Evan had likely begun learning Raven before he’d even hit puberty.
He’d likely begun learning swordsmanship at an age when even holding a toy sword would be difficult. Starting at that age would make the boundary between martial arts and everyday life hazy.
Traces of his swordsmanship could be seen when he was walking, eating, and doing mundane activities.
What would happen if he tried to forcibly stop using the swordsmanship that had been ingrained so deeply into his body?
Naturally, he would start tripping over himself, just like he was now.
“Evan! Fight properly!”
Evan flinched at my shout, but he still didn’t use Raven.
This guy... His condition was poor from the start...
Since this was a real fight, there was no point in me pressing him further.
I decided to more actively join the battle as I attacked the spider...Crunch!
Soon after, Sharyl’s mace crushed the spider’s head.
The spider’s eight legs wriggled for a moment before it collapsed.
“Uwaaaah—!”
Mir continued to wail away at the spider’s corpse.
Evan dropped his head low.
Sharyl wiped her face of the spider’s blood and let out another sigh.
“...This is even worse than I expected.”
Agreed.
***
Breaking a habit was a difficult task, even more so when it was related to martial arts.
People often say that in a contest of skilled experts, the one who first identifies their opponent’s behavioral patterns is bound to win.
For that reason, the more a martial artist trained, the more effort they had to put into breaking their bad habits.
Of course, there were side effects to this.
By trying to forcibly break a habit, they could mess up the movements they had learned properly with it.
Why was I talking about this now?
Because it seemed like, for Evan, Raven was the totality of those habits.
—Generally speaking, martial arts are best learned young.
I recalled the words my master had told me not long after I’d arrived on Spirit Mountain.
—But that isn’t without downsides. An untrained body is not fit to carry out all martial arts, so even if one learns all the movements properly, it is natural that there will be mistakes. A child’s learning capability will absorb even those mistakes without filtering them out. This is one of the reasons a master is required for early education in martial arts. Ȑ�
—Hmm...
—That is why, Youngest, in some ways, you are lucky. Your head has already hardened as much as it can, so we can quickly fix your mistakes.
Of course, fixing those mistakes was carried out physically in the form of his fists...
...Anyway, what I wanted to say was simple: Evan shouldn’t let go of Raven.
Even if he really wanted to, trying to get rid of it in such a short amount of time would be detrimental to him.
As if to prove my prediction right, the next few times we encountered monsters—
“Dieeeee—!”
“...Kugh! S-sorry!”
Mir’s and Evan’s situations did not improve.
Sharyl and I were the only two holding our weight.
With a serious expression, Sharyl said, “...It seems we should try collecting rather than hunting.”
“Hm...”
Since the first battle, Sharyl had been speaking to me a lot more, but it looked like it was because I was the only one she considered worth talking to.
I was a little thrown off, but I understood how she felt.
Since Evan, the one whose performance I’d been most counting on, was now in that state, Sharyl had become the teammate I had to rely on the most.
“Won’t it be difficult to hunt with those two with us?” Sharyl asked as she glanced back.
A few steps behind us, Mir and Evan were trudging along.
I took a moment to think.
Mir’s trauma and Evan straying from his path...
Neither of these were problems that could be solved in a short amount of time.
Even 72 hours wasn’t enough time to take care of them.
Honestly, between the two, I was more worried about Evan.
Although Mir seemed disappointed in herself due to her current state, she wasn’t despairing.
Evan, however, was spaced out entirely.
Disappointment in Raven, guilt toward his father, and doubt in his decision...
There was probably a storm raging in his heart right now.
I nearly let out a sigh.
Being a teacher wasn’t an easy job.
A teacher contemplated with their student, gave advice, and ensured their student went down the right path.
But what were these people who called themselves instructors doing?
When he needed help, they couldn’t even do that and instead damaged his psyche.
Those guys are the grand masters?
...Of course, I shouldn’t group them all together and curse them as one.
From my perspective, the Instructor of the Hunt was a pretty good teacher.
Calzark as well.
“Of course, I think we’ll be tight on time if we change our plan to collecting... Hey, are you listening?”
“I am. I think we should change our plan.”
“What?”
“I think we’ll need to use all three days.”
Sharyl blinked.
I said, “We’re still within the range of the instructors.”
“What do you...”
“Look closely. Although it’s faint, there is a path here. The grass is a little lower where we’re walking.”
Sharyl took a look around us, but she didn’t seem to notice what I meant.
Honestly, it was to be expected.
No matter how much hero education one received as a child, why would a noble lady go out into the wild mountains?
What was important was that wild forests were even more of a mess than where we were.
Of course, I didn’t think the instructors were anywhere near us.
“Isn’t it because it’s been used a few times? Maybe a carriage went through here.”
“There’s one more piece of evidence. Didn’t Instructor Juan say that if we attack other young heroes, we’ll immediately be disqualified?”
“...Ah!”
* * * * *
* * * * *
An exclamation mark appeared above Sharyl’s head.
Thankfully, she wasn’t dull.
“Immediate disqualification... means the instructors can track the movements of the young heroes.”
