Sorry~! It looks like the action will happen in next week's chapter, instead. 

The borrow-monger made her appearance again. She still has my beloved denwa hostage. I don't really mind the loss of the phone, since it was cheap, but the loss of my contact numbers I simply cannot stand!!!

Here's the much be-waited chapter, enjoy~!

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“Hee hee hee! Yaay! I’m gonna be an adventurer!” Helen giggled to herself as she danced around. Laura’s eyebrow twitched as she edged closer to Briar.

“Oy, Briar! What are you thinking!? We can’t take a little girl on a journey with us! It’s definitely too dangerous!” Laura whispered fiercely into Briar’s ear.

“Don’t worry so much! I said I’d teach her until we arrive at the next town, right? Well, according to the map, our next stop is three week’s travel away as the crow flies. Besides…” 

Briar glanced over at Helen, who was still dancing around, overjoyed. Briar couldn’t help but smile at that. With Helen along, things would definitely turn out interesting.

“I can’t really leave a little girl alone in a town like this, and I surely even more can’t send her back to that mire hole of rotten humans. If she’s going to survive out there on her own, she’ll need to learn some skills. And who better to teach her than me~”

Briar’s face loosened a bit as she thought of all the things she was going to teach Helen. Laura stepped back from Briar, feeling a cold shiver down her back. 

“Briar…your face looks scary right now.”

“Hmm?” Briar put her hand to her face. “Really? What did it look like?” 

“Like an old geezer sitting on his rocking chair and laughing ‘kukuku’ while planning his dark nefarious evil schemes.” Laura replied.

That snapped Briar out of her good mood. “How rude! I never plan evil or nefarious schemes! Are you sure your eyes are on right?” 

“My last doctor’s appointment had me at sixty-twenty vision.” Laura said proudly, taking a victory pose. “And that was when I was in Green class.”

“Whoah, impressive-wait, is that even possible? I’m not that familiar with medical terms, but shouldn’t it be just twenty-twenty vision?” Briar asked.

“It’s totally possible! Twenty-twenty vision is the best any non-practitioner can get. But, for martial practitioners, their five senses improve drastically with each Class. I’ve heard that those who are Black Class can actually see stuff that’s so tiny, no normal person could see it without a complicated assembly of glass lenses.”

Laura retorted. “But, why do I need to tell you this? Your own eyesight should be much better than mine is right now!”

“Well, yes, I suppose so.” Briar replied. It was true that her vision had improved at each crossing into a new class. So far, all that she had explored was how strong she was, how fast she was, and her accuracy. 

This brought Thera to realize that she had unconsciously been limiting herself due to her memories of her past life. Her current physical state was far superior to her last one, to the point where she didn’t really even know her limits at this time. 

Tch! This can’t be allowed to continue…Then, it’s decided! As soon as I’m done teaching Helen how to survive, I’m going to test my very limits!

Briar resolved within herself. 

“This training obsessed dummy! Why is it that, when you’re not training yourself, you feel the need to go ahead and train others!” Laura exclaimed.

“Ha ha! Well, it can’t be helped. What I’m planning on teaching her can’t even be considered training.” Briar said. Laura’s face drained of blood, clearly misunderstanding something.

“Y-you would make a little girl go through that much? Briar, aren’t you concerned that you’ll break her?” Laura asked.

Briar’s expression was easygoing. “No? Rather, what are you thinking, right now? I said it can’t be considered training, and it can’t. What I will be teaching her is far too light to be considered training. At most, it’s at the level of a leisurely camping trip.” 

Well, if I gave her any more than that, she would turn into a monster like me… (author: gasp! Everyone run away! She’s self-aware!)

Growwwl

Helen, Laura, and Briar all realized that they were famished.

“Well, for now, why don’t we go find a place where we can eat?” Briar suggested. “Since we’re sight-seeing, let’s see what the local specialty is~.”

 -----

Master Thales suddenly frowned. 

“What is it? Sense anything?” Madame Rothema asked.

“No…it’s just…” Thales fidgeted a bit.

“It’s just what?” She probed.

“It’s just that, somehow, I feel that those two brats are slacking off somewhere! It’s so frustrating! I’m going to double the training for them when we meet back up!”

So he declared.

“Now, now, I’m sure they’re perfectly fine…” Madame Rothema replied, waving her hands to calm him down.

---

Laura flinched and looked around, carefully.

“What is it, Princes- I mean, Miss Laura?” Briar asked, still in character.

“I just had a bad feeling. I really hope that my dear father isn’t planning to do something outrageous again!” 

“What are you talking about? Relax, relax~ Ah, that place over there looks good.” Briar pointed to a likely-looking inn.

“And besides, that, isn’t a really nice smell coming from there, right now?” Helen asked, her mouth clearly watering.

“Ho? Let’s see...” Briar inhaled a deep breath. “You’re right~ It’s decided, we’ll eat here today~”

Briar’s face had loosened into a relaxed smile that Laura hadn’t seen in six years. Even during the training they had 

taken with Master Thales hadn’t brought such a pure expression to her face. 

It was like, after meeting a kid, Briar had turned back into a kid, herself. The two of them walked quickly into the inn.

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Laura sighed and smiled. Perhaps it is fine, after all. Just for a little bit. She thought to herself as she followed them inside. 

