CH 91

Episode 91 – Anxiety about the Changes

After departing from Grezesta, we were walking along the usual route to Mount Cornello while engaging in some friendly chatter. Since I was attacked last time and the time before that, it was true that I was feeling a bit anxious. But if [Iron Gear] was here with me, it’d most likely turn out fine.

―Oh, that’s right. I just remembered something about [Iron Gear]!

“Hey… on another note, I heard that [Iron Gear] was promoted to E-rank! I was surprised when the receptionist lady told me yesterday. She also said it was a pretty quick promotion, isn’t that pretty amazing?” (Lewin)

“Yeah! That’s right! Just a week ago, we were promoted from F-rank to E-rank! I wasn’t really sure if it could be considered fast… but it was nice to have our efforts recognized in a way that was easy to understand.” (Lyra)

When Lyra said that happily, I felt that I could empathize with her. Even though I myself wasn’t getting much recognition from the people around me, it felt really nice to actually be able to feel the results of my training. I nodded in understanding, assenting to Lyra’s words.

“It’s only been a week since we were promoted, but our commission fee went up, so we’ve really been able to feel the benefits of being an E-rank party. It’s really been making me want to shoot up to a higher rank.” (Byrne)

“No no, Byrne. It’s dangerous for us if only our ranks go up and we haven’t improved ourselves accordingly. Let’s not get too carried away and keep moving forward step by step.” (Porta)

“Well, we’re here… I’m kinda nervous in the end.” (Byrne)

“Yeah… I can’t really get that time that we were chased down by Angry Wolves out of my head.” (Lyra)

“I think we honestly just got unlucky last time. From what I heard, after that incident, nothing has happened on Mount Cornello since then.” (Porta)

It seemed that last time’s incident was still on the minds of the members of [Iron Gear], as they muttered apprehensively in subdued tones. It wasn’t as bad as that time I was abandoned on Mount Cornello alone, but, during the last time when we were being chased by the Angry Wolves, I felt a considerable amount of lingering terror as they gradually closed in on us from behind.

“…It’s alright. Last time we were attacked, we were able to make it out. Even if we get attacked this time, I’m sure we can do it again,” Nina said reassuringly with a smile, alleviating the tense atmosphere. Hearing her words, we calmed down, taking deep breaths for a bit before starting our climb to the halfway point up Mount Cornello.

As we were climbing the mountain road, there didn’t seem to be anything out of place. It might have been thanks to [Azurite]’s intervention, but the situation really seemed to be under control. In spite of the anxiety we felt before entering the mountain, we easily reached the open area near the mountain stream where we set up base last time, and we collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

“No problems at all, we managed to arrive safely!” (Lyra)

“Yeah. Then just like last time, should we split up into two groups to set up the tents and do some escorting?” (Byrne)

“Sure, why don’t we just do the same thing as last time? Nina and I will set up the tents and make some food. Byrne and Porta, go and escort Lewin!” (Lyra)

“If that’s okay with you, Lewin, then let’s do that. How does that sound?” (Porta)

“Yeah. In terms of dividing up roles, I’ll leave it entirely up to [Iron Gear] to sort out. I’m sure it’ll be fine if I don’t interfere with that!” (Lewin)

“Alright. Then just like last time, Byrne and I will be escorting you, so let’s go gathering!” (Porta)

Going with the same role distributions as last time, us three guys set off for a session of plant gathering. Last time, I went in the 1 o’ clock direction, so this time I started walking in the 2 o’ clock direction away from the base.

“…Yo, Lewin. You mind if I ask you something?” Byrne asked with a serious expression as we were walking in search of a gathering site. Byrne’s overly severe look made me feel a little nervous.

“It’s totally fine, but… did something happen?” (Lewin)

“Rather than that… It’s about your body. Although not nearly as much as Porta, I’m pretty curious too, after all. In this last month, just what in the world were you doing?” (Byrne)

What Byrne wanted to ask me with such a serious expression was regarding my physique. I thought he was going to say something regarding the Angry Wolves, but, as long as there was nothing wrong, that was good. Hearing Byrne’s question, Porta immediately looked over at me with eager interest.

Come to think of it… the other day, I did say I was going to explain to Porta the contents of my training routine. Byrne was interested too, so I might as well tell the two of them.

“I really didn’t do much in particular. In this one month’s time, I just shut myself in and did muscle training and sword-swinging. The training was so intense that it was on the limit of self-injury, and, if I did get injured, then I would use recovery Slime liquid to heal myself. I just repeated that over and over again for an entire month.” (Lewin)

When I told him how I’d been training for the last month, Byrne looked a little taken aback.

Hey, you were the one who asked…

“Injury-level muscle training and practice swings, what the heck? …Honestly, I can’t imagine what that would look like, and I don’t even want to imagine it either. All I understand is that you really went all out with your training. So… does the reason you started training have anything to do with the last time when we got attacked?” Byrne asked with a slightly apologetic look on his face. It wasn’t entirely unrelated to the fact that we were attacked last time, but I had planned to undergo this training even before that happened. Hesitating on how to answer him, I decided to just be straightforward about it.

“I wouldn’t say that it was entirely unrelated to that fact, but I made the decision to train and get stronger a long time before that happened. Why do you ask, Byrne?” (Lewin)

“Well… it gave me the impression that you felt that you needed to get stronger because our performance was inadequate last time… so I was feeling guilty about it.” (Byrne)

“That’s not it at all! Like I said before, you guys weren’t inadequate at all… In fact, you were all very reassuring. I had my heart set on getting stronger for a long time now, so in that sense it doesn’t have anything to do with last time’s attack. Don’t worry about it, it’s really fine.” (Lewin)

When I told him that, Byrne seemed to be relieved. Byrne could be blunt at times, but he was always considerate towards me, and he was really kind. If I were to have an older brother, I imagined that he would be just like him.

“…Then that’s good. It’s just that you changed so much, so I ended up making some unnecessary assumptions.” (Byrne)

“Byrne, thanks for caring about me. And I’m sorry that I made you worry. I should have told you in advance why I was training.” (Lewin)

While I continued to engage in a warm conversation with Byrne, we arrived at a gathering site. Unlike Byrne, who was now reassured, Porta’s face had been pale ever since he heard the details of my training for the past month. Last time, I think he said something about needing to work out, so maybe he thought there was some easy way to train? I’d love to have Porta try my training method to further investigate the effects of Dumbbell Weed, but… judging by this look on his face, it might be difficult to even get him to try it.