Chapter: 151
“Why can’t we do it?”
Joy furrowed her brow, openly expressing her displeasure, causing the priest blocking the door to break out in a cold sweat.
To Lucy and Arthur, Joy was just a foolish young lady—a perfect target for teasing. But to anyone else, it was different.
Cold eyes. Overbearing voice. Movements overflowing with dignity and grace.
On the surface, Joy was a prime example of a noble lady, making it quite difficult to treat her casually.
Above all, she was the daughter of the Duke Partlan family.
There were rumors that a single word from her could topple a family. How could a mere priest act tough in front of her?
The priest felt suffocated every time Joy’s expression soured, yet he didn’t move an inch.
After all, behind the door he was guarding, the Saintess was resting.
Even if she was the daughter of the Partlan family, it was unacceptable to disturb the Saintess who had experienced a significant event not long ago.
“I’m sorry, Lady Partlan. Let’s talk again tomorrow.”
“You, do you not understand what I’m saying?”
Though it was a statement laced with concern as a friend of Phoebe, it came across entirely differently to the priest.
From his perspective, Joy’s words sounded like a threat: How dare you oppose me? Do you want your head to roll?
“It’s fine.”
Just as the priest continued sweating, a soft, clear voice rang out from beyond the door.
“Please let her in, Priest.”
“But Saintess…”
“I really am fine.”
As Phoebe spoke again, the priest slowly nodded and opened the door to the room.
Walking in, Joy faced Phoebe sitting on the bed.
“Joy, come in.”
Phoebe’s warm smile looked the same as ever. However, one crucial detail was different.
The corners of her eyes were swollen. That was clearly a sign of having cried.
What on earth happened?
Phoebe was the person Joy knew with the strongest mental fortitude.
It was shocking to see someone like her, who had never lost her smile while traveling through dangerous and unfortunate areas because of her title as Saintess, in tears?!
“Are you okay?”
“As you can see, I’m all good.”
“Really?”
“Of course, Joy.”
Joy had so many questions swirling in her mind, but instead of asking, she exhaled.
Then, with an air of familiarity, she pulled a chair from the corner and sat next to Phoebe.
“I was really worried.”
This was the unfiltered emotion of Joy, without any embellishments.
After Lucy left, Joy had been training hard alongside Frey when she suddenly received news from a panicked noble lady about Phoebe.
That she had been attacked by an assassin and had lost consciousness, and was taken to the church.
Upon hearing that, Joy rushed to the church without a moment to spare.
She didn’t care that her form was disheveled from training or that her outfit was lacking in elegance.
All that consumed her mind was her friend’s peril.
“I heard Lady Allen saved you?”
By the time Joy arrived at the church, the situation had already been resolved.
One of the priests told her that Phoebe had collapsed, and shortly after, Lucy had come to rescue her.
It was only after hearing that story that Joy understood why Lucy had abruptly left the training ground.
Lucy had sensed someone else’s crisis.
Just like when Joy was attacked in the academy’s alley in the past.
For some reason, Lucy had caught on once again and desperately moved to help someone in need.
…If only she had said something, I would have helped in any way possible. Honestly, that person…
“Yeah. If it weren’t for her help, it would have been really dangerous.”
“We should thank Lady Allen.”
“Yes.”
After Phoebe’s answer, an awkward silence enveloped the room.
Even now, Joy had countless things she wanted to say.
What happened? Why did she cry? Is she really okay?
Something had happened to Phoebe, one of her few true friends.
With her timid inner thoughts, Joy couldn’t help but feel unsettled.
Despite the chaos in her mind, the only reason she was acting calm on the outside was that she didn’t want to burden Phoebe unnecessarily.
On the surface, Joy might appear to everyone as someone who could say whatever she wanted, but deep down, she was a delicate girl who worried about her friend’s feelings.
“Joy, I know you have a lot on your mind. I’ll tell you slowly.”
Phoebe, who had known Joy for a long time, was well aware of this fact.
So she laughed as if she were a sharp-toothed lion seeing her wary counterpart, then spoke.
“Thank you.”
“But before that, there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“What does Lady Allen like?”
“Are you talking about gifts to go with our thank-you?”
Instantly grasping Phoebe’s intent, Joy covered her mouth with a fan she pulled from her sleeve and pondered.
What does Lady Allen like?
In the past, Joy could easily answer what Lucy liked.
She was fond of extravagant things.
Expensive dresses. Gorgeous accessories. Huge jewels. Before entering the academy, Lucy had been a noble lady who expressed herself through luxury and vanity.
But the recent Lucy was different.
She seemed uninterested in adorning herself.
She rarely wore cosmetics and hardly donned flashy rings, necklaces, or headbands.
