CH57: “To feel pain”
“… Carol, look at the look on your buddy’s face.”
“Hmm? Uh…”
Carol’s eyes are on Sophie and Log.
Both of them have a confused look on their faces.
Sophie looks as if she’s about to cry at any moment.
“Your favorite smile is missing from both of you. You know why?”
I ask Carol, and she shakes her head.
Because you’re hurting.
“But you’re hurt…”
Carol starts to shake.
“It’s not a visible wound. When you get hurt, they get hurt. And that’s gonna take the smiles off your faces for the rest of your lives, okay? Is that what you want?”
“No, no, no! No! What am I supposed to do?
Carol’s wobbling.
I guess not being able to smile at other people is the scariest thing for her.
“It’s easy. If you’re used to pain, then it hurts, right? Then don’t do what you think hurts. When Carol thinks it hurts, it hurts me and Sophie and Log as much as it hurts you. We’re not used to pain, so when we think it hurts, we don’t laugh.”
“Okay, okay. Okay, okay. I won’t make you feel pain anymore! So smile… Please… Don’t hit me…”
She still looks scared and pleads with tears streaming down her face.
I try to smile and then pat Carol’s head.
“Hwah!”
A little scream goes up from Carol, who thinks she’s about to get punched.
Still gently patting his head,
“I’m fine. I’m not angry. I’m not angry. There’s nobody here who’s gonna hit you. Anybody beats you up, I’ll beat the shit out of them. It’s okay, it’s okay…”
I’m gonna keep saying, “It’s okay,” to Carol, to make her feel safe.
***
I guess it’s because I kept petting him. He calmed down faster than I expected.
I had hoped to see the three of them work together a few more times, but I can’t do that under the circumstances, so I’m going to give up.
“Alright! Now that we’ve seen the three of you fight like we planned, let’s go home.
He called out to the three of them, emphasizing that his goal was to have them fight one by one, before heading back to the clan headquarters.
The demons on the way back were destroyed by magic before the three of them could see them.
The three of them now… Especially since we don’t know how Carol’s gonna react when she meets a hexenbiest.
***
“Okay, I know it’s early, but there’s no need to skip the first day. Let’s call it a day. I’ll be teaching you basically every other day. So the three of you can go into the labyrinth when I’m not teaching. But! When you dive, you must dive with the three of you, don’t challenge the floor bosses, don’t go further than the tenth level until I give you permission, and don’t do anything reckless.
We’ll talk briefly about the future when we get back to the first room we were in.
Okay.
Logs responded on behalf of .
“And if you go to the Grand Labyrinth on a day when there’s no teaching, make sure you take the next free day to rest. You won’t grow if you push yourself too hard. Play and spend your free time as you wish… Well… if there’s nothing to do… read a book. Read some of the books in the library. They’re well organized and easy to read… and they’ll teach you a lot.”
“Spend as much time as you want,” I said, and Sophie’s face stiffened.
That’s why I suggested reading. Don’t you have any hobbies?
And with that, we were dismissed for the rest of the day.
Carol looks the same on the surface as she did before she went into the Grand Maze.
I don’t know what’s going on inside of you, but I don’t see anything that would make you explode right now.
I’m moving to Estella’s.
“Master! May I have a moment of your time?”
As he leaves the room, he’s stopped by the log.
What’s wrong?
I mean…
Looks like the logs are wondering if they should be cut out.
I waited patiently, and Log opened his mouth.
“Master, I want to hear your honest opinion about how good I am now!”
Why are you asking me that? I thought, but Log’s eyes were serious.
I don’t know what your intentions were in asking the question, but if we’re to take your word for it in the morning, you’re not going to get carried away by giving us your honest opinion.
If there is such a trend, I might be able to follow it and see if the logs are really changing.
“… I think you can join a party that’s already in the lower A rank without any problems .”
“… I see. It gives me confidence to hear you say that. Thank you… Then will you teach me the sword?”
… Yes?
Why the sword there?
Did you think maybe I’ve mastered the Grant Master?
Still a little rough around the edges, huh?
“… Why do you want to learn to use a sword?”
“After seeing Carol today, I knew I couldn’t let her play defender. She’s the kind of girl who’d go on a suicide mission if she saw a hexenbiest, but in her everyday life she puts others before herself. Maybe because she wants them to smile. If I can play vanguard too, I can take some of the burden off of Carol. And I want to be a good explorer like my master. I think swordsmanship is necessary for that!”
You’re not talking out of turn, you’re talking about your party members.
It’s true that in a party of three, it’s better to have two vanguards.
Then it would be most appropriate for Log, who is already a perfectly capable grantor, to take on something new.
“I know what you’re thinking. What Log is going to do has the potential to destroy everything we’ve built up so far, but you’re not going to change your mind?”
“Yes! You have to risk that much to get to the top. I’m ready!”
I’m going to do some skinny-dipping on the party when the logs move to the vanguard.
Even if Log moves to the vanguard, we’ll still need him to use his support magic.
But you can’t fight in the vanguard and manage buffs and command your companions at the same time.
Then Sophie will be in charge.
Is it too much for that shy girl?
“I know how you feel. But you and I can’t decide on our own. I’ll ask you both for your opinions and then we’ll decide.”
Yes, I see. Okay.”
“… Even if Logg were to serve as a Praetorian, I can’t teach him to use a sword. You must understand that.”
“Why? Is it because I have no talent with a sword?
Logs will be amazed.
That’s how I’d react if you told me out of the blue.
“No, it doesn’t. I teach martial arts. But Log is also a grantmaster. Then he’ll want a weapon that can get him away from the enemy as quickly as possible. So I don’t teach swordplay… spearplay.”
