An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Oscar's back hit the tree trunk hard and he fell to the ground prone.

“Cough, cough… Damn it!”

Oscar pushed himself up with shaking arms, but simply staying down took all his strength. Stomach juices flowed out of his mouth along with curses. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his shoes snapping branches.

"This battle is exactly the 100th round. The record is 88 wins and 12 losses... Hmph, I thought you, the guy with the geeky glasses, were a quick learner, but it seems I underestimated you."

"...What? You're saying you were actually a little bit sure of me, right?"

Oscar gritted his teeth and managed to squeeze out a weak voice to talk. Under normal circumstances, Bandu would have immediately refuted him; however, today he was met with an extremely cold reality.

"It was you who requested a real-life sparring match. But look at your own behavior these past few days. Goofy-eyed guy, tell me, how many times have you won in the past ten days?"

"..."

"If you can't answer, I'll answer for you. Zero."

In fact, after the battle at the Demon King's Castle, the group temporarily stayed in a secret abode in the forest between the Snow Plain and the Demon Kingdom. From that time on, Oscar and Bandu began training in close combat, and Bandu won the first fifty battles.

However, after that, Oscar gradually began to win against Bandu, and Bandu had a special respect for Oscar's efforts and his use of tactics to make up for his lack of fighting ability.

Especially after the war between the Republic and the Kingdom of God ended, the two continued to train in this forest of trees. Oscar showed his ghostly spirit, and sometimes even made Bando taste the taste of defeat.

But that was only at the beginning.

One week passed, then two weeks passed.

By the third week, Oscar's condition was terrible. He only knew how to rush around in battle, as if he had forgotten all his previous simulated combat experience.

Oscar's specialty lies in his calm and composed analysis of his opponent's every hand, employing a variety of powerful tools to neutralize them. But what's truly terrifying is his incredibly clear mind, capable of instantly devising hundreds of vicious and ruthless tactics, switching between them and executing them at any moment.

However, Oscar has not made any use of this strength at all.

I feel restless, uneasy, and overwhelmed by my own inability to do anything.

Anyone could see that these factors had caused Oscar to be extremely disturbed, and the reasons for his state of mind were also well known.

"If you keep going like this, even if Meredith really wakes up, she'll just sneer at you."

“──!”

That's right, it's because Meredith hasn't woken up yet.

In the previous war, the "Apostles of God" launched a sabotage operation against the tree Kiria Okutsu.

Meredith stepped forward to challenge the strongest and most vicious enemy of the church.

If we want the world to change, we must prove it here today.

Humanity is able to defeat the Church's "Absolute".

It must be demonstrated that free will will never succumb to the manifestation of divine power.

As the leader of the liberator camp, she had to prove this herself and couldn't delegate it to anyone else. So she stepped forward.

In the end, Meredith prevailed.

The battle was extremely brutal. Under extreme conditions, she seemed to have mastered some trick.

However, that 'certain secret' - the power that Meredith displayed at the end was, to be honest, absolutely extraordinary.

It had completely left the apostles of God with no chance of resistance, as if the planet itself had lent its power to Meredith. Such power could truly be described as miraculous.

Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine that such a powerful force must have put a considerable strain on Miledy's body and mind.

Of course, Mel's regeneration magic had completely healed her physical injuries, but the fact was that more than a month had passed and Meredith was still in a coma.

She must be just sleeping to restore her tired mind, and she will definitely wake up.

There was no way Meredy Lessin would remain depressed in a place like this.

——Everyone believed it so firmly and waited for the day when she would wake up.

However, even though I thought this in my head, my emotions were another matter.

Seeing that Miledi has been in a long-term sleep, it is inevitable that more and more worried voices will emerge.

I couldn't help but think, if only I could inflict more damage on the apostle before Meredith stepped forward to fight...

Although I know that this kind of thinking is meaningless, I still cannot suppress the thoughts of self-blame and regret, and I feel anxious and impatient about my own weakness.

Of course, Bandu understood Oscar's state of mind and could feel it firsthand, but he still used a cold look and tone to harshly rebuke Oscar.

"Everyone is doing the best they can."

“…I know that.”

"Even if Meredi is gone, our liberator camp will not be shaken in the slightest."

"..."

"We cannot waver, for that is what our leader wants."

Oscar gritted his teeth and stood up with all his strength.

Bandu was absolutely right. Oscar's reaction to his words was both a mixture of bewildered defiance and silent affirmation.

"It's our turn to demonstrate the 'strength' that Meredith has shown the world. Meredith isn't alone. We need to make her realize that we can fight alongside her. To do that, we need training like this—"

"I already said I understood!"

Oscar's foot pushed hard against the ground, making a "dong" sound like the ground exploding, which became the gong and drum that announced the start of the 101st round of sparring. However, this sparring was completely meaningless.

The rough tone clearly showed that Oscar had completely lost his composure. Bandu made a "tsk" sound.

"If I had understood──would I have ended up in this miserable state!?"

Oscar lunged forward, as if to vent his inner anxiety. Bandu immediately used ice magic to create a cross spear to counterattack.

The sounds of fierce fighting echoed like the sound of beating drums, and the grass and trees swayed violently under the shock waves.

The murderous training began again. At first glance, it looked like a brutal battle scene.

