I'm The Only One With Cancer-Chapter 148: Adara’s Training I

The next morning...

Zen woke up before the sun rose and went downstairs.

On the dining table, three plates were set, along with a large pitcher of milk.

He could also hear two voices in the kitchen not far away.

"Ow!" A feminine voice sounded.

A masculine voice then asked, "What happened?"

"I cut my finger while peeling the potatoes..."

"You’re the saintess of the temple, and you’re that clumsy?"

"Can’t you care a little more about me!?"

"Whatever. Besides, why are you still not healing your finger? Are you an idiot?"

"Mean! But, I want you to heal it for me just like how you did in the cave."

"No way."

"Why not!?"

"I can’t waste my mana on you."

"Why!?"

"Do you want me to flick your forehead again?"

"No! Hehe, you know I’m just joking! Here are the potatoes, Your Grace."

"You sound so annoying."

"Oho? And what are you gonna do about it? Come! Kiss me if you dare—"

Thud—!

"Ow! You hit me! You really hit me again! What will you do if my forehead becomes bruised?"

"You can heal yourself—-"

"No! I demand compensation! Kiss me!"

Thud—!

Chuckling to himself, Zen went down the remaining flight of stairs.

He intentionally made his steps loud enough, making the two in the kitchen aware of his presence.

"Good morning, my dear apprentice." "Good morning!"

Arthur and Adara greeted him at the same time.

The former had a calmer temperament, while the latter was more lively.

Looking at them, Zen could not help but smile.

This sight made him involuntarily think of his parents, as Ren and Rina behaved similarly, aside from the fact that they tend to be a little more lovey-dovey.

They had spent these kinds of mornings in the past few days.

And frankly, Zen had already become used to it.

His smile got wider as he responded, "Good morning, Teacher and Aunt Ada."

"Come here, help me cook. Your Aunt Ada’s too clumsy."

"Yes, Teacher!"

"Hey! It’s this early in the morning, and you’re already that mean to me!?"

The three voices echoed through the dilapidated building in the heart of the trading grounds.

Beneath the dark sky, the moon and stars cast their pale light over the area, a stark contrast to the warm glow spilling from inside the crumbling structure.

It felt almost cozy—as though the people living within were nothing more than an ordinary family.

***

An hour and a half later in the training grounds behind the dilapidated building...

Zen looked at the wooden targets with a bullseye marking on them and already had an inkling about what training they were about to do.

He then turned to Adara, who was fixing something in a large crate and asked, "Um, Aunt Ada. Is this training..."

"Wait. Just a minute, I’m almost finished." She held up her hand before resuming what she was doing on the wooden crate.

Arthur, who was sitting on a nearby bench while sipping a cup of hot milk, chimed in, "Unlike me. Adara only needed to teach you two things."

’Hm, that few?’ Zen mused inwardly, but his expression did not change.

"Ugh, finally!"

At that moment, Adara’s lively voice sounded, attracting the two’s attention.

"T-That..."

Zen could not help but stammer as he saw what she was carrying on her shoulder, ’Isn’t that a rocket launcher!?’

Looking at his expression, Arthur commented from the side.

"Initially, I was planning on teaching you about hot weapons myself, but since I found that Adara’s alive, I decided to have her teach you, since she’s way better than me when it comes to things like that."

Although Zen had already practiced shooting using the mana handguns available in the training ground to try out his Hot Weapon Mastery, it was just that: casual shooting.

Even though Ren and Rina knew a lot about guns, he was not able to reach the age at which he could be taught how to use guns before he became bedridden due to his cancer.

Now, seeing Adara carry a large rocket launcher on her shoulder, he became speechless.

"Arthur’s right! There’s no one better than me when it comes to guns and stuff!" Adara grinned as she opened the wooden crate, revealing different types of mana guns inside.

Zen could not help but feel excited, as he too was a fan of first-person shooting games.

Initially, when he even found out about the details of his parents’ work, both he and Sera felt excited and even talked about something like becoming a spy family.

Adara looked at his excited expression and felt satisfied, "Alright, choose what you want to try first among these weapons first before we begin. Don’t slack, because I’ll be strict!"

"I bet that he’ll be able to learn how to shoot every single gun of yours and hit the bullseye before noon."

Arthur casually commented as he poured himself another cup of hot milk.

Adara pouted at him, "Let’s see! If he can really hit a bullseye with every weapon before noon, I won’t teach him the second thing you want me to teach him— I’ll share my blessing with him instead!"

"What..." It was Arthur’s turn to be shocked, "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes! But if I win the bet, you’ll have to do anything I want for the rest of your life!"

Arthur paused for a moment before chuckling, "Sure, sure~"

’Huh? Are they using me to gamble?’

Zen felt speechless as he scratched the back of his head, "Erm, may I know what’s happening?"

"Nothing to worry about, my precious apprentice. Just don’t forget that your teacher is sacrificing to give you all the good things in life~" Arthur responded with a benevolent smile. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

’Pretentious...’

Zen scoffed inwardly, but kept a smile on his face, "Okay, Teacher. I’ll do my best!"

He then picked up what looked to be an assault rifle from the open crate and approached Adara, "I’ve chosen, Aunt Ada."