'That Lloyd, he's quick on the uptake, isn't he?'
Lloyd had only been doing squats for a few days, but against someone who had never done them before, it was still worth a try.
Lloyd had trained hard on his own without being told, and thanks to Lucy, his muscular fatigue had fully recovered.
By contrast, since that beggar was doing this for the first time, it would not be easy for him to maintain proper form.
Besides....
'Lucy might secretly help him. That Lloyd must have calculated even that.'
When support-type magic was used, it gave off its distinctive green light.
But that was only when one wrung out as much mana as possible in order to maximize its efficiency.
By controlling it carefully, it was also possible to use magic with mana so weak it could not be seen.
'The spell's effect will diminish accordingly, but it will still have an effect. That will be enough to make the difference.'
This was a contest they could certainly win.
"Then I'll demonstrate, so make sure you all learn properly. Any improper form is invalid."
When Henrik stepped forward, one of the beggars asked,
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"Me? A Squat-off instructor."
Henrik taught them squats at an astonishing speed. The beggars began to follow along with clumsy form.
But the more they did, the more their minds filled with questions.
"...What in the world is the point of this?"
"It's a training method that's good for your body. It won't hurt to learn it while you have the chance. All right, you all know how to do it now, right?"
Henrik stood between Lloyd and the beggar like a referee.
"Every time I call a number, squat down and stand back up. Improper form is invalid, and the first person to give up loses."
"Wait a minute, you're on the wimp's side, aren't you? It isn't fair for you to be the referee."
Then a deep voice rang out from behind them.
"No, Sir Henrik is a fair man."
A large man appeared with several lackey beggars in tow.
"Hope, what brings you here?"
"I heard there was some commotion and came to take a look. So it was Sir Henrik!"
Hope, who had unintentionally become Henrik's teacher in Ice Arrow.
This worked out perfectly. Hope, the Beggars' Den's second-in-command, was on Henrik's side, so the situation was entirely in their favor.
"It's going to be an interesting contest. Why don't you stay and watch?"
"Gladly! That wim... No, um...?"
"Lloyd."
"Yes, Sir Lloyd... I'm curious to see how much you've improved as well, ha ha."
Lloyd had been standing face-to-face with the beggar for some time without moving a muscle.
After practicing the squat motion a few times, the beggar wore an utterly relaxed expression.
"What's this? I could keep this up all day."
The beggars behind him were repeatedly sitting and standing, as though they were playing whack-a-mole.
"All right, get ready, you two contestants."
Lloyd glanced at Lucy beside him.
As though he understood something, Lucy raised one corner of his mouth.
"Ready... Begin! One!"
The two men leisurely squatted down and stood back up.
"This isn't even a joke! Is this contest ever going to end? Ah, I get it. The wimp can't even do something like this more than a few times, can he?"
The bastard kept his mouth running without pause.
'That bastard is digging his own grave.'
By contrast, Lloyd had barely moved or spoken since deciding to compete. He was trying to conserve as much stamina as possible.
"Five! Hey, beggars, isn't it boring just watching? Want to bet on something?"
Henrik held up a gold coin.
"Six! If you turn out all your pockets, you should have enough for one gold coin, right?"
The beggars looked at one another, then began emptying their pockets.
There were more than twenty of them, but it was still nowhere near a gold coin.
"Fifteen! Hope will make up the difference. Isn't that right?"
"What? Ah, yes, of course!"
Hope looked troubled, but only on the surface.
He thought Lloyd was going to lose anyway.
"Yes! I've placed my bet! This should add up to one gold coin!"
He had wanted to join the wager, but he had been planning to merely watch. If he openly bet on Lloyd losing, he thought he might incur Henrik's anger.
Yet Henrik was setting up the wager for him himself. Hope struggled to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.
"Twenty-five!"
But the moment all the money had been wagered, warning signs began to appear in the beggar's body as he squatted.
"...Urgh."
"Your form is starting to fall apart. If it isn't proper form, you have to squat down and stand back up again."
"Urgh... I know!"
In contrast, Lloyd continued steadily.
'It's even easier than I thought?'
The ease of the watching beggars gradually began to fade as well.
"Uuugh...!"
"Thirty!"
Still, the beggar endured for quite a while in that state.
For one thing, he was in better physical condition than Lloyd. And with all his people watching, his motivation not to lose was no less formidable.
"Forty!"
Then Lloyd, too, finally began to show signs of strain.
Lloyd had fully adapted to squats, but there was nothing he could do about the limits of his stamina.
Both men trembled as they painfully forced their bodies up and down.
'All right, Lloyd, good work. Now it's Lucy's turn.'
When Henrik glanced down at Lucy, he was already concentrating, shooting beams from his eyes at Lloyd.
No one else could see any light at all, but Henrik could see a faint current of mana flowing toward Lloyd.
'It's over. A demon burning with competitive spirit is helping our side.'
Before they knew it, everyone watching was holding their breath.
The only sounds were
"Fifty!"
Henrik's shout and
"Hngh...."
the beggar's groan.
Even as he trembled, Lloyd ground his teeth and made no sound.
The squats continued for some time that way.
"Fifty-o...."
THUD.
In the end, the beggar's buttocks plummeted to the ground.
As soon as the beggar fell, Lloyd sat down on the ground as well. Then he panted harshly.
"Haa.... I won...."
"Meow! Meow!"
Lucy cried out as though pleased.
'It would have been difficult without Lucy's magic.'
Sweat poured down Lloyd's face like rain.
He wore the smile Henrik normally saw only when he was eating.
