Chapter 52

On the way back from church, I was thinking about Dicia. Although I should be able to control it with the property, her exhausted appearance was abnormal.

In any world, work is always given to busy people.

While walking absent-mindedly, I arrived at Ast's house.

I returned home and greeted Teisha.

"Welcome back. I've heard about you from various people. You should take a break. Your body can't keep up."

Teisha called out to me with a worried voice.

"Even if I don't, I've been taking breaks since I collapsed. Liz is worried too."

I myself was hunting goblins energetically and was about to start training.

From the perspective of a Japanese salaryman, I felt completely fine. I still had plenty of energy.

"Thank you. I'm fine."

I put on a playful attitude to show my energy.

Since I returned early, Ast hadn't come back yet.

"Liz? Training?"

I knocked on the door, confirmed the response, and opened it.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

It was an energetic response.

"Aren't you tired? Are you okay?"

"That's fine. Hiro, you've been moving all the time. Are you okay?"

"That's what everyone says."

We both laughed.

Holding a shield and a mace, we went out to the yard.

I rolled out a shorter stick and a longer stick that I had picked up on the way back.

"Alright, you don't know how to use the shield, right?"

"Yeah."

"This time, the basic use of the shield is divided into three patterns."

I picked up the shorter stick.

"I'll cut from above, so get ready with your shield."

I raised the stick and swung it down at Liz's head.

It made a dull sound and was firmly blocked.

"Yeah. Excellent. Try to focus on blocking in the center. Next, I'll cut from the right."

From the right, to the left. From the left, to the right. We repeated this several times.

"Next, I'll cut upwards."

I cut upwards from below at an angle.

All the cuts were blocked perfectly in the center. She had good eyesight. Perhaps because she was a hunter, she was good at predicting movements.

"Next, I'll cut from the same direction as before, so focus on blocking in the center and deflect."

I cut from left to right, but her shield deflected it.

"This is a more active defense than just blocking. It's especially effective when the opponent is using a heavy weapon or a long weapon."

I swung at her from various directions several times, but she deflected them all beautifully.

"Then, I want you to practice this on your own, using the shield to strike."

"Is it a shield? Don't I need to defend?"

"You can do various things like knocking the weapon out of the opponent's hand or disrupting their stance. Try to use the shield as an offensive weapon, just like the mace."

We repeated cutting and thrusting with a wooden sword-like stick.

Once she got used to it, we switched to the longer stick and repeated cutting, slashing, deflecting, and thrusting.

"Yeah. You have a good aptitude. Let's keep going."

After that, we tried all the methods I could think of, but she blocked and deflected them all beautifully.

Using a shield? I don't know. I'm just practicing what I've seen in movies and such.

It would be strange for a modern salaryman to know how to use a shield.

"Amazing, amazing, just like Liz."

Even though she had a cool expression, I was the one who was getting tired. Even with a wooden stick, it's tiring to keep blocking and deflecting.

Ast came back before an hour had passed. It was good, I was about to collapse.

"Since it's just my own style, ask Fia for the proper way to use it."

"Is that so? It doesn't seem wrong... Yeah, I'll ask Fia."

We leaned the sticks against the wall and returned home.

The meal was ready, so we sat down immediately.

While eating, the conversation, as usual, was about our daughter's adventures.

"Oh, you can earn that much?"

"Yeah. I was surprised."

"Don't get complacent. It's thanks to the other two."

Ast drove the point home.

"Okay."

After the meal, she seemed intent on continuing her training. She went out to the yard energetically.

"I'll do my best."

She waved with a slightly flushed cheek.

"Take it easy. Don't get hurt."

I returned to my room. I hadn't had any alone time, so I checked my to-do list for the first time in a while.

[x] Buy shoes.

[x] Go to the guild tomorrow morning.

[x] Defeat the huge slime.

Alright.

[ ] Prioritize accepting extermination requests.

[ ] Improve the efficiency of skill transfer through 'Acquisition'.

I can delete this. It's meaningless.

I need to add two more points.

[ ] Go to get the shoes.

[ ] Go to get the knee pads.

It's frustrating that I can't take out my smartphone in front of people.

I can't even manage my to-do list immediately.

While playing with my smartphone, I thought of Japan and felt a bit down.