I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

27 – Training (5)

＊

You can feel it without seeing it.

Ice bullets flying rapidly toward me.

You can do it without drawing a magic formula in your head.

No matter how talented I am, I am also a wizard.

I’ve already tried the same magic dozens, no… hundreds of times.

If you repeat it this many times, even an idiot can memorize it.

I completely understood and completely memorized it.

As I turned my head while running, I stretched out my finger.

The ice bullets running towards me were running in exactly the same trajectory I expected.

The flame in the form of a fox that appeared in an instant on the palm of my hand leaped forward vigorously, using the tips of my fingers as a support.

The beast of flame swallowed a bullet of icy cold air.

“Okay…”

Fiercely clashing, the two magics canceled each other out, scattering only boiling steam into the air.

“like,”

“done…”

Finally, I succeeded in melting her ice bullet with my magic.

“It’s done!!”

“…Congratulations Ash.”

“aaagh!”

I was knocked forward by the inertia of running.

Fortunately, the land around the river was made of soft sand, so he was not seriously injured.

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Rather, as I fell, I rolled over and lay sprawled on the floor, looking up at the sky.

The sense of accomplishment that I had accomplished far outweighed the pain or embarrassment of falling, so I screamed again while lying down.

Sylvia-san approached me and said.

“Ha, are you that happy?”

“Yeah…of course.”

“Hmm~”

Sylvia-san opened her eyes and gently lifted one corner of her mouth.

The slightly laughable eyes and snort were a bonus.

Of course, it was only natural for her to react that way.

“… Although…”

“…”

“It took a week or so.”

It wasn’t until today, eight days after I almost died from being chased by a bear, that I was finally able to shoot her ice bullets flying towards me.

Even if I think about it, it’s an absurdly slow growth, but it seemed like my head would melt with the sense of accomplishment that I had succeeded anyway.

However, contrary to my feelings, Sylvia-san’s expression showed a slightly displeased expression.

Well, she was the one who had been training me all week.

Maybe I was thinking about whether I should give up now because I didn’t see any sign of success.

There’s no way she would have really forced me to give up since she said something like ‘Ash can do it’, but even so, it would have been very frustrating for her to see me as terribly incompetent.

But what about it?

In the end I did it.

No matter what Sylvia-san said, this feeling didn’t seem to diminish at all.

I opened my mouth to Mr. Sylvia, who had raised her head and glanced at me lying down.

“Of course, it can be ‘a lot’ in a week, but you can also say ‘only’ in a week.”

“Hmm-”

“Of course, I know that compared to others, I am really bad at it.”

“…hmm,”

“After all, in a forest like this, there is no one to compare with. One person taking the exam, first class Ash. Well, you can think of it this way and move on.”

“If there’s only one person, you’re the last one, right?”

“No, that’s…”

“Whoa, self-satisfaction, what is that?”

“Self-satisfaction or mental victory, whatever you call it, I like it.”

Silvia raised a finger and pointed at her nose without saying anything.

“If you are going to be compared, is it here?”

I stood up and said it was ridiculous.

“It’s not courage to compare a hero with, it’s brazenness.”

“Hmm…”

She glanced at me again.

At that moment, without realizing it, I shot a little bluntly.

“… why,”

To be honest, I was a little shocked.

Of course I know how much she helped me grow, but

But that’s right, I did a little bit well, I knew I could do it, I wonder if I can give you comfort or encouragement like that.

I don’t think she’d mistakenly think that I’m proud of myself just because she said that.

I knew best that it had taken me a week to block one of her ice bullets.

Would I dare to show pride in my talents or arrogance to look down on this forest?

In the beginning, I was a person who was very shallow in self-evaluation.

I’m not a genius like my older sister, nor a hero like Sylvia-san.

I’m just an idiot wizard who wants to enjoy the small joy of success that I barely enjoyed after a week of repeated failures.

“…just say that you did well.”

“…”

Every time she murmured from before, it felt like the sense of accomplishment that had swelled in my head was getting smaller and smaller as if the wind was blowing away.

I asked her fiercely.

“What is it? What’s so disrespectful about it?”

“ash.”

She called my name in a firm voice.

Her cold voice, as if I hadn’t heard it in a long time.

Did he warmly soothe me, who had been failing all week, but was he angry just because I was a little happy about my success?

I didn’t understand what she was thinking, so I stared at her with a puzzled expression.

Already, my sense of accomplishment subsided calmly along with my mood.

“This is not training to hone your magic skills.”

“…”

“It was training for you to survive in this forest. Do you remember?”

“…yes,”

Oh, it was.

