Chapter 73. Clue (2)

In the world of dreams.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

Trapped in an endless cycle of pain, Theresa gradually lost her sense of self.

Thud—

‘Again…’

Thud—

‘Again…’

Thud— Thud—

‘Again, again…’

Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—!

‘Again, again, again, again…’

She was nothing more than a doll repeatedly stabbing the wall.

Worn out and frayed, she might break at any moment.

Despite knowing this, Theresa couldn't stop stabbing.

How much time had passed?

Thud—

As usual, she stabbed the wall.

Then, something unprecedented happened.

Crack—

A large crack appeared in the wall.

Theresa tilted her head in confusion.

‘Why?’

The new wall had only appeared recently.

It would take many more stabs to break it down.

Yet, a crack appeared out of nowhere?

Crack—

The crack slowly widened, and the wall soon crumbled.

With it, a giant hand made of light appeared from the other side.

‘What is this…?’

Theresa instinctively knew that the giant hand had caused the wall to crumble.

The giant hand approached the doll-like Theresa and picked her up without hesitation.

Like a princess caught by a giant in a fairy tale.

Though it could be seen as a very dangerous scene, Theresa felt an inexplicable warmth from the giant's hand.

The warm sensation and the gentle heat from the giant hand.

[Humming~]

A soft humming sound.

And then,

‘…A pleasant smell?’

The moment she recognized it, she woke up from her dream.

Bolt upright—

Groan—

Theresa quickly sat up, her body aching from muscle pain, which helped her regain her senses.

She blinked, confused by the unfamiliar situation.

‘Huh?’

It was clearly her own dwelling.

Yet, there was a bonfire burning, which she had never started, and a large pot made of stone hanging over the fire.

Next to it, a trespasser was squatting.

“Humming~ Huh?”

Yuri, who had been humming and stirring the contents of the pot, smiled happily upon noticing Theresa was awake.

“Are you awake?”

He transferred some of the pot's contents into a small wooden bowl and approached Theresa.

“Here, take it.”

“……”

Theresa took the bowl Yuri offered, somewhat taken aback.

The wooden bowl, which looked freshly carved, was filled with an unknown porridge.

The warm steam rising from it carried a pleasant aroma, which she realized was the same smell from her dream.

She looked up at Yuri in confusion.

Yuri, meeting her gaze, smiled kindly.

“Come on, eat well to recover quickly.”

“What… are you doing here?”

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m not doing this out of any ulterior motives. It’s just my pure, very pure goodwill, goodwill!”

“……?”

Theresa, with a question mark floating above her head, watched as Yuri put on the most innocent and pure expression.

‘Yeah, no ulterior motives at all.’

Yuri really had no ulterior motives.

“I just want our Tessa-senpai to eat well, regain her strength, and start training as soon as possible.”

“……?”

To get better quickly, start training, and soon engage in sparring, right?

“Really, that’s all.”

“……?”

Yuri really had no ulterior motives.

“Really, that’s all, okay?”

…Maybe?

* * *

After Johann left, Yuri showed Theresa his boundless goodwill.

“Hey, this is what? People need a good place to sleep! That’s how you recover from training! Come on, use this!”

He gifted her a wooden bed he had made himself.

“Can you even swing a sword with just this? Come on, give me that and eat this!”

When Theresa was eating dried rations, he would suddenly approach, take the rations from her, and offer her a skewer of meat instead.

“Wow, how did you survive in such a place? A good living environment is crucial for your health! Come on, these are leftovers from decorating my place…”

He diligently made various improvements to Theresa’s empty dwelling.

Yuri took great care of Theresa.

The problem was… he took care of her too much.

“Sigh…”

Seeing Yuri follow her into the sparring ground, Theresa sighed deeply.

She turned around and asked,

“Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?”

Yuri tilted his head, feigning ignorance.

This made Theresa’s delicate brows slightly furrow.

“Are you really asking?”

“What, what’s the matter?”

