I woke up the very next day, and the first thing I did was thank Uncle Jim in my heart. I.E here.

Thank you, Uncle Jim! I’m sorry that I doubted you! I’m sorry that I thought that you were going to help Daddy crush my dream!!

After that, I exited my small room and headed toward the kitchen. To be honest, our house could be considered one of the biggest within this village. All due to my dad’s profession, being this village’s only doctor.

Hmm? Did I mention that yesterday? Oh well, all the same. The only house that can compare to ours would probably be the village elder’s. Oh well, who cares about that old man, I say. By the way, the village’s elder is also the old demon’s older brother, believe it or not!

“Hey~ Dad!”

I shouted as soon as I spotted my Daddy, who was holding a wooden bowl of soup in his hands, heading toward the dining table. The dining table could only house four people, so I’m not sure whether to call it small or big...so let’s just leave that issue aside.

“Jean.” Daddy kindly smiled, “You woke up just in time. Come now, eat with me before I head to work.”

I hurriedly walked to Daddy, and received the bow that he held.

After that, I walked to the table and chose a random seat while Daddy poured for himself another bowl of soup.

I wonder what kind of soup Daddy made today... If I remember correctly, he made a herb soup yesterday--which tasted just awful, but he kept on saying that it’s very healthy for a growing child--and the day before that was chicken soup. Yum, chicken soup. However, the best kind of soup would undoubtedly be potato soup, so don’t get me wrong. Chicken soup comes in second place. I’m always on team potato.

Alright, shall I take a blind test? Let’s do it.

I closed my eyes, and with a wooden spoon--that was already prepared on the table, for all four seats--dipped it in the bowl.

They say that it’s bad luck to not prepare the tableware even for the empty seats, but I don’t believe in all that superstition. After all, it’s too much work to set it up every day.

I raised the spoon, and into my mouth.

“Careful, it might be too hot!” I heard Daddy’s shout, a tad bit too late.

Indeed, the soup was too hot. However, I did not spit it out. I endured, and endured. I felt my mouth was burning, and the urge to spit it all out was pretty powerful. I preserved, and preserved. I must not spit it out. It’s disrespectful. Nay, it’s wasteful. Nay, it’s simply too humiliating. After all, who would have thought that this soup was had both...chicken and potatoes?! Did Daddy strike gold yesterday? As a potato warrior, how can I spit

potatoes out just because they are too hot?

As the urge to spit it out grow more and more, my patience grew to hold it in grew thinner. Just in time, I heard Daddy’s urge, who just sat down right across from me. “Quickly child, spit it out! Burning your mouth is not good! More so if you try to swallow it!!”

“Mpphhmm!!!”

I quickly sent Daddy a thumbs up, in which case he responded with a relieved sigh.

Good job, Daddy! What a great idea!! If I can’t hold it in my mouth until it cools down, then why don’t I just swallow it? I quickly swallowed the burning hot soup, alongside the square shaped potatoes and the few pieces of chicken.

As soon as Daddy saw what I did, his eyes darted in alarm.

“Dammit Jean! You’ll burn your throat!!”

Oh, Daddy, why are you so worried fo--AHHH IT BUURNS!!!!

It burns, it burns, it burns, it burns, it burns!!

“Hooot!!!!” I shouted as hard as I could, as I felt cold tears tumble down my cheeks. Daddy moved pretty quickly, because as soon as I shouted, Daddy extended to me a cup filled with water. “Drink!” He shouted. Without even him telling me anything, I drank that cup like my life depended on it, and the fire that was set ablaze on my throat calmed down a bit.

“Stupid child, I told you not to swallow!”

Why do you sound so angry, Daddy...?

“But it was filled with potatoes! And chicken!!”

“So what?! Potatoes and chicken can‘t compare to my one and only child!” Daddy harshly retorted.

“I just burned my throat a little, nothing to be so serious about...”

“Yes, at first, it’s just ‘slightly burning one’s throat’ but what’s next? Are you going to go ahead and pet a wild dog because it’s simply ‘A homeless pet’!?”

“You’re overreacting, Dad!” I shouted as hard as I could.

Daddy, as if he just noticed now, sighed.

“I’m sorry, Jean...It seems I’m a bit on edge. I’m just worried about you, alright...?”

I quietly nodded, and then dipped the spoon into the bowl

I raised the spoon up to my mouth, and then caught a glimpse of Daddy’s worried gaze. I blew on the spoon, to have the soup within cool down. Daddy then brushed his light brown hair, and cast his gaze at the soup.

“I’m really worried about you...going out there to train...” Daddy started out, “Do you really have to go?”

With a determined gaze, I swallowed the now cool soup and then looked at Daddy. “Of course! No matter how harsh or how dangerous it may be, I’ll still give it my all!”

Daddy let out another sigh and rose his brown eyes to meet mine. “You’re a charming little girl, Jean...You can always wait until you’re sixteen, then marry any boy from the village and live an easy life. Did you know, that even the village elder’s eldest son has set his eyes on your hand...?”

“I don’t want to!” I shouted again, “I don’t want to be forced into something as boring and embarrassing as that!!”

“Then don’t marry!” Daddy said again.

How persistent, Daddy! Didn’t you already agree yesterday that you’ll let me join the Heavenly Sword Sect?!

“Just stay home, and I’ll teach you medicine! You’ll be my successor!”

