Drinking tea, playing chess, and bird-walking.
Before my injuries healed, I was forced to enter retirement early. Since electrotherapy was also part of my professional training, it was prohibited as well.
I am not a particularly ambitious person; my ambition stems from anxiety.
In the "real world," lacking money was my anxiety. Without money, survival was impossible, so I worked and dared not rest casually.
In this world, being weak is my anxiety. The weak have no right to choose. Although I didn't have to worry about starving to death, a life of being caged, living in a daze while awaiting arrangements, was no different from being dead.
"…Meur." Kikyo, holding little Kalluto, blocked my path in the corridor, indignant yet helpless. "One by one, and now my Illu... you've been snatched away too."
Illumi was taken out for work by Silva, and I was being trained under Zeno's supervision. Only Kalluto remained by her side at all times—one child per person, a perfect number.
The Zoldyck family is a microcosm of this world; only the strong can make decisions. Kikyo's strength is inferior to Silva and Zeno, so she cannot defy their decisions.
In reality, the "real world" is the same; I am the one who endures grievances.
Alas, destiny is a continuous cycle.
"Meur… Meur." Kikyo crouched down and stroked my head. "It's just temporary now. You won't leave Mama, right?"
"..." Based on the current atmosphere, I wisely nodded.
"That's good." Kikyo hugged me, nuzzling me with her cheek. "That's good, Meur, you'll always be my child."
"..." Drawing on past successful experiences, I raised my hand and stroked Kikyo's head to show affection.
Kikyo was pleased with my response and nuzzled me for another minute before finally letting go. "Go on now, Meur, don't be late."
Don't underestimate me; choosing to leave early was knowing this might happen!
Zeno was easier to deal with. Compared to the resentful Kikyo, Zeno, as the head of the Zoldyck family, was more manageable. He didn't ask me any more questions, mostly analyzing the flow of the chess game, with other irrelevant small talk, like an ordinary retired elder.
As if! I knew he taught me chess to teach me observation and thinking. I had some of that comprehension. As for how much I could truly learn, that's another matter entirely. (Laughs)
When I read the original work, I felt that the main characters' intelligence was higher than mine. It took an hour to read a dozen pages of manga, and I couldn't understand it all... Sorry, I really am just filler.
Concepts like "too much is as bad as too little," and "slowness doesn't mean inefficiency"—easy to say, but not always easy to do.
I shouldn't have cheated in the tea-throwing game to win, giving Zeno unnecessary optimism and expectations. Only after living a lifetime of mediocrity and lack of achievement in the "real world" do I know how ordinary, incompetent, and cowardly I am.
I lack the ability to infer and integrate knowledge. I always fail to apply learned formulas flexibly and need to do many related problems to understand their usage. If the problems change even slightly, I can't find the solution. Alas, the pain of a poor student is something the intelligent can never understand.
For an idiot like me, the only way to improve is through volume. In the "real world," it was drowning in practice problems; in this world, it's diligent training, with no other method.
The "electrotherapy calming method" was temporarily banned. To stabilize my emotions and alleviate the anxiety of not being able to train, every morning while combing my hair in front of the mirror, I attempted to "dialogue" with the real Meurth Zoldyck.
Neither of us made a sound. We faced each other in the mirror and communicated through lip-reading. Incidentally, lip-reading also produces dialogue boxes.
【"Have you found a reason not to die?"】
"No, it's an excuse."
【"What is it?"】
"Actually, I said it long ago; it hasn't changed."
【"Which one?"】
I traced three "9"s on the mirror with my finger.
"Filial piety, you know. After I complete 999 missions for them, I'll retire."
【"Really?"】
"Really."
【"..."】
"So I'm eager to get stronger. It's beneficial for you too, isn't it?"
【"Can you do it?"】
【"You, who achieved nothing in the 'real world,' will be different in another world?"】
【"How can it be that easy."】
The mirror was hit by the comb in my hand, creating a spiderweb of cracks. Between each crack was a fragmented Meurth, all of them blinking in unison, making eye contact with me.
Honestly, why speak such plain truths.
After finishing combing my hair, I put down the comb and left my bedroom without looking back. Kikyo would discover it soon and instruct the butler to replace the mirror. I didn't need to worry about it. Having money is good; breaking small things means no one blames you, nor do they dwell on it. Except for that dragon's beard, one million was genuinely expensive.
After successfully losing weight in New Orleans, I excitedly took the doctor's report to Zeno, eager to fly again and return to the sky, but I missed him.
