The Push and Pull Technique
On a perfectly ordinary, sunny day, Cerise muttered to herself as she walked.
“Hmm… the task the Commander personally asked me to handle…”
It was the height of summer. The sun blazed down with such intensity it seemed determined to melt flesh from bone. Still, Cerise wiped the sweat from her brow and pressed forward without complaint. After all, she was on her way to carry out a mission the Commander had entrusted to her directly.
Ever since the Ska Mercenary Group had acquired the mithril armor, their growth had been nothing short of meteoric. These days, eliminating a 3-Star monster was little more than a warm-up exercise. As their reputation spread, people began to recognize the Ska Mercenary Group even on the far side of the Empire. Once their strength was proven, requests came flooding in like a tidal wave. Trivial errands were one thing, but now named commissions arrived from distant regions as well. The volume of work was so overwhelming that the mercenaries were practically dispatched on missions every single day.
Naturally, the mountain of paperwork landing on Commander Venice’s desk had doubled in kind.
I will succeed no matter what…!
He had only given her the simple task of delivering a minor message to the mercenary guild because he was swamped with documents. But to Cerise, the fact that it came directly from the Commander set her heart ablaze with determination as she strode toward the guild hall.
“The Commander asked me to deliver this document.”
“Y-yes… Thank you…”
“Tsk.”
“Hiiik—!”
Cerise shot a sharp glare at the receptionist she saw every day. She was only tolerating the woman now because this was a direct order from the Commander… but this was the same female who always blushed like a bitch in heat whenever she looked at him. The audacity.
I don’t like it.
Whether it was that bitch from Spin’s workshop or this woman in front of her, Cerise couldn’t stand the way they gazed at the Commander. Creatures like them had no right to even dream of attaching themselves to someone as magnificent as him.
“I’m watching you.”
“Hic… I-I’m sorry…”
The receptionist shrank like a mouse backed into a corner. Cerise gave her one last glare before leaving the guild hall. In truth, Cerise herself lacked the courage to confess first, terrified of being rejected by the Commander. Even so, she still found the receptionist’s behavior intolerable.
“Hehehe… Young lady over there. Come here a moment.”
“…..?”
“Yes, yes… I’m talking to you…”
Cerise had completed the Commander’s mission flawlessly and was returning to the guild in high spirits, proud of herself for dealing with that ignorant female. That was when she heard an old man calling out to her.
I don’t remember seeing him before…?
She was certain that the shabby tent and the old man had not been there when she first entered the guild hall. There was no one else around, so he was clearly addressing her. Curious, she approached.
Since she was in a rather good mood, she decided not to dwell on the strangeness of it.
“Elder, why did you call for me…?”
“Hehehe… Interested in any of these items, are you…?”
“Ah.”
So it was just a sales pitch. Respect for the elderly was one thing, but Cerise had no intention of indulging in cheap hawking.
“I’m not interested. If you’ll excuse me…”
She offered a polite bow and turned to leave.
“You have a man you like, don’t you… Hehehe…”
“……?!”
She froze mid-step the moment those words left his mouth.
“H-how…?”
“It’s all written on your face, my dear… Hehehe… Would you like to take a look?”
“Ugh…”
Her feelings for the Commander burned more fiercely than anyone else’s in the world, yet she was too afraid of rejection to confess. Every night she tossed and turned in her bed, tormented by her own cowardice. That was the kind of person Cerise was.
“Perhaps I know a way to capture that man’s heart…? Hehehe…”
“…I’ll just take a look.”
The words echoed in her mind until she could no longer resist. Pretending to be reluctant, Cerise stepped inside the shabby tent.
It feels… strangely mystical in here.
The interior was far more spacious than it appeared from outside. Though the summer sun scorched everything beyond the tent flaps, the inside remained inexplicably cool.
“Look around as much as you like… Hehehe…”
Cerise examined the objects arranged on a table draped with a red cloth. A book. A dagger radiating an unknown energy. A mirror. A bucket. Countless other items whose purpose she could not begin to guess.
Then one object in particular caught her eye.
If you can read this book to completion, you will already be a married woman!
The cover was suspiciously covered in hearts and shades of red. Under normal circumstances, Cerise would have wrinkled her nose and ignored it entirely, but…
Me… and the Commander…?
She swallowed hard. The Cerise who existed before meeting the Commander and the Cerise of today were completely different people. She stared at the book, lost in vivid daydreams, until saliva nearly dripped from the corner of her mouth.
“Hehehe… So that one caught your fancy…”
“Ahem. How much for this book…?”
“The price, you ask…? Hold out your hand for a moment.”
When she offered to pay, the old man suddenly asked for her hand. Any ordinary person might have grown suspicious, but Cerise was confident she could handle any threat. Without hesitation, she extended her hand.
He clasped it gently between both of his own, alternating his gaze between her palm and her face before letting out an intrigued chuckle.
“That will do. The book is now yours.”
“Really? That’s all…?”
