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I hurriedly carried the collapsed Seron to the infirmary.

And what I heard from the infirmary teacher was shocking.

“Oh my, Seron, you’re here again?”

Again.

That meant Seron had already been to the infirmary multiple times.

The infirmary teacher, seemingly accustomed to this, treated Seron’s hand and laid her down.

Then, using healing magic, Seron’s face visibly improved.

“Teacher, what do you mean by ‘again’?”

When I voiced my confusion, the infirmary teacher sighed.

“This is the seventh time Seron has been here.”

Not once or twice—seven times.

Zerion Academy had many passionate students.

It wasn’t unusual for some to be carried to the infirmary after intense training.

But seven times?

That was unusual.

My gaze landed on Seron.

At first, I thought she might have been bullied by other students.

Seron did have a personality that often led to clashes.

Our Red Badger was particularly skilled at getting into fights.

But judging by the atmosphere, bullying wasn’t the issue.

Rather, Seron had earnestly asked others to train with her.

Seron panted, her breath ragged.

What was she trying to accomplish by pushing herself so hard?

Seron had always been competitive,

but she had never pushed herself to the point of collapse like this before.

“Ugh… ughhh…”

As I was lost in thought, Seron slowly opened her eyes.

When our eyes met, hers widened in surprise.

“P-Prince Sweet Potato?”

An unexpected reaction.

“Why are you here?”

“I was the one who brought you. Don’t you remember?”

“O-Oh.”

She seemed to have a hazy memory of what happened.

Seron’s face turned bright red, and she buried herself under the blanket.

“T-Thanks. I’m fine now! You can go!”

She squirmed under the covers.

“Why were you training so hard?”

The blanket trembled.

She knew she couldn’t hide from this conversation.

But she still didn’t seem ready to come out from under the covers.

“You’ve collapsed seven times already. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you’re going to seriously hurt yourself.”

“...You’re one to talk.”

Well… she had a point.

I overworked myself constantly, so I wasn’t exactly in a position to lecture her.

“And sometimes, training just gets intense.”

“This is obviously overworking yourself. If you keep going like this—”

“I know!”

Seron suddenly shouted.

She kept her face buried in the blanket as she muttered,

“I know that already…”

I silently watched her.

I could tell she didn’t yell because she wanted to.

“Then why?”

There had to be another reason she was pushing herself so hard.

When I asked, Seron hesitated for a moment.

“...Because I’m weak.”

I blinked.

Peeking out from under the blanket, her forehead was flushed red.

“I’m too weak!”

Weak.

That one word made me understand why she was training so desperately.

“I’m too weak to stand by Prince Sweet Potato.”

…So it was because of me.

Maybe because my heart had grown colder, I hadn’t noticed something so obvious.

“Prince Sweet Potato always gets into dangerous situations, and I can’t even keep up.

Even during the Autumn Demon Dungeon incident, I could barely follow along.”

I had heard that Aisha had looked after Seron a lot back then.

She must have realized her own shortcomings painfully during that time.

“I’m weak. Too weak.”

She bit down on her lower lip.

“I want to help Prince Sweet Potato, but I’m too weak.”

Seron poured out her feelings.

The truth was, she wasn’t actually weak.

Even among the elite students of Zerion Academy, Seron was in the upper-middle ranks.

Not long ago, she had fought her way through the preliminaries of the individual tournament and made it to the main round.

Her father had been so proud that he cried his eyes out.

For someone like that to call themselves weak—it was absurd.

But it all made sense when considering whom she was comparing herself to.

Not just Zerion Academy’s finest, but warriors known throughout the world.

Sharin, Iris, Isabel—brilliant stars.

She was comparing herself to them.

I wanted to tell her she was comparing herself unfairly,

but at the same time, I knew that wasn’t the right thing to say.

People naturally aspire to reach the top.

It wouldn’t be right to criticize someone for chasing after their ideals.

I had also hit walls during training before.

The frustration and determination that came from those moments were impossible to describe.

“That’s why I’ll get stronger. Stronger than Prince Sweet Potato. So that I can protect you.”

Seron’s resolve was firm.

The Autumn Demon Dungeon had changed many people.

It had allowed Sharin to fully embrace her love.

And for Seron, it had given her a goal.

But even so, there were limits.

If she kept pushing herself until she collapsed, she’d only break herself.

I looked at Seron.

She seemed embarrassed by her own words and burrowed even deeper into the blanket.

“Seron.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“You want to get stronger, right?”

Slowly, Seron peeked out from under the blanket.

With a sincere expression, she nodded.

“I want to get stronger.”

“Then starting tomorrow, train with Aisha and me.”

“Huh?”

She hadn’t expected that.

Her eyes went wide.

“What’s the point of training with random people? Aisha and I are among the strongest in Zerion Academy. If you want to get stronger, you should train with the best.”

The reason I had become as strong as I was…

was largely thanks to Aisha.

Her training had shaped my body into what it was today.

Even Isabel and Iris struggled to keep up with our training sessions.

