Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Hero's Circumstances (1)
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"Scarlet, you okay?"
Kalt pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
"Huh? Oh."
Only after seeing the handkerchief offered to her did Scarlet realize tears were streaming down her face.
"…!"
She snatched it and quickly wiped her eyes before turning her head away.
'Embarrassing! So embarrassing! So embarrassing! What's wrong with me, crying like this? It's just a few words—what's the big deal! Ugh, seriously…!'
Scarlet hurriedly finished wiping her tears and handed the handkerchief back to Kalt.
"Thanks. Must've been some dust in my eye."
"Got it."
He didn't press her on the obvious lie.
'Is she more sensitive than I thought? Or maybe, given her past, she's just vulnerable to kindness.'
Scarlet crossed her arms and asked pointedly, as if challenging him.
"S-So! Just how do you plan to help fix this? I'm warning you, I've tried a bunch of times and failed every one. It won't be easy!"
"Maybe not. But I'm not giving up. It's a teammate's problem—I have to do my best."
"Ugh…."
The words "teammate" and "do my best" stirred up the emotions she'd just poured out about her past, threatening to overwhelm her again.
"Scarlet, if you're okay with it, how about we try some counseling right now?"
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Even if it doesn't work... I want to start trying as soon as possible."
His straightforward gaze made it hard for her to meet his eyes, so Scarlet turned her head away again.
"D-Do whatever."
"Alright then, Scarlet."
Kalt spread his hands toward her and asked.
"Let's restate your problem one more time. First, we need to re-recognize it."
Scarlet answered in a slightly dazed state.
"…Okay."
Under hypnosis, remembering what Kalt had told her, she recited her issue.
When multiple monsters swarmed at once, her attention scattered elsewhere, breaking her spellcasting.
And when facing or thinking about a teammate in crisis, her worry divided her focus, weakening her magic the same way.
Hearing Scarlet's problem again, Kalt analyzed it.
'Scarlet's issue isn't a lack of focus—it's that her focus is too sharp. And she can't control it at will.'
Of course, he could fix this easily with hypnosis.
What he was pondering now was how to make her convincingly believe it was solved plausibly.
He could do that with hypnosis too.
'But that'd be too bland and boring.'
He preferred giving her a reasonable explanation and watching her rejoice in it, grateful to him.
After a moment's thought, Kalt spoke to her.
"Scarlet, in my opinion, solving your problem comes down to two focuses."
"Two... things."
"Right. First is practicing dispersion so your focus doesn't lock onto one spot."
"Dispersion... practice...."
"Yeah. Like this."
Kalt explained to Scarlet.
One hand maintains a basic spell: Light.
Keep emitting light while imagining worry for a teammate or a swarm of monsters closing in.
For Scarlet, even mere worry pulled her focus entirely.
So, the training: Sustain a low-mana spell while thinking other thoughts—worrying, or picturing monsters swarming.
"Training...."
"Exactly, training. And next... you need to firmly believe in your teammates' abilities and recognize that focusing on your magic is for their sake."
"Believe... recognize...."
"Scarlet, you have a warm heart. You worry about your teammates because you care so deeply—it pulls your focus because they're that precious. But Scarlet, that also means you don't fully trust their skills."
"Don't trust their skills...? No... that's not...."
"Sure, it's not that you don't trust them at all. But there's still plenty of anxiety. Just a bit more. Tell yourself: trust them a little more."
"Tell myself...."
"Yeah. It'll be fine. Believe your teammates can hold out without major injury until your spell completes. And hey, I'm in the party now too, right?"
"Kalt's here...."
"That's right—I'm here. So you can relax even more. On top of that... think of it this way: to eliminate worry about your teammates at the root, you need to complete your spells faster. Spell completion ties directly to their safety."
"Spell completion... directly to safety...."
"Yeah."
Finished speaking, Kalt shifted the hypnosis type.
Like with Aria, Scarlet now couldn't comprehend his words.
"Scarlet, the more you repeat the training I described, the better you'll get at dispersing your focus. At first, just a little—but gradually, even while worrying about teammates or facing a monster swarm, you'll maintain focus for your magic."
"Repeat... and maintain...."
"And the more you think 'trust my teammates,' the more peace you'll feel."
"Peace...."
"Yes, peace. Peace from trusting teammates. Peace from having them there. Peace from entrusting your back to them. And the more that peace sinks in, the more you'll think: to feel this peace more surely, I need to sustain my spells. And trigger them faster."
"Sustain spells... faster triggers...."
"That's right. And...."
Kalt repeated to Scarlet exactly what he'd told Aria.
"Even if you're worried about teammates or fighting hordes of monsters, as you grow able to sustain and trigger spells... each time, you'll strongly recognize: this is thanks to me—it's solving my problem."
"Thanks to Kalt... recognize...."
"Engrave it deep: I could solve this because of him."
'Scarlet's priming is done.'
Kalt released the hypnosis and said.
"Got all that? Start training with the method I taught you."
Light returning to her eyes, Scarlet nodded.
"Huh? Uh, yeah. Okay. But will this actually work?"
"Better than doing nothing. Sometimes building up from low-stakes simulations is more helpful than forcing it in real combat."
"…Got it."
Post-hypnosis, what Scarlet remembered was just Kalt's training method for maintaining focus, how to specifically think about teammates, and how that thinking's peace tied to spell sustainability and quick triggers.
She couldn't fully believe it would work.
But she couldn't outright dismiss advice from the more experienced Kalt, nor reject the method from the man who'd vowed to tackle her problem seriously.
'Fine, it's not like it'll hurt me.'
"I'll give it a shot like you said."
"Good. If you see even a little progress, let me know."
"Why?"
"So I can celebrate with you."
Seeing his gentle smile, Scarlet's face heated up, and she turned away again.
"…F-Fine. If there's progress, I'll tell you."
"Thanks. Well, I'll head out then."
"You're leaving?"
"Heard your issue, did the counseling—job's done."
As Kalt turned to go.
"W-Wait a sec."
Scarlet stopped him.
"What?"
"That story you told today... about your past. Did you tell Nellis or Aria?"
"Nah, you're the first I've shared it with in detail."
"I see... Mind if I tell them what you said?"
"Go ahead. Wasn't hiding it."
With that, Kalt left Scarlet's room.
"…."
Alone now, Scarlet packed her book into her bag and flopped onto the bed.
And then.
"…Ughhh!"
She covered her face with both hands and kicked her legs wildly.
It was mortifying.
Not just crying in front of Kalt—but acting and speaking completely opposite to her initial intentions.
After Aria's session, she'd figured once Nellis opened up to Kalt herself for counseling, she'd end up doing it too.
But she'd beaten Nellis to it.
And she'd only meant to share the problem and leave, but his sympathy and earnest promise to solve it weakened her resolve, leading straight to counseling.
'Why am I like this! Was I always this easy?!'
Of course, she didn't think receiving counseling from Kalt was wrong.
But that was that, and this was this.
A woman had her pride.
The next day.
After his usual training, Kalt ran into Nellis and the others on the inn's first floor.
"Back to kobold hunting today—let's give it our all…."
"Kalt!"
"Kalt!"
"Huh?"
"I'll do my best! I'll get super strong and surpass Mabel's party!"
"Me too! I'll definitely solve my issue and make our party better than Mabel's!"
"Uh, yeah?"
Kalt blinked in confusion at Nellis and Aria's sudden enthusiasm.
'What's with them?'
He glanced at the meekest one, Scarlet.
She looked awkward as she explained.
"Told them your story from yesterday, and now they're like this."
"What?"