I Kidnapped the Hero's Women-Chapter 216: Liberation(?)

"Follow along! A healthy body!"

"A healthy body!!!"

"A healthy mind dwells within it!"

"A healthy mind dwells within it!!!"

"..."

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

The gym echoed with the booming voices of the students from the Imperial Magic Academy's Combat Magic Department, starting their training with a determined look in their eyes. At first glance, it seemed like the usual routine, but soon, instead of honing their magic and techniques, the students began punching steel pipes and wooden posts.

"What is this...?"

"After watching you during the last ranking match, we realized something! Powerful magic? Fighting techniques that catch the opponent off guard? Those don’t mean anything!"

"...!? "

"We realized the truth! A strong blow can be endured with a strong body, and the gap in techniques can be overcome with overwhelming power! Just like you showed us!"

"No, I never..."

"So what we should worship is a powerful body and strength! That’s why we introduced this new training method, and many have come to follow you, Yuria, and this group has grown into what it is now!"

"..."

Yuria almost lost her composure. How did they conclude that they should focus on strengthening their bodies and increasing their strength after seeing that?

No matter how much I explained that I wasn’t strong, but just had a healing ability, they wouldn’t listen.

"Ah! If we keep going through this harsh training, maybe we’ll gain healing powers just like Yuria! That was really helpful information! We’ll keep striving harder!"

"Ah..."

They were still talking nonsense and continuing with their ignorant training. No matter what I said, they’d interpret it however they liked and wouldn’t listen.

Yuria sighed and gave up.

'But from the outside, this could look really intimidating...'

The scene of them shouting and punching metal plates, relentlessly beating themselves and laughing like maniacs... After knowing the context, I felt a bit sorry for them. But if anyone saw this without knowing, they’d probably think it was terrifying first.

It kind of looked like some kind of cult gathering...

I wondered if this would cause any trouble later on. What if this group of people became classified as a rebellious military faction within the Imperial Magic Academy, and I got dragged into some troublesome mess?

Yuria tried to push the worry aside and decided not to focus too much on it.

"Ah, I almost forgot to fill out the payment agreement form."

At that moment, Yuria suddenly remembered something she had been postponing and headed toward the dormitory. She had told herself she would send the payment agreement form for the second semester's tuition today. The deadline was tomorrow, but she had almost forgotten and risked missing it, so she decided to fill it out quickly.

She carefully tore open the black envelope, revealing the contract-form agreement. Since it was written by the old man, she had no doubt there would be no tricks. However, she still decided to review it carefully, just in case there were any mistakes.

"His handwriting is different from usual..."

The handwriting in the letters they exchanged felt warm and humane, but this one looked cold and stiff, like it was printed by a machine. It gave off a strange feeling.

"Wait... this feels familiar..."

Yuria suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. She recognized the handwriting. It was the same handwriting she had seen before on the contract where she promised to marry Aslan Vermond in the future.

Wait, was it just the handwriting?

The format of the contract, the thickness of the letters, and the placement of the text were all strikingly similar. She couldn’t compare it side-by-side with Yuria's contract, but based on her memory, she thought it might have been written by the same person.

"Could it be because you two are friends? It seems there are similarities."

It wasn’t unusual for formats to overlap, especially since the old man and Aslan Vermond were close friends. Their contract-writing styles would naturally have some similarities. And the cold, machine-like handwriting was something you could find everywhere in the country.

So this wasn’t conclusive proof that they were the same person. Yuria shook her head and chuckled, trying to dismiss the thought.

There’s no way they could be the same person, right?

"Yeah... there’s no way..."

Even as Yuria kept repeating this to herself, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in her chest.

What is this? Why does my chest feel so tight...?

Sigh... I’ve got a lot of paperwork piling up.

Since the Vermond Investment Corporation was recently established, the amount of work has increased dramatically. Of course, management was left to Irene. But just going through the reports alone was a mountain of work.

At this rate, I’ll be buried in papers until next week. If that happens, I won’t be able to spend any quiet time with Yuria while researching dark magic. I won’t be able to play around with Charlotte, who will eventually come to my office bored from training. And I won’t even have time to meet up with Yuria.

Ugh. Already, the thought of it is tormenting.

Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could magically finish this paperwork for me?

"Master. I’ve come for the approval."

"Approval? What approval?"

"Regarding the accounting... there’s quite a lot. You’ll need to look at it yourself."

"...!? "

[The Evil God, 'Kali,' is marveling at our knight’s excellence.]

Silvia appeared with a huge stack of paperwork in her hands, pushing the door handle with her elbow. At that moment, I felt my heart flutter as if I had fallen in love.

Wait... did she...? Did Silvia handle all of this?

The amount I had expected to spend a week working on, did she really finish it by herself?

"Did... did you finish all of this already?"

"Yes. I didn’t have any instructions, but I had some time left... Was I not supposed to touch it?"

"No, well done. But how did you finish it so quickly?"

"Since awakening my aura, my head has been spinning faster, and my hands are moving quicker. I think that’s why I’m getting more done than usual. Ah, let me quickly check it over one more time."

She flipped through the papers, her pupils moving at lightning speed, finishing each page in less than a second. In no time, she had gone through the entire stack and seemed to be done.

It was truly remarkable.

I had expected Silvia’s work efficiency to improve after awakening her aura, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

I immediately grabbed Silvia’s hand tightly. Her face turned red to the tips of her ears.

"Silvia."

"Yes, master?"

"It seems you’ve found your calling. I never knew you had such a talent for paperwork."

"Hehe... You’re too kind."

"From now on, I’ll entrust all paperwork to you."

"...Eh?"

Silvia scratched the back of her head and laughed sheepishly. She soon realized what I had said, and her expression stiffened.

It was only natural. It’s most efficient to assign work to the person who is most effective at it.

Silvia would handle the paperwork, and I would take care of playing with the kids. It was a perfect division of labor.

"I’ll remove all accumulated salary deductions due to the increased workload and give you a raise. Congratulations."

"M-Master!?"

I patted Silvia’s shoulder as a congratulatory gesture and left the office feeling lighter.

I could vaguely hear Silvia calling me with a tone filled with betrayal, but I purposely ignored her and stepped out to enjoy the sunshine for the first time in a while.

I mean, now that computers have been developed to handle paperwork, it’s foolish for people to still do everything by hand.

Does this mean the days of being buried in paperwork are over?

With a swordmaster in the family, life couldn’t be more convenient.

'Wait. Is this right...?'

Using a swordmaster to handle paperwork...?

A sudden sense of doubt crept in, but I quickly dismissed it.

There’s no more efficient way to use a swordmaster than this. Fighting wars, which brings in no profit, is far less productive than this.

'I guess for now, I don’t have anything to worry about.'

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the warmth of the sun and the sound of birds chirping. How long has it been since I last felt such complete freedom?

It felt especially sweet now, after all the recent headaches.

As I was enjoying my break, I suddenly noticed Yuria rushing toward the research lab and called out to her.

"Yuria. What’s going on?"

"Huh? What do you mean? I’m just heading to organize some research materials...?"

"Ah."

Upon hearing her answer, I froze on the spot.

Oh right. I had to finish the dark magic research before the academic presentation...?

I had completely forgotten about it until now, and suddenly, the weight of the task hit me hard.