The Zoldyck family's business was thriving, with busy schedules, and Zeno was also out on work.
However, he had made arrangements before leaving, so my training would not be delayed.
Following the butler to the training ground, he instructed me to stand on a marked spot and then activated a device about ten meters in front of me, resembling a ball launcher. A red beam shot out from the device, targeting my shoulder.
*Bang!*
Because I instinctively dodged, a coin-sized patch of red paint appeared on the ground behind me.
"!" A slight pain in my calf. The unexpected second shot hit me.
Training had begun.
The red beam was a warning, giving me advance notice of the attack's target, and the interval between the warning and the attack's arrival was extremely short, almost as if the attack would arrive the moment I saw the beam.
Increasing the distance would give me more reaction time.
As the third attack launched, I quickly retreated.
"Stepping out of bounds deducts one point," the butler in charge of training said, holding a notepad. "A hit to the leg deducts two points."
"!" So the marked spot where I was standing was the boundary, and I couldn't retreat or I would be penalized.
What did these deductions mean?
Seeing my questioning gaze, the butler explained, "For every point deducted, the scheduled training time is reduced by one hour."
"..." One point equals one hour? Are you kidding me?!
It's rare to have someone as diligent and hardworking as me, wanting to train but being limited by time. Is this reasonable?!
"The scheduled time is eight hours per day. Please manage your time reasonably," the butler reported emotionlessly. "If deductions reach eight points, the day's training will be terminated. Please note, you have already been deducted four points."
The hit earlier was to my arm, deducting one point. A hit to the leg was two points. It seemed the scoring varied depending on the body part, likely based on how an injury would affect mobility.
The attacks from the automated tracking device were not only continuous but also increased in number as time went on.
I couldn't dodge them all. Vital areas would surely be worth more than one point. My arm was worth one point, so I used it to block an attack aimed at my chest.
"This is evasion training. Any defense will be considered invalid. A hit to a vital spot deducts four points." The butler turned off the attack device. "Today's training is over. Less than an hour counts as one hour. Deducting the remaining time from today, tomorrow's training time will be seven hours. Please come here tomorrow morning at eight o'clock for your training."
"..." Less than an hour, not even enough for a warm-up, and it's over?!
I left the training ground with a gloomy expression, washed off the paint, changed clothes, and then proceeded to my daily task—visiting Kalluto.
Kikyo was also there. Alas, Kikyo was happy to stay home and look after her children, having no desire or need to work outside. If she were to go out to work, she might have taken me with her.
When everyone else is moving forward, when everyone else is working hard, and when you are being left behind by your peers, you can only watch Kalluto play with his new Lego toy. This isn't false anxiety deliberately peddled online for some benefit; it's real, tangible anxiety stemming from the fact that without becoming stronger, you have no choices.
After completing Kikyo's dress-up doll mission and gaining her daily favorability, Kikyo offered me a good plan. Since Zeno was restricting my practical training, I could switch to theoretical learning. After all, being an assassin is a skilled profession, and understanding various theoretical knowledge is quite necessary, such as weapon equipment, common drugs, and the scientific knowledge involved in different killing methods.
Kalluto, still unaware of the world's harsh realities, was very enthusiastic about Illumi returning home after a long absence, calling out "Brother" with joy, especially when he received the 3D立体拼图 (3D立体拼图 - 3D jigsaw puzzle) toy Illumi brought him.
"..." The craftsmanship was exquisite, the colors vibrant and rich, and it looked very high-end. I wanted to play with it too.
Hmph, Illumi must have received a considerable sum of money on his mission with Silva to be so generous!
How much money did he get? Zoldyck contracts are priced in the hundreds of millions, so he would at least get tens of millions, right? Or hundreds of millions? I'm so envious!
"This is for big sister," Illumi said, handing me another box.
What? I get a toy too?! You really do treat me like a child?! No, "I" am currently nine years old, so I am indeed a child.
Upon closer inspection, it was a box of egg rolls, the kind featured on popular TV shows.
Ready to eat upon opening.
...It smelled delicious.
Kikyo glanced at the food's calorie information on the packaging and announced that my afternoon tea snack was canceled. I could only eat half of this box of egg rolls today.
"..." Let's set aside Kikyo's matters for now.
Alright, Illumi, I underestimated your emotional intelligence. Perhaps, maybe, you might learn how to please people in the future?
Meurth's favorability towards Illumi did not change.
Yes, not at all.
Don't treat me like a cheap game where favorability increases just by feeding me a little food! I am a disloyal ingrate.