Working as a Fitness Trainer in Another World

Stories

## Illustrations

## Prologue: A Physical Trainer in the Modern World

Taiwan edition. Reposted from the Comic Home forum.

Proofread by: Meowbuck

What kind of place do you picture when you hear “fitness club”?

Men and women in their twenties and thirties, bodies already in shape, dressed in Adidas or Nike workout gear, sipping sports drinks as they pound away on the treadmills—by all rights, it ought to be a space thick with city air.

Or a temple of austerity where handsome athletes train in silence.

You can see it, can’t you?

I, Shota Akitsu, used to think the same way, right up until I graduated from a sports vocational college and walked into a fitness club for work……

When the headquarters training ended and I stepped onto the floor with a nervous face, the sight in front of me stopped me cold.

In the weight room, a white-haired old man was practicing his lifts.

In the aerobics studio, a group of women who might have been young and beautiful forty years ago had cloth wrapped around their waists and were working through a belly-dance routine.

In the pool, grandfathers well into their eighties were swimming the butterfly.

It was exactly like the community center of a village that had already grown old.

Uh…… this was supposed to be a fitness club full of health and youth, wasn’t it?

It wasn’t supposed to be a silver-hair club, was it?

Even the Japanese pop on the wired speakers sounded strangely hollow. The whole place drifted with the air of some far-off countryside.

I’d heard the rumor during training.

“Fitness clubs in remote towns are full of seniors. Almost every member is over sixty. There’s a big bath and a sauna, so the old folks always treat it like……”

## Training 1: The MN Sisters and the Marathon

“Someone’s down on the ground.”

“Looks like a carriage hit him.”

“His clothes are really strange.”

“Maybe he’s a rare visitor.”

Voices reached him in snatches.

Shota Akitsu opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a sky dyed orange by the setting sun. He tried to push himself up, but pain shot through him from everywhere at once, and a groan slipped out before he could stop it.

The soft give of grass against his back, and the smell of it, were startlingly clear.

—Grass? Not concrete?

Someone leaned in to peer at him. A boy with pale skin, blue eyes, and blond hair that ran a little toward red…… No. The clothes were a simply cut dress. A girl, about fifteen. Look closer and the chest rose, just slightly; the face was neat and beautiful. It was the long limbs that gave her a boyish impression.

Leather wrapped her wrists and ankles and was tied with cord, and at her belt—was that a short sword? She looked exactly like someone who lived in a fantasy world.

“Sis, I knew it. He’s a rare visitor.”

They were speaking Japanese.

Shota’s head went blank.

Uh…… cosplay? Halloween was still a ways off.

The fitness club where he worked did not have foreign girl members dressed this extravagantly and fluent in Japanese.

It was, after all, a suburban place that felt a lot like a silver-hair club.

“Angelica, get him onto the carriage and take him back to Mephit Pavilion.”

A carriage? Not a car? Unease rose in his chest. It had to be his backpack pressing on him……

## Training 2: The Troubles of the Dancer-Priestess N

“I’m supposed to dance at the formal festival, but there’s a problem that’s giving me a real headache…… I hope you can help me.”

Shota didn’t quite follow, but he listened to Marina anyway.

Marina was a shrine maiden of the Ranu Temple.

Maidens dedicated to the god offered the Crasushaki dance—what, in Shota’s original world, was belly dance.

“The festival you mean—is it something like an after-festival? There’s nobody left here.”

Shota had assumed the ceremonial race was the main event.

The rain had stopped, but the square in front of the temple was already deserted, thick with the lonely feeling of a school festival after everyone has gone home.

The three of them stood shoulder to shoulder under the temple eaves. Mixed into the smell of rain was something sweet, and Shota’s heart picked up before he could help it.

It was the scent of Marina’s hair.

—How can anyone smell this good? It’s the scent of flowers. So even the fragrance a beautiful woman gives off is this captivating.

He drew a deep breath as quietly as he could, so she wouldn’t notice.

“It’s because of the rain. Once the night rites start, people will come back. A shrine maiden’s dance is part of the ceremony, but for ordinary folk it’s entertainment. Everyone has a wonderful time.”

Angelica said that.

Marina went on:

“The real rites begin after the moon comes up.”

“Because Ranu is the moon god.”

“At the formal festival, do you dance alone?”

Angelica asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh…… that’s pretty impressive.”

