"Your ability is ridiculous. You even managed to catch that lunatic," Bete said, lingering surprise on his face as he thought of Tsunayoshi's feat.
"That only worked because I prepared for it," Tsunayoshi replied. "If he'd struck first while I was completely unprepared, I'd have been on the back foot."
Thinking back to the ambush still left a chill in his chest. He wasn't a frontal brawler; he was a second-move fighter—someone who read an opponent, laid a net, and lured them in. Facing a Lv.5 on the fly—exposed and unready—would have been truly dangerous.
"Luckily, I was vigilant and the plan on their side didn't land. As for grabbing their officer—that was the trap doing its job. My strength is in preparation; snap fights are my weakness. I'm Lv.2. Against real powerhouses, I'm still far off."
For many, Lv.2 was enough. For him, it wasn't. Yet he felt no gnawing anxiety about his strength. His shortfall wasn't talent—it was time and real combat. His ability bought him a wide margin for error; in that, he was freer than any adventurer he knew.
"Those Amazon sisters were naïve about this," Bete said flatly. "In that situation, the least they could've done was tell ol—khm, Riveria."
He caught himself and changed the word mid-air. The complaint wasn't barbed; he was simply fed up with their carelessness.
"With Riveria's veteran eye, she would've seen the problem," he went on. "Those two went into the Dungeon alone twice in a row. They didn't live through the big war three years ago, but they should still keep their guard up against Evilus' rats.
"Astraea Familia just got ambushed, and those idiots still don't know what 'caution' means."
Since the Astraea incident, Bete had kept his own trips to the Dungeon purposefully erratic. Get predictable, and you invite an ambush. An adventurer should never forget to fear the Dungeon. That was day one doctrine. Yet those two had tripped on the most basic point.
His sharp gaze slid to Tsunayoshi. "So make them use their heads. Don't let them be brainless Amazons who chase a goal and ignore everything else."
He exhaled through his nose. "They've gotten lazy, mostly because you coddle them. You've eroded their fundamentals."
The blunt rebuke left Tsunayoshi a little abashed. "That is on me."
Without realizing it, he'd gotten used to being around them. Freshly minted as an adventurer, he'd seen how often they got hurt and started making things to help. Before he knew it, he'd become something they leaned on.
Bete's eyes unfocused a heartbeat, and a bigger, broader man overlapped Tsunayoshi's outline—someone who laughed loud and acted like nothing could scare him, like he could fix anything. That man had died under the weight of responsibility, charging a dragon he couldn't beat because retreat wasn't in him.
Bete's jaw tightened. He rapped his knuckles on Tsunayoshi's head.
"Idiot."
"Eh?"
Tsunayoshi blinked at him, dazed by the tap.
"Are you stupid?" Bete barked. "Those Amazons' bodies are tougher than yours. They're not going to die that easy. Don't dump every ounce of 'protection' on your own shoulders.
"They're way stronger than you think. Your job isn't to play shield for them—it's to teach them how to avoid the mess in the first place."
He jabbed a finger at Tsunayoshi's chest. "Carrying all the protection yourself—what are you, perfect?"
Tsunayoshi looked up at him, about to answer, but Bete grabbed his collar and hauled him a fraction closer, eyes hot.
"Trust those two thick-headed Amazons' strength. They're single-minded, sure, but believe in their ability. They're adventurers, not civilians. Maybe they're not fully mature at it yet—but your brain works better than theirs. You know what to watch for. Don't keep it to yourself—make those idiots know it too.
"Stop hovering like a nanny. Drill the points into them so they stop doing the kind of dumb stuff they pulled before."
(End of Chapter)
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