Chapter 34 – Growth
“I hate to say this in front of you, but Hennie is a very lonely child.”
On the way to the training hall, Robin began to tell Jun the things he had been keeping inside, probably because he judged him trustworthy due to what happened earlier.
“It’s definitely not something you would confide in an orphan. Well, I don’t mind.”
Memories of his family from his previous life still remained in Jun’s memory, and his new family, Fortuna, was always right next to him.
Although he was born an orphan, the word loneliness was still a word he had no connection with.
“I know that, so I’m bringing it up like this. If only the other orphans had just heard that…”
“They must have been angry and thought they were making fun of themselves.”
Even if Leonard and the nuns worked hard and took on the role of parents, they could not become real parents for the orphans.
Because of this, orphans, without exception, suffered from great and small loneliness, and to say that Henney, who had a father, was a lonely child would only sound like a deception.
“I guess so. But it is a harsh truth that Hennie is a lonely child.”
Robin continued speaking with bitterness.
“After my wife and Henny’s mother gave birth to Henny, she could not even hold the child and her eyes closed forever. I spent most of my time out of the house because of hunting and other things. Naturally, Henny had to stay alone in this cabin. When I was a baby, I was able to stay at church thanks to the priest’s consideration, but…”
“It was impossible after Hennie grew up to a certain extent. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop it properly then.”
“Don’t apologize. “Because I know very well that you protected Henny differently than you did with Leon and Linda.”
When Hennie was a baby, her orphans only gave her jealous looks and did not directly harass her.
However, from the moment she started walking and talking, her orphans began to harass her in a clever way.
Just because my dad is there.
You might think that she would bully her child for just that reason, but most of the older orphans at that time were children with idiosyncratic personalities.
It was largely the fault of those orphans that Frank’s personality turned out the way it did.
Anyway, whenever the orphans bullied Hennie, Leon and Linda desperately tried to protect her, and June quickly called Leonard or a nun to stop her bullying.
Despite doing so, the wounds on Hennie’s body and mind increased day by day, and eventually Hennie was led by Robin, who could not stand it anymore, and left the church.
Hennie was 3 years old at the time, and three years later, after all of her orphans who had been harassing her had left the church, she came to the church to play.
“The three years she spent not going to church were extremely lonely times for Hennie. I tried to stay by her side as much as I could, but in the end, she couldn’t relieve that child of her loneliness or teach her what she needed to be taught.”
“… So?”
“Henny can act like a child and show off her quirks sometimes, but I hope she can act like she did before. Warmly and kindly.”
“Well… I don’t know how long I can do that, but I’ll give her a try.”
“Okay, that’s enough. “Then shall we start training?”
“Ah.”
June blinked her eyes and looked around her.
Before he knew it, he and Robin were standing in the middle of the training ground. It seems I was too preoccupied with the conversation.
Robin said while putting on the new sunglasses and cap that Fortuna made for him.
“Originally, physical training comes first, but let’s just exclude it. The priest’s training to strengthen his body is much better than mine. “I plan to get organized today, so let’s skip today and do physical training tomorrow while I’m out hunting.”
“I understand, instructor!”
“After physical training, we need to train Auror control (initiation), but since you are a natural bloomer, let’s skip this too. Since initiation is about strengthening your body, it is not necessary for you who have naturally bloomed. “Understand, right?”
“Yep!”
When the Auror core blooms, a path is created inside the body to make it easier for the Auror to move around the body.
This is called a ‘circuit’, and there was a stark difference between the circuit created through natural flowering and the circuit created through artificial flowering.
To give an easy-to-understand example, a circuit made through natural flowering could be said to be custom-made clothes to fit the wearer’s body, while a circuit made through artificial flowering could be said to be a ready-made product.
For this reason, when strengthening the body through aura, natural flowering can produce the highest efficiency even without being conscious of control, while artificial flowering can produce the highest efficiency if control is not paid attention to.
For this reason, Jun, whose Auror core naturally bloomed, did not need Auror control training.
“Once you complete the Auror control (initiation), you will begin full-fledged combat skills training. Before we start training, let me ask you one question. Is there a weapon you want to use as your main weapon?”
“Uh… Nothing in particular. To be honest, I want to use it well in everything.”
Jun did not have any aspirations for swords or spears.
I’m not aiming to be a weapon master in a grand way, but since I have a subspace where I can freely carry weapons and a mobility device that allows me to control the distance at will, I wanted to use as many weapons as possible to gain an advantage.
“Good idea. “It fits your abilities perfectly.”
“Aren’t you against it? “I thought you would say it was too greedy and tell me to focus on one thing.”
“Joy! That’s something old-fashioned knights say, it doesn’t apply to adventurers. In fact, most adventurers know how to use at least two to three types of weapons other than their main weapon. So don’t worry about it.”
