The Strongest Female Masters, Who Are Trying to Raise Me Up, Are in Shambles Over Their Training Policy - V1Ch6:The Sound of a Broken Heart

As the young adventurer Cross stepped into the training grounds, he was met with the imposing figure of Giselle, clad in her own metal armor and brandishing her trusty longsword. Without a hint of reservation, Giselle marched forward, eager to test the ten skills she had acquired through her occupational class.

“Ahh, I knew I heard a loudmouth coming. And look, it’s you, Cross, the zero-point adventurer who can’t even decide on a job. Or are you going for the no-job approach from now on?” Giselle taunted, pushing Cross up against the wall.

“You still don’t get it, do you? You can’t level up and you can’t learn any skills. You’re useless! What could you possibly do to become an adventurer? It’s frustrating! You’re just a pathetic fool! You should drop out now and never show your face again!”

With every word, Giselle’s voice grew louder and more menacing. She banged her sword against the stone wall, trapping Cross in a corner. Cross tried to defend himself, but Giselle continued her barrage.

“I’m telling you, you don’t have any sense of reality. Adventurers fight monsters! Demolition Warrior Skill – Sword Technique ‘Mowing Down’!”

With a single strike, Giselle’s sword glowed with power as it connected with Cross’s side. Cross crumpled to the ground, unable to respond to the intense pain that radiated through his body. Giselle didn’t let up, launching a brutal assault on the helpless adventurer.

“Come on, dodge this! Try to block it! Real monsters won’t go down so easily! They’re vicious, and they can use skills just like people can! Someone who gets taken down by a horned rabbit like you will never become an adventurer! You can’t even keep up with my attacks, how could you possibly stand a chance against a real enemy?”

With each blow, Cross cried out in agony, pleading for mercy. But Giselle showed him none, raining down a flurry of kicks and punches until Cross was left battered and broken, unable to continue. The dream of becoming an adventurer seemed farther away than ever before.

“Stop, stop, Giselle! Even if it’s your brother, isn’t this going too far… huh!? Ah, no, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that…”

One of the attendants, who couldn’t bear to watch anymore, tried to stop Giselle, but was silenced with just a single glare.

Giselle then sat down next to Cross, who had stopped moving, and grabbed his hair, saying, “Promise me. You’ll drop out gracefully and never say stupid things like becoming an adventurer again. If you do, you won’t have to suffer anymore, okay?”

She threatened him, but Cross replied in a hoarse voice, “N-no… I want to be an adventurer like that person…”

“…I see.”

Giselle’s expression vanished from her face.

“Then, until you change your mind, I’ll use you as a practice dummy for my skills.”

She swung her sword towards Cross, who was lying on the ground, but at that moment…

“What are you doing?”

A quiet and beautiful voice sounded, admonishing Giselle’s behavior. In an instant, everyone present was frozen in astonishment.

Especially Cross, who was so shocked that he forgot the pain and looked up at the person behind the voice. It was Elysia Lafagarion, a silver-haired girl who looked like a treasure sword.

“…Well, well. Aren’t you the descendant of the hero? And what brings you here?”

While Giselle’s attendants cowered, she had the courage to ask Elysia back.

“To greet Dean Sariera and complete the formal enrollment procedures. And because I wanted to be alone for a while. And you, what are you doing?”

“I’m just trying to persuade a fool who wants to become an adventurer despite being unemployed.”

“Is violence the only way to do that?”

While speaking calmly, Elysia placed her hand on the sheath of her sword.

“Tch.”

With her status as a top-class job, it was not strange if she had perceived the entire scene of the punishment just by sound or intuition alone. Perhaps realizing that it was impossible to deceive in this situation, Giselle signaled to her attendants and glared at Cross, as if to say, “Don’t think you’ve been saved, 0-point Cross,” before leaving the hallway in a rough manner.

Cross, who had watched the whole exchange with a stupid expression, wondered if it was all just a dream. But when Elysia reached out her hand to him and looked him in the eye, he finally realized that this was reality. At the same time, he became painfully aware of how pathetic and miserable he looked, and his face turned red.

“Ah, um, I’m, I’m fine! It’s nothing…”

However, there’s nothing else to be done, isn’t there?

