“No, it’s fine.”
Weed absorbed himself in the sculpture again. Though his concentration was strong and he made a sculpture even in his break time, his attitude was strangely different from usual. When there was another person with him, he had never ignored someone who tried to have a conversation. However, distressed by the words Weed had spoken, Da’in didn’t realize that.
‘We’ve already said goodbye once, so it’s fine if he doesn’t like me.’
Da’in contained her pounding heart and spoke up again. “Then… is there a girl you liked in the past?”
Though she sometimes acted unexpectedly and had many strange sides to her to the extent of healing monsters like Ghouls, she mustered an immense amount of courage to ask that question.
Weed’s fingers stopped for a moment, trembling a little and tense. However, he soon suppressed it and replied.
“There’s no girl that I used to like.”
“Goodness!” Da’in smiled with an effort. “Then you’ve never told anyone that you liked them, not even once?”
“Yes, because there was no one I liked.”
Da’in bit her lip. To think there was a guy who would discourage a lass so coldheartedly.
“I see. There’s something I have to do for a bit, so I’ll be leaving now.”
Weed didn’t even look at her when replying. “Please do so.”
“Then…”
Da’in logged out.
“Phew.”
Weed collected the light sculpting. The lights that had dazzled his eyes disappeared, and the dungeon became dark. There was only the crackling of the bonfire he had lit to boil water and prepare the food as it burned.
“Yellowy.”
Mooooooo!
Sitting on the bare ground, Yellow raised his head and replied.
“Do you know who the girl was just now?”
Moooo!
Yellowy slapped his short tail on the ground as he tilted his ears. He might get a ton of nagging if he pretended to ignore Weed.
Weed spoke calmly. “My first love.”
The first love that a man could never forget. He couldn’t forget the memories made with his first love even with the passage of time.
“Her name is Da’in… her profession is Shaman. I met first met her in Lavias.”
He hadn’t been able to recognize her at first sight, as her appearance had changed greatly due to the curse. However, she was the one who listened to the other person well and had been so enjoyable to talk to that he had spoken to her about everything. He got the feeling of her from just her greeting and the few words she spoke. As a Shaman, the skill proficiency that could be called unequaled and the order by which she used various support magics were the same. She had simply cast her support magic in the order that was comfortable for her, like a habit. But from the perspective of Weed on the receiving end, he was able to distinctly realize who she was in the instant that she used the support magic.
“Da’in. It was her. How could I have forgotten someone so important?”
Those were Weed’s inner feelings, which he hadn’t betrayed when the girls had been present.
“I was glad to see her since it’s been a while. Just that she is alive is… but does she want to forget the past since she finished the surgery and is living a new life? I don’t know why she pretended to not know me, but there must be some situation or reason.”
Yellowy stared at Weed with clear, large eyes. Reflected in his innocent eyes was the sight of one man being sad with his shoulders slumped.
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Chapter 9 : Lonely Wanderer
The SwordNoobs divided and got employed as Training Hall instructors for the Orc Village and Rosenheim Kingdom. The salary was low, so they were able to easily get the position because no one wanted to work there. After getting employed, the SwordNoobs were completely entrusted with the Training Hall’s management.
“Those who want to learn the sword, come to the Training Hall!”
However, the majority of the players reacted indifferently.
“Training Hall? That’s just a place to hit scarecrows.”
“Why would you do something so annoying to learn Sword Mastery? If you just go out and fight, you’ll learn it anyways.”
The SwordNoobs were sneered at by even the beginners! Still, there were quite a few curious beginner players who sought out the Training Hall. They had visited the Training Hall because they couldn’t leave the city and village for 4 weeks when they first started.
“You hold the sword like this, and… rather than swinging it powerfully, you must swing it accurately. Don’t just blindly put your sword in front of you; you must watch the monster’s actions and attack their gaps in their defense.”
As they had a lot of experience from the dojo, the SwordNoobs taught the beginners with ease.
“If you go to the Training Hall, they teach you how to fight.”
“Is there a need to learn?”
“It’s definitely better if you do. People who’ve learned are completely different from people who haven’t in hunting.”
It was enough to change the cries for recruiting party members in the square.
“Recruiting Swordsman. Only taking a person who has learned from the Training Hall for at least a day.”
It was true that the combat ability of the majority of the beginning players was lacking. There was no reason for them to have experienced intense physical activity or fighting, and it was easy for them to panic at speedy monsters. Once they learned how to use the sword from the SwordNoobs, hunting was definitely easier. Since the SwordNoobs taught them how to deal with facing different kinds of monsters, players even sought them from other kingdoms as well and waited in line.
Every time the SwordNoobs held a lesson, people gathered in swarms. There was news that 500 to 1,000 beginner players would sit and watch the demonstration of the SwordNoobs.
“The sword is sharp, isn’t it? You don’t have to be afraid of it, because a properly learned sword will protect you and your teammates.”
SwordNoob501’s lesson was smooth. He had his own charm because he was nearly the youngest in the dojo,and he knew how to serve his older brothers properly. To adults, he was like a nephew, and to the young students, he was as friendly as an older brother.
“So cool.”
“He looks a bit intimidating, but I think he’s a good person.”
A man looked the coolest whent he was devoting himself to his work!
As they committed themselves to swordsmanship while soaked in sweat in the dojo, the masters and disciples were sufficiently attractive. It was just that the women hadn’t had a chance to see that.
Working as an instructor in the Orc Village, SwordNoob419 showed a demonstration as he swung his sword. He had to move slowly so that the beginners could follow him.
“Chwiik. I can’t do it right, instructor.”
The movements weren’t easy for the Orc females due to their characteristic sloshing stomach fat and rumps. Whenever that happened, the trainee instructors went right to work.
“This part like this…”
They would lightly grip a waist or hold a wrist and draw out the trajectory of the sword. Naturally occurring skinship! Satisfied smiles appeared on the lips of the SwordNoob disciples who were acting as instructors.
“Instructor, you’re so reliable.”
“If you have time, could you come hunt with us? Chwi chwit.”
They readily accepted requests from female Orcs.
“Of course.”
As they fought together, the instructors taught them how to fight.
“I’m Leiachwi. Chwik. Could we learn again next time?”
“I’m SwordNoob419.”
Even the friend requests that the SwordNoobs had wanted so dearly came along smoothly.
“Can we come visit the dojo while you’re on break?”
“Let’s, have a date at an amusement park.”
Due to the aggressive female players, there was even the birth of disciples who went and had their first meetings. Having bravely finished their dates, the disciples spoke of their heroic exploits.
“I went to the amusement park with her, and… huhu. Sahyungs, colleagues, don’t be surprised! I grabbed her hand first.”
[T/N: Sahyung is the polite way to address an older brother in training.]
“Noob419! You crazy? What’ll you do if you get slapped for that…”
“Do you think I would have done that on purpose? We were looking at the fountain when our hands somehow touched, and she stayed still so I held it.”
“She stayed still?”
“How should I say it, it was like I got the strange feeling from her that it was okay if I took her hand.”
“There’s something like that? It’s not that you get slapped for just holding a girl’s hand?”
“It’s like, a feeling you can only know once you’ve experienced it.”
The masters and disciples burned with their dreams of dating as they received the teachings of their dating seniors.