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Volume 2 Chapter 6 - The Birth of a New Trauma?

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Allen made the unconscious Iseria sit with her back leaning against a nearby tree, and quickly cut the treant, who for some reason was showing the whites of its eyes just like Iseria. And then, while being wary of his surroundings, Allen began to process the treant

Even though Allen understood that he should wake her up if he wanted to fulfill his original purpose of teaching Iseria how to be an adventurer, he didn't do it.

(It's enough that we got to the 9th floor today and was able to shake off her fear to some extent. But why is she so desperate? Is it because she’s young after all?) (Allen)

Allen was thinking about that as he worked, trying not to look at Iseria who was unconscious with a face that no one should see.

In truth, Allen was planning to have Iseria fight treants today as he observed her. To see how Iseria would react to a treant, a monster of the same type as hanging tree.

Considering that after Iseria almost died on this 9th floor she went with him as he conquered the Demon Dungeon to raise her level and fought in the Dragon Dungeon, Allen judged that she didn't have much fear toward normal monsters.

Also, regarding the location that is the forest, despite the 1st floor of the Dragon Dungeon having similar terrain, Iseria didn't seem to be concerned about it, so he thought this location would be okay.

That said, at that time, Iseria was excited about meeting the ancient dragon Mizuchi, so it wasn’t definite though.

“Yotto, this is top quality for a simple bed. The blanket is just so-so, but it's probably better than sleeping directly on it.” (Allen)

After nodding with satisfaction at the newly assembled bed, which was much better than the one Allen had used before, Allen placed a blanket on top of it and laid Iseria down on it.

“U-un...” (Iseria)

“!!” (Allen)

As Iseria was placed on the bed, she stirred and made such a sound, and in response, Allen quickly moved away from the place.

Allen made the simple bed so that Iseria could rest as easily as possible, but that voice and figure made him think of a certain idea.

(Crap, doesn't this look like I’m trying to bring her into bed and attack her?) (Allen)

An unconscious young woman, and a bed. And a man standing still next to it. If you look at them from the sidelines, there is certainly a possibility that it might seem that way.

However, this is inside a dungeon, who would go out of their way to bring a bed there? What’s more, the man looked like a clown, so not many people would think like that.

‘Don’t wake up!’ It's unknown if that wish of Allen got through her, but Iseria only shifted her body slightly to the side.

The whites of her eyes and her mouth that were open were both closed when she shifted earlier, so Allen was relieved in another sense, and ‘Fuu,’ he let out a small breath.

As Allen watched Iseria sleeping soundly, he felt a sense of nostalgia.

When his younger siblings grew a little older and were able to prepare their own meals, Allen often worked late to earn money.

That was because, while Allen tried to be frugal, and his younger sister, who was much better at managing money than Allen, managed it firmly, as they grew older, the amount of money they had to spend on things like food increased.

When Allen returned home late at night, dragging his tired body, his younger siblings were naturally asleep. It was only natural, since it was Allen himself who had forbidden them to stay up and wait, and everyone was properly obeying him.

After eating the simple dinner they had prepared, Allen always watched his younger siblings sleep before going to bed to prepare for tomorrow.

Because doing that would make him able to think ‘Let’s do my best tomorrow too.’

“Now that I think about it, I wonder what they’re doing these days.” (Allen)

Allen was lost in thought as he muttered something like that.

The second son, Eric, was in this Lilac City, and he had met him recently, so he knew his situation to some extent, but the other three had already moved away from Lilac City, so except for the occasional letters, he didn’t even know what kind of life they lead.

In particular, he hadn't seen the eldest daughter and third son who were in the capital since they left Lilac. Well, it's not like the third son had left that long ago though.

“It might be a good idea to go see them. I don’t need to be tied to this city anymore anyway.” (Allen)

The expression on Allen's face as he murmured such a thing was softer and kinder than anything he had ever made before.

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.

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About two hours later, Iseria woke up and restlessly looked around her surroundings, trying to grasp the situation.

It was natural that she did that, because she had just fought treants on the 9th floor of the Lilac Dungeon and was supposed to be talking to Allen, but she was suddenly put to bed.

As Iseria sat up with her head still in a daze and then put her feet down from the bed, Allen, who was making a desk and chair that was obviously too small for an adult in a place that was just a little further away, called out to her.

“Are you awake? Sorry, seems like I overdid it. How are you feeling?” (Allen)

“No, I was the one who asked for it. Besides, I don't really remember what happened. I don't think I'm feeling particularly bad.” (Iseria)

In fact, Iseria's memory had become vague.

She did remember talking to Allen about the treatment, and that when she heard that there was a possibility to treat it by experiencing something much more frightening than the actual experience, she had suggested trying it.

However, Iseria had no recollection of what happened after that.

Iseria tried forcing herself to remember it, but in that instant she felt a chill and her body began to shiver.

“It seems it’s best if I don’t remember what happened.” (Iseria)

“So it seems. I’m really sorry.” (Allen)

“It's okay. After all, I feel like I've achieved my original goal.” (Iseria)

Shaking her head slightly and giving up on remembering, Iseria turned to Allen, who seemed apologetic, and smiled. Iseria didn't know how much fear Allen had caused her, but she was relieved that she hadn't become afraid of Allen as a result of that.

Allen was about to continue speaking, but when he saw her smile, he scratched his head and stopped himself. Because he realized that any further apology would be tactless.

“All right. Then, we’re going home today. Not pushing yourself too hard is also a ground rule of adventurers after all.” (Allen)

“Yes.” (Iseria)

Iseria stood up as she responded to Allen's suggestion, but when she saw Allen putting the small desk and chair he had made earlier into his magic bag, she called out to him from his back.

“Um, what should we do with this bed and blanket?” (Iseria)

“Aa─h, I wonder what.” (Allen)

After he finished putting away the desk and chair, Allen stood up and started pondering. He had already made a proper bed at his house, and he had recently bought a blanket, so he wasn’t really attached to this.

On the contrary, the thought of using the blanket that Iseria had used is kinda. Then Allen realized that he would never have thought that way in the past when he was struggling with money, and he smiled wryly.

“I'll just donate this to the orphanage. I was planning to give them the desk and chair anyway.” (Allen)

“I understand. Then I'll fold the blanket.” (Iseria)

“I leave it to you.” (Allen)

The two of them moved briskly, and soon everything was put away.

The two then started walking towards the exit. While defeating the occasional monsters that attacked them, and Allen teaching her the mental attitude as an adventurer.

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.

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The two of them got out of Lilac Dungeon without incident and headed towards the city. While Allen listening to what Iseria was doing in the dungeon before Allen came, and Allen giving her some advice.

Then, once the topic had died down and the two of them stopped talking, Allen made sure that no one was around, and asked Iseria while lowering his voice a little.

“Look, the knowledge I know is only this much. Are you really okay with just teaching you how to be an adventurer?” (Allen)

As Allen suddenly said that, Iseria stared back at him with blank eyes.

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(T/N: ‘how to be an adventurer’ is actually ‘ground rules as an adventurer’, but google used the former, and it seems fitting, so I followed it. raw: 冒険者としての心得を教える)

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