Chapter Nine: Ryuu’s Inner Turmoil

"She's fast—"

Anya's straight jab was clean and simple, devoid of any feint or flashy techniques. 

The speed, strength, and precision—a raw display of pure and simple power due to her superior stats. 

And this was after she'd suppressed her abilities to ensure this sparring is even possible.

Unlike the one-sided beating Shirou had received from a Level 3 adventurer of Evilus, this kind of sparring allowed him to truly experience the overwhelming difference in "level."

Shirou twisted his waist, his body leaning sharply to the left as his arm whipped upward like a whip. 

His fist struck the inside of Anya's forearm, deflecting her punch ever so slightly. Anya's eyes flickered with a hint of surprise as her strike missed its mark.

"Finally, I did it."

Up until to this  point, their so-called sparring had been more of a playful exchange. Anya would throw punches, and Shirou would do his best to respond—whether by blocking, dodging, or countering in some way. 

After dozens of attempts and failures, being knocked down repeatedly, Shirou had finally seized a brief moment of opportunity. 

With Anya's punch diverted, her body was exposed—a rare opening for a counterattack!

Shirou's right fist shot straight out, aiming for the catgirl's stomach.

With all the strength he could muster, pouring everything into this punch; at his current level and power, worrying about hurting her would be laughable.

The corner of Anya's lips curved into a playful smirk.

Then with unbelievable flexibility and speed, she twisted her body 180 degrees on the spot.. 

A fluffy, feline tail whipped across Shirou's stomach, sending him flying backward. His body skidded across the ground, dazed from the blow. 

Her advantage wasn't only her higher stat, but also the innate racial advantage of the cat people-extraordinary agility, flexibility, speed, and senses that surpassed humanity, and of course, their nimble tail.

"Anya you're amazing." Shirou said under his breath.

"Right? Everyone should praise Anya more, meow!" The catgirl proudly puff up her chest.

At last, Shirou, completely exhausted, collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. His body was covered in bruises, and his limbs were sore.

Anya, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed, not even breaking a sweat. 

The gap between a Level 1 adventurer, who had just received their blessing, and a seasoned Level 4 adventurer was vast, akin to the distance between heaven and earth. 

Due to this, sparring with someone whose level is much higher than his was immensely beneficial for Shirou's growth, not only, increasing his basic abilities, but also giving him precious experience fighting those that are at a higher level, so that in the future it will become much easier for him to obtain high-rank excelia.

"Shirou, you're not bad either! You don't seem like someone who had just became an adventurer." Anya praised. "Did you train in martial arts before, meow?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I didn't expect that punch just now! You hit the exact spot where Anya couldn't exert strength. Was that on purpose, meow?"

"It was more luck and coincidence," Shirou admitted, modestly.

...

On the other side, Ryuu was so frustrated she could gnawed on a handkerchief.

"I can't accept this..."

Even though, in the beginning, it was supposed to be her, she was the first one Shirou-Kun asked for help first. 

So why, why did it turn out like this.

She had hoped to guide Shirou like the way her old comrades had once guided her, becoming the boy's mentor, if she did that, then maybe her fallen companions might feel some sort of solace.

But she had completely blown it. In their sparring match, her very first strike had nearly landed Shirou in the hospital. After that, she had no face left to ask him to let her train him again.

"Wait, in that case, doesn't this mean…Anya is just better than me?" Ryuu mumbled to herself, dismayed.

Whether it was working as a waitress or acting as a mentor, Anya was far superior to her in every way. When Anya went groceries shopping, she could even charm the shopkeepers into giving her better discounts, whereas she, would be mistaken for someone collecting protection fees, being blacklisted by the store owners.

On top of that, Anya was also a top-tier Level 4 adventurer, the same level as her.

And besides all of that, Anya had those fluffy ears and tail!

Ah… it's hopeless. I've completely failed…I'm so sorry Anya-sama, I wasn't able to satisfy you…(Explaining this meme at bottom)

Ryuu's mood was so bleak that Syr felt like she can see her turning black and white."Ryuu, Ryuu-chan, don't give up!"

"Shirou…" Ryuu murmured.

"Ryuu-san?"

"Shirou… I'm just a useless elf…"

Ryuu sat on the ground, her knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around them, her bare feet resting on the garden grass, her slender toes curled slightly into the ground.

"Don't think like that, Ryuu-chan!" Anya enthusiastically jumped in, trying to comfort her. 

