Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Side Story - Children's Day
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🎉 Side Story Notice 🎉 This chapter is a special side story released to celebrate Children's Day. The settings and content of this chapter have absolutely no relation whatsoever to the main story. "Hmm..."
I woke up from sleep, and my world had become strange.
No, it wasn't so much that the world had changed—it was that my eye level had noticeably dropped.
"No way."
Wondering if I'd somehow been transported to yet another world, I shakily made my way to the mirror. Thankfully, it was the familiar face I knew so well.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack..."
I placed a hand on my chest, where my heart was still pounding thump-thump, and let out a small sigh.
Still, it was a relief. In the past, I'd gone through something like this before.
The kind of thing you often see in wuxia novels: reversion to childhood. In simple terms, my body had reverted to its younger self.
I tilted my head.
Was it normal to revert to childhood twice?
As I mentioned before, I'd already experienced this once and had maintained my adult form ever since.
But to turn young again?
Was it some side effect because this world was fantasy rather than pure wuxia?
Hmm, my head was starting to ache, so I shook it off and stopped thinking about it.
No point dwelling on it anyway—what's done is done, and no amount of worry would fix it.
I tidied up the bedding and stepped out of the cabin, heading toward Nameless, who was still asleep.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ - Heavenly Nameless
The night before, Master had asked if I had any wishes for tomorrow, saying it was a special day.
My foolish self back then had thought, "As far as I know, there's no imperial holiday on the fifth of May..." But not anymore.
If Master said a crow was white, it was white. If she said today was a holiday, then it was.
Anyway.
Having heard her words, I made a small wish, and now it was unfolding before my eyes in the most absurd way.
...
"Nameless, are you awake?"
Was something good happening?
Her voice was distinctly higher than usual. With a small smile, I turned my head and...
Master approached me, rubbing her eyes with hands as delicate as fern fronds.
Fern-like hands?
I wiped the smile from my face and stared at her with wide eyes.
The first thing that caught my eye was her height.
She was already petite, but now she was a full head shorter.
Next was her face.
The faint traces of maturity that had been visible before were gone, replaced by chubby, baby-fat cheeks that made her look utterly childish. Her eyes, which had always seemed bored with everything, now sparkled with innocent brightness.
And finally... well, somewhat irreverently, her body.
Master's figure had always had gentle curves that prevented anyone from mistaking her for a minor despite her small stature. But now... it was perfectly flat and straight.
"...What in the world."
In short, Master had turned into a child.
I narrowed my eyes at the incomprehensible situation and stared at her.
"...Are you really Master?"
She nodded vigorously and scratched her head with an awkward smile.
"I woke up like this."
Was waking up with a younger body a normal occurrence...?
As I stood there slightly flustered by her bizarrely calm demeanor, Master toddled over on her short legs and tugged at my clothes.
"Ung... Maybe because my body's younger, but I'm hungry..."
She whined like a fussy child, and I felt something about to pour from my nose, so I pinched it shut.
...
Master really must have been hungry—she awkwardly gripped the spoon and slurped down the soup I'd made with gusto.
Her eating was so endearing that I forgot about my own meal and just watched her. Then I noticed the soup around her mouth.
Should I wipe it for her?
Normally, I'd do it without hesitation, but now she looked like a child.
If I fussed over her too much, it might hurt her pride.
And...
The way she ate with food smeared on her face didn't look messy at all. In fact, it was a little... cute. I decided to watch just a bit longer before saying anything.
To clarify, it was purely in an innocent sense.
Of course, Master was always cute... Wait, why was I making excuses to myself?
Sudden self-loathing hit me, and I sighed deeply while rubbing my face. Master tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong?"
"...You have food on your mouth, Master."
"Gasp! ...You're right!"
Her eyes went wide as she frantically rubbed her mouth with the back of her hand. My head throbbed.
What was going on?
Had her younger body affected her mind too?
Her speech was the same, but her actions were straight out of a kid's playbook.
If I gave her a teddy bear right now, she'd probably grin ear to ear and take it...
Imagining that brought a smile to my face.
"Eek—Nameless, your expression looks creepy."
"..."
...Master needed to turn back as soon as possible.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ - Heaven Cleaver
No matter how young my body had become, I couldn't neglect my training!
Having eaten a hearty meal, I reached for my wooden sword to head out for practice, but...
"Hngh!"
Today, the wooden sword felt unusually heavy.
'A sword I've swung my whole life feels heavy?!'
This had to be the work of some force conspiring against me!
I whipped my head around and shouted loudly at my surroundings.
...Though the voice that came out was that of a whining child.
"Hngh! Enough with the pranks—show yourself!"
After struggling with the wooden sword for a while, Nameless—who had left the cabin first—returned with a slightly anxious look and checked on me.
"What's wrong?!"
"Oh! Nameless! Perfect timing! Look at this, just look! The wooden sword is acting weird!"
"...The wooden sword?"
Nameless gave me a subtle expression, glanced down at it for a long moment, sighed softly, and picked it up effortlessly.
"Wha—why can you lift it so easily...?"
"Pardon?"
No way.
I slowly extended my hand toward him and spoke in a trembling voice.
"N-Nameless, could you pull me for a moment...?"
"...Yes."
I braced my legs, arms, waist, and even circulated my internal energy to resist, but...
My body offered no resistance and thudded right into Nameless's broad chest.
...More precisely, his lower abdomen, thanks to my shrunken height.
"M-Master?"
"This can't be...!"
"What in the world is going on...?"
I wriggled around in his arms and looked up. He gazed down at me with worried eyes.
"My internal energy feels completely drained!"
"Your... internal energy?"
"Yes! That's why my body turned young like this!"
Thankfully, the cause of my rejuvenation wasn't some conspiracy or injury—it was simply that my dantian, where I stored my internal energy, had gone completely empty.
No major internal damage seemed present, so a bit of Internal Energy Circulation and some time should restore me to normal soon.
Relieved that it wasn't serious, I sighed in Nameless's arms. His body shuddered violently.
Puzzled, I tilted my head and looked up at him.
"Ung?"
"...So, you can turn back then?"
"Of course! It'll recover in about a week!"
"A week..."
Nameless sighed softly, released his hold on me, and rubbed his face.
As the constraining warmth around my body faded into freedom, a strange sense of reluctance washed over me.
Reluctance?
This time, I shuddered and pulled away from him.
"N-Nameless, you go ahead and train."
"...? Yes."
Unable to meet his eyes due to this inexplicable feeling, my face flushed red.
'Why am I like this?'
I fanned my heated face furiously while thinking.
Come to think of it...
I'd held Nameless in my arms plenty of times, but being held by him was exceedingly rare.
Ah, it must be embarrassment from being cradled by my disciple!
Hmm, that had to be it.
Nothing else explained it.
Probably.
I snapped out of it and turned to watch Nameless remove his upper garments for training. Heat rushed to my face again, so I shook my head vigorously.
Ugh, I just couldn't calm down.
I needed to help with his training and reestablish my master's dignity.
With a determined expression, I stepped out of the cabin.
"Kyaa!"
I tripped over an unexpected rock.
"Waaahhh!!!!!!"
Frustrated that nothing was going my way, I cried endlessly.