Published: September 10, 2025
It got a bit too long, so I split it into two parts.
“Huh? Lachesis?”
This morning, on my way back from running, I spotted Lachesis.
I was about to call out to her when I noticed someone else hiding in the shadows alongside her.
The people she was talking to were wearing deep purple robes and had their hoods drawn low—I've never seen robes like that before.
Thinking they might be in trouble, I quietly crept closer.
“O seed left behind by our god,” one voice said.
“I am myself. Don’t call me a seed,” came the reply.
I heard the conversation from beyond a building.
From the tone, it sounded like these people knew Lachesis.
But it seemed they weren’t on very friendly terms.
“Let’s go back, to the Hall of Freedom. Your parents are waiting for you.”
“They’re just foster parents provided by your cult, aren’t they?”
Cult? Is that different from a temple?
—Big brother, eavesdropping is wrong. Maidens have their secrets.
Suddenly, my little sister’s words echoed in my mind.
She said that when I once bumped into her talking to someone.
“I’m not like the elder sisters!”
When I looked back, I saw Lachesis running away.
While I was thinking about my sister, it seemed some misunderstanding had occurred between Lachesis and those people.
What happened to Lachesis?
What kind of places has she lived in, and what kind of life has she led?
For some reason, I was curious.
“Hey, Sharon! Sharon!”
Right in front of me was the knowledgeable Zaki.
“Uh?”
“What’s wrong, Sharon? You’ve been spacing out all morning.”
Quiet Rasa looked up at me.
Come to think of it, we were now in the square used for new recruit training.
Maybe because I’d been thinking about Lachesis, I barely remembered what I’d been doing.
My hair was still damp, and I wasn’t hungry, so I assumed I’d bathed in the river and eaten breakfast with Zaki and Rasa afterward.
“Do you have a fever?”
“Sorry, I guess I was just spacing out.”
I apologized to the worried Zaki and Rasa, then moved toward my group’s meeting spot.
“Good morning.”
“Hey! You’re here!”
“Morning, mornings always make me sleepy.”
There was Yuto, the priest apprentice from Zaikuon Temple who couldn’t use Holy Magic, petite ratman Neze, burly dog humanoid Teg, and—Lachesis, looking downcast.
The noble scion Rozim and his servant Sagu hadn’t arrived yet.
“Good morning, Lachesis.”
“—Yeah.”
When I greeted her, I got only a half-hearted reply.
She seemed troubled by this morning’s events.
“Hey—”
“Students, assemble!” A beautiful instructor’s loud voice cut off my attempt to ask Lachesis.
“Let’s go, Sharon,” Rasa urged.
I turned to face the instructor.
“Today you’ll practice group combat against me.”
“Eh? No matter how strong the instructor is, you can’t win with just this many of us.”
“Student Neze, power is quantity, but level is power as well,” the instructor corrected us.
Though skeptical, the instructor skillfully guided us, correcting our fighting styles and offering advice.
What surprised me most—
“Next, we’ll practice fighting monsters with tentacles.”
She manipulated multiple ropes with magic, making them coil and twist around our arms and legs as if alive, teaching us how to handle them.
She even used magical shields floating in the air to represent tough monsters, and cloth and firewood floating around to mimic flying monsters, drilling various combat tactics into us.
When the break was called, we collapsed onto the ground.
“Professional explorers are amazing…” I muttered, gasping for breath as I glanced at the instructor.
I’d thought she was just a warrior, but being able to freely use magic as well was incredible.
But Rozim and Sagu, the noble son and his servant, disputed that.
“Fool, don’t consider that normal. There aren’t many explorers like that.”
“The young master is right. Even in the Shiga Kingdom, skilled ones like that are rare.”
But weren’t there about six others here?
Maybe it’s because they’re sisters?