Austin and Yuna sat together on a bench, and Yuna eagerly awaited Austin opening the scroll.
He opened the better-looking scroll first, as instructed by Yuna. As he did so, Austin became somewhat startled by what the scroll contained.
The scroll contained a summoning spell—a sword summoning spell. Just by looking at the intricate patterns and the lengthy chant, Austin immediately knew it was a high-tier summoning spell.
The kind of sword it could summon would surely be something highly coveted—a treasure-worthy sword.
Yuna looked at the patterns of the sword summoning spell. After satisfying her curiosity, she lost interest. It wasn't like she could use a sword anyway.
Austin then opened the other scroll amidst Yuna's expectant gaze. This time, he wasn't merely surprised—he was shocked.
Sword summoning spells were something he had seen often in his previous world. Although high-tier ones were rare, he had still encountered them before.
However, the other scroll contained something that any swordsman would die to obtain.
The precious scroll contained a sword technique, and Austin, as a sword master, instinctively knew that this technique was extremely powerful. A summoned spiritual sword was coveted by every sword master, but a powerful sword technique was far more precious than anything else in the world—a technique that one could truly claim as their own once mastered. For a sword master, it was incomparable to anything else.
"Oh wow… if you learn this, you can split a sword!" Yuna exclaimed in delight.
Although she already knew what the scroll contained, it was still a very nice experience to see the genuine thing with her own eyes.
Austin, though excited, restrained his emotions. He looked at Yuna and said slowly, "Yuna… this sword technique—if you sell it, you won't need to worry about money for the rest of your life. If you learn it, even a layman could become a powerful sword master."
Hearing his words, Yuna squinted her eyes at Austin.
Seriously, money doesn't bring happiness, brother! …As if.
Money indeed doesn't bring happiness—it brings crazy rich happiness.
But one has to be alive to enjoy that money.
With Austin's barren and thorny future, as well as the many covetous eyes such a thing would attract, it was better for him to secretly learn the technique himself instead.
As for her learning it? Please. Was she an idiot? Was she a hardworking person? Why would she let herself suffer to learn it? She only wanted to witness it—she had no desire to train herself to death.
She didn't like swords that much. With how cowardly she was, she would never have the courage to engage in close combat.
Her elements allowed her to target enemies from a long range, and she planned to stick to that. Learning too many things would only stunt her progress. She wasn't a genius who could learn everything—she wasn't a Mary Sue.
She was easily complacent and liked to procrastinate. With her already focusing on elemental practice every night and apothecary work after school, Yuna didn't think she had the motivation to add anything else. Sticking to her current routine was already strenuous enough.
When had she ever stuck to a routine? If not for the fantasy world and the fact that it was far more dangerous than her previous life, she would have lived as a slacker long ago.
…And the lack of internet made life even more boring. That was the main point.
Learning elements was fun, and producing medicine herself was nice—if she ignored the nerve-wracking books required to learn it. She had also started learning how to tend a medicinal plant garden. As a poor ghost, she couldn't afford expensive herbs, so she resorted to taking two or three stalks from the apothecary and planting them herself around the house whenever new batches arrived.
Anyway, the new apothecary allowed her to take as much as she wanted, so that was that.
It was the lack of money that was turning her into a gardener, even though she had no talent for it.
Sigh. Humans adapt to changing circumstances.
She had already done her best in two… no, three things. She knew she would come up with endless excuses not to practice swordsmanship. After all, she had always been good at making excuses.
Yuna had that much self-awareness and propriety. She didn't need it anyway, so she wouldn't force herself.
"I don't like playing with swords. Also, money can always be earned, but opportunities can't. Austin, learn it. It's yours," Yuna answered naturally, after considering all possible scenarios. This was the best outcome.
Austin curled his fist. "Why are you giving it to me? Something this precious?" His voice was quiet. "Why are you always so good to me?"
Yuna blinked, bewildered. "Why shouldn't it belong to you?" He practiced swordsmanship—shouldn't he be the one to learn it? Just because it was precious made it all the more reason for him to have it.
Yuna, the blockhead, completely missed the underlying meaning of Austin's question.
There was nothing wrong with treating someone miserable well—someone less fortunate than herself. It wasn't kindness; it was more like charity. She could afford compassion because she was more fortunate.
She wanted to feel good herself, not necessarily make others feel good. She had selfish motives.
Self-satisfaction felt nice.
Austin slowly closed his eyes, his emotions in turmoil.
Finally, as if being set free—or perhaps being tightly chained to someone from now on—he opened his eyes. His deep blue eyes shone brightly as he looked at Yuna. Intense emotions swirled within them, on the verge of spilling out, but Austin suppressed it all.
He smiled brilliantly, so bright that even the sun paled in comparison. He opened his mouth and said slowly but firmly, "En… I'll learn it well. And I'll use it for you."
Everything that I am—my strength, my thoughts, my future—belongs to you from now on. We belong to each other.
Forever care for me.
A person who had never received warmth, once they tasted it, found it hard to let go. Humans endlessly pursued such sweetness, sacrificing countless things to attain it, even if it killed them.
Indeed, humans were pathetic—clinging to things that hurt them while finding it harder to let go.
Such complicated creatures.
Yuna, on the receiving end of that dazzling smile, was dazed for a moment. Her heart should have fluttered, maybe even felt happy, but instead she felt uncomfortable. A chill ran down her spine, goosebumps rising on her arms, and her eyelid twitched with a bad premonition.
Not wanting to be rude, Yuna forced a smile back and encouraged him with feigned calmness. "Yeah! You can do it, Austin."
Just… Mister, you're beautiful when you smile, but it's kind of scary, so please put it away quickly.
…
When Yuna and Austin returned to the shop, Grandpa Orion didn't ask where she spent the money, as he always did. The family finances had been handled by Yuna ever since she transmigrated, and her grandfather never opposed it, letting her do as she pleased.
Sometimes, Yuna suspected that if her grandfather were rich, she would have been spoiled rotten—if not for her adult soul.
Just as her grandfather predicted earlier, the shop soon saw another influx of customers, and Yuna happily counted money once again. As for attending the night program, Yuna hadn't even considered it—but her grandfather had other ideas.
Austin helped until 6:00 p.m. before Grandpa Orion told him to go home and dress up for the night program.
When the shop closed at 7:00 p.m., Grandpa pulled out a dress he had secretly bought for Yuna, made her wear it, and dragged her—against her will—to the plaza, where a stage had already been set up for the lively night program.
Yuna begrudgingly sat down on one of the seats with her grandfather.
The program officially started at 7:30 p.m. Just as Yuna expected, there were opening greetings, followed by a speech from the town lord.
There were even plays depicting how Huin Town was established, past city lords, and so on. The singing and dancing were quite nice, but it still wasn't something Yuna would go out of her way to attend.
Yuna flopped tiredly onto her bed after being mentally drained by the social event. Her body was fine, but her mind was exhausted.
Her grandfather, still very good-looking, attracted many older aunties who kept striking up conversations. Yuna got dragged into it and had to deal with them, much to her dismay.
So, once they got home, Yuna flopped onto her bed like a dried fish, desperately replenishing her mental energy.