CH 89

Episode 89 – One Month Later…

It had been about a month since I started my all-out training with Dumbbell Weed. Throughout this last month, I would eat Dumbbell Weed every morning and then single-mindedly devote all of my time to training. I very rarely went out. The only times I left were the times I went to pick up the Angry Wolf Knife from Iron Will and once a week when I would go to Clive’s shop to sell my accumulated Glutamate Herb and buy spices and ingredients for curry.

Thanks in part to this cutthroat training regime, my body had begun to show some changes. One month ago, my body was as thin as a twig, but now, with a single glance, anyone would be able to tell that I had some muscle on me. I wasn’t sure if this was a result of the Dumbbell Weed or the result of my intensive training, but, no matter which it was, I was genuinely happy to visibly see the fruits of my labor.

Also, I wasn’t completely sure since I could only see it from my own perspective, but I felt like my sword swings were getting faster with each passing day. On this note, I really had the feeling that my swordsmanship had gotten considerably better, because since two weeks ago, I had become able to wield my steel sword properly.

In the Healer’s Guild, I didn’t even know whether I was growing or not, and I spent my days just trying to survive… So even though my current lifestyle was certainly difficult, I couldn’t help but feel that this lifestyle where I could feel noticeable improvements was a lot of fun. I felt the desire to continue my closed-door training, but I also wanted to go gather plants and herbs soon. I should probably gather plants and herbs once a month to refresh my mind and body since staying indoors without talking to anyone could negatively affect my mental state somewhat. Plus, I missed the people from [Iron Gear].

With that decided, after finishing my morning training and eating my Dumbbell Weed curry for the day, I made my way towards Bee House to go visit [Iron Gear]. I could have directly put in a quest commission at the Adventurer’s Guild, but it wouldn’t be good if [Iron Gear] was unable to accept the request due to a conflict in their schedule with another request. It would be better to check with them first to see if they were available to go on a plant and herb gathering request before submitting the quest commission at the Adventurer’s Guild.

For those reasons, I arrived in front of Bee House, and… with perfect timing, I saw four figures coming out from the inn. It had been about a month since I last saw the members of [Iron Gear], but I’d been so busy with my daily training that I hardly even noticed the passing of time. So, to me it felt like it hadn’t been that long at all. The four of them didn’t seem to notice me, so I called out to them.

“Please wait a moment, [Iron-Gear]!” (Lewin)

When I called out to them from behind, the four of them turned their heads simultaneously. Seeing that the person who called out to them was me, their faces lit up. I smiled when Lyra immediately started running towards me.

“It’s Lewin! It’s been such a long time!! I hadn’t seen you at all, so I was getting worried, you know?! Have you been alright?! You aren’t injured or sick or anything, right?!” (Lyra)

“Yup! As you can see, I’ve been great! Thanks for worrying about me, Lyra.” (Lewin)

The moment Lyra saw me, she unleashed a torrent of questions out of concern for me. I was really glad to see that she was worried about me. As I looked at Lyra with a smile, she suddenly tilted her head as if she noticed something.

“….? Hey, sorry to change the subject so quickly, but… has your body changed in some way? The last time I saw you, I could’ve sworn you were delicate and thin, built kind of like a girl…” (Lyra)

After exchanging light greetings, Lyra noticed the changes and asked me about them. I was glad that she noticed my body transformation, and my smile widened.

“Probably, I think I’ve changed…! Actually, in the last month, I’ve been doing muscle training and practicing sword swinging nonstop.” (Lewin)

“I was right, huh?! Hey― everyone, look! Lewin’s gotten all macho!” Lyra, who had run up to me ahead of everyone else, turned around and exclaimed to the other three who were still walking over. When they got closer, they looked at me unblinkingly before uttering words of surprise.

“For real. Lewin is hardly Lewin anymore, I guess.” (Byrne)

“…….Eh? He’s changed this much in just one month?” (Nina)

Byrne and Nina muttered in genuine interest, but Porta was standing there slack-jawed with his mouth in an ‘0’ shape. I thought he had a rather strange expression, but the moment I was about to call out to him, he ran up to me, pushing Lyra aside. And then, he started sticking to me like melted cheese, poking and pinching my body everywhere.

“No way! These muscles… they aren’t fake… But last time, he was even skinnier than me… What in the world is the cause of this?! Please, would you teach me how you trained?!” Porta begged me with a ghastly expression on his face.

I mean, even if I told you how I trained…

As I told Lyra just now, I was really only shutting myself in and doing muscle training and sword swinging. This change was brought about by the Dumbbell Weed, so it’s not like I’d be able to tell you…

I had trouble getting back to him on this one.

“Porta! You’re bothering Lewin, get off of him for a sec!” (Lyra)

Later, I’ll at least tell you what kind of training I was doing…

“So, Lewin! Did you have something to talk to us about? Or did you come to see us just ‘cause?” (Lyra)

“I came because I had some matters to talk to you guys about. Actually, I wanted to call on you guys for the next quest commission, but I wanted to see when you guys were available to accept it!” (Lewin)

“Eh, really?! It’s that contract request then, isn’t it? Byrne, we don’t really have anything planned tomorrow, right?” (Lyra)

“Yeah. Today’s request is the last one that I accepted, so it should be fine.” (Byrne)

“He said it! We’ll be able to accept the quest commission tomorrow!!” (Lyra)

Ooh, great timing! In that case, I should immediately put in an escort quest commission for tomorrow.

“Then, would you guys be available to escort me starting from tomorrow? If so, I can go to the Adventurer’s Guild today to put in the quest commission.” (Lewin)

“Of course! Since last time didn’t go so well, we’ll definitely succeed this time!!” (Lyra)

“It’s rematch time. That’s why you can depend on us for this quest commission. After we finish today’s request, we’ll go and accept the quest commission.” (Byrne)

“Alright, I’ll put in the quest commission for you today. Sorry to hold you up before work. Do your best today, you guys!” (Lewin)

“Thanks! Woohoo!! I’m really looking forward to it, so let’s hype ourselves up and finish today’s request quickly! Hurray!!” (Lyra)

I smiled fondly at Lyra who was shouting by herself in high spirits, and then saw off the members of [Iron Gear] as they disappeared down the street. Up until the end, Porta still looked like he really wanted to talk to me, but Byrne grabbed him and dragged him off.

When we go plant and herb gathering tomorrow, I’ll tell you about my training, bro.

Anyway… as always, [Iron Gear] were fun people. I felt rejuvenated and energized from my brief conversation with them.

Alright! I’ll go and submit the quest commission and then go back to training!

I had originally decided to take a rest day, but, after getting fired up just now, I decided to train today as well. More than anything, I was happy that they noticed the results of my efforts in the last mont