Western Continent, September 17, 2812 [The Path to Dharma Mastery], Part 1:

'Ooh!　Get fired up, guys!　My sword swing is weak!　Put some more effort into it!　Even if the enemy is wearing iron armor, swing with the intention of crushing them with force!

　In the sunshine, 20 children waved their swords while their bodies were sweating all over.
　After lunch, two hours had already passed since the training began.
　Some distance away, the children could be seen waving their swords in the same way.
　It must be a system where the Red Lion mercenaries played the role of teachers to watch over the children as they were separated into different groups.

''Don't get all bent out of shape just because the young man is nice to you!　You're not young enough to die on the battlefield!　You!　Listen!　Picture a hateful person in front of you!　And swing with the intent to cut him down and kill him!

　A shout and a shout that echoed across the plains. This is a true training for the soldiers.
　It is very important to raise the Geiha in actual battle. The voice will arouse you and intimidate your opponent.　
　In training as well, you can't ignore the effect of stimulating your mind. The degree of fatigue can be greatly affected by the way you speak.
　I'm sure the mercenaries leading them understand this very well. When the children's voices become weak, they immediately shout in anger.


"Mike!　What's it like?

'Oh!　This is young. Are you making your rounds?　All right, everybody stop!　I'm going to give you a little break. Don't let your sweat cool you down!

　At the sound of Ryouma's voice, Mike loosened the strong face that had been wrinkled between his eyebrows.
　This good-natured man kept shouting at him with a strong face all the time because he understood that this job involved the lives of children.
　He couldn't play the role of a teacher if he was licked by his students.
　If you truly have the desire to nurture them, you should teach them a lesson, even if they dislike and neglect you, even if it's necessary to beat them up.

''Ah ... it looks like all the groups are doing well ... tomorrow we'll finally start the Dharma class, are you okay?''

　A month ago.
　Liang Zhen took the slave children he received and formed them into one group of five, and then gathered them into a unit of four, called a squad.
　The squad was led by the old mercenaries, the Red Lion's people.
　In other words, it was calculated that there would be one Red Lion mercenary for every twenty men.
　And with Rionne and Bortz as the general overseer, the Red Lion mercenaries who did not lead the squad would go around to each squad to assist in training.
　The reason why they formed squads with the Red Lion mercenaries as their heads was all for actual combat. They decided that they had a better chance of survival if they abandoned their individual skills and strengthened their coordination.
　That is clear from Elena's track record.
　By throwing away the boring menace of knight's pride and the like, she was even heralded as the [White War God of Roselia].
　In other words, it's more efficient and safer to fight than a strong person fighting alone.
　If that's the case, it would be quicker to learn if you discarded your personal skills from the beginning.
　Of course, they would have to learn individual skills in the future, but it was only natural that they would find it easier to learn one or the other if they wanted to develop an immediate fighting force.
　After a month of dividing them into groups of five, eating and sleeping in the same place, a sense of solidarity is beginning to grow within them.
　With a sense of camaraderie, they can strengthen their unity and improve the quality of their soldiers by protecting each other.
　This is exactly what Ryoshin aimed to achieve. The rest is a matter of how much of the basics they have mastered in the short period of one month.

I've been asked about it by Bolz's husband and Miss, but I think it's coming along nicely for me, right?　　

　The distrust and anxiety has not yet disappeared from the children, but they are no longer apathetic.
　They eat good food and put on washed clothes. The beds were prepared in a tent, not as soft as a bed, but they were still treated much better than when they were sold as slaves.
　And, most importantly, the factor that made their faces lighten up was that they were freed from the fear of being whipped.
　At the very least, they understood that the whip would not be cracked for unreasonable reasons.
　As proof, the children's eyes didn't show any fear in response to the microphone.
　They understand that Mike treats them as equals, even when they are shouting at him with a strong face.
　This was a point that Ryouma had persistently warned all of them about before they began this training.
　Fortunately, the Red Lion mercenaries, who were made up of commoners, understood what Liang Zhen said.
　If these were from the knightly class or nobility, they would have snickered at the slaves, saying what a lenient thing to do, and would not have obeyed Ryojin's orders.

''Well you're all doing well.......for now, it looks like you can swing a sword.......''

Yes. I've been letting them do plenty of that, you know...

　The sword they now held in their hands was a sword for adults that they had purchased from the Mystor Trading Company.
　After the recent meeting, Count Salzberg had made a connection with the Mystor Trading Company on the advice of Count Salzberg.
　For a month. As a result of adequate food, proper sleep, and proper training, the children's bodies, which are in the growth phase, are gradually developing with muscles.
　Of course, there was no way they would change dramatically after just a month of training, but slowly and surely they were growing. To the point where their bodies wouldn't swim even if they wielded a heavy, martial sword.
　All of them were emaciated from the poor diet when the slavers came to hand them over, but the merchant didn't seem to have lied when he said that he had chosen healthy slaves to bring them in.

　After all, it's not the same enthusiasm to work on it.

''Well well, even commoners wouldn't have much opportunity to eat sweets, so I guess that's what we're after.

Well, there's no use in giving these former slaves money all of a sudden, so I think it's not a bad move.

　At the end of the training, the teacher hands out small candy balls as a reward for the day.
　From the teacher's point of view, if you worked hard, you would get two candy balls, and usually one.
　This was the best system for the kids, as long as they didn't slack off, they would always get one.
　This system, which is only based on whether or not you did your best and not having to compare yourself to others, motivates them.
　In this world where sugar itself is expensive, even a single candy ball is a luxury item not easily consumed by commoners.
　Ryoma bought them in the town of Ipyros and distributed them to the children. The effect was truly dramatic.
　In Japan, where people are insatiable with food, you can't use candy balls to motivate children, but in this poor world, they can be used as bait.

