"Exercise? What are you talking about all of a sudden, Paulen?"
As the sli tilted its body, Alia asked Paulen.
"Exactly as I said. We’re going to exercise. Anyway, just staying here makes Jiggly bored, doesn’t it? It’d be much better to go to the training grounds and move around! Hahaha! Of course, you should join us for so exercise, Saintess!"
"If I exercise with you..."
‘I won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow because of muscle pain!’
"Alia, what do you take for? I wouldn’t force intense training on a beginner with barely any muscles. Even if I did, it’d just be while I’m playing around exercising with Jiggly, and I’d tell you to simply walk around for so light activity."
"Really? If that’s all..."
Swayed by Paulen’s words, Alia got up from her seat.
Boing!
And the sli, which had made itself at ho in the church, moved to its designated spot.
It jumped up onto Paulen’s shoulder.
At first, it had tried to climb onto Alia’s head, but Paulen had said—
—Even if it’s harmless, people would talk if a monster’s sitting on the Saintess’s head. So just get on my shoulder.
Understanding those words, the sli chose Paulen’s shoulder as its new designated seat.
Alia, Paulen, and the sli left the room and headed to the training grounds.
But the training grounds weren’t just any regular ones.
They were exclusive grounds only knight Paulen could use.
They were facilities built for Paulen, the one with the title of the strongest holy knight.
A protective barrier could be deployed there, so even if he went all out, it wouldn’t damage the surroundings, and the exercise equipnt was sturdier than comrcially available gear—never bending or breaking.
Looking at the training grounds, Alia asked,
"Is it really okay for you to use this place alone, Paulen?"
"What do you an?"
"I an, isn’t it awkward to move around such a wide space by yourself?"
"Hahaha! It’s ti to train myself, so what does it matter if I’m alone or with others? Of course, I enjoy group workouts too, but being alone isn’t lonely at all! I can et people whenever I want!"
Since Alia couldn’t easily bring herself to et others, Paulen’s words struck her heart.
"And today, you and Jiggly are with , aren’t you! It’ll be an even more enjoyable training session than usual! Would you like to drop by during my training normally as well?"
"Well… the sweat sll might be a bit much..."
"You sure are blunt in monts like this."
Clap clap!
Paulen clapped his hands and spoke.
"Then I’ll play around exercising with Jiggly. Alia, take a walk around the grounds and enjoy so fresh air."
Alia wondered if she would really be breathing fresh air beside exercising Paulen, or if it’d just be sweaty air.
But she had the sense not to voice that thought out loud.
Clomp, clomp.
Alia began walking across the training grounds, and Paulen spoke to the sli.
"Alright, let’s start exercising too, Jiggly!"
‘Exercise?’
"First, get off my shoulder!"
‘Okay!’
Boing!
As the sli hopped down to the ground, Paulen imdiately struck a pose.
"Hnnngh! Muscles!"
Flexing, Paulen said, "Exercising makes you feel refreshed and clears your mind! That goes for monsters too! So let’s exercise together, Jiggly!"
‘Exercise!’
Boing!
The sli didn’t really know what ‘exercise’ was.
But it understood that Paulen was doing this for its sake, and that made it happy.
▶ What’s this human suddenly going on about exercise?
▶ Still, it seems more fun than watching that boring human female just sitting still?
The viewers also found it interesting, as the broadcast that had been boring for the past three days suddenly got so new content.
"Alright! Let’s start simple with just 20 laps! Follow , Jiggly!"
Boing!
Paulen began running around the training ground, with the sli bouncing after him.
"Huh?"
anwhile, Alia, who had started walking earlier, felt complicated as Paulen and the sli passed her.
They started running… Shouldn’t she be running too?
Thinking that, she picked up her pace and broke into a light run.
"Hahaha! You’re running well! How about this then!"
Boing! Boing!
But within ten seconds, the sli and Paulen zood past her again at even faster speeds, and Alia returned to walking.
Seeing a speed she could never match up close, she imdiately realized it was pointless to try.
Paulen and the sli quickly completed 20 laps of the training ground.
‘It’s moving way faster than I thought.’
Paulen was impressed that the sli could keep up even when he picked up the pace.
At first, he ran slowly to match the sli’s usual pace.
But if he went too slow, it wouldn’t be much of a workout for him, so he decided to do his own routine and sped up—but the sli kept up without issue.
Just to be sure, he sped up even more—and the sli still followed.
‘Definitely not an ordinary sli.’
Paulen’s curiosity was piqued.
A sli that could understand human speech and follow his pace, even if not seriously.
He knew that highly intelligent monsters were often both cunning and strong.
So maybe this sli, despite its appearance, was actually quite powerful?
‘I’ve got to test this.’
As a knight tasked with protecting the Saintess, he now had a reason.
Paulen imdiately said to the sli, "Warm-up is over. Jiggly! This ti, it’s sparring!"
‘Sparring?’
"Paulen? What are you saying? You’re not seriously planning to fight Jiggly, are you?"
