Seron Yearns for Strength

Carrying the collapsed Seron, I hurried to the infirmary.

And the story I heard from the nurse was baffling.

“Oh my, Seron’s back again?”

*Again.*

That meant Seron had already visited the infirmary several times.

The nurse, unfazed, treated Seron’s hands and laid her down.

Then, she used divine magic, and Seron’s face smoothed out a little.

“Nurse, what do you mean, ‘back again’?”

The nurse sighed at my question.

“This is the seventh time Seron’s come in like this.”

Not once or twice, but seven times.

There are many passionate students at Jerion Academy.

So, it’s not uncommon for them to be carried in after intense training.

Therefore, it wasn’t a rare occurrence.

However, seven times makes it a rare occurrence.

My gaze settled on Seron.

At first, I thought Seron was being bullied.

She has the kind of personality that attracts conflict.

Our Red Weasels specialize in stirring up trouble wherever they go.

But the atmosphere suggested it was anything but bullying.

Rather, Seron had politely asked them to train with her.

Seron was wheezing softly.

Just what is this girl pushing herself so hard for?

Seron has always been competitive.

But not to the point where she’d pour out her competitive spirit until she collapsed.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Just as I was mulling it over, Seron slowly opened her eyes.

And soon, her eyes widened as she met mine.

“Oh, Prince Sweet Potato?”

A flustered response escaped Seron’s lips.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m the one who brought you. Don’t you remember?”

“Uh, uh.”

It seemed her memory of the time was faint.

Seron’s face turned bright red as she burrowed under the blanket.

“Th-thank you. I’m alright now! You can go!”

Seron, still under the blanket, fidgeted.

“So, why were you training so hard?”

The blanket rippled.

She must know it’s not a problem she can hide.

But she still didn’t seem inclined to come out from under the blanket.

“You’ve collapsed seven times already. What if something happens to you, not taking care of yourself like that?”

“…Says you?”

Well, that’s true.

I push myself every day, so I’m not in a position to tell others what to do.

“And, these things can happen while training.”

“Anyone can see it’s overwork. Doing it like that…”

“I know!”

Seron shouted at that moment.

Seron mumbled, her face buried in the blanket.

“I know it…”

I quietly watched Seron.

I knew she hadn’t shouted because she wanted to.

“Then what’s the reason?”

There must be another reason Seron was going this far.

When I questioned her about the reason, Seron was silent for a moment.

“…Because I’m weak.”

I blinked.

Then, Seron’s forehead, slightly exposed between the blankets, appeared flushed red.

“Because I’m too weak!”

Weak.

Hearing those words, I realized why Seron had been training so hard only now.

“…I’m too weak to be by Prince Sweet Potato’s side.”

It was because of me.

Is it because the love is gone?

In matters such as these, her objectivity seemed to falter.

“Prince Sweet Potato keeps throwing himself into danger, and I can’t even keep up.

This past autumn at the Demon Labyrinth, I was just barely able to follow.”

Apparently, Aisha had looked after Seron quite a bit back then.

As such, Seron must have felt her own inadequacies to the bone.

“I’m weak. Too weak.”

Seron pressed her lips together, biting down.

“I want to help Prince Sweet Potato, but I’m too weak.”

Seron poured out the emotions she had been holding back.

In truth, she wasn’t truly weak.

Seron ranked in the upper-middle echelon of Jerion Academy, which was saying something.

Furthermore, just recently, she had stubbornly fought her way through the preliminary rounds of the solo competition and made it to the main event.

Her father, at that time, had supposedly wept tears of pride, so proud was he of her.

To call such a Seron weak was almost a lie.

But when one considered those to whom she was comparing herself, the answer became clear.

Those who had made names for themselves beyond Jerion Academy, across the world.

Sharin and Iris, Isabel, and other shining stars.

She was surely comparing herself to them.

One wanted to say that the comparison itself was flawed, but that wasn’t entirely true, either.

Everyone dreamt of a life at the peak.

It wasn’t right to condemn those who looked at them and strove to reach them.

I, too, had experienced a wall when training.

The frustration and fighting spirit that arose from that were indescribable.

“So I’m going to get stronger. Stronger than Prince Sweet Potato, so I can protect him.”

Seron revealed her steadfast determination.

The Demon Labyrinth that autumn had impacted various people more than one might think.

If it had blossomed complete love for Sharin, it had created a goal to strive for for Seron.

But even so, limits existed.

If she continued pushing herself until she collapsed like she was doing now, Seron would break down first.

I turned to look at Seron.

Finding herself ashamed, now that she had spoken her mind, she burrowed even deeper into the blankets.

“Seron.”

“Ah, yes.”

“You want to become stronger, right?”

Only then did Seron slowly lower the blanket.

Her eyes were filled with a sincerity beyond compare as she nodded.

“I want to become stronger.”

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll train with Aisha and me.”

“Huh?”

Seron’s eyes widened, clearly caught off guard.

“What’s the point of training with other guys a hundred days over? Aisha and I, we’re one of the strongest forces in the Jerion Academy.

If you want to get stronger, you have to train with strength befitting your ambition.”

The reason I’ve grown so strong is largely thanks to Aisha.

Training with her has forged my body harder than anyone else could.

Even Isabel and Iris had trouble keeping up.

If Seron gets used to that kind of training, she’ll definitely get stronger.

“You mean that morning training we do every day?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not really a morning person, though…”

“You wanna get seriously punished?”

