I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

“Then let’s start with a sparring session.”

“Sparring?”

“Even a light lesson is best experienced physically to quickly identify issues.”

Indeed, experiencing something physically once is better than hearing it a hundred times.

Understanding her intent, I silently grabbed the wooden sword she prepared and took my position on the grassland.

Francheska calmly took her stance in front of me.

“I will only defend, so please attack as you wish.”

“…How hard should I hit?”

“As hard as you like.”

It was due to memories of countless battlefields.

I instinctively felt that the person in front of me was perfectly poised to respond to any attack that might come.

“Then, I’ll go all out.”

So, I decided to go full force from the start.

My body left an afterimage as the wooden sword, wielded with full power, swung towards her head.

Abandoning any awkwardness, my momentum was at a level comparable to real combat.

Thwack!

Francheska easily deflected the attack and took a step back, creating distance between us.

Is she trying to run away?

Shak!

No, as soon as she deflected my attack and retreated, her wooden sword flew straight towards my head.

A counterattack immediately following the defense. If I had been late in dodging, it would have hit me between the eyes.

“Didn’t you say you’d only defend?”

“The best defense can be an offense. Counterattacks that demoralize the opponent through threats are also a form of defense.”

“…Makes sense.”

Francheska increased the distance smoothly and raised her sword towards me again.

The wooden sword’s blade was still rough, but her eyes beyond it were as sharp as razor blades.

“Surely, you’re not demoralized by one counterattack, are you?”

“Of course not!”

Thud! Thwack!

A continuous series of noises as wooden swords clashed.

As the one-sided exchanges continued without a single effective hit, countless thoughts ran through my mind, not aligning with my common sense.

Although I blocked all attack paths with the wooden sword, I didn’t feel like my opponent was being pushed back despite exerting my strength.

I wasn’t just because she stepped back.

If we compare the difference in physique alone, it was like a trained adult male and an adolescent girl.

Even if she had the body of a doll, unless she was using supernatural concepts like mana, the visible difference in physique should be absolute.

Thud! Crack!

Yet she found gaps between my attacks and counterattacked several times.

So fast that even I, who had been through countless battles, found it difficult to react immediately.

And with such exquisite, precise movements.

“You’re probably thinking my counterattack speed is faster than expected, right?”

Unlike my surprise, Francheska remained calm.

She gradually slowed her retreat and then stopped, deflecting my attacks while increasing her counterattacks.

Following the saying that the best defense is a good offense, she pushed me to hesitate in my attacks through her fierce counterattacks.

“It’s not very difficult. It’s a simple concept that anyone can follow once they understand the principle.”

Creak!

The wooden swords pressed together, and her weight shifted forward with a twist.

“For example, when the wooden swords collide like this, if I twist my wrist unlike the opponent who tries to push…”

The force used to push through the defense was suddenly redirected, swinging to her side.

Meanwhile, her deflected sword was propelled forward by inertia.

Once again, it accurately aimed at my head.

“Consequently, it allows you to defend against the enemy’s attack while using their force for a fierce counterattack.”

As I barely evaded the attack and stepped back, I realized my body was drenched in sweat.

It wasn’t because her counterattacks were fierce.

Every moment I applied more force to break through the defense, she used it against me, making me exert more effort in evasion.

“If you look at physical specs alone, I’m much lower than you. Yet, this difference occurred because of the significant difference in how we utilize our strength.”

“You’re saying one of my flaws is that I waste too much strength?”

“If you can dodge, dodge. If you can block, block. If you can overpower, overpower… That style is suitable for chaotic battles on the battlefield, but it’s inappropriate for one-on-one combat like this.”

That’s an accurate assessment.

In actual warfare, there’s no time to use the enemy’s strength against them; you can only take on the attacks coming from all sides.

That’s why I had to do it, and it became a habit, so I did it even when it wasn’t necessary.

“Of course, if you have overwhelming strength, you don’t need the ‘tricks’ I used.”

Yes, in the face of overwhelming strength, techniques are meaningless.

What she showed was only useful in weapon-based combat, not in battles that involved mana surpassing physical limits.

“In that sense, you can start using mana… What do you think?”

“…What do you think?”

Show me what you can do now.

With that determination, I gathered mana, and the resulting aura enveloped the wooden sword, which I began to swing at her.

At that moment, she moved as well.

Unlike me, who roughly gathered mana, she infused a very small amount of mana into her wooden sword.

Swish!

However, my wooden sword, clashing in that state, was not pushing hers back but was twisting as if it were about to be pushed away.

The slight mana in her wooden sword created a rotating current.

Because the powerful aura on my wooden sword was being ‘drawn in.’

“Wh-what the…?!”

“Power flows, and the flow can change direction depending on how you set its path…”

At the end of such a clash, she pushed my sword back and raised her sword, now with more powerful mana, over her head, glaring at me.

The intensity was overwhelmingly amplified compared to when she first handled a small amount of mana.

“That applies to mana converted into physical force, driven by will.”

But she did not exert that power herself.

From the beginning, she showed how to use the opponent’s strength against them, and now she applied it to mana.

“When wills clash, the fluctuation of force occurs… Even a fool can see who will draw more mana, those who understand it or those who do not.”