'Well it was a reasonable price. If it doesn't work, we'll lose a lot of money.......well, good. Mike, I'll need you to do some legal training for tomorrow.

Hey!　Leave it to me.

　In addition to the number of people present, the price of the candy bars themselves is very high.
　However, it seems that the amount of money spent on them is worth the effect.
　Receiving Mike's vigorous reply in the background, Ryoma left the place.

　It's an unknown territory that even Ryoma still doesn't know about. He can only move forward if he can master the art of law.
　In order to survive in the Woltenia Peninsula, he needs the new power of Dharma.
.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

　The next day, the Malphist sisters came to Ryoma after he finished eating breakfast.
　They seemed to be so happy to give instruction in the art to Ryojin. Already the sisters' faces were filled with smiles and motivation.

''Ryojin-sama, we will start learning the Dharma technique today, is that alright?''

Yeah. I'm sorry, but it's nice to meet you.

　Ryouma bowed to the sisters.
　At the very least, in terms of Dharma, Ryouma is a disciple. It was only natural to show a reasonable amount of courtesy to the sisters who were their masters.
　You can also use this to make sure that you have the right information.
　She was probably surprised that her master, Ryoma, would show his gratitude to his slave sisters.
　But the girls already understood Ryojin's heart.
　He is never conceited, and he keeps his manners to others. It is a very natural behavior that is ingrained in his body.

　
'Then let's begin. I've explained it to Ryouma-sama before, do you remember?

　The sisters sat Ryoma in the center of the tent.
　Normally, today, the first day of training, would be the day to explain what a dharma technique is, but although Ryouma had already been taught what a dharma technique is in terms of knowledge, it seemed that the sisters intended to review their knowledge of dharma techniques first.　

''You mean the three things: grammatical arts that require chanting, martial arts that don't require chanting, and granting legal arts that allow objects to dwell in them?''

　My sisters taught me a certain amount of knowledge of the Dharma arts during my wanderings.
　I didn't learn the Dharma at that time because I couldn't settle down to learn it during my travels.

That's right. That's right, all of our techniques require the expenditure of vital energy to be effective.

　At Laura's words, Ryoma nodded silently. This is also a story I've already heard.

''Vitality 《prana》 is an energy that always resides in life forms. Therefore, by nature, any human being can use it.''

Yeah ... so we can get the kids to learn it ... right?

　It is a technology that can be used by all. It's a gender- and age-neutral technology.

That's right. If you are taught, you can learn the basics in as little as four months, and even a slow person can master the basics in about five months. Well, it's really just the basics... but even so, it gives you strength that is incomparable to someone who hasn't mastered it.

Yeah. As I said before, I don't expect to perfect my technique in just four months. What I'm hoping for is to learn the basics of the legal arts. That alone would be enough labor for two or three adults for a child...

　It's not that Ryoshin doesn't intend to limit the use of legal arts to warfare. If you can use the Dharma Jutsu, even a child can perform the amount of forceful work that several adults can do.
　Felling trees. Carry stones. Build a house. There are any number of situations in our daily lives where we can use it.
　But Ryoma doesn't have the option of not using them. Even if that idea is a heretical idea in the Earth world, it is still a heresy.

　In this world, legal arts are regarded as a special power given by a god.
　Meneose, the God of Light.
　He is one of the six gods who are said to have created this world and is called the Lord God.
　And the power that humans are said to have received from this deity is a technique called legal arts.
　Whether this is true or not is not the question.
　The problem is that a group called the Order of the Light God, widely believed in on the western continent, has spread this myth as true, and many humans believe in it.

　During a battle a few months ago, Ryōshin had had a camp built using the Dharma technique. From Ryoma's point of view, it was just a convenient technology that he used instead of a civil engineering machine, but even that was apparently a surprise to people in this world.
　If it wasn't for the reason of building a camp to be used for warfare, the knights, let alone the mercenaries, would have been adamantly opposed to it.
　Apparently it's not such a sticking point for mercenaries and commoners, but for the privileged classes of nobles and royalty, it's a big deal.
　They have been imprinted with the idea that the law is a God-given power, as visible proof that they have the right to rule over their people.
　And because they believe that it is a power allowed only to protect themselves, it is limited to acts of combat.
　The idea of limiting the use of the divine power given to us by God to fighting is a strong contradiction for Ryoma, but religion is that kind of irrational thing, isn't it?
　However, Ryoma does not intend to discuss his view of religion. The question is whether or not it has any value to you. If it's not useful to you, you simply ignore it.
　And for Ryoma, as a Japanese, there is no reason why he has to pay respect to the gods of the "Earth" world. The gods are simply tools. Can he use it or not? This is a unique Japanese view of religion.

　The Malfist sisters nodded at Ryoma's words and walked around behind him.

''Well, so much for the preliminaries, let's get started, shall we?

Yeah, please.

　Ryoma nodded as he sat down on the ground, as he had been taught beforehand.
　The sisters' hands were placed on Ryoma's back.

''Let's go!''

　After the girls' words, something hot poured down Ryoma's back. It came slowly, little by little, from the sisters' hands, upward and upward along his spine.
　A thrilling sensation hit Ryoma, as if something was crawling up.

'Take a big breath through your nose. And then slowly let it out of your mouth ... calm your mind, ease your mind ... do you feel something hot spreading from your back?

　Ryoma nodded lightly at Laura's words and closed his eyes. Then he let his attention fly to the hot feeling that spread across his back in a relaxed manner.
　To control something hot spreading in his own body with his own will.