chapter_0152

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
152

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
152

“Why can’t I go in?”

Joy frowned openly, showing
her displeasure, and the priest blocking the door broke into a cold
sweat.

To Lucy or Arthur, she might
be the Airhead Lady and an easy target for teasing, but with others,
it was different.

Cold eyes. A commanding voice.
Noble and dignified gestures.

On the surface, Joy was the
epitome of a noble lady, making anyone extremely uneasy while dealing
with her.

Above all, she was a Lady of
the mighty Partan Duke’s Family.

She was the highly esteemed
daughter of the Partan Family, rumoured to have the power to topple a
family with just a word. How could the poor priest dare stand up to
her?

Though the priest felt like he
would suffocate each time Joy’s expression soured, he did not move an
inch.

Behind the door he guarded,
the Saint was resting.

No matter how noble Joy was,
he could not allow anyone to disturb the Saint’s rest, especially
after she recently went through such a significant ordeal.

“I’m sorry, Lady Partan.
Please, come back tomorrow.”

“Do you not understand
what I’m saying?”

Although in Joy’s mind, this
conveyed the immense concern she had for her friend Phoebe, to the
priest, it sounded quite different.

In his perspective, her words
translated to: Do you dare defy me? Are you asking to lose your head?
It was a threat.

“It’s alright.”

As cold sweat dripped down the
priest’s forehead, a gentle and clear voice came from beyond the
door.

“Let her in, Priest.”

“But, Saint…”

“I’m really fine.”

At Phoebe’s repeated
assurance, the priest slowly nodded and opened the door to the room.

As Joy walked in, she saw
Phoebe sitting on the bed.

“Joy. Come in.”

Phoebe’s face, with her warm
smile, was as usual. However, there was one decisive difference.

Her eyes were swollen. It was
obvious she had been crying.

‘What on earth had
happened?’

Phoebe was the strongest
person Joy knew mentally.

Despite travelling through
many rough and unfortunate regions due to her title as the Saint, she
never lost her smile. Yet now, she has shed tears?!

“Are you okay?”

“As you can see, I’m
fine.”

“Really?”

“Of course, Joy.”

Joy had countless questions
bubbling up but instead of asking them, she let out a breath.

Then, as if accustomed, she
pulled a chair over from one side of the room and sat next to Phoebe.

“I was really worried
about you.”

This statement was Joy’s
unfiltered emotion.

Even after Lucy left, Joy
continued training with Frey, until Lady Allen rushed into the
training ground to inform her about Phoebe.

That she had been attacked by
an assailant, lost consciousness, and was taken to the church.

Hearing this, Joy had
immediately run to the church.

She didn’t care about her
dishevelled state from training or her lack of elegant attire.

The only thing imprinted in
her mind was the danger her friend had faced.

“Lady Allen saved you,
right?”

By the time Joy arrived at the
church, the situation was already over. One of the priests mentioned
that shortly after Phoebe collapsed, Lucy arrived and saved her.

Only after hearing that did
Joy understand why Lucy had suddenly left the training ground so
abruptly.

Lucy had sensed someone in
danger.

Just like back in the academy
alley when Joy was attacked.

She didn’t know how Lucy
noticed this time, but once again, Lucy had perceived someone’s
distress and rushed to help.

‘…If only she had
mentioned it, I would have helped in any way possible. Truly, that
person…’

“Yes. If she hadn’t
helped, it would have been really dangerous.”

“We need to thank Lady
Allen.”

“Yes.”

After Phoebe’s reply, an
awkward silence filled the room.

Even now, Joy had an endless
number of things she wanted to say.

‘What on earth happened? Why
did you cry? Are you really okay?’

Something had happened to one
of her few true friends, Phoebe.

How could Joy, with her
sensitive heart, be calm?

Despite her confused mind, she
maintained a calm exterior for one reason only: she didn’t want to
burden Phoebe unnecessarily.

From the outside, one might
think Joy seemed bold and outspoken, but deep down she was a delicate
girl always attuned to her friend’s feelings.

“Joy, I know you have a
lot you want to hear. I’ll tell you slowly.”

Phoebe, having known Joy for a
long time, was well aware of this.

So, she couldn’t help but
laugh seeing the lion with sharp teeth so cautious and found her
voice.

“Thank you.”

“But before that, I have
something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“What does Lady Allen
like?”

“Are you asking about a
gift?”

Understanding Phoebe’s
intention instantly, Joy covered her mouth with the fan she took out
and began to think.

‘What Lady Allen likes, huh.

If it were about the things
Lucy used to like, Joy could easily answer.

Lucy liked extravagant things.

Expensive dresses. Fancy
ornaments. Large jewels. Before joining the academy, Lucy was a lady
who expressed herself through luxury and vanity.

But recently Lucy wasn’t like
that.

She seemed disinterested in
adorning herself.

