Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Childish Squabble
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Without a doubt, the childish brats' argument had begun.
"Then let me just confirm a few things. That’s okay, right?"
"Of course. Ask away."
"......Fine."
Lucia took a deep breath.
She was well aware of her own fiery temper.
She steeled herself not to repeat the same mistake.
Her opponent was just a ten-year-old kid.
He didn’t know any better yet, so as the adult, she just needed to guide him onto the right path.
'There are more than a few things to point out, but first...'
"I can kinda understand swinging weapons around recklessly."
"Yeah."
"It’s a common mistake for amateurs who know nothing about martial arts."
"Just so you know, I’m beyond expert level myself."
"......It looked sloppy to an expert’s eyes, huh."
"I was trying to focus, though. Kinda disappointing."
The smile faded from Shiron's face, but Lucia had no intention of stopping.
She hadn’t softened her resolve enough to back down here.
An arrow once loosed couldn’t be called back.
"First off, there are tons of weird things about your bizarre routine—what you call training."
"I’m not even sure where to start, but anyway."
Lucia pointed with her fingertip at the weapons scattered haphazardly across the ground.
"Swords, spears, maces—I get those. You can get a feel for spacing just by swinging them around."
"Right."
Shiron crossed his arms and nodded. It almost looked like he was listening attentively.
Satisfied, Lucia cleared her throat lightly and steadied her voice.
"Now, the main point. What on earth possessed you to swing daggers, shields, and staffs around?"
"Your training method is completely wrong."
"That’s a fair point."
Sure enough, Shiron had figured out what Lucia was getting at with his training regimen.
It was a perfectly reasonable observation.
On the surface, his method looked like nothing more than unstructured, inefficient repetition.
Even Shiron himself realized that his actions hadn’t been normal.
But that was before he’d checked his proficiency levels.
Shiron uncrossed his arms and let out a deep sigh.
Where to even begin explaining this?
His head started throbbing as things grew more complicated. He rubbed the back of his neck.
'Lucia’s got a point. Daggers are limited in open combat.'
'Shields are better learned as a separate skill. And a staff? When I can’t even sense mana?'
"So quit that brute-force training already. Bad habits formed from childhood will come back to haunt you later."
"......"
Shiron stared straight into Lucia’s eyes. Then he stepped closer and patted her shoulder.
"Thanks for worrying, but I’ll pass."
"What?"
Lucia’s voice rose a notch.
"Didn’t you just agree with me?"
"I said it was fair, not that I agreed."
It was childish wordplay.
Lucia stared at him blankly.
The kid, who’d been grinning the whole time, had wiped the smile from his face.
She’d expected some pushback, but she couldn’t outright scold him after he’d listened to her so seriously.
As frustration built, a sudden flash of insight struck her.
"Then let me ask one more thing."
Lucia pointed out the one thing that had been bugging her.
"Why the hell are you eating snow? Isn’t it dirty?"
"If you’re thirsty, just use the well in the courtyard."
For a split second, Shiron’s shoulders twitched.
Lucia didn’t miss it.
"You just flinched."
"Huh?"
Shiron’s eyes widened. Lucia smirked.
"You know your own actions are weird."
"......"
Shiron couldn’t deny it.
As the series of clownish antics replayed in his mind, his face heated up.
Was it because his body was young? His skin felt thinner than before.
Showing an embarrassing side to the girl he’d just clashed with was unbearable.
It might even become a lingering weakness. An uneasy premonition crept in.
Strangely, it overlapped with countless incidents from his past. His lips wouldn’t part easily.
Maybe because she saw the kid at a loss for words, Lucia felt smug and let out a chuckle.
"So why not quit? Everything has its limits."
"And what you did wasn’t even lucky—it was just stupid."
"If you want, I can kindly teach you the right way."
Shiron’s temples throbbed. He pressed them firmly.
Seeing that, Lucia gained momentum.
"Childhood’s the time to build foundations before setting the framework."
"You can swing swords after you’ve built up some muscle and stamina."
"Ha......"
Shiron’s patience was wearing thin with Lucia’s lecturing.
Did this girl have any idea how she looked right now?
He swallowed the curses rising to his throat and glared at her.
"Hey."
Shiron said with a hardened expression.
"How old are you?"
It was completely out of left field, but Lucia replied to his random question.
"......Eight. Why?"
"Then aren’t you still in the foundation-building phase too?"
"Who was the one silently swinging a sword just now?"
"I’m fine."
Lucia declared proudly, and Shiron snorted.
"Hey. Do you even realize your words don’t add up?"
Lucia flinched. She’d just realized it herself. Shiron didn’t let the opening slip and pressed on.
"Where are you from?"
"......Helrn."
"Helrn’s the warm plains in the empire’s southwest."
"......"
"I was born and raised up north."
"What’s your point?"
Lucia narrowed her eyes and shot him a glare. She was getting annoyed by his roundabout talk.
Shiron gathered up the weapons neatly. The pointless argument had tired him out.
He didn’t welcome the unnecessary stamina drain.
"You’re from the south, so you probably don’t know, but up north, we train by becoming one with nature in the snow."
Of course, it was nonsense. Shiron had just made it up.
He didn’t want to lie, but he couldn’t exactly say he was building cold resistance.
"What kinda bullshit is that? You just don’t wanna admit it, huh?"
Lucia scolded him as if it were the most absurd thing she’d heard.
It was frustrating, maddening even.
Even if it was 500 years ago, she remembered clearly.
Back when she was Kylie, there was no such training in the north.
She knew because she herself was from the northern barbarians.
But separately, she couldn’t tell Shiron she was reincarnated.
She knew better than anyone how ridiculous that sounded...
'No way some new training method popped up in the last 500 years, right?'
She tried to think flexibly.
"Liar. If that were true, tons of people wouldn’t have died of frostbite by now."
"If it really existed, way fewer would’ve died pointlessly."
"If it’s hard to believe, I’ll show you proof."
Shiron scooped up a handful of snow and started stuffing it down his clothes.
"......What are you doing right now?"
"What’s it look like?"
Shiron spread his arms wide and tilted his head back dramatically.
"As you can see, not even a whimper. Doesn’t feel cold. Just like, ‘Oh, ice touched me’ or whatever."
In truth, he felt the chill but wasn’t startled by it.
"You’ve gone numb from the cold."
"......Unbelievable."
Shiron let out a hollow laugh at her refusal to get it.
He’d been nice enough to demonstrate, and she still treated him like a lunatic.
This wasn’t a kid’s playground spat, but his stamina and mental energy were hitting rock bottom.
'Should I just blurt out I’m a possessor? Tell her this is a game world?'
Lucia sighed heavily. She’d lost an argument to a child.
Regret bubbled up: 'I should’ve studied more in my past life.'
'This is insane. Should I just say I’m reincarnated? No, I’ve got no proof.'
Telling a ten-year-old kid her memories? He’d think it’s all made-up bravado.
Revealing herself as reincarnated came with its own problems.
Shiron had rebutted every single one of her points. A full-grown adult bickering with a child?
She’d be lucky not to get scolded for it.
Patience was running out for both of them.
Silence hung between them for a moment. Lucia spoke first.
"You’re weaker than me."
In that instant, fire ignited in Shiron’s chest.