TROMH 09

Chapter 09

I Want to Choose It Myself

Leaving behind our brief trip to the capital, we returned to our ordinary lives.

I woke up in the quiet night before dawn arrived and began by stretching like a cat.

Although I had been reborn as an entirely different person, it seemed that habits ingrained in my memories did not disappear so easily.

Ever since I possessed this body, I had trained consistently.

The memories from my time in the special forces were as vivid as though they had been engraved into me, so it wasn’t difficult.

I simply had to repeat what I had always done.

Back then, the instructor in charge of our training repeatedly pushed us to the limits of extreme situations.

How to respond when a comrade died.

How to use the body of a dead comrade as a shield.

How to escape from a place where the escape route had been blocked by using corpses.

We were taught how to survive with death as the premise for everything, and every day we had to repeat training that pushed us right to the brink of death.

Before I possessed this body, the special forces unit I had belonged to was dispatched to places where Espers did not go.

Usually, the places that Espers did not visit were the most underdeveloped areas.

Even in those places, people still lived, so the government had put together a unit that was partly for show.

It was also a unit made up of survivors who had returned from those deployments.

So, for the most part, you could think of it as a place where only the most tenacious people who had desperately clung to life were gathered.

But no matter how many tough survivors were gathered together, ordinary people who weren’t Espers had a hard time dealing with monsters.

Less than half of the comrades who went out on each deployment would return.

I had survived ten years there, but as I grew older, I could feel death drawing closer, and I suffered from extreme anxiety.

That was why I desperately devoted myself to training.

It was the only way I could survive.

Perhaps the heavens had taken pity on me.

Even at such a late age, I awakened as a Guide and was assigned to what was known as the most privileged Guide unit in Korea.

Then, on the day my rank was confirmed, I happened to undergo a matching test with my husband.

Even I, who knew nothing about such things at the time, couldn’t help but understand that a 99% matching rate was not something that happened easily.

Everything happened in an instant, as though it were fate.

The look Seoyoon gave me at the time was filled with dismay, envy, and jealousy.

Perhaps because I had seen Ciel and Seoyoon, distracting thoughts came to me while I was exercising.

I hung from the bedposts that supported the canopy and worked out my arms and legs.

Then I climbed down to the floor and repeatedly went through the combat techniques I had learned in the special forces, one after another.

Little by little, I cleared my mind of unnecessary thoughts.

Exercise was one of the best ways to shake off worries and distracting thoughts.

Before long, I became completely absorbed in my training, erasing everything that had happened in the past without a trace.

Until the sky began to brighten with the bluish light of dawn, I repeated the training that had now become engraved in my mind.

From now on, there might come a time when protecting only myself wouldn’t be enough.

I might have to protect my family as well.

That thought became a great driving force behind my training.

By the time I finished washing myself and returned to bed, the sun had completely risen and the world was bright.

I took a short nap until Mary came to wake me.

“Good morning, Miss.”

After greeting Mary, I got up, washed, changed my clothes, and went downstairs to the dining room as usual.

Just like always, we had a hearty breakfast in a warm and cheerful atmosphere.

“Sweetheart. Shall we go out together to buy your coming-of-age gift?”

“Yes, I’d love to.”

“Now that you’ve become an adult, are you going to start calling me ‘Father’?”

“Yes. I’m going to do that from now on, Father.”

At my answer, Dad’s expression completely crumpled.

More precisely, he looked as though his face had been crushed.

“Father?! This dad isn’t ready for that yet!”

“……Then I’ll just call you Dad.”

“……You could still speak comfortably to me, just like you always have.”

“I don’t want to.”

I put both hands on my waist and shook my head from side to side.

Seeing my firm attitude, Dad drooped his shoulders with a dejected expression.

Was the sight of a huge body like a bear curling its shoulders inward and looking so dejected adorable because I was his blood relative?

I secretly slipped my arm around Dad’s arm.

At that, the corners of Dad’s eyes, which had been drooping downward, curved happily.

Together with my now-happy Dad, I went into town and headed to the weapons shop.

Old Benjamin, who had been making weapons in the Cloche territory for many years, welcomed us.

“Lord, you’ve arrived? And Miss, it’s been a long time.”

Benjamin was quite old, but he had never retired from active work.

His forearms and wrists were as thick as those of most young men.

“Hmm. We came to look at some bows.”

Dad was completely different outside the house from how he behaved at home.

At home, with his enormous bear-like body, he would act cute around Mom and never hesitate to shower his daughter with affection through both his words and actions.

But outside, he was every inch a lord.

And the captain of the guard unit.

“Bows? Are they needed for the guard unit?”

“No. We came to look for a bow for my daughter.”

“For the young lady?”

