Chapter: 151
“Why can’t I go in?”
Joy frowned, clearly showing her displeasure, which made the priest blocking the door break out in a cold sweat.
Though Joy is often a prime target for teasing due to being the silly young lady alongside Lucy and Arthur, it wasn’t the same with other people.
With her cold eyes, overbearing voice, and air of grace and dignity, treating someone like Joy associated with the nobility was no easy task.
After all, she is the daughter of the grandees of the Partran family.
Rumor has it that with just a single word, she could bring her entire family crashing down. How could a mere priest stand boldly before her?
Each time Joy’s expression soured, the priest felt more and more suffocated, but he stood his ground.
Behind the door he was guarding, the Saintess was resting.
No matter how important a lady from the Partran family was, disturbing the Saintess’s rest after her recent ordeal was not something to be taken lightly.
“I’m sorry, Lady Partran. Come back tomorrow.”
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
While it was meant to express her overwhelming worry as a friend of Phoebe, the priest took it a different way.
To him, Joy’s words sounded like a threat: how dare you defy me? Are you looking for a one-way ticket to the chopping block?
“It’s alright.”
Just when cold sweat was dripping down the priest’s forehead, a soft and clear voice came from beyond the door.
“Please let her in, priest.”
“But, Saintess…”
“I’m genuinely fine.”
As Phoebe spoke again, the priest slowly nodded and opened the door to let Joy in.
Walking inside, Joy was greeted by the sight of Phoebe sitting on the bed.
“Joy! Come on in.”
Phoebe smiled warmly, looking much like her usual self. However, there was one crucial difference.
Her eyes were puffy, evidence of recent tears.
What in the world happened?
Phoebe was the most resilient person Joy knew. Always smiling, even while journeying through perilous regions due to her status as a Saintess; yet here she was, in tears?!
“Are you alright?”
“As you can see, I’m in perfect shape.”
“Really?”
“Of course, Joy.”
Joy had a million questions piling up in her head but instead of asking, she sighed.
Then, with a hint of familiarity, she dragged a chair from one side of the room and sat next to Phoebe.
“I was really worried.”
This statement was nothing more and nothing less than the raw emotion Jooy was feeling.
After Lucy left, she had been training tirelessly with Frey when she suddenly received alarming news about Phoebe from the young lady who rushed into the training ground.
Phoebe had been attacked by an assailant and lost consciousness before being taken to the church.
Hearing that, Joy dashed toward the church without a second thought.
She didn’t care that she was a bit disheveled from training, nor did she mind her not-so-elegant attire. All she could think about was her friend’s danger.
“I heard Lady Alrn rescued you?”
By the time Joy arrived at the church, the situation had already been taken care of.
One of the priests informed her that shortly after Phoebe collapsed, Lucy had come and rescued her.
It was only after hearing that she understood why Lucy had left the training ground so abruptly.
Lucy had sensed someone else in danger, just like when Joy was attacked back in the alley of the academy.
No matter how she had picked up on it, she had managed to realize and spring into action to help another person.
…If only she had said something, I would have offered help in whatever way I could. What a woman!
“Yes. If it weren’t for her, things could have turned very dangerous.”
“We should thank Lady Alrn.”
“Yes.”
After Phoebe’s reply, an awkward silence lingered in the room.
Joy still had so much she wanted to say.
What had happened? Why was she crying? Was she truly alright?
Her good friend Phoebe had been through something.
With Joy’s timid heart, there was no way she could calm down.
Despite her confused thoughts, the only reason she was pretending to be calm was that she didn’t want to burden Phoebe unnecessarily.
Though she looked like someone who wouldn’t shy away from speaking her mind, deep down she was a gentle girl who cared about her friends.
“Joy, I know there are many things you want to ask. I’ll explain everything slowly.”
Phoebe, who had known Joy for a long time, understood this all too well.
So, she couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of a lion with sharp teeth glancing around nervously.
“Thank you.”
“But before that, I have something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“What does Lady Alrn like?”
“For the gift to accompany my thank you, right?”
Instantly grasping Phoebe’s intent, Joy raised a fan from her pocket to cover her mouth and thought hard.
Something Lady Alrn likes…
When it came to the past, Joy could easily answer what Lucy loved.
She adored the glamorous things.
Expensive dresses. Sparkly accessories. Big gems. Before entering the academy, Lucy was a young lady who expressed herself through extravagance and vanity.
But recently, that wasn’t the case.
She seemed less interested in decking herself out.
She hardly wore makeup, and rarely donned any dazzling rings or necklaces.
Moreover, she didn’t wear anything other than her academy uniform in daily life.
