Luckily, they were still making food, so we could eat there before returning to my room.

“I haven’t been here in a while,” I commented as I entered. I’ve just been staying with Melly for the past like, two weeks?

“Is that so? You really don’t store anything in your room, huh.”

“Yeah. After all, there were upwards of twenty kids in each room. Adding that we don't tend to have many personal belongings, we usually keep all of our stuff in item bags.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you have your own rooms, though?”

“There were a few reasons, though it was mainly that a hundred or so rooms would take up a rather large amount of space while being more difficult to take care of, especially with the number of orphans living there being in constant flux. Personally, though, I think it was done to make sure kids were rarely alone. Regardless, any problems that may cause aren’t big or decisive enough to justify the cost of changing it.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“So, enough about me, you wanted to talk about your family?” I quickly changed the subject. I just dealt with a bunch of stressful stuff, so I really don’t want to talk about my life right now. Besides, I feel like I’m the one who’s said the most about their life, I want to hear about others for a change!

“I understand, I’ll talk.” She teased. “So, as you know, my family comes from a long line of warriors. As such, while we won’t stop anyone from pursuing other paths, we only really respect the strong. One of the more respected people in my family is my uncle, who, even to this day, is still pushing himself to get stronger. My father, on the other hand, does not.”

“So he wasn’t treated as well?” I asked in worry.

“No, he was treated fine, he is decently high leveled after all. No, it was my cousins being treated better because of their father that was the problem. It wasn’t particularly overt or anything, but people presumed that they would end up strong because of their father, unlike me with my ‘ambitionless’ father,” She cursed in disgust. “Haa. Anyway, it rarely came up when we were little kids, but they constantly got more stuff, had more lenient punishments, and their word was treated more seriously whenever they were involved in any sort of conflict. Eventually, those brats realized this and became pretty unrestrained.”

“I think I know where this is going.”

“Yeah, they basically became bullies. For a while I secretly blamed my father, even wishing that my uncle was my parent instead. Eventually, though, I realized that complaining wouldn’t change anything and that if I wanted to actually get back at them, I needed to become stronger than them and do it myself. So, I trained. I volunteered to join expeditions. I did whatever I could to improve. Then, instead of just trying to ignore my cousins, I fought back.”

“So things got better.” I hoped.

“No. I just got in trouble.” Oh. “ That didn’t stop me though. When the brats came to tease me about getting in trouble, I fought them again. And again, I got disciplined. This repeated until the brats finally learned their lesson and left me alone.”

“Well, at least you won in the end.” I shrugged. You beat bullies by getting them to leave you alone, after all.

“No, I didn't. Yeah, at first I was satisfied being rid of them, but I kept seeing them bully others and being favored. It ultimately resulted in, a few months later when I saw them harassing a cousin of mine, me deciding that I’d had enough. So, I beat them up again. And, as usual, I was punished for ‘bullying.’ It was then that I realized just how hollow my ‘triumphs’ were. I was pathetically satisfied with a simple, incomplete victory when the war still waged!” She exclaimed passionately.

Of course, she did. “What did you do then?”

“I kept fighting them. Even as my punishments increased in intensity, I didn’t stop. Even when my father tried to stop me, I didn’t.” She finished before hesitating, something Melly never does. There’s definitely more to her story, but if Melly is conflicted enough to openly hesitate, I won’t push her to tell me. Everyone has their secrets, after all. “You, aren’t going to ask?”

“No. If you want to tell me, you will. If not, so be it.” I shrugged. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.” I comforted.

“Thank you.” She smiled before taking a deep breath. “So, with my father.” She continued, to my surprise. “I, well, I blamed him for everything that happened. The bullying, the lack of respect, the biased punishments, everything. I just…” She took a breath, “exploded. I thought I had overcome my anger, but, in actuality, it seemed to have just grown. My father, seeing how angry, but most importantly, how distant I was, broke down in tears in a moment I greatly regret to this day.” She sighed.

“So, what happened afterwards?” I eventually asked.

“I left. I ignored my crying father and just continued what I had been doing. Afterwards, I became very distant from him. While I have since apologized and we tried to repair our relationship, it was never the same.” Melly said as she struggled to not cry.

“Let it out.” was all I could say as I just held her as she gave in and cried. Haa, this is probably the only time that I’ve ever truly wished that I wasn’t an orphan. I wish I could do more, but I don’t really understand what she’s feeling right now. Why is it just me that’s here? Anyone, anyone else would be more useful than me! I’m sorry, Melly, but this is the best I can do for you.

After a few minutes, Melly calmed down. “Sorry about that.” She said shyly. “And, thank you.” She smiled.

“...I’m glad I could help,” I said weakly. Haa, did I really help though?

“Haa, okay, let’s continue.” She decided. Yeah, sometimes you just need to distract yourself. “So, eventually, even my uncle decided to talk to me. Aft… fa…” She muttered too quietly for me to properly hear, but it sounded like her uncle confronted her father. “So, he asked why I was beating up his kids. I, being an angry brat, told him it was because they were weak. He, obviously, didn’t like that answer, as he then asked if that meant that he could beat me up.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Oh, Melly.” I sighed.

“And I, the arrogant brat I was, agreed that, yes, he could.”