What was I happy about?

If I meet the bear again now, will I survive?

Not sure.

No, it’s a lie to say you can’t be sure.

Without Sylvia-san, I would still easily die at the hands of that bear.

Well, unlike before, I might be able to resist a little, but the ferocious wild animals and savage monsters roaming the forest were still tough for me.

Still, it would be safe to say that I am the weakest creature in this forest.

stupid guy

There is only one person taking the test, so it’s first class?

To compare it to a test, this is not a relative evaluation, but an absolute evaluation.

If it does not exceed the standard, it is disqualified.

And dropping out in this wild test field meant death.

I calmly scratched my head.

My appearance, which had been so excited until a moment ago, was too funny even to me.

“…I’m sorry, Mr. Sylvia.”

“…”

I lowered my head.

I didn’t lower my head to apologize to her, and I couldn’t lift my face because I was so ashamed of my foolish appearance.

Silvia-san slowly approached me.

Then he crouched down in front of me, at eye level, and gently peeled the bear skin off my body with his gentle hands.

The bear skin, which had been hit countless times by her magic over the past week, was already tattered.

It had been beaten so much that even the hair had fallen out to the point where it looked ugly, and part of the leather was shattered to the point of being soft.

She held up the bearskin, which had turned into rags, and was silent for a moment, then looked at me.

It was like looking at the new bruises that appeared today all over my body.

She nodded slowly and opened her mouth.

“I know Ash worked hard.”

“…thank you.”

Even belatedly, she handed me a compliment.

Seeing that the bearskin, which is famous for its toughness and toughness, had become such a mess, she must have felt uncomfortable too.

The fact that I spent a lot of time training meant that the amount of time Sylvia spent on my training was equally long.

I was so ashamed of the fact that I belatedly shot at her who had been with me for such a long time in silence.

Sylvia-san nodded slowly and said.

“Your words have a point. It’s definitely an amazing achievement to grow this much in one week.”

“…Thanks to Sylvia-san.”

“But you have to live in this forest from now on. You can’t be easily satisfied by saying ‘this is enough’. The forest is a more dangerous place than you think.”

Sylvia said with a very serious expression.

I finally understood why Sylvia had such a disapproving expression when she saw me being happy.

“…sorry.”

Should I say it’s a warrior-like responsibility?

Or should we see it as a kind of confidence stemming from belief in one’s abilities?

She basically said, ‘Even if others can’t do it, I can do it.’ was a person who thought

Even if I was clumsy or bad at something, she didn’t really care.

Rather, he smiled and took care of everything he could.

However, no matter how much she is a hero, she is never a god.

Her power… no, more precisely, her body clearly had limits.

I’m not talking about the limit of stamina or strength, but the physical limit.

Of course, no matter how much she is, she cannot exist in two places at the same time.

And, of course, Sylvia-san couldn’t just stay by my side for the rest of her life.

Ms. Sylvia, who usually rejoices with me when I’m happy, is disapproving of my sense of accomplishment today, maybe because of that frustration.

Thinking so, I deeply reflected.

I had to get strong fast.

even for her

“I understand you want to feel a sense of accomplishment.”

“… yes,”

Sylvia dropped the bearskin she had peeled off of me onto the floor, grabbed my hand, and lifted me up.

Then he looked me straight in the eyes and spoke slowly.

“…Then let’s do this.”

“yes?”

“From now on, I will test you.”

“… test…?”

Unknowingly, I recited her words and asked again.

Sylvia silently nodded and opened her mouth slowly.

＊

one week.

In just a week, Ash melted my ice.

Of course, power was being controlled.

If I had thrown it with all my might, Ash’s stomach would have already had a hole the size of a human head pierced.

However, even so, it is too fast.

No matter how much I adjusted my strength, it was strange to follow the bullet I threw with my eyes in a week.

Perhaps this rapid growth rate is evidence of Ash’s amazing concentration.

But for some reason, I wasn’t happy with Ash’s growth.

It was a very strange feeling.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want Ash to be strong.

If that was the case, I wouldn’t even suggest training in the first place.

The reason I train Ash is because of the sight of him on the day he was nearly killed by a bear.

That bear was no threat to me, so I never imagined that Ash would be dangerous.

The fear of losing him in a freak accident without my knowledge made me train Ash.

Losing Ash.

It’s so horrifying that I don’t want to even imagine.

Probably the biggest disaster and misfortune I can imagine right now.

It was clear that if I lost Ash at all, I would slowly go mad, waiting for the day I would die alone in this painful solitude.

Or, it may lead to the destruction of this world by escaping this forest.

