Last Gun Alchemist

The next day arrived with the academy already filled with the sound of students moving from one building to another.

The morning air was still cool, and the paths leading toward the Practical Combat Course were gradually filled with first-year students wearing their academy training clothes.

Some walked together while talking about the previous day’s lessons, while others looked half-asleep as they made their way toward the large training ground.

The moment they arrived, however, whatever calmness they had left disappeared.

A few long minutes later...

"Move your lazy asses!"

Professor Kent’s firm voice echoed across the entire training field.

Several students immediately straightened their jogging posture.

"You!"

Kent suddenly pointed toward a young noble boy who was jogging sluggishly behind the others.

The boy was practically in last place.

His steps were heavy, his breathing was already rough, and the weights attached to his body caused every movement to look as though he were trying to run through deep mud.

"Moveeee."

Kent dragged out the word while maintaining a serious expression.

The boy immediately gritted his teeth and forced his legs to move faster.

A short distance behind Kent stood Karla, holding her Zphone Tablet in both hands.

Her eyes remained focused on the screen as she monitored the physical statistics of every student running around the enormous academy training field.

Both professor and assistant remained near the center of the field, watching the students move past them again and again.

The sound of hundreds of footsteps striking the ground continued without stopping.

Some students maintained a steady pace.

Others had already fallen behind.

A few were clearly trying to preserve their strength because they knew exactly how long the exercise was supposed to continue.

"You do know we’re going to be doing this until four hours have passed, right?"

Kent casually reminded them.

The students who heard him immediately looked miserable.

"Stop reminding us already!"

Several voices shouted at the same time.

Kent wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

Instead, he folded his arms and continued watching them struggle.

"Remember, don’t use your Cognis."

His voice carried across the field.

"Instead, feel your natural strength."

He pointed toward the weights attached to their bodies.

"You have weights on your arms, waist, and legs, so your body is already working harder than it normally would. Use your physical strength to move with them."

He paused.

"Feel it."

The students continued running.

"Feel it."

Kent repeated the words, this time with far more passion.

Then he suddenly raised his voice.

"FEEL IT!"

Several students almost stumbled.

Kent nodded in satisfaction.

This jogging exercise was completely different from the normal morning exercise routine the students were accustomed to performing.

They weren’t simply running to improve their stamina.

The weights attached to their bodies acted as a restraint, forcing their muscles to work against an additional load throughout every movement.

Normally, an Alchemist could rely on Cognis to enhance their body and make physical movement easier.

But that option had been removed.

The students had to rely entirely on their natural strength while carrying weights that were adjusted according to their individual Alchemist ranks.

The higher an Alchemist’s rank, the heavier the weights assigned to them.

That was the reason none of the students were carrying exactly the same load.

Ezra, however, continued jogging at an even pace.

His breathing remained calm and controlled as he moved around the field.

His footsteps were neither too fast nor too slow.

He maintained the same rhythm while gradually passing students who had already begun struggling with their movements.

His body was sweating, but his breathing technique prevented him from wasting energy.

He kept his shoulders relaxed.

His arms moved naturally with each step.

His eyes remained focused ahead while simply maintaining his pace.

One lap became two.

Then several more.

The morning sun gradually climbed higher into the sky as the students continued running around the enormous training field.

Sweat began collecting across their faces.

Their academy training clothes became damp.

Some students breathed heavily through their mouths.

Others had already started looking toward Kent with expressions that silently begged him to end the exercise.

Kent ignored all of them.

The timer continued counting.

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

The students’ movements became slower as their muscles gradually reached their limits.

Some clenched their teeth and forced themselves to continue.

Others had stopped talking entirely because even speaking felt like it would waste energy they needed to keep their legs moving.

Finally...

Four hours passed.

The timer sounded.

Many students nearly collapsed from relief.

Some slowed to a walk immediately.

Others simply stopped where they were and bent forward with both hands resting on their knees.

A few looked toward the ground as though they were considering lying down.

But Kent wasn’t finished.

"Alright."

The students looked up.

"We’re done with the jogging."

A collective sigh of relief escaped from the field.

Kent smiled.

"Now we’re moving on to push-ups."

The relief disappeared.

"What?!"

"Professor!"

"You said four hours!"

"Yes, four hours of jogging."

Kent calmly pointed toward the ground.

"I never said the entire class was going to be jogging."

Several students stared at him in disbelief.

Kent simply gestured toward the ground.

"Down."

One by one, the exhausted students lowered themselves.

The weights remained attached to their bodies.

Then the push-ups began.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

The students’ arms shook.

Their breathing became heavier.

Their muscles burned beneath the added weight.

Some struggled to complete each repetition.

Others could barely maintain their form.

Kent continued watching them with his arms folded while Karla recorded their physical performance on her Zphone Tablet.

The exercise continued until the end of the class.

By the time Kent finally announced that they were finished, almost every student had collapsed onto the training ground.

Some were lying flat on their backs.

Others remained face-down against the ground.

A few simply sat there, staring blankly ahead while trying to recover their breathing.

Kent looked over them.

His expression slowly became disappointed.

"And you claim you use the school’s gyms to train your physical bodies."

Several students groaned.

Kent shook his head.