It wasn’t customary for women here to wield weapons.

In a situation where monsters could attack at any time, women were considered people who needed to be protected alongside children.

That was because if a husband died, the surviving wife would need to stay alive and raise the children.

It was certainly better than the men I had known before possessing this body, who would abandon their wives and children and run away to survive on their own.

But there was still one inconvenient part.

The suspicious looks.

Could a young lady like me really wield a heavy bow?

The doubtful look in Benjamin’s eyes was probably something that couldn’t be helped in this world.

“Recommend the lightest bow you have.”

“……Yes, if that’s what you wish, Lord.”

“No. Please choose the largest and heaviest bow.”

“What?”

Dad’s eyes widened, while Benjamin raised his voice in surprise.

We had to kill monsters, so what could I do with a light bow?

The larger and heavier it was, the thicker and longer the arrows I could use with it.

That way, they could fly farther and pierce the thick hides of monsters.

The reason we had used bows in the special forces was because arrows could be retrieved.

Since our unit had been created partly for show, the weapons the government supplied were limited, and there was always a shortage.

There had been countless times when we had guns but no ammunition to fight with.

That was why I had come to use a bow as my primary weapon.

Back then, I had used a recurve bow, but I suspected that this place would probably only have longbows.

As I thought about it, I smiled gently at the two men who were still staring at me in shock and spoke.

“I want to choose it myself.”

Now that I had come to a weapons shop and could choose something myself, I felt as though a desire to shop was welling up inside me.

When Mom took me to dressmakers or jewelry stores, I had never been interested in the slightest.

But now, my heart was pounding with excitement.

I had only heard about them in words, and I had never actually seen the weapons Dad or my brother used.

Mom, who I knew had nearly died in a fire when she was young, hated even the thought of me going near the training grounds.

She had looked as though she might die herself if I ever left the mansion, so I had obediently followed her wishes.

When I looked at Dad with pleading eyes, he cleared his throat, his ears and cheeks turning red.

I had never asked him to buy me anything before, so he seemed secretly pleased.

I quickly linked my arm with Dad’s.

If Mom had been there, things might have been different, but whenever I wanted something, Dad was willing to give me just about anything.

That was probably why Mom often scolded him.

I decided to pretend I didn’t know about that.

“Dad, since we’re here anyway, I want to look at the weapons used by the guard unit, too.”

“Hmm……”

The weapons shop must have made Dad nervous because he still thought of me as a child.

“I wanted to see the weapons you and my brother use in person…… Do they have anything similar here?”

It wasn’t Dad who responded to my question.

It was Benjamin.

“Heh heh, of course we do. The people our guards respect the most are Lord and the young lord, so how could we not have them? Everyone is extremely interested in the weapons Lord and the young lord use. Of course, they’re not weapons just anyone can wield.”

What kind of weapon was something that not just anyone could use?

When I looked at Benjamin with a face full of curiosity, he gave Dad a meaningful look, as though asking for permission.

As though unable to withstand the pressure from the two of us, Dad reluctantly took a step forward, silently granting permission.

“Ahem. Any of the guards who are going to use them can use them. Benjamin, you exaggerate a little.”

“Do you really think there are many people who can wield a greatsword like that? You’re far too modest, Lord.”

“Most of our men wield greatswords. Otherwise, it would be difficult to cut through monsters.”

“Our lord is truly too modest. Come, Miss. This is the storage area of our weapons shop. Take your time looking around.”

As we chatted, we arrived at a place where various weapons were displayed.

It was called a storage area, but it was probably a place where weapons ready for immediate use were displayed.

I started by examining the greatswords hanging directly in front of me.

They weren’t smooth and polished like ordinary swords.

Instead, they had a jagged shape, like shark teeth.

I couldn’t take my eyes off them because they were so fascinating, and Benjamin stood beside me to explain.

“Our weapons shop makes most of its weapons specifically for fighting monsters. That’s why this sword was designed with serrated edges, allowing it to cut through the tough hide of a monster like a saw.”

“That’s amazing.”

I was genuinely impressed.

These weren’t weapons I had ever seen in Korea, but just as Benjamin had said, monster hide was difficult to pierce or cut with ordinary weapons.

That was why we had used guns or explosives.

But once our weapons ran out, we had no choice but to take out swords or arrows and keep fighting.

Of course, before possessing this body, the swords I had mainly used were short blades like military or Navy SEAL knives.

I slowly looked over the displayed weapons with an expression full of curiosity.

Then I spotted the bows and couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

I had expected there to be only longbows made from a single material, but there was actually a recurve bow made from several different materials.

As though possessed by it, I picked up the smooth black bow with one hand.

“Oh my, Miss! That’s heavy—……”