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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Childhood Friend (3)
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"...That was delicious! I was really looking forward to the Yang family's cooking, and it exceeded my expectations!"
"Haha, thank you. I'll make sure to convey your compliments to the head chef."
"Please do! Well, now that lunch is over, how about we work off the meal with some exercise?"
"Ah, yes, of course! I'll escort you to the training hall."
Up until she was talking with the matriarch, the little girl had a stern expression on her face, but after eating and regaining her strength, she was back to her bright self.
Her face had looked like she was dealing with some heavy circumstances, but filling her belly instantly lifted her mood. It was so so typical of a ten-year-old.
"Shall we go, Miss Se-jeong?"
"Yes!"
"I'm coming too."
As the two of them finished eating and stood up from their seats, I rose from mine and followed along.
"Ahem! Young Master Woo-bin..."
My silent trailing made the Wet Nurse, who was guiding us to the training hall, shoot me a slightly sharp glance.
"What? Can't I come along?"
But today was the first day of hosting a guest, and guiding the little girl around the Yang family estate had been assigned to the head servant herself, the Wet Nurse.
In other words, that meant she wouldn't have time to instruct me today.
"Sigh, fine. Just for today. Don't even think about it tomorrow."
"Yes, Wet Nurse."
So, the Wet Nurse couldn't exactly stop me from heading to the training hall today.
It was less risky to keep an eye on me there than to leave me unsupervised.
"Then, please follow me."
The training hall was off-limits to men except on the the matriarch's annual martial arts display martial arts demonstration.
Thanks to the little girl, I finally got to set foot inside.
Thanks, kid. I'll repay this favor tenfold someday.
"This is the training hall. As an important facility, it's equipped with the state-of-the-art security systems."
After walking for about three minutes, we arrived at the training hall.
On demonstration day, the whole Yang family gathers, so too many eyes around to try anything. But with just me, the kid, and the Wet Nurse? Perfect.
For figuring out the training hall's password, that is.
If I could secretly learn the password, I could sneak in at dawn for more systematic, efficient training.
Expanding my training was crucial, so I steeled my focus.
As a fifth-year Awakened with superhuman proficiency, I could decipher the code pressed on the keypad by watching the Wet Nurse's back—reading her muscle movements.
Concentration was key, so I held my breath and poured every nerve into observing her.
"...!!!"
"Um, excuse me. Wet Nurse?"
Just as the Wet Nurse turned her back to enter the password and I was capturing every motion, a voice from right beside me shattered my focus.
"Hm? What is it, Miss Se-jeong?"
The Wet Nurse turned back at the kid's call, and my desperate, breath-held concentration vanished into thin air.
This kid just ruined it...!
"Well, since I'll be staying with the Yang family, I'll probably use the training hall a lot. Could I know the password? It feels a bit bad to call on you every time."
"Hm, that's true. I do have other duties, and there will be times I'm not available when you need it. Very well. Come here, Miss Se-jeong."
"Ah, thank you!"
At the Wet Nurse's summons, the kid scurried over, and the two of them huddled with their backs to the keypad, exchanging the password.
The Wet Nurse would input, the kid would confirm, repeating with a few wrong entries and deletions. No way to catch the exact code.
...Damn it. Foiled.
"Ah, got it! I memorized it, Wet Nurse. Thank you! I'll make good use of the hall from now on!"
"Haha, anything you need, just say the word. The matriarch promised every convenience."
And just like that, my plan went down the drain as we entered the training hall.
"Wow, it's huge! It didn't look this big from outside!"
"That's because of the spatial expansion enchantment. It needs to be vast to handle the matriarch's Solar Divine Martial Sword."
"Solar Divine Martial Sword... I want to see it someday!"
"Haha, hopefully you'll get the chance."
As the Wet Nurse said, the Yang family's training hall was custom-built for the matriarch.
Her Solar Divine Martial Sword infused the blade with fire aura, unleashing wide-area flames, so a massive space was essential.
I hate the Yang matriarch, but that sword art is undeniably cool. Seeing it live versus on a monitor? A world of difference in its raw intensity.
"Then I should show you mine too! Our Jin family's secret sword art, Azure Dragon Twelve Swords!"
I was reminiscing about the matriarch's sword art from the demonstration half a year ago when the fired-up kid grabbed a wooden sword from the hall's side rack and started boasting loudly.
Is it okay to just show off a family secret like that?
"Y-You said you wanted to move around a bit, but... is it alright to reveal your family's secret so casually...?"
The Wet Nurse voiced the same concern, her face tensing slightly as she asked the kid.
The kid's eyes went wide, as if she'd never imagined such a question, then she replied as if it were the most obvious thing.
"Huh? But... there's no one here but me who's a girl, right? You're both men. What harm could come from men seeing our family's secret?"
Wow.
What came out of the kid's mouth was utterly commonplace in this Reverse Hero Tale world.
Men existed solely to sire strong female heirs; a insignificant male glimpsing a family secret? No threat.
That perfectly ingrained worldview was stamped deep in the kid's mind too.
"...Ah, y-yes, of course. We're men, so we could only admire the Jin family's secret."
The kid's words rang true in superhuman logic, so the Wet Nurse had no choice but to nod.
Of course, nodding and truly accepting it were different matters. Her expression stiffened unavoidably.
The innate biological disparity men are forced to feel.
Even more pathetic? Knowing you hate it, but having to acknowledge it anyway.
Because that's reality.
"Hehe, right? Then, watch this. Feel free to be amazed! Azure Dragon Twelve Swords, here I go!"
True to her ten-year-old innocence, the kid didn't notice the Wet Nurse's stiff expression and launched right into her secret sword art demonstration.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the kid's training session wrapped up, the Wet Nurse showed her around the Yang family's facilities, and before I knew it, 11 p.m. had arrived.
"Good work today, young master. As your wet nurse, I should scold you for this morning's recklessness, but the matriarch already handled that, so I won't add more. Reflect and get some sleep."
"Yes, good night, Wet Nurse."
Creeeak... clunk.
My free time had finally arrived.
I had from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., minus the bare-minimum two hours of sleep to avoid wrecking my condition—about four hours.
Normally, I'd do bodyweight exercises in my room for stamina training, but not tonight.
"Men seeing it won't cause any issues... Hearing that from a ten-year-old kid really gets under my skin."
The matriarch telling me to stick to housework and studies barely fazed me.
She was an adult, I was a kid.
I could dismiss it as outdated, old-fashioned drivel and think of my brilliant future like a true Modern-minded youth.
But from a ten-year-old? "What could a man possibly do with it?" That hit different.
Pure, honest truth straight to the gut.
Already pissed about missing the password chance, now this emotional turmoil? No mood for training.
"Yeah, let's go out. Fresh night air and a walk will clear my head. Best remedy."
A man venturing outside at night in the Yang estate? A grave transgression. Caught? Brutal scolding and instant lockdown.
But don't get caught, and it's fine. I had full confidence, so I opened the door without hesitation and stepped out.
Clunk... creeeak...
My fifth-year Awakened superhuman senses and physical prowess let me navigate the heavily guarded estate freely. I reached the garden—perfect for cool night air—without issue.
"..."
But I couldn't stroll and breathe easy as planned.
"W-What should I do..."
The kid, who should be asleep in her room, was trudging through the garden with a dark, worry-filled face.
What a day for plans to go awry.
I turned to leave before she spotted me and caused trouble, but then an an inadvertent murmur drifted from behind.
"Why do I have to be such a genius... I never wanted this talent..."
...Ho ho.
Now that's an intriguing story.
T/N : How many chapters would you guys like to see daily?