Ethan lay on his bed, staring at the empty ceiling. It had taken him almost an entire day to make Sister Mary stop crying.
Thinking about it now, a small smile escaped his lips. "At least in this life, there is someone who cares about me."
Slowly, that warmth faded, replaced by the memory of his confrontation with the warthog. "Even now, I could feel just how helpless I was while facing the beast."
"I should definitely get stronger."
He knew this was not Earth. This was a world where magic and swords existed—a place where strength ruled supreme. "If you were weak, you would be crushed. And I don't want to be crushed."
There is no shame in being weak, but staying weak is a sin." That's another reference back from Earth. He thought.
"I really need to learn how to fight. A bow and arrow are good for hunting, but they won't be enough for face-to-face confrontations."
He had asked Sister Mary about learning how to fight, but she had immediately shut him down, saying it was too early and that he should wait until he reached his awakening.
Not wanting to make her cry again, he agreed.
"No… that won't do. I can't waste time." Something inside him was screaming at him to grow stronger as soon as possible. "Just what is this feeling?"
"Tomorrow," he muttered to himself, "I'll think of a way to learn how to fight."
He had been given a room in the newly constructed orphanage building. It had been built by a noble house in town.
It was true that nobles rarely spent money on anything that didn't directly benefit them. But this time, they had no choice.
Nobility came with certain responsibilities, and fulfilling them helped maintain their reputation. So they constructed the building to enhance their name.
Initially, Ethan had been supposed to share a room with three other children. But after seeing him drag back two dead beasts, the other children were terrified of him.
Some of them even whispered, "What if he suddenly kills us too?"
Because of that, none of them wanted to share a room with him, and Ethan ended up with one to himself.
"Well, that works better for me. I don't want to share a room with little kids."
He glanced down at his body and let out a faint snort. "Well, I may look like a kid, but mentally I'm over twenty-five, right?"
With that final thought, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
It was an hour before sunrise. A silhouette moved quietly through the dark corridors of the orphanage, careful not to make a sound.
The figure reached the main door and slowly opened it.
But the moment the door creaked open, someone was already standing outside.
"And where do you think you're going?" the person asked with irritation in her voice.
"to take a piss."
"What…"
"Hahaha...haaaaaa...."
"Why are you laughing now?"
"Sister Mary? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping? Did you have a nightmare?"
"I should be the one asking you that," she replied. "What are you doing here right now? Shouldn't you be sleeping in your room?"
"That's… um…"
"Blue! Didn't I already tell you not to go outside and to take a rest? It seems I've been too lenient with you these past few days."
"No, no, Sister Mary! Please don't get angry. Let me explain."
"Explain? What are you going to explain? I let you go out for a few days, and look what happened. You almost died yesterday, Blue."
"And who told you that?
"Who has to? Did you forget I was the one who healed you? Almost half of your ribs were broken. Some of them even punctured your lungs. If I hadn't healed you in time, you would have died."
"Well… why don't you look at the positive side? The children in the orphanage got to eat the meat I brought yesterday—didn't they?"
"Yes, they did. But I don't want the cost to be your life, Blue."
"Just because you became normal like the other children, do you think you can do whatever you want?"
"Am I invisible to you? In case you forgot, I'm still the caretaker of this orphanage and your guardian."
"Sister Mary, please try to understand."
"Understand what, Blue? I don't want to understand anything. Now go back to your room and sleep."
"Please, just hear me out."
"What is it now?"
"First, calm down, Sister Mary."
She let out a long breath and looked at him.
"I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I'm not like the other children here. I know it's silly, but I have this...how should I say...mmmmah...this kind of urge to become stronger.
"It feels like if I don't do it now, I'll face some kind of big disaster in the future."
"So please, Sister Mary, please try to understand me. I really want to train, become stronger, awaken a great ability, and—"
"And what? Go to the higher world?"
Ethan just stared at her, without giving any answer.
"So what I said is true," she murmured.
He stayed silent.
Sister Mary stepped closer and gently placed her hand on his head.
"I know, Blue. I've always known from the beginning that you're different. I always felt that. It's just that…" Her voice trembled slightly.
Without looking at him again, she said,
"Go."
"Do whatever you want. But promise me one thing: that you won't get hurt again."
Ethan looked at her. "Of course. Don't worry. I'll prioritize my safety before anything else, plus I just woke up from a coma, so I don't want to die this early."
"It's good if you remember that."
"Of course I will. Haven't you heard the saying? A man's worth lies in his word."
With that, Ethan walked away from the orphanage.
Mary watched his back. "He really has become quite the talker."
Even though Mary didn't show it openly, there was still worry in her eyes.
She didn't know when it started, but over the past fifteen years of raising him, she had slowly begun to care for him more than the others.
Somehow, she had started seeing him as her own little brother.
She could still remember how bloodied Blue was when he returned, dragging those two carcasses behind him.
And that wasn't her only fear.
She was afraid that Blue would leave her someday. She knew it was selfish. She knew he had his own life to live and that he couldn't stay in the orphanage forever.
But still, she was a human too. And for someone like Mary—who had no real family or close friends—she couldn't help but feel scared at the thought of losing the only person she truly considered her own.
She watched as Blue's figure slowly disappeared from her sight. The moment he was gone, tears slipped from her eyes.
She quickly wiped them away.
"Why am I becoming such a crybaby?" she muttered. "Lately, whenever I see Blue, I end up crying. That idiot is always making me worry about him."
She sniffed and tried to calm herself.
"It's not like he's going to disappear tomorrow, right? Right...? Right....?"
She repeated it three times, as if saying it more would make it true.
Ethan reached his usual training spot and stretched his arms a little.
"Just because I want to practice real fighting doesn't mean I should skip my daily training," he muttered. "Let's start with basic sit-ups."
He began going through his Saitama training routine like always. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, running—he finished everything without cutting corners.
By the end, he was completely drenched in sweat.
After catching his breath, he lay on the ground and stared at the sky. "So… what now?"
"It's not like I can just fight a tree or a stone."
"Going deeper into the forest to fight another beast? No. That's definitely not an option. Especially after what happened with the warthog. I don't want that happening again."
"It's not like I am scared or anything; it's just that I don't want to make Sister Mary unhappy. Yeay, that's it."
When he had asked about training grounds in town, he learned that only noble children were allowed inside.
And if a commoner wanted to enter, they needed a noble's recommendation—or a lot of money.
"And right now, I have neither. And without a proper weapon, how am I supposed to train?"
He thought about buying a wooden sword. But the orphanage wouldn't have spare money for that, and he didn't want to ask Sister Mary. After yesterday, he already felt bad enough.
"Let's just go into the woods and find a stick or something. I can carve it into the shape of a sword or spear and use it for practice."
With that idea in mind, he walked into the forest. After a few minutes, something near a large stone caught his eye.
"What's this?"
He stepped closer and looked down. It was a fallen branch. But unlike other branches, this one was straight and shaped almost like a wooden sword.
He blinked. "Is this my lucky day or what? How do I randomly walk into the forest and find something that already looks like a sword?"
"Am I finally getting some kind of protagonist halo over my head?"
Shaking his head with a small smile, he picked up the branch and swung it lightly in the air. It felt balanced enough.
"Not bad."
Holding it in his hand, he walked back toward his training spot.
What he didn't know was that a figure, hidden from mortal eyes, was quietly watching his every move.