Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Get Stronger (1)
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Returning to the lodging, Vena was standing outside, staring off with a troubled look on her face.
"Why are you loitering around looking so pathetic?"
"Master's back?"
Vena answered with a dopey grin.
She was trying to smile like she usually did, but she couldn't hide the shadows clouding her face.
Hearing the secret of her birth from that elf, Brahha, must have been quite the shock.
"I told you not to worry about it."
"I tried. But it's not easy."
"Did you eat?"
"……."
She hadn't.
She wasn't a big eater, but she never skipped meals.
Jamie clicked his tongue and stood beside her.
"What do you want to do?"
At the question, Vena hugged her knees and buried her face.
Jamie swept his hair back and gazed out the window.
"……What are you doing?"
There hung Siegfried, upside down, keeping watch over the room.
Jamie scowled and opened the window. A gust of cold wind rushed in.
"It was cold enough already."
Siegfried flashed a sly grin as he slipped inside.
Vena shot to her feet and bowed tensely to him.
"Ah, hello. I didn't greet you properly earlier. I'm Vena."
"Yes, yes, Miss Vena. Nice to meet you."
Siegfried smoothly claimed a chair and gestured for her to sit, saying, "Take a seat, take a seat."
Jamie stared at Siegfried in disbelief.
"If you wanted to come in, there's a door."
"The mood seemed heavy."
"……So you were lurking outside spying?"
"Let's skip the petty details. Is the young master the nitpicky type?"
Was "nitpicky" even the right word for this?
Jamie mulled it over for a second, but now wasn't the time for trivial thoughts.
Siegfried glanced back and forth between Jamie and Vena before speaking.
"What's going on? Because of what the elf said earlier?"
"You're jumping right into the conversation, huh."
"Can't just blurt out how you two met or why you kept it from me in this atmosphere."
He had a point, so Jamie didn't argue.
"Anyway, I'd like to hear Miss Vena's troubles."
"I……."
At Siegfried's prompting, Vena hung her head and began in a tiny voice.
"I don't know what to do."
"Stay by the young master's side or go see your kin. You can't decide?"
Vena couldn't respond.
Saying "yes" would feel like betraying Jamie.
To her, Jamie was the savior who had pulled her from the dark pit of suffering into the light. Without him, she'd still be enduring horrors at the Gav Academy, forced into deeds she despised.
Her head knew staying with Jamie was right.
But now came the chance to meet her family.
She had no memories of her childhood, so she couldn't picture her kin's faces. Still, deep down, she'd always wondered.
'Do I have a family?'
Everyone has parents who bore them. So she must too.
She'd pondered it back then, but as years dragged on in the academy, all that remained was crushing loneliness.
In that void, she'd yearned for someone to ease it. That's when Jamie Welton appeared.
He was just a boy, far younger than her, yet he led her into a world of light.
So she should stay by his side—for him, and for herself.
'But…….'
Her hands trembled.
Any choice would leave regrets.
She didn't want to give up either, but she had to let one go.
Pick the one with less regret…….
But no such option existed.
"Vena."
At that moment, her savior rested a hand on her head.
Vena didn't know what to do with the emotions welling up.
Jamie spoke.
"Go."
"……Pardon?"
"Actually, it's for the best."
For the best?
Was she nothing but a burden to him?
The thought brought a wave of panic.
Vena frantically shook her head and clutched at Jamie's clothes.
"I-I'll stay. Of course I should stay……."
"That's not what I mean."
Jamie shook his head and gave a faint smile.
"Go see your kin and come back. Your spot will always be open. But there's a condition for your return."
Vena's eyes went wide.
As she flapped her mouth like a fish, Jamie chuckled and pinched her lips between thumb and forefinger.
"Come back stronger. I don't know if you're a princess or whatever, but get everything you can and then return. Got it?"
"……Ngu(Yes)."
With her lips held, only a puff of air escaped instead of words.
Jamie let go.
Vena rubbed her lips and looked up at him with teary eyes.
"Really? I can really go and come back?"
"It's not like we're parting forever. What are you, a kid?"
"I am a kid."
Siegfried cut in from the side.
"And the young master's even more of a child than you."
"……."
For a moment, she'd forgotten this guy was there.
Jamie coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem. Anyway, quit moping and take this."
