Chapter 8
A somewhat punk-looking, handsome red-haired anomaly user, Jade.
At the meeting a few days ago he hadn’t seemed to have any problems, so I hadn’t even known he was hurt.
“Then shall we go check Jade’s wound today?”
“Hmm… that’s a good idea!”
Luca’s face brightened at once.
“We can use it as an excuse to train Lariana’s skills, and at the same time check on Brother Jade’s condition!”
“Isis, thanks for letting us know.”
He packed some herbs and went back to Theon, thanking him as he left.
Luca and I headed straight for Jade’s room.
When we reached the door, Luca knocked right away. He got no answer, so he knocked again.
Knock. Knock―knock. Knock―knock. Knock―knock.
He seemed determined to keep knocking until someone opened the door, so I quietly asked,
“Maybe he’s not in his room?”
“No. He has no training today, so he’ll definitely be inside.”
Confident, he banged on the door as if he might break it.
“Bro! We’ll keep knocking until you open!!”
“Ah, really!”
I heard irritation from inside.
‘So he really is in there.’
Bang! The door flew open.
Startled by the noise, I flinched; Jade glared at Luca with narrowed, burning eyes.
‘Whoa, the atmosphere’s intense…!’
“Okay, since you opened the door, explain now.”
His eyes flashed.
“Tell us why you came to find me while I was quietly resting.”
Luca chirped cheerfully.
“Please be Lariana’s class tool!”
“…?”
Wow.
“He just said it like that…”
I couldn’t help admiring Luca’s way of cutting the preface and getting straight to the point.
“No way, go.”
Jade refused cleanly, and Luca clung to him.
“Nyaaah!”
“Seriously, I’m not a test subject—what do you mean by ‘class tool’!”
Only then did Luca realize he hadn’t explained enough and hurried to add,
“Brother, didn’t you hurt your arm recently? You can get healed, Lariana can train skills, it’s a total win-win!”
“I told you I’m fine—stop worrying. It’s almost healed, why do you keep nagging?”
Jade kept insisting he wouldn’t show the wound, so I stepped closer.
When I suddenly closed the distance, I felt him freeze.
‘Hm? Surprised—interesting.’
Was it his right hand that was injured?
I grabbed his arm and rolled up his sleeve.
Surprised by the sudden contact, he tried to pull his arm away, but his attempt was foiled by my strength.
Why do these people keep forgetting my other skill is monstrous strength and try to use force on me?
The exposed wound was cleaner than I’d expected.
Cleaner than expected.
It looked like only the bare minimum measures to keep him from dying had been taken.
Before Jade could refuse, I used my skill.
A warm light shimmered and slowly faded, leaving only smooth new skin where the wound had been.
Jade looked at his arm for a moment, sighed, and spoke quietly.
“Thanks.”
“Huh? It’s nothing. It was skill training.”
No—this isn’t right. I narrowed my eyes and made my expression as stern as possible to look scary.
“Next time you get hurt, just come and get treated right away. If you ignore it because you think you’re okay, it’ll get worse and recovery will take longer.”
“…Yes.”
Good—saying it like that should stop him from stubbornly refusing treatment next time.
“Wow, bro, what’s with you? He said he’d never get treated for his wounds!”
“You…let’s see about this guy.”
Luca grumbled at my side.
Jade ruffled Luca’s hair roughly, nodded to me, and dragged him back into the room.
“Lariana, that’s it for today’s lesson! Stop by my room later and pick up the new books!”
Just before the door shut, Luca shouted.
Thunk.
The door closed.
“Yesss….”
I answered belatedly.
Training the healing skill continued.
About a week later, right after dinner, Isis said,
“We’re going on a recon two days from now.”
“…Where this time?”
When Yenia asked cautiously, he answered,
“Drain’s ducal estate to the west of the Klentain dukedom.”
“…”
“The objective is to check for survivors and to procure food.”
Silence fell over the dining hall. My heart started racing.
They’ll definitely take me this time, right?
This would be my first outing since coming to this hideout.
Outside, the world swarmed with creatures.
My body tensed.
‘Ahhh, did I mess up by saying I wanted to go along…?’
No, no.
[‘Isis Valentine’ current affection: 11/100]
My affection stat for Isis hadn’t risen even a single point in the days after skill training.
That meant… my affection will only increase if I go outside with Isis and have various experiences together.
If I don’t raise my affection, I might be stuck in this world forever.
‘So I don’t regret this decision.’
I glanced at Isis and realized he was looking back at me.
Our eyes met.
‘Are you ready?’
He asked with his eyes; I smiled and nodded slightly.
“The ones going are me, Jade, Luca, and Lariana.”
“Am I staying behind?”
“Yes. Theon, you stay.”
Isis stood up from his seat.
“Lariana, get an appropriate weapon from Theon, and the rest follow me.”
Everyone rose and moved. Yenia, Mary, and Aunt Masha seemed to head toward the lounge together.
“Follow me.”
“Okay….”
I quietly followed Theon down the long corridor and into a storage room.
‘Wow, what is this…?’
I’d already thought the weapons hanging in the corridors were impressive, but the weapons in this room were on another level.
“You said your skill is brute strength, right?”
“Yes….”
I stared in a daze at the armory as he picked up a weapon.
“Then heavy weapons should be fine. What kind of weapon do you like? Bladed, thrown, or ranged?”
“Uh… could you recommend something?”
At my request, Theon showed me the weapon in his hands. It was a very long spear.
“For short-range attacks, nothing beats a spear like this. If you press this, spikes pop out on the side.”
“Wow.”
It reminded me of a character I’d seen in a game using a similar weapon…?
I hefted the spear and immediately felt its weight.
If I didn’t have monstrous strength, I couldn’t even dream of wielding it.
‘They’re all great, but…’
Can I actually use this properly?
I’d heard proper training was needed to use a spear skillfully.
But I had no idea how to swing this heavy thing effectively.
“I’ve never used these weapon types before…”
“Oh, then I’ll find something you can throw lightly and attack with.”
“Okay!”
This time Theon put a dagger in my hand.
It looked light and sharp—one stab from it would hurt a lot.
“This is for throwing. Twist your wrist a bit when you throw and it will spin—once it starts spinning, even if it’s hit mid-flight it will keep spinning until it pierces the target.”
Theon explained the dagger’s details.
He went on about center of gravity and rotational force, but honestly his explanation went over my head.
I nodded and gripped the dagger.
It fit comfortably in my hand.
“I’ll take this.”
“All right, then—”
Theon kept placing things on my arm—additional tools.
“Tie this strap around your waist and tighten this… yes, like that.”
“Oh—!”
Once equipped I felt like a warrior woman.
“I filled the pouches with things you can throw in an emergency.”
I checked the pouch and found shuriken. Things I’d seen in ninja movies before.
“In the front pocket I put a bomb I modified.”
“A bomb?”
“It makes a very loud noise when it explodes. It only produces a bit of smoke; no other damage.”
Ah, it’s for distracting—drawing attention away.
Apparently the creatures react strongly to sound, so he was using that trait.
“I originally carried it myself, but I won’t be going this time.”
“…You want to come too, Theon?”
“Of course not.”
His quick, definite answer made me laugh a little.
That was a too-obvious question.
“I’d rather stay safe in the hideout, tinkering with my favorite—modifying weapons.”
“Is that so.”
“…Still.”
Theon’s expression darkened somewhat.
“I’m worried about the ones going out.”