She rarely wore makeup. She
hardly wore fancy rings, necklaces, or headbands anymore.

Moreover, aside from her
school uniform, she didn’t wear other clothes in her daily life.

Lady Allen these days would
probably prefer swinging her mace one more time over spending time on
her appearance.

So, excluding fancy things,
what Lady Allen likes recently is… Hmm…’

“Joy?”

“…Just a moment.”

Though Joy had been spending a
lot of time with Lucy lately, most of their activities revolved
around training.

They would run until they were
utterly exhausted,

After that, they would spar to
master their movements, occasionally, they would go on dungeon raids
until they collapsed.

At night, they would train
their magical powers.

Given this situation, Joy
hardly knew what Lucy liked.

There was no time to ask.

If they had the time, it was
better spent taking one more step forward in their training.

As Joy continued to ponder
until she furrowed her brows, she finally recalled a memory buried
deep in her mind.

It was of Lucy smiling happily
while eating delicious food when they visited Tierra Mas.

“Lady Allen likes delicious
food.”

“Delicious food, hmm. That’s
an area I’m not very knowledgeable about.”

“Shall I help?”

“Yes, please.”

It was only the next morning
that I finally managed to escape from Practice Mode. I sat up in bed
and stared blankly at the wall before letting out a sigh.

Something feels off.

Thanks to the long sleep, my
body felt very refreshed, but my mind was utterly exhausted.

I couldn’t muster the energy
to get out of bed, so I laid my head back on the pillow, but sleep
eluded me.

Ughh. This is pure torture.

‘Grandpa. Do you want to see
me go crazy?’

Grandpa. Why do you keep
avoiding questions when they don’t favour you?

Are you saying you won’t enter
a losing battle from the start?!

If you keep this up, I’ll
start talking like a brat in my head!

I threatened Grandpa to drag
him into a verbal fight, but he just chuckled.

Ugh! How can he attack me with
pure facts like that?

Grandpa’s words were true.

The overdone training in
Practice Mode was indeed partly my fault.

Achieving the initial goals
set by Grandpa wasn’t all that difficult.

Surprisingly, in this world’s
Practice Mode, my skill proficiency went up!

At first, I was sceptical, but
as I swung my fists, I gradually became more adept at handling divine
energy, which gave me confidence.

Having Grandpa, the originator
of [Divine Martial Arts], by my side was beneficial.

I always knew Grandpa had
excellent teaching skills.

Given that he created and
disseminated [Divine Martial Arts], his expertise was unrivalled.

Thanks to that, I quickly
improved my proficiency in [Divine Martial Arts] and succeeded in
knocking off the Scarecrow’s head by 11 PM.

Up to that point, everything
was fine.

After going through all kinds
of hardships and pain, I was thrilled to achieve the goal, and
Grandpa even praised me for my talent.

You know, when someone finally
achieves what they’ve been struggling for, dopamine surges through
their brain, right?

It makes them feel like they
can do anything, regardless of their actual abilities.

At least, that’s how I felt
at that moment. Seeing the smashed head of the Scarecrow, I was so
excited that when Grandpa said we should call it a day, I responded
like this:

“Grandpa! I can still go
on!”

What I overlooked at that time
was the fact that even if I spoke with sincere enthusiasm, if my
words were distorted, they could take on an entirely different
meaning.

Especially when it comes to
the distortion caused by my [Mesugaki] Skill.

“Just this? Isn’t it
too easy? [Divine Martial Arts] is nothing special. Well, it’s only
natural that it’s sloppy since it’s Grandpa’s outdated technique.”

Even from Grandpa’s
perspective, who knew my words were twisted by the [Mesugaki] Skill,
it must have been unbearable to have his deeply cherished technique
insulted.

Veins bulged on Grandpa’s
forehead as he insisted there was still a mountain of work ahead and
pushed me to continue training through the night.

Under the pretext of sparring,
I found myself sprawled over several times.

Honestly, this was partly my
fault too.

Rolling on the floor, I got
riled up and ended up provoking Grandpa.

Because of that, an infuriated
Grandpa pushed me even harder, and in return, my riled up self
provoked him again.

Caught in this vicious cycle
of suffering, before I knew it, morning had arrived.

Am I going to go through this
every day from now on? This is going to be tough.

…Oh. Is that so?

Hearing Grandpa’s words, I
reflected on my daily life in the Allen Family from a few months ago.

And then I understood.

There’s really not much
difference, is there?

If I think about it, it’s even
more comfortable now. At least my body isn’t as exhausted.

Plus, the classes at the
Academy guarantee some rest.

Just how harshly did I live in
the Allen Family?

‘Yes.’

Convinced by Grandpa’s words,
I stretched and got out of bed.

Okay, let’s use [Divine
Martial Arts] in reality as well.

I need to properly check if
the training in Practice Mode translates to results in real life.

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