Chapter 53
Having firmly resolved myself, I spent the next few days at the Duke’s mansion focusing all my energy on recovery.
I drank my potions diligently three times a day, slept plenty, and didn’t leave a single bite on my plate.
The servants were so impressed by how I ate that they couldn’t help but comment.
“Lady, you really eat well!”
“You should eat well when dealing with demons!”
“Hehe, how admirable.”
“Mmm….”
I smiled awkwardly, swallowing the full mouthful I had been holding, and finished it off with a gulp of milk.
“Ahh.”
By now, my body had fully returned to its normal state.
Without delay, the very next day, I set off for the temple.
The moment I arrived at the dormitory, I was greeted—not pleasantly—by Adrian. Along with other trainee knights, he ran toward me.
Adrian’s face was so red it looked like it might burst, as if the world itself had collapsed.
“Crescent! Are you okay? I heard that a high-grade demon appeared at the Pluto estate. I was so worried I could hardly sleep for days. I barely managed to hold back from storming the estate!”
“Oh, thank you for restraining yourself. I’ve fully recovered, so I’m fine now. And I returned from the Demon Realm really quickly. Meteor was with me, and luck was on our side.”
“That’s a relief…! I was so worried you might have been harmed. I should have been there with you! Then I could have protected you—!”
“Ahem! Anyway, if things continue like this, Adrian, we might end up being Demon Realm peers someday.”
I just have to keep running into high-grade demons. And I planned to encounter many more in the future.
At that moment, Lucas approached me, his eyes wide and brimming with tears.
“Crescent! Meteor…! As soon as Meteor arrived at the temple, he immediately went off for special training! What on earth happened?”
“Huh? Oh, that…”
How should I explain this? Should I say that I saved Meteor, and realizing his own weaknesses, he went off to train?
But that didn’t seem right either.
“Meteor said that. Apparently, he gained a great insight during this last trip to the Demon Realm.”
I opened the topic and, in a tone only vaguely resembling Meteor’s, I imitated his speech, spreading one arm dramatically as if performing on stage.
“‘The demons won’t wait for me to grow just because I’m young. Anyway, I’ll have to leave first thing tomorrow.’”
“Wow!”
“As expected of Meteor…!”
Meteor’s followers were all full of admiration.
To think he would set off on such a harsh path already, in preparation to confront the demons who could appear at any moment!
It was inspiring even to the other trainee knights.
Returning to my usual composure, I said firmly,
“That’s why I’m going to work even harder from now on. I’ll be off then!”
“Crescent!”
I quickly dashed into the dormitory, not wanting the other kids to pester me with questions.
This visit to the Demon Realm was something I didn’t want to broadcast.
Thinking of the people I had met there, I couldn’t.
‘I’d probably get sad thinking about Dad….’
Once inside my room, I quickly changed into my training clothes. I didn’t want to waste a single second of precious time.
‘Thanks to the system rewards, I don’t even have to eat and can avoid malnutrition. That means I can save mealtime for training! Of course, if I completely skip eating, the adults will just nag me even more….’
Pushing those thoughts aside, I started swinging my sword at the wooden training dummy without mercy, alongside my greatest teacher.
“Hyah! Yap!”
<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ says you’re putting too much strength into your shoulders! Overexertion warning!>
“Ah! Yes, understood!”
Receiving corrections from a Dragon Slayer who was formerly a pope, I swung my sword diligently.
Next came flexibility training, which was my favorite part of the paladin curriculum.
It was also the time when my instructor, Aluin, got the angriest.
“I told you to curl your body! When did I say to dance like each of you are free! Break your bones if you have to until your circle is perfect!”
“Ugh.”
“Ughhh…”
Screams echoed all around.
Not a single student performed correctly during flexibility training.
I arched my back like a bow and grabbed my toes behind my head.
Thanks to practicing every night in bed, it felt much easier than the last session.
Closing my eyes, I hypnotized myself.
‘I am a circle. I am round. My bones are flexible. I am a round child….’
“Hah!”
“Everyone, look at Crescent!”
“!”
Hearing my name, I opened my eyes.
All the trainee knights had stopped dancing and were staring at me.
Aluin approached with a huge smile.
“Yes! This is the perfect circle I was talking about! Crescent, you did it!”
Clap, clap, clap!
Aluin clapped with one hand while keeping the other steady—a high-class gesture of applause.
Finally, I had become a circle!
I smiled, unable to believe it.
“Did I really succeed?”
“Yes! I knew you’d be the fastest!”
“Thank you.”
Yay!
I stretched my body even further and proudly formed a perfect circle.
While I basked in the admiration, respect, and praise of Aluin and the other trainees, an unwelcome voice was heard.
“Tch. Looks so perfectly round, makes me want to roll you over…”
What?
I spun around and saw Edgar.
So it really was him.
‘That green-haired brat….’
When I glared at him, he flinched slightly. Did he feel the menace in my eyes?
“Wh-what! I was just saying it’s nice that you’re round!”
“….”
Sigh. The future of these paladins seems bleak.
I ignored him and focused on perfecting my circle.
Day by day, my schedule was filled entirely with training. Time flew by without notice.
After about a year, I began to wonder.
“Huh? Is the Demon King not trying to kill me again? Why aren’t any demons appearing?”
So far, only low-grade demons had manifested and been eliminated; no high-grade demons had shown up.
Could it be that my father was stopping the Demon King to protect me?
I shook my head to clear these unknown thoughts.
My father was surely strong enough to strike the Demon King from behind. Maybe the Demon King didn’t even have the chance to harm me!
“Yahap! Yap!”
My arms and body felt noticeably lighter as I swung my sword. It felt like the sword was part of me.
Two more years passed, and the once-heavy sword now felt as light as a feather.
I even felt like I could perform ribbon gymnastics with it.
“Phew. Paladin training is perfectly suited to me…”
During training, there was no time for other thoughts. Effort never betrayed me, and my skills improved steadily.
‘I wonder if Meteor is training well…’
It had already been three years since Meteor went off for special training.
During those three years, neither I nor the Pluto estate folks had caught a glimpse of him.
Occasionally, I heard that letters from Meteor asking about family arrived through the knights in charge of his training.
On a whim, I wrote a very brief letter myself.
Since it was the first time in three years, it probably wasn’t excessive curiosity.
[Are you doing well, Meteor?]
Did my letter reach him?
I had no way of knowing. There was no reply for a whole year.
A few months later, news spread throughout the temple that Meteor had survived a high-grade demon encounter.
‘As expected of Meteor.’
I could safely stop worrying about him.
I sent a simple letter, casually asking about him.
[I heard you went to the Demon Realm. When we meet, tell me all about it.]
This time, two years passed with no reply.
Honestly, I had almost forgotten that I was even waiting.
Both Meteor and I were too busy with training to think of anything else.
Now, not caring about a reply, I wrote again.
[Meteor, Adrian keeps telling me to marry him. How can I make men give up?]
Then, something astonishing happened.
A reply came from Meteor, as if by magic.
[Why don’t you try to really kill him? Throw Pingsoon at him.]
