Chapter 9: Ryuu's Inner Struggle
"So fast—!"
The cat girl's punch shot forward, clean and direct—no flourishes, no tricks.
It was pure speed, strength, and precision. A straightforward display of overwhelming stats.
And this was with her holding back, just enough to make the sparring viable.
Unlike the one-sided beating Shirou took from a high-ranking adventurer of an evil Familia, this kind of training made him feel the violence of "levels" more clearly.
Shirou shifted his hips, tilted his body sharply to the left, and snapped his arm up like a whip.
His fist struck the inside of Anya's forearm mid-thrust, causing her punch to deviate slightly. She gave him a surprised glance.
"I finally managed... just once."
Until now, their sparring sessions had looked more like playful beatdowns than real training. Anya would punch, and Shirou would try to react—block, dodge, counter, do anything to respond to a Level 4's normal attack.
After dozens of failures and beatdowns, he finally found his moment.
He knocked aside her punch—her guard wide open. A rare chance to strike back!
Shirou's right fist shot toward the cat girl's abdomen.
He used everything he had, not holding back—at his level, there was no way he could hurt her, even with full force.
Anya smiled.
Then, with unbelievable flexibility and speed, she twisted on the spot.
Something furry whipped into Shirou's midsection and sent him flying.
That tail—feline flexibility and the racial traits of the cat people—far exceeded human dexterity, speed, and agility.
"Anya's amazing."
"Right? You guys should all be worshiping Anya more, meow~"
Shirou lay on the ground, gasping for air, completely out of strength and covered in bruises.
Anya? Not even sweating.
The difference between a newly blessed Lv.1 and a high-ranking Lv.4 adventurer was astronomical.
But that also made this training incredibly beneficial for Shirou.
"You're strong too, Shirou. I wouldn't guess you just became an adventurer." Anya complimented him. "Did you train in martial arts before?"
"Yes."
"I didn't expect that punch to hit the one spot where I can't use force... Did you aim for that?"
"Mostly luck and coincidence."
Meanwhile, Ryuu was practically biting her handkerchief.
"This... this is so frustrating..."
I was the one he came to first. Shirou-kun asked me for help... So why... why did it end up like this?
She had wanted to be a mentor to Shirou, just like her past comrades had guided her. If she could pass that on, maybe those lost souls would find peace.
But she had blown it—nearly injured him with her very first strike. After that, she hadn't had the face to offer training again.
"Wait a minute... doesn't this mean I'm totally inferior to Anya?"
As a waitress, Anya was better. As a teacher, Anya was better. Even when shopping, Anya got discounts with her charm—Ryuu got blacklisted for being mistaken as a debt collector.
Anya was also a top-tier Lv.4.
And, worst of all, she had fluffy ears and a tail.
Ahh~ I've completely lost... Lady Anya, I'm so sorry for disappointing you...
Her gloomy aura was so thick that Syr thought she was hallucinating.
"Ryuu—Ryuu-chan, don't turn to dust!"
"Shirou..."
"Miss Ryuu?"
"Shirou... I'm just a useless elf..."
Ryuu sat on the ground, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around them, her bare feet pressing into the garden grass, long toes curling slightly.
"Don't say that, Ryuu-chan," Anya rushed to comfort her.
"You may be clumsy, your cold expression scares customers, you're stubborn, and not letting cats touch you is a seriousproblem—but your combat skills are amazing, meow!" Anya said, fists clenched. "And, and, and... uh?"
Anya's face scrunched up, struggling.
Shirou and Syr: "..."
"And, and Ryuu is really strong! And fast! And she's an elf, so she must be great at magic, meow..."
That's just breaking one compliment into pieces!
Syr stepped in. "Okay, stop. Ryuu's about to cry."
"Shirou, I really am hopeless. I was called 'useless elf' before, too..."
"Ryuu, do you think my cooking is good?" Shirou sat in front of her and asked gently.
"Of course. Your cooking is delicious."
"I wasn't always good at it," Shirou said. "I remember the first time I cooked—it was a disaster. Burned everything. My father ate it with a forced smile and got food poisoning for the whole night."