“Why… why are you being so nice to me?”

Yuri’s expression turned serious.

“Really, being nice to you is a pain.”

“…What?”

“If you don’t like receiving kindness, you should refuse it then and there. Accepting everything and then complaining about it later, what’s that all about?”

“……”

Theresa’s eyes wavered at his sharp rebuke.

Honestly, she didn’t dislike Yuri’s kindness.

No, she liked it.

How could she not?

For the first time since entering the cradle, she had slept in a proper bed.

She had eaten real food instead of dried rations.

Her once empty dwelling now had a lived-in feel.

All these changes were due to Yuri, and they had happened in just a few days.

Still, she felt burdened by it.

She sighed softly.

“Sigh… Honestly, I already knew why you’re being nice to me.”

Yuri waved his hand dismissively.

“Ha ha, what are you talking about! I have no ulterior motives! It’s just my pure, very pure goodwill, goodwill!”

“You’re being nice to me… because you want more sparring sessions, right?”

“……?!”

Yuri’s pupils trembled.

‘How… how did she know?’

Was it that obvious?

I was just being nice, right?

What gave it away?

There shouldn’t have been any clues!

Various thoughts raced through Yuri’s mind.

As he fell silent, his trembling pupils confirmed to Theresa that her guess was correct.

Her sigh grew deeper.

“Sigh… Don’t be nice to me. Honestly, it’s a bit… no, very burdensome.”

“Th… that…”

“I understand your desire to earn points.”

“……?”

“You want more sparring sessions to earn more points, right? But even if you’re nice to me, it’s hard to increase the number of sparring sessions given my current capabilities.”

“……?”

“I’d like to increase the number of sparring sessions too. But if I push it, my expenses will become too high.”

“……”

Yuri stared blankly at Theresa.

Then he realized.

‘Ah, so she thinks my goal is points?’

Originally, Yuri’s goal was the sparring itself.

To increase the number of sparring sessions and extract as much skill as possible.

But Theresa thought his goal was points.

She believed he was being nice to her to increase the number of sparring sessions and earn more points.

This made her feel burdened.

Understanding everything, Yuri suddenly burst out in anger.

“Hey, what do you take me for!”

“……?”

“Do I look like someone who only cares about points?”

“Isn’t that the case?”

“Of course not!”

Yuri proudly puffed out his chest.

“I accept physical items too!”

“……?”

“Or information!”

“……”

Theresa, momentarily stunned, finally understood what Yuri meant and sighed deeply.

“Ah… You’re not just after points, but other things too.”

“Of course, a balanced diet is good for the body.”

You think I’m being nice to you to earn points and increase sparring sessions?

Theresa had misunderstood?

‘Good grief, what a relief!’

Yuri’s eyes sparkled.

“Alright, since we’re being honest, I’ll be frank. If you offer 10,000 points, or an equivalent physical item or information, I’ll spar with you anytime.”

“Hmm…”

Theresa pondered.

Yuri’s offer was better than she expected.

‘10,000 points worth of physical items… or information. Information would be better.’

She asked casually,

“…How will you evaluate the value of the information? How will you determine if the information I provide is worth 10,000 points?”

“I’ll judge that myself. If the information is helpful to me, I might value it even higher than 10,000 points. I’ll price it very, very fairly, so don’t worry.”

Hearing Yuri’s response, Theresa nodded.

It was indeed a good deal.

She had been hoping to spar with Yuri more often.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

Yuri’s smile grew wider at her agreement.

‘Good.’

It was really good.

Not only had she set up the stage, but she had also laid out the stakes.

10,000 points, physical items, or information.

Since his goal was to increase the number of sparring sessions, he wouldn’t lose no matter what she offered.

It was all gain.

‘Plus, I can easily increase the number of sparring sessions by valuing some decent information at 10,000 points.’

Yuri’s eyes curved into a crescent moon.

“Alright, then…”

He rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming.

“How about… a sparring session today?”

“Sure.”

“What will you pay