The sorcery girl, Anya Marta, had no friends.
Probably because she had been only following Ignet since she awakened sorcery from a young age.
And she had never really hoped for a friend.
The only people she could meet were the Black knights and the priests of the Holy Kingdom, and neither of them were fun.
At least Georg could communicate with Anya, but the relationship between them was always too ambiguous to call him a friend.
For her, the existence of Lulu, whom she met half a year ago, was special.
‘Cute!’
Fluffy, round, and warm. And most importantly, cute!
Moreover, despite being a cat, she could speak to humans and was as good as Anya when it came to sorcery.
Lulu was someone Anya couldn’t help but treat with love.
‘Nice! Now I can spend more time with her!’
Lulu, who used to be a cat, appeared in a surprising form this time.
She approached Anya in the form of a human and not a cat.
And for Anya, who had no friends the same age, she couldn't help but smile.
Of course, the pleasant feeling disappeared when Lulu got angry.
"Why did you do that? Why did you bully Airn and me when we were friends?"
“Uh… no! Anya never bullied…”
“You and Ignet bullied Airn! He said he didn't want to go, but you people tried to drag him away by force and beat him in the stomach and knocked him out! Don't you remember it?"
She remembered some and didn’t remember some.
In fact, she actually couldn’t remember her commander hitting Airn’s stomach. She only remembered the fact that they asked Airn to join them.
'But that isn't bullying, right?'
For Anya, Ignet was the best and the coolest person she had ever met.
She never asked Anya to shut up, and for that reason, Anya knew that she would later rise to the throne.
She was able to be next to such a great person, so why would she resort to bullying?
Although she thought that, Anya wasn’t confident in explaining her thoughts to Lulu.
“Sorry. I won't do that in the future.”
“I don’t know!”
"Captain, no, I'll tell the commander not to do that. Play with Anya again! Let's be friends!"
“Ah! I am still mad!”
“What should I do? How do I make Lulu not angry?”
“… I don’t know that either! For now, my anger won’t die down. Think carefully till the next time we meet!”
With that, Lulu turned into a cat and disappeared into the darkness.
In the midst of her dismay, Anya was able to sense a relief in the words of Lulu after she said 'till the next time we meet' and went to Georg's room, racking her mind for ways on how to make Lulu feel better.
And decided to ask an adult for advice.
And then she completely ignored the proposals Georg had put forth to her and began to plan in her own way.
A present to Lulu in her human version?
“Lulu can wear clothes now, so a dress will make her very happy! I wish she would wear a white dress and play with Anya!”
“… then why bother asking me?”
“Georg only spoke nonsense! Really useless stuff!”
Anya shouted while waving a red flag which she took out from the air.
Next to her, was a pile of sorcery clothes obtained by breaking the golden piggy bank. Of course, she could summon a cute dress right away.
Anya’s golden pig was an all-purpose piggy bank that could grant any wish at the right price.
However, hoping for a finished product wasn’t very efficient.
But her decision, for now, was to summon materials and tools, and make them herself as doing that would make the product become much better than summoning them using coins.
“I need to make it pretty. I need to make a pretty dress.”
Anya Marta, started making clothes with her small busy hands.
It was a cute appearance, but Georg, looking at her like that, had no choice but to feel sad.
The girl who spent only 2 gold coins for her own birthday was using 100 gold coins to relieve the cat’s anger.
‘… let’s think about something else.’
Georg immediately headed to bed.
Laying back with his back to Anya, he thought about Airn Pareira.
‘… what an unbelievable guy.’
He had heard rumors. That he had reached Master status. He remembered being shocked at that.
Although he had great willpower to withstand the force of his captain, and raised his sword against her, he felt that Airn’s growth was too fast.
However, the appearance he showed today was even greater than what he had imagined.
Georg, with his eyes closed, envisioned Airn Pareira in his head back when he faced his captain.
“… truly an unbelievable guy.”
"Ah! Be quiet, will you! You are disturbing me!"
“Can’t you go to your own room, and do it?”
“No. So stay quiet.”
“… fine.”
Georg sighed and continued to think.
As he travelled with Ignet and the sorcerer, he naturally had an eye to understand people.
But even he couldn’t figure out Airn.
What was clear was the fact that the total number of people who had made Ignet have such a reaction after meeting her was less than five.