"You're so energetic..."

Another person was watching the scene from the side, looking powerless and having no intention of stepping forward to stop it.

Some distance away from the two people exercising, a person sat on a cut tree trunk, one leg bent and folded across his chest, fiddling with a walnut-shaped ore with one hand. That person was Mei'er.

Now she looks like a completely idle and terrible adult.

But in reality, for about ten days after the war, Mei had devoted herself to the restoration of the sea of ​​trees and the city, as well as the treatment of the wounded. She was very busy, and her contributions were considerable. She just happened to have nothing to do now, and there was nothing else she could do.

"...Rather than this, it's better to be busy."

Mei'er is a lazy person in principle and finds everything troublesome.

When I have free time, I will be lazy as much as I want. When I am too idle to bear it, I will disturb other busy people.

In other words, she's a terrible adult.

Therefore, that muttering just now was a truly earth-shattering anomaly. If her gang—the Melkine Pirates—had heard it, they would surely have cried out in panic, "The storm is coming!"

Of course, the reason why the Pirate Queen, Sister Meier, who is famous for her incompetence (?), has become like this is also because of Meredith's coma.

"You still dare to boast that there is no one you can't cure? You are truly ashamed."

Now, she would rather be busy to the point of being breathless, because that way she wouldn't have to think about unnecessary things.

Superfluous things - for example, one's own powerlessness.

Although he is a healer, his ability is not enough to cure the person he most wants to treat.

Healing is clearly what I should do, but at the most critical moment, I am unable to completely heal the most critical person.

Mei'er sighed deeply, but her sigh was quickly drowned out by the sounds of intense fighting.

At this moment──

"Hello, Onee-sama."

A figure appeared faintly in the thick white fog surrounding the training ground.

The visitor had cascading platinum hair, and the clothes he wore were so pure white that they seemed to be formed from condensed white mist.

She is the queen of the sea of ​​trees—Lutilis.

"How are those two doing? Looks like there's no need to ask."

"What are you doing here? Don't come over here, go away!"

The queen walked slowly towards them with graceful steps. When she heard Mei'er tell her to go away, she immediately let out a rough moan, "Hmm!" and her long ears flapped up and down.

Then she coughed dryly before speaking.

"You won't stop them?"

She said, looking ahead at her two companions battling each other. The intensity of the battle could be described as a "fight to the death."

"No need, it was just a joke."

"But, it seems like both sides are constantly launching various fatal attacks on each other..."

"Oscar has been emotionally unstable lately, so it's inevitable that he would go to that extent."

“‘That level’, huh…”

The two partners persistently aimed at each other's vital parts such as the neck, head, and heart.

That was definitely not exercise, and certainly not a fight. The killing intent was too strong. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like they were fighting each other.

Seeing that Lutilis was confused, Mei'er smiled bitterly.

"Yes, that's the point. Otherwise, I won't be able to relieve the pressure. This is necessary for Oscar right now. That's why Ben is willing to accompany me like this."

The only one who could fight Oscar head-on and still have a certain degree of leeway to tolerate him venting his anger was a fighting master like Bandu.

"It was Ben who called me here just in case."

"Oh... I know this. Mimi once told me that this is called 'tsundere', right?"

"Yes, it is indeed a tsundere, hehe."

If you listened carefully, you could hear insults mingling with the terrifying roar of battle. Things like, "You fake artist!" and "Shut up! How dare you, the one with glasses, speak so freely!" and "Stop calling me glasses! You're nothing more than a scarf! Just wander around for the rest of your life!" and "Stop making fun of my scarf! You're the fool who doesn't even understand its benefits!"—all low-level insults.

"I see." Lutilis nodded, looking relieved. Then she continued:

"Come to think of it, it's just like usual."

"Right, so you don't have to worry about Oscar-chan."

Lutilis breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she glanced at Mei, who was hunching her shoulders, and her long ears drooped weakly.

Oscar doesn't need to worry, so what about Mel?

In fact, Mel has looked incredibly depressed lately, perhaps even as depressed as Oscar.

No, it’s not so much that I’m depressed, but rather that I’ve lost some confidence.

"……what?"

Noticing that Lutilis was staring at her, Mei felt a little uncomfortable and shrank back.

Lutilis first hummed a thoughtful expression, then a moment later, she approached Mei with a pitiful gesture and then—knelt on the ground.

"Onee-sama, you don't need to sit on that hard tree trunk. If you want to sit, sit on me—"

"Go to hell."

A terrifying "bang" sound was heard. It was the sound of Sister Mei's heel striking Lutilis's head with a powerful vertical kick.

"Ahhhhhh" Lutilis screamed seductively, naturally. Her hips were raised high and her face was buried in the leaf mold.

After she pulled her muddy face out of the ground, she said:

"I'm so grateful for this unexpected reward!"

"Your sudden perverted behavior disgusts me to the extreme."

Then, the Queen, who was beloved by all the people of the Republic, had her head stepped on and continued to be pressed down.

However, the Queen looked incredibly happy, breathing rapidly. Her wanton, relaxed, trance-like expression made it difficult to even glance at her.

However, there was no other way. After all, the Queen was a natural masochist.

Incidentally, her childhood sweetheart and best friend is a cockroach.

In other words, she is a very regrettable queen.