“Melly!” I complained. Why would you ever say that!?

“Hold on. So, he really didn’t expect that answer, so he asked me why I thought that. And I, in a moment of accidental genius, told him that it was because his children could beat people up because of him, so he obviously could do so himself.” She smiled proudly. I just stared in shock.

“He, he didn’t know!?”

“Somehow. I guess he must have spent so much time training and on expeditions that he ended up neglecting his family, which might be why they acted out like that, now that I think about it… Huh. Anyway, while he didn’t believe my claims initially, once he learned the truth he apologized and asked what I wanted to do about it.”

“Oh, and what did you decide?”

“I said that I wasn’t going to stop up until they stopped bullying people and my worth was based only upon my personal might.”

“Oh. So, no different than before.” I sighed.

“Pretty much, yeah.” She shrugged. “Anyway, my uncle was understandably shocked at my declaration but for some reason supported it. And so, I kept beating up his kids, now with reduced punishments, and I was no longer alone with them. This kept going for about a month before they finally decided that bullying wasn’t worth it and, mostly, stopped. And while I was disappointed at how easily they gave up, My goal was more important, so I kept up my intense training. More often than before, actually, as I wasn’t grounded as often.” She smiled.

“Huh. All's well that ends well, I guess. So that’s why you are so obsessed with power.”

“Not quite.” She denied. “So, around a year later, when I turned sixteen, I was allowed to challenge people to prove my might.”

“Oh no.”

“So, it started with me challenging anyone and everyone that I could even potentially defeat. It was annoyingly slow going, largely because my previous actions tarnished my reputation. But my determination, grit, and success eventually earned me the attention I desired. Especially since I kept challenging people older than me, even after previously losing to them.” She explained. “That’s where my obsession came from, while originally power was just a necessity, the shift in my treatment made me see it as something desirable.”

“Oh, so it was because of fame,” I sighed in disappointment.

“Well, kinda, but only at the time! I’ve grown above that now!” She shouted in embarrassment. “Anyway, I shifted more towards caring about gaining respect from defeated opponents. That was where I was until fairly recently, where I found that growing stronger is truly its own reward, so I don’t care as much about the opinions of other warriors.”

“Really?” I questioned with a glare.

“Yes, really! Yeah, I enjoy the respect I receive for being strong, especially after defeating someone. But I honestly prefer actually being powerful over getting any amount of praise. Being powerful is enjoyable, especially when I’m buffed by you.” She then franticly started to praise me. “Your buffs are amazing! They feel so great to fight with! So, I’m looking forward to how else you’ll grow, Eli.” She smiled nervously.

“Well, I guess I’ve got to keep on improving, then,” I say while rolling my eyes at her crude attempts at flattery. Regardless, now I know why she’s so excited about getting stronger, even if it isn’t for the most noble of reasons. “But really? Fame? That was your reason for getting stronger?” I teased.

“Hey! I was sixteen! And that was only one of the reasons!”

“So? I’m only eighteen right now.”

“Ah, yeah. Haa, I keep forgetting how young you are.”

“It’s not like you’re that much older.” I reasoned.

“So you say, but I’m only twenty-two, so eighteen was an entire fifth of my life ago, much less sixteen.”

“Ah, I guess it kinda was, huh,” I said in realization.

“Yeah, it was!” Melly pouted. Huh, I don’t think I’ve seen her pout before.

“Okay, I’m sorry. You were young and immature back then. You've grown up a whole bunch since then.” I deadpanned, causing us to laugh.

“Okay, so, what now?” I asked.

“Well, I do still need to properly analyze today’s training, so…” She reminded me.

“Aye, I’ll leave you be then,” I said as I got up. “Well, thanks for telling me about yourself, Melly. I, well, I’ll tell you more eventually.” I said.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” She smiled reassuringly.

“It’s not like there’s much to tell.” I sighed. There really wasn’t… right?

“Even if there isn’t, I’d like to know more about you. And, you grew up in a completely different way than I did, so it will be interesting to see the differences.”

“Hmm, I guess it would. Well, good luck, Melly. I hope you figure out… whatever it is you need to figure out.” I said as I left.

“I hope so too. See you at dinner, Eli.”

Okay, what should I do now? More training? I’ve almost gotten used to the increased power of my mana. I could also resume my studies of preMilo spells. Or I can practice my ‘cleaning’ spell. I can even think of some rules for Mir Elysium.

…

Well, I could also just read some more. It’s not like I have to always improve myself. I can just relax.

Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s relax and try to remove the tension that I’ve been building up. Hmm, I wonder if there’s anything here for relaxation? I should check that out tomorrow. For now, though, I’ll just read for a bit.

______

After dinner, I stopped Hansen before he could leave, “Oh, Hansen, I wanted to ask you something.” He nodded. “I remember you saying that the mud slugs had a surprise for me.”

“Indeed.”

“So, what was it? Will I be able to receive it soon?”

“Are you busy tomorrow?”

“Hmm, not really. Other than helping Melly with some training, I don’t currently have any plans.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. If you want to do something else, feel free to. It’s not like I have to train that intensely every day.” Melly offered.

“Good. I’ll talk to the Cardinal about borrowing a room for your surprise.” Hansen decided. Huh, now I’m really curious about what it is.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.