I was a Kawagon.
An out-of-the-park home run with a wooden sword... it hurt.
I thought I heard a whistling sound... shoooooooooooosh.
My "playtime" with Master Katori continued.
The Zork seemed to be taking their time gathering reinforcements. Which was only natural, really.
So, we were busy drafting a defense plan. However, despite being a Major, I’d never actually commanded a large-scale operation, so I was left out in the cold. I technically attended the meetings, but I really wished they wouldn’t ask for my input. As a captain, the best I could offer was something like, "I don’t wanna fight here, meow!"
My command abilities only scaled up to a platoon. It was sad, really. If I’d had a grace period of two or three years, I might have gained enough experience through drills.
But I was the fastest promotion in history! Normally, you spend four years on theory, more time on drills and simulations, and then another ten years of actual service after your commission to master the trade! My rank as a Major was just plain wrong!
Fighter pilots are like lawyers in a military tribunal—their ranks are inflated because they’re specialists. Seriously, no joke—I was just too young to be a commander. Since the chain of command above me had been systematically wiped out, I was just a Major kept around for decoration!
So, I focused on what I could do: training and the simulator.
I didn't want to die, so I pushed myself through my own personal Ultra Hard Mode. If I died and my wifeys were NTR'd by some clone—a total stranger who just thought he was me—I'd want to end the world. I'd fall to the dark side for sure.
Which brought us here.
Sword practice on Planet Shinagawa.
A literal out-of-the-park home run courtesy of Master Katori’s wooden sword. He’d blasted through my defense and took my whole body with it.
The wooden sword was snapped! This was already the umpteenth time I’d been sent crashing through a window. There was even talk of just removing the windows entirely.
"Sensei! Stop breaking the wooden swords!"
"You’re the one who snapped one with an Overhead Strike earlier!"
It was weird. These weren't normal swords; they were resin-coated. The resin was infused into the wood fibers and hardened. Apparently, this technique has existed since ancient times—I remember hearing about Chinese martial arts boiling staves in tea to harden them back in my old world.
Theoretically, this sword should have been harder than iron. Yet they bent and broke so often I'd lost count of the casualties.
"Alright, come get some!"
"Leo Kamishiro! Coming through!"
I was going to floor him today for sure!
I charged with the broken sword in one hand, kicking open the sliding doors of the martial arts hall. A surprise attack—it was my only hope! I prepared to unleash a full-power strike using my fake Satsuma Martial Arts... but a wooden sword came flying at me.
I expected that! I dodged... and then another wooden sword was rolling under my feet... Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Slide. I tripped on the sword and dived face-first into the floor.
"I told you to watch your feet! Stop running like a clumsy ox! You get greedy for a win and your movements turn to trash!"
Master Katori lectured me while swatting my backside with a wooden sword. Heeen! So cruel!
The boys watching from the corner, along with Thomas and his Personal Guard, whispered among themselves.
"Hey, did you see that? Master Katori just grabbed a sword off the wall and chucked it."
"Is the Major at a level where a sword alone can't stop him anymore...?"
Stop taking it so seriously! He just threw it because it was within reach!
"Alright, eyes on me. The Major's footwork is garbage, but what's his strong suit?"
Thomas answered, "His dedication to the one-hit kill?"
"No. It’s the fact that he stays in the fight even after being knocked out of bounds. Unlike me, you lot aren't athletes. In a war, there's no ring-out. I bet the Major would keep swinging even if he were kicked off a cliff."
"I see..."
"Of course, we have professional standards. We don't use eye-gouges, groin strikes, or biting. That's a matter of trust. But in every other aspect, he's dead serious."
Please, stop being so earnest. I only go this far because it's Master Katori. If I were fighting Piggett, I'd just fight normally. This was supposed to be a "Look at these idiots!" moment!
And I didn't do the eye-gouges or groin strikes because I'd be murdered. I value my life.
"Alright, pair up for sparring. Put your armor on. Hey, you! Get up! You’re going without gear!"
"That's too cruel!"
I was the only one denied protection. Heeen! So unfair!
After that, the air was filled with shouts of "Die!" and "I'll kill you!" This was my daily life now.
Once that was over, I had a "rest" period—also known as paperwork—before hitting the simulator. The very concept of rest had disintegrated. Even the Personal Guard from the Kamishiro Main House was starting to look disturbed. I caught them whispering.
"Morning training, office work, and then the simulator... is the Lord's stamina infinite?"
"He leads by example... truly, he is the only one fit to be the Savior Hero!"
"Glory to Leo Kamishiro!"
Why were they so touched? This was just a black company lifestyle!
I ate lunch, downed some protein, and went to the simulator. Lunch was a massive heap of meat and vegetables—I couldn't survive without it. Apparently, some of Thomas’s men and the Kamishiro knights had vomited from the intensity, but no one in my squad dropped out. I shoveled mountains of rice into my mouth, even going for seconds.
The regular soldiers looked horrified.
"As expected of the Hound Squad... they're all monsters."
"Heaping bowls of rice after that hellish training... they're not human."
"Did you hear? The units led by the Hounds were forged into elites in just a few months."
"That's terrifying..."
Give up. In a few days, you'll all be doing "Together with Katori-sensei" too! Zork battles always end up in a brawl, after all. I just hoped they'd keep at it, treating it like a "health exercise" (even if they had to lie to themselves).
I played the Zork-version of the simulator. "I'm not afraid of a few hundred bugs!" is what I wanted to say, but since the Crab-types only took damage from ballistics, I kept dying while reloading. It was a pain. I really wanted to figure out a way to keep everyone alive.
Just then, Aoi-san summoned me. I wondered what she wanted.