The next morning...
Zen woke up before the sun rose and went downstairs.
On the dining table, three plates were set, along with a large pitcher of milk.
He could also hear two voices in the kitchen not far away.
"Ow!" A feminine voice sounded.
A masculine voice then asked, "What happened?"
"I cut my finger while peeling the potatoes..."
"You’re the saintess of the temple, and you’re that clumsy?"
"Can’t you care a little more about !?"
"Whatever. Besides, why are you still not healing your finger? Are you an idiot?"
"an! But, I want you to heal it for just like how you did in the cave."
"No way."
"Why not!?"
"I can’t waste my mana on you."
"Why!?"
"Do you want to flick your forehead again?"
"No! Hehe, you know I’m just joking! Here are the potatoes, Your Grace."
"You sound so annoying."
"Oho? And what are you gonna do about it? Co! Kiss if you dare—"
Thud—!
"Ow! You hit ! You really hit again! What will you do if my forehead becos bruised?"
"You can heal yourself—-"
"No! I demand compensation! Kiss !"
Thud—!
Chuckling to himself, Zen went down the remaining flight of stairs.
He intentionally made his steps loud enough, making the two in the kitchen aware of his presence.
"Good morning, my dear apprentice." "Good morning!"
Arthur and Adara greeted him at the sa ti.
The forr had a calr temperant, while the latter was more lively.
Looking at them, Zen could not help but smile.
This sight made him involuntarily think of his parents, as Ren and Rina behaved similarly, aside from the fact that they tend to be a little more lovey-dovey.
They had spent these kinds of mornings in the past few days.
And frankly, Zen had already beco used to it.
His smile got wider as he responded, "Good morning, Teacher and Aunt Ada."
"Co here, help cook. Your Aunt Ada’s too clumsy."
"Yes, Teacher!"
"Hey! It’s this early in the morning, and you’re already that an to !?"
The three voices echoed through the dilapidated building in the heart of the trading grounds.
Beneath the dark sky, the moon and stars cast their pale light over the area, a stark contrast to the warm glow spilling from inside the crumbling structure.
It felt almost cozy—as though the people living within were nothing more than an ordinary family.
***
An hour and a half later in the training grounds behind the dilapidated building...
Zen looked at the wooden targets with a bullseye marking on them and already had an inkling about what training they were about to do.
He then turned to Adara, who was fixing sothing in a large crate and asked, "Um, Aunt Ada. Is this training..."
"Wait. Just a minute, I’m almost finished." She held up her hand before resuming what she was doing on the wooden crate.
Arthur, who was sitting on a nearby bench while sipping a cup of hot milk, chid in, "Unlike . Adara only needed to teach you two things."
’Hm, that few?’ Zen mused inwardly, but his expression did not change.
"Ugh, finally!"
At that mont, Adara’s lively voice sounded, attracting the two’s attention.
"T-That..."
Zen could not help but stamr as he saw what she was carrying on her shoulder, ’Isn’t that a rocket launcher!?’
Looking at his expression, Arthur comnted from the side.
"Initially, I was planning on teaching you about hot weapons myself, but since I found that Adara’s alive, I decided to have her teach you, since she’s way better than when it cos to things like that."
Although Zen had already practiced shooting using the mana handguns available in the training ground to try out his Hot Weapon Mastery, it was just that: casual shooting.
Even though Ren and Rina knew a lot about guns, he was not able to reach the age at which he could be taught how to use guns before he beca bedridden due to his cancer.
Now, seeing Adara carry a large rocket launcher on her shoulder, he beca speechless.
"Arthur’s right! There’s no one better than when it cos to guns and stuff!" Adara grinned as she opened the wooden crate, revealing different types of mana guns inside.
Zen could not help but feel excited, as he too was a fan of first-person shooting gas.
Initially, when he even found out about the details of his parents’ work, both he and Sera felt excited and even talked about sothing like becoming a spy family.
Adara looked at his excited expression and felt satisfied, "Alright, choose what you want to try first among these weapons first before we begin. Don’t slack, because I’ll be strict!"
"I bet that he’ll be able to learn how to shoot every single gun of yours and hit the bullseye before noon."
Arthur casually comnted as he poured himself another cup of hot milk.
Adara pouted at him, "Let’s see! If he can really hit a bullseye with every weapon before noon, I won’t teach him the second thing you want to teach him— I’ll share my blessing with him instead!"
"What..." It was Arthur’s turn to be shocked, "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes! But if I win the bet, you’ll have to do anything I want for the rest of your life!"
Arthur paused for a mont before chuckling, "Sure, sure~"
’Huh? Are they using to gamble?’
Zen felt speechless as he scratched the back of his head, "Erm, may I know what’s happening?"
"Nothing to worry about, my precious apprentice. Just don’t forget that your teacher is sacrificing to give you all the good things in life~" Arthur responded with a benevolent smile.
’Pretentious...’
Zen scoffed inwardly, but kept a smile on his face, "Okay, Teacher. I’ll do my best!"
He then picked up what looked to be an assault rifle from the open crate and approached Adara, "I’ve chosen, Aunt Ada."
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