Chapter 42: Pressure
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: Pressure
People grow through suffering. Ludwig’s death was an immense source of stress, but it also became an experience that taught me how to overcome the loss of someone precious.
‘It’s not like I can grieve forever...’
A week had passed since Ludwig died.
I didn't skip my training today, either.
I hadn't missed a single day of training since the day he died.
“Hoo...”
I breathed in the refreshing dawn air as I returned to the cabin. At the entrance stood Evangeline, waiting for me, covered in the morning dew.
Standing there blankly, she spotted me approaching, shook off her daze, and rushed over.
“Yohan! You worked hard!”
“No... Master, you don't have to do this so early in the morning.”
“It’s okay! I’m doing it because I want to.”
Ever since Ludwig’s death—and ever since she learned that I was the one who had killed him—my master had begun to look after me with a strange intensity.
It wasn't enough for her to take over all the chores I used to do; she would also wait from the crack of dawn for me to return from my training.
And when I did? I would head straight to the bathroom to wash off my sweat, and she would prepare breakfast.
It was as if we were a married couple. I would go out to hunt, and Evangeline would manage the home...
‘This isn’t right...’
I shouldn't accept my master's kindness like this. I am her disciple, and it is my duty to assist her.
If my master ever felt I wasn't all that useful—if she realized I wasn't much help to her... I wouldn't be able to stay here just because I could love her.
‘A man has to do a man’s work... I can’t just sit around doing nothing.’
This was human instinct, human nature.
To protect one's woman and work hard.
Without fulfilling my duties, I could gain nothing.
“Haaah... Well then, I’m off to bed. Wake me up around lunchtime...”
“Yes, sleep well.”
Master Evangeline was not a morning person. If she was waking up at dawn for someone like me, she was the type who needed to make up for that lost sleep.
In other words, this was a time when I could be free from her. I had decided I would be of help to my master.
If so, I had to make use of this time. This time, free from her interference.
‘Shall I get going?’
I grabbed the various weapons I had bought in the city and left the cabin. Margaret asked where I was going, but I just told her I was going for a walk and headed deeper into the forest.
When I felt I had gone far enough, I whistled. Before long, the bushes rustled, and a large wolf leaped out.
“Woof-!”
“Hati.”
Fenrir’s daughter, Hati, appeared. As befitting the daughter of the house-sized Fenrir, Hati, too, was continuously growing larger.
Looking at Hati, who was now about the size of a small car, I briefly imagined a future where she would be as big as a house.
I wondered if, when that time came, she would be able to speak like her father, Fenrir.
“Let’s go.”
“Woof!”
I climbed onto Hati’s back, grabbed her mane, and watched as she tore through the forest.
Just as knights ride horses, I rode Hati when I hunted monsters. Using her sense of smell to locate a monster, Hati soon found one and charged straight for it.
“Kuaaang-!”
—Swoooosh-!?
An anaconda, flicking its tongue, was startled by Hati’s sudden charge. But like a beast accustomed to ambushes and assassinations, it reacted instantly, whipping its body around.
The anaconda dodged nimbly and launched itself forward to coil around Hati, but unfortunately for it, its plan failed.
I was on Hati’s back. Like a typical beast, it hadn't anticipated the teamwork between a human and a wolf, and the anaconda failed to notice me.
“Die!”
I swung my sword using the secret technique I learned from Ludwig—a movement that accelerated from zero to a hundred in an instant. Unable to react, the anaconda’s body was sliced cleanly in half.
I continued to swing my sword at the severed torso.
No animal could survive being split into an upper and lower half, but not all creatures were the same. Confirming the kill was essential.
“...Hati, eat up.”
“Grrrr-.”
After dicing the corpse into bite-sized pieces, I stroked Hati’s head, giving her the signal that she could eat.
Gazing at the finely chopped meat before her, Hati happily began to chew and swallow the anaconda’s remains.
It was a monster whose hide and meat could be sold for a high price if properly butchered, but I had no way to actually sell them.
‘Adventurers can’t even dream of catching this, and it takes the army to barely hunt one down, right?’
Its hard scales could easily deflect not only arrows but also blades, and it was too large and agile to be beaten with something like a sledgehammer.
It was a monster that could only be brought down after a large group restrained it with nets or chains and bludgeoned it for a very long time. Even then, the meat and hide would be completely mangled, which was why undamaged meat and hide were said to sell for an extremely high price.
‘If I took something like that to the Adventurer’s Guild to sell, I’d just raise suspicion.’
This was a world where witches existed. Witches, for whom mere reverence was a crime. If an ordinary adventurer caught a monster that was impossible to hunt alone, people wouldn't think a legendary adventurer had appeared; they would obviously brand him a witch's follower who had received a witch's help.
And no matter who I was, I didn't want to be branded a witch's follower. If I were wanted by the Church, posters with my face on them would be circulated throughout the entire country.
“All done?”
“Woof!”
“Then let’s go. We need to clean up quickly.”
I thought of my master, who was probably enjoying a nap back at the cabin. The least I could do for her, who worked so hard for my sake, was to do her work for her.
