Chapter 47
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: If Things Continue Like This
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tanya opened her eyes in bed.
It was early dawn. In the dark room where sunlight hadn't yet seeped in, Tanya slowly sat up.
Though no one else had woken yet, Tanya, who rose earlier than most, always began her day at this hour.
To avoid waking the other still-sleeping members.
She quietly got up and headed out, but as she did, she felt an odd sense of wrongness unlike any usual morning.
She halted and turned her head.
One of the beds beside hers was empty.
It was Rin's bed.
Already up...?
It was far earlier than Rin's usual waking time.
Tanya tilted her head for a moment... but then shrugged it off without much thought.
Probably just went to the bathroom or something.
She slipped quietly out of the room and headed down to the first floor, making her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast as always.
-Hoo...
"...?"
Hearing a strange sound she'd never heard before, Tanya stopped in her tracks.
An odd noise. Something that sounded almost like a person's voice.
"Is someone there?"
Tanya called out softly, but no reply came.
...A thief?
What could serve as a weapon... She'd left anything cumbersome back in the room since it got in the way while cooking.
Tanya hurriedly scanned her surroundings and cautiously picked up a nearby frying pan.
She strained her ears toward the source of the sound and crept forward carefully toward its origin.
The training grounds in the garden.
She quietly opened the door without a sound and peeked outside, immediately spotting the culprit behind the strange noise.
Rin was swinging a wooden sword.
Tanya, who had been on guard, froze at the completely unexpected sight.
"Rin. What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
When Tanya unwittingly called out Rin's name, Rin panicked as if caught in something she shouldn't have been seen doing and hid the wooden sword behind her back.
"T-Tanya. What brings you here?"
"It's time for me to make breakfast."
Tanya looked around, wondering if something was wrong, and asked Rin.
"What about you... What are you doing at a time like this?"
"Oh, just... Couldn't sleep."
Rin gave an awkward smile and made an excuse.
Training because she couldn't sleep.
Tanya eyed Rin suspiciously, half-wondering if this was someone disguised as her, but shook her head at the foolish thought.
She definitely seemed to be hiding something...
But Tanya just figured she must have been especially bored from insomnia today and let it go.
But even after that.
"Where's Rin?"
"Not on the first floor?"
"Nope."
Mika, who had been searching for Rin since she hadn't been seen for a while, noticed the physical training room door slightly ajar.
Peeking inside just in case, she found Rin there.
"Rin? You were here?"
"Ugh... What, it's you, Mika."
I don't think I've ever seen her use the stuff in here before...
Mika stared at the sweat-drenched Rin with a curious expression and asked.
"I'm heading to the market. Wanna come?"
"The market?"
Rin brightened at the invitation to hang out but then hesitated.
After a brief moment of thought, she replied to Mika with a darkened expression.
"No. I'm good."
"...Really?"
Mika looked at Rin in surprise.
She'd never refused before...
Mika eyed Rin oddly, but oh well.
If she didn't want to go, she couldn't force her.
Mika tilted her head at Rin's slightly off attitude from usual and headed back.
And once more...
Mika found Rin dozing off on the lounge sofa and spoke to her.
"Rin."
"Hweh?!"
Rin jerked her head up, startled awake at the sound of her name.
"Go upstairs to sleep."
"No, I wasn't sleeping..."
Rin wiped the drool from her mouth, shook her head, and picked up the book spread across her lap again.
What, reading a novel again?
Mika sneakily glanced at the title of the book Rin had open.
If Rin was dozing off while reading it, it must not have been that interesting.
She made a mental note of the title to avoid it later.
'Combat Techniques Manual...?'
Mika thought modern novels had really unique titles these days.
But moments later, peeking at the contents from behind Rin as she started dozing again, Mika realized with shock that it wasn't a novel at all—it was a real study book.
Why is Rin reading something like this?!
This... was abnormal.
Having witnessed Rin's bizarre behavior several times over the past few days, Mika and Tanya finally convened an emergency second meeting of the Ian Mercenary Corps.
The members of the Ian Mercenary Corps gathered hastily, excluding Rin.
"It's weird, right?"
"Totally weird."
"...What's weird?"
Mika and Tanya muttered with serious faces.
Lia, suddenly summoned for an "emergency meeting," tilted her head in confusion.
"Don't you get it? Rin's training and studying!"
"...And that's weird?"
To Lia, who still hadn't grasped the severity, the two listed out the odd behaviors they'd witnessed so far.
