Chapter 79
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Growth
We left the capital and traveled without rest for a full fortnight.
Only after we felt sufficiently far from the capital did we try to settle in a suitable mountain.
But any mountain fit for human habitation was bound to already be claimed by someone in this world, and in our case, it was bandits.
A normal person might have spotted the bandit lair and turned back, but Helen was anything but normal, and even I, for all my shortcomings, wasn't about to get taken down by mere bandits.
I followed Helen as she raided the bandit lair.
At first, I thought this was all part of her plan to train me, but she conquered the lair through sheer force and declared,
"From now on, this is my house, and you're all my servants."
With that, she started putting the bandits to work.
Time flew by, and it had already been a full month since we left the capital.
Strangely enough, the bandits didn't run away. They docilely accepted Helen as their boss and me as the second-in-command.
This wasn't the hellish training I'd imagined. Life here was actually pretty decent.
The bandits handled all the miscellaneous chores, leaving me with plenty of time to focus on training.
Today should have been no different.
But something felt off.
As I headed off to wash the sweat from my body after training, Helen sent one of the bandits to summon me to the wooden house where she was staying.
When I arrived, she hit me with a question right away.
"Do you know why I decided to teach you specifically?"
It was something I'd been curious about but never bothered to ask.
Did the reason even matter when a Gold-rank adventurer was offering to train me?
Still, she asked, so I answered calmly.
"Because I killed innocent people?"
Helen knew about the innocent lives I'd massacred and had mentioned it before.
Nothing else came to mind, so even as belated guilt gnawed at my lip, I met her gaze without flinching.
What was the point of hiding now, even if I was the most wicked person alive?
Better to face it head-on—that was the best I could do.
"Right. The moment I got back to the capital, I reviewed all the requests that were completed or left unresolved while I was away. And yours jumped right out at me."
"Even though it must've been a secret request, it was still in the records?"
"Every request leaves a record. 'Secret' just means it's hidden from ordinary folk. Gold-ranks like me, great nobles, and royalty? We see everything."
"I see..."
"Even if no one peeks, the world isn't some neat little game. Things go sideways sometimes—you need to clean up or explain. Can't do that without records."
It was common sense. A moment's thought made it obvious, and I nodded along.
Helen sat on the edge of the bed, leveling her eyes with mine as she continued.
"First off, you have no talent."
"I know."
"Yeah, you know it, and so do I."
Shan, Marcel, even I knew it—Helen certainly did too.
It wasn't news, so I took it in stride.
"You're flexible, sure, but that's it. You're not slacking, yet your muscles won't grow, and at an age when you should still be shooting up, your height hasn't budged."
"That's..."
"Sounds like you've got a hunch."
As a game character, I was locked in this form—probably the reason.
I wouldn't get worse here, but I wouldn't improve either. Fixed, through and through.
I trained my unchanging stamina not to build it, but to get used to total exhaustion.
To temper my mental fortitude instead.
"If your body's no good, maybe your mind makes up for it? Nope."
"Yeah... that's true too."
Couldn't deny that one either.
I pulled off shallow tricks with game-system skills, but strip those away, and I was still second- or third-rate at best.
The proof stared me in the face, plain as day.
Assassination Sword was too specialized to judge pure skill, so Military Swordsmanship was the real measure.
Numbers don't lie. My swordsmanship was barely D-rank.
Months under two Silver-ranks, and still D.
I'd grown since before, sure—but not enough to shift the grade. Pathetic talent.
"Body underdeveloped, comprehension poor. But there are a few things. Areas where you outshine others."
"Killing innocents...?"
"No, don't sell yourself so short. I meant your decisiveness, your murky humanity, and your effort."
I tilted my head at her cryptic words. Helen pulled out a water bottle, took a few sips to wet her throat, then spoke.
"You don't shy from what must be done. You make the call."
"You cast aside your humanity and massacred the innocent for your goals."
"You know your talent sucks, but you don't quit. You keep grinding."
Decisiveness, murky humanity, effort.
"I've seen plenty of skilled adventurers dither without resolve, drifting to meaningless ends."
"Skilled ones who cling to emotions, get swept up, and die stupidly."
"Talented enough to live comfortably, but they stagnate, lose drive, and get swept away."
Helen spoke of what she'd witnessed, her crimson eyes fixed on me.
A chill ran through me, but I didn't look away. Her gaze was steady.
"Sword talent improves with effort, even if you're slower than most. But more important? Knowing when to swing—and being able to ditch your humanity if needed. In that sense, you're a bit special."
"...Aren't there plenty of amoral people out there?"
I could buy decisiveness, but twisted humanity? That wasn't rare.
Special implied rarity, and this part didn't click.
As if reading my doubt, Helen smirked.
"Do you go around killing innocents all the time?"
"...No?"
"See random people and feel the urge to murder?"
"...No?"
"Not murder, but wanna beat them up on sight?"
"......No?"
"What I mean is keeping your humanity intact until the moment you need to shed it—instantly. Not having it rotten from the start. Those types rack up grudges, no matter their skill, and don't last."
Coming from her, it was awkward to argue, so I just stared. She grinned and added,
"Gold-ranks are the exception."
Yeah, figured as much.
At Gold-rank, petty common sense meant nothing against that power and status.
"Anyway, your body's crap, your head's slow—but you check all three boxes I value most. That's why I bothered talking to you. Didn't think you'd actually keep up, though."
"Honestly, it felt a bit iffy, but it's not like chances like this come twice."
"True. Snatching words spoken in jest? That's skill too."
Helen stood, stretching with a gruesome crack of bones that no human body should make.
"We've been here half a month already? You're settled in?"
Ask if I'd adapted to this bizarre, comfy life where bandits handled everything at a word—the answer was set.
"Yes."
"Good. Time to get serious. Bandits'll handle the small stuff. You just train."
Ah, so that's why.
No breaks so far, but the pain was milder than feared—easier than Shan and Marcel back in the capital.
She'd kindly let me acclimate. Real training hadn't even started.
"First, before proper training: ditch the weird tricks. That crackling lightning crap. You're too reliant on it."
"...Isn't using everything you've got natural?"
"Sure. It is. But I've seen plenty lean on one gimmick, then die when it's countered. Using what you've got is fine—praiseworthy even. But build basics first, then layer on top?"
"Mm... Got it."
Not wrong, though a tad disappointing.
Silent Steps was a passive I couldn't toggle, but lightning? Sealed for now.
Gold-rank says basics are priority one. I wasn't dumb enough to argue.
I came to learn, not debate.
"I'll train hard."
"Good. Do that, or I'll toss you out."
She smiled, but her eyes didn't. Anyone not an idiot would know she meant it.
The real training began with live blades. The killing intent we exuded during sessions kept even the bandits at bay.
Why they didn't flee the lair, who knows—but they served faithfully as three months flew by like an arrow.
No Rie, no system alerts. Not peaceful, though.
The world blanketed in heavy snow, yet my resting spot stained red.
Beaten like a sword sheath—body bursting, bruising, breaking.
It hurt.
Hurt like hell.
But she was ex-Gold-rank, her gear top-tier. Potions healed this in two days. Just endure the pain—no big deal.
"Mm! At this rate, you could at least haul luggage."
"......R-Really...?"
I swallowed the agony, forcing a smile at her words.
The feat from a mere three months was plain to see.
Military Swordsmanship D → C
"Now you've got the basics down pat. Good job."
Helen crouched beside my battered, immobile form and stroked my head.