Chapter 93. < 37. You're the Best, Master Lumian!(3) >
Tania Eloise.
Beautiful appearance, upright conduct, excellent grades—a talented woman who had never dated anyone until now.
Not only had she never experienced liking someone, she had never felt the need for it.
The moment one starts dating the opposite sex, wasting time becomes unavoidable.
Time to invest in swordsmanship, time to devote to studies—both become insufficient. It becomes difficult to maintain the connections that benefit oneself. It was utterly useless for her ambitions.
Of course, if she planned to benefit from a man's family, it could be a strategy of its own, but she didn't want that.
My dream will be achieved by my own power, to the end!
Having thought that way, Tania found her current reaction extremely bewildering.
"Tania, hi?"
"Huh? Oh, uh."
"You're at the dorm at this hour? That's unusual. I thought you'd be in the middle of training."
"Ahaha, today I'm planning to do aura cultivation in my room......"
"Really? But who's the guy next to you? Huh? Lumian Carlad......"
"Hello. I'm Tania-sunbae's hoobae. I came to help with her cultivation."
"Right! I, I brought him along to help with my training......"
"Really? Are you serious?"
A friend she met at the dorm entrance approached Tania's side.
Then with a lewd expression, she whispered in her ear.
"Cultivation is just an excuse, aren't you planning to have a date in the room?"
"No I'm not!"
Her face turning bright red, Tania slapped her friend's back with a smack.
The friend flopped down! An ordinary woman couldn't withstand the palm of a knight trainee infused with strength.
Tania apologized in a flustered voice.
"Ah, s-sorry......"
"Ugh...... isn't that too much? Just because I made a joke......"
It wasn't. That wasn't a joking expression at all.
Even while collapsed, her friend's eyes narrowed in amusement. It seemed to say 'I know everything.'
Tania, having helped her up, glanced toward Lumian.
It was an extremely small sound, but his level was Sword Expert.
It was a sound he could sufficiently hear if he tried.
Tania felt anxious wondering if he had heard her friend's words, and if he had, what kind of reaction he would show.
"......."
Lumian had no interest at all.
As if to respect her private life, he stood one step apart looking elsewhere.
His eyes seemed unfocused. Perhaps he was pondering how to teach her. Recent Lumian had often shown such behavior.
Always thinking of her and caring for her!
Normally she would have been very grateful, but right now was different.
Tania made a sulky expression.
'No, does he not realize he's entered a women's dormitory?'
Disappointment, frustration, and slight irritation mixed together into complex emotions rising up.
She was greatly agitated right now, but seeing Lumian so composed on the contrary, she felt vexed for no reason.
Of course, she had no intention of showing it. How could she tell him such inner thoughts when he was working hard every day for her improvement.
'Well, coming into the dorm is something that happens often.'
Tania regained her expression.
That was right. Tarajan Academy wasn't a school that restricted interaction between sexes, and there were quite many cases of the opposite sex visiting other dormitories.
Of course, entering a room of the opposite sex, and furthermore spending quite a long time inside was a different matter!
'The moment he stands in front of my door, he'll have no choice but to be conscious of it too.'
Somehow the purpose of bringing Lumian into her room seemed distorted, but Tania didn't mind.
She really wanted to see Lumian's face turning red, see him entering a woman's room with a nervous face.
"Huh? Tania? With a man......"
"Don't say strange things. It's not like that."
"Tania? Who's next to......"
"He's a hoobae who came to help with my aura cultivation."
However, before arriving at the room, several obstacles blocked Tania.
Being sociable, she knew very many people. Naturally, questions kept pouring out.
The problem was that she was the only one flustered, while Lumian wasn't flustered at all.
From the moment he entered the dorm until now, he had been continuously lost in his own thoughts.
He didn't care what happened around him. He pondered only the cultivation and guidance that would take place.
It went without saying that Tania's insides boiled even more.
"Phew, we've arrived."
"Ah, we're here already? Since I had a lot to think about......"
'This guy!'
Standing in front of the room door, Tania glared at Lumian for a moment.
He didn't even notice that. There was no hesitation either.
As if wanting to enter the room quickly, he only looked toward the door.
She felt her strength drain away completely.
'Is he completely uninterested in me?'
If he was someone with no interest in women, that would be one thing, but that wasn't the case either.
Tania knew the appearance Lumian had shown during the Rayton Wino. That was why his attitude now upset her even more.
"Then, let's go in."
"Yes."
Hearing Lumian's calm answer, Tania opened the room door.
Her expression was utterly listless. Even though she had to do aura cultivation now, she didn't feel like it at all.
That was when it happened.
Several dangerous things came into her eyes.
Bang!
"W, what is it?"
"W, wait a moment! The room is dirty!"
Tania, who had entered the room alone, closed the door strongly.
Then quickly hid several things.
Two portraits of Lumian that she had framed about two weeks ago.
And volume 1 of a book purchased from 'Hit Me' that she had briefly, very briefly read on the bed before sleeping yesterday.
'I can't show him these!'
Having finished her thought, Tania moved like lightning.
She put the frames in a drawer and locked it with a key, and quickly hid the lewd book under the bed.
Several other unkempt things were also visible. Having devoted her energy to training recently, the room was quite messy.
She cleaned all of them at superhuman speed. It was speed that would have made Lumian exclaim if he had seen it.
Only after all that work was finished did Tania let Lumian into the room.
He said,
"Ah, I'm sorry. Thinking about it, I decided too suddenly."