There was no one at the counter. A sign indicated for them to ring the bell for the receptionist. Briar picked up the tiny thing and rang it. 

“Yes! I’ll be right there!” A voice came from the back. Soon enough, a beautiful lady with a cooking apron emerged from the back.

“Welcome to the Marbled Cow Inn! Will it be a room for three, and possibly dinner? Or maybe you’re here simply to eat the tastiest food in town! Either way is fine, but which is it?” 

The cheerful woman, who looked around 25 years old, greeted them with great enthusiasm.

Briar, who was the only unfazed person immediately replied. “Right now, we’re just here to eat, but we may decide to stay here later on. Table for three, please.”

“Yes! Right this way, if you please~”

Laura and Helen looked over at Briar, marveling in admiration. They had been so overwhelmed by the woman’s greeting, that their thoughts had scattered, leaving them to try and quickly gather their thoughts when the lady had asked her questions. 

“My, what a cute little family you’ve got here! Are these your sisters, perhaps?” The lady asked, showing them the table closest to the kitchen, where a certain wonderful smell was coming from.

“No. The blonde one here is Laura. She’s my best friend. And the small one here is Helen. She’s my apprentice.” Briar replied, as they each took their seats.

“Ara, how wonderful!” The lady replied thinking that the whole trio was really cute. “I am the innkeeper, Penelope. I’m also the cook, so If you’ll please tell me what you’d like, I can quickly prepare it for you.” 

Penelope pointed to a slate chalkboard hung up on the wall with the menu and prices in white chalk.

“I want what smells really nice right now!” Helen piped up. Her mouth was watering with anticipation.

“Ah, me, too!” Laura said.

“Me, three~” Briar added. “And add three glasses of the chilled fruit juice to that order. Unless you don’t like fruit juice?” Briar turned her head towards Laura and Helen to confirm. 

“No, that’s fine! One fruit juice for me, please.” Laura said.

“I like fruit juice a lot!” Helen added.

“Got it. Wait a few minutes, please.” Penelope said cheerfully as she vanished into the kitchen. They had ordered the most expensive things on the menu, after all. Why shouldn’t she be cheerful?

Helen gazed at Briar in admiration. As expected of the person she chose to follow, nothing could phase him. The charm of the innkeeper was nothing to him, he even thought to add drinks to their order!

What she didn’t know was that Briar had been used to the rather over-the-top enthusiastic greetings from Japan’s local shops. A greeting like this was considered nothing but good customer service.

A few minutes later, she re-emerged with three glasses and a pitcher of chilled fruit juice, then vanished back into the kitchen.

Laura looked around. Surprisingly, the inn here was completely empty.

“Hey, Briar…doesn’t it seem a bit…empty for an inn?”

Briar looked up from pouring herself a glass of juice. 

“Well, it depends. Maybe it’s the off season for tourism in this town?”

“But, even so, there’d still be people who would come just for the food, wouldn’t there? You don’t think there’s something a bit suspicious happening here?” Laura asked.

Briar poured a second glass and handed it to Laura. “Got it. I’ll keep my eyes out. But, if I am not invited, then I shall not get involved, got that?”

“Got it.” Laura said as Briar  poured Helen's cup, and then tasted her own juice. 

It tasted of cherries, lemons, and limes, and was very light and refreshing. Briar thought nostalgically of the Shirley Temples that she had been partial to. 

If there was only a way to carbonize this, it would be a smashing hit everywhere. But Briar didn’t remember the process at all. She had been too busy with her training.

“The menu says this is the Chelimon fruit? Not bad!” Briar was impressed that such a complex flavor came from a single fruit. 

Then the kitchen door swung open and Penelope brought out the food. 

It was a dazzling, juicy marbled steak with creamed potatoes and a small fruit salad on the side.

Helen’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the flag stuck into her serving, which had been cut down to half the size of Briar and Laura’s to accommodate for her stomach size.

While Laura and Helen immediately dug into their food, Briar paused a moment, muttering, “itadakimasu” before also digging into her own serving with gusto. This gesture was not lost on Penelope.

All three of them quickly devoured their food. 

“I’m soo full!” Helen leaned back in her chair, sighing happily.

“It really was delicious, wasn’t it? I was so surprised that such a flavor could be found here. I’d have expected something like this could only be created by palace cooks!” Laura exclaimed.

“It really was delicious. I can only remember one thing that had a taste to rival this.” Briar said in satisfaction as she laid down her knife and fork. She nonchalantly handed Penelope the payment for the meal. 

“Customer, this! This is too much!” Penelope gasped. The price for the steak was clearly marked at ten silvers each, with two silvers added for the fruit juice, the whole meal came out to thirty-six silvers. But, Briar had paid her with one gold. That was almost enough to pay for two more meals of that caliber for their whole group!

“Really? Ah, I forgot to mention that we’ve decided to stay the night. Please deduct the costs of a room for the three of us, plus breakfast tomorrow. Whatever’s left, you can keep.” Helen’s eyes were wide as saucers. Not only was this person strong, he was also rich! Helen’s good impression of Briar only continued to rise.

Just then, a voice came from the entrance. “OY! PENELOPE! IT’S ME! GET OUT HERE, NOW!”