And for her, whose daily routine consisted mostly of magic research, there wasn't much I could do. At best, I could control the monster population in the forest to prevent it from becoming overgrown.
Fortunately, this was something I was confident in. Hadn't I been doing this even before Ludwig took me under his wing? Now that I had received professional training from him, I feared no monster.
—Shhhhrrrk-.
“...Hati.”
Just then, a giant monster that appeared to be the anaconda’s mother revealed itself. If Fenrir was the size of a house, this monster was the size of a train.
At a glance, it looked even bigger than Fenrir, its overwhelming presence instilling the feeling that it was absolutely unbeatable.
I grabbed the scruff of Hati’s neck and yelled.
“Run—!”
“Uuungh... Yohaaan...”
Evangeline opened her eyes, murmuring her disciple’s name. She was sure she had been dreaming about something, but she couldn't quite remember what it was.
What was certain was that Yohan had probably been in it. Picturing her cute disciple’s face, Evangeline smiled sweetly and stretched.
Her sleep schedule was a mess from trying to look after him, but she didn't resent him for it. It was all because she wanted to do it, anyway...
‘Let’s see, what is my Yohan up to...’
Getting out of bed, Evangeline immediately activated her crystal ball to check on her disciple. He was sitting in the living room, fiddling with something.
Zooming in to get a better look, Evangeline realized that Yohan was injured and that someone, an invisible figure, was treating his wounds.
[Ouch, ouch...! Hey, can you be a little more careful?]
[What? I should ask my master if I want that?]
[...Well, it’s a bit... hard to tell my master. So, please keep this a secret.]
The fact that her precious disciple was hurt was enough to make her blood boil, but the fact that he was trying to hide his injury from her was just as infuriating.
Feeling an inexplicable wave of dizziness, Evangeline staggered and sat on the edge of her bed, replaying what she had just seen.
‘Yohan... why is Yohan trying to hide his injury from me?’
When something goes wrong, people search their past memories for reasons and solutions. It was the same for a witch.
She recalled how she had always applied medicine for him whenever he got hurt, how she had even put her saliva on some of his minor scratches.
She was reminded of a villainess from one of the romance fantasy novels she had recently read, one who avoided all contact with her fiancé. The villainesses were extremely reluctant to touch a partner they didn't truly love.
‘Don’t tell me... has he... has he grown to hate me?’
Evangeline clawed at her face with both hands, feeling a wave of despair. It was driving her crazy. Just the thought that Yohan might hate her made her want to tear her own face off.
For a moment, as her nails dug into her skin and streaks of blood ran down, Evangeline, her face dripping, bolted out of the room.
The moment her door burst open, a startled Yohan turned to look at her—and upon seeing her face, he was shocked again, to a degree incomparable to his initial surprise.
“M-Master!? Are you okay!?”
“Yohan.”
“No, your face is wounded...”
“Are you hurt?”
“You’re the one who’s hurt!”
“No, not me.”
Tuk- Evangeline pointed to the bandages wrapped around Yohan’s arm and torso. Seeing this, Yohan froze before cautiously nodding his head.
Watching him nod, Evangeline felt her insides burn as she asked him.
“Why... why did you hide it from me?”
“...Hide it?”
“You always asked me to bandage you up until now. Why did you ask Margaret today? Huh? Have you grown to hate me? Did you start to hate the touch of someone like me...”
“Of course not! You were sleeping, so—”
“You asked Margaret for a pathetic reason like that?”
Evangeline’s eyes gradually darkened to black. She spread her magic power in all directions, searching for Margaret. Then, she began to crush her with it.
As the sound of Margaret choking reached his ears, Yohan, sensing what Evangeline had done, immediately grabbed her shoulders.
Then, without a word, he suddenly licked her face.
“──!?!?”
Her disciple’s soft tongue was licking her face. She hadn't even washed up after waking; she was worried his tongue would get dirty from her face when—Yohan, who had licked her, carefully pulled back and looked at her.
His mouth smeared with blood, Yohan yelled at her.
“Why does something like that matter? The fact that you’re hurt is more important... Look! What if your pretty face gets infected...!”
“...Yohan, you—you didn’t start hating me?”
“What? Master, I told you to stop reading those weird books. Why would I hate you? Do you think I could do this to someone I hate?”
“...Nn, you’re right.”
“Anyway, hurry and get the medicine—”
“Hey, not medicine-!”
Evangeline grabbed Yohan as he headed for the storage room to find medicine. She roughly wiped the blood from her wound with the hem of her clothes, then pointed to the scratch so he could see it clearly.
“I-it’ll get better if you put thaliva on it... like before-!”
Her tongue felt paralyzed, and she couldn't pronounce the words properly.
Cursing her own tongue for failing her at such a crucial moment, Evangeline looked up at Yohan pleadingly.
Yohan smiled slightly and did as she asked. Once again, his tongue licked her cheek. It wouldn't heal her, let alone disinfect the wound, but it was more than good enough.
“Ehe, ehehehehe...”
While Evangeline giggled foolishly, Margaret felt like she was dying.
‘Let me go, you crazy bitch—!!’
The pressure Evangeline had applied was still squeezing Margaret.