I might throw away my mission and wish that this world, which I had saved at the sacrifice of my comrades, would burn.

according to the king’s will.

That’s why I needed to teach him how to protect himself from being eaten by this damn forest.

So, seeing Ash grow faster than I expected was something to be delighted with.

By the way… what the hell is this feeling.

The feeling of Ash getting out of my hands.

“…but you have to live in this forest from now on. You can’t be easily satisfied by saying ‘this is enough’. The forest is a more dangerous place than you think.”

“…sorry.”

Ash pouts at my bewildered reaction.

Embarrassed by Ash’s reaction, I said whatever came out of my mouth.

Ash, foolishly naive, accepted that again.

Even at the absurd words I spat out roughly, he pursed his lips and blushed with his head bowed.

Maybe it’s because I’m ashamed of myself for being so excited.

Ash like that was so stupid, so cute.

No, you can be excited.

Ash, that’s really cool. amazing.

In fact, I wanted to say that right now and hug her.

But now I can’t come and say that.

I had been talking plausible bullsh*t until a moment ago, but now I couldn’t change my attitude completely.

I was doing some thinking and came up with an idea.

“I understand you want to feel a sense of accomplishment.”

Saying that, I casually put down the bear skin I was holding on to.

Then, he gently lifted Ash from his seat.

“…Then let’s do this.”

“yes?”

“From now on, I will test you.”

“… test…?”

I nodded.

test.

It was a pretty good idea for one that came to my mind in haste.

If Ash fails this test, you can convince him that he still has a long way to go.

To be honest, I don’t even know why I’m so hesitant about Ash becoming stronger.

Maybe I’m still afraid that Ash will leave me.

Of course, as long as Ash is bound by the curse, he will not leave this forest on his own.

But for some reason, despite knowing that fact, I felt like Ash would leave me again and again.

next to me

ah.

“…The content of the test is simple.”

It was as if I had just discovered what I was afraid of.

I was subconsciously confusing the fact that he had to be in this forest with the fact that he had to be by my side.

But in fact, Ash doesn’t really need to be by my side.

As I’ve been living up to now, I don’t have to meet other people.

Of course, I don’t have to show my face to others, and Ash has the difference that no one else should come into his field of vision, so it’s a bit more difficult for Ash to keep.

Anyway, in fact, Ash only needs to meet someone, and there is no reason for him to be with me.

That’s what I was afraid of.

When he’s strong enough to survive in this forest, he can leave me.

I can leave my cabin one day to live alone.

And, I won’t be able to stand it.

I’m not crazy.

Of course, I knew very well that Ash’s leaving me was nothing more than a paranoia created by my dark and excessive imagination.

However, there was a big difference between the belief that ‘Ash will not leave’ and the conviction that ‘Ash cannot leave’.

The name of the difference is possibility.

If Ash becomes stronger, there is a possibility that he will leave me.

Fufu, to be anxious.

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Of course, it’s very possible that he’d run out of the forest altogether to ruin the world.

But Ash would never do that, right?

And, Ash is leaving me?

How could I imagine that Ash might leave me and find solitude on his own, knowing how painful loneliness and disconnection can be?

Aren’t you worried too much?

Besides, you’ve just melted an ice cube.

I wonder if it’s still a long story.

No, you can worry about it.

Concern, anticipate, prepare, and plan carefully in several layers.

No matter how careful and careful you are, in real life situations, unexpected things always happen.

During my journey to subdue the demon lord, I learned through experience.

Well, too.

cut off your leg?

Shall I cut my ankle?

No, will it make it impossible to walk?

the surest way.

The only way to completely block the possibility of Ash leaving me.

crazy boy

Why do you have to do that?

What did Ash do to keep you by your side?

What are you trying to hold onto Ash while doing such a thing?

And, according to common sense, if you were locked in a cabin with your leg suddenly cut off, wouldn’t you run away?

Even if it were me, I would bite my tongue and kill myself.

Didn’t you think of running away to death?

damn, so what?

what do you do

It’s a test for that.

“Five feet. Melt all the ice I threw.”

“…Is that a test?”

“okay…”

Ash doesn’t pass the test.

Ash had to convince himself that I was still far away.

Oh, I just need to convince her that I still need Sylvia’s protection.

“…great.”

Ash looked at me with red eyes burning with determination, his lips pursed.

A determined expression.

If… Ash passes the test, what should I do?

“You can’t wear a bearskin instead.”

“…Uh, wouldn’t that hurt a lot?”

“You just have to be successful.”

It’s a stupid idea.

I’m never going to pass anyway.

.