"No. It's usually clean but I've been focusing on training recently so......"
"Hey, it seems like it would have been clean originally. If it was really dirty, you wouldn't have been able to organize it in just a moment."
Lumian said with a smiling face.
It was words full of consideration, but Tania was still dissatisfied.
His reaction was still bland. She stared blankly at Lumian's dry expression.
"W, why?"
"......No. Shall we start cultivation right away?"
"Oh, yes. Let's do that. I'll touch you during cultivation and send energy in to figure out what the problem is......"
"Yeah, I got it. I won't be surprised or anything."
Having finished speaking, Tania sat on the floor immediately.
Until just moments ago, her heart was pounding, her head felt dizzy. Heat kept rising from her body, making her worry 'will I be able to cultivate?'
But not anymore. Emotions that had cooled completely made her calm.
Closing her eyes and taking her posture, she entered cultivation.
Somehow, she seemed to concentrate better than usual.
"......Hmm."
Lumian looked at such Tania with relieved eyes.
She had seemed somewhat scattered the whole way here, but fortunately started cultivation without incident. He nodded and thought.
'There's a taste to teaching. Tremendous talent, diligent, and excellent concentration too.'
Leading a talented junior down the right path is considerable joy as a senior knight.
It was the same with Theolo, Bumer, and Cal Crone. He smiled softly watching Tania slowly falling into her own world.
'I should observe a bit more, and when she's completely immersed, check the danjeon and flow of energy.'
Having finished his thought, Lumian nodded. Then stared blankly at Tania's face as she cultivated.
'The more I look, she is pretty.'
Such a thought occurred to him without realizing.
Of course, there was never a moment when Tania wasn't pretty.
When they first met, even when she was soaked in sweat from harsh training, she was beautiful. The problem was her chest being small.
But now, Lumian's thought about Tania had changed.
From 'She's pretty but has no chest.'
To 'Her chest is lacking, but she's pretty.' The flow of thinking had changed.
It might seem like nothing, but the more he pondered, the more tremendous the difference!
Lumian suddenly realized this.
Then instantly his heart rate rose. Changes began to occur in his calm mind.
'Come to think of it, entering a woman's room, this is only the second time......'
He gulped.
Despite it being the same space, it felt completely different. Every corner of the room where Tania's touch and scent lingered made him flutter.
'No, get a hold of yourself!'
Wooooong-!
Lumian drew up the aura of the mountain. Among them, he focused on the imagery of the earth.
Then his confused mind found its center. Having regained peace, he blamed himself.
Right now he was in a situation responsible for Tania's future.
He couldn't be having improper thoughts at such an important moment. Because he treasured Tania, that was even more the case.
'Concentrate, concentrate!'
Phew, having exhaled, Lumian reached his hand toward Tania's back.
The feeling was strange. Forcing himself to ignore it, he slowly sent energy in.
Feeling the flow of aura, grasping the condition of the danjeon.
While diagnosing various other things, time flew by. In the meantime, Lumian's mind became as quiet as when he had entered the room.
He found the problem too. He nodded and quietly removed his hand from her back.
'As expected, if we're talking about the ability to accumulate aura......'
Looking at that alone, the academy's historically greatest talent wasn't Cal Crone but Tania Eloise.
No, it wasn't at that level. Lumian closed his eyes with a serious expression.
'It's a shame. If only we had known a little earlier...... no. Actually, it's not too late now either.'
There was a solution.
The problem was that it wasn't an intuitive method, but Tania would be sufficiently capable of overcoming it. He would help too.
While thinking this and that, Tania, having finished cultivation at some point, called Lumian.
"Did you find out something?"
"Ah!"
Lumian, opening his eyes, moved back slightly.
Because he had his hand on her back, the distance was too close.
Seeing that appearance, Tania felt dumbfounded.
'No, why is he suddenly like this when he was calm the whole time?'
Seeing Lumian's slightly reddened face, she was dumbfounded.
She didn't understand either. She decided to set aside the ticklish feelings for now and handle official business first.
"There's no problem, right? I don't know about other things, but when it comes to cultivation, I have confidence......"
"Tania-sunbae."
"Huh?"
Lumian suddenly cut off Tania's words.
It was discourteous behavior, but she couldn't reproach him.
She couldn't. Because Lumian's eyes were far too serious.
That wasn't the end either.
The words that came from his mouth were even more serious.
'Why do you not believe in yourself so much?"
"......Huh?"
"I thought Tania-sunbae was always a confident person, but that wasn't the case."
"What do you mean? You're right. I'm always confident."
"In my view, that doesn't seem to be the case."
"What, why are you suddenly like this."
Tania's bewilderment deepened even more.
But Lumian didn't back down from his assertion. He spoke again.
"If Tania-sunbae had truly believed in herself, she wouldn't have remained at her current level."
"It's a bit unpleasant? I may be weaker than you, but I'm still the 3rd year top ranker. Speaking of me in that way is......"
"Of course, you're amazing now. But sunbae's potential isn't at that level."
More strength entered Lumian's words.
It was as if cast from molten iron. Even though he hadn't drawn up aura, Tania had to shut her mouth from his strange pressure.
He continued speaking.
"If sunbae had properly controlled her own power, if she could have used all the aura accumulated in her body...... if she hadn't defined her own limits herself."
"......."
"If that had been the case, by now Tania-sunbae would have become an Expert. I'm confident, no, I'm certain."