Interlude 2: Training sessions with Ingrid

“Uhm… Ingrid… Could you tell me why am I beside the two of your students right now?”

Fred was standing next after Kyrie. Their order goes as: Ara, Kyrie, Fred. It was a total hierarchy. Fred had been wondering for a while why he have been included with this too physical activity. He had been writing stories and drawing manga for a while now. He saw no practical usage for self-defense.

He had a good sleep last night and were suddenly woken up by the banging from the door. There he saw the three other girls living at Ingrid’s apartment complex, wearing their tracksuits: Ingrid on purple, Ara on yellow, and Kyrie on black and white (she still really carries that gothic fashion feel).

“Why don’t you take a step outside and stop being a neet for a while.” –Ara told him.

“No, thank you? And why would I?”

“Humu, Miss Landlady I’ve seen this reaction already. I told you we would have a hard time convincing him.”

Fred felt he will be forced to and immediate take a pre-emptive closing of the door. But all those efforts went for naught when Ingrid stopped it with her right foot. Along with it came a creeping voice from Ingrid, forcing him to join them.

“Freeeeeed~~”

“No… NO… NOOOO!!!!”

---

It all started about when Ara was still working at the nightclub at the neighboring city. Ingrid knew the type of business Ara was working with. She have told her stories of her past, and what she have been doing since she started living at the apartment complex. Ingrid felt she was in no position to tell her what she should be doing, nor influence her decision-making.

Still, Ingrid felt the weight of responsibility since she’s the one sheltering Ara at the moment. She had spent days thinking about a way to help Ara out of her situation. Being at Ara’s situation, working at a nightclub required a strong mindset. One might find herself getting wrapped up with indecent situations. An experienced hostess should be a veteran on balancing her interactions with male guests: the extent of herself that she could offer.

That’s what Ingrid had always thought: Ara is just a starter in this industry and she might get wrapped with this train of obscenity until there’s no turning back. She didn’t know yet at that moment that the place Ara had been working on actually had a better environment and is being managed by a good manager too.

So, the best solution Ingrid came up with, was to teach Ara of self-defense. The self-defense training really proved useful. Well, Ara roundhouse-kicked Fred twice already. Also, there were some encounters that she got hit on and she managed to escape the situation due to Ingrid’s self-defense training sessions. A ‘just graduated at high school’ girl walking at the middle of a red-light district really is dangerous. So being knowledgeable of how to escape situations where one would be ganged-up, is a must.

Ara may look like a harmless airhead outside but she carried a strength of a beast inside.

“It would be best if you may know how to defend yourself. I mean, look at you, you really look vulnerable.” –Ingrid told Ara at first.

Ara had no objections, she had been under Ingrid’s mercy for a while after she drifted away from her hometown. With all the negotiations sealed, Ara started her self-defense training under Ingrid.

---

“Eeeee, that looks fun.”

Kyrie suddenly appeared while Ingrid was warming Ara up one Sunday of their training.

As for Kyrie, she never really had any particular reason to be interested on what the two were doing. She’s just bored.

Wearing her usual gothic Lolita outfit and carrying her parasol, Kyrie supported her lower body and slouched towards them with an interested look on her face.

Prior to seeing physical activities like warming up, Kyrie had watched several of series with situations where the main character and a supporting one is training. Having a strict environment at the mansion she used to live where people had high expectation towards every single thing she does, Kyrie really is thankful to her parents for fulfilling her wish to live alone for a time being. She could do what she wanted immediately, she could study what picked her interest, and more importantly, never was a day she became bored with repeated stuff.

“Tell me your main purpose for going out of your unit, Kyrie.”

“Oh miss landlady just don’t mind me as I am just here to observe you both.” –Kyrie answered.

“I believe this is the first time we met. So you are the rumoured tenant at unit eight. Nice to meet you, I’m Ara, call me Ara.—Ouch! Ou-ou-ouch! Landlady Ingrid my bones are creaking!!!” –Ara butted-in in pain as Ingrid stretched her back.

“Humu, being a ‘rumoured’ brings a nice ring to my title. Keep up the good job Miss Landlady.”

“Yeah, yeah, now go back to your lair. This is not an activity kids like you could butt in.”

“But what would hurt if I could just try a bit?”