“Okay. By the way, did I tell you that I would become an adventurer?”
“I asked Fortuna while you were unconscious. He said he would strengthen his strength so as not to look foolish. It’s not a bad motive. Almost all of those who enter the labyrinth simply for money and power end up being eaten by that desire and their lives are short-lived.”
Robin shook his head in pity and took out two wooden swords from a nearby weapon stand, holding one for himself and handing the other to Jun.
“The weapon I am best at is the bow, but I can handle the sword just as well, and I can handle swords, spears, batons, shields, blunt weapons, and fists, although I am not able to handle them half as well. First, I will teach you the most versatile sword first, and if I have time and are willing to learn, I will teach you.”
“I understand.”
Jun took a deep breath to control his pounding heart and took the wooden sword he held out.
It was quite heavy.
It wasn’t like this when I put it on the stand earlier, so why is it like this all of a sudden?
Because you clearly recognized that it was a weapon? Probably so.
“The gripping method is like this.”
“Like this?”
“Yes, that’s right. Don’t look at it funny, but remember it well. Even though it may not seem like it, it is very important. “If the grip technique is wrong, your hands may be injured.”
“I understand.”
After nodding his head, Jun gripped the handle a few more times to make sure he was aware of the grip, clearly imprinting the scene in his mind.
His eyes, looking down at his hands and handle, had suddenly turned blue.
“Jun.”
“Don’t you call me a trainee?”
“It was a joke. So, take it easy too.”
“Oh, yes. So why are you calling me?”
“Do you know that your eyes are dyed blue right now?”
“The eyes?… Really.”
Jun took out a mirror from subspace and reflected his own eyes. He was surprised and looked at his own eyes in the mirror more closely.
The corners of her mouth started to turn up little by little. Honestly, it was cool.
“You didn’t know?”
“Yes, not at all.”
“It seems like a phenomenon that appeared when a trait developed. I heard that the same phenomenon as yours sometimes occurs when gaining traits, characteristics, or specializations. They say it’s a phenomenon that occurs when you don’t handle power properly, so train yourself to handle it properly.”
“I understand.”
“You said it was bioelectricity, right? I’m sorry, but I can’t help you because I’ve never seen such a trait in all my years as an instructor. Still, if I were to give you some advice, don’t worry too much and just hone in on what appeals to you. I can assure you that either way, that trait will be a great weapon.”
“Yes!”
Jun responded louder than ever to the sincere advice.
Robin smiled and patted Jun’s head before saying.
“I think that’s the end of the grip method, so now stand next to me and carefully observe what I do.”
As Robin said, June stood next to him and focused on his actions.
In addition, I increased my observation ability by extremely activating my spatial sensitivity, and I also created a mannequin to immediately put the information I understood through my eyes and space into my head.
The moment Jun finished preparing, Robin’s wooden sword slowly began to move.
“The most basic movement in swordsmanship is a downward slash. First, take a breath and raise the sword to the top. Then, exhale and swing the sword widely, as if throwing the float of a fishing rod far away,”
Robin’s wooden sword slowly descends.
His wooden sword, which was swung in a wide circle, stopped moving the moment the tip was at his eye level.
“Once the tip of the sword is at eye level, strike without hesitation as if you were chopping firewood with an axe.”
Boom!
A wooden sword cut through the wind.
Even though he didn’t really intend to hear the threatening sound of the swing, he automatically pictured himself in it.
… You shouldn’t play around when Robin has a weapon.
Bung! Bung!
Robin demonstrated by swinging the sword a few more times.
Jun caught every little detail of his movements with his eyes and space and transferred them to the mannequin in his head.
Before I knew it, the mannequin was doing the same downward slash as if it had copied Robin.
“Have you engraved it all in your head?”
“Yes, it was engraved clearly.”
“Then it’s okay even if you mess up, so just try it.”
Jun took a deep breath and took a stance.
And then I thought about it. Whether he will use shortcuts or not.
‘… Okay, let’s use it. When learning something, first impressions are the most important.’
Having made a decision, he is conscious of the mannequin in his head,
Skill-Realize
Boom!
I swung my sword down.
Jun smiled softly at the sound of the wind, which was quite similar, and then glanced at Robin.
“…”
The expression wasn’t very good.
“… I’ll try again.”
Bung! Bung!
Jun knew something was wrong and struck down his sword, paying more attention to the mannequin.
But rather than getting better, Robin’s expression became more and more wrinkled.
Is it that strange? That can’t be possible.
She looked puzzled and continued to strike her sword, and after a while, Robin said as if she was tired.
“… Monster.”
It’s a compliment, right? Huh?