If Seron could endure it, she would undoubtedly grow stronger.

“You mean that morning training you always do?”

“Yeah.”

“But I’m bad at mornings…”

“You wanna get scolded?”

Just a moment ago, she looked like she was ready to risk her life, and now she's trying to back out because she's bad with mornings.

As I glared at her, Seron cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Good. See you tomorrow morning."

"Ah..."

As I was about to get up, Seron flinched and leaned forward.

Maybe it was an unconscious movement, but her face turned as red as a tomato, and she mumbled while lowering her head.

"You, you could stay a little longer..."

She could’ve just been honest and asked me to stay.

I stared at Seron for a moment before sitting back down.

At that, Seron scooted closer, then leaned her head against my shoulder.

She seemed pleased, smiling brightly.

Her short legs swung up and down, expressing her joy.

For someone who had collapsed just a while ago, she was certainly quick to bounce back.

She was consistent, in a way.

* * *

The Next Morning

I was standing in the usual training spot, waiting for Aisha.

"Aisha, Seron will be joining us today."

"This time it's Senior Seron, huh?"

Since Isabel and even Iris had joined training before, Aisha seemed unsurprised.

"Prince Sweet Potato!"

Soon enough, Seron appeared, calling out to me.

The moment Aisha and I turned our heads, we both froze.

And for good reason—Seron had dressed up.

I had no idea when she got up to get ready, but she had clearly put in a lot of effort.

I glanced at Seron briefly before covering my face with my hand.

Well, she'll figure it out soon enough.

"Let's start training."

"Yes, let's."

Aisha must have had the same thought as me because she didn’t comment further and simply started the training.

Seron had no idea about the intensity of our training.

She probably assumed it wouldn't be as bad as when she collapsed last time.

But that was a massive mistake.

I had overcome countless hardships recently, and Aisha had been a powerhouse from the start.

Our training was on another level.

Even Iris, who was known for her endurance, had collapsed from exhaustion.

"Aisha, you know we’re not going to go easy on her."

"Of course, Senior."

A knowing smile passed between us.

And so, the morning training began.

The outcome was obvious.

"Ugh... ugh!"

Seron collapsed onto the ground, completely exhausted.

Her efforts to look pretty in the morning had all gone to waste.

I could understand wanting to impress me, but she had underestimated our training way too much.

"You okay?"

I handed her a bottle of water, but she weakly shook her head.

When you're too exhausted, even drinking water feels impossible.

She was learning that the hard way.

"Still, you kept up better than I expected. You pass."

Even Iris had struggled with this routine.

The fact that Seron managed to endure it meant her previous training hadn’t been in vain.

"Y-you do this every day?"

Seron stared at me in shock, finally understanding where my endurance came from.

"And you'll be doing it every day from now on, too."

Her face turned pale.

She finally realized what training with me really meant.

"I... I..."

"You said you wanted to get stronger, right?"

Seron swallowed hard.

Then, slowly, she staggered to her feet.

Her legs trembled, but the determination in her eyes remained.

"...I will get stronger. Let’s keep going!"

"Impressive."

Even Aisha, watching from the side, nodded in approval.

Her resolve was admirable.

"Alright. Seron, one more lap."

Her face grew even paler, but that was fine.

Even if she collapsed again, I could always carry her straight to the infirmary.

She could count on me.

* * *

After Morning Training

Seron could no longer walk, so I carried her on my back to the girls' dormitory.

At Zerion Academy, weekends only lasted a single day.

After morning training, it was already time to get ready for school again.

Seron remained dazed the entire way, but that was expected.

Strength isn’t built in a day.

With this kind of training, she was bound to improve.

After dropping her off, I quickly returned to the boys' dormitory to wash up.

"Yo, Wangnon."

Card greeted me with a raised hand.

Judging by the tie around his neck, he was getting ready for school.

"You’re up early."

"Had some stuff to think about last night. I got a directive from the Kingdom of Panisys."

Hearing that, I turned to look at him.

Card was a spy for the Kingdom of Panisys.

His mission was to gather intelligence from Zerion Academy.

For him to bring up his identity so openly—what did that mean?

"Card, you..."

"Yeah. It’s time for me to go back."

He smiled wryly.

"Wangnon, I figured you already knew about me, so I might as well be honest."

"What’s going on with Panisys?"

I asked, and he scratched the back of his head.

"Nothing too major. They just recalled all their spies. I even submitted my withdrawal paperwork to the professor yesterday."

With that, Card pulled a bag from under his bed.

"And that’s that."

A sudden farewell.

But Card’s expression showed he had always expected this day to come.

I stared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Take care of yourself over there."

"Appreciate the kind words."

"And maybe stop chasing after girls so much."

"Haha, yeah, you’re right."

He let out a laugh—one that sounded almost relieved.

"Maybe it’s finally time to stop."

And with that, Card left, vanishing without telling anyone else.

I was sure he’d do just fine back in Panisys.

But just a few days later—

a civil war erupted in the Kingdom of Panisys.