Hi, I’m the Hero’s Father ～I’m Sorry For All The Trouble My Foolish Son Has Caused You～ - Chapter 73

Chapter 73   Day 1, End

“Alright, that’s enough for today.”

“……”

At Croix’s words, Mion and Dona collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Neither of them moved a muscle. Their heartbeats could still be heard, so it seemed they were alive.

It was already dusk. The surroundings were dim, lit only by Weil’s light magic. Even though they were in the deep sea, Neptune’s power ensured that there was a clear distinction between morning and afternoon, with no time difference from the surface.

In other words, from 9 a.m. until evening… they had been running at full speed for nearly ten hours. It was no wonder they were completely exhausted.

While Weil performed healing magic, Croix took a sip of water and caught his breath.

“You’re a demon, Croix.”

Even Neptune seemed to be taken aback by Croix’s insanely brutal training.

“Haha, this is still nothing. Compared to playing tag with ten starving magical beasts…”

“Croix, your eyes have gone distant.”

Recalling his own training days, Croix’s eyes lost their light. What kind of life had he been through?

Just then, as the healing magic concluded, Mion and Dona opened their eyes.

“Ugh, I thought I was gonna die…”

“Heh, heh. You still have a long way to go, Dona. This is normal… just normal.”

“Yikes…”

Yes, this was only the endurance training. In addition, it was also meant to build their tolerance to pain from Croix’s punches. With no muscle-building exercises or combat training yet, the intensity was mind-numbing.

“Alright, let’s eat. Building strength starts with food first and sleep second. Even if you can’t eat, you need to force it down, or it’ll affect the training starting tomorrow.”

“Does that mean we begin combat training tomorrow!?”

Dona’s goal was revenge against the sea gang that slaughtered his entire family. While he understood that endurance training was important, the idea of combat training made him excited.

But…

“No, we’ll focus on endurance training for three more days. After that, we’ll begin combat training.”

Dona’s excitement plummeted.

“Hate to ruin your high spirits, but if you don’t build your stamina, you’ll die.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re okay with that, we can start combat training tomorrow.”

“Endurance training sounds good!”

The combat training was intense enough that one could die without the necessary stamina. While he couldn’t imagine exactly what it would be like, he knew he needed to get through the immediate hell to face the next.

“You seem very motivated.”

“Of course. After spending half a month just walking on the sea, I’m glad to finally get some exercise.”

Technically speaking, he had been moving his feet minutely while walking on water, so he wasn’t entirely out of shape. But that was different from this. It’s much more enjoyable to move with abandon than to make tiny, precise movements.

“Now that I’m finally warmed up, and you two have gained quite a bit of endurance, I’ll push you even harder tomorrow.”

“O-okay.”

“I see we don’t have a choice in the matter.”

Seeing Mion and Dona’s resigned expressions, Neptune clasped her hands in prayer deep in his heart.

“Stay strong,” she thought. “Amen.”

They moved from the courtyard to the dining hall, where a large amount of food was being brought in.

While Wiel’s healing magic could treat wounds and replenish exhausted stamina, it couldn’t restore lost energy. For that, they had to rely on eating.

Croix, Wiel, and Neptune ate the dishes as they were brought in, but Mion and Dona only watched with disheartened expressions.

“What’s wrong with you two? Wiel’s healing should have made you feel fine,” Croix asked.

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“It’s just… the thought of it…”

They felt nauseous just from the smell. But if they didn’t eat, they wouldn’t be able to handle the even tougher training ahead.

Determined, Mion and Dona dug into the fish, forcing themselves to swallow it with tearful eyes.

Seeing this, Wiel nodded approvingly.

“Watching you two reminds me of Remi.”

“Yes, she was also quite competitive.”

Remi, their most senior disciple. Although they didn’t know where she was now, she was probably doing well. They might cross paths again if their journeys continued, and meeting up with her and the others would be interesting.

“Speaking of Alka… I wonder how he’s doing.”

“He’s probably getting a severe scolding from Sakya by now.”

“That’s possible.”

The fact that it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility made Croix sigh and shake his head.