Persuasion
"Pfft!"
The moment she heard the nickname Black Bear, Dania could no longer hold back her laughter.
A bear?
Wasn't calling a pretty girl like me a bear a little rude?
"Pffheehee... a bear... you're too cute, Hera."
Watching Dania clutch my shoulders from behind and laugh so hard made my mood sour just a little. Maybe it was because she was laughing at my nickname.
I shot the man in front of me a slightly sulky glare, and he immediately bowed his head again and started begging.
"I'm sorry!! Please, just spare my life!!!"
Just how far had the rumors spread for him to be this terrified?
Did he actually think I was going to kill him?
He was staring at me as if I were some monstrous murderer who slaughtered people the moment they picked a fight on the street.
Hey, what exactly did I do?
I haven't done anything wrong.
Well, I did kill Bram and all his men.
And I did thoroughly thrash Gorjan's subordinates too...
"..."
Okay, maybe he had reason to be scared.
The number of people I'd put on the ground so far easily exceeded fifty. It wouldn't be strange at all if rumors of my savagery had gotten around.
But they were the ones who picked the fights first...
With a touch of indignation, I spoke to the man in an irritated voice.
"I don't kill people that easily. Anyway, what kind of building is this?"
"Pardon? But the rumors say... ah—never mind! Of course you don't!"
He must have caught the sour look on my face mid-sentence, because he immediately changed his tune. After a few awkward coughs, he began explaining the building.
"As it happens, I was hoping to see you, Lady Black Bear."
"Hera."
"Pardon?"
"Call me Hera."
Being called Black Bear just felt unpleasant.
"Ahem... ahem. As it happens, I was hoping to see you, Lady Hera. This building is a house Lord Gorjan specially ordered constructed for you."
"My house?"
Come to think of it, I had asked him to renovate a house. Apparently he had decided to just build me an entirely new one.
"Yes. They're pouring their hearts into the construction, so it should be on a completely different level from the other buildings around here."
"Hmm... mind if I take a look?"
If they were offering to build me a nice house, there was no reason to refuse.
Once the man agreed, Dania and I began touring the place.
Construction was still unfinished, so walls were crumbling here and there, but the interior was surprisingly spacious. There was a huge living room big enough to run around in without a problem, a kitchen stocked with all sorts of equipment, and—most importantly—three bedrooms.
I wouldn't have to impose on Lily anymore. She was still at an age where she needed room to grow, and thinking about how she'd been stuck sleeping in cramped quarters because of me made me want to move in as soon as possible.
Oh, and the bathroom was quite large too. For some reason Dania checked the bathroom first, and once she saw it she wore a thoroughly satisfied smile. She always said that when looking at a house you should start with the water fixtures—Dania really was thorough.
"Not bad. I already want to move in."
"Same here. Lily's going to love it."
While Dania and I were chatting about how pleased we were with the house, the man from earlier carefully approached.
"Um... Lady Hera."
"Yes?"
"It's just that... Lord Gorjan said he has a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
"Yes. A pack of goblins has been spotted on the southern outskirts, and he asked me to inquire whether you might be willing to exterminate them."
Come to think of it, I'd heard that monsters had been appearing near the Drax region lately.
I dredged up what I remembered about goblins. In the novel's illustrations they'd looked like ordinary goblins—small green bodies, wielding blunt weapons. But this was reality. I was curious what they'd actually be like.
So monster subjugation was the condition for the building renovations. Gorjan had been working so hard for us; I'd already been thinking I ought to repay him somehow.
Goblins? Easy as pie.
"All right."
The moment I agreed, the man let out a sigh of relief.
"Will you be okay, Hera?"
Dania looked at me with open concern. To put her mind at ease, I spoke as if it were nothing.
"Goblins won't be any trouble at all."
In the novel, goblins had been pure filler trash mobs—the kind that crumpled helplessly under a single swing of Robin's sword.
As I was thinking about goblins, a thought suddenly pierced through my mind.
If it's just goblins... couldn't Lily handle them?
I remembered my resolve to raise Lily stronger and send her to the academy. Theory mattered, but what decided victory in a real fight wasn't theory—it was instinct and experience. No matter how thoroughly you knew the theory, what came out in an actual fight was instinct. That was why people drilled endlessly until they could use theory on pure reflex.
The academy would teach her all the theory she needed. What I could give Lily was real combat experience, plus the insights she had originally gained on her own in the novel.
In that sense, a goblin subjugation would be excellent nourishment for her.
It was a perfect opportunity—but if Dania and Lily opposed it, the whole plan would fall apart. I had to persuade them first.
"Unnie, can we talk for a minute?"
"Send Lily to the academy?"
"Yes. If it's Lily, she'll definitely get in."
I'd expected her to be shocked when I brought up the academy, but she stayed surprisingly calm.
"Mm... honestly, I'd been thinking about it too. Lily has talent."
Come to think of it, Dania was the one who had taught Lily how to use mana. By chance their parents had made a connection with someone who could use mana, and they'd been able to learn from them. Dania had planned to send Lily to the academy to get her out of Bram's clutches. She'd taught Lily how to use mana for the entrance requirements, and Lily had picked it up remarkably fast.