He continued, "Nobody's good at everything from the start. Not Syr, not Anya."
"Anya still mixes up people's orders."
"Syr breaks plates all the time, meow."
"Maturity is built through growth," Shirou said, gently taking her hand again. "And the fact that you're good at fighting—I think that's amazing."
"You're skilled because you've always been fighting. And you fight to protect others—like you protected me."
"...Huh?" Ryuu looked up, stunned.
"That's not something to be ashamed of," Shirou said seriously. "It's something to be proud of. You're strong, and you've used that strength to save others. I admire that."
The image of this boy overlapped with a memory from her past.
You guys… is this what you thought, too...?
"Ryuu..."
"Call me Ryuu."
"What?"
"You call Anya by name, so call me Ryuu too."
Anya's wild energy just made people treat her informally. But Ryuu...
"Miss Ryuu..."
"Ryuu."
Once again, Shirou witnessed the stubborn pride of the elven race.
"...Ryuu."
"Shirou, I—"
Gurgle~
Her stomach growled again. She hadn't eaten from sheer emotional exhaustion.
People get hungry if they don't eat. Absolute truth!
"Ugh..." Her face flushed red.
"Hey Shirou, where's my grilled fish? You promised me!" Anya tugged him up.
"Now? But we don't have any fish—I was going to buy some tomorrow."
"No worries, I'll just go steal some from Mama Mia's kitchen, meow~"
"How does it feel?" Syr asked, sitting beside Ryuu.
"...Good."
"I'm grateful too, Ryuu." Syr held her hand—and Ryuu didn't pull away.
"Back when that evil Familia was running wild, everyone who came to the tavern looked so gloomy." Syr glanced at her. "But now, we see more smiles."
"That's all thanks to you heroes. Like Shirou-kun said, be proud of that!"
Chapter 10: Forging and Projection
"Wow, what a delicious smell!"
"You're up—Shirou-kun made soup for everyone."
"Yay! I was so sick of Mama Mia's breakfasts... Wait, when did Mama Mia get here...?"
"Where's Anya?"
"She got caught stealing fish and is now hanging from the laundry pole."
"And Shirou?"
"He left early for the Familia. Looks like a busy day ahead."
"I'll cheer for Shirou-kun!"
As always, The Hostess of Fertility was lively in the morning. The girls chatted while eating breakfast.
Shirou couldn't cook for everyone, of course—but he did leave behind a big pot of miso soup, using ready ingredients.
Cooking and doing chores gave Shirou a rare sense of peace, perfect for organizing his thoughts for the day.
"Ryuu, Shirou-kun's cooking really is great, isn't it?"
"Mm... I want to keep eating his miso soup forever," the elf girl murmured softly.
The room fell silent for a moment.
Girl A: "That was a proposal."
Girl B: "Definitely a proposal."
Girl C: "Too bad Shirou-kun isn't here~"
Syr gently patted Ryuu's shoulder. "Ryuu-chan, maybe be a little more careful with your wording, okay?"
Ryuu tilted her head. "?"
The tavern's resident "useless elf" once again showed her lack of social awareness.
"Achoo!" Shirou rubbed his nose.
"Cold? Or is someone talking about you~?"
"Probably not..."
At the time, he was at Tsubaki's workshop, learning the fundamentals of blacksmithing.
Maintenance, repair, polishing, recycling... You had to understand these things to become a skilled forger.
Tsubaki's workshop was massive—taking up an entire floor of the building. As the Familia's top smith and the city's best, she had six assistants, including three Lv.2 blacksmiths.
Hephaestus Familia had a near-monopoly on the city's equipment production. Internally, competition was fierce. Only smiths who reached Lv.2 and gained the development ability [Smith] could mark their work with the Familia crest and sell through official shops.
Otherwise, their work ended up in bargain bins—or sold through the Guild at cheap prices (where many new adventurers got tricked into buying low-quality gear, but that was the Guild's issue...).
Some smiths reached Lv.2 without gaining [Smith], and unless they wanted to become adventurers or spend their life making cheap gear, their best option was to assist higher-level smiths—hoping to gain valuable experience and fight for a future.