'It would be better not to tell Lloyd that Lucy cast magic on him. It would be better to let him think he won with his own strength.'
When Henrik approached Hope, Hope quickly replaced the expression of someone who had bitten into shit with a forced smile and held out a bag crammed with silver and copper coins.
"That was fun. I'll put this to good use."
"Y-yes!"
The sprawled beggar could not lift his head.
The beggars watching from behind showered him with jeers.
"Did that guy just lose to a wimp?"
"Ha... That bastard was all mouth, huh."
"I should've said I'd do it. What a waste of that build."
With his ears burning, the bastard lifted his head and looked at the other beggars.
"Damn it.... What do you bastards know?! I'm telling you, it's harder than it looks! Haa...."
Even while he was too out of breath to continue speaking at length, the criticism continued.
"Harder than it looks, my ass."
"He's on the same level as the wimp."
The bastard's chest, already tight from being out of breath, felt even more constricted.
"Fuck.... It's true...."
With nowhere to rest his eyes, he looked around. Then, when he saw Hope's now-frigid expression, he clamped his muttering mouth shut.
'How could this...!'
Henrik watched the beggar for a moment, then said,
"Let's go, Lloyd."
"Yeah... Hoo...."
He signaled Lloyd to get up, then turned his back.
His pride thoroughly bruised, the beggar stared hard at Henrik's retreating back.
'...Just what is that bastard? That wimp couldn't have become like this simply by eating well for a few days. What the hell is he?'
Hope left as well, and the beggars followed him. After muttering a few more remarks, they returned to their usual spots.
'Fuck...!'
Even after everyone had gone, the bastard remained collapsed like that for a long while.
With Lloyd walking on shaking legs, the way back to the inn took a long time.
Henrik did not offer Lloyd any help at all, such as lending him an arm. But he adjusted his stride enough to keep Lloyd from falling behind.
"Straight to food, as expected?"
"No, I need to wash up first."
Lloyd immediately went into the inn. His body did not look to be in good shape, but to Henrik, that unsteady gait felt like the lingering afterglow of victory.
Henrik took Lucy to the backyard and vigorously petted his head.
"Good job. Not bad at all."
"...Don't pet me."
"This is what you do when you're in a good mood."
"I know. It's been a while since I watched such an entertaining contest. I found myself cheering for that kid for no reason. Is this what it means to be on the same side?"
That did not mean Lucy genuinely cared about Lloyd. He was simply the incarnation of competitive spirit.
It was merely more fun for him to watch while cheering.
"Just keep doing it this way from now on."
"Hm? What?"
"Did you think I couldn't see it too?"
"Tch... So you could see the flow of mana. I controlled it very weakly, yet you can sense even that much. Are you really human?"
Lucy shook his head.
"That kid was at the limit of his muscular strength. He only won by a hair."
"He would have lost without you."
"...? What did I do?"
"Why are you pretending not to know again? You did something for him, whether it was enhancing his strength or helping him recover."
"No, I didn't."
'What is he talking about?'
"I'm telling you, I saw you use magic."
"It seems you're mistaken. I only used magic to check the state of his muscular strength. I was so curious about how long he could hold out that I couldn't help myself."
"...Is that all?"
"Yes."
Unlike Henrik, whose eyes had gone wide, Lucy continued speaking with perfect composure as he licked his front paw.
"He really was at the limit of his muscular strength. If he had done that Squat-off or whatever it was even one more time, that kid would have collapsed too."
Then, as though the thought were absurd, Lucy gave a small scoff and added one more thing.
"What would I gain by helping that kid win? It would take all the fun out of watching a contest."
What was that, then.......
'Lloyd won with his own strength?'
***
After washing his sweat-soaked body, Lloyd immediately ate lunch.
Henrik sat across from him and watched blankly.
"Gulp... Gulp...."
"Isn't it about time you ate slowly for once? Nobody's going to steal it. You can eat like that three meals a day, every day."
"I'm hungry, that's why... Gulp...."
Only after silently waiting, as usual, for Lloyd to finish his meal did Henrik speak again.
"About that contest you had with that bastard earlier."
"Yeah."
"What were you thinking when you agreed to it?"
"What do you mean?"
"That Lucy might be able to help you in the middle of it, for example."
Lloyd paused to think for a moment after hearing that.
"You're right. That could have happened."
"So that possibility never even crossed your mind?"
"I told you I could handle it."
There was no hesitation in Lloyd's answer.
'It really was a close contest. What made this guy so confident?'
Henrik watched Lloyd melt into his chair with the look of someone who had eaten his fill, then spoke again.
"Then your reason for saying you'd compete with that bastard was..."
"Isn't that obvious?"
Lloyd looked Henrik straight in the eye as he spoke.
"Because I was going to win."
...Right. Henrik had forgotten because he had seen Lloyd flail around in that weak body so often over the last few days.
'This is Lloyd.'
Henrik finally made up his mind.
"Next week, I'll bring a sword."
"Are we finally going to start proper training?"
"We'll start with a wooden sword. On the condition that you train your stamina diligently until then."
"Tch."
"You're still far from having enough strength to wield a real sword. Still, I think we can start training little by little."
Lloyd let out a light sigh as though he understood.
"Does that mean I don't have to do Squat-off anymore?"
"No, keep doing that. You seem to like it, too."
"Me? Squat-off? What a ridiculous thing to say. Someone else is the one who likes it."
Lloyd subtly turned his head, and Henrik followed his gaze.
"Ha ha, are you enjoying your meal?"
Ben diligently went up and down.
Ben did not seem to realize it, but Margaret stood behind him with an angry expression.