Harem-Powered Kingdom Building: Empire of Carnal Sin-Chapter 57: Training Arrangement

Back at the edge of the woods, Starius and Tara resumed their chat after their awkward reunion hug.

"I've been meaning to ask... but why did you never write to me? You could've at least informed me that you're still alive," Tara asked. She tried her best to hide the grievances within her.

The amount of guilt she had felt over Starius' "sacrifice" was not small. When she thought about how less stressed she would be if she had known that Starius still lived, that aggrieved feeling only increased.

The moment he heard the question, Starius put on a troubled expression for a few seconds. During that time, he thought about how best to explain his circumstances to Tara. He eventually sighed.

"This... is mostly to do with my master. He is an excellent teacher and a very good person, but he can get a bit stubborn at times," Starius said. He scratched his cheek.

Then, he adopted a more serious expression. "I really wanted to meet you again as soon as possible, Tara. Or at least communicate with you through letters... or... something. Unfortunately, my master really did not give me much of a chance to make contact with the outside world during my training years."

"I see..." Tara said. "What was your training like?"

And just like that, the two of them started talking about what exactly they'd been up to in their recent years – after their separation.

Tara couldn't help but lament the contrasting trajectories of their lives. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

The fact that Starius had become a Hero of Goddess Selune had still not sunk in for her yet. Heroes were exalted beings. They were high and mighty. Even Rulers had to show some deference to Heroes. Heroes could freely move across the borders of the various Realms within the Divine Domain of their patron deity. No sensible Ruler dared to tell a Hero that they were not welcome in their Realm.

An involuntary sigh escaped Tara's lips. 'In comparison, I'm just a weakling with a Common Class,' she thought sadly.

"What are you sighing about?" Starius asked.

"Nothing... While I'm happy for you, it still troubles me that you've left me behind in the dust as far as our strengths go," Tara openly said. They were easily close enough for Tara to share such worries with Starius.

Starius smiled wryly after hearing that response.

"I think I got pretty lucky though. You don't need to be discouraged about having a Common Class, Tara. You do know that you can increase your class rarity if you perform feats that impress the World, don't you?"

Although Starius phrased it like that, he did not sound very confident. Based on the teachings of his master, he knew how difficult it was to gain the approval of the World, to rewrite one's destiny.

Realistically speaking, Tara's chances were slim. She knew this too, and she didn't want to keep the mood gloomy any further.

"Honestly, I should be thankful for the fact that I even have a combat class right now instead of getting greedy. I'm fine with this. As for whether or not I can pull off any miraculous feats, time will tell," she said.

"Uncle Bob really pulled through for you, didn't he? It probably wasn't easy to get the gold necessary for a Class Bestowal."

"That's right. He worked really hard for my sake."

Hiro, who had been listening in, realized that while Bob might be a bad husband, he wasn't a bad father. That also explained why Tara seemed to respect Bob much more than Furina.

"And Tara," Starius continued somewhat hesitantly, "Don't risk your life trying to do something impossible, okay?"

He felt the need to say this because he thought Tara might do something reckless just to elevate the rarity of her Class. He really did not want to lose her again.

Tara's shapely brows bent into a small frown as she locked eyes with Starius. To her, what he was asking was ultimately impossible. Despite her earlier words, she knew she needed to get much stronger than she currently was.

'Otherwise, it will be impossible to make Lord Hiro take me seriously in the future...'

Looking at her cute little frown, Starius spoke without thinking. "I... I just don't want to lose you ever again, Tara. I will grow strong enough to protect the two of us, I promise."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Starius found himself going red. Fortunately, it was hard to tell under the current lighting.

Tara was taken aback by Starius' serious proclamation. She could vaguely sense his feelings for her. Alas, it was too late. Moreover, Tara herself did not want to be just taken care of by somebody for the rest of her life.

'The helplessness that I felt that day... I don't want to experience it ever again,' she told herself, reaffirming her goals.

Then, she used her telepathic connection with Hiro to ask him something. "My Lord... sorry if I'm bothering you, but would you mind if I had regular training sessions with Starius to improve my swordsmanship?"

Hiro found it interesting that she would seek his approval like this. She really did not need to.

"Of course I don't mind. You don't need my permission for something like this, Tara."

Tara was both happy and sad to hear his response. A part of her wished that he acted at least somewhat possessively so she could know that Hiro actually cared about her. Right now, it was hard to tell if he was just respecting her freedom or being apathetic towards her.

