Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Clue (2)
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Dream world.
Stab—stab—stab—.
In the endless cycle of repeating pain, Theresia was losing her sense of self.
Stab—.
‘Again…….’
Stab—.
‘Again.’
Stab—stab—.
‘Again, again.’
Stab—stab—stab—stab—!
‘Again, again, again, again…….’
She had become nothing more than a doll thrusting her spear at the wall.
A doll fraying at the edges, not knowing when it would completely fall apart.
Even knowing that, Theresia couldn’t stop thrusting.
How much time had passed like that?
Stab—.
Just like always, when she thrust her spear into the wall.
An anomaly occurred, something that had never happened before.
Crack—.
A large crack split the wall.
Theresia tilted her head in confusion.
‘Why?’
It hadn’t been long since the new wall had appeared.
She still had a long way to go before she could break it down with more thrusts.
Yet suddenly, a crack appeared in the wall?
Craaaack—.
The wall, slowly widening its cracks, soon came crumbling down.
With it, a massive hand made of light emerged from beyond the wall.
‘That’s……?’
Theresia instinctively knew.
That enormous hand was what had shattered the wall.
The giant hand that had appeared by destroying the wall reached toward the doll called Theresia and unhesitatingly scooped her up.
Theresia had become like a princess captured by a giant from a fairy tale.
It might have seemed extremely dangerous, but the person involved, Theresia, felt an inexplicable comfort from the giant’s hand.
The warm heat emanating from the massive hand.
[Hmm~ hmm~.]
A faint humming tune.
And.
‘…A savory smell?’
The moment she recognized it, she woke from the dream.
She bolted upright—
A sharp ache—
Theresia jerked her upper body up in haste.
The muscle pain throughout her body helped her snap to attention.
Awakened, she blinked at the unfamiliar situation.
‘Huh?’
It was unmistakably her own dwelling, no matter who looked.
Yet there was a campfire she hadn’t lit, and atop it hung a large stone pot.
And beside it, a crouching intruder.
“Hmm~ hmm~ Huh?”
Yuri, who had been humming while stirring the pot’s contents, spotted Theresia awake and flashed a delighted smile.
“You’re up?”
He scooped an appropriate amount from the stone pot into a small wooden bowl and scurried over to Theresia’s side.
“Here, take it.”
“…….”
Theresia absentmindedly accepted what Yuri offered.
The wooden bowl, seemingly freshly carved, was filled generously with some unidentified porridge.
The moment the warm steam touched her nose, a savory aroma wafted up intensely.
Only then did she realize this was the smell from her dream.
She blankly looked up at Yuri.
Meeting her hollow gaze, Yuri smiled kindly.
“Come on, eat up so you can recover quickly.”
“What… are you doing here right now?”
“Oh, don’t worry. This isn’t some ulterior motive or anything. It’s just my pure, pure goodwill, goodwill!”
“……?”
Seeing Theresia floating question marks above her head, Yuri put on the most innocent, kind expression in the world.
‘No ulterior motives at all.’
Yuri truly had no ulterior motives.
“I just want our Tetsha senior to eat well, regain her strength, and get back to training as soon as possible.”
“……?”
You gotta recover fast to start training again, and then we can spar sooner, right?
“That’s really all it is.”
“……?”
Yuri truly had no ulterior motives.
“I’m telling you, that’s really it?”
…Probably?
* * *
After Johan’s visit, Yuri showered Theresia with his goodwill without holding back.
“Ehehe, what’s this? A good bed is crucial for a person! That’s how you recover from training fatigue! Here, use this!”
He gifted her a wooden bed he’d made himself.
“You think swinging a spear on just this dry ration? Here, give me that and chew on this!”
Whenever Theresia ate her dry rations, he’d scamper over, snatch them from her hand, and replace them with skewered meat.
“Wow, how’d you live in a place like this? As they say, your living environment hugely affects your physical condition! Here, these are leftovers from sprucing up my place…….”
He busily crafted all sorts of things for her barren dwelling.
Yuri diligently took care of Theresia in every way.
The problem was… he was taking care of her too diligently.
“Haa…….”
Theresia let out a long sigh upon seeing Yuri follow her into the training ground.
She turned around as she walked ahead and asked.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
Yuri tilted his head, feigning ignorance.
Theresia’s delicate brow furrowed slightly.
“You don’t know?”
“What did I do?”
“Why… why are you being so nice to me?”
Yuri’s expression turned sullen.
“Jeez, even when I’m being nice, you complain.”
“…What?”
“If you don’t like the favors, just refuse them on the spot. But you take everything I give, and now you question why I’m being nice? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“…….”
Theresia’s eyes wavered at the sharp rebuke.
Honestly, she didn’t dislike Yuri being nice to her.
No, she liked it.
How could she not?
For the first time since entering the cradle, she’d slept in a proper bed.