The unbelievable reality of having the girl he had always admired in front of him. The unbearable embarrassment of being saved once again by the girl, as a man. Furthermore, the girl had grown into a dazzling beauty in these four years, and just standing in front of her made heat gather on Cross’s cheeks.

He didn’t understand anything anymore and blurted out everything that came to his mind.

“Uh, thank you for helping me! Um, not just today, but you might not remember, but you actually helped me before… Since then, I’ve always wanted to be an adventurer like you…”

Damn it, it’s no use telling Elysia-san something like this…! Despite thinking so in the back of his mind, Cross could only express the feelings he had been holding onto for four years, in a state of confusion.

“…Ah, that. You were serious about that, after all.”

Suddenly, Elysia’s voice and expression changed to something extremely cold.

“I may not be a thief, but I could hear everything clearly in the hallway. Not just your exchange with that shady-looking kid, but also your conversation with Professor Sariela. All of it.”

“Huh…?”

Cross was taken aback by Elysia’s sudden change, and the next moment,

“A ‘NEET’ like you can’t become an adventurer, there’s no way.”

“…”

Those words, as cold as ice, spoken by the girl he admired, pierced Cross’s chest deeply. And to add insult to injury, Elysia’s words did not stop there.

“People are born with inherent qualities. Those inherent qualities determine everything. Even children know that this world is like that. The things that can be changed by effort are only within the range that can be changed from the beginning. It’s common sense, isn’t it?”

Then Elysia hugged her body with her right hand, lowered her face so that Cross couldn’t hear her voice, and muttered in a small voice.

“…And yet, even someone like me, who is being touted as a hero’s descendant, can’t live the way I want to.”

After staring straight into Cross’s eyes, she told him in a low voice.

“If you understand, then accept your fate properly. Being selfish only causes trouble for those around you.”

And with that, Elysia turned her back on Cross, pushing him away.

“Y-yes…”

Left alone in the hallway, Cross’s voice came out hoarse from his throat.

It wasn’t a rational and logical persuasion like Professor Sariela’s. It wasn’t a forceful approach like Giselle’s violence. It was a short conversation. Based on the content alone, there wasn’t much difference from the previous two.

But- – 

In that short conversation, Elysia had shattered Cross’s hopes and dreams.

“… Ugh… ah…”

Tears streamed down Cross’s face and fell silently on the empty hallway.

How much time had passed since then? Cross hadn’t been able to think straight and had aimlessly wandered the streets, trying to escape from school. But today was the Harvest Festival, and everywhere he went, the town was filled with a happy atmosphere, and there was nowhere for Cross to find peace.

As he aimlessly wandered to avoid the festive mood, his feet led him to a relatively deserted area. He found himself on a narrow alleyway that led from the main street, adjacent to the redevelopment zone.

Today, the construction was suspended due to the Harvest Festival, making it the only unpopular place in the city. Cross sat down on the dark alleyway, taking a deep sigh and said, “The guild says they can help me find a job, but I don’t think anyone would want to hire someone like me.”

In a world where everyone has a “job class” and a level, being level 0 in any profession is fatal. Even in a simple receptionist job, it’s not just about keeping the books. You have to clean and help with shopping, and you might even be assigned to fetch water. Physical labor is the basis of everything, and in physical labor, status is crucial. If your strength is low, you can do less work and your efficiency decreases. The amount of work you can do in a day will surely decrease. So who would want to hire an incompetent person with all stats at 0?

“Ugh, what am I going to do in the future…”

The reality that Cross faced after being told by the girl he admired was endless darkness, and he felt completely stuck. Just as he was feeling hopeless, something unusual happened in the city.

” … Huh?”

At first, it was a very faint anomaly. It was a small tremor that could be drowned out by the laughter and footsteps that came from the main street. However, that vibration slowly and steadily grew bigger.

“What the…!?”

Screams erupted. Stalls were overturned. The cobblestone cracked, and buildings lining the main street creaked and emitted an ominous sound.

The tremors grew bigger and bigger, and people in the main street couldn’t even stand still. Then, a destructive roar, unlike any tremor, echoed, striking the ears of the crowd. Following it, a roar that shook the sky as if it was the end of the world, emerged from the center of the redevelopment zone, ripping apart the ground.