"Not fight. Spar. A sparring match."
"With a sli?"
"I understand what you're worried about, Alia, but don't worry. It's just a sparring session, no different from exercise."
Paulen retrieved a wooden shield and a wooden sword from a rack in the corner of the training ground.
"Alright! Co at , Jiggly! Attack as much as you like! I'll take it all."
Clang, clang!
Paulen tapped the wooden shield with the wooden sword, urging the sli.
'Attack? Why?'
The sli didn't understand why Paulen suddenly wanted it to attack.
To the sli, attacking was sothing done to prey or to bad guys who hurt or saddened it.
However, that confusion was quickly resolved upon seeing a ssage in the chat window.
[Just Slam First] ▶Squishy! That human is offering to help you practice your body slam! Give it a try!
'Practice!'
Though it didn't imdiately grasp the concept of sparring or being told to attack, the ntion of practicing body slams made the sli understand right away.
In other words, this was practice. Training.
The sli understood that it wasn't about attacking with the intent to harm.
Boing! Boing!
'Practice!'
Having not moved much recently, the sli was delighted to engage in practice after a long ti.
"You're full of energy! Great! Now, co on!"
'Okay!'
The sli bounced towards Paulen, using a body slam.
Since it wasn't a serious attack, it was a weaker version of its usual bounce tackle.
However,
'Huh?!'
The sli's body slam carried more weight than Paulen had anticipated.
'If this hit an ordinary animal, it might be knocked down.'
Thanks to nutritious food and experiences from battles with various monsters, the sli's basic strength had increased.
Therefore, even though it wasn't using its bounce tackle skill, the body slam was quite powerful.
"Good! You're doing well! Keep it up, Jiggly!"
'Okay!'
Boing!
Excited after landing one attack, the sli began a series of continuous body slams.
Boing! Boing! Boing!
To keep things interesting, the sli changed positions as it attacked, rather than coming from the sa direction.
As a knight, Paulen skillfully blocked all the body slams with his shield.
anwhile,
'They're having fun.'
To Alia, who was leisurely walking around the training ground, it just looked like Paulen was playfully engaging with the sli.
Due to the sli's softness and elasticity, the collisions with the wooden shield didn't make much noise, making it hard to gauge the impact of the sli's tackles.
Boing!
While continuously receiving the sli's tackles, Paulen habitually analyzed the sli's strength.
'Each hit has consistent power. Does that an it's accustod to this? No, even so, maintaining such consistency suggests it's quite skilled at controlling its strength.'
Moreover, being able to consistently deliver the sa level of power implied that it was holding back even greater strength.
'Let's test it.'
"Jiggly!"
'Yes?'
When suddenly called, the sli stopped its body slams and waited for the next instruction.
"You can go harder! Co at !"
▶ Ohhh, that human doesn't realize Squishy has been holding back?
▶Go harder, hahaha.
Seeing Paulen confidently asking for a stronger attack, the viewers laughed.
They knew how powerful the sli's bounce tackle was when used against other monsters.
They grinned mischievously, anticipating how surprised the human would be when the bounce tackle was unleashed.
[Just Slam First]▶ Show your skills, Squishy! That human won't get hurt just because of a tackle!
Fenrir, having faced humans challenging him multiple tis in the snowy mountains, felt assured of Paulen's abilities and gave his seal of approval.
'Okay!'
After reading the chat, the sli imdiately used its bounce tackle.
Boing!
Thud!
Utilizing its elasticity, the sli's tackle struck Paulen's wooden shield with force.
"..!?"
'What is this power!'
The sli's bounce tackle was an attack capable of taking down not just deer but even a scarlet goblin in one hit.
Its power far exceeded just being heavy.
Crack!
Unable to fully absorb the impact, the wooden shield began to crack.
Realizing that rely receiving the attack would be dangerous, Paulen quickly made a decision.
He slightly leaned back and twisted the arm holding the shield.
By dispersing the direction of the force,
"Hup!"
Paulen swung the shield, deflecting the sli.
A technique to counter an opponent's attack.
Parry.
However, due to the sli's unique elasticity, it wasn't so much deflected as it was sent flying upward.
'Wow!'
Even though it was deflected by Paulen, the sli didn't feel much shock.
Rather, the sensation of suddenly soaring upward was novel and enjoyable for the sli.
▶ What? Did he just deflect the sli?
▶ Ohhh, that human is quite sothing.
[Squishy Queen]▶ How dare he send my kin flying! How arrogant!
▶It's a flying sli!
"Jiggly?!"
anwhile, Alia, who had been calmly observing while walking, was shocked to see Paulen suddenly send the sli flying upward.
"Paulen! What are you doing!"
"Alia, I believe..."
Boing! Boing!
After soaring upward, the sli landed safely on the ground and bounced around happily.
"I believe Jiggly has taken down the lesser troll."
"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Look at this."
Paulen showed Alia the cracked wooden shield.
"Jiggly isn't just an ordinary sli."
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