I finished my mission and returned to the city.

　Then I decided to conduct the day's training with Mei Fan.

　Since I had a little favor to ask of Meil, today's training is just the two of us.

　Mei Fan's training is about to be put to the finishing touches. If I'm right, she should be able to draw on her strength by now.

　........For that to happen, it's still up to Mei Fan.

''Well, then, let's get into training today.

Yes!

　The place is on the outskirts of Zet City. It's a flat area, a place that isn't visited by many people.

　Facing Mei Fan, I announce the start of training. Mei Fan seems to have enough motivation, she clenches her fists on her chest and nods her head with a tight expression.

''What kind of training are you going to do today?　I've been told to practice magic all these days... but there's a reason why you came all the way to this place instead of the inn and training grounds, right?

'Yeah, of course. But first, let's just do a quick review. "The Flame.

　As he thrust his hand forward and chanted, a flame blazed up in his palm. Thanks to the fact that I consciously put quite a bit of magical power into it, the flame was as thick and high as a pillar.

　As for height, it would be about the height of two adults. If he didn't have the ability to grab and draw out the magic power lying within his own body, he wouldn't be able to create a flame this big.

　That pillar of flame continued to burn for a while and then disappeared.

　Mei Fan turns her sparkling eyes to me.

''........Great.''

'Well, that's about it, roughly. The trick is to pronounce the spell and to consciously channel the magic inside you.

'Yes, I'll try. "Honoyo.

　His pronunciation is still faltering, but he's getting pretty good.

　And the important thing about the flames is that they are about the size of an adult's head. It's a huge improvement considering it was like a pea grain at first.

　Magic, if you 'understand' the 'meaning' of the magic language and chant the spell with 'accurate pronunciation', you can scrape up the magic power that naturally floats around you and activate it to some extent automatically.

　In this case, if you chant the spell while understanding that the word 'flame' means fire, the spell will succeed by itself.

　However, if you can put your own magic power into it, you can increase the size of the flame, or conversely, you can narrow down the amount of magic power you pour into it to make it smaller.

　The current Mei Fan's pronunciation was still faltering, so originally it wouldn't even be a flame the size of a fist.

　But the fact that it had grown to the size of an adult's head was the best proof that Mei Fan was properly aware of and able to draw out the magic power that lay within him.

''Yeah, it looks pretty good.''

Really?

Yeah. At this rate, we should be able to move on to the next level.

Yay!

　I shook my head and Mei Fan let out a rare, innocent cheer.

　That's a bit refreshing.

''So that's how Mei Fan takes pleasure in things too?

Huh?

　I couldn't help but think that way.

No. It's a bit childish, or rather, it's because of the way Meir reacted to it.

That's a very rude thing to say to me and to Mr. Mill, isn't it?

'Huh?　Oh, no. That's for sure. My bad.

　Because of the ease of his childhood friend, he treats Myl in a crude manner.

　If it were any other human being, they would be able to make up for it a little, but with Meir, they just throw everything out in front of him, or maybe they can't fake it. From the outside, it may look like I'm being sarcastic.

　I've seen his good points and his bad points by his side for a long time, so I take it as 'just like him'. That's why we don't have to point out or warn each other.

　I didn't expect this kind of comment from Mei Fan, so this is also new to me.

　Should I be more attentive to Meiru in the future?

But that's how much Gerald has allowed himself to be attracted to Mr. Meir... but I'm sure I'll still have a chance to be his girlfriend from now on... ...

　Mei Fan mutters. It's a pretty big soliloquy. But she doesn't seem to realize that, and for that reason, there is no doubt that her current words are her unexpected true intentions.

　If this is actually a calculation, and if it's a confession of your feelings for me disguised as a soliloquy, it's quite a clever trick. With this alone, it might be easy to trap a man or two.

　However, one can tell from just a few days of dating that Mei Fan is not a character that can make such calculations.

　Therefore, I'd like to adopt a policy of not mentioning her too big soliloquies.

Anyway, let's get on with the story.

'Wow!　Eh, ah, yes.

　Mei Fan, who had been mumbling and muttering, looked up as if she was being played. His cheeks were a little red. Did he feel embarrassed by his own words?

''Well. Well, let's talk about moving on to the next step, shall we? Thanks to the repeated practice of magic, the current Mei Fan should be able to refine his sense of grasping the magic power within him. To draw out the magic, this sense of grasping is very important. Just like you can't read a book if you don't know the letters, you can't train without grasping the magical power. That's why I had Mei Fan practice magic first......................you understand so far?

''Yes. The seemingly roundabout practice of magic was always a necessary process for me to become strong.

'Maybe not always, but the efficiency must have been significantly better. In fact, you'll be able to grab it in a matter of days.

　The main reason why I was so efficient is that I was able to teach them the correct pronunciation of the magic language.

　If the pronunciation is different, the magic won't activate properly before you're aware of the magic power or not.

　But having lived a previous life as a Japanese, I have the most unobtainable ability in this world to recognize and utter the meaning and pronunciation of magical language correctly.

