Back when she was still in the School District, Lefiya had once formed a party with her classmates and explored a dungeon together—an honest-to-goodness adventure.
Most entrances to the Dungeon had long since been sealed, leaving Orario as the only major gateway. But a thousand years ago, there had still been plenty of monsters that escaped to the surface.
It was their first time fighting monsters. And with Lefiya's absurdly overpowered magical firepower, their expedition had felt almost effortless—smooth sailing from start to finish.
But the more "smooth" it became, the more terrifying the danger grew.
Before long, Lefiya's party ran into a monster far stronger than anything they should have faced—
And they paid for it.
A companion lay gravely wounded. Their vanguard—an older student—had his heart pierced clean through.
And the only thing that could still turn the situation around was Lefiya's devastating magic.
Yet in that moment, her mind broke.
Seeing a teammate die right in front of her—she froze, trembling and helpless, not knowing what to do.
For a mage, mental stability is everything.
Once the heart falters, magic won't answer.
And when magic fails, the entire team gets dragged down with it.
Now, faced with a War Shadow at point-blank range, Lefiya's mind replayed that scene from a year ago—her senior vanguard collapsing with a chest torn open.
That old shadow crawled up from the past and wrapped around her throat.
Alicia stepped forward at that moment.
Her gaze was complicated as she looked at Lefiya. She raised a hand—then let it drop, powerless.
She'd known about Lefiya's psychological trauma for a long time.
That was the point of bringing her into the Dungeon this time—to help her step out of that abyss, or at least start easing the symptoms bit by bit.
But she hadn't expected it to be this severe.
Worse than Lady Riveria had predicted.
Alicia couldn't help sighing—frustration, helplessness, and a flicker of being at a loss all mixed into one breath.
Lefiya was a genius. A genius among geniuses.
That wasn't up for debate.
Her skills and magic were so exceptional that her minimum future achievement practically started at Level 5.
But Alicia also understood something very clearly:
Talent and inner strength are two different things.
Right now, Lefiya was still trapped in the aftermath of that failed battle—still imprisoned by that wound.
If she only needed to cast from far away, she could manage.
But if she encountered another close-range crisis like just now…
She would lose the ability to fight.
A gemstone this brilliant—
Yet on the verge of shattering from psychological trauma.
Heith watched the scene and also sighed quietly, shaking her head.
Mental scars were the hardest to heal.
In the end, only the person themselves could walk out of them.
As Freya Familia's chief healer, Heith knew that truth better than anyone.
Then she glanced at Qianshuo and thought to herself:
Good thing this kid's heart is strong. Otherwise I'd really have a headache.
If Qianshuo had his own trauma on top of all this, she'd be the one suffering.
"I'm sorry… Qianshuo…"
Lefiya's hands shook. She kept her head down, afraid to meet those calm, black eyes.
"I think… I can't keep adventuring. I'm sorry… I'm really sorry…"
Her lips trembled. She curled up tighter, burying her face between her knees as if she could hide from everything by disappearing inside herself.
"Alicia… looks like you're going to have a hard time with this child's counseling."
Heith looked from Lefiya to Alicia and shook her head again.
Even as "rival familias," Heith wasn't the kind to take pleasure in this—especially not when it was a child the same age as Qianshuo.
Alicia sighed too. It seemed today's expedition was over. She'd go back and talk it over with Lady Riveria.
Just as Alicia began to move—
Qianshuo, who had been watching Lefiya in silence, suddenly spoke.
"Lefiya… are you afraid of monsters?"
"…Or are you afraid of death?"
His voice was calm—so calm it felt like water.
Qianshuo crouched in front of her, lowering himself until their eye level could match.
She didn't answer. She only buried her face deeper.
But once she realized he was right in front of her, she finally lifted her head—instinctively.
"Qi… Qianshuo?"
Not only her—Heith and Alicia also froze.
They hadn't expected him to speak at all, much less ask a question like that.
"I don't know what you went through before," Qianshuo said softly.
No blame. No urging.
"But…"
He paused.
"On the road I've walked these past years… I've almost died more than once."
Lefiya's body twitched.
"There was one time my ribs broke. Blood soaked through my clothes."
"I lay on the ground thinking… this is it. I'm going to die."
His tone was flat, as if he were describing something that happened a long, long time ago.
"That time… I was scared too."
"Scared enough to shake."
"Scared enough to want to cry."
"Scared enough that… I didn't want to stand up again."
Lefiya finally raised her head fully.
She looked into his eyes.
There was no mockery. No pity.
Only something she couldn't name.
"But I stood up anyway," Qianshuo said.
"Why…?" Lefiya's voice came out hoarse.
Qianshuo thought for a moment, then answered seriously:
"Because… if I didn't stand up, then the only thing waiting for me was death."
