ground. Since the puppet mages were technically under the care of the territorial army, Yuri was their direct superior.
"Good work until late today. Were there any changes?"
Asked by Yuri, Gustav, who had become something of a leader for the seven at some point, answered. He tried to maintain a serious face, but a smile inadvertently surfaced.
"Yes, there were significant changes in my and Cecilia's golems. We can actually show you."
Saying so, Gustav first demonstrated by thrusting the golem's fists alternately. Shortly after that, he had become able to move the left fist smoothly as well.
Seeing this, Yuri remained silent but raised an eyebrow.
Next, Cecilia made the golem walk with a somewhat proud expression. Although the upper body of the walking golem still had a swaying, awkward movement, looking only at the movement of the legs, it was quite close to a human.
"Ho... this is indeed a significant change. It is clearly different from yesterday. You both did well. Moreover, the fact that the two of you can do it means there is a high possibility that the others will be able to do it if they continue their training. It's good for everyone."
Having witnessed the definite growth of Gustav and Cecilia, Yuri praised the two unreservedly. Furthermore, he spoke to the other puppet mages, who now saw hope for growth.
Receiving those words, the seven looked at each other with bright expressions.
"It's already late today, so I will inform Noein-sama about this matter tomorrow morning. Noein-sama will surely be pleased... That is all. For now, go home and rest well today."
.....
The following afternoon, Noein, who had received the report from Yuri, visited the puppet mages.
Just as they had shown Yuri yesterday, Gustav and Cecilia demonstrated their growth before Noein.
Noein watched in silence, but—gradually, he began to grin and spoke, turning toward the two.
"Amazing, you did it, congratulations to you both."
"Thank you very much, Noein-sama."
"We were finally able to show you results."
Gustav and Cecilia replied, appearing unable to hold back their smiles. The remaining five also seemed happy, perhaps because they saw a possibility in the training.
"One month... that was faster than I expected. For my part, I thought it would take more than two months for you to overcome this first stage."
"As people who were chosen as Royal Mages, we had a certain pride in being more dexterous than the general puppet mages..."
"So you showed the stubbornness of former Royal Mages, huh?"
"Yes, something like that."
When Noein gave a light laugh, Gustav laughed back.
"Well then, I have to give a reward to those of you who showed the results of your efforts in a visible form. Gustav, and Cecilia, I'll give you two a two-day vacation starting tomorrow. You can spend time slowly with your families, or head out to the center of the capital city or the taverns."
Told this, the two of them brightened up instantly. It was their first vacation since coming to the Arqvist territory, and it was an opportunity to slowly look around the capital city, Noeina, which was far more like a civilized city than they had expected before migrating.
"Once each of you achieves the other training as well, I'll give you another vacation. It's the same for everyone else. Since the two of you will proceed to the next stage after your break, do your best again."
"...By the way, Noein-sama, what will the future training be like?"
Having her interest piqued by the mention of the next stage, Cecilia asked casually.
"Gustav, who could thrust his arm, will next practice raising and rotating the arm and various other movements. Cecilia, who succeeded in walking, will next be made able to run."
Cecilia began to nod in understanding, but Noein's talk was not yet finished.
"After that, finger operation practice, practicing writing letters to train dexterity, upper body movement training, practicing swinging spears, axes, and farming tools, digging holes, stone stacking, felling trees, throwing, long-distance marching, going up and down stairs, jumping, combat arts, actual combat against monsters... I'll have you be able to do various other actions at a human-like speed. Well, since you've overcome the most difficult first stage, I think the future growth speed will increase, right?"
"..."
Presented with so many training contents that they couldn't remember them all, Cecilia and the other puppet mages froze with blank expressions. They had come to realize that they were only at the first step of a long training.
Even if they were told that growth speed would increase after crossing the first stage, it seemed the destination was still infinitely far away. They were speechless, wondering when these training days would ever end.
"...Hahaha, don't all make those faces."
The one who spoke to his speechless comrades was Gustav.
"We were supposed to end our lives as puppet mages who never got anywhere. But now, we know that we can change our lives if we put in effort, and Noein-sama has shown us a concrete path. The fact that the training is long is a luxury of a worry compared to our lives until now. Right?"
Seeing him speak thus, Noein was slightly surprised inwardly. The bright, powerful voice and expression were like a different person from the impression of a "youth who lacked confidence" that Noein had felt when he first met him in the royal capital. This, too, was a result of the training.
"...That's true. We've been taught how to grow, given training time, and even money so we don't struggle with living. We have no time to be depressed."
Cecilia answered and laughed.
"It's just as Gustav says! If we complete the training, we'll be able to do more various things with golems; we should actually be happy!"
"That's right... let's do it with the intention of enjoying each piece of training."
The puppet mages each uttered words to encourage themselves and their comrades. Watching them, Noein smiled with satisfaction.