Chapter 664: Chapter 664

They had been training the same way for more than thirty years now, and now Christina was putting into question whether that was still the ideal way to continue for themselves and their master.

If the tools available to them and their strategies had evolved, then it made sense for their training to evolve as well. Especially considering that Mira had also grown stronger since back then, and had many new attack strategies at her disposal.

Christina continued bringing up points like that one after another, eventually bringing up her own solution to all that..

「That’s why I thought that. It’d be nice if she could come check on our training sometime, so she can point out what we should work on more, what isn’t needed anymore, or if we’re going overboard with something, or maybe something doesn’t make sense to do… I just want her to point us in the correct direction!」

Christina said all that while looking straight into Alfina’s eyes, acting like those were all her honest feelings and there was nothing to hide. But in reality, there was not a smidge of truth to it.

(It’s almost impressive that she can keep on talking for so long without tripping on her own words…)

「It’s rare to see you of all people taking training so seriously.」

Alfina felt like something was up, staring at Christina trying to figure out what was happening. Her gaze was piercing, discerning what was true or not, and an ordinary person would feel forced to confess all crimes when subjected to that.

But Christina was already used to that stare, and calmly looked back at Alfina, acting like everything she had just said was really the reason why she was there.

Or rather, it was like she had made herself believe all of that while she was saying it. Especially the last part, her true desires were concealed there, as she wanted to be free from what she felt were needless parts of training.

It had all started with lies, but ended up honest claims, making Christina confident in her excuse. Christina’s eyes remained unwavering, compelling Alfina to mull over everything she said and reach the conclusion that there was some merit to it. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by n0velfire.net

「I see, you might have a point there.」

Alfina began nodding to herself, beginning to question whether their current training regiment really was the best they had. She was not just thinking it over, but almost seemed to be looking forward to enacting Christina’s suggestion.

After all, it would mean that not only would Mira watch them, they would receive direction from her, something Alfina had only dreamt of before.

「What do you think, Master? My sister usually never thinks about training this seriously, so could you do it for her too?」

Alfina’s neverending reverence for Mira made her hesitant to make such big requests, but as Christina was the one who had brought it up, she stood in support of her sister.

「Hmm, that’s a good idea. It’d also help for me to know in more detail what you’re doing.」

After a short pause, Mira agreed to go watch them train the next day.

Things had taken a confusing turn, with Alfina and Christina’s expectations standing at odds but somehow becoming aligned in the end. At the same time, Mira felt like that would be the perfect opportunity for her to test out new battle formations and tactics she had thought up.

「Thank you very much, Master!」

Christina thanked her profusely, implicitly saying, 「please make things easier for me too.」

「I can’t thank you enough.」

Alfina was also overjoyed by it, but kept her emotions in check while bowing politely.

And so, it was decided that Mira would watch and inspect their training the next day. With everything discussed, Alfina turned around and left with a brisk gait, almost like she had grown angel wings out of delight, being granted the honor of holding the Holy Sword and knowing that Mira would direct them personally the next day. Christina also left, at an even faster pace, as she wanted to get as far away as possible before Alfina started to suspect anything.

(Now, what should I do about Bruce’s training… Hmm, maybe I can accelerate the pace a bit, as he’s an excellent student.)

Mira closed the Encyclopedia of Skills and brought out her notepad, reading through the ideas she had written down so far, already excited about trying them out the next day.

The next morning welcomed their third day in Valhalla.

After breakfast, it was time to start training, and Mira went to the bigger training area together with Alfina, her sisters, as well as Helcune and her sisters.

「…By Christina’s request, our Master is here today to inspect our training regiment. Look alive everyone!」

The Valkyries gathered there all gave a loud positive reply in unison, almost like the rallying cheer of a sports event.

(Hmm…at least it seems they like the idea.)

Mira was relieved to see that all of the Valkyries there were into the idea. She knew how fastidious it could be to deal with a meddling boss during work, but the Valkyries did not see her that way, and instead welcomed her there.

Then, Alfina began detailing what they would focus on that day, while glancing over to Christina from time to time, who was pretending to be paying attention, when really she kept looking at Mira whenever Alfina’s eyes weren’t on her.

Christina’s eyes seemed to constantly be repeating, 「Don’t forget what I told you.」

All Christina wanted was for the hellish training to become softer, and Mira was the only person in the world who could accomplish that.

(Somehow. I feel like it’s not just her who wants that…)

Mira soon realized that all six younger sisters were glancing at Mira with pleading eyes from time to time, showing just how harsh their training had been thus far, and she decided to keep that in mind when watching what they would do.

And as far as Bruce was concerned, Mira’s actual student at the moment…he was a distance away, being chased by an Ashen Knight.

After telling him that she would be watching the Valkyries train, Mira left him some homework so he could keep himself busy.

His task was to defeat an Ashen Knight using only partial summoning. Only a few days had passed since he had learned that ability, and this was his first time putting it to work in a fight.

So far, he had proven adept at summoning a shield, but he had not quite gotten the knack of swords yet. That was a step he needed to overcome if he wanted to defeat the Ashen Knight.

The Ashen Knights were equipped with wooden swords for training, but getting hit was still painful. Any actual injuries were instantly healed by Asclepius, so although there was no danger, there was no avoiding the pain.

His success rate was still low when attacking, but he would have to keep trying if he wanted to complete the task. He had no choice but to stop running and defending as much, and allot some of his mana to fight back. He was like a courageous lion cub enduring an enormous trial.

(This is even crazier than I expected…)

Around two hours later, their warmup exercise of swinging a weapon thirty thousand times was over. Mira had initially imagined practice swings like those conducted in kendo or baseball batting, but Valkyries did something slightly different.

It was almost surreal how they swung their swords multiple times a second, the sound of the air being cut resembling a storm.

That was something Alfina made them do every single day to begin their training. But it was the number of swings that really seemed excessive, and left them exhausted from the get go.

Helcune and her sisters, the newcomers, had already fallen within the first hour.

Alfina showed some leniency for them, understanding that they were just starting to adjust. But that was still Alfina, so after ten minutes of rest, she forced them to resume.

(This really feels way too extreme…)

There was a fifteen minute break before they moved onto their next training exercise. Christina and her sisters already looked dead, their eyes begging Mira, letting her know that this was the first thing they wanted her to amend.

Only Alfina stood tall and proud, having not broken a sweat yet, truly showing that it had been a warmup exercise for her.

Alfina had always been ahead of the rest of the sisters in strength, and that gap was more evident than ever now.

(At first, I thought it was just Christina’s usual whining, but some reform is definitely needed here.)

Gaining a new outlook on the matter, Mira opened her notebook and began jotting down what stood out the most to her. The younger sisters noticed that, bringing a hint of hope back to their lifeless eyes.