Recovery

"Cain, thank you for taking such good care of such an incompetent teacher."

"No, Teacher Roxy is outstanding."

Cain pursed his lips. He did not understand why his teacher was always putting herself down.

"Please let me finish, Cain."

Roxy interrupted Cain with a faint smile, then sighed. A somewhat helpless expression appeared on her face as she lowered her gaze, her blue eyes dimming slightly...

"Cain, you're only twelve this year, aren't you? The road ahead is still very long..."

"But Teacher isn't that old either, right? I mean your age, of course." Cain hurriedly added, since he also hated being called young.

Roxy's smile stiffened slightly, and the corner of her mouth twitched. In truth, she was much older than Cain...

"Ahem, let's change the subject. Cain, you really don't need to spend so much effort on me, and..."

Cain pressed his lips together, looked at Roxy's adorably blushing smile, and nodded slightly, feeling rather helpless.

Sure enough, she was such a silly teacher. She was overthinking things again, wasn't she? He would never force his teacher to do anything, and besides, this was not the time for that sort of thing...

He and Roxy both had their own dreams. Romance was not everything in life, nor was it what they should be doing right now.

Cain felt that what he and Teacher Roxy shared was more trust and dependence. If that nearly impossible dream truly succeeded, he would come back to find her.

Then... he would confess to her...(buzz)

But by then, Teacher would probably already have someone she liked, right? Someone who might even be better than him...(irritated)

Cain gave a faint smile. Sure enough, this was the one thing he could never let go of...

After sighing, Cain looked at Roxy's flushed cheeks.

"I understand what Teacher means, but we're companions, aren't we? Companions who trust and rely on each other, who can entrust our backs to one another. Some tolerance and contact are inevitable in life. Although Teacher and I haven't known each other for very long, I still want to say this."

"I trust Teacher very much."

Cain smiled happily, his expression serious as he looked at Roxy, whose blue eyes had widened slightly and whose face was flushed.

"I won't do anything that would trouble Teacher, including confessing to you or proposing marriage or anything like that. Although Teacher is truly wonderful, unfortunately, that doesn't fit my current goals."

That was true. He was nowhere near strong enough yet to settle everything and protect Teacher.

For that, Cain silently thanked Zoldat. That church had really helped him a great deal, even though Zoldat was a guy whose smile was disgusting.

You've already said plenty of things that troubled me, haven't you...

The corner of Roxy's mouth twitched as she sighed. For some reason, the tension and unease in her heart disappeared, yet she also felt a slight sense of loss. Her feelings were very complicated now.

Cain smiled with some relief and looked at Roxy.

"Maybe Teacher thinks I'm still too young, but please allow me to promote myself a little."

Cain spoke with a faint smile as he picked up the thermos and dropped two white rock sugar cubes into it.

When Roxy ate her cake at the inn, Cain had guessed that she might really like sweets.

Roxy pursed her lips as she watched Cain smiling before her, bending over to pour sweet water into her cup. She sighed and smiled helplessly. If Cain were ten years older, perhaps she...

And Cain was truly very good at taking care of people...

"After all, incompetent as I may be, I am still the Second-Generation Sword God of the Sword God's Holy Land. I do have some strength, so please rest assured and leave your safety to me, Teacher Roxy."

Cain spoke with a faint smile, shrugged, then turned to pour himself a cup of sweet water as well. Looking at Roxy's pursed lips, he continued.

"Besides, someone like me who gets lost also needs Teacher Roxy's guidance. These are merely companions helping each other, along with my admiration for you, Teacher. Please don't feel any psychological burden, and there's no need to feel indebted. Being able to help Teacher makes me feel fulfilled instead."

Because we were teacher and student, as well as companions.

Cain let out a relieved sigh, his eyes filled with reminiscence as he looked at Roxy, a smile rising at the corners of his lips.

Sure enough, having trustworthy companions by his side felt absolutely wonderful! And one of them was such an incredibly adorable girl as Teacher Roxy!

Compared to wandering aimlessly and getting lost in the mountains alone, killing wild bear Magic Beasts every day to fill his stomach, and sleeping in trees every night while keeping one eye open, this was better by who knew how many times.

Seeing Cain's blissful expression of relief, Roxy helplessly took a sip of the sweet, warm sugar water in her cup.

Just how harsh had her disciple's previous living conditions been...

But after hearing Cain's words, a reassured smile appeared at the corners of Roxy's lips, and she finally relaxed completely.

Cain possessed a maturity and steadiness that did not belong to someone his age. Roxy could not explain why, but whenever Cain stood before her, she felt very safe.

And honestly, those few words of his had truly dispelled much of the panic and unease in her heart.

Roxy could not help but smile as she looked gently at Cain.

Silly disciple, he had actually comforted her.

"Ahem, but Cain, you can't talk about your teacher like that."

"Sorry."

Roxy held her warm teacup, pursed her lips, closed her eyes, and raised her head slightly with a huff. She opened one eye to glance at her silly disciple, wanting to restore a little of her authority as his teacher.

Yet in Cain's eyes, as he blinked in confusion and tilted his head, Teacher Roxy had no authority whatsoever. Instead, she only became even cuter.

"Mm, Cain, write 'respect your teacher' one hundred times."

"Huh?! Can I not write it?" (dejected)

"No." (happy)

"Congratulations on your recovery, Roxy!"

Zoldat and the others looked at Roxy, who stood beside Cain with pursed lips, and smiled as they applauded.

"Congratulations on your recovery, Roxy." Mia, Raffy, and Nina walked over to Roxy, smiling and applauding as they offered their blessings.

"N-no, it was my problem that delayed our progress in clearing the dungeon. I truly feel very sorry."

Roxy deeply bowed to everyone, only for Cain, smiling faintly at her side, to gently lift her by the shoulders.

Why was Teacher apologizing?! Without Roxy, he would not have come either. By then, forget the twenty-third floor—given that dungeon's difficulty, it would have been a miracle if Zoldat and the others could clear even the twentieth floor.

Cain was telling the truth. Based on his assessment of Zoldat's adventuring party, they absolutely would not have been a match for the small boss on the twentieth floor. Even if they passed by sheer luck, it would certainly have been a pyrrhic victory, and there might even have been casualties or a total wipeout.

"Of course, there's also our leading man, the knight at Roxy's side, who has stayed by her side ever since she fainted."

Seeing the gossiping smiles on everyone's faces.

Cain coughed twice at those words, his face reddening slightly as he glanced at Zoldat's somewhat comical grin.

Did this guy really need to emphasize that...

Roxy, meanwhile, pursed her lips, and for some reason her face was still a little hot. Of course, it was not a cold; she was simply easily embarrassed. Yes, that was all...

After helplessly calming himself and deciding to give Zoldat extra training, Cain cleared his throat and said seriously.

"This is simply what companions and teacher and student should do for one another. I don't think there's anything worth thanking me for. Let's talk about the dungeon instead, Zoldat."

Of course, they had not come here on vacation. They had to clear this dungeon quickly so they could earn more money and make up for their consumed supplies.