Moreover, she didn’t wear anything other than her uniform in daily life.
Lately, Lady Allen might be more inclined to wield a mace than to spend time on beauty.
So besides the flashy category, what would the recent Lady Allen like… hmm…
“Joy?”
“…Just a moment.”
Although Joy had spent a lot of time recently with Lucy, most of their activities revolved around training sessions.
Running until they nearly collapsed, then practicing movements in duels, occasionally tackling dungeons until they dropped, and training magic power at night.
Given this situation, Joy hardly knew what Lucy liked.
There hadn’t even been a chance to inquire.
If there was time for that, they should be taking another step forward in their training.
As Joy continued her contemplation, her brow furrowing, she could reclaim one distant memory.
The time they went to Tierra Mas and saw Lucy’s happy smile while eating delicious food.
“Lady Allen likes tasty food.”
“Tasty, huh? Hmm. That’s something I’m not quite familiar with.”
“Shall I help you?”
“Yes, please.”
*
The next morning, after finally escaping the practice mode, I got out of bed and stared blankly at the wall, letting out a sigh.
It feels weird.
Thanks to a long night of deep sleep, my body was refreshed, but my mind was drenched in fatigue.
I couldn’t bring myself to get out of bed, so I rested my head on the pillow, but sleep wouldn’t come.
Yawn. This is a torture in itself.
[Hmm. So if this keeps up, I can train during the day and practice divine handling in my mind at night.]
‘Grandpa, do you really want to see me go insane?’
[Hearing your polite tone calms my heart. I wish it were always like this.]
Grandpa, why do you never answer when it’s inconvenient for you?
You’re saying you’re not going to step into the battlefield, huh?!
If you keep this up, I might start talking to you in a mesugaki-like manner in my head?!
I threatened grandpa to drag him into a verbal battle, and he chuckled.
[Isn't it unfair to blame everything on you? Isn’t part of the intense training your fault too?]
Cough! Attacking with facts, are we?!
Grandpa was right.
It was indeed partly my fault the training in practice mode had become so intense.
At first, achieving the goal grandpa had set wasn’t too hard.
Surprisingly, in this world’s practice mode, my skill proficiency increased!
I started off skeptical, but I grew more confident as I sensed my increasing ability to handle the divine power with every punch.
Having grandpa—origin of the divine sword technique—next to me was also a huge plus.
I’ve known for a long time that grandpa was great at teaching.
When it came to divine sword techniques that he had created and passed on to others, he had an undeniable expertise.
Thus, I quickly leveled up in my proficiency of the divine sword technique, and around 11 PM, I successfully hit the dummy’s head.
That part was great.
After enduring various hardships and pain, reaching my goal made me exceptionally happy, and grandpa praised me for my talent.
But you know, when a person finally achieves what they want after a lot of hard work, dopamine spikes in the brain, right?
You start to feel like you can do anything without knowing your place.
At least, that’s how I felt at that moment. Seeing the destroyed dummy’s head, elated, I replied to grandpa when he said today was enough.
“Grandpa! I can still do more!”
What I overlooked back then was even if I spoke with pure motivation, if distorted, the meaning could change completely.
Especially when it comes to my mesugaki skill’s distortion.
‘Is this all? Isn’t it too easy? The divine sword technique is nothing special. It’s typical, considering it’s an old man’s technique, right?’
Knowing my words had been twisted through the mesugaki skill, grandpa apparently couldn’t endure having his cherished technique insulted.
With veins popping out on his forehead, he declared that I still had a mountain of work to do and worked me throughout the night.
How many times did I collapse onto bricks under the guise of a duel?
To be honest, this wasn’t entirely my fault either.
Rolling on the ground, I got frustrated and provoked grandpa.
That led to him pushing me even harder, and rolling around only fired me up to provoke him again.
In that manner, I found myself spiraling into a cycle of rigorous training until morning.
Is this how my life will be every day from now on? Sounds hectic.
[And, this isn’t all that different from what you experienced at the Allen family, is it?]
…Oh. Is that so?
Hearing grandpa’s words, I reflected on the daily life I had a few months ago in the Allen family.
And I had to admit it.
There’s really not much difference, huh?
If anything, this seems easier. At the very least, my body isn’t tired.
Thanks to the academy classes that guarantee some rest as well.
How the heck did I endure my time in the Allen family?
[Self. Instead of unnecessary thoughts, let’s head to the training ground. You need to get your body moving in reality, don’t you?]
‘Yes.’
Naturally resonating with grandpa’s advice, I stretched and got out of bed.
Right. I need to practice the divine sword technique in reality.
I should confirm if the training from the practice mode translates to real-life results.
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