"But now that we don't need to run anymore, I stopped thinking about it... Still, maybe sending her to the academy would be better after all?"
Dania clearly didn't want to be separated from Lily. They were each other's only family, after all.
But Lily had to go to the academy. It wasn't just about advancing the story. The countless opportunities and experiences she would gain there were treasures she couldn't find anywhere else. For her own sake, sending her to the academy was the right choice.
"If she studies at the academy, Lily will be able to grow so much."
"Yeah... I suppose you're right..."
Dania accepted my words.
"Then what about you, Hera? Are you thinking of entering the academy?"
The academy accepted anyone from age seventeen up to under twenty-two. Past twenty-two, mana growth became exponentially harder, so they stopped taking applicants. I still hadn't turned twenty-two, so I could enroll if I wanted.
"I have no intention of going."
I shook my head as I spoke. Of course I didn't. The moment I entered the academy, no matter how carefully I tried, I'd have no choice but to interfere with the original story.
When I told her my thoughts, Dania sounded a little disappointed.
"But... it would help you too... Aren't you even a little tempted?"
If you graduated from the academy without incident, life supposedly opened up like a smooth highway. A diploma from Regis Academy wasn't an ordinary piece of paper—it was a certificate proving you possessed exceptional ability. The Empire and countless guilds would wage bloody competition just to recruit those graduates.
Of course, I had a unique ability, so I'd be in demand even without a diploma. But I had absolutely no desire for that kind of success. Living comfortably was what mattered most.
"I'm fine. Besides, if I go, who'll protect you, Dania?"
Once she enrolled, Lily's safety would be guaranteed—but her older sister Dania would still have to stay in Drax. Even if public order had improved, it was still a lawless zone at heart. She would only be safe if I stayed by her side to protect her.
"...Hera."
Moved by my words, Dania lowered her head and pressed her lips together.
Heh. Even I had to admit that was pretty cool. I was congratulating myself, wondering if I'd looked like some gallant prince on a white horse, when Dania suddenly seized my shoulder hard.
"Hyet?"
Her breathing had grown rough, and she was staring at me as if she wanted to devour me whole.
"Stop tempting me like that... Unnie really won't be able to hold back anymore."
.....Huh?
And so, after persuading Dania, I returned home to persuade Lily—
"I don't want to!!!!"
Lily shouted in a voice far louder than usual, as if to say it was absolutely out of the question.
"Lily."
"I don't want to!!! I'm never going!!"
Flustered by her stubborn refusal, I tried to explain all the advantages of the academy to win her over.
"Lily. Regis Academy isn't just some ordinary school—"
"If I go to the academy I won't see you for three whole years!!!! I'd rather die than go."
Lily growled as she spoke.
Ah.
So that was it.
In the novel she had fled to the academy after losing her sister. But now Dania was alive and well. Of course Lily wouldn't want to be separated from her.
I hadn't thought it through. Simple persuasion wasn't going to work.
I was still fretting over how to talk to her when she suddenly scampered over and looked up at me with teary eyes.
"Unnie... do you... want to be apart from me...?"
Hngk! That was a foul...!
Her destructive cuteness nearly made my heart explode, but I steadied myself, stroked her hair, and spoke.
"Of course not... Unnie loves Lily so much. But that's exactly why Unnie wants Lily to go to the academy."
"Why...?"
"You're already so cute and pretty... but I also want to see the more grown-up Lily that the academy will help you become."
She froze—
as if time itself had stopped at my words.
"Grown... up?"
This was my chance.
My chance to persuade her.
I hurriedly pressed on.
"Mm-hm. If you go make all kinds of friends and have all kinds of experiences, you'll grow so much."
"And then Lily will become someone who shines brighter than anyone... and Unnie really wants to see that Lily."
Hearing that, Lily murmured under her breath with a stunned expression.
"...She said she wants to see me... but three years... no, right now it's still..."
She stood motionless for a while, muttering incomprehensible things to herself. Then, as if she had made a firm decision, Lily looked up at me with blazing eyes.
"All right. I'll go to the academy."
I let out a huge sigh of relief at her words.
If Lily had dug in her heels and refused, things would have gotten complicated in all sorts of ways. I had grown to love her too much; I would have respected her wishes. And then I would have had to interfere with the original story just to fill the hole she left behind.
"Whew... good. You made the right choice, Lily."
"Hera Unnie."
"Hm?"
Lily suddenly called my name.
"The moment I turn seventeen, I'm going straight into the academy."
"Mm. That sounds best."
"And once I graduate, I'll be an adult by then, right?"
She was right—if she entered the academy and completed the full three-year curriculum, she would be twenty.
Was Lily hitting puberty or something? Her sudden fixation on becoming an adult was a little unsettling.
"Y-yeah...? That's right?"
Her amethyst eyes blazed as they bored into me.
"When that time comes..."
And then she seized my hand tight.
"You'd better be ready."
Huh...?
Ready for what...?