"Ugh, that was tense!"

"Thank goodness we didn't get hurt."

"Yeah..."

After returning to Master's house, we finally got a moment to catch our breath in our new room. After that, Master led us to crush an orc nest in a group battle, and we fought a tough enemy—a three-meter-tall dinosaur-like monster called a Murder Raptor.

Even though it was a monster weaker than Master, fighting such a large beast was still nerve-wracking. Its downward strikes from above were terrifying. I think I could have taken it down alone, but fighting it with Rio together was good practice.

"On the bright side, we also got to feel the full extent of Master’s terrifying strength," I said.

"Definitely..." Rio agreed, lost in thought as she remembered the sight of Master and the Murder Raptor. At least the Murder Raptor looked more intimidating, appearance-wise.

"By the way... do you think there are more people like Master in the Demon Tribe?"

"I can't imagine beating them..."

"Yeah, apparently demons live much longer than humans. Even though they’re fewer in number, they say there are a lot of strong ones."

The class members are working hard to defeat the Demon King, but I wonder how they're doing now. Well, it's not really my problem.

...That said, thinking about the classmates, the princess, and the maids still makes me mad. I kinda want to make them admit they were wrong.

"By the way, did you have any friends among the classmates who were summoned with us, someone you were close to?"

"...No, not really."

"I see... Sorry for bringing that up."

I quickly apologized after seeing Rio's expression darken.

"It's fine. Right now, I have you, Shu," she said, smiling gently as she leaned her body against my shoulder.

I felt a sense of trust from her, though there wasn't anything special between us. I liked her, but for now, this was fine. I shouldn’t let my instincts fool me.

"Ha, well... thanks."

But how do I respond to that?! Thanks? What does that even mean? Someone, please tell me how to reply! I said it’s fine, but honestly, I have no idea what to do right now.

"Shall we go ahead and eat?"

"Already time for that?"

"Yep. Let’s go."

Since we’ve been living here, Rio and I have been cooking our meals together. We can't just sit around doing nothing, after all. I feel like my cooking skill is increasing at a steady pace.

We walked toward the kitchen while thinking about that.

"Alright, starting today, let's practice using magic regularly," Master said after we finished lunch.

It’s typical for him to randomly come up with something like this, so I wasn’t all that surprised.

"We already use magic daily as part of our training. Is this something different?"

"I understand your question, but let me show you first."

As he spoke, Master gathered magic around him. Then, suddenly, he activated a few beginner-level spells around him.

Wind blew, fire ignited, water appeared, and sand began to form. Using four different types of magic simultaneously—Master's mind is truly something else.

"You’re going to keep these active in your daily life. While eating, while cooking, and even during close combat training."

"Huh?!"

Wait, so you mean we have to keep magic active all the time?

"Indoors, you can only use wind or light magic, but for now, let’s start with one type."

"I understand."

"Huh?!"

I was about to respond when Rio immediately nodded, and I couldn’t help but retort. She seems way too agreeable about this. Is it because she’s just used to Master’s absurd requests?

"Is there something wrong?" Master asked, eyeing me.

"No, nothing at all!" I quickly corrected myself, standing to attention.

"Good, that's the right attitude."

Master nodded in approval, though his requests weren’t unreasonable. He’s setting us up for success with the training, and honestly, we’ve never failed a challenge.

"But this means we have to do it without the staff, right?"

"Yeah, that's the idea. The goal is to use magic without thinking, just like breathing. If you rely on a staff, it defeats the purpose."

"Right..."

This was something I’d tried before and failed at, but I had improved. It just takes some focus.

...Yes, focus is key.

I decided to try again. Looking at Rio beside me, I saw her concentrating. Her body twitched, like she was trying to move but couldn’t. I almost laughed, seeing her fidgeting while glowing in a strange way.

Focus. Don’t look at Rio. Look ahead, straight at Master.

As I turned to face Master, I saw him covering his mouth, shaking with suppressed laughter. Oh no! He’s about to burst out laughing! Don’t look at me, I shouldn’t be laughing too!

I took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, focusing on the light in my forehead. I began to gather magic and imagined the light appearing. Then I whispered, "Light."

"Heh heh heh, bwahahahahaha!!"

Master couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.