He handed her the small orb Brahha had given him.
"Tomorrow morning, use that to contact the elf Brahha."
"Master……."
"Go to bed."
With that, Jamie headed out.
Vena clutched the orb tightly in both hands and stared at the door he'd left through, fighting back tears as best she could.
Master hadn't abandoned her. She'd thought he had, her heart dropping into her stomach—but thankfully, no.
More than anything, he'd told her to come back. He'd keep her spot open, return anytime. That's what he'd said.
'I have a place to come back to.'
Vena nodded.
Jamie was already gone, but she nodded again, as if responding.
Siegfried, who had watched quietly, smirked and rose from his seat.
"Looks like the young master really cherishes you, Miss Vena."
"Eh……?"
"Being a kid, she can't hide her feelings at all."
With a teasing finish, Siegfried opened the door and left.
Left alone, Vena finally burst into tears.
"How did you two meet?"
Siegfried handed over a drink he'd ordered from downstairs.
Jamie eyed it before taking a sip. It was a mix of orange and lime—more tart than sweet, snapping him awake.
"……Not something a kid would like."
"Should I have gotten chocolate milk?"
Siegfried said with a cheeky grin.
This guy definitely bought it to mess with me.
Jamie set the drink down and spoke.
"We first met in Nesman."
He recounted everything as it was, minus the black magic.
Without black magic, there wasn't much left, but with Jamie's sharp mind, spinning it into a full story was no trouble.
"You didn't know she was a Valkyrie back then."
Ah. Another fib there—claiming ignorance of her Valkyrie status in Nesman.
He'd known, but admitting it now would tangle the story from the forest.
Jamie smoothly listed the events in Apfton, skipping anything black magic-related.
"I learned she was a Valkyrie thanks to that massive bear, Teberon."
"Hoo."
"After that, it's as you know, Elder."
There was the bloody clash with the demons, discovering Zenith Church's involvement. Amid it all, he'd nearly died to Sable, who hid being Zenith's First Sword—but survived, leading to now.
After hearing it all, Siegfried summed up his thoughts in one line.
"The young master has lived quite the eventful life for someone so young."
"Even I can hardly believe it all happened in less than a year."
"But."
"What?"
"Does the count or his wife know about Miss Vena?"
"……."
He hadn't considered that.
Jamie sucked on the straw in his drink.
Siegfried chuckled.
"Figured as much. You kept it from me and snuck her along— no way the count knows."
"……Guess I missed the right moment to tell them."
"Well, whatever. Everyone has a secret or two. More importantly, about what you said earlier."
"What about it?"
"To Miss Vena. Telling her to get stronger. Why?"
At the probing question, Jamie pondered briefly before answering honestly.
"Because I'll go to war with Zenith Church someday. I'll be at the forefront of the battlefield then, and Vena needs to be a reliable comrade watching my back."
Those weren't the words of a child.
Siegfried knew Jamie wasn't childish in mind, regardless of age. His spirit rivaled any adult's.
He showed kid-like moments sometimes, but otherwise always mature.
But those words delivered a real shock.
"……You mean that seriously?"
"Yes. Zenith has taken far too much from me."
It really had.
Among the 12 Gods, a few were utterly unforgivable, but Zenith topped that list.
"So I'll destroy it. Somehow."
He knew of Jamie's deep ties to Pyro Church's apostle.
Siegfried nodded at the boy who was young yet not.
"A Valkyrie. She'd make an excellent comrade."
"She's still pretty timid for now."
The boy already envisioning a grand future.
No one knew how it would end, but Siegfried wanted to watch from the sidelines.
'But it's too soon.'
The boy born with humanity's greatest talent in history.
Having observed up close, the rumors weren't exaggerated at all.
Yet Jamie Welton was still lacking. Immensely powerful now, but not a grand mage. That strength alone achieved nothing.
'So surpass even me.'
Siegfried downed his drink in one go.
The sweet-tart flavor lingered heavily.
"Young master."
"Yes?"
"You get stronger too."
With those words, Siegfried vanished.
Left alone, Jamie scowled, then grinned broadly as he muttered.
"He didn't ask about All Might. Lucky."
He'd been mulling how to explain All Might. This bought a little time.
"Guess it's time to head out?"
Behemoth was waiting.
Jamie stretched grandly and immediately cast teleport.