Chapter 11: Ron: This is a good thing!

“Enjoy your meal, you two~”

Madam Lida, the innkeeper, stood before the dining table and served a sizzling platter of grilled meat that exuded a rich aroma.

“Thank you very much~”

Ron thanked Madam Lida and then pushed the delicious food closer to Lifa, who was sitting across from him.

“Eat more, Lifa. You’ve worked hard these past few days.”

Crossing the Magic Beast Forest with a burden who had little combat power, then going straight to the adventurer certification right after entering the city today without proper rest — when Ron thought about how Lifa had done all this because of him, he felt a bit guilty.

“It was nothing, Master! Besides, this grilled meat tastes wonderful!”

Lifa held a knife in one hand and a fork in the other; her smile was both adorable and a little clumsy.

Seeing this, Ron felt more and more uneasy. The world he was in was no longer a game. Whether it was Lifa or the ones he had once abandoned, they were all living beings.

Ron felt he couldn’t do it — he couldn’t trade Lifa’s current smile for so-called power and growth for his own selfish gain like he had in the past.

Madam Lida’s cooking was quite good. Combined with many seasonings and dishes in the city that were unheard of in her small village, Lifa ate happily.

However, she soon noticed that her Master sitting in front of her hadn’t touched his utensils yet; he sat there lost in thought again.

“Master Ron.”

“Hmm?”

Ron responded with a soft hum, only to find that the girl had cut off the most delicious part of the tenderloin and was holding it up to his lips with a fork.

“Oh, I can do it myself.”

Ron instinctively tried to decline Lifa’s feeding, but Lifa refused to yield, pushing the fork closer until it almost touched his lips.

“Master has worked hard too. You have to eat~”

Ron didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but Lifa’s attitude seemed unprecedentedly assertive as she spoke.

“Al—Alright then.”

Taking a bite of the juicy tenderloin, Ron’s expression shifted to one of pleasant surprise after a few chews.

“It’s good, right? Do you want more, Master?”

After Ron accepted the feeding, Lifa seemed encouraged and became exceptionally excited.

*Skritch-skritch —*

The knife cleanly sliced off another piece of meat. Just as Lifa was about to pick it up with her fork, she suddenly realized something.

She seemed to have given Master Ron the fork she had just used…

“Lifa, I can do it myself.”

Ron also picked up his knife and fork. Compared to the dry rations on the road, tonight’s feast truly made him think, ‘This is what life in another world should be like.’

The stimulation of his taste buds naturally pushed aside his worries and heavy thoughts from earlier.

“O—Okay.”

Lifa gripped her fork tightly. Fortunately, the dim light from the oil lamp on the ceiling hid her face, which was flushed red all the way to her ears, from Ron’s notice.

‘I—I only did it because I saw Master wasn’t eating!’

‘But this… this counts as an indirect…’

Lifa took a deep breath and stared at the fork she had just used to feed Ron. After stealing a glance to ensure her Master hadn’t noticed anything unusual, she quickly put it into her own mouth.

‘Master ate from Lifa’s, and Lifa ate from Master’s, so we’re even…’

“By the way, Lifa.”

“Ah! M—Master… what did you say?”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

Ron looked at Lifa and smiled, setting his knife aside.

“When you first came back, you said the test was very special and that there were some surprises. What did you mean by that?”

The grilled meat was very filling. Although Ron found it delicious, he felt his digestion reaching its limit after several pieces.

“Well, where should I start?”

Lifa swallowed the food she was chewing. Summarizing and retelling stories had never been her strong suit, and there were indeed many things from the afternoon worth mentioning.

“After Master left, the receptionist at the adventurer’s guild assigned an examiner to me.”

Guided by Ron’s prompts, Lifa began her story from the very beginning. She spoke in such a roundabout way that Ron started to feel a bit drowsy, but he eventually grasped the general idea.

“You’re saying the person who examined you was a female swordsman called ‘Lady Ash,’ and she’s very strong?”

Ron stopped Lifa from verbally recreating her thirty-sixth challenge and began to summarize.

“Yes. In the end, I could only barely block her very first move.”

Lifa spoke of her battle with Isis, feeling inevitable dejection in front of the Master who had placed such high hopes on her.

“I see… Then she might be an Adventurer at the Platinum grade or higher, especially since she gave feedback and guidance every time…”

Lifa’s retelling was selective. She didn’t mention that the price for challenging her again after each failure was answering one of Isis’s questions; she didn’t think that was important.

Instead, she described her own analysis and Lady Ash’s critiques in great detail.

“I’m sorry, Master. You must be very disappointed that I passed the test like this…”

Lifa took Ron’s silence as disappointment. She had shared so many combat details hoping her Master would realize she had actually made progress during the process.

“This is a good thing…”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying, this is a good thing for you, Lifa.”

Ron had actually been wondering about Lady Ash’s background and motives, but Lifa’s low spirits were of greater concern to him.

“There’s nothing wrong with you experiencing the strength of a true powerhouse. Besides, I can tell that this Lady Ash must really appreciate you to be willing to spend the whole afternoon examining and guiding you.”

Ron shared his reasoning. If it were him, he would also be happy to provide guidance and help to a promising and hardworking junior.

“Is that so?”

“Besides, you managed to break her first move, didn’t you? Actually, I’d guess that this Lady Ash’s strength is at least the seventh rank.”

Based on her ability to unilaterally overwhelm Lifa, Ron gave a conservative estimate. He became increasingly curious about Lady Ash’s identity.

It didn’t make sense; a female swordsman of this caliber should be popular and well-known. He shouldn’t have zero memory of her.

Was she using a pseudonym? Or did the real Uthis Continent simply have many powerhouses he didn’t know about from the game?

“The seventh rank… Master Ron, when will Lifa be able to become that strong?”

The appearance of Isis had been like a bucket of cold water for Lifa, who had felt she had no more enemies in her village and had gained immense confidence after surviving the magic beast forest. However, it also made the girl more clear-headed and eager to grow stronger.

After all, only then could she protect her Master. Only then, if the ‘trouble’ her Master faced was as powerful as Lady Ash, would she not lose.

“It won’t take long, but little Lifa, don’t be in a hurry. Don’t blindly pursue power.”

Ron spoke earnestly. He looked at the remaining grilled meat on the black stone griddle, sliced it with his knife, took Lifa’s utensil, and held a piece up to her mouth.

“Here. It’s a good thing that Lifa wants to become stronger, but what you need to do right now is finish this grilled meat~”

At this moment, Ron’s actions mirrored exactly what Lifa had done earlier.

“Mhm!”

“Ahn~”

Lifa nodded seriously in response, then lowered her head to eat the food Ron fed her.

***

About ten minutes later, Madam Lida came to clear the empty plates and utensils and brought two glasses of juice for Lifa and Ron.

“This is…”

“The sweet juice is on the house for couples~ I was watching Master Ron and Miss Lifa just now, and it reminded me of my own youth~”

*Hiss.* “Madam Lida, Lifa and I aren’t in that kind of relationship.”

“Mhm, I understand~”

Ron felt that the more he explained, the messier it became. Meanwhile, Lifa remembered Isis’s words before they parted.

“By the way, Master, there’s one more thing.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Lifa then mentioned that Isis would be visiting the inn tomorrow, seemingly regarding a request.

“That is indeed a bit strange, but since she admires our little Lifa so much, I expect…”

“This is likely a good thing too.”