"She got up early in the morning to train."
"Suddenly studying and stuff!"
"Did physical training too..."
"Won't even go out for snacks with us!"
...Is that weird?
Isn't that just being diligent and good?
As Lia looked at them with that expression, Mika and Tanya had nothing more to say.
Having failed to convince Lia, the two shook their heads.
"No good. Let's give up on Lia."
"Can't be helped since she's the newbie."
"What the heck are you talking about."
Lia retorted indignantly, but the two had already left her behind and gone elsewhere.
...What is this? Some new kind of newbie bullying?
Lia trudged back alone with a slightly downcast expression.
Ian looked at Mika and Tanya, who had suddenly come to see him.
"Um, Captain. Is there such a thing as a curse that makes someone diligent?"
"...?"
A curse that makes someone diligent?
He had no idea why they'd ask that...
Just in case, Ian checked the mercenaries' status windows.
Fortunately, no one had any curses.
"Becoming diligent?"
"Yeah, like suddenly studying?"
Why were they suddenly curious about that?
Ian recalled what he knew about curses.
Diligence.
Forcing strange behavior was a fairly high-grade abnormal status.
Laziness.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Perverted habits.
Madness...
He could think of plenty of statuses that made mercenaries act on their own, but nothing about becoming diligent came to mind.
"Doesn't seem to be any."
"Really? What do we do..."
"If even the captain doesn't know, then it really doesn't exist..."
He'd initially thought it was just curiosity, but seeing how genuinely troubled they were, Ian grew puzzled.
There were no acquired curses that made someone like that, but there were traits related to studying.
Mercenaries with things like [Thirst for Knowledge] or [Love of Learning] didn't build up stress from training, and studying alone could raise intelligence or grant new traits.
Unfortunately, there was no way to acquire such traits after the fact.
"Would be convenient if there was something like that..."
"Huh?"
When Ian muttered that, Tanya and Mika flinched and backed away from him.
"So, why are you asking? Did you see something like that somewhere?"
"N-No... Haven't seen anything like it."
Let's not tell the captain for now.
Mika and Tanya exchanged silent glances, nodded, and quietly fled Ian's room.
Mika and Tanya, facing each other, nodded quietly and exchanged a silent signal.
Three, two, one...!
They leaped out from around the corner at the same time.
The target: Rin!
"Eek, whoa! What?!"
Rin quickly retreated, slipping between the two.
Having lunged at her from both sides to grab her, the pair crashed their heads together hard and tumbled to the floor.
"Wh-what. It's you guys. You scared me..."
"Ugh... My, my head."
"Ow ow... What was that, Rin."
"No, what were you doing."
Was this some kind of prank?
As Rin thought that and moved to help them up, the two suddenly sprang to their feet and grabbed her arms on both sides.
"Wh-what... Why?"
Rin, who'd thought it was just a prank, sensed from their expressions that it was something more serious.
Mika and Tanya dragged Rin by the arms to a corner of the hallway.
She could have broken free with strength if she'd wanted, but the serious atmosphere made Rin shrink back a bit and follow obediently.
"Rin. Is something going on lately?"
"N-No... Nothing."
Rin averted her gaze slightly as she responded to Tanya's question.
But her expression clearly screamed that something big was wrong.
If Rin's behavior hadn't been off to begin with, the two wouldn't have cornered her like this.
"You won't tell us?"
"......"
"What did you say to me last time?"
Mika prodded Rin's cheek as she asked.
Last time, when Mika had been cursed.
She was reminding her of what Rin had said when Mika tried to hide her worries from them.
Rin flinched, recalling what she'd told Mika back then.
"You said to trust your comrades, right?"
"......"
"That it hurt because we're friends, didn't you?"
Mika's finger poked Rin's cheek firmly.
"Ah, fine. I'll tell you."
Having those exact words thrown back at her, Rin sighed and spoke.
Only then did the two release her arms.
"...Actually."
The three sat in a circle in the corner of the hallway.
Rin faced Mika and Tanya and finally revealed what she'd been hiding.
"I feel like... if things stay like this... I'll have to leave the mercenary corps..."
"What?!"
Mika and Tanya shot to their feet at Rin's sudden words.
"What are you talking about!"
"Did the captain say that?"
"No, not that... But from the situation, if things continue like this..."
Rin, who had been agonizing alone until now, hesitated but ultimately poured out her thoughts to her friends.