“No, no, no, no, no!” I shook my head, “I refuse! I don’t want to!! You already agreed yesterday that you’ll let me, so don’t go back on your word, Daddy! It’s unfair!!”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

I shot up to my feet, and ran out of the room. Of course, I grabbed the bowl of soup before doing so.

“Daddy, you idiot!” I shouted as hard as I could as I escaped the house while holding the bowl and the spoon.

Even in midst of agony, As a potato enthusiast, how can I abandon the soup?

Oh god, that old demon...he truly gave me too much homework, for me to know what ‘enthusiast’ means...

Our house is stationed near the middle of the village, in order to get my stupid Daddy’s help at a moment’s notice, as he would sway his normal build body with but a word. He’s too kind toward other people, I must say, and that’s something that I am proud of. However right now, he’s but a cruel, double-crossing parent!

I slowed down a bit as I eyed the small houses from both sides of this road.

Fun fact, there’s only one road within the village, and it’s the road that takes you from (And this is what I heard from the old demon) Yan city, the closest city to the village and the place that houses the Heavenly Sword Sect up to the village, and onward to the temple that doubles as a school.

It seems that the temple had some sort of long history, where people of old used to pay a visit to the temple in order to offer a sacrifice every year...but that stopped at some point. At this point, no one other than the old demon, who is the head monk(Or rather the only monk) knows what the heavenly being the temple was for.

Or should we call him a priest? Who knows, since he’s bald, he’s a monk.

I nodded in greeting to the grown-ups who were either gathering wood or collecting water. It seems that if I continue down this direction, I’ll am heading toward the temple...Oh well, school starts in a bit anyways.

I know it’s bad manners to eat while walking, but I just had the shock of my life. Realizing how hypocritical grown-ups could be. So no one can blame me for escaping toward the potatoes. Hmm, really, that old demon really is something with his massive amounts of homework...

Speaking about homework...

“...Oh...!!!”

I...I forgot to do mine!!

I was so happy yesterday that Daddy agreed to let me join(Or at least give their entrance exam a shot) that I forgot that I was punished with four times the homework!!!

Daddy’s words echoed in my ears. “Without an O.K. from Gerard, you won’t be going, alright?”

T-there’s no way I can do them now, right...?

Ugh, I’ll do my best to work around Daddy’s issue...But, the old demon’s punishment for not handing in the homework...

It seems that today will not go my way at all...

Alright, drown your worries in potatoes!

I took a hold of the spoon that was filled to the brim with soup, two pieces of potato and a little bit of chicken...when something sturdy pushed my shoulder, accomplished by the shout, “Hey you brat! How dare you implant such a stupid idea inside my Father’s head?!!”

Of course, I didn’t pay attention to the voice at all.

After all, I lost grip of both the spoon and the bowl. They fell to the ground with a faint ‘Crack’ sound.

Really, today is not going my way at all...

I aggressively turned around, “You...shithead!” I shouted as hard as I could.

As soon as I realized what I said, I used the palm of my hand to cover my mouth. I said something so dirty...Gosh, really, this isn’t my day at all!!

It seems the person who pushed me was a fourteen years old boy. His build was pretty sturdy for a boy of his age. He looked like a younger version of Uncle Jim, to be honest. With his sturdy body, his black hair and black pupils.

“You!” The boy yelled as his face flushed red in anger.

I lowered my hand. I shouldn’t be ashamed of calling someone what they are, right?

“That was my breakfast, Aran! It was a potato and chicken soup, you...shithead! Dumbass!”

And like a broken record, Aran, Uncle Jim’s son, yelled again. “You!!!!”

I looked down and eyed the spilled soup that was splattered across the dirty road, and my wrath reached a whole new level.

“First you have Father force me to apply for whatever sect...and now you insult me?! Screw you!” Aran continued.

I gnashed my teeth in anger as my vision grew blurry. “Give me back my soup! My chicken!! My potatoes!!!”

“Forgot your food! Come back home and tell my Father that he doesn’t need to get me to join anything!” With that, Aran extended his hand toward me.

“Hell no!” I screamed this time around. “No! No! No! No! No! No! No!!!! Not until you apologize! Not until you give me back my soup! You devil! Demon! Heartless! Stupid!”

And with that, I cried my eyes out.

This is too much...First Daddy, now this...

And then, I heard a haughty laugh behind me.

“Hahaha! Little brats, it seems that I haven’t taught you well enough, eh?”

I saw Aran’s angry expression turn pale in an instant, as he turned around, planning to flee.

“Oi, brat #2! Stay put or I’ll come visit ya at home later!!”

Before Aran could even take a step forward, He violently trembled. He then turned around; his expression was so ugly, that it was hard for me to even look at it. But for some reason, I had this sense of satisfaction, like justice has been served--kind of satisfaction...but let's not get into that.

Great. Awesome. It seems that the old demon heard us and came to check things out...

Well, after that, he forced us to clean up the mess on the road and took us to the temple...

Then, he forced us to sit on our knees--Seiza style--and gently 'deposited' some stone tiles on top of our thighs.

Aran had two tiles...while I had to put up with four. That felt super unfair. But he had a really, really bad reason to back it up... It was because I haven’t done my homework!

Really, this isn’t my day...

More so when I heard him say this. “From tomorrow  on, you’re both having sword lessons after school!”

Really, this is not my day at all....