Chapter 25

A few minutes after parting ways with Mana and Nue.

I sat in the meditation room of the guild, facing Prana, and continued to sit in meditation.

"…………"

"…………"

Time passed in silence, without a word. It had been like this since I first came to check on her.

Meditation is an effective training method that can improve both mental and magical power simultaneously, but it seems that it is not very popular among adventurers, who tend to be more active. There was no one else in the room besides us.

I couldn't disturb Prana, who was meditating seriously, but staying there doing nothing also seemed pointless, so I started meditating with her. It had been several minutes already.

"…………"

"…………"

In the complete silence, where even the sound of the wind was absent, Prana and I continued to meditate side by side, seemingly for an eternity.

It was a pointless time, but I couldn't think of anything to talk about with Prana, so perhaps this was for the best.

(Something about her character just doesn't click.)

I chose the "city boy who dreams of being an adventurer" in my first playthrough of the game, but I naturally chose Rex over the new party members, leaving them to their fate. The guilt from that decision led me to try forming a party with them in my second playthrough, but unfortunately, they weren't named characters, so there wasn't much depth to them.

Because of this, my extensive game knowledge didn't help much with Prana, and I couldn't quite gauge the distance between us.

(If she were as normal as Nue, or as extreme as Rad or Mana, I could at least figure out how to deal with her.)

Prana was hard to read, and we hadn't talked much before. As I thought about this, I continued to meditate aimlessly for a while.

"…Huh!?"

Suddenly, I felt warmth on my shoulder and opened my eyes. Prana was looking at me from an incredibly close distance, her hand touching my shoulder.

"Time for a break."

Her matter-of-fact words surprised me, and I checked the time to realize that quite a while had passed.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry."

It seemed she had been keeping track of the time while meditating. She looked satisfied when she saw that I had opened my eyes, then quickly returned to her original position.

"…………"

"…………"

Even though we were no longer meditating, the silence resumed.

Prana's posture, sitting across from me, was exactly the same as before. Only her eyes were wide open, staring at me.

"…Hey. Why do you follow my guidance?"

Unable to bear the awkwardness, I blurted out a question I didn't really need to ask. However, it was something I had been wondering about for a while.

Prana often snapped at Rad, giving the impression that she was strong-willed and rebellious. Yet, she never complained and always took the lead in the rigorous training I assigned.

"Don't you ever doubt whether what I'm saying makes sense?"

The current training was a prime example. Despite being an excellent scout and archer, I had forbidden her from engaging in combat and forced her to become a mage, which was completely opposite to her aptitude, and ordered her to meditate.

I wanted to know why she didn't express any dissatisfaction with such guidance.

"Why?"

"Why, you mean…?"

Her response was a simple, genuine question.

"The logic you explained makes sense. There's no reason to refuse."

Prana's voice was unwavering.

"If training is more effective for lower abilities, it makes sense to train before growing through combat. If the efficiency of training changes based on aptitude, it's only natural to change to a suitable class when needed. …Where's the doubt?"

Her counter-question left me puzzled. Indeed, those were the reasons I had given for assigning them training.

In the game, it was often misunderstood, but the statement "unlike leveling up, training is not affected by personal aptitude" was a complete lie. The higher the aptitude, the easier it was to improve through training. The reason training seemed to easily improve weaker abilities was because the lower the current ability, the more likely it was to increase through training.

Therefore, I believed the optimal solution was to "train abilities as early as possible, using job changes to maximize growth values." However, I didn't expect the people in this world, who lacked a meta perspective, to agree with this.

"Rex should have more confidence."

To my surprise, Prana even offered advice.

"No book I've read, no one I've talked to, has given me such a clear answer. We are very, very lucky to have the best instructor."

Her words, though not eloquent, were filled with strong conviction.

(…Damn.)

I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from curling into a smile.

To be honest, I didn't start training them out of kindness. It was more about the circumstances and my own desires, and it was just an experiment. Even now, if I were asked whether I could dedicate myself entirely to their goals, I would find it difficult.

However, I was also starting to genuinely want to see how far they could go.

(At the very least, I need to make sure they don't regret coming to me.)

That was the minimum responsibility I had for bringing them in. And then…

"I'm sorry. I underestimated you, Prana."

"…?"

Ignoring Prana's slight tilt of her head, I bowed.

While explaining the training, I had secretly thought, "This is something the people in this world can't truly understand." That's why I couldn't believe Prana continued to train without any doubts.

Even the veteran Veltan had a skeptical look towards us. Perhaps I had been influenced by that without realizing it.

"Seeing things without bias isn't easy. I'm glad I chose to tell you and the others."

Prana's eyes widened at my words. Realizing I had said something out of character, I suddenly felt embarrassed.

"I'm going to check on Rad."

I stood up, as if to escape.

He was probably getting frustrated by now. I needed to keep an eye on him.

"…Wait."

But as I started to walk towards the exit, I was stopped by her voice.

"I'm not as understanding as you think."

"Prana?"

I didn't stop, but she continued, her words tinged with resolve.

"I just wanted to believe. Because you…"

Prana looked at me with a gaze that was different from her usual self, filled with a certain fragility.

"…You saved my life, risking your own."

She whispered, and gave a wistful smile.

* * *

"Ah, what's this?"

I pressed my hand to my chest, having fled the room. My heart was beating strongly, clearly.

To be so flustered by a girl who could be considered a child… I tried to mock myself, but the expression I saw on her face as she left wouldn't leave my mind.

(I didn't do anything that deserves such gratitude.)

It's true that I searched for a unique route to save Prana and the others and engaged in a life-or-death battle with the Doom Demon, but much of it was due to circumstances. The main motivation was a negative one—I didn't want to bear the responsibility for others' lives.

(Well, I am pretty handsome now, and the battle with the Doom Demon was pretty cool, I think.)

But then I realized something.

(No, Prana wasn't there to see the battle. She was calling for help!)

So, Prana was simply grateful for the fact that I had led them and stayed behind, risking my life to save them.

"…Sigh."

I couldn't help but let out a sigh. It seemed I was more jaded than I thought.

(This means I can't slack off anymore.)

Even if I were a hopeless scoundrel, that didn't mean I couldn't help others. I renewed my vow to do my best for them.