THE DARK SIDE OF TRAINING
“Making dinner, making dinner!”
The red glow of the fire, the pot steadily bubbling away atop it, and Tiona’s merry voice. She dips a wooden ladle into the broth and heaps out two potions of stew.
“Here, Argonaut! And you too, Aiz!”
“Th-thanks…”
“Thank you, Tiona.”
We are atop the walls that surround Orario, having just finished our daily training for the upcoming War Game, and are now eating supper beneath the starry sky. The stew is mostly meat and fish that Tiona went down to the city to buy, with a handful of vegetables thrown in for good measure, and it’s not half bad. The succulent meat and warm broth of this hearty, handmade Amazonian meal is just what my worn and battered body needs right now.
“Phew! That’s a wrap for today! I need a wash and some shut-eye, fast! Tomorrow’s another early day, isn’t that right, Aiz?”
“Mm-hmm. There’s not much time left after all…”
I didn’t know this, but apparently there’s a living space hidden inside the walls, equipped with a shower and beds. Maybe that means someone once lived here in secret, kind of like how I live beneath the old church with Goddess. Aiz calls it a “secret base.”
After we finish our meals and take turns using the facilities, I point to a deserted corner of the room. “I guess I’ll go sleep over there,” I say.
Honestly, I’ll welcome the solace. Shacking up with two pretty girls all night is more than I can handle, especially when we’ve already been training together all day. It’ll only be a few hours before we start at it again, so I think I need to give myself some space.
“No!” the two of them shout, and a pair of hands land on each of my shoulders.
“Huh?” I spin around, and Tiona is grinning while Aiz has a serious look on her face.
“Sleep with us,” she says.
I lie between the two girls, feeling their warm bodies on either side. My eyes are closed, but obviously, I can’t sleep a wink.
Suddenly, I sense the sharp gleam of a blade, and leap out of bed—or fall, in any case—to fend off whatever attacker may be trying to ambush us in our sleep.
However, when I get to my feet, the only one there is Aiz, looking unimpressed, while Tiona stands off to one side, nodding. I guess this was another one of their training exercises.
“Pretty good,” says Tiona. “But Aiz, isn’t this training for monsters? People aren’t going to be attacking us in our sleep in the War Game.”
“…Oh.”
Their unsettling conversation just amps up my anxiety. I knew this was going to be difficult for me—in more ways than one—but now I’m wondering if my mind and body will last.
Am I going to be okay…?
It was still only the first day of our training.
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