With Hiro's permission obtained, she brought up the matter of training with Starius. She had a feeling he would be cooperative.

"Listen, Starius... I was wondering if you could help me out with some swordsmanship training from tomorrow? Although my main weapon is the sword, I feel like I'm very clumsy when it actually comes to using it. I'm totally okay if you want to refuse. I understand if you're going to be busy with your own training routine."

Starius' reply came even faster than Tara anticipated.

"I'll gladly help you out!" he instantly said.

"...Really?"

"Yeah. I use the sword too. We can train together in the mornings. And teaching you what I know might deepen my own understanding too. It's a win-win situation," Starius explained.

In reality, he just wanted to spend more time with Tara.

Tara smiled brightly. "Thank you! Tomorrow morning it is then."

Starius momentarily lost himself looking at the smile of his childhood friend. Years of separation from Tara had already made him realize how much he liked her. Now that he was finally reunited with her, those feelings only grew stronger.

'I'll do whatever it takes to protect that smile,' he told himself. But he still did not put his feelings into words. He was shy about such things. 'I'll take this slow. We're finally together. There's plenty of time to tell Tara how I feel,' he thought.

Setting aside their feelings, there was certainly merit in this training arrangement for Tara.

First of all, it was possible for people to gain XP simply by practicing their craft. In fact, this was exclusively how Profession Classes levelled up. Combat classes could similarly level up just by training, but the XP they would gain from killing Monsters was far higher under normal circumstances.

An exception to this rule was a rare phenomenon called 'Enlightenment'. It was possible to sometimes enter an Enlightened state of mind while training, gaining a massive chunk of XP and even acquiring new knowledge sometimes.

Unfortunately, there did not exist an easy way to force an Enlightenment. Ordinary people could only wait for Enlightenment to come to them, and never chase after it themselves.

"It's getting late, shall we head back to the settlement?" Tara asked after they chatted a little more.

Although Starius would've liked for his time with Tara to continue indefinitely, he knew that it was indeed getting late. Not to mention...

'I will be able to see her again tomorrow. I'll be able to see her everyday. Thank you, Goddess!'

"Yeah, let's head back," he said. "We should wake up early for tomorrow's training."

With that, the two of them made their way back. By the time they returned, the Contribution Evaluation was already done.

Hiro told the two of them that he already took note of their contributions and that they did not need to step into the tent like the rest.

The thirty or so people in Hiro's Realm were getting ready to retire for the night. A lot of hushed conversations were going on about the Evaluation process and how much contribution everyone received. As expected, the people with Combat Classes naturally ended up with more contribution points at the end of the day.

Hiro also cancelled the negative contribution that Barbara had, thanks to her her act of helping Tara out during the afternoon's raid. It was something which certainly surprised Barbara, as she did not think that Hiro was capable of being nice to her.

Many citizens laid down some clothes and blankets they bought with them on the floor of the barracks to act as temporary beddings. It wouldn't be very comfortable but it would be better than sleeping on the floor.

The fact that it was quite cold did not help either. Overall... people knew that they couldn't expect too much comfort in the early stages of the settlement, so no one made a ruckus about it. Having a roof over their heads was good enough for now.

Hiro leisurely walked around the tiny settlement for a while. The warm glow from the Yelough mushrooms created a strangely cozy atmosphere.

Come tomorrow evening, new mushrooms would need to be harvested from the surrounding woods. Once harvested, they only released light for a period of several hours.

'We should be able to use regular torches once the construction of the Temple is complete and a Safe Zone is erected,' Hiro thought.

While there was still a low chance of Wraiths ignoring the influence of the Goddess Statue, the chance that they would bypass a proper Safe Zone was infinitely smaller.

After walking around while thinking about such random matters, Hiro too, retired for the night. He had already made arrangements for night patrols as well as someone to man the Refugee Arrival Station. By promising higher contribution rewards, it was easy to get people to agree, even if it messed up their sleep schedule.

Moreover, he told these people that it was totally okay for them to just wake him up at the first sign of any trouble. They were in the Desolate Lands, after all. It was better to be safe than sorry.

As for future plans for the Realm, Hiro told Targon and the others that they would meet tomorrow morning to discuss their next course of action.

Eventually, the activity in the settlement died down as more and more people went to sleep. Furina and Bob still slept in their tent, but Tara moved to the barracks, saying that she wanted to mingle more with the others, a decision her parents did not mind.

Hiro too, retired to his room.