episode_0028

On the way back from the plaza to Rai’s house, I found a small empty lot where I could lightly move my body.

To join Killua and Rai when they returned to Rai’s house after the feast in the plaza, I prepared to train my body in that empty lot, just like the Hero.

“Heehee. It’s simple!”

The Hero, as if to demonstrate, gripped a large lumberjack’s axe with one hand and lightly stretched his shoulder.

Then, he set a piece of firewood on a tree stump as a target and firmly gripped the heavy lumberjack’s axe with both hands.

“The elasticity of your whole body. Gently using the axe’s weight…”

With a slight recoil, he lifted the heavy axe high above his head.

The moment the axe head, already twice as heavy as other axes, was raised to its highest point, tendons bulged in his forearm, and he brought that weight straight down towards the firewood.

“Hup!”

WHAM!

Despite the silly battle cry, his axe fell with fierce momentum, easily splitting the firewood in half and striking the stump so hard that the axe was half-buried in it.

“Hehehe. Like this!”

The Hero, having cleanly buried the axe in the stump, twisted the deeply embedded axe left and right, forcing it out.

“That’s amazing.”

It was brutish and simple, but the destructive power of the axe he wielded was astonishingly strong.

“Want to try?”

The Hero, puffing up his chest at my exclamation, handed me his lumberjack’s axe.

The axe handle, discolored black and covered in grime, felt as if it had been custom-made for my hand, fitting smoothly into my grip.

Feeling the reliable grip of the axe handle that clung firmly to my skin even with slight pressure, I took a light deep breath and, imitating the Hero’s actions, used the elasticity of my whole body to lift the axe high.

The moment I forcefully lifted the axe, whose head was much heavier than other axes, high above my head—

—a weighty sensation, starting from my ankles and moving up through my thighs, waist, shoulders, and forearms, was pulled up into my raised hands.

“Hup!”

And the moment that weight gathered at my fingertips, with a light battle cry, I brought the axe down with all my might towards the stump.

WHAM!

With a deafening crash, the axe blade struck the edge of the stump, almost shattering it.

“I missed…”

Perhaps because I couldn’t control the immense weight and momentum of the axe, my axe struck the edge of the stump instead of the target firewood.

Though the axe had missed, I let out a sigh of relief as I looked at the shattered edge of the stump, unable to withstand the destructive power contained within the axe.

“Alright. One more time, then…”

There was no need to precisely split the firewood.

All I needed was intense exercise that would make me forget my stifling and uncomfortable feelings for a while.

Taking another deep breath and lifting the axe high, I brought it down with all my might, accompanied by a short battle cry.

WHAM!

With an even louder crash, this time the opposite edge of the stump was shattered.

“Ugh…”

Was it due to the powerful impact that made the handle tremble violently? I felt a stinging pain in the palms of my hands gripping the axe handle.

“Good. This time, it feels right?”

But even that pain was welcome.

The more I swung the axe, the more my overworked muscles screamed, and each time, the distracting thoughts about Killua seemed to fade.

Even the stinging pain in my palms seemed to help me forget those distracting thoughts.

“Hup!”

To intensify the pain in my palms, I gripped the handle even harder. Then, using the elasticity of my entire body, I lifted the axe high once more.

Feeling the heavy weight of the axe lifted high into the sky, I gazed at the firewood that was my target.

Was it because of the sweat dripping into my eyes? Or perhaps it was my one-sided jealousy.

On the surface of the firewood I had targeted, I could vaguely see Rai’s face.

“Yaaaa!”

Letting out a battle cry as if squeezing my lungs dry, I brought the raised axe down towards Rai’s face, vaguely reflected on the firewood.

WHAM!

The axe, striking precisely in the center of the firewood, split it in half with a resounding crash.

The neatly split firewood parted left and right, falling to the base of the stump with a clear sound.

With a sigh, having precisely split the target firewood in half, I let out a sigh as belated fatigue and muscle aches overwhelmed me, and I sank to the ground.

“How is it? Do you feel a bit relieved?”

My breath was ragged, and I felt intense muscle pain in my arms, legs, and waist from swinging the axe.

And even my palms, which felt a burning pain as if the skin had been slightly peeled.

Amidst the various pains, there was no room for distracting thoughts.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve, I answered the Hero’s question with a vigorous nod.

“Hehe. I call this the Hero’s Strike!”

His childish act of giving such a grand name to a simple axe swing only made me let out a hollow laugh.

There was a lot I wanted to say, but my breath was ragged, so I could only vaguely nod in agreement.

“Heehee. You worked hard. Shouldn’t a comrade who worked hard get a gift?”

The Hero patted his thick belly and approached the axe I had embedded in the stump.

The Hero, gripping the slightly reddish axe handle stained with blood from my torn palm, twisted the axe left and right with all his might.

Creak… CRUNCH!

The Hero, twisting the deeply embedded axe out of the stump with one hand, roughly wiped the blood-stained handle with an old cloth he pulled from his pocket.

“Here. A gift!”

And he handed me the axe.

“This is a gift?”

