A Little Better Than Yesterday
The sunset was tipping quietly toward the horizon, and my body knew the day was ending before the sky did.
The moment I stepped out of the guild after settling up, the fatigue hit all at once, late and heavy. Until then I’d still had the energy to count coins and throw a few extra words at Luce, but the second I breathed the outside air, my body grew a little heavier. My shoulders sagged, and the soles of my feet felt like they were finally giving up the heat they’d been holding in.
Kaya glanced my way.
“Want to wash up first?”
“Please. I think my body currently reeks of an equal-parts blend of blood, sweat, dirt, and goblin.”
“That last one is a little weird.”
“Ah, must be my imagination~”
Mari let out something like a sigh.
“I really need to invent a spell that shuts that mouth of yours.”
“If you do, tell me too. Sometimes even I can’t handle what comes out of it.”
“That’s your problem to fix.”
We headed into the public bathhouse behind the guild.
It was quieter than I’d expected. We paid a few copper coins at the entrance and stepped inside, and the thick smell of hot steam hit us at once—wet stone floors, the scent of boiling water, and an unfamiliar soap fragrance all tangled together.
Once I stripped and looked myself over, the whole day was written on my skin. My palms were raw and red where the sword hilt had bitten into them, and scrapes from stone still marked my forearms. My shoulders and thighs ached, too.
And right there in the middle of it all, my junior was faithfully asserting its heavy presence, same as always.
I glanced down for a second.
Heh heh… I am the strongest!
Looking at the goods the Dimensional Archive had made bigger and longer put me in a strangely good mood. It was also proof that while my body was half-dead, my mind was still holding up fine.
I dumped water over myself, and dirt and blood mixed as they ran down to the floor. The moment I sank into the hot water, a long breath slipped out of me without meaning to.
“Haa…”
Hot water. A clean body. Arms and legs still attached and working.
It wasn’t exactly luxury, but it felt oddly good. Hard to believe this was the same guy who’d been wandering the forest with a bloodied sword just a little while ago—my body was slowly coming back online.
I closed my eyes for a beat, then opened them.
Man, I really worked like a dog today.
The thought made me snort a quiet laugh.
I didn’t stay long. I scrubbed myself roughly clean, got out, and changed. After washing, some of the fatigue that had been stuck to my skin seemed to wash away with the water—not all of it, but at least I felt less grimy. And my stomach was starting to growl.
“Where should we go for dinner?”
“Sunset Hearth.”
Kaya’s answer was short.
“The place we went for lunch?”
“Yeah. They sell beer there too.”
Mari tossed that in casually.
My head snapped up at once.
“Nice~ On a day like today, you’ve got to have at least one drink!”
“One drink only.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Stepping into Sunset Hearth, the smell of grilling meat rushed up to meet us. Voices murmured under the low ceiling, and the light clink of plates and cups carried from table to table. The hearth side was warm; by the windows, a little of the night air still seeped in.
We took an empty seat by the window, where the darkened sky was visible. Starlight glittered quietly through the gaps in the glass.
Kaya ordered with the ease of habit.
Three meat stews, roasted meat, black bread, three beers.
A moment later the beers arrived first. Amber liquid with a soft cap of white foam swayed gently inside the wooden mugs. I lifted mine and took a sniff.
“Oh.”
It wasn’t completely different from beer back on Earth. A little fuller, though, and the grain scent came through stronger.
Kaya raised her mug.
“You worked hard today.”
Mari lifted hers after her.
“To not dying on the way back.”
“I’ll drink to that. Didn’t die, and made money!”
Clink!
The mugs tapped lightly together.
One swallow, and coolness ran down the inside of my throat—bitter, but soft on the finish. After thrashing my body like a dog all day, it tasted weirdly better than it had any right to.
“This is good!”
“Not your first time, is it?”
“No, of course not. I’ve had beer before.”
“Then why the big reaction?”
“…It’s beer! Come on, just try a sip.”
Mari laughed like she couldn’t believe me and tore into the bread, while Kaya pushed the stew bowl toward me.
“It’s hot, so eat slowly.”
“Thank you.”
When I dipped the spoon, meat and vegetables came up soft and fully cooked. One bite and the salty broth spread through my mouth at once. Hot, but good. Coming straight from a wash into beer and something steaming made the inside of my body unclench.
For a while there was more eating than talking. All three of us must have been starving.
Only after a little time had passed did Kaya speak up.
“Roy’s getting good treatment over at the healing sanctuary.”
I paused with the spoon halfway up.
“Is he a lot better?”
“He kept his life. The bleeding’s under control too. But he’s nowhere near ready to come back.”
Mari picked up where she left off.
“They said he has to start over from walking.”
“It was that bad?”
“It was his side.”
Kaya set her beer down.
“They said in about two weeks he should be able to move lightly. Rehab after that.”
“And full return?”
“Three weeks at the earliest.”
I nodded slowly.
I didn’t think it was long. If anything, remembering what I’d seen in that cave that day, the fact that he was alive at all was a miracle.
“Still… I’m glad.”
“Yeah.”
“So for a while it’ll be the three of us.”
Mari said it while looking my way.
“Don’t run off.”
“After everything we’ve been through?”
“I don’t know. You’ve got that kind of face.”
“Harsh~”
Kaya smiled a little.
“You did well today.”
“Oh…”
“I mean it. Holding your ground against that warrior goblin mattered a lot.”
“I genuinely thought I was going to die.”
“I bet you did.”
“At least I wasn’t completely useless. That’s a relief.”
