A Girl's Vow
Morning. The rich, toasty smell of bread pricked her nose.
"Nngh…."
Sierra Grimkeeper woke with a heavy little groan. The plush give of a real bed pressed against her back.
Not the hard street. Not a pile of hay. She drank in that softness and stretched, long and luxurious.
"Sierra. Morning."
Yohan's voice came from the other side of the door. She sat up in a hurry and raked her fingers through her hair. Sleep-mussed strands caught in her hands. Combing her hair first thing after waking—that was a habit she'd never had.
"I-I'll be right out!"
This was Yohan's house. The room had once been a storeroom; they'd converted it just enough to live in. To Sierra, it was the most comfortable hotel in the world.
She'd only been here a few days. Thugs had nearly sold her off to a brothel, and Yohan had pulled her out of it.
And that wasn't all. He'd treated her to a proper meal, then given her a room on top of it. She would have been grateful just for a barn.
Why is he being this kind to me?
The question came naturally. Yohan had to want something from her. People always did.
Life was give-and-take. The world was never as gentle as people liked to pretend. If you received something, you paid something back. That was just how it worked.
"Sierra. You ready yet?"
"Ah—yes! I'm done! Coming!"
She hurried out of the room.
The smell of freshly baked bread filled the hallway.
True to being a baker's son, Yohan's bread was exceptional. Word was his skill had already surpassed his father's—the owner of Dwarf's Hearth.
"Pizza bread today."
"Heh heh. That's my boy. Inventing something this clever."
Yohan, his father, and his mother were already in the kitchen.
Making the hosts wait when I'm a guest… Sierra flushed and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
"Not at all. I think we were just a little too eager. Did you get enough sleep?"
Yohan's mother, Luen Baker, spoke with a gentle smile. Beside her, his father, Joseph Baker, laughed booming and warm.
"Hahaha. Sit down, sit down. My son takes after me—he's brought home a fine little daughter-in-law."
Sierra could only duck her head, cheeks burning at Joseph's teasing. Yohan scratched his hair and muttered that it wasn't like that, he kept telling him.
Breakfast was a joy.
For Sierra, one meal a day had always counted as eating well. Fresh, steaming bread for breakfast had been unthinkable.
"Father. Mother. Sierra and I are heading out."
"You damn brat of a son! Dating's all well and good, but the busy season's right around the corner—help your old man out! I'm planning to bake a mountain of that pizza bread of yours for the entrance ceremony."
"I already wrote down the recipe! Sierra, let's go!"
Yohan caught her arm and pulled her out of the shop. It felt, somehow, like they were running away together. A laugh slipped out of her before she knew it.
They came to a half-burned old warehouse. Tucked in a back alley, it was the place Yohan used as a training ground.
"Sierra. How are the skills? Useful?"
Once they'd arrived, Yohan asked, and Sierra nodded.
A skillbook.
The gift Yohan had given her a few days ago.
Skillbooks were expensive. For a street kid like her, the price had been a dream she couldn't even reach.
The reason she'd picked pockets and scraped together coin was to buy one.
A skillbook was the only way out of a gutter life.
Plenty of people on these streets were saving for the same thing.
And Yohan had handed her one like it was nothing. It wasn't even a low-grade skill.
B-Rank — Level 2
Throws mana-forged shuriken forward to attack the target. Shuriken speed scales with Agility. Attacks from outside the target's field of vision deal 10% increased damage.
Power: Equipped shuriken power + (Luck × 2)
C-Rank — Level 3
Swift, fluid movement to evade an opponent's attack or close the gap in an instant. Evasion success chance scales with Agility and Luck.
Cooldown: 7 minutes
B-Rank — Level 2
When struck, has a chance to generate a wooden log and blink a short distance, evading the enemy's attack. Evasion success chance scales with Luck; blink distance scales with Agility. The next attack after a successful evasion has a 50% chance to critically strike.
Cooldown: 3 hours
Two of the skills were B-Rank, and one was C-Rank. The skillbook she'd been saving to buy had been D-Rank. Compared to what she'd imagined, these were in another league entirely.
"How far did you get the skill levels?"
"Shuriken Burst and Decoy Dodge are Level 2. Speed Step is Level 3."
"That much in just a few days. Sierra, you really are a genius."
Genius.
A word she'd never expected to hear in her lifetime. Yohan's praise sent a warm, happy glow through her chest.
"I-it's nothing. It's thanks to my Trait."
That was Sierra's Trait. Because of it, she'd been able to raise her skill levels in no time at all.
"The Academy entrance exam is in two days. The Sierra you are now should pass without any trouble."
"Yohan. But… can I really enroll at The Academy?"
"I told you not to worry about the money."
"Th-that's not it. I just feel like all I do is burden you…."
Even the kindness she'd already received from him felt like a debt she'd spend a lifetime repaying. And now The Academy?
Admission was the first step onto a golden road. Graduating from The Academy was a credential in itself.
Once you graduated, you could pick your future. Knight orders, mage towers, merchant houses, mercenary guilds—the places that wanted Academy graduates were too many to count. Graduating was brutally hard, of course. But still.
"I'm… already happy with what I have…."
At that, Yohan leaned in close. Sierra reflexively tipped back.
Ruby-bright red eyes. Gold-blond hair like molten gold poured and set. Skin pale as milk, features cut as clean as a statue.
Even someone as indifferent to looks as she was had to admit Yohan was far too handsome.
Sorry, Joseph Baker, but was that man really his son?
That face made the closeness he sometimes showed a little overwhelming.
Yohan flicked her forehead.
Tap!
"Ow!"
She clapped a hand over her brow. Yohan snorted a laugh at the sight of her.
"I told you, Sierra. You're too much of a genius to stop here. Don't tell me you think my eye is wrong?"
"N-no. You're right."
"That's right. I'm always right. So I'm going to The Academy with you."
"Mm…."
Sierra swallowed a prick of tears. It wasn't the sting on her forehead.
Her life had been one long string of no. Everything she met told her she couldn't, she wouldn't. Fate's wall was so high and thick she could barely even look up at it.
And this man.
This man who'd barged into her life out of nowhere kept saying yes.
Whether it was confidence in his own judgment or the idle whim of someone who already had everything—he offered her unconditional certainty, even when she couldn't believe in herself. That warmth was so bright her heart felt like ice melting on a summer day.
She thought:
What he'd given her wasn't just good bread and a skillbook.
He'd given her a new life, and its name was hope.
Yohan…. You believed in me. I'll believe in you just as much.
Life was give-and-take.
If you received something, you paid something back. That was the proper order of things.
What Yohan had given her was a new life, bright and shining. Then she had to give him something equal in return.
My life is yours, Yohan. For you… I can do anything.
She clenched the token he'd given her and made that vow.
Even if the whole world turned against him, she would stand at his side until the very end.
If Yohan walked a path of thorns, she would walk it too.
If Yohan fell into hell, she would fall with him.
"Sierra. Let's spar."
She nodded.
"Yeah!"
Two days until The Academy entrance exam.
Time flew.