"And if you die… then you really have nothing left."
The moment the word death landed, Lefiya's body jolted. Her eyes widened as she stared at him—clearly unable to imagine that a boy her own age had lived through something that brutal.
"If you chose to become an adventurer," Qianshuo continued, still calm, "then whatever you do… it has to be worthy of the trust your companions place in you."
"And you can't disappoint the people who believe in you."
"I don't think Alicia-senpai or Lady Riveria want to see you like this."
"What you do—how you live—has to be worthy of the responsibility you carry."
"Not running away. Not escaping into the past."
His words were quiet, but in Lefiya's heart they struck with weight—clear, hard, and ringing.
"Qianshuo…"
She hadn't expected that on only their second meeting, he would trust her so much.
Responsibility…
The word echoed.
Old shadows resurfaced in her mind.
Back then—if she had fulfilled her duty as a mage… would anything have turned out differently?
"The past can't be undone," Qianshuo said.
"But the future can be changed."
"Lefiya—if you think I'm your companion…"
"…your friend…"
"Then fulfill your responsibility as a mage."
"Don't drown yourself in the past until you suffocate."
He extended his hand to her.
His voice remained calm, but now it carried something gentler—real concern.
He said so much because, in Lefiya, he saw the "cowardly" version of himself from long ago.
Back when he had first arrived in this world, rescued by an old hunter.
The first time he followed that old man into the mountains to hunt, they were attacked by a wild beast.
Qianshuo was afraid.
He couldn't swing the axe.
And because of that hesitation, the old man's arm was torn open by a savage bite—an ugly, deep wound.
But the old man had still smiled as he comforted him, telling him that in a world where the strong devour the weak, you needed a fearless, unwavering heart.
From that day onward, Qianshuo hated his own cowardice.
Under the old man's guidance, he grew—step by step—until he was no longer the boy who panicked at the first sign of danger.
He'd been soaked by rain before.
So now… he wanted to hold an umbrella for someone else.
Lefiya sat there like a stunned duck, eyes trembling as she looked up at the boy in front of her.
And the final thing he said—
It hit her awake.
Responsibility.
The meaning was heavy.
And right now, Lefiya understood exactly what Qianshuo was trying to make her understand.
She reached out.
Letting him pull her up.
The fear still remained—some of it.
But it was being pushed back, little by little, by a warm, burning light spreading through her chest.
Lefiya knew where that light came from.
From the calm, steady boy standing right in front of her.
"I understand… Thank you…"
"…Qianshuo."
She bit her lip and said it—truly, from the heart.
She hadn't known anyone could say something like that to her—
Something that made her understand what it meant to be a mage, and what it meant to be responsible to companions.
"I'm glad you figured it out," Qianshuo said, smiling in that easy, unbothered way of his.
"Let's rest a bit. Then we keep moving."
He lightly patted her shoulder.
Lefiya turned and bowed deeply toward Alicia.
"I'm sorry, Alicia-senpai… I worried you…"
Her cheeks were faintly red—she knew how bad she'd been.
"It's fine, Lefiya," Alicia said, shaking her head softly at last.
But when she looked at Qianshuo, her eyes held an emotion so complicated it almost hurt.
She hadn't expected—
That this child had endured so much.
And it made sense, now, why he carried a calmness and composure that didn't match his age.
Alicia stared at the two figures ahead for a long time, silent.
"Heith."
"Hm?"
"That child…"
Her voice was quiet, like she was speaking to herself.
"Doesn't feel twelve."
Heith smiled and didn't answer.
Alicia continued, "Those words… he didn't learn them from a book, did he?"
"Probably not," Heith replied.
"He lived them."
It wasn't a question. It was a conclusion.
Alicia's gaze settled on Qianshuo's back. A complex light flickered through her golden eyes.
If someone had done that for her back then…
Would it have hurt less?
"He's a good kid," Alicia murmured—her voice carrying a softness she didn't even realize was there.
"He is," Heith said, the corners of her mouth lifting.
"So don't even think about poaching."
Alicia blinked—then her lips curved slightly.
"Did I say I was going to?"
"Your eyes did," Heith replied.
"Don't go getting ideas about this kid."
"Lady Freya would be angry."
Heith looked at the two backs ahead, her smile turning faintly amused.
This kid really did keep surprising her.
She'd thought Qianshuo was simply strong, clear-headed, and diligent.
But she hadn't expected this side of him.
In that kind of moment—
He didn't pressure. He didn't scold.
He opened his own scars and showed them first.
To catch someone else's breaking heart.
That wasn't something just anyone could do.
Heith had seen countless adventurers.
Some were powerful, but never learned how to understand teammates.
Some were kind, but froze helplessly when others fell apart.
And Qianshuo—
He chose the hardest path.
He used his own vulnerability…
To hold someone else's.
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