What I Must Do While Alive
Enril had been locked away in her room for several days now, unlike her usual self, after failing once more to bring down the Tower.
Others assumed it was simply because of the severity of her injuries, but the real reason she had stayed hidden away was something else entirely.
“Live. Come back alive. Really, thank you.”
Puff—
Enril buried her face deep into the pillow.
No matter how hard she tried to forget, Rion’s words kept resurfacing in her mind.
Was it only gratitude she felt? No one had ever spoken to her like that before.
Even after walking through hell nine times.
Everyone had simply seen her as a Hero fulfilling her destined role.
‘No, no. That’s not it.’
Enril shook her head vigorously, still buried in the pillow.
If she had truly felt gratitude for Rion’s words,
It would mean that everything she had done until now had been nothing more than a reward.
She had only been supposed to do what a Hero must do, yet she had never heard words of gratitude.
Thinking that way now felt painfully foolish.
‘Then, what is this swirling sensation…’
After long hours of contemplation, Enril finally reached a conclusion.
This feeling in her heart was clearly guilt toward Rion.
She had been humiliated by the Tower Master because of her shortcomings.
Even though Rion had not been present at the time, the mana she had directed at him had been his assistance.
Since they had fought together, she had received the same mockery, Enril thought.
‘That’s right. This feeling is an apology to the instructor. Then…’
She shouldn’t just sit here. She should go and apologize at once.
Since she had realized her own deficiencies, she would work even harder to ensure such a thing never happened again.
Thinking that she would tell Rion exactly that, Enril hurriedly rose from her seat.
The urgent desire to see him was nothing more than the need for immediate apology.
Without considering any other possibility beyond gratitude or regret,
Enril ran at full speed toward the place where Rion was.
*
The sudden disappearance of Enril, something no one had ever witnessed before, had left everyone visibly shaken.
Could it be that she had suffered an injury severe enough to leave lingering aftereffects?
Or had her spirit broken, making it impossible for her to continue fulfilling her destiny?
They could not ask the reason and only worried in silence.
But Rion was different. He knew exactly why Enril was acting this way.
‘This is the first time the Tower Master, that is, me, landed a real blow. It must feel like a dream.’
After failing miserably several times, she had finally seen the true possibility.
The expectations and excitement arising from that moment would surely be far greater than imagined.
Controlling that feeling would likely take several days, Rion thought.
Rather than being annoyed by Enril’s absence, this time without her brought a small measure of relief.
Rion decided to make the most of this period.
Teach the trainees appropriately, search for any other candidates that might appear,
And find a way to control the body’s power that kept emerging without warning.
In fact, the latter was the most important and troublesome part of the current situation.
Such an enemy had never existed inside the Tower, yet the moment they stepped outside, it had become this way.
Whether the power restriction was speaking of this, or whether it was because they were outside the Tower,
Rion could not be certain, and the thought left him utterly exasperated.
“…I’m going insane. Why is this happening?”
The self-muttered words came so naturally that the body’s power still acted completely on its own.
It was fine under normal circumstances, but when mana usage exceeded a certain threshold, it revealed its true form.
To train Enril even stronger, mana use would inevitably become necessary.
In this situation, there was no other choice but to constantly take risks.
In a hurry, Rion installed a kind of barrier on his own body.
It was nothing like the sealing methods seen in novels.
This only blocked what was inside; it could do nothing more.
If an excessive capacity of power that it could withstand came rushing in, it would break without fail.
‘I have to be careful. It is correct that I should be careful… This is the beginning. It’s like the kind of person who knows how to hold back power.’
Using mana was as natural as using muscles.
Yet how could he control the flowing body’s power so precisely in the midst of it?
Even though he had erected a barrier, in the end it was only a makeshift measure, and he would have to remain constantly vigilant.
Although it was only temporary, Rion had already taken care of that, so he waited for Enril.
While doing so, he observed the trainees as well, but there was no Hero of Enril’s level.
Enril’s resurrection was probably destined to repeat several more times.
“Instructor!”
Just as Rion was organizing the next lessons he would teach Enril,
A cheerful voice from behind made him slowly turn his body.
“Rion Instructor!!”
Seeing her come running so urgently, it seemed his expectation had been correct.
She must be overjoyed. She had finally landed a solid hit on the Tower Master for the first time.