　Well, even if you are able to activate the magic correctly, it is because of Mei Fan's hard work, training and accumulation that she was able to grasp the sensation of drawing out the magic power in a few days.

''Now then. Well, now that you've come to grasp the magic power, I'll check again.......why do you think Mei Fan wants to become strong?

Because ... you have to be strong. I have to be strong enough to defeat Gant, who has taken my father's dojo, and to reclaim my home.

I'm pretty sure you're ready for that.

　When I asked him just as a final confirmation, Mei Fan shook his head with his powerful eyes.

''I'm sure Dad would fight. I don't think he'd give it up. Then, if I'm going to go after my dad's back, I can't avoid fighting Gant.

Yeah. Good call. Then let's start today's training - kumite. So, Meifang, put your hands in a basket.

'Yes!　........what?

What's up, Mei Fan?　You didn't think they wouldn't find out. You had to be carrying it around under your clothes all the time, right?　The fist fighters' gauntlet.

　Mei Fan exclaimed.

　He had often seen her put her hands to her chest as if she was praying from time to time.

　At first, he hadn't paid attention to that gesture, thinking it was just a habit of hers.

'Why ... that ...'

I washed up in a hot tub with you the other day. I was changing my clothes by accident.

I was going to seal it off now. I didn't think there was any point in having a fist that couldn't reach that man.

So he threw away his power and took the sword.

Yes. I knew that if I could master the sword better than that man, I could get my dojo back eventually.

...You're pretty much on the wrong track, aren't you? You don't know anything about yourself or them.

Maybe.

　Mei Fan says.

　Six months ago. That a demon appeared and my father went to defeat it.

　But my father never returned, and instead, the man who soaked his sword in blood - Gant - visited the dojo.

　When Mei Fan inquired about his father's safety, Gant reportedly replied

''Xiaolan?　Ha, the daughter of a wooden figure has a knothole in her eye?　Your father would be here right now, stuck to this sword, all red and blue!

　From that moment on, Mei Fan's memory seems to have gone blank and flown away.

　Because when he found himself, he was lying on the floor of the dojo with bruises and cuts all over his body.

　He had probably challenged Gant, and then defeated him in a heap. Following the dojo-breaking style, Gant threw Mei Fan, who was barely holding only a basket of hands to his chest, out to the side of the road without any care.

''This is........my father's basket hand. He left the dojo, leaving this with me, saying that he was going to kill the demons, and left the dojo. He told me not to worry, and I believed him and waited for him at the dojo, hugging this in my arms for a long time, but in the end he never came back.

　The past of Mei Fan, who pulls out a basket from his chest and talks about it, is unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence in this city.

　Nowadays, dojo-breaking has become an established part of the culture, and due to the nature of the adventurer's town, stories of the dead are an everyday occurrence.

　It's not something that goes out of its way to be talked about, it's just a part of everyday life.

　But for Mei Fan, the person involved, it's too heavy to be reduced to a single word of ordinary life. And it's the same for me, who's grown close to Mei Fan.

　I wasn't going to be able to forgive Gant that easily.

''So what Mei Fan was learning was fist fighting, not sword fighting?

Yes. My father was a very good fist fighter he was a magic fist user.

'My dad taught me a lot of heroic tales featuring magic fist wielders, too. My favorite was The Last Battle of Rex, the Beast King.

　Mei Fan's eyes narrow a little wistfully at my words.

''I was the 'Wandering Fist Leawis'

　The Magic Fist User. This is the state of affairs that the best fistsmiths of the beastmen race can reach, and the beastmen who can put magic power on their fists and launch it as a physical shock wave are called so.

　All of them are said to be fierce, single combatants who boast far greater combat prowess than ordinary swordsmen.

　If that was the case, then Gant, who had defeated Mr. Xiaolan, might be even more powerful than he had imagined. It was no wonder that Mei Fan was unbeatable.

''It's a pity, though. No matter how hard Mei Fan tries, he can't defeat Gant with a sword.''

So what am I supposed to do if I can't even reach my sword or my fist, how am I supposed to defeat that man?

　--It's...

It's impossible. It's impossible. Meifan's not good enough to take down Gant yet.

Yeah.

So!

　I shout even louder than the screaming Mei Fan's voice.

''I'm going to teach you a lesson now!　Mayfang, even Mayfang, is going to beat that man, and I'm going to beat you how to beat him!

　The fight against Gant is Mayfang's fight. I have no right to interfere.

　But if I teach you how to fight, there's room for me to step in.

"I am a magician who knows the magic language. "I'm a sorcerer who knows the magic language, so I'm going to perform a miracle or two and let you beat Gant. So let's play into the hands of that, the will of Mei Fan's father.

My father's dying wish.

''That's right. That's the back that Mei Fan admired, that Mei Fan respected, that Mei Fan wanted to catch up with.

　At my words, a beautiful drip spills out of Mei Fan's eyes.

''I... yes, I wanted to go after my dad's back...''

　Without wiping away those tears, Mei Fan muttered and took a stance with a basket hand (gauntlet) in his hand.

''It's a fist I once abandoned. It's a path I was about to give up. ........Yet if this is the only way to defeat the Gaunt, then show me the light!