“Yeah. So if we don’t go too far, we should be able to spend the three days in relative safety.”
There was probably a restricted area within a certain range of the training camp.
If I’d known this was going to happen, I would’ve bought the sleeping bags. They hadn’t even been that expensive.
“Well, there’s merit in what you’re saying. The monsters we fought back there weren’t that strong.” Shary looked at me with a different look in her eyes. “Luan Bednicker, I’m seeing you in a new light. Although it’s not as much as Sir Hector, I guess blood really doesn’t lie.”
“Hey, do you like my brother?”
“Not at all!” Sharyl shouted loud enough to scare the two walking behind us.
“You could’ve just said ‘no’. Why did you have to scream so loudly?”
“How rude...! I’m taking back everything I said about you!”
“Sure.”
I ignored Sharyl’s tirade and looked up at the sky.
Although I couldn’t see much due to the canopy... I could still tell due to practicing the Strongest Fire Technique.
The sun was slowly setting.
“Let’s look for a place to spend the night. Do you have experience sleeping outside, young lady?”
“No.”
As expected.
I took a moment to think.
“I think it’d be best to stay in the trees, but I’m worried about the cold.”
It was the middle of winter.
Nights in the forest would be deathly cold, and we didn’t have any tents or sleeping bags to keep ourselves warm. Just sleeping as we were was a death sentence.
“We can just light a fire.”
“In the trees?”
“No, just light a campfire on the ground and take turns on watch.”
“Hmm.”
It was a pretty decent suggestion for a young lady...
But it didn’t sit right with me since this was the Forest of the Butterfly.
My gut was saying that his place was more dangerous than the Gem Mountains.
Even if we’re still inside the area the instructors control, we still need to be careful...
It would become troublesome if the fire drew the attention of monsters.
Evan, who had been standing there and spacing out for a while, finally spoke up.
“...How about not sleeping?”
I didn’t know when he’d started listening to our conversation, but evidently he had.
However, I shook my head at his suggestion.
“No. Staying up for one day is fine, but our condition will crumble from tomorrow onward.”
It would be fine if we just accomplished our objective tomorrow, but if we didn’t, the risk was much too high.
“And searching through the forest at night is too ineffective. What can we see when it’s so dark?”
“E-ehm...”
He wasn’t one to act stupid at a time like this. It seemed he still wasn’t in his right mind.
“Why don’t we just sleep in a shack!” Mir suddenly shouted.
At that, Sharyl responded with a clap of her hands.
“A shack! Woah! What an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G idea! Then should we start cutting down trees? Since we’re surrounded by them, we shouldn’t have any problems! You stupid giant!”
“What are you talking about? Why would we need to cut down the trees?”
“Then is a shack just going to fall out of the sky?”
Mir pointed forward.
“There’s one right there!”
“...Huh?”
“Hoh.”
In the direction she was pointing, there really was a shack.
“...I don’t think I’m tired enough to start hallucinating.”
“Hey, in this forest, is there anything that can cause illusions?” asked Sharyl.
“Who knows...”
An illusion...
Since that could be the case, I focused fire ki into my eyes.
As I did, my vision brightened and I clearly saw the form of the shack.
This was my fire eyes.
It wasn’t much; it was just a skill that allowed me to see the movement of mana a bit more closely...
“I don’t think it’s an illusion, though it could be a trap.”
“Hmm...”
I looked at my team members for a moment before nodding.
“I’ll go first to check it out. You guys stay here on standby.”
“Will you be all right alone?”
“It’s more dangerous to go together.”
Sharyl nodded.
“...All right. If you think you’re in danger, send us a signal.”
“A signal? How?”
“Let’s just use these two.”
Sharyl used her arms to make an O shape.
“This is safe.”
And then she crossed her arms into an X.
“And this is danger.”
“Hm. Can you show me them again?”
“Safe, danger...”
“One more time.”
“Safe, danger.”
“One last time...”
Evan stopped Sharyl from grabbing my throat.
Taking that view as my payment, I moved toward the shack by myself.
It truly was more dangerous for multiple people to go at once, so I’d acted as if I was the best for it, but it wasn’t as if I had any skill with stealth or disguises.
But I felt like I was a better choice than those younglings, so I’d volunteered.
“Hmm...”
Looking closely at the shack, it seemed ordinary. It was a little small, but I couldn’t see any problems with it.
I couldn’t feel anyone inside either.
However, despite those facts, my guard heightened.
...I could smell blood.
I put my Sword of Seven Sins into its sheath.
Unlike other people, letting go of my weapon wasn’t a sign that I had become more nervous; it was so I could fight with my bare hands.
In any case, this shack didn’t even have a window. There was a small chimney, but it wasn’t big enough for a person to fit through...
In the end, after counting myself down, I slammed the door open.
Right away, I realized that my nose hadn’t been wrong.
Inside the shack was a corpse.
“...”
It was drenched in blood, but I could see the body’s clear orange hair.
I knew that face.
The girl had a complex about her freckles and was a bit too talkative.
However, due to her bright personality, it was difficult to hate her.
Pam was lying in a pool of her own blood.