“You know, fish are often caught through their mouth.”

“Humu, as expected of Miss Landlady, you are really cunning.” –Kyrie answered while blushing and looking sideways. Well, Ingrid caught her motive.

“Uhm… Ms. Kyrie, I really think you are not in your appropriate attire if you wanted to join this training session.” –Ara mentioned.

“Humu… Well I wanted you to see me try.” –Nerves popped out of Kyrie’s head.

For the very first time Ingrid saw Kyrie got irritated and it amused her. Ingrid smirked.

Well this is new, for starters I’ll entertain myself to see this two quarrel for the time being.

“You’ve said a while ago what would hurt if you could just try a bit, yeah.” –Ingrid let go of stretching Ara and grabbed her to stand up.

“Well let’s have you spar with my student here for a while.” –Ingrid taunted Kyrie.

There were three things that was not right at this situation:

1. Kyrie was dressed improperly.

2. Kyrie was a complete beginner, even if she’s a prodigy of one-in-a-million individuals, she still could get hurt.

3. Kyrie is just bored.

“Eh… EEH?! Are you being serious Landlady?” –Finally someone with proper reaoning, Ara tried to stop Ingrid from making rash decisions.

“What would it hurt to try?” –Ingrid kept taunting Kyrie.

The three of them have been acting childish from the start. Kyrie thought this training is just for core strengthening and really had no reason at all. She tried to barge in the regimen for the purpose of curing her boredom without even asking why. As for Ingrid, she just wanted to see her two tenants quarrel for the sole purpose of entertainment. She had always viewed both of them as different side of a single coin. Now that they are both here, it would be nice to just see them spar even once. As for Ara, even though she’s on her aneki-mode:

“O-Okay, I guess.”

She just agreed with the nonsense.

“Humu, now let me show you the really fantastic do-it-all-if-wanted me.”

Kyrie was brimming with confidence. She closed her parasol and basked herself under the intense sunlight shining at their yard. At first she had been blinking her eyes, an indication of a sudden change on one’s view which from dark, suddenly lightened. She was adjusting her eyesight. Yet, Ara was a prideful individual who did not take advantage of someone’s lost focus and did not attacked. She let Kyrie adjust her vision first and regain her stance.

Kyrie was holding her closed parasol, pointed towards Ara. The first one to make the move was Ara, the direct disciple.

Her course of action was simple: she treated the parasol as a gun and would do a disarming. She swiftly approached Kyrie and got a hole of her wrist and turned the direction of the parasol from being pointed towards her. She then tried to twist her arm towards the direction that will take Kyrie’s momentum for a spin down the ground.

It was when the unexpected happened.

Kyrie tried to counter the spin by lowering her body and closing in towards Ara. It was an act of changing her center of gravity towards which will alter Ara’s actions and counter the arm twist she planned to do. That includes letting go of her parasol. Having an attempt to close in, she readied herl left palm to strike Ara’s abdomen.

But of course, the disciple’s experience and instinct kicked in. Having notice that her initial move won’t work, she immediately let go of Kyrie’s hand, and distanced herself sideways, kicking the parasol away from Kyrie. She then dashed in front of the parasol laying at the ground and readied her stance again, trying to defend it against Kyrie. Her objective changed from attacking Kyrie, to limiting her from using any weapons.

Then a sound of a clap.

“Okay, that’s it. You did a great job Ara.” –Ingrid stopped them.

“Humu, and I was close.”

“No you’re not!” –Ingrid chopped Kyrie’s head as she approached her. “What are you even trying to do, this is not your late night action show.”

But still, who would’ve thought she’ll be able to pull out a move like that, not to mention she tried to escape Ara’s disarming tried to counter. This genius really is on a different level. Well in any case,

“Look, one wrong move and you could’ve broken your right wrist. What will I say to your parents if you suddenly come home crying with a broken bone? Are you trying to put me out of business?”

“Humu… That wasn’t my intention.” –Kyrie pouted.

“I will let you join this training, but only if you will abide by my rules.” –Ingrid decided while reassuring herself.

“Uhm… Landlady…”

“Yes Ara you’ve done a good job. The best way to deal with a retaliating target is to cancel all of his means to retaliate. You picked a good course of decision. It’s just that your opponent is an irregularity.”

