Listening to Rania's story, I found out that it was just a normal thing that Tristan would do. Now that her cold demeanor had lessened and her previous personality had returned a little, I had expected something like this to happen.
"She's not satisfied with your leadership, right?"
"Yes." Rania nodded weakly and sighed. "She said I was too soft, and that could endanger the knight squad."
'Too soft?'
If I remember correctly, everyone whined that Rania's training menu was too hard. They had body training in the morning and hunted monsters in the afternoon.
And Rania told me that Tristan said it was too soft.
'She's as hardcore as usual. She probably thought that because people could revive, they should just hunt High-Leveled monsters to Level up faster.'
Unfortunately, it didn't work that way in this world, solely because of the existence of deep sleep after Leveling up.
"Alright." I nodded at Rania. "Let's have a talk with Tristan, shall we?"
***
We moved to the church immediately.
Rania wore silver shoulder pads often worn by a church knight vice-captain, serving under the highest order. When we walked earlier, I learned that the church knight order differed slightly from the Kingdom Knight.
There were no Knight Commanders, only Captains who served under a certain individual, usually Bishop or Archbishop.
They believed that having Knight Commanders only made the Goddess's order be twisted, so they chose to use this kind of order, where they immediately received orders from those who served and sacrificed their body and belief to the Goddess.
And as the Paladin knight squad's Vice-Captain, serving under me, Rania's popularity grew within the church sphere. She was also respected thanks to her strength.
"Hmm, it seems Tristan is in the training ground," I muttered as we arrived at the church.
"I am curious how you can feel their presence precisely like that, Arthur," Rania commented. She had returned to her usual self, a strict but kind girl. "Is it possible for me to learn it?"
"It is possible," I confirmed.
No skill was impossible to learn in this world. Everyone could learn anything as long as they knew how to do it and worked hard for it.
"I will teach you tomorrow."
"Thank you, Arthur."
After our short conversation, we went to the training ground behind the church.
My persona was that of a kind Paladin, so many people weren't afraid to get close to me. However, something strange happened.
No one stopped me or greeted me, mainly because Rania was walking on my side menacingly. Her sharp eyes sent other people away and could shut them up.
Especially those knights. Even though they respected her, they tried their best not to make eye contact.
'What did she do?' I asked in my mind.
I meant I had an idea. But I didn't want to voice it. But I had a realization.
'Tristan is more Spartan than Rania, it seems.'
Thanks to that, I became strong. And thanks to that, I knew how hard it would be for the knights if Tristan were put in charge.
Arriving at the training ground, I noticed a lone girl pulling a wooden bow with a graceful posture. Her long, lustrous blonde hair fluttered against the wind.
Unlike the others wearing black bodysuits, she wore a white, shoulderless elf tunic that advanced toward her thighs. It was loose and didn't show her curve very well, but it was a perfect dress for an archer as they could strap a quiver on the string on her back.
With her was Lea, observing with sparkling eyes. They had similar heights, with Lea being a bit taller than Tristan when I observed them closely.
One second, Tristan pulled the bowstring with a wooden arrow tucked in. Another second was used to aim, inhaling air and steadying her hands. And then…
Pang!
Zoop!
A loud, shrill sound echoed all over the training ground as the arrow was released. It hit the target, 50 meters from her, right in the middle. The wooden arrow was released at a great speed and even pierced the metal target.
Lea clapped her hands, amazed. Tristan then lowered her bow and began her lecture, to which the short-haired girl listened quietly while nodding repeatedly.
"I do admit she's a good mentor," Rania muttered in a low voice beside me as she watched the whole spectacle. "But she's too harsh."
"That's just how she is." I nodded in agreement, observing the training ground from under the large tree at the side. "Where is Sophia and Natasha?" I asked as I couldn't find them in the training ground.
"I believe that redhead is taking Natasha to Level up. She said that we need to be above average as a Paladin knight squad. She has a good mindset, and I need to admit that." Rania crossed her arms and nodded in satisfaction.
The girls in my knight squad were strange. No, I knew that, but I didn't want to admit it.
There was someone who was willing to sleep with me just because she didn't want to lose to my masochistic sister. And there was this masochistic sister who didn't know what the term limit was.
Worse, my former comrade, who reincarnated here and became a player again due to her title bonus skill, expressed her will to guide my knight squad into Spartan training and replace Rania as the Vice-Captain.
"Rania," I called out to my masochistic sister and looked at her. "Did you remember what I said earlier?"
"Yes." She nodded with a smile. "I just need to confront her and say 'that,' right?"
"That's right."
I made a little plan with Rania to stop Tristan's intention to become Vice-Captain. Knowing her cold and tsundere personality, I knew this would work wonderfully. Even if it didn't, I wouldn't lose anything.
"Let's go to her, then."
Nodding, Rania followed me right after. In the distance, Lea was practicing archery. She managed to hit the target, but it wasn't bullseye and couldn't pierce cleanly as Tristan did earlier.
And when they noticed us getting closer, they turned toward us, and Lea lowered her bow.
Tristan looked at me with a curious face, though it stayed stoic, while Lea was a bit panicked and hid the bow she held behind her body with a shy look. That was useless, as the bow was bigger than her body.
Then when Tristan noticed Rania standing beside me, she raised her eyebrows slightly and crossed her arms.
"You told him?" Her voice was cold and full of authority.
'That's not the tone you use against your superior, Tristan.' I couldn't help but smile wryly and took a step forward.
"I heard about the situation. You asked Rania for a duel?" I asked the girl casually.
"I did." Tristan nodded, confirming my words. "Do you want to stop it, Arthur? You don't want me to be your Vice-Captain?"
"It's not that." I quickly replied as I noticed the change in Tristan's mood.
Somehow she was jittery today. Was it her time of the month? Anyway, I gestured to Rania to tell Tristan about that thing.
Tristan wouldn't be satisfied without a proper conclusion.
"I accepted the duel." Rania declared.
The shorter girl looked rather surprised, and her eyes widened slightly. Her posture relaxed as she looked at Rania.
"Real–"
"But, I will decide what kind of duel we will conduct. I know that you're strong, so let's not fight. Instead, let's do something else related to an important duty of the Vice-Captain of the Paladin knight squad."
Rania continued, cutting Tristan off before she could say anything. My cute little tsundere friend looked at me curiously, but I just shrugged my shoulders without saying anything, gesturing to her to listen to Rania.
"What is it?" Tristan asked.
At that moment, Rania's lips curled up into a lustful grin. We were on the corner of the training ground, so not many were looking at us and just focused on their own training.
Seeing Rania's grin, Tristan could guess what the content was, and her jaw dropped. Lea's face also turned bright red as she knew what happened after my duel against Rania.
My masochistic sister's grin widened when she saw her opponent's reaction.
"It's a duel in bed. Whoever satisfies Arthur the most will be his Vice-Captain. Do you accept it? Or are you scared?"