If that was the case, then the recent Lady Alrn may want to swing a mace a few more times rather than spend time on beauty.
So, excluding the glamorous stuff, what did the recent Lady Alrn enjoy… hmmm…
“Joy?”
“…Just a second.”
Even though Joy had spent much time with Lucy lately, most of their time together had been filled with relentless training.
They would run until collapsing on the floor, then spar to improve their movements, occasionally diving into dungeon raids, and at nighttime, enhancing their magical control.
With things being this hectic, she hardly got to know what Lucy liked.
There hadn’t even been a moment to ask.
When they had time to spare, it usually meant squeezing in an extra jump instead.
As she continued thinking, her brow furrowed, but then she managed to dredge up a memory from the depths.
It was from a time when they had gone to Tierra Mars and Lucy had a happy smile while eating delicious food.
“Lady Alrn enjoys tasty food.”
“Tasty food, huh? Hmm. I’m not so sure about that.”
“Can I help?”
“Yes, please.”
*
The next morning, after barely escaping practice mode, I woke up and stared blankly at the wall while letting out a heavy sigh.
Something feels off.
After a long night’s sleep, my body felt incredibly refreshed, but my mind was still drained.
Even laying my head on the pillow didn’t bring sleep.
Waaaah! This is the real definition of torture!
[Hmm. At this rate, I’ll be training during the day and then practicing handling divinity in my spiritual realm at night, huh?]
‘Grandpa, do you want to see me lose my mind?’
[It comforts me to hear you speak politely. If only it were like this all the time.]
Grandpa, why won’t you respond whenever it’s something to your detriment?
Aren’t you the one who just decided to stay out of the battlefield?
Keep this up and I might start talking in that Mesugaki way in my head, you know?
After I attempted to pull him into an argument about it, Grandpa chuckled softly.
[It’s rather unfair to lay all the blame on you. Your training getting excessive is partially your fault, too.]
Ugh! Attacking with facts, are we?
What he said was true.
The excessive training I underwent in practice mode was partly my own doing.
Achieving the initial goal Grandpa set was not that difficult.
Surprisingly, my skill proficiency in this world’s practice mode increased!
At first, I was skeptical, but every time I swung my fist, I felt myself getting more comfortable handling divinity, which gave me confidence.
Having Grandpa, the original creator of the Sacred Martial Arts, by my side was definitely a good factor.
I’d always known he was a brilliant teacher.
For a technique he had crafted and passed on, he certainly had a lot to offer.
Thus, I quickly leveled up my proficiency in the Sacred Martial Arts and succeeded in smashing the scarecrow’s head around 11 p.m.
Up until that point, it had been great.
After all the toil and pain, being able to reach that goal made me extremely happy, and Grandpa praised me, saying I had talent.
But you know, when someone finally achieves what they’ve worked for, their dopamine levels go through the roof, right?
You start to feel like you can accomplish anything, completely disregarding reality!
At least, that’s how I felt at that moment. Seeing the wrecked scarecrow had my spirits high, and I challenged Grandpa who suggested it was time to call it a night.
“Grandpa! I can do more!”
What I overlooked in that moment was, even with genuine eagerness, if things distort, they can take on entirely different meanings.
Especially when it comes to the distortion from my Mesugaki skill.
“Is that it? Isn’t it way too easy? The Sacred Martial Arts aren’t even that impressive. I mean, they’re just some outdated techniques from a useless old man.”
Knowing that my words had been distorted through the Mesugaki skill, Grandpa seemingly couldn’t endure the insult to his craft.
The veins popped in his forehead as he scolded me for having a long way to go, rolling me around all night.
Under the pretense of sparring, how many times had I ended up sprawled on the bricks?
Honestly, I can’t say this was entirely unprovoked on my part.
While rolling on the floor in frustration, I ended up provoking Grandpa.
Because of that, he got angrier and rolled me more vigorously.
Before long, I was in this exhausting spiral of training until morning.
Am I going to have to live like this every day? This is rough.
[And seriously, rolling around now isn’t all that different from when you were at the Alrn household.]
…Huh, really?
Hearing Grandpa’s response made me reflect on the old days at the Alrn family estate.
And I couldn’t help but reconcile that fact.
There really isn’t a big difference, huh?
If anything, this is more comfortable. At least my body isn’t exhausted.
Thanks to the academy classes, there’s some guaranteed downtime.
What the heck was life like back at the Alrn family?
[Well, instead of overthinking things, let’s head to the training grounds. We need to move around in reality too.]
‘Yes.’
Nodding naturally to Grandpa’s notion, I stretched and got out of bed.
Alright. I should try out the Sacred Martial Arts in reality.
I need to properly find out if the training from practice mode translates to real-life success.
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