Inside the Watchtower.
Second floor, Electra.
It had been about a month since Subaru arrived in another world.
He had cleared the third floor trial in less than a day, but the second floor trial had kept him stuck for more than half a month.
Because the red haired man before him was so strong that it was difficult to explain with reason.
After exhausting every method he could think of, Subaru’s final choice was to ask for that man’s help.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow!!”
Subaru cried out.
In front of him, Reid only shouted irritably, “If I don’t fix those rotten habits of yours, are you seriously expecting to get stronger?”
At this moment, Reid was using his chopsticks to pinch Subaru’s wrist, forcing him to adjust his stance and the way he held the sword.
“You don’t have even a single bit of foundation.
Where did you come from, brat?
Some sheltered noble girl’s bedroom?”
“Um, isn’t ‘sheltered noble girl’ usually used to describe girls?”
Subaru muttered quietly.
“Hah?
Is there any difference between you and a pretty little girl?
Ah, wait, at least a girl is nice to look at.
But you?
You’re wrong in every way.
I can’t even feel you up!” (TL:Lmao this fkcer is both annoying and funny huh?)
I’m being looked down on again…
Subaru sighed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The man in front of him truly had the qualifications to lecture him like this.
More than that, Reid was clearly teaching him rather seriously.
“Straighten your body.
Put more strength into your arms.
Did you skip breakfast today?
Or are you really a girl?”
Reid mercilessly slapped Subaru’s waist and back.
The force was honestly not light, but it was not enough to send him flying.
“Yes, sir!”
Not far away, Shaula sat on the ground with a grin, her arms resting on her legs as she stared straight at Subaru undergoing his special training.
“Hey, is that woman yours?”
Reid suddenly asked.
“Which one?
You mean Shaula?”
“That snake and scorpion woman.
The one who shoots stingers.”
“That’s not a very nice way to describe a girl…”
Subaru protested.
“Who asked you to worry about me?
She keeps calling you Master this, Master that.
Isn’t she your woman?”
“That way of putting it is way too weird!
She’s not—”
Before Subaru could finish speaking, Shaula, who had sharply heard their conversation, immediately raised her hand and loudly declared,
“Yes!!!! This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
I am Master’s!
Master is still Master, so my heart belongs to Master, my body belongs to Master, and my heavy, overflowing feelings belong to Master too!”
Her eyes turned into hearts as she spoke excitedly.
“You were about to say ‘not,’ weren’t you?
A girl is confessing her true and sincere feelings like this, even saying she’ll devote herself to you.
Are you really a man, brat?”
Even Reid seemed shaken by Shaula’s burning passion.
“The feelings she’s giving aren’t meant for me.
They aren’t meant for Natsuki Subaru.
They’re meant for some Master I don’t even know.
I won’t accept a love that doesn’t belong to me.
Doing that would only be lying to myself.”
Subaru spoke seriously.
He had already received a lot of help from Shaula by relying on the identity of Master.
He could not use that same identity to take away her right to love.
“I don’t get you, brat.
If it were me, I would’ve tricked her into my arms ages ago.”
“That’s exactly why I’m not you…”
“I heard that, bastard!
Put more strength here.
Where’s your power?
Did you not eat?
Does seeing a woman make you lose all your strength?”
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!!”
Only after truly interacting with him did Subaru feel like he had finally gotten to know the person called Reid.
How should he describe him?
Using Subaru’s own example, he was similar to Jaian from Doraemon.
(TL: maybe Gian will be more familiar to english reader I guess?
it was jaian in my language)
He liked bullying the weak, he would steal other people’s snacks, and he had a strong childish streak.
All of that could be seen in Reid.
At the same time, if you became his friend, then even if he usually bullied you, at crucial moments he would probably shout something like, “Only I’m allowed to bully Nobita!” (TL:Jaian also got this one funny line ‘What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is mine’)
Reid’s bad impression of Subaru earlier mainly came from the fact that he loved bullying the weak and hated cowards even more.
In other words, he hated spineless people.
But Reid did not hate smart people.
Nor was he some unreasonable caveman who refused to recognize anyone.
“Hey, lewd woman.
I’ve been teaching this brat for several days now.
It’s about time for your turn.”
Reid turned his gaze toward Shaula, who was still staring at Subaru with a goofy look.
“Mm?
Hm?!
Me?
You want me to train Master?
But I don’t know how.”
Shaula’s face was full of confusion, as if huge question marks had been written all over it.
“I’m not expecting a dumb woman like you to know how to train people.
“Uu, not being able to help Master is this disciple’s failure.
This disciple shall now commit seppuku—”
“Seppuku is way too serious!”
Subaru immediately retorted.
“Ehehe.
Master is worried about me.
As long as I have that, today’s Master Energy is fully replenished!
Reid, what do you need me to help with?”
Watching the two of them fool around, Reid suddenly felt like he did not fit in, and it irritated him for some reason.
He scratched his head, then showed a wicked smile.
“Obviously, you’re going to train your master in how to run away.”
If this brat wanted to defeat him, Reid figured that even a lifetime of teaching would not be enough.
However, if they continued using Subaru’s previous line of thinking—that is, having Shaula interfere with him while Subaru found a chance to go upstairs—then there was still a possibility.
“You don’t have much skill, but your brain’s flexible enough, brat.
That method you thought of to get past me?
I think it’s not bad.”
“You’re… not angry?
But this is cheating.”
“I’m not your mother.
Why would I care if you cheat or not?
As long as you can get past me, that’s your ability!”
Reid kicked Subaru, making him stand a little farther forward.
“There’s a healing place downstairs, right?
Otherwise, after I beat you so many times, there’s no way you’d recover this fast.”
“Ah, there is a Green Room for healing.
So this training you’re talking about is…”
Subaru already had a possible answer in his mind, but it was honestly a little too insane.
“It’s simple.
Have your good apprentice shoot needles at you.
What you need to do is run while dodging those needles.”
Reid explained.
“Huh?!
Isn’t that guaranteed death?!”
“If I’m the one making the training plan, then if I get you killed, wouldn’t that insult my reputation?
Aren’t you confident in that lewd woman’s sniper accuracy?
Then just have her aim as much as possible for places that won’t kill you—shoulders, calves, sides of the stomach, that kind of spot.”
Reid said it casually, as if this were something very easy.
Of course, for him, it probably really was easy.
“Master, are we really doing this?”
Shaula asked Subaru for confirmation.
“To become stronger…”
Subaru bit his lip tightly, as if he had made a decision he absolutely had to carry through.
“Do it, Shaula.
Don’t hold back.
This is an important step for me to become stronger!”
“Ah, now you’re finally showing some decent backbone.
If you wet yourself and run away crying, I’ll personally teach you how to run.”
Seeing Subaru’s determination, Reid’s lips curled slightly upward.
“I’m not going to wet myself!”