If she worked even harder from now on, she would surely have seen the hope of fulfilling her destiny.
She had successfully added new fuel to the flame that burned inside Enril.
In that regard, Rion did not hide his satisfaction…
“I’m sorry!!”
“…Huh?”
The moment she reached him, Enril immediately began apologizing without warning.
The completely unexpected sight left Rion with nothing to do but sigh.
He could not understand why she had suddenly run over and was apologizing.
Hadn’t she been supposed to say “I got a proper hit” and “thank you” for that?
“The instructor’s teaching was definitely amazing. But I… I was lacking, and I made the instructor look bad. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did Rion finally understand why Enril was suddenly acting this way.
For himself, it had been nothing more than a casual remark, but she had taken it differently.
‘Why are all of them making such a fuss.’
While forcibly holding back the urge to grab her face,
Rion walked up to Enril, who still could not lift her head.
“Lift your head.”
“….”
“I said lift your head, Enril. And do not apologize. What wrong did you do to apologize for?”
From Rion’s perspective, watching this was an action that would make his stomach burst.
She had done nothing wrong; she had only fought with all her strength.
It did not sit well with him that she was acting as if she were the one who had committed a crime.
No matter how much she could not fulfill her duties as a Hero.
Even if she had reached a situation where her life had been saved by the Tower Master.
That had been, after all, an unavoidable event.
“I’m apologizing because…”
“Don’t tell me you think I can’t handle it even with the mana cultivation technique I taught you. You think I made a mistake with that new method? You hadn’t even mastered it for a month yet. No mistake, nothing. If there had been more time, if I had known more, the result might have been different.”
“….”
“Don’t pay attention to what anyone says. You’ve done well enough.”
Rion clicked his tongue and lightly scolded her to train more in the time she had.
Because seeing Enril like this deflated was not pleasant.
“…Rion Instructor.”
Enril, who had been standing silently for a while, slowly opened her lips while looking at Rion.
“I… I will really, really work hard. So, so I will make sure there is no such thing next time.”
No, that meant the words she said at that time were meant in that sense….
Rion let out an internal sigh and reluctantly nodded his head.
In the current situation, it was satisfying enough that Enril had learned the mana cultivation technique.
And that her will had not broken and continued.
“Very well, then since you’ve learned the most basic of the mana cultivation technique, let’s move on to the next. Pay attention. From now on, the difficulty will increase significantly. Got it, Enril?”
“…Yes, Rion Instructor. I will do my best.”
The Hero who had been broken by the Tower Master, but again gaining strength by the same Tower Master.
To make the Hero who would kill her stronger, she had to be defeated repeatedly.
The fates of two people who had nothing to do with each other were becoming more intertwined.
*
“Failed again this time, huh.”
“So it seems.”
“Then this would be the ninth failure.”
Inside the conference hall, several men and women were having serious conversations.
From the content, it seemed they were talking about the Tower and the Heroes.
“In that case, isn’t she no longer usable?”
“But unlike other Heroes, she has been resurrected several times.”
“Could that Hero named Enril have made some deal…”
“Stop! How can you say that! She was just lacking in power! How can you say such things to a Hero heading to the Tower after enduring terrible pain and fear?!”
The person who had raised their hand to the middle-aged man’s shout immediately closed their mouth.
Even if they thought about it, it was unforgivable to suspect Enril.
“But her limit has clearly been reached.”
However, not everyone was favorable to her.
Resurrecting after defeat was one or two times, but with too many, hope was lost.
They would not suspect her, but they should stop placing excessive hope.
“Now we have to find another possible candidate. We must give all support to that candidate.”
“That’s right. We can’t rely on one person forever.”
“I heard that a new method called the mana cultivation technique has been introduced this time.”
“Is it the one Head Instructor Edmond mentioned? Upon checking, it seems it’s the new training instructor named Rion who proposed it. It’s a mana usage method used by certain warriors across the sea.”
Their topic briefly switched from the mana cultivation technique and Rion.
How much positive impact could these have on the Hero candidates?
“From what I heard about the evaluation, Instructor Rion seems to be quite an excellent person. So, I think it’s better to separate him and assign him to another candidate to bring down the Tower.”
“By any chance, is there someone you’re keeping an eye on?”
Then a person in pure white priest robes smiled.
“I heard that a new Saintess has been designated within the Battle Priest Corps this time.”