Your Training Is Lacking!
I was in the middle of training with Charlotte.
As expected of the Grand Master of the Monastir Knights, she handled every exercise with ease.
Was it because of that? There were hints of something off in her expression.
Hmm...
Is something wrong?
Ah, well...
N-no, not at all! I wouldn't dare question your guidance, Captain!
Next! Shall we move on to the next exercise?
It's fine. Go ahead and tell me.
W-well... if you insist, I do have a request!
If it's all right with you, could we do something a bit more challenging?
What we're doing right now isn't exactly easy.
I suppose... Hehe...
Come to think of it, even after training all morning and afternoon, Charlotte hadn't broken a sweat.
She really is a Grand Master, huh.
Oh, and I don't mean your training is wrong or anything!
It's just that when training ends and I still feel fine... it feels incomplete!
That moment when my legs are jelly and you collapse into bed? That's the best!
But to get to that point, this training isn't quite...
Adequate?
No...
My only real strength is my stamina!
Lately I've been doing 20 laps around the plains near NOA after training ends.
You're doing extra training too?
She's got that much energy...?!
Yes, I guess you could say it feels lacking... or just not enough...
Anyway, I'm feeling totally good, so...
I want you to do me harder!
That phrasing is awful!
N-ngh! I'll be more careful!
My apologies...
She does seem to have the energy, so increasing the training intensity shouldn't be an issue...
Charlotte, do you know what increasing the training load means...?
What does it mean...?
It means my load gets heavier too...!
Oh, r-right! Makes sense because we're training together and all...
I didn't think it through! I'm sorry!
If it's too much, I can always do the extra reps on my own afterward!
But I knew she'd always feel unsatisfied if I left things as-is.
And getting a clear sense of her limits would be useful for the Journey ahead.
All right. Let's turn up the heat for today's session.
A-are you sure?
Of course! I'll keep going until you say you're satisfied...
Ooh!
Let's push as far as we can!
A-are you sure? Can we really do that?
Charlotte.
Y-yes?!
You ready to push yourself to the limit?
Oh...
Yes! Absolutely!
Please, give me your best, Captain!
Speak up!
PLEASE, CAPTAIN!!
Let's go, then!
By the time training ended, it was late into the night.
Thank you for... today...
I'll... see you again tomorrow... morning... at the training grounds...
She collapsed to the ground once training finished...
And after lying there for a while, she finally picked herself up and staggered home, covered in dirt.
That last stretch had her dry heaving from exhaustion.
That wasn't training—it was overtraining, plain and simple.
Charlotte somehow powered through it... but we're definitely not doing this again.
By the way, did she say she would see me in the morning...?
There's no way Charlotte's getting up tomorrow... and honestly, I'm not looking so hot myself either.
We'll start a little later tomorrow.
What matters most in training is...
...knowing your limits and working toward long-term goals.
I hope today helped Charlotte learn that.
...Or so I thought.
Good morning, Captain!
Wasn't yesterday amazing? Thanks to that, I slept like a baby for the first time in ages. Hehe.
You seemed to be running a little late, so I went ahead and got started!
Let's train hard today as well!
Charlotte looked just as lively as she had last morning.
There were no traces of the overtraining effects from yesterday...
The person still feeling it...
...was me.
Huh? C-Captain?!
And so, that day's training... ended up being done entirely by Charlotte.