“Of course. This old man does not go back on his word.”
With those cryptic final words that were nearly impossible to understand, Cerise stepped back outside the tent. She couldn’t even tell if the old man had been male or female, nor whether he had truly been alive. Despite knowing nearly every resident of Leria Village, she had never seen him before.
“What a strange person.”
Still, strange things happened in the world. Shrugging it off, Cerise headed back toward the guild while opening the book to its first page.
“The first method… push and pull?”
She walked the entire way back to the guild with her nose buried in the book, eyes blazing with fascination as she kept murmuring in awe.
“…So that’s what it was.”
The old man watched Cerise walk away in silence, then vanished in the blink of an eye. The tent and its mysterious owner disappeared as if they had never existed, quietly forgotten by the world.
“Ugh… Finally finished today’s pile…”
I had been glued to my chair for hours doing paperwork. Stretching my stiff body, I finally left the office.
Man… why is there so much work? I can barely keep my head on straight.
Following Spin’s suggestion, we had cleared the Mithril Mine, obtained the raw mithril ore, and received custom mithril armor for the entire Ska Mercenary Group. After that day, our members—who had already possessed both talent and effort in spades—went absolutely wild once they grew accustomed to the light yet sturdy armor. It was only natural.
These days, a single mercenary could handle a 2-Star monster alone, and a group could eliminate 3-Star monsters as easily as stretching before a workout. We had even taken down several 4-Star monsters. A few people had been injured and we’d come close to disaster a couple of times, but the fact that no one had died while defeating 4-Star threats was shocking enough to make the entire Empire take notice.
It had only been one month since I took over as the sixth Commander of the Ska Mercenary Group. According to the information that reached me through imperial channels and the rumors I heard in my position, people were already joking that we had reclaimed the former glory of the Ska Mercenary Group that once dominated the Empire.
I’m proud.
This was an achievement I could never have accomplished through my own hard work alone. It was only possible because every member of the group had followed me so well, and because Vice-Commander Cerise had worked tirelessly by my side.
Speaking of Vice-Commander Cerise, something happened about a week ago. A dazzling carriage suddenly arrived in Leria Village and came straight to our headquarters. The man who stepped out possessed such refined dignity and noble bearing that anyone would immediately assume he was aristocracy.
“Is there someone here named Cerise?”
“I am Cerise.”
“Then I will be direct with my offer. Would you be interested in joining the Imperial Knight Order of the Empire?”
The Imperial Knight Order. A monstrous organization comprised solely of the strongest individuals across the entire Empire. They had sent an official envoy specifically to scout Cerise. They must have noticed the rapid growth of the Ska Mercenary Group and the brilliant talent shining at its center.
“Vice-Commander Cerise. I think this is an excellent opportunity. The choice is yours.”
“……I.”
For Cerise, who was destined to become a Swordmaster and carve her name into the Empire’s history, this was a chance that would never come again. Although she belonged to the rapidly rising Ska Mercenary Group, joining the Empire’s strongest knight order seemed like the obvious choice.
Whatever she decided, I intended to respect it.
“I’m sorry. I must decline.”
“I see. Very well. Then I shall take my leave.”
Cerise had chosen to remain with the Ska Mercenary Group.
Curious why she would throw away an opportunity that would never come again, I asked her about it later.
“It is simply because the path I desire… and the light I seek, are here.”
The determination burning in Cerise’s eyes was brighter than the sun itself—utterly unbreakable. After that, she never stopped training. Her strength increased visibly with each passing day. She had already grown so powerful that I could no longer hope to face her. Becoming a Swordmaster was only a matter of time. Staying with the Ska Mercenary Group would not prevent her from reaching that height. When someone with overwhelming talent also possessed perfect effort, a genius destined to be recorded in history was born.
“Maybe I should loosen up a bit.”
Shaking off the memories, I picked up one of the swords lying around the training ground. I had spent too much time sitting in a chair lately; my body felt restless.
The wide training field was mostly empty, save for a few mercenaries. Everyone’s skills had improved so much and their coordination was excellent, so there was no longer any need for Cerise and me to handle requests together. We had begun sending them out separately.
Tap. Tap.
Familiar footsteps approached from the entrance of the training ground.
“H-hmm!”
As expected, it was Cerise. Her face was slightly flushed—probably from the hot sun—but her expression seemed strangely pouty.
“Vice-Commander Cerise. You’ve returned.”
“Ahem! Y-yes, of course… I have!”
“……?”
Something felt off. Her demeanor was different from usual. Feeling a strange sense of unease, I spoke again.
“Good work. Vice-Commander Cerise. On my behalf, at the mercenary guild—”
“N-no need!!”
Slap—!
I had reached out to pat her shoulder, but she smacked my hand away and dashed into the headquarters like a bolt of lightning.
“…………”
…What?
Was she going through puberty or something?
Seeing this completely unfamiliar side of Cerise, I could only stand there frozen in place.