“Miss Landlady that’s not a nice thing to say.”

“Oh no just make sure what you will learn from me, won’t get applied against me.”

And with that dry-run, Kyrie have joined Ingrid’s training sessions.

---

“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! What are you even doing to me?! Is this even within the strain a human body can handle?!! My life from my previous world is flashing from my eyes! Stop please, God no!”

Fred was squirming in pain but Ingrid showed no mercy as she starches his back. The other two students could hear his muscles creaking. The horrors from their first try were coming back to them. Of course both of them were not used to experiencing muscle pain rom back then, but things were different now for them. Still, just seeing the look at Fred’s face makes both of them feel the same pain again even without actually experiencing it. Count it as muscle memory.

“Whoohoo, Landlady Ingrid is really going for it. Fred might meet his maker if this continues.” –Kyrie talked to Ara.

“Go Fred! You could do it, I’ll have you Jazz up later if you survive that.” –Ara cheered him on.

“No! How about a no!! Please help me here and stop cheering there like you don’t see Ingrid torturing me here!”

“Jeez, stretching and torture are two different things, you can’t do that.” –Ingrid answered the agonizing Fred.

CRACK! At last, Fred’s back gave up.

“YUUUUSHAAAAAA!!!!” –And with the scream of pain running to Yuusha at Mytherion for help, Fred’s soul gave up too.

---

“Come on now, you’re such a baby, it’s just stretching. What more when you experience sparring with either Ara or Kyrie on hand?”

Ingrid brushes up Fred’s hair as she laid his lifeless body on the ground and gave him a lap pillow. Fred’s eyes were blank. It was an indication that his soul was still travelling around the plane of the non-existent.

Ingrid looks at Fred’s lifeless face and giggled.

“I might get used to this.”

Ingrid then looked at Ara and Kyrie as they practice the moves she taught.

“Ara was a quick learner. Teaching her really feels like guiding someone who had an amnesia but really does know the drill at the first place. The moves naturally came out from her. She have told me that her ‘aneki-mode’ had lots of past experiences with handling boys but I really don’t know the extent of those experience. Either she just never told me, or there’s nothing much to tell at all. Ara is strong already even before the two of us met. For Kyrie, she really is a prodigy. Though I really don’t count on that frail body of hers, she always show signs of adapting depending on the situation given. It covers up for her lack of strength. But as much, I really don’t want her to experience nor encounter situation which forces her to fight. I want to protect that kid as much as possible.”

Fred turned his body sideways and watched them too. He’s already conscious when Ingrid was talking. His face looked like he’s trying to remember some things from his past.

“You know, a part of me still tells me I still want to fight. But there’s really nothing much here to fight over for.”

Ingrid looked at Fred as he talked.

“Way back at Mytherion, almost a hundred of years past. I’m talking about my past life of course, I was a demon. I’ve encountered a lot of situations where I was forced to battle, whether there is a good bearing or none. When I first came here I thought: ‘what if this’, ‘what if that’, situations I assessed grave compared to those back at my world. But this world is so peaceful. Laying here at your lap like this…”

Fred lay supine again and looked towards Ingrid. And gave a smirk.

“You could get used to this, you say…”

Ingrid’s face immediately turned bright red and she tried to hide her embarrassment.

“You—so you’ve heard! You demon!”

“But yes I was one.”

Ingrid suddenly stood up, causing Fred to hit his body towards the ground again. Of course he slammed. He groaned afterwards. His back didn’t have a full recovery yet.

“Okay guys I think it’s about time to share a little bit of your pain and experience to Fred.” –Ingrid said and clapped, stopping Ara and Kyrie.

“Hooooh, Fred’s up, huh? Let me go first. This will be a quick tutorial just like when I let you jazz.”

“Humu, I’ve been longing to get a hands on with Maou Spence-sensei. It had just been you and MissLandlady for a while now. I hope you’re more than happy and prepared already.”

“No… Stop it… please… Ingrid, please? Help me?”

“Come on, you could get used to it.”

Ara and Kyrie approached Fred with evil smiles on their faces.

“YUUUUSHAAAAAA!!!!” – And with the scream of pain running to Yuusha at Mytherion for help, Fred learned self-defense from Ingrid too, like Ara and Kyrie.