chapter 17
17 – Even if it’s just for a moment, it’s fine
“….”
All the way back, Enlil did not say a word.
‘You slept too well!’
She couldn’t resist the drowsiness, so she tried to close her eyes for just a moment.
10 Minutes. No, 20 minutes? Okay. 30 Minutes at most. That’s enough for her to get up, she thought.
She actually said that when she opened her eyes, she didn’t seem to have slept very long.
“Ah, ah?”
When I looked around, it was late afternoon.
The sun was slowly going down, the wind got a little cold.
In the meantime, even Leon, who was still giving her back.
“School, Instructor?! My, how long has it been since I fell asleep?!”
“Okay. I think more than four hours have passed.”
The moment he heard Leon’s answer, Enlil wanted to hit his head.
‘Crazy, crazy! How can you sleep with such a sense of peace!’
I couldn’t even overcome my drowsiness and slept with my mind free.
I was so ashamed that I fell asleep while leaning on a man’s back.
To the extent that I would want to slam my face into the ground right now if I could.
Ugh! And Enlil, who shuddered, watched her stealthily for Leon.
For no less than four hours, she allowed herself to recline in her sleep.
A person who was wary of even a single movement or even a single breath in case he would wake up.
“Let’s go back. It shouldn’t be too late.”
Are you being considerate of yourself who is shy?
In a nonchalant tone, in a voice as if something had happened.
Seeing Lion reach out her hand like that, Enlil blushed once again.
“Looks like you slept very well.”
“Yes, yes?!”
Surprised by Leon’s sudden question, Enlil raises her head.
Standing in front of her, with a calm tone as usual, Leon continued to ask her questions.
“You must have been very tired, are you okay? Shouldn’t you be resting more?”
“No! It’s okay. I’m really fine now! Oh, today the sun is just warm and the wind is good… I think that’s why I took a nap without even realizing it!”
Like a child caught doing something bad, he waved her hand and stuttered her words.
Rion looked at Enlil for a while and smiled.
“If anyone sees it, they will know it was a mistake.”
“That….”
“A warrior is also a person. And people should take a break after working. That is perfectly normal. It’s not something I did wrong, and it’s not something I can endure.”
“….”
“Shall I use the sword you wield as an example? If I just swing and slash each time, how long can that skill last? When I’m not swinging it, I have to clean the sword body and sharpen the blade. It is not so?”
There is no wrong corner. All of Leon’s opinions are correct.
I nodded her head, but nonetheless. There was something that bothered Enlil.
I am not a sword myself. Is a warrior A hero with a duty to protect this world.
He says that although he never chose himself, the talent given to him is an inescapable proof.
If no one steps forward, the world will eventually perish and disappear.
In order to prevent that, isn’t that what you chose to do without avoiding it?
If that’s the case, then it’s only natural to work tirelessly for that choice….
Kong!―
“Huh?!”
Suddenly, a hot sensation flew into my head and stuck.
Enlil, holding her head as she screamed, looked at Leone who was raising her fist.
“Why, why….”
“Because you can clearly see what they are thinking. So frustrating.”
“Did you see everything?”
“You must have thought it was different in the case of the hero and the sword.”
At Leon’s words, Enlil involuntarily flinched and shuddered.
“There is nothing difficult about it. I said Rest is part of training.”
“Yes, yes. You said so.”
“Then let’s say you are training right now. Hmm. You’re managing the skill of the sword, I think so. How is it. Will that make you feel better?”
He’s training. The rest now is only for the sake of suffering later.
When I thought that, I felt a little bit at ease.
So he nodded, and Leone let out a sigh as if he couldn’t stop it.
“What are you doing?”
“Yes?”
“If rest is training, you have to work hard. So you should rest hard. Are you going to be so blank?”
“But… Is the sun setting soon?”
I train all day, and in the evening, I return with a tired body.
When I go to the inn, I purify my mana heart and strengthen my will once more.
After that, I lay down on the bed and fall asleep right away for the tomorrow that will be repeated again.
This could be said to have been all of the day that Enlil had spent so far.