"Although you're clumsy, your expression is stiff and cold, scaring off the customers, you're kind of single-minded and stubborn, and the whole 'cat no touching' thing is really annoying… but at least you're super strong in combat, meow!" Anya clenched her fists and energetically praised. "And… and… and… uh?"

Anya started to sweat, as she struggled to find more compliments.

Shirou and Syr: "..."

"And also, Ryuu's really strong, really fast, and since you're an elf, you're definitely amazing at magic too, meow..." 

No, you can't just break "strong in combat" into different sections and count them as finding more compliments!

Syr interjected, "Okay, okay, you can stop now Anya. Ryuu's about to cry."

"Shirou, I really am useless. Now that I think about it, back in the days, my comrades also called me a 'useless elf.'"

"Ryuu-san, do you think my cooking is delicious?" Shirou sat down in front of her, and  softly asked.

"Of course. Your cooking is very good," Ryuu replied.

"I wasn't always this good at cooking."The boy said. "I remember the first time I made a dish, I completely burned it. My father, looking resigned, ate it anyway, and ended up with food poisoning afterward."

He continued, "Nobody's good at everything right from the start. Syr and Anya are the same, right?"

"Ah, Anya regularly messed up customers orders."

"Syr you're the same, she breaks plates every now and then too, meow." 

"People grow as they make mistakes." Shirou said as he gently hold Ryuu's hand. "Also, being skilled in combat, Ryuu-san, I think that's something really amazing."

"Ryuu-san, you're especially skilled in combat because you've been fighting for a long-time, and I'm sure all the battles you fought was to protect others, just like when I was saved by you."

"Eh?" Ryuu froze, surprised.

"Ryuu-san, there is nothing to be ashamed of, instead, it's something you should be proud of." Shirou said earnestly. "You're incredibly strong, yet you've only used that strength to save and protect others. I think that's super amazing."

The boy in front of her overlapped with the memories of her former comrades.

Did you all feel the same way too…?

"Ryuu-san," Shirou called out.

"Call me Ryuu."

"Huh?"

"Since you call Anya by her name directly, you can call me 'Ryuu' from now on too.

Anya's overly lively and cheerful personality made it hard for others to treat her with much respect, so people around her unconsciously begin to called her by her name. But with Ryuu...

"Ryuu-san…"  

"Call me 'Ryuu'."

Once again, Shirou witnessed the stubborn nature of the elves.

"Ryuu."

"Shirou, I—"  

*Guuu!*

The elf girl's stomach, untimely interrupted her again.

Due to messing up so many things today, she had completely lost her appetite, barely eating anything for the entire day.

And humans—or elves—who don't eat will inevitably get hungry. That was something that can't be helped!

"Ugh…" A blush spread across Ryuu's face again.

"Speaking of which, Shirou, about the grilled fish you promised Anya, Anya wants it now." Anya chimed in, pulling Shirou away.

"Now? But we don't have any fish on hand. I was planning on buying some tomorrow."  

"No worries, Anya will sneak into Mama Mia's kitchen and 'borrow' some, meow~"

"See? Staying here was the right choice." Syr sat down beside Ryuu.

"Yea..."

"I'm grateful to you too, Ryuu." Syr gently grip Ryuu's hand, and surprisingly, Ryuu didn't reflectively counterattacked.

"Back when Evilus was causing havoc, everyone who came to the tavern always looked so worried." Syr tilted her head and look Ryuu in the eyes. "But now, they're all smiling."

"This is all thanks to heroes like you, Ryuu. So, like Shirou said, hold your head high and take pride in your accomplishments!"

————

(Tn: I think this is a Chinese meme stemming from JJK Ch 236 so a tiny spoiler ahead, where Gojo said "But Sukuna wasn't able to give it his all. And for that I'm sorry. "this was meme into "I'm so sorry Sukuna-Sama, I wasn't able to satisfy you."

https://youtu.be/FTmcdMES6eg?si=arsSddKfqRGVDluq

Warning massive spoiler ahead.

This was likely no small part in because in many previous chapters, Gojo declared himself as strong, if not stronger than a 20 finger Sukuna, confidently saying stuff like "Nah, I'd Win."

Final warning.

The main reason this gets meme on so hard is because in the previous chapter Gojo was winning and was even declared the victor by the narration, then in ch 236, it start off with a flashback of Gojo talking with already dead characters, lamenting how Sukuna wasn't able to give it his all and most importantly, accepting his defeat, then 'bang"when the story panned back to reality, it's revealed that Gojo has been cut in half, Gojo who seemed to be winning the entire fight, got instant kill by Sukuna and was later brought back from the dead(sort of) and still lost.)