That was a level even a hero who had crossed countless battlefields couldn’t fathom.

It was impossible for me to devise a way to counter it immediately.

“So, even the strength of the strong can be made their own by the weak.”

By the time I realized it, she was already prepared to counterattack.

Rumble!

As the mana currents spiraling around the wooden sword swirled, she pointed its tip at me and spoke firmly.

“This is the basic of ‘fighting as the weak’ that I will teach you from now on. Feel the power you wield clearly with your body.”

“Damn it…”

Boom!!!

In the end, my body was swept away by the wave of mana and landed heavily in the middle of the grassland.

After the humiliating defeat in the first sparring, I mustered my will and kept charging at her several times.

I knew she was much stronger than me, but I couldn’t be satisfied unless I landed at least one hit.

“Huff, huff…”

But such determination only led to repeated failures until my stamina was depleted.

Despite my life’s advantages of tenacity and adaptability, my body ended up sprawled in the middle of the grassland.

“You did well. It’s best to end the first training session here.”

“Don’t you ever get tired?”

“Because I’m a doll.”

“…That’s quite an enviable body.”

Moving all day without tiring, being strong, having precise movements, and maintaining a calm mind.

Each of her abilities, felt through the sparring, were truly absurd.

Damn, I thought I was pretty strong, but I couldn’t even touch her…

Was being a protector of humanity this extraordinary?

“Let me wipe your sweat; please lie down here.”

That invincible strength approached me, now collapsed, and began to lift my head.

Instead of handing me the water bottle and towel, she directly aimed them at me.

“Hey, wait…”

“Stay still. It’s hard to wipe your sweat otherwise.”

Francheska pulled my body towards her lap with force.

As the back of my head touched her thigh, hidden by her skirt, I reflexively shivered.

It felt more embarrassing to be pushed to the point of resting my head on a girl’s lap than losing the fight.

“…Are you really Cheska?”

“I’m Flang now. As I said before, I was born to serve humanity… soothing a tired body is part of my role, so don’t feel too burdened.”

“I understand that, but…”

“Now that your sweat is wiped, it’s time for hydration. Open your mouth.”

Francheska, having wiped my sweat, smoothly took out the prepared water bottle.

Just as I thought it would be difficult to hold it, I saw what was hanging from the end of the bottle, and my breath caught.

“…Hey, wait. That’s a baby bottle.”

“I borrowed it from the village in case your stamina ran out. You can drink without spilling water, even without using your hands, so it’s useful in situations like this.”

“Hey, no matter what, a baby bottle is a bit…! You really don’t have any sense– Hmpf!”

“Stay still. If you get dehydrated, it will affect tomorrow’s expedition.”

The damn maid forced the bottle into my mouth, making me drink.

But with my stamina depleted, I couldn’t resist, and in the end, I suffered the humiliation of drinking from a baby bottle while resting on a young girl’s lap.

Did she knock me down just for this?

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

Though I felt it was despicable, Francheska began stroking my forehead as I drank the water without resisting.

I thought she might be trying to manipulate me in some way, but after giving me the water, she just petted my head.

With a careful touch, as if handling a child.

Even shielding me from the sunlight with her head and back, as if worried I might be blinded.

“Or is there something else you’d like me to do?”

From the faint smile at the end, I gradually felt my mind at ease.

It was a natural progression.

Looking back at the things she had shown so far, I could immediately understand that this girl held no hostility towards me.

“…No, this is enough.”

In a harsh world, having no hostility is enough reason to rely on someone.

Understanding that, I rested my head on her lap, and she too seemed to relax and close her eyes.

“Yes, then, let’s stay like this until you’ve fully recovered.”

We simply rested like that.

Laying my tired body on the grassland, using her lap as a pillow, and the gentle breeze as a blanket.

“…Hey.”

But maybe because I felt so comfortable in this situation?

After some time had passed, a sudden anxiety made me speak.

The anxiety that perhaps there might be a cost to this current kindness.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing special… I just want to ask you something.”

No, there will be no cost.

She called herself a protector and companion of humanity, and those she had to protect included me, the expedition members, and, furthermore, all of humanity.

“You said you were going to teach me how to fight as the weak, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. For the weak to fight the strong, they need to learn how to use the opponent’s strength against them.”

“That means…”

But not demanding anything in return meant she was sacrificing herself.

At that moment, reflecting on her previous teachings, one concern began to surface in my mind.

Teaching how to fight as the weak from the standpoint of the weak—was it because she herself was in the position of the weak?

Isn’t she, even at this moment, walking such a dangerous tightrope, repeatedly not demanding anything from anyone?

“Hero!! Something terrible has happened!”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from afar.

Looking forward, I saw Sanson rushing toward me from over the hill.

Despite my fatigue, I instantly stood up.

Worried that our previous actions might cause a misunderstanding, I quickly pulled myself together and faced the approaching Sanson.

“What is it? Is something urgent…?”

“Beastmen!!”

But Sanson’s face was pale with fear, making my worries irrelevant.

“A group of beastmen has swarmed the village!”

Through his words, I immediately realized that a new danger had arrived at our location.