I couldn’t hide my confusion, despite being pleased by the sudden attention.
“I’m so happy to meet you, Abel-san!”
“Me too, me too~!”
“I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time too.”
A gentle female knight with long black hair, like a refined young lady.
A cheerful female knight with blonde twin-tails.
An intelligent female knight with short blue hair.
Several other female knights pressed themselves against me from all sides.
The sweet scent of perfume wafting from their hair and skin made me dizzy.
“Oh, and after hearing about that incident with the monster, our Captain said, ‘I want him on my squad.'”
“Ah, my Captain said the same thing. ‘We absolutely have to recruit him.'”
“How funny, mine did too.”
“Eh, is my reputation soaring that much?”
“Am I in high demand?”
“Hey, hey, why don’t you join our squad?”
The female knight with long black hair leaned in as if to kiss me and whispered.
“Even just observing… is fine, you know? Hehehe.”
Her voice, clinging and sensual, held a mature allure that belied her demure appearance.
As I flustered, the twin-tailed knight pulled her away and stepped forward.
“The Seventh Squad is just a team of magic swordsmen, right? Our Second Squad specializes in offensive magic, so we’d be a better fit for Abel-kun.”
Pulling her away further, the short-haired knight pressed in next.
“What are you talking about? He deserves to be in the glorious First Squad. If you like, why don’t you come with me to the office—”
“Wow, this is really turning into a bidding war!”
I stared dumbfoundedly at the female knights exchanging glares over me.
However, if I were asked if I wanted to be transferred to another squad… my answer would be no.
I’m content with my current situation working under Ashe-san.
I want to continue working in the Third Squad.
Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling to be wanted by other squads.
Being valued felt good.
Besides, being fussed over by girls like this was a novel experience, making my back tingle.
It brought a bittersweet joy to my chest.
It really was a little experience of being popular.
“…Abel, your eyes are practically glued to them.”
Claire glared at me with a displeased expression.
Beside her, Racine let out a strangely melancholic sigh.
“…Is it really enjoyable for men to be doted on by women? Ah, Natasha did say something about men having many loves…”
“Of course it’s enjoyable.
Do people who are ‘in a relationship’ feel like this every day?”
“Or maybe… am I one of them now?”
“Is my lucky period finally here—” My heart soared with sweet anticipation.
“Photon Bullet!”
Bluish-white light bullets shot from my outstretched hands.
Staring at the bullets that flew in a straight line, tracing spiral paths,
“Up!”
I sent my thoughts to change their trajectory.
It wasn’t necessary to speak aloud, but vocalizing the words made it easier to control my thoughts.
As intended, the light bullets shot upwards.
Continuing their path, the bullets collided with the barrier covering the training room’s inner wall.
*Bachi!*
The immense magic power energy clashed, scattering intense sparks.
The glowing red barrier writhed and rippled as if screaming, then was pierced and dissipated by the light bullets.
“Ah, not good…”
My light bullets, which had easily pierced the barrier, also penetrated the room’s wall.
They punched a large hole in the inner wall and flew off into the sky.
A few seconds later, with a deep, resonant boom that vibrated in my chest, the Photon Bullet exploded in a flash of light high in the sky.
“Even the maximum output barrier couldn’t contain it… as always, your magic power is off the charts.”
Ashe-san approached me from behind with a wry smile.
—After parting ways with Claire and Racine, I had been receiving one-on-one magic instruction from Ashe-san.
Last time, there was the incident with Gilra immediately after the magic power measurement, so this was my first proper lesson.
The location was the same training room in the headquarters, to the left, as before.
It was a dome-shaped room, about twenty meters in diameter, with its entire inner wall covered by a glowing red barrier.
No, I should say it “was” covered.
I had blown it away with my magic earlier.
“Sorry, I broke the wall.”
“It’s my fault for misjudging your magic power. I’ll submit a repair request on my responsibility, so don’t worry about it.”
Ashe-san gave a wry smile.
“So, how is it? Can you control it?”
“Yes, I can manipulate the trajectory quite as I wish.”
I replied.
“Photon Blast scatters destructive energy over a wide area, and I can’t just unleash it carelessly in the Royal Capital. This is usable—”
I clenched my fist.
In fact, among the spells I had in stock, Photon Blast and a few other wide-area destructive spells were all too powerful. They were on a level that could obliterate a city or two, so I couldn’t use them carelessly.
On the other hand, my weaker spells wouldn’t work against opponents like Gilra.
I wished there were spells with intermediate power—
“There aren’t, unfortunately…”
I sighed softly.
Spells with extreme power, and spells with only moderate destructive power.
My offensive magic stock was heavily skewed towards these two types.
That’s why the Photon Bullet I learned this time was truly invaluable. It was powerful and could be used in crowded places.
However, if I miscalculated the impact point, it could cause a massive explosion. I still needed to be careful when handling it.
“Alright, let’s call it a day here.”
Ashe-san announced the end of training as it was noon.
“Conserve your magic power in preparation for tomorrow. You used quite a lot of magic power in your fight with Gilra the other day, didn’t you?”
