Chapter 18: Growth And Maintaining The Status Quo


TL: Scaramochi


***


"Hey Dale, you were the one who bought Athena's clothes, weren't you? If you had feelings for her, you should have told me first."


"No. I was just trying to help out the leader who is always working hard. Nothing more, nothing less."


"Well, I don't know."


Frey showed a grinning and pissed off face.


This kid really misunderstood. I would be damned if I was going to let her continue to tease me like this in the future.


Sighing, I suggested in a throwaway manner.


"I'll buy you something if you work hard for the party too. That's all right."


"No, I don't want anything! But well, if you insist, I'll take it!"


You either want it or you don't?


I had no idea what these kids were thinking nowadays.


As I was grumbling to myself, "Give me a break," Athena, who was ready to attack the labyrinth, came down from the second floor.


"What are you talking about?"


"Nothing. Hey Athena, don't stay in the air. I'll cooperate with you a little, but if you don't do it, I'll do it myself again."


"Who's going to get carried away?　You're the one who's going to get out of Stardust if you do whatever you want any more. As Dale told me yesterday, I've decided to be stricter from now on."


"Excellent."


"You two are in high spirits this morning, aren't you?"


"I'd like to say 'totally', but why don't you two take a cue from them and get motivated a little?"


"Oh, no. It's so hard."


I'm sorry.


Well, I know you're a do-it-yourselfer, so I'm not too worried about it.


......maybe.


"Okay, let's go."


"Sha!"


She had been so excited since this morning.


Don't get hurt or something.


But, well, I was looking forward to it a little bit.


I was looking forward to seeing Frey, who had reflected on her past behavior and matured a bit.


***


We were visiting the intermediate labyrinth as usual.


We proceeded to the middle level right after the upper level, fighting affordable monsters to strengthen the party.


But today, we saw a different scene.


"Damn elves!"


"Icy magic ice shot!"


(You finally got around to using it, good job.)


Frey, who had been fighting the monster, veered off to the side to let the projectile through and called out to her, and Mirialia unleashed her sorcery.


Thanks to the damage Frey had inflicted, the monster was unable to evade and died with a deafening scream when hit directly.


That's nice, you're getting pretty good at it.


It seemed that the effects of the various trials I tried yesterday with Mirialia are showing. I could only say that I was sorry for the troublesome elf who was forced to go along, but thanks to that, Frey was now cooperating.


Finally, she could rely on her friends.


At the same time, she was restraining herself from acting selfishly as she had been doing.


She was no longer running around like a dog when spotting a monster, and she was no longer interfering when Athena and I were fighting.


I never thought I'd see such an improvement in just one day, but it's a big deal.


But Frey wasn't the only one who saw a positive change.


"Ha!"


"Ggwaaaaah!"


Athena's sword, which slashed down monsters, was sharp and swift.


Her body, which used to be so slow and sluggish that you would think she was carrying a rock on her back, moved around as lightly as if her feathers were dancing.


Her "sharpness" was much sharper than before.


Golden flowers dancing in splendor.


The current Athena lived up to her name of "Golden Flower."


The "Golden Flower" was a beautiful flower that was a little less than the peak of the Est's magic, but it had been raised to a state that was close to it.


Why did Athena's condition suddenly improve so much?


It's partly because she took a day off yesterday and rested her body well, but I thought it was also because she was able to switch her mindset.


The expulsion of her childhood friend Est.


Her weakness of not having the magic enchanted to her.


The selfish Frey who disturbed the harmony of the party.


The disappointing stares from those around her.


Many problems were weighing heavily on her back.


She was impatient that things were not going well.


But Athena switched her mindset.


In other words, she reopened her mind.


She had a pained expression on her face, but now she was smiling as if she had come to her senses.


Human strength often depends on the mind.


When we're depressed, things don't go well and we're out of sorts.


When things are going well, we are in good shape.


They were simple and inexplicable creatures.


But. It's the simplicity that made it interesting.


Because Athena's movements, which were foolish and dull until yesterday, had improved to the point that you feel she was a different person.


And the bigger the swing of feelings, the bigger a person grows at times.


Especially young people, they sometimes grow so much that they jump over walls, not just stairs.


That's exactly what happened to Athena just now.


Her movements were so sharp that you would think she had become invincible.


It was fun, wasn't it, to be able to see someone's growth firsthand?


Athena and Frey.


These two were definitely stronger than they were yesterday.


Athena had become a little bit more of a child and Frey a little bit more of an adult, in opposite directions, but they had grown just as much.


I was happy to be able to see that growth directly and feel it on my skin.


And then I realized.


I finally became a teacher.


But then, there was one more thing that worried me.


I called out to the source of my concern.


"Hey, Mirialia, if you don't get into the swing of things soon, you'll be left behind by those two."


"That's none of your business. I'm a lot stronger than them."


Now you could go to.......


It's true that Mirialia was an excellent magician.


It's not just that she tended to skip work, but she was so good that she could draw the line at the end of the line where she didn't cause trouble for the party and skip work.


Even I couldn't imagine how good she was when she got serious.


But it didn't mean that Athena and Frey were so far apart in power that they couldn't keep up.


No, with the potential of those two, they would catch up with them in the not-too-distant future.


But, Mirialia also had the potential to be as strong as the two of them.


But instead of trying to become stronger, she was content with her current situation.


What a waste.


If she really aimed for the top, she could become a really great person.


Well, unlike Athena and Frey who had a rebellious spirit, in her case, she bent the navel when the outsider said anything about it, so I didn't want to say too much about it.


I didn't want to say too much, but I still wanted to take care of her.


"I don't care if you come crying to me later."


"That's funny. Even if something like that happened, I would never rely on Dale."


Was that right?


What was it....... When you said so, I, a 20 year old uncle, felt a little sad.



PREV | NEXT