“It is. We believe a god dwells in all things……”

## Training 3: Aim to Become a Prince!

Shota was on the second-floor balcony of Mephit Pavilion, hanging freshly washed sheets in the sun with Angelica.

After the Moon God Festival there had been no rest at all. No time to savor the afterglow of the celebration—they were still stuck cleaning and washing everything in sight.

This world had neither washing machines nor detergent. Scrubbing linen by hand was exhausting work.

Down the street, someone came riding hard. Horses were nothing unusual here, but the knight’s clothes, the saddle, and the whole outfit were splendid. Even from far off, you could tell at a glance that the gear was chosen for show.

“Angelica, don’t you think that horse looks pretty grand?”

“That’s a messenger from the palace.”

“That explains it.”

He had expected the rider to pass straight through, but the horse stopped in front of Mephit Pavilion. A man in his prime swung down and knocked.

The crisp clothes and the straight back made the palace messenger unmistakable. That unfamiliar costume had to be formal palace dress.

“What would a palace messenger want with us?”

Shota and Angelica came down the stairs together, startled, and found the imperial envoy spreading a parchment before Karen and explaining why he had come.

The sudden visit left Karen staring.

“His Highness Prince Andrei wishes to invite Mr. Shota, the rare visitor lodging at Mephit Pavilion, to the palace.”

“So they already know Shota’s name.”

Angelica murmured it to herself.

“I’m Shota. What do you need me for?”

“His Highness Prince Andrei hopes you will take tea with him.……”

## Final Chapter: A Physical Trainer in Another World

Near the temple in the Kingdom of Avignon.

Mephit Pavilion stood beside the street.

It was a well-known inn run by a pair of beautiful sisters. The elder, Karen, was a beauty with a presence that soothed the heart. The younger, Angelica, was a boyish girl who spoke in a masculine tone.

Karen, soon to be married, had grown even more radiant.

The cooking was delicious, and the bread, fresh from the oven, was extraordinary.

Every corner was kept clean. It was an inn that was simply comfortable to stay in.

Beneath the sign of Mephit Pavilion hung a small wooden board.

“Physical Training Center”

Shota, the rare visitor who usually helped with the inn’s work, also took consultations on exercise and the body.

You want to get thinner.

You want handsome muscle.

You want to finish a race in first place.

You want to dance better.

You can’t sleep.

The fee was only a single dinar copper, though a bottle of milk or a whole bag of oranges would do just as well. Either way, he solved the trouble.

Ever since he had brought down an assassin from the Kingdom of Sorei at the prince-and-princess crown-heir ceremony, Shota’s name had spread at a stroke.

The assassin had vanished from the prison without a trace, and yet the Kingdom of Avignon had grown more tightly united because of it.

The queen, acting as regent, was in good health. Her Highness Princess Rachel devoted herself to assisting in the government.

Prince Andrei, who at the time had struck the assassin’s arrow from the air with beautiful swordwork, was rumored to spend much of his time ill in bed, but Avignon and Sorei still concluded their alliance without trouble.

The Kingdom of Avignon returned to a quiet life.

Someone in a polo shirt and athletic wear……

## Afterword

Good afternoon, or hello if this is our first meeting. I’m Hikaru Wakatsuki.

This book is the story of a physical trainer from a fitness club who is reborn in another world and makes his way with professional knowledge. A physical trainer is an exercise instructor. The work covers teaching swimming at a fitness club, designing muscular-endurance programs, coaching weight loss, and serving as an instructor for boxing-based exercise classes, among other things.

The exercise knowledge in the novel draws on what I have learned as a physical trainer at my current fitness club, on what my former Shorinji kempo teacher told me, and on books and material from the internet.

The stretching “magic” in the story is something my Shorinji kempo teacher taught me. I suggest you try it. You will feel a softness that actually moves you. It really is like magic.

I gave up at first dan, but I have often been adjusted by advanced teachers and by bonesetters, so I have a fairly clear sense of how the human body is put together.

Many charming girls appear in the story: a short-haired, mischievous little sister; a gentle, graceful older sister; a noble princess with a strong sense of duty; and a bright, lively princess in a modern style.

The protagonist solves their troubles and earns their thanks, but that is only part of it. He is also pulled into a power struggle between nations.

In a medieval-European otherworld where schemes are calculated to the last move, can the protagonist survive with professional knowledge as his weapon?

Finally, my thanks to Ryo Ueda-sensei for adorning this humble work with beautiful illustrations, and my thanks to everyone connected with this book.……