On a clear, sunlit afternoon, I watched from the sprawling garden attached to Lilia-san’s mansion with Rin perched on my shoulder. Before me stood an unlikely pair, facing each other in the center of the lawn.
On one side, Hina-chan held a defensive stance with a look of pure nerves; on the other, Kuro stood relaxed, a gentle smile playing on her lips. To put it simply, they were in the middle of a combat training session.
A few days had passed since Aoi-chan and Hina-chan arrived, and they had eventually told me of their desire to become adventurers. They explained that since they planned on staying in this world for a while, they didn't want to live off Lilia-san's generosity indefinitely. They wanted to earn at least enough to support themselves.
Naturally, Lilia-san had told them not to worry about it, but they had insisted on paying at least enough to cover the rent for the rooms they were using.
There was one snag, however. Unlike me, Aoi-chan and Hina-chan weren't planning on permanent residency; they still had lives to return to in their original world. Their visits would be sporadic, making it difficult to find a conventional job.
Thankfully, a cheat item created by Shiro-san ensured that no matter how long they spent here, they would return to Earth only one day after they had left, with even their physical growth reset. Still, they wanted a job with enough flexibility to earn money whenever they were around, and they settled on becoming adventurers.
They weren't taking the profession lightly, of course. In fact, they were quite anxious and still in the midst of debating the idea. They had been planning to train together when they happened to run into Kuro, who had come over to give Sieg-san some pointers as promised during our beach trip. One thing led to another, and Kuro agreed to oversee their training once she finished with Sieg-san.
Sieg-san had since returned to the mansion for work after thanking Kuro profusely, leaving Kuro alone with the three of us.
While I was lost in thought, Hina-chan suddenly kicked off the ground and lunged at Kuro. She moved so fast I could barely track her with my eyes; by the time I blinked, she had closed the distance and unleashed a sharp kick.
Impressive as it was to me, it clearly wasn't much to Kuro. She stopped Hina-chan’s kick effortlessly, merely extending an index finger to block the blow.
"Good speed," Kuro said. "And you aren't hesitating, which is great."
"Wait... what? I didn't feel any impact at all..."
"Ah, I’m catching your blows properly so you don't get hurt. Don't worry about holding back—hit me with everything you've got."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Hina-chan unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes, but Kuro just kept smiling, meeting every attack with that same gentle, silent touch.
"I think your Physical Enhancement magic is quite high, and your form is good. But... is your style a bit too predictable? You should try throwing in some feints. It might be hard to do too much at once, so just try alternating between a straight-on rush and flanking around. Just that much will give you far more options."
"Yes!"
Kuro gave her a few more tips before turning her attention to Aoi-chan. Aoi-chan nodded nervously and traced a magic circle at her feet to summon her golem. It was a massive, three-meter-tall construct with a noticeably darker hue—likely an evolution of her high-density golems.
"A beautiful magic formula," Kuro noted. "And you have an excellent grasp of magic power distribution. Your fundamentals are very solid. Hmm... okay, Aoi-chan, why don't you try learning this next?"
Kuro snapped her fingers. A magic circle flared to life in front of Aoi-chan's golem, and a single, detached golem arm emerged to punch her construct, shattering it instantly.
"Wha—!?"
"It's a bit advanced, but it's called a Partition Formula," Kuro explained. "You divide a single magic formula into multiple pieces. For instance, you could split your golem formula into six parts—arms, legs, torso, and head—and manifest them separately as needed. It's great for quick attacks or defense, and you can always complete the golem later. It’ll give you a lot more room for strategy."
"I see..."
"I think I wrote a book about this once... Ah, here we go. This goes into detail about Partition Formulas. Feel free to use it. You have a real knack for mana control, so I don't think you'll have much trouble."
"Thank you so much!" Aoi-chan beamed as she took the book.
Kuro watched her with a fond nod, then tilted her head curiously as she looked between the two. "I think you’ve both made incredible progress for having only used magic for a year. But was there something else bothering you?"
"Well..."
"The truth is, we're considering becoming adventurers, but..."
Kuro listened as they voiced their concerns. Hina-chan spoke up first, her voice quiet. "We just don't know if our combat power will actually work against monsters."
"Oh? Is it the same for you, Aoi-chan?"
"Yes. We suspect we aren't ready yet, but we were wondering exactly how much stronger we need to get to survive against them."
"I see... Sorry, just a second."
Their anxiety made sense. To my eyes, they seemed incredibly strong, but I was just a human. It was only natural for them to worry about how they measured up against true monsters.
Kuro nodded, her smile never fading, then looked toward me. "Shaltier, could you come here for a second?"
"Yeah, yeah, what's up?" Alice answered, appearing instantly by my side.
Kuro looked a bit perplexed. "Um... have monsters of that level started appearing around here while I wasn't looking?"
"Not a chance," Alice replied. "If monsters these two couldn't beat were just wandering around human villages, the world would've ended ages ago."
"Wait... what?" we all said in unison.
Huh? Is the conversation heading in a different direction than I expected?