"Well, happy break time."

He turned around.

"Karla, let’s go."

Karla followed him without saying anything.

The two left the training ground, leaving the students behind in various states of exhaustion.

It was finally time for their long break and lunch.

Unfortunately, many of the students looked so tired that even the thought of eating seemed like another difficult task.

Ezra had already refreshed himself and changed back into his normal academy uniform, just like the other students who had finished preparing for lunch.

He walked along the academy pathway toward the pavilion he had booked for the lunch period.

The surrounding academy grounds were much busier now.

Students moved between buildings in groups, some carrying food, others discussing how they felt about the practical class while enjoying the short freedom before the next lesson.

Then Ezra noticed a familiar group approaching from behind him, but unlike the other students.

He continued walking in his calm pace unbothered.

Four out of the Seven Flowers of Britannia.

Sasha walked alongside Vera, Diane, Willow, and Selena.

Diane was positioned between Willow and Vera, holding onto the sleeves of their academy uniforms as she walked.

Her eyes were barely open.

Sasha, however, looked completely refreshed.

"It’s been a long time since we all gathered like we used to during the social gatherings."

She smiled brightly as she looked toward Vera and then toward Diane.

"Yes, it has been a while."

Selena replied with an elegant smile.

The girls continued walking together at the same pace.

But there was something different about the sight today.

Perhaps it was because every girl among them was the noble daughter of a different Duke House.

Perhaps it was because they were known throughout Britannia as being part of the Seven Flowers.

Or perhaps it was simply because they had all just finished refreshing themselves after the morning’s brutal training.

Their hair had been neatly arranged.

Their uniforms were clean.

The faint scent of perfume followed them as they walked.

Compared with how they had looked after the combat training, they appeared completely different.

Naturally, the students they passed couldn’t help looking.

Boys turned their heads.

Girls glanced at them with curiosity.

Some students whispered among themselves.

Even those who were already dating couldn’t completely stop themselves from looking at the group.

Unfortunately for some of them, their girlfriends noticed.

A few annoyed expressions appeared among the surrounding students.

Sasha stepped slightly ahead of the group.

Her scarlet hair had been neatly tied into a ponytail, and it swayed from side to side with each step.

She lifted one hand and lightly touched the end of it.

"Just look at us."

She smiled proudly.

"We did the same hairstyle and we’re wearing the same clothes."

She turned slightly so the others could see her ponytail.

"If those photographers were here, they would probably be fighting each other just to get pictures from every angle."

She suddenly placed her hands together.

Her colorless lipstick gave her lips only the faintest hint of shine as she smiled.

"The amount of money I could have made from this."

She smirked.

"Urgh."

Selena looked at Sasha.

Her expression made it clear that she considered the comment completely inelegant.

Sasha simply smiled back.

"But Selena really is good with hairstyling."

Willow spoke with her usual serious expression.

The unexpected praise caused Selena to pause.

She quickly composed herself, but the small smile that appeared on her face was impossible to hide.

"I do like this ponytail."

Vera said plainly while she lightly touched her hair.

"Thank you, girls."

Selena’s voice became softer than usual.

Then her eyes moved across the other girls.

"We could actually make a calendar where all of us Flowers have the same hairstyle."

She smiled.

"What do you girls think?"

"That’s actually cool."

Sasha nodded once.

She folded her arms before moving beside Selena, matching the walking pace of the others.

"I’d be fine with it."

Willow agreed.

"I like the idea too."

Vera answered plainly.

Her eyes remained forward as she walked.

The response was so simple that Selena smiled.

"Alright."

Diane, who had remained mostly silent until now, finally opened her mouth.

"B-But..."

Her light-blue eyes opened only slightly.

She was still holding onto Willow and Vera’s sleeves, and from the way she moved her feet, it was obvious she was barely awake.

"Wouldn’t Princess Stella feel more sad?"

The girls looked toward her.

Diane continued speaking in her tired voice.

"You saw how she looked when Willow and Vera said those mean words to her."

She yawned softly after finishing.

Vera glanced down at her.

"You’re speaking like you even care."

Her tone was completely flat.

Diane’s eyes slowly closed again.

"I don’t."

She answered almost immediately.

The group continued walking.

Their destination was the pavilion they had booked for lunch, where they planned to eat together and perhaps discuss something important among themselves as the Flowers of Britannia.

The academy grounds remained busy around them.

Students passed from both sides while the girls continued walking together.

Then...

"Ah."

Vera suddenly raised one finger.

Her eyes moved toward a figure farther ahead.

"It’s my Loner."

She said it plainly.

Yet the slight change in the way she delivered the words made it sound less like an observation and more like a quiet tease.

The girls followed her gaze.

Ezra had stopped walking.

He slowly turned around.

His plain black eyes landed on the group of girls approaching from behind.

For a moment, he simply stared at them.

Sasha’s eyes immediately lit up.

She raised one hand and pointed toward him.

"Ah..."

A playful smirk appeared on her face.

"It’s the dancer."

She said it as though she had just discovered something entertaining.

Ezra remained silent.

His gaze moved from Sasha to Vera.

Vera was still looking at him with the same plain expression.

But there was a faint trace of amusement hidden behind her eyes.

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