Mari propped her chin on her hand.
“Even yesterday your grip on the sword was still half-baked, but today you actually looked like a person.”
“Wow, more high praise!”
“There he goes, climbing.”
“I’m not climbing—I’m moved!”
I took another swallow of what was left of my beer.
One silver coin and three coppers. That was my cut for the day. Not a fortune—but money I could feel in my hand, clear and solid.
Money earned by staking my life and getting thrown around.
Thinking of it that way, it didn’t feel light at all.
“Still, at this rate it’ll take forever to pay off all that tab.”
“Obviously.”
“But you can see the direction now, can’t you?”
Kaya said.
“Just keep surviving while you earn.”
“So for the time being, goblins are covering my living expenses!”
“That’s where you land with that?”
“Not wrong, though.”
I huffed a short laugh.
I didn’t have any grand goals. Saving the world, hunting some Demon King who may or may not even exist—that wasn’t my business yet.
For now it was just this: don’t die, make money, become a goblin slayer, pay off the tab, and build enough strength to hold on here.
That was enough.
When we finished eating and stepped outside, the sky was full of stars.
Whoa… that’s a crazy amount of stars.
The walk back to the healing sanctuary was quieter than I’d expected.
My body was tired, but strangely, I didn’t mind it. It was a different kind of tired from clocking out of a part-time job and heading home. I honestly never thought I’d end up in a fantasy world hunting goblins with my own hands.
Today I’d gotten thrown around once, and I could see a little of what I was lacking. Until yesterday it had felt like I was just taking hits and enduring. Today, even if only a little, it felt like I was looking and moving.
Just a little.
Exactly that much.
The next day.
It was still early enough that the morning air bit cold.
The training ground behind the guild was empty, and Garen was already there. This time he had a wooden sword in one hand; he’d been leaning against the wall, and the moment he saw me he straightened up at once.
“Not late.”
“Figured I’d get hit if I was.”
“Smart.”
Garen tossed a wooden sword my way. I caught it in a hurry.
“Come in.”
“Right now?”
“Were you planning to learn by listening only?”
“Uh… wouldn’t that be nice too?”
“Nonsense.”
So we went at it immediately.
The first exchange wasn’t all that different from yesterday. Garen was still fast, and Garen’s sword was faster still.
Shit, how am I supposed to block Attack Power 300 Garen!
I was still overwhelmed. But it wasn’t completely identical to yesterday. I tried to watch his movement, tried to deflect rather than block, and worked not to tangle my feet.
Tak!
Tak-kak!
I caught two, deflected one, and stepped aside.
In that instant, Garen’s brow shifted—just barely.
On the third exchange I got pushed back again.
My wrist went numb, and my center of balance wobbled a little. Still, I didn’t go down.
Garen lowered his wooden sword.
“Your sword didn’t improve in a single day.”
“I know that.”
“But… the way you look has changed a little.”
I watched Garen while I caught my breath.
“I think I’m starting to see it.”
“One real fight probably made you a bit more used to it.”
Garen circled me once as he spoke.
“Your sword’s still clumsy. Not enough strength, and your stance is half-finished. But better than yesterday. At least you weren’t getting dragged around by the blade.”
“Oh, can I take that as a compliment?”
“…A little.”
He tapped the tip of my foot with the end of his wooden sword.
“Fix the feet first. What moves before the sword is the body, and what moves before the body is the feet.”
Then he set a hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t watch the hands. Watch the shoulders and hips first. That’s always where the motion starts.”
This time he nudged my sword slightly, adjusting the angle.
“Don’t block—deflect. If you try to take everything head-on, your arms will break first.”
And finally he rapped my chest with the back of his hand.
“Once you decide to go in, don’t hesitate—push it all the way. An adventurer’s sword isn’t a pretty sword. It’s a sword that keeps you alive.”
I nodded slowly.
Not a word about noble swordsmanship or knightly forms—and because of that, it hit harder.
Not flashy technique. How to win without dying.
That was what Garen taught.
“Good.”
Garen raised his sword again.
“I can teach you a little faster now.”
“Nice. So yesterday’s total hell was worth it.”
“That smart mouth of yours is still the same.”
“Wouldn’t it be weird if only my skill suddenly jumped overnight?”
The corner of Garen’s mouth moved for the briefest second. Whether it was a smile or not, I couldn’t tell.
Garen-ham… that aura is insane.
After the short session ended and I came out of the training ground, Kaya and Mari were waiting in front of the guild. Both of them looked far more familiar than yesterday. Or maybe I was the one who’d gotten used to them.
Kaya looked at my hands and asked,
“How was it today?”
“Better than yesterday, I think? I even got a compliment.”
“That Garen gave a compliment? You sure you didn’t mishear?”
“No way. He said I was so much better than yesterday, a total sword prodigy.”
“There he goes, talking nonsense again.”
“Anyway, it was the good kind.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Mari smiled briefly and turned her back.
We put in another goblin subjugation request with Luce and headed straight out of the village, walking toward the forest on the northeastern outskirts.
Morning sunlight lay low across the road, and three long shadows stretched ahead of us. Yesterday we’d come back down this path covered in goblin blood—and somehow, today, it felt a little less strange.
I adjusted my grip on the sword hilt once.
Then I let the corner of my mouth lift, just a little.
“Let’s go.”
“Go what?”
“Today we catch more than yesterday and head back.”
Mari snorted, and Kaya laughed softly.
Under the morning light the forest looked no different from yesterday. What had changed—only a little—was us.