Receiving the two-handed lumberjack’s axe he offered, I looked at him with an incredulous gaze.

But the Hero was proudly shrugging his shoulders as if he had given an amazing gift.

“Now that I think about it, I didn’t have a weapon…”

My original sword had been lost, stuck in a wolf’s maw, unable to be pulled out.

It wasn’t a particularly great sword, so I wasn’t too disappointed, but the fact that I had no weapon to protect myself was certainly regrettable.

“Thank you.”

Though I felt uneasy since I had never handled an axe before, after swinging it a few times, it seemed that even someone unskilled in martial arts like me could unleash powerful destruction if I just managed to hit something.

Moreover, thanks to the handle that strangely fit my hand perfectly, there was no great discomfort in swinging the axe, apart from its weight.

“Hehe! If you use it, it’ll be better than you think!”

Though it was made for logging, the Hero recommended it in a confident voice, perhaps because it was also suitable for combat.

“Right… Well, it’ll be fine if I can just find a good way to carry it comfortably.”

Unlike a sword, which could be easily carried by attaching a scabbard to one’s waist, an axe, with its heavy head and large size, was quite difficult to carry around normally.

With a sigh, using the axe he gave me as a cane, I laboriously lifted my heavy posterior from where I had sat down.

And as I was lightly stretching my stiff shoulders and waist from swinging the heavy axe, the Hero, as if noticing something, hurriedly lowered his posture and pressed down on my shoulder.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

At his sudden action, I reflexively lowered my posture just like him and looked in the direction he was gazing.

“Rai and Killua already?”

In the plaza, bright bonfires still burned, and the sounds of people’s laughter continuously flowed.

Nevertheless, Rai and Killua were emerging from the plaza, just the two of them.

“I didn’t know he was so weak to alcohol.”

“Ahaha… I should have told you beforehand…”

Rai, whose face was already flushed as if he had started to get drunk, was staggering unsteadily.

Beside Rai, Killua watched him with apologetic and worried eyes, making sure he didn’t stumble, and walked alongside him.

“I thought making alcohol was his hobby because there were so many brewing jars in his workshop.”

“It’s true that making alcohol is his hobby… but he wasn’t used to drinking it.”

Killua, watching Rai stagger uneasily, bit her lower lip as if she had made up her mind about something.

“Be careful. I’ll hold you.”

Boldly approaching Rai, she stretched out her arm towards Rai’s unsteady hand.

But the moment she was about to grasp his hand, Killua hesitated slightly and, instead of holding his hand directly, she lightly raised her hand and gripped his wrist.

“Thank you, Killua.”

However, the moment Killua grasped Rai’s wrist, Rai gently pulled his hand and held Killua’s hand, which had been about to grip his wrist.

Perhaps feeling a little reassured by Killua’s hand holding his, his unsteady steps became stable.

At the same time, Killua also began to blush a deep red, like Rai’s flushed face from the alcohol.

“Excuse me… would you mind taking a walk with me to sober up a bit?”

Rai, holding Killua’s hand tightly, suggested a night stroll to her.

At Rai’s unexpectedly sweet suggestion, Killua looked at him with wide, surprised eyes.

“Ah… Yes! Of course!”

Soon after, Killua replied with a joyful expression, as if the answer had already been decided.

Thus, the two, holding each other’s hands tightly, began to walk along a small path that veered slightly off the road leading to Rai’s house.

“Hmph! How lovely. Truly lovely.”

Once the two disappeared from sight, I straightened my uncomfortably hunched back and grumbled, needlessly kicking a piece of split firewood rolling at my feet.

“That’ll be fun. Let’s follow them!”

Then, suddenly, the Hero grabbed my shoulder as I was grumbling and about to leave, pointing towards the path Rai and Killua had taken, and spoke.

“No… No, what are you talking about?”

I knew very well how despicable it was to follow two budding lovers.

But the Hero, as if such common sense didn’t bother him, spoke with a smile full of pure curiosity and wonder, devoid of any ill intent.

“I’m curious what will happen with Rai and Killua!”

The Hero forcibly pulled me along, crudely gripping my shoulder.

I frantically tried to shake off the Hero’s hand gripping my shoulder, but it wasn’t easy to pry away his hand, hardened with calluses and dense with muscle from swinging heavy axes.

“A-Alright! Just calm down for now, and let’s follow quietly, keeping low!”

Realizing I couldn’t shake off the Hero’s hand, I frantically tried to calm him down so his foolish actions wouldn’t expose our tail.

“Oh, right. We shouldn’t get caught, should we? Ehehehe…”

At my words, the Hero let out a foolish laugh, released his crude grip on my shoulder, lowered his upper body, and tiptoed carefully, beginning to follow behind Killua and Rai.

“Haa… There’s no helping it, I guess? I can’t send that foolish Hero alone.”

I knew that following Killua and Rai was a despicable and foolish thing to do.

However, just as the Hero had said, a primal curiosity about how Killua and Rai would connect was subtly simmering within my chest.

Ultimately, under the pretext of preventing the Hero from doing anything foolish, I lowered my posture behind him and quietly began to follow behind Rai and Killua.