Chapter 4: Kennan IV (Discomfort)
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When I witnessed that scene, I simply thought it was beautiful. The pure clash of martial prowess, and she—Eris—despite being utterly exhausted, had her eyes shining brightly.
Orphelia was profoundly shocked by the sight. A whirlwind of complex emotions surged through her heart in an instant.
Eris’s training was something that could not be imitated. The density and volume of her training were entirely different from what Orphelia could achieve alone. There was no way she could catch up to the two of them with her solitary efforts.
If she continued her training as she had been, it was clear as day that she would soon be surpassed by Eris. That was a disheartening certainty.
Above all, Orphelia found herself genuinely envious of Eris. She felt a sense of sympathy, as if Eris was a fellow peer with extraordinary talent, unable to find a mentor just like herself. It was a selfish thought, but it felt as if that bond had been betrayed.
As she recalled that scene, Orphelia silently apologized to Simmons in her heart, while yearning for a man—a mentor—who could extend a hand and elevate her to a higher realm.
Perhaps due to that shock, Orphelia, uncharacteristically, drank excessively at the tavern that night, making a fool of herself.
“Ahh! I can’t do this!”
Later, when she learned that many people had heard about her antics, her face flushed with embarrassment, but more than that, she was infuriated with herself for uttering “I can’t.”
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After that, she frequently visited the Guild’s training grounds. Although she hesitated to use the word “peek,” she was somewhat of a celebrity, and her drunken blunder had been witnessed by quite a few people. Regretting that moment, she shyly donned her glasses and dressed simply, tying her hair in two pigtails like a town girl, and went to observe the training grounds.
Upon peering into the training area, it was evident that Eris and the man were engaged in an endless exchange of strikes, having begun their training long before Orphelia arrived. Sweat flew from Eris, refracting the light around her. Such trivialities were of no concern; only the pure act of swordplay unfolded before her eyes. Even as a woman, she found it beautiful—Eris, her training, that very scene.
And it was at that precise moment that it happened.
As the sounds of their seemingly infinite swordplay grew shorter and more connected, the man’s sword became entangled with Eris’s blade, which flowed like water, soft and graceful.
Ah, ah, in my current state, I cannot win against her.
It was a moment that forced an uncomfortable understanding upon her.
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Back when she discussed skipping grades with Simmons, he had determined that it would be difficult for him to elevate Orphelia, who was on par with him in skill. He had imparted to her an important training principle: “See with your heart, engrave it in your heart, and repeat it with your heart.”
Fortunately, she possessed exceptional dynamic vision, allowing her to mimic what she saw at a glance, and she also had the dexterity to match. Moreover, her memory was sharp enough to replay those images in her mind repeatedly.
In addition to this teaching, Simmons had advised, “If you encounter someone far superior to you, make sure to ‘see, engrave, and repeat’ them in your heart to elevate yourself. That will be your textbook.”
Perhaps because of this, ever since witnessing their training, especially the moment Eris’s movements transformed into something extraordinary, even while training alone or exploring dungeons, that scene from that moment kept flashing in her mind.
As a result, she lost her composure and began to falter. This led to a series of mistakes during dungeon explorations. Ironically, Simmons’s teachings became a source of her suffering.
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This was precisely around the time when the Hero Party, including Eris, had conquered the notoriously challenging Blade Labyrinth.
Before she could commit any fatal errors, she requested a brief respite. She had found one answer to her dilemma: if seeing them had caused her to falter, and if meeting him had allowed Eris to break free from her shell, then she should go meet him as well.
Orphelia concluded this and recalled the man who faced Eris in their training.
The man who exchanged countless strikes with her—he had black hair, was tall, and… wait, he wasn’t that tall. His face wasn’t exactly handsome, but it had a certain charm—no, that wasn’t right; his face was youthful and very well-formed, well-formed?
───Such details didn’t seem to matter much to Orphelia; she only had vague and ambiguous memories. Yet, none of that was important in the context of their training; what mattered was the fact that he had guided Eris.
If only someone would guide me as well. Orphelia murmured this with a prayerful heart.
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