Chapter 236: Her New Hobby!
Mmm!
The familiar, quiet smell of wood sap and dried herbs filled my lungs as consciousness slowly crept back into my brain.
"Argh!"
I groaned as my eyelids fluttered open.
One hand automatically covering the face from the bright morning sun, which was filtering through the wooden shutters of the room.
I blinked a few times to clear the blurry static from my vision, fully expecting to see Tessa hovering over me with a worried expression and a wet cloth.
Instead, I was met with a head of vibrant red hair.
Huh?
Scarlet was slouched in a wooden chair pulled right up next to the bed, her arms crossed and her boots propped up on the edge of the mattress.
She was casually chewing on a piece of dried jerky, looking profoundly bored.
I violently flinched in sheer surprise.
"What the? Scarlet?"
She paused her chewing, lowering her legs from the bed as I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position.
And then let out a sharp, deeply unimpressed huff, rolling her green eyes. Which were looking a bit worried?
"Can’t your weak ass just stop fainting every here and there?" she drawled, her voice dripping with dry sarcasm.
"It’s getting incredibly repetitive."
I completely ignored the insult, rubbing the back of my neck to work out the stiff knot in my muscles. And noticed something different.
It didn’t feel the agonizing, bone-deep ache that had followed my last use of the Administrator Mode.
"How many days was I unconscious?" I asked, my voice slightly raspy.
"Two days," she replied, tossing the rest of her jerky into her mouth.
I raised a single eyebrow, pausing my stretching.
Two days?
That’s less than before. Last time it took three full days to wake up. Maybe rebuilding a mana core just takes less of a physical toll than warping physics. Or I turned it off before the timer runs out? Or...
Argh! I can think about this later.
Then I pushed the blankets aside and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, planting my feet on the floorboards.
Scarlet stopped chewing, sitting up a little straighter.
"Are you sure you should be walking around? The old man practically had a heart attack when you started puking blood on his floor."
"Why not?" I said simply, standing up and testing my weight. My legs didn’t wobble, instead, they held perfectly firm. I grabbed my dark coat from the foot of the bed and threw it on.
Scarlet scoffed, crossing her arms defensively. "Whatever. Don’t come crying to me if your legs give out."
She stood up and trailed right behind me as I pushed the bedroom door open and headed down the hall.
As we stepped out of the large wooden cabin and into the bright morning sunlight. I took a deep breath of the crisp air, fully expecting to see the peaceful, quiet routine of the border village.
Instead, I was completely baffled by the chaotic sight unfolding in the dirt square just outside the Chief’s estate.
Rowan, along with about a dozen other young men and women from the village were face-down in the dirt, sweating profusely, violently trembling as they struggled to complete a set of pushups.
Standing right in front of them, entirely in her element, was Mira.
"Just this?!" Mira barked at the top of her lungs, her hands firmly planted on her hips as she paced down the line of exhausted youths.
"You little pussies, you want to become fighters or not? My grandmother hits harder than that, and she’s been dead for ten years! Get your chests to the dirt!"
I blinked, completely stunned.
"What... what is happening here?"
Scarlet walked up beside me, leaning against the wooden porch railing with a heavy sigh.
"After the village brats found out that two ex-adventurers had moved in, they swarmed her. They practically begged her on their hands and knees to train them so they could protect the village."
"And she actually agreed?" I asked, watching Mira casually kick Rowan’s elbow to correct his form, sending the poor guy collapsing face-first into the dust with a groan.
"Apparently," Scarlet muttered, gesturing lazily toward the carnage.
Mira was currently standing over another gasping young man, absolutely beaming with a terrifying, sadistic grin as she barked out another set of drills.
"Though from the looks of it, beating the absolute shit out of them just seems to be her new favorite hobby."
I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing, shaking my head as I watched the fierce archer whip the village youth into shape.
That actually makes things so much better, a smile crossed my face.
If Mira is handling their combat training, Oakmere will have its own highly capable manpower in absolutely no time. They won’t just be relying on us.
I turned away from the makeshift boot camp, looking around the immediate area.
"Where is Tessa?"
"She’s down at the lumber warehouse," Scarlet replied, kicking a stray pebble off the porch.
"She stayed completely locked in your room for two whole days watching you sleep. I just tagged in to replace her this morning so she could go set things up."
I stopped, turning to look at the feral demi-human with a raised brow. Scarlet willingly volunteering to play nursemaid?
Seeing my skeptical expression, Scarlet’s face instantly instantly flushed. She violently turned her head away, her tail lashing defensively behind her.
"Not that I care about her or you!"
Scarlet snapped, her words tumbling out in a rapid, flustered rush.
"Definitely not you! It’s just... stopping her from doing the work is bad! No work means no money, and no money means no good food. So I did it entirely for the food. Don’t get any weird ideas in your head!"
I stared at her fiercely blushing, before simply shrugging my shoulders.
"Whatever you say, Scarlet," I smiled lightly, stepping off the porch and onto the dirt path.
"Let’s go then. Let’s check out the warehouse."