Just a moment ago, she seemed ready to risk death itself, and now she’s trying to weasel out of it because she doesn’t like mornings.

I glared at her, and Seron cleared her throat.

“Alright, alright. I’ll do it.”

“Good. See you tomorrow morning.”

“Ah.”

I started to get up, but Seron flinched and leaned forward.

As if doing so unconsciously, her face turned as red as a tomato, and she lowered her head, muttering something.

“Y-you could stay a bit longer, you know.”

Why couldn’t she just ask me to stay a little longer?

I stared at her for a moment, then sat back down.

Seron perked up and scooted closer.

Then she snuggled up beside me, resting her head on my shoulder.

She grinned, seeming pleased.

Her short legs kicked back and forth, showing her delight.

This was the same girl who had been collapsing just moments ago.

If anything, she was consistently herself.

＊＊＊

The next day, morning.

I stood at our usual training spot, waiting for Aisha.

“Aisha, Seron’s joining us today.”

“So, it’s Senior Seron’s turn this time.”

Probably because Isabel and even Iris had joined us before.

Aisha seemed used to it.

“Oh, Prince Sweet Potato!”

Seron called out, running towards me.

Aisha and I turned our heads simultaneously.

And instantly froze.

Because Seron was dressed to the nines.

I didn’t know when she woke up to get ready, but she clearly put in a lot of effort.

I stared at her for a moment, then covered my face with my hands.

Yeah, you’ll understand once you experience it.

“Let’s begin training.”

“Yes, let’s.”

Aisha, thinking the same as me, didn’t say more and started training.

Seron doesn’t know the intensity of our training.

She must think it will be less strenuous than the training she did until she collapsed recently.

But that was a misjudgment, a severe one at that.

Me, who overcame adversity countless times recently, and Aisha, who was naturally gifted with a physique of steel.

The training between us two transcends imagination.

Extreme training that even Iris would be reduced to a state of exhaustion.

“Aisha, you know there will be no holding back.”

“Of course, senior.”

A significant smile passed between the two of us.

Soon, the morning training began.

And the result was obvious.

“Ugh, erk!”

Seron was rolling pathetically on the ground.

All the effort she put into looking pretty this morning was rendered meaningless.

I understand she wanted to look good to me.

But it was the price for underestimating our training too much.

“Are you alright?”

I handed water to Seron, who was completely spent, but she shook her head.

When one is too exhausted, one cannot even drink water.

Seron was experiencing that truth painfully.

“Still, you’re keeping up better than I thought. You’re passing the mark at this rate.”

It was a schedule even Iris found demanding.

The fact that she managed to handle the schedule well meant that Seron’s efforts up to this point were not in vain.

“You… you do this every day?”

Seron stared at me with a look of horror.

It was a look that finally understood where my stamina came from.

“And you’ll be doing it every day from now on.”

Seron’s face turned pale.

She seemed to finally realize the meaning of training with me.

“I, I…”

“You said you wanted to become stronger, right?”

Seron swallowed hard.

And soon she staggered to her feet.

Her legs were trembling visibly.

But the determination in her eyes remained.

“…I will become stronger. Let’s continue!”

“Magnificent.”

Even Aisha, who had been watching from the sidelines, nodded, moved by the sight.

A magnificent willpower.

“Good. Seron, one more lap.”

Seron’s face paled even further, but it was alright.

This time, even if he collapses, I can carry him to the infirmary myself.

Entrust yourself to me without restraint.

* * *

After morning drills concluded.

I ended up carrying Seron, utterly unable to walk, to the girls’ dormitory on my back.

At Jerion Academy, the weekend was a mere single day.

Once we finish this morning’s training, we must return to our studies.

Seron maintained a dazed expression the entire time I carried him, but it couldn’t be helped.

Strength wasn’t forged in a single day.

Surely, if Seron persists like this, he will grow stronger.

Afterwards, I rushed back to the boys’ dormitory to wash up myself.

“Yo, Wangnon.”

And so, Card greeted me, raising his hand.

Judging by his tie, he was preparing to attend classes.

“What brings you up so early?”

“Yesterday was a bit of a headache, actually. Orders came down from the Kingdom of Phanisis, you see.”

Upon hearing his next words, my head snapped towards Card.

Card was a spy for the Kingdom of Phanisis.

A spy whose purpose was to extract information from Jerion Academy.

What could it mean for him to reveal his true identity himself?

“Card, you…”

“That’s right. It’s time for me to return.”

Card offered a wry smile.

“Wangnon, I figured you already knew my identity, so I revealed it.”

“What happened in the Kingdom of Phanisis?”

When I asked him that, Card scratched the back of his head.

“Well, it’s nothing much. Just that, all spies are being recalled. I submitted my letter of resignation to the professor yesterday.”

With that, Card retrieved a bag he’d stashed under his bed.

“And so it is.”

A sudden departure.

Yet, Card’s eyes held an expression of someone who’d anticipated leaving all along.

I gazed at Card for a moment, then nodded.

“Take care over there.”

“You’re too kind with your well wishes.”

“Enough with the women already.”

“Hahaha, you said it.”

A laugh, almost relieved in a way, etched itself onto Card’s lips.

“I think I really could do with laying off them for a while.”

With that, Card bid his farewell and vanished.

Without so much as a word to anyone else, he disappeared without a trace.

If it was Card, he’d manage just fine back in Phanysis.

Or so I thought, until a few days later.

A civil war erupts in the fantastical kingdom of Phanysis.