She ate real food instead of dry rations.
Her empty dwelling now actually looked lived-in.
All changes brought by Yuri.
And in just a few days.
Yet Theresia said this because it felt burdensome.
She let out a quiet sigh.
“Haa… Fine, to be honest, I already know why you’re being nice to me.”
Yuri waved his hand dismissively.
“Haha, what are you talking about? Wanting something in return? I told you, it’s my pure goodwill! Goodwill!”
“You’re being nice to me… because you want to increase our sparring sessions.”
“……?!”
Yuri’s pupils trembled.
‘H-How did she know?’
Was it that obvious?
I was just being nice.
What gave it away?
There shouldn’t have been any hints!
All sorts of thoughts raced through Yuri’s mind.
Theresia realized her guess was correct from Yuri’s sudden silence and his wavering pupils.
Her sigh deepened.
“Haa… Don’t be nice to me. Honestly, it’s a bit… no, very burdensome.”
“Th-That’s…….”
“I get that you want to earn points.”
“……?”
“You want more spars for the points, right? But no matter how nice you are, I can’t increase the sessions with my current capacity.”
“……?”
“I’d like to spar more too. But ramping them up recklessly would blow my budget.”
“…….”
Yuri blankly stared at Theresia.
Then it hit him.
‘Oh, so she thinks my goal is points?’
Yuri’s actual goal was the spars themselves.
More spars to rack up as many aptitudes as possible.
But Theresia thought his aim was points.
That he was being nice to get more spars for more points.
Hence the burden.
Having pieced it all together, Yuri suddenly exploded.
“No, seriously, what do you take me for!”
“……?”
“Do I look like some point-obsessed guy?”
“You’re not?”
“Of course not!”
Yuri proudly thrust out his chest.
“I take goods too!”
“……?”
“Or info!”
“…….”
Theresia’s mind froze for a moment.
After a while, she grasped his meaning and let out a heavy sigh.
“Ah… So it’s not just points, but other stuff too.”
“Naturally. Being picky with your intake is bad for you.”
Being nice to increase spars for points?
Theresia misunderstood that?
‘Wow, jackpot!’
Yuri’s eyes gleamed.
“Alright, since it’s come to this, I’ll be straight up. From now on, for 10,000 points—or equivalent goods or info—I’ll spar anytime.”
“Hmm…….”
Theresia pondered.
Because Yuri’s proposal was better than expected.
‘Goods worth 10,000 points… nah, info’s better.’
She had no goods on hand, so info appealed more.
Theresia probed cautiously.
“…How will you value the info? How do I know if what I tell you is worth 10,000 points?”
“I’ll judge that. If it’s useful to me, I might value it more than 10,000. Very, very fairly, so don’t worry.”
Theresia nodded at Yuri’s response.
It was definitely a good deal.
She’d wanted to spar with him more often anyway.
“Fine. Let’s do that.”
Yuri’s smile deepened at her firm agreement.
‘Nice.’
It really was.
Not only had she set the table, she’d revealed her hand and upped the stakes.
10,000 points, goods, info.
He’d succeeded in increasing spars, so whatever he got, he wouldn’t lose.
Pure profit no matter what.
‘Plus, I can slap a 10,000-point value on decent info and rack up sessions easily.’
Yuri’s eyes curved like crescent moons.
“Alright then…….”
He rubbed his hands together, eyes sparkling.
“How about… a spar today?”
“Sure.”
“What’ll you pay with? Points? Goods? Info?”
“…Info.”
“Info’s great! Excellent choice!”
Yuri beamed.
* * *
Once Theresia’s exclusive training ground.
Now a sparring arena, the cave.
Clangs of metal and explosions echoed from within.
Clang—!
Boom—!
Yuri and Theresia.
Since their new sparring contract, they’d sparred daily without rest.
Sword versus spear.
A contest of speed against speed had raged for days.
But in all spars so far, neither had seized complete dominance.
They’d simply exceeded 100 exchanges and ended naturally.
Today’s spar was no different.
No one held perfect advantage.
But one thing had changed.
The attack-defense ratio.
In the first spar, attacks were near 50-50.
But in the next, it shifted to Yuri’s favor.
Now, it was Yuri 55, Theresia 45.
Yuri’s attacks increased, Theresia’s defenses naturally rose.
In mere days.
Realizing this, Theresia gritted her teeth.
‘As expected… he’s different.’
The growth gap was too vast.
For her one step forward, this guy leaped several.
Theresia could only sense it.
Soon, the ratio would shatter completely, and she’d be clearly pushed back.
Maybe sooner than she thought.
But that was her misconception.
Clang—.
‘Left here.’
Clang—!
‘Next, dive low.’
Boom—!
‘Always counters like this.’
The ratio had already collapsed long ago.
Only Theresia hadn’t noticed.