‘Julius Hul, Quincy Myers… I didn’t see it, but Ian did too.’
As soon as Ignet saw him, she went to her room and fell into meditation.
This kid was the first among the young ones.
Georg muttered softly as he thought of Ignet, who seemed happier, unlike ever before.
“This dungeon exploration will be more fun than I thought.”
“Georg! Ah! Don’t make it hard for me.”
“…”
Georg pulled the blanket over his head.
Ignoring him, Anya moved her hands.
At that time, Airn Pareira, who was out of the hall, was also meditating like Ignet.
The meeting was only for a brief moment, but the impact she left on him wasn't small.
Victory, joy and longing, along with so many other thoughts, rushed through his head.
‘But for now, it would be right to feel purely happy.’
He remembered the first time he met her.
Airn felt a deep sense of defeat in the face of that woman, who didn’t see him but only his past self.
In a way, the emotions he felt at that time made Airn who he was today.
Unlike before, Airn decided to honestly praise himself for handling Ignet’s gaze with his confident self.
Of course, just because he faced her gaze didn’t mean that everything was over.
Rather, it could be said that it was the real beginning.
Airn Pareira, who thought till there, got up and looked around.
After confirming that no one was around, he summoned his great sword and wielded it.
Wheik!
Wheeik!
‘I lack the ability and strength to achieve my goal currently.’
It wasn’t to be active during the exploration.
It wasn’t even to rise to a higher level than Ignet.
Airn’s pursuit of greater strength was to fully realize the will and belief he had established when he was in Durkali.
Even now, he often thought about it.
If his abilities were like when he was in Alhad, what would the outcome be?
If he had been weaker than Grayson in Eisenmarkt, would he have been able to travel with Ilya and Lulu like now?
No.
‘… it is obviously important to have a strong will, a belief and a goal.’
However, if you lack the strength to achieve it, no matter how good your intentions are, it will inevitably become futile.
Airn Pareira, who realized it, swung his sword stronger.
Woong!
He grew stronger and more passionate as he affirmed with the strong will he had in his previous life.
Wheik!
Along with his will, the strength of his body also developed.
He constantly trained himself so that his body wouldn’t fail to hold the spirit of his heart.
To be diligent.
He worked constantly.
The young man with a heart as hot as flame sharpened his sword.
He finally stopped training when the long darkness of the winter night receded, and the brilliant sun appeared.
‘… Ilya.’
Airn, who looked at the bright sky, suddenly remembered Ilya.
He knew.
How much courage it took for her to get to this point and meet Ignet.
He knew very well how painful it would be when the person, because of whom they suffered so much, didn’t even spare a reaction towards them.
If Ignet had reacted the same as in the past, Ilya would have taken a hit to her pride.
‘But there is nothing I can do for her.’
He could encourage her by walking next to her or holding her hand when she was having a hard time.
But in the end, Ilya had to forge her own path and take her own steps.
“…”
Airn, who was thinking about his friend, looked up to the sky and swung his sword.
Just like yesterday, just as always.
However, in his eyes which kept moving, there was much greater trust in his friend rather than concern.
Two weeks passed since the Holy Kingdom, Avilius’ knights came over.
The preparations for the dungeon proceeded smoothly.
However, that was only when it was looked at from an external point of view, but in reality, there were constant checks on the other nations between the members.
But that too came to an end.
Ignet Crescentia, who was in charge of the Black Knights, was positioned as the leader of the expedition commanding all the forces, including those of Rabat, Palanque and Calven.
Of course, no one felt bad about it.
It was because they knew that Avilius was strong. That Ignet was strong.
Of course, it was said that leading the exploration and the distribution of the rewards of the dungeon would be done separately.
However, instead of Georg, who was in charge of diplomatic affairs on the front line, it was Ignet who met the heads of two nations.
“Thank you for the consideration.”
“…”
“…”
No one said anything after that.
“Phew.”
And Airn didn’t care about the political stuff.
Swosh!
To make his ideals into reality.
Swish!
In order to not let his dreams stay dreams.
Swish!
In order for him to catch up with his strong convictions, Airn’s body continued to grow. And as each day passed, it was evolving.
So, exactly 24 hours before departure.
“Phew.”
Airn remembered his distant past.
He quietly nodded, remembering the awakening he had gone through before the midterm test when he was a prospective trainee of Krono.
“Great.”
