-1417- The troubled girls

Team Building, Shower Room.

After coming out of the training ground, Misora, Lecty, and Rico hurried over here, changed out of their protective suits, and with the laughter of passersby, they rushed into the shower room covered in mud.

"Honestly, that guy got us all dirty. What if it ruins our skin?"

Misora complained as she washed off the mud from her body.

"I'm really sorry, it's only me…"

Lecty, who only got her shoulder dirty, easily restored her skin to its fair state but seemed to feel guilty for being the only one in such a condition and kept apologizing.

"Even to a goddess like me, that man went this far. Should we teach him a lesson sometime?"

Even Rico, not as severely dirty as Misora, was washing her body in displeasure, still having quite a bit of dirt on her.

The three girls of Team E601 were using three shower stalls lined up next to each other, standing under the sprinkling water from the showerheads, cleaning their bodies while exposing a large expanse of white skin in the hazy steam.

This was quite a rare scene.

"Though that guy made us suffer today, now that I think about it, if it weren't for today's events, we rarely get to bathe together like this, right?"

Misora seemed to notice this point and said so.

Because Team E601 usually struggled with both training and ranking battles, it was indeed very rare for them to bathe together like this.

"In the past, it was always Rico saying silly things like not wanting to train and sweat. We almost never got this dirty and showered together."

Misora sighed with emotion.

"Y-Yes." Lecty immediately nodded repeatedly, saying, "Thinking like that, it makes me a bit happy."

Lecty seemed to feel some comfort in this situation.

Only Rico remained indifferent.

"Do you enjoy getting stained by men? Such a strange hobby. I'm just a normal goddess, don't lump me together with you."

Rico continued to act superior.

If it were any other day, Misora would already be angry and ready to have a big fight with Rico.

But unusually, Misora seemed to have vented all her anger today and automatically ignored Rico's words.

At this moment, Misora had only one thought.

"I still can't believe that the person who came to be our instructor is the greatest hero in Mistgun."

Misora's words caused the movements on both sides to slow down.

Apparently, Lecty and Rico felt the same way.

"If it's that person who's our instructor, can we become stronger and get closer to our dreams?"

Lecty said, sounding both hopeful and anxious.

But Rico didn't share that sentiment.

"Don't blame me for not reminding you, but for now, he's not officially our instructor. We haven't earned his approval yet."

Rico's words were like cold water, out of place but correct.

For Rico, this was already a pretty decent comment.

"How rare." Misora looked at Rico in surprise, saying, "Normally, wouldn't you say something like, 'As a goddess, I don't need a common mortal to instruct me. I'm perfect as I am, so there's no need to waste time,' and then leave?"

Indeed.

If it were any other time, Rico would definitely do that.

This was why she stayed in an E-rank team.

"Speaking of which, Rico also came to the training ground with us today, which is unusual," Lecty noticed something, saying cautiously, "Normally, even if the instructor ordered it, Rico would walk away and not come with us."

Exactly.

So, it was already surprising that Rico followed them to the training ground today.

Considering Rico's usually incorrigible behavior, her compliance today was exceptionally unusual, even if Rozen had some influence.

Could it be...

"Does it have anything to do with what he said about 'You need to truly want to fight'?"

Misora asked this question.

At that moment, neither Misora nor Lecty saw Rico's cleaning motion pause abruptly.

Rico quickly recovered.

"It's too early for you to discuss a goddess like me. You should think about your own issues."

Rico spoke coldly.

"Like you, Misora. That man said if you become a Magic Gunner and give up your Magic Sword, you might become the second Nirvana. What do you think?"

These words caused Misora to freeze just like Rico did earlier.

And her pause lasted much longer than Rico's.

Misora lowered her head, her eyes filled with struggle, complexity, and sorrow.

Eventually...

"I will not become a Magic Gunner."

Misora declared painfully.

"I will only be a Magic Swordsman, for the rest of my life."

This declaration was made to others as well as herself.

Misora decided to abandon an easy path to success and instead chose a difficult and thorny road.

"Is that so?"

Rico still seemed indifferent, but the ripple in her eyes showed that she felt something inside as well.

"What about you, Lecty?" Misora turned to Lecty, asking, "Aren't you an Eisenach-style swordsman? What are you going to do?"

"I... I don't know..." Lecty's voice lowered, almost whispering, "I... I just want to become strong enough to protect everyone, then I'll be satisfied."

"But according to that guy, you're already strong enough, just too timid." Misora said without much thought, "Among the three of us, you might be the easiest to become stronger, as long as you become brave."

"Hmph..." Rico snorted.

Just become brave?

That's the hardest part.

As a result...

"What does that guy want us to do…"

Misora's muttering voiced the thoughts of all three.

The three girls were troubled by their own situations and the rare opportunity before them.

None of them noticed that their current situation was exactly what Rozen had said.

After today's training, Misora, Lecty, and Rico had many thoughts in their minds.

The three girls were troubled.

Tonight would be sleepless.