“….”
Rion also roughly guessed that part.
This past month, the Enlil I saw at the academy didn’t take a break.
In a way, it is natural. So she must have been able to make it to the top floor.
Even if it was luck at first, her skills would have been greater than her luck from then on.
And that must have been accomplished with superhuman patience and an amount of training.
Not that it’s bad. Working hard is a very good thing.
If you go later, you can push Enlil harder, starting with Rion himself.
But not now. At least, these days I can’t.
“There are many things you can do even after the sun goes down. For example, staring blankly at the night sky.”
“Looking at the night sky?”
“Yes.”
“… Why?”
In order to bring out a more natural and effective harmony than
, It is essential to stabilize the mind and body.
And the flow of starlight increases the fluidity of mana without being aware of it.
Let me explain the reason, because I lack other things to support that reason.
“I told you. It’s called rest.”
Rion simply drew them together for a ‘rest’ reason.
“It’s dinner time. Let’s go.”
I thought I would hesitate again if I just said it.
He grabbed Enlil’s hand and rushed to the rooftop.
There was no one on the roof at all. There is no one to interfere.
With this, I can draw the flow of starlight unconsciously.
“Instructor? Can we really just look at the sky?”
“Let’s say it contains something different from the daytime.”
“For example….”
“For example, the cool wind, the moonlight that is different from the sunlight, and the starlight.”
“….”
“And what wasn’t there before, will be there this time?”
Where Leone pointed, there were cities formed around the academy.
The lights of the city, which were hard to see during the day, but now illuminate the surroundings.
I see. The lives people portray.
I can hear it. The bright laughter they emit with all their might.
I knew I had to do my duty, but I understood that I had to fulfill my destiny.
It was a little hazy about exactly what and for whom.
And right now. Enlil once again knew what he was fighting for, for whom he was fighting pain and fear.
‘I see. Instructor, I want to tell you this right away.’
I used to think of rest as simply taking a break.
I thought it was a waste of time, something I didn’t have to do.
However, looking at it this way, true ‘rest’ is not just resting.
Time to stop running and look back for a moment.
I know once again how far I have come and what I have to run for.
It was a moment of solidifying the will to never break down and to reach it.
However, Leon, who was next to him, had other thoughts.
‘… How is it going well?’
If you overflowed with mana during the day and built something huge with it.
On the contrary, it can be seen that at night, the piled up is finely shaved and adjusted.
The important thing here is that none of this is a conscious act.
Unbeknownst to him, the mana heart naturally moves and appears.
It can be seen that no reaction can be elicited by force.
If it was a game, it would be something that could be achieved in an instant by simply working on a good impression.
But Leon knows that this is not a game, it is a bitterly cold and sharp reality.
Saaa—
A wind blows through the night sky.
Then it wraps around Enlil’s body once and disappears far away again.
“….”
Feeling the sparkling mana from the wind, Leon smiled inwardly.
*
A few days later—
“… What did you say just now?”
Unbeknownst to me, a very cold voice came out.
Controlling your emotions is essential even to cover up your body’s power.
They say you shouldn’t be shaken like this, but this case was different.
“I want you to take care of someone other than Miss Enlil. Instructor Leon.”
Instructor Edmund sits in front and takes a sip of tea.
It’s not like he’s relaxed or wants to provoke Leon.
That’s a gesture that he doesn’t understand at all about this incident.
Otherwise, there is no way the face would be hardened.
“Who the hell is the other person?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“I can’t believe that you’re saying this without knowing exactly. Not anywhere else, right here, at the Academy of the Warriors.”
“I understand what you mean. But I can’t help it. It seems that the person above, Enlil-chan, thinks that it is the limit now and thinks of focusing on other warriors.”
f*ck, so that’s nonsense bullsh*t.
For more than 100 years, Enlil is the only one that arrived where I was.
I did nine times what the other heroes would never have done after they died!
“The only thing I can tell you is that the person is from the ‘Battle Priests’.”
“… Yes?”
The moment he heard the chief instructor’s words, Leon’s expression changed strangely.