Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Became a Master
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Recently, the nonstop training from morning till night had been split into two sessions.
The reason... you'd soon find out.
Ah, here he comes.
"Master, it's time to eat."
"I told you I don't need to eat, didn't I?"
I frowned, protesting like a child.
But a counterattack came right away, and in the worst form possible.
"Didn't you tell me that I need to eat a hearty meal for training to go well?"
"..."
I couldn't argue against my own words.
With a small sigh, I followed him to the cabin as he led the way.
"Sighing again? Didn't you say that sighing chases away good fortune?"
"..."
How did things end up like this?
Suddenly struck by the thought, I recalled the memory from three years ago.
To prove to the little kid who mistook me for a witch that I wasn't one, I had shown him my swordsmanship.
When the kid, gazing at me with a somewhat dazed expression, asked about me, there was nothing I couldn't answer, so I told him my name.
'Hmm, no problems up to here.'
For some reason after that, I got caught up in the mood and blurted out my goal even though he hadn't asked.
The kid looked at me, his eyes sparkling for no apparent reason, steeling his resolve.
Then he immediately prostrated himself on the ground and said,
"Could you please take me as your disciple?"
Hearing that, I looked down at the kid—sprawled on the dirt floor, lifting his head just slightly to gaze at me without moving a muscle.
Like me, he had deep black hair and deep crimson eyes the color of thick blood.
I wasn't sure of his exact age, but his body and youthful features made him look like an early elementary schooler.
Even so, he had such refined looks that you'd think he'd make a few girls cry in the future.
If this really was a world from a novel, this kid was unmistakably a protagonist.
He might even be this world's hero.
Thinking that far, I meant to refuse.
It was too heavy a burden for me to bear.
As you know, I was a coward who feared what impact my actions might have on the future, too scared to act rashly.
Under the premise that this was a novel world, I was clearly an outsider who hadn't even figured out exactly what this place was after several years.
Could someone like me become one person's master, one person's parent, one person's entire world?
'Ridiculous.'
I knew my place.
Despite my grand goal of cleaving the heavens,
I was nothing more than a big-talker who couldn't even dream of leaving this narrow mountain.
I wasn't righteous enough to sing praises of humanity like some heroic protagonist,
nor evil enough to harm others for my own goals like certain other protagonists.
I was just a coward, an ignoramus.
What help could I possibly be to this boy who might be this novel's protagonist,
or bear a fate heavy enough to ally with the protagonist in saving the world?
I'd only have a negative influence, for sure.
Having finished thinking, I conveyed my refusal.
"I'm sorry."
The child looked up at me with a hollow expression and spoke.
"Could you tell me why...?"
As a coward, I couldn't even explain the reason, lest revealing my selfish inner thoughts harm him.
I couldn't tell him something like, you might be a main character, and I can't burden you with things you wouldn't understand.
A coward like me just couldn't do it.
"I'm sorry."
I turned to head back home in that state, but from behind me, this novel protagonist—this child—spoke again.
"I beg you... I'll handle all the chores..."
As if realizing his own shortcomings, the child bit his lip so hard it drew blood.
"I won't get in the way of Heaven Cleaver's path to her goal..."
Tears welled up in the child's eyes, frustrated that he was still just a powerless kid.
"Even though... all I know how to do is be stubborn, and there's nothing I can do for you right now..."
The child paused as if catching his breath, then slammed his forehead against the ground hard enough to draw blood and said,
"Please... show me mercy..."
I watched the child weep and beg only for mercy,
when a sudden question rose in my mind, and I asked,
"Why me, of all people?"
"Because Heaven Cleaver's goal is similar to mine."
My goal—unlike me, a mere talker, this child might actually achieve it someday.
"Cleaving the heavens? Fine, then why do you have such a goal?"
This still-young child continued as if venting the resentment from his life so far.
"I..."
And so I heard the tale of how this young child had ended up in such a remote mountain.
It was utterly unbelievable for a child his age.
As his story went on, my eyes widened in shock,
and by the time it reached its conclusion, I closed my eyes and thought.
I was still a coward and an ignoramus.
I couldn't become this child's master, his parent.
I couldn't become the world for this child bearing such a heavy fate.
But even if I wasn't the story's protagonist,
couldn't I at least be a side character who appeared in one line of his fate?
Couldn't I at least give this poor child who'd lived such a harsh life—who bore such a heavy fate—a brief moment to rest easy?
I'm not saintly enough to sacrifice myself to save the world,
but neither am I cruel enough to turn away this tiny child who'd endured such a pitiful life.
And so I accepted the child's plea.
I could only hope my presence wouldn't harm him,
that it would merely be a brief rest stop in his life.
That was all I wished for.
Stopping my reminiscence of that pivotal day in my life,
I opened my eyes and looked at Nameless, who was placing vegetables on my spoon.
Heavenly Nameless—the name I call him.
Three years ago, when I asked his name,
he said he wanted to bury the name he'd used in the past, so I gave him a new one.
Truthfully, there wasn't much meaning to it.
A master and disciple are like parent and child, so I gave him my surname, Heavenly, and since he had no name now, he became Nameless.
But...
Honestly, I think it's a pretty cool name.
'I should've taken that name for myself.'
And rightly so—Nameless? It sounded just like a hidden master recluse.
The kind of benefactor who saves someone in crisis but doesn't even reveal their name.
Even though I gave him the name, I felt inexplicably jealous.
Tch.
I clicked my tongue softly, and Nameless shot me a quick, wary glance.
'You insolent brat... Begone!'
Of course, I didn't say it out loud—just pursed my lips and imagined scolding him.
He hadn't been such a cheeky kid before...
It's good for master and disciple to be close,
but
'This is a bit much...'
I didn't think so.
'My authority has hit rock bottom...'
For the first few months, he'd followed me obediently and shown only respect,
but after living together, he'd figured me out and started acting so brazen. Typical boy, I suppose.
Still, the way he took care of me like this meant he didn't hate me.
Probably.
Ever since taking him as my disciple, many aspects of my life had improved dramatically.
Since I never went down the mountain to nearby villages,
he must have wondered why and once asked me,
"Master, why do you stay only in the mountains?"
I couldn't very well tell my disciple,
"Because I'm scared."
So I just quietly averted my eyes, and he sighed, skinned the hunt, said he'd go to the village, and came back with spoons, blankets, and various conveniences.
Thanks to him, my quality of life had improved astonishingly.
'Hmm, thinking about it this way, even his cheeky side has some redeeming qualities.'
Nodding to myself in satisfaction,
Nameless, as if used to my antics, naturally ignored me and continued eating.
After the meal, I watched him washing the dishes.
'When did he get so tall?'
It had only been three years, but Nameless, now sixteen, was a full head taller than me.
So when we faced each other, I had to look up,
which always made me, a woman now, feel inexplicably aggrieved.
'This body's around early 150s cm, so at sixteen he's over 170? My stomach hurts.'
When I was a guy, I was in the 160s,
but becoming a woman made me even shorter.
'Damn...'
Even if I'd grown slowly from poor nutrition as a kid,
wasn't this growth spurt in just three years too sudden?
Now our height difference was a whole head.
'My dignity as a master...!'
It was in crisis.
"Nameless."
Nameless, washing dishes, set them down when I called and looked at me.
"Yes, Master?"
"Stop growing taller."
"Pardon?"
Tch, at least say you will.
For some reason, he scowled deeply.
"Nothing."
"Yes."
Nameless replied lightly and finished drying the dishes.
It was just a peaceful daily life.