“Conserve…?”
“The more magic power is depleted, the slower the recovery. That would hinder your training from tomorrow onwards.”
“Come to think of it, Racine taught me that back in Rashka City.”
Magic power’s recovery slows dramatically when it is heavily depleted.
If only ten or twenty percent is consumed, it fully recovers within a few hours to at most a day. However, if it’s eighty or ninety percent, it can take a week, or even close to a month for some individuals.
Therefore, mages use magic while keeping in mind their depletion level and magic recovery speed.
Not knowing this, I had nearly exhausted my magic power in the battle in Rashka City, and Racine had somehow charged it up for me with a Sex Ritual—
…By the way, after that battle, I had another Sex Ritual with Racine at her suggestion.
It seemed my magic power hadn’t fully returned after just one ritual.
It was to bring me back to full strength with another ritual, and also for Racine’s own practice…
Ah, the second time was also incredibly pleasant, yes.
“It seems you used a lot of magic power in your fight with Gilra the other day, so I really wanted to give you time to rest…”
Ashe-san’s words pulled me back from my lustful recollections.
“But I also want you to master the feel of the new spell before you forget it… it’s a difficult situation.”
“But thanks to this, I feel like my control has improved.”
Indeed, both the output of the magic bullets and their trajectory control had improved significantly in just a few hours of training.
The instruction from Ashe-san, a top-tier mage, was truly precise.
She pointed out things I never would have thought of on my own, and things I never knew at all.
“Yes. But you’re still rough around the edges. You still need more training so you don’t miss your target and erase a city—”
Ashe-san said with a playful smile.
“Well, with that much magic power, you could probably brute-force your way through most enemies. However, we don’t know what forces the Empire is hiding, or what tricks they might pull,”
Ashe-san continued.
“From now on, you need to learn the proper way and refine your magic control. That way, you can become even stronger—”
“Stronger…!”
I mulled over her words.
“Oh, right. Thanks to you, the wound from the other day has completely healed.”
Ashe-san slowly lifted the hem of her knight’s uniform.
She lifted her undergarments as well, exposing her side.
The dazzling white and smooth skin in her flank had an alluring aura, and I couldn’t help but swallow.
The skin of the married woman I had embraced twice—
…But that’s not what we’re talking about now.
Looking again, where I had felt the wound still raised when I touched it last time, there was now no trace.
“I’m glad the scar didn’t remain.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I was confident in my Healing Magic, but there was always a possibility of failure.
If a scar were left on such beautiful skin because of me, apologies wouldn’t be enough.
“It’s thanks to you. Thank you, Abel-kun.”
Ashe-san bowed deeply to me.
“I’ll have to thank you properly for healing my wound soon, too.”
“Eh, thank you—?”
I swallowed my words and stared intently at Ashe-san.
Was she implying that she’d give me some ‘thanks’ like last time, perhaps through intimacy?
Whoa, I’m getting excited!
‘Oh, we’re just childhood friends, okay? Nothing more, nothing less. I-I’m not mad or anything, Hmph!’
Claire’s words suddenly flashed through my mind.
Then, I remembered Racine sighing.
‘Is this perhaps… an adventure? Abel-sama, you’re involved with so many women, surprisingly.’
Almost unconsciously, I touched the back of my neck.
I couldn’t see it, but apparently, there was a hickey there…
“What’s wrong?”
Ashe-san asked, and I interrupted my thoughts.
“You suddenly have a difficult expression. If you have any worries, I’ll listen.”
“…Actually.”
To Ashe-san, who was showing concern for her subordinate as her Captain should, I blurted out reflexively.
I recounted the entire incident with Claire and Racine that morning.
“I see.”
Ashe-san nodded in understanding after listening.
“Both of them are interested in you, Abel-kun… they’re young girls, so such things happen…”
Saying this, Ashe-san glanced at me briefly.
“You should be a little more sensitive to women’s feelings.”
“???”
“Well, if relationships remain complicated, it might interfere with the squad’s missions… It seems they’ll have to settle it themselves.”
I couldn’t make heads or tails of what Ashe-san was saying.
“We’ll cancel training this afternoon. I want you to patrol the Royal Capital with Claire-san and Racine-san.”
“Patrol…?”
In Modern Japan, it was like a police patrol, wasn’t it?
“Don’t get carried away just because you have two beautiful women with you, okay?”
Ashe-san smiled faintly.
“We can’t rule out the possibility of Imperial operatives like Gilra from the other day being mixed in. In the unlikely event of an incident, you and Claire-san should handle it. Request reinforcements from Headquarters if the situation calls for it. Understood?”
I nodded at Ashe-san’s words.
“Alright then, after the lunch break, rendezvous with them and head out for patrols. You can go straight home after that, no need to return to Headquarters today.”
Saying this, Ashe-san suddenly leaned in and gave me a light kiss, just barely touching my lips.
“Good work with your training, Abel-kun.”
Urgh, I can’t resist surprise attacks like this…
I gazed at Ashe-san dreamily, savoring the sweet sensation left on my lips.
